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October is a collision. Your athletes are racing their biggest A races. And it's SELLING season, when athletes are shopping for their next coach. So why is your plan writing still happening at 9 PM on a Sunday? In this episode, I break down the RPE system I've used since 2010 to coach 22 athletes in 30 to 60 minutes a day. Also in this episode: Why Sunday work keeps Monday from becoming a pile-upWhy timely feedback keeps athletes (and costs far less than landing new ones)Why comments tell you more than data when you write the next planPick your window, lock it in, and tell your athletes why. Send the email. Give it two weeks. If you have more than 5 athlete coaching experience, join the Dream to 6 waitlist. For 6-figure coaches scaling in 2027, the Dream to 7 will be open in December/January so stay tuned! DM me on Instagram at @CoachMichelleLake to learn more. Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

I keep coming back to AI because you guys keep asking about it. This week, I'm breaking down exactly where it belongs in your content process, and where it doesn't. AI is a dial, not a switch. How much I want you leaning on it depends on where you're at. Here's my warning - athletes can smell AI-written content, and it costs you trust. I go through the tells (paragraphs that say nothing, repetitive sentence shapes, over-designed posts, suspiciously perfect spelling) and make the case that a typo is proof you actually wrote it. I also walk through two real examples from my own content: a reel pulled from a forgotten podcast story that hit 300K+ views and 50 new followers, and a same-day post that saved me on a day I had nothing left in the tank. DM me the word CONTENT and let's talk about getting your content strategy in line, whether that's Dream Launcher, Dream to 6, Dream to 7, or Content That Recruits that's coming back soon. Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

You can't will your way into a full roster. In this episode, I break down why coaching skill alone was never going to be enough (for me or for you) and take you back to the exact moment Coach Michelle Lake was born: a stalled business, a kid headed to kindergarten, and a decision to finally learn the parts of running a coaching business nobody teaches you. In this episode: The real reason "just be a good coach" doesn't build a businessHow one conversation with my athlete Robin became the spark for a coach-mentorship accountThe four keys every profitable coaching business needs (and the one most coaches skip)Why an 80%+ renewal rate isn't luck, it's a systemHeads up: Spots in Dream to 6 are limited right now, two coaches are already closed, and the program may pause enrollment after October. If you've been sitting on this, this episode is your sign to stop waiting. 📞 Book your roadmap call now to find out if Dream to 6 is the right fit before the doors close: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/afee674e/appointment/31380211/calendar/5950491?appointmentTypeIds[]=31380211 Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

It's peak selling season, and I'm making you grade yourself! Inspired by those old magazine quizzes, this episode walks through a self-audit across the four levers that actually grow a coaching business: Marketing & Content CreationGrow & Engage CommunityAthlete Results on a Time BudgetBusiness MindsetI break down what to look for in each one and give you a simple 0-3 scoring system so you can see exactly where you stand, and which program fits you best based on your numbers. DM me your four scores on Instagram @CoachMichelleLake. I'd love to hear where you land - it helps me keep building programming that actually gets you where you need to go. Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

You sign up for a race with zero guarantees. So why won't you sign up for your business? In this episode, I break down why "I'm not good enough" and "I'll do it when I'm further along" keep coaches stuck in the same place a year later. In this episode, I discuss: The client who corrected herself mid-sales-call: "Wait a second. You help me GET more athletes."Two Selling Season case studies, both coaches roughly 4x'd their revenueMy husband and the training-without-a-race problem"Until you sign up for the race, it'll never happen." Ready to stop training for a race you haven't signed up for? Book a call HERE: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/afee674e/appointment/31380211/calendar/5950491?appointmentTypeIds[]=31380211 Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

We've talked about worth. We've talked about pricing. Now it's time for the thing that actually sits underneath both of them: money. I heard a quote this week that stopped me in my tracks. "If you're scared of money, you'll make no money." And once I heard it, I couldn't stop thinking about how true that is for so many of the coaches I work with. This episode isn't about spreadsheets (okay...it's a little about spreadsheets). It's about why so many of us were taught to avoid talking about money, where that fear actually comes from, and why avoiding your numbers is keeping you stuck. I'm sharing: The actual reason coaches avoid looking at their revenue (it's not a math problem...)Why you track everything for your athletes but nothing for your businessThe mindset shift that separates "coach" from "coachpreneur"A simple 30 day challenge to change your relationship with money for goodThis week's challenge: Start tracking every dollar that comes into your business. Not what you think it should be. What it actually is. Awareness first, judgment never. Ready to go from coach to coachpreneur? If you've coached 5+ athletes and you're ready to build real income, book a call with me: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/afee674e/appointment/31380211/calendar/5950491?appointmentTypeIds[]=31380211 Tell me you're coming from the podcast, I'd love to hear from you! Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

16 years ago, I started coaching with an email, a PDF, and a lot of guesswork. Today, my athletes' workouts sync automatically and we're commenting back and forth before I even finish my coffee. This episode came from a conversation with my friend who asked me what's actually changed the most since I started coaching. I break it down into three things. Communication. Data. Community. Then, I'll tell you where I think each one is headed. We talk about: Why real-time commenting changed coaching more than any single piece of gear ever didThe power meter I bought in 2008 and how data went from "nobody has this" to non-negotiableWhy I won't coach an athlete without power anymore, and where useful data turns into noiseMy honest take on Strava and community apps, and why I stepped back from checking in dailyWhy I tell brand-new coaches NOT to start with AI coaching appsWhere I think AI sharpens a coach's brain instead of replacing the coachNo fluff. Just 16 years of pattern recognition and an honest look forward. Am I too old-school on any of this? DM me @CoachMichelleLake. If you're ready to build a coaching business that doesn't run through 70 different apps, that's what we work on inside Dream to 6.  Book a call with me here to see if it's the right fit for you: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/afee674e/appointment/31380211/calendar/5950491?appointmentTypeIds[]=31380211 Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

Selling season is almost here, and up to 70% of athletes look for a coach between September and February. That means most of your future athletes are about to start searching. Some of them already know your name. But a lot of them don't, yet. They're the lurkers. The quiet Googlers. The ones who find you on Instagram, or through a friend, or (yes, this is happening now) through ChatGPT. So when a total stranger lands on your website, what happens next? In this episode, I'm sharing the one thing I see missing from coaches' websites over and over again, and why it might be costing you inquiries you don't even know you're losing. I'm also giving you a first look at the framework I use every fall to make sure I capture as many of those inquiries as possible, and how it all ties into what we're building inside Selling Season. This is the conversation to listen to before the season gets busy, not after. In this episode: Why athletes are more likely to inquire this fall than almost any other time of yearThe one part of your website that determines whether a stranger becomes an inquiryA sneak peek at the framework behind Selling Season, my two-week program starting August 31stReady to get more than your share of inquiries this season? Selling Season opens for a limited time, cart closes August 30th. Click the link here to join us (https://coachmichellelake.lpages.co/selling-season/), or DM me @coachmichellelake if you've got questions first. Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

Your athletes finish their last big race. Weather cools off. Kids go back to school. And your numbers start to dip. I used to panic about this. Now I know better. This is just the season, and it's the biggest one of the whole year, the one where over 70% of athletes buy coaching. In this episode, I'm breaking down what selling season actually is, why it happens, and the two things every coach needs to focus on right now to make the most of it. I'm also walking through my Selling Season Star, the framework I use to help coaches prepare, and why systems (yes, even the boring back end ones...) might be the biggest unlock in your business this year. Selling Season is open now. Two weeks, three live calls, daily voice notes you keep for life, starting August 31st. Doors close Sunday, August 30th at 8PM Eastern. No late entries. Link below. https://coachmichellelake.lpages.co/selling-season/ Questions? DM me @CoachMichelleLake or email [email protected]. I'd love to talk it through with you. Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

Just got back from two weeks in Europe, fjords in Norway, a Greek village nowhere near the tourist islands, and one group call taught from happy hour in Athens. But that's not what this episode is about. It's August. Your inbox might feel dead. Your athletes are quiet because they're heads down for their A races. That silence isn't a problem. It's the calendar. Here's what matters: quiet doesn't mean nothing's happening. Athletes are already shopping, they've just been at it for months before the credit card comes out. In this episode, I walk through four types of athletes window-shopping right now, including one who just podiumed at USA Triathlon Nationals and is already wrestling with what's next. Plus, I tell on myself with the story of the first time I tried to write my own training plan (spoiler alert: it did not go well). If your DMs feel dry right now, or you want to get in front of athletes quietly deciding their next move, this one's for you. Something big's opening Monday the 24th, built exactly for this window. Want the early word (plus a bonus for the first few days)? DM me "SELLING" on Instagram @coachmichellelake. Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

It just happened to a coach I work with. Her athlete didn't finish, and the conversations we had after got me thinking about something we never talk about: how the coach handles a DNF, not just the athlete. In this episode, I get into the grief of it (yes, even my own DNS-turned-finish story at Ironman Lake Placid), what you can and can't control as a coach, and a simple debrief process to help your athlete (and yourself) move through it and find the next start line. Plus, why this isn't just a race day problem. It shows up in your business too. Also in this episode: Selling Season is back! Fall is the next start line for coaches: it's when most athletes go looking for a new one for the year ahead. Selling Season opens Monday, August 24th. Get on my email list below or follow me @CoachMichelleLake to hear first.  Join the list here: https://coachmichellelake.lpages.co/joinlist/ Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

I write my training plan every week before I ever step foot in the pool or on the track. So why would my business be any different? In this episode, I'm breaking down the framework I teach inside Dream to 6 for building an actual system around your sales, not just random posts and hoping something sticks. I call it the Six C's, and I walk through all six levels of the "triangle," from the daily habits at the base to the bigger quarterly plays at the top. I talk about: Why athletes hire the coach they connect with, not just the one they know existsThe one simple ask after every conversation that builds your following without ever feeling salesyWhy one post a week isn't enough to build the content muscle (and what actually works)The step almost every coach skips, and why it's costing them inquiriesHow to use longer-form content to let potential athletes really get to know youWhere bigger group events fit into the picture, and how often to run themThis is the same intention I bring to every training plan I write. No throwing spaghetti at the wall. Just a system you run every single week. Let's talk about your sales machine. If you're ready to stop guessing and build real intention into how you grow, book a call with me and let's map it out together. Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

How many athletes did you lose last year that you could have kept? Not the ones who got hurt or pregnant or had to step away for good reasons. The ones who just quietly drifted off. We spend so much energy on the front door, getting new athletes in, and almost none on the back door, where people are leaving and we're not even noticing. In this episode, I'm breaking down: Why that leak is probably the most expensive thing happening in your businessWhy it's rarely about your coaching and almost always about your systemsThe exact places I want you auditing this weekIf your retention is sitting under two to three years per athlete, this one's for you. Book a call with me ​HERE​: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=23890670&appointmentType=31380211 Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

Two weeks ago, we talked about the worth wound. Today, I'm taking it further, and we're doing some actual math. I want you to break down exactly how many hours a month you spend per athlete. Plan writing, calls, texts, feedback, all of it. Then divide that into what you charge. Most of you are going to be shocked at your real hourly rate. And I mean shocked. We'll get into why this happens (hint: you're pricing off what YOU would pay, not what the transformation is worth), the mistakes that keep coaches stuck at the same rate for years, and what actually justifies charging more. If you've been avoiding this conversation with yourself, this episode is your nudge. Ready to look at your own numbers? Book a call with me here: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=23890670&appointmentType=31380211 Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list

I'm heading into vacation and this idea hit me mid-teaching Content That Recruits Module 2. I had to share it now! One of my mentors just gave our group a stat that stopped me cold: 82% of people don't have any systems around how they do their work. I'm a little obsessive about systems these days, and it's the exact thing that's saved me the most time and made me more fulfilled with my athletes and coaches. In this episode, I'm breaking down the one system I want every coach listening to build right now: the one that protects your content, your captions, your podcasts, everything you've ever written, from disappearing into the void. I'll walk you through exactly how I've done it for years, what it's unlocked for me now that AI is in the picture, and why where you are in your content journey changes how you should be using it. Bottom line: your words are the most valuable thing you own right now. Tune in to find out how to actually treat them that way. My call calendar is open again starting around August 12th. If you've coached at least five athletes (doesn't need to be one-on-one or all at once), grab time with me.  Book a call with me here: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=23890670&appointmentType=31380211 Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the podcast, I’d be so grateful if you left a star rating or written review on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening! Follow me on IG @CoachMichelleLake | Join the list