Career Coaching Secrets

Follow the Breadcrumbs: How Bryce Batts Built Her Career Coaching Business

• Davis Nguyen

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In this episode of Career Coaching Secrets, Bryce Batts shares how she transitioned from corporate recruiting to launching Career Collective. Discover how she scaled her coaching business, balanced recruiting with coaching, and why she believes in carving your own lane instead of following trends. Perfect for coaches looking to align their business with their values.

You can find her on:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryce-batts-recruiter
https://www.mycareercollective.com/


You can also watch this podcast on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/@CareerCoachingSecrets

If you are a career coach looking to grow your business you can find out more about Purple Circle at http://joinpurplecircle.com

Get Exclusive Access to Our In-Depth Analysis of 71 Successful Career Coaches, Learn exactly what worked (and what didn't) in the career coaching industry in 2024: https://joinpurplecircle.com/white-paper-replay

Bryce Batts:

If you want to get into coaching, it is really meaningful. Get clear on what you stand for and understand your values. And then from there, build a vision and don't be afraid to carve out your own lane. I know for a while, everyone was saying niche down, niche down. And then it was like, you don't have to have a niche, but follow your gut and see what's working for you. I feel like I believe in God, but whether you believe in God or the universe, you are given breadcrumbs and you have to keep following those.

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 along the way. 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 businesses 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:

Hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Career Coaching Series podcast. I'm your host, Rexhen, and today's guest is Bryce Batts. Bryce is a seasoned career coach and talent matchmaker. specializing in architectural, engineering, and construction industries. With over 15 years of experience, Bryce has guided hundreds of professionals to clarify their career goals, sharpen their job search strategies, and confidently land roles that truly fit their skills and aspirations. Bryce coaching approach is all about personalized guidance, helping clients navigate complex job markets, build authentic connections, and unlock career opportunities that align with their passions. Beyond coaching, she also hosts the Wine After Work podcast, where she explores professional growth and work-life balance. And it's a pleasure for me to have her on the podcast today. Welcome to the show, Bryce.

Bryce Batts:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. It's an honor.

Rexhen:

It's a pleasure for us, Bryce. So tell me a little bit more about what inspired you to become a coach and then start your own coaching business.

Bryce Batts:

Yeah, I love podcasts and I heard about coaching on a podcast I was listening to and was really intrigued. I would say my journey into coaching really started with a desire for career autonomy, something I dive deep into in a book I'm working on that's coming late summer, early fall, The Career Architect. But I spent 12 years in a toxic corporate environment doing recruiting. It was a small company and I was making great money. So the golden handcuffs are a real thing. But I realized that I want to help others break free from the default career path and design something that actually aligns with their values. So I'm Took a course and then I took another course and got certified and just really loved it and love working with clients to help them make a change in their career. I have 15 years of recruiting experience. So help people find a job that they love, whether it's entrepreneurship or a new career path, new job is something I'm really passionate about.

Rexhen:

And it's been about four years and a half to four years and five months that you've been doing your coaching business, according to LinkedIn. So how does that journey look like from the moment you started it to where you are at today?

Bryce Batts:

Yeah, great question. And you're correct in the timeline, because it was during COVID that I got quiet, like a lot of people decided to I asked myself what's next and decided it was career coaching. And I would say my path has been anything but linear. You know, the pandemic gave me time to pause and reflect and ask what's next for me. And that turned into launching my coaching practice. And then I left my full-time job, same time as my husband. So that was a bit stressful right after COVID. He and I both imparted on new journeys. And I ended up opening Career Collective with my business partner. He and I had worked together. at a previous firm, the small toxic firm that I mentioned. And we've been in business here three years. So my journey with career coaching had just begun. And I was excited to bring that into Career Collective. So we still do recruiting for the AEC industry here, work with clients nationwide, which is really exciting. And it really lights me up making that match between the candidate and the client. the clients are all hiring. AEC is a very tight job market. So they need help from us to help them find the right candidates. And the candidates need help because they're fielding multiple offers. Maybe they were recently laid off. So coaching is something we naturally do every day when we're talking to candidates and clients. But then it's also a part of our business where if people are wanting to pivot outside of AEC or launch their own firm, that's something that I can help them with.

Rexhen:

And initially you had Bryce Batts career coaching business, and then you started Career Collective. Is there anything between these two or Career Collective is something that you're doing with your husband and initially you were doing it on your own?

Bryce Batts:

So Bryce Matt's coaching was something I started when I was coaching and still working for the other recruiting company. And then Career Collective was started with my now business partner, not my husband, a different gentleman who I worked with at the previous recruiting company. So he and I both brought our knowledge from our previous firm together to start Career Collective. And then I brought the coaching in-house here. So dissolved Bryce Batts Coaching because now it's all under the Career Collective umbrella. Although to probably confuse your listeners more, I started Bryce Batts Consulting where I am now also helping companies with their hiring and retention and really walking them through an eight-step roadmap over 16 weeks where I'm helping companies really attract and retain talent because that's so needed in the AEC industry.

Rexhen:

And sorry for that. I thought I confused partner with husband for a second.

Bryce Batts:

That's okay. It happens all the time. And when I'm traveling with my business partner, I think people assume maybe we're married. I just celebrated my anniversary yesterday. So I've been married for 20 years. But what I can say is having a business partner is like another marriage. I had no idea it would be so intimate. But you're running a team. We have 20 people on our team. You're sharing your goals, concerns, fears, everything. every day and you have to talk about your bank balance a lot and what you're spending your money on. So it really is like a second marriage.

Rexhen:

And so currently Career Collective, you said it also has like a team behind it, right?

Bryce Batts:

We do.

Rexhen:

When it comes to the structure of the team for anyone, like for any coach who's listening and is interested in just knowing how different coaches structure their team, how does the team look like?

Bryce Batts:

Yeah, so on Career Collective, you have myself and my business partner, Edwin Pawali. And then we have a manager in our Tampa office. We have two locations, one in Tampa, one in Raleigh. And myself and Edwin, we sit in the Raleigh office. Our manager, Alex, he's in Tampa. And the teams are divided pretty evenly between the two locations. But everyone is a recruiter and an account manager. And then I was doing coaching solely on my own and we had two more people get certified as coaches and now they coach as well. But everyone is trained with that coach mentality to really help their clients and their candidates and walk them through aligning their vision and their values with the job that they're looking for and help them make the right decisions for their career.

Rexhen:

I really like that you are in a position where you could also be in recruiting and coaching. Does it happen that the coaching clients get help through recruitment as well?

Bryce Batts:

Yeah, it's interesting because it can go back and forth. So when I talk to someone, I have to really listen and dive in and ask them what they're looking for exactly. Because if they are in AEC and they just want help finding a job, Then recruiting is where it's at. We can line them up with multiple interviews, hopefully get them multiple offers and help them negotiate the salary that they want, the benefits that they want. But if they're having a hard time and they don't know what they want, that's where the coaching really comes in. So we can sit with them and help them decide what is the next best step for them and what does that look like?

Rexhen:

So right now, who is the target audience exactly? So we did mention on the intro that you're working in the architectural, engineering and construction industries. Is there a specific demographic or maybe a certain, maybe they're mid-career or like a certain category that people generally fall into when they work with you?

Bryce Batts:

So it runs the gamut, but I would say the most aligned client and the majority of the clients I work with are professionals, especially women in the AEC industry who are stuck in misaligned roles or facing burnout because women juggle so much. So I work with them to help them get clear on their values, set boundaries, and really take the wheel on their careers.

Rexhen:

And where do people generally find you or what marketing channel works best for you right now?

Bryce Batts:

LinkedIn has been the best place for me. I am posting on LinkedIn three, four times a week. And if you're not as familiar with LinkedIn, there is a services page and you can really list out your services. I talk a lot about my consulting there now. But I've had a lot of clients come to me through just my LinkedIn page. And then in 15 years of recruiting, obviously, I've made a lot of connections in the community, even outside of AEC. So I've had a lot of people come to me that way through word of mouth and then referrals. So that's been really great.

Rexhen:

And when it comes to LinkedIn, apart from like just having the services on the service section, are you also doing maybe posting or any other engagement with them?

Bryce Batts:

Yeah, I'm posting three to four times a week. And that includes a weekly newsletter as well that I send out on Sundays. The day has varied. Now I stick to Sunday evenings. I have a Sunday scary series because I find that That's when a lot of people are thinking about going back to work on Sunday night and they're dreading it and their anxiety is up. So I like to meet them where they are and help them address that and hopefully move past it. And if not, they can work with me and we can do that together. But yeah, showing up both on LinkedIn there and then in the newsletter as well. And then through the website that shifted, as you mentioned, it's just my career collective now. We're there as well. And we've got an email we send out to everyone in our CRM once a week

Rexhen:

okay so you have the newsletter that is within LinkedIn

Bryce Batts:

mm-hmm

Rexhen:

you also have a newsletter on the CRM

Bryce Batts:

correct yeah

Rexhen:

cool and so you are not moving your LinkedIn audience with the CRM too?

Bryce Batts:

No, not always because our CRM is more clients we're working with or looking to work with on the recruiting side or candidates we've worked with. So people who have sent us their resume and want some help, or it might've been people we've even reached out to to see if they're aligned. And that's what fills up our database, which is now about 120,000 people. So we have whittled that down into a smaller email list and target those those people weekly. Of course, they can unsubscribe, but we've got a really good list there of people who are engaged. So we talk to them weekly and then the LinkedIn newsletter lives there. So it's anyone who follows me, they will get my newsletter emailed to them, but it will also show up as a post on LinkedIn. I've had success in messaging people on LinkedIn as well. If I see they're looking for a job or want some help, there's another secret on LinkedIn. You can toggle. I'd have to look at LinkedIn to figure out exactly where it is, but within your services to see other people who are asking for help. And so even if this person is pitching someone else on LinkedIn, you can connect with them and offer your services.

Rexhen:

Interesting. Thanks so much for sharing. So basically LinkedIn or like the list of people on LinkedIn you're using as more of like what we'd call like a colder audience that are not ready yet to work with you or might be somewhat aware of the problem, but are not aware yet of like the service that exists there to help with this problem. And then the audience that is on the CRM is people that are more warmer leads, you'd say.

Bryce Batts:

Yeah, that's true.

Rexhen:

Cool. And is there any goals that you have? Just want to move away from marketing for a second. Is there any goals that you have with your coaching business and recruiting business now for the next one to three years?

Bryce Batts:

Yeah, I'm an Enneagram 3. So if you're into the Enneagram at all, I'm very achievement driven. So I feel like I always have a lot of goals, probably too many goals. But I have a daughter in high school and one entering middle school. So to spend more time with them is always a goal and to be present. But in the business, I would like to speak on more stages or workshops with people in AEC. I've got a few coming up. So I'm excited about that. As I mentioned, I'm working on my book, The Career Architect. So to get that in the hands of people who are looking to make a change or need career advice, to grow career collective is a huge goal. We've got a big space in Raleigh that I really want to fill up with more recruiters. We have a really great culture here. So we're able to offer them something really special where They have a lot of flexibility. It's a really great culture. They can make a lot of money. So it can be life-changing money for them. And we've got, since we've started, two people get engaged. One person is about to have a baby. So it's really exciting to see these young people grow and develop. So that's really a lot of fun. And to continue to coach people and consult clients and future clients on how to attract and retain talent in AUC.

Rexhen:

And you mentioned the book too. So is there like a timeline when you think this book is going to come out or is it already in the weeds?

Bryce Batts:

It's been written and it's being edited now. We're working on the front and back cover. So it's close. So I'm hoping that it'll be pushed out in September.

Rexhen:

Cool. And do you have a title yet or even the title is being edited?

Bryce Batts:

The title is The Career Architect.

Rexhen:

The Career Architect. Okay, cool.

Bryce Batts:

Uh-huh.

Rexhen:

All right. So yeah, just wondering if someone watches the episode, maybe in September, they might find them.

Bryce Batts:

Yes. And if you follow me on LinkedIn, I'm sure I'll be posting about it. Yeah.

Rexhen:

So I wanted to ask you, when it comes to investments, has there been any investment within the coaching side of your business that you feel that has helped the business grow, even by actually the recruiting side? So just the business... in its own. Have you invested in like any coaching programs, masterminds, communities or anything else that you feel that actually has helped the business grow?

Bryce Batts:

Yeah, I'm a big believer in having a coach myself. And so I pretty much always have. Right now I'm working with a podcast coach. And when we started Career Collective, I was working with a coach because I feel like I'm always needing to expand and uplevel my mindset. And when I quit the small company I was working for and opened Career Collective. I went from being a sole contributor to now leading a team. And we have 20 people on our team. And while I'm not responsible for everyone every day, I did want to become a better leader. So having other coaches help me was instrumental. But I would say the biggest thing has been joining a mastermind This is my third year in the mastermind. I'm with 20 other women entrepreneurs. They have various businesses, both product-based and service-based. And just to have the community, the clarity they give me, the support, it has been amazing. And it just allows me to continue to evolve and grow. So

Rexhen:

the

Bryce Batts:

mastermind has been huge.

Rexhen:

And for any woman that is listening, that wants to learn more about this mastermind, what is it called?

Bryce Batts:

yeah it's the it's the flourish mastermind and it is with emily gray who owns the flourish market

Rexhen:

cool thanks thanks for sharing that yeah all right so wanted to move away from the current like the investments and like the future wanted to ask you right now what would you say is the biggest challenge that you're facing within your business in order for it to scale even further? Is there any challenge that like any bottleneck right now that you're facing?

Bryce Batts:

For the recruiting business, Career Collective, fourth quarter was really tough. It was an election year. We had hired four new people. So we were playing catch up for at least the first quarter. We've had a strong 2025, but I would say, you know, always the time and the money seemed to be the bottleneck. Also, personally, I think scaling means learning how to say no, set boundaries and protect your time. As I mentioned, I always have a lot of goals. I'm always trying to do a lot of things, but I think you have to set boundaries so you don't learn the lesson the hard way and so you don't get burnt out. And then here with Career Collective, just watching the bank account, watching the time that you have and knowing when to hire and how many people to hire. And that's something we've learned as we've gone.

Rexhen:

If we were to put a finger on the challenge, you'd say that you're running an issue when it comes to further scaling, you're running a revenue issue where you said money, what would be like that one thing? I

Bryce Batts:

say if there's one thing, I would say it's setting boundaries with your time or whatever that may mean to you. And you know, you decide what your boundaries look like. It could be with your business partner, it could be with your team, when can they reach out? You know, what does that look like? We've done 4 million year over year. So I'm happy with our revenue, but to grow and to be able to hire people who probably aren't going to be producing for three to six months, you have to have a good cushion so you can bring those people in and give them time and runway to succeed without being stressed out. And that's something we've learned.

Rexhen:

Thanks for sharing all of that.

Bryce Batts:

Yeah.

Rexhen:

All right. So this has been great already. I wanted to ask you, is there any final advice you'd like to give to other coaches who are also trying to scale their in I

Bryce Batts:

would say go for it. If you want to get into coaching, it is really meaningful. Get clear on what you stand for and understand your values. And then from there, build a vision and don't be afraid to carve out your own lane. I know for a while, everyone was saying niche down, niche down. And then it was like, you don't have to have a niche, but follow your gut and see what's working for you. I feel like. I believe in God, but whether you believe in God or the universe, you are given breadcrumbs and you have to keep following those.

Rexhen:

Thank you. Thank you so much, Bryce. It's been lovely having you on the podcast for anyone who wants to connect with you or reach out to you. They can find you on your LinkedIn, Bryce Batts. There's also the website, mycareercollective.com. Is there any other way that they could reach out to you and connect with you?

Bryce Batts:

Yeah, those are two great places. And then my personal website is BryceBats.net. So it's B-R-Y-C-E-B-A-T-T-S.net.

Rexhen:

Thank you. Thank you so much,

Davis Nguyen:

Bryce.

Bryce Batts:

Yeah, thank you. This has been fun. I appreciate it.

Davis Nguyen:

Thank you so much.