I Left the Coaching Industry Because It Became a Pyramid Scheme
Over ten years ago, I was part of a well-known online program for female entrepreneurs. It had a large community, a strong brand, and a lot of energy. People were excited. They were ready to build something real. I met so many coaches through that group. Life coaches. Health coaches. Relationship coaches. Creativity coaches. Career coaches. Everyone had a niche. Everyone had a passion. Everyone had something specific they wanted to help people with.
I noticed a pattern. People would come into the group with a clear intention. They wanted to help women heal their relationships with food. They wanted to help mothers reconnect with their creativity. They wanted to help entrepreneurs organize their finances. Specific problems. Specific solutions. Specific clients.
And then, somehow, along the way, they would stop being that coach. They would start calling themselves business coaches.
The Bait and Switch
At first, I thought it was a natural evolution. Maybe they had expanded their skills. Maybe they had discovered a broader calling. But then I noticed what “business coach” actually meant in that world. It did not mean helping people with accounting, operations, or marketing strategy. It meant helping other coaches get clients. It meant teaching the manifestation formula. It meant selling the dream of becoming a successful coach.
The formula was always the same. Become a coach. Teach others to become coaches. They teach others to become coaches. And on it goes.
It was not coaching. It was a pyramid scheme.
The promise was genuine success. The reality was a recruitment funnel. You were not building a business. You were becoming a customer for the next course, the next certification, the next mastermind. Your success was measured not by your client results but by how many people you could bring into the program.
Why They Gave Up on Their Niche
Solving specific problems creates a niche. A niche limits who your customers are. That is the point. But it also feels scary. It feels small. It feels like you are leaving money on the table.
And when you are in a group full of people who are all pivoting to business coaching, the pressure is intense. You see the ones who made the switch posting about their full programs, their sold-out launches, their luxury retreats. You do not see that many of them are faking it. You do not see that the money is coming from other coaches, not from real clients with real problems. You just see the highlight reel. And you start to doubt your niche.
So you pivot. You become a business coach. You start selling the manifestation formula. You tell other people they can become coaches too. You feel successful for a minute. Then you realize you are not helping anyone. You are just recruiting.
I Watched It Happen to Friends
It reached people I cared about. Friends I had made in the industry. People who started with genuine passion for a specific problem. They wanted to help. They were good at it. They had talent.
One by one, they stopped talking about their niche. They started posting about mindset, manifestation, and abundance. They started selling the same formula they had been sold. Their content became generic. Their passion disappeared. They were not helping anyone anymore. They were just selling the dream.
I could not watch it anymore. I distanced myself. I left the coaching industry. Not because I stopped wanting to help people. Because I refused to become part of the machine.
The Pyramid Scheme of Manifestation Coaching
The manifesting formula is simple. It is also a trap. Become a coach. Sell the idea that anyone can become a coach. Sell them the tools to become a coach. They sell the tools to the next person. No one is actually helping anyone with a real problem.
Everyone is just selling the dream of success. Real coaching solves a specific problem. The pyramid scheme sells a generic formula. Real coaching helps clients get results. The pyramid scheme helps coaches recruit more coaches. Real coaching is limited by your niche, which is the point of having one. The pyramid scheme is unlimited by design because there is always another person to recruit.
Real coaching means your success depends on client outcomes. The pyramid scheme means your success depends on your downline. Real coaching allows you to prove it works through client results. The pyramid scheme can only offer testimonials from people who are still in the dream.
I wanted no part of it. I wanted to genuinely help people. Not sell them dreams. Not sell them delusions. Not sell them a future that would never arrive because they were too busy recruiting to actually build anything real.
What I Do Now
I do not sell manifestation. I do not sell mindset. I do not sell the dream of becoming a coach. I sell a diagnosis. I sell a report. I sell a lock and a key. I do not need you to join my downline. I do not need you to buy another course. I need you to read the report, do the work, and unlock your life. That is it. No pyramid. No recruitment. No delusion.
I left the coaching industry because it became a pyramid scheme. I came back to offer something real.
Ready to stop being sold dreams and start turning your lock?
Andrea Mai is a certified life skills coach, an artist, and an independent researcher. She developed the Lock and Key method. She does not do discovery calls. She does not negotiate. Join the waiting list. When a spot opens, you will receive the intake form. She will let you know if you are a fit.
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