Bill Sterling is animated, using his hands as illustration as he speaks in accelerated, energetic tones.

It is easy to picture him at the front of a room, engaging a group of students and imparting wisdom he holds so dear.

Diana Sterling, his wife, is businesslike. She is direct and to the point, but not cold. She is personable but there is a clear purpose in her voice, indicating the seriousness of her message. Their professions match their personalities. Mr. Sterling is a life coach of sorts. Rather than training the students, however, he coaches the coaches.

Sterling's pupils have branched out, applying their skills and imparting them to others, until, at this point, his influence has reached both American coasts and the island continent of Australia.

Mrs. Sterling, meanwhile, lends her professional demeanor to running the company. She is the CEO of New Generations International, an umbrella organization that includes companies focusing specific applications of life coaching.

One branch, Vision in Action, focuses on small businesses, while another, Academy for Family Coach Training, is geared to training new coaches. There are numerous books about both subjects, including those written by Mrs. Sterling (under the name Haskins).

But the third piece of the organization is one that is often overlooked: Parent As Coach.

The Sterlings' intention with that company is to teach parents how to be life coaches for their teenagers and, in the process, to themselves.

In his training sessions, Mr. Sterling seeks a one-word description of teenagers from his students. About "91 percent of the time," the answer is negative, he said.

"This is just what we expect from a teenager," he said. "And we know we get what we expect."

"If you focus on the problems, you'll get more problems," Mrs. Sterling added.

As they speak, the Sterlings constantly seek ways to personalize their message. Before answering most questions, they ask questions of their own, digging for a connection that can cement their words into the minds of the listener.

The method is not unlike life coaching, which Mr. Sterling said is different from teaching.

Teaching, he said, assumes that the teacher is the expert. Coaching assumes the recipient is the expert. A coach, he said, only tries to guide others to find the answers within themselves.

But there do seem to be some common components within those answers, the most common being respect.

"Respect is about me," Mr. Sterling said. "Because of who I am, I respect you. We somehow presuppose respect is earned or deserved."

"You can watch the physiology change when you pass the word respect around," Mrs. Sterling said.

Because the program is about growth and not a fix-your-kid how-to book, it often envelops the parent and a child, leading both in new directions beginning when they start giving respect instead of expecting it, they said.

In addition to having coaches in Brooklyn, N.Y., San Diego, and Australia, the Sterlings are negotiating to take their program to Canada and India. (Mrs. Sterling's book is already printed in Spanish and Korean.)

"The need is worldwide," Mrs. Sterling said. "There's no doubt about that."

Their most important negotiations, however, may be those to take the company out of their West Side home and into Rio Rancho. They hope to relocate into an office in the City of Vision near the beginning of 2008.

Until then, the shed behind their house will still be their office. The dining room will be their classroom. But the goal will always be changing a child's life one parent at a time ... and vice versa.