Ready Set Coach Podcast

We’re Back! Q4 Gut Check and End of Year Coaching Musings

• Emily Merrell and Lexie Smith • Season 2 • Episode 96

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In this re-launch episode of the Ready Set Coach Podcast, Lexie Smith and Emily Merrell catch up on life, coaching, and the whirlwind of Q4 as they navigate the busy end-of-year season. Together, they explore the challenges coaches face as they strive to stand out in a crowded industry, emphasizing the importance of grace and self-acknowledgment during hectic times.

As they discuss the myriad emotions at year-end, the duo also introduces the new RSC Insider membership, designed to connect coaches with potential clients and foster a supportive community. Listeners can expect insightful conversations in the upcoming season, featuring guests tackling topics ranging from burnout to branding and beyond. Tune in to discover how to embrace the ebb and flow of coaching, celebrate your wins, and find the balance you need to thrive as we enter the new year!


Here’s what you’ll learn: 

  • Em and Lex emphasize the need for coaches to prioritize their well-being amidst busy schedules.
  • Insights on handling the emotions and challenges that arise as the year ends.
  • Introduction of the RSC Insider membership to help coaches gain visibility and connect with potential clients.
  • The significance of giving yourself grace during overwhelming times and recognizing when to ask for help.
  • Strategies for coaches to stand out and market their services effectively in a crowded space.
  • Real-life anecdotes about juggling responsibilities and the importance of self-reflection.
  • Understanding the natural fluctuations in coaching businesses and how to adapt is essential.
  • This is a preview of upcoming episodes, featuring expert guests who will discuss topics such as burnout, branding, and nervous system regulation.
  • Encouragement to celebrate thriving and surviving moments as part of the coaching journey.

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Lexie Smith  00:08

wait because back, we're back. The best friends,


Emily Merrell  00:14

friends in sync. Back that


00:16

would have been rude. Emily, are back, and


Emily Merrell  00:19

we're going to speak in so many accents throughout today's adventure.


Lexie Smith  00:23

We're we took a break. We're back more, more, more or less, the same as ever before.


Emily Merrell  00:30

My hair's gotten longer. Do you think I should keep it? Keep going.


Lexie Smith  00:34

I love it exactly this length, right? This


00:36

length. Really? I


Emily Merrell  00:37

was thinking like, I need to trim it like a neck. No, I


Lexie Smith  00:39

like this. This is perfect. The shoulder, yes,


00:42

okay, okay,


Emily Merrell  00:43

okay, I was about to schedule a haircut. No, no.


Lexie Smith  00:45

I like this. This is perfect.


Emily Merrell  00:48

Lexie has spoken hot. Mom, hot. Mom, look. I was wasted. Jeans on right now. Do you know, are


Lexie Smith  00:54

you pregnant? And the last time we recorded this,


00:57

I don't know. No, nice.


Lexie Smith  01:00

Did you know Emily's pregnant? Yes,


Emily Merrell  01:04

I'm two days pregnant. I'm just kidding. Um, yeah, I'm 20 weeks pregnant today, which is kind of kind of insane, isn't


01:09

it? Like today? Today, uh, yesterday I was 20 weeks pregnant. Oh, I know


Lexie Smith  01:15

halfway mark, halfway mark. As we head into the end of the year, all these milestones, all these milestones I


Emily Merrell  01:23

know, and I feel like, I feel like we haven't caught up with with you wonderful listeners in a while of just like life and life and lifeing. I've got a three year old. You've got a two and a half year old. Yep, sure. Do I feel like our our photo stream has been just like us traveling, which has been amazing, but also so exhausting,


Lexie Smith  01:44

so tired, although look plug for YouTube guys, Emily is like the most gorgeous, glowing pregnant lady. I know no one's surprised, and I look like the haggard my eyes like twitching five bags, Zoom filters help a girl out quite a lot, but I'm tired. She's like,


Emily Merrell  02:00

tired. Well, we gotta get your baby sleeping. So I think there's that too.


Lexie Smith  02:04

I yeah, I mean, I just feel like I'm two and a half years stacked up of no sleep. I can't even like, I mean, I can't complain there's so many even though I am, I'm just now literally looking at my face and my eyes like, not fully opening. So that's, that's


Emily Merrell  02:19

cute, that's, that's, that's what's happening. I'll share some really exciting news on my end, I built a new bed this weekend, last week, or two weeks ago, I was sitting in my bed and without Hanky Panky or anything fun, it just broke and I was sitting and it kind of collapsed in on itself. And I think it was three moves. This is in the guest bedroom after three moves. I think it was just time. It was telling me, like, put me out to pasture. And so I put together a whole bed by myself. And it just it reminded me, I don't know if you ever have these moments, Lex, where you're like, oh, things are so overwhelming and like, I can't do it. I need help. I need someone else to do it for me. And then you realize, like, Hmm, what if I read the directions and give myself a moment to figure it out that you are capable of doing something that can feel overwhelming.


Lexie Smith  03:13

Yeah. I mean, unless it's IKEA, then just


Emily Merrell  03:18

but fun fact about IKEA, do you know that they I heard this from a nurse who worked in a New York City Hospital, and she said that that was an interview question she got was like, Do you like putting together Ikea furniture, and are you good at it? And if the answer was yes, it meant that they took direction well, and that they followed direction versus fascinating.


Lexie Smith  03:42

I mean, I've successfully put things together before years,


Emily Merrell  03:47

but, you know, you think about it like, I don't know. I'm definitely that person that's like, I can figure it out without looking at the directions, and totally you need to look.


Lexie Smith  03:56

You're the dad in the car who won't stop for directions at the gas station.


03:59

So percent. So Emily's


Lexie Smith  04:03

guys, we don't even, to be honest, like we took a very abrupt break from this podcast without even, like, shouting it out or letting you guys know, because life started lifeing. I'll take credit for my inability to hang a little bit. Um, there's been a lot of changes that have happened, all for the best, but in the you know, in the middle of the storm, sometimes you have to prioritize things. And while taking a break from a podcast, could have felt like a really big deal. I looked at the glass balls that were being juggled and the rubber balls, and this, this was a rubber ball, but like, we're throwing it back, and we're juggling again, and we're here, and we're bringing you fresh energy, tired, but new energy, because we're going to be doing a heck of a lot of guest interviews this, I don't know, like, new season, half season, I don't know if we ever really had a season.


Emily Merrell  04:58

I know we probably should. Like, put seasons to things, but oops, next season


Lexie Smith  05:03

that's that's this whole like, tone of the podcast. But basically, since, since you've been gone, we launched RSC insider, which is a very, very affordable membership tier to the RSC community, and of the various perks, it includes being a guest on this podcast. You're going to hear from some freaking epic ladies coming up, and it's


Emily Merrell  05:25

so cool because you we wanted to make it really easy to find coaches. We know that there are a ton of a ton of coaches out there that are kind of hidden by the internet. So now, if you go to the Ready Set coach website, we have a whole directory of our Ready Set coach insiders. So you can search a specific type of coach, you can look at them. It's been such a fun way for people to be discovered and to dig a little dig a little deeper into like, what the different offerings are. And then, even within our free community, to these insiders, get a shout out and a special little moment placement within the within the community that is so fun to see,


Lexie Smith  06:08

and I think it kind of mirrors some of the through lines and challenges that we've been hearing brought up in coaching sessions lately, Which isn't new, but I do think feels even more we can assign a lot of different emotions to it, overwhelming, frustrating, true as we enter q4 and the end of the year, and it's just so crowded out there. And sometimes it can feel so hard to stand out, like you're screaming into a void. And it's something we're seeing cross coaching verticals, whether it's health or business, etc, it is challenging, so we just wanted to do what we can, to try to try to help out a little bit. Not saying we're like stage


Emily Merrell  06:52

No, no, no. I drove downtown Denver today and there was this horrible like, you had to take a left turn in an immediate right but you had to cross four lanes of traffic, type of thing. And it just reminded me of that feeling, though, when you're crossing traffic where you're like, Excuse me, so sorry. I don't mean to bother you, but like, I need to be in the right lane, and that's how I feel. The coaching industry is too with these coaches, everyone's like, I don't want to take up too much space, because, like, my value is my gift and being able to service my clients. So I don't want to be the center of attention. I want to be able to service these people with with my expertise, but I don't want to have to tell people what my expertise is. So just


Lexie Smith  07:37

100% I feel like, you know, I haven't been doing this 20 years, but I've been in the coaching game for a minute now. And a lot of people sign up for coaching because they are very passionate about their craft and gifted at their craft, but the business side kind of hits them hard, and the reality that to have clients, you have to market yourself, you have to sell yourself in your practice, and there's a lot of other things that go beyond maybe their intuitive zone of genius, and that's hard, it is. It's hard, yeah,


Emily Merrell  08:09

it's really, really hard. And it can be so overwhelming when you have so many other things that are popping up into your world, especially at this time of year, if you're a business owner, if this is your first year, if this is your 10th year, like you're not only just dealing with your clients, you're also dealing with the finances and the pain of the taxes and wait, did I file the thing I was supposed to file at the time I was supposed to file. And just those emotions can pop up, especially while mixed in with the holidays coming up, and, you know, seeing your friends who potentially have corporate jobs like just taking a normal break. And how do you give yourself a normal break when you are the business?


Lexie Smith  08:56

I will say, you guys, I have been not doing a lot of practicing, of what I've been preaching lately. And I'll be really honest about that as a reminder, if you're a new listener, outside of my coaching business, I also have an agency and a PR agency that PR agency has been taking taking over. It really has. It's been taking over coaching priorities. It's been taking over RSC and Emily is God sent for allowing me that what's the word I'm looking for, like Grace. But what it has reminded me is I've been doing a lot of traveling, I've had a lot of commitments, and I'm always able to pause the coaching side of things. I'm never able to pause the agency. And so in a way, it does remind me of the gift of the coaching business. Like, why figure out how to, like, rebalance that a little bit. But yeah, you know, I'm trying to give myself some grace too. Right now I've been answering people like, I'm I'm surviving more than thriving, and I think, you know, that's. A reality of life like we could come on here and say that we have it all figured out all the time. This has been a season for me where I've been very much reminded of the importance or the grace you have to give yourself, but also the importance of, I don't know, melty brain Emily, help. Coach me. Coach me. Help.


Emily Merrell  10:25

I think giving yourself grace of like changing of the guard, ebbing and flowing of client load. I think Lex and I have talked about this a lot, just like the importance of self care, which can look like anything from therapy to chiropractic care, to working out, and sometimes we can be so in the season and part of the routine, and then you travel, or your kid gets sick, or a client ends up being more in your face than you anticipated. And like those, things can fall off the wayside, but I think that's the beautiful thing about life, and what you even mentioned Lex about the balls, like those balls can be dropped, but they can be picked up yet again.


Lexie Smith  11:06

Yeah, yeah, I'll pick them up eventually. Here you guys will hear on the season to follow, a lot of the guests who come on kind of turn into mini Lexie therapy sessions. So now you guys have a little bit more context. I've just been kind of, honestly burning the candle at both ends right now, I it's a it's a gift to be busy, and a lot of the reasons for my burnout are self induced. You know, I've kind of lacked boundaries. I've had a hard time delegating, and it's been very humbling, because I have on the coaching side, been, been coaching people how to avoid these kind of things. And here we are, Lexie being human, kind of falling back into old ways and an old trap. And so for anyone listening, if you are in a season like me, or you feel like like I relate, you know, I think it's okay. I think it's impossible to be perfect for, you know, 365, days a year, and even if we've learned a tough lesson once, like sometimes life lives. And I think it's important to be in rooms and communities with people like Emily and coaches like Ready Set coach that remind you that it's okay and help pick you back up.


Emily Merrell  12:20

Yeah, no, and it's I had a client the other day who, like her poor, you know, her dog was ill, and you know life, life happens like at the end of the day. What we do is amazing, and it's helping, but you have to put your mask on before helping others, sometimes, which we learned, and it can be easier said than done with all of the things, but I was, I was, I'm excited for this, the season ahead. I think you guys are going to really enjoy our guests that we have, and to be able to learn from people with so much wisdom to impart and to share everything from creativity to burn out to nervous system regulation, like, if you have a problem, we probably are going to be talking about it because we've had the problem as well.


Lexie Smith  13:09

Yep, and just to give you guys a little preview, I have the schedule in front of me. We're talking about everything from branding to working your way through burnout, aka Lexie's therapy session has meant, as Emily mentioned, how to regulate your nervous system, how to license your coaching IP, which, holy crap, you guys. Get ready for that. Everyone's going to be running to this coach, to uncovering your purpose, to detoxifying and healing, to business. There's a little bit of everything. Because, again, you know, we are humans, especially as coaches, like we are our business, and our cups have to be filled and we have to be optimally running in order to show up in a place of service and to show up to run the lesser loved things about business that are required, like marketing,


Emily Merrell  13:57

selling, like calling Your bank account and having strong words with them about certain things, or getting hunted down by a tax agency. You know, it's all, it's all part of


Lexie Smith  14:09

who we'll pin that for an online conversation.


Emily Merrell  14:12

Let's just say I've got beef with the California franchise agency. And, yeah, they found me.


Lexie Smith  14:22

I don't know why you you are a totally private person. You aren't on YouTube and Instagram and LinkedIn and all


14:29

the things. Do you know what? I


Emily Merrell  14:30

think it would be a really good idea that recently popped up in my brain with, like, in the in the business scene, part of business was all of like, wouldn't it wouldn't be cool if there was like, an Asana or a Trello board for like, all the taxes you have to pay and it like, notified, you'd be like, this tax is due in this state, because most of them don't really have, like, one streamline. They're all, like, six different entities or systems.


Lexie Smith  14:54

I'd like to think your accountant's supposed to tell you, but mine doesn't. So I'm sure. Them do?


Emily Merrell  15:00

Yeah, I'm sure. I think that's when you hire like a CFO or whatnot. That's one that's true. They have to do. But, yeah, that's a completely different side note. But the moral of the story, and the moral of this podcast is a we're just excited to be back here. We will be tuning in and popping in and sharing wisdom and learnings and feedbacks and all the things as we go through. Um, we also love hearing from you. Where are you? How are you feeling in this state of the world of life like, you know, it's it's holiday time, it's election time. There's a lot of big emotions lingering in in the world right now. So, and


Lexie Smith  15:40

it will with your clients too. So like at the end of the day, I think this is a good reminder to us all, like we're humans, they're humans. We're all just humans. Human being over here trying to do our best. And if you're in a season of thriving, hell yeah, celebrate that shit. And if you're in a season of surviving, that's okay. Stay coarse Lexie. Stay coarse Lexie. And you know, know that it's okay, it's normal, and greater days will come. I sound like a Pinterest quote, don't I?


Emily Merrell  16:13

And we're gonna just, you know, change the style of this podcast, and we'll start just talking about Netflix shows moving forward.


Lexie Smith  16:19

So down. Yeah, more fairy very smart books. I had a whole tangent on my other podcast with a guest I, like, accidentally didn't rein it in. We talked about fairy smart for like, 10 minutes, and it was my outing to, like my whole team, because they listened to the episode and we all found the commonality. Obviously, you guys know Emily and I are totally into it. But my team for my agency didn't, didn't really know that about me. Now they do. And, like, it was a core sense of bonding. That's amazing.


Emily Merrell  16:47

Yeah, I love it. I Yeah. Next, next podcast we launch is going to be like, all on analyzing Netflix shows and and books and how they, you know, how they actually relate to the real world, yeah,


Lexie Smith  17:01

and how it's like the real world sucks in comparison. So let's just all go to I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. Guys, we're


Emily Merrell  17:08

all looking for an Adam Brody and to make us feel special.


Lexie Smith  17:16

Rowan, Rowan, did you do the Throne of Glass series. No, I didn't, Should I shut up? Yeah, okay, okay, you'll be done before I'm finished with the next book. So


Emily Merrell  17:28

I will finish them probably this month, but you really will


Lexie Smith  17:31

homework. We are going to continue with homework this season, and I think, you know, while we just kind of spewed a lot at you, we did want to do a little bit of a reminder for a q4 gut check of shorts of sorts. And what does that mean? Emily,


Emily Merrell  17:48

it means that this is a time that it's going to be moving. So, so, so, so, so fast. So carve that five minutes into your day, whether it's like jotting down some feelings, emotions and a journal, if it's getting outside and calling your work bestie, but just giving yourself time to be in you when we're serving so many other people. Yes,


Lexie Smith  18:11

and if you haven't already, join the Ready Set coach community, you can feel free, or you can simply pay $10 a month, or $99 for the entire year to get a slew of benefits and visibility opportunities. So consider that. And I guess what we'll do now is continue with the epic ending that we always have, which is, thanks for joining us on The Ready Set. I don't know i.