How To Coach Clients Effectively For Better Results and Faster Business Growth with Amber Brueseke

09/12/22 • 68 min

For all you entrepreneurs, I’m sure you want to grow your business if it means being better able to help people. This is particularly true for coaches. That’s why I’m talking to someone today about how to improve your coaching skills in order to help your business grow.

About Amber Brueseke

Amber Brueseke is a wife, mom of four (ages 8-15), and a former RN who founded Biceps After Babies because she believes that being a mom doesn't have to mean your fittest days are behind you. What started as a little Instagram account to share her fitness journey online has become a business focused on empowering women to achieve.

Her signature coaching program MACROS 101 has helped over 5,000 women use the tool of macro counting to build a nutrition plan that's both effective and enjoyable. Amber also created a Transformational Fitness Coach certification that teaches other health and fitness coaches how to improve client results by getting to the root of their problems.

Amber loves chocolate and peanut butter (preferably together), lifting heavy weights at CrossFit, and hanging out at the beach with her family.

Hard Clients are Better Than Easy Ones

Not one to shy away from a challenge, Amber enjoys seeking out clients who struggle to get results. This is the result of trying out numerous coaching styles and working with many different clients over the years. Now, she finds further satisfaction in helping other coaches learn how to dig deep with their clients rather than just dismissing them when they fail to achieve.

While working this way takes more effort than simply working with easy clients, Amber sees it as an essential part of her success. It has forced her to become a more involved and informed coach, something that people seek out.

Helping Clients Help Themselves

Perhaps one of the more frustrating parts of coaching is seeing clients repeatedly sabotage their own progress. Amber explains how she approaches this by starting with the root of the problem. Instead of addressing the symptom, she helps clients examine their beliefs, some of which may be standing between them and their goals.

Interestingly, Amber finds this process is easier in group settings. This may be because it is easier to see things in other people than in yourself. Once you recognize something familiar in others, it is relatively simple to apply it to your own experience.

Group coaching can seem daunting. However, Amber sees a lot of value in it. To that end, she shares some practical advice on how to coach a group of people effectively. This includes embedding coaching within teaching, seeking out similar clients, and truly understanding who your ideal client is.

Who is your ideal coaching client? Leave a comment on the episode page!

In This Episode

Why working with difficult clients can be good business [11:05]
Helping clients avoid self-sabotage by getting to the root causes of their beliefs [20:40]
Managing group calls and sessions so they stay organized and effective [36:00]
Why developing your skills as a coach is more important than marketing [46:40]
What is the coach’s responsibility for their clients’ results [51:40]

Quotes

“Being able to see people go through a transformation never gets boring.” [10:59]

“We, as professionals, have to be able to give good solid scientifically-based recommendations and be able to back it up by helping clients overcome the mental blocks that prevent them from accepting that scientific information and using it in their own journey.”[18:11]

“The reason my program took off was not because I was a great marketer. It was because I was a great coach.” [47:17]

“Allow clients to have their individual definition of success. It doesn’t have to be your definition of success.” [1:02:06]

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Links

About Amber Brueseke

Amber loves chocolate and peanut butter (preferably together), lifting heavy weights at CrossFit, and hanging out at the beach with her family.

Hard Clients are Better Than Easy Ones

Helping Clients Help Themselves

Who is your ideal coaching client? Leave a comment on the episode page!

In This Episode

Why working with difficult clients can be good business [11:05]
Helping clients avoid self-sabotage by getting to the root causes of their beliefs [20:40]
Managing group calls and sessions so they stay organized and effective [36:00]
Why developing your skills as a coach is more important than marketing [46:40]
What is the coach’s responsibility for their clients’ results [51:40]

Quotes

“Being able to see people go through a transformation never gets boring.” [10:59]

“The reason my program took off was not because I was a great marketer. It was because I was a great coach.” [47:17]

“Allow clients to have their individual definition of success. It doesn’t have to be your definition of success.” [1:02:06]

Links

Previous Episode

Hormone Health After 40 with Maria Claps

Few people discuss what happens to your hormones after menopause. In fact, there seems to be a lot of secrecy among women in this stage of life about their hormonal health. That’s why I’m so excited to have Maria Claps with me today to shed light on this important topic.

About Maria Claps

Maria Claps is a certified health coach, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner, and mom to four grown boys.

After receiving inadequate healthcare that did nothing to address her perimenopause problems, Maria enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) in order to help herself. After that, Maria pursued several hormone-centric trainings including Dr. Sara Gottfried's practitioner hormone training program, and the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition program, and she also has been mentored by hormone scholar and scientist Dr. Lindsey Berkson.

Maria helps women all over the world as a perimenopause and menopause mentor. She is a DUTCH hormone test expert. She also teaches practitioners how to help midlife women thrive in a mentorship program called Midlife Hormone Mastery.

When she’s not working with clients, Maria can be found trekking through Italy, at farmers’ markets locally, or in the kitchen creating recipes.

Hormonal Changes Don’t Mean the End of Your Lifestyle

Throughout this conversation, Maria shares how her experience sent her on a quest to better understand the signs and symptoms of perimenopause. Insomnia, weight gain, and unstable moods led her to solutions that few others in the health field were discussing.

Over the years, Maria discovered the truth that lies behind many common menopause myths. In reality, you don’t have to accept all the changes. Maria explains that hormonal changes are not necessarily the same thing as aging. By recognizing that the way you feel now is a symptom, not the root of the problem, you can take informed actions.

Much of the way people think of menopause is very negative. Maria explains how cultural expectations of older women derive from a false narrative. Sadly, this has led to a culture of silence around the topic. Maria works to help women open up about their experiences. When this happens, women can take action and regain control over their lives.

Understanding Your Hormones Before, During, and After Menopause

Maria stresses that living a healthy lifestyle will help ease your transition to perimenopause, menopause, and beyond. Diet and nutrition, as well as exercise, go a long way. That being said, there is no guarantee that it will still go smoothly. Many of Maria’s clients do this and still struggle.

It can be scary to experience these changes in your body. There is a sense of loss of control when you don’t fully understand how these changes affect you. That’s why Maria stresses the role of education. When you understand your body well, you know what is normal, what isn’t, and what you can do about it.

Hormone testing, particularly the DUTCH Test, is a major tool Maria employs. It gives a complete picture of what the hormones are doing and how they are changing. Maria has seen the value of these tests to highlight potential problems and establish healthy regimens for her clients.

What can you start doing today to prepare for menopause? Let me know in the comments on the episode page!

In This Episode

How to recognize the signs of perimenopause [8:30]
Common myths about menopause [11:45]
Changing the cultural narrative of aging and menopause [16:40]
What to expect from an optimal menopause experience [21:45]
The connection between the premenopausal experience and menopause itself [27:35]
The critical link between mindset and menopause [33:15]
The value of comprehensive hormone testing for post-menopausal women [36:45]
Practical tips you can start using today to reduce menopause symptoms [48:50]

Quotes

“As far as becoming this overweight asexual woman who isolates herself and can’t contribute to the world anymore, that’s completely false.” [12:39]

“You are going to have some changes. Your body is going to change. Things are going to change, but it’s really manageable.” [21:05]

“These things are quite fixable. I’ve seen so many before and afters. It’s amazing how it can be fixed with a degree of lifestyle medicine.” [43:20]

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Next Episode

Vera's Birth Story (Part 1)

I’m back from maternity leave and I sure have a story to tell you all! To help tell you about it, I’ve brought on my husband Josh. We want to share the story of our child’s birth and what we learned from its challenges. Throughout the birth experience, Josh and I discovered a lot about ourselves and our relationship.

Preparation and Planning in Action

No matter how much I prepared and read up on labor, I found that nothing could fully prepare me for the experience itself. It was my goal to have a natural birth. So when contractions started, I did all I could to have it go as smoothly as I could.

I discuss some of the relaxation techniques I tried as well as some interesting and natural methods for moving the process along until Vera could be born. As someone who likes to be in control, this whole process was an exercise in recognizing what I could and couldn’t do.

Making Some Questionable Choices

One thing we learned through this experience is that you can make questionable decisions during labor. In fact, I gave Josh permission to head out to a softball game while I was waiting through the contractions. It may have seemed okay at the time, but in retrospect, it was probably not the right thing to do.

This whole experience taught us a lot about best-laid plans, what happens when it’s time to put them into action, and proper communication during stressful situations. Josh and I hope you enjoy this episode and tune in again next week to hear its conclusion!

How does your birth story compare? Leave a comment on the episode page!

In This Episode

What happened when the contractions began [3:00]
Managing my mindset during the birth process [12:00]
When communication between partners is put to the test [19:45]
Preparing for the ride to the hospital [33:30]

Quotes

“Labor is a very energy-intensive experience, but the recommendation not to eat is questionable as far as if it’s actually beneficial for women, especially if you’re not going in for a c-section.” [7:12]

“I was thinking that this could literally be day one of three of having this experience. From a mindset experience, I was mentally preparing myself to go a really long time and manage it as best I could.” [15:17]

“If you’ve had a baby maybe you know what this feels like. If you haven’t, I don’t know if you can even imagine it.” [34:45]

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