How can I create and market a thriving Group Coaching Programme?
Joseph and Fay talk about the ingredients of success for building your own group coaching programme.
Learn more about Fay and contact her on LinkedIn.
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.
On this episode Fay also provides some clear advice to anyone who is thinking of creating a group programme including working with a beta version and ways to structure a programme. We hope that you find it helpful!
[00:05] Introduction to the Episode
[02:01] Fay introduces herself and her organisation Bright Sky Coaching
[04:50] Fay’s decision to create a Group Programme and her motivation for this
[07:30] Coaching Skills for HR Professionals
[09:40] Ways to start thinking about setting up your Group Coaching Programme
[13:10] Using a Pilot to consolidate your initial design
[17:35] Talking about your Group Coaching Programme to your Audience
[21:20] Marketing your Group Coaching Programme
[24:40] Matching 1-1 Client work with your Group Programme
[26:52] The importance of Testing Out ideas.
[30:00] Final Thoughts
[00:00:00] Joseph Grech: Hi everyone, a very warm welcome on today’s episode of Coaching in Focus. I’m Joseph gre, your host, and on today’s episode, I am delighted to be talking to Fay Wallis. Now, I originally met Fay when I was talking about her group coaching program. And one of the key questions that we get asked a lot by our own trainees is around how do I create my own group coaching program?
And I thought, aha. Fay would be the [00:00:30] best person to speak to. And she very kindly agreed to be on today’s podcast episode with me. Now on today’s episode, we discuss, um, how Fay decided to create this group coaching program, some of the challenges that she also faced, and also how she decided to structure the program.
I was really interested in talking to Fay, uh, in relation to the way that she marketed the program as well, and some reflections, some things that she would do differently next time also. [00:01:00] So let’s listen to the conversation between Fay and I and I hope you enjoyed as much as I did.
Hey Fay, how
[00:01:10] Fay Wallis: are you? Hi, Joseph. I’m good. Thank, you, how are
[00:01:13] Joseph Grech: you? I am doing very well. I’m actually really excited to talk to you about today’s topic because it’s one of the things that I got asked. A lot about, you know, it is either around group coaching, um, how do you create a group coaching program. So I am so [00:01:30] delighted and happy that, um, that you’re here with us today.
Um, Fay, as a starting point, would you like to, uh, give our listeners a bit of an intro to yourself and what you do?
[00:01:42] Fay Wallis: Of course. Well, hello everybody. My name’s Fay, Fay Wallis. I’m a career coach and an executive coach, and I specialize in coaching HR professionals. I’m also the founder of Bright Sky Career Coaching, and I have a podcast which is called HR Coffee Time, so it’s lovely to be [00:02:00] invited on here.
I’m normally the one doing the interviewing, so thank you for giving me this opportunity, Joseph. Oh
[00:02:06] Joseph Grech: no. Thank you for being here. And if you haven’t listened to Fay’s podcast, please do. It is brilliant. Um, and, um, how does it feel being on the other side, Fay?
[00:02:17] Fay Wallis: I was, I was weirdly a bit nervous beforehand and I said to you, I made loads of notes, I think because you film your podcast interviews.
Mm-hmm. Which is a brilliant idea. But I’ve never done that because it just [00:02:30] felt like that tiny bit of pressure, which means I’ve always got notes everywhere I’m looking out. So if anyone is listening to this interview by watching it, please forgive you. Please forgive me if you see me looking off to the side.
I’m just checking my notes.
[00:02:43] Joseph Grech: It’s all good. It’s all good. Okay. Yeah, we only started, um, recording video for this new season, and it’s been really well received. Um, I’ll listen, I think you can engage a little bit more as well, um, with myself and with the guest. But once again, thank you for being here and um, like I [00:03:00] said, let’s go into our topic today, which is around group coaching.
You’ve got your own group coaching program, um, so perhaps. Tell us a bit more around what led you to creating this program?
[00:03:13] Fay Wallis: Well, there were a few things that led me to creating it. One of them was that I really liked the idea of being able to say, here’s a service that you can sign up to. It starts on this day.
It goes on for this many weeks, and it ends on this day. Because what I had [00:03:30] found was it was really difficult to feel that I had control over my calendar when I was just doing one-to-one coaching, and I was also doing some consulting work for organizations because what would happen is someone will get in touch and they’ll want to have a session straight away, or an organization would get in touch and they would want to book me quite quickly.
So I would go from thinking, oh, I have a manageable week next week to thinking. Oh my gosh, how am I going to fit all of this in? And of course, you’ve also got times [00:04:00] where it’s very, very quiet. So that was one of the reasons that I was drawn to the idea of being able to create something where I had much more control over my calendar and when it would be happening.
The other main reason was that I had been coaching lots of HR professionals on a one-to-one basis, and I had noticed the same themes and challenges coming up again and again and again. So I thought. Hmm, I could do something about this. If I create a group program, then not only can I do it [00:04:30]as a pure coaching thing, I can actually also incorporate some content.
So although it is a group coaching program, I’d say it’s more of a blend of coaching and training. And I do deliver training within each of the sessions as well, so that people are learning about new concepts and ideas and models, and then they’ve got a chance to. Give them a try and embed them and see if they work for them.
So that quite appealed. My very first job, years and years ago was as a teacher. So I think it means that I can lean [00:05:00] into those teaching skills as well as the coaching skills. Mm-hmm. And I loved the idea that by having a group, it gave all of those people in the group the opportunity to really get to know each other and bond and my.
My aim is that by the end of each cohort, everyone has become really good friends and that they’re able to lean on each other for support throughout their entire careers, not just the time that they’re on the program. So I would say there were lots of other little things as well, but they’re probably the key reasons I decided to do it.[00:05:30]
Hmm, and
[00:05:30] Joseph Grech: that’s a big one, isn’t it? The practical element of it that you mentioned earlier. Because, uh, working for yourself or starting your own business, particularly in coaching, it means that you’re juggling quite a few different things and having a set structure does really help. And you mentioned some of the, uh, teaching aspects, the facilitation aspects, and you mentioned some models or some ideas.
What are some of the things that you cover on the program? Just as above a taster.
[00:05:58] Fay Wallis: So it’s a six week [00:06:00] intensive program. Mm-hmm. Which means that we meet as a group once a week for two hours every single week, and each of those weeks is themed. So I focus in on one particular challenge or topic on each of those weeks.
So we look at setting yourself up for success in one week, confidence in another week, building key relationships. Being strategic, influencing at a senior level, and then planning for the future. Mm-hmm. So they’re all of the different things that I cover. Mm-hmm.
[00:06:28] Joseph Grech: And it’s all I, what I [00:06:30] really like about this, it’s targeted specifically to hr, um, uh, people, professionals.
[00:06:37] Fay Wallis: Yes, absolutely. Well, for a long time I didn’t have a niche. I didn’t have a specialism. I used to say that I would do coaching for anybody across any profession, but really it’s probably when I started the podcast, which was aimed just at the HR community, that I started attracting more and more HR clients and.
So I started off as a teacher. I [00:07:00] didn’t last as a teacher for very long. I, uh, missed grownups too much. E even though I did love the teaching. I then moved into an HR career. So before becoming a coach, the majority of my career was spent working in hr. Mm-hmm. So I didn’t leave HR because I didn’t like it anymore.
I just discovered a real passion for coaching. And by having the podcast, um, it meant that. I’ve really got to dive back into that world of HR and it reminded me how much I loved it. So for me, it’s been a real pleasure. [00:07:30] Mm-hmm. It was a bit scary as well, but it’s been quite exciting deciding to niche. I only decided last year, but when I started telling people I.
I thought people would be really shocked, but actually most people said to me, that makes complete sense. I’m not surprised at all that you’ve done that. Yeah, yeah. And then by by nicheing, I’ve found it easier to really tailor my services because I know exactly who it is I’m talking to, and I really do understand the challenges that they have.
[00:07:57] Joseph Grech: It’s such a wonderful marriage though, isn’t it? Because [00:08:00] in HR we talk a lot around, um, being able to coach and support different people within the organizations, um, and different stakeholders. And a lot of HR professionals tend to have done some sort of coach training, whether it’s, uh, One day coaching skills or a fuller coaching program.
Uh, it’s a great way how to manage the two together in terms of the HR skills, coaching skills, working with the wider organization.
[00:08:29] Fay Wallis: Yeah, [00:08:30] absolutely. I have found that quite a few people who come on the program are qualified coaches or have done some sorts of coach training, and what’s nice is I know that for so many HR professionals, they’re so busy putting that all into their jobs and supporting everyone else in the organization.
They often don’t really have the time or the opportunity to focus on their own developments and focus on themselves. So it’s really lovely to be able to see people do that by coming on board with the program. [00:09:00]
[00:09:00] Joseph Grech: Now you mentioned earlier, um, some of the fears, so maybe let’s tap into, cuz I know that’s how I also felt when I started creating group, uh, programs.
So I, I kind of empathize with the feeling of fear. What, what were some of the challenges that you experienced in kind of getting the group coaching program together?
[00:09:19] Fay Wallis: Lots. The, the main one was probably mindset, as I think is normally all of our challenges, isn’t it? Which was, oh my gosh, [00:09:30] can I do it? How should I structure it?
Will anyone be interested? How many weeks should it be? There were lots of practical things that were holding me back. I couldn’t find very many resources on how to put together a good group coaching program. So I really hope that if anyone is listening or watching this podcast episode and they’re thinking of putting together a group program, that this will help them.
I only managed to find one podcast that covered the topic in detail, so really, [00:10:00] I was able to put it together in the end and get really clear on what I wanted to do by just talking to lots of other people who I was lucky enough to know who have their own group coaching programs.
[00:10:12] Joseph Grech: Did you know that a become, we offer a number of different coach training programs to people just like you.
If you’re new to coaching, there is a level one diploma in integrative coaching. If you’ve been coaching for a while, or perhaps you’re already an a ACC C coach, then we have the Advanced Diploma [00:10:30] in Integrative coaching, which leads all the way to the P C C credential by the I C F. We also have a number of C P D programs and certificates, including mentoring and supervision.
To find out more, go to to become.org or just check the show notes. How, how did you structure the program as well? You mentioned there is a six, uh, the six week structure. Um, how did you come up with that?
[00:10:58] Fay Wallis: It’s a really good question. I was [00:11:00] thinking back on this actually when I was prepping for our interview today.
Trying to remember exactly how I came up with the structure. I was quite nervous about doing a group program because I’ve never done one before. I have designed and delivered a lot of workshops before, and although it isn’t just a series of workshops, It’s sort of aligned with that because I do to deliver content in each of the weeks that we’d meet up with each other.
So I think I did it as six weeks, partly because I was a [00:11:30] bit scared. A lot of people said, why don’t you do three months or six months? And I just thought, oh my gosh. You know, I just, I don’t know. This is the first time I’m doing it. I, I don’t know how I feel about committing to. A really long amount of time, and I’d also decided that I was just going to do it as a pilot.
That’s really what helped me get it off the ground. So I thought, what are the themes that I’ve seen everyone struggling with, and I’ve found six. So I thought, okay, I’ve got these six challenges. I can see [00:12:00] HR professionals are coming up against again and again and again. It makes sense to just cover those one each week.
Mm-hmm. So that’s really how I ended up structuring it. And in between each of the group sessions, I also would send them a video with some additional content and normally a worksheets complete as well, just to help them prep for it. Because I knew six weeks isn’t a huge amount of time, so to get the most outta being in the program, I gave them some additional work to do in between their sessions as well.[00:12:30]
Nice. And
[00:12:31] Joseph Grech: you mentioned the pilot there, were there, what were some of your learnings from the pilot? Um, program?
[00:12:38] Fay Wallis: There were a lot of learnings. I’d really, for anyone who’s listening and thinking about doing a group program or anything else, or a course or launching a new service, one of the biggest learnings I I’ve had since becoming a coach and working for myself is just how helpful testing stuff out is.
I think it can. Help knock perfectionism on the head when you are thinking, this is good to be [00:13:00] perfect. I can’t possibly launch it until it’s absolutely perfect, because if you know, look, I’m just testing this out. I’m going to see how it goes. I’ll tell everyone that I’m testing it out so everyone isn’t expecting it to be a hundred percent perfect.
I think that helps you. Well, it certainly helps me to get things off the ground a little bit quicker, and so what did I actually learn from it? Well, I learned so much. I asked for lots of feedback as I went along. So at the end of every session I asked people for feedback and got some good feedback, but essentially [00:13:30] I could also see.
Immediately how I could be making it better. Mm-hmm. Even though I’d agonized over and spent hours and days, and, gosh, I can’t tell you how much time I put into designing it each week. As soon as I ran it each week, I knew there was something I could do better. But the biggest learning, I would say from running it the first time was that I had to dedicate time to helping everyone.
Set themselves up for success with the program, which is why the first week is now called Setting Yourself Up for [00:14:00] Success. It didn’t used to be because although people had invested in their own development by committing to the program, they found it really challenging making sure they were on time every week that they had done the pre-work every week.
So I had, I completely changed that first module, so it focused on. How do you hold yourself accountable? Why is this important to you? How are you going to carve out the time to make sure that you’re doing the pre-work? And it made. All the difference. So [00:14:30] I am running it for the third cohort at the moment and have just started taking bookings for the fourth cohort cohort.
And the difference between the commitment level with the second group to the first group was just huge. All because mm-hmm. I changed that first week. So that was my biggest learning. And then my second learning that I had as well was I was trying to fit too much in, so where I said, oh, I want to make sure I’m giving them pre-work every week.
Cause I really want them to get the most value out of this. Actually. They’re [00:15:00] in such busy roles. It was just too much to expect of them as well. So I stripped back on the amount of pre-work that I was setting them as well. And I make a real conscious effort to not cram in too much content delivery from me in the sessions and to make sure they have got plenty of time to talk amongst themselves and have some reflection time as
[00:15:22] Joseph Grech: well.
Mm-hmm. You’re probably seeing me nodding quite vigorously as you’re talking about that because I can, I can really picture it. We, and we did the same on [00:15:30] our, on our diploma, uh, on both counts. You know, when we first started running it. Our induction was very much so around the program, and we didn’t cover as much time around, well, how are you going to make time?
Mm-hmm. To complete this? And we’ve changed it the other way around that there’s some videos on our portal that people can watch on the more. Kind of knowledge, uh, heavy aspects of it, like how the program is structured and all that stuff. And on the induction, we focus on the individual, on the person and how they’re gonna make [00:16:00] time for the program.
Um, and it’s the same, uh, I mean, with the icf we’re constantly battling this idea around we have too much content on the program because you want to give, right? You, you, you want to try as much as possible, um, to present a. A full program for somebody, but then you realize that it’s too much. Mm-hmm. And actually that is getting in the way.
Um, how did you market this? Because I’m, you know, it’s [00:16:30] a, you mentioned earlier kind of putting the program together, having that leap of faith and jumping and kind of doing it. How did you market it though?
[00:16:40] Fay Wallis: Well, I’d had quite a lot of learnings from when I’ve. Created things before. Mm-hmm. So although I hadn’t created a group program before, I have created online courses before.
So I have a CV course and I have a LinkedIn course. And when I created the CV course, I spent absolutely ages putting all [00:17:00] together. Oh my goodness. It’s took me weeks and weeks and weeks, Joseph, of just working on it solidly. And then I literally just did a social media post going. I’ve created a CV course, he, everyone, and like no one bought it.
I couldn’t believe. I was like, oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’ve spent all this time and no one has bought the course. And so there were a few things I realized that I had done wrong, and one was that I hadn’t talked about it. At all with [00:17:30] an audience. I hadn’t told anyone really that it was coming. I hadn’t built up any sort of excitement around it.
That was one thing that I learned. Mm-hmm. The other thing was that I hadn’t tested it, so I had tried, I created it all, as I would say, perfectly. You know, spent forever trying to make it perfect instead of testing it out as well. Yeah. So, um, Yes. I learned quite a lot from having done that. So when it came to launching Inspiring hr, I made sure I talked about it before [00:18:00] I launched it.
So I asked for feedback on the name. I said, I’ve got this new program coming up. This is. What it’s gonna be about. Um, I’m trying to choose the name for it, what you think, this one or this one. And actually the feedback I had from that was brilliant. I ended up completely changing the name based on the feedback that everyone gave me because of course, the more questions you can ask about something, the more likely you’re gonna create something that’s helpful and that people will start to feel.
More connected to it. So you know, people who would really help me [00:18:30] name it will then be thinking, oh wow, look at that. The, the name is up there. But the other ways that I marketed it. So there was that with social media posts about it, but I didn’t do loads, but I’m. I suppose lucky that I have quite a large email list now where I have been working for myself for quite a long time.
This will, in April, it will have been seven years since I set up Bright Sky. So if anyone is listening to this or watching this and you’re very new in your coaching journey, please don’t stop beating [00:19:00] yourself up if you haven’t got lots of emails, subscribers. Yeah, I know I used to be really hard on myself when I first started and I could see people who were.
Further along in their journey and thinking, oh my gosh, why haven’t I done that yet? So I have got a, a lot of people who sign up to get weekly emails from me, and I’ve also, as I mentioned, got a podcast as well, which comes out weekly. So it means that I have got a little bit of an. Audience of people who know me because they’re getting emails from me every week, and they’re hearing the [00:19:30]podcast every week.
So they’re going to be more open to hearing about a group coaching program than actually if I didn’t have anybody who knew me and I didn’t have those marketing channels. So the podcast and the email list really helped me the second time that I. Launched the group program. So when I announced the dates for the second cohort, I don’t know that I actually even did any social media post about it.
I think maybe I did one. Um Oh, wonderful. Really [00:20:00] was from my email list that people signed up. And also the third time, so the cohort that I have right now, I didn’t even mention it on the podcast. Um, Just for, I wasn’t organized enough, to be honest. I’ve made myself mention it on the podcast this time for the next cohort that’s coming up, so I had also.
Where I got really burnt from doing that CV course. I invested in doing a course about launching a course well [00:20:30] about creating and launching a course, and one of the biggest takeaways I took from that was the importance of actually. Starting to build an audience and build and make sure that people get to know about you and your services.
And the recommendation from the person who’s course I invested in was that you create a new piece of content every week. So whether that’s a podcast, um, Ideally not just a social media post, it needs to be some sort of long-term content. So whether it’s a blog post or [00:21:00] it’s a YouTube video or um, yeah, some other means.
And I really took that message on boards and it was after that that I started the podcast and I started sending a weekly email and I’d say that’s really when everything changed for me quite significantly. And I started to find that. It was much easier to market things and have people commit to things because I have built that awareness and that trust with people.
[00:21:27] Joseph Grech: Mm. There’s this idea [00:21:30] around, I mean, there’s a couple of things that I feel are so important to mention there, um, that it takes time to, to do these things. It’s not, um, you wake up on morning and you decide to do a group program, and it will sell within the week. It actually takes time to build your audience, to send a message out there to craft.
A program that is actually needed via, you know, a pilot version of it, getting feedback. Um, but if you do put the work [00:22:00] in, I find that you read the rewards, right? You have to kind of go through the process. Absolutely. Sorry, go ahead.
[00:22:07] Fay Wallis: No, I was just gonna say absolutely. I completely agree with you. And it, it’s definitely been.
I’m sure this is very overused term, but it’s definitely been a journey going from just doing once to-one sessions to them being quite nervous about running workshops. But then I, I tried workshops and that went well to then being quite nervous and about doing a great group program, but. But [00:22:30] then doing it, you know, it, it has taken me a long time to get to this point, and before starting the podcast, I’ve thought about that for two years before I finally decided to commit to it before actually, um, putting the dates in the calendar for the group program.
I spent six months having conversations about it, thinking about it, planning it, you know, reading up on stuff it. It’s not all things that I’ve just thought, oh, I’ll do a group program, launched it the next day. I probably spend a bit too long thinking about these things. [00:23:00] To be honest,
[00:23:01] Joseph Grech: I think it depends on your style.
I’m very similar. I’ll mull it over and I might just jot down notes an idea, send, it’s a bit all over the place, and then. It kind of all falls into place. Mm-hmm. And you, you know, then I just get on with it. But I’ve spent all that time reflecting on it, kind of speaking to other people about it. Can I also ask, um, and this might be a bit more of a personal question.
You mentioned one-to-one coaching and group coaching. Have you got a preference now in terms of [00:23:30] which ones you prefer
[00:23:31] Fay Wallis: doing? No, I really enjoy doing both. And actually I haven’t mentioned it already, but as part of the group code, Group coaching program. Mm-hmm. Everyone who’s on that program gets three one-to-one sessions with me as well.
Mm-hmm. Which are 40 minute sessions. So they get an onboarding coaching session, a coaching session part way through, and then a coaching session after all our group sessions have finished. And it was really important to me that I added that in when I was making the step, the leap [00:24:00] from just doing one-to-one group, because then I really felt I could still.
Make sure people are getting the absolute best from it because as much as you put your heart and soul into group, I think nothing’s going to beat. Beat. Having individualized support. Yeah. Yeah. I do obviously still have one-to-one clients as well as that, but. I don’t take on us many anymore because otherwise it just, it all gets too much.
It’s impossible. It’s too overwhelming. But I would say it’s a bit of a cop out answer, isn’t it, Joseph? [00:24:30] But I’m really like both Phil. I like them both for, for different, slightly different reasons. Yeah,
[00:24:35] Joseph Grech: yeah, yeah, yeah. Not at all. I like, I, I’m the same as you. I, I tend to have less one-to-one clients now, purely because of time, but I do really, and plus I do mentoring and supervision.
So it gives me that, that nourishment from one-to-one conversations. Um, But it’s a, it’s a tricky one cause I love the facilitation aspect. And seeing the group interact. You mentioned earlier, people making friends. It’s such a joy to see when you [00:25:00] see people that you kind of know individually when they, you people have to apply in our program.
So you kind of get to know them and then they get to meet each other and they develop friendships. Mm-hmm. And it’s wonderful to see when that actually happens as well. What, um, thinking cuz we’re kind of getting quite close towards the end of our podcast today. Um, and I’d love to find out what advice you might want to give to someone who is thinking about creating a group coaching [00:25:30]program.
[00:25:32] Fay Wallis: I suppose lots of things that, um, I’ve mentioned. I’ll just bring them together, so. Mm-hmm. But the first piece of advice would be to go for it. I’m so pleased that I did. My other bits of advice would be just reach out and speak to other people. Who have done group coaching programs, if you would like to bounce some ideas off of them, the, the coaching community is so lovely.
Most people are very happy to talk to you about these things. I did pay for sessions [00:26:00] with some people as well who specialize in helping with group coaching programs, and I really think that was worth it just to. Help me craft something in the best possible way. Mm. So I’m losing track now. What did I say?
Oh yeah, go for it. Speak to other people. Really get to know your ideal clients and who you are designing that program for. So I’m actually in the midst of the ideas stages of planning it. A new thing. I’m not sure [00:26:30] what it’s going to be. I don’t think it’s going to be a group program. It might be an evolution of my existing group program.
It might be something different. I’m very much at the idea stage. Mm. I’m sure it’s gonna take the ages to finalize it, but one thing that I have done is surveyed my audience. So I said to them, I’m thinking of doing. This, this or this? What do you think? What’s going to be the most helpful for you? And Joseph?
It is the best thing I could have done because the feedback I got was just absolutely [00:27:00]invaluable. So test out your ideas. If you have got an audience, if you have got an email list or you’ve got people following you on social media, then you can ask them the question. Or if you’ve got one-to-one clients and they are your ideal client for your group coaching program, then.
Talked to them about it. Before I started putting together my current group coaching program, I did do a series of calls with people who were my ideal client for it. And what I said to them was, [00:27:30]I’ll offer you a free coaching session if you are happy to give me some, uh, feedback around. My idea for a group program, and so I can understand what your challenges are at the moment.
Mm-hmm. So I think I did 15 minutes for them just answering a load of questions I had about what they were struggling with the most, what would be helpful for them, and then just a 15 minute laser coaching session. So, mm-hmm. That was really helpful and that gave me the confidence that I was on the right track.
So I suppose I’m saying make sure you do your research with the CV course that I did [00:28:00] all those years ago, I didn’t do any research. I just thought, oh, At the time, I had been writing loads of cvs where I am a career coach, and that’s how I got myself off the grounds. And I thought, oh, you know what? I don’t really want to write all these CVS anymore.
Instead, I could create a course, and then if anyone asked me to write a CV, I can say, don’t worry. Here’s a course with all the templates and everything you need. I didn’t check with a single person whether that’s what they wanted. Mm-hmm. I was creating something that, yes, it was to help them, but it was more to [00:28:30] help me to be able to say no to the work.
Yeah. So just, it’s so important to do that research part. I think. Yeah. That would be my other bit of advice.
[00:28:40] Joseph Grech: Oh, sounds great. I was thinking, although that that element of that CV writing course, I’m sure it was really helpful in developing some of the ideas. In the other course I find that we, we learned through these things.
Right. Um, I remember the first group program that I designed as well. It was very similar. I designed it and I was working [00:29:00] with somebody else. There were two of us, you know, encouraging each other, and we did the same. We put it out on our social media. And nothing happened. It was like a vacuum. So, so, but you learn from that.
Mm-hmm. And you realize that there are some other steps that I need to do when, um, you know, talking to the right people, getting some feedback can be super, super helpful.
[00:29:25] Fay Wallis: Yes, absolutely. It’s good to know it’s not just me who decided to create something that no one was remotely [00:29:30] interested in. And, and you’re right.
None of it’s wasted cuz actually the platform that I built the course on, I now use as part of my group coaching program. And it meant I was very familiar with it. So it was easy to get things up and running. And also I used to be asked to run. CV workshops and the very first time I got asked to run one, they wanted me to run it the following week.
And I thought, oh my gosh, how am I gonna put together a whole workshop in this? You had time, but of course I had a whole course. So I was able to take the [00:30:00] templates from the course, um, take some of the slides I’d use in the course, and very quickly repurpose that content. So I completely agree with you, Joseph, even if everything goes wrong and.
And whatever you create bombs, there will be so many lessons you can take from it. Mm-hmm. And lots of learnings and, and content that you might even be able to use.
[00:30:19] Joseph Grech: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much Fay. Thank you for spending a bit of time talking through this. I know that a lot of people will resonate, [00:30:30] um, with what you’re saying.
As I mentioned right at the start of today’s podcast, that’s one question that I get asked a lot that I do a lot of mentoring on how do I carve my group coaching program? So I know it’s super, super helpful for our listeners. Oh, you’re so
[00:30:44] Fay Wallis: welcome.
[00:30:47] Joseph Grech: Thank you once again, faith. For spending a bit of time to share your knowledge and your practical experience in relation to creating marketing and being successful in developing your own group coaching program. I [00:31:00] think this has been really helpful for a lot of our listeners, a lot of our viewers. Um, and if you’ve found this episode useful, please feel free to share it with your friends, with your colleague.
Uh, and get in touch with us as well if you’ve got any questions whatsoever. I think what’s really key as we’re talking about a group coaching, is this idea that those core coaching skills, you know, the, the empathy, the building, the, that intrinsic motivation in our clients, supporting individuals come up with their own objectives and conclusions, whether we’re doing [00:31:30] that on a one-to-one basis, or if we’re doing it on a, on a group basis, they remain the same.
There are of course, some differences in relation to group dynamics. Um, the way that we might work in a group context, but ultimately, who we are, our genuineness, our congruent, and that relationship stays the same. And I think, and it’s, it’s an important point to consider if you’re also moving into doing group work.
Once again, thank you for listening and I will see you on the next episode.[00:32:00]