Developing Leaders Who Inspire Growth and Results with Nic Woodthorpe-Wright

In this episode of Success Leaves Clues Podcast, our guest is Nic Woodthorpe-Wright, executive coach, leadership consultant, keynote speaker, and organizational development expert who helps senior leaders, executives, and business owners elevate their leadership capabilities and create lasting organizational impact. With extensive experience coaching leaders across industries and international markets, Nic shares valuable insights on leading through change, developing emotionally intelligent leadership, building resilient teams, and creating cultures rooted in trust, accountability, and continuous growth. We also discuss the evolving role of executive coaching, the importance of self-awareness in leadership, navigating complex business challenges, and empowering people to perform at their highest level. Whether you're an executive, entrepreneur, coach, manager, or aspiring leader, this conversation delivers practical strategies for strengthening leadership, inspiring high-performing teams, and achieving sustainable success in today's rapidly changing business environment.

You can find him on:
https://wwacoaching.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/executivecoachmiddleeast/
https://x.com/nicww1
https://www.linkedin.com/company/woodthorpe-wright-associates/
Email: nic@wwacoaching.com

Transcript

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 0:00

You have to choose a niche and you have to be clear about who is in that niche. And then you need to say, what value can I create in that niche? Because you're choosing that niche because you feel alignment, right? Then you've then, as you do that, yes, absolutely it's a self-worth, right? I know I can add value to this niche.

Davis Nguyen 0:20

Welcome to Success Leaves Clues, the podcast where we interview business owners on how they built their businesses and the hard lessons they learned along the way. My name is David Swain, and I'm a business coach and a founder of Purple Circle, where we help business owners achieve their first six-figure, seven-figure, and eight-figure year, all without sacrificing their quality of life. Before becoming a business coach and before founding Purple Circle, I started to schedule several seven and eight-figure coaching businesses and have been a consultant at several businesses doing over $100 million each, including some that are publicly listed and doing over a billion dollars each. In every episode of the podcast, you're gonna learn lessons that took far, yes, years to learn, and you'll be able to learn that in minutes. Remember if you're a new business owner or an established business owner, every episode is gonna give you the clues in order to elevate your business.

Pedro Stein 1:04

Welcome to Success Leaves Clues Podcast. I'm Pedro, and today I'm joined by Nick Woodhorpe Wright, founder and CEO of WWA Corporate Coaching, who built the first coaching company in the Middle East and has spent 20 years delivering B2B corporate coaching solutions across the region with a team of a hundred plus ICF certified coaches. Nick's 30 years of multinational experience in the Middle East gives him a deep understanding of the complex cultural environment that makes leadership development in the region uniquely challenging and uniquely rewarding. WWA Corporate Coaching's client list spans multinational and large organizations across the Middle East, specializing in one-on-one executive coaching, team coaching and facilitation, and coaching skills development for leaders and managers. Nick's mission to revolutionize leadership across the region has positioned WWA as the gold standard for corporate coaching solutions, proving that when you combine ICF excellence with genuine culture intelligence, the impact on leaders and organizations becomes transformational. Welcome to the show, Nick.

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 2:26

Thank you, Pedro. Thank you. Good to be here.

Pedro Stein 2:29

Good to have you here, by the way. And um, you know, I love uh for us to rewind a bit back to the origin story. It could be doing so many things with your life, Nick. You know, it could be a plumber, could be a chef, but you chose coaching. Yeah, right? Well, you chose coaching, man. Can you walk us through why coach and how that journey started?

unknown 2:53

Yeah, absolutely.

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 2:54

I think it started way, way back. Um, and this was uh, you know, the the pivot point that I recall was around my late teens. And my father was going, uh he was uh selling, he was in sales and he was uh selling financial services. And the organization he was with put him and his people through a program called Psychology of Achievement by Brian Tracy. And um you know that and my father, you know, made the tapes, it was tapes in those days, we're going back a bit, and um and said, Hey, you should listen to these. And I went, Yeah, yeah, whatever, Dad. And uh, of course, completely ignored them, as any teenager does. Um but for some reason I picked them up uh a year or so later and they just blew my mind. They blew my mind around this idea that that um you know we as human beings have a capacity to make immense difference just by managing ourselves differently, by being more uh self-aware, if you like, taking responsibility, doing the work. And that began my connection with self-development, which along the way numerous times brought up this thing called coaching. And each time I went, yeah, seems interesting. I'll get to that when I'm old and gray. And as you can see, Pedro, maybe not many, I am now old and gray. You got there, nice. Yeah, I've arrived in one piece. And and I guess, you know, I got I there was it was a calling, it definitely was a calling, and that's you know, years later, having been on my corporate journey and and and valued that experience, um, even if it didn't um resonate with me all the time, but got to the point where I had the opportunity to say, okay, now coaching now. And and I didn't know what it was. Uh those around me didn't know what it was. And so I really had to and I was in the Middle East at this point and had been here, I'd been here for 35 years. And and then I needed to really take a deep look at what was coaching, how could I become a coach? And how do I begin to how do I begin this industry, quite frankly, in the Middle East. There was nobody here. Nobody knew what it was. I didn't know what it was, and so it's been an incredibly interesting journey, um, which I'm sure we can get into. But that's the sort of the origin story, if you like.

Pedro Stein 5:20

Interesting. Okay. Uh, first of all, I'll establish one thing for the audience, right? You're not originally from the Middle East. I got that right?

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 5:28

That is yeah, that is that is true. I'm originally from the UK. I have traveled for many years. In fact, I grew up in the region as a young boy. My father was posted here. So my connection with the region started many, many years ago. And of course, grew up the rest of my years, studied in the UK, started my formative work experience in the UK, and then hit a point where it said, you know what, I I'm not ready to settle down yet. I want to go on another adventure. And uh yeah, of all the options, I chose Dubai. And Dubai had not was not on the map then. 35 years ago, nobody had heard of it. And uh UAE wasn't even um people didn't know where that was. So, you know, I had a friend here and they said, come on out, check it out. I did, and it was it was a fantastic experience because it really brought back a lot of my formative memories, but also I realized that this was a great place to have an adventure, and it has not stopped being that all the way through.

Pedro Stein 6:29

Okay, so that that was important because you're in Dubai uh for context, and then you're opening shop for your coaching business, your coaching practice, right? And um, but you're not originally from there. And I want to understand one thing, because at the start in the early days for coaching, I'm not saying this is your case, but a lot of coaches out there are like testing wonders, like when like I'm helping people, this is a calling, I'm trying to make this work, giving advice, mentoring, and eventually got to a point that you know what I'm building a real business around this, you know. So when did you feel felt like okay, this is something that it's really a business, you know, and not just something I'm trying out because I'm not sure if it's the first paying client, the first invoice, the moment you realize, okay, this is something, you know?

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 7:22

Yeah. Okay, so I think the the moment I I I had to make a very clear decision, right? And I got tested on that decision at a at a pivot moment. So I was working in corporate, um, and I you know, I really got a level of frustration, and I made the decision to say, look, I'm gonna leave corporate and and set my coaching up. And and but I was I but I needed to prep that process, right? You don't just go from one to the other. So I knew that it was going to be three or four months out before I would resign. Interesting, I came back into work the next day and I got this call from from uh my GM. And the GM uh and I and I was shocked. I was thinking, but he can't know that I'm leaving. What is he bugged bugged my house or what? You know, it was like freaked me out a little bit because he wouldn't he wouldn't normally call me in at first thing on a Monday morning. Sat me down, said, I've got some great news for you. I've got a this huge promotion, I'm gonna send you off to run uh uh a country. Um, you know, are you ready? Good to go. And I went, ah, yeah, um, sounds good. Can I get back to you? And he was like, What do you mean get back to me? That's weird. Yeah, yeah. Um, but that was that pivot moment. I had to make a decision. What am I doing? You know, and I was called into that the bright lights, big city kind of effect of, you know, do I stay where I am? And this is a great opportunity, blah, blah, blah, versus, am I really truly passionate? And, you know, there was a coaching question that came out from my from my wife, which was, you know, how did you feel the moment he told you about this new job? And I just got went back and my heart sank. My heart sank in that moment. I knew instantaneously that that was that I needed to go down this road of coaching. So, you know, that's that was the moment when clarity arrived. And this is the power of coaching, right? And we've all experienced that. Uh, but it was absolutely real. And I think from then on I never questioned um going forward. It was always like, this is it, this is the one. I I can feel it, I sense it. Um and but then you get into the reality of doing it. And in the early stages, I had to go and certify as a coach because I wasn't that, so I did. Um, I aligned myself with the ICF because I realized from a very early age or early point that I needed to make sure that I was aligned with standards, appropriate standards, and that might be different for everybody. But but that was how I was going to uh present myself to the outside world. And then I had to go out and sell that, and I and I really, you know, I just went to town on everything and anything, you know. I uh um and I ended up in newspapers, on TV, on radio. And this is early days, right? Nobody knew what coaching was, so it was a it was a virgin market. And out of that process, I ended up getting a lot of clients. And a number of those clients were were um business owners, entrepreneurs, and some of those businesses were big businesses, and they'd say, work with us, we need to work. And then it dawned on me fairly quickly that actually what I wanted to do was to work with leaders. Um and that's when I really started to shift from uh coaching anybody and everybody to actually there's a certain niche that brings me alive, and I'm really excited by that. And that's when I started to to work specifically with leaders. And at this point it was just me, right? It was just me working hard um and getting on with it uh to a point, quite frankly, where I I really just got burnt out because I had I had a lot of business, I was coaching all the time, and um you know, it wasn't sustainable. I know it sounds weird, even when we're doing something we're passionate about, but but there's another part of me which is the sales part, right? And so then I had to make a decision, you know, where do I sit with that? And um the pivot has been a a huge one for me, moving away from being a coach, but I've experienced it, I've seen it, I've done it, so I know what it is, and then how do I sell it? And now what I do as as we've spoken about is that I run an organization that sells coaching, and um and then we have other great professionals that come in and deliver that. And there's uh obviously many of the processes that we we run through to ensure all of those um processes run smoothly, but on a high level, that's what we do. Um and because I know coaching, because I know how powerful it is, it's it's easy for me to show up in front of a client and and show them how important this process is. It it they feel it in my energy.

Pedro Stein 11:58

Okay, couple things, okay. Um the first one that comes up to mind is that you mainly pioneered a market. Um, and there there's always a trade-off, right? Some people like would think, oh that's easy, nobody was doing coaching, but at the same time, I worked in sales, and then um I can understand how hard it is to sell something people don't even understand what it is. It's almost like half a number of an awakening premises, almost like a nightmare, and you're like trying to educate people, right? So I understand the trade-off, so that's very interesting. Um and eventually you get to a point, the the evolution to your own practice, which is like working with leaders, right? That's what we who you serve today. And I would love for us to do a little bit game of uh a game of pretend here, okay. So let's pretend I'm one of those leaders, I'm your avatar in front of you, right? Uh first thing, how would I be able to find you, Nick, you know, marketing-wise?

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 13:05

Um well, a lot of our uh bigger projects come through word of mouth. We've been doing this for over 20 years, right? And and so our network is very strong. Um, and that's great because I think the best work comes ultimately through word of mouth and people that have have tried and tested you. Um of course, you know, we've got our website. You find us on on Google search. Um we rank very highly there for you know uh for searching on coaching in the region. Um and of course, we you know, we've got our our sales processes for uh for re reminding people we're here and and offering our services if you like. That's that's how we go about that process. But it's really about maintaining clients that we've worked with over many years, and and that's you know, having to sell cold is is hard work. Um but when you have a warm audience, then then you've already got something that's going to you know uh uh continue in terms of a conversation. But uh and people just find us out of the blue and we get calls as as well from from nowhere, and people are ready saying, Hey, we heard that you know you do coaching, um, talk to us.

Pedro Stein 14:14

Okay. So um I'm still that same guy, I'm still that your ICP unit leader, right? So I was referred to you word of mouth, right? Someone told me, Hey, you gotta work with WWA or Nick or whatever that looks like. Or even I visited your website. Let us put it like this. Uh it resonated what you got out there, resonated with me, okay? And I reached out. So we can speed up the sales process a little bit if you want, or if you want to talk about that a little bit, you can. But uh, let's say there's alignment, right? Uh you guys see you can help me, I see you guys can help me, WWA. Now, can you give me like a little peek behind the curtain of how does it look like to work with your company and um the potential outcomes I can expect, you know?

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 15:02

Yeah, absolutely. So let's let's say that you become a client of ours, and remember that that you know we're not selling to individuals, we're be B2B. And so you're probably a decision maker in the system. So you you might be a CHRO, you might be an HR lead, you might be a talent director, and so forth. So those are the people that we're predominantly talking to on the front end. But then you are setting up a project for um leaders in your organization, and that's where we come in. So we're we're talking about what structure of process you want to go through. What I mean, first of all, it's so important for us to know you know what are the strategic objectives of your organization? How does this particular program fit that? What are the challenges and insights that you're looking to work on? So we what first we want to make sure we can get traction, and the only way we can get traction in an organization is understand where they need, you know, where they are and where they need to go. So that's part of the sales process, as you well know. Let's say we've got that in place, that's all aligned. Then it's about, okay, you know, a number of people in your organization, the level at which we're coaching, and then what we'll do once we get going is that we'll we'll we'll use our platform. We have a coaching platform that we use to help people go through a process. And that first part of the process is selecting the right coach for them. So there's there's coaches that have on our platform, uh, they get access to those coaches, they get a chemistry session with those coaches, then they select their coaching. Then it's really important that at the early stages we've got some context of that coaching journey. So that context can come from a number of places. That's assessment, uh, that's formal assessment potentially, right? Not everybody has formal assessment, but we actively encourage that. That's stakeholder engagement. So you've got a line manager, you've got another key representative of that journey. And then you've got the individual themselves, right? Of course, they're part of the process, they've got information, they've got knowledge. So we we access those pieces of the information to understand, okay, what's alive here, what are the objectives? And with the individual, we set some clear what we call public objectives. Now public and private are two different areas. Both are relevant and important. But the public objectives are the ones that get presented formally into the organization. And uh, of course, the coach here is very aware of that, the participant. And then we use those and we and we structure the journey over three, four, five, six months around those objectives, and we we rate those objectives at key moments along the journey so that when we come back in to speak to stakeholders again along the journey, we're able to provide them with a sense of where the individual believes they are on this journey. Now that may be resonant with the stakeholder, but it may not. But it provides an active form of a conversation so we're not operating in a silo from the organization. We're aligned with the stakeholders, the stakeholders and the system is aware of the objectives that are being worked on, and then we get to work. I guess we're pulling the system together around the development focus of that individual. Now we work with sometimes we're working with 50 people within an organization, right? Sometimes more. So you can imagine that you start pulling that data together, and then you've got something very uh uh interesting for organizations. Um and of course we're we have to work with confidentialities, right? So you know what's being presented, of course, from a public perspective, um is already been acknowledged as being in the um selective public domain, not the whole public you know, around the stakeholders and this and so forth. But we get to use that and we get to use that information um for the organization in terms of understanding what is the return on investment, what is the impact, what is the focus, um and that allows the organization then to make better decisions pretty much in real time because you know you can do an employment survey and we know it takes X number of months to do the survey, and then everybody's completed, and then it goes into the system, and then the management gets the report, and everybody's running around trying to understand what the report's saying, and nothing really comes out of that for quite some time. Um but what we've got is we've got live information around a very key uh uh segment of the organization, um, and and that allows some some really interesting conversations and actions to potentially happen on a more systemic level.

Pedro Stein 19:38

Okay, interesting. You know, we just uh understood how does it look like today, a picture of today, but I I think we could use some insights from the journey itself. And I'll I'll give an example of what I'm really curious about because a lot of coaches out there listening could uh get a uh a nugget from this. I see a lot of coaches struggling with scaling, right? Uh sometimes they're afraid of bringing someone in, even the first coach, the second coach, a closer, because they're afraid of tarnishing their brand, right? There's quality control, there's a lot of moving pieces. Um, first, how did that look like for you, your first coach, you know, your second coach? Was it scary? And how do you keep quality on check? You know?

unknown 20:31

Yeah.

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 20:32

It's interesting. The first few coaches I worked with actually were really close friends. So it wasn't difficult on any level, right? We had we had a relationship, we had trust, um, we had connection, and we were and we shared passion. So the early days, you know, three, four coaches suddenly were working as a as a unit, and and that was pretty easy because we're talking all the time, we're aligned, you know, we we we've come from a similar set of standards and so forth. But it was after that that becomes interesting, right? Because suddenly you're having to bring people into your system that you don't know very well. And you you so you're having to trust them and also guide them in terms of your system. And we have over a hundred coaches, right? So we've had to develop very clear selection systems, testing systems, because we don't just say, oh, I can see you've got a PCC or an MCC certificate, therefore you are a coach and that works for us. Um we have to run them through simulation coaching exercises. We assess that against the ICF competency framework. We need to know that that their style, their approach is aligned with who our clients are, um, that they have the appropriate backgrounds, the appropriate skills, and many things, right? So so there's a selection process that you get to. But in the early stages, yes, you are going to work with people you know, and then that stretches the next level. And that's a process, right? It's a slow process. But invariably My experience is that you're not having to hire five, ten, fifteen coaches in one go. I mean, we do that now sometimes, but but in the early stages, you've got to find one and then you've got to find another one. And and and so you you need to build connection, relationship, and trust with those people as you go along, for sure. And eventually, and this is a really interesting part of the journey, right? You're gonna have to decide that are you a coach or are you somebody you know working in the business or on the business? These are the key pivot moments. And it's difficult because I've been there, right? Where you suddenly say, I had to say, okay, I'm no longer coaching. And there was sadness in that, right? But I also had to make that decision because I couldn't end up being a jack of all trades. I had to make a decision which side I was on within the business, and then make that commitment. So ultimately you're going to have to, unless you find somebody else to do that, and you stay in the business coaching, all well and good. But there is a decision at some point that means as you start to scale, there are different roles that need to be filled, and coaches are only part of that process.

Pedro Stein 23:06

Interesting. Okay. Now I'm curious about another topic, which I see coaches struggling a lot. And I can only imagine you trying to sell this in the Middle Eastern region without people even knowing it, uh, which is pricing, right? But I'm not talking about hard numbers here. I'm talking about the mindset behind it. You know, it's a very self-worth path. You are trying to replace a corporate income, right? In a way. So how do you think about the topic today? What and were there any lessons along the way that shaped how you landed where you are right now?

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 23:42

Oh, so many lessons. Oh my goodness. You know what? I think, first of all, you know, at this day and age, uh, when I was coaching in the early stages, it wasn't so much the case, but as I've gone through this process, I've had to make the decision time and time again, and it's becoming more nuanced, which is around niche. You have to choose a niche and you have to be clear about who is in that niche. And then you need to say, what value can I create in that niche? Because you're choosing that niche because you feel alignment, right? Then you've then as you do that, yes, absolutely it's a self-worth, right? I know I can add value to this niche. But in order for me to add value, I this has to be a fair exchange. Um and you know, it's about understanding what that fair exchange is. Um yes, you need to understand market rates, but at the end of the day, that's only a part, the small part of it, right? Because I've got coaches in my system that are charging, I mean, unbelievable amounts of money to go out and coach. And to points that you go, is that really possible that somebody could be earning that kind of money? Well, the truth is, are they radically different to some of my other coaches? They're good, but they're not that much better. They have just established themselves in a certain niche to say, that's my niche, that's the price I'm gonna ask, not because it has any other meaning other than it puts me, it makes it makes them take me seriously. And and they're going to think twice, not from a money perspective, but then they're gonna go, what am I gonna go? I'm gonna go with the person that's charging half this rate, or I'm gonna go with the person that's charging this full rate. Remember, I'm in corporate, right? And if we're working with senior people, if it's if you're working, if you're charging half that rate, they're not even gonna look at you. So you know, your rate really will establish where you pitch yourself, who you're talking to, and how seriously people are gonna take you. So, yeah, it's it's an ongoing challenge. Um there are so many different factors in there. But yeah, you have to you have to find your space. You have to really know and believe and feel that you can serve that space really well and then market that, sell it, and put a price on it, and go. And when people say no, you say thank you very much. Maybe I'm not the right person for you. That's okay. But but hold fast.

Pedro Stein 26:17

You gotta stand your ground, it sounds like it. Okay.

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 26:21

You do, you do, and and and you will and it might take a little while, and it's a bit scary that part, but ultimately you know, people come out of the woodwork that won't even flinch at at at paying whatever rate you're going to. They won't flinch. Don't you know you there are a lot of bottom feeders. Don't go there. To be honest with you, in my experience, it won't as soon as we start worrying too much about the getting the right price at the right, you know, we end up becoming a race for the bottom because whatever we put, someone's gonna go, oh, that's too much. Um and and then we sort of discount and then we drop it and uh uh you know, and we're not feeling so great. And when we show up, we're not we're like, oh God, I've got this client again. Um you know, you're you're not showing up in your best form, and that's not good for them either. So this is where you really need to be fairly clear and say, okay, you know, uh if that rate's not the rate, then you know, good luck. I wish you luck out there. There is a coach for you, but I'm not that person.

Pedro Stein 27:24

Okay, fair enough. It's an exchange, right? Now let's shift gears for a second. I'm I'm curious where you're taking WWA, right? Looking ahead, where do you see the business going?

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 27:36

This is these are exciting times, stressful times, because you know where we are, you know, we're stuck in the middle of a very interesting environment right now, um, which means the whole of the business environment is is going through uh, should we say a stressful time. But let me look big picture from coaching point of view. What what I'm finding, what I believe, and I and I see this in experience, is that coaching is just finding its feet in this part of the world. That's exciting. That's exciting, but it also means that that it becomes more competitive because you know when someone sees opportunity, there's not a few people that see it, there's generally a lot more people that see it. So we're really having to make sure that as an organization, we're producing deep value, we're we're partnering with the client, we're bringing in heart and passion to what we're doing, and we continue to maintain maintain standards. And we're getting creative with what our clients need. So, you know, we're a coaching organization. We're not a training organization. We're coming and that but what it means is we come from a coaching mindset. And that doesn't mean that we only do coaching, right? We we do many things, but we always bring a coaching mindset. That's a differentiator for us. And and that has served us extremely well because people respect coaching. They respect coaches, and they know that if you put someone in front of a room that that is a good facilitator, but also comes from a coaching with a coaching mindset, they're gonna make a very different impact on the room that to someone that does not have that coaching mindset. And and that is now being sought after. And so we're constantly looking at ways we can be in deep service because at the end of the day, you know, our purpose is liberating leadership to make the world work better, you know, and that comes in many ways, right? Coaching is one form, but sometimes we don't even mention the word coaching, but it it informs everything we bring to our clients, especially in dire times, right?

Pedro Stein 29:46

Uh, this is the the moment we need to stop reacting and thinking about purpose and where we want to go and all of that. But yeah, completely understand exciting times to be honest, right? Thinking about people are really getting it in that region, you know. Now, whenever we're aiming towards something new, right? Always something we're refining in the present. So, what are you currently trying to improve or tighten up in your business right now?

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 30:13

So, a number of things, of course, uh AI is front and center of that part of the journey. And, you know, it's interesting for me. I just I went to the International Coach Federation uh Converge conference in Paris uh uh a couple of months ago. And AI, the conversation around AI was front and center, and there's multiple facets to that, right? Around how do we as coaches use AI in in multiple ways, right? Whether that's just in terms of our back of back of house managing, or literally how do we use that inside coaching, or how do we manage ourselves the fact that AI is now coming in and doing coaching. So, you know, there's so many different elements to manage it. So, yeah, that's an important part of our um growth and development. We are looking for ways to use AI to bring more intelligence to our clients, bring more value to our clients, and serve the coaching process. Because I don't believe the human aspect of coaching is going away. We have to get we are going to be more specific about the value that we add in that form. AI coaching is going to come and it's gonna add value, great, but I don't believe it's it's going to supersede uh who we are as coaches. But it does mean that we have to double down on the specific human skills that we bring around simple things like deep empathy, deep listening. You know, somebody said this thing to me the other day. I was an AI uh expert, and he said, Look, AI sees uh silence as a lack of data. You know, we as coaches know that within the silence, there's incredible knowledge and information flowing in that moment. So you know, if you just look at it from that point of view, the human aspect to that, but that doesn't mean AI can't be of deep service to the process that we have. And of course, there's many questions around how we manage that, around the confidentiality of that, around how we uh um we structure it, how we we we make sure that trust is uh a critical part of developing that within our business so that we don't undermine this thing that we've created as a as a coaching industry. It's really important. What we don't want to do is is is find ourselves having uh um lost uh or that the industry are losing faith in us because of the shortcuts that we've made. So it's a process right now. There's a deep conversation going on. But that I think is is you know, I don't think people would be surprised to hear that, that that's uh an important part of our future think.

Pedro Stein 32:53

Hot topic right there. Okay. Now uh back to my game of pretend. Let's shift gears for a second. I want to do something different right now. Um, let's pretend we have a time machine in front of us, a little bit of a sci-fi thing here right now. And uh we have a couple stops, okay? So, first stop is you can go back in time when you opened shop, right? You can go back in time and you can give yourself one piece of business advice you wish you knew when you started your coaching business. What would that be?

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 33:31

Um I would go back, not to the very beginning, which I found, you know, I look back now and I think, wow, that was that was an exciting time, a stressful time, but exciting. I would go back to probably two or three or four years in when it was that moment for me to give up coaching. I think I hung on too long to that. Um and and I and I don't think I did the best transition, if in all honesty, it's it wasn't that clean. Um and so yeah, I would say be clear about your decision earlier about what the role is that you're going to play within this organization. That would be a very clear um decision from the if I went back to myself.

Pedro Stein 34:14

Okay. The difference between working in the business and on the business, right? It's about the hat you're choosing to wear at a certain time. Definitely, yeah. Now, second stop. Um, you can go back in the entire journey, you can pick the the the time you want to go back to. It's basically a moment if you have one that you really cherish, you know, the one that you're looking back, you think, ah, that's why I started this, you know? Yeah. Um uh and it's not an aha moment, it's more like a a fulfilling moment that almost explains the entire challenges, you know, the the sleepless nights. Um, why would that be?

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 35:00

I think I I look back and I mentioned there into my first two years, and it was mad. It was totally mad, but I was so I was so excited by this thing called coaching that nobody else understood, and and I was just talking to everybody, doing everything. And yeah, there are just moments along the way that I look back now and I laugh. And I can tell you one, which will make you smile, right? And and it was because and I was invited onto TV, but not just any old TV, I'm in the region, right? I was invited on to Urdu TV. Now I don't speak Urdu. Okay. And here I am with with this really fantastic uh interviewer, and you know, and so she's having and we're having to call in. So I'm meant to be doing coaching to a call-in. And and so there are people calling in in Urdu. She's she's listening for about four or five minutes, and then she's giving me like a three-second translation of what they've said, and they said, so what should they do, Nick? And it was hilarious, you know, and and those are sort of the the mad experiences you have along the way. And I just thought, this is this is crazy, but it's fun that I'm doing this. And you know, and I think that those are the moments when I thought, you know, this is this is more than just me coaching. This is there is something happening here, and and I'm right at the forefront of it, and it's messy and it's crazy, but I'm in here doing it. And I think, you know, all of you that are out there stepping into this thing called coaching, there'll be some new elements to you, and it's it's reinventing itself all the way along, and you're part of that reinvention. And I think you know, bring that excitement, bring that little bit of madness to the process um because uh because it needs it. This you know, in my opinion, we should have everybody should be a coach. Now, it doesn't mean you have to coach others, but it would be really good that that the whole of humanity had the at least some of the basic skills of coaching. Then we could have much better conversations. I think there'd be a lot more empathy and a lot better listening skills in in the world. But you know, we can't have that yet. But each, every one of the people are stepping forward saying, Yeah, I think this is my thing. Fantastic. Do it, lean in and uh get excited about what's possible in that place. Give it your best shot.

Pedro Stein 37:20

I love that. And um if someone listening wants to connect with you or follow your work, right? And we're gonna have all the links in the description, but what's the best way for people to find WWA, you know, and connect with you guys?

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 37:34

Sure, sure. As a business, you can find us uh online at WWA Corporate Coaching. You can find me on LinkedIn at uh Nick Woodthorpe right. Um that's N I C Woodthorpe W W D T H O R P E and then W-R-I-G-H T. It'll pop up, I think, as soon as you put N-I-C-W would bit in. But anyway, you'll find me there. And uh yeah, I think uh if you if there's an email that you want to put, it's uh N I C at W W A coaching.com. Reach out with any questions. You know, I know what it's like to be on this journey. Uh I think it's it's uh I mean, you uh Pedro, you and I were talking before you came on. I say, how are you going on? And and I said, you know, it's been a tough week. And uh you know it's it's it there are great weeks and tough weeks, but I think I always look back and say, I know that I'm doing the right thing. I know I'm in the place that I need to be, that I should be. Um that doesn't mean that the world is necessarily always in, you know, on your side as it feels, but ultimately, you know, we're making a difference, and I think it's it's important, deeply important work that we're all doing as coaches in whatever form you're doing it. Okay.

Pedro Stein 38:49

You know, uh looking back at the chat we just had, I feel the need to highlight certain points, so allow me to do so. Okay. Um I'm thinking about the origin story, right? I love the teenager uh bit when you're like your father was like, hey, check this out. You're like, whatever that, right? And a few years later you're like, okay, maybe I'll take a look. You know, just classic teenagers love that. Um moving forward with the origin story still, is like um when you were being promoted, reminded, and your heart sank. You're like, oh my god, what am I really truly passionate about? And it was not that. So that's a pivotal moment, a an aha moment for you. That's very interesting because some people would be like, Oh my god, I got promoted, this is amazing. You're like, nah really. I'm like, half my foot is outside the door already, ready? So there's that. Please.

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 39:52

And just to just to double down on that slightly, right? Don't rely on your head to answer that question for you because that's where the chaos happens. That's when you need to go to your body. And this will be a very coaching, you know, you know, uh uh coaches will understand this better, right? There's better sources or there's other sources of information other than your head, which is a messy place to go and cease to to seek uh clarity.

Pedro Stein 40:16

Right. Great reminder, too. Um, another part I was thinking about is when you you you mentioned I was working um a corporate, then I went to my own business, and I kind of burned out, right? You're back to back on uh coaching calls and all that, and that was not sustainable. Um, although you had a passion for it. Now here's the kicker, and that's why this hits home. I worked in corporate banking and I worked at Ernest and Young here in Brazil, I'm a consulting firm, and when I'm Michael McDump, man, I'm Michael McDump. Remember, so assign a number to everyone, and then that's it. And then later down the road, I became the podcast here, and not just that, I'm a coach too, remedy. Um, and sometimes my wife, like I'm in my office and she's listening, and the whatever she is, she's she's in another place, and then she's like, Why are you laughing so much, Remy? That doesn't seem like work. And I'm like, yeah, it's number, but sometimes I'm hitting 10 numbers and 11 numbers because I like what I do, but at the same time, it drains me, remedy. I'm like, oh my god, I can hit burn out even if I like what I'm doing, you know. So then really hits some. I need to create some boundaries. I'm not creating them, mm-hmm. I'll be honest. Okay. Um really interesting. Um, and last but not least, I would say is the the power of niching. You know, I I felt them also the in my skin, right? Um I think the perspective that I have it today, and I see a lot of coaches out there is like, oh, I can help you, you know, they can help them, okay? It's totally fair, and most of them can truly help, but it's not about them, it's more about the perception from the ICP. For example, if you're trying to help everyone, you're gonna be treated as a commodity. There's that. It's hard to stand out in so much noise, right? And um, you're easily comparable if you don't have a niche. So if you do have a niche, you're the go-to guy, right? You have your price, you run with it. They're like, how many people can help me doing X, Y, and Z? And they're like, not many. So I have two or three options, and you're like, uh, okay, that guy was cool. I think he can help me, you know. So powerful reminder, too. No. This is just my long-winded way of saying, Nick. I appreciate what you do. I appreciate you being here and sharing so openly today with us. You know, it was great having you on.

Nic Woodworthe-Wright 42:45

Great. Appreciate your time as well. And uh yeah, keep up the good work of of the conversation, keeping the conversation absolutely alive, and and I'm happy that uh I was able to join you and and talk a little. Thank you.

Davis Nguyen 42:58

That's it for this episode. This episode, as well as this podcast, was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help business owners elevate their business through six, seven, and eight figure years, all without burning out. If you're looking to grow your business as well as get the time freedom that you are looking for, visit us at joinpurplesircle.com and see what we can do to help you and your business.