“What would make someone walk away from a six-figure salary, a senior leadership role, and the comfort of a corporate career… to start over with nothing but a blank sheet of paper? For David Butler, it was a single moment — a moment that revealed what truly mattered most. In this episode, David takes us inside that life-changing decision, sharing the highs, the doubts, the wins, and the lessons from building a coaching business that transforms not only careers but lives. From facing skepticism and imposter syndrome to helping business owners reclaim their time, income, and purpose — David’s journey is a masterclass in courage, reinvention, and the power of coaching. So, whether you’re dreaming of leaving your 9-to-5, growing your own business, or simply seeking inspiration, this conversation will give you insights you won’t want to miss.”

• David Butler’s background in sales and his transition from a corporate six-figure job to starting his own coaching business.
• The critical role of family and friends in supporting small business owners, encompassing both support and doubt.
• The multi-layered benefits and necessity of coaching for individuals, their families, and even for the coach themselves.
• The realities of the entrepreneurial journey, including personal experiences with doubts, worries, anxieties, and imposter syndrome.
• Achieving credibility and recognition, as exemplified by winning the National Business Coach of the Year award.
• David Butler’s role as a “coach’s coach,” guiding other coaches in growing their businesses and overcoming self-doubt.
• The continuous need for personal coaching and support, even for experienced coaches like David Butler.
• The services David Butler offers, including one-to-one coaching, group programs, a business club, and contact information.

Summary

In this episode, we gain insights from David Butler, a seasoned sales and business coach, on his journey navigating the entrepreneurial landscape. Drawing from his extensive background in sales, where he started with a week’s trial at a local newspaper, and later worked for media companies and Monster Worldwide, David recounts his transition from a corporate career to becoming a dedicated coach. He realized his passion for managing and coaching people while working as a sales trainer and director. David emphasises the importance of understanding one’s true calling, detailing a “light bulb moment” when, despite a six-figure salary, he was unhappy and a specific trigger (being told he’d have to make up time after leaving early to watch his son’s football game) propelled him to leave his job and start his own coaching business. This decision was driven by a desire to help people and achieve freedom of time and money, using his business as a vehicle to live his ideal life.

Delving deeper, he explores the critical role of family and friends in supporting small business owners, noting the “polar opposites” of support and doubt he encountered. While his immediate family was supportive despite thinking he was “a bit mad” for giving up a senior position, others “questioned what [he] was doing” and “said [he] was going to fail”. David shares invaluable insights on how these challenges, particularly skepticism, can further fuel one’s drive for success.

Next, David examines the multi-layered benefits of coaching, asserting that “everyone needs a coach”. He explains how coaching not only empowers the individual coachee to achieve their ideal life and goals, but also positively impacts their friends and family, providing them a better life. He illustrates this with an example of a plumbing business owner who, through coaching, reduced his working hours, earned more, and achieved a better work-life balance, moving from working “in the business” to “on the business”. David also highlights the reciprocal learning he gains from working with others, finding huge happiness in seeing people “live their ideal life or live life on their terms”.

Moving forward, we explore the realities of the entrepreneurial journey, including the prevalence of doubts and imposter syndrome. David candidly shares his own experiences with these feelings, admitting he still has doubts, worries, anxieties, and “imposter syndrome”. He recounts how he sat there thinking, “what the hell have I done?” after leaving a six-figure job to start with “a blank piece of paper”. He discusses how winning the National Business Coach of the Year award from the Entrepreneur Circle provided credibility, showing that his work was “truly worthwhile,” and served as “payback for the risk, the heartache, [and] the hard work” he had put in. This achievement also inspires other coaches.

Finally, David delves into his role as a “coach’s coach,” leveraging his personal journey of building a business from scratch to guide other business coaches in growing their ventures and overcoming self-doubt. He emphasizes that because he has “been there” with the blank page and the doubts, he can pass on valuable knowledge to others. He concludes by underscoring the continuous need for personal coaching and support, even for experienced coaches like himself, as he has his own coach who keeps him “straight,” challenges him, and supports him when he’s “having one of those days”. He believes it’s “really important for a lot of business owners to have somebody to reach because it can be really lonely”.

Dave Butler on LinkedIn

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