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You became a coach to help people — but no one told you how to build the business behind it.
Coach as Entrepreneur is the show for coaches who want to go beyond referrals and create a real business that supports both their clients and their family. Each episode explores the systems, strategies, and stories that help coaches simplify marketing, attract the right clients, and grow sustainably, without burning out.
Whether you’re just starting or looking to scale, this is your roadmap to running your coaching practice like a business… and doing it with heart.
Build the system. Serve your clients. Support your family.
David Chung: Regina, thank
you for joining me today.
We just had a couple of technical
difficulties, but not a problem.
We learn and we adapt.
It's just like real life.
Regina Sweeney: That's right.
David Chung: David.
Regina Sweeney: I'm doing great.
Thanks for having me.
David Chung: I am pretty excited to have
you here because one of the things I love
to do is take things from different parts
of the world, different disciplines,
and apply it into, you know, into
business or try to think about like,
how does, how can we take this learned
discipline and apply it somewhere else?
And that is exactly what you've
done with your experience with
Montessori and with business and
with the people that you work with.
And I'd love to understand.
How did you even come up with
this idea linking Montessori
with the business world?
Regina Sweeney: So I like to say that
the way that some people watch Netflix,
I read business books like my, my
bookshelves are double stacked, sagging.
We have, I don't even know how many
books we have, but business has
always been an interest of mine.
And after I started my family, um,
my husband and I have nine children,
the business part got kind of put on
a back burner and it wasn't really
anything I ever thought that I would
come back to because I'd like to try
to turn my attention to whatever it is.
That's the most important
thing at the moment.
And at the time, especially
when my, my children were young.
We were first starting our
family, it was my family.
So we learned about Montessori when
my child, our daughter, our oldest
daughter was about three years old.
And all along I kept reading about, you
know, business books on the side, but as
we learned more about the development of
the human person and really saw it play
out in real life over now 25 years, and
seeing how accurate Maria Montessori was
in her observations of human development
and the needs of people and how they react
in certain environments, it gave me a
very deep understanding of her principles.
Backing up a little bit, my husband
and I helped us start a Catholic
Montessori school that opened its doors
in 2004 and after we moved out of the
area, I started homeschooling and I
loved the Montessori understanding
so much that I, I adapted principles
to apply them to my homeschooling.
That also affected how we ran our
household, how we raised our children,
different decisions that we would make.
But all along, like I said, I kept
reading the business books and it was
interesting to me that the more business
books I read, the more I realized
how Montessori principles could solve
these problems in the business world.
And so, you know, I'd be reading a book
and there was, there was one book, um,
that I found the other day, and it was
all about how it's important that we teach
our children to be okay with mistakes.
Mm-hmm.
That's a Montessori principle that she was
talking about in the early 19 hundreds.
Mm-hmm.
And yet this book was published in
2025 and the problem still exists.
Right?
Yeah.
So, so these were, these
are very, very old problems.
And this particular author realized
that this is something that
children need to adapt Early on,
it was more of a parenting book.
Mm-hmm.
But it's something that translates
over into the executive world
because on the one hand.
They want innovation, they want
creativity, they want problem
solving, and yet we spend the first 20
something years of our life, depending
upon how far you go into education.
Right.
If you get your undergraduate
degree, your master's, your PhD.
For the most part, we are rewarded.
We are, we earn our good grades by
regurgitating the material that we're fed.
Especially in the areas
of math, which I love.
Right.
You don't want to make mistakes and
so what, what we're trained to do,
to think through all of our early
education is the complete opposite
of what they end up telling us they
want once we hit the executive world.
Right.
And so, so then you're basically
trying to figure out how to overcome
20 plus years of bad habits.
I'll just say it, right?
Yeah.
And, and then try to
somehow develop creativity.
Yeah.
When all along we've been told, no, that's
actually not what we want you to do.
David Chung: I a hundred
percent agree with you.
The more I, I learn about like,
just the, the education system and
the way it was developed, right?
It wasn't developed to
create creative people.
It was created in a way to create people
who will do well in factories, to do
Regina Sweeney: exactly.
David Chung: Learn to sit still for eight
hours in a classroom and just mm-hmm.
Read and write and respond
when you're spoken to.
Right.
Um.
And especially like right now,
the way the world is moving, we
don't need that anymore because
We need people who can think,
because, you know, chat, GPT,
Claude, um, all of these AI tools
Regina Sweeney: mm-hmm.
David Chung: They can, they can sit
and do whatever you want, whatever
you ask it on repeat for infinity.
Regina Sweeney: Mm-hmm.
David Chung: What they can't do
quite yet is to think creatively.
Regina Sweeney: I don't think it's
a mistake that the most downloaded,
listened to Ted talk of all time.
To date, as far as I know, and I think the
last time I checked it was over 7 million
listens, was the talk of Sir Ken Robinson.
And I believe the title of the TED Talk
was Our School's Killing Creativity.
And it was a very interesting, amusing
talk that really brought forth some
very poignant questions and points
and, and really delved into whether
or not the current education system
is in the best interests of our
children and ultimately humanity.
David Chung: I, I don't think it is.
Um, and I don't wanna go into too,
too deep into education, right?
'cause but just as a point, um,
'cause it leads into the future of
leadership, the future of a, the.
Business and just
creative thinking, right?
Mm-hmm.
Is that, I, I, I don't love the Korean
sys, the current system of education where
it's really like memorized and respond.
Regina Sweeney: So I think it's actually
less off topic than people might think.
One of the main Montessori principles
is called friendliness to error.
So when I talk about these principles,
it's not as if the children are told,
here's this principle that you're
going to learn and put into practice.
Right?
It's, it's more of how the, the
environment is set up in, um,
they don't call it classrooms,
they call it environments.
How, but how the, how the adults
in the environment are interacting
with the children, the reactions
when things happen, like things
spill or topple over mm-hmm.
Or, you know, things like that.
Um,
David Chung: yeah,
Regina Sweeney: To make it more,
um, just domestic, I guess.
Like if a, if a parent, if a child were to
spill a glass of milk accidentally, some
parents are going to say, oh, no big deal.
You know, let's wipe it up.
Some parents are going to hit the roof.
You're such a clumsy, messy child.
Right.
And so how the adult reacts to the child
and to the situation at hand is going
to make an impression on how that child
then is going to react in the future
toward what might be called error.
David Chung: Yeah.
Regina Sweeney: Right.
Or, or a mistake.
And so with innovation, there are
so many iterations of things, right?
Prototype, pro prototypes that
might be made and everything
just needs to be tested.
David Chung: Mm-hmm.
Regina Sweeney: And so.
Being able to, um, you know, a
phrase that I, I heard along the
way that I have really come to
appreciate is failing faster.
Mm-hmm.
We don't need to be afraid to take steps
to go forward to try different things.
Especially in the entrepreneurial space.
You don't have forever Right.
To deliberate.
You just, sometimes you need
to just take a little bit of
action and see what happens.
And that is, and I, I'm speaking from
deep personal experience, I was terrified
to make a mistake because, you know,
growing up and going to college Prep
high school, the biggest, um, you know,
the biggest concern among that tier
of students is keeping up your GPA.
You didn't wanna lose your GPA, right?
Mm-hmm.
And so that became the biggest fear,
the driving factor, whereas it's
kind of counterintuitive for really.
Enjoying the education and getting
as much of it out of, getting
as much out of the education as
possible for the learning itself.
And so focusing on not making mistakes.
That physically triggers in
us, uh, of fear, fear response,
which actually literally makes
our brains work more poorly.
Right.
So in the effort to not make a mistake,
we're causing a stress response in our
bodies to make us not as successful.
David Chung: Yeah.
It, it's, the more you think about it,
the more education is counterintuitive
to the types of leaders we want, right?
Regina Sweeney: Yes.
Yes.
David Chung: Because we, yeah, as
you're talking about like prototyping,
we're trying to figure out what's
not working so we can figure out
what will work if we're lucky.
We hit the, the nail on
the head the first time.
But how often does that, it
Regina Sweeney: rarely happens.
David Chung: Exactly right?
The, the overnight successes are
like 10 to 20 year in the making.
Of, of struggling figuring out a
experience, and then you've kind of had
the aha moment or the, you know, the, it
just, you hit that point of inflection
where you just, whatever reason you
hit the luck, you hit the timing Right.
You hit the market Right.
And then it's like, boom.
Right,
Super rare though.
And so we only can get there
though by failing a lot, figuring
out what doesn't work, and then
understanding what does work.
Right.
And so it's like, but education we
just say wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.
And depending on who is your, you
know who your parents are, like yeah,
your GPA, that I have to be the best.
But that doesn't give you room
to grow and experiment and test.
Regina Sweeney: Exactly.
David Chung: But your focus at the
moment is with, with adults and
their ability to stay focused, right?
Regina Sweeney: Yes.
David Chung: And, and my question
there is, when it comes to focusing,
because we're so inundated with our
phones and all this other stuff, what is
about it, about this Montessori model?
Have you pulled into the
work you do with adults?
Right?
Because Montessori is is for, was
designed for education for, for students.
So how, where's that bridge?
Regina Sweeney: So first off, I
always like to say that there,
what I've experienced is that
there seems to be a distinction
between focus and concentration.
And a lot of times those are used
as synonyms and interchangeably.
I think of focus as the
time management piece.
Which has to happen first.
So if you're talking about executives,
they need to get a hold of how they're
managing their time, how they're using it.
A lot of people have come to find that
when they don't manage their time well,
they're, they're typically going about
their day in a very reactive state.
So things are coming at them,
email notifications, all these
fires that have to be put out both
professionally and personally.
And it's very hard to make forward
progress when all you're doing
is reacting, reacting, reacting.
So that focus part is kind of like the
foundation for concentration to happen.
Concentration, the way I like to use
it is I'm talking about when you have.
Say, carved out three hours for deep work.
What happens in your head when
you sit down to do that work?
Are you constantly flipping
around between different tabs?
Oh, I need to get this done.
Oh, but I need, you know,
I forgot to pay this bill.
I forgot to let my daughter know about,
you know, this, this, that, and the other.
And so there's all this swirling
going around in people's minds.
Concentration is the ability to turn
off that noise in your head and just
focus and give your full attention
to what you are claiming is the most
important thing at that point in time.
David Chung: Yeah,
Regina Sweeney: most
people cannot concentrate.
So the average that they, there was a
Microsoft study that was done, and they
actually did this in the workplace.
They got permission to install tracking.
Software on the employee computers,
which it took them six years to
even find a company that allowed for
this to happen because no company
wanted to be, you know, so exposed.
And they found that the average time be
between task switching was 40 seconds.
And then there was another study
done that was, I think it was
University of California in Irvine
that found that the average time to
get back on track was 23 minutes.
So if you multiply how many times
per hour you get distracted and how
many minutes it takes you to get
back to a focused state and to that
original task that you were working on.
It is, well, more than two months a year.
The two months a year, I actually base
it very generously with being distracted.
What did I do?
Three times an hour.
So that's every 20 minutes,
not every 40 seconds.
Mm-hmm.
And getting back to your
task in 10 minutes, not 23.
So for most people, the two months of
distraction is actually very generous.
Yeah.
Most, most people are
wasting far more time.
They're losing far more time
to distraction than, than
the two months per year.
David Chung: That is, is so scary.
Regina Sweeney: That's exactly
the word I was going to say.
It's very scary.
David Chung: So.
Very interested, especially for myself.
Right.
Um, what are the practical steps that
you implement or work with your clients,
your co, your, your leaders that you
work with to help them reclaim that time?
Regina Sweeney: When I have someone come
to me, what I'd like for them to do is
kind of walk me through a typical day.
Mm-hmm.
And most people will, you know,
kind of start very surface level.
We just met each other and say,
well, I'm pretty good with my
calendar and this and that.
But the more we talk, the more
they'll admit things to me and they'll
say things like, my phone is the
first thing I check in the morning.
It's the last thing I check at night.
It's right by me on my nightstand.
I'm picking up my phone 40 hours
a, you know, 40 times a day.
I am.
Um.
You know, I go to write an email, but
then I notice something else on an open
tab and then I start clicking around
and then I realize 20 minutes have
passed and I still haven't written the
email that I said I wanted to write.
Right.
So it's, it's things like that.
So when the clients come to me and
they give me the specific, so then
I try to point out, um, in our
first call, you know, to see if
it's a right fit to work together.
I like to try to provide them with
at least two or three very practical
actions that they can start implementing
immediately to start breaking the
bond that they have with tech.
'cause that's a huge problem.
And then also, um, just.
Developing certain habits to get
things out of their head so that
the things that are in their
heads don't serve as distractions.
So there, there are two
kinds of distractions, right?
We have the internal and the
external, and I like to approach both.
So when you have that, that double
pronged approach, that's when you can
really start to reclaim your time and
then also intensify your concentration
on whatever it is you're working on.
David Chung: What would you say
are the most typical issues that
the leaders you work with have?
Regina Sweeney: So definitely number one
is not being deliberate about planning.
So they'll, a lot of times they'll
just set up meetings, it pops into
their calendars and they just show up
because they've been notified by their
Google calendar that, oh, I'm supposed
to be at this link at this time.
Right.
It's very reactive.
And a lot of things that people do is
they're not deliberate about the booking
calendars that they put out there.
Right.
So they, a lot of executives just think,
oh, in my calendar I can let people fill
that up with meeting that is like death to
productivity because, um, and then number
one too, or another thing is another
big mistake that I, I see executives
having is that when there is an empty
block in their calendar, they make it
available for someone to book a meeting
with them, which is to productivity
because you're constantly reacting.
So I like for there to be a buffer between
the current time and when somebody can
actually request a meeting with you.
Mm,
Even better.
I like, um, a, you know, a system
that I learned from one of my
mentors was having certain days
dedicated to certain types of topics.
So for, you know, solopreneurs in
particular who are wearing many,
many hats to have kind of their,
their onstage day, their backstage
day, and then their offstage day.
So the onstage are when they're
doing the client facing discovery
calls, that sort of a thing.
Offstage mm-hmm.
Is when they're working on their
business doing the CEO hire type.
Cognitive.
Mm-hmm.
Planning that sort of a thing.
And then the off stage, because
it's very important to make sure
that you are getting in your proper
leisure in order to be best when
you are on stage and off stage
David Chung: i, I feel like you
flipped off stage and backstage
Regina Sweeney: I may have.
So it's like being, being with people,
being not with people, but working on
your business and then just not working.
David Chung: Yeah, exactly.
I, I love that because the
imagery makes it, it, it just
sticks in your mind better.
Personally like with my podcast
too, like I just open up.
Blocks of time, just because I wanna just
be flexible with, with people to be able
to join, especially when I'm trying to
get people from all over the world to
Regina Sweeney: Yes.
David Chung: To do a recording.
Um, so I, I've literally got time open
from like 9:00 AM till midnight blocked.
And like, the blocked out times
are like, you know, family time,
like dinner and, and kid time.
Um, but it's like my morning, my
afternoon and the evenings I am
changing that, um, moving that forward.
But, so it's not every day, it's
only on two particular days that
will be open moving forward.
Mm-hmm.
But I, I, I noticed that too.
And like, one thing that has helped me
has been to have like specific, like
Monday morning and like Friday morning
where those are blocked out for just
business, like prep and like, like
follow up and like cleanup kind of thing.
Regina Sweeney: Mm-hmm.
See, that's interesting that you
say that because there's another
Montessori principle that I teach, and
it's known as freedom within limits.
Mm-hmm.
So a lot of people don't place limits.
A lot of people don't
even love the word limits.
I had someone taught the other day, they,
oh, limit to convicting when actually
knowing what you have predetermined
you are going to say no to is very
liberating because you are not going
to, you know, that you won't be
distracted by all these different things.
Right.
So, um, that was very full because, you
know, in, in my role in my business, I'm
a lot of, a lot of ELS and I'm constantly
getting offers for different things.
Right.
But once I set my goals, my expectations
for the next 12 weeks, I like the 12 week
year system, with a, any offers that come
in that are not tied to my goals for that
12 week year, it's very easy to say no to.
I am not going to get pulled into this
shiny squirrel mode of this offer and that
offer because it's not in alignment with
my goals for this 12 week year period.
So, predetermining those limits
for myself, which I can set
for anything I want, right?
I have the freedom to choose my goals
for the next 12 weeks, and then once
I have done that, it's very easy to
say no to all these other things.
So that helps me become much more
focused and being able to concentrate
on what those goals are for myself.
David Chung: Yeah.
And I think the, the pushback that
people would give, or even myself is
like, oh, but what if I have this great
opportunity that shows up and I like
it's a once in a lifetime kind of thing.
You can always be flexible with yourself.
Like you have a filter of a way to handle
and deal with most things, but if there's
an opportunity that presents it itself,
you're still have, you still have agency
over your own life and your own business.
Yeah.
I, I like that a lot
because it helps you to,
it gives you a way to filter
through all of the stuff that's
coming through your inbox.
Regina Sweeney: Right.
Yeah, I think, I believe the word, um,
that's often used for that is heuristics.
So they're kind of like predetermined
rules that we set for ourselves.
It's very common, um, from
what I understand is like a
psychological phenomenon when it
comes to just shopping, right?
If we go to the store and we've run
out of laundry detergent, most of the
time we are going to be drawn to buy
the laundry detergent that we have been
buying for the last 20 years, right?
Mm-hmm.
Unless there's some huge price bike
that we just decide, oh, you know what?
That's outta my, my budget.
I'm not comfortable paying that
much anymore for laundry detergent.
I'm going to look for another alternative.
Mm-hmm.
So there needs to be usually to
push us out of our self-made rules,
some triggering factor that's going
to make us consider other options.
Right.
But that filtering mechanism is very
helpful from a cognitive standpoint.
Like what, what would that be like to
go to the store every single time you
needed more laundry detergent and you
looked at all the different brands
and all the different possibilities.
Multiply that by all the sizes
that are available, right?
The little travel sizes,
the big family packs.
That would, that would be so
cognitively disturbing every
single time to make a new decision.
David Chung: Yeah,
Regina Sweeney: we can't, we can't
function like that as human beings
because there's so much for us
to deal with every single day.
So we have these rules that we fall
back on, like always choosing the brands
that we have come to know and love,
and so that helps us, that filtering
mechanism helps us move forward.
It's the same way with
business, self-organization,
time management, concentration.
The best part is, is that we
set up those rules for ourselves
beforehand so that we're not
constantly in this reactive state.
You know, what is fun because I think
part of the reason why a lot of people
like Costco is because there isn't
a myriad of brands to choose from.
It's kind of like, for the most part,
there's the Costco brand and then
there's kind of the leading, the
leading brand, and what do you want?
It's much easier to choose
from two things than 26 things.
David Chung: 100%.
And I think this is also why like.
Big brands like have brand recognition,
they continue to sell well.
Right.
And actually this, this kind of leads
into like the business development, right?
Of how do you build your brand,
how do you build your business?
Because there are , more coaches
today than there have been
five years ago, 10 years ago.
Regina Sweeney: Mm-hmm.
David Chung: So for you, you know,
how do you, how do you set yourself
apart from all the other coaches
Regina Sweeney: for one thing, never
heard of there being any kind of
formal application of Montessori
principles to the business world.
David Chung: Mm-hmm.
Regina Sweeney: So it has been
danced around, I've found our as
early as 2011 in major business
publications, Forbes, Harvard
Business Review, wall Street Journal.
Inc.
Magazine, um, that talk about
applying Montessori to executives.
Most of the time it's, oh, look at those
lucky people who got sent to Montessori
30, 40 years ago by their parents.
And they'll pick and choose maybe some
ideas from Montessori, but there's
never been a comprehensive application
of Montessori principles to business.
So that's one thing that sets me
apart from, from other coaches.
Another thing is I don't think a lot of
people are talking about concentration,
and yet it's a foundational, fundamental
problem that most people have.
Mm-hmm.
So one of the things that I like to
say is that no matter what your area of
expertise, your ability to concentrate
is your greatest skill, because that is
going to make you move faster, think more
deeply, be more productive in less time.
Than the people around you who cannot
concentrate the way that you do.
But in terms of, generally
speaking, how would a coach
distinguish from other coaches?
I think it's really important to
focus on who you love to serve.
So it's not, it's not really the, the
old idea of demographics as your ideal
client, but really psychographics.
So people who you just enjoy being
with, working with you, connect
with, and that they bring you joy and
energy so that at the end of a day
of coaching your clients, you walk
away thinking, wow, what a great day.
And not being drained by your
interactions with clients.
You know, life is too short, I
think, to, to put ourselves into a.
Draining, you know,
psychologically, mentally draining
situations for money, right?
Money is important.
People need money to live, but at the
same time, a dollar does not equal a
dollar because you can make a dollar
with someone in a difficult professional
relationship that's the same dollar
that's going to put food on your table
with a client that brings you joy.
David Chung: I, I think that's
very appropriate because a lot of
coaches, when you're struggling,
you'll grab onto anything that's
gonna bring in some money, right?
Regina Sweeney: Right.
Mm-hmm.
David Chung: At least that is like
the natural, like, 'cause you're,
there's a, there's fear in that
'cause you need to make money.
You're, you're a solo, so
there's a lot of stress in that.
Mm-hmm.
So generally people will, until
you're at a certain level, uh,
take more risks with clients when
they know they probably shouldn't.
I'm curious if you've had that moment.
Regina Sweeney: I've found that the more
we as coaches allow our personalities
to come out, whether that's through our
blog writing, you know, video videos
that we create, podcast recordings such
as this, we will attract to ourselves
like-minded people, um, people with
similar personalities, senses of humor.
You, I, I've just found that
the people who have gotten on.
Calls with me to see if it's a good fit
have often been a good fit because the
reason why they even make the decision
to book a time to talk with me is
because they're already attracted to
me, my personality, my message, what I,
what I can do to help them in some way.
Yeah.
Right.
We're, we're not normally
inclined to go, you know, if we,
I dunno, don't like purple cars.
We're not going to go down to
the car dealership down the
road who only sells purple cars.
Yeah.
We don't operate like that.
As human beings.
We're drawn to
David Chung (2): Yeah.
Regina Sweeney: What it is
that we're attracted to.
And so as coaches, you know, you don't,
you don't need to make a fortune from
8 million people that you're serving.
None.
None of us can, really, maybe in
a very meaningful way, can serve
8 million clients over a lifetime.
I don't know, maybe we'll get
to that in the next century or
so, but at this point in time.
We can have very healthy coaching practice
serving a smaller number of people.
Mm-hmm.
And so I think it's a matter of
distinguishing who you are, what you
can offer, how you love to serve people.
And those people will be drawn to you.
David Chung: So like I totally agree.
Uh, people who like who you are, what
you're saying, um, what you can provide
will definitely come and find you.
'cause they wouldn't be interested you
to interested in you if they didn't
find what you were doing compelling.
Regina Sweeney: Right.
David Chung: At the same time,
they might be more interested
in what you can do for them.
Uh, but they might just be, uh,
they could still have that friction
of like, well, for whatever reason
personality just doesn't work.
Right.
I wanted to ask, because you didn't
start off, you didn't start off your
coaching practice coaching executives.
So how did you go from Montessori
school to coaching for concentration?
Regina Sweeney: So I just got into the
practice of starting with my homeschooling
experience of learning how to adapt
the Montessori principles to different
situations, like I mentioned earlier,
in terms of homeschooling, running
the household, raising our children.
And then more and more people
started coming to me for
child raising advice actually.
So as a mom of nine, you tend
to get, you know, you earn
your stripes pretty quickly.
It's, it's much more magnified,
um, in a very intense way.
So our children are,
have a 14 year age span.
And the thing that was really, really
fascinating to me about understanding
Montessori and what she observed to
be the trajectory of the development
from birth to around age 24, were the
different needs, different tendencies, uh,
different responses that children needed
at the different stages of development.
And what I came to observe, coupled
with all of my business book knowledge,
was that sometimes people seemed stuck.
Adults were stuck in a certain stage of
life that hadn't really developed well.
You know, so one of the things
I like to say about myself is my
family members like to tell me.
I don't have a very good sense of
humor, which, which is so they're
like, mom, you're not funny.
I'm like, okay.
Although I do make people
laugh occasionally.
I can take that.
And so one of the things that is very
noticeable in the, what she called
the second plane of development
children from about the age of six
to 12, is they're really trying to
develop their sense of, of humor.
If you've ever been around children in
that age group, they start telling really
dumb jokes or they, they find things that
are funny, but it's funny only to them.
Or they wanna test out jokes on
their parents or their siblings
and see what the reactions are.
Some people don't outgrow that, right?
Like they don't, they never really get the
sense of what's, what's funny and what's
not funny and how to deliver a joke.
I'm kind of stuck there.
I'm not very good.
I'm just not very good at telling jokes.
And so I don't, right, I mean, it's
not something that's really hampered
me in my adult life, is not being
able to tell a joke, but I'm aware
of that, you know, about myself.
And so different things like that.
Um.
That I have come to realize with adults,
and I've had a lot of friends who they
will, they will have just come to me over
the years in their particular situations.
And I, I get a lot of people telling me
things that it's kind of funny, like,
I have this way of, I've been told,
people open up to me fairly quickly.
So I was on a call with somebody who was
a potential client and, you know, we got
to know each other a little bit and found
some mutual connections at the beginning.
And we, we got pretty
serious pretty quickly.
And at one point he kind of interrupted
himself and he said, I just met you.
I can't believe I'm
telling you these things.
And I looked at the clock and we
were only 15 minutes into the call.
And, and I thought, okay, well
that's kind of par for my course.
We, I told, I told my children
and my husband the story later
when I was having dinner.
They're like, mom, it's
like that all the time.
We went down to Best Buy
a couple Christmases ago.
We had to make a return and so we were
waiting at the, you know, the pickup place
and, and or an exchange or something.
We had to load something into our car.
So the woman at the Best Buy customer
place started telling me, and within
20 minutes she was talking about her
daughter and her daughter's job prospects
and her daughter's bank account.
And my children are, they're
thinking this is happening again.
A perfect stranger just goes and tells
mom all these really intimate details.
I'm like, you should have been a spy mom.
You should, you can just get
people to open up to you.
I'm like, I don't know.
I don't know.
It just happens.
I don't, I don't pry, but there's
just something that, um, people
are comfortable with me, so.
David Chung: Mm-hmm.
Regina Sweeney: So just more
and more people started coming
to me with different scenarios.
And, and more often than not, it would
kind of trigger in my head, oh, this
Montessori principle can help in this way.
And I wouldn't use that
language with them.
I would just start responding in a way
that they could understand the framework
and then, you know, try to help them Yeah.
As I could.
And so when I started talking
to colleagues, friends who were
in the business world mm-hmm.
What do you think about this?
They all thought it was a great idea.
So that's kind of how mm-hmm.
This was born.
David Chung: When you started, you, you,
you kind of went through phases, right?
You didn't just settle in on
executives and concentration, right?
You kind of had to go through
an evolutionary process
of like figuring that out.
How did you go from having people
just talk to you, talking to you
and saying, yeah, this is a great
idea to what you're doing now?
Regina Sweeney: So, when I first
started coaching, I was actually
working with families, like I
said about the child raising.
But one frustration to me was
that parents would come to
me, they would want solutions.
But it was very difficult for them to
implement because it's, I think it's
more difficult as a parent to say,
I need to change the way I'm doing
things before I can help my child.
And that was the, that was
the growing process that my
husband and I had to go through.
We had to realize, you know, this isn't,
this whole parent thing is not working
out the way that we hoped it would.
So what are we doing to
create this environment?
What changes do we as parents need
to make in the way that we view
our children, treat our children,
interact with our children in order
to get the results that we want?
So that I, I just found that
very difficult for parents to do.
And so we would get to the
ends of our conversations.
They would be all fired up
and they would know their, you
know, practical steps to take.
Mm-hmm.
And then we would meet the next time,
and they wouldn't have done any of them.
And then they'd be frustrated because
their frustration still existed.
And my, I would be frustrated because
I had given them really solid,
actionable, practical direction to take,
and yet for whatever reason mm-hmm.
They didn't find themselves able to do it.
David Chung: Mm-hmm.
But
Regina Sweeney: then I ended up
having a client who, it's funny,
his, so I have, we'll talk about this
at the, at the end of our, our show
together, but the Spotify playlist.
Oh
David Chung: yeah.
Regina Sweeney: And so one of my
questions when you can request
access to these hidden playlists on
Spotify is, why did you contact me?
Or, you know, why are
you interested in this?
And this one reply came in
because my wife told me to, right?
His, his wife was like, you need to listen
to these, get these, these playlists.
So he started using them at work and
about a month later I get this message
from this fellow saying, I've been using
your, your Spotify playlist at work.
I'm so much more productive.
Can we talk?
I wanna know like what
else you can help me with.
So he, he was my first like
real, I guess, executive client.
Mm-hmm.
So I work with my, my clients on
a confidential basis, but for the
sake of this, I'll call him Tony.
So he shared with me that he was working
from home every Friday afternoon and.
Most of the time he was spending it on
YouTube watching videos, and he had a
lot of work to do, but he wasn't doing
it and he didn't like that, but he just
really found it difficult to overcome.
So he started working together and
within about a month he told me that
the YouTube videos were not even
interested, interesting to him anymore.
He had, and this is to be, you know,
totally transparent, this is with
using the music protocols that you
mentioned in my intro, that he had
started on his own initiative, putting
together a white paper for his team.
They're working on a project, and he
had identified particular roadblocks
that he viewed as they must be addressed
before they were going to make any
real progress on their project.
David Chung: Mm mm-hmm.
Regina Sweeney: So at the time
that he told me this, in one of our
meetings together, he was already
up to 4,000 words and he had written
1500 of those words in one sitting.
So he was really pleased with his
progress, his ability to concentrate,
his newfound creativity, uh,
because that's one of the areas
that we can train with, with the
music, creativity, problem solving.
And so he was kind of my first
executive success story, and I was so
encouraged and just happy to hear his
success because here was somebody who
was implementing what I had to offer.
And, and people like to be appreciated
for their work, whether it's something
that's contractual or not, or if it's free
or volunteer, you should say thank you.
Right.
And part of that thank you is
the implementation of the work
that, you know, the, the actions
that you are suggested to take.
David Chung: Mm-hmm.
Regina Sweeney: Because really, I
mean, if you're gonna have a coach.
Why are you going to work under
somebody that you aren't actually
going to follow their instructions?
David Chung: Yeah.
Regina Sweeney: Right.
It, it's, it's a frustration
for both parts and it's
wasted money, so why bother?
David Chung: Yeah.
Regina Sweeney: Right.
In the end.
And so because I felt so encouraged
by my experience with him, that's when
I decided to really try to reach out,
um, to business people in particular,
because I think it can make a real
impact, not just for them personally,
but the reality is, is that what
happens at work doesn't stay at work.
Mm-hmm.
Whatever stresses are caused by
the workplace, we bring those
home with us to our families.
And, and most of the time, the families
get the brunt of the stress at work.
We'll talk to our spouse and we'll talk
to our children in ways that we would
never consider talking to our colleagues.
Right?
David Chung: Yeah.
Regina Sweeney: Because there's that level
of politeness normally in the workplace,
and there's that restraint, but those
come off when you come home, right?
People let down their hair and they
let their stress come out, and it
comes out in ways that have nothing
to do with your family members,
but yet they get the brunt of it.
And so when executives are happier in
their workplace, that is going to have a
positive ripple effect into their homes
and then ultimately their communities.
David Chung: I totally agree.
Right?
With, with the coaching that people do,
with leaders, um, especially when you're
working with really effective coaches,
like you can get down into, into the weeds
of like, what, what makes you who you are?
What are you doing that's effective?
What's not effective,
and how that, you know.
Impacts your team, but also impacts
your, your family too, right?
Like things like communication,
concentration, um, delegation, like
all, there's all these different things.
So I definitely see how that all
works because we're not David in the
office, David, at, at home, David, at
Regina Sweeney: exactly.
David Chung: Whatever.
We're just holistically David.
Right,
Regina Sweeney: right.
David Chung: Or whoever we are.
Right.
Um,
Regina Sweeney: right.
We don't compartmentalize our stress, you
know, we don't put our stress at work in
a box that just sits there in our office
waiting until we come back on Monday.
David Chung: Which is interesting
because I think a lot of people
think they, they do and they can't.
I, I've seen like there, there
are people who think who I am
in the workplace and who I am at
home those worlds don't collide.
Like there's not a lot of, like, they
can, there, I've talked to enough
coaches to know that the leaders that
they work with, especially like high
potentials or like high performing,
that they have this self belief that the
jerk in the office is not the, not the
guy at home or, or the woman at home.
Right.
Regina Sweeney: Maybe some people can
pull that off, but in the end, I think
that if somehow they're managing to do
that, they're internalizing that and
they're probably causing health damage,
you know, to themselves stress on their
brains because it, like you said, we
are, we are holistically one person.
David Chung: Yeah.
Well, so my point is, is that it's
not that they, they're doing it.
It's, they have this self-belief
that they are doing it.
That they are compartmentalizing
their lives would be, and
so when they real, it Yeah.
Regina Sweeney: Interesting to ask
their family members what they think.
David Chung: Exactly.
Which is, what is like, is a tactic
that some people will, will implement.
It's like you really think
the person you are at home and
at the office are different.
Let's call your spouse or your
significant other or your children
if you have them, and let's ask them.
And so this is actually what becomes like
this inflection point of, oh, I don't need
that as, I don't I should change for work,
but I will change for, for my family.
And so it's, it's, it's one of
the interesting things about
the whole coaching world and
industry because like, make more
money, improve the, the business.
Optimize.
That's great.
Right.
But
The kids you, you care
for when they're sick?
Or your spouse who, you know, you're, you
decide to spend your life with, right?
Regina Sweeney: Mm-hmm.
Exactly.
David Chung: How have you
enjoyed building your business?
Regina Sweeney: When I interact
with people, I love it.
You know, there are always parts
that I don't love, like bookkeeping
and admin and tech problems, right?
You have some, you think everything's
fine with your website and then you look
and you're like, how did that happen?
You know, like just the other week
I thought it was fine and there were
certain texts that I bolded and you
know, you just go in your backend
and you right click and highlight it
and click the capital B and it bolds.
Well, I went and there was just all
the gobbly gook before and after
the world word that I had bolded.
I'm like, how did that happen?
I thought, okay, well maybe it's just
a glitch on my browser, my computer,
no, I went to another computer, tested
it, you know, and there it was too.
I just got rid of the bolding.
Things like that.
You know, I, I want to serve people,
I like to work with people, but then
there are all the other parts that go
along with business, which I don't love.
Mm-hmm.
You know, that, that part
hasn't been fun, but it's been.
It's been great getting to know people
and it, it really, hearing other
people's stories, especially any kind
of suffering that they have gone through
in their life, it grows my heart.
Like I become more compassionate.
And, you know, sometimes we think that
hardships that we ourselves are going
through a really big deal and then you
hear other people's stories and you're
like, wow, I, I'm kind of a wimp.
You know, I haven't, I haven't
suffered like this person has suffered.
And, and it just makes me more
compassionate and better able to
serve other people because you never
know what's in people's backgrounds
and where they're coming from and the
reasons why they are the way they are.
David Chung: Yeah.
Something that I've been working
through more recently that I've, I've
noticed is that many coaches, when they
start coaching, the, the common thing
that I hear is I just wanna coach.
And so when it comes to the business
development, like building a business, I'm
just curious to ask you, did you realize
when you started your coaching business
that you were becoming an entrepreneur?
Regina Sweeney: I knew it was part of it.
And so for me, the big part
was the marketing piece.
I am not on social media.
I don't like it.
I'm not even on LinkedIn
because the second time I
tried to log in, it blocked me.
I don't know why I, like,
I'm in like LinkedIn jail.
Seriously, David, I went through
their process, you know, I tried
to do the appeal and whatnot and it
just, I don't know, went into the
LinkedIn customer support Ether.
I don't know.
But anyway, I'm not even on
LinkedIn because I, yeah.
So, um, so my big question was how am I
going to let people know that I exist?
And then that's when I hit upon being a
guest on podcasts, which I really enjoy.
It's been very.
Very fun to have that interaction,
the one-on-one conversation
with the podcast hosts, and I
really enjoy that aspect of it.
So that's kind of been my
favorite piece of the non coaching
part, if that makes sense.
David Chung: Yeah, i, because I
bring it up because so many, um,
so many of the people I've, I've
been talking to the commonality
is like, yeah, I just wanna coach.
And, and there's a lack of realization
at the beginning of when you become a
coach, you also become a entrepreneur.
And so you have to think through,
like, yeah, I gotta do the taxes,
the bookkeeping, admin stuff.
But it's like the business development
of like building, like your
marketing, your visibility systems.
Like how does this business actually run?
If you're always just coaching, um, it,
so it's just like, common sense of like, I
started a business and I need to make, how
do I make the business run like mm-hmm.
And make sure I'm doing those things
practically, is just like, sometimes
it doesn't occur to people at when,
at the beginning of their journey.
Right.
Regina Sweeney: Right.
And to that, I think I would say, you
know, if anybody wanted my best tip
on that aspect of developing their
business, I would say do your best to
automate simply from the beginning.
David Chung: Mm-hmm.
Regina Sweeney: And it, you know,
it doesn't have to be very involved,
which for me, I, I overthink full stop.
That is something that I have had to
pull back from and not make everything
perfect and just let you know my.
My lead magnet be a simple opt-in
form that will eventually take
you to the page after you sign up.
It doesn't need to be this big
complicated funnel thing that has a lot
of potential to break in different areas.
Right.
Keeping it as simple as possible
and automating as simply as
possible so that once it's set
up you can move on from that.
Because ultimately everything that we
don't have to do frees us up for more
time for coaching and that interaction
with people that we love, whether
it's one-on-one or in a group setting.
David Chung: Uh, that's my approach with
most, most coaches I work with is focus
on the simple, easy wins, the MVPs.
Mm-hmm.
And then you, you know, once you
have that going, you can start
to like optimize that later.
But that Right.
That's later, like first problem
is, do you have a lead magnet?
Second.
Second problem is did you de,
did they sign up for it and
did you deliver it to them?
Regina Sweeney: Right?
David Chung: Like is it working right?
Regina Sweeney: Is it
David Chung: working?
Yeah.
Is it, you know, but, but
focus on the basics first.
You don't need to think
three years down the line.
You need to think about like today does,
can somebody, if they come to my website,
if they wanted a resource, can they get
that from me in an easy and quick way?
Because if they can't do that,
how are you gonna get new clients?
That's like,
Regina Sweeney: well, to make our
listeners maybe laugh, you helped me
figure that out with my own lead magnet.
Right, because you signed up for my
Spotify playlist and then you emailed
me and you said the link is broken.
I'm like, great.
I thought I had set that up properly.
It turned out I hadn't
done that the right way.
I had the different link, the different
settings or whatnot in Spotify, but
then after I fixed that, because
you brought it to my attention,
it's been working ever since.
So it's great.
David Chung: And I've been listening
to it on a regular basis and
it's, it has been very helpful.
Regina Sweeney: Great.
I'm glad to hear that.
Thanks.
David Chung: Um, before we close and I
hope you've had a good time, um, this
Regina Sweeney: has been very fun.
David Chung: What have you learned about
yourself through this process of becoming
a coach and building your business?
Regina Sweeney: Becoming a lot better,
being friendly to error in myself, you
know, I mean, it's a big growth for me
to not be afraid to make mistakes, to
have everything perfect before moving
forward and just to try new things.
You know, I have such admiration for,
for people who are truly entrepreneurial.
I'm like, well, let's try this
and see how it works and let's
try this and see how it works.
And that's something that I have had
to adopt as a coach running my own
business, you know, solopreneur right
now I have, I'm not working with anyone
and I don't have an admin or anything.
Um, that's been a, mm-hmm.
Even though I knew the principle to really
have to live that in order to develop
my business has been a learning curve
David Chung: mm-hmm.
Regina Sweeney: For myself.
David Chung: Mm-hmm.
Regina Sweeney: You know,
that, that's one thing.
And then just also, not being afraid
to really get out in front of people.
You know, I'm not a public speaker,
I just, the thought of getting up in
front of a big crowd since chills down
my spine, but having this one-on-one
conversation with you that I know
hopefully there'll be many listeners,
is something that I'm comfortable with.
So really finding the way that
I want to grow my business
that is comfortable to me.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not, I'm just not an Instagram person.
I'm not on social media, like I said.
And to do that and, and actually
social media is one of the things I
try to get my clients off of because
it's such a source of distraction.
Right.
So that I'd be a total hypocrite if I'm
trying to attract more people to me via
social media while telling them, oh,
you should be getting off social media.
Right.
That's not fair.
And I wouldn't do that.
That's, that's inauthentic.
Yeah.
And people will find out
about me in other ways.
I've had clients through referrals,
through, you know, podcast guesting
and it's just a matter of time.
I really believe, um, in getting,
building my clientele to where it's a
really healthy, sustainable place to be.
David Chung: I think that
learning about your business and
what you're doing, the principles of.
Montessori and how you're applying
that to, to business and to leadership.
I think it is something that's really
needed in today's society, right?
We're so inundated by so much stuff.
But I'd love to end
this on a happier note.
Um,
I have so had so much fun, um,
in this conversation with you.
I would love to know.
Thank you.
Regina Sweeney: Me too.
David Chung: And, uh, for yourself,
for, you know, maybe the next six to
12 months, what are you thinking about?
Where are you taking your business?
Regina Sweeney: So actually right
now I am working on launching
a group cohort program where
it's up to 10 people, up to 10.
Executives, team leaders who are
in a position to really affect
change in their workplace.
Um, the reason why I focus on that
group of people is because, honestly,
I think that if you learn the things
that I have to teach you and you start
putting them into practice, you'll
probably get really frustrated in your
current job and want to find another one.
But if you're in a position where you
can actually start making changes in
your workplace, or even solopreneurs
because they manage themselves, right?
I work with solopreneurs a lot as well.
That, um, that a lot of good can
come about taking what it is that
I have to offer and then really
implementing it where they are.
So that is, um, I'm actually
launching my first cohort in February.
I'm looking forward to the,
the leaders that have already
signed up to work with me.
It's gonna be really great.
And then I also do
one-on-one coaching as well.
Okay.
David Chung: Fantastic.
Regina, thank you so much
for joining me today.
This has been a fantastic
conversation and thank you.
I wish of luck in your new cohort
and I'd love to hear about it in,
you know, six months, I guess.
Uh, how long is the cohort gonna go for?
Regina Sweeney: So the intensive part
is six weeks, six consecutive weeks,
and then I also have optional office
hours the following day, so that any
extra help that people would like to
show up and get, they can do that.
And then I also am offering bonuses of
four, one-on-one calls, one per quarter
for an entire year so that people actually
can be working with me for a year.
And if you have any listeners who
are interested, they could go to my
website, uh, regina sweeney.com/cohort.
C-O-H-O-R-T to learn more.
They can get to my booking calendar there,
to, to, uh, spend some 50 minutes with me
or so to find out if it's the right fit.
I don't believe in a hard sell, and
if I also think it might not be the
best thing for you, I will tell them.
So.
But I also like to invite all
of your listeners to my full
website, regina sweeney.com,
and at the top there's the notification
bar and they can request my hidden Spotify
playlist, the ones that David is using
right now, they are three playlists
that last about 30, 35 minutes each.
And I have one for relaxation
concentration and then
to become motivated.
So I'd love for your, your
listeners to get in on that as well.
David Chung: All right.
Thank you so much Regina.
Regina Sweeney: Thank you David.