Career Coaching Secrets

Lisa Allie: Navigating AI and Niche in the Coaching Industry

• Davis Nguyen

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Rexhen Doda interviews Lisa Allie, a certified career coach, resume writer, and LinkedIn optimization specialist. Lisa's diverse background, from running a multi-million dollar staffing agency to non-profit work, fuels her empathetic and strategic coaching approach for a broad client base (new grads to C-suite). Her business thrives on 80% word-of-mouth referrals and a 30-minute complimentary intro.

Lisa plans to launch a website and webinars, staying current through industry associations. Key lessons learned include using bank loans over self-funding and integrating AI sooner. Her main challenge is getting noticed in a crowded market and balancing client needs with business growth. She's slightly concerned about AI's future impact but emphasizes the importance of strong client relationships.

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Lisa Allie:

Interestingly, I don't have an email list. When my prospective clients come to me, I have a 30-minute complimentary introduction, learn more about them to see whether I'm a good fit for them. I think that coaching is a significant investment and I want to make sure that I can give them a lot of bang for their buck and deliver on what we talk about. So usually after that, they sign up and we get started.

Davis Nguyen:

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets, the podcast where we talk with successful career 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 Doda:

Hey everyone, welcome to Career Coaching Secrets Podcast, today with another episode. Today's guest is Lisa Alley, a certified career coach, resume writer, LinkedIn optimization specialist, and interview coach, who's helped hundreds of professionals turn career dreams into real achievements. Lisa brings a unique blend of experience in leadership, management, and recruitment. She's not just rewriting resumes, she's rewriting futures. Through her work at Amalavita and her own consultancy, she helps professionals at every stage of their journey stand out in crowded job markets with targeted strategies that cover personal branding, networking, interviewing, and negotiation. She's known for her compassionate, empowering approach, guiding clients to rediscover their confidence, articulate their value, and move towards the careers they deserve. Whether you're feeling stuck switching industries or aiming for the next level, Lisa is the kind of coach who shows up with both strategy and heart. Lisa, welcome to the podcast. So excited to have you on.

Lisa Allie:

I am so excited to be here. Thank you so much. It's a Pleasure and a privilege.

Rexhen Doda:

It's a pleasure for us too. Lisa, tell me a little bit more about what inspired you to become a career coach.

Lisa Allie:

Well, I started my career in general as a dental hygienist right out of school, and I absolutely didn't like it. So I know what it's like when you take a position and you're very unhappy. And I just happened to see in the back of a dental hygiene journal an opportunity to start a placement agency. I had no business experience. I didn't know anything about HR or staffing, but I decided to do it. So I paid a minimal amount of money. opened my doors. And from that, it grew from a very small company to a multi-million dollar company with over 700 healthcare professionals that I employed annually. And so after that, a company came in and they offered to buy me out and I took the I'm sorry, stumbling here. They came in and offered to buy me out. I accepted their offer. I stayed home with my children. I went back to school at 50 and got a master's degree. And then I went into nonprofit. And specifically, I went into the homeless sector. And so at one point, it's a career that has a high burnout. And I was burned out on working with homelessness, but I had developed a tremendous empathy for people who really had hit a tremendous impact in their life. So I decided that I wanted to utilize my recruiting and staffing background and my entrepreneurial spirit with the tremendous empathy I developed and go into career consulting. So as a career consultant, I work with people across all industries in every level, from new graduates starting starting their career to see sweet individuals who are looking to grow even further or maybe scale back and have a legacy type of role where they're helping people learn and grow to pivoting into entrepreneurship. That's really my diverse base. And from that, I really am a tactical coach. So I work with people who are really looking to have a higher sense of urgency. So they want someone who can help them with their resume, help them with their LinkedIn, with their brand, develop very strategic, robust job search strategies, and also interview prep. How do you tell your story in a successful, concise way where companies and employers feel that you're the top tier candidate for their position and offer you a position? And then lastly, but certainly not least, is that salary negotiation. How can we get just a little bit more money for you than what the offer came in at? And that's what I do for my clients.

Rexhen Doda:

Nice. So if I get that right, your audience or people that you work with is kind of like a broad audience, right?

Lisa Allie:

Correct.

Rexhen Doda:

Cool. And how do you go about finding these clients that you work with? Like what marketing channel is working best for you or is your primary channel right now?

Lisa Allie:

That's a great question. Thank you for asking it. My primary channel is Word of Mouth and my other channel is through Alma Levita. They send me clients. I'm an independent contractor, but on my own through LA Career Consulting, my clients come to me from other clients. And that goes back to new graduates who have heard about me from other new graduates. But really in that C-suite executive level, it's a very small community and I'm constantly getting referrals from happy clients.

Rexhen Doda:

Okay, so it's mostly referrals. And As a second to that, is it like 90% referrals and maybe 10% out of LinkedIn or people that find you online?

Lisa Allie:

I would say it's probably 80-20. 80% by referrals, 20% through LinkedIn.

Rexhen Doda:

Okay, cool. And when it comes to you building your referral network, is there a strategy that goes behind that? Such as like, and what I say is, how do you like source or nurture them over time, your network? Or is it just like basically people referring to you and they don't even need to be on your email list or anything like that?

Lisa Allie:

Interestingly, I don't have an email list. When prospective clients come to me, I have a 30-minute complimentary introduction, learn more about them, see whether I'm a good fit for them. I think that coaching is a significant investment, and I want to make sure that I can give them a lot of bang for their buck and deliver on what we talk about. So usually after that, they say, sign up and we get started.

Rexhen Doda:

Cool. Well, that's great. And I really like that. Cool. So I wanted to ask you also, in terms of goals, do you have any goals you're working towards in the next one to three years regarding your coaching business?

Lisa Allie:

So first of all, I work without a website. So I'm very fortunate because most people have to have a website for their business. And that's one of my goals is to get that up and running. And then also to do some seminars and webinars for like-minded individuals in certain industry sectors where they can learn and grow their career on their own with a little bit of help. But most people, once they have the knowledge, can really succeed. And that goes back to how do you brand yourself? How do you connect? How do you network? And those are really important aspects of anyone's career at any level that I hope to share with them and grow my business that way.

Rexhen Doda:

Yeah, totally. I Basically, when someone needs to book a call with you, they just go through the link on the LinkedIn. When it comes to investments, over the years, is there any resources or support that you have found that is valuable in you growing your coaching business?

Lisa Allie:

I think the number one tool that I utilize is staying up to date. through being a member of certain associations specific to resumes, to LinkedIn, to career coaching, so I can maintain cutting-edge knowledge to really help my clients obtain their goals.

Rexhen Doda:

And do you want to share any of these communities?

Lisa Allie:

Of course. One is PARC, Professional Association of Resume Writers. Let's see. Mm-hmm. resume writers and career coaches. That's number one. And then the career thought leaders, number two. And then I take various, the modern coach is the third association that I affiliate with. Again, these are top leaders in our industry who are constantly providing information and education. So my clients can be head and shoulders above the competition and land their jobs.

Rexhen Doda:

Yeah, I'm sure most of the coaches who are also going to watch this potentially might already know also about these. Throughout your journey as a coach and owning your own business, is there something you wish you had known when you first started scaling, like an unexpected lesson learned?

Lisa Allie:

Yes, and that is do not fund my own receivables. Bank loans are okay as long as you pay them back timely, especially if you meet payroll needs. That was probably number one. And even today, being able to take out business loans, going through the small business association, that is really significant in helping me scale.

Rexhen Doda:

And do you have, you mentioned payroll, do you have a team that is supporting you on your own coaching business?

Lisa Allie:

I don't, but I did in my past life as a temporary staffing executive. And I wish I would have known then that I didn't have to fund my own receivables and I could have taken some bank loans. But that was number one. In my current status as a career coach, I think... Utilizing technology, I wish I would have learned AI as soon as it came out. I'm up to speed now, but it took me a little while. I think it held me back compared to other coaches out there that could work a little bit faster and more strategic by using that.

Rexhen Doda:

Yeah, I don't think you're behind at all when it comes to AI, to be honest. Yeah, so I don't think people have gone too deep into that to a point that it's like, facing their whole business around it yet, as of yet. So yeah, I think you're right on time. When it comes to challenges, what are some of the biggest challenges you've faced in scaling your coaching business or challenges you're still facing today? I

Lisa Allie:

think the biggest challenge is being able to get noticed because the barrier to entry for coaching is fairly low. It's a certification process. And so there are a lot of great coaches out there. And Knowing how to market myself strategically, that's probably my biggest pain point. And let other people know, other potential clients know that I'm there and what I can do for them, whereas other people are maybe a little bit more strategic in their social media and in their marketing.

Rexhen Doda:

So you also, would you say that you're like, Even though you have a very good referral network, you'd say that you still face issues when it comes to generating leads constantly. Another question I have for you is, right now at the current stage that you are on, how do you handle the balance between delivering great client results and managing business growth on the other side?

Lisa Allie:

That is another great question. And I struggle with that. When my clients need me, I'm there. So if they have an interview the next day or in two days, I'm on the phone with them or on Zoom, 6 p.m., Saturdays, Sundays. So I really don't have that balance or those boundaries that I need so I can forecast what I'm going to be doing in the future and how I can grow my company because I'm too focused on my clients today.

Rexhen Doda:

Yeah, so I do feel like that is a constant struggle for a lot of coaches. And yeah, definitely what you just named it, like... From what I've heard, interviewing a lot of coaches, is setting boundaries is one of the solutions. It's like blocking time maybe on your calendar that, okay, Friday afternoon is going to be mostly about the business. It's going to be less about the clients. But I can also understand your position where there's not a consistent stream of clients, so you'd want to treat your current ones the best way you can so they can also refer business back to you. I can see from your position that it can be challenging at this point still. Is there any aspect of running your coaching business that would figuratively keep you up at night?

Lisa Allie:

No, I don't think so. I think I worry about my clients and whether they're going to land their positions or if they're going to have the performance reviews and get the promotions and the cost of living increases are more than what they're looking for, and that's why they come to me, and I'm hoping I'm providing them the knowledge and expertise they need to get what they want.

Rexhen Doda:

Okay, cool. I'm glad that that is not a worry, that there's no worry, especially. I've had coaches that I've asked this question, they've said they sleep like a baby, so So, yeah, it's a good skill to be in. But there have also been coaches that have been worried about things like, is this going to work for the foreseeable future? I cannot predict my revenue. And there's worries like that if you are dependent on the coaching business only.

Lisa Allie:

May I just interrupt there? Because you brought up a really great point. I think because of my past business that I... I feel more confident weathering the storms, you know, the peaks and valleys of, of income and revenue and profit. So I feel more comfortable with that. But I think there's always the question, if anything keeps me up at night, how much AI may take away from my business, right? You know, how I, people still need a resume writer. They still need guidance with resumes and hopefully that will continue. But with AI moving forward and becoming more sophisticated, how much will you need a career coach? How much will you need a resume writer? So I think that's a concern that I may have. It doesn't keep me up at night yet, but it might later on.

Rexhen Doda:

That's interesting because you're thinking about AI like eventually taking this part of the industry while a lot of people are worried about not having jobs which means there's no need for it not because ai can help them as a coach but because there's not a lot of jobs so exactly like there's different ways to think about it but ai is certainly uh so far has been a tool that's been helpful, at least hopefully it stays that way. So, yeah. And finally, I wanted to ask, is there any advice you'd like to give to other career coaches who are looking to scale their impact?

Lisa Allie:

Based upon what I've done and my experience, it's all about the relationship, developing relationships, maintaining relationships, and delivering on what you promise. I think that as coaches, that's where we set ourselves apart from everyone else, that we are a soft place to land, we're a safe place, and we provide really great information and education so people can succeed.

Rexhen Doda:

Thank you. Thank you so much, Lisa. It's been a pleasure having you on the podcast. For anyone who wants to reach out to you or connect to you, they can find you at Lisa Alley on LinkedIn. And they, yeah, LinkedIn. And soon you'll also have your website there. You can find it there as well. But for now, LinkedIn is the main way to connect.

Lisa Allie:

That is correct. And thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you today. It was wonderful. I had so much fun.

Davis Nguyen:

It's been a pleasure. Thank you. Thank you.