Career Coaching Secrets

From Wall Street to Coaching: Renée Madden on Building a Thriving Executive Coaching Business

• Davis Nguyen

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In this episode of Career Coaching Secrets, we sit down with Renée Madden — an executive coach, transformation leader, and author of Crush It. With over 35 years in financial services, including leadership roles at JPMorgan Asset Management, Renée shares how she transitioned from a successful corporate career to building a purpose-driven coaching business.

We dive into how she found her coaching niche, the importance of building credibility before scaling, marketing strategies that actually work, challenges of balancing a 9-5 while launching a coaching practice and her future goals as she shifts to executive coaching and consulting

Whether you’re a new coach or scaling your practice, Renée’s journey is packed with valuable insights, hard-earned lessons, and actionable tips.


You can find her on:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/renemadden/
https://upliftcareercoaching.com/


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

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

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

Rene Madden:

make sure that you're really focusing on what your niche is. For me, it was, you know, I really want to focus on workplace challenges. That's what my book is about. I want to help individuals who are facing challenges. And now I want to go even further and help companies to have better culture so that they can thrive and grow. I think focus on what your niche is because you can't be everything to everyone. And if you can narrow it down, that's where you're going to develop that following that you want to get clients.

Davis Nguyen:

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets, the podcast where we talk with successful career coaches on how they built their success and the hard lessons they learned along the way. My name is Davis Nguyen, and I'm the founder of Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to seven and eight figures without burning out. Before Purple Circle, I started and scaled several seven and eight figure career coaching businesses myself and consulted with two career coaching businesses that are now doing over $100 million each. Whether you're an established coach or just building your practice for the first time, you'll discover the secrets to elevating your coaching business.

Rexhen:

Hey everyone, welcome again to another episode of Career Coaching Secrets Podcast. Today my guest is Rene Madden, an executive coach and transformation leader with over 35 years in financial services, including senior roles at JPMorgan Asset Management. She specializes in leadership development and change management, helping businesses optimize operations and navigate transformation. Renée is also pursuing a master's in executive coaching at NYU for deepening her impact. She's also the author of her new book, Crush It. I'm excited to learn more from her expertise. Welcome to the show, Renée.

Rene Madden:

Thank you so much. Happy to be here.

Rexhen:

Initially, you were a career coach. Now you're moving to executive coaching. So can you talk about what inspired you to become a career coach in that case?

Rene Madden:

Sure. So about five years ago, I was moved into another position at my company and I was not going to be a manager anymore. And so I started feeling I really missed managing because when I managed, I was also coaching individuals for success. And so I did a lot of reflection and I decided that coaching would actually be good for me. And so that's when I took a certification class through Coach Training Alliance. It was a six-month class. It was during COVID, online, at night. and at the time there was no zoom so it was just audio but i learned a lot in that six months and i started building my career coaching business right from that point

Rexhen:

so basically during your position as a manager you were giving a lot of coaching and you thought that that was going to be a good career shift for you as well

Rene Madden:

exactly

Rexhen:

tell me more about your journey from when you started your career coaching business to where you are at right now?

Rene Madden:

So it's been a long journey, about five years now. I was doing both coaching as well as working full time in the asset management industry. And so it was hard because I had a hard time focusing on my coaching business and getting clients. So I really have been looking at, well, how can I move from corporate to focus just on my coaching business and so I have the ability now to leave corporate which I'm going to be doing next week is my last week my last day and so I've been able to do a lot on the side I built my own website I learned how to do that I've had clients that I've worked with and I I also felt it was a great opportunity to get my master's in executive coaching so that I could build my credibility as a coach.

Rexhen:

And who do you work with mainly and what transformation do you help them achieve?

Rene Madden:

So right now I've been working really with mid-level professionals and I've been helping them get out of being stuck in their career. So for instance, they could have been a vice president for many years and they're not getting to that next level. So I work with them to help them think about how can they get unstuck. I use the GROW model. which is a very big model in coaching it's grow is for thinking about what your goal is the r is for reality what's happening now o is for opportunities that they can take and then the w is the way forward what action are they going to take forward and that has really worked for me and for my clients they they really seem to like that and i've helped a few either ask for for a raise, promotion. I've helped people who have recently been laid off to find new careers for themselves.

Rexhen:

And was it mostly mid-level professionals in financial industry or any industry?

Rene Madden:

Mostly financial. I have helped a few people in the entertainment industry as well who have found me through LinkedIn.

Rexhen:

Yeah, cool. So LinkedIn, and that's where I was going next is, where do you find your clients? And like, what's your main way of connecting with your potential clients, basically, or primary marketing channel?

Rene Madden:

So I have tried different platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, but LinkedIn seems to be the best platform for me. I write blogs and I share them on LinkedIn. And so I think that's where people get to see my content and what I'm all about and what I'm talking about. Recently, because I am going to be focusing more full time on my coaching, I've taken I've taken a couple of LinkedIn courses, which I have found really, really helpful. There's a couple of people like Justin Welsh and Chris Donnelly. They're very big on LinkedIn and they offer these LinkedIn courses. And so they've helped me really learn about focusing on my potential clients. Who am I writing about? And sharing experiences, but also educating them in my content. So it might be a LinkedIn carousel where you're saying, do you want to build your executive presence? Here's three steps that you should think about. So it's looking at that content and making it really pop with your potential clients and maybe sharing i try to be authentic as well and share a little bit about myself and how i've struggled in my career in the past and i feel that helps because clients want to know that you've also been where they are right and it's not like oh where i am No one else has been here before. So I really say to them, look, I've been there. I've dealt with that. And I want to help you get through it.

Rexhen:

And so mainly is basically content in LinkedIn. There's you haven't tried doing like outreach or connecting with people and trying to message them and trying to get them to join your

Rene Madden:

program. No, I haven't done that. That's like, I guess, cold calling. And no, I haven't. I haven't done that yet. A lot of people find me through LinkedIn search. I also have my website in Google. So if they search me, it'll come up and gives a little blurb about what my company does. And a few people have done that. I think The biggest thing that's worked for me are the blogs. I have done blogs and that really, I think, resonates with people. But now I've been doing these posts and I'm posting daily. And I'm going to create a newsletter, which is something I've learned in the LinkedIn courses. And that's where I'll be able to share blogs, share my content. Maybe it's a link to one of my posts that they could click on. So I'm exploring those things right now. But I really am hopeful that LinkedIn is the right platform for me. And I think for other coaches as well.

Rexhen:

Yeah, I agree. I agree. And I've actually done a research into... what marketing channel worked best in 2024. So we interviewed about 71 coaches, including majority was career coaches and then executive coaches as well. And the majority part was actually using LinkedIn as their main marketing channel. So basically LinkedIn, but not LinkedIn called outreach is where you're focused on right now. And I really like the idea of like building your own newsletter so that you're not always dependent on LinkedIn and you can have that as your own system. What are your future goals that you are working towards for the next one to three years, be that either revenue or something that you're looking forward to?

Rene Madden:

So right now I am in the process of changing my business model. Right now I've been just a career coach and now I want to change that into executive coaching and also consulting. Part of my master's program is organizational consulting and I really like that aspect of it because that's what I've done a lot of in the asset management industry. I've been able to transform business models. Meaning I've been able to take manual processes and automate those. And so it's like bringing companies into the future. And so I want to do that, but also work with their employees, because one of the things that happens with transformation is change management. It's very difficult sometimes for employees to embrace change. So change management is a big thing that I do work with companies on. I do that currently in a position now at JP Morgan. So I'm really passionate about that because I've been through change and I didn't always handle it well. And so what I want to do is take what I've been through, the challenges I've been through and what I've learned and train other people how to handle those challenges.

Rexhen:

Thanks for sharing that. You mentioned Justin Welch as well for LinkedIn. I wanted to ask you what other resources or support has been most valuable in you growing your career coaching business or even now that you're thinking of shifting?

Rene Madden:

That's a great question. So I've really tried to reach out to people. Networking is big and working with other other coaches and talking to them about their business, I think is a great resource and I really recommend that. The other thing I've done is I love to learn. So I'm always reading books and then being in the master's program, you get a ton of book recommendations and requirements and training. There's so many, so much training online that's free. There are blogs or podcasts like yours that coaches can turn to and listen and you get free training on those podcasts. So I highly recommend that. It's just being self-aware and having that growth mindset is going to really benefit to everyone because every day I'm learning something new. I never want to say, oh, I'm perfect and I don't need to learn anything else. every day i'm learning something new i'm like oh my god i can't believe i didn't know that before

Rexhen:

and the information is all up there you just need to be looking for it

Rene Madden:

exactly it really is and chat gpt amazing resource that really is helpful for coaching i

Rexhen:

wanted to ask you also and this is a question i asked all coaches that come into the podcast is, what is something that you wish you had known when you first started scaling your coaching business? What is one unexpected lesson learned?

Rene Madden:

Well, I think I did it a little too quickly. So I was in the Coach Training Alliance certification program, and they not only taught coaching, but they taught you about starting your own business. And I think I rushed into it too quickly. I really should have focused on being a coach and learning as much as I can. So I really recommend a program like the master's program at NYU. I wish I had done that first. And, you know, because now I'm learning so many things about the best ways, the best practices in coaching. So I think it's refine your skills first and then build your business. I mean, you could do little things like you could practice with people, but I really think it's helpful to get more training before just jumping into it. Also, the International Coaching Federation, ICF, I'm now a member and I am working towards an accreditation with them. And so it's following their credentials as well and networking. They have chapters all over the country And so you'll get to meet other coaches and that's where you could start with networking and build your resources from there. So I highly recommend refine your skills first, then build your business.

Rexhen:

Thanks for sharing it. So basically, instead of focusing on the business side initially, focus on the coaching would have been one of the lessons you learned improving your coaching skill before and then moving to the business operations side of it. What are some of the biggest challenges that you've faced in scaling your coaching business even then or even right now at this point?

Rene Madden:

So I think the biggest challenge is lead generation, getting new clients. And I think that's why marketing, marketing yourself is really important. Having a website, making sure that it is something that's professional. I've had people work with me on that. from scratch, but then I reached out to professionals to help me enhance it. So I think that's the right thing. And it's just being an entrepreneur and learning, it's not just about coaching. So you have to learn how to build a business, pick a name out, right? And then get an LLC, or you have to look into what type of company You have to look for an accountant. So there's so many things that go into building a business and it's just learning all of those things. You have to do bookkeeping and then if you hire additional employees, you have to learn all of those things. So I think that's for me right now is one of the biggest challenges, but I am working with the right people to help me. I have a business plan and now I'm really looking to scale, as you said. I want to hopefully, the revenue from my business will help me keep to the same level I am now, so my life doesn't change because I'm out of corporate. So that's really my goal right now. Of course, in the future, I would love the business to grow and be able to do trainings for corporations and individuals.

Rexhen:

But initially, the goal is for you to change the income that you were getting from the full-time job, be able to get that from the coaching business. Are you currently close to that or you feel that there's a little bit more to get to

Rene Madden:

that point? Yes, not yet. And that's where the marketing comes in. And I think LinkedIn is where I'm going to put my attention now to build my lead generation and potential clients from there.

Rexhen:

I wanted to ask you because I think there's also other coaches that have been in this position that you have been right now that is changing for you because you are leaving your job but there's probably coaches that are also in a full-time job also doing coaching. I wanted to ask how have you been balancing basically delivering great results to your clients, managing your business and And on the other side, there's also the job.

Rene Madden:

Yeah, it's hard. It's very hard. I do recommend, though, if coaches are in the same position where they have a full-time job, keep your full-time job while you build the business, right? Because I've seen the flip side where coaches go out on their own right away, and it's hard because they don't have the revenue. And so... If you can build the business while working full time, that's great. It is hard, right? Because I did have to do my coaching calls at night or on the weekends. And it seemed clients were fine with doing that. So I didn't really have an issue with clients. And that's when I would do my work is I would do it at night. And on the weekends, I would focus on the business. And my full-time job, it was really, I kept that at nine to five during the five days a week. That's how I balanced it.

Rexhen:

Yeah, so definitely not an easy thing to do. What aspects of running your coaching business rotation would keep you up at night at this point?

Rene Madden:

At this point, what keeps me up at night is just the business part of it. And the accounting, finding an accountant and helping me with all of those things, the expenses that will go into building the business. Because a lot of people are going to reach out to you as well. Like for new coaches, you go onto LinkedIn, you change your profile to coach. You're going to get a lot of other businesses reaching out. I can help you get clients. And so I would really say, do your due diligence. Don't just, you know, work with the first people who reach out to you. And that's what keeps me up at night, right? Is because there are so many things that you can do and want to do, but they also cost money. And so that's where the due diligence comes in. So you could figure out, What are the right things that you need to do for your business to grow and scale?

Rexhen:

And right now we're getting to a closing question. And so far it's been a very interesting conversation. I wanted to ask you, since you've been doing it for about five years now, what advice would you give to other coaches that are looking to scale their impact?

Rene Madden:

I would just say, continue to learn the best practices of being a coach. Make sure that you do know how to do content. Content is big. Share your content, be consistent and make sure that your really focusing on what your niche is. For me, it was, you know, I really want to focus on workplace challenges. That's what my book is about. I want to help individuals who are facing challenges. And now I want to go even further and help companies to have better culture so that they can thrive and grow. So I think focus on what your niche is because you can't be everything to everyone. And if you can narrow it down, that's where you're gonna develop that following that you want to get clients. I think that's the biggest piece of advice that I received. And I know that it does work.

Rexhen:

That's great advice. Yeah, I agree with that. Riches are in the niches. Be sure to focus on it. And yeah, so this was a lovely episode. For anyone who wants to find you or connect with you after watching this podcast, they can find you at Renée Maiden at your LinkedIn. That's where people can go mostly. Is there any other way? I

Rene Madden:

do have a website right now. It is going to be changing. but right now it's upliftcareercoaching.com. You can find me and, you know, if you follow me on LinkedIn, more news is coming on my new business launch.

Rexhen:

Excited to see that. Well, thank you so much for coming today, Renée.

Rene Madden:

Thank you again for having me. It's been my pleasure.

Davis Nguyen:

That's it for this episode of Career Coaching Secrets. If you enjoyed this conversation, you can subscribe to YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to this episode to catch future episodes. This conversation was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to seven and eight figures without burning out. To learn more about Purple Circle, our community and how we can help you grow your business, visit joinpurplecircle.com.