DR. AJ AUSTIN, FAITH-BASED LIFE COACH

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The road to entrepreneurship has not been easy for Dr. AJ Austin, to say the least. Occurring all on the same day, she not only experienced homelessness early in her entrepreneurial journey, but also a divorce and the death of her mother. However, that adversity did not stop her. Instead, she redirected her focus by way of faith and structured actions. In 2016, she became a partner in a Life Coach company, and for a period of almost three years, built strong relationships, successfully trained others and transformed many people’s lives. Sadly, through another turn of unfortunate events, in 2019 that company downsized, leaving her unemployed and facing homelessness for the second time!

During that time of darkness, Dr. Austin discovered that the community she built over the years had her back. Many rallied together and encouraged her to start her own Life Coach Certification training program, exclusively for Black women. With that boost of motivation, she set out to do just that. Although a secure support system presented itself, it was evident that Dr. Austin would face challenges within the industry she was looking to conquer.

Within the online personal development tech space, there are several unfair stigmas attached to being a woman-led Black business owner. The number one stereotype being that many feel as though Black women either cannot get along with one another, or simply do not know how to work together in a productive manner.

No matter the trials, this story continues on as a triumphant one. Now, as a full-time solopreneur, Dr. Austin is the CEO of two companies: The International Center for Life Coach Training, LLC and Future Black Life Coaches. She leads 1-day training programs, where Black women of faith become certified life coaches online. She has written over 15 books and has been on several best-sellers lists. Dr. Austin recently self-published the #1 Amazon New Release, ‘The Black Life Coach: How to Become a Professionally Trained, Skilled, Qualified, Certified Black Woman Life Coach’. Her coaching sessions teach you how to confidently convert conversations to clients, cash, checks, and credit cards.

Dr. Austin recalled a memorable moment of confirmation that let her know she is walking in her purpose. It occurred back in 2016, when she was offered an exclusive opportunity to address an organization of mostly Black women Realtors in Atlanta, GA. The invitation just so happened to come from a former neighbor of the same low-income housing projects she lived in for 13 years of her childhood. At the end of the presentation, an audience member approached her to simply say, “You are doing exactly what God has called you to do!” Later, she learned that the audience member was not only a real estate agent, but also a local minister as well. Since then, people have been paying her some form of that same sentiment. Most recently, while hosting a webinar for Future Black Life Coaches, one of the attendees stated very plainly, “This is your calling.” And now that Dr. Austin has started hosting live in-person events and recording podcast interviews, she often thinks to herself, “I really love doing this! I am really good at this!! I’m so glad I get to do this!!! I gotta keep doing this!!!!”