Career Coaching Secrets

World Changers Academy: Stephanie Haynes on Scaling Career Readiness

• Davis Nguyen

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Rexhen Doda interviews Stephanie Haynes, a career coach and consultant who helps parents and teens navigate post-high school career paths. Stephanie shares her journey, focusing on serving parents of teenagers and young adults through her book and online programs like World Changers Academy. She discusses leveraging word-of-mouth and lead magnets for client acquisition and her goal to build school-industry pipelines. Stephanie highlights her business coach and contractors as key investments, emphasizing the lesson to "just start." She also addresses the challenges of scaling herself and balancing client delivery with business growth, advising coaches to connect with peers.

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Stephanie Haynes:

That's a really great question. I just launched my new World Changers Academy online programming and so one of the goals I'm working towards is to build that programming not only for individuals to use but for schools to purchase as well. I do have that in the works right now so that schools can use this entire comprehensive program from who are you to what option do you really want to step into and everything in between.

Davis Nguyen:

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets, the podcast where we talk with successful career coaches on how they built their success and the hard lessons they learned a My name is Davis Nguyen, and I'm the founder of Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to seven and eight figures without burning out. Before Purple Circle, I started and scaled several seven and eight figure career coaching business myself and consulted with two career coaching businesses that are now doing over $100 million each. Whether you're an established coach or just building your practice for the first time, you'll discover the secrets to elevating your coaching business.

Rexhen Doda:

Hey everyone, welcome again to another episode of Career Coaching Secrets Podcast. Today, my guest is Stephanie Heinz, Talent Development Consultant, Certified Career Coach, and author dedicated to bridging the gap between education and industry. As the founder of Stephanie Heinz Coaching and Consulting, she partners with schools and businesses to create career pathway programs that prepare students for real-world success and align workforce skills with industry needs. Stephanie is also the author of College is Not Mandatory and creator of the World Changers program, helping teens and young professionals build meaningful, personalized career paths. I'm excited to dive into her insights on career readiness and the future of work. Welcome to the show, Stephanie.

Stephanie Haynes:

Thank you so much. So glad to be here today.

Rexhen Doda:

Good to have you. Tell me a little bit more about what inspired you to become a career coach and a consultant.

Stephanie Haynes:

I think the biggest inspiration came from my own children as we tried to navigate that post high school planning process. There was a lot that I needed to learn and I'm a career high school educator by trade and so I knew kind of what was going into that but when it came to life after high school was very complicated especially when my children were not quite sure college was what they wanted and so learning all of that kind of was an inspiration behind stepping into helping other parents learn to navigate this process themselves well not only to understand the options but also understand how to do it effectively with their teenagers so there wasn't a bunch of arguing or complaining or eye rolling and all those things that happen to come when you talk about that kind of situation with your teenager

Rexhen Doda:

how did that journey change once you became a coach once you started your coaching business where you are at today

Stephanie Haynes:

so from where I started then to where I am now how has that changed oh man you know the world is a very different place I started becoming a career coach just before coming I published my book during COVID, which was a nice opportunity because I had time to do that. But the world of industry is changing dramatically. When we grew up, my generation, the generation just directly after me, it was college was the way. And you went to high school, you went to college. That was how you got a good job. Well, today, industry is telling us something very different. They're telling us they want more experience. They're telling us they don't necessarily need a bachelor's degree more, but they want certifications to prove you know your skills. And navigating that is very different. So just learning the different options that are available to teenagers, that has dramatically changed and how to engage with all of that has been definitely different than what traditional models might have taught.

Rexhen Doda:

Yeah, definitely. And is there a specific group like ICP that you are working with? Like I know you mentioned teenagers and young professionals, but is that what you're going after or is there a specific industry there?

Stephanie Haynes:

You know, most teenagers and young adults aren't going to assign themselves up to do career coaching. That's just not the case, right? It's usually their parents who are saying, wait, I can't do this. I don't know what I'm doing. My teen and I are arguing way too much. And they feel like they're lost themselves. So that's my ideal customer platform is those parents of teenagers or young adults for whom that life after high school just hasn't been figured out in a simple way. So I work with them directly. But in the other side of that, I work with a lot of schools independently and teach them through educators, as well as through principals and culture and vision, how to best manage high school so that students find relevance in it and are able to actually do more than what you might traditionally expect in a high school. I work with several high schools right now for whom I'm building pupil progression pathways or courses in when you take them. They'll actually give students an associate's degree or opportunity for a career certification by the time they graduate high school. And I think that's an important distinction is that high school doesn't have to be a time when you're just sitting in class. It can be something more important.

Rexhen Doda:

And where do you find your clients what is the main way of connecting with potential clients like such as parents that in this case are going to be the ones who are going to be your clients but in direct contact which is you work with teenager, but yeah.

Stephanie Haynes:

Yeah. Usually it's by word of mouth and referral from previous clients who realize that what I do is important to them. But I do a lot of work marketing my book because that tends to be where parents need to be introduced first. They tend to want to purchase that book and then they reach out and go, oh, I see there's options, but I don't know how to help my team decide which one is the right one for them. Secondary to that is I do a lot of downloads. So when you have a download off your website, some Somebody might give you their email address. And then I continue to discuss things with that person based on what they signed up for. So I have one out there about my top five ways to help your teams discover that career pathway. And so I reach back out and continue talking with them about that. This is some new stuff to think about. Or I share a blog post or whatever that might be. And that's generally how I nurture my clients.

Rexhen Doda:

And where would they find the lead magnet in this case? Is it marketing LinkedIn? Or before they download it, where do they find it? find it

Stephanie Haynes:

yeah most of my parents are most my ideal customer avatars are on instagram and facebook not necessarily linkedin although those are there for my business clients and i use that differently but i usually use my instagram profile and i'm using my facebook profile to kind of share that information but to your point it's more about the than just the lead magnet itself it's more about do they like me do they know me do they trust me to want to share something like that

Rexhen Doda:

cool thanks for sharing that and i can imagine it's not linkedin because you're not working with professionals, specifically you're working with the parents. Yeah, so that makes sense. What are some future goals you're working towards for the next one to three years?

Stephanie Haynes:

Yeah, so that's a really great question. I just launched my new World Changers Academy online programming. And so one of the goals I'm working towards is to build that programming, not only for individuals to use, but for schools to purchase as well. I do have that in the works right now so that schools can use this entire comprehensive program from who are you to what option do you really want to step into and everything in between. So that kind of thing is coming and that's something I really hope to have in a lot more schools besides the ones that are here in South Carolina. Another goal I'm working towards is really looking at how I can build pipelines between industry and the schools that I serve. We have a ton of really great kids in our high schools, but They're not being tapped into. They're not being recognized as a potential future workforce while they're still in high school. And I really believe in the apprenticeship program. I believe in the internship model. And I want to try and build those pipelines between industry and high school to help them recognize these kids are willing to do the training. We just need to know how to do it and what that means and what they can get as a result.

Rexhen Doda:

And another question I wanted to ask is, in terms of investment, what resources or support has been most valuable in you growing your coaching business?

Stephanie Haynes:

My own coach, I have my own business coach, and he has been invaluable in being able to understand where I'm at, what do I do to get here, and what do I need to do to keep going, and what does that even look like? So that's been the first thing. And I've been investing in different contractors to help me grow and scale what I'm doing. Currently, I am a single solopreneur, right? It's me. It's my company. It's what I've been doing. And I can only do so much. And so to grow that requires me to have more of me. And so I've been contracting with other people, specifically someone who does my content and research, which has been a huge load off of me to get all of the latest research put together in a nice, easy to read format so that I can then use that for my presentations. And so that's been helpful as well. Also offloading a lot of my social media. I create the content, but somebody else schedules it. Somebody else comes in and records and does the videos with me and that kind of thing. And then they take it, edit it. Those have been the biggest things I think I've invested in that have truly begun to build towards that payoff, which I really appreciate.

Rexhen Doda:

And when you said a coach is a business coach, right?

Stephanie Haynes:

Yes.

Rexhen Doda:

What is something that you wish you had known when you first started scaling your coaching business that is like an unexpected lesson learned that you learned along the way?

Stephanie Haynes:

Well, there are a lot because truly I did not strategically plan to start a business. I just kept getting asked to do things for which people needed to pay me. And so I just built one. So I think I wish I had known that building a business can come in a variety of forms and that knowing where you want to go doesn't always dictate what you need to do when you're starting so um you know i there's a lot that goes into this and i think if i had been told listen just go and just start and just go from there and keep working forward like i have been i think that's been the biggest lesson learned because i think i can get caught up in the minutiae of i need to do a b c through x just to make sure i get something going and it can keep me from actually stepping out and doing it versus doing a steps a and b seeing what happened pivoting if I need to, keep going forward if I don't, and then working that as I go. And I think that's one of the lessons. I wish someone had really just ingrained in me at the beginning, like just to start and see what happened. You don't need to have it all perfect before you get going.

Rexhen Doda:

Yeah, totally. And I just have that advice with a coach. I was just doing the podcast before. So it's very interesting. What are the biggest challenges you've faced or that you're still facing in scaling your coaching business right

Stephanie Haynes:

now? I think one of the biggest challenges is being able to address all of the different parents that are interested in working with me. I don't currently trust anybody else to do coaching for my clients than me. And that doesn't mean I'm not looking towards doing that, but right now I know what I'm teaching. I know it's important and I want to work with those clients, but I also don't have a ton of time. And so one of the biggest challenges is replicating me as a coach, which is why the class is a start for that and why I do a bunch of ton of free resources and everything else, because I want somebody to have what they need if I'm not available. I think the second challenge that I faced, in scaling my business is knowing how. There's so many aspects related to scaling your business. Where do you even start? Things from your financial platform set up properly with your bookkeeping and your pro formas and all of that to do I need to get a loan or do I save up for a while before I scale and do something big? Do I hire an employee versus do I hire a contractor? There are so many things that I don't know that it gets to be a big challenge, but I think it's more the basic, the business operation side. I know my content. I know what to do with it all. I know how to coach, but the business part of it is the biggest challenge for me.

Rexhen Doda:

Yeah. So especially time, right? Scaling for time. How do you currently, and this is a good question because I feel like you're still struggling with this. How do you currently balance between delivering great results to your clients and managing business growth from the other side?

Stephanie Haynes:

Yeah, that's a really good question. And you're right. It's something to really pay attention to. I do have pretty solid parameters around my time in terms of what I will do in a day. I don't start with my schools before 8 a.m. That's usually when they're starting. So I start at 8 a.m. And they're done about 4. I usually finish about 4.30. And that's my day. And I do keep it really strict into that. But I do work six days a week because currently I have school clients that take up four out of my five business days, right? And so I give you two days to work in and on my business, which isn't very much. So I try really hard to make that balance work, making sure I have time for my family and friends and so on. But to your point, growth is money. slower because of that. It does mean I have to be much more intentional about the clients I take, when I take them and how I take them. So if I want to take private clients, for example, I take them over the summer because I don't have my schools in session. And so there's a lot of balancing give and take there for myself. And it is important to pay attention to because it's only me. And if I burn out, then everything goes away. So I've got to make sure I keep that going.

Rexhen Doda:

Is there any aspect of running your coaching business right now that would figuratively keep you up at night?

Stephanie Haynes:

There are a lot of things that keep me up at night. But mainly, like I said earlier, I've worked with some contractors now and I have some people who really believe in what I'm doing and I don't want to let them down. I want to make sure I have what they need so they can do the jobs that they're contracted for. I want to make sure that I present well so that the work that they're doing actually pays off for them too. And that's really important to me. If I'm going to bring anybody into my business as a subcontractor, contractor, whatever, I want them to get more out of it than I do from them. And so I really want to make sure that I'm creating an environment for them where they can thrive. And that's usually what keeps me up. Second to that is, am I qualified in the way of, do I have enough recent knowledge, right? There's always so many things changing when it comes to industry and job development and career coaching and all of that. Am I up to date? Do I have the right latest statistics? And do I have that right information? So those are the two things I think that'll keep me up most at night.

Rexhen Doda:

Thank you for sharing that. Is there any other advice you would give to career coaches that are looking to scale their impact? And this is a closing question.

Stephanie Haynes:

Yeah. If I was to give any advice, it would be to connect with other career coaches to discuss strategies of what works and what's not working. Even if you have different clients, that's okay. The idea is to keep talking with each other about the new trends, about the new platforms you might know about, the new ways to find careers, all of that stuff. I think it's important to do that because we can be really isolated whether you work in a company or work on your own it's very isolated you just have your client caseload that you're managing and so keeping talking to other coaches that are in your industry even if it's not in your area I think it's a really important thing to keep doing

Rexhen Doda:

thank you so much Stephanie thank you for coming to the show and for anyone who wants to find you they can find you at Stephanie Haynes in LinkedIn they can also find you at stephaniehaynes.net on the website thank you so much for coming to the show it was a lovely episode. Thank you so much. I hope you have a great rest of your day.

Davis Nguyen:

That's it for this episode of Career Coaching Secrets. If you enjoyed this conversation, you can subscribe to YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to this episode to catch future episodes. This conversation was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to seven and eight figures without burning out. To learn more about Purple Circle, our community, and how we can help you grow your business, visit joinpurplecircle.com.

Rexhen Doda:

Thank you.