In many ways, it is an exciting time to be a woman or member
of another marginalized group. I don’t mean to diminish the hate and vitriol
that is prevalent in a certain U.S. political party, but that's a whole other post.
Today, I am thinking about
how many inspirational voices there are, speaking to us. Women, people of color, LGBTQ+
people, etc. who are out there, sharing their work, sharing their knowledge in an effort
to lift up the rest of us. It’s
beautiful and amazing.
People like Cathy Heller, Jenna Kutcher, Amy Porterfield, Rachel Rodgers, the Dow Janes, the Courageous Brand, Marie Forleo, just to name a few. They are writing books, producing podcasts and sharing tidbits of knowledge via their social media platforms. Their voices are what this world so desperately needs.
This quote has resonated with me for a long time. Sending the elevator back down for the next person (cause, let's not limit it to just women!) How powerful that concept
is. Raising one another up, making room
at the top.
Yet, it seems that at some point, these smart, innovative people fall into the same old-school thinking as the predominantly white male leaders that have come before them – creating offerings that are only accessible by an elite few. The elevator becoming a very expensive carrot, inaccessible to those who do not have disposable income.
Most of them are generous enough to offer either free or low-cost opportunities to engage those who are just starting out. Some of them provide incredible value in these limited-time/low-cost opportunities (I am looking at you, Rachel Rodgers and Amy Porterfield). But the one thing they all have in common is that the second step is a B*ITCH.
Those free/low-cost opportunities always include a sales
pitch for their programs, masterminds, etc. Of course, they are running a business and profitability is always the end goal. I am happy to sit through a sales pitch to glean whatever I can from what they are offering. But what I REALLY want, the is the opportunity to get to the next step, is always out of my reach.
After investing between $0 and $100, the next step consistently is $2000-$10,000+. That is a HUGE step for someone just starting out.
One of these women who I greatly admire and whose work I can truly say was life-changing, offered a 5-day session for $100-$300. At the end, they offered a special webinar to hear more. The webinar was broken down based on how much your business was currently making annually, the smallest category being $0-$30K. Not only is that a really wide range, but one of the registration questions was “Can you afford a five figure investment [for the next class]”?!? Uh… what???
So the expectation is that, at best, this offer requires you to spend one-third of your annual earnings. It’s not reasonable or realistic.
The mantra of many of this new genre of mentors and leaders is about sending the elevator back down. Lifting up marginalized people. Helping them launch their own businesses/offerings. Freeing them them from dependence on jobs that are often lead by old-school white men. Empowering them to step into their own power and bring their gifts into the world.
Yet the price tags leave an awful lot of us without a seat at the table. You only get to be part of the club if you are already a member.
I have heard some of these women tell their own stories of how they put a deposit down on a masterclass, not knowing how they were going to pay for the rest of it. One has said, “If you really want it, you will figure out how to pay for it.” Another suggests that we won’t value what we are getting if it we aren’t paying a super high price for it. Several tell us that our lives are defined by the five people we spend the most time with. Yet the cost of engaging with people who can lift us up is beyond our financial resources.
This gaslighting is so harmful on so many levels. Not being able to invest 4-5 figures into a masterclass often has no relevance to how much we want something. Paying out money we don’t have, or worse, putting it on a credit card, is not fiscally wise, and I would argue that it is irresponsible to suggest that someone do that. We aren’t choosing whether to invest in their program or keep that money in the bank. The choice is whether to invest in the program or pay our mortgage, or keep the heat/water/lights on, or pay for medication, or pay for our kids clothes/activities/education.
I can't help but wonder -- Could the 17 year-old songwriter, trying to survive in LA, afford Cathy Heller’s programs? Could the young black mother of young children, who was out of work at the same time as her husband, afford to attend ROI or join The Club? How would it feel to them to hear that their inability to pay meant they weren’t really invested in their dreams? Would either of them survived investing thousands of dollars they didn’t have into a program?
More importantly, what would it have meant to them to have had the opportunity to be in a community with other like-minded people? How might they have benefited with access to a mentor and an affordable program to light the way? How might their lives have been different?
Newton’s First Law of Motion tells us that a body at rest or a body in motion will remain that way unless a force is acted upon it. It also tells us that it takes a lot more effort to get moving than to keep moving. Yet those who are just starting out are unable to access the extra force needed to get moving.
I am not suggesting that these thought leaders reduce the value of what they offer. I understand and talk about value pricing daily as part of my job. I get it and I applaud it.
I am challenging them to find ways to better align with their
professed values. That they use their
creativity and wisdom to figure out how to build a bigger table and a ladder
with more rungs.
Surely there is a way to offer these lessons and materials in bite-sized pieces. Maybe someone can’t afford a year-long program for $2500 but could swing a $300 program with six-months access to just the first level. Asynchronous learning with limited in-person or electronic interaction for questions, clarification or direction, for example.
Yes, the journey will take them longer, and probably cost them more in the long run. But at least they will be moving. Once they are moving, that makes the next step more attainable. And the next. And the next.
I truly believe that after the initial investment, a format with smaller steps and commensurate pricing will ultimately increase the profitability of these organizations, because right now, they are earning $0 from a lot of us.
Wanting to make the world a better place is laudable. Making the tools accessible to those who need them most is the greatest gift and most effective way to achieve that goal.
