Ep. 41: My 2026 Predictions for the Coaching Industry

People are more sensitive and hyper-aware than ever if there's an actual human behind what they're reading or experiencing. People are tired of being sold to by robots in the DMs. Welcome to the Prosperous Woman Podcast. I'm Claire Sellers, a business mentor and coach who is absolutely obsessed with helping you create the business of your dreams and your most prosperous life. Tune in for inspiring conversations with extraordinary women that will propel you towards becoming the prosperous woman. Hello everyone. I'm so excited to chat with you about my predictions for the coaching industry in 2026. This is gonna be a short and potent episode, so buckle up. I have been saying for years, I built my whole business on the foundation of Simple AF Business. I've even created an entire virtual summit happening in January devoted and dedicated to helping women see how simple business can truly be, having a wildly simple business and— a wildly prosperous business is not only possible, but it is the way to have a business that actually feels good and is sustainable. I've talked a lot on Instagram, in various places, on my podcast about why the coaching industry has gone a little bit off the rails in the last years with overcomplication, whether it is— Like I saw a post the other day, a coach saying you need to be selling at least 6 offers at once. That is freaking insanity. Please don't do that. People using ManyChat, like I've had clients come to me who are struggling to make sales and they've spent time setting up ManyChat so they have a robot answering their DMs when they aren't even getting DMs. All these different things like the super flashy photo shoots. And to be honest, I love doing that. I love doing photo shoots, but I'm doing them from a place of creativity, not trying to appear to be someone that I'm not. So the industry is really shifting, and I consider myself to be at the forefront of this movement of really showing women how to simplify their business and be wildly prosperous by ditching some of the complication, the gimmicks, the— false picture painting. So let's get into some of my predictions. So prediction number 1, and this isn't new news, but it's going to be even more prevalent than it ever has been. Human connection is the new strategy. So ChatGPT, I use it, but I don't use it to write for me. I use it to help me organize thoughts. Mm-hmm. People can tell in 2.5 seconds when something is written by ChatGPT, especially if you don't remove the em dashes, newsflash. So people are more sensitive and hyper-aware than ever if there's an actual human behind what they're reading or experiencing. People are tired of being sold to by robots in the DMs. Answer your own DMs. People don't want like a, hey Claire, thanks for coming across my page. What's lighting you up these days? No one wants that. Your audience wants to feel you again. So what does this actually look like? This looks like real voice notes, real DMs, real conversations, genuine comments on people's posts. Your energy and your presence will convert more than anything else. And in 2026, the women who win are the ones who will actually talk to their people. Period. So prediction number 1, human connection is the strategy. Prediction number 2, live connection is queen. So when I say live, I don't necessarily mean in person, although I think that that is going to be continuing to increase, but live offerings. So that can be live virtual masterclasses. It can be in-person work. It can be in-person intensives. Intimate Zoom rooms, live summits. People don't want to watch prerecorded content. How many courses have you bought that you've literally never opened? I probably have at least a dozen. People want to feel you live. So live connection, live offerings are queen. I've never liked self-paced courses. I have The Party Method, but that's really more as a way for people to experience me. And honestly, I don't really position that as one of my core offers in any Anyway, it's often a bonus for those joining my high ticket. I don't get turned on by prerecorded stuff. Live connection is queen. So the people who are gonna win in 2026 understand that live energy sells because it's real, it's grounded, and it's palpable. And people need to feel this in order to invest with you. Prediction number 3 is that candid content takes over. And you guys might have seen this in my content lately. I'm literally for my carousels just going in and finding photos of my life and using that as my photos versus my branded photo shoots. People do not want curated perfection. They want to know that there's a real human who forgets to brush her hair on a Wednesday morning like me on the other side, because that creates a feeling of safety and intimacy. It's so obvious to me when people are kind of like pretending like they're quote rich or pretending like they're in their soft girl era when behind the scenes they're like absolutely in fight, flight, freeze. That is out. People want honesty. They want to hear the truth about your business. They want to see your process. They want to see the behind the scenes. They want to see you know that like you get scared before you launch too. That's something that I just shared. I was really freaking scared right before my launch of the summit, of the Simple AF Summit. And I shared that people wanna really feel the real you behind the scenes. And the good news about this is, is that it's so much easier to create content like this than to sit there on your own or in ChatGPT racking your brain for how you can seem put together or clear or wealthy or whatever you're trying to paint a picture of. In 2026, polished is out and candid and human is in. In. Prediction number 4, trust marketing replaces trend marketing. Your audience, our audiences are done with gimmicks. They're done with the fake urgency. If there's one spot left, there's one spot left and you can say that. But a lot of people are using that as like a gimmick and it's felt. People wanna buy from actual leaders that they trust and this requires you to step into a new level of leadership. People want you to build trust with them through consistency. So showing up consistently instead of perfectly, being super clear in what you're offering, having one offer that you're focused on bringing people into at a time. And simply, we don't need 8 pricing tiers and 7 upsells and 3 downsells. And oh, if not, join my membership. One offer. That speaks to one specific person, one specific problem, and one pathway to solve that problem. You do not need 10 offers. You need 1 to 3 that you deeply, deeply believe in and you know how to sell the you know what out of. Trust will be the real currency of 2026. Business is getting simpler and simpler and simpler and simpler. Business is requiring us to be even more feminine-led, meaning letting our true magic, our creativity, our play, our lightness, our levity lead. More human. And to me, this is good news because this is so much easier than pretending to be someone you're not or having this complicated business that feels like shit and you are doing it because you saw some other coach doing it or you're launching this way because you saw someone else do it. It's time to go back to what works, and this is simple AF business. And this is exactly why I created the Simple AF Biz Summit. This is 2 days, it's virtual with me, and it's not just me, you guys. I am bringing a lineup of world-class women. I'm gonna be revealing the first guest speakers soon. We are going to teach you exactly how to build a simple, purposeful, and wildly prosperous business in 2026. We're talking everything from product suite, business model, how to invest your money when you make it, how to leverage your human design so that you can show up in the best way possible in your business, and all the things that you need to know to really peel it back, dial it in, and step into your most prosperous era in business ever. So if this episode activated you, if you're like, yes. This feels like the biggest sigh of relief. You need to get inside the summit. We're linking it all in the show notes. It's freaking free, you guys. This is truly my gift because I just feel so passionately about what we're doing here and this next level that's really coming in 2026. And the movement is just getting started. I want you to be a part of it. So grab your ticket now, share it with your friends. I cannot wait to go on this journey with you. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to the Prosperous Woman Podcast. I am so grateful for your presence and for being a part of this community. Feel free to DM me @itsclairesellers on Instagram. I would love to connect with you and hear what resonated with you in this episode. Don't forget to subscribe to the show, and if you enjoyed what you heard today, leave a 5-star review. Your feedback means the world to me and helps me reach more incredible women just like you. As I love to spoil you, just DM me a screenshot of your review on Instagram and I'll send you my free Prosperity Activation Course as a thank you. It's my way of investing in you and your dreams.