What I’d tell my younger coaching self

December 2025  marked 10 years for me as a founding member with Forbes Coaches Council.

Those of us celebrating 10 years with the Forbes Coaches Council were asked to reflect on what we would tell our younger coaching selves. A few lines from my answer were shared, but what I wrote was longer and more reflective, so I’m sharing the full version here.

What I’d Tell My Younger Coaching Self

(and Maybe You Need to Hear It Too)

If I could speak to myself at the start of my coaching career—back in 2003—I’d tell her this:

Trust your knowing more than the industry’s “shoulds”. You already sense what others can’t see. You read energy patterns like other people read spreadsheets.

That’s not something to downplay, it’s your edge. It’s what will set you apart long before anyone else understands what you’re really doing.

You don’t need to follow trends, master funnels, or model someone else’s version of success. Your frequency is your business strategy. Everything else is noise.

You can’t “earn” alignment through effort. Ease isn’t something you achieve—it’s your natural state. The more you try to control the process or “get it right,” the more you pinch off the flow that’s already available.

You’ll learn this again and again:

alignment is never the result of effort. It’s the result of trust.

The clients meant for you will feel you long before they understand you.

You’ll never have to chase them.

They’ll recognize the energy you hold and want to rise into it.

So don’t explain yourself—embody yourself.

Mastery isn’t about doing more; it’s about deepening presence.

You’ll evolve more through awareness than through any strategy.

The quiet moments when you listen instead of plan are where things shift.

You’ll come to see that life meets you at the frequency you stand in.

When you’re anchored in clarity, the right people, money, and opportunities find you easily—because you’re finally findable.

If I could speak to myself just ten years ago, I’d say this:

Stop underestimating how powerful your frequency work really is.

It’s not “woo.” It’s precision. It’s legitimate, valuable, and highly needed.

You’re doing work at the level where everything begins—at the level of energy itself. Own that.

Charge for the transformation, not the time. Your work isn’t measured in hours. It’s measured in outcomes, resonance, and truth.

Your peace is your marketing.

When you rest in “nothing to prove,” you become magnetic.

Don’t confuse depth with heaviness. You can hold profound transformation and still keep it light.

Joy is one of the highest frequencies there is—and alignment loves simplicity.

If you’re reading this now, maybe you need to hear it too:

You don’t need to prove your worth.

You don’t need to chase.

You don’t need to control.

You need to remember…

Remember your power.

Remember that life is always reflecting the frequency you hold.

And remember that ease isn’t a reward for effort—it’s the natural result of alignment.

Keep it simple, Smartypants! ;)