We were lucky to catch up with Franklin Taggart recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Franklin, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar you earn in a new endeavor is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.
I was hired by my first client before I ever considered that I could be a coach. I got invited to a concert with some people I had just met. In the car on the way there, one of them started talking about her burnout in her current job and that she wasn’t sure what to do for her next career step. I talked about some of the things I’d learned when I’d gone through a similar time. When I started talking about the difference between gifts and talents, and the importance of finding work that lined up with my values, she had an insight and asked if I’d be willing to work with her. I wasn’t even planning on charging her, but she insisted on paying. Even after working with her, it was a few years before I started calling myself a coach.
Franklin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My resumé is a complete train wreck. My education is in music and business. I always wanted to be a musician. After graduation I was not prepared at all for a music career, so I started working in a church music warehouse and worked my way up into sales with that company. When that company relocated I started a seven-year detour working in social services as a group home counselor, gang intervention program director, violence prevention teacher, and victim advocate. During this time a friend of mine asked me to join him as he facilitated an executive retreat and workshop. This was my first exposure to consulting and I found that I enjoyed it a lot and the schedule allowed me to start actualizing my full-time music dream.
I was a full-time musician from 1997 until 2006 when I developed a severe case of tendinitis in both my arms, making it impossible to play guitar and perform. Two years later I was hospitalized for the first of six times fighting to live through congestive heart failure that was caused by untreated Graves Disease, a thyroid autoimmune disorder. Through the years when my music career was disrupted, I experimented with every kind of opportunity I could do from a chair. I explored the new realm of content marketing, first through blogging, then podcasting, and some of the earliest online courses.
Also during that time, I started to be asked by friends to help them navigate career changes and start businesses. I realized I was coaching during one of my hospital stays when a friend of mine showed up who was the hospital chaplain. I was in ICU after surgery and he came to see how I was doing. We ended up talking about his music career for the next few hours and I remember feeling very energized by that conversation, and there I was on every imaginable narcotic as awake and alert as I could be. Not long after, I started offering coaching to creative people who wanted to make their talent the center of their work.
Since then I’ve gotten a ton of training and I’ve worked with my own coaches to learn all I needed to know. My main focus is working with people over forty who have been putting their dreams on hold while they supported everyone else. They’re ready to engage their greatest gifts but aren’t sure where to start. I fill in the blanks and give them practical guidance as they start to do more soulful and passionate work in the world.
I also am a good person to call when you need great creative ideas quickly. I’ve worked with people to prepare for meetings, conferences, pitches, and presentations showing them how to tighten up their message and make a compelling case for themselves and their businesses.
I was given the Ordinary Extraordinary People award in 2019 by the Nothern Colorado Community business network, and in 2020 I was named Consultant of the Year by the Larimer Small Business Development Center.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
I’m lucky to have most of my new clients referred by other clients. There are people I worked with ten years ago who continue to send new clients to me several times a year.
Another reliable source of new clients is being both a host and guest on podcasts. I’ve hosted four different podcasts over the years and it still surprises me to have people get in touch who heard an episode I made several years ago. I only started being a podcast guest in the past few years, but I’ve seen a similar pattern with those opportunities. I may not get immediate clients from those episodes but I’ll hear from new clients that they heard an interview with me from a year or two ago and that was the factor that led them to reach out.
I have gotten some of my clients through consulting and teaching classes for the local small business development center, too. I’m a big fan of our SBDC programs and they have been a huge support for me.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I’ve come back from losing my primary livelihood, organ failure, bankruptcy, the loss of our infant daughter, and now a pandemic. Every time, I’ve relied on my community and my creativity to bounce back. The brilliance and awe of this life overshadow and outweigh the hardships many times over. I feel lucky to wake up every day, and the fact I can do work that I love and that matters in the lives of others is the icing on the cake.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://franklintaggart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/franklintaggart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/franklintaggartcoaching
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franklin-taggart-coaching/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/franklintaggart
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSE6txMChRfwh6G7ZrFF9dg
- Other: My podcast, Your Own Best Company – A podcast for people who love working alone: https://anchor.fm/franklin-taggart9