O2E Brands

Vice President, Coaching

Vice President, Operations

Director, Operations

Fresh Painting

Founder / CEO (Acquired)

LoyaltyOne

B2B sales, generating recurring and incremental revenue programs for clients.

Business Development Manager

Aimia Inc

B2B sales, selling loyalty programs that generated recurring and incremental revenue for new and existing clients.

Client & Partner Development Manager

B2B sales and client account management, selling loyalty solutions that generated recurring and incremental revenue.

Account Manager

Bridgeable

B2B sales, selling innovation consulting solutions to clients throughout North America.

Senior Associate / Business Development Manager

The Home Depot

Store Leadership Manager

College Pro

Franchise Owner

Vice President, O2E Coaching Program // MBA // Certified Business Coach (CPCC, ACC)

As a results-driven executive leader, I specialize in scaling businesses, aligning cross-functional teams, and driving sustainable revenue growth. With over a decade of experience spanning operations, sales, coaching, and enablement, I have consistently delivered measurable outcomes by integrating strategic vision with actionable execution.

At O2E Brands, I transformed operations as VP of Operations, scaling WOW 1 DAY PAINTING by optimizing processes, building high-performing teams, and implementing strategies that boosted customer acquisition. Later, as VP of Coaching, I designed programs that empowered leaders to achieve high-performing results through improved sales alignment and leadership development.

I bring an MBA, certifications in executive coaching, and advanced training in Artificial Intelligence Strategy from MIT Sloan to every project, ensuring a forward-thinking, data-driven approach. Passionate about empowering teams and transforming organizations, I am committed to delivering strategic enablement that drives growth and lasting success.

Let’s connect to discuss how I can help elevate your business to the next level.

James Graham

Founder. Coaching Coaches. Coaching Training that doesn’t cost the earth! Over 150,000 people trained. OUT NOW - Burnout Coach & Trainer Certification. See Featured section below!

What the world won't tell you....
Is that training and personal development doesn't have to cost the earth!

Burnout Coach & Trainer Certification - OUT NOW
Go Here => https://www.thepriorityacademy.com/burnout-coach-trainer-certification/

An international best-selling training provider in the areas of Coaching, Mental Health, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership and Mindset.

Coaching Coaches: DM me COACH to start the conversation!
=> Expert guidance from someone with 20 years experience as a coach. 
Coaches, if you need help please get in touch. I'll bring my 20+years knowledge and experience with me to help you thrive!

Leadership Coaching: DM me LEAD to start the conversation
=> 10+ years of coaching leaders at every level as well as many years as a consultant working at the highest levels.

Training: DM me TRAIN to start the conversation.
=> Over the last 8 years I have trained over 150,000 people in 190+ countries in the areas of mental health, mindset, strategic life coaching, NLP, CBT, meditation, mindfulness and more.

I help coaches master their skills and build their sustainable and ethical coaching business.

My portfolio:
=> I'm the founder, trainer and head coach at The Priority Academy & CoachHive
=> I have produced hundreds of hours of training content
=> I have thousands of hours of coaching experience under my belt
=> I have 7 training programs that are international best sellers in their field
=> I've coached leaders at all C-Suite levels of their business

My results:
=> Hudreds of hours of training material produced
=> 150,000 people have been trained or are training
=> A rating of 4.7 out of 5 across over 32000 reviews
=> A community of over 36,000 people
=> I have trained people in 190 countries around the world

GO HERE: https://www.coachhive.com/newsletter
To sign up for my newsletter and get your free copy of my Coaching Session Success System Cheat Sheet.

GO HERE: https://www.thepriorityacademy.com/courses-individual/
To check out my courses and super value course bundles

Wishing you success in all you do.
Graham

Graham Nicholls

I've trained 1,000+ coaches, 
and certifications didn’t make a single one successful.

Here’s the dirty secret nobody talks about:

No successful coach ever told me their breakthrough came from another certification.

It always came from working with real people.

Most coaches aren’t buying certificates to learn.
They’re buying permission to start.

Most coaching certifications are a complete waste of money.

There. I said it.

Every week I watch new coaches blow £5,000+ on another shiny certificate.
Thinking it'll finally make them "qualified" enough.

I did it as well and let me tell you...

It won't.

You know what happens instead?

They graduate feeling exactly as unprepared as before.
And now they're broke.

The certification industry profits from your imposter syndrome.

Confidence comes from one place:
Actually helping people.

Want to build a real coaching practice? 
Skip the certificates and do this instead:

→ Actually coaching people (yes, just get started)

→ Collecting 10 testimonials that prove you get results

→ Learning to sell without feeling like a used car salesman

The infographic shows what actually replaces certifications when you want real clients, and most coaches aren’t doing any of it.

The market doesn't buy your credentials.
It buys transformation.

Every hour in a classroom is an hour not coaching.

Every penny on certificates is money not invested in your business.

Your ideal clients aren't checking your wall for certificates.
They're feeling if you truly get them.

And the certification industry will hate this.

If you need a certificate to feel confident coaching, you’re not ready to coach.

Some coaches will strongly disagree with this.

💾 Save this. Because once you stop hiding behind certificates, the real work begins.

✅ Follow Graham Nicholls If you’re ready to start coaching.

7 free sessions to 'prove my value.'
She got incredible results. Then paid another coach.

That’s when I realised free holds no leverage.

My stomach dropped when I found out.

Not because of the money.

Because I'd proven her transformation was possible.

Free doesn't create value in the client's mind.

It creates doubt.

That mistake cost me 7 months of second-guessing everything.

But it taught me to map every trap that destroys coaching practices.

Here are the 10 mistakes killing new coaches:

1. Coaching for free to "prove value"

→ Instead: Charge for discovery sessions. Investment creates commitment.

2. Saying yes to everyone who inquires

→ Instead: Turn away 50% of inquiries. Scarcity builds desire.

Mistake number 3 is where most coaches quietly fail.
If you know, you know.

3. Charging £50/hour because you're "just starting"

→ Instead: Price for outcomes, not time. Results aren't rented by the hour.

4. Trying to solve every problem they mention

→ Instead: Pick one transformation. Become known for that single result.

5. Waiting until you feel "qualified enough" to post

→ Instead: Share one insight regularly. Expertise builds in public.

The rest are in the infographic for you.

The coach who got my client charged £300 per session.

In her mind, that made his work infinitely more valuable.

She didn't just buy coaching.

She bought certainty that it mattered.

The market doesn't pay for your potential.

It pays for your conviction.

💾 Save this so that you avoid the common mistakes coaches make.

✅ Follow Graham Nicholls if building you coaching business is your passion.

I've watched brilliant coaches stay stuck.
And I felt like I was letting them down.

They'd have sessions filled with insights. 

Then text me the next week: "Nothing's changed."

It hurt that I wasn't helping.

Then I realised:

The problem wasn't their insight.
It was the gap between knowing and doing.

20 years of coaching experience taught me this:

Clients need proven, repeatable models to navigate the gaps.

Frameworks make insight repeatable.
Coaching makes them transformational.

These 7 frameworks turn awareness into action every time:

🧗 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: 
Identify which unmet needs hold your client back.

🎯 Comfort–Stretch–Panic Model: 
Find the zone where challenge meets safety.

🪜 Ladder of Inference: 
Reveal how thoughts shape beliefs and actions.

📈 Four Stages of Competence: 
Show clients where they are on the learning curve.

🔺 Drama Triangle: 
Spot unhealthy roles and shift from blame to ownership.

⭕ Circle of Influence & Concern: 
Focus energy where it makes the biggest difference.

🔄 The 5D Cycle: 
Lead positive, strengths-based change that lasts.

I've watched these models create transformation.

The difference is immediate. The results are lasting.

Insight without structure rarely survives between sessions.

Most coaches eventually find themselves relying on the same few frameworks again and again.

Download my free guide to 7 powerful coaching frameworks you can use today https://lnkd.in/exDmVjHA

💾 Save this to upgrade your coaching to transformational.

✅ Follow Graham Nicholls for coaching tools that actually move the needle.

7 Coaching Frameworks That You Can Use Today

She spent 90 minutes trying to 'unpack' everything.
I gave her 30 minutes and one framework.
Breakthrough.

She was drowning in awareness with zero clarity.

Sam slumped in her chair. Tears in her eyes. Exhausted.

"I feel worse than when I arrived."

We'd spent 90 minutes in the weeds.

Anxiety. Stress. Fears.

All connected. None resolved.

This brilliant woman, reduced to a tangle of unprocessed thoughts.

I see this pattern constantly with high-performing clients.

That's when it hit me.

More time wasn't helping. It was hurting.

Insights everywhere. Direction nowhere.

So I tried something radical.

Next session: 30 minutes maximum.

One framework.

The LASER Framework was born from desperation.

And it's been my go-to with my clients ever since.

L = Locate (5 minutes)
"What's the one thing that, if it shifted today, would change everything?"

→ The core issue driving everything else
→ One specific problem

A = Analyse (10 minutes)
"When did this pattern start protecting you?"

→ Find the original benefit
→ Name the fear beneath the behaviour

S = Shift (10 minutes)
"What would you do differently if this fear wasn't running the show?"

→ Future self thinking
→ Concrete next steps

E = Execute (3 minutes)
"What's your commitment in 24 hours?"

→ Their words, not mine
→ One measurable action

R = Return (2 minutes)
"How will we know this worked next session?"

→ Evidence-based check-in
→ Accountability built in

Total: 30 minutes. No wandering.

"I need to set one boundary with my boss."

That was it.

90 minutes of complexity reduced to one clear next step.

She left energised. Hopeful. Ready.

Your clients aren't stuck because they don't understand themselves.

They're stuck because they're drowning in understanding.

Most people don’t need more insight.
They need fewer, better decisions.

💾 Save this if you run sessions that feel ‘deep’ but don’t move the needle

✅ Follow Graham Nicholls to help create greater impact for you and your clients.

She didn’t struggle to find clients. 

She struggled to let go of the wrong idea.

Tracy had it all mapped out.

Demographics: 35-45, female, corporate executive.
Psychographics: Driven, overwhelmed, values efficiency.
Pain points: Work-life balance, imposter syndrome.

She'd filled 47 pages of notes.
Created buyer personas with stock photo faces.
Built a perfect avatar that existed nowhere but her spreadsheet.

Then Mark called.

42, male, small business owner.
Messy, scattered, didn't fit any checkbox.

But he had a real problem.
And real money to solve it.

She almost said no.
He wasn't her "ideal" client.

11 months of research said he was wrong for her.
But her gut said something different.

She took the project. Best decision she ever made.

Mark became her template for 23 more clients.

All nothing like her original avatar.
All exactly what her business needed.

I've seen this with many early-stage coaches.

What we think builds clarity:

→ More market research
→ Deeper demographic analysis  
→ Perfect buyer personas
→ Detailed customer surveys
→ Competitive positioning studies

What actually builds clarity:

→ Working with 5 real clients
→ Actually doing the work
→ Tracking what lights you up
→ Noticing who you think about on weekends
→ Observing which conversations drain vs energise you

Niche clarity comes FROM the work.
Not before it.

You need messy experience to find clean patterns.

Stop perfecting your avatar.
Start working with actual humans.

Your ideal client avatar, your perfectly defined niche?

They sound productive. They rarely move your business forward.

💾 Save this if you don't need more clarity, you need more conversations.

✅ Follow Graham Nicholls for more no-BS advice on building your coaching business.

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James Graham

Graham Nicholls

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