How to Become a Financial Coach

Like most Americans, I graduated college with student loans, credit cards, and a car payment. My major was aviation, I had a fresh pilot’s license in my pocket, and my first real job as an airline pilot. Like doctors, the long term payoffs can be big, but starting salaries are small. My first year flying passengers rewarded me with a salary of $16,000. Before taxes.

Compared to what I made previously as a flight instructor, this was a pay raise, but with a new marriage and big dreams, it wasn’t enough. The long term was farther away than I wanted, so while waiting patiently for my pay to increase, I figured Christine and I could lower our expenses.

Paying off $90,000 in debt

Christine and I lived on nothing for four years and paid off $45,000; about half of our non-mortgage debt. Our first kid was in the oven and I became focused on getting out of debt. We lived on nothing and I worked a few extra jobs to pay off the remaining $45,000 over a 12 month period.

Yeah, we got radical, but even Christine will tell you it wasn’t as bad as you might think. We were out of debt and now my salary was rising quickly.

During this time I read nearly every financial book at the library. The authors all disagreed with each other but it didn’t matter to me. We took the best parts and made them work for us.

We ruthlessly created a plan and stuck to it. Our friends noticed something was up when we weren’t going to restaurants or movies with them. We had a plan and nothing was going to stand in our way.

Connecting with an expert

I found a guy named Dave Ramsey on the radio as we drove through the backwoods of West Virginia one day. Christine traveled for work and I had a lot of time off in between trips. Finally, I found someone who agreed with me on the right way to get out of debt!

I had been out of school for a while and I talked alot about wanting to help people do the same thing we had done: pay off their debt so they didn’t have to let money rule their decisions. I suppose Christine got tired of me saying how I wish I could do it more, so one day she asked me why I wasn’t helping people.

Getting permission

It’s funny, but it felt good to have someone give me permission. I still thought, “Dave Ramsey is already helping people. How can I ever compete with him?” Then I realized that, even though Dave has a few hundred people on his team, certainly not everyone in the world knows about them. And even if they did, there’s no way his team could help them all.

That’s all I needed to know. With a fresh permission slip from my wife I set out to learn what I needed to know to help people.

My experiences were a great place to start. I knew what worked and what didin’t work, but I didn’t have a process to take other people through it, and I didn’t know how to work with clients. So I turned to Dave Ramsey and his team and went through their weeklong training program.

To this day I still recommend Counselor Training for new Financial Coaches who want to learn how to work with people. You’ll role play, which is awkward at first, but also find it to be one of the most helpful parts of the program.

I learned the in’s and out’s of everything I didn’t know. Bankruptcy, foreclosures, investing, and more.

Start a Financial Coaching business

Armed with a process, it was time to build a business. Again, I had no clue what I was doing, so I did whatever I thought would work.

Someone said speaking was a good way to get the word out, so I spoke anywhere someone would have me. Churches, businesses, organizations; it didn’t matter.

Writing was also supposed to be a great way to build a business, so I wrote. Letters to the editor were nearly a weekly ritual. I made friends with reporters and even landed a front page feature in our newspaper.

I figured I could somehow harness the power of the internet but, again, had no clue what I was doing. I’m a naturally helpful guy, so I sought out forums where people were asking questions about budgeting and getting out of debt. People in need were everywhere, so I had my hands full.

Over the first 12 months as a Financial Coach, I helped a lot of people. I made money from the beginning but not enough to support my family. My schedule at the airline was nuts and I was starting to miss important things like our kid’s first steps. I needed to find a way out so I hired my first coach.

Looking back, I can’t believe it took me so long. Here I was, helping people as a coach, but not actually hiring one myself. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Full time in 20 months

Christine and I had created a 24 month plan for me to go full time, but with the help of many coaches, classes, books, and the support of my family, I was able to make it happen in 20 months.

On average I was making $1,800 per month as a full time Financial Coach but it wasn’t enough. Pretty quickly I had to learn how to increase my salary, and thankfully, I did.

Looking back, there were a few things that helped me get to where I am now.

Support

Support from friends, family, coaches, and mentors played a large role. No one needs permission to do anything, but the day Christine asked why I wasn’t coaching changed my life.

Training

The team at Dave Ramsey’s office played a large role when I first started working with people. If you can draw on your own experiences to help people, training isn’t ever required, but it’s helpful to have a process and know you’re doing it right.

Implementation

Seth Godin calls it shipping. It’s the act of following through on ideas and making things happen. From starting a radio show with no prior experience, to speaking and writing, I did whatever it took to get my name out there. It wasn’t always comfortable, but I learned a lot about myself in the process.

Consistency

If you’re married and only date your spouse once a year, it’s not enough to make up for any of the things you screw up. In business, I learned to do the right things (no matter how small) over, and over, and over again. Small things add up to big wins when you do them consistently. I’m one of the most stubborn people out there, so I don’t quit easily.

My advice is always to do what you love. If an experience changes your life, perhaps you can use it to help others and become a coach.

Bottom line, I became a coach with the goal of helping at least one person. I knew it would all be worth it if I could at least find and help that one person. Many years and hundreds of clients later, leaving aviation to coach people has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made – for me, my family, and those I’ve been able to help.

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