Kevin Laylor, Maryland, USA
The Life Coach CEO
Thrive By Serving Others
I consider myself a visionary and servant leader who always had a burning question. Why are so many people in pain today, and what can I do to help someone get through what they are going through? After over a decade in corporate America, as a business systems analyst, success with eBay as a side hustle, and a strong reason to learn everything marketing and branding for the past several years, I now want one thing: to create and support a community of like-minded coaches who want to thrive together by serving others and positively impacting the mental well-being and performance of those in this world. I want to serve my fellow coaches. To let them know they are not alone. To help them get what they want faster, and to see what their expertise can be for others. To create a community where your love for helping others also helps you. In the end, to gather like-minded coaches and give them an experience that their knowledge and wisdom are worth more than they know, and I want to help you see where you can be heading. www.kevinlaylor.com
What is your niche (coaching focus) and how did you choose it?
My coaching focus and niche is that I help life coaches develop right fit marketing assets and strategies so that they attract their ideal clients, monetize their coaching skills and create lasting transformational change for others. I choose this focus because I love personal development, and I love business coaching, and I want to see life coaches thrive and help others.
Who is your ideal client?
Life coaches who want to launch a coaching business, build a coaching brand and grow a coaching practice, and thrive by serving others.
What inspired you to become a life coach?
I went through a mental breakdown when my corporate job went through a merger, and I was given a 90-day performance improvement plan (PIP) to decide if I would be let go. As the breadwinner of my household, I felt blinded on my options of what I could do. It was then that I discovered my first virtual mentor and High Performance coach, Brendon Burchard. After using his content to get through that period of my life, I discovered that my love for helping people could also be a business, and that is when I decided to be a life coach.
How long have you been coaching?
I was certified as a professional coach in 2018 and since then have been coaching clients in various formats to help strategically solve their specific problems and help them get to the outcome that best serves them.
How did you get your first client?
I got my first client by providing thoughtful and insightful answers to questions from people in personal development related Facebook groups. As I continued to be helpful in such communities, I would have people ask if they could reach out to me for additional help. And through having a pressureless conversation of what more they need and providing options of how I could help, I got my first client.
How has your coaching journey changed your life?
The coaching journey has changed my life from a place of being a practitioner to practicing what I preach in my own life. The questions, techniques and methods that I use in my coaching come from me slowing down, questioning my own thoughts, developing my own answers that help solve my issues, therefore transforming my life, creating the skills to then help others transform their lives as well. Overall, I have been able to be less in my head and more in my heart, have a more peaceful spirit, be less reactive, less judgmental, and be more supportive and understanding of others for the journey they are on, of wanting a life that works for them.
What is the most challenging part of being a life coach?
The most challenging part of being a life coach is the self-judgment on if you are making a difference with your coaching. Results are not always immediate in helping your clients, and it requires you have a strong trust in your process of the value and not needing to be more than who you are. The imposter syndrome can easily take over, sabotaging putting yourself out there and not being as fully present to serve your clients as powerfully as you can. Coaching is more an intuitive creative journey you take a client through, and that cannot happen if you are worried about yourself vs. focused on the client.
What is the most fulfilling part of being a life coach?
The most fulfilling part of being a life coach is the aha moments the clients get and the methodologies and blueprints they get to create for their own map to being free to live as they know they can live. Being a guide by their side as they become the hero of their life is very rewarding, as well as seeing them help others based on how you helped them. And it all started because, as a person, I felt the power of transformational coaching and the weight it lifted off my shoulders to see the world more positively.
What has been your most inspirational coaching moment with a client?
My most inspirational coaching moment came from one coaching session where I was able to simplify how someone thought about a situation. They had already gone through therapy and had been helped by others. But, after one session, they broke down in tears, saw a solution that worked for them, and one week later shared with me that their daughter saw a big difference and improvement in how they showed up in life. And they credited it back to that one call. I was so very happy for this client; it made my heart sing.
What is your favorite coaching activity or exercise to do with clients?
I love to offer clients metaphors for their way of thinking and simple plans to build habits of working on the transformation they desire. Metaphors offer our mind easy mental pictures that the client can then fill in the gaps with their imagination and senses. Because the senses have a more emotional effect, clients are more willing to execute a simple plan we came up with together.
What has been the most effective strategy for finding clients and/or growing your business?
The most effective strategy for finding clients is to provide a group experience that allows people to feel the power of transformation. Think about a restaurant who passes out free samples and then earns new customers because they want to experience more. It is the same with life coaching. Providing workshops, things that are interactive, offering people a taste of transformation, so that they create their own reasons to become a client. Don’t sell coaching. Offer the experience and discuss the opportunities to have more of that experience, personalized for clients.
What advice would you give YOURSELF back when you first dreamed of becoming a coach?
Start working with a business coach RIGHT AWAY who is a right fit for your personality and needs. Find someone who helps you develop a vision and a roadmap and start executing and understanding what it feels like to implement marketing strategies. We can spend a lot of time learning what to do, and that feels good. But we can get stuck in the learning loop, never execute and keep waiting for that magic bullet that will solve things. Find a coach who will help you understand what you want to do and how you get to do and then hold you accountable through the process. Just like football players who have a coach to watch them when they are on the field, life coaches should have business coaches watch them while they are on their field, marketing and attracting dream clients.
What is the impact you want to make in this world?
I believe life coaches are the biggest source of heart that we have in this world. And I want that source of heart to impact the level of pain we are constantly experiencing in this world. I want to do this by helping life coaches with their marketing and mindset so that they get to be seen and booked, so that those who are in pain can be supported by these life coaches.
Is there anything else you would like to share with Transformation Coaching Magazine readers?
Life coaching will always be needed in all areas of life. For anyone who has goals and wants to achieve something great in their life, there are strategies and tactics to work on, and then there is the mindset that accompanies becoming the person who can achieve their goals and what they want. Life coaches are transformational agents who can and will leave a legacy of positivity and peace in the lives of others that they touch. Trust the process for why you’ve been called to become one. Your understanding and acceptance journey and what you learn through your own practice of self-development is the greatest asset you bring to the change others get to have in their life.
