Explore Morgan Latimore's journey in the Coaching Industry

I come from Kansas City, Missouri. My family was poor, living in shelters, in the street. I wasn’t a good student. My mum had three of us and worked a lot and that means she was gone a lot. I didn’t have a lot of supervision. I was the big brother, I had my brother and sister to take care of and I did the best I could for them. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, there is so much more we need to do. You can only use what you have. I grew up in the hood and I got to the point where I was tired of being there. I would see people who went to college after graduating high school and come back 6 months later saying it wasn’t for them. I didn’t ever see anybody other than my mother finish something they wanted to do. I started thinking that if everybody else was coming back from college, why would I go? So, I didn’t go to college and told my mum I wanted to join the Marine Corps. She told me she would pay my way through college if I didn’t join them. I told her there wasn’t an option and I had made up my mind. I had already signed up, didn’t need anybody’s permission. It was funny, I had gone to jail two days ago because I had some warrants. A recruiter picked me up two days later, I got my warrants cleared and swore in. I was ready to be a United States Marine. So, I left and never looked back. I wanted more for myself, I knew there was more out there. I had been exposed to the business world by my dad, he was an entrepreneur. He did it all by himself. He went from working at the Lake City Ammunition Plant to starting his own company. I got to meet some amazing people because he was in the transportation business. I got to meet CEOs, the regional VP of McDonalds, etc. I was a hood kid seeing things other kids didn’t normally get to see and that made me want to do more. When I joined the Marine Corps, I still had a little bit of hood in me but they got rid of it pretty quickly. I was there for twenty two years and I have no idea how I stayed that long. At the first enlistment, I thought I was going to be gone for four years but I got to meet some great mentors and leaders. My grandmother used to say “Don’t get out, there’s nothing for you out here”. And I would grind, grind, grind. People say to learn how to walk on water, to levitate. I have gone so forward in my career. Now I am a PA and I run a legal center. I am the second in command for lawyers and paralegals. During my childhood, I was a kid running from the police and nowadays I prosecute people. As I transitioned out of the Marine Corps to do some coaching, I really didn’t want to get back. A lot of people get stuck when it comes to selling the product. I got to the point where here I wanted to inspire people, to give back. I was told by one of my mentors, Johnny Bernardo “Do it for the people, do it for the right reasons and the money will come to you”. When I did that, it shifted my mindset as an entrepreneur. In the beginning you’re cheaper because you want people to hire you. When you start to really focus on the people, offering quality service and start being very personable and open with them and they decide to pick you every time, you never have to ask again if you do it about the right reasons. So, that’s a little bit about me. – Morgan Latimore

Metaphorically, having a root is having a place where you imbed yourself. Depending on how deep the roots are, it can be unmovable. But in life, if you have roots, you can never grow and see anything else in the world. Being rootles gives me the ability to be free. It’s freedom, flying. So, there’s no limit to anything that you can accomplish. You can do anything, if you choose to do it. You just have to move forward so you’re not stuck. Sometimes, we limit ourselves, we say we have to be where we are but that’s a choice. If we’re rootless, we can be wherever we want to be. – Morgan Latimore

I was in Afghanistan and I saw a lot of death. I realized there were a lot of people not coming home. I was getting close to retirement and had to figure out what I wanted to do. I decided I wanted to help. I knew that and I was good at do physical fitness. I didn’t really like school but I believed I could do anything because I’ve always been hardworking. It was around 2015, 2016 when I was trying to find people to do business with me because I was scared. Most of us are like that when we start something. I was trying to convince people to do this with me. They kept saying yes but when it came to it, I was still by myself. I realized, people are scared too and went on to get my coaching certification from “Ironman” and the rest is history. I got certified in 2016. I was doing it on the side but in 2016 I was legit. A lot of people say they want to do something but most of them end up doing nothing. I think people want to see if you can actually succeed a little bit and then they want to come help you. They want to see whether you’re serious about it. – Morgan Latimore

When I made that decision I was already coaching, I had gotten certified. I went into it like a salesman, trying to paddle my coaching and trying to get people the best prices and discount, make packages. I remember days where I day no clients. I was doing everything, I was cheaper than most guys. But guess what? I didn’t know enough then. I hadn’t set myself up as what we call in the military “the duty expert” or “the authority in that area”. I was just like anybody else. So, it took a lot of time to try triathlon coaching, technical coaching, emotional coaching but what I was good at was people and I was overlooking it. It wasn’t until my mentor told me about that, I realized I could make friends with anybody. I was good at talking at people but I never thought that could be anything business-like. Because I was immature, what I had to do was backing off on business and work on me. My mentor was there for me from the beginning but I wasn’t listening. Sometimes there are a million people telling that you can do it but it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe in yourself. Maybe I just hit a wall, I was getting tired of not getting clients. My mentor was right about everything. People care about people. The way you create a brand in the customer service end is very important because you have to think about anything. In any relationship that is very valuable to me, I look for three things: honesty, loyalty and communication. Everybody that I deal with should maintain or sustain those requirements with me. They should possess those traits. Early on, I was looking at everybody as a number. When I started to see them as people who cared about the same three things I did, my message and brand resonated with them more. At that time I thought I could coach anybody but you can’t. You have a specific person who wants you. Once you learn that part, you don’t even need to advertise, you don’t have to do much, and people are just drawn to you. This happened probably two years ago. It’s crazy because you think you got it all figured out but I haven’t stopped learning things. The more you can learn, the hungrier you get. I’ve read about 200 books in the last two years. I hate reading but when you read, you learn a lot. When you start off you’re around people that don’t want much. People say this cliché, “When you level up or change the group of friends you’re around, it changes your mind”. I’m around entrepreneurs, business people, I speak to CEOs, that’s my group of people. I don’t know other people. You can’t afford me, you can’t feed me nothing. It’s like going to school, you read something and you want to read the next page. Every day is the next chapter in the book that you want to keep turning the pages. – Morgan Latimore

The funny part is that my first book is getting published this fall. It is called “Become an Amazing Coach” and it is about people who want to become a coach. During quarantine, I was bored. I got ADHD and I wanted to write something. I didn’t know I had it in me. Right now, you can look back where you started and really start to think about it. In my case, it seemed like I went through hell. I had no directions so this book I wrote is about becoming an amazing coach. I always say that the hardest thing to do is to take the first step and that’s what it’s all about. I’m big on the mental and emotional because everybody wants to be a salesman and sell their products. Everybody can get a product everywhere but building a brand and loyalty comes from inside. You have to have passion and give it to the people that you work with, so that your clients know what you stand for. What I did in this book is explain to people to ask the question “I want to be a coach but should I be one?” if you go there and focus on the money, you miss the other side of it. I’ve mentored a lot of people. When I meet them, they say they bought a lot of stuff and I say that they don’t know what they are going to do yet. Business ca be unpredictable sometimes. Once you get in, it gets its way and decides for you. We go through that and ask a lot of questions. “Do you know what you’re getting yourself into“? Do more research, coach some friends. I’m a big believer that if you really want to do something, do it for free first. If you get into it and decide you don’t want to do this, it’s too late because you’ve already spent tons of money. Go practice, volunteer. I mentor coaches all the time. Hire or just find a mentor, they’ll tell you all you need to know. Why reinvent the wheel when the wheel has already been invented? – Morgan Latimore

I hate structure. I can’t stand it because I was in the Marine Corps for twenty two years. I can tell you how many things I wanted to do but I didn’t because it didn’t fit my personality. I say it’s better to focus on one thing. If you have a lot of things to consider, put them in order, list them out and decide what that thing is. Do a business plan, an outline, whatever you need to organize your thoughts. It is going to change over time but at least you have direction. What you don’t want to do is waste time and money, two thing you can’t get back. – Morgan Latimore

This is the reason I’m writing book. There is no guidance. They give you a certification and a module on the business when that should’ve been the first thing taught before you learn all the technical stuff. You can read books and see how other people have done it but there are no resources. You can see there is something missing in the industry and you decide to be what was missing. I want to educate athletes and coaches on the other piece that the people don’t tell you. They want to know how much to charge. In the real world, you don’t talk about money. Unless you got the hookup from a friend, you have to figure out on your own. How do you set that fee? How do you go about it? That’s why I think my book will help future coaches. It gives answers. – Morgan Latimore

Trial and error is one way to go about it. You sometimes have to do OJT (on the job training). I advise others to look at the things you don’t think you’re good at but other people think you’re good at. People told me that when you figure this out, you’ll be able to do it. I didn’t believe them. However, I was really good at it. The problem is, most of the times, we do all these things not because we want to do them, but it is because we see other people doing them. The key is to spend time with yourself and decide what do you like, don’t do what everybody else is doing. That’s how you’re going to fail, you’re not going to be unique enough to set yourself apart from other people. Do what you love and pour all the energy of your love into that and it will become something incredible. – Morgan Latimore

Talk to people as much as possible. You have to speak from the heart. You do it over and over again and don’t expect no money in return. What people get disappointed about is they put all this work in and don’t see the fruits of their label. In business, you might not see it in two or three years. I just went live last years. You don’t really lose anything because it goes back into the business but you can’t expect anything up front. That’s why the sooner you get started, the sooner you can get to the place you want to go. If you keep holding back, you won’t get anywhere. – Morgan Latimore

I can’t remember what it was but years ago, I was reading something. It was about finding an industry, the one thing in that industry that is considered maybe taboo or different or a small niche and go towards them. Don’t go to the idea or the task or the business that everybody else is doing because there is always this other dynamic, demographic that is not being sourced or used. You go there and start small. Some might say you won’t earn a lot of money this way but the loyalty you get from them will pull people from other niches. You know why? Because your heart is in that. You do it because someone else is doing it, you’re just going through the motions. People will see that, when they see you are passionate about what you do, that’s the best bargain you’ll ever have in your life. – Morgan Latimore

For me, Facebook is the best. There are some platforms I don’t use like: TikTok and Twitter but it is not in the level where it is relevant yet. What we don’t understand is we think we can be anywhere and it doesn’t matter. At first, I don’t want to be on LinkedIn for example, there’s too much work and I thought that wasn’t my audience. However, I hired somebody to create a LinkedIn profile for me and some of my biggest jobs have been generated from there. I didn’t have to do a lot of work. I don’t try to sell myself. I need to figure out how to take on more coaches because I can’t take any more people. Facebook has helped me with the demographics of what I do. Platforms help you with the people you want to touch, for you to know where they are. – Morgan Latimore

I have under 40 athletes under one brand. One of them is in my city. Most of them are in Argentina, Japan, India, Virtually, it’s a lot. Everybody thinks coaching is being with me. If you want me to spend time with you, you need to pay an hourly rate. Virtual coaching eliminates expenses. We can do Zoom calls, etc. but I’m not physically there. It gives people a lot more flexibility in their life too. If you need to be some place, considering the fast pace their lives are going, they have other priorities, have dinner with their family, spend time with their kids, etc. They don’t have time to give you a whole hour, they need your guidance and knowledge, that’s where it comes down too. – Morgan Latimore

Everybody wants to be a beast until it’s time to do what beasts do. You want to be in the game, you want the credentials but aren’t willing to do the work. As a marine and as a father, leadership by example is the greatest form of leadership ever. Influential leadership is what counts. There’s no race, there’s nothing I will coach that I haven’t already done myself. I don’t coach myself, I have a coach. So, I understand what being an athlete is like, so I can still speak to that. Even though I have knowledge, there is always somebody more experienced. You have to set an example because that’s where respect is built. Practice what you preach. – Morgan Latimore

To answer that I need to go back to what I said in the beginning, you have to be honest with yourself. You can’t go where you think you need to go, you have to go where you’re good at. One you identify it, you need to find people who like it and need to resonate with them. That’s going to take consistency, hard work, consistency and discipline. Reading books is very important but the reason I’m good at it is because I do it all the time and I’ve gained all this knowledge. The same thing is with marketing, getting out there and building your audience. A study came to the conclusion that a person needs to see your brand or face at least three times before they decide they want to go to your direction. Nobody will hire you if they don’t know you. You have to be like McDonalds, Burger King or Wendy’s, everyday trying to show your face. The key is to not be so quick to sell, nurture your audience first. Nurture them, show them that you are the lead expert in your field, in what you’re good at. Most people flip it the other way, they just want to sell but that’s not nurture, that’s not how people work. There are a 1000 people trying to sell them something so they are going to cut you off. The key is, once you build that trusting confidence in that relation between you and the person viewing your content, they’re going to come to you when they need you. That’s where consistency comes to play. You need to be planting your seeds, one day they’re going to sprout. – Morgan Latimore

The only way I’m going to connect with everybody in this planet is to keep grinding. That’s what I tell myself. When there’s not a way, I find a way. I don’t make excuses, all I make is results. Nobody is going to want it like you want it. If you don’t use that passion to keep pushing forward and be resilient when times get hard, you’ll never have anything. There are a lot of people that are going to take it in their graves and have never accomplished anything in their life because of one ‘should’ve’ ‘could’ve’. Guess what? Those who are successful are like that, that’s why you want to be them. Will Smith has said, ‘You might be faster than me but if we get on a treadmill, I will be the last one to get off, you won’t outwork me.’ I remember started coaching and other people tried to do the same thing, where are they now? I’m not going to be the last one off the treadmill, I’m never getting off the treadmill. – Morgan Latimore

I am in a lot of coach groups, I coach coaches. I have hired a coach for myself and give them athletes from my brand as well. I don’t care about nobody else. If you focus on anybody but yourself. If you worry about having the imposter syndrome or you’re not adequate enough, then go get it, start learning. If I don’t know something, I go and learn it. Ask them to teach you, you’re never going to know everything. The key is, if you’re doing it for the right reasons, it won’t even matter, people will understand. That’s why continuous education of your craft and continuously honing it is important. The day you stop learning is the day you die, professionally, that’s what happens. You die professionally or physically. – Morgan Latimore

I spent too much money. Not knowing to return, we spend a lot of money up front, you probably bought a lot of tools and you end up not using them because you didn’t know what it was for. I spent money on Facebook for marketing and once I learned what marketing was all about, I realized I had wasted three grand just on posts. But I didn’t know about demographics, I didn’t have any purpose, didn’t know what I was supposed to do, who to send it to or didn’t know what content I was making. I was putting money on somebody else’s pockets and no money on my own. No matter how fast you are, you have to slow down enough to be able to be methodical when you’re making decisions. Don’t be so quick to have something until you understand the other side. – Morgan Latimore

My phone showed me that I had spent 40 hours on Facebook last week so it’s a very big commitment. In the beginning you’re got to be the bookkeeper, social media manager, the CEO, the CFO, CIO, you’ve got to be everybody and it takes time. People sort of started calling it my second full time job. It’s like an investment, the more you put into it, the more you’re able to potentially get out of it. If you’re looking to move fast, you need to be able to do more you need to spend as much free time as you can. There’s a quote that says “I do the things today that others won’t do, to have the thing tomorrow that others won’t have.” You have to go out there kicking it, you’re trying to run a business. Most of the successful people I know don’t have a social life. When I’m at the races or with my athletes, I don’t really talk like that because I’m trying to build something. So, you have to be willing to sacrifice something. However, I’ll tell you the most important part: “no matter how much time you sacrifice for it, never sacrifice the ones you love”. – Morgan Latimore

I’m coaching and I made $75,000 last year doing it part-time. That means I’m good at it. It just shows me, I didn’t think it was possible. I’ve been a coach, entrepreneur, people are afraid because you don’t look like that. They say “don’t share big dreams with small-minded people” because nobody can fathom that. I had a friend who was a swimming coach and he told me he was making six digits. I was surprised. I asked him how he did it. He lives at home, has a pool in his backyard and he gives lessons but he’s valued because he is putting the work upfront. The most valuable thing I’ve gotten from this is self-growth. – Morgan Latimore

Coaching is hard, there is word of mouth involved. The key is to not charge a lot upfront. Part-time is easy to charge nothing. What I’ve learned is everybody don’t respect free service, they don’t care of you, and they don’t value your time. Get something to get you in the door (25$, 35$), but limit the service that you give them. If you are the cheapest in the area, someone will come to you. When you decide who you want to work with, you start building that experience and backing up the client, numbers increase over time but the key is to get the foot on the door. Endurance coaching and races are always looking for coaches. So, how can you bring value to them? You can go to athletes, tell them you want to be their coach in the race if they allow you to put your name into this. So, instead of being visible to only five people, now you can reach to 5,000 people and you can get at least one or two clients out of that if you throw the work already. – Morgan Latimore

Saying: “Everybody can be an entrepreneur”. It’s not the truth. You definitely have to put in the work. Just because you put a title on your name, it doesn’t mean you have the passion or the drive or other traits you need to be an entrepreneur. It’s about somebody seeing something bigger today that other people aren’t able to see and going after it. That’s what an entrepreneur is. – Morgan Latimore

The best thing for starting a business, the best way to get my drive and journey is to come to me and buy my book. Let’s get you to where you want to be, let my mistakes be your gain. That’s a really important part. If I could go back and do this over again, I’d be a millionaire by now. I won’t lie, I would’ve done so many things differently. Six, seven years into it now, down the line, I would be so much more. I missed so many opportunities in the past because I thought I didn’t need it when I actually did. Don’t give up! That’s why most people don’t ever achieve anything. When things get hard, they forget how resilient they truly are. In any given time, in anyone’s life you thought you wouldn’t be able to get through something and now you come up on the other side, you look back and realize it wasn’t as bad as you thought. It’s going to take work, be hard but anybody can do it. You only get better if you choose to get better. – Morgan Latimore

“Become an amazing coach”. I don’t know when it will get posted but I might have a second or third one by that time. I keep grinding just as I tell others to grind. – Morgan Latimore

You can find me on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook by the name of Coach Morgan Latimore, you can find me there. Or you can go coachmorgan@lpurecoaching.com. I believe that anybody can ask me questions. Information is free, I’ll never charge you to educate you, ever. If you want me to do something to make you better, that’s a different story, there has to be money involved. – Morgan Latimore