#236 From Postman to App Founder: Liam's Journey to Empowering Lives Globally

 About Liam James Collins

Liam James Collins is a certified NLP trainer, speaker, and entrepreneur who has transformed his life from delivering mail as a postman in Southeast London to building a $25 million global coaching app. As the co-founder of CoachApp, he has empowered over 10,000 individuals across 85 countries, helping them turn their passion into profit. With a deep-rooted background in life coaching and personal development, Liam is committed to making coaching accessible, impactful, and engaging for aspiring coaches worldwide.

About This Episode

In this episode of The Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison sits down with Liam James Collins to discuss his inspiring journey from various odd jobs to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the coaching industry. Liam shares how his mother's passion for NLP and personal development shaped his career path, leading him to create a thriving coaching platform. He delves into the challenges of scaling a business, the importance of hiring the right people, and why understanding core values is the key to happiness. Liam also provides invaluable advice for those looking to transition from unfulfilling jobs to meaningful careers and explains why adding value to others’ lives is the ultimate key to success.

Quotes

1:02 - I always had a desire to do something great.

4:40 - Think about life coaching like the term martial arts, and under martial arts there are all of these different styles like karate and kung fu and kickboxing.

5:44 - I realized that I had all of these years worth of training in the coaching space that I wasn't using and I thought that would be the perfect self-employment small business to have.

7:12 - I'd like to consider a new, vibrant way to train and it's wild the momentum that we've created over the last six years and I'm really excited to see what we're going to do over the next six years.

10:59 - We wanted to create this space where everybody that was on the same journey could interact with each other, ask each other questions, get support from us and turn it into a real social platform.

12:06 - There are lessons from the wins but there are considerably more lessons in the pitfalls and the problems.

13:56 - People, in general, are the best and the most difficult part of growing a business.

14:59 - The first step that they need to take is they need to follow an exercise which will help them uncover their top six core values.

15:24 - I have this firm belief that uncovering your top six core values is the closest thing that we have to a formula for happiness.

17:00 - If you've got a dream that you're pursuing, it's considerably easier to pursue that dream if, on a daily basis, you are engaged with something that you enjoy, that you like.

18:00 - If you are going to pursue anything that makes you happy, you have to be aware of what they are.

18:31 - Values being those things that we deem to be vitally important.

19:39 - Don't ever make the assumption that the things that are important to you are important to everyone, because it's not the case. But you have to be aware of what is vitally important to you.

20:38 - Those top six core values, that becomes the destination. That’s the thing you have to follow.

22:05 - What I think is really important is connecting with your reason as to why you would want to do that in the first place.

26:29 - My personal definition of success is summed up so perfectly with this quote that I hold dear to my heart and that is the most successful person in the room is the one that needs the least, and I could not express to anyone ho

The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/
Please review us:
a true testament totransformation and resilience
From delivering mail as apostman in Southeast London to
building a $25 million globalcoaching app that has empowered

(00:27):
over 10,000 people in 85countries.
A certified NLP trainer,speaker and entrepreneur, liam
is here to share his journey andthe proven strategies that can
help anyone turn their passioninto profit.
Liam, welcome and thank you somuch for joining me today.

Liam James Collins (00:44):
Elmarie Hutchison how are you?

Hilmarie Hutchison (00:46):
I'm fantastic, and all the better,
for having you on the show today, liam so exciting.

Liam James Collins (00:51):
Absolutely.

Hilmarie Hutchison (00:52):
Your story is absolutely fascinating.
Let's start off by you takingus back to the beginning.
What was the dream growing upand how did you end up being a
postman?

Liam James Collins (01:02):
I always had desires to do something great.
I just had no idea what it was.
I didn't come from somewherewhere that was the norm.
I came from a very workingclass family in a very, very
working class area of SoutheastLondon.
I grew up with people that wereof the opinion that you didn't
have two loftier goals becauseyou were only going to be

(01:23):
disappointed Just never satnaturally with me.
It's not something that I everbelieved.
Thankfully, I never believedthat, and also thankfully, I had
parents who were extremelysupportive of whatever idea that
I had.
I mean, I could have told mymom and dad that I was going to
be an astronaut and they wouldhave said, yep, you probably
will.
If that's what you set yourmind to, you'll make it happen.

(01:43):
And so I had no idea what Iwanted to do.
I think I was about 18 or 19 atthe time when I made the
decision.
I wanted to become an actor,which was very unusual for
anyone in my family.
I didn't know any actors.
I wasn't related to any actors.
I couldn't stand doing drama inschool.
But I just woke up one day andI thought I want to be an actor.
And I pursued that and still tothis day it's one of the most
significant parts of my life.

(02:04):
I'm very fortunate to have actedin TV shows and films and a lot
of theater in London.
That, when you asked me thequestion of I can't remember
exactly how you phrased it, butwhat was the dream and where did
it all start?
That's the first time in mylife where I felt I don't want
to use the word fallen becauseof negative connotations.

(02:25):
It's like an extremely positivething.
But I found myself within theworld of business and the only
reason that I entered the worldof business in the first place
was because I thought it wouldbe a good idea to be
self-employed as an actor.
So I don't have to ask for timeoff and I don't have to ask my
bosses if I can attend anaudition.
I've been really fortunate inthe world of business and

(02:46):
entrepreneurship, but it's stillreally interesting to me having
these kind of conversations,because it was never the
original aim or goal to build avery successful business.
It was just the goal to have abit of free time so that I could
become an actor.

Hilmarie Hutchison (03:02):
I love that the dream was not to be a
postman.
I'm assuming that was justsomething you did along the way
to get to where you were going.

Liam James Collins (03:10):
I've had every job that you can imagine.
I've been a lifeguard, I'vebeen a barman, I was a junior
stockbroker.
At one time I was an estateagent and I was also a postman.
Being a postman, I think, wasone of the most significant ones
because that was the job that Ihad right before I started my
business.
That was almost I mean muchlove and respect to the postman

(03:30):
and the male men and women outthere, but it just wasn't my
path.
And that really was the lastjob where I thought I can't keep
bouncing around from job to jobhere.
I need to do something that'smore fulfilling, that adds value
to people's lives, that allowsme to have some freedom.
You know, much like with all ofthe other jobs that I had, it
was really only because it gaveme some element of freedom to go

(03:52):
to acting auditions, becauseyou know, if I could deliver the
mail then I'd finish work at 12o'clock every day and I'd be
finished early.
But you know, that really wasthe one where I thought this is
it now?

Hilmarie Hutchison (04:05):
Like I was 27 when I finished that job and
that was the age I was when Istarted my business.
Okay, this is a great segue,then, to talking about your
business.
So then, at that point is whenyou took the leap to create your
own business, created the Coachapp, which has helped 10,000
individuals worldwide.
So what inspired you to createthis platform and how does it
empower people?

Liam James Collins (04:24):
Yeah, it's an interesting one.
I was actually introduced tolife coaching at a really,
really young age because my mom,when I was growing up I think I
was probably about seven andshe trained to be an NLP
practitioner, which isneuro-linguistic programming.
For those people that arelistening that might not know
what that is, it's the way thatI describe it is.
Think about life coaching likethe term martial arts, and under
martial arts there are all ofthese different styles like

(04:46):
karate and kung fu andkickboxing.
Nlp is a style of coaching thatjust happens to be very deep and
psychological and subconscious,and she studied this when I was
younger.
She was really into it and youknow I have my brothers and
sisters and, um, my dad andother family members.
I was the only one that wouldsort of listen to what it is she
had to say and she wants, shedesperately wanted, to share all
of this new information.

(05:06):
You know other kids weregetting bedtime stories and I
was getting Tony Robbins andPaul McKenna and Jack Canfield
and all of these incrediblegreats in the coaching space and
I even walked on fire at a TonyRobbins event when I was 17,
just because my mom had no oneelse to go with.
And I became a fully qualifiedNLP practitioner when I was 16.
And it was only because shewanted more people to attend her

(05:27):
courses.
All of this information wasgoing in, but I wasn't
consciously using any of it.
Well, I was using it, but Inever once considered myself to
actually become a coach.
And it was only at 27 when Ihad all of these small part-time
jobs and I was feeling veryunfulfilled.
And then I realized that I hadall of these years worth of
training in the coaching spacethat I wasn't using and I

(05:48):
thought that would be theperfect self-employment small
business to have.
Use that information, the tools, the techniques, the methods
that I'd learned all of theknowledge and start to coach
people.
And I thought I could do that.
I could help inspire people, Icould help them achieve their
goals, I could help them createmore focus, increase their
confidence.
And I did it.
I threw myself into it fullforce, and the vision was never

(06:10):
in the beginning to buildanything big.
It really wasn't.
When I was a postman, I wasmaking 267 pounds a week and 167
pounds was my rent and I had topay for bills and food 50
pounds a week each and I thought, when I become a coach, if I
can just make 267 pounds a week,I'll be happy.
I did that and I became a coach.
I had a few clients and then Istarted teaching other people

(06:31):
how to coach, and it was reallywhen I met my business partner,
lewis back in 2019, that weconstructed the vision for
something much, much, muchbigger.
At the time, it was this kindof small coaching academy where
we were qualifying people thatwere interested in becoming
coaches, but we knew that wecould utilize technology, we
could utilize social media, wecould utilize the online space

(06:53):
and we could start trainingpeople around the world app,
which is now Coach app, and overthe last six years, over 10,000
people have joined ourmembership and we've qualified
thousands of people to becomecoaches and help them build
their business.
We do so in a really fun,energetic.
I'd like to consider a new,vibrant way to train and it's

(07:16):
wild the momentum that we'vecreated over the last six years
and I'm really excited to seewhat we're going to do over the
next six years.

Hilmarie Hutchison (07:22):
So your mom was also then an NLP trainer or
coach, life coach.

Liam James Collins (07:29):
Correct.
Yeah, she started off as an NLPpractitioner, a life coach, and
then she became an NLP trainerand a life coach trainer.
She does it with her owncompany, but it's just, yeah,
it's so mind blowing to me that,like all of that information
was entering my brain, I neveronce, when I was a barman, when
I was a lifeguard and when I wasan estate agent, and I was
thinking, god, I really wish Icould just do something, because

(07:50):
, the thing is, my focus wasacting.
That was my firm focus.
I never really consideredanything else and it only was
when I got to a point where Ithought I really need to do
something fulfilling when I'mnot acting and it just boom, it
hit me and I thought, oh my God,when I first became a life
coach at 27, I used to say I'mthe only 27 year old life coach
with 20 years experience,because I'd been receiving this

(08:10):
information ever since I was akid, but I never once considered
using it as a career or abusiness, until the day I
decided to quit being a postman.

Hilmarie Hutchison (08:17):
So when you started out, you were a coach,
training individuals for theirpurpose or for their future or
for their success, and then ittransformed into being a
business where you're actuallyteaching others to be coaches.

Liam James Collins (08:33):
Exactly so.
Yeah, that's how it started offJust one-to-one clients.
These are just people who wantto increase their confidence.
They want to achieve their goalbecause they want more
fulfillment, they want morefocus, more clarity, all of the
things that coaching tools andtechniques really help with.
And then, after having donethat for a couple of years, I
then reached a stage where I wasable you know, going from
coaching people to actuallytraining people to become a

(08:54):
coach is an example there, butit puts you in a position where
you go from coach to trainer Ithink is the best way of putting
it and then, when you're atrainer, there's just so much

(09:16):
opportunity.

Hilmarie Hutchison (09:16):
Yes, and there's people all around the
world that's looking for thiskind of training.
The app makes it easier.
It makes it fun for people tobecome a coach.
Can you walk us through whatthe app does?
And for somebody who's neverheard or never seen the app,
what does it do?
How do you use it?

Liam James Collins (09:32):
First of all , there's a free version of the
app, which is anyone can join.
It's a social media platform.
We've created an entire socialmedia platform that is for
coaches primarily, and now alsofor people that are looking to
hire a coach and, in general,people that are sick of the
negativity that on social mediaand the shadow banning and all

(09:53):
of the craziness that comes withthings like X and Facebook.
It's a social platform forpositivity and constructive
thought and all of the thingslife coaching is firmly focused
on.
It's a social media platform.
For that it also comes with amonthly membership which is very
, very low priced.
It's $10 a month and themonthly membership takes you
through a series of trainingswhich will allow you to become a
certified life coach atfoundation level, at beginner

(10:16):
level.
It will also take you throughtrainings that will teach you
how to get your first few payingclients.
It will provide you with variousdifferent tools and techniques
and methods and frameworks thatyou can use with those clients,
and so it's really great becauseit's kind of beautiful mixture
of training.
Therefore, you're increasingyour knowledge base and you're
training towards doing somethingwhere you can then eventually
run your own business, but it'sgot the social platform element

(10:36):
as well, so you're not alone andyou're interacting with all of
these people that are on thesame mission.
When I first started, it wasvery lonely.
You know, you kind of gothrough all of these different
trainings, you go to a certaincourse and then you become
friends with the people on thecourse, and then when the course
is over, you're completely byyourself and you're there
sitting alone in your apartmentbuilding this business, barely
talking to anyone, and that isone of the biggest killers of

(10:58):
this industry, and so we wantedto create this space where
everybody that was on the samejourney could interact with each
other, ask each other questions, get support from us and turn
it into a real social platform.

Hilmarie Hutchison (11:08):
An absolutely brilliant idea,
brilliant solution and, as yousaid and I think we've mentioned
it a few times this was a wayof helping other people achieve
their dreams by making thisavailable to them.
Also love the idea that it'spositive.
It's not.
It's someplace to go where youcan be supported by other people
, have a social network.
That's positive.

(11:29):
That's a bit different from allthe negativity around us.
You also mentioned all that youknow you've gone through some
transformations through yourlife starting the business in
one way and then developing intosomething like totally
different to something liketotally different.
Scaling a business, especiallya purpose-driven one, comes with

(11:49):
its own challenges.
What are some of?

Liam James Collins (11:50):
the key lessons that you've learned
while growing CoachApp?
Oh, my goodness, so many, andwe've fallen into so many
pitfalls, which I'm very proudof.
I think that you need to dothat when trying to achieve
great heights in any industry orin any field.
To me, it's all about thepitfalls.
The wins are great.
Of course, there are lessonsfrom the wins but it sounds a
bit cliche but there areconsiderably more lessons in the

(12:11):
pitfalls and the problems.
One of the most significantdifficulties that we have faced
throughout the process ofgrowing this business is finding
the right people to join thecompany, finding the right
people to join our team to helpus move closer towards our
vision and astronomically helpus speed up the process and make
it more efficient.

(12:31):
I've got a lot of experiencenow.
The fact that when youinterview people that apply for
jobs at your company the vastmajority of them they really,
really talk a good talk, butthey don't walk a good walk it
has blown my mind Like over theyears, we have gone through the
interview process ofinterviewing people to join the

(12:51):
company and their CVs areamazing.
Their past experience isimmaculate, their ability to
interview is world class, andthen they enter the company and
they've got absolutely no ideahow to do the job that they have
interviewed for that theyapparently have all of these
years of experience in.
That is something that I thinkis so underestimated.

(13:12):
You don't really expect that.
When you build a business, youknow, you think, oh, this is.
You know, I'm going to find thebest people to come and join
the mission and thereforethey're going to be the perfect
crew for the ship and they'regoing to help me move closer
towards my goal.
I just want to advise everybodywho might be listening to this
who's in the process of buildinga business, or maybe you're in
the process of thinking abouthiring your first few people.
It's really tough andunfortunately I don't really

(13:34):
have any sort of like magic wandanswer to how to make that
easier, because still to thisday, it's something that we
struggle with.
I think it's just a lot oftrial and error and it's kind of
a numbers game in a way.
It's like you just got to keepgoing and keep going, and keep
going and eventually you findthe best people for the best
positions, and when that happens, it can astronomically change
the speed in which your businessgrows.

(13:56):
So people in general are thebest and the most difficult part
of growing a business.

Hilmarie Hutchison (14:02):
I love that.
You said that I've gone throughthe same thing and after a
while you really start to doubtyour own intuition.
I get it wrong far more timesthan I get it right.

Liam James Collins (14:10):
But you're not alone.
I can imagine everyone has thatsame experience and I don't
know why it's the case.
It doesn't logically make anysense.
You think if someone's got theexperience and they interview
perfectly and they're able torelay all of the things that
they say they're going to dothroughout the interview process
, it should be a no-brainer.
But it's just this strangething that happens where all of
a sudden they join and it's likeall of the experience

(14:31):
disappears and they don't knowhow to do the role.
So yeah, that's been tough.

Hilmarie Hutchison (14:34):
One motto we live by is we hire for fit for
culture, because we can alwaysteach skill, although, like I
said, I definitely don't have itright for sure, 100%.
If someone's feeling stuck intheir current job, they have
bigger dreams, the way that youhad.
They want something more.
They know there's more for them, but they just don't know how
to take that first step.
What advice would you give them?

(14:56):
What is the first step theyshould take today?

Liam James Collins (14:59):
the first step that they need to take is
they need to follow an exercisewhich will help them uncover
their top six core values.
Now, everyone that's listeningto this just google that right,
because there, Because there areso many different exercises and
I can imagine on YouTubethere's probably countless
examples of this it's somethingthat you don't even need to hire
a coach for, something you cancompletely do by yourself.
But the reason it's so vitallyimportant that you are aware of

(15:21):
what your top six core valuesare is because I have this firm
belief that uncovering your topsix core values is the closest
thing that we have to a formulafor happiness.
Let's say, for instance, yourtop six core values are freedom,
family wealth, creativity andwhatever a couple more right.
When you are aware of what theyare, what you will notice is

(15:43):
every time in your life that youhave felt down, you felt sad,
you felt anxious, you felt angryor you felt near enough any
negative emotion that is notuseful for you or constructive
for you.
What you will be able to do isyou will be able to identify
exactly which one or all of them, maybe, but which of those top

(16:04):
six core values have beendisrespected or they've been
neglected in some way, You'll beable to say oh, that person
said this and it made me reallyangry.
You'll be able to look at thatlist and go, ah, it's because it
disrespected my core value offamily or it disrespected my
core value of freedom.
The reason why it's the closestthing we have to the formula

(16:24):
for happiness is because if youlive a life in accordance to
those top six core values andyou make a conscious effort to
ensure that you are exercisingthem as much as possible on a
daily basis, then those are thethings that will make you happy.
So if you're stuck in a job thatyou're unhappy with, you're
unfulfilled.
I really also appreciatepeople's life circumstances.

(16:45):
Right, I'm never going to bethe guy that says quit today If
it doesn't make you happy.
Quit today Because logisticsare a real thing.
Right, We've got kids to feed,We've got bills to pay, We've
got a roof to keep over our head.
Logistics are a real thing.
But if you've got a dream thatyou're pursuing, it's
considerably easier to pursuethat dream if, on a daily basis,

(17:05):
you are engaged with somethingthat you enjoy, that you like.
In the interim, at least, try tofind yourself in some form of
job that pays the bills, thatsupports those top six core
values?
Right, and there are ones outthere, and if you're currently
in one that you're unhappy with,the chances are you will be
able to look at that list andsay that's why I hate this job

(17:28):
so much, or that's why I'mdreading going to work on Monday
morning, or that's why I'mfeeling down whilst I'm doing
the commute, Because that value,that value and that value this
job.
It disregards those ones, or itdisrespects them or it neglects
them.
That's why I'm feeling unhappy.
Most people kind of float alongthinking, well, this is just
life, isn't it?
People go to work, they hatetheir job Like it's not.

(17:49):
It really isn't, because peopleare not aware of what those top
six core values are.
That, to me, is like thebaseline foundation of what is
essential.
If you are going to pursueanything that makes you happy,
you have to be aware of whatthey are.

Hilmarie Hutchison (18:04):
Excellent advice.
I love this.
So anyone can go Google it, gofind a video and figure out what
those top six things are.
And, as you say, your lifeshould not be a misery or
drudgery, because it is possibleto find a job that does make
you feel not aware of what yourcore values are, you know?

Liam James Collins (18:30):
values being those things that we deem to be
vitally important.
And what's also veryinteresting is that most people
I have a values exercise where Iuse values cards, and so it's a
deck of cards.
You can buy this on amazon aswell, by the way.
I think there's a deck of cardsand there's 180 cards, and on
each there's one value right.

(18:50):
So there's freedom, familywealth, creativity, whatever
responsibility.
There's 180 of them.
Now, every single one of thesethings are things that we find
important, and what you do isyou go through this process of
saying, look, I want you to justsay yes or no, if it's
important or not important, andthen I don't want you to think
about it too much, I want it tobe a gut, instinctual reaction.
Eventually, you end up withlike two piles, and then you do

(19:11):
the same thing again, the sameprocess again with like the yes
pile, and do it again, and do itagain, and do it again, and do
it again, until you end up withsix.
What's really interesting is,I've taken hundreds of people
through that exercise and I havenever once had two people that
have got the exact same top sixcore values in the same order,
because then what you do at theend is you rank them from most
important to least important.
The most I've had is peoplethat have got the same six core

(19:33):
values, but not in the sameorder, and that just shows us
that we're so unique.
So, for all of the listeners,don't ever make the assumption
that the things that areimportant to you are important
to everyone, because it's notthe case.
But you have to be aware ofwhat is vitally important to you
.
Otherwise you'll pursue forsomething more fulfilling and
you'll pursue for something morethat will make you happy.

(19:53):
It's like trying to reach adestination but you've got no
idea what the destination is andyou don't have a map.
You might drive around for awhile, you might go on some
adventures, you might meet someinteresting people, but it's
near enough impossible thatyou're going to reach that
destination.
So, those top six core values,that becomes the destination.
That's the thing you have tofollow.

Hilmarie Hutchison (20:14):
I love that.
That's absolutely brilliant.
What you said there about don'tassume other people have the
same values or the same outlookor the same approach to you and
I think sometimes that is amistake we make is we think
everyone is just like us andclearly they're not.
And as you say you've done thisthousands of times People are

(20:34):
simply not exactly the same.
That's very good insight,Exactly.
Just to go back to the app fora second can anyone be a coach,
or are there certain skills thatyou should have or certain
values you need to have to be agood coach?

Liam James Collins (20:45):
I find that a really interesting question
because I think, technically, ifwe're talking about things on a
technical basis, I believe thatanyone can be anything, but, as
we've come to discover, thereason why I say technically is
because we all have the abilityto learn, but whether or not
it's a desire for somebody isreally important, because that

(21:07):
is a big differentiator.
It's like, do we all have theability to be anything?
Technically?
Yes, because we can commit ourlives to it, we can learn it, we
can dedicate our time, ourfocus, our ability and we can
make the decision.
I'm going to do my absolutebest to try to make this a part
of my life, or at least try tobe the best I can be in this
field.
This a part of my life, or atleast try to be the best I can

(21:29):
be in this field.
As an example, I'm 5'10 and Igrew up in a country where
basketball is not a game that isplayed.
The likelihood of me becoming abasketball player and playing
in the NBA is extremely unlikely.
However, I could still at leastgive it a good crack and become
the best basketball player thatI could possibly be, but only
if there was like a true, deepdesire to do so.

(21:51):
So, to answer your question yes, the answer is yes, anyone can
become a coach, because anyonehas the ability to learn the
tools, the techniques, themethods, the frameworks, the
approaches and the questionsthat we ask.
Anyone can learn that stuff.
But what I think is reallyimportant is connecting with
your reason as to why you wouldwant to do that in the first

(22:13):
place.
That is the driving force behindhow you can make anything a
success.
I think it's not the steps thatare required, it's the deep
rooted emotional driver as towhy it's important to you.
It is important to you and itis something that you would like
to pursue and it is somethingthat you think you would be good
at and you would like to learn.
Then, of course, coach App isthe best place in the world to

(22:35):
learn, because it's only $10 amonth and all of the training is
contained within thatmembership.
You've really got to want it,because you obviously speak to
some really interesting peopleon the podcast and I can imagine
that that is like a runningtheme, like that all of your
guests have is that, whateverfield that they have found
themselves successful in, thereis some kind of deep rooted
emotional reason as to why theyreally truly wanted that to be

(22:58):
the case.
It's kind of in line with thewhole top six core values.
Again, it's like you have to beaware of what's important to
you.

Hilmarie Hutchison (23:04):
Yeah, 100%.
The people who are the mostsuccessful are those who have
either found their passion theyjust have a passion for
something or alternatively whichis, I think, you've combined
them they have found a gap inthe market.
There was something that neededto be filled, there was
something people needed, andthey were able to fill that gap.

(23:26):
So, when you bring those twothings together, nothing better,
because you are fulfilling yourpassion, but you're also
serving a need, and so becauseof that, you can become
financially very successful,because sometimes, when you
follow your passion, the financeor the money is not there
because there's no gap in themarket for it.
But in your case, there was agap for a coaching app.

(23:47):
So you bring those two thingstogether.
So, because of that, you've hada lot of success and, like you
say, many of my guests have hadthe same where their passion
have met this need in the marketthat they were able to fill.
Your knowledge of the thingsyou're saying is absolutely
brilliant.
What's next for you, liam?
Are there any exciting projectsor developments on the horizon
for you?

Liam James Collins (24:06):
Definitely.
So what's next for us?
We are firmly focused right nowon our Series A funding round
for the company.
So we did a seed round ofinvestment two years ago.
We raised a million dollars forthe company, which was
fantastic, and that reallyallowed us to develop CoachApp

(24:27):
in the way that we have, becausewhen we first raised the
million dollars, coachapp wasjust an idea, even though the
company itself at that point, Ithink we had generated about
five or six million dollars inrevenue, but it was all through
selling courses.
It was courses to become aqualified life coach, course to
become a qualified NLPpractitioner, so on and so forth
.
Coachapp was just an idea atthat stage, and so the million

(24:48):
dollars that we raised allowedus to develop coach app, which
is great.
Now it's about scaling it up,because we are so ready for that
right now.
So, yeah, the next thing thatwe're firmly focused on is that
the series A round that we'reabout to embark upon.
We'll be looking to raise about$2 million.
There's going to be a lot ofpeople listening to the podcast,
especially if they've gonethrough the process of building
a business and raisinginvestment, especially in the
tech space, of course, which isthe space that we're in EdTech,

(25:09):
which is education technology,where they might hear that and
think that $2 million isn't alot, and they would be right.
I'm friends with a lot of peoplethat have raised in the region
of anywhere between $10 to $50million for a tech company.
But I think one of the thingsthat has always been a bit of a
secret sauce for us is we coulddo a lot with that $2 million.
We're lean, we're very, verylean and we put money in the

(25:32):
right places and through trialand error, like we mentioned
before, we do eventually hirethe right people.
And I think that sometimes itcan be overkill when companies
raise money.
I think you can raise too muchmoney and then there's pressure
and there's too muchresponsibility and there's too
much expectation.
But we know that for this round, two million, that will be more
than enough for us to reallyscale to a point where we've got

(25:55):
a much more significantvaluation.

Hilmarie Hutchison (25:57):
Brilliant.
Well, I wish you all the verybest with raising the next round
of funds and seeing you growthe app to the next level.
With the background you've got,with what you've done so far,
I'm sure it'll be a success.
And I wish you all the verybest with that next round.
Now we've come to the segmentof our show where I'll ask you
some rapid fire questions, ourversion of a game show Are you

(26:17):
ready?

Liam James Collins (26:18):
Oh, I'm always ready for a game show.

Hilmarie Hutchison (26:20):
What's one book that changed your life?

Liam James Collins (26:22):
It's called the Code of the Extraordinary
Mind Excellent.

Hilmarie Hutchison (26:26):
What is your personal definition of success?

Liam James Collins (26:29):
My personal definition of success is summed
up so perfectly with this quotethat I hold dear to my heart and
that is the most successfulperson in the room is the one
that needs the least, and Icould not express to anyone how
much that means to me.
I have got a beautiful,incredible, supportive teammate

(26:57):
of a wife who I've been with forthe last 16 years.
We've got two beautifulchildren my daughter Posie,
who's four years old, and my sonAxton, who's eight months old,
and genuinely, wholeheartedly,hand on heart, I can say that as
long as I've got this thingwhere I say as long as me and my
loved ones are not one of fourthings four things are happening
I'm happy.
As long as me and my loved onesare not severely ill, being
tortured in some way, imprisonedor dead those four things my

(27:20):
life is sweet and I genuinelydon't need anything.
All I need is for them to besafe, well, healthy and happy,
and everything else is a bonus.

Hilmarie Hutchison (27:32):
That's what I always say to my daughter
Happiness is not from the thingsfrom outside, happiness comes
from inside.
Nothing else matters.
So I love that.

Liam James Collins (27:40):
Oh, so true, Happiness is a decision.
I think people underestimatethe power of a human's decision.
Have you ever had thatexperience where it's like
you've made a decision, you'vemade your mind up, that's it.
No one can tell you otherwise,and no matter what you say or
what you do or what you show me,my mind has been made up, I've
made a decision.
Yeah, I'm pretty open minded tolisten to others, for sure, but

(28:03):
there has to come a point.
I'm open minded to listen toeveryone and anyone, and I will
absorb as much information aspossible.
However, there's also beenmultiple times throughout my
life where I'm like okay,decision made.

Hilmarie Hutchison (28:15):
Oh yeah, I've done that many times and
there's nothing you can do atthat point to change my mind.
I agree.

Liam James Collins (28:20):
Exactly that's.
One of the most powerful forcesin the universe is the power of
a human decision, and happinessis a decision.
It sounds a bit cliche, itsounds like the sort of thing
that you see written on a quotewith an ocean and the sun, but
it's true.

Hilmarie Hutchison (28:32):
Yeah, 100.
One thing with me once I'vemade a decision and it can be a
controversial one I don't needto proselytize that.
I can quite happily keep it tomyself.
That's my decision, that's theway I'm going, even if it's
contrary to everybody else.
But I won't waver from it.
But I also don't need to changeother people to my way of
thinking.

Liam James Collins (28:51):
I love that quote from Keanu Reeves where he
said I've reached a stage in mylife where, if someone says
that one plus one equals 17, hesays yeah, you're right, have
fun.
I love it the quote, I live byit's better to be kind than to
be right.

Hilmarie Hutchison (29:04):
Yeah, I love that.
I let people be, even when Iknow they're wrong.
I'll just okay, fine, movealong.
What is one daily habit thatkeeps you on track?

Liam James Collins (29:10):
Daily gratitude.
I'm actually very aware that Isound like a real cliche life
coach, which I am.
I guess I am a cliche lifecoach in many ways, but daily
gratitude.
For me, gratitude equalshappiness.
You know, I feel like if we puta firm focus on the things in
our life because I read I can'tremember I read this.
It might have actually been inthat book I recommended the Code
of the Extraordinary Mind, Ithink it is, but anyway, they

(29:31):
were talking about this studythat was done, where they took a
group of like normal people andthey put them in a room and
there was nothing in this roomapart from a ticking clock.
And then they took a group ofShaolin monks and they put them
in a room and there was nothingin the room apart from the
ticking clock, and they hookedeverybody up to the vitals
machines or whatever.
They discovered that the monkswere consciously every single
tick of the clock where thenormal people, after a very

(29:54):
short amount of time a fewminutes they were no longer
consciously registering the tickof the clock and what it taught
us was things that repeatthemselves on a daily basis soon
fall into our subconscious.
They're not within our consciousmind anymore.
Now the problem that lies thereis that these beautiful,
incredible things that we shouldbe grateful for repeat

(30:14):
themselves on a daily basis, forinstance, the health of our
children, as long as ourchildren are not sick.
On a daily basis, that repeatsand repeats and repeats and
repeats, and the travesty iswhere we don't take the time on
a daily basis to remindourselves of how incredible of a
blessing that is Clean watercoming out a tap, or having food
in the fridge or a roof overyour head.
It repeats itself every day and, like the ticking clock, we

(30:38):
stop consciously registeringthat and I think that's a
travesty.
So daily reminders of all ofthe things that are not wrong
have have served me really wellalso what you're saying earlier
about the mindset.

Hilmarie Hutchison (30:50):
Rather than be angry because your child
forgot a toy on the floor in theliving room, be happy.
There's a toy on the floor inthe living room because your
child's happy and safe oh man,it's just so vitally important,
isn't't it?

Liam James Collins (31:02):
I think in that book as well, there's this
story of like a man and hishouse is a mess, but exactly
like you're saying, because histoy's all over the floor and his
wife is leaving her makeup onthe kitchen side or whatever,
and he's really angry about thatbecause he wants a clean home.
And then one day he got a cleanhome.
And it's a case of looking atthe blessings that are
constantly surrounding us everyday, even in those things that

(31:23):
create frustration or anger, andthere's blessings there.
We got to look at those.

Hilmarie Hutchison (31:27):
What is the best advice you've ever received
?

Liam James Collins (31:30):
The best advice I ever received.
I was roughly, I would say,about one year into my coaching
business, where I first became acoach, and I was struggling.
I was really struggling.
I couldn't quite get it to work.
I had one or two clients but Iwasn't making very much money
and I was really focused on that.
I was very much focused on likeI need more money, right,

(31:50):
because I want to be able to geta nicer home, I want to be able
to go on holiday, I want to beable to get a nicer car and all
that stuff.
There's a guy called PaulMcKenna.
He's actually technically themost successful, successful
personal development writer inthe world from the UK, really
phenomenal at what he does and Iwent to an event and I was
talking to him at this event andI told him and I said, look,
I'm sort of struggling at themoment.
And he sat me down and he saidLiam, the more value you add to

(32:11):
other people's lives, the moremoney you're going to make.
And in that moment I realizedthat all of my focus was on the
wrong thing.
I was like I'm trying to makemoney, but what I should do is I
should just add maximum value.
And if I do that, the moneywill take care of itself.
It'll be a byproduct.
The more value you add topeople's lives, the more money
you make, and I think that isapplicable to anyone and

(32:34):
anything, regardless of whatbusiness that you want to build.

Hilmarie Hutchison (32:37):
I think that's absolutely brilliant
advice, very, very good.
Well, that's the end of thegame show.
That was easy enough.
Now I would like to ask you asignature question about your
green pill moment.
What was your green pill moment?
The action or event that wasthe turning point for you or
your career?

Liam James Collins (32:53):
You know what I would say the most
significant green pill momentwas that advice from Paul
McKenna.
But because I've already sharedthat, I'll share another green
pill moment.
One of the most significantmoments for me was when I was a
postman.
There was a moment in timewhere I mean it's so funny the
things that affect you and stickwith you and can push you in

(33:14):
the right direction.
There was a moment where Idelivered the wrong package to
somebody's front door and thiswoman came outside her house so
furious that I had delivered thewrong package to somebody's
front door and this woman cameoutside her house so furious
that I had delivered the wrongpackage to the wrong door that
she threw it at me and it hit mein the face.
And I remember thinking I'mdone now, I'm finished now,
that's it right.
I've been playing with the ideaof this coaching business for a

(33:35):
long time.
I am now ready to take thatstep and take that leap.
The green pill moment was thatlady throwing that package at me
and it hitting me in the faceand me now thinking now is the
time to create change in my life.

Hilmarie Hutchison (33:50):
You know I've heard lots of green pill
moments.
I've never heard one quite likethat.
What an awful lady, though.
Imagine what was going on inher life to be that angry.

Liam James Collins (33:58):
Exactly.

Hilmarie Hutchison (33:59):
Liam, your story is absolutely inspiring.
I know our listeners will walkaway feeling motivated to take
action in their own lives.
I've absolutely loved thisconversation and I know we could
just keep talking, and talking,and talking.
Your journey proves thattransformation is possible for
anyone.
Before we wrap up, where canour audience connect with you
and learn more about you andCoach App?

Liam James Collins (34:22):
Connect with me on Instagram, which is at
liamjamescollins.
Also, you can follow at theCoaching Masters on Instagram,
which is my primary business.
You can follow at Coach AppOfficial on Instagram.
I provide all of those links aswell on my Instagram.
Or you can go tothecoachingmasterscom, and
there's a ton of material forthat.
We've got the Coaching Masterspodcast.

(34:42):
We've got the Coaching Masterspodcast.
We've got the Coaching Masters.

Hilmarie Hutchison (34:44):
YouTube channel Brilliant.
Thank you so much, and thankyou again for being here today
and for sharing your wisdom andinsights with us today.
It's been absolutely fantastic.
I wish you and Coach App allthe very best.

Liam James Collins (34:55):
Thank you.

Hilmarie Hutchison (34:55):
And to our listeners.
Thank you for tuning in toanother episode of the Matrix
Greenpool podcast.
If you enjoyed thisconversation, be sure to
subscribe, leave us a five-starreview and stay connected for
more amazing stories.
Until next time, stay curiousand keep pushing boundaries.

Liam James Collins (35:17):
If you enjoy our conversations, please like
and subscribe.
See you next Wednesday.