What If the Business You’re Building Is Actually You?

Most certified coaches love to empower others. But many can’t seem to build a sustainable practice of their own. They struggle with selling, positioning, and turning impact into income. Some end up making money from other coaches, not clients. And many are unsure how to create lasting value inside organizations.

At the same time, entrepreneurs are building products, teams, and companies — but often miss the inner work. They may win on execution, but lose their voice in the process.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Most coaches need to think like entrepreneurs. Most entrepreneurs need to think like coaches.

A Real Story of Reinvention

I recently coached a woman entrepreneur from Nigeria. She’s ICF-certified (ACC), deeply passionate about empowering others, and has led her family’s travel agency for decades. But now she’s in transition:

• The Nigerian market is declining.

• She has relocated to the U.S.

• And she’s torn between two identities: business owner vs. coach.

Through several rounds of clarification — reflection, powerful questioning, values alignment — something deeper emerged.

She didn’t need to choose one identity over the other. She needed to reconnect with the through-line: herself.

We reframed her path forward by asking:

What if the business you’re building is actually you?

This single question changed everything.

It unlocked a third path: bringing her coaching mindset into the business to explore new markets, serve U.S. clients differently, and lead with greater clarity. It became less about quitting or pivoting — and more about evolving.

Why Coaching Belongs in Every Entrepreneur’s Toolkit

I shared with her my own journey — landing in the U.S. as a new immigrant, unsure how to navigate this world. Coaching became more than a career. It became my compass.

It taught me how to:

• Listen deeply — to others, and to myself

• Reflect with courage before reacting in fear

• Ask better questions — especially when answers were unclear

• Rebuild trust and voice from the inside out

And that’s when I truly understood: the first person coaching transforms is the coach themselves.

So often we look outward — to sell, to scale, to prove. But coaching brings us back inward — to align, to clarify, to grow. And when those two meet — that’s where transformation happens.

The Bridge We Need to Build

If you’re a coach who’s struggling to grow, maybe you need to think more like a founder. If you’re an entrepreneur feeling stuck or burned out, maybe it’s time to coach yourself first.

Either way — you are the most important product you’ll ever build.

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Have you ever felt your business and your identity pulling in different directions? How did you find clarity? Or are you still in that in-between space?

Drop a comment and share your story. And if this resonated, feel free to share it with someone navigating reinvention.

Let’s build the business — and the self — you were meant to become.