Advice from a New Academic Coach

I originally hoped to host a panel discussion with several new members of Rock Your Biz, all of whom were in the early stages of building their academic coaching businesses.

However, as it turns out, we are all movers ’n’ shakers with real lives—and coordinating schedules just wasn’t going to happen. So instead, I decided to interview each person individually about their experience starting a business and learning how to step into the role of an academic coach.

My hope is that these conversations are helpful for anyone who’s curious about what it actually feels like to get started. At the time of this interview, all three educators were about six weeks in—and while their paths, goals, and lives looked very different, what they shared in common was big-heartedness, thoughtfulness, and a deep desire to serve students well.

In this video above, you’ll meet Chandra.

Chandra is a college professor and aspiring digital nomad who is in the process of starting an academic coaching business focused on supporting first-generation college students with academic success skills. In our conversation, she reflects on what it’s like to carve out time and mental space for a new venture while already living a full life, and how she’s learning to work with the vulnerability that inevitably comes with being a beginner again.

She also talks about an upcoming trip to Colombia, where she plans to experiment with being a digital nomad while continuing to work through the Rock Your Biz curriculum—bringing together her curiosity, courage, and desire for flexibility in a very real-world way.

What I appreciate most about Chandra’s reflections is her honesty. She doesn’t present a polished success story. Instead, she names the messiness, the uncertainty, and the learning curve—and how she’s staying connected to her “why” even when things feel uncomfortable or unfinished.

If you’re exploring academic coaching—whether as a classroom educator wanting to become more coach-like, or as someone considering a private practice that supports students with executive function, study skills, or transitions like first-generation college life—you may find pieces of your own story reflected here.

If you’d like to explore more tools, frameworks, and reflections related to academic coaching and executive function coaching, you can browse the free resources available in the Visitor’s Center of the Anti-Boring Learning Lab:
https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources

A version of the following article was originally published here on June 1st, 2022.