Special Feature ActionCOACH Chris and Rachel Spratling enjoying family time
realised that my lack of free time meant only Chris could work towards our vision. So, we decided to go for it as a team and I joined ActionCOACH too.
How do you fit work around family life? Rachel: We work from a home office and can schedule our one-to-one coaching sessions around family commitments. I’ve had much more time at home with the family and I get to walk the dogs in the morning instead of rushing out of the house.
How have you found working together so far? Chris: Rachel left her job at the end of May 2016 and spent June working alongside me to experience everything ActionCOACH had to offer before she began the initial training. That was the first time we’d worked together since we met! Now, we see ourselves doubling the size of the business year on year for the next three years and have plans to collaborate with nearby Action Coaches to run our 90- day GrowthCLUBs and 6-Step seminars. We’ll be great at keeping each other accountable and have certain strengths that we can play to.
Chris and Rachel Spratling
Chris Spratling and his wife Rachel met through work and have been married for 20 years. Chris began his ActionCOACH business in October 2015 in Swindon. Rachel joined ActionCOACH in August 2016, also as a franchise owner
What prompted your decision to invest in an ActionCOACH franchise as a couple? Chris: Over the last six years I ran a consultancy business working with blue- chip media, marketing, manufacturing and distribution businesses, but I also helped a couple of local small businesses and that’s where things began to change for me. I was invited to dinner to say thanks by one of my local clients and I sat next to Simon Buck, an ActionCOACH franchise owner, which is where my journey started. I was really interested in the way he described what he did as an Action
Coach, as it was close to what I had been experiencing with my smaller clients. I arranged to meet with three other Action Coaches to find out more and then went to the ActionCOACH UK support office for a discovery day. I had a large degree of cynicism about franchises before I met Simon Buck, but the sense of community at ActionCOACH is phenomenal and I continue to be blown away. I was convinced this was where I wanted my career to go and I entered due diligence at the end of the discovery day and went on training five weeks later.
Rachel: Even while Chris was doing his due diligence, before he joined ActionCOACH, I could see how becoming an Action Coach myself would be ideal for me, too. We discussed it and thought it could be something I moved towards in a couple of years. I could stay in corporate life for our financial security while Chris was building up his ActionCOACH business. But as we worked on our vision for the future, I
What kind of support have you received from the franchisor? Rachel: There’s such a wealth of information, tools, support and techniques that I can’t possibly fail. Having worked as an executive coach on my own, I can’t believe how different it is as an Action Coach. There’s a network of hugely creative and supportive people to work alongside.
Chris: Each new franchise owner is given free one-to-one coaching from a Coaches’ Coach until they reach a good level of client income. I was assigned to Ellis Bardsley and he helped me make that transition from consultant to coach. He helped me understand the key to success was being authentic. I realised that I led with logic in my consultant role and that still works for me as an Action Coach. While I love the tangible results that the logical progression of working through issues with a business owner brings, it’s also really important to bring with that an emotional connection – owning a business is often fraught with emotion and helping my clients harness that is key.
Do you take your work home? Chris: Yes, we do in a way, as we use our coaching skills with our two daughters who compete in equestrian sports. We help them with mindset and goal setting, and they’ve embraced the benefits.
June 2017 |
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