In this conversational testimonial, coach Scott Perry interviews his client Nazli, an academic coach who helps high‑school students with SAT, ACT, physics, and calculus, often using mindfulness to reduce test‑taking anxiety. Nazli explains that after a hiatus she needed to restart her business, find new clients, and redesign her business model to protect her mental health and serve elite‑athlete students. She chose to work with Scott again because of their long‑standing relationship through the Catalyst coaching community and his supportive approach. Together they reinforced Nazli’s confidence, brainstormed client‑acquisition tactics, and created a balanced business model that prioritizes well‑being. Since coaching, Nazli has secured new clients, gained time to develop her "Seeing in Stillness" project, and reports greater joy and a seamless blend of work and life. She urges viewers to fill out the online form and work with Scott, promising transformative results for coaching businesses and personal fulfillment.
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Hey everyone, Scott here with another one of my rockstar coaching clients, Nazli. Nazli, tell us, tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.
Yeah, so I'm an academic coach and I specialize in helping high school students. We work on things like SAT, ACT, physics, and calculus. And what we do is we figure out together what's, I guess, tripping them up, and then devise strategies, whether that looks like mindfulness skills to reduce test-taking anxiety, reviewing concepts, basically to create mind shifts and letting go of limiting beliefs to open up new possibilities.
You do very important and great work, and it's, um, not our first rodeo. We've worked together in the past. It was great to be working with you over the last month or so. Um, what was your biggest challenge before we dove back into, uh, our coaching relationship?
Yeah, so I'd taken a hiatus from academic coaching, and I was basically restarting and rebuilding my business. So I was looking for help with, uh, creating strategies for finding new clients and also creating an entirely new business model.
And what made you decide to work with me over all the other possible coaching choices that you could have made?
Yeah, well, like you said, uh, we worked together in the past, and that was enormously helpful. And, uh, you know, I've been part of your Catalyst coaching community, uh, probably for many years now. So we've known each other for a long time, and I appreciate your, your, um, approach to coaching. So yeah, you're the only person who came to mind because I knew you would be able to help me.
I appreciate that. Well, what, what in particular was helpful about, um, what, you know, the work that we did together and why do you think it was so effective?
Well, I think what you did was you reminded me that I'm good at what I do. And more recently, I've actually learned I'm one of the top coaches in my area. So just reconnecting with myself was, was huge. And then brainstorming with you with regards to finding new clients. That was huge. And also creating this whole different style of a business model in which I don't— I prioritize my mental health and not get burnt out, but also benefits my students because most of my students are very busy being elite athletes and very busy with extracurricular activities. So it was a win-win situation for both, both of us.
Yeah, fantastic. Well, what's happened for you and your business since we worked together?
Yeah, so I've connected with clients. I've built, built up my business. I've, I'm also exploring new opportunities and new approaches to doing my business. But the other thing that it's opened up for me is it's opened up more time to explore, you know, I guess, my project Seeing in Stillness, which you also know about. And there's a lot of overlap with Seeing in Stillness and the academic coaching side of things, because Seeing in Stillness basically, uh, ways to help people, including my students um, find peace, engage their curiosity, and hey, maybe some joy in their day-to-day academic lives.
Yeah, yeah, I love that. Joy has been coming up quite frequently in these conversations, which makes me very, very happy. So have there been any changes just in your life in general as a result of the improvements that you made to your business and the new ways that you're thinking about your business since we worked together?
Um, yeah, I'm really enjoying my work with my students, and that's huge because I think it's so important. We spend so much time working that, uh, I think it's huge to, to really be able to enjoy the work that we do so that, that, uh, I guess, and you've talked about this, that boundary between work and the rest of our life, there's no huge boundary per se, but it's all just part of, uh, being alive and living a good life. Yeah.
Wonderful. So where do you think you would be right now if you hadn't trusted yourself enough to invest in yourself and the work that we did together?
Yeah, I think most likely I might still be thinking about ways to find clients, thinking about new business models, and also maybe a bit worried about, you know, falling into old habits and ways of working which are not particularly helpful. Um, so yeah, yeah, that's, that was a game changer. So I appreciate that. Yeah.
Awesome. Well, for those that are watching and thinking about reaching out to me to investigate ways that we might work together to help them get from where they are to where they want to be with in less time and with less effort, maybe have a little bit more fun along the way, but they're kind of sitting on the fence. What, what would you say to them?
Yeah, I'd say don't delay, you know, just fill out that online form, connect with Scott Perry, take the leap. There's nothing to lose and everything to gain. So, you know, just that brief conversation could most likely and almost definitely transform your coaching business. And probably your life.
Yeah, I really appreciate that, Nazli. It's been such a privilege and pleasure to be working with you again over this last month or so. And of course, you know that I really value your participation and contributions to the coaching or to the Catalyst community of paid subscribers to the Substack. So thank you for, um, for all you contribute to my life and to our community, but also for the difference that you make in your work. And thanks for taking the time to talk about all this with me today.
Oh yeah, sure, sure. It's, it's always hard to string sentences together, but I hope that was a bit helpful, and I hope I succeeded in communicating my thoughts and my gratitude. That's key.
