I call myself a life mentor instead of a life coach for 2 reasons. Firstly, in the last 20 years the wellness field has grown exponentially, which has seen many people wanting to work as a life coach, this led to an industry being developed to service such demand. Fast forward to 2025 and there are many individuals who have completed a life coach course, with courses ranging from 1 week to 1 year. Because of this oversupply of life coaching graduates most people who complete such courses will never derive a livelihood as a life coach.
In my case, I completed an applied science degree in 1996 (majoring in physical & emotional wellness thru the lifespan). Over the next 15+ years I mentored thousands of people in a multidisciplinary health retreat setting in how to move closer to a better way of living (whatever that meant for each person). So because of my degree qualifications, and the significant breadth and depth of my 15+ years of experience working with clients in the health retreat setting, and the last 12 years working 1:1 with clients, I feel it diminishes the enormity of my offering if I was to call myself a life coach.
Secondly, the breadth and depth of my skills/ experience is such that it goes beyond merely coaching an individual to improve their performance across various areas of their life. I call myself a life mentor because in addition to coaching performance improvements, I also facilitate growth and development which impacts all areas of my clients’ lives.