Annie Delre, a health and wellness coach, shares her journey and insights on coaching. She emphasizes the importance of finding a mentor and getting a reputable certification. Annie also discusses the challenges of starting a coaching business, particularly navigating social media. She highlights the need for accountability partners and taking messy action. Annie's legacy is to be a role model and make her sisters proud. She plans to build a course for people leaving toxic jobs. Annie recommends the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the Nationally Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBCHWC) as reputable coaching organizations.

Well, Annie, welcome to the podcast. How you doing today?

Good, thank you for having me.

It was a pleasure talking to you. Good to talk to you again. How is your day going so far?

Good! It's 7am here. Still starting. I have my coffee. I'm just... I'm ready to go. How's your day going?

Mine's good. I've had my coffee too, so I think we're good. Looking forward to it.

great. Yeah, okay.

So I love to ask my guests this question. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

funny I was thinking about this the other day as well and I think it was for every action there's a reaction.

That sounds like a science analogy.

And right, my mom used to say it to me. So of course when you're young and your mom says something, you're like, I don't even understand what that means. But now that I'm an adult, I'm like, wow, she really had, she really understood.

Like, yeah, see, our kids realize that we're much brighter once they're older and grown up, that, you know, we had wisdom.

It, and this last year I started coaching children and doing some parent management training. But while coaching the children, I just wanted to hug them and say to them, your parents really just want what's best for you, I promise. I know that they're annoying you right now, but when you look back or when you have your own kids, like, my.

Good. I'll make sure I highlight that part of the podcast so other kids can hear that as well.

yeah.

I'm curious, you mentioned your mom, who were some other people in your life who maybe had been a mentor for you or maybe an example, if you want to kind of tell us what made them special, as well as kind of maybe give them a shout out if you want to for how important they've been in your life.

I would say...

I'd say I've had a few teachers that meant a lot to me and really helped with my growth as a person. Honestly, I wouldn't really say that my mom was too much of a mentor growing up. She's a lovely lady, but I don't know if I'd put her under the mentor list. Someone that I've studied as an adult who's made a big difference for me is Bob Proctor.

I'm not sure if you've heard of Bob before.

No, I haven't.

Yes, unfortunately he's passed away now, but I discovered him in my early 20s and that's someone that I've been studying for a few years now that I would call a mentor.

That's cool. So let's get into your background a little bit. Tell us about your background. What led you to become a health and wellness coach? That's not a usual field to go into.

Yes. So I started with my bachelor's in psychology. So I like, what's going on with us humans? What's going on with our minds? And then I earned my master's in integrative wellness coaching. And that's when I was like, okay, I, you know, we're continuously learning, but I understand more about the mind. What about now our actions and our environment and our decision -making? Why are we?

doing this? Why are we always striving and for what? So I don't know if I just got off track with that. It's, it's what led me to study. Was that the question? Okay, so I guess if I if I were to even take another step back is because of my family, I started studying psychology, which then led to coaching. So

Right.

growing up in a household with six children and two adults. And if I'm being honest, the dysfunction that happens when there's a family and why, and what are we doing? And where is this leading? So I think that that's where it all started. My family led to a lot of curiosity, which then led to coaching and achievement.

I'm curious, because people, for those who may be thinking, this sounds like something I'd like to do, what certification did you have to get to specialize in that field?

well...

So I got my masters, but a lot of people don't. Most coaches do not. They will get a certification of some sort. The only thing that's a little scary about the coaching world is you don't need to be certified in order to do it. So if someone is interested in it, I highly recommend that they get a certification and not a weekend one, but a certification reputable program.

But it is achievable. So the other beautiful part is you don't need a bachelor's, you don't need a master's. But again, I highly recommend getting some type of certification with a reputable organization. It is achievable.

I did that. I got mine years ago. I probably need to upgrade mine. I haven't done that recently. And I think the coaching world has changed a lot. As you think about your coaching, how do you tailor your coaching methods to meet the unique needs of your clients?

Mmm.

meet them where they're at or

Talk to them in a way that excites them is almost, that might not be the right verbiage, but so for example, if I have a tech person or an engineer, I'm talking to them about stats. I'm giving them the studies behind why I'm even saying what I'm saying. But if I'm talking, I don't know how you're gonna feel about this terminology, but some of my clients, they like to call themselves woo woo. So I'll meet them with a woo woo. And they love that, but I would never tell.

a chemical engineer, what I would say to my WooWoo client. Because they would be like...

I'm not paying you. Like, what is this? What is this? And another example would be my faith based clients. When the minute they tell me that they have strong faith, I know what to anchor on. That changes everything in the coaching. That changes everything because I know exactly what their why is. And I understand immediately more about them. for example, morals and ethics that already

You know, doesn't mean that's a big blanket that I'm putting on everyone. But for the most part, that's already telling me something about them. That already shows me how they potentially are raising their kids or why they're making certain decisions. Or even a lot of my clients talk to me about their finances. Well, if they're faith -based and they have a church community, there's a good chance that some of their finances are donated to some type of organization.

So, or another thing would be they're probably volunteering or wanting to volunteer. So keeping things like that into consideration for why are you acting like this and how do you want to act?

I like that. When you get a client who approaches you, what are you typically running across as why they're seeking a coach? I know some people think about coaching, but when people come and say, need a coach, what are they hoping to achieve from a coach?

A lot of times the first thing that they're there for is stress management. That's what they'll say. They'll be like, I'm overwhelmed or I'm burnt out. I don't know what I don't know. I'm not sure where I'm going with my career. Or for some of the people I see are in their twenties and they're not yet married or have children. And they're like, if I'm this overwhelmed now, I got to get ready for before I make a commitment to someone and I have children and they're.

And it's interesting because as I mentioned, I coach children, my oldest client was 84. So even my clients in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s are scrambling too. They also feel overwhelmed and they also feel like they need to have it figured out. So when I talk to the kiddos and people in their 20s, I'm like, there's people three times as old as you that don't have it figured out. Don't worry. None of us do. Don't worry. If that's what you're looking for, the ultimate plan.

Don't worry, it's forever changing.

So you coach people in a wide variety of subjects. Is there one that you feel this is your special niche or is it kind of like you, because you're a coach, you can kind of get into any topic, maybe not expertly, but kind of helping them kind of figure out within their area where they want to go.

At this point in my career, I've coached over 700 people and probably close to 750. So I feel pretty good about coaching about most topics. And that's what the masters was, the integrative wellness coaching. that whole mind, body, soul, but I would say

I want to say stress management, but that just bleeds into everything. That bleeds into the finances and the health and going back to school and career advancement. If I were to get niche, it would probably be people in their careers looking for something that's more fulfilling.

Let's stick on that one because I'm kind of curious when people come and they're looking for a career help, what are they running into? Have they felt like they're stuck in their career, that they're maybe not in the area of expertise or they're not finding joy? What do you kind of find a consistent theme about people who are not happy with their career?

Mm

Lack of fulfillment. They're there because they had to get a job. COVID really shook things up for a lot of people, especially the ones starting into adulthood or excuse me, that's not the best way, who are, let's say starting corporate jobs. So fulfillment, lack of advancement. So a few of my clients will come to me and say, I was promised a promotion and twice now I didn't get it. Or I was told that

If I said yes to this, this and this project, I would get more money next review and I didn't. So those people are feeling burnt out and unappreciated. Others are like, I got a degree in blank. I didn't realize that this degree was going to be pretty much useless. Now I have student debt and I'm in an unfulfilling job. and I don't mean to laugh, but

I keep it really lighthearted with my clients. I have a lot of fun in my sessions. I let them know, like if you're looking for a super strict, professional, no funny business, then I might not be the person for you.

That's funny. I like that. Because you do need to sometimes bring humor into situations, especially when people are stressed. Sometimes just laughing is the greatest stress reliever there is. It's just like get that off of your chest.

Yes. And let's not take life too seriously. That adds to stress. Like that's just making us, especially for people who are suffering with perfectionism, it's like, let's just relax for a minute. Take a deep breath. It's all good. We're all good here.

That must be the Southern California surfer part of you.

Well, think because actually, think another reason why to pat my own back where I could meet clients where they're at is because I grew up in Jersey, and now I'm in SoCal. So I get that population of East Coast that's like, let's get things done. right, we nose to the ground. And the California part who's like, I just want to enjoy life. I actually don't care too much about money.

I just want to be happy. Well, you know, lot of people care about money, but just if I were to give comparisons.

I love that. As you think about over the 750 people or so you coach, are there a few success stories that kind of stand out in your mind and you go, wow, I'm so glad that I can share that story because it's so emblematic of what coaching is designed to do.

yeah, there's a few people. So actually, so one guy, he's great. He's great. He's in his early 20s, strained relationship with his family and grew up in a strict Japanese culture where his father was not kind to him. That's what I'm gonna say. Okay, so he had a lot of pressure on him just as about a male growing up in society.

and lack of confidence. And he came to me because he wanted to get a new job. He was very unhappy. He wasn't getting paid enough and lack of confidence. And he said he would go to these interviews and then people would he wouldn't get the job. And then finally, in one of the jobs, it was internal and he asked his supervisor, do you know why I didn't get it? Like, can you just tell me what they said in the interview? And they said essentially lack of personality.

And that was really upsetting to hear, right? Who wants to hear that, right? So we worked on communication skills. We updated his resume, his cover letter. We revamped how he did the job search. And then he ended up getting a job that was even more money than he expected. And now he's happy. He wears suits all day and he has his big boy job, like as we call it. So that one made me really happy because

This was a man who didn't have support. There were people in his life that actively told him he wasn't good enough. And that's really hard to dig out of when you're feeling alone.

Yeah, that is hard and I've never heard that you have no personality. that's, that's, don't know. What do you do with that?

Could she would match?

And that's what he said. He's like, what do I do? And I said, exercise number one, you're gonna practice smiling in the mirror. This is what we're doing. I was like, you don't have to be everyone's best friend. You don't have to be the office comedian, but you do need a job. So let's talk about how to act in an interview.

Wow, that one struck me. Any other stories that you, that kind of stand out in your mind?

Another one is this woman who, this is another more recent one, she just became a manager and she was going to a new team and the new team already was a unit. They had already worked together for a few years. So she was the outsider coming in and they liked their old boss. So you know, when an outsider's coming in and you're replacing the person they like, it seems...

your public enemy number one and you didn't even do anything yet. So we worked on what would that first meeting look like to, this isn't, I don't want to say establish dominance because then it sounds like she's being aggressive going in there, but going in there and showing this is my, am the new manager, but also what the new structure is going to look like and giving them the floor. And

showing them, hey, you guys have been running the show great. I'm just here to add to it. Tell me what's going good. Tell me what I can help with and come from a leader mindset. And that's what something I really appreciated about her was she understood the difference between a boss and a leader and she really wanted to be a leader. So we worked on leadership skills and what that's like to develop a team.

who's not new to each other, but that she's new to. And they loved her. They loved her. And she said that she had some great private conversations with them as well after the team meeting. And that felt really good because she came to me panicking about this. So it was really nice to see her confident as workout verbiage and fake scenarios. That was a lot of fun.

That's really neat. So how is coaching one -on -one different compared to coaching in a group setting?

Well, it really depends on the group. people are very vulnerable in my one -on -ones. They'll tell me exactly what their income is, exactly how much debt. They'll tell me if their partner cheated on them or if their child's in rehab, like very vulnerable. And in the group, it really depends on who the people are. So some of them are just as open. They would say anything that they would say one -on -one with me. They're just open.

and others are very closed off. But what I have found is those are the people that listen the most. So that when I do talk to them when I want, they're like, yeah, I noticed that Nancy said blah, blah, blah. And when Nancy said that, really, you know, that really hit home on me. That made me think of da, da, So, but this is a person who doesn't say anything in the group. So I don't know. I don't know what she's thinking until after. And I'm like, wow, that she's like that, that group session was game changing. And I'm sitting there like,

I had no idea because you didn't raise your hand and you didn't participate in the activity and you didn't work with the group, but if this is how it works for you, fantastic.

I love that. I've worked a lot with groups too. What I find sometimes the most challenging is when you're working with introverts and extroverts in the same group. Because introverts tend to want to think about things more and not just dive in where extroverts love brainstorming. I'm an introvert. I hate brainstorming sessions. I would rather have information ahead of time where I can come with a thoughtful response versus just as I would say,

Mmm.

intellectually vomiting ideas out. So how do you deal with those kind of dynamics in a group?

It's so funny because I'm an extrovert and I'm like, let's talk brainstorming. Everyone get in a circle. Yeah. So I understand. I think it's hilarious that you're the opposite. I think it's the idea of building rapport and having everyone feel comfortable. So I make a point to do the extra jokes or find out what is their common thread. So if everyone there is a mom or everyone's a dad or has kiddos, great.

everyone there had a degree has a degree. Okay, I'm going to anchor on that a little bit. And just try to find that common thread. And also the idea of let's make this a, of course, a safe space, right? We all have to say that, but this is a no judgment zone. And also a no pressure zone. You don't want to talk, don't talk. That's okay. Like that's okay. Whatever serves you is what I'm here for. And

Also, I try to encourage them to find an accountability partner in the room. that, but I also say you don't have to, but this will make this journey easier. And I can't think of one person who didn't have an accountability partner because the rest of the room's doing it. And not that you have to follow everyone in the room, but you are paying for self -development. If the coach is saying it's best to have an accountability partner, then you probably want to listen to them.

Makes a good point. What have you found are some of the greatest challenges you face at starting a coaching business? I'm assuming it's not easy. So what were some of the things you had to overcome to do this?

Let me take a sip of coffee before this one.

Definitely social media by far. It was not the education. It was not feeling comfortable in front of people. It wasn't the public speaking. It was social media. Just and the pressure of certain business coaches. they would, so, and I mean, you're a man in business, so you know, of course the main mission is

God and spirituality, also like you have to have a business sense because this is what you do. It was, okay, and then you gotta get a Twitter and then an Instagram. TikTok's new. Okay, TikTok. Okay, Snapchat. People sell on Snapchat. okay, you have a great website. get an email list. you gotta have landing page. And it's just too much. It's just too much. And...

Recently actually I really discovered that I am going to take a step back from social media. It just doesn't align with me. It doesn't align with... It doesn't align with me. So I would say that was the most difficult thing though, the pressure of you have to go online, you have to post, you need likes, you need comments. That was the hardest part.

And each of those platforms are so different. Instagram is different than YouTube, than TikTok, then so the LinkedIn, and you gotta have different strategies for every other platform. And I built my own website and I was like, it was just trash. And I'm a computer science major. like, this is, I can't even navigate this thing. So I actually had to hire someone who actually knows what they're doing. So it looked clean and sleek and you could manage around it.

hahaha

This is tragic.

awful when I did it and You know you go to Wix is like here Here's some tutorials on how to build your website and you look at it. You're like, this is hot garbage

wicks too. I ended up hiring someone. I gave a guy 700 bucks and I was like, can you just make it not look so cringe? That was my directions. And he was like, well, can you tell me anything else? I was like, well, not amateur hour. I don't know how else to describe this. And he was like, any branding colors? And I was like, I don't know. Like everything was. Yeah.

my person actually gave me some, she says, you know, find websites that you like and you give me as a starting point, which is nice because it's like, I like the way this looks. And so they designed it based on things I liked in a website. So, but it was like, was, it was just hot garbage.

Can you edit yours now though? Like now that it was already set up and okay, yeah.

Yes.

Yeah, because I actually changed the podcast platform. And so I had to go from Buzzsprout to the new one. So I was able to go in and actually add the new uplink. So I can manage it now, but just creating it was just a mess.

Woo. Yeah. And actually that's a, for any business owners out there, that's probably one of the number one tips I would give is how can you delegate and just stay in your zone of genius? It is hard though, when finances are the main factor, but I was like you, I eventually, I was just like, this is garbage and I want to present professionally and I can't have a garbage website. When it's like,

You

2020 or whatever it was at the time. Yeah.

Right, so everything flows off the website for me. You can do the whole media thing and when I use social media posts, I can send out blasts from the website. But before that, it was like, I'm not sure I want you to go find the website.

Nice.

Right? I've been there. I've been there.

So I'm curious as you've gotten to the point where you are now, so what's next for you? What's on the horizon? What are you working on in the future?

Mm

I think that I'm... It's so funny because I was doing this this week. I think what I'm going to be doing is building a course for people leaving their toxic jobs.

It's been coming up a lot lately. I really want to help people identify their values and find a fulfilling job.

And you're put that on your website that you've redesigned, right?

Be ready! And it's so funny because this week I was thinking to myself, what I have to update on my website. It's so funny because I was like, all right, if you're not gonna do social media, you gotta do your blog. All right, you gotta up the web, up the website game. Okay. This is perfect timing.

See, that's what we're all here for, is to help you figure that out.

So funny.

So I'm curious, as you think about advice you'd have for someone who's looking to get into this field of coaching, what advice would you have for someone who's trying to start out? Because they hear this, they go, I like what she does, I want to pour into people's life. What are some tips and tricks you would give to someone who wants to do this?

Get a mentor. Get a mentor. I wish I did that first thing. I had people in my life actively telling me I was out of my mind for investing in psychology and then coaching. Actively telling me this is a bad idea and you're wasting money. So surround yourself with people who are encouraging you and then someone who is at the minimum five steps ahead of you, at the absolute minimum.

And with that being said, this does not have to mean it's paid support, although that does really help. This could be mentors online, such as what I was saying, Bob Croctor. I wish I knew about him in the beginning of my career. So watching those YouTube videos, buying those books. And so that's the first thing. Get help, whether it's paid or not. Or the idea, it takes a village.

It takes a village to get us together. And another thing, as I mentioned earlier, get a reputable certification. Just it will make all the difference. I know a ton of coaches that weren't getting jobs simply because they didn't have the education to back it up. And these, these healthcare companies today, especially it's too risky to take someone who has it, who doesn't have the proper education. So, another thing would be.

Delegating things outside of your zone of genius. And another reason for that is because I feel people hesitate or don't take the next steps because of something like fear of a website. So, another thing, this will be the last one for this one, is take messy action. So it's, okay, I don't know what to do with a website. Just get a domain. It's okay, it's okay if it's ugly at first. It's fine, just do it. Or,

I don't know what to call my business. Just mind Annie Del Rey LLC. Don't worry about those little things right now. I was building a course and I started getting held up on brand colors. And eventually I was like, what are you? 20 minutes of your life just passed with brand colors, Annie. You gotta get past this. And then, yeah, so best the action. are some of the tips.

I just go with purple, that always works.

That's a good one. That's a royal collar.

So I'm curious as you think about your life, what do you want your legacy to be?

Mm, truly all I care about is that my sisters are proud of me. That's what I want. That's if at the end of my time here, if my sisters could say that was a role model and I'm proud of her, then I did my mission on earth.

I love that. So as you wrap this great conversation up, anything I haven't asked you that I should have asked you.

Mmm, good question.

as one coach to another.

That's what I could write. you got me there. I don't know, I'm feeling great. I'm feeling great. love, I think you're great. So I appreciate you asking all these questions and allowing me to just share my story with others.

you're welcome. So as we do close this out, what are some key takeaways and maybe even call to action you would share with the audience as they may be thinking about those next steps in their life? What is the something you'd recommend they do?

Go find an accountability partner. Go find someone you trust. and again, this is another one, whether it's paid or free, because I do think paying someone is really helpful because then it's more professional. But I remember what it's like to have absolutely no money. And it was really infuriating for people to tell me I could only do things if I had money. And that's not fair. So.

Find an accountability partner, find people who have a similar dream as you, or at least will support your dream. You have to get away from the haters, because that's what's going to stop you from getting that domain name. You're going to be too embarrassed to put your Facebook title as you are a coach or a business owner, whatever it may be.

One thing I forgot to ask you, I want to go back and give people this resource. You mentioned certifications. There are so many companies out there that offer coaching certifications. Are there some you recommend for someone who wants to get certified?

Mm

So there's two organizations that essentially matter in the coaching world right now. One is called ICF, so International Coaching Federation. If you type in ICF coaching for people who are listening, it'll come up. And the other, this is a mouthful, this next one. is NBCHWC, Nationally Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. Okay, woo!

That one, those two. ICF is more like business coaching. That's more if you're like corporate. NBC, HWC is like mental and physical health, chronic illness, a little more woo woo. Go on one of their sites and see what they, I guess my recommendation is if it's not on one of those sites, if they don't associate with that, don't do that program.

That's how I would say it. So check their list and see what interests you, because there's so many.

Right, and you want something that people recognize as being actually a valid coaching program.

Some of these are $10 ,000 and they're not valid. Like you can't do anything with them after and no company will touch you because you didn't get...

I cert that you could then use for one of those companies. Yeah. And I'm like, you just spent 20 grand on like a two week program and now you can't do anything with it.

or could put it on your website that you designed yourself.

You can put on...

Right! That is so funny. Yep, yeah you can.

you

So Annie, thanks so much. Where can people find you if they want to have you as a coach? Where can they connect with you to do that?

right to my website because it's going to be pretty beautiful probably by the end of the week, which is just anniedelroy .com.

Well, thanks so much for what you do and for your spirit and the energy you bring to what you do. So blessings on the work that you're doing.

Thank you. And same to you. I mean, you're changing lives, so thank you.

Thanks.