From the time she was a child, Agnieszka Wood was a born entrepreneur. Even when she entered the corporate world, she always had a drive to envision business ideas and implement them.
She studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming and began to learn about psychology, self-empowerment, and personal development—themes that led her to understand why people strive, succeed, and fail.
She combined her love of business, teaching, and psychology to launch Ahead Coach, a mindset coaching for traders to help them build consistency, so they can become profitable and create the life they want.
After launching the business, Agnieszka came to Crème de Mint for help with her branding and logo. She also needed copywriting and design for the launch of her signature program, The Confident Trader.
Last month, we sat down with Agnieska to hear about her journey, the launch of her mindset coaching business for traders, and how Crème de Mint’s work impacted her business.
Tell Us About Yourself and How You Became an Entrepreneur
I have always been an entrepreneur. Every time I have ever had an idea, I came up with a plan to implement it. Entrepreneurship gives you the ability to develop your own ideas.
Over the years, I switched back and forth between working a corporate job and running businesses. Every time I learned a new skill or read a book about a topic, I would come up with a way to teach it to other people or a business to form from it.
Once, I wanted to learn something new, so I got into makeup and I set up a successful company from that. The business grew quickly, and I worked with celebrities like Paris Hilton.
So that entrepreneur drive was always there. I was working as a marketing professional but also running businesses on the side. It was good because I tend to get bored easily.
How did You Come up with the Idea for Ahead Coach?
First, I always loved teaching. When I was a child, I would set up a classroom with my dolls and teddy bears and teach them, so I was always drawn to that as well.
After going to school for NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), I worked as a life coach. But I wanted to do more than help people with their problems. I wanted to do something bigger. I wanted to help people achieve their dreams.
Then 10 years ago, I also started trading stocks. It started as a nice way to bring in extra income.
But the more that I looked into it, the more I discovered there was a lot of psychology behind it. I realized that mastering the mental side of trading is actually deciding of your success. So I started to think of how I could take that knowledge of neuroscience and psychology with my experience and understanding of trading and help other traders who were struggling.
That’s how Ahead Coach came to be.
What Has Been the Most Challenging Part of Starting the Business? And How Did You Overcome It?
Since I was always working in the corporate world, I was used to thinking big and acting big. But when you start your own company, that’s impossible. You have to think big but act small, one step at a time.
The other thing that I did was try to do everything myself at first. In the past, my other companies were successful, but I was never able to scale them, and that’s why.
But this time, I did it differently. I decided I didn’t need to do everything myself. I realized that I could outsource things and put my time to better use. Releasing control was a challenge for me, but it was better for the development of my company.
I had to realize that just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should, and that sometimes finding somebody else that’s capable of doing something is a better choice.
What’s Been the Most Rewarding Part of Being an Entrepreneur?
The feedback I get from people. What I do is really impacting people’s lives. When they tell me I changed their lives, that’s the most rewarding part.
The other big reward of entrepreneurship in general is just having no ceiling. There’s nobody to tell me that I can’t implement an idea. I can try anything. It might not work, but nobody else is holding me back. I can do whatever I want with my business.
What Advice Would You Give to Entrepreneurs Who are Just Starting Out?
Progress not perfection. It’s all about making small steps. It doesn’t matter if it’s not the right step—it’s better to make a mistake and learn from it than never grow or learn or change.
I wasted two years of my time trying to figure out what kind of coach I wanted to be. I had so many ideas and I couldn’t make the choice.
Instead of just picking a niche and narrowing the focus, I did a lot of switching back and forth and holding myself back, doing a lot of conceptual work and no action.
Now, looking back, I would tell people to just take action. If you have an idea, go for it. You’ll get the feedback you need quickly and you’ll realize whether it’s the right idea. Don’t waste your time trying to make it perfect.
What Would You Tell Yourself if You Could Go Back in Time?
The same thing—just go for it. I recently watched an Olympic pre-qualifier and someone said something along the lines of, “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”
That really resonated with me. You have to try, and to not be afraid to fail.
How did the branding work with Crème de Mint help your business?
Crème de Mint really helped me think about my brand overall. The questions they asked helped me tap into not just the look and feel but what I really wanted to express with my brand. It was more than just a logo—it was the vision of the entire brand overall.
One of the most interesting things that came out of my work with Lauren and Crème de Mint is that I initially thought that my target audience would be women, so we went with a softer, more feminine feel for the designs.
In reality, most of my clients have been men. Lauren asked me if we should revisit the designs and update them, but I realized that I was attracting exactly the right kind of men—I didn’t need to change the branding at all because I was bringing in a person who was attracted to that softer side.
For me, trading isn’t about boasting with pictures of Ferraris or bringing in the kind of person who wants that—it’s about development, self-discovery and sustainable success. Because of my initial work with Crème de Mint, that’s exactly what my branding brought in—men who were open to connect with their emotional side and work on their mindset to get results they wanted in trading and in life.
In one word, describe your life as an entrepreneur.
Dynamic.
Is there a book that you believe every entrepreneur should read?
I think that Mindset Secrets for Winning by Mark Minervini is a must for every entrepreneur. I’m a person who really believes in your own power and in the power of mindset. Mark puts it in a very digestible, easy-to-understand way.
Do you have anything on the horizon for your business that you want to share with us?
Yes! I am so excited because very soon we will be opening the door to the signature program again–The Confident Trader–for traders who are struggling to keep their gains and are stuck in the cycle of making money and then losing it all. The waitlist is already open so anyone interested can sign up on aheadcoach.com.
What are your plans for your business five years from now?
I don’t like to think that far ahead in my business, actually. Anytime I think about something for five years from now, it happens much sooner. So I prefer to look only about a year out. But within the next year, I really want to continue to scale my business and work toward bigger groups where I can serve even more people and make even bigger impact.
If you met an entrepreneur who was on the fence about outsourcing design or branding work, what would you say?
I would ask if they are a designer. And if not, I would say outsource it. Do what you’re good at and leave the other part.
It really helps to have outside, expert perspectives. Sometimes you’re just too close to it, and they can see something you cannot.
If you had a magic wand and could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
I would have people respect each other more. I’d give everyone a built-in respect feature right from the start.
Do you have any final thoughts to add?
Just that I really enjoyed working with Crème de Mint. Not only the branding but the work on my course—you really killed it. I’m sure we’ll be working together more in the future!
Learn More about Ahead Coach
We were so happy to connect with Agnieszka again and hear about how things are going with her business.
If anyone is interested in hearing more about her business or her coaching programs, visit her website for more information!
To hear more about our work for Ahead Coach, check out the project!