Embracing the Evolution [Pt. 4]

This article is a continuation from:

Following the Desire [Pt. 1]

Chasing the Data [Pt. 2]

Nurturing the Vessel [Pt. 3]

I was halfway through 2023, and I still hadn’t fully figured out what was next. I had all these disparate data points, I had multiple prospects of what I could do, but the view wasn’t clear. For the first time, I was questioning making the change at all.

I was starting to think that maybe remote job coaching was still an option.

• Should I just re-commit and double down?
• What was I leaving on the table by bailing on it?
• Where haven’t I given this business a chance to succeed?

Oh the irony of feeling so completely sure about something one second, and then the next, feeling utterly lost. Such is life.

I find this is the difficulty of "running away" from something when we have nothing compelling to "run toward." For me, it means I'm making decisions out of avoidance and fear instead of desire and dream.

What I realized?

Sometimes we need the experiential wisdom of doing something to inform our choices. We’ll have this thought we can’t get out of our head. Other people from the outside can tell us exactly what to do – heck – we might even know exactly what to do deep down, but we need to feel the experience itself so that we can embody it. So that we can truly feel that something is or isn’t for us.

That’s the position I was in.

Something in my head was telling me to run a group coaching program.

Even though I’d spent most of the year already trying to find ways to get “out” of remote job coaching, I had to FEEL what it would be like to re-commit 100%, and make a decision from that place.

One of two things would happen:

1. I would realize that it’s really not for me and this would be the last straw.
2. I would feel reinvigorated to build the business back up and keep going.

So, I did it.

The Heart vs. The Mind

I created a program called the Remote for Life Accelerator, which ran from August-November of 2023.

It was a 3-month coaching program designed for high-performing remote job seekers who craved the deepest level of accountability, coaching, & structure to help them not only find a remote job, but achieve locational independence for the rest of their lives.?

It was a live program mixed with course learning with weekly live calls, assignments in between calls, all within a group environment for added accountability. It was intense.

To market and sell the program I did a 3-day livestream, posted all over social media, and emailed my list. I did all “the things,” that sales/marketing gurus speak about for program launches. I really wanted to give it a full try.?

• Maybe I would enjoy launching programs again??
• Maybe this is the format I needed to do to keep it interesting?
• Maybe by doing it like this I could repurpose the program launch?

And, for all intensive purposes… It worked.

I launched the program with 8 clients in the group, and they were all awesome. While I had done group programs before years ago, this one was different.

The cohort element, the way I did the launch, the cadence of the calls and support, it felt even more powerful. The clients found success and progress. By the program's end, half of them landed new remote jobs. It was rewarding.

But something was still nagging inside me. Not in my mind, but in my heart.

See, this process illustrated for me the difference between the heart and the mind when making decisions. Similar to running away from something vs. running toward something. Fear vs. Desire.

The choice to run this program was made from my logical mind.

It was a decision also made from fear that I was going to make the wrong career choice, so I might as well stay with what I know and am comfortable with.

It would be so much work to change.

While I still showed up for my clients in the most impactful ways I could, my heart, deep down, knew that I still wanted to make the transition. Even though it was wrought with uncertainty, it would be the best long term decision.

And it was clear as day, now. I had to do it. Going through the experience of running this program deepened my embodiment and solidity.

The Mentorship Proposal

My saving grace at this point??

Those simple mentorship proposals I sent out earlier in the year.

As I mentioned, a couple of the CEOs I sent the proposal to had hired me as a consultant for their businesses.

This was cool in itself, because it showed that they valued my work and skills enough to pay for it. And, it was going well. I was learning a lot and enjoying what I was doing with them – especially with Nick.

I had met Nick in Playa del Carmen through the Dynamite Circle (a location independent entrepreneur community) conference the previous year.

He was running a business that helps agencies and business owners integrate executive assistants, sales, or operations talent in their businesses. He’d also scaled 3 businesses to 7-figures in the last 5 years.

Beyond that, Nick was just, well, nice. He is a genuine guy with a loving family. I saw how he acted with his children, I saw how he interacted with our mutual friends, and his presence was grounding and pleasant.

I liked Nick, and I liked working with him.

Our arrangement at the beginning was pretty simple.

He wanted me to help him create content, specifically videos. So, I helped him with the strategy, and coached him on what might work. Then, the main part of the engagement: I would interview him 2x a month.

We would record the interviews, podcast style, and I would ask questions that would unlock stories of his entrepreneurial journey.

We’d unearth his wisdom from building successful businesses, as well as chronicle the failures and learnings. The stories would flow and I’d direct the conversation, coach him on how to design a hook for the story, make him repeat things in a different format, and guide it in a way that got us repurposable content.

Then, he’d send the recording to his team, and this is where the fun began.

From that recording, his team would cut up the video into short form videos, text posts, and create graphics, all with his limited involvement.

I was so impressed with the system – it was wizardry. But for Nick, this was normal. He's an operator. He’s a delegator. He’s an automator.

He would take himself out of as many parts of the process as he could, and his team would execute. He trusted them.

He modeled for me something that was simple, but so profound – because it was the exact opposite of how I ran my self-employed coaching business (which required me to do most of the work myself).

This is when everything changed, almost overnight.

Nick and I did these recording sessions together over the course of a couple months. I was now integrated within his team.

I was managing the content process and all the people involved.

I was doing QA on the posts and videos, providing some copy-editing support, and guidance to the copywriters, marketing managers, video editors, graphic designers, and everyone involved. We were making the content better and better.

But I wasn't in technician mode all the time. I was mostly managing, providing input, and removing barriers for the team. It was such a better use of my time.

At some point, it became painfully obvious to both of us that this system that he had built was special. That other CEOs and executives of companies would benefit handsomely by installing this system into their own content strategy.

And here I was, a resource that could help him manage it. Light-bulb.

Unlocked Authority

Over the last few months of 2023, Nick and I began to present an offer to some of our network. We called it "Unlocked Authority."

• We didn’t have a website.?
• We didn’t have a flashy brand.?
• We didn’t have a big sales pitch.

We just went to our network and said, “we’ve got something that will help you.”?

With a simple Google Doc, we sent messages out.

The impetus is that our team makes “unlocking authority” easy and painless for true experts in their field who have trouble with consistent content creation – but know how impactful it would be for them. Our angle:

• We design a content strategy for CEOs to showcase their expertise
• We strategically interview them for just a couple of hours per month
• We repurpose the content into videos, text, image, and graphic posts
• We handle the manual work: writing, designing, publishing, QA, analytics

By owning the strategy and system, we become an invaluable part of their extended team, all without them having to hire. We keep up to date with what's working, what's changing, what's new. They just show up for the interview.

We provide dedicated resources:

• Creative Director
• Copywriter
• Marketing Manager
• Graphic Designer
• Video Editor
• and more

For a literal fraction of what it would cost to hire – all without the mess of needing to manage any of it.

This felt like my holy grail of opportunities.?

It met all of my specifications I set out to achieve at the beginning of the year:

1. It allowed me to work with someone else as a co-founder, and to collaborate within a team. We were able to leverage Nick’s expertise and all the human capital he already had at his disposal from his other company. No more lonely Solopreneur days, wishing?I had others to push the vision forward.
2. It allowed me to be strategic. Nick has been an incredible mentor and model for delegation and leadership. Instead of me constantly being stuck in technician mode, I’ve been able to flex my management and entrepreneurial abilities. I feel valued, respected, and trusted to lead a team of creatives. It’s truly different than feeling the need to do all the client work and instead delegating by default.
3. It allowed me to leverage my skills. I’ve been in the content game for over a decade. I’ve focused attention and energy on video, writing, interviewing, and social media. Our offer allows me to tap into all these talents. It gives me an outlet to coach and guide the creation process for others’ in a way that honors my experiences. I also help others find the stories within themselves.

By mid January we’d acquired the first 5 clients in our beta program: still without a website, without any “public” announcements, all through our network.

With these first clients we’re focused on overdelivering, honing our processes, building out predictable systems, and generating a well-oiled machine.

It’s fun.?

I feel challenged in ways I’ve not experienced. I feel like I’m building something that we could eventually sell, or at least something that will eventually be capable of running without me.

Designing the business with that lens in mind has changed the way I view entrepreneurship and what I’m capable of. I’ve realized how much my skill in social dynamics contributes to my team leadership and management style.

Go Fast, But Never Hurry

What's in store for 2024?

Most years I pressure myself with big, audacious goals.

I’ll start off with somewhat arbitrary numbers and milestones that feel like they will make me become a “success.” I hit the ground running, and tend to hurry myself.

I’m looking at this year differently.

To date, I haven’t set any tangible goals. Not for my team or for myself.

For one, this recap took forever to put together, and I wanted to honor my process of celebrating everything that happened for me last year. This was my priority before I thought too far ahead in 2024.

It has also felt more natural to first settle into this new business with the clients we have, get some reps delivering our service, and the experience necessary to inform what goals would make sense.

At the moment it feels great to surrender to this process, and let what needs to emerge do so in the coming months.

There’s no pressure, and I like it that way. Go fast, never hurry.

Health Begets Wealth

Having said that, my major focuses are health and wealth.?

To me that starts with taking care of my mind, body, and spirit. Which means lots of workouts, lots of recovery, and lots of nervous system regulation. I believe that’s what gives me the downloads I need to set the right types of goals.

I signed up for a half marathon with some friends in March too, my first race since my knee injury. I used to run a lot, and have completed a few marathons. This half feels like a great opportunity to increase motivation and have fun.

And the business is growing sustainably.

I know for the next couple of months, we’ll be building and evolving the current model for Unlocked Authority.

We’ll be focusing on a few awesome clients, getting them results, and adjusting our process with their feedback. With that, we know we can fine-tune the messaging, increase the pricing, and target the right companies.

We still have capacity for a couple more clients at this stage. If you want to learn more about what we're doing, feel free to reach out.?

But, there is something beautiful about not being in a hurry in business.

That’s where we’re at.

What About The Remote Job Coach?

I’m still making decisions about my Remote Job Coach brand.

For now, my course, my Youtube content, my book, and website will stay online and available. Job seekers can still book a call with me if they pay the right price. I’ll likely switch around some platforms so the hosting fees aren’t as expensive.

I might restart my Youtube channel with different content. But either way, this chapter was such a big part of my life that it doesn’t feel aligned to “shut it down.”?

Plus, The Remote Job Coach personal brand is, in itself, proof and credibility for Unlocked Authority and the content offering.

I was my own case study before we started offering this service.

Creating My Home

Lastly, I’m excited to continue to establish Mexico as my true home.

As a resident who’s lived here since 2019, it was already feeling that way. But after my family split up, it solidified it in a way that feels more permanent. Eliza and I signed another long term lease, have travel plans for the summer to go to Europe, and our little family and community down here is stronger than ever.

Welp, that's it. About 10k words later.

If you learned something from my 2023, I’d love to hear about it.

If you want to share something with me about your year, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to leave a comment. And, if you made it this far, I appreciate you. This was a long series, and a very important one to me.

Sending you all the love, all the power.