PRODUCT REVIEW by Ruby McGuire: Transformika Coaching Cards

Whether you're a new coach, an intermediate level coach, or even just someone that is interested in learning more about coaching yourself, then you will love these coaching cards by Transformika. Here is my review:

General Information

• Genre: Coaching
• Title: Coaching Cards
• Author: Transformika
• Content: 32 coaching cards and 60 coaching mantras
• Publisher: Powered by Noble Manhattan

Brief Synopsis

1. Transformika Coaching Cards are a great tool for exploration. There are 32 coaching cards that cover a wide range of topics for both personal and professional issues.
2. There are two instruction cards taking you through how to use the cards quickly.
3. There are two joker cards with questions to facilitate discovery of more options. The joker cards allow you to ask more questions, to help you create change.
4. Finally, there are 60 coaching mantra cards with a simple instruction card on how best to use them. The mantras can be cut out and used around the home etc.

What's The Deck Like?

The deck is divided into six key areas. Within each of these areas, there are cards related to the topic, as outlined below:

• Exclusive- Relationship challenge, procrastination, uncertainty and adversity, decision-making, learning and development
• Performance - change management, delegation of tasks, performance, achieving success at work, teamwork
• Existential- forgiveness, life purpose, letting go, life vision, happiness
• Prosperity– dealing with anxiety, health issues, suffering from overwhelm, dealing with disappointment, inability to focus
• Instrumental - problem-solving, goal setting, conflict resolution, stress management, time management, motivation, creativity
• Transformation- Habit change, fear of failure, work-life balance, dealing with emotions, boosting self confidence

There are 60 coaching mantras you can use/share with clients to support lasting change. Mantras include things like:

• I can do what I love and earn money doing it
• With every breath I take my body flourishes
• I'm stronger than my fears
• I can always start again

On a practical note, the cards are a nice size, the design is well thought through. I'm a sucker for colour and pattern, and this card deck made me smile as soon as they arrived.

Using The Transformika Cards

So that I could get a well-rounded view of how the cards work in practice I decided to use them in three different scenarios.

1. Self discovery
2. With individual clients
3. In a group setting

Let's explore each in turn:

1. Self-discovery

The questions are perfect to use for your own self discovery. All you need is to pick a topic of interest, grab a pen and paper and carve out some time to go through each question properly. The cards guide you nicely through a coaching process that helps you reflect on what's really going on, explore some options to move forward, understand what is holding you back and then they wrap up by encouraging you to take action and get the support that you need.

2. With individual clients

I used these cards with a couple of clients on specific issues that they were struggling with. I wanted to test how well they would work with my own coaching skills.

If you're a beginner coach, these cards are really useful because they take you through a coaching process from beginning to end. I remember when I first started out as a coach, I had questions written all over the place with post-it notes, index cards and scrappy pieces of paper all over my desk. If I'd have had these cards then, I would have been much more present with my clients. I wouldn't have been worrying about the next question to ask. I would simply be in the moment with them, allowing them to take time to answer.

In the early days of coaching, it's very easy to be hunting for the perfect question, when actually the better thing to do is to really focus on what the client is and isn't saying.

If you've been coaching for a while, and have intermediate coaching skills, you can add your own questions to deepen the process.  As an advanced coach, you can still get some value from the cards. You may find that the questions can serve as prompts, that then enable you to ask more thoughtful questions to help the client get deeper transformation.

3. Group work

I used one of the coaching cards as a group exercise with my mastermind group. I explained that was  what I was doing, took them through a process, and then asked them to give me some feedback. In this instance, I used the fear of failure card.

The main feedback was that the questions were thought provoking, the exercise was valuable. People liked how useful it was to break down the fear of failure into components. They also recognised where they were holding themselves back and what they'd lose by doing nothing.

The clients all got some a-ha moments as a result of the questions, however, I've been coaching for many years now and I found that when exploring with my clients, I ended up adding my own coaching questions in between those listed on the card. The cards allowed me to take my clients through some solid coaching questions, and then to explore deeper when something came up that needed resolving before moving on.

That said, if you were a new coach, just taking the client through the series of questions on the card would be enough to facilitate some change. If you are a more advanced coach, you'll possibly end up using your own additional coaching questions to go deeper.

Transformika Cards Review Wrap-up

I would give these cards a 4.5* rating. They are clear, easy to use, look good, and are really useful for working with clients, whether you're a new or intermediate coach.

My favourite part of the cards, is how easy they are to use: I love the layout and design of the cards and they help bring a bit of fun into a coaching business.

The subject areas give a wide range of topics, and while not every issue is addressed, there are lots of generic headings that you can use to support a client. And if you had a client that you knew needed support in one particular area, you could have that card in front of you and successfully coach them with great results.

These cards would also be good for you if you're holding a shorter session, and want to help the client move forward quickly.

But if you're an advanced coach, you might find them a bit too simplistic, as you'll be used to going beneath the surface to get to the root of the problem.

Overall, I think the cards are great. If I had one criticism, it would be that there are a couple of minor grammatical errors. These errors however do not affect the functionality of the cards in any way - and the cards don't have to be client-facing either. So the only reason I haven't given these a 5* rating is due to the minor grammatical errors. If this was tightened up, I'd give it a 5* review.

I'd recommend these to anyone that wants a series of questions to take clients through, and who wants to make sure they're not missing anything throughout the process. They provide a simple framework to work from.

They would be a great purchase for new coaches, as they would save a lot of time and energy creating post-it notes, index cards and doing Google searches trying to find the right question for the right topics.

They would also make a great gift to someone that's interested in coaching!

Get 20% off your own Transformika Cards! We've negotiated a discount especially for our readers 🙂 You can get the cards here - and they will ship them to you! Use Coupon Code: TCTC20off This discount is 20% off of the total of your whole order - with the exception of items that are already on sale.

Like this Transformika Cards Review? You may also like:

• How to Use Oracle Cards in Your Coaching Biz - 3 Steps Plus an Example! | By Ruby McGuire
• Aha! Moments: Exercise 2 - Use Cards to Help Clients Get Unstuck, Find Clarity & Possibility | by Marcy Nelson-Garrison

Contributing Author:

Ruby McGuire is a Business & Mindset Queen. She's an Accredited Master Coach & Master Mentor with the IAPC&M, Trainer, Inspirational Speaker and Author of multiple books. She loves helping her clients step up and become leaders (aka Queens) of their businesses. She helps her clients develop their leadership and business skills, create a success mindset and attract dreamy clients. She is a Brit on a mission to live a simpler life without marketing on social media so that she can spend more time in her beautiful Scottish surroundings. You can find her at her pretty online home, over on her podcast show, Rock Your Fabulous Biz, and here where she shares her Mini Guide to Marketing Without Social Media. When she’s not working you’ll find her surrounded by books, making hand-made cards, and enjoying life with her hubby, little dog and chickens (usually with a Whittard Vanilla cappuccino in her hand)!

Learn more about Ruby & see all their articles here >>