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S3 E7 Launching Group Coaching Programmes Confidently with Fay Wallis
Episode 717th May 2023 • Coaching in Focus • Become Coaching & Training Ltd
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Welcome to another episode of Coaching in Focus! In today's show, Joseph is in conversation with Fay Wallis from Bright Sky Career Coaching, who shares her insights on creating a successful group coaching program.

Fay Wallis is a Career & Executive Coach who specialises in helping HR & People professionals to have successful & fulfilling careers (without working themselves into the ground). She is also the Founder of Bright Sky Career Coaching, creator of the HR Planner and host of the chart-topping HR Coffee Time podcast. Last year Fay created her first group coaching programme – Inspiring HR and joins Joseph on Coaching in Focus to share her advice and lessons learnt from setting it up. Connect with Fay on LinkedIn.

On this episode Fay explains her motivation for developing the program and addresses recurring challenges faced by HR clients. Fay's program blends coaching and training, encompassing topics such as setting oneself up for success, building confidence, strategic relationships, senior-level influence, and future planning.

Reflecting on her journey, Fay shares the challenges she faced while designing the program. Overcoming mindset obstacles and the fear of failure was crucial. Despite a lack of available resources on group coaching, Fay sought advice from peers who had successfully implemented their own programs.

Join Joseph and Fay in this insightful conversation on creating impactful group coaching programs tailored to specific professional fields.

Transcripts

Joseph Grech:

Hi everyone, a very warm welcome on today's

Joseph Grech:

episode of Coaching in Focus.

Joseph Grech:

I'm Joseph gre, your host, and on today's episode, I am delighted

Joseph Grech:

to be talking to Fay Wallis.

Joseph Grech:

Now, I originally met Fay when I was talking about her group coaching program.

Joseph Grech:

And one of the key questions that we get asked a lot by our own

Joseph Grech:

trainees is around how do I create my own group coaching program?

Joseph Grech:

And I thought, aha.

Joseph Grech:

Fay would be the best person to speak to.

Joseph Grech:

And she very kindly agreed to be on today's podcast episode with me.

Joseph Grech:

Now on today's episode, we discuss, um, how Fay decided to create this group

Joseph Grech:

coaching program, some of the challenges that she also faced, and also how

Joseph Grech:

she decided to structure the program.

Joseph Grech:

I was really interested in talking to Fay, uh, in relation to the way that

Joseph Grech:

she marketed the program as well, and some reflections, some things that she

Joseph Grech:

would do differently next time also.

Joseph Grech:

So let's listen to the conversation between Fay and I and I hope

Joseph Grech:

you enjoyed as much as I did.

Joseph Grech:

Hey Fay, how

Fay Wallis:

are you?

Fay Wallis:

Hi, Joseph.

Fay Wallis:

I'm good.

Fay Wallis:

Thank, you, how are

Joseph Grech:

you?

Joseph Grech:

I am doing very well.

Joseph Grech:

I'm actually really excited to talk to you about today's topic because it's

Joseph Grech:

one of the things that I got asked.

Joseph Grech:

A lot about, you know, it is either around group coaching, um, how do

Joseph Grech:

you create a group coaching program.

Joseph Grech:

So I am so delighted and happy that, um, that you're here with us today.

Joseph Grech:

Um, Fay, as a starting point, would you like to, uh, give our listeners a bit

Joseph Grech:

of an intro to yourself and what you do?

Fay Wallis:

Of course.

Fay Wallis:

Well, hello everybody.

Fay Wallis:

My name's Fay, Fay Wallis.

Fay Wallis:

I'm a career coach and an executive coach, and I specialize

Fay Wallis:

in coaching HR professionals.

Fay Wallis:

I'm also the founder of Bright Sky Career Coaching, and I have a podcast

Fay Wallis:

which is called HR Coffee Time, so it's lovely to be invited on here.

Fay Wallis:

I'm normally the one doing the interviewing, so thank you for

Fay Wallis:

giving me this opportunity, Joseph.

Fay Wallis:

Oh

Joseph Grech:

no.

Joseph Grech:

Thank you for being here.

Joseph Grech:

And if you haven't listened to Fay's podcast, please do.

Joseph Grech:

It is brilliant.

Joseph Grech:

Um, and, um, how does it feel being on the other side, Fay?

Fay Wallis:

I was, I was weirdly a bit nervous beforehand and I said to you,

Fay Wallis:

I made loads of notes, I think because you film your podcast interviews.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

Which is a brilliant idea.

Fay Wallis:

But I've never done that because it just felt like that tiny bit of

Fay Wallis:

pressure, which means I've always got notes everywhere I'm looking out.

Fay Wallis:

So if anyone is listening to this interview by watching

Fay Wallis:

it, please forgive you.

Fay Wallis:

Please forgive me if you see me looking off to the side.

Fay Wallis:

I'm just checking my notes.

Joseph Grech:

It's all good.

Joseph Grech:

It's all good.

Joseph Grech:

Okay.

Joseph Grech:

Yeah, we only started, um, recording video for this new season, and

Joseph Grech:

it's been really well received.

Joseph Grech:

Um, I'll listen, I think you can engage a little bit more as well,

Joseph Grech:

um, with myself and with the guest.

Joseph Grech:

But once again, thank you for being here and um, like I said,

Joseph Grech:

let's go into our topic today, which is around group coaching.

Joseph Grech:

You've got your own group coaching program, um, so perhaps.

Joseph Grech:

Tell us a bit more around what led you to creating this program?

Fay Wallis:

Well, there were a few things that led me to creating it.

Fay Wallis:

One of them was that I really liked the idea of being able to say, here's

Fay Wallis:

a service that you can sign up to.

Fay Wallis:

It starts on this day.

Fay Wallis:

It goes on for this many weeks, and it ends on this day.

Fay Wallis:

Because what I had found was it was really difficult to feel that I had

Fay Wallis:

control over my calendar when I was just doing one-to-one coaching, and I

Fay Wallis:

was also doing some consulting work for organizations because what would happen

Fay Wallis:

is someone will get in touch and they'll want to have a session straight away, or

Fay Wallis:

an organization would get in touch and they would want to book me quite quickly.

Fay Wallis:

So I would go from thinking, oh, I have a manageable week next week to thinking.

Fay Wallis:

Oh my gosh, how am I going to fit all of this in?

Fay Wallis:

And of course, you've also got times where it's very, very quiet.

Fay Wallis:

So that was one of the reasons that I was drawn to the idea of being

Fay Wallis:

able to create something where I had much more control over my calendar

Fay Wallis:

and when it would be happening.

Fay Wallis:

The other main reason was that I had been coaching lots of HR professionals

Fay Wallis:

on a one-to-one basis, and I had noticed the same themes and challenges

Fay Wallis:

coming up again and again and again.

Fay Wallis:

So I thought.

Fay Wallis:

Hmm, I could do something about this.

Fay Wallis:

If I create a group program, then not only can I do it as a pure

Fay Wallis:

coaching thing, I can actually also incorporate some content.

Fay Wallis:

So although it is a group coaching program, I'd say it's more of a

Fay Wallis:

blend of coaching and training.

Fay Wallis:

And I do deliver training within each of the sessions as well, so that people are

Fay Wallis:

learning about new concepts and ideas and models, and then they've got a chance to.

Fay Wallis:

Give them a try and embed them and see if they work for them.

Fay Wallis:

So that quite appealed.

Fay Wallis:

My very first job, years and years ago was as a teacher.

Fay Wallis:

So I think it means that I can lean into those teaching skills

Fay Wallis:

as well as the coaching skills.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

And I loved the idea that by having a group, it gave all of those people in

Fay Wallis:

the group the opportunity to really get to know each other and bond and my.

Fay Wallis:

My aim is that by the end of each cohort, everyone has become really good

Fay Wallis:

friends and that they're able to lean on each other for support throughout

Fay Wallis:

their entire careers, not just the time that they're on the program.

Fay Wallis:

So I would say there were lots of other little things as well,

Fay Wallis:

but they're probably the key reasons I decided to do it.

Fay Wallis:

Hmm, and

Joseph Grech:

that's a big one, isn't it?

Joseph Grech:

The practical element of it that you mentioned earlier.

Joseph Grech:

Because, uh, working for yourself or starting your own business, particularly

Joseph Grech:

in coaching, it means that you're juggling quite a few different things and

Joseph Grech:

having a set structure does really help.

Joseph Grech:

And you mentioned some of the, uh, teaching aspects, the

Joseph Grech:

facilitation aspects, and you mentioned some models or some ideas.

Joseph Grech:

What are some of the things that you cover on the program?

Joseph Grech:

Just as above a taster.

Fay Wallis:

So it's a six week intensive program.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

Which means that we meet as a group once a week for two hours every single

Fay Wallis:

week, and each of those weeks is themed.

Fay Wallis:

So I focus in on one particular challenge or topic on each of those weeks.

Fay Wallis:

So we look at setting yourself up for success in one week, confidence in

Fay Wallis:

another week, building key relationships.

Fay Wallis:

Being strategic, influencing at a senior level, and then planning for the future.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

So they're all of the different things that I cover.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Joseph Grech:

And it's all I, what I really like about this,

Joseph Grech:

it's targeted specifically to hr, um, uh, people, professionals.

Fay Wallis:

Yes, absolutely.

Fay Wallis:

Well, for a long time I didn't have a niche.

Fay Wallis:

I didn't have a specialism.

Fay Wallis:

I used to say that I would do coaching for anybody across any profession, but

Fay Wallis:

really it's probably when I started the podcast, which was aimed just

Fay Wallis:

at the HR community, that I started attracting more and more HR clients and.

Fay Wallis:

So I started off as a teacher.

Fay Wallis:

I didn't last as a teacher for very long.

Fay Wallis:

I, uh, missed grownups too much.

Fay Wallis:

E even though I did love the teaching.

Fay Wallis:

I then moved into an HR career.

Fay Wallis:

So before becoming a coach, the majority of my career was spent working in hr.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

So I didn't leave HR because I didn't like it anymore.

Fay Wallis:

I just discovered a real passion for coaching.

Fay Wallis:

And by having the podcast, um, it meant that.

Fay Wallis:

I've really got to dive back into that world of HR and it

Fay Wallis:

reminded me how much I loved it.

Fay Wallis:

So for me, it's been a real pleasure.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

It was a bit scary as well, but it's been quite exciting deciding to niche.

Fay Wallis:

I only decided last year, but when I started telling people I.

Fay Wallis:

I thought people would be really shocked, but actually most people

Fay Wallis:

said to me, that makes complete sense.

Fay Wallis:

I'm not surprised at all that you've done that.

Fay Wallis:

Yeah, yeah.

Fay Wallis:

And then by by nicheing, I've found it easier to really tailor my services

Fay Wallis:

because I know exactly who it is I'm talking to, and I really do understand

Fay Wallis:

the challenges that they have.

Joseph Grech:

It's such a wonderful marriage though, isn't it?

Joseph Grech:

Because in HR we talk a lot around, um, being able to coach and support

Joseph Grech:

different people within the organizations, um, and different stakeholders.

Joseph Grech:

And a lot of HR professionals tend to have done some sort of coach training,

Joseph Grech:

whether it's, uh, One day coaching skills or a fuller coaching program.

Joseph Grech:

Uh, it's a great way how to manage the two together in terms of the

Joseph Grech:

HR skills, coaching skills, working with the wider organization.

Fay Wallis:

Yeah, absolutely.

Fay Wallis:

I have found that quite a few people who come on the program are qualified coaches

Fay Wallis:

or have done some sorts of coach training, and what's nice is I know that for so many

Fay Wallis:

HR professionals, they're so busy putting that all into their jobs and supporting

Fay Wallis:

everyone else in the organization.

Fay Wallis:

They often don't really have the time or the opportunity to focus on their own

Fay Wallis:

developments and focus on themselves.

Fay Wallis:

So it's really lovely to be able to see people do that by

Fay Wallis:

coming on board with the program.

Joseph Grech:

Now you mentioned earlier, um, some of the fears,

Joseph Grech:

so maybe let's tap into, cuz I know that's how I also felt when I

Joseph Grech:

started creating group, uh, programs.

Joseph Grech:

So I, I kind of empathize with the feeling of fear.

Joseph Grech:

What, what were some of the challenges that you experienced in kind of getting

Joseph Grech:

the group coaching program together?

Fay Wallis:

Lots.

Fay Wallis:

The, the main one was probably mindset, as I think is normally

Fay Wallis:

all of our challenges, isn't it?

Fay Wallis:

Which was, oh my gosh, can I do it?

Fay Wallis:

How should I structure it?

Fay Wallis:

Will anyone be interested?

Fay Wallis:

How many weeks should it be?

Fay Wallis:

There were lots of practical things that were holding me back.

Fay Wallis:

I couldn't find very many resources on how to put together

Fay Wallis:

a good group coaching program.

Fay Wallis:

So I really hope that if anyone is listening or watching this podcast episode

Fay Wallis:

and they're thinking of putting together a group program, that this will help them.

Fay Wallis:

I only managed to find one podcast that covered the topic in detail, so really,

Fay Wallis:

I was able to put it together in the end and get really clear on what I wanted

Fay Wallis:

to do by just talking to lots of other people who I was lucky enough to know who

Fay Wallis:

have their own group coaching programs.

Joseph Grech:

Did you know that a become, we offer a number of different coach

Joseph Grech:

training programs to people just like you.

Joseph Grech:

If you're new to coaching, there is a level one diploma in integrative coaching.

Joseph Grech:

If you've been coaching for a while, or perhaps you're already an a ACC C coach,

Joseph Grech:

then we have the Advanced Diploma in Integrative coaching, which leads all the

Joseph Grech:

way to the P C C credential by the I C F.

Joseph Grech:

We also have a number of C P D programs and certificates,

Joseph Grech:

including mentoring and supervision.

Joseph Grech:

To find out more, go to to become.org or just check the show notes.

Joseph Grech:

How, how did you structure the program as well?

Joseph Grech:

You mentioned there is a six, uh, the six week structure.

Joseph Grech:

Um, how did you come up with that?

Fay Wallis:

It's a really good question.

Fay Wallis:

I was thinking back on this actually when I was prepping for our interview today.

Fay Wallis:

Trying to remember exactly how I came up with the structure.

Fay Wallis:

I was quite nervous about doing a group program because

Fay Wallis:

I've never done one before.

Fay Wallis:

I have designed and delivered a lot of workshops before, and although it isn't

Fay Wallis:

just a series of workshops, It's sort of aligned with that because I do to

Fay Wallis:

deliver content in each of the weeks that we'd meet up with each other.

Fay Wallis:

So I think I did it as six weeks, partly because I was a bit scared.

Fay Wallis:

A lot of people said, why don't you do three months or six months?

Fay Wallis:

And I just thought, oh my gosh.

Fay Wallis:

You know, I just, I don't know.

Fay Wallis:

This is the first time I'm doing it.

Fay Wallis:

I, I don't know how I feel about committing to.

Fay Wallis:

A really long amount of time, and I'd also decided that I was

Fay Wallis:

just going to do it as a pilot.

Fay Wallis:

That's really what helped me get it off the ground.

Fay Wallis:

So I thought, what are the themes that I've seen everyone struggling

Fay Wallis:

with, and I've found six.

Fay Wallis:

So I thought, okay, I've got these six challenges.

Fay Wallis:

I can see HR professionals are coming up against again and again and again.

Fay Wallis:

It makes sense to just cover those one each week.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

So that's really how I ended up structuring it.

Fay Wallis:

And in between each of the group sessions, I also would send them a

Fay Wallis:

video with some additional content and normally a worksheets complete as

Fay Wallis:

well, just to help them prep for it.

Fay Wallis:

Because I knew six weeks isn't a huge amount of time, so to get the

Fay Wallis:

most outta being in the program, I gave them some additional work to do

Fay Wallis:

in between their sessions as well.

Fay Wallis:

Nice.

Fay Wallis:

And

Joseph Grech:

you mentioned the pilot there, were there, what were some

Joseph Grech:

of your learnings from the pilot?

Joseph Grech:

Um, program?

Fay Wallis:

There were a lot of learnings.

Fay Wallis:

I'd really, for anyone who's listening and thinking about doing a group

Fay Wallis:

program or anything else, or a course or launching a new service, one of

Fay Wallis:

the biggest learnings I I've had since becoming a coach and working for myself

Fay Wallis:

is just how helpful testing stuff out is.

Fay Wallis:

I think it can.

Fay Wallis:

Help knock perfectionism on the head when you are thinking,

Fay Wallis:

this is good to be perfect.

Fay Wallis:

I can't possibly launch it until it's absolutely perfect, because if you

Fay Wallis:

know, look, I'm just testing this out.

Fay Wallis:

I'm going to see how it goes.

Fay Wallis:

I'll tell everyone that I'm testing it out so everyone isn't expecting

Fay Wallis:

it to be a hundred percent perfect.

Fay Wallis:

I think that helps you.

Fay Wallis:

Well, it certainly helps me to get things off the ground a little bit quicker, and

Fay Wallis:

so what did I actually learn from it?

Fay Wallis:

Well, I learned so much.

Fay Wallis:

I asked for lots of feedback as I went along.

Fay Wallis:

So at the end of every session I asked people for feedback

Fay Wallis:

and got some good feedback, but essentially I could also see.

Fay Wallis:

Immediately how I could be making it better.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

Even though I'd agonized over and spent hours and days, and, gosh,

Fay Wallis:

I can't tell you how much time I put into designing it each week.

Fay Wallis:

As soon as I ran it each week, I knew there was something I could do better.

Fay Wallis:

But the biggest learning, I would say from running it the first time was that I

Fay Wallis:

had to dedicate time to helping everyone.

Fay Wallis:

Set themselves up for success with the program, which is why

Fay Wallis:

the first week is now called Setting Yourself Up for Success.

Fay Wallis:

It didn't used to be because although people had invested in their own

Fay Wallis:

development by committing to the program, they found it really challenging making

Fay Wallis:

sure they were on time every week that they had done the pre-work every week.

Fay Wallis:

So I had, I completely changed that first module, so it focused on.

Fay Wallis:

How do you hold yourself accountable?

Fay Wallis:

Why is this important to you?

Fay Wallis:

How are you going to carve out the time to make sure that you're doing the pre-work?

Fay Wallis:

And it made.

Fay Wallis:

All the difference.

Fay Wallis:

So I am running it for the third cohort at the moment and have just started taking

Fay Wallis:

bookings for the fourth cohort cohort.

Fay Wallis:

And the difference between the commitment level with the second group

Fay Wallis:

to the first group was just huge.

Fay Wallis:

All because mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

I changed that first week.

Fay Wallis:

So that was my biggest learning.

Fay Wallis:

And then my second learning that I had as well was I was trying to fit too much

Fay Wallis:

in, so where I said, oh, I want to make sure I'm giving them pre-work every week.

Fay Wallis:

Cause I really want them to get the most value out of this.

Fay Wallis:

Actually.

Fay Wallis:

They're in such busy roles.

Fay Wallis:

It was just too much to expect of them as well.

Fay Wallis:

So I stripped back on the amount of pre-work that I was setting them as well.

Fay Wallis:

And I make a real conscious effort to not cram in too much content

Fay Wallis:

delivery from me in the sessions and to make sure they have got plenty

Fay Wallis:

of time to talk amongst themselves and have some reflection time as

Joseph Grech:

well.

Joseph Grech:

Mm-hmm.

Joseph Grech:

You're probably seeing me nodding quite vigorously as you're talking about that

Joseph Grech:

because I can, I can really picture it.

Joseph Grech:

We, and we did the same on our, on our diploma, uh, on both counts.

Joseph Grech:

You know, when we first started running it.

Joseph Grech:

Our induction was very much so around the program, and we didn't

Joseph Grech:

cover as much time around, well, how are you going to make time?

Joseph Grech:

Mm-hmm.

Joseph Grech:

To complete this?

Joseph Grech:

And we've changed it the other way around that there's some videos on our

Joseph Grech:

portal that people can watch on the more.

Joseph Grech:

Kind of knowledge, uh, heavy aspects of it, like how the program is

Joseph Grech:

structured and all that stuff.

Joseph Grech:

And on the induction, we focus on the individual, on the person and how

Joseph Grech:

they're gonna make time for the program.

Joseph Grech:

Um, and it's the same, uh, I mean, with the icf we're constantly

Joseph Grech:

battling this idea around we have too much content on the program

Joseph Grech:

because you want to give, right?

Joseph Grech:

You, you, you want to try as much as possible, um, to present a.

Joseph Grech:

A full program for somebody, but then you realize that it's too much.

Joseph Grech:

Mm-hmm.

Joseph Grech:

And actually that is getting in the way.

Joseph Grech:

Um, how did you market this?

Joseph Grech:

Because I'm, you know, it's a, you mentioned earlier kind of putting the

Joseph Grech:

program together, having that leap of faith and jumping and kind of doing it.

Joseph Grech:

How did you market it though?

Fay Wallis:

Well, I'd had quite a lot of learnings from when I've.

Fay Wallis:

Created things before.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

So although I hadn't created a group program before, I have

Fay Wallis:

created online courses before.

Fay Wallis:

So I have a CV course and I have a LinkedIn course.

Fay Wallis:

And when I created the CV course, I spent absolutely ages putting all together.

Fay Wallis:

Oh my goodness.

Fay Wallis:

It's took me weeks and weeks and weeks, Joseph, of just working on it solidly.

Fay Wallis:

And then I literally just did a social media post going.

Fay Wallis:

I've created a CV course, he, everyone, and like no one bought it.

Fay Wallis:

I couldn't believe.

Fay Wallis:

I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I've spent all this time

Fay Wallis:

and no one has bought the course.

Fay Wallis:

And so there were a few things I realized that I had done wrong, and

Fay Wallis:

one was that I hadn't talked about it.

Fay Wallis:

At all with an audience.

Fay Wallis:

I hadn't told anyone really that it was coming.

Fay Wallis:

I hadn't built up any sort of excitement around it.

Fay Wallis:

That was one thing that I learned.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

The other thing was that I hadn't tested it, so I had tried, I created

Fay Wallis:

it all, as I would say, perfectly.

Fay Wallis:

You know, spent forever trying to make it perfect instead of testing it out as well.

Fay Wallis:

Yeah.

Fay Wallis:

So, um, Yes.

Fay Wallis:

I learned quite a lot from having done that.

Fay Wallis:

So when it came to launching Inspiring hr, I made sure I talked

Fay Wallis:

about it before I launched it.

Fay Wallis:

So I asked for feedback on the name.

Fay Wallis:

I said, I've got this new program coming up.

Fay Wallis:

This is.

Fay Wallis:

What it's gonna be about.

Fay Wallis:

Um, I'm trying to choose the name for it, what you think, this one or this one.

Fay Wallis:

And actually the feedback I had from that was brilliant.

Fay Wallis:

I ended up completely changing the name based on the feedback that

Fay Wallis:

everyone gave me because of course, the more questions you can ask about

Fay Wallis:

something, the more likely you're gonna create something that's helpful

Fay Wallis:

and that people will start to feel.

Fay Wallis:

More connected to it.

Fay Wallis:

So you know, people who would really help me name it will then

Fay Wallis:

be thinking, oh wow, look at that.

Fay Wallis:

The, the name is up there.

Fay Wallis:

But the other ways that I marketed it.

Fay Wallis:

So there was that with social media posts about it, but I didn't do loads, but I'm.

Fay Wallis:

I suppose lucky that I have quite a large email list now where I have been

Fay Wallis:

working for myself for quite a long time.

Fay Wallis:

This will, in April, it will have been seven years since I set up Bright Sky.

Fay Wallis:

So if anyone is listening to this or watching this and you're very new in

Fay Wallis:

your coaching journey, please don't stop beating yourself up if you haven't

Fay Wallis:

got lots of emails, subscribers.

Fay Wallis:

Yeah, I know I used to be really hard on myself when I first started

Fay Wallis:

and I could see people who were.

Fay Wallis:

Further along in their journey and thinking, oh my gosh,

Fay Wallis:

why haven't I done that yet?

Fay Wallis:

So I have got a, a lot of people who sign up to get weekly emails from me,

Fay Wallis:

and I've also, as I mentioned, got a podcast as well, which comes out weekly.

Fay Wallis:

So it means that I have got a little bit of an.

Fay Wallis:

Audience of people who know me because they're getting emails

Fay Wallis:

from me every week, and they're hearing the podcast every week.

Fay Wallis:

So they're going to be more open to hearing about a group coaching

Fay Wallis:

program than actually if I didn't have anybody who knew me and I

Fay Wallis:

didn't have those marketing channels.

Fay Wallis:

So the podcast and the email list really helped me the second time that I.

Fay Wallis:

Launched the group program.

Fay Wallis:

So when I announced the dates for the second cohort, I don't

Fay Wallis:

know that I actually even did any social media post about it.

Fay Wallis:

I think maybe I did one.

Fay Wallis:

Um Oh, wonderful.

Fay Wallis:

Really was from my email list that people signed up.

Fay Wallis:

And also the third time, so the cohort that I have right now, I

Fay Wallis:

didn't even mention it on the podcast.

Fay Wallis:

Um, Just for, I wasn't organized enough, to be honest.

Fay Wallis:

I've made myself mention it on the podcast this time for the next cohort

Fay Wallis:

that's coming up, so I had also.

Fay Wallis:

Where I got really burnt from doing that CV course.

Fay Wallis:

I invested in doing a course about launching a course well about creating

Fay Wallis:

and launching a course, and one of the biggest takeaways I took from

Fay Wallis:

that was the importance of actually.

Fay Wallis:

Starting to build an audience and build and make sure that people get

Fay Wallis:

to know about you and your services.

Fay Wallis:

And the recommendation from the person who's course I invested in was that you

Fay Wallis:

create a new piece of content every week.

Fay Wallis:

So whether that's a podcast, um, Ideally not just a social media post, it needs

Fay Wallis:

to be some sort of long-term content.

Fay Wallis:

So whether it's a blog post or it's a YouTube video or

Fay Wallis:

um, yeah, some other means.

Fay Wallis:

And I really took that message on boards and it was after that that

Fay Wallis:

I started the podcast and I started sending a weekly email and I'd

Fay Wallis:

say that's really when everything changed for me quite significantly.

Fay Wallis:

And I started to find that.

Fay Wallis:

It was much easier to market things and have people commit to

Fay Wallis:

things because I have built that awareness and that trust with people.

Joseph Grech:

Mm.

Joseph Grech:

There's this idea around, I mean, there's a couple of things that I feel are so

Joseph Grech:

important to mention there, um, that it takes time to, to do these things.

Joseph Grech:

It's not, um, you wake up on morning and you decide to do a group program,

Joseph Grech:

and it will sell within the week.

Joseph Grech:

It actually takes time to build your audience, to send

Joseph Grech:

a message out there to craft.

Joseph Grech:

A program that is actually needed via, you know, a pilot

Joseph Grech:

version of it, getting feedback.

Joseph Grech:

Um, but if you do put the work in, I find that you read the rewards, right?

Joseph Grech:

You have to kind of go through the process.

Joseph Grech:

Absolutely.

Joseph Grech:

Sorry, go ahead.

Fay Wallis:

No, I was just gonna say absolutely.

Fay Wallis:

I completely agree with you.

Fay Wallis:

And it, it's definitely been.

Fay Wallis:

I'm sure this is very overused term, but it's definitely been a

Fay Wallis:

journey going from just doing once to-one sessions to them being quite

Fay Wallis:

nervous about running workshops.

Fay Wallis:

But then I, I tried workshops and that went well to then being quite nervous and

Fay Wallis:

about doing a great group program, but.

Fay Wallis:

But then doing it, you know, it, it has taken me a long time to get to this

Fay Wallis:

point, and before starting the podcast, I've thought about that for two years

Fay Wallis:

before I finally decided to commit to it before actually, um, putting the dates

Fay Wallis:

in the calendar for the group program.

Fay Wallis:

I spent six months having conversations about it, thinking about it, planning

Fay Wallis:

it, you know, reading up on stuff it.

Fay Wallis:

It's not all things that I've just thought, oh, I'll do a group

Fay Wallis:

program, launched it the next day.

Fay Wallis:

I probably spend a bit too long thinking about these things.

Fay Wallis:

To be honest,

Joseph Grech:

I think it depends on your style.

Joseph Grech:

I'm very similar.

Joseph Grech:

I'll mull it over and I might just jot down notes an idea, send, it's

Joseph Grech:

a bit all over the place, and then.

Joseph Grech:

It kind of all falls into place.

Joseph Grech:

Mm-hmm.

Joseph Grech:

And you, you know, then I just get on with it.

Joseph Grech:

But I've spent all that time reflecting on it, kind of

Joseph Grech:

speaking to other people about it.

Joseph Grech:

Can I also ask, um, and this might be a bit more of a personal question.

Joseph Grech:

You mentioned one-to-one coaching and group coaching.

Joseph Grech:

Have you got a preference now in terms of which ones you prefer

Fay Wallis:

doing?

Fay Wallis:

No, I really enjoy doing both.

Fay Wallis:

And actually I haven't mentioned it already, but as part of the

Fay Wallis:

group code, Group coaching program.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

Everyone who's on that program gets three one-to-one sessions with me as well.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

Which are 40 minute sessions.

Fay Wallis:

So they get an onboarding coaching session, a coaching session part way

Fay Wallis:

through, and then a coaching session after all our group sessions have finished.

Fay Wallis:

And it was really important to me that I added that in when I was making the step,

Fay Wallis:

the leap from just doing one-to-one group, because then I really felt I could still.

Fay Wallis:

Make sure people are getting the absolute best from it because as much

Fay Wallis:

as you put your heart and soul into group, I think nothing's going to beat.

Fay Wallis:

Beat.

Fay Wallis:

Having individualized support.

Fay Wallis:

Yeah.

Fay Wallis:

Yeah.

Fay Wallis:

I do obviously still have one-to-one clients as well as that, but.

Fay Wallis:

I don't take on us many anymore because otherwise it just, it all gets too much.

Fay Wallis:

It's impossible.

Fay Wallis:

It's too overwhelming.

Fay Wallis:

But I would say it's a bit of a cop out answer, isn't it, Joseph?

Fay Wallis:

But I'm really like both Phil.

Fay Wallis:

I like them both for, for different, slightly different reasons.

Fay Wallis:

Yeah,

Joseph Grech:

yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joseph Grech:

Not at all.

Joseph Grech:

I like, I, I'm the same as you.

Joseph Grech:

I, I tend to have less one-to-one clients now, purely because of

Joseph Grech:

time, but I do really, and plus I do mentoring and supervision.

Joseph Grech:

So it gives me that, that nourishment from one-to-one conversations.

Joseph Grech:

Um, But it's a, it's a tricky one cause I love the facilitation aspect.

Joseph Grech:

And seeing the group interact.

Joseph Grech:

You mentioned earlier, people making friends.

Joseph Grech:

It's such a joy to see when you see people that you kind of know

Joseph Grech:

individually when they, you people have to apply in our program.

Joseph Grech:

So you kind of get to know them and then they get to meet each

Joseph Grech:

other and they develop friendships.

Joseph Grech:

Mm-hmm.

Joseph Grech:

And it's wonderful to see when that actually happens as well.

Joseph Grech:

What, um, thinking cuz we're kind of getting quite close towards

Joseph Grech:

the end of our podcast today.

Joseph Grech:

Um, and I'd love to find out what advice you might want to give

Joseph Grech:

to someone who is thinking about creating a group coaching program.

Fay Wallis:

I suppose lots of things that, um, I've mentioned.

Fay Wallis:

I'll just bring them together, so.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

But the first piece of advice would be to go for it.

Fay Wallis:

I'm so pleased that I did.

Fay Wallis:

My other bits of advice would be just reach out and speak to other people.

Fay Wallis:

Who have done group coaching programs, if you would like to bounce

Fay Wallis:

some ideas off of them, the, the coaching community is so lovely.

Fay Wallis:

Most people are very happy to talk to you about these things.

Fay Wallis:

I did pay for sessions with some people as well who specialize in helping

Fay Wallis:

with group coaching programs, and I really think that was worth it just to.

Fay Wallis:

Help me craft something in the best possible way.

Fay Wallis:

Mm.

Fay Wallis:

So I'm losing track now.

Fay Wallis:

What did I say?

Fay Wallis:

Oh yeah, go for it.

Fay Wallis:

Speak to other people.

Fay Wallis:

Really get to know your ideal clients and who you are designing that program for.

Fay Wallis:

So I'm actually in the midst of the ideas stages of planning it.

Fay Wallis:

A new thing.

Fay Wallis:

I'm not sure what it's going to be.

Fay Wallis:

I don't think it's going to be a group program.

Fay Wallis:

It might be an evolution of my existing group program.

Fay Wallis:

It might be something different.

Fay Wallis:

I'm very much at the idea stage.

Fay Wallis:

Mm.

Fay Wallis:

I'm sure it's gonna take the ages to finalize it, but one thing that

Fay Wallis:

I have done is surveyed my audience.

Fay Wallis:

So I said to them, I'm thinking of doing.

Fay Wallis:

This, this or this?

Fay Wallis:

What do you think?

Fay Wallis:

What's going to be the most helpful for you?

Fay Wallis:

And Joseph?

Fay Wallis:

It is the best thing I could have done because the feedback I got

Fay Wallis:

was just absolutely invaluable.

Fay Wallis:

So test out your ideas.

Fay Wallis:

If you have got an audience, if you have got an email list or you've got

Fay Wallis:

people following you on social media, then you can ask them the question.

Fay Wallis:

Or if you've got one-to-one clients and they are your ideal client for

Fay Wallis:

your group coaching program, then.

Fay Wallis:

Talked to them about it.

Fay Wallis:

Before I started putting together my current group coaching program, I

Fay Wallis:

did do a series of calls with people who were my ideal client for it.

Fay Wallis:

And what I said to them was, I'll offer you a free coaching

Fay Wallis:

session if you are happy to give me some, uh, feedback around.

Fay Wallis:

My idea for a group program, and so I can understand what your

Fay Wallis:

challenges are at the moment.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

So I think I did 15 minutes for them just answering a load of questions I had about

Fay Wallis:

what they were struggling with the most, what would be helpful for them, and then

Fay Wallis:

just a 15 minute laser coaching session.

Fay Wallis:

So, mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

That was really helpful and that gave me the confidence

Fay Wallis:

that I was on the right track.

Fay Wallis:

So I suppose I'm saying make sure you do your research with the CV

Fay Wallis:

course that I did all those years ago, I didn't do any research.

Fay Wallis:

I just thought, oh, At the time, I had been writing loads of cvs where

Fay Wallis:

I am a career coach, and that's how I got myself off the grounds.

Fay Wallis:

And I thought, oh, you know what?

Fay Wallis:

I don't really want to write all these CVS anymore.

Fay Wallis:

Instead, I could create a course, and then if anyone asked me to

Fay Wallis:

write a CV, I can say, don't worry.

Fay Wallis:

Here's a course with all the templates and everything you need.

Fay Wallis:

I didn't check with a single person whether that's what they wanted.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

I was creating something that, yes, it was to help them, but it was more to

Fay Wallis:

help me to be able to say no to the work.

Fay Wallis:

Yeah.

Fay Wallis:

So just, it's so important to do that research part.

Fay Wallis:

I think.

Fay Wallis:

Yeah.

Fay Wallis:

That would be my other bit of advice.

Joseph Grech:

Oh, sounds great.

Joseph Grech:

I was thinking, although that that element of that CV writing course,

Joseph Grech:

I'm sure it was really helpful in developing some of the ideas.

Joseph Grech:

In the other course I find that we, we learned through these things.

Joseph Grech:

Right.

Joseph Grech:

Um, I remember the first group program that I designed as well.

Joseph Grech:

It was very similar.

Joseph Grech:

I designed it and I was working with somebody else.

Joseph Grech:

There were two of us, you know, encouraging each

Joseph Grech:

other, and we did the same.

Joseph Grech:

We put it out on our social media.

Joseph Grech:

And nothing happened.

Joseph Grech:

It was like a vacuum.

Joseph Grech:

So, so, but you learn from that.

Joseph Grech:

Mm-hmm.

Joseph Grech:

And you realize that there are some other steps that I need to do when, um, you

Joseph Grech:

know, talking to the right people, getting some feedback can be super, super helpful.

Fay Wallis:

Yes, absolutely.

Fay Wallis:

It's good to know it's not just me who decided to create something that

Fay Wallis:

no one was remotely interested in.

Fay Wallis:

And, and you're right.

Fay Wallis:

None of it's wasted cuz actually the platform that I built the course on, I now

Fay Wallis:

use as part of my group coaching program.

Fay Wallis:

And it meant I was very familiar with it.

Fay Wallis:

So it was easy to get things up and running.

Fay Wallis:

And also I used to be asked to run.

Fay Wallis:

CV workshops and the very first time I got asked to run one, they wanted

Fay Wallis:

me to run it the following week.

Fay Wallis:

And I thought, oh my gosh, how am I gonna put together a whole workshop in this?

Fay Wallis:

You had time, but of course I had a whole course.

Fay Wallis:

So I was able to take the templates from the course, um, take some of

Fay Wallis:

the slides I'd use in the course, and very quickly repurpose that content.

Fay Wallis:

So I completely agree with you, Joseph, even if everything goes wrong and.

Fay Wallis:

And whatever you create bombs, there will be so many lessons you can take from it.

Fay Wallis:

Mm-hmm.

Fay Wallis:

And lots of learnings and, and content that you might even be able to use.

Joseph Grech:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joseph Grech:

Yeah.

Joseph Grech:

Thank you so much Fay.

Joseph Grech:

Thank you for spending a bit of time talking through this.

Joseph Grech:

I know that a lot of people will resonate, um, with what you're saying.

Joseph Grech:

As I mentioned right at the start of today's podcast, that's one

Joseph Grech:

question that I get asked a lot that I do a lot of mentoring on how do

Joseph Grech:

I carve my group coaching program?

Joseph Grech:

So I know it's super, super helpful for our listeners.

Joseph Grech:

Oh, you're so

Fay Wallis:

welcome.

Joseph Grech:

Thank you once again, faith.

Joseph Grech:

For spending a bit of time to share your knowledge and your practical experience

Joseph Grech:

in relation to creating marketing and being successful in developing

Joseph Grech:

your own group coaching program.

Joseph Grech:

I think this has been really helpful for a lot of our

Joseph Grech:

listeners, a lot of our viewers.

Joseph Grech:

Um, and if you've found this episode useful, please feel free to share it

Joseph Grech:

with your friends, with your colleague.

Joseph Grech:

Uh, and get in touch with us as well if you've got any questions whatsoever.

Joseph Grech:

I think what's really key as we're talking about a group coaching, is this idea

Joseph Grech:

that those core coaching skills, you know, the, the empathy, the building,

Joseph Grech:

the, that intrinsic motivation in our clients, supporting individuals come up

Joseph Grech:

with their own objectives and conclusions, whether we're doing that on a one-to-one

Joseph Grech:

basis, or if we're doing it on a, on a group basis, they remain the same.

Joseph Grech:

There are of course, some differences in relation to group dynamics.

Joseph Grech:

Um, the way that we might work in a group context, but ultimately, who we

Joseph Grech:

are, our genuineness, our congruent, and that relationship stays the same.

Joseph Grech:

And I think, and it's, it's an important point to consider if you're

Joseph Grech:

also moving into doing group work.

Joseph Grech:

Once again, thank you for listening and I will see you on the next episode.

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