Richmond Dinh left optometry to build a seven-figure coaching business by being just one chapter ahead of his clients instead of an expert. He coached Sarah to $201,000 in 12 months and says the real barrier is imposter syndrome, not expertise.
Questions this video answers
February 24, 2025
Almost four years ago (relative statement in transcript).
$201,000 in a period of 12 months.
Half a million dollars (stated as "I made half a million dollars as a life coach").
Chapters
You only need to be one chapter ahead in order for you to get to six figures as a coach. What do I mean by this? Look, when I started out as a life coach almost four years ago now, I was an unfulfilled optometrist and I moved into the coaching space and yes, I was like many of you. I had so many stories and so many limiting beliefs about shit, can I actually do this? Like who am I to coach? I'm just an optometrist. I didn't have the skill set, I didn't have the experience, I didn't have the clients, I didn't have the know how. And more than anything, anything I thought, you know what, like geez, there are so many other coaches out there that are so much better than me and I had to be the best to succeed. And so the reason why I made it in the hardest niche possible, which is life coaching, is because I chose to believe this one thing that really served me. And I know it's going to really serve you and it's a principle of just being one chapter ahead of the person you're coaching. Look, what do I mean by this? Look, when I started as a life coach, I was helping people build trust and self belief and confidence, confidence within themselves so they can get the life that they deserve. Was I the most confident person in the room? No. Was I the most confident person in the world? No. However, I was coaching people who had less confidence than me and so I was just one chapter ahead of them. And that's how I got consistent paying clients, just by being one chapter ahead. And then as my confidence grew, I started coaching people with more confidence, but that was still one chapter behind me. And then when I got to in actual fact, I made half a million dollars as a life coach, started coming to me and asking me how I did it. And then so I started coaching coaches on how to do the same. But I didn't coach coaches on how to get to a million dollars or $10 million. I just started coaching coaches on how to get the first 10 paying clients, then how to get to six figures because I was one chapter ahead. And so how I built up a multiple seven figure business today is just being one chapter ahead of the person I was coaching. I'll give you another example. One of my students, Sarah, who came to me and she went from literally $00, nobody knew who she was.
$201,000 in a period of 12 months. And she started out as a sales coach and over the phone, sales coach. Now if she thought she had to be the best succeed. Then she'd need to be like Jordan Belfort or Dan Locke, like one of those big personality brands. However, she didn't have to be like that. All she needed to be just one chapter ahead and just be better at sales than the person she was coaching didn't have to be the best, but she was just one chapter ahead. And just from that belief, she grew a multiple six to figure business from scratch. And don't get me wrong, when she started out, she was like, who am I to do this? I don't even have the skill set. I'm not sure if I'm that good. She had all these stories and it was exactly the same as my stories. And so just by believing that you only need to be one chapter ahead, that's all it took to really create a sustainable online coaching business in today's market. So I'm curious if you're ever telling yourself a story like, geez, am I even that good? Well, if there's someone that has less skill than you and has what you want, then believe me, you are good enough. Let me know your thoughts. And I appreciate your comments on this one too. Talk to you guys later.
