Don’t choose a niche (why the rules don’t apply to you)

You’re the strategy

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Sign up for the Value Your Gifts workshop on Wednesday, May 21 at 2:30 p.m. Pacific in the Mindset Membership.

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Your success as a coach or course creator in the AI era depends on burning the niche box down — not squeezing into it.

If you’ve ever felt too multi-passionate to build a business or paralyzed by picking one perfect offer, this blog is for you.

If you’re new here, my name is Suzanne, and I built an emotional healing course and coaching company that attracted a combined audience of 50,000 people and made multiple six figures online — all without a super specific niche.

Now, I help soulful women monetize their healing journeys through a freedom-based online business.

After this blog, you’ll feel confident in your message and know exactly how to frame it to speak to your ideal audience.

This shift will help you create offers and content that magnetize your people — not by shoving yourself into a box, but by being unapologetically you.

The truth about niches is they are dumb. Here’s why.

Almost every business coach on the planet will tell you to create an “I help” statement and cram your magic into a single sentence that you spend all your time tweaking instead of creating content, offers and making sales.

I know because I wasted way too much time figuring out mine, and even though it feels aligned for the moment, it’ll probably change next week.

The problem is your magic is so vast, multi-disciplinary and otherworldly that you risk losing your sense of purpose all to become marketable.

Then you blame yourself, thinking you’re too multi-passionate to succeed at business when the truth is being a multi-faceted person is the very thing that will make you successful.

Think of the last person you hired or product you bought.

Did you make that purchase because their bio was so scintillating that you couldn’t help but whip out your credit card?

Probably not.

Instead, you loved their vibe.

The things they talked about made sense. Their philosophy aligned with yours.

They embodied your ideal transformation.

They told you what was possible for you, and talked to you about your problems in a way that made you more aware, but also empowered to create change.

You might have related to them because of hobbies like fitness, cooking or gardening.

Maybe they shared an unfiltered opinion that made some people scream, “UNFOLLOWING!!!” but made you say, “yessssss. I can’t believe someone else said that!”

That’s why…

Your niche is the intersection of all your unique passions, goals, gifts and stories.

You are the niche, because your brain is the nexus where all your passions intersect.

You have a unique lens through which you view the world.

That LENS is your niche.

Usually this lens relates to a goal you obsess over.

It’s like looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. Everything you look at turns pink.

When you look at the world through the lens of finding inner peace, or losing weight or healing anxiety, everything you learn connects back to that.

So when you create content, no matter what it’s about, you’ll talk about it through that lens.

Your niche isn’t something to figure out, but to express.

You discover it by creating and allowing common threads to emerge.

For example, when I was building my emotional healing business, I talked about yoga, manifestation, emotional healing, chasing your dreams and shadow work.

Sometimes this felt confusing, but I was laser focused on finding happiness in the present moment, and that was my niche.

Even though I sold courses on different topics — yoga, meditation, soulful storytelling, self-love, making money following your heart — my audience wasn’t confused.

Ever offer had the same core.

I even offered self-discovery coaching packages that weren’t that outcome-driven, and they sold really well…

Because of the clarity and energy behind my personal brand.

Now that I focus on business, I still write about spirituality, soul alignment, and healing, but the lens has changed.

Now I teach how to apply energetic principles to succeed online.

My niche is the intersection of mindset, spirituality and online business.

Another part of your niche is WHO you serve.

I used to speak to anyone into spirituality.

My audience was mostly 20 to 30-something women, because that’s who I was.

(Here’s a lesson: speaking authentically attracts the right people. I didn’t even know what a niche was until after making my first $50k or so online.)

Now I speak to online business owners, because that’s where my passion lies.

I still talk about healing, but now it’s framed as a path to valuing your gifts, trusting yourself and making more money. (Like I will discuss on Wednesday in the Value your Gifts training.)

WHO you speak to shapes how you say it.

Let’s say you teach nervous system healing.

You could create general ‘heal anxiety’ content.

You could also target stressed-out high achievers, women healing from grief, or those recovering from chronic illness.

It’s the same core idea, but who you speak to determines what stories you tell, problems you target, and outcomes you highlight.

But the WHO will relate to who YOU are / were. It’s really not that deep. Because…

Let’s be real. You’ll succeed because of who you are, not because you have a perfect niche.

AI is coming for us all.

Anyone can type any question into ChatGPT and immediately get a personalized how-to.

But how-to was NEVER the answer.

If it was, everyone would be a millionaire. (Or achieve whatever other goal they long for.)

The real difference between people who succeed and those who don’t is their ability to take consistent action, follow their unique path and believe in themselves — even when it seems like nothing’s working.

That kind of success comes from doing the inner work.

Becoming the highest version of yourself.

That emotional transformation occurs in coaching containers and communities.

It thrives with people who have embraced personal branding as a way to stand out, rather than saying, “I’m a fat loss coach who helps 40+ women shed 15 lbs without giving up their favorite foods.”

BORING!

If you want to survive in this new world, you CANNOT be boring.

You must EMBODY the transformation you sell, and share that journey.

This isn’t about being perfect. To the contrary — you must embrace the random, the weird, your imperfections and quirks — all the things you try to hide because you think they make you not good enough.

It’s about being real. Believing that you are good enough, and your methods are good enough.

For example — I could judge myself for not selling a “proven framework” for signing your next 5 clients in 6 weeks.

(Spoiler. I’ve purchased those courses. It’s usually some version of: create problem-aware content and DM 30 people a day.)

But that’s not how I built my business.

I followed my intuition, connected to the heart of who I am, what I have to offer, why my ideal client absolutely needs it, and shared that unapologetically.

So that’s how I help my clients build successful businesses. Not by following a dumb 6-step plan that makes you want to throw your phone in the pool.

(If you’re having trouble deciding between business ideas, read this blog.)

That’s exactly why doing the inner work to trust yourself and value your gifts is so important.

(And that’s why you need to join us for the Value your Gifts training on Wednesday, May 21.)

Our unique selves don’t fit into a box.

Because of that, it’s easy to feel unworthy, or compare yourself and think: If only I was a more basic bitch, I’d be successful. But the exact opposite is true!

You need to embrace yourself so fully that everything you used to hide becomes a celebration inspiring other people to celebrate themselves, too.

You show others what’s possible through self-love and acceptance and tell them what’s required to achieve the same transformation you have.

Your values, beliefs and worldview are all part of your niche.

They’ll attract the right people to you, so you’re not just another coach or course creator, but a real live person with quirks and imperfections that not only create interest but show your people that they don’t have to be perfect to achieve the desired transformation, either.

This is about so much more than building a business, but being who you’re meant to be, living your purpose, and finding meaning in the challenges that brought you here.

When you file down your magic to fit inside a box, you become invisible to your soulmate clients and audience.

You become disconnected from yourself.

That makes you doubt yourself even more!

Then you go searching for a new strategy or shiny object.

When what you really needed to do was learn to ask better questions, sit with your pain, and find the guidance inside of it.

(I really am still an emotional healer! Just helping people heal through business now.)

Ultimately, a niche is an attempt to file down the most interesting parts of ourselves to fit into a box because we think that being ‘normal’ will make us successful.

Because we don’t trust ourselves or feel like we’re good enough.

But the truth is, fully embracing who you are will make you successful.

The niche is you.

Because the secret was always inside of you.

What is your unique magic? Comment below!

All the love,

Suzanne

PS - The Mindset Membership workshop to Value your Gifts so you can earn cash money from them is happening Wednesday, May 21 at 2:30 p.m. Pacific.

We’ll be doing deep inner work to help you understand where you’re de-valuing your natural gifts due to painful past experiences, social conditioning, or simply not understanding how your special gifts can be packaged to help others.

The powerful training will feature money mindset mixed with emotional healing work to value yourself and your gifts more deeply and completely.

The format is a mix of teaching, journal prompts and Q&A / coaching.

If you’ve been looking for a low-cost way to experience working together, this is a great entry point!

Cancel anytime through the Substack dashboard, but you won’t want to!