I had the opportunity to benefit from Nadine’s coaching as part of the Women in Tech Mastermind group I’m a part of and then we connected over our mutual admiration for Sallie Krawcheck and so I knew I wanted to interview her.

As Founder of CoachMe Vancouver , the one-stop community to discover & book your perfect coach, Nadine’s on a personal mission to bring diverse people together and help them thrive & shine. She also hosts the CoachMe podcast and puts on events like July 4ths Hello Confidence! CoachMe Summer workshop.

You can sign up to the CoachMe  newsletter to receive a free coaching self-awareness tool and/or join the brand-new CoachMe Community Facebook group for accountability, sharing of tips to thrive, like minded people, celebrating each-others successes and more.

Paolina: What has been your hardest experience so far dealing with your business and finance/money and what did you learn/are you learning?

Nadine:

The hardest part for me has been pricing the services that I deliver, and thereby determining the value of my work. Undervaluing your services essentially means saying “yes” to everyone else, while saying “no” to yourself. As a start-up, the ROI of your time can be measured in other ways than money, like additional exposure, resources, access, recommendations, etc. However, it all needs to make sense overall, and at the end you need to say “yes” to yourself too, by knowing your value and being compensated for it.

Paolina: What advice do you wish you had gotten about finance/money when you were first starting your business?

Nadine:

It’s still all pretty new, and a huge learning curve. There weren’t that many expectations that haven’t now been met.

What did surprise me a bit though, was the impact the financial situation of running a start-up would have on my overall well-being. Suddenly you have to budget a lot more, and weigh what and how you spend and invest money. You want to avoid being in a situation where you make decisions out of fear, and instead make decisions with a holistic value-based view. Being able to talk things through with my husband or my coach has helped a lot.

Paolina: How would you combine financial literacy education with coaching?

Nadine:

I haven’t come across this often, as coaching is more about the coach asking the client questions, rather than sharing information and knowledge about financial matters. As a connector, feminist, and mentor, I am constantly looking for ways to encourage people to negotiate, to speak up and ask. I share information and shocking statistics (some of the same ones you’ve got on your website) either in person or on LinkedIn.  I keep educating myself and pass on recommendations like Sallie Krawcheck’s book Own It and her Ellevest newsletter – which is one of the few I read every single week.

Paolina: What are your current FinanciElle Faves?

• Favourite business/leadership book? I’m an avid reader, so recommending just one book is sooo difficult. For now though, I’d say it’s Sallie Krawcheck’s Own It.
• Favourite business/productivity tool? – My Google calendar, and good-old pen and paper make me happy. There’s something satisfying about being physically able to cross something off your list – even if you’ve written it down just a few seconds earlier 😉
• Favourite piece of media – TED talk, podcast…?
  • Marcus Buckingham’s Know your strengths, own your strengths had an immense impact on me, how I see my strengths, and following them to live a happier life.
  • Carol S Dweck’s The Power Of Yet about a growth mindset, is something that I’ve taken to heart too. Whenever something doesn’t work out, I say to myself “I’m not there yet,” or “I live and learn,” then adjust and do better next time.
  • And of course there’s Simon Sinek’s Start with Why, one of the ultimate TED Talks ever

Nadine is an active connector and would love to connect via LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadinestille/) with anyone who’s read the interview and say Hello!