An interview with Nicola Huelin, experienced coach and mentor, TEDx inspirational speaker, published author and media expert who is on a mission to empower 1 million people around the world! Founder of the Mpower Academy and Grow Your Coaching Business, Nicola is a seasoned marketing professional, and specialises in helping coaches turn their vision into reality. Author of The Invisible Revolution (listed in The Independent’s 10 best business books written by women), her forthcoming book Miracle Marketing® for Coaches – Unlock The Secret to Being Fully-Booked is soon to be published.
What follows is an inspirational and insightful conversation, as Nicola shares her journey into coaching, a few highlights from her upcoming book, and some of her marketing secrets for new and aspiring coaches! Sit back and enjoy as Nicola’s passion and wisdom shine through her words and feel as her infectious enthusiasm washes over you.
Can you tell us about your Mission?
“My mission is to empower 1 million people, as coaching has the power to change the world. I don’t say that glibly, as I’ve seen it first-hand. It starts with self, and you don’t start and finish a Transformative Coaching Programme like that at Animas as the same person. You go through your own really positive and powerful journey of changes. And then, once you become a qualified coach, you enter that really blessed position of working in partnership with other people to help them transform and change their lives, for the better.”
“Coaching is such a powerful experience and modality, which I’ve experienced day-in, day-out, coaching thousands of people over the last decade. It’s a growing industry, and a really exciting movement to be part of, because it empowers people in all different ways, whether that’s in the corporate arena, for entrepreneurs and all different sizes of independent businesses, in families, relationships, or health. There are all these different domains in which coaching is making its impact. And I think the more that coaching expands in the world, the better, because it really is a huge force for good.”
Where did your coaching journey begin?
“I can remember the exact moment that my coaching journey began in 2012, which oddly started in my kitchen, on my knees, sobbing over a saucepan that was stuck at the back of the kitchen cupboard, as I couldn’t get it out. I know that sounds really weird, but I’d been going through quite a significant period of adversity in my personal life. My 17-year marriage ended in 2010. I’d lived abroad most of my adult life, and when I came back to the UK, I remember ringing my parents’ doorbell with two broken suitcases and, more importantly, two broken children, and my life just felt shattered into a million pieces. It was a really challenging time in my life.”
“Fast forward a couple of years, I thought I was in a better place, but that saucepan was telling me otherwise. I felt a sense of stuckness, and that saucepan was trying to tell me, “You’re stuck; this isn’t working.” In that moment, it was really the straw that broke the camel’s back. I just remember saying out loud, “Just tell me what to do.” I knew things weren’t right. I knew things felt very hard. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, and there was a lot going on in my personal life, although I didn’t quite realise, until I’d done the coaching, just what was going on. I was doing work that, although financially fantastic, it really wasn’t fulfilling. It wasn’t that purpose-led, meaningful, soul-feeding work that we all get to do today as coaches.”
“It’s the power of coaching; it’s the power of the question. At that moment, when I asked the question, I didn’t have an answer straight away, but I heard whispers of an answer. I can’t remember the exact chain of events, but it led me to sitting in front of my computer, researching and coming across coaching. Something that was a bit alien to me back then, you know, 10 years ago. I remember it just hit me. I was like, “Ah, this is it. This is my answer. I need to explore this.” And that’s how I discovered coaching and really felt a call. I do believe that a very high proportion of coaches come to coaching with a feeling of, “This is what I’m meant to be doing.” It’s a calling; it feels more like a vocation than just a new job.”
How did training as a coach impact you?
“I started my training with Animas after a very long period of research, checking out all the different coaching training providers, and whittling it down to a shortlist. I sent an initial query to my shortlist and chose Animas, which felt like a no-brainer at the time, as I was so impressed with the personal touch. I signed up, and it took me around 9 months to complete the training.”
“A lot of the frameworks, tools, and work that we’re doing in our training, we’re actually putting into practice with our training partners and our observers. That whole process of training with these tools and techniques creates really deep insights that start to change you, open up your eyes, and shift your perspectives on things. It really connected me to what was truly important, and really mattered to me. As I changed, what I saw changed, and that altered how I showed up, what I was prepared to do, and what I wanted to experience in the world. I started to really discover who I am, what I wanted, and what I didn’t want.”
What were your key takeaways from the course?
“I remember the importance of values really, really hitting me very strongly. You know, our values really do drive us. They sit at the heart of what’s most important for us in life and drive our thinking, our attitudes, and our behaviour. So, getting really connected to my values and what’s important to me in my life was one of those real cornerstones of change, I’d say.”
“And the other bit that sits alongside that is when you do the deeper transformational work. It can only shift, as in dissolve, and remove the limiting, hindering kind of subconscious beliefs that we hold on to. That’s part of why coaching is so powerful: we’re often working with people at that subconscious level. There are changes they perhaps haven’t been able to make or negative emotional thinking patterns they haven’t been able to change or break, because it’s at that subconscious level. And I think that’s where having a thinking partner who is trained in these coaching modalities is so powerful, as it’s very hard to do by yourself.”
What advice would you give to coaches defining their niche?
“The first thing I want to say is there are definitely different schools of thought when it comes to niching or not to niche, and how necessary it is. “I don’t like to use the word ‘niche,’ I tend to talk in terms of the ideal client. ‘Niche’ kind of takes us into this realm of myth that we have to define a specific group of people we want, whereas it’s often a lot easier if we just allow ourselves to go, ‘In an ideal world, who are the type of clients that I would love to work with? Who would light me up when I open my diary?'”
“Once we get that clarity around who our ideal client is, it makes the messaging piece so much easier because marketing is about building relationships through having conversations in different formats—over social media, in person, through speaking engagements, and all sorts. It’s very hard to have a conversation with somebody and develop messaging that touches somebody’s heart and mind if we don’t know who we’re talking to.”
“And it’s worth remembering, as is the case with me and many of my clients, it will evolve. It’s not cast in stone, but it’s about choosing a starting point to build that initial traction, to become visible and raise awareness that we exist, to become known and build our own audience. Getting traction in a starting point that feels really, really good is important, and quite often it does evolve.”
What will we find in your new book?
“My new book is for coaches. It’s very much about helping these amazing, talented and gifted coaches who are set to do so much good in the world and help so many people. But it’s that marketing block—how do I find my clients? How do I get paying clients?—that just stops them. To me, that makes me feel so sad, and it just can’t happen. So, my second book is the bridge for this growing army of coaches to be able to nail that piece that I take for granted.”
“A coach’s marketing can be value-adding, transformative, and have a positive impact. It’s about positioning your unique value in the difference you can make in the world. It dovetails with the people who are out there already waiting for and needing the solutions that you bring to the world. That’s what this book two is about, and it’s called Miracle Marketing for Coaches. This book covers the number one secret piece of marketing success that’s often missing. It’s the bit that’s less talked about.”
How can we learn more about marketing?
“Well, this is a big part of what I do. I’m a business coach and mentor, and Grow Your Coaching Business was born out of the realisation that there are hundreds of other coaches out there who didn’t have the head start in marketing that I did, when I was starting out. This is where I can really help.”
“I’ve put together a FREE 90-minute video training. It’s called ‘How to Get a Consistent Flow of Paying Clients Without Ever Being Salesy, Pushy, or Inauthentic.’ It’s on demand; you can sign up, get instant access, and learn the three key industry secrets – the three most important starting points. I also aim to bust some myths that will really help you understand how to get that steady stream of inbound enquiries and then translate that interest into paying clients. Heads up, it does not involve offering free coaching sessions and hoping they will sign up afterwards. That approach can actually do more harm than good, and the training shares why and what to do instead.”
Any words of advice to prospective coaches?
“For those considering a career in coaching and exploring opportunities to train, coaching is an incredible thing to be part of. It’s a growing movement, and it’s so powerful and rewarding. When we’ve got the right ingredients in place, the possibilities for a coach in today’s world are limitless. So, I’d say, go for it! Coaching has the power to change the world, and the world needs you specifically, whoever you are reading this. Yes, it’s a growing market. There are lots of new coaches training all the time. But the thing I’d like to say is that there is room for everyone, and there’s so much potential.”
“The value of training with Animas is not just in the incredible ICF-accredited coaching diploma that gives us these incredible, crème de la crème, coaching skills, methodologies, and techniques, making us well-trained coaches. It doesn’t just stop there. There is this amazing community of Animas coaches, which is priceless. To belong to a community of peers like that is invaluable. The Animas Coaches Uncaged platform offers loads of complimentary workshops, sessions, and training from experts curated by Animas. I’ve been part of the Animas business faculty since the beginning of 2023, and I really see it as my way of giving back to Animas and supporting these coaches who are starting out. It’s just such a great place to be!”
Any final closing thoughts?
“I want to give a big shout-out to Animas. They are incredible. I find myself, at least every year, bumping into another Animas coach, and I always say I wish I could go back and do the training all over again! It was such an incredible experience back then, over 10 years ago. I would not be who I am or where I am, doing what I am today, without it. I look at my business and the work I do, which makes me an incredible living. My big goal was to smash my corporate salary that I earned when I was in business consultancy, which I’ve done, and it continues to grow. It’s an amazing thing. I’m not saying six figures overnight, in 24 hours, sitting on a beach with your laptop. It’s taken a while to get to where I am, but quite quickly, I was able to match that corporate salary. So, if I can do it, you can too!”
If Nicola Huelin’s story has inspired you and you’re considering becoming a transformative coach, explore our Accredited Diploma in Transformative Coaching on our course page. If you’ve enjoyed reading this interview with Nicola and would like to watch the full video version, you can find it here.
