Finding a life coach sounds straightforward until you try to do it.
You search, you scroll, you land on a dozen websites that all say roughly the same thing. Everyone is passionate about helping you reach your potential. Everyone has a framework. Everyone offers a free discovery call. But, after an hour of scrolling and 80 open tabs, you're no closer to knowing who is actually right for you.
This is one of the most common reasons women put off working with a coach.
Finding a coach that you love doesn't have to be another project on your never-ending to do list. Here's how to approach it...
The instinct is to search for a "life coach" and see what comes up. The problem is that life coaching covers an enormous range of focus areas: career transitions, burnout, confidence, ADHD, motherhood, entrepreneurship, financial wellbeing, relationships, purpose. The list goes on. A coach who is extraordinary at one thing may not be the right fit for another.
Before you start looking, spend five minutes getting specific about what's actually going on for you right now. "I feel stuck" is broad, but "I've been in the same job for four years and I know I want something different but I can't seem to make a change" makes finding the right coach that much easier.
Unlike therapy, coaching is still unregulated. Anyone can call themselves a life coach. This sounds alarming, but in practice it means you need to evaluate coaches differently than you would a therapist or a doctor.
What makes a coach genuinely qualified is a combination of three things: where they trained, how long they've been coaching, and their lived experience in the area they specialize in.
Training tells you they've invested in learning the craft properly. Experience tells you they've done the work with real clients and know how to navigate what comes up. And lived experience tells you they understand the specific thing you're dealing with - not just theoretically.
A burnout coach who has navigated it herself will meet you somewhere different than one who hasn't. A career coach who has made a significant professional transition brings a quality of insight that can't be taught. When you're looking at a coach's profile, look for all three.
"A great coach brings three things: the training, the experience, and the lived understanding of what you're going through. Look for all three."
Does it match what you're working through? A coach who specialises in entrepreneurship is probably not the right fit if you're navigating burnout. Look for someone whose work is built around your specific situation.
Good coaches are specific about who they work with. If you read a coach's bio and think "she's describing me", that's a strong signal. If it feels generic, keep looking.
What does working with them actually look like? Is there a clear outcome to the session, or is it vague? A coach who can articulate what you'll walk away with is a coach who has thought carefully about the work they do.
You're going to be honest with this person about things you probably haven't said out loud. Do you want a coach who will joke around with you? Or maybe someone who is more serious? A coach who feels like someone you'd actually want to talk to is more important than one who looks impressive on paper.
If you've been burned by a coach before, let's look at why before you write it off.
Was the fit wrong? Did the coach's specialism not match what you were actually dealing with? Did the format not work for you - too open-ended, not practical enough, or not giving you enough structure?
Most coaching that doesn't work isn't a coaching problem. It's a fit problem. The right coach for where you are right now might look very different from the one you tried before.
You'll feel it in the first session. That the questions they're asking are the right questions. That you're saying things you haven't been able to articulate before.
A good coach makes you feel clearer, not more confused. Lighter, not heavier. Like you've moved something that's been stuck.
If you don't feel that in the first session, it's okay to keep looking. Sometimes you need to kiss a few frogs, but the right fit exists.
Coaching marketplaces are the most efficient place to start. Platforms like Revie allow you to browse coaches by specialism, read about their focus areas and session offerings, and book directly without a discovery call or a lengthy back and forth. You can find someone whose work is built around exactly what you're dealing with, and experience their coaching in a single session before committing to anything more.
Word of mouth is still one of the strongest signals. If someone you trust had a good experience with a particular coach, that recommendation is gold - especially if their situation at the time resembles yours now.
Social media can be useful for getting a sense of someone's voice and approach before you book, but it's a poor proxy for coaching ability. Someone who posts well isn't necessarily someone who coaches well.
Don't wait until you feel ready. The women who get the most from coaching aren't the ones who have it all figured out before they start. They're the ones who are willing to show up in the messy middle - uncertain, mid-transition, not sure what they want - and trust that the process will help them find their way through.
At Revie, you can browse coaches by what you're working through or get a personal coach match from our team. Find your coach here.
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