People have been asking me why I left CoachVille at the end of last month. A few have mentioned that I was one of their favorite teleclass leaders and that they'll miss me. And a lot have signed up for my mailing lists. Really gratifying. And touching.
As for why I left, it was a slow, tough decision, but definitely the right one for me, right now. And the reasons are varied and complex. I'll just mention the main ones, here.
If I had to distill it down to energy management or money management, I'd have to say energy management is the real reason I left. One thing I've learned, for sure, from designing the Fully Alive Community for CV, is that energy management is one of my prime objectives in life. Managing my own and teaching others how to manage theirs. It's called Radical Care.
That said, you can't ignore money in life (and especially in business) and money was definitely a deciding factor for me.
When CoachVille Communities launched last year, a team of of intensely loyal CoachVille employees and members, including me, set about to "save" CoachVille, which had suffered some terrible financial blows in the interim between Thomas' ownership of the company and Dave's. The Pioneer Coaches, who launched the communities and taught the classes, agreed to work for a percentage of the profits, which were slim at the time, but which we were confident, would rise eventually.
It was a huge job. We had to recreate the website practically from the ground up. I was putting in 30-40 hours per week on CoachVille and a similar amount on my own business, which was what was supporting me. Not surprisingly, a lot of mistakes were made. I still cringe when I think about it! Obviously, that couldn't continue for long, so we started bringing in Assistant Community Coaches, volunteers, who could help us. And our work load became far more sane.
I was so enthusiastic (or crazy) in the beginning, that I worked on five different communities in the first six months before I settled on the CoachVille Coaching System and Fully Alive. (The others were Core Dynamics, Personal Environments, and Teleclass Leaders.)
I must say, working so hard has a way of forcing you to grow - fast! I wouldn't know what I know now any other way and I'll always be grateful for the opportunity. But hard work leads to burn out, too.
Making radical changes in a company is dangerous. You run the risk of alienating your loyal customers and you don't know if new customers will like you, either. It usually takes time to know whether the changes you made are going to be a success or a disaster. During that time, you may not be profitable.
CoachVille really had no choice but to change for a variety of reasons (I'm not going to go into them here). The jury is still out on whether the new CoachVille will be the huge success most of us think it could be. We've doubled the membership and the number of daily hits to the website. Plus, the company has had some recent financial successes and those may signal a turning point toward success, but suffice it to say, so far the profits have been disappointing.
For the past several months, CoachVille hasn't been able to pay its instructors and loyal as I am, I need to work for a living. I love what I do and I don't mind putting in a lot of hours, but it's not a hobby.
Actually, my objection to working for free for CoachVille goes deeper than that. I have a problem with a for-profit company whose employees (most of them) are working for free, especially when that company is trying to teach other professionals how to have profitable businesses. CoachVille just isn't walking its talk at the moment. I know they're trying their best, but there's still a disconnect.
I think that so many Community Coaches working for free for more than a short time just allows CoachVille to play small. I'd like to see the company borrow money or bring in investors to help it meet its shortfall, while it's on the road to becoming sustainably profitable, again. That would give the management team the breathing space to focusing on long-term success instead of short-term profits.
Feeling as I do has caused CoachVille to become an emotional drain for me. I needed to disconnect to protect my energy. I'm still a Certifier (and I get paid for that!), but other than that, I'm free to concentrate on my own projects and that's really exciting!
Well, this is a pretty revealing post! CoachVille may not appreciate my telling its business, but it's my business, too. Plus, coaches are asking and I think they deserve to know.
I launched the Confab last Spring with the challenge, to myself and members, to be "relentlessly constructive". For me, being open and honest is a big part of that. Not as a weapon, but as a tool for creating the world we want to live in. As Dave Buck once said, "The truth will set you free, but it may piss you off in the meantime!"
Another thing that I learned from Dave is that I'm a Manifestor, someone who is highly creative and productive and who is likely to insert my big foot in my big mouth from time to time. If I've done that today, my apologies!
(Update, 7-19-05: I just received an email from the CV accountant indicating that I will be paid for March thrugh June. Don't know what happened and I'm not going to speculate, but I'm glad to hear it!)
Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2005 http://www.coachingconfab.com
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