New startup looks to level the playing field for coaches
The goal of The Helm, founded and advised by notable real estate leaders, is to help more women become coaches without sacrificing business success.
Most real estate agents are women, but most nationally recognized coaches are men — a gap that a new startup called The Helm is looking to bridge.
The Helm, founded by former Compass exec Danielle Wilkie and longtime executive coach Heather Frick, launched Oct. 30 to create more opportunities for agents to find diverse coaches — and for more women to become coaches.
"Oftentimes, leading women within the real estate industry believe that they can't continue to run their successful business while also being a real estate coach," Frick said in a statement. "At The Helm, we will help uncover and pave the way for these women to both establish a strong coaching practice, and also continue the prosperous trajectory of their businesses."
A notable founding team: Wilkie, who is CEO as well as co-founder of The Helm, has experience that reaches beyond residential real estate and property management. She also held senior leadership roles at Craftsy, NetQuote and Angi.
Frick, meanwhile, is a certified executive coach who has worked with BP, Microsoft and others. Previously, she held senior roles at companies including Oracle, Assent and Responsys.
Some top real estate execs have signed on as advisors: Coldwell Banker CEO Kamini Lane; Jodi Hall, the former COO of Nationwide Mortgage Bankers and CrossCountry Mortgage; FMLS chief economist and WomenUp! co-founder Leslie Appleton-Young; and Pam O'Connor, former founding president and CEO of Leading RE.
How we got here: In a LinkedIn post, Wilkie said she was stunned at the relative lack of female coaches and went digging for answers. She found three:
A "confidence gap" that can lead women to believe they aren't expert enough to coach.
"Tunnel vision" around the mistaken idea that they can't coach and succeed in their current business.
"A false choice" for women who believe they owe the industry and should give away their experience for free.
Now, Wilkie wrote, "in an industry experiencing tremendous change, I realized the moment was right to build the next generation of coaching in real estate except, this time, with more women leading the way."
Raising the bar: The Helm aims to cultivate transformative leaders and create new opportunities for established professionals. And the plan is to do that with a commitment to elevated standards, including new certifications and accreditations.
"Here, success isn't about fitting in but about creating meaningful impact through high-performance coaching, strategic insights, and results-driven growth," Wilkie wrote in a post on the site.