Building a Coaching Empire: The Tools I Depend On As An Educator

What if the right tools could help you scale your business without adding more chaos to your life? In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on the exact digital and non-digital tools I use to run my coaching and education business—from course platforms and AI tools to productivity systems, banking, podcasting, and content creation.

After nearly 10 years of creating content online, I’ve refined the systems that actually save me time, simplify my workflow, and help me serve clients better. I’m sharing the platforms I personally use every day, the mistakes I made early on (yes, including trying to avoid paying for Zoom 😅), and the tools I recommend most often to photographers and creatives who want to step into coaching, mentorship, courses, or education.

Listen to this episode now:

Apple Podcast | Spotify

Search for episode 179 of Called to Both on your favorite podcast player!

The Tools That Help Me Run My Coaching & Education Business Without Burning Out

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the fact that I’ve officially been creating content online for almost 10 years. A full decade of YouTube videos, podcast episodes, courses, coaching calls, launches, affiliate marketing, mentorship, and trying to figure out how to build a business that actually supports my life instead of consuming it.

And honestly, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned during that time is that the tools you use matter more than most people realize.

Not because software magically builds your business for you, but because the wrong systems quietly drain your time, energy, creativity, and mental bandwidth. I see this all the time with photographers and creatives who want to branch into education or coaching. They know they have valuable experience to share, but behind the scenes, they’re juggling scattered notes, disconnected platforms, unfinished automations, and workflows that make everything harder than it needs to be.

At a certain point, scaling sustainably requires simplifying.

Over the years, I’ve become incredibly intentional about the tools I use in my business. I don’t want more subscriptions just for the sake of having them. I want fewer, better systems that support my work, streamline the backend of my business, and leave me with more energy to actually help people.

So today, I want to walk you through the exact tools I personally use to run my coaching and education business, along with a few physical products that genuinely help me stay productive, organized, and consistent.

Zoom: The Coaching & Meeting Tool

I need to start with a confession. Years ago, when I first started coaching, I absolutely refused to pay for Zoom. I had paying clients and was still restarting calls every 40 minutes because I didn’t want another monthly subscription expense. Looking back, I truly cannot believe I did this.

At the time, I convinced myself I was being financially responsible, but in reality, I was operating from scarcity and creating unnecessary friction for both myself and my clients. Eventually, I upgraded to the paid version of Zoom, and I’ve never looked back.

Now, Zoom is one of the easiest business expenses I happily pay for because it allows me to run coaching calls, group sessions, consultations, and recordings professionally and seamlessly. When you’re building a coaching or education business, professionalism matters. Reliability and making the client experience smooth and polished matters more than we sometimes realize in the beginning.

Sometimes the investment isn’t just about features. It’s about stepping fully into the business you’re trying to build.

Notion: The Tool for Organization

If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you already know I’m obsessed with Notion. At this point, my business practically lives inside it. Every content idea, affiliate link, launch plan, workflow, strategy note, and team process eventually finds its way into Notion. If it’s not in there somewhere, it probably doesn’t exist yet.

But one of the biggest ways I use Notion is actually with my private coaching clients. Every client receives their own workspace where we organize strategy notes, call replays, action items, resources, and implementation plans. I wanted my clients to have a centralized place where everything from our time together could live long after our coaching ended.

What I love most about this system is that it reduces overwhelm. When your ideas, goals, and next steps are organized in one place, your business immediately feels lighter and more manageable.

That clarity matters, especially when you’re trying to grow into a new phase of business.

HoneyBook: The Tool for Client Experience & Workflow

For my one-on-one coaching workflows, I still rely heavily on HoneyBook. I use it to manage inquiries, onboarding, scheduling, contracts, and client communication. One of the things I appreciate most about HoneyBook is that it allows the client experience to feel polished without feeling cold or overly automated.

As your business grows, systems become increasingly important. Having a streamlined inquiry and onboarding process saves an incredible amount of mental energy and helps create a smoother experience for everyone involved.

Kajabi: The Course & Education Platform

One of the most common questions I get from creatives who want to build courses or coaching programs is what platform they should use. After years of experimenting with different systems, my answer is usually Kajabi.

I recommend Kajabi because simplicity becomes incredibly valuable as your business grows. Many business owners try to save money upfront by stitching together several lower-cost platforms, but eventually they realize one platform hosts videos, another processes payments, another sends emails, another handles communities, and another delivers downloads. Before long, their business relies on six different tools successfully communicating with one another at all times.

That kind of setup becomes exhausting very quickly. Kajabi simplified all of that for me because it allows me to host courses, coaching programs, communities, freebies, email marketing, and digital products all in one place. As someone balancing business, content creation, and motherhood, I deeply value systems that feel streamlined instead of complicated.

I don’t want to spend my time troubleshooting integrations. I want to spend my time teaching, helping clients, and creating resources that actually serve people.

Content Creation Tools

Creating content consistently is one of the biggest shifts that happens when you move from being purely a service provider into education, coaching, or mentorship. Suddenly, you’re not just delivering work for clients—you’re also recording trainings, building course material, hosting podcast interviews, creating social content, and finding ways to stay visible online while still running the backend of your business.

Honestly, I’ve learned that content creation becomes much more sustainable when the process itself feels simple. The easier it is to sit down, record, edit, and publish, the more likely you are to stay consistent. Over the years, I’ve intentionally chosen tools that reduce friction in my workflow and help me create high-quality content without making the process feel overly technical or overwhelming.

Riverside: The Video Recording Tool

One thing I didn’t fully anticipate when building an education business was just how much video content I would end up creating. From course lessons, podcast interviews, trainings, promotional videos, and social content, it can add up quickly. As someone whose background is in photography rather than videography, editing used to feel incredibly intimidating to me.

That’s a huge reason why I fell in love with Riverside.

I originally started using it for podcast interviews, but it quickly became one of my favorite tools for course creation as well. The platform includes features like built-in teleprompters, AI editing tools, and extremely simple recording workflows that make content creation feel significantly less overwhelming.

The simpler your process feels, the more likely you are to consistently create content. When recording and editing become too complicated, it’s easy to procrastinate or avoid showing up altogether.

Canva Pro: The Graphics Tool

I also use Canva Pro constantly throughout my business. Whether I’m creating PDFs, workbooks, presentation slides, Instagram graphics, or promotional assets, Canva makes it easy to create professional-looking visuals quickly. As someone who values efficiency, I love tools that help me move from idea to execution without getting stuck in complicated design software.

Buzzsprout: The Podcast Hosting Tool

For podcast hosting, I use Buzzsprout. I actually migrated my podcast over after feeling limited by my previous hosting platform, especially when it came to analytics and advertising flexibility. Since switching, the backend experience has felt significantly smoother, and I’ve been really happy with the platform overall.

When you’re consistently creating long-form content, having a reliable hosting platform matters more than people realize.

Claude AI: The Preferred AI Tool

One of the most surprising additions to my business over the last year has been Claude AI.

I was previously using ChatGPT mostly for brainstorming and organizing ideas, but once I started using Claude alongside Notion, I noticed a huge shift in how efficiently I could build frameworks, structure educational material, and organize my thoughts.

I’m not using AI to replace creativity. I’m using it to support clarity, organization, and implementation. That distinction feels really important to me because I still believe the strategy, experience, and personal insight have to come from the creator. The tool simply helps me execute faster and more efficiently.

ManyChat: The Automation Tool

Another tool I continue to use regularly is ManyChat, especially for audience growth and automation.

If you’ve ever DM’d me a keyword on Instagram and instantly received a resource or link, that’s ManyChat working in the background. I love that it allows my content to continue working long after I post it, especially when I’m sharing freebies or directing people toward resources.

Automations like this save an incredible amount of time while also making it easier for your audience to access what they need quickly.

Relay: The Finance Tool

One of the most underrated upgrades I made recently was switching business banks. About a year ago, I moved over to Relay for my business banking, and I genuinely love it. After years of dealing with clunky banking systems that made everything harder than it needed to be, Relay completely changed how I manage money in my business.

I use Profit First principles in my finances, and Relay makes it incredibly easy to automatically allocate money into taxes, savings, and operating expenses without manually moving everything around myself.

Financial systems might not feel exciting, but they dramatically impact your stress levels as a business owner. Having a banking setup that supports your workflow instead of complicating it is one of those small changes that makes a surprisingly big difference over time.

My Favorite Non-Digital Business Tools

As much as I love digital systems, there are still a few physical tools I use constantly throughout my workday that help me stay productive and show up professionally online.

One of my favorites is my Zen and Flow planner, which has become my go-to space for organizing weekly priorities, mapping out calls, and planning busy workweeks. I love that it’s undated because I can use it consistently during busy seasons without wasting pages during slower ones.

I also keep a timer cube on my desk at all times. Whenever I’m procrastinating a difficult task or spending too long overthinking something, I flip the timer to 15 minutes and commit to simply getting started. Most of the time, momentum is the hardest part.

For content creation and coaching calls, I also rely heavily on my physical setup. I use a Nikon Z30 tethered directly to my computer instead of relying on my built-in webcam, and the video quality difference is substantial. Since so much of my business happens online, having sharper, more professional-looking video has been absolutely worth the investment.

Lighting also makes a huge difference. I use a combination of natural window light, a large ring light, and a diffused light from Joby to create soft, flattering lighting throughout the day. Good audio is equally important, especially if you’re podcasting, teaching, or coaching online regularly.

I’ve linked all of my favorite business tools, desk setup products, podcasting gear, and office equipment inside my Amazon storefront so you can browse everything in one place.

You Don’t Need Everything at Once

One thing I want to emphasize before we wrap up is that you absolutely do not need every tool immediately. It’s easy to look at someone else’s business and feel like you need the entire setup before you can begin, but that simply isn’t true. Most of these systems were added gradually over time as my business evolved and my needs changed.

The goal isn’t to collect subscriptions. The goal is to create systems that support your growth, simplify your workload, and help you serve people well without constantly feeling overwhelmed.

The right tools won’t build your business for you, but they can absolutely make the process more sustainable. And after nearly 10 years of doing this, sustainability matters a whole lot more to me than hustle ever did.

Find It Quickly:

Zoom (3:37)

Notion (6:08)

Youtube (7:23)

Kajabi (7:36)

Riverside (9:41)

Canva (10:56)

Honeybook (11:10)

Buzzsprout (11:43)

Claude (12:14)

Manychat (14:16)

Relay (14:42)