We were lucky to catch up with Shelly Ryan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shelly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

When people asked me to tell them a little bit about myself, I noticed I would describe my life in chapters…Chapter 1 growing up on the farm, Chapter 2 College, Chapter 3 Graduate School and onward. When I moved to Arizona (Chapter 8!) I was very unhappy in my job and was struggling to figure out what I was going to do next. I didn’t want to move, which is typically where my chapters came from, and knew I couldn’t continue in a job that was draining the life out of me, so I quit. I took some time to slow down and figure out what was important to me and really dug into how I got to this place. That is when I learned about coaching. My academic background is in psychology and counseling so coaching was a natural fit. When coming up with a name for my business, I knew I wanted to work with people who shared my same struggles and were ready for THEIR new chapter, which is how Your Next Chapter, LLC began!

Shelly, 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?

This is an expansion from how I came up with the name of my business. Fifteen years ago, I was sitting in my government office in Phoenix getting ready for yet another meeting and was thinking to myself, what am I doing here? I dreaded coming into work…it was literally draining the life out of me…and then the mail came in. There was a big envelope from DC that looked kind of important and when I opened it, there was a certificate from our CEO recognizing my five years of service in the government (six years in, actually). Reading that certificate may have felt like an accomplishment for some, but for me, it felt like a punch in the gut. How could I let six years go by in a job I really didn’t like? Six years of crazy bosses, unrealistic deadlines, long hours…but do you know what was even worse? I didn’t like who I’d become…this shell of a woman where all I did was work, eat, watch TV and sleep…I was in this cycle for 6 years …6 years of complaining…feeling unfulfilled.

If you already read how I chose the name of my business, you know what I did — I quit! People thought I was nuts…I’m a farm girl from Iowa…you don’t quit—you plow through. I left behind my ‘stable’ 9 to 5 and took a huge leap of faith.

Have you ever wanted to say, “I quit?” Or, “There has to be something more for me?”

Don’t you want to be excited about going to work every day?

Don’t you want to do work you love AND make more money???

I work with professional women (and a few good men!) who are unhappy or at a crossroads in their career, discover purposeful work they love AND make more money.

I bring over thirty years of education, professional and personal experiences to my coaching practice. My clients have reinvented themselves to find new and exciting, more purpose driven career paths and businesses. They have asked for promotions, created their own dream position descriptions (and are implementing them), started their own businesses, discovered work-life harmony, found purpose outside of work. THIS is what I am most proud of and why I do this work…I get to help people every day understand and discover that they can live a life they genuinely love!

In addition to coaching clients, I also host retreats which allows people to combine a love for personal development with a love of travel! Now that the world is opening up again, I am planning retreats for Phoenix, Mexico, Belize, and eventually, Ghana.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

My best (and favorite) source of new clients is definitely referrals. My clients promote the work I do and the impacts I’ve made very powerfully. Building rapport with referral clients is expedited because of our mutual connections. I don’t have to convince them of anything because they have already gathered evidence of success.

I ask for referrals directly through email campaigns and phone calls. Also, around the holidays, I offer a deeply discounted package to my existing clients of two coaching calls that they can gift to someone. Those two calls have led to additional sales over 80% of the time.

My next best source of new clients comes from speaking opportunities. Speaking engagements that are paid, non-paid, in person, virtual, or my own events. I have a signature talk I’ve created that can be modified from one minute, to an hour or anything in between depending on what’s needed for the engagement.

The coaching industry has grown tremendously over the last decade, and I believe that it still boils down to connection, trust and excellent service.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I believed for a very long time that if I worked hard and proved myself, opportunities would be given to me. And for a long time, they did. I received promotions every one or two years for the first 12 years of my professional career and received raises along with bigger titles. I worked hard, proved myself and opportunities were given to me. What I wasn’t realizing during that time is that I was getting a lot of my worth from those positions and promotions.

Then I got fired. I had never been fired. I had never even had a negative review up until this point in time, so being fired was huge! I was hurt, surprised, embarassed, and since I was getting my worth from work, deeply impacted. I went on to accept a new position shortly after being fired and never really took any time to process what happened. I also see this happen with my clients…they are reeling from a layoff, rif, or getting fired and all they can think about is getting that next job because without a job, who are we? Not to mention, financial stresses and all of those emotions I just mentioned! Gotta keep it moving!

This is when I discovered I had to unlearn this lesson that if I worked hard and proved myself that opportunities would be given to me. I may have been a bit naive, but I know I am not alone because I run into this over and over with the people I work with.

I beleived that my boss would look out for my best interests; that I would get promoted when it was my time; that I would get a raise if they thought I had earned one and there was ‘money in the budget’; and that who I was was what I did. Those are not bad beliefs, but they were not very empowering.

Now I know that if I have a really good boss, they will look out for my interests, but I still have to be my own best advocate. I know I can seek out and ask for promotions and raises when I am confident I have earned them and I do not need to get my validation from accolades and promotions rather from knowing I did a great job. Most importantly, I know that my work is what I do, and it is absolutely NOT who I am!

That was a powerful lesson to unlearn!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.YourNextChapterCoaching.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourNextChapter
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellyryan/