Season 3 | Episode 2 | Rise & Redefine: Building a Coaching Business That Actually Works

In Season 3, Episode 2, Trudy Heins welcomes Shawna Caderette Fempire’s new US mentor coach, to support women in the US time zone stepping into coaching.

Shawna shares her 25-year background in disaster restoration and construction, rising from receptionist to chief administrative officer as the company expanded to multiple offices and 200+ employees, and explains leaving the role due to misalignment and a desire to mentor women.

Trudy and Shawna discuss the high demand for coaching in the US alongside market confusion from under-experienced coaches, and highlight that a real coaching business requires clarity of niche and offer, confidence, systems and processes, mentorship, accountability, resilience, and openness to change (including AI).

Shawna highlights redefining success beyond titles and paychecks and encourages women to take a chance on themselves after due diligence.

If you’re not in the US, this episode will still be a great listen to apply some of the practical and motivating examples and tips as women in business.
 

Click here to join the Academy and use the code RISING for 25% off!


01:17 Meet Shauna

02:40 Career Background

04:27 Leaving Corporate

05:52 Finding Fempire

07:10 Coaching Boom

09:05 Real Coaching Business

10:45 Mentorship Matters

13:07 US Mentor Role

15:23 Fempire Academy Offer

16:43 Systems First

18:47 Common Mistakes

20:35 Resilience And Change

24:12 Biggest Shift

26:17 Future Of Success

28:03 Advice to Take The Leap



Website: https://fempire.com.au/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fempireinternational/

Connect with Shawna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnacaderette/

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I came across Vampire on Facebook. And I just, you know, once you click once, it keeps popping up. So I kept, you know, all the algorithms. Really, for me, it was actually taking the chance on becoming a coach and a chance myself. That's really one of the biggest shifts for me in my personal life had been making that decision to leave this longtime career that I knew so well that was easy for me, to then really believing in myself and taking a chance on myself and impacting other women.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Welcome to Fempire Rising, the podcast for women who are serious about building strong, profitable, sustainable businesses. I'm your host, Trudy Hines, the CEO of Fempire, business coach and mentor. And here we are in season three. This season we are bringing you the women behind the infrastructure of business, the experts in marketing, finance, systems, strategy, visibility, and design who help businesses grow properly. Because building a business takes more than passion, it takes structure, it takes smart decisions, and it takes the right support around you. So if you're ready to think bigger, operate better, and build a business with real substance behind it, you're in the right place. Let's get into today's episode. Hello and welcome to the Fempire Rising podcast, Her Future, Her Voice. This podcast is all about women building businesses, leading change, and shaping what the future of female entrepreneurship really looks like. And as Fempire continues to grow globally, one of the things I am super excited about is expanding the support we offer to women in different parts of the world. Today's guest is someone who's going to play a critical part in that journey. Shauna is joining Fempire as our US mentor coach. Now Shauna is a certified Fempire coach, however, she's expanding out her role and her involvement with us. She'll be supporting women in the US time zone who want to step into coaching and build meaningful businesses of their own. So today we're going to talk about her journey into coaching, what she's seeing in the US market, why coaching is becoming such a powerful profession for women, and what does it actually take to turn a coach into a real business? Shauna, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Our pleasure. So before we dive into the bigger conversation, I always like to start by letting listeners get to know the person behind the work. So for those meeting you for the first time, can you share a little bit about your background and what led you to coaching? Sure.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

So most of my career for the last 25 years-ish has been in the disaster restoration and construction space. 21 of those years were full-time working in the business. I started out actually as our receptionist and I worked my way up to chief administrative officer over those years. So I've pretty much every role in the business from receptionist to project management to billing to coaching to building teams, building systems that are scalable, those sorts of things. When I started, we were one office with about 15 employees. And when I left, we were about six or so offices across multiple states with over 200 employees.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

I find that impressive. I think it's great to celebrate our wins, right? Absolutely. And I think it's, you know, that that learning from the ground up and that career trajectory is really important because I think what it demonstrates is that well-roundedness of your experience and expertise.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Absolutely. And gave me an opportunity to learn, you know, being a doer in the business and then growing and teaching those skills to other people, and then really moving into more of a leadership role, building and developing these teams, like within the business. So it was great. I oversaw multiple departments, you know, definitely heavy on operations side, KPI development, systems and processes, standard operating procedures, HR, those sorts of things, and uh mergers and acquisitions as we started to expand, which I actually found really intriguing. I think because I'm very detail-oriented, I really enjoyed that. And then there was the human aspect that tied into that, right? You're acquiring other businesses and you're helping these employees through change and getting a chance to get to know them. Like I enjoy working with people. I personally got to a point where I was not very excited about the day-to-day operations anymore. I wasn't feeling good about it. When I say day-day operations, like my piece in the company, um, we were doing great. I just, there was something inside of me that it was just kind of time. And I wasn't the best version of myself as a mother and a wife and a daughter and a friend. I just wasn't the happiest person that I know I could be.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

So there was more.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

There was more for me, yes. I mean, I had done it for 21 years. So even after I left, I still actually did consulting in the industry for my old business and then also for some other restoration and construction companies. So still kind of fresh, you know, in the mind, spent we use a lot of my skills over the last few years helping other businesses with what I was good at. I kind of got to the point where it was time for a change. And I call it a retirement because after 21 years, I felt that that deserved that. So I essentially retired, moved on, spent some time at home, figuring things out. And then I've always had this passion for helping women, supporting women, mentoring women, especially women who have either careers or aspirations to be business owners or something, because I mean that's where we came from, right? That's who I am. And I know what the journey was like. Having young children, having high priority careers, juggling those, hating priorities. Yes, yes, and pulling at those heart strings, really, right? I think I shared with you before I came across Vampire on Facebook. And I just, you know, once you click once, it keeps popping up.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

So I kept, you know, the algorithms.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Yeah, totally. They love it. So I kept going back to it and looking at it again and going to the website, reading the test, all the things. So and then I'm I thought I have this passion for helping women, and I really love to teach and mentor, anyways. Why not use my background and my passion for helping and become a vampire coach?

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Absolutely. And I I think I love hearing stories behind how people find their way into work because it's rarely a straight line and it's rarely where you would actually think they would come from. And one of the things that I always say to women who come to Fampire and potentially are looking at becoming coaches is that the one thing that I can't teach you, or we as mentor coaches or master coaches can't teach you, is the desire and the passion for wanting to help other women. The rest of the skill set, we've got it in spades, we can teach you how to build a business, we can teach you all of those sorts of things. So it's critical for me in the first conversation almost that somebody voices that. Now, coaching has really exploded over the last decade, particularly for women looking for more flexibility and purpose in their work. What are you seeing in the US when it comes to women wanting to become coaches or build coaching-based businesses? Huge demand.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Huge demand, one for women who need coaches in their lives, right? Through career transitions or entrepreneurship or guidance, mentorship, those sorts of things. So in the market, the demand for a coach is huge. One of the trends is there's people out there who want to go to market and say they're a coach or they've gone through a program. Great. They don't necessarily have the background, if you will, to, you know, in the experience, let's say. Absolutely. To actually help somebody who could have been in, you know, somebody who's in a business who actually needs help and mentorship from somebody who's experienced it and they're calling themselves a coach, that's great, but they haven't really actually been the boots on the ground or the person actually having to make the critical decisions or figuring out what direction to move their businesses. So a little bit of market confusion from that standpoint where there's so many options out there.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Absolutely. And I think that's one of the things that I am really specific about in relation to who we accept to become a certifying FemPyre coach, is that just because you apply doesn't mean that we accept you. It is about credibility and who will represent our brand in a strong way. And I 100% agree. It's all well and good to hang your shingle out there as a coach, but unless you've experienced it and potentially the most critical thing is you've made those mistakes and you've been able to rise from those. How on earth can you coach another woman through something if you've not been through it yourself?

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Right. Failure is the best learning lesson you can have.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Correct. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

So one thing I've noticed over the years is that coaching can sometimes be misunderstood. There are many women who feel called to help each other's, but building a coaching business is very different from simply having a passion to support women. In your view, what separates a coach who has a real business from someone who simply has a good idea and a social media presence?

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Right, right. Turning something in from that or you know, a side hassle into a real profession, it takes courage once and confidence, right? I think women specific, the confidence is huge. And it really takes, in my mind, systems and processes, yes, right, and and a very clear idea of who you're serving. Who is your target audience? Who are you serving? What problems exactly are you solving for them? And then having, you know, the systems and processes in place so you can be organized and be able to serve your clients.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

And deliver, that's right. Is actually be able to understand the pain point, but deliver the solution, I think, is critical because there's no point just having a talk fest and not come out with clear and actionable items at the end of it. And that as a coach, I think is one of the things that I really am passionate about is that every session that you come out of with a client, you hope that they will have at least one light bulb moment where you guide them to a point where they have a self-realization, and then you can help them put in place some actions that will help solve that. I'm really passionate about that because I think it's also a bit of mentorship. Many women step into business with enthusiasm and heart. There is no doubt about that. But without structure, guidance, or support, it won't be sustainable and often they burn out. In your opinion, why does mentorship matter so much for women who want to build their confidence, their credibility, and commercial strength as a coach?

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Some women I've met, right, they don't have a natural support system built in, unfortunately, right? I mean, we've all experienced that. We all know somebody who maybe they're not supported fully, right? From family or whatever it looks like. Um, so the confidence piece, like you mentioned, is huge, right? And so having a mentor who can really be there for you mentally, I think is huge when somebody is building a business of any sort, especially a coaching business, and who can really bring that clarity to light, who can really help you focus on what exactly it is that you need to accomplish, really narrow down, like we said earlier, like who what your niche is and who you're serving. Having a mentor is somebody who you lean on emotionally. I mean, let's be honest, like the emotional piece always does.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Yeah, another set of eyes. I mean, sometimes you create something and if especially if you're uh a one-woman show and you're not working with a big team or even a small team or a partner, you may create something without even having another set of eyes on it to give you a different perspective, right? Yes. Um, and critique. I think we all need critique. I don't care how long we have to do it. Constructive criticism. Yeah. Yes, we all need feedback, right? And so having a mentor who is another set of eyes and somebody who can keep you accountable and keep you on track to what your goals are, is critical.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

And I think you know, that accountability is one of those things that if we and I know part of the certification journey with FemPy is that you have somebody that you work with and you meet with on a weekly basis as you go through your certification. That accountability is critical because you know, just like you show up for a job, you have to show up and you have to be ready to work. And that's one of the things that is really important about your role and what you know what we're building within Fempires. So, and that's why I'm so excited for that. So, as we grow globally, having strong women supporting others in their own time zones becomes even more important, I think. So, what excites you the most about stepping into your role as Fempire US mentor coach and supporting women in their own time zone?

SPEAKER_01 13:25

One, this is a huge opportunity, I think, for us to continue to bring women into the Vampire Sisterhood. I wholeheartedly believe in the program and the structure of it and the women that we get to, you know, work side by side with. So that is also one of the reasons why I joined. So obviously, expansion and the opportunity to touch other women, right, across the world at some point. And it brings a mentorship. I mean, I've always loved the communication and using Zoom and everything. We're in huge different time zones, which is great, but actually, somebody being here, the markets are still different, right? So being supporting women who I've experienced the same market that they're in, I think is key. Time zone also again plays a big part in it. The United States is a three-hour difference, but that's not tremendous. That's critical, you know, great. You can fit it into their schedule easier, and then to help them apply everything that Fembire has to offer to our US market here. Really, those three things I think are key.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

I think that point of every marketplace is different. And even as I travel across the globe, I find that business is done differently in different areas. And whilst we have a great support and core program, the nuances of how you apply that are going to be really critical. And I think the fact that you understand those nuances of the US market versus obviously us being in Australia is totally different. And so you having that understanding and being able to mentor and coach in that is only going to benefit our potential US coaches.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Absolutely. Yep. And again, it gives you the opportunity to support them through their femmepreneur, right? Like we built through, helping them launch, build their confidence, guiding them in the right direction, all those things, and being able again to do it in their time zone will have a huge impact.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Before we jump back in, if you know you need more support in your business, but you are not ready to commit to one-on-one coaching, the FemPyr Academy is your next step. This is our stepping stone program for women who know they need more guidance, more structure, and better support as they grow. Inside, you'll have access to thousands of dollars worth of business training, a monthly QA session with one of our coaches, and our sisterhood Facebook group, where we share exclusive content, insight, and support for women building serious businesses. And because you're a podcast listener, you can join with 25% off using the code RISING. You'll find the link in the show notes. Now let's get back to the episode. And that and you know, just building those networks locally so that you know if you do have the ability to catch up in person, you know, we do that here in Australia. Obviously, the tyranny of distance makes that a little bit more difficult. Whereas if the sisterhood then develops there and you can do face-to-face stuff and support each other and organize retreats and all of those sorts of things, that's only got to be beneficial.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

Yep. And again, I'm a great face-to-face person. I mean, this is great, right? We're talking with each other, but there's just something so special about being able to be in person with someone, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:42

So now, one of the things that we're focusing on this season of the podcast is what it actually takes to build strong, sustainable businesses. So I'm going to ask you a few questions. We're asking all the guests this season. From your perspective, what is one thing women in business need to understand earlier if they want to build something strong and sustainable?

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Sure. Okay. Honestly, it boils down to, in my mind, the systems and processes that they put in place before they launch into the hard work part, right? Any business is hard work. But I think sometimes what happens, especially with women early on in their business, they feel this need to take everything on, no matter what. You know, I mean, let's be honest, not every client is a good client. So in the beginning, I think women have this fear of, well, I better take everything on because I need to be able to prove myself, right? And then they start to get overwhelmed and they're working harder, not smarter. If they're building their business with the systems in place ahead of time, then that's giving them the opportunity to know exactly what they're focusing on and give them a clear strategy for them to be able to actually take on a bigger workload, make the right decisions of who they should and should not be helping.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

And it really Yeah, if you don't have that clarity in your offer and the clarity in who you serve, as you said, that shines through in your messaging. And so if you're confused and a bit scattergunned, then I think what is going to happen is your messaging is going to be confused and you're not necessarily going to reach the people that you need to be reaching.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. Clarity is huge. And again, that Fempreneur program is so huge in helping you figure that out.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Absolutely. I think it it does distill it down very easily for you. So I think many women really would benefit from hearing that earlier in their journey rather than later. Now, because you work closely with women who are building businesses in your field, what's the one mistake you see business owners make again and again with coaching when you are working with women in that coaching, what are they doing wrong? What what are you seeing time and time again?

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Well, it ties into what we were just talking about, but it's definitely lack of clarity, right? Yeah. Lack of lack of who they serve, what problems they solve. And then a huge piece also is confidence, unfortunately, right? I think it's just it's natural for women to feel less confident in themselves and in business than it is men. That's just natural. And so the confidence piece is huge. And then the lack of clarity, like we just talked about, is also huge. Be crystal clear on who you help, what offers you have, what packages you have for them, and what how you're serving and helping them.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

And I think that's the thing too, is that if you can get that clarity, that then in turn will help build confidence because you are very across what it is that you're offering and what you're fixing, what pain points you are solving. And it's interesting because I look across all industries and the same patterns show up time and time again with the women that I coach. I coach obviously women to become coaches, but I also coach a lot of professional women. And do you know what you would think that we have all got confidence in spades? No, no, and you know, a lot of the women that I coach do not have clarity in their offer, they don't have clarity in who they serve. And the moment we give them that, you can almost see them stand up a foot taller. Yeah, the shoulders relax. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Their tension goes away, their body language relaxes.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

That's right, because they know why they're here, they have a purpose. What separates the women who build lasting businesses from those who struggle to gain traction?

SPEAKER_01 20:41

I think it's two pieces. Uh well, many, but two big ones are commitment to learning. I think that we all need to grow and we don't have it all figured out and we're not all alone. And I don't care how long you've been doing your business, dedication to yourself and learning through mentorship or coaching or training, those sorts of things.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

An investment in yourself. You'll invest in your children. Yo, they'll have a million activities. And you need to invest in yourself and your own development.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

Absolutely. Yeah. And then some and some resilience in there, right? I mean, you have to. We've talked about my coaching business, and personally, it's it can be hard, right? I mean, you're starting out, you have your passion, you have your focus, but it's really staying consistent and showing up, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Correct. Yep. Having support, but yet accountability, I think. And I think it's interesting what shapes people's careers because there's often that decision or turning point, but ultimately you need to feel comfortable with the fact that you are just as important as every other member of your family and every other staff member in your business, and be able to feel comfortable in investing in your own development. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

And being emotionally self-aware. I think being self-aware is huge. And women being creatures of emotion, you know, having an emotional strong connection with your business is really important too. Because I think, at least for me personally, but I feel like a lot of you know my friends or people that I've worked with, if some of your emotional needs aren't being met, then you're not really that excited about it and you're not You're a bit checked out, right? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And then women who are willing to evolve too, right? We need to constantly be learning, you know, keeping with the times, like what's the change in the market and being willing to improve.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

And I think that's it, 10 years ago versus, and particularly with AI, I think in business you need to be open to change. And change is scary. We all understand that, but you need to probably get over that hurdle, be open to it, because the changes that happened 10 or 20 years ago when you're in business versus now with AI and the changes that it is the blink of an eye. So get comfortable with being uncomfortable, if that's what it is, because if you do not embrace it, you are going to get left behind.

SPEAKER_01 23:07

Absolutely, left in the dust. And that's in any business, not just coaching, right? No, no, oh no, absolutely. Every single business. I I don't know how many, I mean, in my old business, we went from doing our invoices on a typewriter. I guess I just dated myself there, um, and sending them out machine. Yeah, or via mail, hoping they get it, to the CRM systems that do everything for you and an electronic billing system that you plug in square footages and different things and it does the pricing for you. I mean, I've seen that industry evolve tenfold.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

And I think again, there's a lot of conversation around AI and whether AI will take over coaching and all of those sorts of things. But the reality of it is that there are things AI cannot do. And so you just need to be able to work with a mentor or with a coach to determine what it is that you can then focus yourself on that will allow you to use AI to your advantage, but also use your skill set to your advantage and find that uniqueness there. Yeah. So, what's one decision or shift that had the biggest impact on your professional journey?

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Moving from being the operator or the doer to being more of a leader and a mentor. I do find it extremely important. And I'm thinking through my past career, obviously, because that's where I've spent most of my time. But really, I do think you need to know how to do it if you're going to teach others and mentor. So, I mean, learning everything that I did, absolutely important. But when I went from being the doer to then the mentorship and teaching others, it made it much more scalable and it gave the empowerment to the people on the team and those sorts of things. And so, really move shifting from the doer to being a leader and a mentor.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

But I think that translates in your FemPy journey too, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

I was just gonna I was just gonna talk about that. Yeah. And really um the biggest impact for me in my professional journey, besides those couple things, and those are very specific. Really, for me, it was actually taking the chance on becoming a coach and the chance of self. I mean, that's really one of the biggest shifts for me in my personal life had been making that decision to leave this longtime career that I knew so well that was easy for me, to then really believing in myself and taking a chance on myself and impacting other women.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

That's right. And I think that's the thing is that you're in, and as you said, being a bit from becoming a doer, which you did, you went through the process, you went through the certification process, you built your own coaching business. You know it works because you've done it yourself.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Absolutely. And I chose through that process because it's easy. I built my own website, I figured out how to get my own domain. Like I did all those things as a doer, but I also did them on purpose so I would be able to relate to the women who are also going through it, right? I really think, like I said, it's important to at least learn some of it. I did end up doing the whole thing, and but at least learn some of it if you're gonna try to understand what other people are going through, right?

SPEAKER_00 26:12

You lead by example, don't you? Yes. Absolutely. Because that gives you a lot of people. I think that's important. Yeah. Okay, so let's zoom out a little and look forward. When you think about the future of women in business, what gives you the most optimism?

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Women are redefining what success looks like. Okay. I came from the world where a woman who was successful, it was tied into money, right? It was tied into your career, how you showed up at work, and how women have always had to climb the ladder a little bit harder than men. Sacrifice your personal time with right as a mom with your kids.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

It was always competitive.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Right. I followed more of the traditional model of success because that's what it was like. Well, women today are redefining what success looks like and having those careers, but also having that flexibility, the more autonomy in their life, making family more of the first focus, personal fulfillment as a priority. So I really think that women are redefining what success looks like in those ways.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

I love that perspective because one of the things I truly believe is that when women build strong businesses, the ripple effect goes far beyond the business itself. And I think as we do it and as we we talked about lead by example, the one thing that I am very much passionate about, you know, what legacy and what example I set for my two granddaughters, they see a whole different way that business can be done, that as a woman who is successful in her own right, it doesn't have to be because she has the biggest paycheck or because she wears the suit to work, or you know, it is about or have the title. Absolutely. So, you know, for me, that impacts communities, it impacts families, obviously, just you know, at a more micro level, and future generations, which is is critical. Now, before we wrap up, if there's a woman listening right now who's thinking about taking the step into coaching or building a business, but hasn't quite taken that leap yet, what would you say to her?

SPEAKER_01 28:15

That's a good one. I would say take the chance on yourself, do your homework, do your due diligence before you make any final decision, because I find as soon as somebody is scared, they immediately say no, right? And and move on with right, and take the chance, at least explore the journey and really know that, like you just mentioned, you're setting the example for the next generation and really empowering them to be our future, right? So just take the chance and try it. Do the dil do the due diligence, do the homework, right? Explore what it what it also feels like to have something of your own from an emotional standpoint as well.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

Absolutely. Shauna, thank you so much for joining me today and for sharing your perspective. As I mentioned, I'm so excited about the role you're stepping into with Vampire and the impact you're going to have supporting our women in the US. I can't wait. I'm so excited and thank you for having me. This has been fun. Pleasure. Thanks for being here for another episode of Vampire Rising. If this conversation gave you value, challenged your thinking, or helped you see your next move more clearly, share this episode with another woman in business who needs to hear it. We'll include the links to our guest in the show notes so you can connect with them directly and learn more about their work. Make sure you're following the podcast, and I'll see you in the next episode.