Meet Amanda Riffee | Certified Executive & Success Coach for Women

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda Riffee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, what do you attribute your success to?
I lead with my intuition and inner knowing. As women, especially, we seem to go outside of ourselves so often to find the answers to what we should do next or who we should become. We have so many of those answers already with us; we’ve just pushed that voice down for so many years that we can no longer hear it. I make every big decision in my business by tapping into my intuition first. I make sure I give myself plenty of silence to allow my inner voice to be heard. It’s difficult to have new ideas when we’re constantly consuming and processing new information we’re taking in.

Over the years, I have learned to distinguish between a decision coming from my ego and a decision coming from my highest self.

Intuition is magic. It’s my North Star.

What should our readers know about your business?
You know those times in your life when you suddenly realize you’ve just been going through the motions? Maybe you’ve been in your job for a while and you can do it with your eyes closed. Maybe you’re on autopilot with your family schedule and every day is like Groundhog Day. That was me about 2 years ago.

Right around New Year’s Eve, I have an entire practice dedicated to reflecting on how much I’ve grown the previous year and creating a vision of where I want to go next.

2022 was a year I never could have predicted while setting my New Year’s intentions.

Let me set the stage for you, I was doing great at in my corporate job. I was being recognized. My team was in a good place, their growth had skyrocketed, and they were running on their own with little effort from me. The projects I was working on felt easy. I knew exactly what to do and could do a fantastic job without giving it too much thought.

I also had more free time than I’d had in a long time. Don’t get me wrong, I love downtime, but I also like to keep it balanced. I’m still an achiever, after all, and I cannot sit on my potential.

That’s when I realized that I had gotten…comfortable.

You might be thinking…ok why is that a problem?? Comfortable sounds great!

And I do totally get that, but I am someone who does her best work when I’m challenged. I need to stretch myself and work toward something new and big. This is what makes my soul sing!

So, this space where I feel too comfortable is not a place I find myself in too often, and I knew that if I was THAT comfortable, it meant I was no longer growing, and growth is very important to me. I even have a pine tree tattoo on my wrist to remind me that no matter how old I get, I need to always keep growing. Just like the pine trees.

Everyone gets to live their life how they want, but I’m guessing that if you are listening to my story, you are like me. You don’t want to sit on your potential. You want to get the most out of this life.

The thing with me is that once something hits my awareness, it’s impossible to avoid. I know I have to tackle it head-on. However, I had no idea what my next steps were. I knew I wanted more, but what the heck “more was” was still a mystery to me.

With all of this free time, I thought, why not use it to better our financial situation? I have heard many times that financial freedom comes from diversifying your income. I knew I didn’t want to get just any part-time job. This was my chance to do something that lit me up.

So, I did an exercise that you can do as well. No better time than now! Here’s what I did- I looked at my calendar (I live and breathe by my calendar. My entire life is on it) and asked myself, “What are the projects and conversations you LOVE having?” and what are the things that you secretly hope to get canceled?

Sitting at my desk staring at my beautifully color-coordinated calendar, something became abundantly clear. The two things I realized I loved were 1:1s with my team and professional/personal development activities.
After staring and reflecting for an hour or two, I concluded that whatever I did next needed to work with people one-on-one and have an impact on personal growth.

Perfect! I had found my dream side gig, right?!?

I mean not really, because I personally knew of no part-time job that fit those qualifications.

Next came internet research! Yep, I went straight to Google and followed every rabbit hole that sparked my interest. I continued to follow my curiosity and didn’t hold myself back with the logic of what may or may not be possible for me.

This continued for several evenings, and I was loving it. I was already feeling so lit up by the possibility of really creating income and impact at the same time.

Quite a few options felt like they could work, but I wasn’t completely sold.
That is until I came across coaching.

It seemed like the perfect fit. Coaching would allow me to…

Work with clients 1:1

Talk about personal growth every day!

Create my own schedule

Increase my financial income

Sign me UP!

I had found the thing, for me, that checked all the boxes.

And since that time, which was just September of 2022 by the way, I have:

Started and grown my own business (BTW even having a business degree, I had no idea how to do any of this- Get an LLC, build a website, write client contracts, create an offer, set pricing, etc. Every single thing was new!!)

Reached over 150 coaching hours working 1:1 with career-driven clients

Received multiple coaching certifications/credentials

Moved to part time as a leadership coach in my corporate role (left my old career path behind!)

Financially invested in my own coaching

Launched and grown a podcast!

I am now a trainer for new coaches going through the same program I went through myself

Created and launched multiple coaching packages

Learned how to sell and find new clients in a way that feels so aligned with me

Hosted my first women’s event in Denver with 50+ women in attendance

Hosting my first retreat in September and many other in-person events are still in store for the rest of this year!

But most of all, the mindset shifts I’ve experienced through finding my passion have put my personal and professional growth into overdrive. I cannot think of any other time in my life where I’ve had that many big shifts and results.

Here are a few examples of the limiting beliefs I’ve come face to face with since my growing my business:

Who am I to think I could do that?

I will look silly putting myself out there.

I need everyone to like me.

I’m not smart enough to do that.

What if I fail?

That success is meant for someone else, not me.

I’m not worthy of that.

I’m not smart with money.

Success means sacrifice.

I’m not ready.

My new mantra is: Feel the fear and do it anyway. (This one was my latest tattoo)

I am getting really good and being scared shitless and taking the action anyway because I know it’s worth it. Every single time something great is on the other side, and I am done holding myself back and missing out on all this amazingness. 🤩

The interesting part is, nothing else changed in my external circucumstances. The only thing that changed was ME. Turns out I was capable of all this before. I just couldn’t see it. I couldn’t dream that big for myself. I hadn’t found that thing that was going to perfectly package up all of my strengths and abilities.

This is what I do for my clients, too. I don’t help them become coaches; I help them find their special thing. They come to me when they are feeling stuck, burned out, lost, or overwhelmed. Or yes, even if they’ve just gotten too comfortable and know they are meant for more. I help them get clear on their values, passions, gifts, and superpowers, which become the key to their next level of success. Whatever that might mean for them.

It could be a promotion.

It could be growing their own business.

I could be making a scary career change.

It could be finding more balance in their life.

Together, we unlock their ability to dream big for themselves and put those plans into motion! I promise you, if you have a dream on your heart, it’s there for a reason, and it’s possible for you. If even a small part of you didn’t think that dream was possible for you, then it wouldn’t even be on your radar. For example, I don’t have any desire to be a deep sea diver, so that dream has never even entered the picture. But I dream of speaking on large stages and impacting women in a BIG way, so YES, I believe that’s possible for me.

When you approach your career (and your life) with that mindset, you can move mountains. I know this to be true.

I want this growth for you, too.

Let me leave you with this question: “What would I be doing if I was guaranteed to succeed?”

Whatever comes to mind that’s your dream.

It’s time to turn your dream into a reality.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love the city and the mountains, so I would plan a mix of both!

We would start at the Maven Hotel for a little luxury as we explore the Dairy Block and all that Denver has to offer. That might include hopping to a few breweries, shopping, and a fancy dinner.

Next, we would head west into the mountains! Steamboat Springs (with Breckenridge as a close second) is my favorite mountain town. Steamboat is absolutely breathtaking and has a fun downtown vibe as well. Of course, skiing, hiking, and any other outdoor activity you might love is ready and waiting in the mountains!

I’m actually hosting my retreat in Steamboat this September, so it’s pretty clear I’m a huge fan!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My support system- there are many of them, but my #1 is my husband, Matt.

This man has been my partner for over 16 years. We have grown into adults together. We’ve become parents together. We are finding ourselves…together.

This growth journey I’m on has me dreaming big. It has me stepping into the next era of me.

And Matt has been there cheering me on every step of the way. I know it must be difficult sometimes to have blind faith when I have the next BIG idea in my head. Those are times when I can see the vision, when I can feel how passionate I am, when I know what’s possible.

But to someone else, they just have to trust. They just have to trust in me and what I’m creating.

And that’s what he does. He trusts me and supports me.

I am so grateful that we can both grow as individuals yet continue to grow together.

No matter what challenge gets thrown at us, no matter what big scary thing we tackle next, I’m glad we get to do it together.

Website: https://acrprofessionalcoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandariffee_coaching/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-riffee/

Image Credits
The Middle Root Photography