If you have an online business, then you’ve likely had those moments on the kitchen floor, crying into a tub of ice cream, wondering why your course isn’t making the six-figure splash you expected. When I first experienced this back in 2020 with my first online course, birth trauma training for birthworkers, the person who helped me feel less shame about it was Dr Rebecca Ray.
Beck is not only a brilliant clinical psychologist but also a bestselling author and a speaker who has spent years navigating the entrepreneurial trenches. 10 years ago, Beck walked away from her thriving private practice due to burnout. She’s since returned, but in the space in between she invested a lot of time, money and energy into selling online courses. I spoke with her on the Mess Behind the Success podcast about what it was like to experience failure in that space, and what she learned from it.
Beck and I have both felt the frustration of pouring our hearts into projects that didn’t get the response we hoped for. I’ve personally found such comfort in her no-BS attitude about business woes and learning curves. Beck is one of the rare voices who strips away the gloss to reveal the reality of what it means to hustle online.
Hearing her admit that some strategies simply don’t align with her well-being was a much-needed comfort. It’s the type of truthfulness that resonates. Especially when you feel like you’re the only one not hitting those ‘big’ milestones like six or seven figure launches.
For many of us, the pressure to succeed in the online course space has us trying every tactic under the sun. We’re talking weekly newsletters, nurture sequences with endless emails, podcasts, Facebook groups and creating monthly lead magnets. These are often the things that business coaches will say are non-negotiable, so we do them only to find that the revenue didn’t match the effort. Beck reminds us of the importance of recognising when something’s not working, not just for the bank account but for our nervous system.
Beck shows us that being real, messy and unapologetically imperfect can lead to more fulfilling connections and achievements. In her case, she was able to find that book publishing has been more fulfilling. She’s upcycled a large portion of her course content into best selling books, so nothing is wasted. Proof that as therapists, we can pivot and redefine success on our own terms.
I hope this conversation with Beck will reaffirm that it’s perfectly okay to change direction, to say ‘nope’ when something doesn’t serve us, and to openly admit when we fail and learn from it. Nothing is wasted. You can always lean into different seasons of business as a therapist. There have been some years where I’ve focussed more on creative outlets like book writing, developing coaching programs or courses and others where I’m on a creative hiatus and I feel more content doing therapy work. Options are great to have, but if you’re too scared of failure then you won’t know what options suit your nervous system!
LINKS
Connect with Rebecca:
Website: https://rebeccaray.com.au/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rebecca-ray-68831b238/
Instagram: @drrebeccaray
Connect with Erin:
Website: https://doctorerin.com.au/
Instagram: @doctorerinbowe
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-erin-bowe-81232b29/
