ICF Tennessee

ICF Tennessee Welcome! Thank you for your interest in ICF Tennessee (ICFTN).

Vision:
We are a professional community of coaches who support each other and the community in creating and sustaining fulfilling results in our personal and professional lives.

Only about 3% of your audience is ready to hire you at any given moment.The other 97% are in an earlier stage, watching,...
05/26/2026

Only about 3% of your audience is ready to hire you at any given moment.

The other 97% are in an earlier stage, watching, reading, forming an impression over time.

This is where the ICF Core Competency of Trust and Safety becomes relevant beyond the session room.

Coaches are trained to create conditions where clients feel safe enough to do real work, where judgment is suspended, the relationship is protected, and the pace is theirs to set. That same orientation applies to how a coach shows up publicly.

Content that educates without pressure, perspectives shared consistently over time, a voice that feels the same whether or not something is being sold, these build the kind of trust that eventually moves someone from observer to client.

The coaches with the most sustainable practices tend to have audiences who took a long time to decide. That’s not a failure of marketing. It’s evidence that the trust was real.

How are you building trust with 97% who aren’t ready yet?

Today, we honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.On this Memorial Day, ICF Te...
05/25/2026

Today, we honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.

On this Memorial Day, ICF Tennessee pauses in gratitude and remembrance — for those who gave their lives, for the families who carry that loss, and for the enduring courage that defines their legacy.

We are humbled by their service.

Most coaches aren’t struggling because they’re bad at marketing.They’re struggling because their marketing doesn’t conne...
05/22/2026

Most coaches aren’t struggling because they’re bad at marketing.

They’re struggling because their marketing doesn’t connect.

At ICF Tennessee, we recently explored a simple shift at our chapter meeting with Paula Henry.
👉 Stop treating your website, social media, and email as separate tasks
👉 Start building a system where they work together

Over the next few posts, we’re breaking that down.
Because sustainable coaching businesses aren’t built on random effort.
They’re built on repeatable systems.

Make sure to follow so you don’t miss what’s coming next!

Most coaches are not just coaches.You’re also a speaker. A facilitator. A retreat leader. A writer. A consultant. A cour...
05/21/2026

Most coaches are not just coaches.

You’re also a speaker. A facilitator. A retreat leader. A writer. A consultant. A course creator. Something else entirely.

For a long time, a lot of us thought those other things were distractions.
Jessica Dawson, PCC reframed that at our ICF Tennessee ICW event last week:
“My coaching is the hub. It’s the center. And everything else? They’re spokes. AI can coach, but AI can’t host a retreat. It can’t lead a team through a LEGO build. It can’t hold a room. That’s not a side hustle. That’s really your edge.”

Those extra things you do aren’t diluting your coaching identity. They’re extending it.
Income and impact won’t come from one-on-one alone. And that’s okay. That might be exactly right.
Stop competing. Build community. Own your hub.

We love introducing you to the coaches in our community!In Episode 2 of the Coaching Community Podcast, Hannah Finrow, M...
05/20/2026

We love introducing you to the coaches in our community!

In Episode 2 of the Coaching Community Podcast, Hannah Finrow, MCC sits down with Rebecca Dorsey, MCC, and this conversation is one you’ll want to save.

Rebecca shares how she accidentally stumbled into coaching, what she’s learned about trusting the process over her own in-the-moment judgment, and the one piece of advice she gives every coach she trains: find your voice.

She also talks about what ICFTN gave her, and spoiler: it started with finding her coaching bestie.
Listen to Episode 2 wherever you get your podcasts.

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/e22v5HxR
Apple: https://lnkd.in/ef83EKHe
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/etzvY32M
Amazon Music: https://lnkd.in/eAPfFXeq

Interested in being a guest? Email [email protected]

You’re showing up on social media. Your website is live. You send emails when you can. So why doesn’t it feel like your ...
05/18/2026

You’re showing up on social media. Your website is live. You send emails when you can. So why doesn’t it feel like your marketing is actually working?
If you’re like most small business owners, you’re marketing in scattered pieces: a post here, an update there, an email whenever you find the time. Without a clear plan connecting these efforts, you end up with a disjointed experience that confuses potential customers and burns through your energy.

This 75-minute workshop will show you how to transform your disconnected tactics into a cohesive system that naturally guides people from first discovering you to becoming paying customers.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Understand the role each channel plays

Identify the specific purpose of their website, social media, and email marketing, and how each supports the customer journey from first touch to conversion.

Create a cohesive marketing flow

Learn how to connect content across platforms so social media drives traffic, the website captures leads, and email nurtures relationships consistently.
Develop a simple, repeatable strategy
Leave with a practical framework they can use to plan campaigns, content, and calls-to-action without feeling overwhelmed or scattered.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Paula Henry is the visionary founder of Chesapeake Bay Solutions LLC, where she dedicates her expertise to assisting small business owners in optimizing their operations. Understanding the intricate balance between professional success and family commitments, Paula provides personalized strategies that address each client’s unique challenges. Her approach is rooted in practicality and a deep commitment to community, ensuring that businesses not only thrive but also contribute positively to their local environments. Beyond her professional endeavors, Paula is an active community member, engaging in volunteer work and supporting local initiatives. Her passion for empowering others is evident in her hands-on approach, guiding entrepreneurs toward achieving their goals while maintaining the values that matter most.

Consider how contact lenses help us see the world more clearly. Our combination of talent strengths is like those lenses...
05/18/2026

Consider how contact lenses help us see the world more clearly. Our combination of talent strengths is like those lenses altering how we see the world around us. These talents tend to come so naturally that we don’t think about it; they are automatic. At our best, we are energized and fulfilled. At our worst, we are depleted and de-energized.

But it’s not enough to know our strengths. We must value our contributions and what others can count on us for. It’s important to understand what conditions, through relationships and tasks, our strengths need to thrive. As leaders, we must also be aware of the strengths of those we lead and collaborate with. Rooted in positive psychology and neuroscience, this knowledge helps us to bring out the best in ourselves and others, maximize productivity and innovation, and foster well-being.

Learning Objectives:
Introduce a preliminary understanding of your Top 5 strengths’ role in the unique value each of us brings.
Raise self-awareness, and “other awareness,” by focusing on what’s right, rather than fixating on what’s wrong.
How overuse (or underuse) of our top strengths leads to our biggest weaknesses.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Amy A. Kessler Amy A. Kessler is in her element when she’s connecting with people, telling stories, and sharing fascinating insights. She has a natural gift for making others feel engaged, appreciated, and entertained all at once. Her passion for creating a sense of belonging stems from her deep belief in the power of CliftonStrengths, which highlights the unique contributions we each bring to our teams, clients, and those we lead. For Kessler, no challenge is too great—there’s always a way forward, and she’s ready to find it.
With over three decades of experience in the corporate world, Kessler’s been captivated by what makes people not just successful leaders, but truly fulfilled in life.

Register at the link in bio!

There are coaches who talk about community. And then there are coaches who build it.Karen Nash, MSOD, PCC, NLPC is the l...
05/15/2026

There are coaches who talk about community. And then there are coaches who build it.

Karen Nash, MSOD, PCC, NLPC is the latter. Past president of ICF Tennessee. Mentor coach. Presence-based practitioner with a Master’s in organizational development.

She’s spent her career proving that what happens BETWEEN people matters as much as what happens INSIDE them.

She said this at our ICF Tennessee ICW event this week, and the room felt it:

“When we are connected to each other, we can help each other think better and know more than we do when we’re alone.”

Thank you, Karen, for putting words to the heart of what coaching is about.

Happy International Coaching Week.

International Coaching Federation

The thing AI is creating more of is the thing people need less of.Noise. Speed. Stimulation.Margaret Dillon, ACC, PMP sa...
05/15/2026

The thing AI is creating more of is the thing people need less of.

Noise. Speed. Stimulation.

Margaret Dillon, ACC, PMP said something at our ICW panel that I keep sitting with:

“We undervalue space and quiet. The thing that AI can’t do is that pivotal moment where somebody changes. And it’s often because we gave them the space to back away from the thing.”

Americans are measurably less happy. Loneliness is called an epidemic. Mission-driven people are burning out. People can’t put a bookend on their day.

And into that, we keep adding more apps, more tools, more output.
Coaching is the counter.

Not because it’s a productivity system. Because it creates the one thing people can’t find on their own: enough stillness to hear themselves.

That’s not nothing. That’s everything.

International Coaching Federation

Here’s something I think we don’t say enough.Coaching has always been radical.Heather C. Curtis said it at our ICF Tenne...
05/15/2026

Here’s something I think we don’t say enough.
Coaching has always been radical.

Heather C. Curtis said it at our ICF Tennessee ICW event this week:
“How radical is it, for any profession, to take a stance not as the expert? The client identifies what they want to work on. The client is valued for their individuality. We expect that the client has their own answers.”

We start from a presumption that our clients are healthy, resourceful, and whole.
That is not what most helping professions do.
Heather was talking about neurodiversity-affirming coaching specifically. The ADHD adults. The late-diagnosed women who were good students, never a behavior problem, just had a lot of strategies for getting by. Until those strategies stopped working.
But the principle applies everywhere.
Go back and read the ICF core competencies. They’re more aligned with that radical presumption than most of us realize.
We’ve been doing this. We just need to keep doing it on purpose.

International Coaching Federation

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