u/Coach_ADHD

Hey everyone,

I'm currently training as an ADHD Coach and getting close to the point where I want to start working with real clients. I want to offer free sessions to build experience and get feedback — but I'm not sure how to frame it without it sounding like "hey, come be my guinea pig." People with real struggles want to get good help, and participating in a pilot might put them off.

For those of you who went through coach training: how did you approach finding your first clients? Did you offer free or discounted sessions? How did you communicate that without underselling yourself or making people feel like test subjects?

Any honest advice, dos and don'ts, or things you wish you'd known would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance.5

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in the early stage of building myself as an ADHD coach, and I’m struggling with something I’d really like to hear experienced coaches’ perspectives on.

I’m at a point where I’m planning my content strategy and overall online presence (mainly Instagram / social media). I understand that visibility and trust are important in coaching, and that social media is often a key tool for attracting clients.

At the same time, I feel quite conflicted.

On one hand, I can see how sharing personal experiences, showing my face, and building a strong personal brand can help create trust and connection.

On the other hand, I feel uncomfortable with the idea that building a coaching business online seems to require a kind of permanent public exposure of my personal life and identity. I’m concerned about privacy, digital footprint, and the feeling of being “locked in” once I start showing up publicly on social media platforms like Instagram (especially given the data/privacy concerns around Meta).

This creates a bit of a dilemma for me:
I want to build something authentic and helpful, but I don’t want to overexpose myself or feel like I’m losing control over my personal boundaries.

At the same time, I also notice a certain tension around dependency on social media itself. It feels like many coaching paths are heavily tied to platforms like Instagram, where visibility, algorithms, and constant content creation become a major part of the job. I’m unsure if I want my professional path to depend that much on external platforms and constant online presence. I also find myself questioning the role of external validation (followers, engagement, visibility) in this space, and whether that dynamic can become unhealthy over time.

So I wanted to ask experienced coaches here:

• How important is social media really for building a coaching practice in reality?
• Do you rely on Instagram or similar platforms as your main client source, or only as one part of your system?
• How much personal visibility (face, identity, personal life) is actually necessary in practice?
• Is it realistically possible to build a coaching business in this field without becoming heavily dependent on social media or constant content creation?
• And how did you personally navigate the balance between visibility, privacy, and mental well-being?

I would really appreciate hearing different perspectives, especially from people who built their practice from scratch.

Thank you.5