Written by Danielle Raine, Holistic Creativity Coach
Danielle Raine is a holistic creativity expert and mindset coach for creatives and entrepreneurs. She has been studying the creative process since an epiphany at Art School in 1993 that revealed how to access the flow state.
For decades, the coaching industry has been dominated by the most well-known types of coaching, such as business, performance, health and relationships. While these fields are as popular as ever, there has been an explosion of more niche-focused support systems that are thriving routes to success, for both coaches and clients.
The coaching industry has been booming in recent years, and this growth has paved the way for some new coaching niches that are perfect for clients with highly specific needs. These micro-niches also offer exciting opportunities for existing or aspiring coaches to focus on their favourite aspects of support. Even better, many of these unusual niches have beneficial ripple effects that serve to uplift humanity, one successful coaching relationship at a time.
Here are just three of these unusual coaching niches that are taking off in the industry.
Creativity coaching
One of the most inspiring coaching niches to emerge in recent years is Creativity Coaching. With the cultural shifts towards more meaning, purpose, and the joy of self-expression, people from all backgrounds are looking to bring more creativity into their lives and careers.
And this type of support is not only for writers, artists and stereotypical creatives – entrepreneurs and major enterprises are becoming more proactive in nurturing creativity and innovation.
Experts in this field are uniquely experienced in helping people face the challenges of expressing their gifts and talents. Creativity Coaches are also supremely focused on helping their clients access their innate creative abilities, as well as navigating the issues that arise when pursuing a life more creative.
The growth of Creativity Coaching is not only beneficial for the clients and coaches who love this work – it’s a positive step for all of us. With the challenges facing humanity, the more people are able to tap into their creativity and access higher problem-solving faculties, the more we’ll see inspired solutions to many of the world’s problems.
“Stay loyal to your creativity because it’s a gift.” ~ Pharrell Williams
Dharma coaching
Do you know your dharma? Do you know how your dharma can guide and support you in life? Maybe the word itself is something of a mystery. Yet, the realm of Dharma Coaching is another blossoming branch of mentorship that’s taking off within the coaching industry.
Dharma is a Sanskrit word that has a variety of interpretations, including;
Right way of living
Path of righteousness
Cosmic law and order
Essentially, it’s a way of living and being that aligns with the Grand Plan for humanity. It’s based on an ancient spiritual principle that we each have a key role to play in the world – a unique set of gifts, preferences, experiences etc, that are perfect for the work we are here to do.
Following the shifts in career culture in recent years, many people are looking to know more about their life purpose and how they can contribute beyond commercial success. Dharma Coaching can help to align career goals with this innate desire for meaning and fulfilment.
For many, this kind of deep, internal work is not easy, which is why enlisting the support of a Dharma Coach can facilitate real breakthroughs in this important aspect of life and career.
Becoming a Dharma Coach is also a spiritually enriching and highly rewarding way to earn a living and make a positive difference in the world. As a coach who offers support with finding your dharma, I can vouch that few things are more rewarding than helping a fellow human find their place in the world.
"Everyone has a dharma, a purpose in life.” ~ Deepak Chopra
Self-coaching
Perhaps one of the most empowering trends emerging in the coaching industry is the shift towards teaching Self-Coaching. After all, the aim of any great coach is to help their clients become confident and capable of coaching themselves through life’s inevitable challenges.
Many of the top coaching companies and industry leaders are including more services that would fall into this flourishing Self-Coaching niche. Yet, this is a field that’s open to anyone who loves to teach principles and share proven techniques that clients can use on their own.
While coaching relationships and mentorship partnerships will always be a powerful modality for success and achievement, there’s undoubtedly a place for a DIY approach to personal growth. This field also opens up a new world of opportunities for people who don’t feel conventional coaching is a good match for their personality or learning style.
The massive growth of Personal Development and Self Help in the last few decades shows that millions of people all around the world are eager to learn how to coach and empower themselves. Beyond the traditional coaching relationship, there’s an increasing demand for coaches who can teach us things like mindset skills and emotional intelligence, so that we can get better at navigating challenges on our own.
“All of us are teachers for each other. This is a tremendous, priceless service.” ~ Fredric Lehrman
Which one will you choose?
These are just a handful of the lesser-known coaching niches that are thriving in the industry and creating positive shifts for the collective.
There are many more types of coaching that focus on more specialist support programmes or sub-sections of the larger fields, such as Mindset Coaching, Marketing Coaching, Life Design Coaching, Visibility Coaching, Life Purpose Coaching, etc – each with their unique focus on a highly specific solution or approach.
So, if you’re a coach looking for a rewarding new focus, or you’re considering becoming a coach and feel daunted by the scope of the larger fields, these unusual coaching niches may hold some clues for your future success.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a coach who can help you with your greatest challenge, it’s encouraging to know that with such varied specialisms appearing in the coaching industry, you’ll be able to find experts dedicated to the precise solutions you’re seeking.
They say variety is the spice of life, and these thriving mini-niches are certainly spicing up the coaching industry, with benefits for us all.
Enjoy exploring the exciting new world of specialist coaching! –Danielle
If you feel called to support innovation, entrepreneurship or creative types, and you’d like more information for getting started, help yourself to my free guide: Becoming A Creativity Coach.
Danielle Raine, Holistic Creativity Coach
Danielle Raine is a holistic creativity expert and mindset coach for creatives and entrepreneurs.
She has been studying the creative process since an epiphany at Art School in 1993 that revealed how to access the flow state.
For three decades, she's been working and experimenting in the creative fields of design, blogging, publishing, marketing, tech, and entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on the nature of inspiration and flow productivity.
Her speciality is a wellness-based, feel-good approach to creative fulfilment and success, along with an enduring theme of enjoying the journey as much as possible.
Through her coaching, courses, books, and blogs, her mission is to share the simple, practical tools that create rapid shifts and inspiring results, so that her clients, students, and readers can do more of the work they love to do, and bring their most exciting creative visions to life.
