From Corporate HR to Career Ownership with Stacy Heisey-Terrell

In this episode of Career Coaching Secrets, host Pedro sits down with Stacy Heisey-Terrell, a career ownership coach who helps professionals take control of their future beyond the traditional job path. Stacy shares her journey from corporate HR to business ownership and opens up about what it really takes to scale a coaching practice without losing alignment.

They explore the power of experimentation—“fishing in many ponds”—to discover which audiences are truly ready for your work, how to balance structure with customization in coaching, and why seasons of testing are critical before committing to long-term growth. Stacy also breaks down her franchise-based model, her approach to capacity and pricing, and the mindset shifts required to build a sustainable, fulfilling coaching business.

If you’re a coach navigating growth, refining your niche, or preparing for your next level of impact, this episode delivers practical insights and real-world lessons from the field.


Connect with

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacyheiseyterrell/
Website: https://sheisey-terrell.esourcecoach.com/

Transcript

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 0:00

I'm really excited about scaling. I want more clients and a wider variety of clients. So I'm trying to fish in lots of ponds, right? I've been kind of in one spot. It's been really interesting, but I'm like, how can I touch more people? How can I tap into populations that this would be my coaching, my offering would be most interesting? I've been doing lots of testing out who responds. What are populations that are ready to work with someone like me? Ready for me. This year is a lot about fine, doing experimenting. I'm doing lots of experiments, seeing what work. And then next year I think it'll be more like, okay, putting my chips in that pile.

Davis Nguyen 0:48

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 Wynne, and I'm the founder of Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to $100,000 years, $100,000 months, and even $100,000 weeks. Before Purple Circle, I've grown several seven and eight-figure career coaching businesses myself and have been a consultant at two career coaching businesses that are doing over $100 million each. Whether you're an established coach or building your practice for the first time, you'll discover the secrets to elevating your coaching business.

Pedro 1:19

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets Podcast. I'm Pedro and today's guest is Stacy Heisei Terrell, a career ownership coach who helps professionals explore self-sufficiency and alternative paths beyond the traditional job market. She works with people facing career transitions, downsizing, frustration, or a desire for new challenges, creating a safe space to clarify goals and explore real options without pressure. Through the Entrepreneur Source, she guides clients through education and discovery to build income, lifestyle, wealth, and equity on their own terms. Her work is grounded in one principle: helping people take control of their future with clarity and confidence. Welcome to the show, Stacy. Great to have you.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 2:12

Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

Pedro 2:14

Well, that's awesome. I'm excited to talk with you. I know we have some connections in common. I'm gonna shout out to Myrna King, which introduced us, right? So, Myrna, thank you for introducing me to Stacy. But then again, I like to rewind a bit, go back to the origin story a bit. Every coach has that moment where they look at their life and, you know what? I guess this is what I'm doing now, right? So when was that for you, Stacey?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 2:41

Well, um, my background is in human resources. So I feel like I've been coaching most of my career. But while I was working for big corporations, my coaching was to help leaders and employees be better leaders and employees for that corporation. And then about three years ago, things changed and I was able to move myself to the driver's seat and take charge of my own career and open my business. And now I'm still doing that coaching, but instead of from a corporation's perspective, from the individual's perspective, what would make that leader happy? How does their career help them get to their goals? So it's a much more gratifying seat to sit in. But I've been coaching for a while.

Pedro 3:35

You know, that's very interesting, especially the fact that at the end of the day, you've been coaching for a while before you started a business, right? So my question is when did it shift from I'm helping people to what I'm building a real business around this now?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 3:51

Well, I felt um in working, I kept hitting walls working for other people, right? Where I didn't feel I was able to help people as much as I wanted. I couldn't focus on the things that I wanted to fill my day with. And it was really frustrating. And I came to a place where I was looking for jobs, I wasn't really getting anywhere, I wasn't really excited about the process. And I met a coach and through working with him on my goals and really what I wanted my life to look like, it opened my eyes to, gosh, I never really saw myself as a business owner, but I was like, I could totally do this, right? And build those components into my day that I really enjoy doing. But how do you make that profitable? How do you turn that into a thing? And so working through a coach helped me do that. So it was really kind of born out of my frustration and really wanting to leave the game and start my own, my own team, right? That I opened my business.

Pedro 5:05

Right. Yeah. I mean, that leap, right, from turning a side hustle, a hobby, you name it, into a real business. Sometimes uh we see coaches that they're struggling with that, right? They're second guessing themselves, like, is this really gonna happen? Right. But it was so cool that you were able to do that, right? So after you got rolling, who are the people that kept showing up? The ones you realized, okay, this is my tribe.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 5:32

Yes. Well, the entrepreneur source, we were just talking about this, is a franchise. So I'm a franchisee. I own my business, but I'm part of a bigger network, which for me is really handy because I've got friends and peers that are doing similar types of things, hitting similar challenges. And um, I make good friends and colleagues through that. I've also started podcasting more and through the podcast, I meet people like Myrna and have broadened my network to people who've been doing this a lot longer, doing it with different focuses. And um, it's just I think the common theme is really that desire to see your client grow and change. And so that's really fun to see that through different aspects.

Pedro 6:29

So I guess what I'm trying to understand is like, I got it, you you're a franchisee, right? How does the process of connecting you uh with the I wouldn't say the right people, but the people you want to talk with work? Do they pass it along to you or do you have some limitations that you create just to understand your perspective from your ideal, your ICP, uh, to be to be candid?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 6:54

Yeah, yeah. So I'm using LinkedIn a lot, my circle of influence. I get lots of referrals too for clients, but I'm really like kind of the best at working with clients who are sort of mid-career, sort of have a story like me, right? Who have been successful in their career and might feel like, is there something more? Or I'm a little, you know, I've hit the top of the mountain, I'm a little bored, or maybe go through a layoff and are like, okay, do I really want to dive back into what I've been doing? Or can I try something new? And so um I usually, you know, it's amazing to me that uh, you know, you kind of kind of put your vibes out there and and the right people always seem to to find you. Um so I've had lots of success word of mouth and um clients who have a good experience with me. Um, but then it's fun when you've got someone who really engages with the process and feels like my life is different. By taking a moment to pause to do some self-reflection. Now I have a clearer vision of where I'm headed and what my future is going to be like.

Pedro 8:18

Okay. I mean, so it sounds like people find you through referrals, networking, and also the franchisee module, right? You'd like potentially a website or something like that. So let's say people find you, okay? And like diving a little bit into the business side now. And they resonate with your work. And eventually they want to know what working with you actually looks like, right, Stacy? Everyone builds their coaching business a bit differently. I understand it's a franchise module module, but it's different from the other person, right? You're an individual, you're a coach, right? So when someone actually becomes a client, what does that experience experience look like right now?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 8:59

Well, so I work with folks a lot of times, my longer relationships with clients will be with clients who are thinking, I want to do something different. I don't want to keep doing the career that I have been doing. And so we take a lot of time to explore, well, what are those options? So for some, it might be taking their skills and expertise and just applying those in a different industry or different type of job and getting creative about how they use their network and who they're talking to and and what they could what they could do out there. For others, and I think a lot of us can identify, right? We're like, I don't want to work with somebody else. I don't want to have a boss anymore. What else is there? And for those guys thinking about what what are those have been those environments in their past that they've really thrived in? What were they doing? Who were they working with? Who were their customers? Who were their teammates? And then thinking about could you replicate that in a business model? Could you go out on your own? Could you start a business and have some of those same components come up that would meet your financial needs, meet your lifestyle needs, get you to your goals, but also be really enjoyable, maybe help you leave a legacy. So finding what those goals are, what that motivation is, and then finding creative out-of-the-box ways to apply that is what people can expect with me when they go for this ride.

Pedro 10:44

Okay. I mean, your work seems pretty hands-on, right? We're talking about almost like a custom experience.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 10:50

Yes.

Pedro 10:51

Right? And different streams from different types of goals that people have. So how do you think about capacity? So don't stretch yourself too thin.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 11:00

Yeah. Um, well, I think while everybody's experience is coaching experience is a bit different, the components are very similar, right? So so it's interesting to me as sitting in the coaching seat, seeing people have the aha's about the same time in the process, right? Is is thrilling. They're ahaing on um different epiphanies for them, but they're kind of hitting similar milestones. So the structure, the pace of the coaching can be very similar client to client, with with different outcomes or with different things kind of grabbing them or engaging them. So in that way, you know, I'm an HR person by nature. So I like lots of structure and rules and and guidelines, right? And milestones that we hit. So I'm pretty structured with that process. Um allows me to work with radically different clients, clients with really different backgrounds. But again, they're sort of hitting the same milestones about the same time in the journey.

Pedro 12:13

Okay. You know, one thing every coach wrestles with at some point is pricing. And I'm not talking about hard numbers, right? And especially how to package their work. Because in the service industry based, uh, we're talking about a self-forced path sometimes. It's about our time. And I'm a career coach as well. And and we're comparing to sometimes zero to I'm not doing anything, to I could be doing something, right? So I'll take that client and ex whatever. So how do you think about it today, pricing specifically? And were there any lessons along the way that shaped how you landed where you're at right now?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 12:50

Yeah, well, again, my background's in HR and I like business a lot, but I never was that hands-on business person. So that was very intimidating to me thinking about this business. The franchise model has helped me tremendously with this because they have some structure and guidelines that I can plug into and not reinvent. So with my model, my coaching is actually complementary. And how I make my money is when my client does connect with resources that I provide, executive recruiters, business startup resources, and so on. Then I'm paid a commission. And the franchise helps me manage those commission agreements and referral, referral fees.

Pedro 13:42

Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Um it is hard to do. Oh, I like the way you approach price instructure, and and especially how you took the franchise module to accelerate and expedite your your learning process, especially when we're touching about pricing, which is sometimes we see people struggling years with, you know. Yeah. I know I'm curious about where you're taking all this. Looking ahead, where do you see the business going? Are you thinking about scaling, hiring, or is there a next step you're excited about?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 14:13

Yeah, I'm really excited about scaling. I want more clients and a wider variety of clients. So I'm trying to fish in lots of ponds, right? I've been kind of in one spot and it's been really interesting. But I'm like, how can how can I touch more people? How can I tap into populations that this would be my coaching, my offering would be most interesting. So I've been doing lots of testing out who responds. What are populations that are ready to work with someone like me, ready for me. So uh this year is a lot about find doing experimenting, um, doing lots of experiments, seeing what works. And then next year I think it'll be more like okay, putting my chips in that pile.

Pedro 15:08

Interesting. And of course, whenever we're aiming it towards the next chapter, there's always something we're refining in the present, right? So what are you currently trying to improve or tighten up in your business right now?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 15:20

Yeah. Um, I think there's there's lots of business things because that's kind of what I came in with a lot of learning to do about um the business, about marketing, some of those fundamentals and tailoring those to me. So it feels authentic to me and I'm comfortable owning those pieces. Those feel like things I have to do as a business owner, but the things that I really like to do are I've been trying to hone some of my coaching, right? And get better at um asking those probing questions, finding exercises that help people go deeper or have a have those moments where they're like, uh, I, you know, or I'd forgotten this about myself or I didn't know this about myself. So to me, those are the nuggets I'm really excited to mine for. And the vegetables I have to eat are like watching my numbers, doing my marketing plans, sorts of things. Yeah.

Pedro 16:25

Okay, yeah, they're super important as well. Yeah, and it makes sense with the path you're told me you want to go with, you know, this year and next year. So yeah, perfect. Stacey, I I want to switch yours for a second to something a bit more fun. None of this was not fun. Okay. If you're down for it, I got a quick game for you. Okay, yeah. Okay, good, cool. Well, we'll look at this through the lens of business investments, okay? Things like coaching, training, marketing, team, masterminds, you name it. Okay? It's pretty simple. I'll give you four prompts and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind. If there's a story behind it, even better. Okay? What's uh the first business investment you remember making?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 17:08

Hmm. The first business investment. Well, I think the first investment I made in myself, I didn't even realize I was doing this to build a business because I did it maybe 15 years before I opened a business. Was um, I got really into human resources certification. I got my PhR and I started doing professional development for myself, really. It helped me in my job. It definitely helped me in my job. It helped in my career progression uh at the company I was with, but it gave me an outlet to really start developing myself and doing some things for myself. And so then as the years progressed, I'd try to find things that again could help my business, could help my career and the companies I was working for, but really were interesting and edifying to me. And so then when I got to the point of like jumping off into my own business, where I had a base and I had some capacity for thinking about what would be good for me, what would be good for my family. Um, where am I pointed? Nice.

Pedro 18:30

That was basecamp for business. That's like getting the ins and outs and establish a solidified business. Okay.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 18:37

Kind of like here's the tool and here, read the manual, how to use the tool. Okay, now put it in your pocket. You're gonna need it later.

Pedro 18:45

And and and sometimes it's like it's knowing where to go, right? At least you have a very good foundation, and now you know what you're supposed to look at. Because when any topic that we don't know anything about it, and I can I put myself in those shoes a lot, I don't even have a clue of what I'm doing here. I need to first find that first clue, right? To first trying to in the dark trying to understand what's happening.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 19:09

But yeah, kind of learn how to learn about it.

Pedro 19:12

Exactly, exactly. To to even make the right questions when you're talking with someone who actually knows what they're doing, you're like, okay, where do I start? You know, so yeah, that makes perfect.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 19:22

How do I even talk to this person? What do I even Google? Yeah.

Pedro 19:26

Exactly. Second one, what's the most recent one you made?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 19:30

Business investment. Um, well, I so clearly I'm a joiner, right? So I joined a network of podcasts um because I knew that was it's been kind of scary for me out of my comfort zone. So I joined a group that was helping. How do you get on podcasts? What do you say? How do you perfect your message? And they have been really helpful with me toning my message. Building my confidence to do more speaking engagement. So it pushed me out further and has been really well worth it.

Pedro 20:10

That's interesting. Cool. I hope this is this will you use this as practice, as an exercise, and you can reveal down the line, right? If this worked or not, I hope so, right? I hope we have at on my end, at least you're you're 100% fine. Okay.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 20:28

So I'm coming across. I'm I'm speaking words and sentences. It's good.

Pedro 20:33

Nice. At the same time, you're practicing what you preach, right? Yeah, when we're talking about transformational change that you're doing with your clients, you're asking them to get out of that comfort zone, right? So it's only fair you do the same.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 20:49

Then I also do some things that are new and scary and could not go well. Yeah. Exactly.

Pedro 20:56

Perfect. Okay. Fun also. Okay, third one. Let's moving forward. What is the best financial business investment you have made and why?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 21:08

Moving forward. Well, I think I continue to um I've been continuing to experiment, right? So I've been investing in different areas. And I I don't know that I can even tell you, right? Because I'm not sure what has worked yet, right? I've invested in podcasting and some speaking engagements, going to different venues, doing some job fairs. It's all been very edifying for me. I've yet to see like which one has kind of that the hard data to support a payoff. So still in experiment mode with that. But I think my biggest investment lately has been in my business, right? Just starting a business and seeing how that has radically changed me and my family and um my vision and hopefulness of my future has really has already paid off. But I'm expecting greater payoff.

Pedro 22:17

Yeah. Last but not least, what's one investment that you wish you could get your money back on?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 22:24

Oh, that I wish I could get my money back on. Well, I think with the um with some of my experiments, yeah, they have not all been, you know, super founded in sound logic. So sometimes you look back and you go, oh yeah, what was I thinking? But I think that is part of the learning process when you're starting a new business was having some of those like whoops, like we could have done that better, right? Or maybe should have waited or done it sooner. So to me, you know, I try to reset the mindset, right? Change your mindset to, well, what did you learn? What would you do next time? So I think that is informing my year of experimentation, right? So it's smarter experiments and not like, oh yeah, I paid for this thing and I was not ready to do it, or I, you know, I didn't use it well because I did I wasn't practiced enough as a coach or I didn't give it the right time to do it. So using those things to inform, okay, what do you do now? How does that let you know what to let's not regret or retread? But how does that inform decisions moving forward? And I see that a lot with my clients to you get some people who are like, oh, I wish I would have taken this job or I wish I would have capitalized on this experience. And sometimes it just really can eat it to that dwelling. Like, how do you take those experiment experiences and turn them into what does this tell you to do next time? Or what how can you avoid that regret and get the most out of this next chapter? And I think sometimes that's really hard to move off of those when you feel like you've made a mistake or missed out. Um can be a real discipline to stay forward-facing.

Pedro 24:27

Sounds like part of the journey, right? It's like me picking up my family album and I'm looking at my pictures and I'm like, what was I thinking when I was 15? And my oldest is like, hey, dad, is that you? I'm like, yeah, sounds like it. But what's that true wearing, dad? I'm like, yeah, exactly that. So yeah, I get it. It's part of the journey at the end of the day. You're having good and bad experiences, and they will pave the way uh eventually to the place you're gonna you're gonna, you know, end up with. Supernatural. But it's good that we reflect on those.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 25:04

Looking at those, uh the data you need from those experiences. Exactly. And how has you wear long shorts or have a mullet anymore, right? Is that what you're thinking?

Pedro 25:14

Yeah, exactly. And I mean, Stacy, looking at those, right? How has your approach to investing in the business changed over the years? I mean, if it has.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 25:23

Yeah, I think the questions that I ask and really thinking about more than just the now, the sales pitch for what is it gonna do for me now? But what is that gonna do for me down the road? How do I is this really for me in my business? What I'm looking for is less patches and more bricks. Like, how is this building my foundation, my walls, my compound, whatever? Um, and not just fix it, you know, a quick fix. So asking some of those longevity questions, uh, look looking at my bank account and projecting, can I afford this long term? What is the payoff? What does that look like? Again, being and I think that takes some seasoning in your business to be able like to look beyond the now. What is this gonna do for me down the road? How does this me make me a better coach, make my business uh more more solid, fill in a blank that I was missing, have some strategy and vision for what is this gonna do long term for me has been that challenge to get beyond the end of my nose, right?

Pedro 26:39

Yeah, I mean, I love that, especially the counter intel idea, you know, like to backtrack a little. Let's see if this aligns in the long term and not just chasing the next hype or the next, you know, trend. Right. Because at the end of the day, we're looking at our social media and it's like, hey, AI is gonna take your job, right? And the next post is AI is dead. I love that, you know. You're like, okay, guys, really?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 27:04

Which one is right? Yeah. Right. Well, and I think that tells you like there isn't a right answer, right? If we can make the the right answer. Um, yeah, yeah.

Pedro 27:16

Okay. And Stacey, if so and if someone listening wants to connect with you or follow your work, where can people find you and connect with you?

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 27:24

Yeah, um, I am all over LinkedIn. Again, my name is kind of hard. It's Stacy Hecy Terrell. But the easiest way to find me is my website, which is just mylife, mybizb-i-z.com. So my life, my biz, that takes them right into a contact card. You're on my website. You can surf around a little, get on my calendar, but really reach out to talk to me. I love talking to all kinds of people. So I encourage folks, yeah, to other coaches to connect um through the contact card or or LinkedIn, but clients especially if people are feeling like, yeah, I'm not sure that my career is serving my goals, my personal goals. I might need to look at that. Um, you know, it's good to just take a minute to to look every now and then and and reassess, am I lined up? Is this helping me?

Pedro 28:26

You know, there were a few things you share today that really stay with me. You know, first I would say when you you told me you were hitting a wall in your job, and that resonates with so many people. That is so true. And and you're questioning yourself, like, is there a better way? At the end of the day, should I do things differently? And you start paving that way, brick by brick, right? Starting with that course you made to understand the foundations of a business. So that really resonates with me. I really like that. Also, um, the power of networking, just by asking you, you know, how can people find and connect with you? You're also not just looking for clients, you're also looking for people that can be somewhat of a benefit uh along the journey in both ways, right? Even you or them, each way works best. So I can see that you're not just uh saying because we see a lot of people putting out their oh, the power of networking, connecting with people. Well, they don't actually sometimes put in the work, which is actually connect with people, you actually talking with people. And they're like, I love connecting, but you know what? I don't have the time for the next two weeks. So I can tell you're you're a true connect, you're a true connector, right? You you really do that. I can tell just by talking with you, and also how being an HR person by nature affected especially the structure you're building, right? When I asked you about the capacity and how you're thinking about structure, and that's so HR. And I love that because it in a way it's uh I wouldn't call it a necessary evil because we need the red tape, right? But we also need the structure, but it needs to expedite it, not pause the work. But in the way you mentioned, it really sounds like you're just finding patterns, you're understanding the patterns, you're connecting the dots, and that helps you be more efficient. So capacity is not just like that bad on your side. So I really like that, how that affected you in your journey. And I appreciate what you do, and I appreciate you being here and sharing so openly today, Stacey. It was great having you on.

Stacy Heisey-Terrell 30:32

Thank you so much. Yeah, lovely conversation. I appreciate it.

Davis Nguyen 30:36

That's it for this episode of Career Coaching Secrets. If you enjoyed this conversation, you can subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to this episode to catch future episodes. This podcast was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to $100,000 years, $100,000 months, or even $100,000 weeks, all without burning out and making sure that you're making the impact and having the life that you want. To learn more about our community and how we can help you, visit join purplecircle.com, you can't get a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit.