Creating a World-Class Certification Program with Quantum Coach, Ashley Gordon
Feb 01, 2021
In this episode of The Dreamer’s Lounge Podcast, I’m thrilled to have special guest Ashley Gordon joining me. Ashley is the founder of the Quantum Coaching Certification Program. And as a quantum coach herself, she specializes in helping female coaches master their craft so they can provide life-changing transformations to their clients. And she loves to say to that, she gives them big coach energy. Ashley is also the creator of the Badass Manifesto brand and podcast. She's a certified success coach, hypnotherapist, and master NLP practitioner. I’m so excited for you to hear her perspective and how she built her certification program!
But before we dive right in, let me introduce myself in case this is your first visit. You’ve now entered into The Dreamer’s Lounge! I’m Ariel Schiffer, and I have made it my mission to take out the digital trash one bad course at a time. I am the creator of The Course Alchemist, Industrial Organizational Psychologist, and Curriculum and course design expert.
This podcast is for entrepreneurs who are looking to elevate their digital product suite so their offers speak for themselves. Nothing is worse than being oversold into something that under delivers just like an overpriced bottle of wine. So, if you’re ready to develop high quality offers, bring in consistent revenue, and have a business with long-term results for you AND your clients, grab your drink and join us inside…
Today, Ashley and I are talking about how to create a certificate program in alignment with your energy and values. For all the details, be sure to listen to the ENTIRE episode on your favorite streaming platform!
Ashley’s story of how she became a coach.
Ashley used to work in real estate, dabbling in a few different jobs on the side. Nothing she tried stuck. She felt completely lost and prayed that she would find her direction and purpose. Then one day she was at a friend’s wedding, and she saw someone she had had a conversation with a few months prior. And on the dance floor of the wedding, this person told her, “Ashley, you changed my life.” Apparently, Ashley’s previous conversation with her had been extremely impactful. And Ashley felt a spark inside herself. She wondered, “Am I supposed to be a life coach?”
Ashley started working at the front desk of a yoga studio. While it wasn’t much money, she loved it and felt so fulfilled. She just started talking to people at the studio. And people began to ask her who she was and what she did. And she started saying, “I’m a manifestation coach,” just trying that phrase on. Eventually, she was able to secure office space and started charging for her services. It was scary at first, but she was eventually able to celebrate it because she knew she was helping people.
Being the best vs making the most.
Ashley has always been focused on being the best at what she does, not making the most amount of money she can. Money has never been her number one goal. When she first started coaching, she didn’t even get a shit about money. That was never the thing. Her thing was to help people, and that was her mission.
Of course, money is important, and you deserve to get paid well for the hard work you do, but that can’t be your main focus. Ashley says if you lead with your mission the money will flow. You can’t be so focused on the end result, the dollars you make, that you lose sight of what you actually want to accomplish-- the transformation you want to give people.
Ashley’s unique method that led to her certification program.
Ashley didn’t realize at first that she could potentially reach people all across the world in the online space. It was all new to her and kind of like a bubble she had to break into. But once she was in, she saw the amazing potential. Even when she broke into the online space, though, she felt like something was missing. She kept thinking about when she was getting certified as a yoga instructor, and she realized that she had a great interest in certifications and facilitations. And she realized that she had her own unique method she wanted to share with people. The idea of building up other coaches who would then go out and teach what she was teaching really excited her. There could be this ripple effect of helping people. And she followed that intuition to set up the framework for her certification program, Quantum Coaching Academy.
Ashley’s method revolves around the image of a bullseye. At the center is energy. Working with energy is the core of working with clients. The next outer layer is entrainment. That’s about knowing how to entrain your energy with the client and build trust with them. The next is engagement. This involves engaging your clients through deep listening, one of the most powerful things you can give. The next is equanimity, meeting the client exactly where they are. And finally, encompass, being able to hold the whole space.
What I love about Ashley’s method is the solid framework. It’s clear and easy to remember and visualize. Creating courses is not about copying someone else. It’s about being able to embody what’s important to you.
What goes into developing a certification.
There are a lot of pieces that go into building a certification program. In these programs, you’re not just teaching someone how to do something. You’re teaching them to implement it over and over again. You’re giving them a whole new skillset. You teach them to facilitate the process. Ashley says that the program took her around eight months to develop. She wrote a manual that’s over 200 pages. She wrote several scripts. She had to be very detailed and intentional behind every piece. Otherwise, none of it would have made sense.
Also with a certification program, you typically have to meet the standards of a larger organization. Ashley wanted her program to be through the International Coach Federation. She had to structure her entire program in alignment with their accreditation. She had to make sure every piece fit their standards. While all of this was a lot of work, Ashley sees it all as so purposeful. The purpose of getting a certification like this is so you can be the absolute best you can be and deliver the best service to your clients. If you’re going to do something, do it to the best of your ability!
Building your program your own way.
Ashley believes she owes her success to the fact that she built her program in her own unique way, following her own voice and intuition. She didn’t look at a lot of the things that had been done before, and she doesn’t actively compare herself to other people in her space. I can say the same thing about me. There’s really no right or wrong. It’s about what works for you and your clients. Put your energy into what you love, and it will work. There’s no “you shoulds” in business based on what you create and do. The people who get burnt out are the ones who spend their energy trying to fit into a mold that doesn’t work for them.
Ashley wants to be the “go-to” for coaching certification. It’s so important to think about what you want to be the go-to for. It will take some time to figure out, but once you do, your whole business, product suite, EVERYTHING will align around it. You’ll know it when it happens, and you’ll go all-in with it.
Creating a World-Class Certification Program with Quantum Coach, Ashley Gordon: The Bottomline
Ashley is such a good example of a person who has followed her intuition and hasn’t been afraid to pivot and change course when she’s needed to. She wasn’t afraid of her passions and ideas. I hope this episode inspires you to follow the spark of joy you feel and do what you are truly passionate about.
For more about creating an amazing certification program, be sure to listen to all of episode 4! You can also check out Ashley's Quantum Coaching Academy here!
Thanks so much for stopping by The Dreamer’s Lounge! If you enjoyed the episode please take a second to rate & review. Each review helps me fulfill my mission of improving the quality of learning in the online business industry. Don’t forget to take a screenshot, share it in your Instagram stories and tag me @dreampro_. The first six episodes of this podcast are available to binge right now! See you for more episodes soon.
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