There’s a women’s business coaching debacle that is currently blowing up one very small corner of the internet.
The woman at the center of it all is INCREDIBLE at marketing, charges $25k - $100k + to be in her godly presence. She’s 33. Made like $10m last year, and sells you the blueprint to do the same.
Tldr: brilliant marketing, promises the world, people put her on a pedestal, pedestal comes crashing down when *shock horror* she’s a human after all and doesn’t deliver the world.
Everyone made this person their higher power.
She was never going to fill such big shoes.
Business coaching is SUCH a fascinating corner of the internet. I’ve been in it. I’ve paid money for it. It’s seductive AF because it hits that DEEP core sense of not enough-ness, of otherness, of financial fears and quick easy fixes.
We all want a quick easy fix. Of course we do.
‘She’s got it figured out and is now living this very sexy life and making $ millions and therefore she must be doing it right!’
Quick easy fix: sign up to whatever she’s selling!
I’m not saying I don’t believe in mentorship and coaching and guidance. I very much do. But this business coaching scene is the wild wild west that preys on peoples’ deepest fears and insecurities and wraps it up in manifestation glitter and calls it God.
But there are some HEARTY lessons in discernment that must be learnt on the way to glory.
And this meme got me.
Because I look at Instagram, and it’s become this seething pit of ‘how to’ guides.
How to scale, or hit numbers and X growth, and use this trending audio to get more followers.
AND EVERYONE LOOKS THE F**KING SAME.
Hey. I get it. We’re all just trying to survive and figure out how to buy $12 eggs and not lose our minds in this world that seems to be pummeling our brains with incessant noise.
But this chatter of more more more is becoming more and more gross to me.
Here’s the how-to guide on how to get more.
And that seems to be the thing everyone is selling. MORE. Here’s how you get more.
The thing that seems so ironic to me, is that we assume that just because a person built something one way, it means it’s replicable and we can do exactly that cookie cutter thing again and have the same results.
I AM THE GURU ON HOW TO GET MORE. Buy my t-shirt.
Everyone seems to be so focussed on selling their own version of HOW TO DO THE THING, we forgot the very thing itself.
Being a human.
Actually being in the slow and fiery hells of figuring it out. Of finding the path of creation that is uniquely ours for the taking.
Because THAT (imho) is the entire point.
No other person’s template will be anywhere close to the fulfillment and sense of purpose we find in our own.
And I, am a firm believer, that this is what this whole earth game is about.
Being tempted into seduction of quick fixes, and other people as gurus, only to remember we are creation itself. And infinitely more powerful than this world would have us believe.
Talk about remembrance. I believe this is the game.
To remember.
I am creation itself.
And for me, the practice of that remembrance, is a daily question.
Who or what am I making my higher power right now?
And, what I have uncovered is that in the last however many years of working in this industry, I have too many times to count made a client or a business deal or coach or another person my higher power.
If only this deal goes through, I’ll be ok.
If only this client agrees to things the way I need them to be, I’ll be ok.
If only more money came in, I’ll be ok.
If only I could just figure this out, I’ll be ok.
The number of times I have banged my metaphorical head into oblivion, in obsession, in frustration, WHY CAN’T THIS PERSON OR SITUATION JUST BE DIFFERENT?!
And right there and then, I have made them my higher power.
I have made them the solution to my peace and serenity. And every single time I do that, the almighty hand of Zeus is going to come down with a thunderbolt and remind me exactly who the F is actually in charge.
Spoiler. It’s never them.
And the second I remember that oh wait, I am the answer to it all. I have everything I need right here. I will be ok regardless, not when this other person does XYZ... The fog clears, the rainbows come out, the windows to opportunities open once more.
I am creation itself.
On a more practical level. I have been burned so many times making deals and clients and other things my higher power, that I knew I wanted to structure my business a different way.
In traditional recruiting, the size of deals can be anywhere $15k-$50k. Sometimes more. And the big cheques were SO great when they came in. But when the deal fell through, it crucified me.
I made these deals going through, my higher power.
So instead of these big fat $20k / $30k deals, I structured my fractional recruiting business as much smaller marginal placement fees - 15% of whatever the monthly contractor fee is.
Typically my split is anywhere between $500 - $1,500 / month. And instead of chasing after these big 1 time deals, my focus right now is offering value to the businesses I am helping, and it feels like I’ve kinda cracked the code in my own way.
Sure, it’s taken me years in the slow and fiery hells of figuring it all out.
But referrals are coming in, my book of business is building, the kind of clients I’m helping find talent for are in the sweet spot of wellness / environmental, and I feel like I’m actually being of service to them.
I feel valuable in the work I’m doing.
Purpose. Fulfillment. Check.
The % margin is much more appetizing to early stage businesses than those big chunky recruiting fees. And on my side, if one of those deals goes through, great. But $700/month isn’t some life saving amount. So equally, if it doesn’t go through, it’s not the end of the world either.
The same goes for partners and clients. No one other thing is going to be the big thing that saves me.
And if I think that for a minute, thunderbolts from Zeus will arrive.
They are not my higher power.
I am creation itself.
And the age of the guru is dead.
—Holly Gottlieb (Founder, Whole Collective)
Whole Collective help values-driven founders grow their businesses. If you're a founder or business leader who needs to grow your business but aren’t down for upfront recruiting fees and are much more interested in relationships built on trust, let’s talk.
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