Types of Life Coaches (Part I): Highly Sought-After Niches to Know

Of all the coaching niches out there, life coaching is perhaps the most known and sought after one. In this day and age, some of the most influential people in the world are known to have life coaches – Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Serena Williams, Bill Clinton, Andre Agassi, and so many more. And for good reason too, because those who are in such coveted positions and are bestowed with much responsibility require guidance, just like the rest of us – sometimes even more so.

But what is life coaching? For many, it is a vague term that doesn’t really convey much. How does one coach on something as vast as life? How does anyone have everything figured out about life that they are in a position to guide someone else in every aspect of their lives? 

When an individual is seeking the help of a coach, it is usually because they have a specific problem they want to address with the help of a coach. This could be in the area of their career, relationships, anxiety issues, finances, addictions…and so on. Having a narrower sub-niche allows a prospective client understand who exactly can help them most effectively and it also works for the coach as it helps them understand their ideal client and how to best communicate to them. 

At the beginning stages of starting a life coaching practice, it can be daunting to figure out which niche to pick. And for that we highly recommend taking into account your own specific expertise, areas of interest, as well as past experience and skillsets. This will give you an understanding of what is best suited for you. 

It also helps to know which niches are most sought-after in current times. Stephanie Fiteni, a marketing strategist and traffic growth coach for coaches, did an interesting study to figure out the traffic that different life coaching niches generate on Google. Here were the results (as of April 2022).

Image & research source: Stephanie Fiteni

Those figures are rather interesting, wouldn’t you say? Apart from assessing where your interests and experience lie, it also helps you understand if your chosen niche of life coaching is a viable business idea or not. So, let’s explore different types of life coaching niches that are being highly searched by the public so you can make an informed choice going forward.

1. Dating & Relationship Coach

When the search volumes of dating coach and relationship coach are combined (and many coaches under one or the other niche address both aspects), we see that there are 182,400 Google searches for it in one year! That tells us that relationship and dating coaching is widely sought amongst people. While dating coaches are specifically catering to individuals and couples in their romantic lives, relationship coaches can work with people who wish to bring in some kind of intervention that can positively impact several kinds of relationships that are not limited to romantic partnerships – such as parent-child, siblings, and even address day-today people skills. A relationship and/or dating coach can help people develop conflict resolution skills and offer tools to enable them to create relationships the way they want.

2. Sleep Coach

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2020) reported that 85% of American adults do not get the recommended amount of sleep (seven hours or more) each night. No wonder so many people are seeking the services of a sleep coach to take care of one of the most vital functionalities of life. Sleep coaches are essentially like personal trainers guiding clients to improve their fitness levels – only in this case it is about improving sleep quality and establishing healthier sleep patterns.

While a specific degree or specialisation is not mandatory to become a sleep coach, it is highly recommended to get it as it is an aspect prospects look into when considering hiring one for themselves. There are several trainings and certifications available for this that will not only give the coach an extra edge compared to their peers, but also the necessary skills and tools needed to get their clients lasting and impactful results.

3. Mindset Coach

What a mindset coach primarily does is challenge the existing notions and beliefs of a client that is hampering their growth either in life or in specific areas of their lives. The coach helps the client identify, question, and revise persistent patterns of thoughts and ideas that are not serving them. This is done primarily by asking pertinent questions that challenges the client’s current thought process and assumptions and eventually pushes them to identify alternate ways of approaching the same. 

Mindset coaching can be done by using several different techniques such as NLP (neurolinguistic programming), Time Line Therapy, hypnotherapy, and more.  

Now, the interesting thing about mindset coaching is that it can be further divided into several sub niches. A major area where coaches specialise is around money mindset – this is something many people struggle with. 

4. Parenting Coach

A parenting coach is a professional who helps their clients who are facing parenting challenges by providing them guidance, relevant tools, and strategies to overcome them. Here, the coach can use psychoeducation and evidence-based strategy to navigate familial issues related to children. At a time when generational gaps and unresolved issues can seep easily into a child’s life and impact them, parenting coaching is slowly picking up to be an intervention highly sought-after by parents. 

A parenting coach can help with a multitude of issues including, but not limited to, behavioural corrections, learning issues, stress management, figuring out parenting style, eating disorders, and more.

5. Stress & Anxiety Coach

To be a stress and/or anxiety coach doesn’t require any kind of specific certification – being a life coach is credential enough. However, to engage in specific mental health interventions, it is recommended that a coach seeks specific trainings/ coursework that is specific to anxiety-related conditions, situations that cause anxiety to manifest, and specific questions that will help individuals explore the root cause of their anxiety. And since anxiety often stems from the fear of the future, anxiety coaching helps clients feel more in control of the outcome and facilitating positive thought patterns that help them.

Having said that, clients who are dealing with higher levels of anxiety that indicates some kind of mental disorders such as PTSD or clinical depression should seek the assistance of a mental health professional as a coach is not trained or equipped with the complexities of those ailments. 

The sub-niches of life coaching are many – this was only the tip of the iceberg! We’ll explore more such sought-after sub-niches in an upcoming article. Stay tuned…

About the author

Ipsita Nayak

Content Marketing Manager @Simply.Coach

Ipsita Nayak is a full-time writer-editor-content strategist and a part-time NLP coach & yoga teacher. She believes conventions are overrated, has a disproportionate need for solo time over social time, and loves a good mix of sci-fi and trashy TV in her free time!