Career Coaching Secrets

Intuitive Professional Coaching: Margaret Williams on Strategic Career Shifts

• Davis Nguyen

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Rexhen Doda interviews Margaret Williams, founder of Intuitive Professional Coaching. A 38-year Army civilian, Margaret recently rebranded to coach mission-driven professionals transitioning from government/high-stakes environments, leveraging her extensive experience.

Inspired to be the role model she never had, Margaret emphasizes authenticity, relationship-building, and making clients "feel good" as core to her marketing, especially against AI content. Her goals are focused on legacy, community impact, and empowering younger generations.

She advocates for continuous learning and delegating tasks to focus on coaching. Margaret's key lesson is to overcome perfectionism and "just get started," emphasizing resilience and learning from challenges. Her advice to coaches: "Follow your heart."

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Margaret Williams:

Authenticity is very important. People buy from people they like, know, and trust. I mean, you know, we have the fundamental system, you know, which is fundamental to business regardless of what you're trying to do. We understand that, the concept. But still, you have to... cultivate, nurture relationships.

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 Doda:

Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Career Coaching Secrets Podcast. Today my guest is Margaret Williams. Margaret is a certified executive leadership coach, an army civilian, and a passionate advocate for women leading in government, business, non-profits, and non-traditional industries. With over 38 years of distinguished service with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Margaret brings deep first-hand experience navigating complex systems, leading high- teams, and managing organizational change. As the founder and CEO of Intuitive Professional Coaching, she empowers women to lead with clarity, confidence, and impact through tailored executive coaching, team development programs, and her thought leadership platform, ImpactRadio.net. Margaret equips clients to overcome barriers, amplify their leadership presence, and accelerate career success. Her mission is simple but powerful to help women and rise strategically, courageously, and sustainably. I'm very happy to have her on the podcast. And recently, me and her just talked about her rebranding. So she's going to share more about that. Margaret, welcome to the show.

Margaret Williams:

Thank you so much, Reggie. I'm just honored to be here today. And what I would like to say is what brought this rebrand about is that I recently decided to take a early voluntary retirement, which would enable me to go on administrative leave from 1 May through September 30th. And after which, October 1st, I will be retired officially. And with this rebranding, I have been pondering about which direction I want to go with my coaching. So I have decided, since this is my eighth and final move, that who best to help individuals with transition other than me. Like I said, I've done this eight times. So what my rebrand is going to be is that I'm going to help mission-driven professionals and leaders navigate change with clarity, confidence, and purpose, especially those who have been transitioning from government, defense, or high-stake environments. I'm able to draw on my 38 years. It'll be 39 years of Army civilian and a certified executive coach. So I will be able to offer strategic and structured and compassionate support to individuals to help them redefine success, manage uncertainty, and lead with lasting impact. Thank you. I'm sorry. The reason I have decided that is because... On my substat, I had been reaching out to women and talking to women specifically about issues and problems and concerns and how to address those in the workplace and in life. So... what i found was a lot of men started joining my newsletter so as a result of that i felt it was needed to become more inclusive to speak to all individuals that have the same goals in mind

Rexhen Doda:

thank you for sharing that and Yeah, you're going a little bit more broader and you're helping more people this way throughout your coaching. And I want to go back in time a little bit. Can you tell me some more about what inspired you to become an executive leadership coach?

Margaret Williams:

Well, throughout my career with the government, it's very, very important to be a leader positive role model for other people to follow. And in many instances, I didn't have that because most times I was the only female and the only African American in many places that I have traveled throughout my career. Working in a non-traditional field such as construction, and working in the military. So therefore, I struggled with that. And so since I didn't have a specific role model per se, i basically you know when according to my my and the things that that hold dear and hold true what i found was a lot of things that i learned growing up when you get in the workplace you find things are just not that way okay then you learn quickly what to do and the things not to do and the things is when you're going into an organization you have to adjust and be flexible and adaptive to the organization and really not the other way around.

Rexhen Doda:

And that is kind of like you wanted to create this role model that you didn't have for everyone else to have.

Margaret Williams:

Yeah, basically when I went to places, people were very curious about me, you know, being in this role. Well, why is she in this role? What makes, you know, her... special or whatever. And it's educating people on life. Okay. We are a product of our environment. And, you know, after a while, you know, when you go into places like this, I'm always having to prove myself. Okay. My ability and my worth. And I have been able to live up to that task.

Rexhen Doda:

Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. How does a journey look like from the moment you started your coaching business to where you are at today? So it did in like quite a few years, almost 10 years in intuitive professional coaching. Potentially, like this is based off of LinkedIn, potentially could be more, but how does that journey look like throughout these last few years?

Margaret Williams:

It's like an artist. You perfect your craft. Over the years, I've accumulated over 500 coaching hours. And during that time, I have learned very valuable lessons. The majority of those hours were accumulated through coaching other coaches. It was also through volunteering to work with coaching refugees. who were working with misplaced individuals. Through my work with the Army Corps of Engineers, I have had an opportunity to teach executives there and other opportunities outside of work because I didn't do coaching at work. My job was construction, contract administration, starting off as a survey tech and working my way all the way up to a negotiator on the Superfund project. So basically, I utilized coaching as a way to have something else to fall back on if and when my career with the Army comes to an end, as it is now. So having the coaching to fall back on and perfecting that craft over the years has enabled me to help a lot of people. And retiring, I will be able to do that on a much larger scale. Looking now at finishing up team, systemic team coaching, I will be able to coach not only working with organizations, working to coach team leaders, Coaching the team, coaching individuals, and coaching the stakeholders and the interconnections in between is phenomenal. So taking coaching from the base level on a larger scale is very intriguing to me.

Rexhen Doda:

And... So far, I want to move the attention a little bit to marketing. And we talked a little bit about the rebranding as well. And your focus on going a little bit broader on target audience as well. I wanted to ask, when it comes to marketing channels, what is the primary marketing channel that's working best for you right now?

Margaret Williams:

Authenticity is very important. People buy from people they like, know, and trust. I mean, you know, we have the fundamental system, you know, which is fundamental to business regardless of what you're trying to do. We understand that, the concept. But still, you have to... Cultivate, nurture relationships. That is key. People may not, to be honest, people don't care about my degrees. That means nothing to them. People don't care probably much about what I say, but what they do care about and what they remember is how you make them feel. That you can take to the bank. When you make people feel good and you make people feel inspired and motivated, people will come back every time. And you build trust and you build that foundation, that connection with people. That's what people buy.

Rexhen Doda:

Totally agree to that. And I had come up to the podcast also in the past that people do actually remember how you make them feel. not what you actually say. And I know we talked a little bit about this in the beginning as well. And you mentioned that you have grown your LinkedIn account throughout these years. So I can already see at least like 14 on LinkedIn. I wonder like, what is the strategy that goes behind that?

Margaret Williams:

I mean, even more so in society with the rise of AI. People are unindated with data, okay? I have like three or four different email addresses. Ask me how many emails I get per day and ask me how many open do I open. Very few because I have no time. People have no time. So... It's very important to get quickly to the point and say what you say. And that way, when people see your content and when people see something from you, my open rate is high because they know they're going to get value from what I'm saying to you. I'm not going to waste your time because I try to treat people the way I want to be treated. That's what it's all about. I'm not looking at the numbers. I'm looking at again how you make people feel you know people want to be uplifted people want to be inspired people want to have hope they want to hear positivity there's enough negativity going on in the world and they don't have to look far for that

Rexhen Doda:

yeah totally agree and I feel the same way like with AI generation right now there's a lot of like it's it's easier to reach out to a lot of people it's gotten richer easier throughout automations so it goes back to that authenticity where that raises in value even more now because it's So easy not to be authentic by using AI or automations and anyone that is authentic stands out. And yeah, what you said makes a lot of sense, especially in...

Margaret Williams:

Absolutely. People are looking for answers. People are looking for, okay, what can I do instead? You know, because, you know, when you see all these doors closing in front of you, it's like people are looking for anything that they can that's going to bring about some change, that's going to bring about hope in me. And that's what we're in search for. And that's what I try to always look at life is my glass is half full, not half empty. Okay, I can do this. What is within my control? Always. What is within my control? Not what I can't do. What's within my control and what can I do?

Rexhen Doda:

Yeah.

Margaret Williams:

It starts with one single thought. one single action and if you keep working towards your goals in that way you'll eventually get to the finish line you'll start to see that light at the end of the tunnel and all your hard work eventually is going to pay off you're going to get a return on your investment that's what

Rexhen Doda:

it's all about do you want to share some of the goals you're working towards in the next one to three years

Margaret Williams:

well building my um business on this way is more for me about legacy and community okay and how i can increase my reach and impact okay because It's through the young people. Now, I grew up in the 1960s, and some of the trailblazers during that time, Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt, and there's a lot of others that I can think of. Theodore Roosevelt and a lot of great leaders, Martin Luther King and the Kennedys. So it's a lot out there. And who is going to be there for the young people that are growing up, okay? Who's gonna pave the way for them? And that's my concern, okay? And we need to there and to challenge the status quo, okay? Because they did the status quo and that's how they brought about positive change for people. And we have to do the same thing. We have to be courageous, okay? How are we gonna empower? We have to bring about that change from the...

Rexhen Doda:

Totally. And is there, throughout these last 10 years, is there any, when it comes to investments that you have done in your coaching business, is there any coaching programs, masterminds, or communities that have been most valuable for you in growing your coaching business that you'd like to share?

Margaret Williams:

Well, I would say education is always important i'm always into some certification program because i have to continue to get ceus continuing education credits okay because as we know the world continues to change and the things that we learned five years ago honestly they can become somewhat irrelevant or obsolete so we have to continue to learn new skills okay to be able to compete in the world, especially with AI out there and all the mirage of coaches that we have around the world. So what sets us apart from these other individuals? We always have to see that. Who are our competitors? And how can we set ourselves apart? So in this space that I am in, I consider myself a subject matter expert and can champion that, okay, in that space. And that's what we have to do. What... knowledge skills and expertise as well as what we enjoy doing okay because if you don't enjoy doing what you're doing then you're not going to be able to really help people to the fullest extent because people are going to be able to tell quickly you're not authentic because something is off you know what i'm saying So you need to be really, really about your messaging, about who you're talking to. And it all needs to be one message. This is something that I enjoy doing. This is something that I can give the most value to my customers. That'll give them the biggest results that they're looking to achieve. It all has to be based on what client wants, okay? because we're in partnership with clients on their journey.

Rexhen Doda:

When it comes to all of these learnings, is there a specific person you usually consult with or do you do your own research? Even when you think about rebranding, you obviously do adapt with time. Who do you, is there someone that you consult with about these? And what I'm leaning onto is like thinking about in terms of investments again, is there some help that you're getting on that end?

Margaret Williams:

Well, in the, think about business, you have to always keep your to the goal and see what's working. Okay. I recently started using Notion for my business because it just makes perfect sense to have everything in one place, to be able to track emails, schedules, content creation, you know, podcast interviews, everything in one place. It just makes perfect sense to be able to You track your expenses. Everything is in one place. You get you to even cut your cost and everything, even down to your email marketing. Utilize technology to things to work for you to where you can focus your attention on the coaching rather than the managing the business aspect. You know what I'm saying? Because that takes up a lot. of time and knowing also the things that i don't know how to do well be willing to give that to somebody else to do because i have people i have an individual that i work with um nan tran he lives in vietnam okay he takes care of the it okay i have someone else working for me and they do something else Okay? That way I can focus on the things that I do well. And it just works.

Rexhen Doda:

Thanks so much for sharing that. Throughout your experience, is there something in your coaching business until today, is there something that you wish you had known first when you started scaling your coaching business, like an unexpected lesson learned?

Margaret Williams:

Yes. I think I was really too hard on myself and too much of a perfectionist. You don't wait until you want to get something perfect. There's no such thing as perfection, okay? Just get started. And just as you continue to work at it and do it, you perfect things along the way. That's a part... of learning and growing. If you wait, you'll be sitting at the bus stop and all the buses will just continue to pass you by. And you won't accomplish a thing.

Rexhen Doda:

And what about your coaching business at this state that is right now? What would you say are the biggest challenges you're facing today in scaling your coaching business?

Margaret Williams:

The biggest challenge is to get out of my own way. Okay. Get out of my own way. Stop questioning whether I can be successful because I can, because I've been preparing myself for this moment since 2017. I have been successful at everything that I put my mind to. This is no different than anything else. And that's the truth.

Rexhen Doda:

Tell me a little bit more about what you mean. by getting out of your own way.

Margaret Williams:

I'll explain to you. Growing up in an abusive household, being told that you're never going to be nothing and you'll never be good enough, you start to believe that. And so how I got through that, it's just like the little train they could. I just keep telling myself, I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. We're going to always have that little voice in the back of our head telling us, you can't do that. And that voice is really, I would say, I'll call it my mother. My mother does everything she can to protect me. She doesn't want me to go out there and get hurt. Okay? But you gotta go out there. You're gonna have to bump your head. You're gonna have to fall. There's lessons you're gonna have to learn. You're gonna have, like the fire. Mama told me, don't touch that fire. But you're gonna have to touch it and you're gonna have to understand that it's hot and that, you know, you're gonna have to do it So you can experience it for yourself and that you know certain lessons you have to learn in life. Nobody can prevent you from doing it. It's a necessary evil. And from those bumps, challenges, and roadblocks, we learn very valuable lessons, very valuable lessons to take with us on the next hurdle, the next challenge that we face. And it gives us so much confidence. Hey, I got through this horrific thing, okay? There's nothing I can't get through now, okay? Remember that. You didn't come this far by chance, okay? Because there's something else you are supposed to do, you're destined to do. Do things because the graveyard is full of people. I like that quote by Wes Brown. He talked about all the dreams that were never fulfilled, you know, and all the inventions that were never, you know, never, never to fruition because, because we're too afraid to stay with it. And when things become harder and harder, you know, people, people up and, and right when things going to start to turn upside to the positive. You just don't give up, just keep going. And eventually you keep getting stronger and you keep moving forward and you really don't realize the progression. It's just like my career. Like I said, I started off as a survey tech, a temporary survey tech, okay? And I worked my way up to negotiating, you know, million dollar modifications. It didn't happen overnight. I started from nothing and worked my way up. And that's the way life goes.

Rexhen Doda:

That is so valuable. And I like what you mentioned about my graveyard being full of people who did not fulfill their dreams because they were too afraid of. In a way, that was kind of like, in a way, it shook me a little bit. So, yeah. Is there any final advice you'd like to give to other career coaches or executive coaches who are looking to scale their impact?

Margaret Williams:

I just say go with what's in your heart, okay? Because a lot of times I'm with myself. My mind says one thing, my heart says another. You know, go with what's in your heart, okay? The heart don't lead you astray. If you go with that, Laws of attraction. If you attract, that's what you're going to get. Okay? So that's what I say to people. Follow your heart.

Rexhen Doda:

Thank you so much, Margaret. It was a pleasure having you on the podcast. Thank you for taking the time to come into our show. I think it was a lovely episode. For anyone... who wants to connect with you or find you, they can find you on your LinkedIn, Margaret Williams, and they could also find you on your website, iProfessionalcoaching.com. So is there any other way people could reach out to you if they needed to?

Margaret Williams:

Yes, I am on Substack, which is called, my newsletter is called The Empowered Leader. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Rexhen Doda:

Thank you, Margaret.

Davis Nguyen:

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