HER EMPIRE BUILDER PODCAST

HELPING YOU TO SHARE YOUR GIFTS WITH THE WORLD

Join business coach Tina Tower as she explore's how to build your empire by packaging your expertise into online courses, speaking, content, podcasting and credibility.

Tina has over 14 years of experience in starting, building and selling companies, she's a speaker, teacher, mumma and traveller. She's unapologetic about living an intentionally big life and if you want too, this show is designed to show you many different options to help you gain clarity over YOUR version of awesome.

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Show Transcription: 

Ep# 165 - Building a Digital Business to a 6 Figure Launch with Caitlin Marwaha

Tina: Hi, friend, welcome to Episode 165 of the Her Empire Builder podcast, and welcome to Her Empire Builder launch, wooooo, wooooo, the crowd goes wild [laughs]. Oh goodness, launch week is, oh my gosh, it is fun when you are doing live launches, you only get to do this twice in a year, well, I only get to do it twice in a year. Some people only do it once, some people do it three times, some people do it four times. You can't really do it more than four times, it's a little bit of overkill, but two times is what I get to do. I get to open the doors for eight days, every April and every October, and right now, the doors are open.

 So if you are a longtime podcast listener, or a short time podcast listener, and you love the content that comes out, it is nothing compared to what [laughs] our members get inside of Her Empire Builder. So if you're interested, go to herempirebuilder.com, you'll be able to check everything out there. It is what I really do, say and believe, it’s the best online education in the world for course creators. It has everything that you need. We teach all of the different areas. We teach money and mindset and marketing and systems and team, and everything in between that is the business behind the online course. So not only are we working on launches, and funnels [laughs], and all of the stuff that we need, but also running a super serious business that can go to six figures, seven figures and beyond.

 That is why today I have my incredible special guest Caitlin Marwaha, because she is one of my star members. We do have many and you've heard from them, from a few of them in the past few weeks, but Caitlin is one that when I first spoke to her, I knew she had something special and I knew she was going to go really far. I know that I believed and you'll hear her admit that in our conversation today, but I believed she was going to go so much further than what she did. I still think [laughs] that is true and you know, Caitlin, Caitlin went from being a stay at home mum to a part time stylist and now she's a successful digital CEO and the last 12 months with her program, CM Style Squad, has been absolutely huge. She went from going,  can I do a five figure launch? Can I do a $10,000 month? Then she's just done a six figure month so she's gone straight into, well not straight into, you know, she’s, she's done the work for the past year you guys. She’s, she really has. She’s, if you follow Caitlin on Instagram, I suggest you look her up, @bycaitlinanne, and I've got it in the show notes as well, but what I suggest is looking at the way she markets because she does community so well. She does connection so well. She does value so well which I do think that one of the main ingredients of a successful online business is taking what is normally offline and putting it online, but still keeping those beautiful, rich relationships and keeping that community alive. It has paid off massively for Caitlin.

 So you're going to hear our conversation today, and if you hear Caitlin talking and you're going, you know what, I want a bit of that. I want to know how to do that. Then jump on into Her Empire Builder, we close doors on 12th April. So if you're not listening to this live, if you're listening to this a little bit later, we open doors every year in April and October, but if you are listening to it, and we are still in that live launch period, join. One of the benefits of our membership is that I believe in it so much that I do no lock in contracts. So I don't make you sign up for 12 months. You just pay monthly. You can jump in, you can pay monthly because my theory is if you are getting massive results, month after month after month, you're not going anywhere. So I don't need contracts. So take a look. It's $444 a month because I have a thing for fours, and it gives you everything you need. Templates, checklists, systems, all of the education and more importantly, well not more importantly, but equally as importantly, the most incredible community of ambitious, successful kick-arse women from all around the globe. We have members from nearly, I think, about 10 different countries at the moment and that is growing all the time. So, we would love to have you. Go to herempirebuilder.com, but first, have a listen to this incredible conversation on building a digital business from zero to a six figure month in a matter of years with Caitlin Marwaha.

 Hi friend. I'm Tina Tower. Business Strategist and digital online empire builder. I've been in business since I was 20 years old and have since built and sold four businesses. I started in the world of online courses in 2017 and grew to a seven figure annual turnover in just under two years. To say I love the game of business is an understatement. I'm a world traveller, a mama, a wife, a best selling author, and I love the freedom that we have to create the business and life that we want to live. It takes courage to break the rules and shake things up and do it your way. Through Her Empire Builder, I share my experience and bring you lessons from some of the world's best to help you dream big, plan well and take massive action. It is absolutely possible to run a thriving, growing business that positively impacts the world and have a beautiful personal life without hustling and working yourself into exhaustion. I want that for you. Let's enjoy the journey, my friend.

 Gorgeous Caitlin. Welcome to Her Empire Builder.

Caitlin: Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

Tina: It’s so much fun that I've gone, I was very lucky to get to spend a few days with you in Byron in February, which was so beautiful, and it was nice to go, you know, we've been working together for like close to two years?

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: And to get to know you properly and see all of the incredible things. So yeah, it's great to have you on.

Caitlin: Well, it feels like I've secretly made it when you asked me.

Tina: [Giggles].

Caitlin: I was like, oh, Tina asked me to be on the podcast. I must have made it [laughs]

Tina: You’ve made it. You have made it. So I want to. Actually, this is one of my questions. It's like four questions down, but I'm gonna ask you that, at what point in your online journey did you think, I've made it?

Caitlin: Um, well, I probably felt it after my first launch.

Tina: I love that.

Caitlin: And then I haven't felt it since.

Tina: [Laughs].

Caitlin: [Laughs] Because you know, the goal posts just move so quickly and so greatly, you know.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: I think, because, the beautiful thing about doing something for the first time is there's no expectation around it, and so I think I made, I cracked five figures. So, maybe I hit like $10,500 or something.

Tina: Yep.

Caitlin: With my first launch and that was amazing, and I bought a $1,000 pair of shoes.

Tina: [Giggles]

Caitlin: With that money because it was just like so exciting, but after that, then you're just chasing the next and the next and the next and the next.

Tina: Yeah. It is incredible how, how much, I was talking to someone the other day as well who, you know, they were doing $10,000 launches, and then they got into the program, now they're doing like $60 - $70,000 launches, and they're like, you know, I just don't know, like, it's not really good enough, [laughs], and I’m going, if the year-ago you could hear you now, she’d laugh [laughs].

Caitlin: I know. It's your fault for setting us up with like.

Tina: Yep..yep.

Caitlin: So much possibility.

Tina: Yeah, let’s get those expectations up there. Okay, so the first question I want to ask you is, how did you get started in the wonderful world of online courses?

Caitlin: Yeah, so I started with a membership in 2020, so March 2020, so I've just hit my third birthday.

Tina: Happy birthday!

Caitlin: And honestly.

Tina: Second birthday!

Caitlin: Second birthday, yeah, just finished the second, yeah.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: Sorry, yeah.

Tina: [Giggles].

Caitlin: And I don't, I don't really know, it's one of those things. You just, I stumbled across this idea. I was really looking for a way that I could support more women.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: In my business, because at the time, I still had two kids who weren't at school and so my time was super limited in terms of meeting women one-on-one and taking them shopping. So I thought, how can I leverage the audience I have on Instagram, monetise it a little bit, but also make my services so much more accessible for women. So I kind of stumbled across memberships and fumbled my way through for the first, you know, five months maybe. But yeah, that’s, that's how I started.

Tina: And when you went from that individual consultation into the membership, because I know a lot of people are in that same situation where they go, you know, I give something that's so personal, one-to-one, how do you interpret that into a membership because if you're taking me shopping and going, okay, Tina, this is going to work for you, this isn’t, how did you get all of that knowledge and go, here's, here's how I can package it to apply to everybody?

Caitlin: Yeah. So I think I was, I was lucky that I had a substantial Instagram following. I mean, it was 5,000, maybe, which felt like a good community to build upon, and everyone was super engaged. But what I was hearing was that, you know, going shopping with a stylist was too expensive. There was also a huge intimidation factor around that and so I thought, what's my core piece of knowledge that I would give to you if I was to take you shopping that actually had nothing to do with the clothes, but what's the core message, and for me, that's body shape. So I wrote a big resource called The Body Shape Bible and I really wanted it to be if someone joined the membership, and they just got that, like, would they be happy with that for the first month? Like, is it worth $29?

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: So I just built out that. That probably took the longest, building out that body shape guide, and then, like, the beautiful thing about founding members is that they really shaped what it looks like.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: Because I was really open with them that like, hey, this is a starting, what do you want to see? How can I support you? This is what I'm thinking. I've still got OG members now who have seen it, you know, grow in the last two years.

Tina: I love that. That's the sign of a good membership is when you still have your OG members. You're like, I love you, and they're like, I love you too [laughs].

Caitlin: [Laughs].

Tina: It’s just so nice.

Caitlin: [Laughs] And they go through all the like, messy things, because like, as you know, I moved platform. So I took a whole database from Wix to Kajabi, and I was saying to you, like, am I going to lose people and you said, probably [laughs].

Tina: [Laughs].

Caitlin: And so when they go on that journey, it's so beautiful.

Tina: Yeah, totally. So, what does your kind of business model look like now, because you introduced a course into that too, so I'd love for you to talk about the different offers that you have, and when you bought them in and why.

Caitlin: Yep. So, so I've got the CM Star Squad is my monthly membership. Low cost, high volume kind of model, $29 a month, and we're up to about 550 members.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: So that is anyone can join at any time and it's like a monthly focus. So there's that big resource, you get at the start, but you can jump in, and it really is much more of a community. So once the membership was running for a couple of months, I thought, let me build out some more resources. So like a success path kind of thing. So start with the body shape, and they do all these other key elements, and after I had written it, I was like, oh, this is a lot.

 

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: Like this a lot of information, and I think at the time, the membership was even cheaper, I think it was only $20 a month. I went to my husband who is much more level headed and business savvy than me at that point and I said, I think this is too good to give away for free, which is very difficult for me because I'm like, everyone can have everything for free.

Tina: Yes.

Caitlin: He said, he said yes, it's a course, and I was like, I don't want to piss off any members by not giving it for free. So I really struggled with that but in the end decided to create a separate short course. I think for me, the easiest distinction became that the membership was a community, and the course is a course. So they operate independently, but there's beautiful crossover. So some people join the membership and then eventually do the course as well. Some come straight into the course and then as a way to stay connected, then jump into the membership at the end.

Tina: Hmm. I love that. And price point is something that, you know, I know you have had to test and measure as you've gone on, as do a lot of people. I think it's one of the hardest things when you're first going into online courses and memberships is finding, because there’s, there's no right way to do it. It's not like, one of the most common questions I get asked is, what should I price my program? It's like what the market will tell you to a certain extent but also you've got to match it to the offer that you're giving and doing that. How has your pricing journey gone?

Caitlin: So like most I probably started way too low and over promised before.

Tina: I think said everybody ever as they’ve started [laughs].

Caitlin: [Laughs] Yeah, and I think one of the biggest things you ever said to me was often price is more to do with how you view yourself and the value you place on yourself than the program itself.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: So mine was very cheap, $29, and then I, incrementally, I think I did, like, $25 then $26 and then $29. Then I did a big decision last year to do a big increase to $47, because to me, I could see that the value was there and it made sense to me to do that. As soon as I did that, the market said, no [giggles].

Tina: Yep.

Caitlin: The market said, no, that's like, not where we're at and so I had a very tricky period of, do I protect my ego and try and run with this? Or do I go back to the price point, knowing that that's where I can grow.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: My husband always says to me, Caitlin, you're a speedboat, not a ship. So you know, he says, you have the ability to move really quick and to make fast decisions and to be agile. You're not like this tanker.

Tina: I love that analogy.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: Sexy speedboats [laughs].

Caitlin: [Laughs] And he says, don't be Kodak. Like Kodak, who never, like, moved to the digital. So he always says, Caitlyn, don't be Kodak.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: So yeah, so I brought the price back down to $29 and what was very clear to me is that my markets for the membership are women who didn't have the money to spend on a higher price point course, and, as I originally started out, and the tribe that I created were women who wanted style and fashion to be accessible and affordable.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: So that was the communication that I made. Like, this is, was, always my intention. This is what happened, and this is why I had bought the price back, and there was zero backlash at all.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: In fact, I had a beautiful email from someone who said, I have never seen a business act with so much integrity to the client that they're serving. So, you know, I'm like, whether people had opinions about it behind the scenes, I don't know, but it made the most sense for me. Interestingly, my course is a much higher price point. So it seems to serve as two different markets where they can understand that I'm going to pay for education in this way and do an eight week course for $700 and that's great, or I can do a low price point, and, you know, stay for years. So it’s, it’s, I'm super comfortable to have those two price points.

Tina: Yeah, and I love the way it all unfolded and that you did, because I remember talking to you at the time and going, you know, what is that backlash going to be? You know, you did this big deal of putting the price up, which I will be honest, in most cases, I think is often a good idea because people are under priced.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: But it was very clear that at $29, because for most people, you could go, is it easier to get half the amount of people and have half the customers to serve for double the price? Often the answer is yes.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: But for you, it wasn’t, and that was really, really clear, and I think it was a really brilliant and brave thing that you did straight away to go, you know what, this isn't going to work. I'm going to switch back to that and just fly with it.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: And do that. So, yeah, you did really well being able to do that because pricing is, is tricky.

Caitlin: Tricky.

Tina: And you've got to know your market.

Caitlin: Yep, and there's other style memberships that are higher price point than mine, you know, and there are some that are lower. I think you're always gonna find that but when you can listen to what your market is telling you and just be super honest, like I didn't want to be dodgy and lie about it.

Tina: Yep.

Caitlin: Because I did do a big campaign that said, this is it guys, I’m raising the price.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: I had to give a little but it's worked out.

Tina: Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, I think the launch that you did after that was proof that it was the right decision because it just went, zoom, straight up. So that kind of, that kind of brings me to my next question. You recently had your first six figure month. Congratulations [hee, hee, hee].

Caitlin: Thank you so much.

Tina: So how does that, how did that feel? Like you said at the beginning, you knew you made it after your, you know, first launch of $10K and now you've had a $100,000 month? How did that feel?

Caitlin: Yep. It felt interesting.

Tina: Yep [laughs].

Caitlin: It’s interesting because again, you know, I was chasing a six figure launch. So I launched my five stages to sell course.

Tina: And you were like, it still wasn't good enough [laughs].

Caitlin: [Laughs] But I wanted a six figure launch and when I didn't hit that I think I ended up on $96k. So I pretty much did it, but didn’t, and you know that we need the, like, proper adjustments.

Tina: Yes [laughs].

Caitlin: But to then be like, well, I didn't do six figures in seven days, but I did do it in 30 days.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: I was like, I, like.

Tina: Take the win.

Caitlin: Take that win, and, so yeah, it was amazing. What's interesting, interesting when you get to those numbers and you play with those numbers, it's so much not about the money.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: Like, it's not about $100k, and really, like $20,000 is a lot, but $80k doesn't feel like it's, it's about that $20k, it's about that goal. So for me, reconciling that I didn't hit that goal in the way that I wanted to, is something that I always have to be really kind to myself about.

Tina: Yeah [laughs]. You'll get it on the next one. You’ll get that extra $4,000 [laughs]

Caitlin: [Laughs].

Tina: Now, it takes a very different sort of mindset and set of skills to get to a $100,000 month than it does to get to a $10,000 month, what have you seen, what's been the hardest part of building to this level?

Caitlin: I think the hardest part is that it's such a personal brand. Like my business, it's, it's me, and so really finding ways to delegate, what can be delegated and what doesn't have to be done by me.

Tina: Yep.

Caitlin: Because so much does, because I'm the face of not just the course when I'm launching it, but the membership when I'm in it, and the other digital products that I released. So scaling and not burning out.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: I think is, like, I don't know a magical unicorn that we could ever find [laughs].

Tina: Yeah, I do think that it, it changes constantly with that, because growth in this world is quite steep. It's not like, you know, when I ran traditional business, you could pretty much know, year on year, if you go for like a 7% increase, that's going to be a really good healthy business and you know, you know exactly what to do to kind of level up each time. Whereas for this, like you've increased, like 10,000% across the year.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: Like it's huge in terms of the steepness, and as soon as you master that level, you've doubled again, and then you've got to master that next level. So it's a constant thing of going, okay, I've pushed myself too far. I'm burning out. I don't want to kill the thing that's working, how can I get help from those areas, and that’s, I’ll let you in, that’s never going to change, Caitlin [laughs].

Caitlin: [Laughs] I think what's interesting is, like, everything scales up.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: Like the money that I had to spend.

Tina: Yes.

Caitlin: To hit that increased revenue.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: You know, like, there's a lot to be said about staying a little smaller and spending less money. I know that it's still a beautiful thing about the online world, is that we really can leverage so much of that.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: But although this was my most profitable launch, it was also my most expensive launch.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: So then looking at, well, next month, you know, where did I go too far in the expenses, but now I have to pull back. So it's, it's constant testing and tweaking and changing and.

Tina: Yep.

Caitlin: You know, it's not like you can set it and forget it.

Tina: Never.

Caitlin: I think it's just surprising that even though it's the same program, each launch is different in different ways.

Tina: Yeah, because you can always do better too. I mean, what you can handle on your first couple of launches, and feel like you're doing all the things, but then as you get those parts nailed, you're like, actually, I can really enhance this or optimise this. Like, you can always go better, which is exciting, but also, there's a big acceptance of going, actually we're going to be, it's a constant curious experiment. It's never done.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: Which is, which is good also, because it means that there's always something new that you can try.

Tina: Yes.

Caitlin: You know, like something maybe that you haven't found yet, but it is good when you're at the start and you don't know what you don't know.

Tina: Yes, totally [laughs].

Caitlin: It’s super overwhelming to be like, what? I can’t do any of that.

Tina: What is this? So when you say the expenses, how much money are you funnelling into ads, for example, to get that launch?

Caitlin: So $3,000 for the launch.

Tina: So not much.

Caitlin: Not much and that was increased from $1,000 last launch and then I do $1,000 a month for like evergreen ads because they funnel into opt ins and because it's always building audience. What we found this launch was that I churned a lot of my email list. So, it was probably the highest unsubscribe rate ever.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: Even those little things, like, not taking it personally and understanding it’s a good thing and then now stepping straight into action to rebuild that list and make sure they're warmer. You know, it’s, it's constant and I know, I love that you always say, like, it's not passive income at all.

Tina: [Laughs] No, my gosh no.

Caitlin: Always, even in the off-season, we’re prepping and building for the next launch.

Tina: Yeah, and I think that was, like, that was so prevalent at the retreat that we were at together, which was filled with a lot of very, very successful course creators that are making multiple millions a year. They're all in the same thing. Like, they all say the exact same thing in going, you know what, we're trying something new, we're doing this, we've got to replace our list, we've got to keep doing all the things and all of the new things. Like, it's, if you want to be at the top of your game, you're constantly training, you're constantly improving.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: Yeah, and I love that. I love that. So you mentioned before, about a few things like not taking it personally and different things with the list, to get to the level that you've got to now with that six figure month, which is a massive, massive deal. I love how much your like level of standard has changed from 12 months ago, where you're like, yep, and so it goes like, of course, I've done a six figure month. The thing is, that's ironic for people listening to this is, you do have to be like that, in order to achieve that. It has to be no big deal. Like I remember my first launch of going, like, I did $11,000, so about the same as yours.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: Now my sights are set on a million dollar launch.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: Now someone had told me that when I started three years, like I would have not, not a fragment in my body believed that that was possible. Like it just isn't. Until you actually embody that and believe it's possible, it's never going to happen. What have you seen, personally, the beliefs and limitations that you've had to work on and let go to be able to get to the level that you're at?

Caitlin: So I think we've spoken about this before. When I first started even the membership, it was, like, never a possibility that I would ever earn $100,000. Like full stop.

Tina: Yep [laughs].

Caitlin: I think the most I ever earned in a job was $60,000 a year.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: That was as a Store Manager for a retail store and so that was kind of my cap. That was my limit. Like many women who have children and then stay in their house and go back to work, it's kind of just the expectation is play money, or like maybe you want to do something for yourself, or maybe you want to just cover the cost of childcare or whatever. So when I did first make that five figures, it was astounding to me, not necessarily the number itself, but in the short period of time that I could do it, you know, like in seven days.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: And it was like, wow, if I can do that in seven days, what could I do next time? I think my whole thing is just constant disproving belief to myself. I do all the affirmations, and I do all the meditation and the gratitude journaling and stuff, but getting into action and beating myself basically, you know, I could never get to 300 members.

Tina: Yep.

Caitlin: Now I'm at 500 members. My goal is 1,000 members and it's just like, always just chasing, which is probably a little bad habit, but I am very good at celebrating my wins.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: So.

Tina: I don't think it's a bad habit at all.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: But for me, that's the best way to, to, because I had tonnes of those self limiting beliefs.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: I still have moments of doubt and crises of confidence, and it's just doing the work and disproving and doing the work again and disproving.

Tina: Yeah. I think we all do, especially day before launch [laughs] is always the part, like, I know for me, that's always the worst part in going, oh my gosh, what if nobody buys? [laughs].

Caitlin: Or the middle of launch.

Tina: Oh, that’s the worst.

Caitlin: When there’s crickets and then you're like, there’s no way I can do it, and then you say, just wait for the last day.

Tina: Yeah, and so from a practical sense, like you've got your affirmations.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: But you are also, you're on show a lot. You're exposed a lot. Like, you've got a personal brand where, you know, I know, like, I've got personal brand and a lot of people build their businesses on personal brand, but not on the personal brand like you have where you are on show-show.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: Like, you're being judged on how you're appearing, how you're looking.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: All of that sort of thing. How do you practically deal with that?

Caitlin: A lot of it's just practice. Like, I’ve just done it so much.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: Like, I used to be so nervous doing lives, like, I would, if I was doing an Instagram live, I would write out what I wanted to say.

Tina: Ohh.

Caitlin: I would, I would research to make sure I wasn't saying anything wrong because I had this big fear that someone would say, that's wrong, that body shape can't wear that and then I'd be left with like egg on my face. So I used to practice and then do it and I was nervous and honestly it's the only way to get better if you, if you want to be visible. You have to just keep showing up and you have to keep practising. For me, like, all that's gone. Like, I could do an Insta story in the middle of the mall, like, you know, that's fine. Mainly because I know it's such a slow burn for me.

Tina: Yep.

Caitlin: Because personal style, and women, especially my market who are mums or like menopausal or going through marriage breakups, really transitional points in their life, they need that trust and connection before they hand over the money. I have women who have been following me for five years.

Tina: Amazing.

Caitlin: Who maybe just this last February decided to pay and join.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: It’s not because they didn't have the money or whatever, but they needed that personal trust with me.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: So I know how important it is to show up and be vulnerable and open and accepting. That's what eventually will pay off.

Tina: Yeah, and do you ever have the days where you're like, I don't want to dress up today? I don't want to do my hair.

Caitlin: Oh, yeah.

Tina: I don't want to put a video in my face.

Caitlin: All the time. Yeah, that's why I batch create.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: So when people say to me, oh my God, you always look amazing, and your hair is always done. I say, no, its only on the days that you see me [laughs]. The days that you don't see me, I’m in my grey tracksuit, with my hair and a bun and no makeup on my face. So yeah, absolutely.

Tina: I love that. That's nice to hear for someone.

Caitlin: Yeah [laughs].

Tina: Yeah [laughs].

Caitlin: Occasionally I'll pop onto Instagram with a bun and then, like, my OG followers will be like, oh it’s hair washing day because you only ever wear your hair in a bun when you have to wash your hair [laughs].

Tina: [Laughs] I love that. So your next step is obviously world domination.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: What have you noticed about being Australian in a global online market?

Caitlin: Yep. It's one of my biggest roadblocks is being in fashion. I think what I love about online is for so many markets, it's not a roadblock at all.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: I think that TikTok and Facebook ads for me have been the two biggest doorways into other markets. Where I struggle is seasonality of the content that I'm producing. So particularly for the Style Squad, I'll have members from the UK or the US join but the feedback is, I don't know any of the brands.

Tina: Oh yes.

Caitlin: It’s a different season, all of that, so for me, it's tricky from a business sense. Do I just grow the 90% of the audience that I have and really lean into that? Or do I find a way that I can branch into global market? You know, me, Tina, that is what I would want to do [laughs].

Tina: Definitely, I'm like, drop the brand names. Talk about the clothes and the shape and the colours. Yeah. Global domination is what's on the cards for you [laughs].

Caitlin: 100% [Laughs].

Tina: So speaking of that, we have the doors open to Her Empire Builder right now, herempirebuilder.com is my shameless plug, why did you join?

Caitlin: I joined because I believed that you could get me to a level that I couldn't get to myself.

Tina: Yeah I have [laughs]. Tick.

Caitlin: Tina did not pay me to say that [laughs].

Tina: [Laughs].

Caitlin: So, we met when I was transferring my membership from Wix to Kajabi. So, I probably had maybe 60 to 80 members.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: Which I was stoked about, and, and Mat helped me build out the Kajabi site. Basically, in a conversation with you, I think I applied for a round, and it was, you were very clear and had spoken about success and achievements and what's possible, in a way that no one had ever spoken to me in that way. In the terms of, because you said to me, well, if you get 30 people in this launch, you'll pay for the membership for the whole year. I was like, what do you mean? Like, I could make $12,000, like, in a launch? You know, it just opened my mind to what was possible and I think if anyone's not in the online world, like, you don't know what's possible.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: Like people in my everyday life are always blown away by what we can do with the laptop and a, you know.

Tina: Right?

Caitlin: Yeah. So I didn't join [giggles] that first round because I didn't believe it of myself. Not that you I thought you were lying [laughs].

Tina: [Laughs]. Clearly, I was not.

Caitlin: No you were not, and then I went on to launch and make, I think just under that $11,000.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: And I thought, wow, like, maybe Tina could help me get to the next level and the next level. So, for me, it was a huge investment in price, but also in myself, and I said to my husband, I've got X amount of money, maybe I'll just do it for six months and see how I go and if I make that money back, but I knew that I couldn't get there by myself, or it would take a long, long, long time.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: So yeah, so now, here, nearly two years later and a six figure month [laughs].

Tina: I know, and now we're like, because my goal for you is for you to be one of the 100 people that hit the million dollar a year.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: Which we have to hit by 2025.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: So we've got a little while, but I think 2023, 2024 would be a good, a good goal for you.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: So we're heading towards that.

Caitlin: 2023. 2023.

Tina: Listen to you now.

Caitlin: [Giggles].

Tina: That sets my heart on fire. I, oh my gosh, I love that [laughs].

Caitlin: I’ve got it in mind to do it before I'm 35, and I'm 35 next year.

Tina: Oh my gosh, I love that so much.

Caitlin: So that's my goal.

Tina: Do you know what? I was talking to Mel Browne the other day, who is a mutual friend of ours and also in Her Empire Builder, and I was saying to her like the exact same thing that you just said was, you've now both overtaken my expectation in that when everyone was getting started, I was like, people's expectation was so far below where mine was in going this is what's possible for you like, I know, you can do this, like, let's go to that. Now, it's like, oh, no, I can go way beyond that.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: I’m like, yeah, so good. I think it's only, like, as lovely as you are in saying that was me in doing that. I think. I mean, yes, I do, do know what I'm talking about, and can provide a lot of that, but I think a big part of it also is seeing woman after woman hit these big goals, having everybody else have a front row seat and going well, gosh, it's real, like they're doing it, I can do that too.

Caitlin: And I think it's that they do it, but they also have all the struggles that we just spoke about, too.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: So it's a front row seat to the success, but also to the struggle that come, like, always come. Like, it's such a roller coaster launch in itself, but then just like ups and downs of life.

Tina: Yeah.

Caitlin: And we have a beautiful community who, like, life happens, you know, so much life has happened to all of us.

Tina: I know right.

Caitlin: And I think that it's so easy to someone who doesn't know me, and they can hear this podcast and think, wow, you know, $100,000 in a month, but then when you get to share, I made this but this is how I was feeling, on our accountability call on the day before launch closes, I was, like, so disheartened, and you guys pumped me up, you know. So it's like, it's not easy, and it's not always roses, but I love having the front row seat to both sides of the coin.

Tina: Yeah, I think that's one of the best things about community because you do think that when you have struggles with things that you're the only one.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: That you’re like, it’s so much easier for everyone else. They're not going through this, but then you're very like, oh, oh, it's all the same.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: We’re all messed up universally and all have these, like, business is a mind game, and I think when you're levelling up and you're going into a whole new thing that you've never done before, it's always scary. Like I said before, like it's constant improvement, and it's constantly every month going, okay, how can we do better than the month before? That is always going to be challenging mentally.

Caitlin: Yeah, and I think, like going back to what we were saying about it being personal, like it's so easy to take it personally, particularly in memberships like with a high turnover, like mine, and I used to get so personal when someone wanted to leave.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: Then at the retreat that we were at, and I was talking to Denise Duffield Thomas, who is super successful and an amazing leader, and she was saying, like, about failed payments and how she had to outsource it because it would upset her when the money wasn't there.

Tina: Hmm.

Caitlin: I was like, oh, wow, like, it's nice to hear someone else saying that.

Tina: Yeah [laughs].

Caitlin: But I'm not like a huge softy who needs to harden up, but it's such a true reality for everyone.

Tina: Yeah. So what's your biggest advice to the woman who's listening right now that wants to scale their knowledge and is kind of at that level of going, you know what? I'm just, just about to hit a six figure year, a six figure month feels like it's really far away. What's your practical advice in going, here’s how you can do it?

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: Besides joining Her Empire Builder?

Caitlin: Okay, right [laughs].

Tina: [Laughs].

Caitlin: Number one, that, number two, something that was really challenging for me, and again, advice from Tina is basically if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you've got something that got you to that six figure year, just test and tweak and build and refine and scale that. For me, it took me 12 months to hit my six figure year. So I hit six figures pretty much a year after I started, and again, even then I would have thought no way could I make six figures.

Tina: Isn’t that amazing? Like, it took you 12 months to make a six figure year, and then in the year after that you hit a six figure month.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Tina: Awesome.

Caitlin: The scalability is amazing, and I think my challenge at the end of last year, I was saying to Tina, like, should I get rid of this? Should I start this? Should I start a new course? Should I do this? Tina was like, don't change anything, like, keep everything even before we jump on this call, I was talking about some ideas. Tina was like, no [laughs] don’t kill it, leave it and find ways, you know, to do it better, or to service more people or to scale it or to increase the price or whatever. If you've got something that got you there, it will get you to the next level, like 100%.

Tina: Definitely.

Caitlin: And I know that what I'm doing right now will get me to that million dollar year too. That's actually so comforting to know that, like, you've almost done all the hard work.

Tina: Definitely.

Caitlin: By creating that best program.

Tina: I love that advice, and that advice is like, yes, that is great, Caitlin [laughs].

Caitlin: [Laughs].

Tina: It’s so true in going, it’s, a boring business is a profitable business. Like, so often we were always looking sideways and seeing people doing things slightly different and thinking the grass is greener on the other side, but the grass is greener where you water it, and you're exactly right. Once you hit that six figures, if you can do six figures in a year with a program, it's a good program.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: Like, it's working.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: So you’re better to change and morph to match your goals and match your lifestyle and different things that you want to do, rather than kill it and start all over again. I see people constantly doing that going, oh, this person is doing a six week course, mine's 12 weeks, maybe I'll do a six week course then. Oh, this person's got a tiny offer, maybe I'll do a tiny offer. This person's got a high end mastermind, maybe I'll do that. Then no one knows what they're there for, and they're chopping and changing and never hitting that critical mass, which so many people that reach six figures, seven figures and beyond, they’e got one thing, and they launch it again and again and again and again.

Caitlin: Yep, because for me, and so much of my growth has been social proof, and I think you have to almost wait it out to get to that stage where you have so much social proof and beautiful testimonials and community that you can build upon. If you keep killing it and chopping and changing, and starting again, you don't have that and you, like, kill off that, like, social proof is just king in launches and growth. For me, I'd be lost without the previous beautiful women who have done all my programs.

Tina: Yes. Amazing. Okay, I have one final question for you.

Caitlin: Yep.

Tina: We kind of touched on it, but, but I want the proper answer. What is your big dream?

Caitlin: Oh, um, probably expanding into the global market. I feel like my dreams aren't big enough, now I'm gonna say Tina.

Tina: Worldwide domination isn't enough [laughs]?

Caitlin: [Laughs] I, I want to be the style membership to join. I believe that the CM Star Squad is the most beautiful community that you could ever join, and no matter who you are, whatever age you are, and I know that the information that I give is delivered in a way that is not anywhere else. So, 1,000 members, but I feel like that’s, that's a 2022 goal. Seven figure business by the time I'm 35. Just, you know, is that enough [laughs]?

Tina: That is enough.

Caitlin: Probably [Laughs].

Tina: Yes, enough, is whatever you deem it to be. Caitlin, I am so happy for you. I'm so glad that you are part of Her Empire Builder and, you know, you were just one of the normal humans at the beginning and now have become someone that everyone's aspiring to be like.

Caitlin: [Laughs].

Tina: And going look at what she's built. Look at how she's grown. You're just incredible and you're just getting started, which is so exciting. Congratulations.

Caitlin: Thank you. Thank you for having me on, and you know, it goes without saying that I wouldn't be here today without you and Her Empire Builder.

Tina: Oh, thanks gorgeous.

 Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Her Empire Builder. If you loved it, please share it on Instagram for your friends and be sure to tag me, @tina_tower, so I can say thank you, and if you really want to deliver me smiles, you can pop a review on Apple podcasts. I would love to hear from you so if you have any questions at all, email me at [email protected], and if you would like to work with me further, all of the free resources and my courses can be found at tinatower.com. Now I truly hope this podcast gives you so much value and you can use it to dream big, plan well and take massive action in building your very own empire that's just for you. Have the greatest day.