This podcast episode is the back story of how we launched our #GetSocialSmart Academy – our on-demand 24/7 learning platform. The Academy was born out of my love for online learning (check out episode 007 for that story) but even more so - from the droves of people asking me all the time about how I could help them. I’d be on-stage and invariably afterward I would always get tons of questions about coaching and if we could help them personally. I knew we didn’t want to just serve a handful of people but we wanted to serve thousands!

Another pain point for me is that yes, there is a TON of information online about social media – but a lot of it is outdated or has nothing to do with real estate. Plus, we really felt like there wasn’t a place for an agent or broker to learn how to put a complete strategy together. 

Fast-forward to the end of 2015 – we had successfully run many of our live 6-week programs and it was at that time I discovered live streaming, specifically Periscope. It was during this time I spoke at the first Periscope Summit in NYC and met someone I had looked up to for years – Kim Garst. I nervously approached her and asked her advice about my business. She told me the power of creating online courses and online training is the ability to serve more people - I will never forget that. I wasn’t looking for a “get rich quick” scheme or “the easy button.” I was truly looking for a way to serve more people and grow and scale our company. Kim has been an amazing mentor to me and even wrote the forward to my book in 2017 - #GetSocialSmart!

After that event, I saw down with our small team and brainstormed and quickly after that launched our Academy. And as you may imagine, if you’ve listened to other episodes of this podcast, it wasn’t perfect. But guess what, done is better than perfect!

Today, our Academy family has included thousands of people over the years and we are so proud of the tribe we have attracted by staying true to our mission and what we are all about. That leads me to our next episode, which is all about how we made some BIG changes in our business!

Lessons learned:

• Listen to your gut. If you have an idea – there is an idea, there is a need. Sometimes we are our on worst enemy
• Start with where you are. You don’t have to have anything perfect. If I would have waited until everything was perfect, nothing would have changed.
• You don’t have to be all things to all people. You don’t have to serve everyone. Lean into your niche. Where are you known?

Additional resources:

• Visit me at KatieLance.com for more info about my speaking, consulting and our #GetSocialSmart Academy
• Follow me on Instagram for more behind-the-scenes into my life and business @katielance (Enjoying this podcast? Tag me on IG and let me know!)
• #GetSocialSmart book on Amazon 
• Connect with Kim Garst here!