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You became a coach to help people β 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 youβre just starting or looking to scale, this is your roadmap to running your coaching practice like a businessβ¦ and doing it with heart.
Build the system. Serve your clients. Support your family.
Alexandra Popkova
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David: [00:00:00] [00:00:15] [00:00:30] [00:00:45] Alexandra Popkova is a PCC with 15 years leading organizational development in some of the world's fastest moving environments. [00:01:00] Welcome to Coach As Entrepreneur, the show for coaches building real businesses with the systems strategy and heart, build the systems, serve your clients, and support your family. Alexandra, welcome to the show.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Thank you for having me, David. Really [00:01:15] happy to be here.
David: Yeah, I'm really excited to have this conversation with you. I will say you are probably one of the, youngest most accomplished coaches I've met to date
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Oh wow.
David: I'm excited to kind of dive in and find out how [00:01:30] you got into coaching because no one grows up thinking, know, when they're five years old. I wanna become a coach when I grow up.
Let, let's start with that. What did you want to do when you were growing up? I.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Oh, that's a great question. I think at [00:01:45] one point of time I wanted to be, um, like fashion designer or something like that, for a few years when I was a teenager. I think that was my longest era of clarity. But other than that, really, you know, the standard things when [00:02:00] you're in kindergarten, like you wanna be a doctor and the astronauts and things like that.
David: Yeah. So you went from fashion designer, astronaut to coach.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I guess so.
David: like? So what was your, like, [00:02:15] out of school, what was your corporate journey, into coaching?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: So actually it started while I was studying. So when I was at university, I started to work for this international NGO called Isaac. And that's really how everything started for me in [00:02:30] terms of my professional experience and corporate career. And ultimately what I used to do in ISIC was leadership development, right?
Um, and I, but most of my projects were focusing on sales and [00:02:45] partnerships, negotiations, event management, community engagements and things like that. But I was really getting lots of feedback from my team and my peer managers that I was good at coaching [00:03:00] people and helping them grow and really seeing that potential and talent and help others acknowledge it within themselves and also see opportunities for future professional [00:03:15] development.
And at one point of time okay, this, this seems to be a trend, you know? It's so easy for me that I don't really see it as it always happens, you know, it's just comes naturally. So when people would ask me like, oh wow, you have, [00:03:30] you know, this results, what do you do with your team? I'm like, I don't know.
I just talked to them, don't you? Like, you know, I don't have a step-by-step recipe, just, I just do what I think I should do and magic happens. So
David: Right.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: [00:03:45] started to really focus on that feedback and then I had an opportunity to partner up with a professional coach, and, and joined his business. He was in a transition period when he was trying to expand his practice from just [00:04:00] one-to-one clients to more of a corporate, um, market offer.
And I was there pretty much helping him out with everything he didn't wanna do as it usually goes in startups. And this is what this experience was my entry to [00:04:15] coaching world.
David: I see. So it wasn't that you were intentionally looking to work with a coach. You kind of started working with an NGO and then kind of got pulled into
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes.
David: little by little.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Um, I guess I got pulled by his [00:04:30] personality more than what he was actually doing.
David: I see.
I can understand that. I can, I kind of fell into the coaching world by, by accident as well. And so, you kind of just, somebody needed help, had skills and you were able [00:04:45] to, and willing to help them.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: exactly.
David: Happenstance and events, start to work with them. start to get interested in what they're actually doing, and then kind of evolve from there, right.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yeah.
David: Do you think that there's anything in [00:05:00] your, in your past, in your childhood, the way you grew up that kind of helped you, uh, develop kind of these innate like coaching skills that people were saying, you're good at this?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Good at asking [00:05:15] questions
David: mm-hmm.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yeah, I, I think I always had this quality of not necessarily accepting the status quo, like doing it blindly and always challenging or asking and just being curious about other [00:05:30] people asking questions like, why do you believe this? How does this make sense to you? Tell me more about that.
So yes, I think that's, that quality definitely helped me to be good at what I do right now.
David: I am, [00:05:45] have you watched Ted lasso the,
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes,
David: show?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I think like the first season, yeah.
David: Okay. 'cause there's that scene, um, where he's talking about, know, being curious. And so I think that is kind [00:06:00] of, it's such a simple thing, but it's a, such a powerful and effective, tool and skill to learn. Because not everybody, I think most, most of the time people are very, um, not intentionally, but self-centered.
Like you, you care about what your, [00:06:15] your self and your life and, but learning or growing to like developing that curiosity for other people is, is something that not a lot of people do.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I agree. I feel like the deepest [00:06:30] relationships in my life were built based on this curiosity. My best friends we're the opposites. We're like black and whites, all our friendship. We've, um, known each other for more than 10 years [00:06:45] now. And our friendship is. Based on this idea. You are so different.
You're so weird. Tell me more about it.
David: Well, one that makes life interesting to people who are so different from you, because then, you don't need to spend [00:07:00] more time with yourself. You wanna spend time with people who are, who are different, who, who through your interactions, you learn more and you get to experience different things.
Right? Uh,
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I agree.
David: to. the world. but I can see that, you know, when you're [00:07:15] working as a coach, that's gonna be a really good skill to also have. Right.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes.
David: you're working with clients, how does your curiosity help you when you work with your clients?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I honestly believe curiosity is [00:07:30] the. Main qualities that every coach should have. Without it, there is no, no interaction, no coaching on the first place. Right? And, and, uh, I think what's really important here is your ability to kinda step back, and understand your own [00:07:45] bias at the moment. Your own triggers, the story you're telling yourself and your ability to put all of this aside or acknowledge it.
Maybe not putting aside, but acknowledging it, working with it, and [00:08:00] focusing on the person in front of you, really going deeper into how they see, life. What's their perspective.
David: So you went from, you know, let, let's backtrack just a little bit because you were working with [00:08:15] a coach and then you became a coach.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yeah.
David: what, what was that transition like? Because you could have just continued doing the, the support and the help, with the coach, but you decided to become a coach.
What was, what was that?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I was really [00:08:30] inspired by him. I remember I would look up to him and, and I would think to myself, oh my God, this is so amazing when I grow up and become this strong, independent woman. You know, what do I need to do in my life to be a bit closer to this [00:08:45] Holness? I really enjoyed observing him and, um, the impact that he would have on his clients.
And I said to myself that, Hey, maybe I should start, I should start exploring it, you [00:09:00] know? Um, so I got my post grade in coaching. I started to take different trainings. I started working with clients, and this is, this was the beginning for me.
David: I'm, I'm curious to know, because I've had a [00:09:15] number of other coaches in the, interviews and co conversations, where they have said, you know, that experience level is really important to have when you're working with senior executives. Um, they want to be talking with people who have been in their [00:09:30] shoes, for you, like, how has, how has that been? Was that, was that a challenge for you working with clients or did you find that. Your age was something that you could turn into a positive.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Obviously I didn't started it. I didn't start [00:09:45] with, um, executives. Right. Um, I think that's something that I evolved into, but I do have a parallel corporate career. Where I was in charge of, uh, different regions, [00:10:00] I was managing teams, um, like cross-functional teams from different countries and locations. So I do understand that corporate dynamic.
I've been there, you know, myself in, in senior leadership [00:10:15] positions and I know how everything works. I know this internal politics and sales and like who is who? What do I need to say? So I think that experience really helps me take my coaching practice to a next [00:10:30] level and be able to have this conversations, with senior executives because I understand what they're going through.
David: Yeah. We kind of skipped over that part of your, your background in history of, 'cause you didn't just [00:10:45] start going full-time coaching, right? You were
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes,
David: you were doing a lot of other things before that. And so I think also is very important and in your story and how it helps you to be actually. Successful in what you're doing as a coach.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I [00:11:00] agree.
David: Because we both know, but everybody else does it. Can you just explain a little bit about your, your professional, like corporate, uh, background?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Um, so my main focus has been in talent, organizational development [00:11:15] and hr. In general, I had a chance to work in startup projects, NGOs, but also huge international corporations where I was responsible for learning and development department across nine countries and [00:11:30] Latin America and Caribbean. Um, career track, again, Latin America, Brazil.
So, this senior management experience gives me that corporate perspective that then I could use and bring to my consulting and [00:11:45] coaching.
David: I think that is probably what separates you from a lot of other younger coaches coming into the industry because I've been in, in this industry for about 12 years, you know, in the last 12 years, the coaching [00:12:00] industry has seen a increase in size of coaches, right?
There's more coaches now, but I've also seen, uh, that the median age for coaches actually has been coming down. Where before when I was, when I got in, would say the average [00:12:15] age of coaches, was probably fifties to sixties. People who were closer to retirement and now we're seeing people coming who are, right out of school or like, you know, still they've only worked a few years and then they're jumping into coaching. But [00:12:30] I
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: yes.
David: think that a lot of them have the same. I, I bring this up because I don't think a lot of them have the same, uh, background and experience, because that speaks a lot to your credibility and your, your skill level, right? Because you weren't [00:12:45] just, and I wanna say this carefully, right? Because it's pe anybody can really become a coach. Like you can learn the skills to do coaching, but I do think that there is a of the experience and being able to speak [00:13:00] the same language that makes it easier when you're talking with your clients, right? Even though you're very, you're young, right? You have that experience and you are able to accelerate your career. So when you're, when you are coaching, There might be like an age gap, but then [00:13:15] there's not necessarily a huge, experience gap. Right.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I agree. And, and now hearing you talk about it, something that comes to my mind is just a little bit of reflection on my own experience, life experience since I was two years [00:13:30] old, I've always been the youngest person in the room, right? When I was two, uh, my mom took me to dance classes. And after the first class, the teacher said, you know what?
Maybe it is gonna be too boring for her with the kids of her [00:13:45] age, so let's try kids that were three and a half, which for that age is a huge difference, right? So since then, everything that's not about. Age specific context, like school, university, everywhere else in [00:14:00] my life. I am the youngest person in the room, so that's like the roles that I've always had had, and I guess I'm used to it.
David: That's a huge, a huge advantage for you, right? Because one, you [00:14:15] accelerate and move quicker because you're always learning from other people. And it, I think there's a little bit of the, uh, depending on where you are and who, who's in that group, people might not necessarily expect a lot from you. You can really
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: [00:14:30] totally.
David: I feel like you have a story there that. Where you, you went in and you kind of surprised a group of people they weren't expecting much from you.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Uh, not a particular, uh, story, but again, that's experience that I [00:14:45] have every time I join a new, new team at work, right? So I'm, I'm this new girl, nobody knows me, and then I come in and say, oh, yeah, I've been living in Latin America for the past 11 years. [00:15:00] Uh, before that I lived in India, in in Bahrain and the Middle East.
I'm originally from Russia. I, I work in three languages. You know, I've, I've traveled here and there, so just for me, simple facts about my life. But I see the face [00:15:15] expressions. People around me, I'm like, okay, probably that's not normal or that's not average, you know? When I face the reality.
David: I think it becomes more normal once you get in like the forties and fifties, [00:15:30] right? pe people, especially when they're working with multinationals,
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yeah,
David: will move staff around d for different projects and things, right? But right outta school in their twenties, that's not happening very often.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I agree.
David: I [00:15:45] would say your experience is to experience so much of the world and to, to work on so many different projects at the level that you are doing it, I think is a testament to who you are to, to your parents for raising you, right? But also to, again, to you for being able [00:16:00] to. To push yourself to, to get to that level and to, know, excel. 'cause obviously you excelled because you kept getting those kind of positions and roles. Right.
So I'd love to kind of, transition a little bit more into the coaching [00:16:15] part of your work,
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: sure.
David: As you started coaching, what were some of the challenges that you faced when you started coaching?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I think the, the classical ones like, okay, now, now I'm ready. Where do I get [00:16:30] clients? How do I sell myself? How should I present myself? Uh, what's my value proposition? What makes me different from anybody else who does the same thing on the market? So all these questions, typical [00:16:45] questions that everybody asks themself when they start, um, a new journey in a new profession.
David: How did you kind of overcome and figure, figure your way through and navigate your way through those questions.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I feel like I'm still figuring it, like there is [00:17:00] no answer. It, you know, it's just the level of questions is different. Um, but I think I got really lucky. So, two important things that I would like to share here. Number one is my corporate experience [00:17:15] gave me the right type of exposure. So when I started coaching, I got few of my ex-colleagues reaching out to me because they already knew me, because they knew [00:17:30] they could trust me, right?
They, they knew what to expect and they valued my expertise as well. So I didn't have to sell myself or explain what coaching as I already knew. That's number one. And number two, in the very beginning of the practice, [00:17:45] I got three clients for free to build my portfolio, but I really took my time to do a very strict, like face control and selection.
It was super important [00:18:00] for me to get these clients to build, to experience, end-to-end coaching process, right? So I said, okay, I'm not charging you anything but. The commitment, how many sessions we're gonna have, how [00:18:15] many months we're gonna be working together. I want to use this case to then be able to know share success stories.
And this three clients really helped me to first get this sense of [00:18:30] self-confidence. In the beginning it's like, oh, it's not just that I got some paper from university or some courses. I know I'm good at it and here is a result. You know, it's, it's real. It's not just my imagination. That's [00:18:45] number one. And number two, get their feedback.
And before and after stories that also helped me to go out there, you know, to life and talk about what I could offer, um, to my clients.
David: Yeah. I love [00:19:00] that. I love the, that you, you did the free work, but you didn't just do the free work. You had a. End goal in mind, which was to
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes,
David: study, to get testimonials to do before and after. 'cause that's your portfolio, that's your proof of work, [00:19:15] right? And then what you were saying before with the former coworkers, I think is, is also true when you're working and looking for new clients too, right?
Because your former coworkers, you had a relationship with them. They knew you,
Your values and what [00:19:30] you were about, and they knew that you, they could trust you to do the work well, right? so when, when peop when you're looking for new
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yeah.
David: The way I start, I've talked, started to talk about it more and more often is thinking about it as a [00:19:45] relationship, right?
It's not just a here's a, here's a lead that who, who's a opportunity, who can become a, a customer. It's, this is, this is John. And we, we've just met and now we're gonna [00:20:00] start building a relationship. How do you build a relationship? How do you build in trust or get to that point of trust so that they're gonna want to work with you? So how, what are the interactions that need to go on? What are the, you know, [00:20:15] questions or what are the things that you need to talk about when it comes to coaching so that they can feel like, oh, okay, I, I can understand what's Alexandra's, value? What is she, what does she care about? What's her philosophy around coaching? What's gonna happen when we, if [00:20:30] we were to work together, right? so once they've, they understand who you are and you've gotten that relationship going, then it's like, okay, now we can take this up an another level. And now we can okay, so how much does this cost? [00:20:45] And I can
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yep.
David: because I've, I've seen the work that you're doing. And when it comes to the whole marketing thing. Uh, the more I've like had conversations with coaches, I've realized a lot of coaches hate the idea of marketing, there's like this, [00:21:00] this idea of like, where you, you get so many emails and you get so many LinkedIn messages from all these people who are trying to market their services I've heard from a lot of coaches, like, don't wanna do that. I don't wanna be like I,
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Like them.[00:21:15]
David: Yeah. Exactly. Like them. And so it's, so, I completely understand it, but You still need to create visibility. You have to let people know about what you're doing else, like where do you get new [00:21:30] clients? But I, I think the approach, so the approach that I, I, I talk to coaches about is like, of marketing, like, like them, right? It's go out and try to make new friends, make new [00:21:45] relationships, and connect with them and, talk to them about, that lens of talking to them about, oh, this is what, what I'm up to. This is what my philosophy is when it comes to coaching. This is why this really works and this probably doesn't work [00:22:00] depending on, you know, industry or whatever. Right. So that, people get to know you, right.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: For me, I, I could relate to everything that you're sharing right now, because in the beginning, um, of my, of my coaching practice, this was one of the, I don't [00:22:15] wanna say fears, but just something that would give me a ick, like, oh, I don't wanna do all that. Like, I don't wanna, you know, do all the sales speeches and, and, yeah, Instagram and LinkedIn and all the things.
So for me, it was [00:22:30] really important to just be authentic. So when I started talking about coaching, I promised myself I wouldn't really use any references. You know, the advice that I would get from everybody who worked in sales and [00:22:45] marketing. Oh, you know, explore the market, see what people are out there, what coaches you like, analyze what they do, and kind of just copy, paste.
I don't wanna do that. I wanna be myself. I want to [00:23:00] use my voice and talk about things that matter to me. Yes, it's not perfect sales funnel, but it's me. And
David: Yeah.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: feeling that I'm being authentic is really what matters more than, [00:23:15] you know, sales and marketing, at least at this point.
David: Well, I wonder if I can kind of challenge you on that a
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Sure.
David: because I think that we can still be authentic, right? In our messaging, but that understanding the, [00:23:30] the mode of communication that other people are doing it, like the system and the processes that they're doing, understanding that, but then taking out. The things that you don't like, because I do think there's a lot to learn from what, what people [00:23:45] who are successful are doing. But then if it's, if there's pieces or things that don't feel, feel right to you, you can always just take that out and replace it with your, your version of that, right?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I agree, totally agree with you. Um, I [00:24:00] think in my experience when I started thinking about all this marketing and communications, it was just too overwhelming, right? So it's a new profession. I need to find clients. I need to find my own voice. And then think [00:24:15] about sales and marketing and communication channels on top of everything else that's happening in my life.
It's like, okay, let's prioritize. Otherwise, you could just go crazy. So for me, the way that helped me stay sane at that moment [00:24:30] was say, you know what? I'm not gonna worry about that. I'm just gonna be myself, and then I'll figure it out. Once I have the capacity to actually focus on it, then I could turn to it and explore.
David: I think that that's just really, really wise, [00:24:45] right? Because there is a lot, especially when for coaches who are solo entrepreneurs, right, because you are not just, it's very different from being in corporate. Um, you're not just focusing on like this one thing, right? Which is [00:25:00] the benefit of working for an organization. you get to focus on one thing, but when you're.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yeah.
David: you become a coach and a solo coach, it's no longer this one thing because if you just focus on the service delivery, [00:25:15] who's your next client? Right? So being able to, to focus on the important things and then prioritize is I think, yeah, very, just very smart.
Or else you go get in, get stuck in this cycle of just like,
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: [00:25:30] Overthinking.
David: doubt, overthinking. You get
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yeah,
David: Analysis, analysis, paralysis, right.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: exactly. And I see that a lot when I teach coaching. I, I get a lot of questions of, okay, so what's my next step? How do I start? [00:25:45] Um, students ask me to share my stories. Many times what I experience is that they want to have this perfect step by step process to follow a framework that's gonna guarantee the success.
What I [00:26:00] always say is, you know what, don't worry about that. Just go and try. Just post something. You are gonna figure it out later. You know, things are gonna turn out fine, but right now, don't get stuck into [00:26:15] this idea of perfection, you know, and, and just that paralysis not doing anything because I'm looking to have that, work plan.
David: I, I, ironically, I was, I was working on a video, [00:26:30] um, kind of about this, about the lie of perfection, because so often people use this idea of I need to make it perfect. And so they don't release, you know, a landing page or their [00:26:45] marketing campaign, and they use it as an excuse, right? And so the thing that I, I try to do is like, especially for myself too, is just like, okay, it's never gonna be perfect. I'm just gonna put out there e
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yep.
David: [00:27:00] with this podcast I was thinking about, it's like so many things I could have done better when I started and put this out there that, but I just said, if I wait until I get all of those things lined up, I'm never gonna [00:27:15] start. I force
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes.
David: To push it out, sometimes the best thing to do is take action, and just start
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: The
Absolutely agree with you, and that's exactly what's happening. I, I observe that it's happening a lot with new coaches when [00:27:30] they get their diploma, they get their education, and then they have this idea that they need to find their own niche and commit to it forever. And obviously they don't have much practice, so they just feel.
Stuck and they freeze and they ask, [00:27:45] okay, how can I make that decision if I don't really know what works for me or what type of clients I like, or, you know, what's, what's my offer? What's my value proposition? But they have that pressure, uh, [00:28:00] that they need to make that commitment today. Otherwise nothing is gonna work for them.
David: Yeah. Which is like the biggest illusion, lie, whatever you wanna call it. Right. Misconception
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: yes.
David: I've talked [00:28:15] to a number of coaches and I asked them, so how do you like your website site? And I would say, except for like there might be 5% out of like 50, 60 people I've spoken to about just their website, who said, I [00:28:30] love my website today, maybe 5%. And the reason is like. They spend a lot of money or a lot of, well not everybody, but a majority will spend money on it. They will start writing the content for it. But when they write it, they have [00:28:45] this idea of what they wanna do, who they want to serve, which is great. But the problem is that once they start delivering coaching, they realize what they thought in their mind and what is happening in reality don't necessarily equal one to like [00:29:00] one-to-one.
Right. so then they realize, actually I thought I liked this niche. I like this kind of silo coaching, now that I've done it for six months, I don't love it. And so it's a, it's such a funny thing 'cause we, we always have [00:29:15] this, as human beings, we have this picture in our mind of, this would be perfect if I built this house like this, it's gonna be perfect, you know? Or if I had met this person and then spend my life with them, is going to be perfect. But then the reality sets [00:29:30] in and then you realize, oh, there is actually this, now that I'm living in this house, or seeing this person, these things aren't perfect or I don't love these things. And so it's the same thing happens with the business is [00:29:45] like, thought I had wanted to work with this niche. I thought I wanted to
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Mm-hmm.
David: this way. But I think you have to give yourself to be flexible and to be gra gracious enough to yourself to be like, we're gonna just do this for now let's ride this test.
Let's see what's [00:30:00] gonna happen. And then as we go, let's reevaluate three, six months and if we wanna change some stuff, let's change it. Right. But you have to think about, you have to give yourself that flexibility.
β
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: [00:30:15] [00:30:30] I think it's a power of the concept of good enough. It's good enough right now. Like that's okay. Nobody's gonna die if my [00:30:45] website is not perfect forever. You know? Let me just,
David: yeah.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: it and then I'll, I'll get back to this thought tomorrow. I have the opportunity to make a different decision at any given point of time, and that's okay.
David: And I think that's just [00:31:00] what people need to like understand is that it's okay. This is good enough for today. This is 80% of the work, right at the 80 20 rule. Let's just.
Let's put it out there and go, but people have a fear, [00:31:15] right? a lot of coaches have that fear of like, just like everybody else, a lot of people have a fear of public speaking. Once you get out there, you get comfortable with it. Once you put your website out there or your landing page or you start posting, you eventually start to get comfortable and [00:31:30] confident.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yeah.
David: but it's
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: We're all humans.
David: Yeah. A hard journey, but I think it's, it's fun or it can be become fun, but the hardest thing is just that taking that first step and being okay with good enough. [00:31:45] So for you, you know, as you've been coaching now, what's something that that's kind of surprised you? About running your own business?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Wow. Honestly, I don't think anything surprised me. Cause I think I had a [00:32:00] pretty good idea and clarity of. Everything that it means, you know, being by myself. Again, what you mentioned, not just focusing on service delivery, but also thinking about all this back office and administration and sales and [00:32:15] marketing and networking.
But what I really enjoy is the sense of gratitude. You know, it's there obviously, 'cause you know, you work with clients, you know how it feels, but I feel like it's almost like you'd never experienced it [00:32:30] before. And every time, like it's this new wave of gratitude and appreciation when you really see the before and after when clients reach out back to you and say, Hey, I, I've been thinking about what we discussed on our last [00:32:45] session, or I've made this change in my life and see here is the result.
And when you face this. Reality. It just, it gives you so much energy to
David: Yeah.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: on going, you know?
David: Is [00:33:00] there any specific story that you'd like to share of like. Of what you're talking about, of where you've seen people change and grow.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: And the first story that comes to my mind is, um, a client of mine, she was [00:33:15] going through a career transition. She got an amazing job offer, which was, you know, two levels higher than the current position she was doing. And obviously she accepted it 'cause that's once in a lifetime opportunity. But she [00:33:30] was really doubting herself in her mind.
It was not a long-term situation. It was, okay, I'm gonna start working there. And then sometimes they're gonna figure out that I'm not. Who they thought I was, you know, this classical imposter [00:33:45] syndrome and it's gonna end, they're gonna fire me. I like, I really am not sure I could manage all that. And there was lots of complexity in the situation because she, when she joined the company, she had [00:34:00] a team, a ready team that was there for years before her.
And they all used to work with the previous manager. The complexity of the business context. Um, the company was growing really fast and that [00:34:15] was one of her focuses for our coaching process. That self-confidence and self-esteem and also learning specific tools that could help her navigate. Through day by day uncertainty [00:34:30] and stress and manage work and life and show up at her best.
And yeah, I think we worked for six months maybe together. And then I just saw that she [00:34:45] became this powerful woman who could hold the space in the room and speak up and send the message across. And really not afraid of it. Not afraid of [00:35:00] challenges, you know, it's like, okay, I got it. Yes, it's gonna be hard, but I'm sure I'm gonna figure it out.
So that shift in her demeanor and how she showed up even in conversations with me, that was really powerful [00:35:15] for me to observe. I'm very happy for her.
David: amazing. I mean, again, that, that speaks a lot to who you are as a coach, right? Um, that you were able to bring that out and help her to, to realize that. Right. Because it's not,
That [00:35:30] wasn't there. Right. It was something that she already had. You just had to help her to realize that she. Should be confident and she should be able
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: And she is already, yeah.
David: So I have four older sisters and I've always seen these, [00:35:45] uh, there's all that research about the way, versus women in the workplace.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I love this conversation.
David: And I just, I'm curious, like, I am often skeptical about some something, so I love to talk to other people who've, who've had that [00:36:00] experience working. In that, in with those types of people or in situations. In your experience, do you find like that research is, is pretty accurate where, um, men versus women when it comes to like imposter syndrome, that kind of thing, do you, do you feel like that's pretty accurate?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: [00:36:15] Yes, it, in my experience, in my practice, I do see the difference. Of course, of course not everybody is the same and we are generalizing here. Absolutely.
David: Yeah.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: But overall, when I meet with men, especially if we [00:36:30] talk about powerful like senior executive leaders, men, older men, probably like, in their careers, the very first conversation usually goes like this, i'm great. I've been, [00:36:45] uh, managing people for the last 200 years. I know it all. Yes, maybe, of course we all are not perfect. You know, maybe there are some areas of opportunity for me, but tell me, Alexandra, what could you, what could you teach me? What could you offer to me? [00:37:00] How, how this coaching is gonna work?
So usually that's the attitude. With women, it's the opposite. Women come to coaching and in the first five minutes they give you the whole list of their challenges, problems, areas of [00:37:15] opportunities that they've already reflected on, that got feedback from their managers, peers, and team, and they know exactly what they should do differently.
So the focus is, okay, I need to work on all this. And sometimes it just, it, it feels [00:37:30] overwhelming. And this is a sentiment that they bring to our space together. So my role as a coach at that moment is really helps them shift the focus a little bit and say, okay, that's great. That's amazing. You already [00:37:45] know everything you need to focus on.
Great. But what you're good at, why you are where you are, you should be great in something to be in this position. Let's focus on that. Let's reflect [00:38:00] on it and, and I feel like that conversation is lacking for women.
David: That's very of what I'm hearing is. More often or not, maybe more, a little bit more arrogant. Uh, they, they over qualify [00:38:15] themselves and, and feel like, yeah, sure, there's a couple of things I could get better at, but overall I'm like 99% the best in the world. Uh,
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes. Yes.
David: then helping them to see, okay, have lots of [00:38:30] confidence, but here are the things where you need to work on.
Whereas women are coming in from the complete opposite where it's, lack of confidence and an overwhelming fe feeling of like, so
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I need to do better. Yeah. It's always that idea that I need to do [00:38:45] better. I need to be better. I could do more.
David: Again, we're, we're speaking in generalizations. It's
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes.
David: How do you, how do we work through help to create better leaders and managers, right? Because the more self-aware everybody is, the [00:39:00] better. You can't really just bring everybody to the happy medium, right?
Or else they don't need coaches, but, where do you. Where is that intersection of like the happy medium or maybe there's not and there's, it's just, it just is what it is.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I think it's a spectrum and for each [00:39:15] individual that happy medium is gonna mean a different thing. But I do see the trends, um, again, men versus women. When women, a lot of women reach out to me and, and in the first conversation, something that they bring up [00:39:30] to a table is that idea of being assertive, communicate assertively, and not being perceived as drama queen and things like that.
I've never heard this term with a male client, like, [00:39:45] there there is no concept of being afraid of being perceived as a drama Queen Correct. So even just this little detail really shows how different, uh, [00:40:00] experience is from men and women in the same situation.
David: Yeah. So what I'm hearing is
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I.
David: as a global society just still have a very long way to go.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: But we're on the right track. I honestly believe, like [00:40:15] I'm happy to hear that, to know that we're having these conversations right now.
David: That's fantastic 'cause the work that you're doing then is, is good because you are helping women leaders to realize that [00:40:30] there's no reason to be down on yourself. You can, you can be confident because you are where you are, because you have the skills, you have the ability, you should be confident in who you are.
So.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: [00:40:45] Exactly. Uh, I think, thank you. Thank you David. Uh, I think one important thing here that I'd like to mention is that women still don't have very little. [00:41:00] Examples, we have less references comparing to men, right? So women before us, women in leadership positions, strong women, women in power, but who, women who could [00:41:15] communicate assertively or have this work-life balance.
Like so many things that, just diversity, right? We have, I remember in my twenties I had one manager, one female manager, and she was [00:41:30] my direct supervisor and like, she was great. I'm very thankful for all the mentorship and opportunity she gave me. But that was just her. Everybody else in the room were men.
All the senior managers were men. [00:41:45] So obviously when I would picture myself there with them at the table. It just, you need to create a new version of this situation because you've never seen it differently.
David: I, I think I, again, [00:42:00] we're, we're slowly improving and evolving as a society, right?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes,
David: seeing more female leaders, more female CEOs, although I would still say it is pretty skewed in terms of look in terms of industry or even, um. [00:42:15] Departments, right? Where there's still in certain group areas, there are more females versus males. Um, but we are overall, I think, moving in a generally better direction than we were before 50 years ago.
We're much [00:42:30] better now. Yes, I agree.
We briefly talked about going from the corporate where you have the whole, corporate, system behind you so you can focus on your, your role in the business versus you as a solo coach.
How has that been [00:42:45] for you managing the marketing, the sales, the technology, right? You're, you're everything versus before you could kind of depend on other people for those things.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I think so far it's worked for me 'cause most of my clients come [00:43:00] from recommendations, references from network. But right now I feel I'm in the middle of that transition when I'm ready to take the next step. And definitely I'm thinking about hiring a team or just outsourcing [00:43:15] that business support. 'cause I really want to focus on what I'm good at and invest my focus and attention and energy in coaching rather than trying to figure out all this back business, back office from scratch.
Right. It's gonna [00:43:30] take me more time and probably I'm not gonna get the result that I'm looking for obviously. So I feel like I'm in this transition right now when I am ready to take the business to the next level. And also thinking about not just coaching, but [00:43:45] okay, how can I make it? Sustainable long term.
So the business does not necessarily depend on me. Right, because we have limited time.
David: I often think about that in the terms of, um, basically what are the redundancies if you are no [00:44:00] longer there or you're, you're sick, is the, the redundancy or the guarantee that if something happens to the service? So like in it is like, if this server goes down in, in Europe, what, what happens?
Like, where's
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yeah. We have a [00:44:15] backup.
David: Right?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Exactly.
David: Yeah. Yeah. If something happens to you, what happens to the business? And so I, I love that you're, you're thinking about this now for yourself because a lot of times I've spoken to coaches, you know, where are you going?
What's, what's happens in five [00:44:30] years? What kind of business are you looking to create for yourself? Because so often people are so, stuck in the day-to-day of doing the coaching, doing the marketing, doing the calls that they don't have the time and space to consider [00:44:45] the future. What's the one, one year, three year, five year plan. Like all of that is flexible, but like, where are we kind of working towards?
Right.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Exactly what's, what's the end goal? What's, what's your intention? What type of life do you want to create for [00:45:00] yourself? And then bringing it back to where you are right now and how could you use your expertise and skills to help you get there To that point, be
David: So for you,
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: sure.
David: about in the future, you know, [00:45:15] who do you bring on so are you considering then, I mean right now you're kind of doing the solo coaching, but are you thinking of a more of a consult, like coaching group consultancy in the future?
Or is, are you thinking of, [00:45:30] some kind of other kind of business, um, kind of setup for you?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: A few ideas. So number one is, um, online products that do not depend on me being there available to have conversation with [00:45:45] people. That's number one. Number two is I'm exploring different partnerships with other mentors, coaches, and consultants. Okay. What is a project that we could do together? How could we support each other and how could we sell it?
That, that's number two. And number [00:46:00] three is just thinking about all the infrastructure and back office, I don't wanna be focusing on like marketing and sales and all this back to back. I just want to be creative. I want to [00:46:15] be client facing. Just tell me what time and when I need to show up.
I'm gonna show up. I'm gonna deliver a webinar. I'm gonna facilitate the class, I'm gonna do my coaching. But everything that happens before that, that takes lots of [00:46:30] time and attention. I would be happy to just delegate it to somebody.
David: Yeah, so the coach I interviewed where the audio was so terrible that I mentioned before, his
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes.
David: Is David Taylor Klaus, and he calls [00:46:45] it the zone of genius, right? Where you, so not the zone of excellence, but the zone of genius, which is like, what is that, top 4% of what you do that nobody else in the world can do that you should be focusing [00:47:00] your like, you know, 60, 80% of your time on it because everything else, you could just hire somebody else to do that and that the
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yeah.
David: is getting to that space where you can spend the majority of your time in your zone of genius. He put [00:47:15] it in this way because he came from a background of like it website development. So he is like, I could do that all day. I could have put my own website, I could do my own marketing. 'cause he, he did all of that in his previous
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Mm-hmm.
David: But then he said, I didn't. [00:47:30] I, I had my team, I had people do it, because I need to focus my time on, on service delivery, creating new, writing a book or creating content, um, that helps and serves his clients. [00:47:45] And so. I think that's the ultimate place of when you're spending the majority of your time, I think that's what you're
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yep.
David: Being able to spend your time focused on just the thing that nobody else in the world can do except for Alexandra. I,
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes. I like how it [00:48:00] sounds.
David: I think is, I think that's the dream, right? Where we can get to that point where we can spend, um, the majority of our time in that place. I think, you know, looking at your career, your trajectory, the way you've been growing [00:48:15] and moving I would imagine, you know, five and 10 years from now, you'll be spending the majority of your time in your zone of genius.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: That's my intention.
David: What have you learned about yourself through this process of becoming a [00:48:30] coach and running your coaching business?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: It's a deep question. What have I learned about myself?
I need to trust myself and I need to trust the journey. Many times it feels [00:48:45] like you're just investing your time in something that does not really bring you any result at the moment. Like you keep posting on LinkedIn, you keep networking or. Whatever you're doing, any type of activity, but you don't see the immediate [00:49:00] outcome.
But then now when I look back, it's like, oh wow, I had this opportunity, I had this certification, I had this client, I had this partnership because somebody saw my post on LinkedIn because somebody [00:49:15] liked it. Because we started to have a conversation and it's, at the moment, it might seem like something that's not important.
It's not significant. But then a year from now, you know, you look [00:49:30] back and say, oh wow. It all started at that moment. I am where I am today because of that conversation, because of that decision I make. So just acknowledging that and trusting the process, it's been quite a challenge. You know, now [00:49:45] getting the feedback and, and seeing the results, I'm really trying to focus on like, okay, I'm doing my best and I turns out it's going to give me the results that I'm looking for.
David: Yeah, it's, it's hard, especially when you are [00:50:00] solo, right? Because
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Yes,
David: on this a lot too, is, difference between a solo and when you're working in an organization like this is one of the biggest is that when you are feeling down and you're part of a group, but a team,
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I,
David: [00:50:15] you have other people around you who can kind of lift you up, right?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: yes,
David: you're working on your own, it's just you, yourself and I, right?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: exactly. And it's very easy to go into this loop hole of. Overthinking, right? [00:50:30] So having, again, having tools in your life, having network people around you that you could reach out to, to kinda see their perspective, get their feedback and say, oh, okay, I'm not going crazy. I'm good. You know, it's good enough.
It's like going back to [00:50:45] that idea again. It, it's good enough today, tomorrow I can make a different decision and that's okay. So allowing yourself, this opportunity for me, that has been, um, one of the major focuses in just my [00:51:00] role in journey in coaching.
David: And this is probably why so many of the coaches I've talked to say you need to have your own coach because you can't coach yourself. I. But when you
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: I won't argue with that. Yes.
David: yeah. You [00:51:15] need that coach. So the, the, the last question I love, love to ask, uh, before closing is what's one piece of advice you'd give to somebody who's just beginning their coaching journey today?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: Trust the process. [00:51:30] Again, I feel like many times when you start in a new career, you have that pressure that you need to make this life changing decisions that are gonna be there forever for you. But just taking that pressure [00:51:45] off a little bit and allowing yourself, okay, I have two months.
In two months. I'm not gonna decide what my niche is. I'm not gonna, you know, make any commitments. I'm just gonna explore, I'm just gonna see, uh, what traction I [00:52:00] have, what clients come to me, what the feedback that I get, what clients I enjoy working with, who are not my clients. And that actually, that's another idea that's very hard to accept when you're just starting, that not all [00:52:15] clients are your clients, and that is absolutely okay.
Right? So it's like, oh, oh my God, how would I ever say no to a client when I don't have lines of them waiting for me? Right. [00:52:30] That's okay, because the values that you bring is. Not for everybody, and it just doesn't matter what the reason is. Characters, energy, vibe, whatever you wanna call it. If you don't connect in the very first [00:52:45] meeting, maybe you know, maybe just not for you and you're not the right coach for this person.
And that's also okay. So sorry, going back to your question about the advice, just taking that pressure off and allowing yourself [00:53:00] to experience and be in this new profession and find your own voice along along the way.
David: That's great. Uh, Alexandra, thank you so much for joining me today. I've really enjoyed this conversation and I [00:53:15] hope everybody else has as well. Uh, before we close, if anybody wanted to reach out to you and connect with you, how could they go ahead and do that?
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: they could reach out to me on LinkedIn, Alexandra Popkova, or Instagram Empower Leaders.
David: Wonderful. We'll have those links in [00:53:30] the description of the podcast.
David Chung: Alexandra thank you so much
David: again. Have a wonderful day.
Alexandra Popkova. PCC: You too. Thank you, David.