Connect the Dots - My Online Business Journey
Article Summary
Kathie Owen tells the story of how she got started in the online business world. She talks about being the Corporate Wellness Director at OCuSOFT. Learn the scoop about what happened to her gym in her tenure at OCuSOFT, including the pandemic of 2020.
Learn about online coaching and how there is no regulation on the market. She calls out coaches like Amy Porterfield, Russell Brunson, James Wedmore, and more. While the aforementioned coaches are great and knowledgeable Kathie mentions how you can learn all they teach for FREE instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars with them. And how they ALL greedily market their products and coaching.
Learn where Kathie is today and how she connected the dots looking backward.
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Where it all started
I’ll never forget the day. It was March 2020. I had just gotten back into the gym at OCuSOFT. As the Fitness and Wellness Director at OCuSOFT, I had been working there for seven years at the time.
You see we had flooded three times and the entire building was lifted off the ground three feet to prevent future flooding. A common practice in the Houston area after flooding several times during hurricane seasons.
This process took almost a year. I was training people in the stairwell and OCuSOFT had even created an office for me where I had a treadmill and some free weights. I had been hanging by a limb for two years now.
And finally, I was back.
Then the pandemic hit
Upper management had just called for a team meeting that spring day to discuss the looming pandemic. I thought to myself, “There’s no way they are shutting everything down.” Be careful what you think Kathie!
Not only did they shut everything down but the gym was closed indefinitely. Again!
I worked from home and tried to teach a few training sessions here and there. I used up most of my PTO by the time May came around and my supervisor told me I had to come back to the office.
What was I going to do?
I saw the front desk receptionist and the print shop director working with housekeeping. I guessed that is what I would be called to do. If anything.
I mean, did OCuSOFT really need a Fitness and Wellness Director? After all, the gym, my office, was closed, indefinitely.
At first, I just did temperature screenings. But that position quickly got taken by a nurse we had hired prior to the pandemic.
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Cut grass with scissors
By now, it was June of 2020. I was told I had to work with the others in housekeeping. At this time they were cleaning everything. And I mean everything! Including but not limited to: doors, handles, tables, pens, pencils, and even entire walls. Daily!
I did have a fear that I would get let go. I mean my salary is not cheap and to pay me to clean was something I feared they would say, “Um, Kathie we don’t need you anymore.”
I’ve always maintained the attitude at this job that I loved, “If you want me to cut grass with scissors, where are the scissors.” However, even with this attitude, I did worry that I would get lost in monotonous jobs of doing the same thing every single day. Cleaning walls was not exactly my cup of tea.
I love learning and studying and doing research. How was that going to happen now? When my daily utensils were now a rag and a mop; not a computer and my iPhone to send all my ideas and inspiration to my Asana (and now Notion)!
My job evolved over the days and months to come. I started running errands for the company. I got deeply connected to my fellow team members. Every day was something different too. It was truly an adventure. And I was having fun!
Climbing Stairs
I did find a job I loved. I cleaned the staircases. Yes, we have four of them in the building and yes they got deep cleaned daily.
The stairs Kathie? Really? Yes! The stairs. The gyms were still closed. I needed my exercise. I was packing on pounds. Probably more than the COVID-10 too.
So every day I would put on my earbuds, turn on my smartwatch for my usual workout, and proceed to clean the stairs. It may not be cutting grass with scissors but the stairs were where it was for me!
It was what I was listening to in my earbuds that changed everything. I was listening to business podcasts.
I was going to create an online business. Not just any business but a huge one like James Wedmore teaches in Business by Design.
Drinking the Kool-Aid
And that’s when I started drinking the Kool-Aid. And let me tell you that pool is full of crazy-ass bro marketers that will rob you blind before you know it. Even though I am sure their content is really good and effective but at what cost?
I could only connect those dots looking backward though. I am sad to say. 😓
I quickly found out about entrepreneurs who worked under James Wedmore like Jess O’Connell. who BTW I “think” is legit, but those I trust and find authentic are very few and far between.
I quickly signed up with Kajabi a $199 per month platform that has all the bells and whistles for your online business.
My stupid thought processes were this, 🤦♀️
“Wow my clients are just going to come flooding to me with this awesome platform.”
I am ashamed to admit that it took me over 18 months to wise up. That is also a price tag of over $3,000. But I get ahead of myself.
I was drinking that Kool-Aid by the gallons. You know, the James Wedmore kool-aid. I listened to people like Jasmine Starr, Jess O’Connell, Jenna Kutcher, and Graham Cochran.
And then I found Amy Porterfield.
And more kool-aid
Amy got me! I got lost in her podcast. I had hours and hours of free time to listen to these podcasts and I did just that.
She had these awesome guests who went from zero to millions in the bank. And these guests had all the followers.
“They were just like me,” I naively thought. They now had huge audiences who bought their coaching and life was wonderful. Or was it?
Now I was not new to business coaches. I had been listening to my mentor Joseph Rodrigues for years by this time.
In fact, I had purchased all of his courses for $147. (Link to his courses here, not affiliated.) But I had not listened to them. Why? I guess in my mind (at the time) I thought that since they were so inexpensive they just did not have what I needed. Boy was I so very wrong!
I knew I wanted to teach like Joseph - the same content - but I still was thinking wrongly. I still needed to connect those stinking dots.
Enter February 2021
I had still yet to sell a single thing on my expensive ass Kajabi platform. That glory had all worn off. I still thought in my mind that I was doing something wrong. My story about my switch from expensive ass Kajabi to Squarespace is here!
Enter Amy Porterfield to the rescue. She was launching her Digital Course Academy and I got sucked into her bro-marketing. BAD! 😥
Also by this time I did not trust many coaches online. In my mind, they were not as good as Amy. Little did I know they were ALL slimy.
I had many slide into my DMs telling me that I needed to sell high-ticket coaching. These “coaches” were slime balls. How dare they slide into my DMs and immediately tell me how to run my business!!
It’s like they prey on the coaches who only have a few hundred followers. UGH to this day I have a bad taste in my mouth for those who do that! I could write an entire post on this too!! I probably will and call out the real slimy ones. The stories I can tell!
Read this article about Power vs Force Marketing. (BTW Amy is very ‘fake’ force based.)
Back to Amy
I signed up for one of her long webinars. I didn’t make it because, well, I had things to do. But she had it conveniently rebroadcast on her podcast. Easy, I could listen to that.
As her funnel would indicate to her team, I would listen to the episode but would not be purchasing.
Her team quickly jumped on that “opportunity.” They sent me an email message that told me I could pay $197 per month for 12 months. Instead of the one lump sum of $2,000.
And I would easily make that money back, right? I mean I learned how to create my course outline in her recent webinar/podcast.
I had a brilliant idea on the line. It was a no-brainer. I bit the bullet and drank the glass of Kool-Aid before me like a shot glass.
Me, my Kajabi, and my ‘wonderful expensive’ coach Amy Porterfield would be making at the very minimum $2k a month. Easy!! Right?
I mean if Amy and her team had faith in me I could do it and even be on her podcast one day as a victory story!
Accountability Pod
Then I found out we had an accountability pod. A gal from Sugar Land, my hometown, would join me on this venture. And we even got 4 more to join our sweet little pod. How cool!!
We were set to meet every Wednesday at 1:00 via Zoom. The first few meetings went great. I found my jam! I found my people.
In my mind, I was thinking this group would provide me feedback on my content and I was on the yellow brick road to success with tinman, the scarecrow, the lion, and even my little dog Rusty - he is part cairn terrier, like Toto, ya know!🐶
Until that came to a screeching halt. You know the wizard is not real, right?
It was 1:00 on a Wednesday - 6 weeks in, and I was set to meet my fellow entrepreneurs. I was dedicated to helping my fellow friends.
I joined the room early as always. Then 1:00 came, but no one was there. 1:15 came, but still no one.
I texted my friend from Sugar Land, surely she got held up in her grand coaching business. Her idea and business plan were a lot like mine. She was sure to succeed, just like me.
No response.
I waited, maybe, they were all busy on projects for today. This DCA was grueling after all. I needed help with my content idea. Yet still, I was the only person in the room.
A text came in, it was my friend. She finally responded. She got caught up in her “ADHD mind” and completely forgot all about our meeting. She could be there in an hour. I couldn’t - I had to train someone at that time.
I tried for weeks after that to meet with my friends. They had all moved on. Life crept in and they were gone and so was that yellow brick road. That road vanished into thin air along with my dollars.
Online Coaching Junkies
I slowly came to realize that what I stumbled upon in this pod were what I call “coaching junkies” aka Amy’s favorite customers.
The others had purchased other courses like Jenna Kutcher’s expensive Pinterest course.
“How did that work for you?” I asked. “Oh, I never finished it!” I was told.
Years later I see that they had money to waste on courses like this. And they never use the material that was taught.
Funny, neither do I. Why?
First of all, it is an outdated process (even at that time)!
Second of all, (and probably the most important to note) the material is not authentic and does not align with me and my core values.
Synchronicity
I came across this video the other day that calls out ALL of the bullsh*t of these marketers. You don’t have to watch the entire video. It is kind of cheesy. No, it is very cheesy!
But this gal definitely says everything I felt!! And I finally felt validated.
Cheesy Video calling out the bro-marketers!!
I was thinking about writing this post when that video popped into my inbox.
I actually thought the email I saw it in was from Jess O’Connell and it was talking about the scam marketing of James Wedmore and Jenna Kutcher.
I only watched the video because I couldn’t believe Jess was talking about her (expensive) mentor, James Wedmore like that. It wasn’t Jess O’Connell BTW.
I watched the entire video too. I was waiting at a doctor’s office. I had time to kill and the cheese was entertaining - at the moment!!
My Amy Porterfield Content
I blog about the bullsh*t Amy puts on, and those posts on Amy Porterfield are super popular on my site.
I do care about my friends who really try, And I care about those who call out the scammy marketers. And Kajabi, who actually abuses the system too.
My beef with Kajabi came after I segmented an email to 10 people on my list. Kajabi had a slow bug in their email system. Instead of that 10, it went to my entire list. For the cost, that was unacceptable!
I lost subscribers that day. That rarely happens today.
A note about unsubscribers - they are actually a gift in disguise. Let ‘em go - make room for those who do want you.
I broke up with Kajabi that day. I had to move my entire system to better and much cheaper platforms. And that was no easy job.
But I did it. And I am happy to say that my business expenses for everything are less than Kajabi was per month. ICYMI is less than $200 per month for everything!!!
Lessons learned and dots connected looking backward.
I wrote this post so I would have a story about where my business got its start and the struggles I went through.
I also hope this helps someone else. Please don’t make the same mistakes I made.
Unless of course, that is your jam. And you enjoy wasting money on platforms, courses, and “coaching” that get you nowhere or they really work for you because for some they do! If so, by all means, knock your lights out! 😬
Today
And today (August 2022) I now offer 100% of my online content for free to O-Zone users at OCuSOFT and I am well-compensated in my heart, soul, and pocketbook.
In fact, all of my content, courses, and coaching is online now.
I teach fitness, having a growth mindset, healthy happy aging, habits, and even some Reality Transurfing. Ahhhh, life is good!
The O-Zone Fitness Center is the location of the gym I run in Rosenberg, Texas for the Southwest Technology and Research Center Campus. OCuSOFT is a big part of that campus.
I consistently put out content on YouTube, podcasts, and articles for my clients all over the world. Clients and friends that I adore!
Today I use Squarespace for blogging and courses, MailerLite for email, Mighty Networks for community and courses, and Descript for video and podcast editing.
I couldn’t be happier! I love those I help. I would never want to leave them wanting more because the content I gave them was just enough to barely make it. And even worse, leave them with empty pockets.
No, my content is and will always be reasonably priced. And guarantees fulfillment at all levels.
And today I am right where I belong. Connecting the dots looking forward, backward, and side-to-side.
And if I ever have to go back to cutting grass with scissors I have better podcasts to listen to! 😉
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