Episode 18 - Is your freelance L&D business solving the right problem?

About this episode

Jules Wyman discusses her journey in freelance L&D, the evolution of her coaching business, and insights on solving the right problems.

In this episode of the Free Spirits of L&D podcast, we chat with Jules Wyman , coach, speaker, and founder of Positive Belief — who, it turns out, may well be the longest-serving L&D freelancer we’ve ever had on the show, with 21 years under her belt. Jules shares a remarkably honest origin story that begins not in a boardroom or a training room, but in theatre and television — and takes an unexpectedly raw and courageous turn before landing her in the world of coaching almost by accident. She opens up about how her business truly started her, rather than the other way around, and why she’s never had a business plan.We talk about the confidence coach label she never sought but that served her well — and why she changed her LinkedIn profile just the day before we recorded this episode. Jules shares her thinking on niching, why getting too precious about it can tie you in knots, and how her work has evolved into something she’s still learning to articulate: transformational coaching that goes to the problem behind the problem. Jules answers Gary's question about what she wishes she’d known at the start of her freelance journey — introducing us to her brilliant FROGS…

People in this episode

Host: L+D Free Spirits

Guest: Jules Wyman

Topics covered

• freelance business
• coaching
• L&D
• confidence
• niching
• transformational coaching

Keywords

• freelance L&D
• coaching
• business plan
• FROGS framework
• confidence coach

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Positive Belief

More episodes of The Free Spirits of L+D

• Episode 19 - The 3 stages of a freelance L&D career · May 25, 2026 · 48 min
• Everything you missed from Free Spirits Live (Spring '26 edition) · March 30, 2026 · 46 min
• Episode 16 - Losing it all and starting again as a freelancer · February 23, 2026 · 46 min
• Episode 15 - The hidden cost of giving your value away · January 26, 2026 · 43 min
• Episode 14 - What happens when you finally quit and go freelance? · December 22, 2025 · 42 min
• Episode 13 - A squiggly story about freelancing in L&D · November 24, 2025 · 47 min