If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s “too late” to pivot into coaching, you’re going to love Tracee Garner’s story.

Tracee is a Virginia native, a multi-published author (22 going on 23 books!), disability advocate, nonprofit professional, and now a certified career coach. She came into our Career Coach Certification program already coaching writers, but she wanted something more:

• Formal training in coaching

• A clear structure for launching a career coaching business

• Systems and tools that would help her confidently serve clients—especially job seekers with disabilities

In our recent interview, Tracee shared how she went from late-night scrolling to becoming a certified career coach with new offers, webinars, funnels, and a growing audience that keeps showing up for her work.

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Meet Tracee Garner: Author, Disability Advocate & Coach

Tracee lives in Northern Virginia, where winters are cold (and she’ll be the first to tell you she does not like snow).

By day, she works full-time at a nonprofit helping people with disabilities find jobs. She is also a person with a disability herself, which gives her a powerful, lived understanding of the barriers her clients face—not in their résumés, but often in the minds of hiring managers.

On top of that, Tracee is a prolific writer and book coach:

• She has written 22+ fiction and nonfiction books (inspirational, self-help, and more).

• She helps other writers plan, write, and publish their books and get them on major platforms.

Winter has always been her personal “slow down and write” season, while spring and summer are when she shines and ramps things up.

She even has a name for when she feels most productive and energized:

Sparkle Time – the seasons and hours of the day when you naturally shine and get the most done.

Now she teaches this concept to her clients—helping them schedule job searches, interviews, and important work during their own sparkle time.

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Why Tracee Chose Career Coach Certification

Before joining Career Coach Certification, Tracee was already coaching writers. But she felt a pull toward career coaching and wanted more structure and training around it.

She had taken a few of our other programs—like Love Your Career Formula and Corporate Rescue Plan—and kept seeing Classy Career Girl pop up in her late-night scrolls.

What finally convinced her to join?

• She wanted formalization and tools around coaching, not just “winging it.”

• The accelerator track—being able to complete the program in about three months—instead of letting it drag on for six to nine months.

• A clear plan and framework she could follow instead of piecing everything together from scratch.

“I really wanted the formalization of coaching and what that’s all about. The accelerator part really resonated with me—I loved that I could get it done in three months.”

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The Biggest Challenges: Cost, Confidence & a Tough Job Market

Like many new coaches, Tracee’s biggest challenges at the start were:

• Cost – making the investment in herself and her business

• Confidence – wondering if she could really help people in such a challenging job market

Because she works with job seekers with disabilities, she sees firsthand how hard it can be—not because candidates aren’t qualified, but because of internal bias and barriers from people in a position to hire.

At first, Tracee felt the weight of that.

But then something shifted:

She realized her primary job as a coach is to help people build confidence and show up as strongly as possible—while knowing some barriers are outside their control.

Once she embraced that, she could stop trying to “solve everything” and instead focus on being one powerful tool in her clients’ support system. That mindset made coaching feel more sustainable and effective.

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How Career Coach Certification Helped Her Build Structure & Momentum

When Tracee joined the program, she had one big question:

“How am I going to get all this done—working full-time, writing books, and serving clients?”

What surprised her most was the sheer volume of resources inside the certification:

• Plug-and-play templates

• Scripts for calls, discovery sessions, and onboarding

• Client workbooks, tools, and frameworks

• Step-by-step systems so she didn’t have to reinvent the wheel

“We’re not reinventing the wheel. A lot of it is plug and play. If I need something, I can go to the vault, pull it, and use it.”

A few things that made a huge difference for her:

• The 90-Day Accelerator structure

• Regular live calls and workshops

• A small but mighty group of fellow students providing accountability

• Lifetime access to the materials, so she can revisit them as she grows

She started setting reminders on her smart devices so she wouldn’t miss a single call:

“Every week there was something going on. I didn’t want to miss it. That kept me tethered and engaged all the way to the finish line.”

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Practicing Coaching: The 10 Hours That Changed Everything

As part of Career Coach Certification, Tracee completed 10 hours of practice coaching.

To line up clients, she posted on Facebook offering free coaching sessions. Within hours, her schedule filled up—with people she already knew who couldn’t wait to book time with her.

That response was deeply validating:

• Friends and peers wanted to work through their real issues with her.

• One of her practice clients was even another coach.

• Her sister-in-law was upset she hadn’t told her sooner because she wanted to join too!

“It was really validating that people wanted to talk to me again. Just because something is free doesn’t mean people will show up—but they did.”

Those 10 hours not only helped her refine her coaching skills, they also helped her see herself the way others saw her: capable, wise, and worth booking.

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New Wins: Vision Board Workshops, Funnels & Freebies

Since graduating, Tracee has been busy turning her training into real offers and real momentum:

1. Vision Board Workshop with 60 Registrations

In January, she decided—at the last minute—to host a Vision Board Workshop.

• She promoted it for just about two weeks.

• 60 people signed up.

• The event was fun, interactive, and powerful.

She had assumed vision boarding might be “over,” but clearly, people still wanted to connect around their goals and dreams—and they wanted her to lead them.

2. Funnels, Freebies & a Pivot Webinar

Working with John (yes, my husband!), Tracee has been building out funnels for her business.

So far she has:

• Created 4–5 different freebies for different audiences

• Connected her vision board attendees into a funnel for her upcoming career pivot webinar

• Started to see how each workshop leads naturally into the next step for her audience

“I always worry about over-saturation, but people keep signing up. It’s like a carousel—‘Yes, I want to go again!’”

3. Blending Productivity, Career & Writing Support

Tracee is now weaving her strengths together:

• Career coaching

• Productivity coaching (including her “sparkle time” concept)

• Writing and book coaching

• Retreats and workshops for writers and career pivots

She’s even hosting writer’s retreats (she ran one in October and is planning another this spring) to help people reconnect with their writing and finally finish their books.

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Tracee’s Advice for Aspiring Career Coaches

At the end of our interview, I asked Tracee what she would say to the woman who’s thinking about becoming a career coach, but hasn’t taken the leap yet.

Here’s her wisdom in a nutshell:

1. You Don’t Have to Wait for “Perfect Timing”

“You don’t have to wait for Monday morning or January 1st. You can choose at any moment.”

There is always another Monday. Another January. Another “someday.”

But if you start now, by the time December 31st rolls around, you could:

• Be done with your certification

• Have your first few clients

• Be so much further along than you are today

2. Think About Regret—From Your Future Self’s Point of View

Tracee has been studying regret, and she encouraged us to think from the future looking back:

“When December 31st rolls around, what will you wish you had done?”

Will you wish you had:

• Invested in training?

• Started your coaching business?

• Taken that first, brave step toward a new career and income stream?

Your future self will thank you for the action you take now.

3. It’s Never Too Late to Pivot

Whether you’re in corporate, running a business you’ve outgrown, or simply ready for something more aligned—Tracee’s reminder is simple:

“It’s never too late to pivot. There are so many resources. It’s so much fun. Your future self will thank you for signing up and doing this work.”

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Where to Find Tracee Online

If you’d like to connect with Tracee, get support with your writing, or stay in the loop about her workshops and retreats, here’s where to find her:

• Website: planning resources, book-planning ebook, and freebies at tracygarner.com

• Instagram: her most active platform, where she announces workshops, retreats, and new offers

She’s also listed in our Career Coach Directory, so you can find her there as well:
👉 classycareergirl.com/directory

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Ready for Your Own Career Coach Certification Success Story?

If Tracee’s story is stirring something in you, you might be closer than you think to your own career coach certification success story.

Inside Career Coach Certification, you’ll get:

• A proven step-by-step plan to launch your coaching business

• Done-for-you templates, scripts, and systems so you’re not starting from scratch

• Live coaching, workshops, and accountability to help you follow through

• The option to move quickly with our accelerator track

You don’t have to wait for the “perfect” time.

👉 Learn more about Career Coach Certification here: classycareergirl.com/certification

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