Top Coaching Industry Trends of 2024

This week’s episode walks through Em and Lex’s predictions for the top coaching industry trends of 2024. One week into the new year, Em and Lex predict what 2024 will look like for coaching and the trends that the market supports. Tune in this week’s episode to stay ahead of the 2024 coaching trends. 

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

• Trends expected to appear in the coaching industry in 2024
• Trends that indicate more in-person events in 2024
• Trends they expect that the market will support based on market research
• Tips about future hybrid coaching models
• Tips on how to support neurodiversity in coaching
• Em and Lex’s thoughts on the health and wellness coaching space 
• Em and Lex’s thoughts on shifts in entrepreneurship
• Tips on where to focus social efforts going into the next year 
• Tips on getting out the comfort zones and making the jump 
• And more!

Listener Links: 

Learn More about the Ready Set Coach Launch Pack: 

https://www.readysetcoachprogram.com/launch 

Follow Em & Lex on Instagram at @readysetcoachprogram

Join the Ready Set Coach Community: https://www.readysetcoachprogram.com/community

Learn more about the Ready Set Coach Program at Readysetcoachprogram.com

Learn more about Six Degrees Society and THEPRBAR inc.

Transcript

Hi.

Emily Merrell  

What if we talked like this the whole time?

Lexie Smith  

You have a very soothing voice. I don't know if I do.

Emily Merrell  

I have been told I have a nice voice, which I don't think is the reality because I

Lexie Smith  

snow you definitely, definitely do. I'm the only one who actually listens to this podcast. And you very much have more of a podcasting like natural, natural voice.

Emily Merrell  

I've been told I have a face for podcasting. I get it.

Lexie Smith  

Guys, we're a little loopy today for different reasons. Personally, I live in Ventura, California. And I don't know if this is on the national news circuit yet, but we are having a once in a millennium weather event, I was woken up out of a dead sleep. My husband, myself and my daughter around 1230 Last night with tornado and flash flood warnings. And again, I live in Southern California. And yes, I did say tornado. And then they decided it's those alerts that you can't turn off. They just like go out on your phone. And they kept dropping every 30 minutes. So we calm herself down or get ashen back to sleep. And then both our friends would go get to bottom ground get to bottom ground. And it went off so many times that eventually we're like, okay, maybe we shouldn't ignore it. What if there's, anyways, so we are up from 1am 12:30am Last night. So

Emily Merrell  

fun. That's, that's so fun. Where Where would bottom ground be in California when you don't have a basement? And

Lexie Smith  

so this has been the topic this what we were talking about when we went downstairs last night. And I'm like, I don't know if it's safer down here because we have this open concept with tons of Windows. Yeah, I see Jays like, oh, we could just get under the kitchen table. And I'm like, I don't know. And so I called my mom this morning because she grew up in Illinois in the Midwest and tornadoes was an active part of her childhood. And she's like, you know that Emily knows. But everyone listening, I have a small bathroom at the bottom floor front of my house. And she said in the shower area in there. And then my dad pops on the phone and it's like structurally to smaller rooms are safer. So

Emily Merrell  

that's what I would have guessed I would have gone into that bathroom because it's the only bathroom that doesn't I don't think it has an outside in a window. Maybe it does have

Lexie Smith  

one but it's small, like a tree couldn't come through it. Totally.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, that's where I would probably tell you to go or even like right by your front door area in the little foyer. But that's scary. What a what a fun way to wake up

Lexie Smith  

a random. So today we're going to talk about weather predictions of

Emily Merrell  

Well, I was actually thinking we should talk about pilot season and like what's going to be picked up and just getting

Lexie Smith  

word seasons around the corner.

Emily Merrell  

That actually be really fun. Maybe we should just talk about every TV show we watched to this year. How many hours do we have?

Lexie Smith  

We'd probably get better ratings on the show.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, should we should we just switch it and switch pivot? 2024

Lexie Smith  

pivot, ready sag? eyelet.

Emily Merrell  

Exactly. Guys, now we are going to be talking about your favorite murder, and every TV show you have watched but in all jokes aside, I am watching a TV show about these people. It's called based on a true story. And I started watching it and I was like oh my god this this show is built for Lexie Smith. She's obsessed with murders y'all. And so in the show this character is obsessed with starting your morning with like the sisters in murder and you know the murder podcasts that analyze the latest murder and this couple stumbles upon the latest big murderer in their area. And rather than turning him over to the cops and outing him they enlist his services to start a podcast where he chronicles all of the murders that he has done but it's like muffled his voice and everything fascinating.

Lexie Smith  

I you had two parts that are on par The Marino part me liking podcasts and the podcasting part. I do think I'd be a better citizen and turn them in. But you know anything for the download? Just kidding.

Emily Merrell  

They had millions of downloads so turns out that's all we need to do is need to talk about murder and then give them fresh content where we keep murdering people.

Lexie Smith  

Got it? So prediction for 2024 Emily Merrill behind bars. Oh oh, we keep we keep teasing at this predictions for 2024 and that's gonna bring us bring us full circle here guys into what we're actually going to talk about today on the ReadySet coach podcast, and that is our predictions for the coaching industry. In 2024

Emily Merrell  

can't stop thinking about me behind bars and be too soft.

Lexie Smith  

You run that place you'd have BFFs everywhere you'd like sort of book club, like a lovely place to be if you were in jail.

Emily Merrell  

I wonder if I could read a lot of books. That would be lovely. Be like, you know what Mad Hatter you need to meet. Chainsaw Massacre.

Lexie Smith  

You guys hit it off. Emily, mayor, Mayor of the women's prison, I 100% have no doubt. Oh, well, let's

Emily Merrell  

let's not visualize that for 2024. So Max, I love this topic, topic. Talk and topic, guys. We really are like, melty melty at this point.

We're like, what are you not to? Do

Emily Merrell  

you know what we should do? We should start doing this at like three in the morning and see how ludicrous are podcasts I was up last night. Call me call me send me through one of those alarms. So lax. We're at the end of 2023. You all are listening to this at the top of 2024. Let's look at our crystal ball. And let's think about what we think 2024 is going to look like in terms of the coaching. So why don't you kick us off? What are some things that you're like? Hell, yeah, this is going to happen. So

Lexie Smith  

we're going to break this into kind of two sections, we did do some research prior to the show. And we're going to start with some trends that we predict that have some sort of data or something to point to substantial that support it, then we're also just gonna go in the latter half into some of our gut predictions. Right. So again, coming back, the first trend that we believe the market supports 2023 has been an expensive AF year inflation is high. And so overall, across the board, we are seeing people being tighter with their wallets. And I don't believe that's going to change as we head into 2024. So I do think that we're going to see that affect the buying process in multiple ways, multiple ways mean, some people being slower to buy some people maybe posing more price objections or just needing to feel more sense of security before parting ways with their money.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, I completely agree with you on that for just for a little bit of history. 2020 was an incredible year for the coaching industry. And that people all the money that they would have put on a trip or they would have invested in something bigger, they were able to turn the lens inward and invest in themselves. So we saw people dropping pay in full money. They also were getting money from the government. And there was a lot more freedom to spend without overthinking or do or Yeah, overthinking or over chopping it.

Lexie Smith  

So that's one. What's another one, Emily?

Emily Merrell  

Well, I think we're gonna see more entrants into the coaching market, more people who want to be coaches, which is excellent. But I think there's also going to be a little bit of retirement as well. There's gonna be some people that maybe started their coaching career a few years ago, they haven't modified with the times they haven't adjusted accordingly. They haven't been able to find their footing, and I think they will hang up their coaching hat.

Lexie Smith  

And there was this big thing, right, called The Great resignation, I think, really, it happened 2020 2021. And that's when we saw this influx into the coaching market, everyone in their mom, the joke as a joke goes wanting to be a coach. And some people now that it's been a couple years have been able to really figure that out. Some people haven't. And we are seeing data supporting people going back to more traditional

Emily Merrell  

workforces begrudgingly, oftentimes, too. And yeah, that what sucks on that I'll just make a note. I think the workforces are back in control again, in a way that they weren't in 2020 or 2021. During the Great resignation, they now they're able to pinch their employees like they did pre 2020. I've seen

Lexie Smith  

in some capacities and other capacities, I still think that employees have a strong foot. So in my other life in the pure life of things and pretty tight into the HR data scene. It's just relevant. Some of my clients and some of the data we've been looking at, in the recent months have supported the work force overwhelmingly is wanting a hybrid workforce model where there's some level of remote working but also some level of in person interact Question. So was everyone wanted to be remote and now it's coming back with we want our cake and eat it too. And it's putting some companies in a great position to accommodate. It's putting others in a really difficult place to accommodate. But I do think we're going to see this transfer doubly show up in coaching, where some people are going to crave, yes, virtual coaching, but also more in person coaching and experiences once again. And I

Emily Merrell  

think that can look like a number of different things. It could be local community coaching, where you're all based in Denver, and you all are moms and you all have an in real life store. And you want to come around, and you want to learn from other people that are like minded, and also to the point of people from all over the country or the world, but gathering quarterly or gathering annually in one place to learn in person from those people and deepen the connections with

Lexie Smith  

them. 100%. So we do foresee there being more hybrid coaching, programs and models. What's another thing that we have seen supported by the marketplace.

Emily Merrell  

I feel like this was the word of the year for 2023. But neurodiversity and coaching in neurodiversity. So for example, from references and pop culture. I know Lex, you're a big fan of The Bachelor, and there's been individuals on the bachelor who have proudly identified as neurodivergent, it's becoming a topic that's more on the forefront. And with that the need for executive functioning, coaching and like coaching around people with ADHD or ADHD, and learning differences will definitely increase and be supported, not only by individuals, but I also think by businesses and by parents,

Lexie Smith  

100% neurodiversity, and all the various challenges associated that whether they have a title or not, has become more, more widely known more mainstream, and thus, the need, or the ability to ask for help, is becoming more known. And we've actually seen in some of our own clients who are executive functioning coaches, we've seen them have really, really great end of 2020 threes. And I think that while it's also a testament to them, and their hard work, the markets, understanding of what they are doing is also contributing to that becoming

Emily Merrell  

1,000%. And I think I think that coaching also will be more justifiable by by schools and by my teacher, yeah, by teachers, by educators, and more like a required add on to learning outside of the class. That's, that's, that's a personal prediction. That's,

Lexie Smith  

that's her gut. That's

Emily Merrell  

marketing in that latex.

Lexie Smith  

We have Okay, so we have one more before we get into that, that we wanted to go over. I think besides neurodiversity, like the global buzzword of the year was GPT, or AI, right? So AI has affected the workplace in an unbelievable way. I mean, it's very, very mind boggling to me still, I don't know what's going to happen a year or two years from now, it's been positive in some ways, it's, it's been helpful for smaller business, it's also been negative in some ways. Across the media landscape, there's been countless layoffs. That being said, I think the people who are rushing to replace human capital with AI, are going to retreat and real, we'll reel back on that a little bit. And realize it was a mistake to act so rash. Thus, I think it might not be towards the second half of 2024, that there's going to be an increased importance put on improving human to human connection. And one way to do that is by inviting in coaches to lead different trainings or focus on interpersonal skills or management skills to foster that human to human connection.

Emily Merrell  

Well, jumping into my gut with AI, I'm gonna jump right in y'all. I think that AI is going to be a big part of a Cocina world. I think we're gonna see a lot of coaching apps that are guided and plugged in through AI asking people making coaching more accessible for people at all different price levels. I also think that an AI more coaches are going to optimize and systematize themselves by utilizing tools that plugin to AI from content creation to finding the right solutions for their for their customers.

Lexie Smith  

With that my gut and again, just a context guys, this is such A huge freaking topic for the other half of me, I've done tons and tons of podcast episodes on this. With the increase of AI and the positives it can bring I am seeing firsthand in my gut is the the level of skepticism is going to continue to grow. And I think that consumers are going to become while there's yes still going to be a large segment, who maybe don't even realize what is and isn't being automated. I do think because because of how involved AI was, is with the media, there's a growing distrust in the marketplace. And so it's I really think coaches need to be really thoughtful and careful with how and where they integrate it. Because the need for real validation and credibility, these credentials, excuse me, credentials will matter. So to kind of wrap that up, what I feel in my gut is that people are going to want to see more credentials from coaches,

Emily Merrell  

or experience lived experience from coaches,

Lexie Smith  

depending on the type, depending on the type of coach. I do. And this isn't a knock. And this is where maybe you and I disagree, I think for the more health centric coaches, so 1000s, life coaching, health, wellness, executive functioning, anything that is not dealing with business. Yes, I agree, I think those certifications are going to become more important, I

Emily Merrell  

completely agree, especially when you're playing with someone's health, or mental well being. So for example, if you're diagnosing them with things, or you're helping them get on certain wellness diets, I think having that background and that that study in that industry will definitely be significant. I'll also add, I think that there might be more niching down, where it's not a general, I'm a health coach, or I'm a life coach. It's a very specialized type of health coach, or very specialized type of life coach in a very particular stage of life. So for example, I can see more people becoming life coach, but with an emphasis on serving people who are transitioning from college into the real world. Or I'm a life coach, and I'm specifically holding space and helping you transition into motherhood into this next chapter of life.

Lexie Smith  

All say, I, this is how I'll play off that one. I'm not sure if it will happen. But I think it's smart. If it does. So I think it's the smart thing to do in 2024. I don't know if the market knows that. Widespread. I know our clients do. And the Ready Set coach community do, but I don't know, I don't know, largely if that is going to become adopt adopted, so Jury's out for me, well,

Emily Merrell  

we'll see one other roundup of end of 24. We can look into this. I think the other thing, too, let's see, one of the other things that was coming into my mind. Oh, was that I think there's going to be lower barrier of entries for people to work with coaches. Like I think right now coaching is is wildly expensive. And I think that there's going to be ways that people are making it easier to work with coaches, maybe that's more extended payment plans. Maybe that's more group offerings, maybe that's more on demand courses, but I think there are going to be we're gonna see an influx of like, it's accessible to the masses. But then on the flip side, I do you think we're gonna see that continuing rise of the specialized high touch one on one experience with a coach who's number will like knock you off the couch?

Lexie Smith  

I, here's how I agree with that. I'm just it's gonna be a little more specific. Because I do, you're making my brain think, think that we're going to have to compete with more variety of solutions. So I think actually self made is a good example, because self made is a program that Emily coaches on, and it started as one format, and it has become a lot more. You're the expert on this, but it's become more of a volume model, a lower price point, form of coaching. And so that now is competing against a business coach. And so I do think there's going to be more larger scale to your point accessible options that we as individual coaches are going to have to compete against. I totally see that already happening

Emily Merrell  

for sure, especially with more money behind them to invest into advertisement or sponsorship or Facebook ads, all of the fun things. I think the last thing that I feel and maybe I'm completely off guard or I'm off point here. But it's been a while since I've been in the corporate world. But I think that coaches in corporations will be more readily acceptable. We've already seen that they are readily acceptable. And I've seen, like a bevy of coaches come in. But I think that it will be more acceptable for you to have a coach paid for by your company to help you navigate as you grow within the company.

Lexie Smith  

I agree and data will support that there's definitely a larger, increased budget and emphasis on supporting health and wellness and learning and development. It is interesting, I don't know how that's going to manifest with coaching. I think also, it's going to really depend on the size of company. And I think there's almost like a divide there, right? Like, there's the larger companies with huge, they might even have their own department focused on DNI are focused on XY and Z. And so that's, I think, the positive side, we've seen an increase in that in recent years. And I think that trend is still going to continue. I don't know, though, how our mid smaller businesses will do, we'll adapt. Or what that looks like, I don't know. And I will say to

Lexie Smith  

I don't know where I was going with that case, because I was gonna hold the Hold on, let me I want her to take that out. Let me just take out what I was gonna say cut off the last thing I said. And then whatever Emily's gonna say, start there, please.

Emily Merrell  

I think that in terms of like coaching within the corporations, it's more on keeping, keeping the client rich or keeping the employee retained. So if your leadership coaching or you're helping that person become a better manager, that means that their subordinates are more successful. And as someone who left corporate because I felt like I never found my footing or support beyond your own manager, I think that it's going to be powerful. And I've also noticed that a lot of companies, they give you some sort of like learning and development stipend, or at least the bigger Bay Area companies seem to do that. And so with that means learning and development and leadership or if that means learning and development and coding are, whatever your area of expertise is, I do think that there's going to be this need to service this corporate client who has more money and resources, and push from the company to invest in themselves. Okay,

Lexie Smith  

so here's, here's where my gut lands. And I'm thinking through this in real time, as you share that, I think we're gonna see very specific markets and very specific industries that are easier ins for coaches. So to your point, Silicon Valley, the Bay Area is I think, a hotbed for, for coaches, larger metro areas, tech companies, looking if you look for companies that have positions, focused on employee wellness or DNI, those are all good indicators of where or types of organizations that are going to be more likely receptive to coaches. So there's just a little hack of how to use that trend to your benefit. I love it.

Emily Merrell  

Is there anything else that is pulling at your gut?

Um, I do think

Lexie Smith  

that I will say don't think any singular social platform is going away this year, I still think people are going to be hanging out in Facebook, I still think there's going to be people hanging on on Instagram, I still think LinkedIn is going to be big. I still think tech tic TOCs going to be big. I think it's just going to depend what demographic, I don't think threads is going to be big. I know that was like, in there for a minute, and I could be biting my tongue. But in terms of where to focus your social efforts, I do think that the main players are still in play. Hmm. Yeah,

Emily Merrell  

that's a that's a powerful acquisition accusation towards threads right now, and I like it.

And then what about coaches for coaches? Yeah,

Emily Merrell  

yeah. I think that in terms of length and commitment, I think we're we're kind of like polyamorous at this moment, where I could see people investing in many coaches or wanting to learn a lot of things versus being married to one coach for a year duration. So I can imagine shorter, I see. This is a good thing. And maybe this is an own my own personal preference, where I want to learn something and I want to get to the to the end transformation sooner and faster.

Lexie Smith  

So I think that's an I think that's a personality thing. For sure. Yeah.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah. And it might be Because like, like,

Lexie Smith  

I don't know if I could say that about the whole market, but I do think that yeah, there's a segment of buyers who want I mean, everyone in theory wants results, right? But there's going to be more type A and more type nanay and all the things so

Emily Merrell  

plus a minus and minus

Lexie Smith  

with that said, Emily Merrill. Well, what is their homework? Oh, were today homework.

Emily Merrell  

Great question. Oh my god, I'm doing the homework. This is huge. Your homework is to think about doing a little bit of an audit on your own business based on our trends based on conversations you've had in with your peers, your in our community talking to other community members. What do you want to adjust accordingly to meet 2024 trends in demands?

Lexie Smith  

Guys, because growth doesn't come from our comfort zones. You got an infant shake, keep you

Emily Merrell  

being self develop. I'm

Lexie Smith  

getting delirious. I know I've been up for how many hours at this point almost 12 hours already. Um, okay, guys, that's wrap where you can come on in a year and see how epically correct or epically wrong we were, but we throw it out there way in DMS in the community slot into our DMS on Instagram. That's where we like to hang out. Or do you think or YouTube

Emily Merrell  

YouTube if you want to see our eyes cross critique porosity. Today, you can see like very Oregon today. It's good. I

Lexie Smith  

am in my natural habitat. It's really now I have a blanket a sweatshirt and a beanie on.

Emily Merrell  

Oh my god, there's a bear behind you. Oh, no. I love it.

Lexie Smith  

Oh, he'll not know on next time. We'll see you on Get Ready, Set coach

podcast. Good bye. Oh no.