Latest / Six Figure Certified / Is an ICF Credential Worth It? (2026 Update)

Transcript

Is an ICF Credential Worth It? (2026 Update) · Six Figure Certified

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you're thinking about becoming a professional coach, you've probably come across three letters over and over again, and those are ICF.
• 0:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then you've probably googled, what is the ICF, or do I actually need an ICF credential to be a coach?
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the technical answer is no.
• 0:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: But also over the years we've come out with a lot of research.
• 0:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So what I would say the better question is, is getting an ICF credential actually worth it?
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Is it worth the time?
• 0:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Is it worth the training?
• 0:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Is it worth the money in 2026?
• 0:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because those are two completely different questions.
• 0:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And now we actually have some decent compelling new data to answer it, so let's dive right in.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: The ICF release its latest global coaching study in 2025, and there are some numbers in this report that I think anyone considering coaching professionally really needs to know.
• 0:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So let's look at the actual data, what an ICF credential actually does for you, what it does not do for your career.
• 1:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: And what kind of people I think should take it seriously?
• 1:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if we haven't met before, my name is Liv Chapman.
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm the CEO of IGC Coaching School.
• 1:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: We have trained and certified thousands of ICF credentialed coaches over the last nearly 12 years.
• 1:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: And there are people that definitely need the credential.
• 1:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then there's some that potentially can
• 1:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: do without it, but don't always recommend.
• 1:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: So one of the biggest points of confusion online is that a coach certification and an ICF credential are the same thing, but they're not.
• 1:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like you can complete a coach certification program, but an ICF credential is a professional credential issued by the ICF.
• 1:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: After you've met that specific education requirement, experience hours and assessment or exam, all of that.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I always compare it to you go to school and you get a degree and then maybe you have to go to the state or the bar association or some type of licensure to then get a state credential or license in a particular field.
• 2:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: So for me as an educator, I went to college, I got my master's degree in education and then I went to at the time the state of New York and got my New York state teaching
• 2:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: accredited training hours and practical hours and mentor coaching and all of those requirements and then you take that you know portfolio of
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: your certificate, your proof of experience and all of that to the ICF at IGC, we recommend that students go for their PCC credential.
• 2:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: You actually have to obtain a PCC credential before you can even get to level three or an MCC credential, but we're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves.
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can absolutely start with a level one or level two.
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: And this is what the data that we're covering today
• 2:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Those are the three levels and is it worth it?
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think we have to just get into the numbers, okay?
• 3:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: But here's why I think credentialing matters more today than it actually did 10 years ago.
• 3:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: So there's simply like a lot more coaches.
• 3:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: So according to the 2025 ICF Global Coaching Study, there are now around 122,000 professional coach practitioners worldwide.
• 3:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: and like 50% since 2007.
• 3:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: So or even more than that.
• 3:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think 2007 the data is 30,000 professional coaches, right?
• 3:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: So today we're at more than 122,000.
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the industry has essentially quadrupled, not doubled, so even more so.
• 3:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: and revenue for the coaching industry has grown right alongside it.
• 3:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: So global coaching revenue is now estimated at over five billion dollars.
• 3:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's the highest number ever reported in the ICF Global Coaching Study.
• 3:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's about 17 percent higher than the study that was done a couple of years ago.
• 4:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So all in all,
• 4:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: The coaching industry has grown tremendously, and I think the number one reason that you will get the credentials not only because it shows your professional excellence in your commitment to this as an actual profession, but it helps you stand out.
• 4:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: And even more interestingly, 90% of coaches that are credentialed actually have active paying clients.
• 4:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we cannot say that for the entirety of the coaching industry.
• 4:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: But people ask me all the time, all is in the coaching industry so saturated, and again, I think that's another bad question.
• 4:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sure, there's more coaches because it's an unregulated industry where anybody can wake up one day and be like, this thing happened to me, now I'm coaching in this area, pay me.
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's not real.
• 4:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: The real coaches are the ones that are credentialed and paid, trained credentialed and paid.
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: The requirement for professionalism in this industry is the bars being set higher in higher because yes, there's more coaches, but there's also more conscious consumers who are now looking for.
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: a credential.
• 5:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're looking for legitimacy.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're looking for people who have actual training and experience, especially with the price tag that is on coaching now.
• 5:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And over 70% of clients and organizations will only hire coaches that actually have one of these credentials.
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, this matters because 10, 15 years ago, coaching was still
• 5:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: fighting to establish itself as a legitimate profession.
• 5:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Industries and companies and organizations weren't relying on coaching to support their employees.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: They are now.
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Professional development stipends, coaching stipends.
• 5:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Coaching is even built into benefits packages for different companies.
• 5:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, companies are using coaching, executives are using coaching, leadership development departments are using coaching,
• 5:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: normal people are using coaching, all right?
• 5:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: And more than half of coaching clients are now employee sponsored, actually, employer sponsored, excuse me, which means that organizations are absolutely giving money or making sure that their employer employees have coaching as an asset, because it works.
• 6:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, so depending on which type of coaching you want to do, obviously, your credential can be much, much, much more important.
• 6:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: I believe that back in 2014 when I started coaching and I got my ICF credential, I know that that was how I got in the door to be a recommended coach at different organizations and grow my one-on-one practice tremendously.
• 6:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some of them were employer sponsored, some of them were, I was just recommended and I would design packages around people's coaching stipend.
• 6:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is still a thing.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is an active thing.
• 6:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: You don't necessarily have to find all of your clients on social media.
• 6:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are ways to get in these professional organizations, but you need to have one of those credentials.
• 6:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if you're looking to work with
• 7:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: corporate clients or organizations or executives or people in leadership, especially get the credential.
• 7:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's absolutely worth it.
• 7:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: What we can't do is automatically take all of this data and these statistics and say, just because you have an ICF credential, you're automatically twice as good at coaching.
• 7:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: You automatically can charge these higher rates.
• 7:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's not what I'm trying to say, but most people who are looking to make a five to $10,000 or more investment into a coaching education program like IGC, they want to know that it's worth it.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the data does support that it's worth it.
• 7:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: And what we find is that testimonials, experience, good reviews, positive evaluations, passing the ICF exam, all of that comes from a really great coaching education and being certain because you've been evaluated because you've gone through mentorship, because you've had all these practice clients, you are certain that your coaching is effective.
• 8:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: All right, on top of that, credentialed coaches earn an average of $300 a session, and thousands, tens of thousands of dollars more annually than coaches without credentials.
• 8:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if you've heard online, like what's hard to get in the coaching industry, everyone's a coach now.
• 8:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people are calling themselves a coach, not a lot of people are actually credentialed.
• 8:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: All right.
• 8:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: So with that experience, with the heavier investment in your training and certification, you absolutely can demand a higher rate for your services.
• 8:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: You absolutely can't get in the door at more organizations, ultimately more opportunities.
• 8:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: And
• 8:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, it kind of depends on how you see this working for yourself.
• 8:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like we also, you may not need the credential if you only want to coach certain niche of clients, right?
• 8:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: But going through a training, like IGC or another ICF accredited institution, you would still have those hours.
• 9:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: You would still have that accredited certification to perhaps in the future, bring forward and say, you know what I actually am going to take this certification and get my ICF credential now.
• 9:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: I will say over the course of the last 13-ish years in this industry, I have not necessarily changed my coaching niche or what I want to help people with, but I have absolutely changed how I package my coaching services based on different things going on in my life.
• 9:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I am not in a place right now as a single mom of two school-aged boys.
• 9:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: You have a million different activities every day.
• 9:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can't just jump on a plane and go
• 9:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right?
• 9:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't necessarily want to take dozens of one on one clients right now, but having that credential allows for more opportunities as your life changes.
• 9:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: There may be times when you do want to get a nice fat six figure contract at a big organization and just have all of your clients handed to you.
• 10:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And there may be other times where you're like, I'm going to share my services on social media.
• 10:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to market myself more.
• 10:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I want to have.
• 10:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: a small group of one-on-one clients and I want to host women circles or I want to take people on a retreat.
• 10:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: All of that's fine.
• 10:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: You have the ability coaching is the most transferable skill on the planet, but do not close off major opportunities because the reality is a lot of these coach training programs that aren't ICF accredited.
• 10:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: They cost just as much if not more.
• 10:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: One of our competitors is like 25 grand and they're not even associated with the ICF.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's no data to back up their training, right?
• 10:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're going to spend the money anyway if you want to become a coach.
• 10:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you may as well invest it in a course.
• 10:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's going to legitimately date a backed information backed global study back.
• 10:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: open up more doors for you and increase your earning potential tremendously.
• 10:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: The other thing is I feel like we just have to talk two seconds about AI.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I hear a lot of pushback like people don't need coaches anymore, they need AI.
• 11:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I absolutely don't believe that at all there is no data that is supporting the industry, the coaching industry revenue going down at all due to AI.
• 11:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I just had to put that in there.
• 11:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know that there's a new global study being conducted right now.
• 11:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've already got in my email to participate in the research that the ICF is doing for the upcoming one.
• 11:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it has already shown that the coaching industry has grown from 2025 to where we're at now, which is like mid to end 2026.
• 11:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Where are we August?
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh god.
• 11:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, it was just my great thing.
• 11:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the industry is still growing despite AI.
• 11:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: You cannot use AI to replace relationships.
• 11:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: gain information and replace tasks, however, coaching, no.
• 11:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I hope this was helpful in you understanding the use of an ICF credential, the opportunity that opens.
• 11:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you are still not sure which credential makes the most sense for you, we have a video that clearly and simply
• 12:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: and level three MCC.
• 12:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: We always recommend going straight for the PCC.
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's the most valued credential for professionals.
• 12:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: You also need a PCC to be able to get an MCC and in my experience MCC is traditionally used for people in coaching education.
• 12:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not necessarily a requirement to be able to get referrals from organizations or to get an esteemed coaching.
• 12:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: job or contract or even to have that reputation.
• 12:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm going to link that video here for you if you want to understand the credential levels more.
• 12:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Remember, and I've said this in almost every single video, coaching is a skill-based profession.
• 12:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: There is literally no way
• 12:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: for you to just become, you know, millionaire overnight in the coaching industry.
• 12:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: You have to be excellent.
• 12:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is a skill-based business.
• 13:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: You must be great at what you do to succeed.
• 13:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: You must have excellent client transformations to have longevity in this industry, which is what most people want.
• 13:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Most people don't come into coaching, because they're just like, oh, this seems like a quick and easy way to get money.
• 13:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are so many probably quicker and easier ways to get money, but also, are there?
• 13:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: I guess you could invent something, but this is a career, this is an industry for people who really want to work with others, really want to inspire others.
• 13:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's the perfect career path for someone who wants to be a changemaker, whether it's within individuals inside of organizations, people who want to write books, people who want to sell digital courses, people who want to host retreats, people who want to
• 13:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: speak at events, all of these opportunities come from having this coaching credential, and you are taking a lot more seriously when you have it.
• 13:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And people who are internet famous will argue with me on that and say, I didn't need a credential for one.
• 13:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you started 10 or 15 years ago before the coaching industry has grown as tremendously as it has today, you probably did it.
• 14:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if you are just getting into this industry now, you absolutely want to consider that as your number one priority to be able to stand out in this industry.
• 14:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I ask you to proceed with caution before buying into a sales or marketing, get rich, quick in the coaching industry type of offer, before you have legitimate coaching experience and training, because no matter how much you market or sell, you have to have a product.
• 14:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: You have to have an excellent product, which in this case is a coaching service,
• 14:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: because there's no amount of marketing or ads or sales that are going to fix a crappy product.
• 14:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: You have to be great at what you do.
• 14:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's all I got.
• 14:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I hope this was helpful.
• 14:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm obviously, I am not impartial.
• 14:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not Switzerland on this topic whatsoever.
• 14:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I believe that is imperative for people to have coaching education to be charging two three four five hundred dollars an hour to put people's lives and goals and aspirations and futures in your hands I believe you have to be really freaking good at it.
• 15:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: All right, so check out our free training and our glycergal.com slash training if you want to learn even more about credentialing and the process to become a highly paid and highly respected coach.
• 15:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've typed a couple other videos in here and the best thing that you can do is educate yourself on this and then book a call with someone who can help you.
• 15:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: take it into action.
• 15:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: All right, there's only so much research you can do, the classroom is where things really start to happen.
• 15:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I will hopefully see you inside of IGC, and I hope this was helpful in you understanding your next steps as the credential of high earning highly respected coach.
• 15:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'll see you next time.