AI Policy + Use

I use AI in my process from thought to page in my public-facing posts and blogs on this website.

Mostly, that looks like transcribing my audio notes (on the front end) and adding keywords and SEO optimization (at the back end). Very rarely, I use AI to generate images like the one above.

I do not use AI to write or compose my work, to write or compose my social media posts, or to write or compose my articles.

Even so, most of my work is flagged as AI-generated (see below, with timestamps showing when the original work was created).

I have thoughts about why that is:

• First, I was trained in academic writing and am a student of philosophy, so “if this, then that” construction is built into my thinking and writing process.

• Next, as a child, my preferred author was Edgar Allan Poe (famously verbose with an astonishingly rich vocabulary), and I challenged myself to expand my vocabulary in a similar style.

• Also, I spent years writing on the internet (blogging since 2009); thus, I am part of the community of creatives whose collective works were stolen by the AI companies — they called this theft “training data.”

• Finally, I spent a good bit of time “training” the AI LLM’s we all now rely on —as did many other “experts” in their fields. One cannot export one’s brain to the machine for as long as I did without it impacting both ways.

I'm transparent about where I use the medium— and, just as importantly, where it never touches my work.

AI doesn’t touch my research meant for publication or my client’s sensitive information. Full stop.

AI doesn’t touch my emails, client conversations, or editing process (all typos, odd phrases, and dangling participles are my own). I’ve opted out of Gemini in my Google workspace and do not use Notion or AI transcription without explicit consent: if a client requests a transcription or recording of our calls, I disclose that use of AI to them and get their opt-in in advance.

When I do use AI, I use paid, enterprise-level tools with the strongest data privacy agreements currently available (they explicitly do not train on my data).

Every idea, argument, and turn of phrase is mine. I built an accessible process, employing AI for transcription and SEO because 1) I'm a verbal, nonlinear thinker, and 2) I used to pay for the work I now use enterprise-grade AI to do faster, and 3) because I think an honest answer to "did you use AI" deserves more than a “yes” or “no.”

Pictured below: receipts.

The image below refers to a essay I wrote for publication on Substack. I uploaded the first draft to a Google doc from the transcription. It was edited (by me) to read like a narrative, not a rambling voice note to the Universe.

No other AI was used in the essay except transcription from an audio note: it was still flagged as 67% percent AI.

Read more on my Substack

A Practice for Recalibration

I made you an audio if you’d prefer to listen here. (private link)

At the end of 2024, I realized I no longer identified as a "business coach." Not because I'd fallen out of love with the work—I still love helping people build their big business dreams. Something felt off: like a stuck gear or a slightly off-pitch guitar string. My gut was telling me to step back from the fray and find a way of working that made room for all of me.

I needed a recalibration.

If you've followed me since the early days from small-town health coach, yoga teacher and studio owner, travelling trainer and business coach, then you've noticed a non-linear career trajectory (with similar themes). But at one point in my life, I was singularly focused on my goal-oriented life trajectory: I was going to be a researcher.

My dream as a young girl was to work in a Think Tank, surrounded by people who were similarly committed to using intelligence, skill, logic, and creativity to solve the world’s most intractable problems.

Some of those intractable problems intersected with my own life these last few years, resulting in some communication gaps.

There are many reasons. A divorce. A cross-country move. Another cross-country move. A new baby. I gave you the bullet points, but not context.

My divorce was considered “high conflict,” entailing almost 7 years of frantic attempts (mine) to encourage resolution, repair, or at least a re-focus on the child involved.

As these interpersonal challenges crept further into my day-to-day life, I had to choose the kind of parent I wanted to be. The logistics of managing a complicated teaching and travel schedule as the Director and Lead Instructor of a training center proved untenable and impractical for my new life as a solo parent. My child needed my presence. So I prioritized their needs over my career.

As humans do, I adapted: I built online programs, centered my business on coaching, but in 2018 I temporarily shuttered my online business and training programs for a serious reason (stalking is real and dangerous).

Those years became a long search for a new path.

I found new forms of joy and new kinds of work: supporting mission-oriented organizations, providing fractional Co-CEO consulting for micro-enterprises, and working in the AI industry. Tech is an ideal industry for a solo parent crunching out work between school-drop off and pick-up— or at the “Toni Morrison” hours (before the light comes and the world wakes)—because the machine never sleeps.

My work in AI sparked renewed intellectual enthusiasm: paired with an equal amount of existential dread. Outsourcing my brain to the machine on the daily, along with so many others, gave me a glimpse into humanity’s trajectory.

It made me question everything (again). Yes, it is amazing and intoxicating and exciting and—if you’re obsessed with learning—the most exciting piece of technology ever to exist. But that still doesn’t answer the question: Why? To what end are we building?

To further exploit the most vulnerable?

To flatten our differences and become a homogenized summary of data points spit back to us in identical-sounding, if oddly worded, simulacra of cognition?

To collectively co-opt (read: steal) the intellectual property of every creator since the dawn of the internet age in order to re-package and sell back to us?

To outsource our most precious of human gifts —deep thinking and creativity— to a planet-destroying, water-guzzling, superpower that is the developmental equivalent of a toddler running with scissors? (a polymath MENSA-level toddler is still dangerous: arguably, more so).

Eventually, I could no longer handle the cognitive dissonance that left my nervous system wrecked and my mind restless with the implications of the tools I was helping to build.

To cope, I returned to a practice I call the 3 Rs: Reading, Releasing, and Reclaiming.

The first R: Reading

The first step is the most restorative. Reading things that move and inspire me is a genuine respite, and the more I read, the better I feel.

As I've grown older, there is less time for the reading I love most: poetry, spiritual texts, vintage knitting patterns, historical fiction, magical realism, biographies, YA sci-fi, scientific papers (I know. I’m strange).

Making reading a deliberate practice again—with a joyful rather than productive focus— improved my life immeasurably. It also served as a kind of brainwashing in the best possible way: like giving my brain a restorative slow dance in the rain.

The research backs this up.

A large study following nearly 20,000 middle-aged and older adults across 15 countries found leisure reading was prospectively associated with better health, well-being, daily functioning, lower cognitive impairment, and greater longevity. A 2024 evidence review on reading for pleasure reached the same conclusion: volitional reading is linked to meaningful gains in wellbeing alongside cognitive benefits.

The freeing part: genre matters far less than the habit. Graphic novels, children's books, home-decor magazines, vampire romances, the complete works of Vladimir Nabokov—the act of reading for pleasure carries the benefit. *Books appear to confer a particularly strong longevity advantage over newspapers and magazines, so lean toward books for the most benefit.

But the headline holds: Just read something.

The next two Rs: a dialectic within yourself

Releasing and Reclaiming work together.

Each begins with a single question:

What do I want or need to release?

What do I want or need to reclaim?

That's the whole practice. The tricky part is answering honestly. Ask the question, then let your intuitive self answer — the first thing that surfaces is usually the answer (the "why" is less important and often comes later).

After a few years of this practice, I noticed clear patterns.

Releasing, for me, usually shows up as something that drains my energy: mindless scrolling, obsessing over headlines, being less-than-present with my children, rumination, self-recrimination, complaining.

Reclaiming, for me, usually shows up as a nudge toward practices that restore or joys I’ve forgotten: a walk in the woods, my art-journal practice, morning pages, planting flowers, gratitude lists, reconnecting with a treasured friend, knitting a sweater, crafting a poem, playing the guitar. There is an untapped well of joy to be found in activities that challenge you just enough. And daily life is full of simple pleasures that oft go unnoticed and unclaimed (see pictures from my garden below for a perfect illustration of this point. The audacity of those zinnias

There's a good reason this simple inventory works. Contemplative practices that build present-moment awareness are consistently linked to stronger emotion regulation — the capacity that lets you notice what depletes you and choose what refills you, instead of running on autopilot.

This type of self-inquiry is a virtuous circle of mutual emotional aid —self-care that is more than self-centered navel-gazing. Engaging in this type of contemplative inquiry creates the inner conditions that nourish mental health.

But it isn’t enough: if the contemplative practice is the rain, the social determinants of health are the soil. And research consistently shows that these factors far outweigh any mental health maintenance, emotional housekeeping, and self-work in action. This is an important distinction in a society that discounts the impact of its own dysfunctional systems on individuals and marginalized communities. Creating the conditions that nourish health begin at the structural and societal level. It is far too much to ask of any one individual.

Yet, the daily actions that nourish the conditions for mental health, emotional regulation, physical well-being exist in the literature and in one’s own ancestral line —if you exist, you’re living proof that your ancestors, despite all they endured, were survivors of the fittest caliber.

These practices are simple, not always accessible. That doesn’t mean they don’t matter or that we abandon those practices. For the sake of humanity, it’s time to double down on them.

Emotional regulation is violence prevention.

Social connection is addiction-prevention in practice.

Mindfulness is conflict resolution training.

And in an increasingly violent, disjointed, divided, polarized world, we need more people committed to modeling the best of humanity’s qualities: compassion, empathy, connection, creativity, care, insight.

When little girl Kellie envisioned working as a researcher in a Think Tank, this is what she thought the work would entail: humanity’s brightest and most diligent scholars, putting their heads together with care, compassion, and creativity to solve the world’s most intractable problems.

Now that I’m older, it’s clear that the initial spark of career aspiration was filtered through the rose-tinted lens of childhood: a childhood full of trauma, emotional neglect, and intellectual isolation.

Yet, the practices I’ve been drawn to over the years, the studies I’ve pursued, have been gently guiding me back to that original career aspiration.

An Inner Recalibration

I hope you’ll try the practice when next you need your own Inner Recalibration. I can't promise it will help you as much as it has helped me. But if you try it, will you let me know how it goes?

Read something.

Release something.

Reclaim something.

That's the whole practice — and it might just awaken the insight you've been too busy to hear (until now).

TL/DR

• The 3 Rs — Reading, Releasing, Reclaiming — is a simple daily practice for awakening intuition

• Reading for pleasure is linked to better well-being, cognition, and longevity.

• Releasing and Reclaiming are practices that protect and restore a connection to your own insight, skills, forgotten strengths, and resourcing practices.

• Contemplative awareness strengthens emotional regulation, resulting in better choices: for oneself and for the world.

Try the 3 Rs this week, then tell me what surfaced. I read every response.

Thanks for being here.

Break all the Business Rules...and Thrive?

The “Rules” of business-as-usual say…

• Work long hours 

• Hustle harder than everyone

• Be everywhere on the internet 

• Market with sleazy high pressure tactics

• Launch shoddy programs …

• Then upsell when they don’t deliver results  (cue the “from 6-to-7 figures expert advice”)

• Sacrifice your talents to “prove your worth”

• Undercharge for your services to “stay competitive” 

• Undercharge because you’re a woman/minority/neurodivergent in business

I don’t want to live (or run my business by) those rules anymore. 

There are more important things to prioritize than hustle culture. 

Democracy is being threatened around the world.

AI is coming for our jobs and affecting our brains.

Racism is experiencing a global resurgence.

Misogyny seems to be the new(again) standard. 

A history of violence against women is no longer a barrier to nomination (or election) to the highest levels of government in the United States.

No longer is it gauche to attack someone based on their beliefs, racial identity, or gender: online or in person. 

Which is why NOW is not the time to play by the rules: their rules.

Now is the time to toss out the rule book and get rebellious. 

Now is the time to be the change.

Mindful, yes. 

Not quiet. Not demure.

Let’s ignore the rules and embrace business-as-Unusual. 

Business as Unusual says… 

• Honor your body’s needs to build a business that doesn’t burn you out

• Center in your strengths for optimal productivity and less overwhelm

• Be intentional and strategic with your online presence

• Market with trauma-informed, ethical approaches that honor agency

• Craft thoughtful services and programs that demonstrate your expertise

• Invite people into deeper work instead of chasing internet fame

• Price to prosperity and sustainability not to fund a “4 hour work week”

• Encourage referrals and repeat business through generosity and excellence

• Own your place in the marketplace and name that privilege

• Break all the Business-as-usual rules (they were never meant for you anyway)

Business as Unusual says your business (or mission-driven organization) is a vehicle for social good and commerce. 

Business as Unusual says you get to decide how to structure your services, offers, and products. 

Business as Unusual says Take. Up. Space. Especially in those spaces (IRL and in the digital sphere) where you, and those like you, are underrepresented. 

Business as Unusual says toss the fear-based marketing and trigger-laden sales tactics: emphasize being of value and generating real connections with the people your business serves. 

Business as Unusual says you don’t need to do what everyone else is doing. Write a book. Develop a Course. Lead a Retreat. Start a Podcast. Start a Revolution. You’re the boss for a reason :) 

Business as Unusual says there is a season for everything. Honor your seasons. 

Business as Unusual = Permission to break all the rules and to …. 

⚡️  Expand your business for the greater good

⚡️  Place better boundaries to avoid burnout

⚡️  Cultivate the radical focus that elevates your influence

⚡️  Rise to your own, values-driven standards for success 

⚡️  Break all the 'business rules' (except your own Rules for Business + Life Alignment)

If you identify as a Rebel with a Cause, I’d love to invite you into Third Jewel —a growth catalyst and leadership circle community to support your exponential expansion (WITHOUT sacrificing your values). 

Join fellow Atypical Founders and Mindful Trailblazers who want to guide their next evolution with the power of intention, community, and strategic action to do more work that matters.

Third Jewel: a boutique leadership circle for female founders + mindful leaders

See you there,

Kellie

Market Your Coaching and Healing Practice Without Social Media

Marketing without social media is possible

It’s true: social proof is essential for large, small, and micro businesses.

But social media isn’t the only kind of social proof. Press, Interviews, Guest Lectures, Course Development, Testimonials, Referrals, High ratings, Raving Reviews, and Client Success Stories are all ways to build your social proof in business.

Plus, relying on social media for client acquisition isn’t ideal for all businesses —especially transformational service providers like Coaches, Healers, Helpers, or Consultants.

Social media companies earn income based on client attention —and on guiding that attention to the content they want to show. That content is monetized and optimized. The higher your social buzz, audience size, and advertising budget, the higher you rank. That doesn’t bode well for independent, small or micro-businesses—like most Coaches, Healers, Helpers and Consultants.

Social media presence and social media advertising are different.

If your business is looking for new leads, paid social media ads are one way to acquire clients who are searching for the solution you’re selling. Paid social ads don’t require a huge following, but they do require investing in an expert (or spending a good chunk of time and resources to DIY it) plus the actual fees for advertising.

With a large enough following, your consistent and relevant social media presence may be enough to bring potential clients to your digital (or actual) doors…

…but you’ll need to spend resources (your own time, a strategic hire’s time, or advertising dollars) to gain that following.

If you don’t have a large social media presence yet, strategic social media advertising can help you reach more of your ideal clients. Targeted ads that drive those interested clients to your valuable, relevant free (or paid) products or services are the aim —and those ads are often effective but require time, testing, and resources.

What if you don’t have a large social media following, a big advertising budget, or a desire to engage on the socials at all?

While you’re growing your following or building your advertising budget, go back to basics! Build or scale your business the time-tested way: and remember that vanity metrics like social media followers are rarely indicative of actual income.

Here are 25 creative ways to build, grow, or scale your business without social media (plus a few that DO require social, but take a stress-less approach).

I used these exact strategies to build my unknown yoga therapy and wellness coaching studio in a small town back in 2008 when social media was a thing… but not a huge thing for business. Those same strategies allowed me to pivot into location-independent training after I closed my studio to spend more time with my little one. And I used these strategies again when I deleted all my social media back in 2019 (I’m back now, but…you get the picture!). Get the full list here.

Plus, here are 20 more ways to grow your business without relying on the algorithms (or paid social media advertisements):

1. Offer memberships or discounted rates to local firefighters, police officers, or other first responders to show appreciation for their service.

2. Partner with a local sports team, special interest group or league to offer training, massage therapy, mindset coaching, or photography sessions to their members. Think: Yoga for Knitters, Mindfulness Training for Golfers, Tai Chi for Bowlers.

3. Host a "Lunch and Learn" events for community organizations, local businesses, or trade organizations. Network before and afterwards with business cards, brochures, or the perfect elevator pitch.

4. Offer mobile services or corporate packages to busy professionals who can't make it to your studio or local business.

5. Attend local trade shows, conferences, or expos related to your niche and network with attendees and other vendors.

6. Host a live webinar, workshop or talk to showcase your expertise and offer a special promotion for attendees. You don’t need fancy equipment and can stream Live on YouTube with nothing more than your smartphone.

7. Offer specialized training, series courses, packages, or classes for specific populations in your niche that deliver a specific, singular solution. Examples: Prenatal Cooking Classes, Meditation for Legal Professionals, Wellness Coaching for WFH Parents.

8. Partner with local non-profit organizations to donate a portion of your profits to their cause. Usually, they’ll offer to feature your business or promote you in their outreach materials.

9. Offer a trial period for new clients to try out your services at a discounted rate, and follow up with them to encourage them to continue working with you once the trial period ends with a special package only available at that time (Pro tip: add value, rather than reduce cost).

10. Create a customer loyalty program that rewards clients for repeat business or for referring new clients. People like to refer people they know and are more eager to do so if you have a system in place.

11. Host a free seminar or workshop on a topic related to your niche and invite your local community to attend. Bonus: invite “sister service providers” and turn it into a Panel where you all build interest and promote one another’s transformational services. More clients book with you, more clients book with them, and everyone benefits. Win-Win-Win.

12. Develop a Talk Show, Podcast or Video Blog, featuring your work and services. Regularly provide valuable content and promote your services at the end of each show or in the show notes. Discuss topics that your ideal clients are interested in, problems they’re already asking about, and showcase how your services or products provide a solution to those problems.

13. Develop a customized corporate package and pitch your local businesses with more than 50 employees. Use this as a way to build your referral network or create a collective to provide services on-location.  

14. Create an online course or e-book and offer it for sale on your website or at trade shows and events.

15. Collaborate with thought leaders in your niche to promote your business with an event, challenge, or contest.

16. Develop a Continuing Education or professional development training for a trade organization in your industry to share your expertise and build your corporate consulting opportunities.

17. Use search engine optimization (SEO) tactics to improve your website's ranking on search engines and attract more traffic. Develop lead magnets for your best SEO ranked content and grow your email list at the same time.

18. Host a contest or giveaway to engage with potential clients and build your brand.

19. Develop a mobile app to make it easy for clients to book appointments and stay connected with your business. Or use one of the integrated apps that comes with course creation membership sites like Passion.io, Thinkific, and AttractWell.

20. Start a Membership site using software (like this or this or this) to grow your community and monetize your creative content at the same time. Substack or Patreon offer email marketing and social sharing options that allow you to market your business and earn income at the same time.

I’d love to know—what are your tried-and-true client attraction strategies that don’t rely on social media?

~Kellie Adkins, MS, C-IAYT

Business Coach + Yoga Therapist

Founder | Wisdom Method Institute

P.S. Want to Map our your non-social media marketing strategy together? Be my VIP.

25 Creative Ways to Build Your Coaching and Healing Practice Without Relying on Social Media

Every business needs a way to reach potential customers.

Your marketing strategy needs to get your Coaching, Healing or Service-based Business in front of the people who want what you have—and who want it now.

Nowadays, most people think of social media as a viable way to market and grow their coaching, healing, or transformational service-based business.

But the truth is that relying on social media for clients isn’t tenable for most businesses because social media trends come and go.

Do you remember MySpace? Tumblr? Periscope? Google+? Yeah, me, too. But no one is using them now.

Social media platforms make their money by keeping people on the platform NOT by sending their users elsewhere (like your website services page).

There are creative and effective ways to market your coaching or healing practice that don’t require much social media.

While the market has shifted considerably in the direction of social proof for businesses, maintaining a strategy that works for you is key….but that doesn’t mean you have to jump on every trend bandwagon or go viral to get clients (and remember, there are other forms of social proof for your business. You’re getting testimonials, right?).

Your marketing strategy needs to get your business in front of the people who want what you have: and who want it now.

That doesn’t require a million followers on social media (or even 1,000). It does require some higher-order thinking, market research, and creativity. In other words: YOU GOT THIS, brilliant one!

When I first started a business in 2007, having a website was a novelty, and a social media presence wasn’t required.

But a business card? Absolutely.

Local networking events? You betcha.

Print advertising and PR: even better.

Back then I didn’t have the budget for glossy paid ads in the local style magazine.

I had to get creative!

Below are 25 things I did to market my Yoga Studio and Coaching Practice, that are as relevant now as they were back then. In fact, when I quit social media for a few years, I relied on these exact strategies to fill my calendar with long-term consulting gigs.

25 ways to attract clients without using social media:

1. Print business cards and give some to friends, family members, and colleagues. Ask them to keep a small stack in their car or purse and hand them out to people that might be a good fit for your services.

2. Host pop-up demonstrations or mini-classes in local parks, botanical gardens, downtown areas, or during large events (ask permission).

3. Collaborate with local partners, such as dance teachers or salons, to create joint events or performances.

4. Develop a signature workshop, training or course and deliver a free mini-course to local businesses or offices during lunch breaks.

5. Print glossy postcards or business-card size passes with your class schedule, website, and discount codes, and distribute them at local gyms, fitness centers, and coffee shops.

6. Offer referral fees or commissions to local health professionals or complementary service providers for sending clients your way.

7. Pitch your training, course, or programs to local colleges, vocational centers, or educational institutions to secure contract gigs.

8. Send personalized emails to people in your network and ask for referrals or introductions to potential clients.

9. Host seasonal special events and open houses or sample classes at your studio and offer exclusive membership packages.

10. Add your Training, Workshops, Courses or classes to Google and share them on local networking and events websites or print publications.

11. Advertise at local farmers' markets, craft fairs, or events that attract your ideal clients.

12. Join your local Chamber of Commerce, municipal business association, or business networking groups and share your elevator pitch during their monthly events.

13. Offer complimentary mini-sessions or exclusive discounts to local service providers that also serve your ideal clients (stylists, estheticians, etc.) in exchange for referrals.

14. Collaborate and co-promote with other practitioners or businesses in your niche or local area for special events.

15. Send thank-you postcards or free class cards to clients, friends, and colleagues to express appreciation and encourage repeat business.

16. Print mini-cards or flyers with your business information and a QR code to a complimentary download (valuable content) and distribute them locally.

17. Organize a charitable fundraising event or sponsor a charitable event in your community.

18. Order custom promotional items, such as water bottles, yoga mats, tote bags, or T-shirts, with your business name and website. Give them to friends and clients. Use them as raffle items or gifts during events. Sell them on your website.

19. Offer special packages and customized classes to members of local churches, community organizations, or neighborhood associations.

20. Teach a series class, signature workshop, or specialized training at a local church or community center and offer their members a special rate for private sessions.

21. Print neon flyers or posters with your business information and distribute them strategically in town and at events (ask permission).

22. Wear branded T-shirts or ask family and friends to do the same to raise awareness about your business.

23. Keep business cards handy for networking events or other opportunities to share your contact information or get one of these nifty cards.

24. Book a booth at local health, wellness, or education events in the area to showcase your business.

25. Order or make special swag that showcases your brand and advertises your business. Then hand out around town or at events. Examples: custom herbal tea sachets with handstamped tags, Wildflower seed paper business cards, Hand-stamped leather cards (upcycled leather, of course).

Ok, and because I can’t stop myself, here are 4 more ideas that do require social media, yet allow you to be more strategic in your use since content on these platforms performs well in driving traffic to your website and has a longer shelf life than Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.

*Want even more? Here are 20 more marketing ideas to grow your coaching, healing or helping practice that don’t rely on social media.

For a “stress less” approach to social media marketing:

1. Start a YouTube channel and create content optimized for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to drive traffic to your website.

2. Start a Substack, Vimeo, or Patreon account to monetize your content, then share bits of paid content to your social media channels to increase your subscriber base (pre-schedule the posts for even less stress).

3. Write and publish a book, e-book, audio book or podcast, sell it on Amazon, Etsy or your website. Promote it everywhere you go.

4. Craft a public talk or presentation. Contact local organizations to invite you to speak at their events. Promote your book and / or services when you do!

I’d love to know—what are some non-social media ways you attract clients?

If you liked this post and you want to learn more about scaling your business for more influence and ease, join me every week for LIVE workshops to make growing your business more fun (and less stressful).

With gratitude,

~Kellie Adkins

Business Alignment Coach + Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT)

Founder | Wisdom Method School of Yoga

P.S. If you missed KULA CONVERSATIONS today, join the Kula and catch the replay right here! I share my simple 3-step process for creating irresistible courses your clients want NOW, not later.

P.P.S. Want to Map our your non-social media marketing strategy together? Start here.

Grow your Healing or Coaching Business Beyond one-to-one Sessions

An Epistle on Expansion

Or, making the case for growth even if you’re not maxed out on 1x1 services (yet)

Dear Reader:

As a fellow 1x1 service provider for most of my career (Yoga Therapist, Wellness Coach, and Business Coach), I humbly offer the following case for expanding your work beyond the bounds of 1-to-1 or premium services as early in your career as possible.

Indeed, this applies whether you’re building your private client practice or currently maxed out with private clients.

As you read this letter, consider the wonder of these words reaching through the ether to greet your eyes on the magical fantastical creation you now hold.

Through this device and its connection to the internet, you have access to millions of teachings that provide insight into better health, greater well-being, and more purposeful living.

Before the digital age, this type of learning was layered beneath circles of privilege and kept behind ivory towers.

It is a wonder to have access to this once-cloistered information—and all at your fingertips.

Digital courses democratize access (to an extent).

In time, it is my hope, that more healing, helping, and self-development teachings will be shared even more widely for more meaning, engagement, and well-being outside the circles of privilege of higher education, whiteness, able-bodiedness, and neurotypicality.

In my view, sharing the skillset you’ve carefully curated over the duration of your career is an act of social justice: widening and improving access to powerful healing and helping tools the world needs. 

All humans need these tools, not only those who can afford to pay a premium rate for your one-to-one services. Even more so if you serve an underserved community that is hard to reach.

I know you don’t do the Work for fame, money, or bragging rights. 

You do it for the mission 

You do it because it changed your life

You share this Work for a healthier, happier, and kinder world

There are more people who need what you are sharing—and the world needs your insight.

This letter is an invitation, yes, and it’s also a rallying cry.

If you’re a healer, helper, or change-maker and you AREN’T on fire about lighting up (more of) the world with your gifts…maybe there’s a good reason. 

But if that reason is that you don’t know where to begin…

Let’s start together, right now.

In your 1-to-1 services, you provide a safe container for clients to facilitate their own transformation. Your clients come to you with frustrations, pain, suffering, and problems…and your valuable work provides a solution.

There are so many “problems” your work solves.

Think of a few right now. Then:

Pick one and dig deep, and..

Think of the people who need that problem solved …right now.

What do they need to get that problem solved?

How can you provide a solution in the most effective, time-sensitive way—that isn’t 1-to-1?

People have pain that you know how to reduce, symptoms your support helps them in resolving or mental barriers your techniques breakthrough.

You can only reach so many as a 1x1 service provider because your time and energy are finite.

What if…

You create a resource, a guidebook, a mini-class, a workshop, an on-demand training they can access focused on that specific issue? 

You don’t have to deliver a massive group course, create a clunky membership site, or become internet-famous to expand your work in a mindful way.

What if…

You deliver a single, targeted solution in a way that feels aligned with your goals and your values: that specific people will benefit from again and again.

a mini-book

an on-demand guide

a curated course

a private podcast

a signature talk 

a protocol 

a series class

a Retreatshop

Expanding a small portion of your work to a wider audience allows more people to benefit from your gifts while allowing you to honor your commitment to equity, inclusion, and access.

What, then?

Need more ideas? Join us in the Kula for my full idea brain dump today plus a special invitation to a new way to work with me (hint: DIY is soooo last year. DIT is where it’s at!).

Kula Conversations // WHY IT'S TIME TO CREATE YOUR COURSE ALREADY! The ins and outs of course creation, Kula Conversation-style, today at 1 pm Eastern (10 am Pacific).

You'll learn ...

Where to begin (it isn't where you'd expect)

How to structure for maximum results (and client rave reviews)

Why you want to do it now (and your first action to take!)

See y’all there!

xo,

Kellie Adkins, MS, C-IAYT

Business Alignment Coach + Yoga Therapist

Founder | the Wisdom Method