We recently sat down with Samantha Chechele, Owner and Attorney of Chechele Law P.A. , to discuss her experience with ActionCOACH Tampa Bay. Samantha’s law firm was founded in 1991 and specializes in the areas of estate planning and asset protection, taxation, real estate, business and entity planning, and probate.
Business and Life Before Coaching….
The philosophy of the firm which can be found right on the first page of the website “is to implement sound legal and tax strategies to their clients at the appropriate time, to avoid litigation, audits, financial burden, stress and heartache in the future.” Samantha understands that “sound planning creates a foundation for success” because that is what she is focused on doing for her clients with her legal and tax services. When Samantha started coaching, she considered herself as established and successful. She had already figured out most of the business structure and client generation on her own mainly by self-educating and reading books. One turning point in her marketing and client acquisition that Samantha mentioned was joining a referral networking platform called BNI and ultimately that is also where she was first introduced to ActionCOACH Tampa Bay and her business coach, Barb Kyes. Despite being successful and having a flourishing business, she was aware that one thing that needed attention was as she put it “the gaps in systems”. She shared that like many business owners that her “reason for opening a business was to work less with more profit, to work for myself and to achieve my vision of a large practice with a dynamic and exceptional team.” She recognized that more systems and an outside perspective from a coach could help her take the actions towards that vision faster than she could on her own with the “school of life” as her only teacher.
Life with ActionCOACH…
Samantha is a natural born leader and is frequently tapped by organizations to hold leadership positions and add valuable insights as a member of their non-profit boards. When Samantha found out that she was about to take on the battle of her life, literally as she was battling a late-stage breast cancer diagnosis, it became more and more challenging to stand strong in the face of many responsibilities with a limited amount of energy, focus and stomach strength. Samantha chose to keep her battle more private which allowed her to maintain her work schedule but also limited the amount of people she had to confide in about what was really going on. Samantha found the coaching as an outlet and a positive distraction as the discussions forced her to focus on the future and what she wanted to create in the next year, three-years and five-years. Samantha went into coaching knowing that she wanted to implement more systems and came out of the experience knowing that putting systems together and filling the gaps in automation, streamlining and training was as she put it “the single most important step for me”. Samantha has noticed a significant impact in the efficiency of her business and a byproduct of that efficiency has been what she explained as “a positive feeling about reaching the next level” of success. In a short period of time that efficiency also equated to profit hitting her bottom line in the form of a 30% year-over-year profit increase. Samantha shared that in addition to boosting her profit, she also loved seeing and meeting her goals. Most business owners can relate to being too busy achieving the next goal or task to stop and celebrate – but as Samantha explained she gained momentum and energy to tackle future goals after “celebrating those victories with my coach”.
What is it like being coached?
Samantha found coaching to be a huge support system as she privately dealt with her breast cancer treatment. She also described coaching as a “whole picture approach to seeing her business from a bigger picture to ensure the decisions she was making with her time, money, and relationship investments actually related back to the goals she wanted to achieve. Samantha shares that “everyone has opportunities but the challenge comes with knowing how to pick the right ones and selecting the right connections” to create a successful business. Coaching has also provided Samantha with how to create multi-level relationships and “like-minded individuals that inspire and balance those relationships to mirror my goals”.
To those considering coaching and the investment….
Samantha strongly recommends coaching and explains that “anyone can benefit from coaching, even if it is for a shore period of time”. She shared with a smile that “the inspiration and positive support will change your thinking very quickly”. The investment is worth the “bigger vision of not only your business but yourself as well” that would be impossible to see without the outside perspective. Samantha shared that within a short time of starting coaching, she was invited to join the Board of Trustees of the Law School while simultaneously adding on two part-time employees. Samantha feels that “coaching has given me the real tools I need to succeed”.
About Samantha Chechele
Chechele Law P.A. was founded in 1991 and expanded to provide legal services to clients in the State of Michigan in 2008. The firm has a mix of specialty areas including estate planning & asset protection, taxation (tax return preparation & IRS representation), real estate (title agent), business & entity planning & implementation and probate. 2018 marks Samantha’s 30th year of practicing law as a licensed attorney. Her unique background and skill mix allow her to provide her clients with a comprehensive approach to legal, tax and advising services.
Learn more about her firm on her website!
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