After 28 years in the corporate world, James Hayward reached a career crossroads at the start of 2024. Rather than simply moving into another corporate role, he began exploring coaching and eventually found a new direction with Jim’s Life Coaching in Ballarat.
Watch the video above, or keep reading for the full Q&A.
Why Did James Leave Corporate Life After 28 Years?
James Hayward left his 28-year corporate career because he wanted the next stage of his working life to feel more meaningful. At the start of 2024, he was weighing another corporate role, consulting, a Jim’s Diggers franchise, and life coaching before deciding coaching was the work he most wanted to pursue.
James originally started upskilling in coaching partly so he could become a better coach and leader if he returned to corporate work. As he got further into the training, he realised he enjoyed the coaching itself more.
He then came across Jim’s Life Coaching while looking through the list of Jim’s franchises. For James, that connected two ideas he had already been considering: owning a business and doing work that felt more meaningful.
For more background on his coaching journey, read James Hayward’s Jim’s Life Coaching story.
What Does a Jim’s Life Coach Actually Help People With?
Jim’s Life Coaching helps people get clearer on what they want, identify what may be holding them back, and take action towards goals across different areas of life.
James says clients may feel stuck or may simply be unsure about what they really want. Coaching can focus on business, finances, health, relationships, personal growth, fun and recreation, or another area the client wants to improve.
Mindset is a central part of James’s approach. He helps clients examine their beliefs, self-image, and behaviours to understand what may be stopping them from moving towards their goals.
The aim is not simply to give someone a list of things to do. James wants clients to discover their own answers and understand what needs to change so they can act on them.
How Does a Jim’s Life Coaching Franchisee Find Clients?
James uses a three-pronged approach to finding clients: the Jim’s network, networking groups and social media.
Through Jim’s Group, he speaks with new and existing franchisees, including people attending the Jim’s National Training Centre and franchisee meetings. James says the network has five and a half thousand franchisees, with 100 to 150 starting every month.
He also uses B&I to meet business owners, build relationships, and generate referrals.
The third part is social media. James believes coaches need to put themselves in front of people consistently. If potential clients do not know a coach exists, they cannot consider working with them.
Can Life Coaching Be Done Online and In Person?
James offers a mix of online and in-person life coaching, including both individual and group sessions.
He shares one unusual example of a local client who saw him near a fishing shop beside a Jim’s business. The man decided that if James came out of the fishing shop, he would speak to him. James says the man was around 70 and wanted an in-person coaching experience.
Online coaching gives James a much wider reach. He says he coaches people in Perth, Brisbane, Victoria and Sydney rather than working only with people around Ballarat.
That flexibility allows clients to choose a format that better suits their location and preferences.
What Training Does a Jim’s Life Coaching Franchisee Complete?
James says the life coaching training takes about nine months and involves both completing the programs personally and learning how to deliver them.
The training covers the coaching skills and capabilities needed to work with clients. James describes himself as “a product of the product” because he has completed the programs himself before learning how to deliver them to others.
That means the learning is not limited to theory. Franchisees practise the programs and then learn how to apply the material in coaching sessions.
For more information about the wider network training process, see the Jim’s Group franchisee training program.
What Are the Biggest Challenges of Starting a Life Coaching Business?
For James, two major challenges have been becoming better at sales and staying consistent with social media.
He did not come from a sales background, so he has had to develop that skill as part of running the business. James says he is working on becoming a better salesman every day.
Social media requires the same kind of persistence. Producing a few posts and disappearing will not make it easier for people to find the business.
James sees consistent visibility as part of the job. Coaching ability matters, but a coach also needs a way to reach the people who may need the service.
What Results Can Clients Get From Life Coaching?
The most rewarding part for James is seeing changes in his clients and hearing about their wins every week.
James describes one client who said he had been experiencing anxiety and depression for 18 months and saw himself as having a very negative mindset. After six weeks, the client told James he felt more positive about his life and particularly his work than he had in the previous 12 months.
The client went on to finish James’s 12-week program and wanted to continue.
James also says the client had been earning about $100,000 a year and was initially targeting $120,000. Three weeks before the interview, James says the client was running at a rate of $150,000 a year.
For James, the important part of the example was the change in the client’s confidence, self-talk, and belief about what he could achieve.
What Skills Do You Need to Be a Good Life Coach?
A good life coach needs strong communication skills, people skills, and the ability to listen properly.
James says a coach needs to be able to hold space for someone and let them talk rather than immediately jumping in with advice.
His approach is not about solving every problem for the client. Instead, the coach helps the person discover their own answers.
James believes many people already know much of what they need to do. The difficulty is understanding what is getting in the way and then following through with action.
What Do People Get Wrong About Life Coaching?
A common misconception is that life coaching is only about affirmations and visualisation, or that coaching is only for someone who has become completely stuck.
James says mindset work can include those elements, but it is applied to practical parts of life.
He uses the Wheel of Life to look at areas including business and career, finances, love and romance, mental and physical health, personal growth and development, and fun and recreation.
He also says coaching is not limited to people who are struggling. Someone may already be successful but still want to set bigger goals, change their self-image, and rethink what they believe is possible.
What Happens in a Jim’s Life Coaching Program?
A Jim’s Life Coaching program starts with goals, then moves into mindset, accountability, and action.
James says the first session looks at what the client really wants without immediately worrying about how they will achieve it.
The goal also needs to matter enough to keep the person moving when the work becomes difficult or uncomfortable.
From there, James looks at what may be stopping progress. That can include beliefs, self-sabotaging behaviours, self-image, upbringing and attitudes.
Clients then attend weekly sessions covering key concepts and complete exercises designed to put those ideas into practice. James sums up the approach with a simple line: “knowing is not doing”.
Learning something is only the first part. The client needs to apply it through action.
What Ongoing Support Does a Jim’s Life Coaching Franchisee Receive?
James says he speaks with his franchisor, Sue, at least once a week and sometimes more.
That support includes ongoing training, sales development, learning how to overcome objections, planning future activities, and discussing ways to grow the Jim’s Life Coaching brand.
James therefore continues developing both his coaching skills and the business side of the franchise after the initial training period.
Jim’s Group also explains the broader support available to franchisees for people who want to understand what sits behind the franchise model.
For someone considering a career change into coaching, James’s experience gives a practical picture of what the transition can involve: learning the craft, improving sales skills, finding clients, staying visible and having a support structure around the business.
To explore whether franchising could suit the next stage of your career, see how to own a Jim’s franchise and make an enquiry about the divisions available.