Five Powerful Reasons Why Therapists Should Become Certified Life Coaches (Part 1)

And I am live. And so welcome to those of you who are on Facebook, LinkedIn, and on YouTube. Um, happy Sunday, happy Sunday. Hey, good evening, sis, my best friend, and popped on up here tonight. Hey sis, how you doing? Um, and so I am so excited, um, to be up here tonight to, um, just share with, um, those who are therapists who are thinking about becoming a life coach and 5 powerful ways and reasons why you should become a life coach, especially in this hour. Okay, um, but before I do that, why everyone— because coming on, if you're coming on later, be sure to put hashtag replay in the comment section. If you are a therapist, please put hashtag therapist in the comment section. Okay, put it in the comment section. Hey, I love you too, sis, in the comment section. All right. So before I get into tonight's teaching, I want to share with you all 3 quick updates. Um, okay, so first of all, I am having an interest meeting for those of you who are interested in becoming a certified Christian life coach on May 1st, on a Thursday evening at 7:30 PM. Yes, I'm registered on Eventbrite. On that night in particular, I'll be going over my program, um, more in detail as to what to expect to expect, what the cost will be, what you receive, and all that. It's amazing, okay? So amazing. All right, um, also I, um, launched Empowered to Lead. It's my mentorship for, um, Christian leaders who want to go deeper in the word of God, who wants to grow spiritually, who need support, who need community, and just— ah, it's been amazing, okay? That was launched now almost 2 months ago. We had our last class last Sunday. It was amazing. Oh guys, if you're interested in joining that, I'll put the link for you in the comment section in just a moment, um, to check that out. Um, and I'll go into that in greater detail on a different day. Um, but yeah, it's called Empowered to Lead. It's a mentorship for those who are called to lead. Okay, called to lead. All right. Um, the third thing I have here is, um, my Faith and Mental Wellness Directory has been revamped. Um, so where I'm offering those who are, um, becoming members of the directory more, um, content, more support. So check that out as well. I'll put the, uh, the link for you also in that in the comment section as well in just a moment. All right, so, so I want to go over those 3 things, um, that is going on right now with me. So I haven't been live in a while. I've been on, you know, social media. I've been posting all that good stuff, right? But actually been live, it's been a little over a month if not more. I've been busy behind the scenes, you know, trying to get things done. Trying to get things in order, taking care of my family, and also preparing for the next season. Okay, all right, so here we are in the second quarter. It's April 2025, you guys, and it— time is going by so fast. For one, um, two, this is Resurrection Week, and Sunday will be, um, you know, um, on Sunday, Easter Sunday. So you guys prepare your hearts and minds for, for Christ. All right. So with that being said, I'm gonna say a quick prayer and then we're gonna get started. And so, Holy Spirit, I just thank you, um, tonight, God. Everything that I do, Lord God, is centered around you, Lord. Um, God, just, uh, just tonight I pray, God, that you would just reveal yourself even the more to your people, especially those who are coming on, um, those who are therapists who desire to, um, expand, to grow, Lord God, to expand their reach. Oh God, I pray, God, that tonight they'll get clarity. They receive insight, Lord God, even impartation, Lord. So God, give you the glory, the honor, and the praise. I pray. Amen. Amen. All right, so as you all know, I am a Christian therapist myself, and also I am a certified Christian life coach. I started practicing in my own private practice in 2017 as a therapist. All right, so I've been doing therapy for a very long time. To me, a long time. So from 2017 up until the pandemic, I had been doing primarily only, um, therapy during that time. So when the pandemic hit, of course the world was turned upside down. People needed support like never before. I was so busy as a therapist. I went from seeing about 10 clients per week to about 30 clients per week, and it was only by the grace of God I was able to handle all that as well as run my business as well as take care of my family and all of the above. Okay, it was God's supernatural grace on my life, okay? And he had kind of already warned me that things were gonna, you know, something was gonna happen. Um, I wasn't sure what that was, but when the pandemic hit and I began to get busy, I understood. I understood. I said, I gotta understand that. I thank you, God, for getting me back in place, because I had a little season where I was like, God, what's going on? Am I, you know, I don't have many clients right now. He said, I'm preparing you. I'm like, okay. And here we are today. He prepared me for that particular season, all right? So during that time, you guys, I was receiving so many inquiries from people from different states, from all over the world, asking me, hey, can you counsel me? Okay, now mind you, during that time as well as being a therapist, you know, there, there is jurisdiction, meaning that depending on what state you're in, depending on, um, you know, you know, where you are in the world can really dictate where you're able to practice therapy at. Some states have an easier, you know, way of being able to, you know, cross over and become licensed in their state. But then this time during the pandemic, they lifted that, okay? The president lifted that to the point where we all can just see clients in different states. Well, because of that, I was getting an influx of just people reaching out to me, and I could not serve all those people. I kept saying, I'm sorry, I'm booked out. I got 30 clients. Please. I'm like, I can't. I'm so sorry. And so then as time began to go on, right, eventually that law had been pretty much like, you know, done away with. And so therapists no longer was able to see clients anymore without being licensed in that state, right, for therapy. But I was still receiving inquiries. Okay, so during this time, you know, I already felt this desire like to do more, to do more, you know, group stuff, to do more just for the kingdom in general. And during this time, God was already having me do like the nonprofit work, you know, doing stuff with ministry still. And I really wasn't online like that, you know. I've never really been a fan of being online, to be honest, you all. I share that with you all a lot because people think that I just woke up like this, that I just came online, I had it all together, and boom, here I am. No, I had to do some inner work. I had to really, you know, allow God to do a work on my heart, and I had to give God a full yes to to my assignment, to my destiny, y'all. And that came with time, that came with perseverance, that came with warfare, that came with so much more. And so I had to get past myself and past Shakeeta Torres Torres Torres and what I wanted to do and what I didn't want to do, right, to fulfill the call of God on my life. And so, you know, when you are looking at wanting to, you know, coach and do more group stuff, the primary target is going to be online. Yes, you can do it, you know, in your community, you can do it, you know, at a lower scale for sure. It, don't get me wrong, you can do that, it's possible. But if you want to expand your reach to your, you know, to your— to the largest extent, you need to be online, okay? And so for me to really reach the people God called me to, I had to be online. I had to be online, or I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing today, okay? So I pushed past myself, and, um, I went ahead and got certified again. So I had certification before from an online institute. It wasn't a Christian one, um, and so I did that, you know, it's super easy, but I never really used it. So I felt the need to go again and get recertified, and so I did, I did. So in 2020, um, I got recertified. Um, it was amazing. A lot of things that went over I already knew, and, um, to me the program was, was a great starting point for me, okay? But after that, you got to continue to grow You have to continue to learn. You have to invest in yourself, invest your time, invest your money. And not only that, I was really struggling with, okay, I'm a therapist. Okay, how do I, you know, like, do I like stop being a therapist altogether? Like, what does that look like for me? Okay, should I use my credentials as an LCSW? Should I not? And so I had all these different internal, like, questions that I had to go and seek answers for. All right, should I have a second business? I had all these questions, you guys. And so I had to take out time to learn those questions and answers for myself. Okay. And because during that time coaching was, was a great— was going good, you know, in the— for the industry. But it has taken off even the more since the pandemic because people are seeing that, oh my God, people need help. You know, it's a need for— it's a great way, you know, to be able to, you know, you know, bring in income while also help people. Okay, and so if you are a therapist that's on tonight, this live is for you. If you're not a therapist, that's fine, you will still be able to learn something from this. Um, in the next, you know, few weeks or so, I'll be speaking more to those who are already certified and also to Christian leaders, okay, about how being certified can also help you. Okay, so the number one thing here is that I just said earlier, but my own story is to expand your reach beyond the therapy room or your Zoom room, because I was doing a lot of Zoom, you know, of course, during the pandemic because we couldn't go through our office space, right? So it does expand your reach. So for example, um, I had some clients that I had been seeing that were in different states. I was seeing, um, in therapy. So when they were done with therapy, they had like a break from me, and then some of them did come back to see me for life coaching. And so yes, it is ethical for you to be able to coach a client that you've done therapy with. But you do need to really, um, give them a break. Give them a break, all right? Give them time to go and learn the skills you have taught them in therapy, right? And then also, sometimes they're ready to go to the next level. They're ready, you know, they're doing great mentally. They have dealt with the anxiety, they dealt with the depression, they dealt with the, the heavy, heavy stuff, right? The trauma, okay? Um, but you can still, you know, work with them if they're in a different state if you have your certification, okay? Because there is no jurisdiction when it, when it comes to being a life coach. Um, that's the question I received on the questionnaire for the event I have for Even Bright, um, May 1st. Just like, hey, you know, am I able to continue to do both? Yes, you can, but every client is different, every situation is different. And in my program that I'm having, we talk about that more in detail. Okay, and so it does, um, expand your reach. Um, you can expand to doing, you know, coaching group. I mean, it opens so many doors for you, to be honest. And I don't do coaching necessarily full-time because it's a product, right? If I want to do it full-time, I could, but I don't want to do one-on-one full-time. I don't. Okay, my goals have changed significantly over the years. It's 2025. Okay, I began my ministry online in 2020, and then from there I began to continue to grow, evolve. I created courses. I, you know, I speak now. I do consulting. I do my mentorship programs. There's so much that God has given me vision for. That's the vision he gave for me. Okay, okay. And I always say this: if you are a great therapist and your clients love you and they love what you, what you do, you would definitely be an amazing life coach for sure. Okay, and there is room for you. When you look online, we're like, oh my God, it's so crowded, everybody's a life coach, right? But your unique personality, your style, your— the call that God has for you is unique to you. There's people that I can't reach that you can reach, okay? There's people that you can't reach that somebody else can reach. So there is space for you, there is room for you, okay? And that's what I do in my program, is really help you to kind of like hone down who your people are, who has God called you to. And it took me some time to kind of like navigate that as well. And it's not because God didn't speak to me and give me who my people were. It's because I didn't think at that time that it was significant enough. Hello, somebody. So don't be thinking that whatever God gave you, okay, your assignment, the people you're called to, that is not significant or important enough, right? I feel like I needed to do more to be able to reach more people, to reach all these different people. But no, I had to really niche down to the people God has called me to. And because of that, I've been a lot more productive I've been a lot more effective, and my message, my message that I have now is a lot clearer. So when people reach out to me saying, hey, do you do XYZ? I'm like, no, I don't. So here's somebody I can refer you to that does. Even though I'm capable of doing it, that's not my assignment. So it's so clear. It's so important that you're clear because it prevents burnout. Oh gosh, you guys, I can say this last 2 or 3 years has been like, it's been a lot of work. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you. It's work. What I'm saying is I've been a lot more clearer and I've been able to really just hone in on my people group even the more because I have clarity and I've made up, made up my mind. I'm gonna do what God told me to do and that's it. And I've been able to produce and do a lot more. Yes, God bless you all too. And you guys, I'm a talker, so I'll stop periodically to kind of look at your comments. You got up here on social media as well. Um, I'm Woman put, I am who I am put Amen. Glad to be here. Yes, welcome. Um, I Am Who I Am, thank you for being here. I thank you all for being here also on Instagram. Okay, okay. Reason number 2, you can integrate your faith a lot more freely. This is true. Now, as a therapist, you can incorporate your faith as well, but there are definitely things you have to always consider, okay? And you have to do it in a way where it's ethical. Now you have to do it in a way ethically as a life coach too, but with a life coach is definitely different. So as a therapist, it's almost like, y'all, okay, so first of all, the Lord told me before I launched, he said, you're hiding behind your credentials as a therapist. Like, I have called you to so many different things. You are my mouthpiece, you are my prophet, you are my— you are so many different things, but you're hiding behind your credentials. And I was Okay, because I allowed my credentials as a therapist to kind of like cap me in a sense, because I knew what some of the standards were, and I knew that it would not be, um, socially or I guess clinically accepted by some of my colleagues because they thought I was crazy. Okay, at this point, if you follow me for a while, I'm Holy Spirit driven, all about God, Holy Spirit, deliverance, Jesus. Okay, hello. And so it took me a lot of courage to break that mold so I can launch out and be who God fully called me to be, y'all. And that wasn't easy either. And so now I received so many emails in the past years, messages from people, hey, Shakeeta, hey, thank you for being the trailblazer in this area, right? I'm not saying I'm the only one that was doing it, but they said— they were telling me how they never seen someone like me who has boldly stepped out and truly embraced who I am as a woman of God and also be a therapist. So I knew that before I launched out, I was definitely hiding behind my credentials, and God had to thrust me out so I'll be able to help other people do the same thing. Okay. Um, and so, but when you're a life coach, like, my clients, they who come to me, they already know what they expect from me. They already know that I'm gonna pray us in. They already know that I'm gonna hear God, but also I'm gonna teach them some stuff. Okay, we're gonna have both. The Holy Spirit gonna be in here, he's gonna lead us and speak. Okay, but also I'm gonna teach you tools. I'm, I'm a teacher at heart. I like to get people tools to help them with their life forever. Okay, yes, in therapy you do that as well, but in coaching it looks different. I feel like coaching is a lot more just, uh, I just so much freedom, so much freedom. Um, I had a client before who was, I'm here for a little bit and she ended up moving to a different state, I believe Texas at the time. And so I said, hey, get you a therapist. But she did not want to stop seeing me, you know, at all. So she ended up becoming my coaching client, but she was also seeing a therapist too. And so when we are therapists, we can definitely see like, okay, now we kind of going to therapy. So that's why I say we make great life coaches, okay? Because we already know what therapy looks like. And so I'm like, hey, this right here, I can help you with this, but this right here is actually you know, therapy. So I want you to go see your therapist, ask her these questions. I would kind of coach her in that area as well. So she would see her, I think, like every week, and I would see her maybe like twice a month, okay? And she loved it. She was able to get both. She was able to get, you know, that clinical from her therapist, um, and I'm not sure she was a Christian or not. I'm not 100% sure. I'm not sure. But, um, she knew that I was a, you know, Christian and believe in our— in our— her God. And so she felt comfortable coming to me for, you know, the spiritual part, right? Because she's also— she and I had similar gifting, so she knew that she can learn so much from me. Um, and so this is why I say, you know, therapists can make great life coaches as well, okay? But you do have to have that, um, that line drawn as to, okay, what am I doing as a coach? What am I doing as a therapist? My program is going to help you do that, okay? It will help you to do that, okay? Um, the third reason here is, um, you can help clients who are not diagnosable. So have you ever had a client before who comes and they're like, oh, I have insurance, um, you know, I'm coming for XYZ, and you're like, oh God, this person really, you know, don't really meet the criteria for therapy. And you may see them for a session or two and you're like, yeah, this is not therapy. I've had it happen to me before where someone, you know, come to me and it's like it's something so simple. And I might see them for a session or two, but I can definitely feel it leaning more towards like ministry. And, um, of course my job is a ministry, but they really wanted to talk more about the spiritual stuff, more about biblical stuff. And I'm like, hey, okay, I'm a therapist. And so for me, honestly, as a therapist, I wanted to make sure I remain clinical and also definitely invite the Lord in. But when you're doing therapy, it's clinical work, y'all. It's clinical work. So we dealing with, you know, things from your past. We're dealing with, you know, a lot of different things going on. And I wanted to keep my skills and stuff fresh. I didn't want it to be tipping over into this strictly ministry. So I had to, you know, refer her out. At the time, I wasn't doing, um, a lot of coaching either. So I'm like, hey, you need discipleship, and you also need, you know, a, a home, a church home. Okay, so she was struggling with that. Okay, and so now fast forward to today. Now I do have my discipleship/mentorship group for Christian leaders now, and that's a way that I'm able to disciple them but also give them skills and tools for life, their own ministry, their own leadership, right? And it's been amazing, it's been powerful. And so what I have today would help her if I knew her today. Okay, um, and so really, this really trying to determine, you know, what if that your client needs. And once again, my program, we cover that. Number 4, you can launch groups, courses, and more. And so of course, as a therapist, you can do groups, but if you're just coming as just a therapist, once again, you are risking capping yourself, okay? Because again, you got to have paperwork, you got to have certain things in place, right? You got to have, you know, have a plan in place for a crisis. And like, it's a lot of layers. There's a lot of stuff that come along with it. But as a coach, right, you put out your disclaimer, you know, who I am, my role. My role is your coach. My role is to, you know, whatever it is that you're doing. And I'm a therapist in this state, but please know XYZ, okay? For some of you guys who are in like California, the stricter state, okay, so I do know that, you know, some of you guys have to really truly do a little bit more research. And so I encourage you to do that as well. Talk to your board, talk to your, you know, your board in your state saying, hey, I want to do coaching, okay, what do you— what's the rules? Tell me Show me. Have them show you. Okay, show me. I'm a person that I ask questions, but show me, show me. Okay, show me on the site, show me the paperwork, show me where it say what I can and what I cannot do. Okay, because that covers you. All right, so I definitely did that too. I called my board like, you're fine, you're good to go. Um, also want to, you know, talk to a lawyer. Hey, I want to do this, you know, what do you recommend? And he gave me some feedback. Okay, so definitely keep that in mind. So keep everything separate. Okay, I'm just getting on now. Hello, good evening. I'm going into, uh, number 5 in just a moment, but also going to some, um, FAQs as well that I found that you guys wanted to ask me as well about this. Um, she put here, my biggest question, how do you bring your faith into your field at work? I'm coming into social work and I want to be a life coach. How do you navigate it in the workplace? So I have 2 books that I wrote Um, one is for those who are therapists. It talks about how to, how to incorporate the Holy Spirit into your sessions. It's amazing. It's a great book. It also has a video series in there. It's on my website. I'll put the link in here for you, or I'll probably send you a DM with the link as well for that book. It come in ebook form, or you can get it on Amazon. It's everywhere now. Amazon, my Lulu store, my website, it's everywhere at this point. I wrote it like maybe 2 years ago. The Lord told me to write that book about 2 years ago. It's amazing. Then I have a book too for those who are life coaches. If you're a life coach or you want to become certified, it talks all about the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit and your faith can be incorporated into your coaching as well. What— because people struggle with, oh well, I'm just praying. No, you're not. As a coach, you're not just praying for people. No, no. And then charging them for prayer. No. No, no, no, you're welcome. And then also, um, in the fall, the Lord has been very clear with me about, um, relaunching my, um, mentorship group for Christian therapists too. So I'll be doing that in the fall as well, and he's already giving me kind of like a roadmap, um, of what to do with that. So look into that as well. Um, join my email list as well. That's where I send out all the updates, all the content, and all the good stuff. All right. Um, she said I'll be your event. It's on May 1st. You put May 7th, it's on May 1st. Um, I Am Who I Am, um, on Thursday. So go to Eventbrite and I'mma register there. It'll be a little questionnaire and they're asking you more questions about who you are, your goals, and things like that. Um, hello, uh, Yvette, thanks for coming on. She's the therapist. Hello, Miss, uh, Miss Newbie, thanks for being here. Hello. Yes, yes, come on in, come on in, it's gonna be great. It's gonna be great. I'm gonna look on Instagram real quick, you guys' questions. Hello everybody. Hello, hello, hello. Okay, so the 5th reason here is you can prevent burnout with more flexibility. Yes, absolutely. So if you are a therapist and you are going into coaching, depending on, you know, what your niche is, depending on who your target audience is, especially if you come up from insurance, you can charge a little bit more. Okay, we'll go over that too in my program. It's like, how much should you charge? And it's, it's not hard to figure out, but people have to gain their confidence to kind of get there to charge a certain rate. I had to do the same thing, um, but it depends on, you know, your credentials, your education, transformation. Do you have testimonials, right? Do you have that social proof to prove that you're good at what you do? You know, people invest in what's going to help them to transform, okay? Um, and they might not invest in everything right at that moment, but I have people who call problems and, hey, I want to do coaching, but they don't start till next year, you know, for whatever reason. Okay, so we'll go over all that. We go over marketing, we go over, you know, how to, you know, do your, your, your site. We do all that stuff. Okay, um, Yvette put, how do you navigate insurance companies? Do they cover coaching? Do you suggest yourself in the coaching context rather than therapy when you receive a referral via insurance? So I know every state is different, okay? So I'm not doing therapy right now, okay, um, through insurance, okay? I'm only doing primarily coaching, okay, coaching and mentoring. And so when I was doing therapy, from my understanding then, they were not covering coaching, um, coaching sessions. But now things are starting to change, and some companies— I know one of my friends who's also a therapist too lives in Charlotte And she was saying that she, you know, you know, became a coach as well. And some insurances started to take, you know, coaching, you know, for insurance. So I think it just depends on the person's insurance. Okay. And it also depends on what they, what they need. Do they need a therapist? Do they need a life coach? Right. And I have content on that as well on my blogs. I'm really explaining, you know, what to look for. And how to determine whether they need coaching or they need to have therapy. Okay, hopefully to answer your question, Yvette. Okay, and so again, you can prevent burnout. And so once again, your coaching clients should not be— oh gosh, should not be so heavy in sessions when they're meeting with you. Of course, you have times where they need more support than others depending on what your niche is, but you should not be feeling burnt out and fatigued big and tired, you guys, from your coaching. Coaching honestly gives me life, okay? I have had sessions with clients for like sometimes 3 hours, and it does not feel that way at all whatsoever because they have been my ideal client, all right? My ideal client, meaning the person that I know, um, that God has called me to help, and he has graced me for that. Yeah, that's right. I'm so excited for what God is doing. Amen. Yes. And, um, also I want to share that maybe about 2— it's probably been about 2 or 3 years ago, the Lord gave me a prophetic word that, uh, my dream— actually was a dream, and he was showing me that we're coming up on a time when there's going to be so much— so, you know, a need for more coaches and more therapists because the world is going to— is going into a crisis, y'all. Like, people are going to— into— now, as we speak, it's already here, to be honest, and they need more support. And I'm not sure what that looks like. I don't— I'm not sure what the insurance companies are going to do, how they're going to navigate that crisis, but they're going to have to do something, okay? Because they're going to need help. And therapists, we can't, you know, we can't do everything, okay? We can't do it all. Because then the pandemic was crazy. The pandemic was crazy, y'all. We— it was difficult for so many people, and it still is, to be honest. People are still recovering from what they lost from the pandemic. This— it's 5 years, almost 5 years later. Okay, and so I shared that on my YouTube channel. You want to look at that, um, just let me know in the comment section and I'll send it to you, um, in the DM as well, on the word God gave me for that. It was so detailed, it was very graphic what I saw. I saw even like the waiting room, people waiting to be seen, and just so much, y'all. So there's a need for both therapists who are Holy Spirit-led and life coaches who are also Holy Spirit-led, okay? And so, um, therapists— God is raising up more therapists. He, he showed me that too, 2 or 3 years ago. He said, I'm raising up new therapists. And so this is why I'm having the program in the fall, so that those who desire to be trained, to be equipped, to be able to help God's people through the power of the Holy Spirit as well, you, you can do that, okay? Oftentimes people, when they hear that, they become afraid, or they become like just like overwhelmed, or they feel inadequate, right? And God will meet you right where you are, right where you are. You guys, I did not— like I said earlier in the beginning of this live, I did not get where I am overnight, y'all. When I first, you know, launched out into, you know, becoming a therapist, you all, at that time I was already operating in my gifts. I was already hearing the Holy Spirit. I was already, you know, flowing in this vein, you know, in my— where I was at during that time. And so when I came into, you know, therapy, I was like, God, like, I'm seeing this, I'm hearing, I'm like, it's so much that you're showing me and I'm hearing, and I don't know how to navigate this in an ethical way. God showed me, I'm going to train you. And the Lord himself, y'all, he, he trained me. Nobody trained me. The Lord did, and he kept me in his word. Yeah, stay in my word, stay in my word, stay in prayer, stay at my feet, and I will teach you what to do or how to treat my people. And he has done that, and I have been highly effective at that over the years. And I say that from a place of humility, in a place where I'm like, I'm humble because I'm like, God, you chose me. Like, I— that, that blows my mind. It really does. Okay. And since then, I have grown so much, so much, and I have been able to help mentor other therapists and coaches to do the same thing. And it's a joy, it's an honor, it's a privilege to be able to serve in that way. And because of that too, you know, it's like God has given me like this supernatural grace to be able to handle a lot of stuff because I'm in his vein— not Shakeeta Torres' vein, but in my vein. And then the time when I first became a therapist, it, it, it broke my heart because I saw people saying that there was Christian therapists, but they were still operating in New Age stuff. They were still operating as the world operates. And I'm— here's the thing, here's my disclaimer: people who come to you will operate in the worldly things, but it don't mean that you have to. That's the thing. You can still meet people where they are, no matter where they are, whether they're a Christian, whether they're not a Christian, whether they are in homosexuality. No matter where they are, God can use you to meet them where they are, y'all. So don't think that I'm saying because I'm a Christian therapist or Christian life coach that I'm eliminating people, okay? It is that who I'm called to— God has called me to serve Christian leaders, life coaches, and therapists, okay? And the people that I know God has called to evangelize more, to be able to reach the lost— like my best friend, for example, she's a— oh my God, Holy Spirit led all the way, 110%, okay? But she's called to the youth, she's called to juvenile justice system, she's called to help God's babies, okay? But she got— leads her, but they don't even know it. That's a prime example of evangelism. She's an evangelist. And so I'm really good at helping people to pull out and point out what it is that God has called them to, right? It's like God just give me so much like fresh ideas for his people. And so if you join my program, come with expectation. The more you expect, the more you're going to receive, okay? So again, I'm having the event on Eventbrite May 1st, and enrollment opens that day, and we'll have our first class like maybe like in the— toward the end of May, maybe in June. Not because I want to get, you know, through the holidays to, you know, my kids in school, you know, also, um, through Labor Day weekend. But you'll still be able to start the program. I have some pre-recorded content, but I'll also be teaching you guys more stuff live. You will have access to me, okay? Um, so it's a hybrid, um, you know, curriculum, okay? Um, you're gonna get so much. My students I had that I taught live a couple years ago was amazing. Oh my God, amazing, amazing. Time. Okay, um, so I'm excited too. Oh, amen! She said, I can see the joy of the Lord on you. Thank you so much, that means a lot to me. She said, wow, amen, praise God, I'm so glad I found you. God is ordering our steps. Yes, he is. And to be honest, you guys, listen, I gotta pop my hand. Let me tell you the truth, I've been so busy behind the scenes trying to get stuff done, and I had met with my bookkeeper, who's also my friend. So we had went over, you know, my year, right, and what I'm planning to have this year. And, you know, beginning of the year, I had a Christian, um, leadership, okay, that were amazing, awesome, okay. And so, um, I had to work on the, you know, everything with the directory behind the scenes, nonprofit behind the scenes. I'm like, Lord, you have graced me and I thank you for it. I said, but Lord, um, I need a little break. So he did. He gave me a break in March where I wasn't online as much. Now I'm still doing— I'm still working, but I wasn't going live. I wasn't speaking, you know, prophetically online or anything. I'm like, God, give me a break. And he did. And so I'm like, you know, maybe I should do the life coaching certification program like next year, not this year, right? This is me talking to myself, honey. That same day, the people who are in my, uh, mentorship with Shakeeta Torres, hey, let us know when the program launched because we want to go ahead and get, you know, you know, and become a certified coach under you. I'm like, oh God. So they, so they pulling on me, right? So I get emails, excuse me, ma'am, like, when are you having a problem? People are asking me about the program. I'm like, okay, I gotta do it now. I have to do it live, okay? Um, and so did I told my, my friend, my bookkeeper, I said, girl, I was thinking about it. You know, you crazy. She was like, people waiting on you. I'm like, I know, I feel— but I'm so busy. I'm like, I'm getting tired. She said, girl, go back to the Lord, second wind. So I had to go back before the Lord and just have him like refresh me, y'all, because I, I carry— I do a lot, but I promise you it's God's grace, y'all. I promise you that it ain't in my own strength. I promise you that, okay? Um, so I am going to have the program this year. I'm definitely excited about it. God always show up, but for a moment there, I wasn't going to do it. I really wasn't. Um, and then he began speaking to me about the fall and the therapist. Um, so I love it. I love what I do, but it takes time. It takes time. It takes energy, planning, and all that good stuff. Okay. Um, so yeah, so please, please, please show up. Okay. On May 1st. So, and then I want to go over 5 quick, um, questions people typically ask. I even had to Okay, the first one is, can I legally offer life coaching if I'm a therapist? Yes, you can. I remember, um, this was like last year, I had, um, the Faith and Mental Wellness, um, meetup with other therapists and coaches that I had hosted. And one of them was like, she was struggling because she lives in California, and she was saying how, you know, she didn't want it to overlap. I'm like, no, like, the board doesn't control your, your, your every move. The board doesn't control your life. Just get clarity, reach out to them. To find out what do you have to do to cover yourself. If you are a therapist, if you're licensed, okay, if you're a social worker, honey, you're good to go. You're fine, you're fine, okay. Um, how do I separate coaching from therapy? Okay, so for me, you all, first and foremost, when I first launched out as a coach and I'm already a therapist, oh my gosh, y'all, people would still reach out to me for therapy. And honestly, that was, um, uh, not like easy transition for me. Because I was still doing therapy, but I wanted to kind of like, kind of come out of that one-on-one therapy per se and do more teaching of the therapist. And so that was kind of difficult. And so as you launch out and you say you're a therapist, still accept people to come to you for therapy. But if you want to do both, you can. You can still, still do both, but just make sure that it is separated. If you have a website, you know, make sure you have a page for coaching, you have a page for therapy. And I had it for a little bit, but I also have a second business now as well. So I did go ahead and do a second business because I wanted to make sure that legally everything was separated. So Empower the Shift still exists, it's still there. There's things God is doing with that, it's still there, okay? Um, it's on hold for right now, but I have my coaching, I have my speaking, I have my consulting, I have it under another business to cover my license. I'm still licensed, and I plan on being that way for a very long time. So I'm still having to get training. I'm still having to go to, you know, uh, online or in person to get training to keep up my hours as a therapist. And I want that because I'm still teaching and training other therapists. So I can't sit here and not do that. And I'm trying to teach and train y'all. I gotta stay up to date, right, on what's going on in these streets. All right, will I ever do therapy again? I don't know. I don't know, y'all. I don't know. It's up to the Holy Spirit. Okay. Um, number 3, um, do I have to become certified to become a coach? I would say you do not. You don't have to become certified, but if you want the appropriate training, the appropriate tools, if you want to have a, um, a great foundation, you should definitely get certified. I'm glad that I did. Okay, I'm glad I did. So I do have to, and I'm also a certified coach trainer. Trainer. So I ended up going to, um, this lady. She had her own program of how to, um, train us to become coaches. So I have that. I got that in 2022, okay? So I had that as well, and she gave us the blueprint, but I revamped the whole thing and made it my own, okay? And made it for Christians, okay? All right. Also, it builds credibility and so much more. More, so much more. All right, the next one here is, can I work with clients outside of my state as a coach? Yes, I answered that question earlier. You definitely can. Uh, life coaching has no jurisdiction. You can work with anybody from anywhere, any place, anytime. As far as coaching, all mine has been through Zoom. I like to see my people, okay? I'm very personable. I don't like doing it over the phone. I had before, but I was not I was like, now I need to see your face. Okay, and so, um, yes, I did mine primarily via Zoom. Um, how do I handle— um, handle liability of legal risk? Get insurance. Get insurance. And also, um, be sure you have coaching agreements and disclaimers. Disclaimers, disclaimers is your best friend. Even whenever I have my programs on my academy, okay, and when people buy something from me I make sure I put in there, I am a licensed therapist, but I am not providing you therapy. I'm not providing you with crisis services. I'm not doing these different things. And people still reach out to me for therapy. This is why I have the directory. So speaking of that, the directory has been revamped. It's also been relaunched and all that good stuff. And so those who become certified under my program, the Life Coach then you will also get a discount to join the directory as well. Okay, it's going to be amazing. God-given vision. Okay, once again, um, yes, so, so much, so much, so much to offer you all. And so, yeah, and so I think that's all I have, um, to share. If you guys have any questions, um, let me know. If you do like a quick search and just put, you know, um, insurance for life coaches, you have different things come up. Um, just, yeah, there are people for my program, yes, it is a fee for it. So, um, for my program, whenever, um, we have the interest meeting on May 1st, um, I will go over the pricing. I will have, um, payment plans as well for you to make, uh, payments, and we'll go over all that. Okay, for students, and if I wanted to start hosting groups with your certification, will I be able to? Absolutely, for sure. Absolutely, for sure. Um, and so as far as your students clients, um, who do you have? Like, who— I'm gonna ask real quick if you don't mind, um, who, like, who are they? Like, what, what are you giving them in your groups, if you don't mind sharing that? Um, yeah, I definitely recommend if you are a social worker and working towards your degree and you want to do coaching, for sure, perfect timing. I wish I would have did that. Yeah, for sure. But I didn't know, I didn't know at the time. I didn't know, I didn't have the knowledge of that. I know how to put stuff together and all that good stuff. College students, former foster youth, yes, absolutely. So I see that being more like a mentorship group, but you can still, you know, um, you could do it for free or charge a small fee. It's up to you depending on what you're offering, depending on what you're offering. Um, you're so welcome, Amethyst. Welcome, welcome, welcome! Hello, you guys, thanks for coming on. And so my academy, which is called Empower Purpose Academy, was founded in 2021, um, and since then, um, I've been writing so many books, you guys. Books, courses, and there's so much more to come under the academy, so I'm excited about that. Um, a certified life coaching program, like starting from scratch, or there steps already consider taken? Oh my gosh, I said earlier, Yvette, you— we are in a great place. Like, at the therapy therapist, you are in like the best place to be able to like become a life coach. Um, the biggest thing I see coaches, um, struggle with in general, especially therapists, is niching down, really like breaking down your people group, because you do need to. Um, in the beginning, I really struggled with niching down. I wanted to help everybody, but when you want to help everybody as a coach, then you're not helping anybody. It's gonna be kind of hard to get people to come in and pay you, to be honest, because it's like, what does she do, right? Um, they see you do all these different things. Um, but if you kind of like hone in on your messaging and the people you're called to serve, you'll draw them in a lot better. So yeah, you in a great place. So I think for you, for those of you who are already therapists and already certified as life coaches and have a foundation, like, this program is going to take you further, even further, okay? We're going over a lot. And again, once I, um, we meet on May 1st and I'm going over the program primarily. Um, as I said before, over the next few weeks I'll be doing lives to answer your questions and to go over more of things like this. But at the interest meet, I'm going over the program, the pricing, what to expect, the benefits, and all that stuff. Okay, you're so welcome. And that's a great niche too. I am who I am, college students, former foster you. Yes, that's perfect. You can speak directly to them. You're welcome. Um, just like tonight, right? My program, I put, you know, on Eventbrite. You know, I'm calling therapists, I'm calling Christian leaders, and I'm calling those who you— who want to become certified again in life coaches. Because I recognize that some people have gone and got certified through another program, but the program, um, either one, maybe it wasn't a Christian Um, 2, maybe you became discouraged over the years and didn't want to do it anymore. Um, life happens. Um, 3, you didn't— you're not gonna— you're probably not gonna— probably not gonna get or didn't get what I give. Because I can tell you right now, when I did my program 2 years ago, one of my students, Shakeeta Torres, she said, I did my program with a woman that cost $3K. My program was not $3K at the time. It was not. And, um, she said she learned so much more from me than she did from the program she paid $3K for. And tell me, my program at the time was worth like $5K, and it's not $5K yet. It hasn't gotten there yet, okay? I'm very reasonable and very fair, but it is— it's a cost, okay? Because it's worth it, the investment, for sure. You're so welcome. All right, any more questions? And also, um, I'll go with a little bit more of the program too, but please know this program is dual. It's a dual program. What I mean by You have one side where we're going to talk about all the spiritual stuff. We're talking about, you know, hearing God, your gifts, right? You know who God, you know, called you to, right? But then on the other side, we're talking about the practical stuff, talking about the tools you need to code. We're talking about, you know, you know, the foundation, the different models you can use. We're going over, um, you know, how to market. We're going over business stuff. We're going over both, you guys. It's a dual program. Most programs don't incorporate all that. They don't. Even what I did before in the past did not incorporate all of that. It was mainly just the coaching stuff. It wasn't the spiritual stuff. So this program is like— it's a very robust program, and you will grow personally as well in my program. Mhm. Okay, dokey. Have any other questions before I get off. I'll show you guys her question here. And let me, um, check Instagram again. You guys have any questions up here? Okay, Amethyst posted. Hello, wave at you all. And also LinkedIn. I haven't been live on LinkedIn in a long time either, so hello to everybody. So tonight we're over a lot of stuff tonight, um, but it's okay, it was needed. We got to ask some amazing questions. Um, and so I am going to do a part 2 to this. It's going to be called 5 More Reasons Why, uh, Therapists Should Become a Certified Life Coach. Um, because as you can see, tonight was 45 minutes, right? So it would be almost a 3-hour live to do— so I'm go ahead to go over the other 5. Live. All right, so I want to do it next Sunday, but that is Easter Sunday, so I'm not 100% sure if we'll be out of town or not. Um, and so, but I'll be posting it, you know, letting you guys know about that. If you're on my email list, um, I'll post it as well and let you know when my next live will be. Let me put in here, like I said I was going to do earlier, this is the link here to, um, the Christian Leadership Mentorship Group. I'm posting that in here. Okay, then I know that, um, I Am Who I Am, you asked about the therapist book, so let me put that in here. And it's a great book, um, I've got so much great feedback on it. It's like, it's like a guide, it's an ethical guide. It really is. Okay, so here is that book for therapists. Then I also have a book for life coaches as well. And I actually had that book for sale on, um, Eventbrite, The Holy Spirit Christian Life Coaching, and people have been, um, purchasing that as well. So that. And I'm gonna post— oh yeah, the Eventbrite link to register for that. If you register, you will definitely, um, also get the replay. I recommend you attend live. It's always better to attend live and ask your questions. And I noticed that people ask more questions when it's more of a private setting. Um, okay, so I posted that. Let me see your question. I just want to ask you, yes, about seeing the spirits at work and calling in out. So you go over that? Yes, absolutely. So once again, when you are coaching and you are in a therapist setting, it's different. You're not going to address it like you would do at church. You're not. Um, and so that program goes over all that too as well. And everything don't have to be addressed, y'all, because you see it, it don't mean you gonna have to talk about that. That's for you to know, for you to pray for in your private time. There's so many times when God has shown me things about, you know, people. He said, I want you just pray for them and cover them, right? And it might bring it up later, it might come up later, but everything you see is not supposed to be announced, okay? Um, so yeah, and, um, healing and deliverance don't look the same either in therapy and coaching It doesn't. Yeah, and I have, I have also, I have, um, some testimonies of clients I've had where we weren't doing all— it's not like you— yeah, we'll go over all that. We'll go over all that. Yes. And yes. Mhm. So that's going to help you tremendously. But yeah, definitely, I am who I am Um, yes, you in the right place. Um, so you are too, Yvette, if you're still there. Okay, dokey. So I'm gonna check questions one more time. Yeah, I'm so new, I'm just glad to be here. Yes, I'm glad to have you. Yes, so visit those links in there, you can check those out. Um, and if you have any questions, just send me a support ticket on my, on my site. Okay. And let me see. All righty, so that's all I have for tonight. If you guys don't have any questions, I'm gonna, um, end, um, the live will be up, the replay will be up on all my platforms: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram. I know Facebook just sent out an email like maybe a couple of months ago saying that any lives on Facebook, if they're 30 days or older, they're going to take them down this summer. So if you are on Facebook and have content up here be sure to go up there and download that so that way you have your content. But I have my content on YouTube as well, so if it comes down, I, you know, I'm fine, I'll be okay. Alrighty, so I will answer. Father, I just thank you tonight, God, for those who came on. It's been such an amazing, amazing time with them. I pray that, God, they have received clarity about who you're calling them to be. Holy Spirit, I just pray, God, for those who may be struggling, I'm in their faith, struggling with their identity. Struggling with clarity. Oh, Holy Spirit, I pray that you continue to just, um, pull out, um, your oil. God, send people, God, to them to confirm, Lord God, what it is that you're saying to them, Lord God. They continue to grow in you and build a relationship with you and build their trust and faith in you, Lord, that you are ordering their steps, God, every single step of the way. And so, God, tonight we give you the glory, we give you the honor, and we give you the praise. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. You're in Cali? Yes, but you're not licensed yet, so you'll be good to go. Now, when you start getting licensed, that's when you need to really look at— look into that, because things can change. Things can change. Okay. Ah, thank you. See you soon. All right, see you guys next time. Thanks for getting on. Bye.