Today we’d like to introduce you to Randi Crawford.
Hi Randi, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My journey into coaching started with one goal in mind: I wanted to help menopausal women find their passions and rediscover their purpose. I was living it, and when your kids start breaking away, and you’ve been a mom for 18 years, you feel lost. It’s your identity. So I was drawn to helping this specific woman rediscover herself. I had just earned my coaching certification and was asked to give a TEDx talk, and before long, started getting clients. Life had other plans for me. Instead of coaching menopausal women, these same women called on me to work with their young adult daughters.
I immediately pivoted my business and began working with these young women, and what I found was a pattern: a generation of girls who looked like they had it all together on the outside but were struggling on the inside. They were stressed, fragile, exhausted, and lonely. They were terrified of letting down their parents or making a mistake. They couldn’t make decisions for themselves without input from me and all their “friends”. When I spoke with their moms, they had a totally different perception of the problem, so there was a huge communication gap as well. This isn’t uncommon. Communication should be so easy, but it’s not, because our kids don’t want to let us down. Their moms were frustrated watching their daughters struggle and not knowing how to help without making things worse.
That’s when my coaching evolved again. I began to work with their parents as well. I gave talks to moms and coached them to let go of the urge to fix everything. I speak about building trust with their kids instead of parenting out of fear. And how they can support their kids in building confidence by trying new things, and being okay when they fail. My philosophy is simple: stop playing the game for them and start coaching from the sidelines.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are always struggles along the way. When you start a business, you have no idea what it will look like day to day. I thought I’d get certified, hang a shingle, roll up my sleeves, and get to work. We hear about the mental health crisis every day, so how hard could it be to get clients, right? Ha. I learned quickly that it’s not easy at all. You have to grind, show up, and put yourself out there every single day, even when you feel hopeless and don’t want to.
I got lucky after giving a few talks and generating business, but that doesn’t guarantee a full client list. And honestly, I’ve never been a social media person; it always felt like bragging or screaming, “look at me.” But as I went further down the coaching road, I realized you can’t sit back at the baseline forever. You have to lean in and be vulnerable, and let people know what you’re doing if you want to make it work.
Yes, it can feel cringe. But then one day, you’re minding your own business and someone you barely know tells you they love your content and shares it with friends who need to hear it. You never really know who’s watching your content. One of the people who saw mine turned out to be a client of my husband’s, which was a good reminder that I can’t get too wild online. It’s like pickleball: you’ve got to keep a little “court etiquette,” because you never know who’s sitting in the stands watching your game. That’s when you know you’re making a difference, and building your business at the same time. We’re all so afraid of what others might think, but if we lived that way, we’d never take the shot. We get one life, let’s make it the best!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What sets me apart is that I don’t play the game the way most “life coaches” do. I don’t run ads or dress up a title to sound important. If anything, I downplay the “life coach”, and think of myself more as a coach and a cheerleader who helps you get to where you want to go through questions, not directions. My work spreads the old-school way, through referrals and word of mouth. Girls know I’ll listen without judgment, and unless they’re in danger, I don’t run to mom and dad with the tea. That honesty builds trust, and trust is everything. Most of my clients want a place to vent where someone will listen to them and not have any investment in the outcome. I understand that parents are completely invested in the outcome, which is what creates the friction and why it’s great to have someone other than a parent to talk to.
I also keep it real online. I don’t do my hair, put on makeup up and look good when I post. There are no curated highlight reels, no sugarcoating. I bring accountability and clarity. Parenting is like pickleball: it’s not about winning every point; it’s about keeping the rally alive, loosening your grip, and bouncing back after you lose a point. People come to me because they know I’ll tell them the truth in a way that helps them grow. And yes, if you can’t tell, I use a lot of pickleball analogies in my work because I’ve learned so much on the court that applies to parenting.
What matters most to you?
We’ve raised a generation of kids to believe they’re fragile when they’re not. They are not victims. They’re capable of so much more than they think, but only if we stop clearing every obstacle out of their way. From switching teachers so they can sit with their friends, to moving them to the “winning” team, parents have paved every road smooth. And where has it left us? We are in a mental health crisis. Everything from anxiety disorders, mental health issues, suicidal ideation, body image issues, and loneliness – it’s all skyrocketed! There’s a reason for that. Kids are on their social media and spending less quality time with their family, and everything is too easy. Nobody has to work for it. Our kids will never feel a win if they don’t experience a loss.
Kids get to college and don’t know how to make friends, join clubs, or handle rejection when they don’t get into the fraternity or sorority they wanted. We’ve robbed them of resilience by never letting them struggle.
Here’s the truth: nobody likes to watch their kid be uncomfortable. We have to own our part in the problem and make a huge shift in how we parent our kids going forward. We can do it simply by letting our kids experience natural consequences. It’s not fun, and it’s not easy to watch, but until we get there, our kids are going to crumble at the first sign of adversity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.randicrawfordcoaching.com
- Instagram: @randicrawfordcoaching
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randi-crawford-34a4204a/
- Other: Tik Tok: @randicrawfordcoaching
