Building Healthy Leaders: Shanae Calhoun on Purposeful Coaching and Team Alignment

 In this episode, host Kevin sits down with Shanae Calhoun for a powerful and insightful conversation on personal growth, purpose, and transformation. Shanae opens up about her journey — the challenges she’s faced, the lessons that shaped her mindset, and the practices that helped her evolve in life and career. Together, they explore the importance of self-awareness, resilience, and making aligned decisions in a fast-changing world. Whether you're seeking motivation, clarity, or a fresh perspective, this episode offers inspiration and actionable takeaways.



Connect with

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanae-calhoun-624564303/
Website: https://www.shanaecalhoun.com/

Transcript

Shanae Calhoun: 0:00

Another common experience would be that of the challenges and obstacles that can meet us when we are working in diverse settings and especially in predominantly white organizations and institutions. Bias, we every last human being on this earth has something called bias, which is just our orientation, the lens through which we see the world based on our lived experience. So we all got it. And what I've learned, what I've lived, and what I continue to learn through my research is that there are some typical ways that my leadership has been undermined.

Davis Nguyen : 0:42

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 Wynne, and I'm the founder of Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to $100,000 years, $100,000 months, and even $100,000 weeks. Before Purple Circle, I've grown several seven and eight-figure career coaching businesses myself and have been a consultant at two career coaching businesses that are doing over $100 million each. Whether you're an established coach or building your practice for the first time, go discover the secrets to elevating your coaching business.

Kevin: 1:13

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets Podcast. I'm Kevin, and today we are joined by Sinee Cahun. She is the founder of Willow Consulting, been a coach for over six years. Welcome to the show, Sinee.

Shanae Calhoun: 1:25

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to get into this conversation.

Kevin: 1:29

Yeah, me too. First question I typically ask on this podcast is like, how did you get into coaching and what made you want to turn it into a business?

Shanae Calhoun: 1:38

That is such a loaded question. So feel free to interrupt if I'm getting into other things. But basically, so my trade, my background, if you will, is in community organizing. I worked on the ground in multiple cities helping community leaders build power so they can impact policy and funding decisions so that their lives can be better. And I did that for 14 years. 10 of those years, I was an executive director and lead organizer. And really what that meant is I did three or four jobs on a regular basis: executive director, media and comms, operations, organizer, all the things. And while the work was extremely rewarding, there came a season of burnout. And what I realized in that season of burnout is that the or the larger organization that I was connected to for training and support, they were really good at training me on the skills to build power and build community. They did a great job training me on that, gave me hardly any development as a leader of an organization. And in my season of burnout, I learned the difference between training and development. Training is about developing a skill that helps you achieve outcomes. Development is about your own journey leading people. And so as I sort of put myself in various opportunities to grow as a leader, it just I learned more about my own purpose and I also learned more about my gifts and talents. And I realized that training and coaching is one of my gifts and talents. And when I would look back over my work as an organizer, I realized that the most joyful moments in my work were when I was coaching and training my peers and my staff. And so I said, okay, hmm, I want joy all the time. And so how can I do more and more of what I love doing and what's bringing me joy? And I started slowly shifting from being in the field as an organizer to being more of a consultant and a coach and a trainer until eventually it got to the point where I realized this is something that I can do full time. And I'm just gonna go out, get out there, and create opportunities. And so in 19, Willow Consulting was birthed. I began to tap into the relationships with people who wanted more training and coaching in the world of community organizing. And so that's how I got started.

Kevin: 4:27

It might have evolved, but I'm very curious about this. Everybody talks about ideal client profiles and who do you help and what do you help them with? Curious how that how did you discover the people that you want to help? And if that's kind of evolved over the last six years.

Shanae Calhoun: 4:42

It has evolved. And what I'm about to say, so all of the learning that I've been doing as an entrepreneur, as a new coach, I'm hearing who's your ideal client? Niche down, be specific, right? And so what I'm about to say kind of breaks that rule, but I think it works for me. So I actually have two ideal clients. Because I have a background in community organizing, I will always find joy in training and coaching nonprofit organizations and change makers who are in the movement, the social justice movement, can like merge into that space anytime and deliver training and coaching on building power in local communities. So that's one piece of what I continue to do. But along the way, as you mentioned, I started to get really passionate about people who look like me, particularly black and brown women who are finding themselves in that moment that I spoke about that was just eight years ago, that burnout moment. There are so many of us who are in leadership positions, who are getting great training and not enough development, and we are running ourselves into the ground. And I decided that I want to align myself with leaders who have a mission, but who want to be healthy while they achieve that mission. And so Willow, for when you go to the Willow Consulting website, which is ShineCalhoun.com or my social media platforms, you'll see me talk a lot about that specific community. Women of color who are um in executive leadership or entrepreneurs that want to live out their mission and their purpose to the fullest, but do it healthily and like they have time for their families and themselves. So that's my people.

Kevin: 6:38

Yeah. And and I'm really curious about this too, because obviously I'm not black. I'm also not a woman for me. Um, and so I'm very curious about the unique experience or the unique challenges for these type of women.

Shanae Calhoun: 6:51

No, I first let me say that leadership is hard, period. And so um, what I do love about coaching is that a lot of what I work through with leaders is applicable to everyone. I'll say that on the onset. At the same time, I have a very unique relationship with my clients because I've been where they've been and have walked in those shoes. And while we all have unique experiences, we do have shared experiences. Okay. And so I'll give you some of those shared experiences. One is very commonly leaders, women of color in leadership who have families, they are juggling a high impact job while being a caregiver. So whether you're caring for um children with special needs or um aging parents, loved ones that um are leaning on you and the family for support, that caregiving piece, uh, it's it's never ending. It's 24-7. And while it can be joyful, it's also exhausting. And so balancing caregiving with a high impact leadership role can be challenging when you're doing it by yourself. So that's one. I can continue. Shall I continue?

Kevin: 8:11

Let's do three total. I think three is a great number.

Shanae Calhoun: 8:15

Another common experience would be that of the challenges and obstacles that can meet us when we are working in diverse settings and especially in predominantly white organizations and institutions. Bias, we every last human being on this earth has something called bias, which is just our orientation, the lens through which we see the world based on our lived experience. So we all got it. And what I've learned, what I've lived, and what I continue to learn through my research is that there are some typical ways that my leadership has been undermined in an organization, and that has been the common experience of others because of either implicit or explicit bias within the work group. So whether that's staff or a board, or perhaps it's present in coalition work, right? We can see that come up. So that would be a second common experience. And so let's see, I've talked about caregiving and the challenges that come with it. I've talked about dealing with explicit and implicit bias in our work. And I would say another sort of common experience is I'll talk about one of my experiences and something I had to overcome as an entrepreneur, which is I grew up, it was instilled in me that whatever you do, you don't do 100%, you do 150%. You be the cream of the crop, you be the top of your class, MVP, right? That was instilled in me from a very young age. And um I've carried that with me. I've always given 110% in everything that I do. So, Kevin, what happens when everything gets 110% burnout? Our cup is empty, our well is dry, and that's not helpful for any of us. And one of the ways this shows up is it means that we delay or maybe we don't execute projects and ideas that we have that actually help us live out our purpose and bring us joy. So if I hadn't waited until this coaching thing was completely baked, ready to go, perfect, if I hadn't waited, I would not be a coach today. And so helping, supporting leaders as they as they birth new ideas and as they identify different ways to live out their purpose or the mission and vision of their organization, sometimes that support to get out of our own head and let the thing that may be half baked go forth to unlock the real potential that people have.

Kevin: 10:58

I I really like the way that you just described some of these challenges because sometimes, like, even though I'm not your target demo, I can relate to a lot of these challenges too. About like especially the MVP one, the last one, I was like, oh my God, that was me. That was like all my friends who were like those overachieving Asian students in school and stuff like that, did doctorates and burned out. I think the real powerful thing that you have here is you're able to kind of label these symptoms or these challenges. And people listening to this can be like, oh my God, that's exactly what I'm going through. And so something I'm very curious about is like the marketing side of your business, right? So if you're attracting black and brown women, uh entrepreneurs in leadership roles, right? What does your marketing look like? How do they find out about you and your services?

Shanae Calhoun: 11:47

Oh my goodness. This is one of those things that definitely was not, it was like less than half bank when I got started. I'm still working on it. But I would say first and foremost, folks that I had built relationships with over time. So sort of both my personal and professional network, that's where people first heard and found out about me and about my coaching services. And that's the best, you know, kind of marketing because folks, you already have a certain level of trust and credibility. And so right away, um, I was able to tap into those relationships and then also um some referral work was also very helpful. And so that's where it first got started. But I knew that um I knew that my experience wasn't relatable. And so I've tried to get out there on social media platforms and tell my story and and and surface um some of these experiences, common experiences that we have. And so I don't know. I maybe I've done a little bit of a good job of that. So people do risk react and respond, and that's been helpful, but but I'm still figuring it out too.

Kevin: 13:05

As you reflect on your journey, what's the most challenging part for the marketing stuff for you? Like it sounds like yes, primary is referral, word of mouth, you're doing a really great job there. And then you're also going to other people's podcasts, but like when it comes to other methods of marketing, what are some challenges that can I tell you a secret?

Shanae Calhoun: 13:23

Sure. I am technically a millennial. I think I'm the oldest. I'm at the top of the millennial generation. Okay. It's one of the old heads. And therefore, I did not get the social media gene. Okay. It just doesn't come natural to me. There are, I I'm already well in touch with a hundred other things that I love to do. So I struggle to spend enough time on those platforms to really, you know, strike up and generate relationships and use those, maximize those platforms, I would say. So that's a struggle for me. I do my best. So yeah, that's one struggle for sure.

Kevin: 14:03

As I'm reflecting on this too, because uh I'm also a millennial, uh, but I'm probably what 88. So like I'm 30, I'm 37 right now. So like I grew kind of grew up with social media in college and high school, cusp, right? But I still don't like just like you, I don't have that social media gene like the Gen Z kids and all these other kids have. And so something I did for my business is actually I hired uh social, hired one of these kids to just run it. So I'm kind of curious. Have you like tried, have you hired, uh, have you made strategic hires or anything like that, with marketing or your business in general?

Shanae Calhoun: 14:37

Yes, you're so good. Yeah, I definitely um hired help. One thing about this coaching thing, and even if you're a solo preneur, and I think I would still consider myself a solo preneur, but I have a team, okay? Anybody out there who is solo preneuring it, like, hey, you might be in that season for a while, but it doesn't mean you don't have a team. Okay. Need a team. So I have, so my first hire was my brand strategist. And my brand strategist was like, honey, you got to put your face on these platforms. Go. I was like, okay. And then um I wanted one of my values. This probably goes back to my childhood again, is I like for things to be polished a certain kind of way. And I definitely couldn't do that work. So then I hired someone who could do good editing and also like do some management on those platforms as well. So yeah, yeah.

Kevin: 15:36

Kind of like a social media manager from what it sounds like, right?

Shanae Calhoun: 15:39

Mm-hmm. Yep. So my words, my story, my vision, my face, but definitely execution on the other end.

Kevin: 15:47

Nice. So I'm starting to see this like machine come into fruition. You kind of broke down your marketing. So people are finding out about you. They're probably wanting to work with you. And so, um, yeah, I'm kind of curious at this point, what do your coaching engagements look like? Is it mostly like one-on-one? Like, do organizational trainings and stuff. Yeah, I'm just kind of curious about the different uh offers that you have, offerings that you have.

Shanae Calhoun: 16:13

Yeah, thank you for asking. Um, this has also changed over time, depending on what season I'm in, what projects I have going. And so actually starting out, I did do quite a bit of one-on-one coaching. That was my main offer. And what I realized with that is the way for leaders to maximize coaching is that they have a strategy for taking some of the stuff back to their team. And so that opened the door to my second offer, which are team convenings. And so, whether it's around strategic planning or just straight up team building, um, I do have what I call an MVP plan. MVP stands for mission, vision, and purpose. And I go through a framework with the leader and with their team, all with the goal of better alignment. The individuals aligning well to the organizational mission, personally being aligned, and then also just better cohesive team nature, if you will. So, so that was the second offer that's developed. And I would say that is my leading offer right now. I love to be in the space with teens, nurture, and cultivate relationship and trust and alignment to mission and vision and purpose.

Kevin: 17:33

I love that because I love this story because um I think a lot of times with businesses and stuff, we feel like we have to have all our offers immediately out the gate, all dialed in and stuff. But I liked how you said this was kind of an evolution.

Shanae Calhoun: 17:48

Yeah. Um so the convenings themselves, what I am passionate about is curating a space that brings the very best out of us. And so even in the convening, um, the relationship building that I get to watch unfold the truth telling that sometimes can be without it, it can hinder progress. And I think just creating a space where people are fully present and they're open and sharing and contributing. That's what's happening sort of in the space. And then after the convening, I'm real big on we gotta have check-ins because how many of us have been to a conference that was inspiring, you had a great time, you've learned some tools to use in your work, and then you go back home and you get swept away by your world, and you never open that conference folder again. So, in this case, I like to do follow-ups with leaders, and some of the feedback um that I typically get from leaders is just seeing a different dynamic on the team, which impacts the culture of the organization and morale. And I also think when we are more clear about how we are aligned with where the organization is going, clear clarity, I wasn't Renee Brown that said clear is kind.

Kevin: 19:16

So I want to say yes, but I'm not so sure.

Shanae Calhoun: 19:20

But just like the level of clarity that comes out of the convening empowers staff to like do the job that they've been given and to understand how it fits into the larger picture.

Kevin: 19:33

It sounds like what you're doing is very intimate, it's a lot of work. And you also mentioned that you're kind of a you're not a complete soloprinter, you're kind of like a soloprinter, plus like a few contractors or employees. I don't know how they are. But how do you manage your current client capacity? It's a lot of work.

Shanae Calhoun: 19:50

It's a great question. I think you get the nail on the head on the head in terms of using the word intimate. That is definitely a part of my brand. And it does require time and emotion, emotional capacity and mental capacity and all of that. And I think the reason it works is because I'm in my wheelhouse um and that this is my God-given talent. And so I have been given the capacity to connect with people on this level and lock in in a way that um really serves the leader and the team. So it is a lot of work also. So I do, I I manage my capacity quite a bit. I'm always cognizant of whether I have the capacity to take on another client or what that looks like. And it's actually why there's been a little bit of a shift in my services, too, because I know that when I when I focus on team convenings, those projects, it's a bigger bang for the buck. And it's project-based. It's it's it's it's based around the date of the convening. Everything is built around that. A little bit of shorter term commitment, although long-term commitment is also welcome. So that's I'm not necessarily coaching a bunch of people one-on-one. I'm really, we are building our work around convenings, and that helps me manage the work a little bit better.

Kevin: 21:21

That's really interesting. Now, you also said something really interesting. You like uh package things around project-based. And so something I find uh with a lot of leadership coaches, right? After interviewing so many people on this podcast, things like leadership, things like burnout, it's not like sales and marketing where there's a hard KPI tied to it. And so a lot of this feels very uh not subjective, but can feel like a it's hard to put a value on like these things sometimes, right? Yeah. And so I love your advice on this. I love to talk about pricing strategy on the this type of stuff. Of course, you don't need uh giving hard numbers or anything like that, but how do you go about structuring or where do you how do you put a dollar amount on like this? Is it based off your own time? Is it based off the value that they get? Do they come up with it? Yeah, I'm kind of curious about that back and forth. Yeah, yes, the pricing.

Shanae Calhoun: 22:16

Man, I wish I was the fly on the wall with like some coaches who were discussing this five years ago or something. It's a very difficult to plan. But my strategy has been to focus on how much time I'm spending with the client and developing the project, and that's how I value the value of the contract. It's not necessarily we define the outcomes. And what's most important actually is that the client goes into the work knowing what they want to get out of it. So we define that early on, um, and we continue to measure that throughout the work together. And the value separately is really about is measured by time, the time that I'm spending, number of convening days, number of coaching hours, that kind of thing.

Kevin: 23:06

I'm sure you do a lot of the discovery during your initial discovery calls and stuff like that too. Okay. That's correct.

Shanae Calhoun: 23:12

Yeah.

Kevin: 23:13

Cool. Something as I'm thinking, like as you're sharing all these stories. We talked a lot about your past, but what I'm really interested about is your future. And so I'm guessing in the next where do you want this coaching business to take you in the next few years? Do you have desire to sale, secret dreams, big ambitions in the Roosevelt?

Shanae Calhoun: 23:31

Like Yes, I'm about to retire. Okay, I'm trying to retire a little bit. Um, you know, I will say I feel like I have a healthy balance of um being very open to what opportunities come and shape what is to come, okay, while at the same time have my own goals. And so one thing that I want to do is scale beyond my current networks and word-of-mouth referrals. I would love to get on the radar of organizations and companies that I don't have a direct contact with. And I'm wondering how to engage those leaders and what it can look like to be to begin working with more organizations than just what's in my little bubble. And so that's the that's what's on the horizon for me in the near future is strategize strategizing around how to do that.

Kevin: 24:31

It also seems like you really enjoy this process too, of working with these teams and organizations. Do you ever have plans on like hiring additional coaches to kind of have them run for you, or do you like having this like hands-on approach?

Shanae Calhoun: 24:46

That is such a good question. I am so torn about that. I'm so torn. I I think that the reality is this could be an operation one day with multiple coaches who are working with teams. Um, I think yes, and I'm still wrapping my mind around it because I do, and I imagine this is something that a lot of coaches have to deal with and grapple with, but I do see me as like the thing. So I'm like, if I'm not in the mix, what you know, but that's a limited view. So I'm working through that.

Kevin: 25:21

After speaking to so many people and looking at so many people's like coaching businesses, where I can see you is what we call that purple circle of a pilot, right? Where you're like you're in the business because you want to, but if you want to go autopilot too, and just go fully like autopilot and just be hands-on, have that ability. But I can tell there's a part of you that really enjoys this process. And maybe it's not this or that, maybe it's actually a little bit that's what it seems like to me, at least outside of looking in.

Shanae Calhoun: 25:50

Yeah, yeah. I'd say that is a good summation of where I'm at.

Kevin: 25:54

I do want to ask you too. In the last, I guess, like in this current season of business you're in right now, what are some challenges that you're kind of going through at the moment or noticing? Maybe some things that people probably outside, people outside looking in wouldn't be able to see.

Shanae Calhoun: 26:10

Okay. So the first thing that came to mind is the challenge of juggling opportunity, it's a blessing that opportunities present themselves. The challenge is navigating those opportunities and which ones are right fit. And so, depending on what opportunities I take on, the it can impact whether I have the capacity to continue to bring on clients, what those seasons look like. And especially because remember, when we started this conversation, I talked about two niche clients, one more so social justice movement focused, while the other is more broadly around leadership. I I still get opportunities on both fronts. And so I am, I do have to be careful about which ones I take on and how that impacts my independent coaching and business. So that's one challenge. Let's see. What might some others be?

Kevin: 27:06

Okay, you might hate me for this question, but have has the thought of ever not killing one of these, but maybe letting go of one of these things ever entered your mind? Because something I think about, it's like, you know, as a kid, I really love playing with Legos, right? But as a 37-year-old man, it's kind of weird like to continue playing Legos. I've kind of grown out of that. And so I think a lot about life like that. And so, yeah, has that thought ever entered your mind?

Shanae Calhoun: 27:32

When I think about my work long term, I think I definitely see myself focused on executive leaders and their teams long term. Yeah. Right now, my portfolio is made up of projects on both sides. So that's what brings me to that challenge I was articulating, where it's like at some point that will shift and like navigating that is challenging.

Kevin: 27:57

All right. Let's move on to our next segment. Let's play a game. Yeah, every single podcast we have the storytelling game. I like to do it through the lens of business investments because uh, as you know, a lot of coaches, if you're an entrepreneur, right? We invest things into like coaching, training, cricketing, team members, a lot of different things, right? And so what I like to do is uh like a therapist, right? I want to prompt you something, like a phrase, and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind. If there's a story, love for you to tell me that story. But try to be as specific as possible.

Shanae Calhoun: 28:29

Okay.

Kevin: 28:29

These are all easy, by the way. So you won't don't don't be like, oh my god, I'm so nervous. You don't have to worry about that. Okay.

Shanae Calhoun: 28:36

Yeah.

Kevin: 28:36

All right.

Shanae Calhoun: 28:37

First business investment you remember making in a large screen on my desk.

Kevin: 28:43

Like a monitor?

Shanae Calhoun: 28:44

Yes, like a desktop computer. Not well, not a nice size one, yeah. But I was only working on a laptop at the time, and I was like, I need some technology. So that was my first investment.

Kevin: 28:58

That's like really underrated, uh, especially digital real space. So yeah, one bad first investment. Last business investment you made?

Shanae Calhoun: 29:06

A virtual assistant.

Kevin: 29:07

Yeah, okay, very cool. These might overlap, but best business investment you made.

Shanae Calhoun: 29:13

My I'm gonna have to say the social media stuff person. Why is that? Here's why. Even though having a presence on social media made me build my content, I would have built it otherwise, potentially, but the way the process that I went through, I believe, really contributed to me bottomlining my content, the strategies that I offer and my coaching. I've surfaced. I think it's honestly because of my ongoing relationship with my digital community that I developed my curriculum. I have a curriculum. It's called Rise. We're like trademarking and everything. Like it's real. I think that it made me stay on my game about building my business.

Kevin: 30:00

Yeah, there's that thing, and then we'll move on to last prompt, but there's that thing about like something about hiring people that holds us accountable that adds another fuel uh to the fire and stuff like that too. Which is yep, some people might think it's dread, but for me it's actually real Yep. Okay, worst business investment that you wish you could get your money back. You kind of wish you could get your money back home. You don't need to name names, right?

Shanae Calhoun: 30:23

We'll try not to name names, but basically, one of my recent offerings that may or may not be working is an online self-guided course. And the the subscription to that the platform that it is on, I would say falls into that category.

Kevin: 30:40

I have a feeling I know what which platform this is, but we're not gonna shut it out. I'll talk to you post uh podcasting that's so funny. Okay. I'm sure as I'm prompting you these things, certain memories are coming, these stories are coming up. And so, how has your decision making process changed and what to invest in and what not to invest in over the years? Like, if at all, it might have been the same though.

Shanae Calhoun: 31:02

I I think over time I just realized that investing in my business is a critical part of this process. You know, I wanted to get started and I wanted to not lose, quote unquote, lose money, right? Um you know, it's all about like bringing this additional revenue source in. And I think just adjusting that attitude a little bit. Thankfully, I've always brought in more than I'm paying out. I'm doing pretty good. I'm thankful for that, but I did have a little bit of an evolution in the way that I thought about making decisions to invest in certain things so that my offerings are what they need to be.

Kevin: 31:41

Final segment. So as a business owner, I probably got a lot of advice. Some of it good, some of it bad, some of it solicited, probably a lot of it unsolicited. I'm very curious about what's the most underrated and what's the most overrated piece of business advice that you've gotten.

Shanae Calhoun: 31:59

Oh gosh, I'll start with underrated. This is a hard segment. It's a hard question. Okay, I'm just trying to bottom line my thoughts here.

Kevin: 32:07

I can rephrase it if you like.

Shanae Calhoun: 32:09

Sure, let's try that.

Kevin: 32:11

Really, really good advice and really, really bad advice that you got. I think that's like the bottom line of question.

Shanae Calhoun: 32:17

Yeah, yeah. I think I'm in the right headspace.

Kevin: 32:20

Yeah.

Shanae Calhoun: 32:20

What I'm struggling with is so for really good advice, what comes to mind? And this is basically I'm always looking for ways to grow. And so there are a couple of people and organizations that I follow. You want somebody who's going to pump you up and submit a healthy challenge. Hey, Rachel Rogers. Now I'm forgetting the name of the company. It's like six figures, I don't know, million dollars. What comes to mind is Rachel Rogers, and you can make a million dollars. That is good stuff. Um, so it's hard to pinpoint just one thing. And I would say on the really bad advice, don't quit your day job.

Kevin: 33:00

Sounds like that comes from personal experience. Either one way or the other. You either quit your day job really too soon, or you kept your day job and you're like, oh my God, this really paid off.

Shanae Calhoun: 33:10

Well, the advice was don't quit your day job. But I did, and I never missed a beat.

Kevin: 33:17

I feel you're on that camp, by the way, because just like the employee, like or the contractor or having a team or something like that, lights you. I think there's something about burning your ships is like super invigorating as well.

Shanae Calhoun: 33:29

It you know, it may not be for everyone, and it may be a season, right? You might have to wait for a specific season, but I'm grateful for how my journey unfolded. Um I took my last paycheck in December 2022 and went into full-time straight-up entrepreneurship on January 1, 2023, and had an amazing year.

Kevin: 33:53

Last question for you, Sinee. How can people find you?

Shanae Calhoun: 33:57

Yes. Well, please check me out on LinkedIn, Shinee Calhoun, Willow Consulting. You can also visit sinee calhoun.com and I'm also on Instagram, Willow Coaching. Nice. I love it.

Kevin: 34:10

You know, as I'm like looking at my really bad handwriting with uh these highlighted uh sections, there's a lot of things that really stuck out at me. One is just like as I'm listening to your journey, either through your the clients that you serve or even your offerings, it was not an overnight thing, it was through iterations and all that sort of stuff over time. That really strikes me. And I think uh some of the interesting things was just like as you were describing the challenges that you know women in leadership and especially women of color in leadership, like some of the unique challenges too. Like it's really I think a lot of times if you're not in that demographic, you just sometimes don't know. And it was really enlightening just to see like your perspective on that too. I also really related to the whole like you know, millennial not having that marketing gene whatsoever, like social media gene. I thought that was hilarious. And then I just really appreciated you just openly sharing kind of your challenges that you're going through as well, like and just highlighting what it's like, even after six years, people still go through challenges. And so I just would really want to thank you, Shine, just for the one work you do, but also too for so uh generously sharing your knowledge on today's podcast, too. So thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

Shanae Calhoun: 35:32

Yeah, thank you. And I really appreciate this opportunity, and I've really enjoyed having the chance to reflect back myself on the journey. And so thank you for doing this. Thank you for making this available to folks.

Davis Nguyen : 35:46

That's it for this episode of Career Coaching Secrets. If you enjoyed this conversation, you can subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to this episode to catch future episodes. This podcast was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to $100,000 years, $100,000 months, or even $100,000 weeks, all without burning out and making sure that you're making the impact and having the life that you want. To learn more about our community and how we can help you, visit join purplecircle.com.