I haven’t shared this publicly until today.
Here at Hello Seven, March 2020 was one of our worst months in the company’s history.
Several clients canceled all at the same time due to the pandemic.
Team members felt drained, strained, and worried about the future of the company.
Nobody was feeling like a badass, even though that’s how we described Hello Seven every day.
And I felt like a failure.
But then, one year later, we had one of our best months of all time. In March 2021, we made over a million dollars with remarkable ease.
So, how did this miraculous turnaround happen? Today, I want to share just that.
And, I’m going to show you our actual revenue numbers from March 2020 and March 2021, so you can understand just how unbelievable this transformation has been.
> Go here to see our March 2020 revenue numbers, compared to March 2021, and the story of what happened in between. Decisions we made. Bold changes. How we recovered and got stronger.
March 2020, the hot mess express:
At this point, we were offering numerous programs. We had a high-level business coaching program, a 10-week cohort-based coaching program, a retreat in France, and a course on how to shift your money mindset and believe in your worthiness.
It seems logical to assume that having multiple programs would be good for business. Because more programs means more money, right?
Wrong.
To cut a long story short, we were offering way too many things at once. Too much to promote. Too much to deliver. Too many balls in the air. Just too much, period.
The result? Our team was over-stretched and frazzled trying to bring all these programs and courses to life. I preach about thriving in your zone of genius, but here I was leading a team that was spreading itself thin, doing work that was far outside of that zone.
We were disconnected from our company focus. Our operations were a jumbled mess because we were trying to do all the things, with limited capacity.
As if that weren’t enough, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. Several of our clients started missing payments or cancelling their memberships, which placed a financial and emotional strain on the company.
While all of this was happening, I was in the middle of writing my first book, but I was distracted by all the drama that was happening in the company and around the world. I was struggling to hit deadlines from my publisher, and finishing the book felt impossible.
My stress levels got so bad that I hysterically cried into my Voxer app to my amazing Operations Director, Brittany, while sitting in a bubble bath trying to make myself feel better.
This was my turning point – the process of offloading my feelings of stress and fear and overwhelm allowed me to free up much-needed mental space so that I could start seeing solutions instead of problems.
I knew there had to be something we could do to create a shift. But what was that something?
These are the 5 steps we took that changed the course of Hello Seven’s success forever:
1. We tapped into a new audience.
We realized that hundreds, maybe even thousands of people wanted to work with us, but needed a more affordable option than our previous $30k mastermind program. To serve this new audience, we needed to figure out the right offer.
2. We made bold moves.
We shut down all our programs and decided to recommit to what we knew worked best: going ALL IN on selling just one offer, not several. And so, We Should All Be Millionaires: The Club was born, priced at $295 a month – a 99% decrease from the price of our mastermind. Like I said, bold moves.
3. We got way more specific with our messaging.
In our newsletter, blog, podcast, and social media channels, we made our mission extremely clear: We’re here to serve women, people of color, queer folks, and other people who have been financially oppressed and marginalized throughout history. We want to help you earn more money, build wealth, and learn how to become a millionaire.
4. We made developing a positive mindset a top priority.
Instead of panicking about the pandemic and bracing ourselves for the worst, we planned for the best. We asked ourselves questions like, “How can we thrive during this time? How can we make this our best year ever?” We also got serious about self-care. We pledged, as a team, to take better care of ourselves and do our best work, but not over-work. Our motto became, “Let it be easy.”
5. I became a lot more vocal about my own values.
On May 30, 2020, I sat on my porch and got on IG Live to let off some steam about performative activism and allyship in the face of police brutality in America. What I thought was just a 20-minute venting session with my followers became a viral video seen by 425k+ people.
For the first time, I shared my raw, honest, candid feelings about a social issue that means a lot to me as a Black woman and the mother of Black children. And my anger really resonated with so many people. It also pissed some people off, but that’s the point. I was able to speak out and own my beliefs without caring what other people thought.
And in the end, that rant led to a flood of people joining We Should All Be Millionaires: The Club.
By June 2020, everything changed. Our Club had new members flooding in weekly. We had our first million dollar month—$1 million in revenue in 30 days. We were even able to give our team bonuses! In the face of so many challenges, this was an incredible turnaround.
Fast forward one year…
We realized that our first million dollar month in June 2020 wasn’t just a fluke. In March 2021, we generated over $1 million in revenue. This gave us hope that this could be our new normal.
So, how did we hit that number, not once, but twice?
We listened to our audience.
After conducting surveys and talking to our Club members, numerous people told us that they would be happy to pay for more content, and more personalized attention.
Based on that feedback, we decided to offer a higher-level coaching program, as an addition to The Club: The Hello Seven Incubator. And the response was overwhelming.
We promoted this new offer during a one-hour lunchtime presentation with our Club members, and around 70% of the spots got snapped up immediately after. We didn’t have to struggle or work late nights or cry in bathtubs to make it happen. It just happened.
Here’s what we’ve learned since last year:
– Keep it simple. Don’t try to do all the things in an attempt to make more money. Focus on one strong offer and promote the shit out of it. Then, watch the money flow to you.
– Be willing to burn things down and start fresh. Be willing to make bold changes. This doesn’t necessarily mean starting over completely with an entirely new business, audience, or message. But, it could mean streamlining and packaging your skills in a new-and-better way.
– Take care of yourself first. Because if you’re not thriving, how can you expect your business or your career to thrive?
– Stay true to yourself and your mission. Trying to serve everyone with vague messaging is equivalent to serving no one. Speak up about what you believe in, so that your audience can find you where you are.
– Listen closely to your audience. There might be a million dollar offer sitting right in front of your nose. You just need to wake up and pay attention to realize it.
There are so many lessons we’ve learned, as a company, over the last year. But those are a few highlights that stand out.
What have you learned in the last year?
What do you want to be celebrating one year from today?
And what’s one change you could make that would immediately bring you more peace, power, time, energy, revenue, or all of the above?
Whatever you want, take one step today to set things in motion. Get your plan together—and put in the effort to get where you want to be.
Even if things suck right now, keep going. You could be one decision away from 10xing your revenue.
xo,
Rachel
PS. For the first time since January, we’re re-opening the doors to We Should All Be Millionaires: The Club. REALLY soon. If you’re ready to start a 3-year journey to 7 figures in a diverse, inclusive Club made specifically for systematically marginalized groups, join the waitlist today and look out for an important email this week.
