You’re Allowed to Make Money: A Chat with Denise Duffield-Thomas
In today’s episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Denise Duffield-Thomas. Denise is a money mindset mentor, speaker, author, and the creator of Money Bootcamp—and I was beyond thrilled to have her on the show.
Denise gets it. She is a money mentor, but she didn’t start out that way. Just like many coaching business owners she has had to do her own work. From housing commission kid on the Central Coast to building a global community helping women explore their relationship with money - she has a capital-S Story to tell.
And because I can’t ever quite leave the coaching to the side, we get deep. Including talking about how your childhood money stories might still be running the show, and why pricing is never just about the numbers. I must admit I found myself sharing stories I haven’t shared publicly before.
If you’ve ever felt uncomfortable talking about money, struggled with setting your coaching rates, or wondered why it’s hard to keep money once you’ve made it—this one is for you.
In this episode, we cover:
✅ What money mindset actually is—“how do you think and feel about money?” ✅ Why your early money memories matter more than you think ✅ The concept of a “new zero” and what it means for how much you allow yourself to hold ✅ What might be stopping you from raising your prices or keeping more of what you earn ✅ The three types of entrepreneurs when it comes to money safety ✅ How past stories—from school, family, or culture—can sabotage you today ✅ The myth of needing perfect conditions before starting your business ✅ “You’re allowed to do anything”—and how to rewire the old corporate thinking ✅ Why working hard isn’t the only way to make money ✅ And yes—why sometimes you just have to pull a number out of your butt and test it.Denise also shares why community is so important when you’re building a business—and how normalising the money conversation is one of the most powerful things we can do for ourselves and each other.
Connect with Denise: 👉 Visit denisedt.com/bootcamp to learn more about Money Bootcamp 📚 Check out her books: Get Rich, Lucky Bitch and Chill and Prosper 🎧 Her kids called it “Mummy Bootcamp” and mine sings her podcast theme song—so clearly we’re fans in this house Want to develop your coaching business? You can book a call with me to see how I can support your coaching business. Learn more about the Corporate to Coach Accelerator and how we support executive coaches in growing their businesses. ✨ Connect with me on LinkedIn 🌐 For more resources, head to elliescarf.comSee you next time!
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49:15
Let it be easy. Using your unfair advantages to grow your business.
In this episode, we’re talking about unfair advantages.
In this episode, we cover:
✅ Why we struggle to let things be easy—even when they’re our strengths✅ What happens when we overthink, over-revise and over-engineer✅ How your network and professional background give you credibility✅ The power of personal networks (even if it makes you cringe)✅ Why coaching is context agnostic, but selling is not
And - how you definitely have a set of advantages that you can use, but you might not know what they are or how to use them.
I encourage you to take some time to really think about what sets you apart. What are YOUR unfair advantages—particularly when it comes to sales and marketing?
If you’d like to talk about your business, your unfair advantages, and whether you’d be a good fit for the Corporate to Coach Accelerator, you can book a call with me Or send me a message on LinkedIn—I’d love to hear what yours are.
See you next week, where I’ve got a really amazing guest for you: the wonderful Denise Duffield-Thomas.
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11:49
So what do you actually do? A new take on the elevator pitch.
In this episode, we’re talking about your elevator pitch. This episode is for you if someone says, “What do you do?” and you freeze or you ramble, or you say something that just doesn’t quite land. It’s for you if you’ve ever said something that felt like it either said too much or didn’t say enough or just made people look at you a bit confused. And it’s for you if you avoid the question altogether. Today I’m talking about what that question is really about and how to answer it in a way that feels good for you and makes sense to the person listening. We also cover a simple, short framework to help you answer that question clearly and naturally—without trying to squeeze your entire bio into one sentence.
In this episode, we cover:
✅ The reason we get tongue-tied when someone asks, “What do you do?” ✅ Why being clear trumps being impressive ✅ The psychological benefit of getting clear on your elevator pitch✅ How your elevator pitch makes you more referrable✅ The three-part prompt This episode will help you craft a message that feels authentic, connects with the right people, and adapts to various contexts. If you’d like help refining your own version, I’d love to support you. Ready to fine-tune your elevator pitch and stand out as a coach? Book a call with me to explore how we can work together to perfect your pitch and attract your ideal clients. Feeling brave? Send me your pitch on LinkedIn and I’ll send you some feedback!.
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15:58
How to use LinkedIn without annoying your potential clients with Kate Merryweather
In today’s episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Kate Merryweather. Kate is a LinkedIn coach, and if you’re an executive coach who wants to attract leads without being annoying or salesy—this one’s for you.
We talk about how Kate went from being behind the scenes as a copywriter to fully booked within a few months of posting regularly on LinkedIn. Her clients started asking, “What exactly are you doing on LinkedIn?” and how that question led her to create a whole new business and identity as a LinkedIn coach.
We also chat about what’s working right now on LinkedIn—posting frequency, selfies, warm DMs vs spammy ones, and why connection requests don’t need a message anymore. Kate explains how to use personality and “essence of you” in your content, and gives a simple, practical framework to come up with a month’s worth of posts.
In this episode, we cover:
✅ Why LinkedIn is the place to be—“because that’s where the money is”✅ How to attract leads without cold outreach or spammy messages✅ Building likability and trust through content✅ The difference between warm DMs and annoying ones✅ How to brainstorm post ideas using “I don’t know,” “I want,” and “I’m afraid”✅ Why selfies can boost your reach (even if you feel scruffy)✅ Posting tips—how often, what kind of content, and when to sprint✅ Whether to bother with hashtags, notes in connection requests, or links in posts ✅ Kate’s favourite offer: the Show Up School membership Kate also shares her approach to experimenting on LinkedIn (like posting twice a day!) and how she helps people show up with confidence, even if they’re feeling scruffy and a bit over it.
Connect with Kate:
Kate’s Website (look for her Show Up School Membership)
Follow Kate on LinkedIn
Want to develop your coaching business? You can book a call with me to see how I can support your coaching business. Learn more about the Corporate to Coach Accelerator and how we support executive coaches in growing their businesses.
Connect with me on LinkedIn
For more resources, head to elliescarf.com
See you next time!
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41:58
Why You Need a Sales Pipeline ASAP (Back to Basics Month!)
It’s the final week of Back to Basics month here on The Business of Executive Coaching—and we’re finishing strong with one of the most important (and often overlooked) foundations of your coaching business: your Sales Pipeline.
This series has been all about those core pieces that help your business run smoothly—your ideal clients, your offers, your coaching bio, and now, your sales pipeline. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been coaching for a while and feel like some things just aren’t clicking, this episode will help you shore up a really important part of your business growth strategy.
Now, to be clear, while building your sales pipeline is a foundational part of your business—but definitely not basic, as in simple. It’s more like eating your vegetables. Not always intuitive, especially for coaches who aren’t naturally drawn to business development, but absolutely essential.
Here’s what I cover:
What a sales pipeline is, and why you should definitely have one.
How your pipeline helps you work with data rather than feelings.
The role of a pipeline in making sure opportunities don’t fall through the cracks.
Why it keeps you honest about what levels of activity are actually required to meet your revenue goals.
How it helps you step out of negativity bias and be more strategic with your actions.
I also share a method I teach for stepping backwards from your revenue target and building a granular view of your offers, pricing, outreach, and conversions—so you can be strategic about what’s working and what’s not.
Inside the Corporate to Coach Accelerator, we go much deeper into how to build and track your sales pipeline, including what tools to use and what to track. If you’d like my support, or if you'd like to check whether the Accelerator is the right fit for you, I’d love to offer a no-commitment one-on-one coaching call.
And if you book that call during April and decide to join, you’ll get a special offer just for podcast listeners: 13 months of membership for the price of 12.
📞 Book a call with me at elliescarf.com/bookacall. or message me on LinkedIn and mention the podcast.
See you next time! Stay tuned- I’ve got an exciting interview lined up to kick off May!
The executive coaches out there know that coaching is very rewarding, but the business of executive coaching can be confusing, frustrating and unnecessarily opaque.
Join senior executive coach Ellie Scarf each week as she shares practical business advice, tips she’s learnt from her mistakes and her mentors, and the latest business ideas translated for the executive coaching context.
Join Ellie and her guests and be inspired by the possibilities for your executive coaching business!
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