Distance Converter

To understand how life coaching transformed into a viable career option and (almost) shame-free resource, Beck is as good a place as any to start. At first her operation was small: People came to her for coaching, so she coached them. Then there were so many that she decided to write a book, then another, then another. Oprah Winfrey came calling, first for some live coaching on her TV show, then to grant the people what they wanted with a monthly column by Beck in O, The Oprah Magazine—the most strangely compelling, likable, and knowing column of words you could read every month—which sold more books and left more people seeking out Beck. Finally, she began hearing from her readers, who loved her insight so much that not only did they want to apply it to their lives, they wanted to do what she does.

She’d already been teaching small groups her methods, workshop-style. But the demand was suddenly immense. Martha Beck coach training was born. In 2011, Martha Beck Inc. (MBI) grossed $2.1 million, according to Beck. Revenue has risen 63 percent since then—much of the growth happening by 2013—at a company with exactly two full-time staff members (Beck makes three). Corporations frequently book her, too, for upwards of $35,000 a session. The attendees at Pismo Beach will bring to 4,121 the total number of people she and her team have trained to be coaches since 2008.