What to Expect in Your First Coaching Session
Booking a first coaching session can bring up a lot of uncertainty. I have been on both sides myself. Long before I started coaching people, I scrolled past the very same ads you have—rented sports cars, five-step funnels and countdown timers urging you to buy before the price triples. This arguably bad reputation almost made me abandon the word "coach" altogether.
This article aims to be an antidote to that noise. It lays out, in plain daylight, how my process works, what I refuse to do, and why the first session is less like a sales pitch and more like a guided hike where you keep the map.
I could have hidden this information inside a glossy PDF or a paid mini-course, but sunlight beats suspense. When you know exactly how I work, you relax sooner and our live time goes toward real change rather than housekeeping.
Additionally, clear expectations filter out misfits early. If you discover that my style or cadence is not your flavor, you can close the tab and keep your calendar (and wallet) intact. That is a win for both of us.
Coaching Is Not a Quick-Fix Scheme
Coaching began as a straightforward metaphor: a carriage that takes you from where you are to where you want to be. Then the self-help boom happened. Suddenly every influencer with a ring light and a hero's-journey anecdote became a "mindset coach". The upside is variety, the downside is noise. You can now find someone for almost every niche, but evidence-based work often drowns beneath inflated claims about overnight success.
Why? Well, because it sells better. Think about it: Would you rather loose 10 kilos overnight or hit the gym three times a week for 3 months to get the same? Obvious choice—but there's a catch. Only one option actually works.
The same is true with coaching. There is no shortcut to it. Real transformation requires more than a credit card swipe. You have to take the journey to get to the destination. Real progress compounds slowly, but we all know how powerful compounding becomes on the long run. It might not qualify for viral social-media shorts, but it builds a foundation you can stand on when the hype fade.
Coaching, Therapy, Consulting, Mentoring: A Pocket Guide
Language shapes expectation, so let's untangle four labels that people often mix.
Therapy looks backward to heal wounds and diagnose disorders. Consulting sells best practices and hands you a ready-made playbook. Mentoring offers advice from a person who once traveled your path. Coaching sits in a fourth chair. We look mostly forward, treat you as the architect of your own life, and co-design experiments that reveal new choices. When you want my opinion, I will share it, but the steering wheel stays with you.
All four are valid options and no single option is generally better than the other. It all depends on your needs and goals. When it comes to coaching, I personally prefer the picture of tour guide that helps you explore a city in a structured way rather than that of a sports coach screaming commands from the sideline.
This is obviously a very simplified picture and lacks a lot of nuance. For example, therapy is much more than just looking backwards. My goal was not to provide the most accurate definition, but to give you a rough understanding of how coaching compares to the other options.
The Fifteen-Minute Discovery Call
Now that we covered some general terms, let's get into the details of how I personally approach coaching—starting with the fifteen-minute discovery call.
Before any money changes hands we meet for a quarter-hour video chat.
You bring context, hopes and any skepticism you want to air. I bring two ears, curiosity and a handful of clarifying questions. Within ten minutes we both know whether coaching is the right next step. Sometimes the real hurdle is a skill gap a good book can close; sometimes therapy is wiser because underlying disorders or trauma block you.
I have referred prospective clients elsewhere and slept well afterward, because honesty saves everyone time, money and the awkwardness of forcing a fit.
Anatomy of a Coaching Session
A session is a conversation with a purpose. It is not a script and it is not the same every time. We start by arriving properly, taking a moment to breathe and naming what would make the hour well spent. From there the flow adapts to you. You share what is true on your side of the table. I listen closely, reflect back what I hear and ask questions that sharpen the picture. Sometimes I will nudge or challenge a belief that keeps looping. Sometimes silence does the heavy lifting and we wait for the real sentence to show up.
When it helps, we bring in light structure. That might look like mapping the forces around your problem, trying a short values exercise, rehearsing a difficult conversation or sketching a habit loop to see where to intervene. If advice is useful, I will share options and trade-offs from my experience. If practice is needed, we design a small experiment you can run between now and the next session. The goal is always the same: leave with something concrete you can try, plus a simple way to notice whether it worked.
The tone is collaborative. You are the expert on your life; I am responsible for the quality of the questions, the safety of the space and the usefulness of the structure. Some weeks we zoom in on one knotty decision. Other weeks we zoom out to align your actions with your values. If a different path would serve you better than coaching, we say that out loud and act accordingly. Flexibility is a feature, not a bug.
The First Session Experience
The first session often carries more listening than usual. We take the time to unpack your context in detail: why you are here, what you have already tried, where things feel stuck and what a meaningful change would look like. We clarify constraints and resources, name any non-negotiables and agree on an initial focus that feels both important and workable.
By the end you can expect one small, low-friction next step to test before we meet again, along with a short note or summary so you do not have to hold it all in your head. The point is not to solve everything in one hour, but to leave with direction, energy and ownership of the path ahead.
What Happens Between Sessions
Most transformation happens off the call. It shows up on ordinary Tuesdays and early Sunday mornings, when ideas from our session bump into real life. Between sessions we agree on one small next step or reflection to explore—often co-created in the last minutes of our call. That might be a short journaling prompt, paying attention to a pattern as it unfolds, a low-stakes conversation you have been postponing or simply trying a different way of approaching a familiar task. Nothing is enforced. These are invitations we design together.
The goal is integration, not performance. Some weeks doing less is the real work: creating space, noticing triggers, letting an insight settle. Other weeks you try something concrete and see what it teaches you. Either way, the learning continues after the Zoom window closes and the best a-ha moments tend to arrive while you are walking, cooking or getting ready for bed.
You will have a light touchpoint from me—a short note or summary so you are not carrying everything in your head—and a private channel for quick clarifications. I am present for guidance, not daily hand-holding. Think lighthouse rather than tugboat: you steer, I help you read the coastline and the weather.
If life gets in the way and nothing happens, we do not shame or start over from zero. We treat it as data. What blocked you. What mattered more. What needs to change about the approach. Then we adjust the next step so it fits the week you actually have, not the week you wish you had.
Common First-Session Myths
Because the industry is noisy, let's defuse three myths:
- Myth #1: A great coach sees the real problem in ten minutes. Coaching is not X-ray vision. We co-investigate and often the break-through happens in week three, not minute three.
- Myth #2: The coach hands you the perfect answer. Real coaching helps you craft your own answers because they stick longer. If a universal template existed for every life dilemma you would have found it on page one of a search engine.
- Myth #3: Accountability equals public shame when you slip. In my world accountability is data plus compassion. We examine what was promised, what happened and what the results teach us, then we adjust.
Boundaries, Ethics & Confidentiality
Everything you share remains private unless you threaten harm to yourself or someone else. Calls are not recorded unless you request it and we both agree beforehand. I follow the International Coaching Federation code of ethics, carry professional liability insurance and submit to supervision twice a year.
Supervision means another credentialed coach reviews anonymized transcripts to flag blind spots I might miss. You get sharper coaching; I sharpen my craft. If therapy, legal advice or medical care becomes necessary, I refer you, because your well-being outranks my billable hours.
What Coaching Is Not
Coaching is not therapy, financial planning, legal counsel or done-for-you consulting.
I will not write your business plan, negotiate your salary or decide your values. My role is facilitator, guide and sometimes mirror. If you want a map handed to you, disappointment will arrive quickly. If you are ready to hold your own compass while I shine a flashlight on overlooked trails, you will thrive.
Transparent Rates and Packages
Transparency builds trust. That applies to what I offer and to what I charge. No hidden fees, no surprise renewals, no pressure to upgrade. You see the options up front and decide what fits your situation.
You can review the full offering and current prices on my site. If anything is unclear, ask before you book and I will spell it out in plain language.
The discovery call is always free. If after the first paid session you feel it is not a good fit, you can stop with no further commitment and pay only for that session, even if you initially chose a package. Invoices include VAT and you will always know the exact amount before you pay. If you need to reschedule, give me notice and we will find a new slot without penalty whenever possible.
How to Prepare for Session One
Preparation is lighter than you think. Block ninety minutes in total—sixty for the call and fifteen on each side for setup and decompression. Choose a quiet room, reliable internet and a notebook you enjoy writing in. Leave your phone in another space so your limbic system can relax. Skim this article once more and jot down one sentence that captures why coaching feels timely now. Show up hydrated, curious and five percent more honest than comfort usually allows.
If This Resonates
You can schedule the discovery call at any time. If curiosity whispers yes while fear shouts no, treat that fifteen-minute chat as an experiment. Worst case, you spend a quarter hour learning coaching is not your jam. Best case, your next chapter starts sooner than you expected. Either outcome delivers clarity and clarity counts as progress.
That is the entire street map—no neon promises, no secret funnel, just an honest route from first hello to meaningful work. Whether we end up collaborating or you carry these insights to another guide, my hope is the same: may the path you choose leave you lighter on the inside and braver on the outside.