Alix is a Full Potential Speaker and Coach empowering women worldwide to build their most fulfilling professional lives. Before growing her current coaching business and its team, she started several other ventures; worked for the International Labour Organization (United Nations), several universities and a start-up accelerator. To date, she has individually coached 300+ female leaders around the world. She has led 10 leadership retreats around Europe; and given 50+ public talks. She has also created multiple online programs and transformative digital experiences. Alix is incredibly passionate about and committed to empowering women around the world to thrive on their full professional potential.
So Alix, let’s start with your background. Could you first tell us about the path that led you to start your current 6-figure business?
As a kid and teenager, I made jewelry out of recycled materials and sold it at events to friends and family. In my teens, I created a team around it by participating in a young entrepreneurs competition sponsored by Deloitte. We made more jewelry, sold it around Europe, and made a profit. We pitched our student company on stage and won an Innovation Prize sponsored by Deloitte.
After a while, the team dissolved. We all went in different directions for our studies. I moved to The Netherlands and completed my Bachelor's (BA) and Master's (MSc) studies.
Next to my studies, I always tried to find that “high” that my jewelry project used to give me. That satisfaction of creating something from scratch and then bringing it into other people’s lives to make their days a little better.
Next to my studies, I developed various other student companies and organized and hosted entrepreneurship conferences with high-caliber speakers.
I also worked for various universities around Europe and the International Labour Organization (United Nations). For the ILO, I was asked to develop a training to economically empower women in developing countries through entrepreneurship economically.
I later worked for about 1.5 years at a start-up accelerator in The Netherlands. Within my role there, I built a team from scratch, and we developed an intrapreneurship software solution.
Without really knowing it, everything I was doing was preparing me for what was to come. I gained lots of hands-on, practical experience in how to get from idea to actual value for people in real life. I was also increasingly passionate about women feeling professionally and economically empowered.
So how did you make that transition from your last job into your current business owner status?
It all started with a little voice in my head. Whispering, “there’s something more for you out there, and this is not it.” So I started investigating. Reading blog posts, learning how to meditate, how to find your most fulfilling purpose in life.
Shortly after, I started getting myself into personal development retreats and seminars while still being at my job.
Very quickly, I decided to hire my first business coach. I knew a change was coming, and I wanted a coach to help me rock the transition.
Within one month of working with her, I quit my job.
Within the same month, I started coaching a few female friends of mine I knew I could help turn their ideas into value for others. They noticed progress fast and quickly started referring me to their friends. Within about 1.5 months after having quit my job, I had tripled my previous net income.
By the end of that year, I was having consistent 10k months while traveling the world and hosting retreats, workshops, and talks.
As I quit my job, I knew in my bones I wanted to support women to execute their dream business ideas. I had years of both education and practical, hands-on professional experience I wanted to leverage for something useful that mattered to me.
At the same time, I felt a strong urge to support specifically women with my naturally fired-up and action-oriented approach. I was also now being trained to become a high-performance business coach. So it all seemed to converge into a no-brainer coaching niche for me.
Got it. So all of this converged into your current coaching business?
Yes. And looking back, I know self-awareness was key for me. I had to take a good honest look at myself and my life. I knew that if I wanted to build a new chapter with more alignment and fulfillment, I had to start from within. Where was the converging point between my experience, my “superpowers,” my interests, and where I wanted to create an impact?
Everything converged so clearly for me into empowering women to develop their dream business activities tangibly.
On a higher level, I care about women feeling deeply empowered and fulfilled through their professional lives. I feel there’s still so much work to do here on a global level where women have, for too long, been conditioned to feel less entitled professionally than men.
Fulfillment in any area of life comes from profound alignment with what you’re really meant to be doing and what you (or your soul) really truly want.
For me and my business, this translates into women daring to develop their vision into business activities that fully align with them and economically fulfill and empower them.
I feel this is so needed, so good to hear about your bigger mission. Okay, so we covered your background and how you transitioned into your current business. What happened after that? How has this grown into the 6-figure business you now run?
It’s now been a little over 3 years since I quit my last job. I started this business right after. It has grown organically from the beginning. Mostly word-of-mouth and referrals. I have, in the process, documented my journey on socials. And consistently created content. But never really used any elaborate marketing plan, ads, or funnels.
I have now coached a little over 300 leaders worldwide, hosted 10 leadership retreats around Europe, held over 50 talks and workshops around the world, and ran multiple transformative online coaching programs.
For the first two years of my business, I was mostly a digital nomad. I quit my job shortly after spending time in Spain, Italy, and Portugal as I hosted retreats in beautiful places and coached my clients online.
Then I decided to let go of my apartment in The Netherlands and took off for a solo tour of about 5 weeks across Latin America. I had never been to any of those countries before. I set up Facebook events at every city I visited and hosted coaching workshops just for fun that were almost always sold-out. I had the best time and met incredible humans. After this, I spent some time in Bali.
In the last year, I’ve been more focused on streamlining and scaling my business.
Since before I quit my job, I’ve been coached, mentored, and trained by about a dozen high-level coaches, mentors, healers, (Hypno)therapists,... you name it. To be the best coach I can be, I first need to do the work on myself. I can only coach others to the extent I have grown myself first.
I’ve also surrounded myself by incredible people that have worked on my business. Various assistants, admin support, branding geniuses,... I feel so grateful and supported.
Amazing. So, Alix, you’ve built a 6-figure brand in full alignment with you. Where will you take this next?
My bottom line is to create maximum positive transformation in as many women’s professional lives as possible. How this looks like in terms of “format” is secondary to me.
At the same time, I am on a journey myself. This is a lifelong journey for every human. It is important to me that whatever I create is in alignment with me at that moment.
This is another reason why the personal brand/solopreneur approach has felt so expansive to me until now. I can grow and develop it organically in the way that most resonates with me as I go.
In 2021, I’m mainly running 3-month mastermind programs as well as 3-day transformative weekends digitally. I also keep working 1:1 with a selection of clients. I am booked to be a speaker and panelist at various events for The next ~ 1 year. Together with my team, we’re also developing digital content so that more people can benefit from the framework I teach.
Let’s dive into that a little - tell us about your framework and coaching approach.
I call it Full Potential coaching. Designed for women to thrive on their full professional potential. Within it, I work with 3 main pillars:
1) State
2) Strategy and;
3) Action.
With State, we address your mindset (internal narratives, beliefs, blockages, identity,...) as well as your overall energy level. I work on this pillar first because, from a better state, we’re better off to address Strategy. Within Strategy, we create your most aligned strategy blueprint. And then we move into Action - probably my favorite. I speak about “high-impact moves” versus “low-impact moves” to learn to consistently take the most empowering action for you to truly step into your full professional potential.
Sounds epic. Do you have any last words of advice you’d give to anyone wanting to build their most aligned 6-figure business?
Well, the most important is to allow yourself to get started and get going. Allow yourself to investigate who you are and why you’re here on this planet. We’re all here for a reason, with a purpose and unique blueprint meant to be leveraged to create value in the world.
Also, focus on how you can add value in the world in your unique way to something that truly matters to you.
And invest in yourself as much as you can. I mean, work with the best coaches you can afford. There’s just so much about your journey you won’t be able to understand just by yourself. Or it’s likely to take you way too long. A good coach will fast-track you into your most fulfilling growth.
