MEET MICHELLE

COACH MICHELLE LAKE

Coaching isn’t always easy, but even after 15+ years, I believe it’s the best job in the whole world! In 2010 when I first started coaching I was wholly focused on athlete results. The bigger the result the better: 28 Ironman World Championships qualifications, athlete successes, and picture perfect race days.

But what I hadn’t anticipated was the crippling anxiety that “maybe” my favorite athletes were leaving, the exhaustion and expectation of putting every part of me into their results and ignoring marketing because it meant that I wasn’t a good coach. 

When Covid hit, my coaching business was already on a downwards trajectory, with fewer athletes year after year. But in that bleak time I was introduced to business mentorship. What a gift! I never knew you could get help improving your business! And I saw that my mindset, negative thinking and lack of entrepreneurial skills were holding me back - it was like I woke up. 

I learned that business, like sport, could be a “stretching” and competitive endeavor. I discovered that I could hone my entrepreneurial skills and become comfortable with putting myself out there. I realized that the power of business coaching and mentorship was similar to the support I had given my athletes for over a decade.

I fully stepped into becoming a Coachpreneur and found almost instantaneous success! I leaned into my passion for business growth and studied everything I could on the marketing, time management, mindset and sales. As a result, my coaching business, Fiv3 Racing, exploded with new athletes and higher profits, but more importantly I itched to help other coaches get the success that I had with this identity shift to business OWNER. 

I started Coach Michelle Lake and the Dream Programs in early 2022 to not only help endurance coaches grow, but to change the whole industry: to value the powerful and unique contributions of coaches as professionals with tremendous worth to our sport. 

Since then, I have helped over 200 coaches navigate their place in business evolution from hobby to full time to 6-figure coaching businesses. 

Michelle (Shelly) Lake
Owner & Head Coach
USATF Level 3 Coach & Endurance Business Mentor
michelle@coachmichellelake.com