A decade of Kids Life Coach Certifications in our birthday month
It was ten years ago almost to the day that I arrived in England with my husband and two suitcases and nothing more than hopes and big dreams for kids life coaching as a profession. Arriving from South Africa, and having just turned 40, I felt tired (moving homes let alone countries, is not for the faint hearted!) but yet I remember a renewed vigour in my outlook. I saw opportunity and I knew that my world had dramatically expanded and that it was the perfect time to reach more children globally.
Having coached children individually and in groups in South Africa for a decade by then, and having launched independently owned Kids Life Studio® branches across South Africa, I was ready to try a new way of doing things.
So after offering my final face to face Kids Life Coach Certification training in South Africa, I launched the Kids Life Coach Academy and started working online. Was it easy? Absolutely not! For an organisation, whose highest value is relationships, it felt strangely impersonal to be working online, yet I made it work with individualised coaching for our certification students along with group mentorship support to maintain the personal feel.
When Covid hit in 2020....I had already been working online for six years so rather than having to pivot, Kids Life Studio® was well established with an excellent track record. Our online Kids Life Coach Certification Training programme was getting results with testimonials to prove it. (Click here to read them if you haven't seen them already) and the best part was that the students participating were not only reaching children, but they formed a global community of change makers who were financially excelling in their coaching practices.
What I didn't realise then, was that with a change in the world, came a change in thinking. So in the past four years, although I have seen a steady incline in parents seeking help for their children, and kids life coaching now being part of mainstream conversations, (Hooray! At last!) I have also seen a strong decline in quality kids life coaching on offer. How do I know this...
With so many new kids on the block offering their services to certify Kids Life Coaches, I have seen a decline month on month in our student numbers. Kids Life Coach Academy is the leader and will always be, and so where were our students going?
CLICK TO WATCH A VIDEO ON THE PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE OF KIDS LIFE COACHING
Many people would think fewer clients would be a bad thing...that panic stations would hit with new products needing to be launched. For us, this journey has been very different. None of this has been a threat to us, because it gave us the breathing space to watch, take stock, reassess, reignite our ideas, revise and decide how to move forward strategically.
So with me having turned 50 this week and with our online coaching school having turned 10, I feel excited...YES....really excited...along with a nervous tension....you know the kind when something good is on the horizon!
Admittedly, those who know me and have worked with me for years may have noticed my spark waning for a short while - because of my frustration at perceived "competitors" doing such a great job at marketing and me being unable to articulate my passion in an online world now diluted with so many people as self proclaimed "thought leaders".
I can't help but speak out loud how I have felt despondent over the past few years, with people approaching me to train but not wiling to put in the work. I saw people enrolling in my training and unlike pre-Covid, not completing their commitment and failing to launch. I was up against companies good at marketing but not good at offering quality training but able to hide this with supposed accreditation credits and badges that didn't live up to expectations. So I made a decision at the end of 2023, to join the accreditation rat race. After converting our Kids Life Coach Certifications to Diploma status, (yes if badges and window dressing are important to you...we have this too!) I saw this happen....
People started comparing us to other service providers....we were perceived to be like everybody else...yet we absolutely aren't and never will be. Alongside this, we have always shared freely and transparently and having led the way for two decades....it was easy for others to navigate the pitfalls of route to market.
I suddenly felt unable to capture the essence of our strong code of ethics and ethos as an organisation and to articulate clearly what we stand for. We have never compromised on our value and our final outcome to offer the best possible service to our coachees. Although nice to have, accreditation badges are not what we are about! We have always been about end results for the child!
I am not a great marketeer and I haven't really engaged well in marketing....I work from the heart and I always do what I think is best...not what will get the next client. I don't sell, but I share. I don't make empty promises, I deliver. I truly care. I don't go with the flow and take short cuts because everybody else is. Kids Life Studio®, is not just a business for me, but a calling. I don't use AI to write my blogs or curate Facebook ads. EVERYTHING we do as an organisation is personal and relationship driven. We have not and will not compromise on that! Have I been perfect at this...not always...but I always give my best and my team does the same too! We learn and we contribute in more meaningful ways when we find growth opportunities....and THIS is one of them!
So, in the lead up to my birthday month I have been in consultations and strategising for a way to differentiate us in a now flooded kids life coach certification market. With our relationship driven service backing up our solid kids life coaching curriculum that not only gets results coaching children but also gets our students a return on their investment, we have a winning recipe! How exciting!
You and I both understand that kids life coaching is a much needed niche...but what I now know is that our certification further refines that niche with our unique Play Based Coaching System® that gets measurable and sustainable results in our little coachee clients. We are a community of children's change makers designing a new world not through choice alone, but through necessity. We are determined to be part of the solution!
Like for instance, this month we will start engaging in global discussions to join in the UN International Day of Play on 11 June 2024. I will be contributing to the wider discussions through blogs, videos and podcasts. You can too! In fact you should! Children need us to uplift them and to be their voice for change that is much needed.
This blog is my commitment to you that I remain steadfast in my mission to reach millions of children globally. Not because they need our help.....but because our world needs help. We can no longer sit by as silent bystanders thinking it is okay to be mediocre in our approach. So if you are reading this and have come this far (sorry...I tend to love words as an author and writer!) and your kids life coaching practice is not where you would like it to be...ask yourself this question:
Have I compromised on my values?
If your answer is yes...and you have succumbed to the gentle lure of the online world to market yourself...or you have given up because you don't know how....then now is the time to go back to basics. Build relationships on the ground! YES....pick up the phone...TALK to people...Go for Coffee dates! Offer talks...give value to your local community. Become involved in our upcoming Play Ambassador initiatives!
The only way to differentiate yourself as a certified Kids Life Coach, is to amplify your mission and with our online world making this so easy, I have no doubt you can do this! Just do it with integrity and don't compromise on what you value most...we almost fell into that trap but we now know this is what definitely sets us apart!
Another option, if you are a practicing kids life coach and you feel lacking in mentorship and supervision is for you to join us in our twice weekly group mentorship sessions by joining our global community! Click here to enrol in our annual membership or you can now pay monthly! Hip hip hooray....you asked and we delivered! For the month of April, anybody joining will get a bonus business blueprint strategy session with me to the value of $450!!
If you aren't yet part of our team and you have been thinking of becoming a Kids Life Coach now is the time to take action! We are now in the process of screening and choosing Play Ambassadors to join Kids Life Studio® and work towards our shared mission! If this is you...take a look at our Premium Package and set up a time to speak to us!
Gosh...when I set out to write this blog...I didn't want to get it wrong. I procrastinated...because this is all so very important to me!
So it is no surprise today that I have found myself writing from my heart. I have also been speaking from my heart a lot of late and if you haven't seen my Rebranding Childhood You Tube channel with my Master Classes and interviews with children's change makers, then now is the time!
We are in the "game"...full time and full on! Watch this space. No empty promises. Just on the ground making a difference kind of stuff. No fluff, window dressing or slick marketing tactics to lure you.
If what I have said resonates with you, reach out to me and let's strategise. Like I said, I will be offering bonus individual one hour personalised strategy coaching sessions (valued at $450) in the month of April. So if you have been thinking of joining our global network, now is the time to hop in and take action so that I can share time with you mapping out your own personal blueprint for a financial successful kids life coaching practice!
My heart is full right now! I feel so honoured to be on mission and on track alongside you! Let's do this thing...no short cuts...just high value, high intensity, high results kind of coaching that plants the seeds for lifetime success in children!
Regards with zeal,
Zelna
