To many, the idea of starting a business with their romantic partner seems like a risk that isn’t worth taking. Unproblematic relationships at home may incur unexpected issues when taken into the commercial sphere. This hesitancy may be warranted for a brick-and-mortar company built on high-stakes tensions between supply, demand, and best practice. But some sectors beyond the traditional family business seem to thrive on the strength of the relationship between people. What’s more, when the nature of the trade pertains to private life and enlightenment, there seems to be a unique benefit that arises. Those at the top need only have the requisite passion, knowledge, and insight.
Meet Jake and Whitney Roehl. As owners and coaches at @steadfastlifecoaching, the pair have integrated every inch of their journeys both separately and as a married couple into their work, helping people experience more freedom in life. Resisting pressure from entrepreneurially-minded peers to split their business and operate independently, the couple instead opted for the more untrodden track: working out how their differences could come together to provide the most effective coaching for their client.
Other couples may have pressed the pause button on their business to resolve the outstanding issues in their marriage. Instead, Jake and Whitney realized that the success of Steadfast Life Coaching depended on the success of their marriage and therefore set about addressing the key hurdles in their personal lives to bring them into harmony with their business. Tangibly speaking, Jake stepped into the role of assistant coach, which allowed Whitney to develop a clearer, stronger direction for their coaching session. On the other hand, Jake became free to focus on the client’s thinking and empathize with their story. The result, the couple professes, is a life coaching solution that transforms people’s thinking to take full responsibility for their experience in life.
Evoking Christian values of openness and tolerance, the Roehls’ coaching service is available in various forms. Jake and Whitney are enthusiastic about providing physical opportunities for their clients, with the likes of a four-day retreat in the Eastern Sierras and a five-day surfing excursion in El Salvador making up previous Steadfast offerings. Their flagship services are group coaching and actual mastermind, which focus on reinventing the individual’s thought processes rather than changing the fundamentals of their lifestyle.
“There are plenty of people that can tell you what to eat. We’ll show you how to love eating it,” Jake proclaims. “There are plenty of coaches who can teach you how to improve the communication in your marriage. We’ll teach you how to provide all the love you want from your spouse for yourself so you can be free to love them without an agenda.”
Jake and Whitney have storied pasts as individuals that vary greatly, but today they find themselves in a loving marriage that liberates their aspirations rather than hinders them. Instead of struggling with conventional fixes, the two put life coaching – their passion – at the center of their solution. The Roehls located another couple that specifically coaches blended families. They now credit them with saving their marriage and Steadfast Life Coaching. Committing to a solution together both in business and life ensured the couple could fully realize their potential.
Steadfast Life Coaching’s future looks more hopeful than the rocky past of its owners. Jake and Whitney were once isolated, with only their faith in God to unite them. Today, they are taking their business forward with a view to becoming the number one Christian coaching platform in the country. The service currently offers an online membership service with access to the likes of mindset and weight-loss courses, but the pair see considerable potential for their one-of-a-kind approach in the online sphere.
A new on-demand digital coaching membership named Trust U aims to replicate the efficacy of Steadfast’s in-person service. Like the Roehls’ approach to face-to-face coaching, it promotes self-determination and simple shifts in the client’s way of thinking. Traditional courses may teach an individual to do something, but Trust U promises to be a digital toolkit that allows the user to take their journey at their own pace. Equal development is assured for those who prefer the physical experience too. Both Jake and Whitney are eager to travel the country in their camper to participate in public speaking engagements and partner with communities, churches, and industry leaders.
Like any marriage, Jake and Whitney Roehl’s journey with life coaching has had bumps in the road. But that’s precisely what makes their take on the profession so refreshing. Unafraid to name a bump when they see one, the pair recognizes that sometimes there is only one road in and one road out. It’s the way one approaches a bump that makes all the difference.
