🙏 Sponsor: Elementor
Elementor enables web creators to build professional, pixel-perfect websites with an intuitive visual builder. Quickly create amazing websites for your clients or your business with complete control over every piece, without writing a single line of code. Join a vast community of web creators from all around the world who deliver exceptional websites using Elementor.
Mentioned in the show:
You can follow Post Status and our guests on Twitter:
- Kelly Gallagher (Executive Coach, Gallagher Executive Coaching Partnerships)
- Cory Miller (CEO, Post Status)
- Olivia Bisset (Intern, Post Status)
The Post Status Draft podcast is geared toward WordPress professionals, with interviews, news, and deep analysis.
Browse our archives, and don’t forget to subscribe via iTunes, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, Simplecast, or RSS.
Transcript
Cory Miller (00:00:00) – Hey everybody. Welcome back to Post Status Draft. I’ve got a special guest today and I’m excited because I’ve worked with this awesome person professional for I think it’s been five years now. Four years? No, probably four and a half years now, Kelly. And. So back when I had just sold items, I was working the, you know, my job at trying to transition team, get some things done in the year after we had sold and I was starting to percolate. Okay, I’ve got this huge career change coming up, this huge business, whatever change in my professional life. And I sought out a coach and found Kelly Gallagher. So she’s my professional coach for four and a half years. We’re going to have a great conversation talking about coaching times when it’s so helpful to have a coach. And I’ll share personal experiences, too, but you’re in for a treat today. So Kelly, thanks so much for being on the podcast.
Kelly Gallagher (00:01:02) – Thank you for having me. I’ve been watching some of your podcasts, and I’m just honored to be the subject of one of them.
Kelly Gallagher (00:01:07) – So thank you.
Cory Miller (00:01:09) – I often refer to Kelly as my secret weapon because a lot of the big things that have happened in the last five years, for sure in my life I’ve rehearsed, practiced, talked through all of these with Kelly. So, Kelly, tell us a little bit about your background.
Kelly Gallagher (00:01:25) – Um, Cory, I came from a business development specialty within corporate America, specifically pharmaceuticals and the medical industry, and also diagnostics and lab testing. So I was a road warrior. I was out closing deals and my responsibilities escalated and escalated to the point where. Um, the last ten years, I was with a diagnostic lab, and I was also training other salespeople. I was interviewing them, hiring them and then coaching them. But I didn’t know I was coaching because I wasn’t sure even what coaching was. I wanted to take over the training department. So I was told, Well, you have no experience, even though I was already doing it. So I challenged and said I would like to go back and get my masters.
Kelly Gallagher (00:02:16) – And I entered the coaching program, which is a just gold standard industry. I don’t know. It turned out to be one of the best. And so I entered that. And then while I was doing it, I thought, why not just get a master’s in business administration? Because I already know these things. So I went to school for five years and it was the best five years of my life. Um, I learned that I love to learn, and I think that may be what separates good coaches from great coaches. Is that. Constant wanting to move the bar up, that constant going to class mentality to be at another level. And that’s what’s really defined my career. There’s not really a time of the year when I’m not in continuing education and it’s my passion. I just want to be a master of my craft. So that was my journey. The interesting sidebar is I was told you can do all this, but if your sales performance drops, we’re done. We’re not paying. I said, okay.
Kelly Gallagher (00:03:29) – But the more I studied coaching and communications, the higher myself through. And there’s actually a correlation between the two. It doesn’t seem like there would be, but I learned how to really listen. I was a good listener to begin with, but I became just a great listener and observer of behavior. And I also learned how to challenge people. So if a buyer told me, yes, yes, I’m definitely going to get the contract signed. And I sensed a hesitancy, I would call them out and go, you know, you’re sending one thing, but I’m hearing something else. It sounds like you’re still uneasy. And a lot of times by doing that, I could tease out that they weren’t going to buy it and we can have further discussion. So the coaching actually when I finished up. My sales career. It was as far as I could take it, but I owe it all to the coaching training.
Cory Miller (00:04:32) – That’s awesome. Now, I know you have ICF credentials and all that and you can share a little bit about what ICF is, but so I know you are very involved there.
Cory Miller (00:04:45) – Have done there’s so many regular like you said, I do a lot of work with mental health practitioners and there’s such a very, I would say regulated, but no like very intense and purposeful way to do therapy. A lot of guidelines, a lot of regulations, a lot of licensure things, ethical consideration, continuing. Ed But coaching has so much of that too. And that’s where ICF comes into yes.
Kelly Gallagher (00:05:12) – And unfortunately, there’s not a specific license. I wish there was, but because there isn’t, the consumer has to really be discerning. And one way to start is that ICF because it’s the gold standard and for coach is not doing continuing education and involved with ICF. I don’t know. Chances are there will be less rigor to what they’re going to be able to do. It’s not that they wouldn’t be good coaches.
Cory Miller (00:05:40) – Yeah, I think the ICF stuff is strong. Sometimes I feel like it’s a little bit too limiting, but I go, Gosh, it’s so good because it’s trying to really professionalize the coaching industry where anybody can just say, Oh, I’m my coach, I’m a life coach, whatever it is.
Kelly Gallagher (00:05:57) – People just hang out a shingle and say, Boom, magic, I’m a coach. I two think it can be limiting, but I offer a bit of a hybrid because I have so much business experience. I’ll often tell my clients, Hey, I’m going to shift out of coaching if you want. Is it okay if I put on my business act and they almost never had anyone say no in interviews? And so then I’m able to interject a little, you know what this happened to blah, blah, blah. And I think that’s what differentiates me from other coaches. But the ICF standards are just critical. And the other thing about the ICF is you have to have 250 hours of continuing education to keep getting the licensure. That’s not a license to keep, you know, being indoors. And so that really raises the bar and enables the coach to really grow because you’re constantly taking a course. Yeah.
Cory Miller (00:07:02) – So super, super strong. By the way, if you’re listening, you want to look if the coach has ICF certifications and all that, that’s really important, rigorous, rigorous work that they do to keep that up means to me it goes through taking it very seriously their profession.
Cory Miller (00:07:19) – So Kelly, what is a coach? We’re going to spend some time talking about the times in which coach has been so, so valuable to your clients, to me, and we’re going to share experiences around that. But first, I kind of want to get a baseline of like, what is a coach?
Kelly Gallagher (00:07:38) – Great question. Mean a coach. I had this conversation this morning at the pool at 5 a.m. Someone said, Oh, you’re going to coach. They just want content. I said, No, that’s not really what coaching is. I’m not really delivering content. I think a coach is someone that walks on a journey with a professional who wants to raise the bar. Um, it can be a life coach too. So then you’re walking the journey with an individual who has an area of life where they want to improve or progress. And that’s still the same formula for going through the coaching process, whether it be an executive or whether it be. Someone who wants to increase communication with their husband or wife.
Cory Miller (00:08:25) – So, yeah. And part of how we were working together when we first started working together was I was going to the same school you went to, which is fantastic. University of Texas and Dallas and their coaching program is incredible. And being mentored by you. And because I was getting asked when when I left our teams and I was trying to do my own thing, I thought, okay, it’s going to be coaching People go, What is it, Coach? What do you do? And I was like, Oh gosh, I’m struggling with these. But it’s so much that it’s that walking alongside a person on a journey and I like what you added to it, is like they want to raise the bar, they want to do something more. And, you know, I have so much reflected about my business entrepreneurial career for the last 15 years ago. If I had a coach from the beginning, it would have been so much better in many ways. Not just success, success for sure, but also health clarity.
Kelly Gallagher (00:09:23) – It’s funny you say that, Cory, because even 20 years ago when I was in pharmaceuticals and I was doing very well, had I had a coach, I would have been a rock star because there were rough edges that I couldn’t see. You can’t see them in yourselves the way someone else can who’s actively listening to you.
Cory Miller (00:09:43) – Yeah. Well, and you know, the parallel we always give is sports. You know the best. Greatest of all time. Athletes have coaches and have people around them. Like you just assume they wake up and they’re just as good naturally. No, they work on their craft. And I think about that so much. Like, I know you work with a lot of high achievers and oftentimes so many of the entrepreneurs I’ve worked with very high achievers too. I’ve had the pleasure of having people on my team big time, high achievers. And you just go, like, if you really want to do well in what you’re doing, you need to have somebody that’s on your side.
Cory Miller (00:10:23) – Nobody does it alone. I think that’s the fast that we perpetuate in our culture and especially in business, like with entrepreneurs, is like, Oh, I’m the rockstar. I do this by myself, that you got these icons out there. You know, Steve Jobs is the one you hear over and over and over 100,000 times. You go, He didn’t do it alone. No, there’s no way you can do it alone. And having someone in your corner that’s helping you perform at the highest level is so critical.
Kelly Gallagher (00:10:54) – Yes, I agree. And, you know, oftentimes people will also say, well, isn’t it like therapy? I would call it therapy. Ten x. Because therapy’s great and I think everyone should go through that process at some time in their life. I really believe in it. But at some point it’s limited because it’s just keeps moving into the past and feelings and often sad feelings. Whereas coaches moving the person forward so high achievers get bored in therapy after a while, after a while, and they might go back and forth to therapy.
Kelly Gallagher (00:11:34) – But generally they find that coaching helps them because it’s goal oriented.
Cory Miller (00:11:39) – Yeah, well, and I know there’s a big distinction between therapy and coaching and really, you know, really try to their distinct things. And oftentimes probably you have taught this mentioned like therapy is looking back, coaching is looking forward. Is that how you kind of see that?
Kelly Gallagher (00:11:56) – Yes. And you know, as a coach and a credentialed coach, I’m ethically bound if I feel like someone continually goes into therapy. Waters and themes, um, I’m bound to refer them on to therapists till they are more stabilized. And then oftentimes a lot of my clients are in therapy and coaching together. They really work well hand in hand.
Cory Miller (00:12:22) – Yes. In fact, for the bulk of the time right now, I am not currently seeing a counselor, however, for the last see two months, but for the bulk of the time we’ve worked together have had a counselor and a coach. So I think their yin yang, their.
Kelly Gallagher (00:12:41) – Right. And the people that come to me and have had some therapy, even if it was limited, they have just a little bit more self awareness.
Kelly Gallagher (00:12:49) – So coaching progresses faster.
Cory Miller (00:12:52) – Yeah. If you’re doing your work to.
Kelly Gallagher (00:12:55) – Because other otherwise get clients. Sometimes we’ll say, Well, what does it matter how I’m feeling about this? Well, it matters a lot because, you know, your heart is just as involved in these decisions and actions and creative things you’re asking yourself to do as the frontal lobe of your brain. So they are connected.
Cory Miller (00:13:14) – Yeah. Okay. So we talked about what coaching is a little bit we talked about the distinctions, therapy versus coaching and how they’re additive and can exist together. And in fact, or even better sometimes, oftentimes, especially in my experience, I would say. Well, I’m curious, Kelly So I know my own personal experience is related to our coaching professional relationship. But I’m curious, what are the times you you see people getting into the meat of this kind of conversation between us is like, what are those times when people go, okay, they’re thrust out to go actively look for a coach and end up, you know, in a in a room or a meeting with you.
Kelly Gallagher (00:13:55) – I would say that generally there’s some type of struggle. It can be a conflict at work. That’s a huge one because that dips into, well, do I want a career change? And sometimes people come and they don’t know what they want. They’re just not happy. Um, people who want to progress with that and find meaning and integrate what they’re learning about themselves will come to coaching because that process. It really it’s like turbocharging the job search and turbocharging people to take interviews and move on and move up without really any kind of formal instruction to just that self-awareness that it builds. So that’s one of the big ones. Um.
Cory Miller (00:14:44) – Let’s talk about struggle for a second. So struggle back to that. So is that so you mentioned a couple of factors there. I want to hit both sides. One is maybe I need to make a change, like move out of what I’m doing. But there’s another one, which is maybe I want to get promoted or have been promoted or, you know, within an organization to and I’m curious your experiences around around that too.
Cory Miller (00:15:10) – So I like that it starts with like there’s some kind of struggle and they’re seeking outside perspective and help support with that. But it starts with some things they’re trying to change and wrestling against. Sounds like.
Kelly Gallagher (00:15:24) – Right? And many times, you know, when you’re in a new position or you’re in a position where you are striving to do something else within that company, you will conform to their expectations and almost wear a mask. The to the degree that you lose something in the translation because then you’re not really connecting with your creative side or your problem solving side or your heart. And so a lot of work can be done to find that balance for people. The other thing that touches on is fear of failure. Your fear of failure is. It’s just a sweet spot because so many. Points of wanting to change. If we whittle down and we go with the client, what’s beneath that? What’s beneath that or what’s beneath that? And we get down to the core or the middle of the onion. It’s fear of failure.
Kelly Gallagher (00:16:19) – And that’s that’s just a part of being human. No one wants to humiliate themselves or fall down. But I think, too, in our society, think about schools nowadays. Everyone’s given a trophy. Soccer, Everyone’s campaigning, trophy swimming. Everyone makes the team. No one’s not on the team. Great. So children are raised to not really fail or understand that they founded something and think in a way, I like the philosophy, but in a way I think I see a lot of young adults who come out into the world and they are terrified of not getting a trophy of not. And the reality is, in real life, you don’t get that many trophies.
Cory Miller (00:17:06) – Yep. Well, we that was that fear of failure thing. We, we talked our last coaching session about that specifically and totally like, you know, when you’ve especially if you’ve been accustomed to winning, doing succeeding and then you hit some failures and or trying to do anything big and new, take that next job, start that new endeavor, whatever that is, and that, you know, oh, this is not a guaranteed success.
Cory Miller (00:17:35) – So that that definitely resonates.
Kelly Gallagher (00:17:37) – Right? And if I fail, that also relates to a further theme of then the fear of being actually seen for who you are. Um, yeah, it’s a heavy topic and it can take a while to work through, but it’s, I think most of my clients will say that’s valuable work. And it’s not that they become fearless, but I think they’re able to notice the emotion name and then kind of negotiated.
Cory Miller (00:18:08) – Yeah, you mentioned the word emotions. And I think when I first started working with you, I didn’t I didn’t go to that realm. I was, you know, okay, more intellectual thinking process and stuff. And you’re extremely helpful with that. And probably because of some of the, you know, understandings between therapy and coaching or misunderstanding to say, I didn’t really get into that. But I think our best work has come with the emotions. Like my my definitely I’ve benefited every time we’ve talked. I’ve been better for it. However, I think the most profound times is when we get into, okay, I’m doing this thing.
Cory Miller (00:18:48) – It’s an event, like you said, a struggle or something new or a change or something I’m preparing for. But then okay, the emotion around that and understanding that and leveraging, you know, really deep dive into that where I’m trying to improve. I can’t remember how many times you’ve said to me, okay, well they are not in this call. What is the what about you? And I was like, Oh man, doing that hard work, which is made I know it’s made me better as a professional and a leader for sure, because oftentimes you kind of redirect back to me and go, okay, well, they’re not here. Let’s talk about what this means to you, for you. And I’m always like, Well, let me take a deep breath on that one.
Kelly Gallagher (00:19:31) – That’s a hard one. I learned that actually didn’t learn that at Utd or anywhere. I learned that as a young rep out in the field and I complain about these idiot customers. Right? And the manager told me once, he said, Turn your rearview mirror to your face.
Kelly Gallagher (00:19:48) – And I didn’t. He goes, Now look at that. That’s the person that would have to change. The client’s not going to change. And it was the most profound thing. It kind of hurt my feelings, but it was so true.
Cory Miller (00:20:01) – Well, I’ve talked through everything with you from partner team issues, all that. And it’s been so helpful because I think oftentimes kind of thinking, okay, yeah, they’ve got to change. There’s something with them. And the real work, profound and deep, that continues to get deeper is what does that mean for me about me? What do do I need to change something and what is that? And those are the times really in reflective work that I go, okay. And more and more I think I’m getting it. Or I go, okay, So something I’m not aware about myself potentially pointing outwards and then going, I kind of need to turn the rearview mirror back to myself.
Kelly Gallagher (00:20:46) – Back to your face? Yes.
Cory Miller (00:20:48) – It’s not the easiest thing to do, but I’m glad you do it.
Kelly Gallagher (00:20:50) – It’s not the easiest thing to do. And in periods of conflict or intense conversations with bosses or calling people, you’re supervising, it’s extremely hard to stop yourself and say, wait a minute, who am I? And yeah, it’s it’s really, really hard. But I think as people progress in coaching, they become almost a coach within themselves.
Cory Miller (00:21:16) – Yes. Yes. I can hear you quite a bit doing that.
Kelly Gallagher (00:21:21) – Yeah. Oh yeah. So that would be my goal is that when I’m not there because I’m not there all the time and I don’t know of it, even though I know so much, I don’t know all of it. But my goal would be when that person’s gone for a week or they’re in a high stress situation, they’re able to somewhat coach themselves through it.
Cory Miller (00:21:44) – Absolutely. Well, okay. So we talked about like the struggle conflict. Something’s going on there. Want to do reach something new? Maybe they’re evaluating a big change. I mean, that resonates with me. I was that’s how we kicked off our thing.
Cory Miller (00:21:59) – It was like I was changing my profession career very substantially, knew I was going to be leaving the company I started. And, you know, okay, here’s a totally new avenue and having somebody to talk that through the fear of failure, the emotions of being an achiever, especially a high achiever, trying to do something in the world like an entrepreneur, what are some other things that you you see often in your coaching?
Kelly Gallagher (00:22:27) – Well, I would say the other thing, the theme is some type of organizational change, because your organization, of course, they’re always changing. And there are new standards that people don’t. We talked about that before we went on tape that sometimes people don’t like change. So being able to go in and help a person challenge their assumptions about the change really recognize within themselves the any negative thinking loops or or extra baggage they’re bringing in the situation and then thrive throughout the change would be a big thing. Um, and as they go along to they learn about themselves and then to integrate that learning.
Kelly Gallagher (00:23:12) – Back into the organization. That’s changing because change is constant. Yep. I don’t think I’ve ever been in an organization in 30 years that wasn’t doing some type of change. It’s almost never stay.
Cory Miller (00:23:31) – It’s yeah, absolutely. Well, there’s two things I think about when we’ve worked together and what I know of coaching too. It’s it’s the word change that you said. Some change. Big change oftentimes big change. The other side of the coin for me is performance.
Kelly Gallagher (00:23:47) – So yeah.
Cory Miller (00:23:49) – Continual performance. So like and I think about those listening in why you won’t get you want to get coaching for yourself and your team is that performance factor like it’s an investment back into yourself or your team if you’re providing coaching. I think some great organizations, particularly in WordPress I’ve heard of because I’ve referred people to you that happen to be in WordPress. I go, Oh, I love the forward thinking of that. You’re going, it’s an investment in their people, but the performance side. So we’ve talked a lot of some about this change side.
Cory Miller (00:24:24) – There’s something going on and how we wrestle and adapt to that change where we talk about motions and different things and then but the other side to me is like, I can’t remember how many times I call it performance, but what I think it is, is like preparation. I mean, some of the biggest deals I’ve done in five years have been rehearsed, practiced, polished, perhaps even with you. And gosh, I didn’t have that my previous ten years. And I thought, wow, I went into so many situations. I thought I had done my preparation. But doing it with you with a coach was made things so much better, I think, through that process. Kelly It also eliminated like things I wasn’t aware of, things I hadn’t thought about, and just an approach to get some, like, clarity.
Kelly Gallagher (00:25:12) – Flirty, some big one. And I think that goes into the third bucket of communication skills. Just people sometimes come to me and in her struggle or there’s conflict or they’re going into a big sales promotion and they’re not quite sure how to go about it.
Kelly Gallagher (00:25:29) – So that would all fall into the bucket of communication skills. And that that’s a big one. I don’t think oftentimes people think they’re coming across one way, but it’s quite different if you’re observing them. The other thing is. They, you know, like you said, you’ll rehearse. And rehearse. But when you get in that situation sometimes. Hopefully you’re primed with enough rehearsal to lean back. If you forget what you’re going to say, you can lean back into the gist of it. So I think for performance, though, it comes down to communication skills and confidence, because in selling some time it’s not what you said anyway, it’s how you said it. And you can walk in if you say it with conviction and you have that internal clarity, as you mentioned, and conviction. The little wordsmithing and nuances of it aren’t going to matter. They’re going to matter. But the big the capital A to achievement or performance is how you set it.
Cory Miller (00:26:36) – Well, I didn’t say this in the beginning, but we we now meet twice a week and we’ve I think we’ve met twice a week for the last year or two.
Cory Miller (00:26:44) – And that was out of, oh, I need these times. We’re kind of booking them at the front of the week and the end of the week. But oftentimes I realize so many times it’s just seeking clarity for myself and those of us who are leaders out there trying to give a clear vision to somebody else, I’ll just say it. Maybe other leaders just wake up with clairvoyant vision. I don’t. I need rehearsal. I need work. I need to bounce it off people. I need a coach to help me kind of ask questions, think, think it through. And every single time I’m better. I remember some of the biggest ones that I’ve, like, talked to you. And it’s not even one session, maybe 2 or 3. They end up talking about it. But I go, Gosh, if I hadn’t had that, I would have made so many mistakes going into that big decision or time of presentation, whatever that was. And I’m so better for like I just need to practice and realize I couldn’t just do that.
Cory Miller (00:27:40) – I needed someone else to help me. And that’s where you’ve come in and done that. And so clarity for me is like when you say, what? When people would ask me, What’s the biggest takeaway for coaching? I go clarity and what is clarity? Build what you said confidence. And those two alone have made me a better leader. That’s why I can say, let’s just go back to the start of my career. If I’d had a coach, it started my career. Everything would have been better because I’ve been more clear, more confident.
Kelly Gallagher (00:28:03) – Being a millionaire ten times over just had a coach because I did so many stupid things along with the good things. That you don’t know, but you do learn from failure. You do learn. Oh, and so, you know, maybe not, but I sure would have liked to have a coach. It is a perk for high performers. If if if you if it’s a if there’s an employer listening in and they’re thinking of who does that need coaching? Yes, it can be remedial, but sometimes then it’s not the employees idea.
Kelly Gallagher (00:28:34) – The high performance will progress the fastest because it generally will be their idea. They want that perk and they want to grow a career.
Cory Miller (00:28:44) – This is my personal opinion, not Kelly. So I want to be clear about that. But I’ve been around organizations that use coaching as remedial, and I go, Then what happens is coaching gets stigmatized within that organization of if you’re not performing and you’re doing a crappy job, you’re going to get sent. And it has a negative tint to coaching, which is not what it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be progressing positive, helping improving, navigating situations. And this one organization in particular, it’s like that’s how they use coaching. I go, Oh man, Like, then they then all these high performers have this worry about it and don’t want to potentially go into coaching and miss this incredible benefit to what coaching is.
Kelly Gallagher (00:29:31) – That’s so true. There’s someone at my door. Can I. Can we pause?
Cory Miller (00:29:36) – Yeah.
Kelly Gallagher (00:29:45) – Yeah, we’re talking about, like, high performers and performance coaching. And I do want to make the point that that’s kind of what I think is my differentiator is that I have all that coaching training, but also I’ve been in the business world for 30 years selling. So if someone asked me about that, it’s easy for me to switch out. Yeah, most coaches have like a background, so they’ve never really had to go out into the world and perform, right?
Cory Miller (00:30:17) – Yeah. You bring both sides to that coin I think is incredibly helpful. Like I’ve talked so much with you about cells because it’s a weak area. I feel like it’s a weak area for me, but something I’ve had to do but forced to do and now trying to begrudgingly trying to do it. But I know you’ve got such an extensive sales background, business development background that totally leveraged that. In fact I think that’s how our two times a week started was a sales academy where it wasn’t necessarily coaching, it was more like sales coaching.
Kelly Gallagher (00:30:47) – Right. And it’s very hard for someone to coach you if they haven’t walked down the street, guide you down the path. If I’ve never been on it, I can coach and I can move you in many ways, but can’t exactly help you to perform because I don’t know how to perform. So I think that is the differentiator in my coaching style as I’ve been there. I’ve been in sales meetings where I got humiliated. I’ve had clients slam doors in my face. You know, I’ve executed $1 million contract. So. I just think it helps me to bring more to the party.
Cory Miller (00:31:25) – Yeah. And you understand the complete picture. That’s why, you know, our community is a lot of founders and a lot of high achiever leaders. You know, I’m curious your thoughts about entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs and coaching. You know, I don’t know your risk, your client base, but I am one. I know I’ve benefited from incredibly navigating change, big decisions and the performance side. But what do you say to entrepreneurs about coaching?
Kelly Gallagher (00:31:58) – I’d say it’s essential because of everything we’ve talked about in the end.
Kelly Gallagher (00:32:04) – As an entrepreneur, you’re alone, right? That’s what it is. That’s the gig. You might have a few people on your team, but generally you’re alone. It’s very hard to win deals in isolation. So I would say having a business coach is key to moving forward. Not only in all the things we mentioned, the clarity, the communication, the conflict, the struggle, but then sometimes you just have to go execute. And so for me, it’s very helpful because I’ve been in that sales situation so many times and understand features, benefits. I understand how to extrapolate from a client what’s going to really matter and what’s not. And I can help people with their slide deck or, you know, whatever it is they want to. So I will generally I can come in in that regard like we do and be a consultant on Friday, but a coach on Mondays. And then and most of my clients who are entrepreneurs use me in that way. Like they will sometimes just bring us like back or we’ll practice a presentation or they’ll practice what they’re going to say to their team before they say it.
Cory Miller (00:33:18) – Yep.
Kelly Gallagher (00:33:18) – Get some clarity around it to understand. How they’re feeling in that moment of saying these wonderful things they think are are going to move the team. And sometimes they come out of the meeting and they’re going to say something completely different. Once we do the coaching, it’s not that I ever told them to say anything different, but we, you know, polished it. Let’s say, you know, they come out with this big chunk of coal and they leave and they’ve got a little diamond and it’s polished. And like you said earlier, they feel confident.
Cory Miller (00:33:50) – Maybe there’s some entrepreneurs that that come fully birthed into the whole process, but most of us have to learn it and grow through it. What I’m hearing, though, you know, big decisions, big challenges, big changes, and then the performance side preparation, Polish getting ready for those big things, too. And then the simply put, just trying to make the most of the opportunity. That’s what I think about. Like so many high achievers that go with an entrepreneur’s, like we have an opportunity.
Cory Miller (00:34:24) – We often like my my story is I stumbled into it, stumbled into it and go, wow, I have this amazing opportunity. So much with business. You go like, it’s right timing, it’s right place, right people, right, partners, all the things that have to go together for something to go really well. And then you go, I want to make the most of that. And that’s my reflection, is that I had an opportunity. I wanted to seize that opportunity to make the most of it. Now, seeing, Oh, wow. Now I did have a coach during about half of my business time, invaluable to help us with the organization. But I go like having someone that this is why we keep working together as I go. I just need it. It’s just a part of making the most of who I am and my opportunities that come my way to to do even more. And it’s not necessarily just about money, but it’s about making the most of the opportunity.
Kelly Gallagher (00:35:18) – Right.
Kelly Gallagher (00:35:19) – And Joy, while you’re doing you we haven’t even touched about that. But there’s that personal happiness factor and a lot of my clients either are working out or I have them. I try to persuade them to start a fitness program while they’re with me. But that joy, that love of what you’re doing, you know, if it’s not there, it’s very hard to perform on your.
Cory Miller (00:35:43) – Yeah. And you’ve been such a good coach and you walk that talk. Kelly was telling me before we started the recording that she just ran a mile and swam, and I was like, Gosh, you overachiever. But it’s such a good inspiration for me for sure, because that other aspect of just life and business and everything is just being physically healthy. And you are a great encourager and you walk your talk.
Kelly Gallagher (00:36:07) – I try. I try. I try. I mean, no one’s perfect. But yeah, I definitely try. And I also find because I work out a lot and I’m more effective for people because, you know, it brings all that blood flow to the brain.
Kelly Gallagher (00:36:20) – So I shared with Cory that sometimes in between clients I’ll just run up the hill outside my house 4 or 5 times just to sharpen myself for the next person because I can feel it within myself. Then I come in their house and I’m all happy again and I’m feeling creative and supercharged and ready to go.
Cory Miller (00:36:41) – Oh yeah. You can tell what the energy you have for sure. Well, Kelly, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us about what you’re doing. Share a little bit of the experience. I mean, they resonate with me. Everything you’ve talked about are things that we’ve worked on in our coaching sessions, and I’ve been better for it as a person on Earth, as a human, on earth, as a business entrepreneur, leader, all those. But anything else that you want to share that we didn’t get to talk about?
Kelly Gallagher (00:37:09) – No, I mean, what you just said, that’s what I live for. That’s my passion is did I, you know, did I help someone? Did they feel better after we, you know, did we move the bar? And I just live for success stories.
Kelly Gallagher (00:37:23) – And I find it so much more rewarding than just pure sales. Although I would have argued back then that I was making people’s lives better because I had a terrific product or whatever, but somehow that what you just said, just seeing personal growth in other people, I just kind of live for that. So thank you.
Cory Miller (00:37:43) – Bet. Well, thanks, Keller, for being on. And thanks, everybody, for listening. We’ll share in the show notes how you can get a hold of Kelly if you’re interested in talking more with her. She’s fantastic. Coach, you can’t. I’ve referred you numerous times to people that now I believe are our regular clients with you. And we they’re defensive minded and we always talk like, yep, I just had my Kelly session, just had my Kelly Sessions, so.
Kelly Gallagher (00:38:08) – Well, thank you for doing that. Yes. I don’t really advertise. I haven’t ever. I only did maybe in the first year. But I think that’s the other thing. Good coaches just kind of get referrals and.
Kelly Gallagher (00:38:21) – That’s the way it should be.
Cory Miller (00:38:23) – You do. All right. Thanks, everybody, for listening to Post Status Draft. It’s been another episode kind of went out of our league but love to introduce people that have made an indelible difference in my life and to share their wisdom. So we’ll see everybody next time. Thank you.
