THE BUSINESS OF COACHING • ISSUE 06 • NOVEMBER 2026
Hi {{first_name|there}},
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
The Signal: What the ICF's new consumer study says about the gap between knowing about coaching and choosing it.
Coach Spotlight: Molly Ann Fairley on the one question she asks before every session.
From the Practice: The One-Minute Client Test for your Viveka profile.
KATJA'S NOTE
The Opportunity Between Interest and Action
Seventy-four percent of consumers know about coaching. Yet only 17% have experienced it. That is the tension at the center of the International Coaching Federation's newly released 2026 Global Consumer Awareness Study.
I find that gap both challenging and encouraging. Challenging because extraordinary practitioners can spend years building their expertise and still struggle to explain it in a way the right client immediately understands. Encouraging because the opportunity isn't only to convince the world that coaching exists. It's to make its value relevant to the people who need it.
When someone wakes up worrying about a difficult leadership decision, a business that isn't growing, or a life that no longer feels aligned, they rarely begin by searching for a coaching methodology. They begin with what hurts, what is stuck, or what they want to change.
That is where I believe our profession can do better. We can move from talking about what coaching is to showing people what it can help them navigate. From impressive credentials to clear possibilities. From visibility to a genuine invitation.
That is also why we're building Viveka: to give coaches the professional infrastructure to make their expertise discoverable, translate it into clear offerings, and give clients a practical next step. The technology should make the human connection easier, never replace it.
This week, I have one question for you: if the person who most needs your work discovered you today, would they recognize themselves in what you offer?
THE SIGNAL
Recognition Isn't the Same as Relevance
THE COACHING GAP · ICF 2026
74%
know about coaching
66%
view it positively
17%
have tried it
Separate survey measures, not a sequential funnel
The ICF executive summary reports that 74% of consumers are aware of coaching, 66% perceive it positively, and 17% have participated. These are separate survey measures, not a step-by-step sales funnel. Among consumers who haven't used coaching, relevance and cost remain major barriers.
The implication is more interesting than "post more." Someone who doesn't see how coaching applies to their situation is unlikely to be persuaded by another generic description of transformation. Specificity helps a potential client decide whether the work is for them.
Compare these two lines:
GENERIC
"I help people unlock their potential."
SPECIFIC
"I help newly promoted leaders make the shift from managing tasks to leading people."
The second does something powerful: it lets a particular person feel seen.
The same study finds that 80% prefer coaching to remain human-led in some form. At a time when AI can produce endless polished explanations, your discernment, judgment and ability to understand the person in front of you matter more, not less.
Research: ICF, 2026 Global Consumer Awareness Study, executive summary (October 23, 2026).
COACH SPOTLIGHT
Molly Ann Fairley: What Do You Want to Change?
Before Molly Ann Fairley begins a session, she asks a deceptively simple question: "What do you want to change?" She doesn't proceed until the person has named it.
That discipline grew out of her earlier work as a clairvoyant. At times, a client would finish a reading only to say that the concern bringing them there had never been addressed. Molly changed the order. First, clarify the request. Then choose how to work with the person.
Every single person's mind works differently.
Her practice draws on hypnotherapy, NLP, meditation and intuitive approaches. Her methods vary, but the commitment to beginning with the individual does not.
Molly describes healing as "the absence of disturbance," a personal and spiritual understanding of feeling calm, centered and clear. Whatever your own coaching discipline, her starting principle has broad relevance: clients understand the change they seek before they necessarily understand the framework you use.
Molly starts with the person, not the process. That may be the most useful lesson in this issue.
FROM THE PRACTICE
The One-Minute Client Test
Try this before your next coffee break. Open your Viveka profile and imagine arriving as someone who has never met you. Give yourself sixty seconds. Can you answer these questions?
Do I immediately know the people and situations this coach helps?
Can I see an actual session or program, not just a list of methods?
Do the credentials, experience and testimonials help me feel confident?
Is the next step to connect or book unmistakably clear?
TRY THIS TODAY
Choose one change. Rewrite your first sentence around a real client problem. Add one clearly described offering. Check your availability and booking path. Or ask a peer to explain what they think you do after looking at your profile.
Small improvement, real momentum: make it easier for one right-fit person to move from curiosity to a conversation.
COMMUNITY PULSE
The Business Behind Your Coaching
A full calendar doesn't always translate into financial confidence. On Thursday, November 5, at 12 PM ET, Heidi DeCoux, founder and CEO of Cashflowy, joins Viveka for a free live conversation about making sense of cash flow, expenses, and what you can actually afford to pay yourself.
If you've ever looked at your revenue and wondered where it all went, this is a conversation worth joining.
This session provides general education, not personalized financial, accounting, tax or legal advice.
COMING NEXT
Experience Molly's Approach
Saturday, November 21 at 12 PM ET, Molly Ann Fairley leads a free two-hour experiential session exploring intuition, energy healing and perspectives beyond the analytical mind. It's an invitation to experience her approach, not just read about it.
This is an experiential spiritual wellness event, not medical or psychological treatment.
BEYOND THE SESSION | WHERE COACHES SHAPE WHAT'S NEXT