How this certified neurofeedback practitioner went from $0 to $48k months in just over a year.

6:22AM Apr 1, 2022

Speakers:

Sylvie McCracken

Darla

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live streamed online. All right, awesome. Well welcome everybody if you are seeing us hearing us, it's saying redirecting to Facebook live so I think we're finally live on Facebook. My name is Sylvie McCracken, if we haven't met yet, from Sylvie McCracken calm and I'm a business coach for health professionals and today I'm joined by my incredible client Darla Melvin's from mind potential NW calm is that right Darla? Yes, and Darla is a certified Neurofeedback practitioner among a million other certifications to learn. She is one of my learner, holics students for life, which I love, love, love and also runs a private wellness practice in Portland, Oregon. So welcome, Darla, thank you for being here to share your experience today.

Thanks for having me. It's exciting. It's been an amazing gosh, I guess it's been what 1617 months that I've been working with you now. Y'all started with you in May and then joined you're actually

yeah, it was it was to two different programs now. So we'll we'll go through that whole whole journey. Yeah. And and you know, it's been amazing has been just getting to know you over this time, but also just just witnessing the journey witnessing the growth and all that stuff. So what I wanted to really start with is well, first of all, what were you doing before you went online? You know, entirely? What are you doing one on one in your day to day in your day to day job? Well, mostly practice? What was that? What did that look like?

Yeah, so I've got this wellness practice here in Portland, Oregon. And I am working my way out of it since my online program is really taking off, which is super exciting. I'm in that practice, I'm a certified qualified mental health professional and also do some drug and alcohol counseling, mostly relapse prevention, and I'm certified nutrition as well. And then I do neurofeedback, which is a way of helping the brain learn how to self regulate by training it to moderate its own patterns,

I love it. And I love the fact that you help. Well, you know, these are all really, really big things as the daughter of you know, a, you know, an addict. And, you know, just I feel like the addiction is so so prevalent these days. I love, love, love this work. And I love the impact that you're having. And most importantly we get jazzed up by your testimonials more than anything else. So you know, but what does this work look like in terms of you know, people have to come in to you in person you're it's very hands on, what does that look like in terms of day to day

is very hands on, I was doing just a teeny teeny tiny bit of online work occasionally most some phone sessions here and there, but people were coming to my office for an hour at a time, it was all one on one work. And and pretty much when COVID hit I had to close my doors because everything in the state of Oregon here shut down for pretty much 12 weeks. Yeah,

so that part, you know, that's what it's so it's so like, hopefully, that won't be relevant in 20 years from now anyone watching a recording 20 years later, but I feel like that all kind of you know, took the health world by storm, you know, year and a half, two years ago, and really made it so that, you know, for practitioners like yourself that really were one on one, you know, whether it's, you know, hands on or even online, one on one, all of a sudden that came, it came sort of crashing down in terms of you know, we you've always known you needed to do something else. But now all of a sudden it was like, and by tomorrow, you better figure something else out. So what did that look like in that moment of guess what, you can't see anyone in person anymore? Starting now?

Well, honestly, I spent a couple of weeks with my head in the sand of like, oh my gosh, you know, I was feeling overwhelmed. You know, both my partner and I are self employed. And so both of us had no work and we have then first grader, now a second grader, navigating the homeschools situation, but I, I was in a little bit of a panic and a bit of a tailspin of, okay, how much savings do I have? Right? Am I even qualify for unemployment? And I write in this state, that, you know, my clients come into me way but but I was in it myself. And you know, being a resourceful person and being somebody who's I've dedicated my entire career to studying resilience, and particularly post adverse experiences, like how do people rise above and beyond those things. And I'm very resourceful. And I had been following you on social media for quite a while had listened to your webinar signed up for it again. Because I was like, You know what, I need to pivot. I've been wanting to go online, I have no idea how to do it. I write somebody who's got the expertise, the experience, and who i feel like i i gel with and I just I liked your style, and so

well. And what I love about that is I mean, well, first of all, I mean, it totally makes sense in terms of head in the sand for a little bit. Also in the early days of this. We didn't really know if we were in it for eight weeks, or I don't think any of us could predict that it was really going to be this long. So I think like that,

I thought I thought three weeks, I was like I sent a letter to my clients saying, in three weeks, I'll be open again.

We were so young and so naive, right? Um, but you know, so So that's, you know, it makes perfect sense. But then also, the other thing that you brought up that I really love is that you are, you know, you know, for those of you that don't know, I'm a huge nerd when it comes to personality, profiling, and that kind of thing. And you're just a very high Fact Finder and someone that loves researching and knowing the details, and not not an impulsive person, not someone that will see a Facebook ad and join in 24 hours. So I love that you mentioned that you were just sort of listening and learning and waiting and signed up for a webinar twice, right? Because sometimes it really takes that and then it takes this life event and both of those things coming together to be like, alright, yeah, maybe I'll do something else, maybe maybe we get to look into this. So I love that. So So tell me a little bit more about that in terms of, you know, what were your kind of hesitations in the early days, because of course, you know, what we do, just kind of explain to anyone listening in is really we help practitioners, we help health professionals, whether it's a physical therapist, nutritionist, a doctor, emergency medicine, anything, you know, that has expertise and knowledge, really package that intellectual property and take it online and put it into a course or an online program. And, you know, so I just remember those early days. And I would love for you to share in terms of like, I was like, in the beginning, because we get a lot of people that are like, I don't know, maybe I could sell something for $200. Or maybe not,

though, that was me, that was me. If I don't, what do I have to offer? So there was there was a lot of inner game work that had to happen of like, Do I have something to offer? I know, I have these degrees. I know I have these certifications. But I've been putting electrodes on people's head for 15 years. And how do I take that online? I can't take that online. But all of the understanding that I have all of the background I have in mental health, all of the tools that I was talking to my clients over and over about that was packaged ball, I just didn't know how to do it. Right. So I had that I had some self doubt of like, Okay, do I have something that people would want to pay for? Right? Do I have the time to do this? At that time? I was like, well, probably because I'm working. But I do have a first grader and a dual language immersion program that I don't speak the language and she's now home full time. And am I going to be able to navigate that?

Yeah. And you were and you were the primary parents as well. Right, the primary caregiver, you know, as well, once again, I think it's really a really important thing to mention is it's not quite parenting but but it is really that hands on in terms of guests who the homeschooling is falling on. And this is not a, you know, 15 year old that can go study in the other room, and I'll see you in three hours. This is very much a hands on age as well.

Exactly. And I'm very fortunate and lucky that I have a partner who 100% has backed me up lazy, no way, I would have been able to dedicate the time and energy to launch this program. Yes, that help.

Oh, my gosh, it that's, that's a whole shout out right there. Because I we have done it, you know, million different ways. But I have definitely categorically seen that when partners or spouses are on board, it is so much easier. Every once in a while we have someone with a partner rowing the other way, and it just takes us a bit longer. It really does. So So in terms of that hesitation in the beginning, you know, you know, I remember that first price point, you know, you selling a program for $2,000 Feeling like this, you know, momentous thing, right? We kind of got over the hurdle of Do you have something to offer? Yes. But do you have something to offer? Can we package it? We packaged it? You know, can we sell this for $2,000? How did that feel in terms of, you know, in your, in your gut? Or how did how did? How did you feel about it?

Well, I still found myself anytime I was going into a conversation with a prospective client of being like, you know, still having that, that sort of weight holding me back a little bit. And then honestly, once I sold my first hand fall, I, it was so incredible, just the feeling of it. And then to have the clients going through the program giving me feedback, right. And then very quickly, actually, I raised my price point,

right, which I love. So, you know, I love that part. Because I think a lot of people feel like they have to have that confidence before starting right and right. And it's sort of impossible, right? Because there's so many unknowns, where it really is jumping off of a diving board that you've never really been at that height before. You've never you've never done it before. And so it's really impossible to have that like yeah, 100% I have no reservations at all. I almost never hear that now, you know, courage is required. And that's exactly. Yeah, I heard somebody. I heard somebody say that yesterday. I'm like, do you need confidence to do courage? Courage, definitely shout out to Dan Sullivan on that because I forget what he calls it. It's like a three C's model or something like that in terms of having courage before starting in that confidence. You know, which I think is really, really important to know really comes after the fact right? It sort of comes after the fact that it's like but did you die? No. Okay, then now we're ready, right? To maybe raise your price point or maybe change and you know, of course now you've gone from creating a small program. to a longer program and all these different things that have happened, and what I want you to share with people is well, what's the price point of your of your program currently coming from that scared to sells me for $2,000? And what are you selling something for now?

I am selling my program for $6,000

I love it. I love it and even that we're already outgrowing right, because the reality is, I heard you mentioned, you know, your your your conversion rate being 68%, which is, you know, absurdly high. So obviously, that price point is not staying there. So for anyone watching this later, sorry, but regardless, program is already going to be a higher price point. So I love that. So that is amazing. I really want to congratulate you Darla on that because I feel like it is you know, it really is in terms of like you said, it's a lot of inner game work. And it's work that you did. And and I want to I want to kind of ask you is are there any moments where you felt like sort of giving up? Or, you know, where it felt undoable and possible?

Yes, many. And there are still times like that even even a week ago, I felt a little bit discouraged. Yeah, but, but now I feel like I have tools, not only tools that I've been developing in my own life, but just things that I've received from this program of just little, little nudges, and little, you know, having the support to be able to put this together. But you know, things like, I mean, being recording the modules and you know, being fourth recording in I'm a perfectionist and so, yes, but I said that wrong. And I don't know how to edit, right, the tech part fell overwhelming. There were many times where I'm just like, This is too much. I can't do it. Yeah. And then I just knew enough that that means take a break. Right? Right, circle back, come back. And, you know, there were times to where the only time that I could work on my materials was after I put my little one to 9pm I remember that. Yeah, um, and, you know, I would love to watch Netflix on something else. But that just, that isn't part of my world at the moment. Well, and

so I think that that's a really realistic thing to share. Because I feel like, you know, people are often in this catch 22 where you either, you know, you maybe you don't have the time or you don't have the money or you don't and the reality is, it's got to come out of somewhere, it's got to come out, you know, that priority has to be carved out. And for you that meant, you know, carving out, definitely Netflix was not happening, and really, really making it a priority. But, you know, in addition to COVID really being you know, COVID hitting and killing your online or your one on one practice from one day to the next, you know, there were some other motivators that perhaps, you know, were kind of lingering in the background, and I'm curious, you know, what other What other reasons? Were you thinking about kind of going online and creating something that wasn't one on one?

Well, you know, I've, I've felt the restraints, or constraints of just working locally, only being able to access people from this Pacific Northwest Area and wanting to, but being afraid to actually be known, like, bigger than this. What's gonna, what's it gonna mean? What's my life gonna look like if all of a sudden, I've got, you know, people in my business minivan? Yeah, yeah. So I was definitely bumping up against that. But, you know, when I, one of the first exercises that you had me do was to, like, envision what do I want my life to look like in a year? And what's my dream about that? And I remember even that exercise was hard for me, because I was practical. Like, I wasn't a big dreamer. And going back and looking at that, and, and seeing where I'd said, Well, it might be nice to make $5,000 more a month, and it might be nice to have somebody be able to help you know, with food and my property and you know, things right, hire a babysitter or whatever. Yeah, you're a babysitter. Yeah. And the word that came out in that was like, luxurious. Like, I had this idea that that was, like luxurious, but it wasn't wasn't necessarily for me.

Right. And your head above water was luxury at that point of totally. Right. Yeah,

totally. It's like, Yeah, well, that it was more of like, well, that would be nice. It felt kind of like a pipe dream and right reality.

And that so you set that five and I remember it, you know, and I love getting these, you know, in writing and on paper, because I swear we'd all there's no way we any of us would believe it in retrospect otherwise, right? But you know, yeah, I remember that. 5k being like, Okay, well, that's my goal for five additional in addition to doing all that one on one and you know, keeping all that kind of hecticness and then a little bit of a hint of like, I mean, 20k a month would be amazing, but almost with this energy of like, but that's ridiculous, right? Like, who makes that kind of money right? 20k a month like okay, but but whatever. And so, you know, I love you know, I love kind of seeing the contrast between that and then you know, not much more than a year later. What are you closing out this month?

Oh, my gosh, so September today's the last day of September. I'm closing this month with just my online program. Not all my

little things all of the one on one is additional yet still

happening. So my online program I'm closing out at 48k this month.

That's incredible $48,000 on, you know, online now, of course, you know, some of that is, you know, you have to deliver for you know, a certain amount of time, you've got a couple different things couple different balls in the air. But what I love about that is really just the fact that, you know, your mindset, it has just grown to get to that 48,000 It hasn't just been your revenue that's grown, you have grown as a person throughout that. So that's first of all, congratulations. And that's all that hard work paying off, for sure. Because there were some definite rolling up of sleeves and hard work that you've put in. Yes, I'm still I'm still Yeah, right. Yeah. Cuz I mean, the reality is, you know, you want to impact an infinite number of people. So you know, you're not retiring or moving to the Bahamas anytime soon. But I want to I want to know, like, what that number means to you, because numbers, you know, or numbers or numbers, but a couple of, you know, things that have changed for you with the money that you've been making over the last few months.

Yeah, well, you know, there's, it's interesting Money, money is not why I do what I do. But it's a nice way to kind of honor the work that I'm doing. Yeah. And it's nice to be able to, you know, I was just looking at my mortgage the other day, and I said, wow, it's like, it's right down, because I'm moving a little bit more every right. To be completely out of credit card debt, like 100% out of credit card debt. That one is huge. Yeah, because I had $60,000 of credit card debt. And now you've paid it all off. It's yeah, I have no credit. That's amazing. I pay every single month. Amazing. bought a car with cash.

That one was my favorite one. When you announced that, you know, whenever that was a little while ago, I was like for you spring? huge. Absolutely huge.

Yeah. Darla, that's pretty great. And then, you know, to, to be able to afford to have somebody prepping meals for us every week is also amazing, right? And just last week, it's my birthday. And so I was like, I'm gonna treat myself to a really nice place right on the coast. Yeah. And I remember looking at the price point of this place and being like, having a moment like, I can, I can, I can do? And I'm and I will celebrate, and I will,

yes, right? Well, yes. And you did that. And you know, and of course, and your family was able to enjoy that as well. But I still agree with you. Because you know, money like numbers or numbers, right? It's just sort of math, I like to say it's either out a zero take out a zero is just math. And of course, there's all these feelings that come around numbers, but really, money is just a tool to, you know, in terms of to of course, you know, buy yourself some time and actually be able to breathe and all that good stuff. But and it's also just the financial lab test, so to speak of your business in terms of how's it doing? How's the business doing? Is it is it? Does it have high cholesterol? Or does it need to right, right. So I love that in terms of like, yeah, 48 and we're just getting started, right? But what does that really do? So buying a house and cash paying off all your debt, you know, being able to take that vacation and actually be able to do these things? That's incredible. Now in terms of, you know, those less tangible results, I'm just curious how that's changed. You know, has it had any domino effects? Has it? Has it changed anything in your personal life?

Um, yes. Um, although that I looked at my dream email again, just before this conversation today, and and time was one of those things that I really wanted to free up and I write my next I know, I'm working on that with you in my next 90 day plan is how to free up some time and really move from being a solopreneur, which is what I've been for 25 years to having a team and relinquishing some of that control. Yep. That's probably been what's changed in my personal life, too, is just allowing for more support from my partner and from my friends and asking for help a little bit more. But also, you know, I'll say, this touches me so much last week. My daughter had volleyball practice, and she has never played volleyball before, but said she wanted to. And we came home and I was tucking her into bed and laying down with her. And I said, you know, I am really proud of you, because you worked really hard tonight. And you were trying something new, and you're meeting new people, and you were courageous, and you just went for it. And she goes, I'm proud of you to mom. And I said you are and she goes for your program. Like, that is why I do what I do. She's seen how hard I've worked. There have been times when I said Honey, I really want to be able to play checkers with you or play cards. But right now I have to do this. But for me to be able to say this is my dedicated time to my family. And I want more of that. I still want more of that. That's because of course my plan. But also just to know that you know, my partner also just yelled at me a really nice letter last week, a little birthday card just saying wow, you've you're doing amazing And it's more to come more to come. So I

love it. I mean, honestly, first of all, number one fans, you know, absolutely. And you know, and I love that feedback for you, because I know that that was one of your biggest sort of things was like, I hate having to juggle this or having to say no to sitting down and playing with something, and you know, I've got stuff to do. And, you know, I love that you share that because I mean, a, there's that, that sort of circle back around, where, you know, she's been noticing this whole time in terms of mommies doing big things, she's not out there, you know, playing video games, she's changing the world, which is amazing that, you know, such a young girl can can can conceptualize that, and that's awesome. But I also love that you're sharing it, because there are so many parents that are in that catch 22 of like, I want to sit down and play the blocks right now. versus, you know, say, You know what, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this for 20 minutes. But then I've got to actually, you know, it's that cost of entry of entrepreneurship, where it's like, I've got to actually roll up my sleeves and carve out this cache to have I need to spend more time that I already don't have, so that I can buy back my time. So

and that is the truth this the first year. Yes. Has, I mean, it's been luck.

Yeah, it gets worse before it gets better. You know, I would just say bluntly, and what I love, though, Darla, too, is that you've checked off some really big things off your list in terms of I mean, even more than that I would have even imagined for you to do in terms of paying off all your debt, all these things, to where now? I mean, the reality is, if you wanted to close your practice down tomorrow, which I know we're not doing, but if you wanted to financially, that's entirely possible, right. So literally, it's like entirely possible to put up a shingle and hold on, you know, with a 30 day notice and make it happen. Well, we're gonna have a much better strategy than that. But, you know, I love the freedom the option. Yeah,

the freedom of that, and a little bit like, I actually the other day is like, Oh, I guess I should, like, go back through our bank account. Like, I haven't done that for a bit. And I've been, you know, pays or bills are on auto, right pay or whatever. Yeah, but but just even to go in there and be like, oh,

there's money. There's money.

Yeah, and to not have to be like, you know, even in my dream email, I was talking about wanting to be able to buy organic food and yes, and have, you know, my health be a priority. And I would say, those things. I, they've been an automatic because I could not do the kind of work and dedicate the kind of time and the mental rigor to this if I wasn't, well, yeah, if I wasn't, you know, sleeping well, and yes, good food. And, but but a year and a half ago, when I started this, I didn't know if I could afford

right to do all the things all that well. And the interesting thing is if you know if the average person listening to this might be like, Well, what do you mean, right? But for most people listening to this, who are health professionals, like we know, we're health nerds to the point where what we mean by buying good food, or buying good supplements is that adds up, because we really are seeing this as the one mazaraki that we don't get to trade in. And it's legit expense, right? It's a legit thing. And when you're making an average income, it doesn't support having an extraordinary health. Right, right. So so being able to create that neat, and noticing, you know, that along the way, you're like, Yeah, you know what, I'm gonna go ahead and buy this, I'm not gonna worry about it, I have an unlimited budget when it comes to good food, or whatever it might be. That's your category. So I love that for you more than you know, everybody's goals are individuals. And I love that, you know, that's yours. And for somebody else, it might be the fancy handbag, or the or the fancy shoes or whatever else. No goal. Right? Like all goals are right, right. It's like, whatever your goal is, is is awesome. But I love that, you know, it's, it's something that is so meaningful to you, and that you're able to do that. So that's incredible, incredible. So anything else that you would want to share with anyone that is sort of hesitant in terms of whether they have the time, whether they have the expertise or anything like that?

Well, you know, one of my hesitations before signing on wasn't, you know, I had the hesitation of, Can I do this? Do I have something to offer? But also as like, How can I afford this? Yeah, because it was it. I had never invested in my business ever. Like I had never had a business coach, right. I had, you know, hired somebody I had always I built my own website, like I, I just did everything on my own. And so, you know, you might remember it took me a couple of weeks after, after we had our initial conversation for me to figure out, I knew I wanted to do it. Right. I was going to do it. But also it was in the middle of COVID. And I didn't have an income and how was I going to invest in this? Yeah, that was a big deal for me to just see that by investing in myself and investing in this program. I also worked harder because I wanted that right off. And then within one month of being out of your program, yeah, I had made that money back plus, right.

And that was a program that yeah, that was just an eight week program. Right. And then of course, we've gone on to work together on other programs as well. But you know, that's that's, that's amazing. And I'm so glad you shared that because I think For a lot of people, they think, Oh, well, this is for other people, this is for people that have more money or make more money or have more time or whatever it might be. And the reality is, no, this is exactly how you get those things. You know, and it but it does require that sort of leap of faith and saying, that commitment in yourself of saying, You know what, I have no choice but to make this a return on investment. I'm gonna do that by showing up every single step of the way. Yeah,

exactly. So you know, did, I was in the place where I was like, I don't have enough time, I don't have enough money, and I don't have enough goods. I don't have enough runway. Right. And, and then I did kind of I did my research, as you said, but then I also took a leap of faith and just felt like, intuitively, this is what I needed to do. And then I remember early in the program, also, in a coaching session, just just having the words come to me of like, you might not know that you have what it takes now, but you know, what you'll do, you know that you'll do whatever it takes to get to that end result, right? Because I didn't have 100% confidence that my program was going to deliver the transformation in the outcome that I wanted it to, right, but what you helped me do was to see that I would do whatever

it took right to get out there. Yep, we're gonna make it happen.

I have. And now, you know, the people that are coming into my program know what they're going to get, because they've heard from other people who write through

my progress. Of course, I love that. So yeah, Darla, I mean, not only did you go from doing, you know, just one on one to creating, you know, $40,000 month on line, which is incredible. And also, you know, of course, having the recognition and support of your partner and your daughter, and you know, having hired a virtual assistant, and you know, some help at home as well, all of these different things. And now you have the freedom and the luxury to say, I don't want to do any one on one if you if you want to do you know, starting immediately. But you know, you really also have this just completely renewed energy about you in terms of the lives that you're changing, and just being fired up about, like, yes, you have been putting in the hours for sure, you have not been on a world on a 12 month cruise ship around the world sipping martinis. But you have you're doing life changing work that you can see is impacting others, and you're creating really assets in this little, you know, life changing many empire of sorts. So I just want to honor you know, the work that you've put in, and all the work that you've done, and the incredible work that you're doing with these individuals in you know, in all of these different areas, whether it's addiction, or you know, habit change, and all these different areas. And you know, and really just thank you for putting in all that work and for showing up committed and being super coachable, even though even when I held your feet to the fire and made you uncomfortable things and gave you some real talk and really, really doing the work and getting the results. So

yes, well, thank you. Thank you for honoring the work that I do and thank you for believing in me and lighting the fire under my seat Thank you for also letting me say I don't know about this, like in questioning and not you know, a lot of a lot of people don't like to be questioned and you're like, bring it

like let's and also let's try it you know, something is like let's try it. Let's give it an experiment. See what happens try for 30 days. So yeah, I love it. Well, awesome. Well, Darla, where can people find out more about you if they're interested in neurofeedback, or maybe any other work in your practice or on your online course?

So I have a website that you can come to it's mind potential nw.com My Facebook? What's it called? Again?

My Facebook? I don't know, but we're gonna link it below but but but yeah, tell people who you mainly help in your program and with what

Yeah, so my program is called the resilience reset. I help women who have experienced chronic stress, sometimes trauma adverse experiences in life, just hit that reset button, know how to tap into those inner resources, change the mindset game and develop some new skill sets so that they can navigate all of the ups and downs that life has to offer.

And that seems that's a heck of a lot of people. That's

a heck of a lot especially especially now.

Especially now I feel like the whole world got lit lit on fire. So we're definitely gonna put the link to darles website below this video also the link to our list Facebook page. So definitely reach out if you're interested. If you're watching this and you are a health professional and you're working one on one and interested in creating an online course or program and taking your expertise online. Definitely. We're going to put the link to our webinar below Sylvie mccracken.com forward slash webinar and definitely reach out and we'll see if it's a fit to help you create your online course as well. Thank you so much Darla, for being here

today. So me thanks for everything.

All right, bye bye bye.