The CoachAccountable Blog

Like Version 4, this year’s cake embodies more contemporary tastes by eschewing gradients and rounded corners.

What a lovely year it’s been in CoachAccountable land!

And not just because it marks another year of not having any sort of bug database.  (I’m proud to report that the policy of just fixing whatever’s amiss, within minutes of me learning about it, continues to work swimmingly.)

CA’s 8th year saw a number of strides forward in service of the coaching industry.

The biggest, most widely-affecting change is certainly the release of Version 4, a bright new look for the entire app AND unifying of Basic and Team Edition (i.e. Team Edition is now available to all at the same, lower price of single-coach accounts).  Both aspects have been very well received.

We’ve added a few new integrations with other systems: Zoom, Apple Calendar, and PayPal.  CoachAccountable is now published as a ready-to-go integration on Zapier, opening up integration possibilities even further.

We’ve added more features to really flesh out existing functionality, like Group Whiteboards, Group Action Plans, access for inactive clients, support for multiple currencies, and the usual smattering of other enhancements sprinkled about.

We’ve added a third to our team, Jaclyn, and thus further established our ability to serve an ever growing segment of the coaching industry.  And by adding her charismatic and caring expertise to that of Morgan’s, we’ve been reaching out and having one-on-one sessions with the community like never before.

But perhaps the thing I’m most proud of in year 8 is the Webinar Series, which has really started to take on a significance not originally imagined.

At first, I envisioned a sort of “how to” series: clicking around the app and narrating the ins and outs of how to set things up and get things done.  But over this last year in particular it’s taken on a rather different character.

I still delight in folks wondering after which program I use I do those drawings. Answer: by hand, and with my daughter’s colored pencils. :)

They’ve evolved into lessons where I illustrate and make arguments for ideas to genuinely run a better coaching business and give clients more.  These ideas are powered by what CoachAccountable makes possible, but I spend very little time in-app showing nuts-and-bolts.

Doing that is itself fun, but the real joy is in the difference we’re hearing it make.  During the most recent one, Designing Your Coaching Business Model, one attendee said:

…That graphic?  Wow.  You’ve just made the roadmap clearer…  Thank you: you’ve just move the whole coaching profession forward…

You can find the Webinar Series here.

Looking Ahead

As I have said in this space most other years, we still have a lot up our sleeves to forward CA in service to the community.  And consistent with my penchant for secrecy around future app development, we ain’t sayin’ nothin’ about what that is. :)

BUT, just as you might gather from similar missives marking year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, you can rest assured it will continued to be powered by the insights and perspectives that we collectively get from all of you.

From me, Morgan and Jaclyn, we thank you all for sharing what would allow you to do your work better, and for letting us be of service to that work.

Onward!

(It’s Friday as I write this, and they say it’s a bad idea to release to stuff on a Friday, because it means the poor folks who wanted to enjoy a weekend are apt be be saddled with the fallout from whatever goes wrong with the release.  But… speaking as the guy who did it all and will handle whatever fallout… well, I gotta good feeling about this. :)

It’s done!  It’s here!  And it’s ready for everyone to check out.

Version 4 ISN’T a huge mix up of things.  Truth be told, unlike Version 3 I have NOT been laboring in silence over it for the last 21 months doing a comprehensive rebuild.  The switchover from 3 to 4 is utterly seamless, with virtually everything in it’s place exactly as it was.

But Version 4 DOES feature some substantial changes. Let’s take a look!

» Continue reading “Version 4”

Hi y’all!  It was my honor to say a few words of introduction for our newly-minted #3, and now I welcome you to get better acquainted by the words of Jaclyn herself!

– John

Hi…I’m Jaclyn, the number 3 of the CoachAccountable team, and I am excited!

It’s remarkable the quality of photography you can get with a well-timed screen capture during a routine pandemic video conference.

I started working at 14, construction with my Dad; roofing to be exact. I also babysat and then I moved on to working for grocery stores, arts & crafts stores, and flipping burgers. At 19 I made my first big career move and decided to join the Marine Corps.

I begin my story with work because, looking back, that’s been over half my life.  Work. Making a living with the belief that if I worked long enough the actual living would eventually begin.  I became a wife and mother, then an ex-wife (still a mother) and watching my little boy grow up, something shifted.  Living has to happen now. I don’t want him to think all there is to life is working hard and playing little.  Play now, explore now, LIVE now.

So, I started (ironically) working towards that goal.  I thought if I get another degree, I’ll get another promotion, I’ll make more and I’ll finally get to start really going after some work/life balance.  Spoiler alert…the harder you work for corporate the harder they want you to work.  Life was severely out of balance.  Though I’d take time off for the short vacations, the school plays, the school music festivals I’d be rushing from or to work and a piece of my mind always stayed there, thinking of the tasks.

In 2018 both my parents began having health problems. I had to go back to Texas, and I would need to be there for three weeks. While I drove towards Southeast Texas, by myself listening to my favorite true crime podcast, I thought there has to be something more.  Someone somewhere lives life fully and while maybe not perfectly in work/life harmony, they are aligned and happy.  I also wanted to celebrate those that were coping and surviving trauma, anxiety, and depression. To find out their why and how of, not just surviving, but truly living life by their design.  The ANBRWY Podcast was born and through the last two years I have met people that transformed their lives and in turn began transforming mine.

In March, exactly 2 days before the world went on a global pandemic lockdown, I left my corporate job and concentrated full time on consulting, coaching, and podcasting.  The pandemic didn’t slow this business. I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I gained clients and made them a lot of money. I coached them through fears of startup, hesitation of growth, and through software and process gave them confidence to make the first step to start momentum.  I talk to them often, the momentum has grown.

As life would have it, I came across a job posting. It wasn’t asking for a resume, they didn’t want to hear about my degrees, or past projects completed successfully or within budgets.  Instead, they asked for a short video.  It took several takes. Not so much because I was nervous but looking back, I realize I was being entirely too corporate.  Giving data and experience instead of personality.

I got the call; I spoke with both John and Morgan individually and I was asked to come aboard.  Have you ever been in a place in life where all of your experiences, learnings, and life decisions seem to make sense because they were preparing you?  That work/life balance I was working towards, that need to be in a place where I can make an impact but I still get to learn everyday…it’s here. CoachAccountable, since day 1 has made sense and I have had the amazing experience of being able to relax while still working full days and spending time with family.  I’m able to meet extraordinary people every single day and support them while they do their life’s work.

Does it get any better than this? I think so, because I get to do it all again tomorrow!

Turns out the mic serves for more than just successfully applying to CoachAccountable.

“Wow, that’s a serious microphone!”

That was my under-2-seconds first impression of Jaclyn, as gauged from her video introduction (as I mentioned earlier, for this hiring we completely nixed the usual resume/cover letter dance as meaningless noise, mandating a video to apply instead).

But by the end of 10 minutes and 49 seconds my impression of her was so much more than curiosity around her boss audio equipment, for during that intro she detailed insight and experience that brilliantly fit the bill of what we were looking for in a candidate.

Her experience spans an impressive career of IT support, deployments, training and coaching in corporate environments, and preceded no less by 4 years of service in the Marine Corps (which hardly surprises, given the abundant sense of professionalism, rigor, and can-do spirit that Jaclyn exudes).

Her insight (into who we are and what we’re about) was deep, ranging from the genuine delight of that moment when someone sighs a breath of relief by recognizing their life is now better thanks to some software, to finding our utter disregard for conventional competitive SWOT analysis refreshing, to intuiting that our lack of outward marketing hustle might well be a better-serving strategy of authenticity in and of itself.

All that in a 10 minute riff!

Naturally she advanced to the interview round, and Jaclyn did not disappoint.  She was, has been, and continues to be everything as advertised in terms of the acumen, professionalism, personability, and thoroughness.

Over the last two months Morgan and I have been training Jaclyn of the deep kung fu that is CoachAccountable Customer Love and Hand Holding.  Along the way she expressed being surprised at how lengthy the onboarding process was; that, in other roles, she was more used to getting in and doing much sooner.

It would be fair to say there’s a certain preciousness that I (and Morgan as well) have about doing this role “right”: far beyond merely knocking out answers to questions and moving on (à la more conventional tech support), we endeavor to be coaches, guides, and teachers to those we serve as well, meaning we’ll often go beyond answering the question at hand by looking for (and addressing) the underlying intention as well.

Fun fact: what with the ability to do in-person photo shoots compromised as it is, this was taken as a screen capture of a Zoom call.

Jaclyn has rolled with all of this nuance and nit-pickery with grace and earnest desire to not only learn but master the game at hand.

She has a warmth and patience that I am proud to share with the CoachAccountable community in support of their work.  I’ve delighted in getting to know her over the last several months and suspect you will as well.  (Quite frankly, I can’t wait to actually meet her in person when this whole pandemic thing subsides!)

And that boss microphone?  Turns out Jaclyn does a weekly podcast, currently 59 episodes in, wherein she interviews authors, speakers and coaches on what it is to live fully, both personally and professionally.

In short, she is a delightful, fitting, and so very worthy addition to our merry band.

Please join me in welcoming Jaclyn!

Though not a hard rule it generally holds that, sooner or later, all coaching relationships come to an end.

When you’re done working with your client, you can deactivate them in CoachAccountable so that they no longer count towards your subscription plan.  This means they’ll no longer have any interactions with the system, BUT all of their data remains intact, ready for you to reference at any time AND ripe for picking up where you left off, should they ever come back to resume working with you.

It’s nice to give clients a souvenir of their time spent working with you.  The record of notes and accomplishments serves as a handy treasure trove of insights, and a compelling reminder of what they got out of working with you.

For years the Client Export file has been a nice, portable record that you could generate and send to your clients whenever you like, and moreover makes a fitting parting gift when the work is done.

But for those clients who are wrapping up this segment of work with you, you can do them one better in addition to that parting gift: you can keep your relationship with those parted clients a little more alive by enabling continued access to their CoachAccountable client portal with you, and do so WITHOUT having those no-longer-active clients count towards your subscription plan.

» Continue reading “Enabling Continued Access for Your Past Clients”