Building a Purposeful Coaching Career
Building Success as a Coach: Insights from Jamie McKinney on Confidence, Connection, and Commitment
In a recent episode of "The Amanda Kaufman Show," I had the pleasure of speaking with Jamie McKinney, a dedicated coach on a mission to empower women to overcome self-doubt, speak with confidence, and thrive in their careers.
Jamie brings nearly 20 years of experience in male-dominated industries to her coaching practice, specializing in guiding clients to develop their inner confidence, push through professional challenges, and take control of their own success.
Jamie’s journey into coaching wasn't linear or traditional, which makes her perspective refreshingly relatable.
Her story and insights illuminate how intentionality, resourcefulness, and consistent passion are foundational to building a fulfilling coaching career. Here are the key takeaways from our conversation that might inspire your own coaching journey.
1. Unleashing the Power of Confidence
Jamie’s mission is clear: empowering women to “ditch doubt and speak up,” giving them the tools to achieve the careers they truly deserve. Confidence, Jamie explains, isn’t just a natural trait.
For her, it’s a "formula" she has honed over years. Initially, women would approach her, asking, “How do you stay confident in front of a room?” And her answer became her coaching foundation: a recipe for confidence that anyone can follow, rather than a gift that’s out of reach.
One of Jamie’s favorite tools to cultivate this confidence is her book, Speak Up, Sister: The Professional Woman's Guide to Confidence and Success. For Jamie, confidence is also about taking action. “To flex your confidence muscle, you’ve got to actually do,” she says.
Her clients don't just read her book—they take intentional steps to implement her strategies, growing through both mindset shifts and concrete actions.
2. The Essential "Pit Crew" for Professional Success
Jamie talks about the importance of building what she calls a "MAC Team"—Mentors, Allies, and Champions. This team has been essential in her career, especially during her early days as one of the only women in a large, male-dominated workforce. “I was the youngest by an average of 20 years on my team,” she recalls.
But by intentionally forming relationships with mentors, allies, and champions, Jamie strategically overcame obstacles and built a strong foundation for her future career.
Jamie likens this approach to Formula One racing, where the driver depends on a well-coordinated pit crew. Yes, the driver must steer the car, but a supportive, knowledgeable team accelerates the journey to success.
Jamie emphasizes, “You need that pit crew, because if you don’t pull in that help, you’ll only be slowing yourself down.” For coaches, this translates to knowing when and where to rely on others, from business coaches to mastermind groups, and letting them help elevate your business.
3. Falling in Love with the Journey
The heartbeat of Jamie’s practice lies in her passion for helping others. Her excitement when a client sends a “I got the promotion!” or “I nailed the presentation!” text is palpable. “I absolutely love what I do,” she shares.
Jamie’s passion fuels her energy, which she then passes on to her clients. And while this passion may seem obvious, she views it as essential for any coach to keep burnout at bay and continue making an impact.
As part of keeping her passion alive, Jamie also prioritizes personal growth. Each year, she invests in both a new coaching skill and a business skill. This balance ensures she is both an effective coach and a smart entrepreneur. “If you’re doing coaching as a business, you have to do it as a business, not a hobby,” Jamie advises.
She structures her development to bring her clients the best possible experience while also growing her business sustainably.
4. Defining and Protecting Your Standards
One of the biggest challenges coaches face, especially in the beginning, is people-pleasing. Jamie describes her commitment to defining a clear client avatar, noting that a coach's energy is one of their most valuable resources.
For her, knowing which clients best align with her practice is crucial because, as she puts it, “The only thing worse than having no clients is having the wrong clients.” By focusing on serving those who truly benefit from her unique approach, Jamie preserves her energy for the clients who value her insights, making her work feel purposeful and effective.
Putting Jamie’s Wisdom into Practice
Jamie’s approach to coaching is inspiring and actionable for anyone aspiring to a career that makes an impact. Here are three actionable steps coaches can take to start incorporating her wisdom into their own journeys:
Define Your Confidence Routine: Whether you’re following Jamie’s book or developing your own routine, remember that confidence builds over time with small, intentional actions.
Assemble Your Own MAC Team: Reflect on who your mentors, allies, and champions are. Where do you need more support, and who can help you reach your goals faster? Surround yourself with those who want to see you succeed.
Invest in Your Development: Make it a priority to develop one new coaching skill and one business skill each year. This ensures your growth is balanced and that your coaching practice remains a sustainable business, not just a passion project.
If you’d like to dive deeper into Jamie’s insights, she offers a free guide titled Speak Like a Boss, which provides practical tips for handling real-world scenarios in a confident, empowered way. It’s a perfect first step for anyone looking to strengthen their professional voice.
Visit https://www.jamiemckinney.com/slab to download her guide and start transforming the way you communicate today.
Connect with Jamie
📸 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/jamie_empowers/
👩🏻💼 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-dandar-mckinney/
🌐Website:www.jamiemckinney.com
Want more great insights like these? Connect with Amanda
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Be sure to follow along for even more content to help you grow, thrive, and succeed!
Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro – Amanda introduces Jamie and the episode topic on building confidence and sustainable success in coaching
2:00 - Jamie’s Mission – Jamie shares her mission to empower women to “ditch doubt and speak up” in their careers
3:40 - From Corporate to Coaching – Jamie’s journey from corporate life, her dramatic exit from oil and gas, and her first steps as a coach
6:15 - The Formula for Confidence – Jamie’s approach to building confidence intentionally, a strategy she shares in her book Speak Up Sister
8:30 - Building a MAC Team – Jamie explains the importance of Mentors, Allies, and Champions and how this “pit crew” helps you stay on track
10:45 - Balancing Passion and Strategy – Jamie’s approach to pairing a business skill and coaching skill each year for sustainable growth
12:57 - Protecting Your Energy – How Jamie protects her energy and aligns with clients who are a great fit
15:30 - Advice for New Coaches – Jamie’s top three keys to success for emerging coaches
17:10 - Setting Standards and Boundaries – The importance of decisiveness and standards in avoiding burnout and staying aligned with your mission
19:15 - Jamie’s Free Resource – Jamie shares her Speak Like a Boss guide, which gives practical scripts for confidently handling workplace conversations
20:30 - Outro – Amanda wraps up the episode and shares how to connect with Jamie
Full Transcript
Jamie McKinney Interview
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[00:00:00] you have to do it as a business, not just a hobby.
[00:00:02] Because like I said, I don't want this to be my side. This is not my side hustle. This is my main hustle, right?
[00:00:07] Mhm.
[00:00:26] Hello and welcome back to the Amanda Kauffman show. And we are [00:00:30] continuing our series on the coaches that don't suck. And I'm so excited to invite Jamie McKinney to the show today.
[00:00:38] Hello, Jamie. Welcome. Hi, Amanda. I'm so thrilled to be here with you. I love your energy, and I'm excited for our forthcoming conversation. Yeah, me too. We were actually just retracing our, the origins of our relationship, and I think that this goes a long way to describing how a lot of relationships get formed online, is we actually met two [00:01:00] years ago and decided to connect over a class that we were both in, and then, the relationship was just and then we got into it about a month and a half ago back and forth.
[00:01:13] And at the same time, I was thinking, gosh, Jamie really knows what it takes. If you looked at her LinkedIn profile, you can see that she's very polished. You've got your gorgeous smile. scene set up around you. So Jamie, do you want to just take 30 seconds and tell us a little bit about your [00:01:30] business?
[00:01:30] Like what is it that you focus the most on? Who do you serve? How long have you been in business? That sort of thing. Yes. So my mission is to empower working women to ditch doubts, speak up and achieve the careers that they deserve and desire. And Amanda, I know you're also a big fan of Hey, let's build some innate confidence here.
[00:01:49] That's my specialty. That's my superpower. That was derived from almost 20 years of working in very heavily male dominated industry where I learned a few lessons. I learned a lot the [00:02:00] hard way and then I started learning them the better way. And women started asking me to come speak to groups and not about the technical aspects of what I did, but rather, how are you getting promotions, Jamie?
[00:02:10] How are you able to stand in front of that room and give that presentation with ease. Were you just born with that? And I was saying no, I've got a formula. I've got a recipe that I follow and I would love to share this with you.
[00:02:24] Answer to this question that I wound up having, I air quote, this my dramatic departure [00:02:30] from oil and gas where there was the day that I got fired. I got fired by a narcissist who lied about my performance to protect his. The things that I'm doing now, empowering others with confidence just for fun, and because I wanted to, those were already happening.
[00:02:49] And then some little trickles of writing the book that you can now see sitting over my shoulder. I was gonna ask you about that. That's awesome. Speak Up Sister, The Professional Woman's Guide to Confidence and Success. [00:03:00] That was in the works. So when I got fired. I had actually had a publisher who she had reached out to me and I had said to her like, all right, not top priority, things can change.
[00:03:08] And so I texted her on the way home. It was like a Tuesday when I'm like, I'd never not worked on a Tuesday. And I sent her a text. I'm like, Hey my schedule's freed up a little bit. Could you meet over coffee to talk about what this actual book writing process looks like? And so we did.
[00:03:24] And I spent the next three months writing my book. And when I finished the book, I [00:03:30] still didn't know what I was going to do for my career because I'd always worked in some aspect of sales, business development, marketing, and technical industries. But I finished the book and I looked at it and I said, if I do say so myself, like there's some really good content in here.
[00:03:44] And there's a lot to do in this book, not just read because you can't, To flex your competence muscle, you've got to actually do yes, there's a big mindset piece, but then you have to step into action. And so I hired a business coach to say, Hey, how do I [00:04:00] bring this to life? Cause one book launch doesn't drive the impact that I wanted to, nor does it make for a retirement account and I wanted to be able to do this from a sustainable place.
[00:04:08] And he was the very first person to say to me. Did you know that you were born to be a coach? That's amazing. Like when you heard that, like, how did that, how'd that hit you? Did you accept that right away or? That's a great question. I had so much respect and admiration for him.
[00:04:24] This is the first person I'd worked with as a personal coach to me, and a business coach. And so when [00:04:30] he said that, I remember just pausing and sitting back and I was just quiet for a minute. And I said tell me more. What is that even?
[00:04:39] Spoken like a true coach, folks. Her first reaction is tell me more. Wow. So good. I guess he was right. Yeah, some additional conditioning right in practice and learning and certifications and things. But yeah, it was really cool that, the reason that we hire a coach, is to expose blind spots, to expose things that we can't, And so the story in the book is that we [00:05:00] can see about ourselves, that somebody who's trained to see something in you, that you don't see yourself can say, have you thought about. And that can truly change your life. It changed mine and now it does.
[00:05:10] My clients who my serve it. Just it's. Really exciting. I love that. No, I don't want to forget this. So is your book still available? Is it. something. Okay, we're putting that in the show notes so that Anybody listening can go check your book out. I love this. This is so good. It's like you were granted that all this freedom [00:05:30] suddenly and like your first call pretty much was pseudo to a coach.
[00:05:33] A book publisher, but that was guiding you through the whole publishing process. And your second big call was also to a coach. So can you tell me a little bit about your what told you that was a really good approach, cause I see a lot of people and they're like, I want to start a thing and they honestly struggle to even Google it, and so to think ahead of I want to work with a person on this process.
[00:05:57] Again, did you like stumble into that or were [00:06:00] you taught that somewhere along the way to ask like a who for help specifically? It's a good question. Something that I talk about in my book and in my signature coaching program is building your MAC team. And MAC is an acronym for mentors, allies, and champions.
[00:06:16] And it's something that early on in my career, I figured out was an absolute must, especially when I was the one of three women on a team of 400. I was the youngest by an average 20 [00:06:30] years. I didn't come with industry experience and I was eating alive for a little while, it felt like it but when I started to get strategic about very intentionally creating relationships and networking with people who serve the role of mentor, people who serve the role as allies and people who serve the role as champion, because there's definitely a difference among those that really just got me in a good habit.
[00:06:55] Of realizing that, yes, it's important for me to have my goals in mind [00:07:00] and my aspirations, but we don't achieve goals on an Island. There's always other people that are there to help you. And when you connect with people who want to help you, that just accelerates your success that much more. It's a lot more fun.
[00:07:15] I think about it like. I have this picture that I show in my coaching program and it's of a formula one driver. Oh my gosh. My, my son would love that. Okay. It's it's a, so visualize, visualize this with me, Amanda. So it's, you're looking, it's like you're in a drone and you're [00:07:30] looking over top of this.
[00:07:30] It's a red car. And so you can see the driver and like the helmet, and then you see the pit crew around the driver. And the pit crew one person's changing the tire and somebody's doing something with the oil and somebody's inspecting, under the hood and the driver is sitting there and you can see there's arrows, like this is the direction that it's going.
[00:07:47] And I asked ladies in my coaching program, could that driver cross the finish line without the pit crew team?
[00:07:53] Here's where with my coaching head on, I'll compassionately challenge that a little bit. I think that driver could, they [00:08:00] could ostensibly cross that finish line, but it's, they're going to be last, right?
[00:08:03] Because they're the one To get out and change the tire and change the oil while other people in that same race. driving that same kind of car have got a team that's there to help them and wants to. And so that's your Mac team, right? They're there because they want to be. And so because I had been conditioning myself that way throughout my career and it opened up numerous opportunities and it put me in [00:08:30] places that I never would have been had I just Tried to do that on my own.
[00:08:34] I think it was something that had just been ingrained in my neural pathways of okay, I have this thing that I want to do now go find somebody else who's done it or who's smarter than I am in this category and can say, he here, do this or do that. Because, with Google and TikTok you can stumble and fumble over a lot of stuff, but you can sure accelerate that and take out a lot of the bumps and bruises when you've got a human who's cheering you on and saying [00:09:00] Hey, come over here.
[00:09:00] Let me show you this door that I just unlocked for you. And it's way more fun. I completely agree. I think that it's very tempting. What I was thinking about is, so my son is really into Formula One. It's really interesting that you, I'll just send you the picture. Yeah.
[00:09:13] And, on Fridays, I'll play his Formula One racing games with him on the Xbox. He's always trying to tell me, you've got to be strategic with the pits, mom. You got to be strategic with the pits. And I was thinking about that. I'm like, yeah, no amount of help is going to make up [00:09:30] for refusing to drive the car, right?
[00:09:32] Like you've got to drive the car, you've got to push the limits of it, and you've got to know I think there's a big know thyself part of this and part of success of okay, this much I'm carrying, this much I'm building my capability in, but to your point, you have to have that pit crew because if you never ever pull in that help?
[00:09:50] And I see a lot of entrepreneurs actually struggling sometimes because they lean a little too hard on the pit crew. . they forget that they're the driver. And that they need to be the CEO [00:10:00] and they need to if this is your path, of course, you can be a coach working for another coach's vision, that's absolutely acceptable and totally cool.
[00:10:06] But a lot of the people I work with they're wanting to be entrepreneurs. I am curious, what's your take on what it has taken? You've been in business for over eight years now, right? The consultancy has been around eight years, specifically this side has been about five.
[00:10:21] About five. Okay. No big deal. That's huge. I am actually really curious, Jamie. You've been working with your coaching business for the last five years, a [00:10:30] consultancy for eight. What have you found have been the three keys to success?
[00:10:35] to your business so far, or to your coaching practice just in general. And I'm basically asking what are three ways a coach can not suck? Yeah, such an honor to be in the I don't suck category. So thank you. Congratulations. Okay, three keys to success. One is I absolutely love what I do.
[00:10:54] Like I have just an innate passion and drive [00:11:00] to help the women and the men who I empower. When I get a text from my client that says, I got it, or I did it, or like that went so well, I get goosebumps right now, just hypothetically. thinking about it. And fun fact, while I was on maternity leave this year, my graduates of my program that have finished up right before going on maternity leave, 15 of them earned promotions and collectively increased their salary by 310, 000.
[00:11:27] So that was pretty fun. That's some impact. [00:11:30] That's really cool. Yeah, that was pretty fun to get those text messages, even, while I had teeny tiny little baby saying, yes, go Shiro's go. So that's one key is that I just, I absolutely love what I do. And I wake up so excited to empower someone to find her voice and get what she deserves.
[00:11:46] The second is. I'm very strategic with my business and with my skills as far as flip flopping between adding a new business skill [00:12:00] and adding a new coaching skill or certification. So like where you and I connected, that was a group focused on a business skill, like a marketing aspect. And then, so I like to do one of each.
[00:12:13] Each year. And then I believe in that wonderful. Thank you. Yeah. And that same year, I believe that was the year that I got my positive intelligence certification, which is another. Tool in my coaching toolkit. It's a tool I absolutely love. That would be a second key of being mindful [00:12:30] that if you're doing coaching as a business, you have to do it as a business, not just a hobby.
[00:12:34] Because like I said, I don't want this to be my side. This is not my side hustle. This is my main hustle, right? And then the third key is as a solopreneur to find a mastermind, find a group of like minded individuals, like people smarter than you in the same room that we all, have this compassionate curiosity and willingness to.
[00:12:57] Help each other to become our higher [00:13:00] selves, right? Or again, to help with that exposure of blind spots or, in your business, have you thought about doing it this way? And that we do that for each other. So those, I would say are the three, have the passion for what you do. Be intentional about building your skills and be intentional.
[00:13:13] It's Mac team again, about with whom you're surrounding yourself. That's so good. I would agree with absolutely everything that you said. It's, I think it's tempting when you're looking at your results to pull back on maybe one of those things, right? Maybe I don't need to renew a certification this year.
[00:13:29] [00:13:30] Maybe I don't need to continue to invest in the business. I should just grind, grind and grind and hope for the best. And I think like Those are the exact insidious kinds of thoughts that are a little like driving around the track without the pit crew, right? You need those things.
[00:13:44] And I think something else I really heard in your response there was you seem to, and just correct me if I'm wrong, if this is a total hallucination on my part, but you seem to be someone who, Is very decisive. Like you've just decided that [00:14:00] this is how it will be. And therefore also you have a set of standards things that you're gonna stand for and things that you won't stand for.
[00:14:08] And I think that this is another area that a lot of, especially newer coaches really struggle with because we want to do a good job by our clients and we want to help them, however we can. And we know that it's a struggle for them, but it can flip into sort of this people please place.
[00:14:24] I'm curious,
[00:14:24] Am I on the nose with the decisiveness and the standards, or am I off? Yeah, no, I [00:14:30] appreciate your observation on that. And Yes. The phrase and trying to please all people, you wind up pleasing none. And it really is important, especially at the beginning to just stay in your lane.
[00:14:41] If you join a program and they have you work on your client avatar, do that, get to know your avatar inside and out, because it will make your marketing that much more targeted. You will speak directly to someone in a way that they will hear you as opposed to speaking to many
[00:14:59] [00:15:00] completely lost and dissolved and all the other things that they're exposed to. Simultaneously, you're filtering out people. And the only thing worse than having no clients is having the wrong client. Oh yes, that is true. That's going to cost you far more in energy. And as a coach, part of your product is your energy.
[00:15:21] And so protecting your energy, is incredibly important because that's an investment in you, which then invests in your clients and the ones that [00:15:30] you want to be there. It's like a virtuous cycle that you're creating and avoiding a vicious cycle. And both of those things are important. So good. So good. I love this, Jamie.
[00:15:40] I could really talk for, three hours with you very easily. I can already see. When's the retreat, Amanda? When are we going? I know, right? It was like, we gotta shift to more of a modern wisdom. Just do these three and a half hour episodes, but sadly our time is coming due.
[00:15:55] I'm going to make sure we have the link to be able to support your book, to get your book, learn from your [00:16:00] book. But what's the best way for people to follow you online? Yes, so I have a freebie I would like to offer your audience. It's called my speak like a boss practice guide. So it's a variety of scenarios that you will encounter common things in the workplace.
[00:16:16] It tells you what not to say, and then it gives you a variety of options of what to say to speak with your assertive, empowered, Voice. So it's Jamie McKinney dot com slash SLAB, which is the [00:16:30] acronym for speak like a boss. I love it. That is so valuable. So we'll make sure to have the link to that in the show notes as well.
[00:16:38] Jamie, I just really want to say thank you so much for joining and sharing your wisdom. I really appreciate it. It's been a blast, Amanda. Thank you so much for having me and so glad that our paths crossed again. Yeah, me too. Hey, listener, thank you so much for tuning in on this conversation. Do us a favor and make sure that you are subscribed and that you leave a five star review for all of the [00:17:00] amazing tips that Jamie just shared with us today.
[00:17:03] It'll help other coaches be able to find our content more easily when you take the 30 seconds or so to do that.
[00:17:09] Thanks everybody. Have a good one.
