I debated writing about this topic. It’s been almost a year since this incident. But for anyone searching for coaching and consulting this is an important topic to be very wary about. First, I want to bring up a little background before I dive into my story.
In the video production/content creation world, there are a ton of coaching/online course programs. When I first got my start in 2014/2015 I had a great online course that really honed in on my basic skills creating compelling content for brands. It brought in a ton of value from production, sales, marketing, and more. I think I paid less than $1,000 in total for all 3 or 4 courses, which for someone just starting out at the time is super helpful. So my experience in the online course/coaching programs was off to a good start. That particular course owner decided to wind down the program to focus on his own video business (which he is crushing it right now).
Fast forward to 2020 during the pandemic, I invested in another program/online course that focused on video strategy. Great program, and great community that got me through some of the challenges that the lockdowns were causing. One time payment of $500 with a great community. Another good experience with a course/community program. Unfortunately, similar to the previous program, the owner decided to work on a new venture.
I should note that during these first two times, I saw all these facebook and instagram ads for other video coaching programs. Some where low cost/low value programs, while others were high cost/high value programs. I did buy one or two more low cost/low value programs and didn’t get great results. I also got stuck with a new venture of a high cost/low value that got me in crazy cripple debt that took me years to pay off (separate story but that particular company got shut down by the FTC thankfully). I should also note that since 2019 I have been working with a mindset coach who has been amazing throughout the years and has helped me make sure I stay aligned with both business and personal goals. I still work with him to this day but again it’s a bit more mindset and less tactics.
After a successful 2022 and 2023, I noticed quickly that in 2024 the business was starting to stagnate. Deals were slipping by and structures were starting to fall. Some of it was out of my control but I knew I could do better. Maybe I needed a new program that I can stick with and one that would be around for a while.
About a year ago, I signed up for a course/coaching/community program for video creatives like myself—how to build pipelines, sales, scale, etc. As you can tell by now, I’m VERY familiar with this industry and the programs out there. I spent a few months searching for one that would be the right fit, something different—the way they sold, the way they marketed, the way they coached, etc. In February of 2024, I found one. I liked the content the owner was putting out; he felt real, and I loved the simplicity of the approach. When I scheduled a call, it was actually with his salesman, whom I also ended up really liking. He mentioned he was one of the coaches in the program as well and that I would get access to him, the CEO, and another coach, along with lifetime access to the course, community, coaches, etc. (which I later found out was…not quite true…stay tuned). I felt good about it. It was a hefty investment, but I felt it was sink or swim, and I chose to swim.
I signed up, got into the Slack community, and started with the course portion of the program. The first thing I noticed was that there was another separate program for scaling. I thought, “Okay, cool. I’ll still learn good stuff here that will help me get to that stage.”
The rest of the course was pretty good. I got some useful tactics, apps, software to check out, and a good system—of course, all in theory. Now I had to put it into action and get clarification during the many coaching call opportunities they had throughout the week.
The community was well-organized. Everything was on Slack. There were spots where people could ask questions about branding, sales, gear, random things, etc., and sections about WINs too. This was where people could share their wins—the deals they closed, conversations they had, etc. One important thing to note is that this section on wins is often screenshotted and posted on social media to showcase brand proof. “Look at the $20K Johnny got today with our help!” “Connie just closed a $2K-a-month retainer client using our system!” They use this as social proof that their program works…remember this later on.
One of the best things I enjoyed was being able to send recordings of my discovery calls to the sales coach. He was really good at spotting blind spots and helping me with an approach to tackle a proposal meeting. There was an amazing opportunity I had with a nonprofit, and even though we didn’t get the deal (it just wasn’t going to work due to travel), I felt super confident about the future.
However, when it came to the rest of the coaching, I’m sad to say it didn’t meet my expectations. The “Head of Coaching” was subpar. It felt like he was just going through the motions. I had hopped on a call with him when I first joined and began to think, “This isn’t what I bought.” However, I wanted to stay positive and not judge people by first interactions. But the worst of it was when another student asked a question about LinkedIn on a live Zoom group coaching call, and the “Head of Coaching” responded with, “Go review that part of the course.” I almost lost it and nearly yelled, “Answer the fucking question—he paid to have you coach him.” I wish I had. This was my second or third experience with his coaching group, around late March or early April.
As the months went by, students of the program began leading other coaching calls that the “Head of Coaching” would join and guide. Cool idea, but there was a problem I started noticing. Many of these students were in year 0-1.5 of their business. I’m in year 8. The tactics and conversations were much different. I began to realize I was in the wrong community.
By mid-summer, things were not where I wanted them to be. I was putting in the reps, sending out the outreach, etc. I know these things take time, so I wasn’t super worried yet. Still, six months left in the year, and anything can happen.
Then, I get a notification saying that instead of the sales coach reviewing my discovery calls, it would now be the “Head of Coaching” reviewing them. Great. 🙄
So I started sending them to him. As I suspected, the advice was mediocre, and I learned nothing new in terms of how the call went from an outsider/coaching perspective. “They seemed really interested in having a video partner.” Yeah, no shit—they were interested in a video partner; that’s why we were on a call.
I got particularly upset when I lost a big deal over a pricing concern. The “Head of Coaching” said something like, “You’ve got this in the bag—you provided the most value and changed their mindset on video marketing.” It was true; I provided the most value and changed their whole scope of work. Unfortunately, I learned that sometimes providing the most value isn’t enough. People will seek deals, and that prospect found a better one. This is where I needed the “Head of Coaching” to spot the blind spots.
At this point, I’m thinking to myself, “This is not the expertise I paid for.” Not only has business flatlined—it’s been down. But hey, there are five more months left in the year; anything can happen, so let’s keep grinding.
Then, in late August, I get a message from the “Head of Coaching” saying that my six months are coming to a close…and that if I wanted to stay in the Slack community and get access to the coaching calls, it would be a monthly fee of $299, or I could sign up for the scaling program (an additional $18K), and that would cover the community cost. “What?” I actually said that out loud. I honestly can’t recall if this was mentioned to me during my onboarding sales call, but I would have remembered needing to spend an extra $300 in the next three months. My brain is all about planning, so something was amiss. At the very least, I should have been reminded about it within a month or three months ago, reminding me to take advantage of calls, coaching, etc. (which I was). He said my next step was to hop on a call with the sales coach to see what my next steps were.
So I did. And honestly, I vented to the sales coach. I told him my issues with the “Head of Coaching,” the lack of clarity on this monthly fee for the community, and that I’m not where I want to be—in fact, we’re down 10% compared to last year. His response was exactly what I was afraid this program would be: “I’m hearing a lot of negative things as opposed to positive things first. Did you send enough outreach? Did you do this? Did you do that?” So I broke it down for him.
“Yes, I did all my outreach, though my school prospects don’t always log in to LinkedIn, and that’s my focus right now.” (I got the classic “widen your target audience to businesses” talk again. 🙄 I still serve businesses, but it’s not my focus.)
“No, I didn’t want to do more one-on-ones with the ‘Head of Coaching’ because he’s been giving me shit advice. He is the problem!”
“I asked some questions in the community, but to be honest, many of them are in the early stages of their business, so they’re not going to be able to help.”
He said, “Well, let’s dive in and see how we can help. If you want to stay in the community, it’s $299 a month, or we can dive into the scaling bit…I think you’re right in the middle.”
Yeah, no shit.
I was put into the wrong group. I did not belong. Perhaps I should have started with the scaling program. Perhaps not.
I told the sales coach towards the end of our conversation that I would have to circle back to see if it makes sense for me to continue the coaching…I felt I missed my window for the scaling program…honestly, that’s what I thought I was getting with this current program, but it didn’t happen. Spoiler alert—I won’t be renewing.
A couple of things I’m learning from this experience:
- If you claim credit for success, you must also claim accountability when things go wrong. At the very least, find a way to make things right. In this case, the program always shared new wins that students were achieving for marketing, but if something wasn’t working, it’s “YOUR FAULT!” Give me a break. To clarify, I’m NOT saying it’s NOT my fault either. I took the actions, and ultimately, it’s my business, and I’m responsible for the results. But if I’m getting useless/bad advice that’s not advancing my business…what am I paying them for? The responses I got when I provided feedback about the “Head of Coaching” were super tone-deaf, a classic case of hear-no-evil. The RIGHT thing would have been for him to say, “Hey, thanks for letting me know. I’ll have a conversation with him and the CEO to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and we can extend your program by about 2-4 weeks so you can get the most out of it.” Something like that would’ve been real nice, even just the first part. This is basic customer service.
- Expectations are everything. While the course was great, the biggest hurdle for me was the coaching and the community. I thought I was getting access to the CEO since he was the face of the business, but I only ever interacted with him on Slack once or twice—never during a group coaching call. I felt this was falsely advertised in some ways, whether it was intentional or not. Nothing wrong with him not being in the business, but again, it was not advertised that way. I bought the program because of him, not his lackey “Head of Coaching.”
- Don’t ignore red flags. I noticed early on that something felt off, especially with the “Head of Coaching.” Instead of addressing it head-on or reconsidering my decision, I chose to stay positive and give it more time. Looking back, I should have trusted my instincts and raised my concerns more assertively. When something doesn’t feel right, it’s essential to address it immediately rather than hoping it will get better on its own.
- Oftentimes people don’t know the difference between a coach and a consultant. A coach helps you uncover your own answers and grow through guided reflection, while a consultant gives expert advice and solutions to fix specific problems. To be honest so many in this space don’t know the difference- and they are selling themselves as consultants when really they are coaches.
Was this program a bad program? No, the bones are there and it has a lot of promise. Will I recommend this program? Probably not. I felt like I was a number to them and I truly believe they chose profit over people.
Shout out to my all time true coach, Michael Gebben, who helped me navigate so many different challenges through this program and pretty much since 2019!
