From Passion to Practice: How Tania Velazquez Built a Purpose-Driven Coaching Brand

 In this episode of Career Coaching Secrets, host Kevin talks with Tania Velazquez, a seasoned coach with over 13 years of experience helping leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs reinvent their lives and careers. Tania shares her early journey into coaching, how she built her practice without a business plan, and why authenticity and self-investment are the most powerful marketing tools a coach can have. She reveals how all success begins with being congruent, because you are your product. From client acquisition through genuine connection to reinventing her practice in the age of AI, Tania’s story is a masterclass in self-leadership, purpose, and evolution.

Connect with

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taniavelazqueza/

Email- coachtaniavelazquez@gmail.com

Transcript

Tania Velazquez: 0:00

I try everything of marketing, you know, everything of digital marketing I've tried in these years and have to say help, but didn't work for me. So now I can say what is two things of marketing when I get my clients. And I have constant constantly clients since the beginning. The day I've finished my certification, I already have two formal clients. First, you have to be congruent with who you are. All the time, all the places that you are, you are selling yourself. We have to understand that our product is ourselves. We are our product. You have to work on yourself, invest in yourself. All the places that you are, you are selling yourself. That people have to know what you do, they have to know what you can do for them, and they have to remember you. Because if they've done buy your service in that moment, they have to remember you when they need you or when they know someone that can recommend you.

Davis Nguyen : 0:46

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, you'll discover the secrets to elevating your coaching business.

Kevin: 1:17

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets Podcast. I'm Kevin, and today we are joined by Tanya Velasquez. She's been a coach for over 13 plus years. Welcome to the show, Tanya.

Tania Velazquez: 1:26

Thank you for having me. So happy to be here.

Kevin: 1:28

Yeah. You know, pre-podcast, we were talking about your journey with like coaching and all that. Let's start at the very, very beginning. How did you get into coaching and how has it kind of like transformed over your last 13 years?

Tania Velazquez: 1:43

Oh my God. Well, I think I became a coach as a result of a series of aha moments in my life. And I started when I took a sales coaching and my work and realized how relevant it became in my life because in that moment I have a big impact in my personal life in one of my most critical moments, despite my coaching focusing on my work on sales. And that experience helped me to shift my self-concept and completely change the way that I was facing challenges and dealing with my problems. At the same time, at work, I was asked to train and coach a group of beginners, and I discovered how fulfilling and happy it was for me to feel helping others to achieve their goals. And in the same time, several people and friends started to reach out for me to advise, support, or guidance in their own lives because they could see how I was transforming my life in this difficult moment. And some even asked me to be a coach formally, and they say, Well, I'm not a coach in this moment. So these three moments, haha moments, come together and let me make the decision to become a certified coach.

Kevin: 2:42

It's really interesting. And let's fast forward to now. Like everybody talks about ideal client profile. Who do you kind of help and what kind of problems do you help people with?

Tania Velazquez: 2:52

When I start coaching, I have every time, every kind of clients. And one of my clients comes and says, I can pay you, but I can give you another kind of pay. I am already in the company in capac in room research, in all workshop capacitation, and I can contact you with the people that are already on the top, and you can learn from them. So she will make this change and she makes an appointment with a high-profile coach, so relevant. And I do all my questions in the beginning. You know, how do I do that? All these questions. And something is something that I do now. When somebody comes and says, Okay, can you give me an interview to help me with a situation? I always help people. But a recommendation that she makes for me is you have the certification and you have the tools, you have a sharp eye, but you don't have experience. What you have to do is start coaching everyone that can that be available. It doesn't matter if it's in business, if it's a director, if it's a leader, is a housewife. It doesn't matter because you're coaching with humans and the structure of the human, of the structure of the companies or the organization. Start taking all the people that say yes to a coaching, start doing it, start practicing. With the time, you're going to have all the tools. And I think that's what's the difference. When when you're in a certification and working with coaches and consultants, they focus on the leaders, in the companies, in the organizations. And I don't focus on nothing. I I coach in every kind of people. I start coaching online since the beginning, when Zoom doesn't exist. It was Skype. I was coaching with Latin Americans that were abroad, facing problems and abroad, all kinds of profiles, all kinds of business. And that is what helped me to discover and develop all my skills in coaching. And so I think it's very important because if you only focus in one market, you're only going to develop some skills and some abilities. And we are working with humans, and the humans is so complex and have a big diversity that you can be limited, but only a vision of work. And I think it's something important that made me and helped me to start in this business. And another thing that helped me, it I was so ignorant of it about this business. I didn't know about nothing. I didn't have a business plan. I didn't have experience of nothing of this, you know. I don't know about the business, consulting, of human resources. But I think it was actually work in my favor because I enjoyed change. When I started presenting my first business proposal, I realized I had a sharp eye, that I was insightful and accurate in my observations and recommendations. Or that I could truly contribute to people, companies, organizations, if I hadn't taken that step. You know? If I was waiting to study, to take more knowledge to give this step. No, I didn't have an option, a plan, a business model, contacts, or knowledge beyond my certification. But the next day I woke more because, well, something happened. The next day of my certification, in my work, my business, my boss told me that they're not going to renew my my contract. So you say, okay, I am a coach now. I know how to sales. So this is the moment I was avoiding taking this step because I want the perfect plan, the perfect conditions, but that never happened. You have to give the step if you don't have all the conditions. So I start coaching all the people, all the opportunities. I started in the business even I didn't know. And I discovered all these talents when I do all the proposals. And beyond my certification, there was everything that I have with this day that I woke up and say, okay, I didn't go to my job and decide to see myself as a professional coach. And I think I was that was clue. That next day I see myself as a professional coach and I feel really happy. I really have deep sense of fulfillment that entered my life. I started being more happy, more commitment, more active, and that was the way that I work and I never stopped the last almost 13 years old.

Kevin: 7:01

And like let's fast forward to today. Like what type of people are coming up to you for like requesting coaching and stuff? Are you noticing patterns there?

Tania Velazquez: 7:08

Yes. And I think it's to say it's people that is very successful, people that work in companies, they are big leaders, that have internationals, people that but also have a deep sense of oh a deep sense of awareness of themselves. They have a big group, they work really hard in themselves, they are spiritual, they they're not only looking for have money or increase their business, they're only looking for wellness, all this balance, they're more self-awareness of all the well-being, about wellness, about the mental health, and they're wanting to redesign their life. You know, not only in economic they're people that for all the society oh they are successful, but they want to resign their they want to make big change. And sometimes I have people that broke a company and want to reinvent themselves and grow up a new company. People that are happy and have everything happens with their life, but they discover in this moment in their life that want a big change and new plant life plans, that kind of clients come to me.

Kevin: 8:17

How like what kind of marketing are you trying right now? How are these leaders kind of finding you?

Tania Velazquez: 8:22

That's that's a challenge um answer, and I think many times they make me and I have to say, I don't know, but I think now I know how to how it was. I try everything of marketing, you know, everything of digital marketing I've tried in these years, and I have to say helps, but didn't work for me. So now I can say what is the two things of marketing is when I get my clients. And I have constant constantly clients since the beginning. The day I've finished my certification, I already have two formal clients. So first you have to be congruent with who you are. All the time, all the places that you are, you are selling yourself. We have to understand that our product is ourselves. We are our product. So you have to work on yourself, invest in yourself, and all the places that you are, you are selling yourself. That people have to know what you do, they have to know what you can do for them, and they have to remember you. Because if they've done buy your service in that moment, they have to remember you when they need you or when they know someone that can recommend you. Second, you have to be present in their mind. That is all the marketing, digital marketing that I tried all these years, never work. But I think it's important to be present in the memory and the protocol, and that social media helps too much. So maybe it's not the principal way that I take clients, it's the way that they remember me, that I know me and they know what I can do for them. And I think one important is all my clients come for recommendations, but also for connections, where they can create these connections, maybe in your social life, but when you give a conference in a podcast that they know you, that they connect for you, they understand what you can they can do for you, that something that you say resonates in them is the moment that in many conferences, workshops, podcasts, they call me searching for social media and saying, I hear you in this masterclass, I hear you in this conference, I hear you five years ago when you go to give a speaker in this place, blah blah, and I want to connect with you and I want a process of coaching. So you have to start doing these things all the time. And in your social activities, you have to know that people have to know who you are, who can do for them, and to remember you. Connect with social media, and that's helped you. And all the things mailing was a uh technique that most helped me, the mailing, because you write like a blog and they can know you and they connect, and something that you say, say, Oh, I'm having this problem or this situation or identification of something that you have said, and that helped me. Mailing that is so traditional now in digital marketing, it's helped me too much. But all the investment in social media and the ads really don't work for me. And I really invest a lot of them. I always do new things. And something that you can do also is try to go to the places that you never go. You know, so I remember being so focused in the corporate world, in the business world, and the first time that a group of women search for me for a conference and a speaker and say, This is not my market, I'm not so identified with them. Okay, let's do it. And that day start a new market for me. And then they that day finish the conference. I have prosperous clients. I remember a woman that says, My husband needs you. My husband is a director in a company and they need and he needs you. So you have to explore more markets and don't say, I only work on it. You don't know where our and everybody in every place and everybody can be your client.

Kevin: 11:56

So I'm sure people are finding out about you, right? And they're probably raising their hands, wondering, like, hey, I want to work with you somehow, somehow. And so when you do work with people, what do these coaching engagements kind of look like? Are they more like what it sounds like one-on-one coaching, but do you have group coaching, organizational training? Like there's so many different ways. What what kind of offerings do you have for your coaching so far?

Tania Velazquez: 12:20

All that you just say and team buildings. Sorry? All that you say and team buildings. Okay, I do one-on-one. Uh I have a a lot of clients in one-on-one, and I work with organizations, and when I work with organizations work, I design a person a program for the company. Okay, I have a research and connection with the company about the necessities, their problems, where it's challenging, and I design a program for them. And this program could be coaching, team coaching, or workshops or team buildings, and I design all the programs for them about their necessities. It could be only a workshop of one day, or it could be a program of months, or maybe a year. And sometimes people, there is no companies or associations, they look for me for like a speaker or workshops for a group of persons on sales or something like that, you know. But I only did I give a workshop of one day or conference. Sometimes they look for me for working online companies, and all the employees are remote. I give workshop online, masterclasses, coaching online, and I give the coaching online in companies and people that only looking for me for one-on-one. And for companies, I also work in team buildings, like team buildings. That's our my service.

Kevin: 13:37

Interesting. And it sounds like you're doing quite a bit. Do you currently how do you manage your capacity? Do you have like other coaches working for you? Are you solo? Do you have like a VA? I'm like kind of curious about that.

Tania Velazquez: 13:49

Well, I think this is important. It wasn't I didn't do that in the beginning, you know. I generally see myself one-on-one, and all the process tells me to this. And actually, I do I have a certification in team building, and I do it to say I'm never gonna do a team building. It's just a challenge for me to be more creative, to give more unpready to my to my workshops. I do too much, I do a lot of team building now, you know. So maybe to say I just want to learn and give something extra to my service, and and now it's a high level of team building as I have in a year. What I do, I do both. I work alone and I have a group of coaches. You know, it's important in this business that you have to learn to have a great relationship with other coaches and consultants, you know, that you know that you really know how to work, that you have the same values and principles and a common view of the the business. And I have many coaches that I work with them in many ways. But of course, I don't do anything alone. I can do many things alone, all the things I can do alone. But when I have a program, I have to contract another coaching, consultant, people that help me in many ways. And in all this time, in 13 years, I have assistants, people in my marketing. So I it was changing everything. I am I learned and I like to learn about technology, and that helped me in how I manage my time. I very, very, very disciplined in my routines, in my habits to be in the better way, in the self, um, in the best state to my clients. And I think that's very important. How to manage your work, how you manage your scrades, your time. I have a very disciplined on my habits, and I work on it physically, mentally, healthy, and spiritually for me, that is important. It's the only way that you can handle a very complex business like this. It's very important. And something important, I think, for the people that is hearing us that you have to find these coaches and consultants that you have the same values and the same vision and to make it to work in group. Okay, even we are solo, we have to learn to how to work like a team. It's very important. In very close and you have to honor the relationships to learn, not don't copy their workshops or don't copy the methods. They'll work in the very complete, to give out your client a very complete offer of services. But you have to to be careful and to work on this in your business. You can do it every nobody grows and be successful alone, never. It's always you find someone that helps you, to recommend you, someone to you always have to learn to have that good relationships in this in this business.

Kevin: 16:23

Now, one of the areas I would like your insight with is that um a lot of coaches they struggle with like pricing and packaging their services because especially in coaching, the value can be so subjective sometimes, right? Like there's no one in standard value of coaching for someone. Value for coaching means different things to different people. So how do you think about one, structuring your pricing? Do you do like packages? Do you do value-based? Do you do like retainers? There's so many different pricing models. And then two, like, how do you base your pricing? Like, is it amount of resources like hours that you have? Is it like uh the transformation someone has? Like, there's just so many things. So when you think about pricing your coaching services, how do you how do you go about it? And obviously you don't have to give any hard numbers.

Tania Velazquez: 17:12

Well, I think you have to know your value and have the work that you take to be in that place. It's the first part that you, uh new coach, have to work to make a price, to give a pro a price to your service, is you have to know your value and respect yourself. You have to work on yourself. Because if you don't work through yourself, you can put the highs and then the minimum, and everyone is going to say, no, but I only can pay this and you're going to accept everything. It's not about that. You have to have respect for yourself, you have to know your worth. And second, do you have to really I didn't do it with I take this certification, this study, all the time that I'm studying and take time and energy and money. And that is something that it's an investment that you do. So what you price, put your price, is have to give you to that. Okay? And I take my experience, you know, I didn't, it's not the same price now that 10 years ago. I take my experience. I take the kind of services of different clients that I give. And I don't give the same price for a company that someone that is one-to-one to a leader just looking for me outside the company, you know? And I know my minimum in an hour in coaching that is not the same as the minimum in workshop, that is not the same as minimum in team building. I know that. I know what is the price of my when I of designing. You know, it's not the same the price that you are doing the workshop every hour. It's not the price of every hour that you are designing because you're studying and all the stuff. So I have all these prices, no, and I have it in Excel. I have it to remember, and every time I I I work on it and I make something. I make sometimes when I client, I have too much connection, I ask for a feedback. And I and I, okay, for this service that you're receiving, how do you feel about the price? Actually, days not two or days ago, one of my clients said about experience that I have a web therapist and a consultant, and they say, I really, really, is this session for me are gold. And I have telling you that maybe you I pay more for this session. So that kind of feedback helped me to see how the clients um see me. It's not the same your perception that you are so good, that you have do a big effort, and not the same the perception of your client that is receiving your service. So I think you have to do this feedback with your clients about the cost. You know, they can pay you or they think that it's worth not worth it. And I do these things with my clients every year's um constantly, you know, with all the time I'm checking the market too. I'm checking the market. Sometimes I know I'm high, but the feedback with my clients let me know that there is a word or no. I remember last year a lawyer of Peru called me and searching only for one session or take a decision. And they say, Your price is too high for me. And I know because the difference of the currency, the difference with the dollar, they say, Well, I know, but this is my price. And they say, Okay, but I'm very convinced that you are the person that is going to help me. We have that session, and when finished the session, she said, This is really worth it, and I'm going to do it again. I want to be in contact with you because this really helped me, this changed all this, it's a big decision for my life, it's going to impact all the the areas of my life, and it's really worth it. So that kind of feedback is going to give you if it's really good your price or not. Because it's not only about your effort or your value or your perception. You have to be so certain that you're giving a value to your client, and that's going to help you.

Kevin: 20:43

As you think about your business, right? Like you've been in the business. So now we kind of understand like, hey, how are people finding you? What kind of coaching you're offering, how you're pricing it. As you think about the future of your business, where do you want this coaching business to take you in the next few years? Do you have like desires to scale, ambitions no one knows about? Very curious on that.

Tania Velazquez: 21:04

Oh my God. Well, after several years of coaching, creating programs, workshops in building, I I feel that I need to reinvent myself. I strip everything down, I start again. Not because what I had built didn't work, but because I had outgrown it. You know, I've changed, the market changed, the world is changing after than ever, after pandemic. Artificial intelligence is challenging us to reinvent our process to make our services more efficient. Companies only there are facing rapid transformation, they are growing awareness around well-being, mental health, and the need to be more circular around collaborative leadership. So I couldn't continue with the same product and the same vision anymore. And I decided to take everything online, including my website last year. And I give myself the space to reinvent and redesign my practice for a deeper place. And I'm that exploration, I'm in that stage of exploration, integrating everything. I learned about the mind, neuroscience, um, quantum physics, art, uh, artificial intelligence and human behavior. And this year, actually, this year, all the programs in Buildings and Workshop were new. And I apply new techniques in my coaching's clients all this year. This new I thought it was going to be short this this time, but no, it's taken me since November of last year and all this year. A new chapter is not about creating another methodology, you know, it's about embodying what I've already built and expanding in a new level and deep in prosperity. So I'm focused in aligning my working and greater economic growth, attracting projects, applying that value, that this transformation and higher level that creating experience that reflect the full integration of these tools, science, creativity, and human potential. And I continue reventing myself, exploring, but I think in 2027 somewhere I will make more defined this and projection. And also I want to I want to launch a new channel or podcast featuring my meditations. I do meditation and they are very popular with my flights. And I think the next year, 2026 have been a new branding, a new have all the uh the new shape that I've been trying and experiencing this year.

Kevin: 23:14

As you kind of revisit coaching in a new chapter or new season of coaching for yourself, right? Because it clearly has changed for you. What are some challenges that you're kind of noticing right now in the season of your coaching business? Like maybe some of the things that people might not be able to see outside looking in.

Tania Velazquez: 23:32

I didn't perceive the companies and the leaders in the same way, you know? All the principal topics of my clients changed after pandemia. Dradically, you know? Before pandemia, they want to grow up, they want to wear general managers, they want to be directors, they want directors, they want to be a lot time directors, they want to be Latam directors, they want to be global directors. So everything was about focus on growing on work, and that's all. And more money and more sales. After pandemia is about, okay, how I take more money, how more successful, with less effort, with more worldness, with more balance in my life, with one more time to be with my family, and with health. So all changed. It's a more holistic view of challenge on my clients. Sometimes I have some session that was what? I never think I'm going to hear that of my clients. Say, Sam, I am in resources, call me. There are three positions, and they ask me which position I want to go. And I say, Well, what do you want? None of them. It's more work, it's a best title, but it's not really a better life. It's not really uh a better successful. It's not more money, but I am ready, good in finances, I make investments. So I want to design another kind of life. Not only with good money and a better a best title in my work. No, I want better life. So that's kind of challenge I never had before 2020 with my clients, you know? And my clients never take to sessions topics like uh and spiritual. I want a spiritual vision. So I have clients that are very successful that have a good position or be successful for people around them, but they want more and different. And they want to integrate in their life topics like spiritually, like well-being, like all is they're not only focused on work or money or more successful, they're working in a real design of their life plan. And even the coaches always work on it. It wasn't the main service that I give before 2020. And now all the people is I want to resign my life, I want to change everything. And sometimes say, I don't know if I want to continue with this company. Maybe I contract a uh CEO and I want to do something new, something that is going to be more happy with me, something that gives me more better life. So that kind of challenge that never had before. And the people want to make changes and and are learning to in uh artificial intelligence, they know they can use it in to be more productive, to have more time. So all this challenge. So it's the kind of challenge that my clients have to take to my my coachings. It's normal coaching, like sometimes career coaching, business coaching, about sales coaching. That topics continue being. But this is the main now.

Kevin: 26:17

So what's the most overrated piece of business advice you've gotten so far? And what's the most underrated piece of advice that you got?

Tania Velazquez: 26:22

The worst advice that I ever received. They only focus on the money. When you're doing something that you love, that you have purpose, that you give value to your clients, and you're really working it and doing great, the money is a consequence, natural consequence. And the best advice that I receive is I remember I have a coach. I remember my coach say, stop thinking that you're enough and you need another certification, another worship, another training. Start with what you have. Stop waiting to have more, to learn more. Start doing it now. Give the step now. So sometimes you have to stop and have to trust with what you have and give the steps with an action, you know? Sometimes we avoid to give an action because I have to know this, I have to train in this, do it. But don't stop to do it to give the step and to go to the action.

Kevin: 27:11

Final question for you. How can people find you and connect with you, Tanya?

Tania Velazquez: 27:15

Well, they can find me in my social media and they can write me an email. I don't know if I can give here the mail is coach Tania Velasquez. And I think you can put it in your podcast, um gmail. On social media and LinkedIn too. They can find me and LinkedIn too. And Tanya Velasquez. LinkedIn find a coach, but in social media like coach Tania Velasquez. And yes, it's a voice that can find me. I can put here my information.

Kevin: 27:41

Cool. Thank you so much. Uh just sharing your experience, Tanya. I think something that stuck out to me was like this new transformation or this new chapter you're going about that is a bit more holistic and a bit different, you know, from what you're previously doing. And that's always a very, very scary step just to be able to do something new. So I just want to thank you for just the work you do, and thank you for coming on to the podcast and just sharing your experience, Neil. So I appreciate you. Thank you.

Tania Velazquez: 28:09

Thank you. Thank you for having me on this opportunity.

Davis Nguyen : 28:11

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.