Explore Michelle Mercier's journey in the Coaching Industry

Of course, it does. When I hear ‘rootless’, I think of the ability to be yourself, do your own thing, don’t have to be stuck in a box. It also means to pave your own way. You can always find guidance but it won’t necessarily align with your vision. So, for me being rootless means being able to do what I want, when I want. That’s empowering but also scary as hell. – Michelle Mercier

I grew up in the South Shore, Massachusetts, in an Irish catholic family. I got an undergraduate degree in Theater and Music back in the day. From there, I kept auditioning, was in New York, in Miami, was singing and acting in many places. However, I have always been more interested in the business side of things. So, I graduated at Boston University in Art Administration which is basically the MBA for running art non-profits. I got really good experience working with brands like Huntington Theatre Company, musicals in Boston which was really educational. Then I decided that I liked making money. I jumped over into the tech world where I was project managing and at one point in time, I was running the Paypal Europe marketing operations team. So, I always ended up in roles as the middle person between the techies, developers, coders, engineers and the client. That’s about ten years of work. My company had five or seven layoffs which makes you learn a lot about chain management and people’s reaction to fearful situations. You learn a lot about how not to lead through change. Eventually, my unit got outsourced so I was laid off and at that time both my children were sick. I was leading the Paypal team when my first son started having seizures. When the second one came around, he was a bit more difficult compared to the first. The layoff was very well timed. I made a decision at that point on whether I wanted to go back at my six-figure job or do my own thing. Being rootless means having to know who you are. I didn’t really like who I was after that. When you have people dealing with lay off situation, they are often turned to fear-based decision makers. I created my company which on paper is called “Create Honesty”. I wanted to be sure I understood myself. I was told many times to change my company’s name but I won’t do that. I started coaching female entrepreneurs, consulting them but I also did body image documentary screenings and I sold out movie theatres, I was involved with community services projects. I didn’t know what I needed to do, just that I needed to be my own. Fast forward today, I am still a business strategist consultant coach to many female entrepreneurs and companies. My podcast came during the pandemic and the lockdown. For me, with everything I’ve gone through with the kids, the pandemic wasn’t as big a hit for us as it was for other people because we had already been through a lot. One of the main goals of my company is to make people feel less alone. In the podcast, I don’t want people to list about the steps one has to follow ro achieve success, I want them to talk about hardships as well. – Michelle Mercier

I think I am a very good mix of being creative considering my theatre background but also having to sit and understand operations of the company. I am very good at using both the right and left side of the brain and integrate them. I grew up in a household with a strong mum who worked multiple jobs to compensate for things we didn’t have. I grew up with this mission that women had to be elevated. We’re a lot smarter than we give ourselves credit for. – Michelle Mercier

Firstly, you have to understand that it’s not about you. I think that is a big thing. I am a big proponent of serving leadership and if you’re going to sit across from a client and coach from a place to make yourself or your ego to feel better, you shouldn’t be coaching. It’ not about showing people how smart you are. Sometimes people don’t make the distinction between coaching and consulting. Coaching is bringing the horse to water, not making them drink. Consulting is telling them it’s time to drink. So, number one, check your ego. You can come at it with a mission. A lot of people start out with amazing intentions but don’t invite people on business if you don’t know how to talk about business. Know where your lane is. These are the kind of things I would advise people on. – Michelle Mercier

I think it depends. I am not certified but I bring over a decade of business experience to the table, working with enterprise level companies in some pretty serious situations. So, I didn’t pursue getting a credit or certification because of that. Nonetheless, if you’re just starting out, you do not know how to handle somebody or how to walk through them. I’ve done strategic planning and consulting with people so I understand what the idea of current state analysis is. So, if you don’t have any training, that’s a problem. However, it depends on your backstory and whether a certification is for you or not. – Michelle Mercier

First of all, I am a big proponent of hiring someone who understands what branding is. I think often times people take branding as just a logo but is more than that. Is the motions, you have to establish what your ideal client looks like, what’s your avatar, what they look like, who you’re serving. Sometimes you come out of the gate and that’s what you have to do that because you don’t know enough. You may think you do but in a couple of years it will all change. When you’re looking at branding, if you can’t afford it, research it, on YouTube, Google. Research what actual branding is. If you have what branding is, I’d recommend finding a good branding specialist who understands the power of what a brand means and how that can set you up for success. – Michelle Mercier

I am a fan of “Done is better than perfect”. If you don’t step into it, you can keep working on it forever. You can see entrepreneurs who want their brochure or website to look perfect. They spend so much time on that they forget they’re supposed to be serving. They need clients to keep the lights on. Does it have to be done in some manner? Yes. Does it have to be perfect? No, because it’s going to change. It’s also important to recognize flexibility within the framework because you have to keep moving. – Michelle Mercier

I originally started the podcast because I’ve become more efficient when it comes to networking over the years. I want the conversations I have to be more about quality over quantity. When you’re starting out, you show your business card to everybody and talk to everybody. I don’t have the time for that, I have children and the world is facing a pandemic. I had had the idea of having my own Podcast for a year or two and wanted it to serve to people who felt alone. It seemed like the logical thing to do. I didn’t set it out to jump to number 15 on iTunes. That was mind-blowing and cool to watch. I was well aware I had a good-sized network. I was going to leverage it as a visibility strategy and ultimately convert it to a revenue strategy. I don’t look at the numbers very often. I think people get so obsessed sometimes. It’s one thing to look at that as a reference point of their launch because it’s an algorithm thing. It’s the ability to push as much traffic as you can to the same point at the same amount of time. I am more invested in the process of something than I am on the ultimate success of it. If you’re thinking of going into podcasting and thinking you’re not going to maintain for a year, you should consider it as a hobby. It’s not an easy thing to maintain, the editing, guest booking, research on the guests. it’s a hard thing to do but it’s very shiny right now, everybody wants to do it. If I can’t do it well and it doesn’t feed in my overall business plan and overall mission, I don’t want to do it. I’m not going to do a haphazard job. – Michelle Mercier

I think it depends. A lot of companies are looking for a certain amount of downloads numbers and similar things in order to get the sponsors. There are other models when it comes to converting your podcasts guests to clients. A lot of the guests they I’m having may not have the need and I don’t want to force them. I don’t want to be booking my client based on that. On the good side of that, it gives you credibility coming out of the gate. It allows me to say to a potential client that if he wants to understand my style, listen to the podcasts. You’ll know how I act, think, you’ll find out things about me. It helps me to convert quicker. – Michelle Mercier

I think that it takes time to become indifferent to negative criticism. I came at the gate of the company called “Create Honesty”. For me it would be very hypocritical if I wasn’t just me. I didn’t want to attract clients you didn’t see me from me but that doesn’t mean I don’t put boundaries. If you look at my social media profiles, you won’t see my kids, maybe only from a distance or you’ll see old pictures of them. I’m very protective of certain things, I know what my triggers are. Brené Brown says “Don’t put anything out for the world you haven’t processed yourself. I see many coaches, bloggers and podcasters who use the media as a way to process their stuff. I used to do that too but you risk becoming vulnerable. Sometimes you get people who support you but others may think it’s ridiculous. You have to learn to step into your own power but that takes time. – Michelle Mercier

I think one thing you have to recognize before going into it: what do you want your life to look like versus architecting it around your clients. When you’re in a startup phase you have to generate revenue but eventually you get to the point of seven years in and realize it’s reversed. So, you have to keep the time and money freedom at the forefront of your thoughts too.  I used to book clients whenever I could. I can’t do that anymore. When you scale, you get a little pickier. I’ve learned to catch red flags when I get into a discovery call with clients. A lot of the time people book discovery calls because they have a fire, don’t know how to figure it out. You learn after a while from a commitment perspective as well. I also don’t tend to offer one off session unless it’s a VIP day. If I have time, I’ll put some 90 minutes strategy sessions in but I want the commitment. If you’re a coach and are looking to bring people on that aren’t going to commit for six months, that’s very telling. People train for three months when they have a specific goal. They need a very specific intangible. You have to figure out whether they’re looking strategic specific for the company or long-lasting change? It’s going to be a lot of commitment for a coach and it scares a lot of coaches because they have to ask for a lot of money. You’ll become more confident in yourself when you’re asking but the fear doesn’t go away. – Michelle Mercier

I would advise to firstly figure out who the ideal client is, where they live, what they do and I would go and find them. There’s the notion, especially in the social world, that you have to be in all the platforms and do everything. Clubhouse is really popular right now. If I knew when I’m coming out of the gate, I’m going to get my infrastructure in a good place and I’m going to go where people are. If my ideal clients are on TikTok, I’ll spend time on TikTok. Also, I have to get clear about who that person is first. – Michelle Mercier

I think there’s a difference between credibility and reach. You can be an influencer and have 1 million followers but you have to look at how many of them are actually engaging with you. You have a level of credibility to convert somebody and actually serve them in the way that you’re doing. these are two different things. Being genuinely credible in the field you’re in is going to take a combination of time, visibility and impact. You can’t say right in the beginning that you’re the best ever. Where are your testimonials, people who will support what you say, be your brand ambassadors? I look at people asking ‘follow for follow’, wanting visibility for visibility’s sake. You still have to make sure you’re converting. I’d prefer having 100 followers and have 90 of them converting rather than having a million who don’t. – Michelle Mercier

My biggest mistake usually is taking my eyes of my own paper. The minute I start looking at other people and see what they’re doing it sends me down a spiral, thinking about what I should’ve done, that I’m not good enough. I’m definitely still guilt of doing it. My biggest mistake has been not taking chances because I was looking at somebody else’s stuff or doing something that didn’t align with my mission and me because everybody else was doing it. Right now, I’m in a period where I’ve withdrawn, I’ve taken a step back. After the podcast launch, I’ve seen myself being pulled in different directions. I’ve noticed that I start looking at other people for validation, instead of finding it internally. – Michelle Mercier

I just went through a coaching program in which I also put a bunch of people through. I talk a lot about staying in that abundance mindset. The minute you’re fixed versus growth mindset but in particular to money, it sound cheesy but you’re sitting there, there’s no competition, there’s no scarcity of business out there. Everybody has a client. There are billions of people in the planet. Just because someone is getting clients, doesn’t mean I can’t. I believe in constantly keeping that abundance and law of attraction mentality. It’s about having hope, believe in what you’re doing. If money is getting low, your pipeline maybe isn’t strong, you’re not charging enough. When that happens, if you freak out and start searching clients from a place of scarcity, it never goes well. If I sit back and trust the plan I have in place or work with a strategic coach like myself, it always goes right. You’re not a failure, that moment in time failed. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy at that point. – Michelle Mercier

I don’t think so. It’s good to have one. I have the title of international best-selling author in my resume too. Does it open doors? Yes. Does it help? Absolutely, it is related to that credibility factor. I’m not one to speak of absolutes. I think it’s very individualized, it helps, it doesn’t hurt. Depends on whether you want to spend that time because it is a big commitment. – Michelle Mercier

It’s a very good question. I look at different ways to diversify my income stream. Number one, the pandemic has changed everything, even if you’re working 9 to 5. If you’re looking at ways to do that. When I first started my company, I wanted products, programs and services and I had big plans but realized there’s only one me. That’s going to come back at some point, in the e-commerce area. Also, I’m not really looking just to stay a coaching consultant, I see myself as a serial entrepreneur in my mind. You hear a lot of people advising you to find your niche, focus on one thing. There’s a difference between the latter and mono-focus. You can do a million things well at once but doesn’t mean that you don’t have different ideas that you want to go to one year from now. You have to be strategic about it. You can’t muddy the waters when it comes to converting sales. If you want to go to the market with something and have an audience that overlaps, don’t go to the market with sixteen products, you’re going to confuse them. Execute thing strategically. – Michelle Mercier

I hate articles listing ways to become successful. Instead of focusing about learning more about sales tactics, people focus on one site that will supposedly make them a million dollars. I just can’t stand them. As a coach, I have a process in which people set their goals but I never guarantee results because I’m not the person doing the work. When I see coaches claiming guarantees, it makes me angry. Some may oppose this and say it means that you’re not confident enough in your services. I am confident on my services but my services are not executing on the task. They tell you to bring the horse to water. I can’t control whether you’ll make 1 million dollars because I don’t know what you’re closing or converting. I get really annoyed when people make it look easy. It’s not easy but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. – Michelle Mercier

I’m sure there is but I try not to look at it. I try to look back with detachment. It’s not about ‘should haves’ or ‘could haves’, it’s about analyzing the educated business decision of why something didn’t work and how to treat it going forward. That’s how I continue to move forward, optimize and grow. I knew from the beginning that I wasn’t just going to come out of the gate making a ton of money. I wasn’t in a rush. I knew that in order to be sustainable for the long haul, I’d rather be well calculated. – Michelle Mercier

As someone who’s upbringings was strict because I had a strong-willed mum as I alluded earlier, I’ve come to realize that the most important thing is to know that you’re the creator of your life. You may not have the resources other people do, the perfect family or an IVY league education. However, your drive, your ability to own who you are and not apologize for it is going to get you a lot further. Maybe I’m not what everybody else my circle looks like but I’m still me. Don’t ask advice for people who haven’t done it. If they’re not on it, don’t ask someone who has no idea on entrepreneurship on what to do. Look at yourself and people who are in the ring creating their own stuff. – Michelle Mercier