Eighteen years ago, I’d never had a paying client, never been on camera, never been paid a penny for my coaching.
Seventeen years ago, I coached someone while sitting on a beach and they said, “You just changed my life…” With those words, she changed my life because in that moment I made a personal internal commitment to become one of the world’s best coaches.
But my first client paid me only $10 a month. (That’s $2.50 an hour).
And I still remember the shame and embarrassment I felt at being fired by one of my early clients. I made the mistake of trying to coach her over email because she missed a session. (I needed her more than she needed me).
A few years after starting my coaching career, I was invited to become the CEO of a personal coaching firm, with branches on 3 continents. After 15 years as a teacher, I loved being called a CEO but one day my own coach said to me, “I get why they want you, Rich. I don’t get why you want them…” and I immediately felt the truth of his wisdom. But I was scared to leave because this was an international firm and no one had ever heard of some guy called Rich Litvin. Well, despite my fear, I resigned the next day. And fast forward 15 years and that company no longer exists and I’m a known entity in the coaching world.
I remember every client who got angry or frustrated with me, over the years. I live into the distinction of serving vs pleasing and I know that fear, anger and frustration are often a mask for desire – but I’m still human and it can sting when someone is mad at you…
I used to freeze up at the thought of being on camera. I broke out in a sweat every time I spoke on a stage. I often still do. And I’ve struggled to finish my second book for almost ten years.
I’ve learned to make money as a coach and I’ve also lost money. There was a time when I ran up over $100K in credit card debt. Don’t do that.
However, I made a commitment 17 years ago to be in this game for the long haul.
Longevity is a secret to success that most people miss…
As I look back, I get to see my track record.
I’m an expert on the unusual challenges faced by the ultra successful. I specialize in helping leaders find their next big thing.
My clients include the former Chief Marketing Officer at Harley Davidson, the first African American Usher in The White House, the co-founder of an aerospace company, the Chief of Staff at a Fortune 5 company, the founder of a Wolf Sanctuary and the former Assistant Chief Scientist to the high-performance wing of the Air Force.
My clients include multi-millionaire entrepreneurs, leaders of billion dollar corporations, physicians, surgeons, pastors, rabbis, Navy Seals, Army Rangers and British Special Forces operatives.
I’ve coached gold-medal winning Olympic athletes and martial artists, Presidential candidates, Hollywood film directors and actors, PhDs, the adult children of billionaires, leaders at Britain’s Royal Society of Arts and also the European Investment Bank, and hedge fund managers with hundreds of billions of dollars of assets under management.
I’m the founder of 4PC – a community of the top 4% of executive and leadership coaches. I’m the founder of Transition Excellence – where I train former high-level executives and entrepreneurs to coach high-level executives and entrepreneurs.
And I’m an expert at supporting incredibly successful women in accessing power they didn’t know they had.
Ambitious, talented, driven leaders trust me deeply because I can see what most people cannot see and I’m willing to say what most people don’t dare to say. You see, leadership is often lonelier than most people could imagine, Imposter Syndrome can actually grow rather than lessen over time, and there comes a moment when making millions of dollars leaves you feeling surprisingly empty…
I’ve trained many of the world’s most exclusive coaches to build a word-of-mouth business. I created a community of over 40,000 coaches, consultants and trusted advisors. I’m the co-author of The Prosperous Coach, which has sold 100,000 copies and been in Amazon’s top 25 books on Business Mentoring & Coaching for over 9 years.
I’ve spoken at Stanford University, Entrepreneurs Organization and Mindvalley to audiences of over 1,000 people. I’ve been featured in Forbes and Entrepreneur. I’m a member of the Association of Transformational Leaders and the Million Dollar Consulting Hall of Fame.
And what I am truly most proud of is that my company has helped to build 5 schools in Africa and we have raised over $40,000 for humanitarian relief in Ukraine.
I recently started weight training again after not having done it for over a decade. The other day, I was struggling to do a shoulder press, holding just the bar. It weighs 45lbs but it was still embarrassing and I said this to my trainer. He’s a massive guy who was once a professional footballer and he smiled at me. “We all started with just the bar, Rich…”
Wherever you are in your coaching career, right now, I’ve been there. You’ve got this.
And I’ve got your back.
Love. Rich