From Corporate HR to Spiritual Life & Soul Business Coach: My Story

Have you ever felt that quiet, nagging sense that the job you're in just isn't it? That maybe there's something more aligned waiting for you, but you have no idea what it actually looks like or how to even start? ✨

If that's you right now, I have a feeling you're going to feel really understood by this episode.

Listen to episode 1 of Soul & Strategy above, or keep reading, because in it I'm sharing the full, unfiltered story of how I went from a corporate HR job in Australia to becoming a spiritual life and soul business coach. Not the polished highlight reel. The actual timeline, including the five months it took me to sign my first client.

I'm sharing this because I know how lonely it can feel when you have a calling but no roadmap. I've been exactly where you are, and I want you to see the real path, doubts and all, so you know what's actually normal.

Growing up between Spirituality and a "practical" career

As a kid, I always felt drawn to spirituality, to healing, to health and wellness. But I had no idea what job that would actually look like! So I tried everything.

An internship at a hospital, because I considered becoming a vet. An internship at an architecture office in London, because I loved creativity. I even thought about joining the police at one point, mostly because I craved being outdoors and adventure.

One thing I knew for certain was that I did not want a corporate job, even though I couldn't really explain why. Sitting in an office in front of a computer all day just never felt like me.

None of those paths stuck. Even during the hospital internship, being surrounded by sickness and death made it very clear that wasn't where I belonged.

If you haven't found your calling yet, look back at your own breadcrumbs. What did you always love as a kid? What topics or feelings kept showing up, even when you couldn't explain why? There's often truth hidden in there.

Finding Yoga (and myself) during COVID

After high school, I moved to Australia for a year and worked in hospitality, which I genuinely loved. I discovered I was drawn to management, to leading people and seeing the bigger picture, which led me to study international management. Out of everything we covered, HR was the one part that lit me up.

So I moved back to Australia to do my master's in HR, arriving just weeks before the country closed its borders because of COVID. Looking back, that timing was almost too perfect to be a coincidence.

During COVID, I took a part-time HR job. And even early on, something in me kept whispering, that can't be it, is this really the whole thing? I told myself it would probably get more interesting with more responsibility. Deep down, I already knew it wasn't the right fit.

At the same time, I was practising yoga daily through livestream with a local studio. I felt so connected to the teachers that when I found out they ran yoga teacher trainings, something in me said yes before my brain had even caught up. I didn't join to become a yoga teacher; I joined because I was endlessly curious about why yoga made me feel the way it did.

During that training, on top of a full-time job, I felt more focused than I had ever felt in my life. Zero distractions. Complete immersion. That was the first real sign that I had found something meant for me ✨

The moment I knew: Training to become a Spiritual Life Coach

I started teaching yoga on my own terms, before and after my full-time job, three mornings a week. It was intense, but it gave me so much energy back rather than draining me, which told me something important was happening.

Around the same time, I completed a 12-week self-development course on manifesting your dream life, including working through limiting beliefs. Once again, that same deep focus and joy showed up. And one day, sitting on my bed, a thought landed: what if I could do something like this myself? What if I could be the coach on the other side of the screen?

I let that thought sit, without forcing it into a plan. Then in 2023, the woman who had run that 12-week course, a well-known spiritual life coach in Germany, announced she was opening a training to become a certified spiritual life coach. I signed up within hours. The training sold out within 48 hours, a thousand spots gone. She didn't run it again for another two years.

That training was eight months long, plus another four months focused entirely on building a business. Partway through, I was made redundant from my corporate job. The timing felt strange at first, but it gave me the space to fully commit.

When something is genuinely meant for you, you often feel it before you have any of the details. I said yes before I knew the price, the format, or if it would even suit my life in Australia. That inner yes mattered more than having it all figured out.

It took me five months to sign my first client

Here's the part people don't always talk about. Once I finished training as a spiritual life coach, I took on a part-time job to cover my finances while building my business. And it took me five months to sign my first paying client.

Five months of doubt. Five months of asking myself what I was doing wrong and why it seemed to be working for everyone else. That's the honest version, not the highlight reel.

What finally worked was running my own solo workshop. I had already been co-hosting women's circles alongside a sound healer, weaving in yoga, visualisation, and journaling from my coaching training. Those sold out every time, but never converted into coaching clients. It was only when I hosted a workshop entirely on my own that I signed my first client, and a second one followed from that same workshop a few months later.

If you've heard that you can replace a full-time income within three to six months, know that this isn't the full picture for most people. Building a soul-led business takes time to learn how to run it, to figure out who you actually want to serve, and to experiment with your offer and delivery. That's normal, not a sign you're doing it wrong.

Curious how I actually landed those first two clients? I go deeper into that in episode 3! ✨

From Confidence Coaching to Soul Business Coaching

My niche wasn't fixed from day one either. I started as a spiritual life coach, then noticed most of my clients were really looking for one thing underneath it all: confidence. So I leaned into what I call quiet confidence, the grounded, inner kind, rather than the loud extroverted version.

That work naturally attracted coaches, counsellors, naturopaths, and other practitioners who wanted to build their own businesses. That's how I moved into business coaching, even though I resisted the label for a while! I had to work through my own mindset around what a business coach even was before I could accept that this was my path.

What I love about where I landed is the combination. We work with the inner tools, limiting beliefs, fears, confidence, and we also build the tangible strategy and plan to get there. That blend of soul and strategy is exactly why this podcast carries that name.

You are allowed to change your niche (and your business)

From yoga teacher to spiritual life coach to confidence coach to soul business coach, all within about three years. If you're currently trying to lock in your one true niche forever, I want to release you from that pressure.

Make a decision, commit to it for now, and know you're allowed to evolve it later. I recently stepped away from teaching regular yoga classes altogether to focus fully on coaching and this podcast. Yoga was the beginning of my business, not the whole of it, and I've simply outgrown that season ✨

Key Takeaways

• Look back at your own breadcrumbs. The interests you had as a kid often point toward your calling.

• Follow your intuition even before the plan makes full sense. The next step doesn't need to look logical yet.

• It's normal for a soul-led business to take longer than three to six months to replace a full-time income. Give yourself room to experiment and your business permission to grow in its own timing.

• Your niche is allowed to evolve. Commit to what feels right now, and let it grow with you.

Loved this episode?

If this story resonated with you, if you have a calling you haven't quite acted on yet, or you're in the messy middle of figuring out your niche, I'd love for you to come along for the rest of the journey!

Listen to the full episode above, and if you enjoyed it, follow the Soul & Strategy podcast so you don't miss what's coming next.

You can also come say hi on Instagram @sabinelehnhardt, I'd love to hear which part of the story resonated most with you.

With love,

Sabine 🤍