From Corporate to Coaching with Luisa Zhou

What initially drew you to coaching, and how has your own personal journey shaped your approach as a coach?

I never planned to become a coach. On paper, I had done everything you’re “supposed to” do to build a successful career. I’m a Princeton-educated engineer who worked for the International Space Station and later managed multi-million-dollar launches at a unicorn tech startup in New York.

But I still felt unfulfilled and like I was meant for something more. Then everything changed in one year. My mom was diagnosed with cancer, my dad was rushed to the ER, and my sister nearly lost her eyesight. And I couldn’t be with them because I didn’t have enough PTO. That was the moment I knew something had to change.

I wanted meaningful work, financial freedom, and the ability to live my life on my own terms. Coaching became the business model that made that possible. And once I saw how deeply it helped people, I knew I would never go back.

My personal journey shapes how I coach today. I bring my engineering mindset into my work by focusing on simple, proven systems and what actually gets results. My goal is to help clients build real freedom, not just a business.

Do you have an established coaching practice / business and what is it called? Do you have a coaching niche that you specialize in? What is your website?

Yes, I run LuisaZhou.com, where I help professionals build and grow coaching businesses so they can replace their salary and go from employee to entrepreneur. 

My coaching business program, Employee to Entrepreneur (ETE), has helped more than 4,000 people in over 50 niches start their coaching businesses from scratch. Inside the program, I teach them how to choose a profitable niche, attract clients even without a big audience, create consistent income, and build a business that gives them real freedom — not another job.

How did you set up your coaching practice and what challenges / wins have you encountered in the process? Any tips for new coaches just starting out to get their business registered?

One of my early challenges was launching a business before I truly understood who I was serving or what problem I was solving. I picked a niche (Excel consulting) simply because I was good at it, but I never talked to potential clients and didn’t understand what they actually wanted. Not surprisingly, that business flopped.

Things shifted when I focused on people — building relationships, having real conversations, and helping them solve actual problems. That’s when my coaching business started growing.

I set up my first coaching business in the simplest way possible: no website, branding, funnels, and audience. I created a clear offer that solved a real problem (at the time, digital advertising for business owners) and spent my time connecting with people who needed that help.

That’s still what I teach new coaches today:

• Don’t wait to feel ready. You get clarity from working with clients, not from thinking about it.

• Start selling early. You don’t need a website or a big audience. You need an offer and a place to connect with people, whether that’s TikTok, LinkedIn, or another platform.

• Talk to your clients. Build your offer around their needs, not your assumptions.

How do you typically acquire clients / market yourself to grow your business? What has worked best for you and what pitfalls should be avoided?

I’ve always focused on the fundamentals. When I started my coaching business, I didn’t try to be everywhere or do everything. I picked one platform (Facebook at the time) and committed to it. Every day after my 9-to-5, I’d spend about an hour connecting with people in Facebook groups, and on weekends, I created content to share in those communities.

I stayed focused on what actually grows a business: clear messaging (being clear on who you help and how), staying consistent, and focusing on the basics (creating offers people want, having conversations, and helping people solve real problems). 

That alone took my business to multiple six figures before I ever used paid ads or more advanced marketing.

But the biggest pitfalls I see new coaches run into are:

• Trying to do everything at once. You don’t need to be on every platform. Choose one or two where your clients actually are, and commit.

• Posting content without a strategy. Don’t publish just to tick a box. Ask yourself: “What is the purpose of this?”

• Waiting until you have a big audience. Most coaches get their first clients from tiny audiences. What matters is the quality of your message and the clarity of your offer.

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What's the most transformative shift you've witnessed in a client thanks to your coaching? Can you share the specific approach or tools you used? For eg, do you use any coaching models or specific techniques?

One of the transformations I’m most proud of was a client who had been wanting to start a coaching business for years but couldn’t get out of her own way. When we started working together, she told me, “I have to make this work. Otherwise, I’m going back to my 9-to-5.” 

Within a few months, she signed her first $5k client. By month three, she’d made $30,000 and finally felt, for the first time, that she had a real, sustainable business she could rely on.

My approach is a mix of coaching and consulting — what I call “coach-sulting.” I ask the right questions to help clients get clarity, but I also give them the steps and systems they need. It’s focused on getting real results quickly.

Describe a moment where you encountered a coaching roadblock with a client. How did you navigate it, and what lessons did you learn for future situations?

A common roadblock is when a client hits the “messy middle”—the point where their early motivation is gone, and they start doubting themselves. I had a client who, a few weeks in, was convinced nothing was working and wanted to quit.

Instead of telling her to “push harder,” we stepped back and looked at the actual data. She was building traction. People were responding and her skills were improving. She just couldn’t see it because she was measuring her success by only one metric: “Do I have 10 clients yet?”

Most people quit right before things start to click, while they need to stay in the game long enough for their actions to compound.

What are some common limiting beliefs you encounter in your clients, and how do you help them overcome them?

I see a few limiting beliefs come up again and again:

1. “I’m not expert enough.”

Most people underestimate how valuable their lived experience is. You don’t need to be the best in the world to help someone get results. You just need to be a few steps ahead and be able to guide them.

2. “The market is saturated.”

It’s only saturated with generalists. When you get clear on who you help and the specific problem you solve, you immediately stand out. 

3. “I’m afraid of being visible online.”

I relate to this one a lot because I’m an introvert myself. Some skills are learnable; I’ve learned to be confident on camera. But the beauty of coaching is that you can build your business around who you are. I structure mine in a way that works for me: limited calls, no networking events, and systems that don’t require me to be “on” all the time.

You don’t have to change who you are to succeed – you just need a simple strategy that plays to your strengths.

How do you maintain your own self-care and emotional well-being while supporting others through theirs?

I’m very intentional about boundaries and how I structure my time. A few ways I do this:

• Limiting the number of calls: I batch all my coaching calls into one day a week and never take more than five.

• Clear boundaries around when I coach and what clients can expect, so I’m not “on” 24/7.

• Protecting my energy and saying no to most things that aren’t aligned with my priorities.

This is your blank canvas for you to write about anything you want to share that’s helped you in your coaching journey, how to be a more effective coach, etc. Feel free to tell your story to inspire our coaching community!

You don’t need to be the most experienced, confident, or the most “ready.” You just need to be willing to show up and take the next step.

I’ve watched thousands of people go from doubting themselves in their 9-to-5 to building businesses that changed their lives, their families’ lives, and the lives of the clients they serve.

They weren’t the loudest or the most “qualified,” but they were willing to take action before they felt perfectly prepared. And along the way, they built the skills they needed.