Am I Good Enough to Charge for This? with Meagan Yarmey

Opening: Why do so many talented new coaches hesitate to charge for their work? Meagan Yarmey, PhD, MSW, RSW, joins John Andrew Williams to look at impostor syndrome, which she prefers to call impostorism, as a question of identity rather than a diagnosis.

Background: Meagan grew up in a family of psychologists and started doing research with her father, a retired psychology professor, early on. After her PhD in social psychology she taught at the university level, then went back to school for clinical training. She describes her lens as the individual embedded in the situation, which lets her work with one person or a whole system.

Impostorism as identity: Meagan walks through how impostorism builds: a trigger, intrusive thoughts, a threat response in the body, and then an interpretation of what it all means. That interpretation shapes identity, and identity shapes behavior. The real gap sits between the actual self, the ideal self, and the ought self, and that gap can show up as self-doubt, perfectionism, burnout, and hesitation to speak up.

Am I good enough to charge for this?: John raises the question nearly every new coach asks. Meagan’s answer: the value of a coach lives in the substance of the question. Good coaches listen for the context, the nuance, and the change over time, then ask the question that creates a pause or a new perspective. New coaches also bring real value through their enthusiasm and fresh training.

Burnout and organizational systems: Meagan sees burnout and stress related distress as normal outcomes of dysfunctional situations. She uses the same model with a single client or a whole organization: identify what is driving the outcome, then change it. Wellness practices like meditation and yoga help, and the data keeps pointing to organizational change as the bigger lever. She and John also discuss why leaders resist that change and why psychological research takes so long to reach the workplace.

Performing under pressure: John describes his 79-year-old father-in-law beating everyone at cornhole, and Meagan explains what sets people like him apart. Many capable people have the skills and struggle with the pressure. The question is whether you can access what you know when the eyes are on you.

Selling with integrity: Coaches train to be good at the craft, and few ever train to sell. Putting yourself out there can feel icky. Meagan shares how she made that shift herself after academia. Insight alone does not change behavior. Confidence comes from taking one step, repeating it until the distress settles, and then taking the next one.

Sitting with discomfort: John and Meagan close on learning to sit with uncertainty before rushing to fix it. As tolerance for distress grows, the distress shrinks and leaves room for new ideas.

Advice for early-career professionals: Take calculated chances, invest in understanding yourself, and treat the experience as an adventure.