From Debt to Freedom: How Eric Hout Helps People Find Financial Peace

I offer budget and financial coaching services. My own financial journey inspired me to want to offer this kind of coaching to others. Long story short, I never really had a strong sense of how to prioritize the dollars in my bank account until I was well into adulthood. I mostly had looked at the balance in my bank to determine whether I could "afford" something, which really didn't give me a lot of clarity in what the priorities for those dollars were, so I spent money without concern about what tomorrow might bring. Eventually, a friend recommended I setup a budget using a tool/methodology called YNAB (which stands for "You Need a Budget"), which completely changed my financial outlook. Shortly after getting married, my wife and I paid off a significant amount of debt using our YNAB budget, which is not something we ever thought we would be able to do so quickly. The journey to freedom from debt was inspiring to me, and I wanted to also help others come out of debt and get a strong financial footing. Being free from debt and having clear priorities for all our dollars has helped me not just in day-to-day financial matters, but has also given me a lot more mental "head space" to focus on other things that are important to me without having to be worried about money. I think I naturally have a heart to help and serve others and I knew there was no shortage of financial difficulties out there today, so I decided to start coaching to allow others to have financial successes similar to what I experienced.

My budget and financial coaching has primarily been given to individuals and couples who are looking for clarity on their household finances. I can also provide coaching to small business owners or other individuals who manage money for small organizations who are needing clarity on how to manage their dollars. I named my business "New Trajectories" out of a personal desire I have that my coaching will be a springboard to set clients on many positive "new trajectories" in their lives, not just in day-to-day individual money management, but also in areas such as personal relationships, community involvement, and workplaces. My website is https://www.newtrajectories.com/.

I setup my business as a LLC. I am glad to have the LLC for my business, but looking back I think the most important thing is simply to get started and not feel that you need to have every "i" dotted or every "t" crossed in order to launch your startup. All business owners will change how they do things over time. I would say that it's important for a new business owner to give serious thought how to structure and run their coaching business, but don't feel that they must get everything exactly right on the first try.

I use a coaching platform (CoachVantage) that allows me to set my availability and schedule appointments (without double booking), keep track of client contact information, manage payments and contracts, integrate with virtual videoconferencing software, and collect information from clients through forms and surveys. Many other financial coaches I'm connected with don't use an all-in-one platform to manage their business and would rather save a few dollars while running their businesses out of many applications. There's nothing inherently wrong with that approach, but I've enjoyed minimizing the number of applications I'm using so I don't have to spend as much time managing small items and can spend more time on building relationships with clients and prospective clients.

Word of mouth has been important for me. Also, I've found it helpful to identify organizations with whom I can partner to mutually refer clients to each other. Many marketing techniques focus on getting clients to know, like, and trust you, and at its core, that's all about building relationships.

One of the first individuals I worked with was a young adult who didn't have any clarity about the priorities for his dollars and felt uncomfortable with his spending habits. He reached out to me proactively because he believe that if he did not make a change, he would likely be in additional debt in the future. He was incredibly focused and diligent during our sessions together and ended up completely paying off one of his debts prior to the end of our coaching engagement and had a clear plan for how he would pay off his remaining debt. The "transformative shift" he experienced wasn't necessarily the fact that he had paid off debt, but was more so because he felt comfortable with the priorities he had established for his spending and felt relaxed and unworried about his money and future. This internal sense of peace about his money was a game changer for him and has been a goal I push each of my clients towards. To help clients get to this sense of peace, I don't necessarily dictate what I think a client should or should not do with their money. I recognize that a client's money is theirs to direct, and my role is to help them clarify what their priorities for it need to be. Sometimes I'll offer suggestions or input, but I will leave it up to the client to evaluate my suggestions. I think this sense of "empowerment" for the client really helps them take ownership and control of their financial future.

There's been some moments where a client will ask me a question, and I don't know in the moment how to answer it. At first, I felt pressured to have an answer in the moment (after all, I am the coach and the client paid to work with me), but I soon realized it was OK to say: "I don't know. Let me do some digging into that, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Not having an answer to every question is often received positively by clients since they recognize I'm human! It also develops trust and respect as they appreciate when I've been able to get them a thorough answer (and has also been a learning experience for me as well).

I think the most significant limiting belief I've encountered in a client is whether their coaching with me will actually work. By the time someone reaches out to me, a lot of times they've already hit "rock bottom" or have tried other ways to get their financial house in order and have not been successful. I think prospective clients intuitively recognize there is inherent risk in hiring a coach - after all, it's possible the coach may not be a good fit for them, or they'll have spent money on a coaching program that ultimately won't have had a lasting impact on them. I've found that free introductory calls where I am meeting with a client to discuss their goals and mutually assess whether a coaching relationship is a good fit have gone a long ways toward having success with clients. It's also been helpful for me to give time and space after an initial call for a prospective client to consider whether they are willing to commit to being coached. Once those initial "fears" are overcome, most folks I've worked with have been committed to our coaching relationship and have succeeded because of it.

It's helped me having a perspective that I am a navigator/guide and am not the driver! The client is the one who is in charge of taking what they've learned from their time coaching with me and implementing it in their daily lives. I've also found it helpful to be careful with offering what I think is the "best" route moving forward with a client. In general, if a client needs help making some difficult financial decisions, I offer them a few options of how they may be able to move forward, and then allow the client to decide what the best course of action is. The client is the one who will need to live with the financial decisions that are made, and I strive to find a balance between being an overly-involved coach versus a coach who really doesn't provide any guidance at all!

1) As I mentioned previously, I'd like to see that my coaching not only sets clients toward more peace around their day-to-day finances, but also has a positive impact on personal relationships, workplaces, and communities. I want my coaching to empower my clients to bestow good on the world around them! 2) I'd also love to see the personal callings of each of my clients fulfilled as they are better able to fund those callings and focus on them. 3) I would love to continue to expand my financial knowledge and learn more with each client I engage with.

Coaching (and being a small business owner) has its ups and downs. Don't expect everything to come together right away after you start out. Be in it for the long-haul!

-------------------------------