I always knew I was going to be a working mother.
I’m fiercely competitive. I have a creative and overactive mind, and I love working to create new things.
So when I became pregnant for the first time, I took all the time I could get from my permanent employment, knowing that I’d return in good time and it would all go back to the way it was…
Except it never did.
Little did I know, I was about to discover that having a baby and working full-time wasn't compatible…
…not in Australia in 2011 if you’re the one with the womb the baby is growing inside.
Soon after I became pregnant, an opportunity opened up for a promotion.
I was the perfect candidate for the role and I knew it; my manager knew it, HR knew it, and even our regional manager knew it.
But when I applied, they told me, “It’s probably not the best time to apply, given that you’re about to go on maternity leave”.
If someone said that to me today, my reaction would not be the same as when I was 30.
I remember getting in my car after that meeting, feeling disappointed and angry. But, because I am an optimist, I chose not to focus on what I had lost. Instead, I focused on the joy of having maternity leave and taking a year off to be with baby Milla when she was born.
2012 – Learning What It Means to Be a Working Mother
It was April when I returned to work full-time.
I felt excited to be at work, talking to other adults about anything other than the color of body fluids.
But leaving my 10-month-old for 8 hours a day left me with a deep feeling of darkness in my soul.
Things I used to tolerate at work now became a GIANT waste of time.
I was angry and depressed all day.
I looked forward to going home to my baby, but once I got home, I was tired and distant and felt like I had failed at work and home.
2013 – Feeling Desperate and Alone
I started thinking that there must be another way!
Surely, my only options cannot be a Door No. 1/Door No. 2 situation where –
Door No. 1: Stay at home full-time: Have no money, let the creative, dynamic part of my brain rot and fall off, but get cuddles all day.
Door No. 2: Work for a boss full-time: Make good money and feel creatively stimulated, but have no control of my time, no say over my priorities, and no flexibility to balance MY priorities around what matters to ME!
Each of these came with resentment, depression, sadness, and anger.
I felt stuck in a trap no one had prepared me for.
So when I became pregnant with baby Elle in 2013, I immediately started planning my exit strategy!
Crafting My Exit Plan
One day, driving in my car, I heard an ad on the radio for an event for moms who want to learn how to start online businesses.
“You don’t need to sell a product; you need to have a skill that you can teach someone else.”
It sounded like a dream come true!
They’ll teach me how to identify my skills, package them as a course, and sell the course to people using social media.
How hard can that be, right?
Right!?
I slowly started looking into this online courses thing…
And started dreaming about it, but I didn’t do much about it yet.
Until one day…
A day that started like every other day—but this day was different.
On this day, all the other mommies stayed for the annual Mother’s Day morning tea.
I couldn’t stay; I had a plane to catch for work!
I got back in my car, leaving little Milla crying at the gate with her tiny arm reaching through the bars shouting at me to come back!
As soon as I turned the first corner, I pulled over and cried… and cried… and cried.
I cried for that woman who felt completely trapped, helpless, and victimized by a system I never knew would betray me once I became a parent.
As I drove away that day, watching Milla cry at the gate, I committed to…
a) finding a way to use my time and my brain to earn as much money as I can and
b) never answering to anyone but myself about how I spend my time and how I balance my work and family priorities!
Working Hard and Failing Harder
Eagerly, I started learning everything I could about how to get this online courses thing off the ground.
Some people said, “Start talking on social media” so I did that.
Some others said, “Start building an email list” so I did that.
Some people said, “Start a coaching business” so I did that.
Some people said, “Forget coaching, sell lower-priced offers to the masses” so I did that.
Over 3 years, I bought course after course, tried this solution, then that solution, learned this step-by-step program, and then the next one.
Every time I hoped that the NEXT one would finally connect all the dots for me and get me to some consistency in my income.
Meanwhile, Elle was born, and I was attending networking events for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The girls were both going to daycare full time so I had more time to figure out how to build an online courses business – or any business for that matter!!!
I’d make a few hundred dollars here and there.
Sometimes I even made a few thousand dollars in one month when I sold a coaching package.
But I was working 70 hours a week and racking up debt to pay for all the courses. I was not making consistent money and worst of all, I felt like a terrible mother because I was never fully present with my kids.
The Big Breakthrough
Then I found Amy Porterfield!
And everything started to change.
I bought her ‘Webinars That Convert’ course in 2015 and created my first online course soon after that.
I was all fired up and ready to take action, but then my dad, who lived in South Africa, suddenly got sick, and I had to put everything on hold.
Another setback, I thought.
I had to make it work, soon!!
I was running out of money!
I was falling behind!
I was running out of time!
My ever-so-patient husband turned gray fast. The stress of all the expenses with no income from my business was draining his enthusiasm for my entrepreneurial endeavors.
No matter how much I believed in myself, I had to admit that I did not know for sure when this would finally pay off.
So I gave it one more shot before the end of 2015.
I used everything Amy taught me, I…
- Built my email list.
- Created my course.
- Created my webinar launch.
- Ran ads to fill my webinar.
- Then I successfully launched my first course: ‘The Facebook Live Superstar – Learn to confidently go live on Facebook even if you don’t know what to say.'
And it was PROFITABLE!!!!!
I MADE A WHOPPING $2,000!!!
Not enough to save me from going back to my day job to pay off my debt, but enough to know that I had a system that worked and I had a mentor I could trust.
Amy Porterfield’s patient and compassionate teaching style meant I could follow along step by step to create my first profitable online course launch!
Finally, a system I could rely on and rinse and repeat for consistent success, and a mentor who supported me every step of the way.
Finding Massive Success
After that, I launched The Facebook Live Superstar a few more times, profitably.
I did have to go back to my job to pay off the $40,000 debt I’d racked up over the 3 years it took to get the business off the ground.
But this time, it was different…
I made a deal with my husband that I’d go back to work if I could keep $1,000 each month for my business to keep learning from Amy.
He agreed, and I signed up for her ‘BSchool Bonus’ because it was going to get me access to live Q&A calls with Amy for most of the rest of 2017!
It also got me a seat in a room in San Diego at her very first live event – ‘The Entrepreneur Experience with Amy Porterfield’.
In 2017, I showed up to every coaching call Amy offered.
And slowly I started creating more consistent profit!
At the end of 2017, I boarded an airplane and flew 30 hours to get to San Diego to meet Amy. Nothing would stop me from being in a room with so many leaders in the online courses industry.
It was life-changing!
For the first time, I believed that I could do it too.
When I came home, I quit my job and started my Facebook and Instagram Ads Agency.
Amy Porterfield, My Mentor For Over 9 Years
Today, I'm a top Facebook and Instagram Ads trainer. I coach multi-7-figure course creators to scale their launches.
My team and I have been behind the scenes for many profitable live and evergreen funnels that made millions of dollars for the course creators.
Online Course Marketing is in my bones. I love sharing the opportunity this $350 Billion industry offers women like me. Women who want control of their lives without giving up the freedom to earn money or make an impact in the world.
That’s how it was for me with Amy Porterfield.
I followed her system, step-by-step, without knowing all the “whys” I know today.
I trusted her, asked her for help, and she guided me for years!
It’s been 9 years since I bought my first Amy Porterfield course, and I’ve bought everything she sells since then because it's THAT GOOD!
Every year, I am so proud that Amy also asks me to teach her students how to successfully run their own Facebook and Instagram ads.
Learning from Amy Porterfield made all the difference.
Getting to share her incredible course with the world fills me with joy (and fills my pockets too).
Ready to be “Course Confident”?
