(from interview SDVoyager, September 2020)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Goodson.

Sarah, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2006, I was in grad school for Organizational Leadership and I had the opportunity to get certified by Gallup for their StrengthFinder assessment. That was way back when well before coaching was as popular or mainstream as it is now. After my certification, I knew how to coach but I didn’t know how to enroll high-paying clients and I didn’t know how to launch a business.

So I did what I knew what to do: I worked for other people for about 15 years.

My corporate work was important and meaningful and lucrative, but I started to grow more restless knowing that a company dictated my work hours and my travel, etc. After my daughter was born, I was ready to be my own boss and make my own schedule. I was finally ready to go all-in on myself.

After side-hustling as a coach for 12 years, I finally left full-time corporate work and took my coaching and consulting business seriously. In the simplest of terms, I “went pro.”

I knew I didn’t have the tools to run my own business and make good money on my own, so I hired my own coach. She was a woman I had known for a few years and she made multiple 6-figures without an online marketing strategy. Her way of serving wasn’t sales-y and didn’t leave me feeling icky inside. Whatever she had, I wanted that.

So I paid more money than I had EVER invested in myself before and started working with her. My coach helped me get my business up and supported me with practical ways to enroll high-paying clients entirely through relationships – by invitation and referral. I have worked with her ever since and just signed on as her apprentice.

I’m now in my third year as a professional coach full-time, and I have never looked back! I have ample time with my daughter, I love the clients I work with, I make more money than I’ve ever made in executive corporate work, and my life continues to flourish. It’s never been better.

Now, I coach people who want to make big changes in their own lives – and some people who are entrepreneurs who want to move from being a hobbyist to a professional, while creating a life that they love.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I realize I have always been my own barrier. My mindset and my lack of confidence in myself oftentimes led me into unhealthy relationships, unequal friendships, and messy endings in my life.

I’ve had many public failures: a book deal that I bailed out on, a falling out with a friend with a nonprofit we led, a divorce, to name a few. All of the failures have been massive learning opportunities for me, and I now have appreciation for them in a new way. But at the time, they were not fun to walk through.

One of the game-changers for me in moving from “struggle to success” has been working with my own coach. I know it sounds a bit cheesy but it’s absolutely true. I no longer face my life or my business alone. I have someone with wisdom and a real partner in every area, and that’s eliminated 90% of the struggle!

The other 10% of lingering struggle is my own mind and self-sabotage. I work on that on a daily basis with my spiritual practices and exercising mindfulness and meditation.

Please tell us about Three Beats Consulting, Inc.
Three Beats Consulting offers remote executive coaching services to individuals and groups/teams globally.

I support leaders, entrepreneurs, and businesses in creating and expanding the next level of their vision.

I have been a certified Gallup coach and consultant since 2006, and I hold a Masters in Organizational Leadership. Over the last 15 years, I’ve worked with thousands of people globally; partnering with them to deepen their own self-mastery and leadership and supporting them in creating the results they want most.

What I have seen time and time again over the years is this: We can only go so far on our own. There is simply a limit we all have in our own thinking and creativity, no matter how talented or seasoned we might be.

As professional athletes and performers show us, there is incredible value and real results that come from working with a coach — someone on the outside to empower us tap into our own capacity, imagination, and possibility. (That is why I have my own coach, and I always will.)

The Three Beats process is a high-touch experience focused on going deeper to get the results my clients want most.

This is for people with a vision and commitment to show up bigger in every aspect. There’s nothing pre-recorded, it’s all live, real-time, deep work with real people.

On a practical level, I take on a handful of 1:1 clients every year and work with each for 6-12 months at a time. In addition to that, I lead an annual coaching group for female entrepreneurs called Exceptional Women and I have two specialty programs in self-mastery.

I also host workshops, webinars, and provide facilitation for corporate teams and groups, most recently with the YMCA of San Diego.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Every year, my parents would surprise us with a day at Disneyland. My sisters and I would never know when it was going to happen. Mom and dad would come into our room early in the morning, usually on a school day, and let us know… “Today is our… Disneyland day!”

It’s no wonder I am a Disney-lover myself as an adult, and so is my daughter.