Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
- What is Coaching Sanctuary?
The Coaching Sanctuary is an interactive, web 2.0 application designed to help women over 40 create the rest of their lives with integrity, intention, and the love of friends. The site provides a set of online tools to guide women through a journey of personal transformation. Members can take advantage of a self-coaching guide; a customized vision board for goal setting; regular practices to help replace old behaviors with new, positive, healthy ones; a compass as guidance to make authentic choices; a journal to document the experience; a community board for sharing and support.
- Who is Coaching Sanctuary for?
It’s for women who desire change, or who are at a crossroads in life due to a career change, divorce, medical issue, or other significant life-changing event.
- Who created Coaching Sanctuary and why?
The company is the brainchild of Mike and Bettina Jetter, successful entrepreneurs who, as a result of their own personal life challenges, have dedicated themselves to creating meaningful applications that positively impact people’s lives. Read their story.
Coaching Sanctuary founding advisor, Wendy Wallbridge of On Your Mark Corporate Coaching & Consulting, authored the Journey, our self-guided life coach program. Wendy’s twenty-five years of expertise and experience in successfully empowering thousands of women in their personal and professional transformations is an important component of Coaching Sanctuary’s comprehensive, principled approach.
The entire team at the Coaching Sanctuary knows firsthand how challenging it can be to transform a life. With that perspective, team members have collaborated to create a product that uses a combination of transformational tools in a fun, rewarding, and easy-to-use application.
- Can I try it out for free before subscribing?
Yes, you can create a personal account that gives you full access to Coaching Sanctuary.
Once you create your personal account, you can use it for one log in (soon for 7 days). Afterwards we'll ask you to subscribe and become a member of Coaching Sanctuary. Our monthly subscription plan is very flexible (upgrade, downgrade and suspending available) and affordable. You can use our free online journal to connect to your inner self.
- What is the pricing for Coaching Sanctuary?
Our mission is to help women over 40 enrich their lives. Our help begins with our pricing—by making Coaching Sanctuary’s services very affordable.
You can log onto Coaching Sanctuary every day and be on the road to greater fulfillment for less than the newsstand cost of your local metropolitan daily paper. We provide a very flexible monthly subscription model that allows you to upgrade and downgrade your subscription every month. So if you feel you'll need a break, suspend your account and pick it up later.
The interactive, online journal of Coaching Sanctuary is free. To use it simply create an account.
Please check the pricing here.
- What if I have more questions?
The Coaching Sanctuary team has diligently developed an application to help support women worldwide in creating lives marked by integrity, intention, and the love of their friends. We realize that for many of you, embarking on this type of life transformation is challenging, a courageous departure from a familiar comfort zone to explore un-chartered territories. To help support you along the way, we have created a user guide, which give you an overview of all features and the principles we applied in creating the product. We hope you'll find further inspiration and understanding in these pages so that you feel fully supported and know that the changes you are making are truly possible.
If you have questions while you are using the application, go to the "Contact Us" icon located on the upper right hand corner of your screen. Just select it and choose from a variety of options. You can also call us at 415.944.2717.
We promise to read and respond to your email promptly. We value the long-term welfare of every one of our customers. That means we strive to build a lasting relationship with you.
- What is life coaching?
Life coaching is a powerful process of transformation that can empower, shift, and change your life. It helps you examine how you act, think, and feel, and helps you shift your energy, mind, and heart toward a direction that leads to achieving your life’s goals. The Coaching Sanctuary is working together with renowned executive coach Wendy Wallbridge of On Your Mark Coaching & Consulting to create the Journey. Wendy is the creator of the dynamic Spiral Up Process, a founding member of the Coaching Sanctuary and a pioneer in the coaching field. For over two decades she has coached individuals to gain clarity of purpose and vision, unlock their power and creativity, and make their mark in the world. Her clients include executives from Fortune 500 companies such as Oracle, Apple, Wells Fargo, Disney, Intel, McAfee, and many others.
- Why is Coaching Sanctuary not offered for free?
Most free websites that you visit are supported by advertising dollars. We deliberately chose not to use this as a business model for two reasons. One, we want you to focus on your transformation, and not be distracted by commercial offers. Two, we value your privacy.
Web sites that sell ads are also essentially selling your private information. Every time you click through to an ad or navigate to pop-up windows or other links, you’re being “followed,” and consequently bombarded with pop-ups and advertised offers. Your private information can also be sold to other direct marketers.
We don’t see our users as a "market." We see you as individuals who deserve a place to go where you can focus on fulfilling your lives, with dignity, respect, and privacy. At Coaching Sanctuary, you’re part of a community, not a marketplace.
A word about our business model
There is one other reason we prefer membership support versus advertising revenue: our belief in Coaching Sanctuary's value for women, and our intent to protect and augment our value proposition.
We'd prefer to see our longevity be the result of the value we deliver, depending directly on members who are willing and happy to pay for it; members who are growing stronger; and who are telling their friends about the benefits of becoming a Coaching Sanctuary member. By contrast, reliance on advertising revenue forces a business to primarily focus on attracting large numbers of visitors to the site, with secondary focus on end-results. We're interested in helping people. Our focus is solely on quality, not quantity.
- What product options do I have?
We provide maximum flexibility for you by providing two different subscriptions: the free Journal and Self-Coaching. And the best thing is that you can upgrade or downgrade your subscription at any time, or if you need a break, you can suspend your account and pick it up later when you feel like it.
The Free Subscription includes the Online Journaling tool and provides you with a peaceful space to write down your worries, your daily experiences, your thoughts, dreams, and aspirations. This plan also includes the free introduction level of the Spiral Up process, which is the first step toward your personal transformation. Simply create an account and click on "Journal" on the homescreen of Coaching Sanctuary.
The Self-Coaching subscription includes the free Journal and all the tools you’ll need to work on your personal transformation. It’s the starting point to set your goals, create your vision board, write in your journal, share your experiences with other like-minded women in the community board, create a personal compass to have all the important aspects of your life at your fingertips, and stay on top of your daily activities with the notebook.
Plus it includes all three levels of the Spiral Up™ self-coaching process. This self-coaching process is a tried-and-proven transformational method of personal reinvention created by Wendy Wallbridge, a pioneer in the coaching field. As you "journey" through all three levels of the 5 creative Powers of Energy, Mind, Feeling, Speech, and Action, you will discover the means to creating a truly fulfilled and inspired life.
For more details see chart below:
- What are the benefits of a monthly subscription?
The monthly subscription model provides you with the most flexibility and allows you to upgrade, downgrade or suspend your subscription as often as you like.
When you upgrade your free journal subscription, you can begin using the additional features immediately – you don’t have to wait until the next billing cycle. The subscription price will renew automatically at the beginning of the next billing cycle.
You can also downgrade the Reinvent subscription to a free journal subscription or suspend your Reinvent subscription if you find that you don’t have the time or need a break for any other reason. If you choose to downgrade or suspend your subscription, the change or cancellation will take place at the end of the current billing cycle. This allows you to complete whatever activities you were working on, and finish your journal entries before the change takes place. Don't worry, your content remains secure so you can come back and revisit it whenever you are ready.
Your monthly Reinvent subscription will automatically renew every month, until or unless you change it.
You are in the driver’s seat when it comes to your personal transformation. Whenever you need to make a change to your plan, you can do so by accessing your account settings within Coaching Sanctuary.
Choose between the free journaling or the Reinvent subscription and get started today. It’s simple, affordable and provides real value no matter what option you choose.
Technical Questions
- Why am I not receiving the activation email or any other emails?
Many Internet Service Providers and private email accounts use aggressive spam filters that may inadvertently block some emails before they reach your inbox. In addition, many free email services (such as Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo) may send emails to your bulk or junk mail folder unless you add the email address to your Address Book.
To ensure you receive the email necessary to activate your Coaching Sanctuary account or to subscribe to our newsletter, please take the time now to add noreply@coachingsanctuary.com and inspire@coachingsanctuary.com to your personal address book.
Follow these quick steps:
Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL Users: Click the "Add Contact" button or link in your contact list to add the email address above.
Outlook Users: Click on the Actions menu and select Junk E-mail followed by "Add Sender to Safe Senders List."
Other Email System Users: Please follow your software or service provider’s instructions for adding email addresses to your "Safe Senders List."
Corporate Email Users: It is likely that your IT or IS department has spam filtering software installed on the mail server. Contact your IT department for help configuring the email address as a safe sender.
If you were expecting an email that was not received, check your spam folder. If you locate the email click the "Not Spam" or "Not Junk" button while viewing the message.
- Why do you need my email address?
Email addresses make ideal user names, as they are unique and generally easy to remember. Also, we require you to provide us with a valid, active email address to facilitate communication regarding your Coaching Sanctuary account. We promise to never send you unsolicited email, and we never share you email address with any party without your explicit consent. See our Privacy Policy for more information.
- What type of Internet connection do I need to access the Coaching Sanctuary?
You will need a broadband connection (e.g. DSL or Cable), so you can quickly access your data, pictures, audio, and video (dial up is too slow).
- Do I need a headset?
To create your own sanctuary, we recommend that you have a headset to listen to the audio and video components. This way, nobody can eavesdrop, and you create a more personal space as you work toward your transformation.
- What software do I need on my computer?
The Coaching Sanctuary works entirely through your web browser, so you do not need any separate software. You do, however, need Flash Player 10.1 or higher for your browser, which is often already installed. If you do not have the Flash Player installed, or you have an older version than 10.1, you will be automatically asked to download the newest version when you login to the Coaching Sanctuary. The download and installation take just a few minutes and only need to be done once. Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer web browsers are supported for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. Firefox, Chrome and Safari web browsers are supported for Mac OS X 10.3+. Other browsers and platforms are not supported.
- Can I access the Coaching Sanctuary from a handheld device?
The Coaching Sanctuary can be accessed anytime, anywhere from a laptop or personal computer. It is not currently accessible as a mobile application for handheld devices like the iPhone or the iPad.
- Is my personal information secure on the Coaching Sanctuary?
- Yes, your data is secure. Please read details here.
- Is Coaching Sanctuary available in other languages besides English?
By providing an English version of the product, we make the Coaching Sanctuary available worldwide to women who speak English as a second language. Other languages may be added, depending on market demand.
- Why does my browser block PDF files?
An annoying feature of some websites is pop-up windows that open automatically when you visit and/or leave a page. These pop-ups are such a nuisance that most browsers now blocking pop-ups by default. While Coaching Sanctuary does not depend on pop-ups, some features show PDF files in own browser windows. If your browser is set to block all pop-ups, then you will probably not be able to view these PDF files, especially with Internet Explorer and Firefox.
A safe solution is to allow pop-ups just from www.coachingsanctuary.com. To do this, log in to Coaching Sanctuary, go to the Journal, and click on the Export button on the right side. Select option All and then click Start Export. If the pop-up is blocked, you will see a message on top of your browser window. Follow the next steps, depending on your browser.
Now if you try again to export the Journal, the PDF file should open in a new window.
- Opening PDF files within Firefox on Mac
- Some features in Coaching Sanctuary show PDF files in own browser windows. Firefox on Mac does not support this, instead you need to download the PDF file and open it e.g. with Preview. To view PDF files directly in Firefox (which is much nicer), you can install a small Firefox Addin from here: PDF-Plugin for Firefox on Mac OS X.