78 | Inside Monday Mentoring: Five Years of Running a Practitioner Community

0:00 Welcome to In the Clinic with Camille. My name is Camille Freeman. I'm an herbalist and nutritionist. And in this podcast, I share little tips and tidbits that might be helpful for other practitioners. Today, I wanted to share some reflections on running Monday Mentoring, which in case you're not familiar with that is my community of practice membership program for other practitioners. And the reason I wanted to share some thoughts on this is because we are starting our fifth year of Monday Mentoring, which is really wild to me. Now, Monday Mentoring, this is not designed to be an advertisement for Monday Mentoring, in case you're wondering about that. The point of this podcast episode is not so that you will sign up for it. In fact, you can't sign up for it. We're not open for new members right now.

0:40 We only open at certain times of the year, and this is not one of those times. Instead, I just wanted to share some of the things I've learned along the way and give you a little peek behind the scenes as to how Monday Mentoring came to be and how it's evolved over the years. So that's really what's happening here. I'll start at the beginning. And Monday Mentoring began in 2019, was conceived in 2019 when I decided to reopen my clinical practice. I took a little break when my kids were small. I was working a full-time job at the university and just found I could not keep up with my practice. So I took some time off. And then in 2019, I decided to reopen my practice and start seeing clients again and realized that I was feeling a little isolated and I didn't have a formal, structure in place to get support from other practitioners when things came up with my clients, such as, you know, I've never seen this particular thing happen before.

1:35 Has anybody else, you know, has this happened to anybody else? Or, you know, just run some things on my website by other people or what have you. I just felt like I needed a little bit more of a community around that. And what I did is what I advise everyone to do when they're thinking about doing something new is to first talk to some people that you think might be interested in the program. So I put out a little call on my email list and I said, hey, I'm thinking about putting together some kind of group support thing for practitioners. If that sounds like it might be interesting to you, could I pick your brain for 15 or 20 minutes and just talk to you about it? And a handful of people signed up and we chatted and I decided to design a program based on what what I wanted and my time availability, and then what I had heard from the people I talked to.

2:22 I came up with a price kind of out of the blue. I just guesstimated about how much I thought I would need to charge based on my time and what I knew about the platforms and infrastructure that might be needed to run that program. And I decided, you know, at $75 a month seems pretty reasonable. I put it out there to my newsletter as a pilot program. I said, hey, I'm doing this, open it for a small number of people. If you're interested, here's how to sign up. It was not a big push. It was just a gentle invitation. And about, I can't remember if it was 10 or 12 people signed up for that first event. Cohort. We met at 7 p.m. Eastern on Mondays and we alternated roundtables, which is where we brought cases to get feedback from other people, and then practice management, which is more like support under the hood of a business, websites and getting clients and payments and all that kind of stuff.

3:17 So we did that for a while and eventually that cohort, I invited more people into it and eventually it got bigger. I started a second cohort and then a third. I started a group at 5 p.m. I started another group at 12 p.m. And eventually I was like, you know what, all these groups, it's a little bit hard to administer. And so I decided to combine it. So now instead of running three different sections of Monday mentoring, I just said, hey, anybody can come to any session, depending on your schedule and what we're talking about. You can choose what you want to come to, or you can come to all of them if you want. So that was one of a big takeaway that I came to realize is that, oh, I could just design it to be convenient for me, as long as I think it's also going to serve the participants.

4:04 I just made an executive decision. And I found that over time, when I do something that feels kind of dramatic and very different from the way that we've been doing things, I worry a lot. I'm like, oh, this is going to disrupt people. It's going to upset them. And I found people are very, very flexible. They're very, very willing to go along with you and make the change as long as you're clear and you communicate a lot. I found the same thing when I switched platforms. I've moved platforms. I can't remember if it's three or four times. And especially this last one, I was like, oh, geez, everybody had to re-subscribe to a new platform in order to stay part of Monday Mentoring. And I was like, oh, I'm going to lose. I was worried that I would lose 50% or more of our people.

4:47 And that's not what happened at all. Almost everybody. Made the leap, no problem, even though it was not super convenient, and they did have to resubscribe and re-sign up and all this. But people, again, if you just are clear and contact people and make the information available, it's really been fine to make relatively major changes to the program and the way it works. Also, a takeaway for me has been not trying to design a program that works for everyone, but instead getting really more clear or on who I want it to work for specifically. So in the beginning, I was kind of like, oh, pretty much anybody who's kind of vaguely involved in herbs or nutrition could be part of this.

5:29 And then over time, what I came to realize is that people who are not yet in clinical practice, like maybe they're still in school or they're thinking about becoming clinicians one day eventually, just aren't the best fit in Monday Mentoring because in order to have a group of peers supporting one another, if somebody is not already in clinical practice, then of course, They still do have things to contribute to the group, but they're still a trained somebody, you know, either working on their training, they have human experience to contribute. But really what makes the most difference is if we are among others who are really in practice and who are on that side of the fence, so to speak. So I eventually, about a year, maybe a year and a half ago, I started saying, you know what, if you're not in clinical practice yet, please wait to join Monday Mentoring.

6:17 And there's lots of other programs that are similar that people can join while they're waiting to start their practice. And I have some programs they can take and things like that. But that's really made a difference where we really are just having people who are already doing this work and that helps a lot. So that's been a big part of things. Another thing that I've learned is just from the finances to give you a little snippet, some insider information. I actually have stuck with that $75 a month price. I eventually changed to a pay from the heart model, where $75 is the actual amount that I need to just kind of keep the lights on and keep things going.

6:58 So my guess was pretty good in the beginning. But I also realized like, okay, it runs a little bit better if we have a slightly higher income. So now I have Monday Mentoring is at pay from the heart where it's $75 a month or $99 a month, which is the amount that allows me to pay sustainable wages to myself and other people. And then we have $129 a month, which is more of like a pay it forward price. And we do have people at all the tiers. I've done a separate podcast episode on pay from the heart pricing, which I'll I'll link to so I don't go into that whole thing again. But I have decided to just keep the prices the same. I think I probably could charge quite a bit more for Monday Mentoring. We.

7:44 We definitely, there's a lot of value in it. People who are in Monday Mentoring get access to my deep dives and including all my past deep dives and webinar library. So at this point, it's, I don't know, 50 or more training classes. And anyway, there's a lot, there's a lot included. And I think if I were to add up the individual value, it would probably come out to a lot more than $75 a month. But I feel good at this price between $75.99 and $129 a month. I feel like it's It's a really great value for the people taking it. I'm meeting my needs. I'm able to pay the guest facility. I have other facilitators that come in now. I'm able to pay people what I feel like is a really good price. So I've decided to just keep the price the same for now. I know times are a little bit tight for people.

8:29 And even though it's been almost five years, well, four years going into it, I've just, I don't see or feel a need to increase the price right now, even though I probably could. So leaving it where it is. That's what's happening. That's what's happening there. I have just to share some of the fears and some of the learning edges, I guess you could say, that have come up along the way. Probably my biggest fear associated with Monday Mentoring is that. It's really hard when people sign up for a membership like this, it automatically renews on the same day of the month that you signed up. And people, there are definitely people who sign up and then I never really see them.

9:09 I'll see them maybe for a few months and then I just hardly see them at all. And I worry so much that, especially in the beginning, I was so worried like, oh my gosh, these people have forgotten and now they're paying me and they don't realize they're paying me and I'm their budget. I had all these stories about what was happening and how like somehow my email was disappearing and they didn't remember that they were still in it and so on. And then I've actually talked to my own mentor a lot about this because, oh my gosh, in the beginning, especially I was like, my mentor's name is Alana. And I was like, Alana, should I just unenroll them? Because I don't want to accidentally be charging them. And she was like, no, Camille, this is how memberships work. You don't know what's going on behind the scenes. And then finally I started reaching out to people and I was like, but you know, I try to check in with people periodically.

9:54 And a lot of people said, I actually watch the recordings. I can't come live, but I get a lot out of participating in the community forum, or I like to watch the recordings and listen to them. And I find the continuing education so helpful. So people are, or they're taking a break and then they're planning to come back in a month or two. So I've realized like, okay, people just have their own reasons for staying subscribed and I don't need to micromanage them. Like these are adults, they've signed up, they know the deal, and they can leave whenever they want. What I do, what I have done just to make myself feel better is I've made it just incredibly easy to cancel. I send an email out every Sunday with kind of like a synopsis of what's happening in Monday Mentoring.

10:36 And at the bottom, all of them say like, here's how to cancel Monday Mentoring with a link to how to do it. And you know, when you log into the membership, it's right there at the top of your Monday Mentoring dashboard. It's like, here's how you can cancel. Because I never want anybody to stay if they don't want to stay in Monday Mentoring. Some other things that I have learned are. Speaking of kind of like fears and growing edges, at first I was like, oh, is it going to be really awkward if people cancel? You know, in the beginning, every time somebody would cancel, I'd be like, oh, I guess I'm not doing a good job or like what's happening. And then I've come to realize people cancel for all kinds of reasons. It isn't a good fit for some people and they cancel because they don't like it or they're not getting whatever out of it.

11:17 But a lot of people cancel because they're not practicing anymore or they're taking a break from practicing or or finances became different, or they got too busy with other things. There's all kinds of reasons that people cancel. And I've learned to manage my own mind around that and just assume that we could still have a really great relationship. So I never wish anybody poorly when they cancel. I don't think badly of them or like, oh, our relationship is ruined, or I don't want to talk to them anymore. A lot of people, since I've been doing this so long, I find a lot of people actually come back. It's one of the really fun things about Monday Mentoring is I've had people, cancel and then a year or two later, they might say like, now is actually the time and I feel like I can really do this or my finances have changed or, you know, I took a break to have a baby and now I'm back or whatever.

12:08 So it's really fun to see people kind of move in and out of the program as their needs change and as things evolve. I have really great relationships with so many people that I've met through Monday Mentoring, even if they're not part of it. I I love that I got to know them and we stay in touch. And it's not weird when people come in and then leave anymore. And so that's been a great thing for me is just to be a resource for people when they want to be part of this group and when it's not working for them for whatever reason, totally great. And I'm glad to have known them in that way and hope that we stay in touch. So that's kind of been a fun part of it. It's kind of a learning. And learning for me is just enjoying the people that I.

12:51 Enjoying the people that I've met along the way. And then the last thing, well, one of the last things I wanted to share with you is just about the amount of work. Because I know a lot of people when you think about, oh, maybe I'll do a membership or a group program or something like that. You think, oh, it's a little bit easier because it's one to many. And to a certain extent, yes, it is. You know, there's definitely some advantages to doing a group program. But what I've ultimately found after four plus years of doing this is that it's pretty much the same amount of work as running a clinical practice, a one-on-one practice. It's just a different type of work. So I really don't think it's any easier and in some ways it's harder than a full one-on-one practice.

13:35 It's just now the work of it is more administrative. There's more people to manage. There's more, you know, tech issues that come up along the way. I do, I think I mentioned earlier, now I do have other facilitators coming in. So I'm not personally doing every single session. I try to do about half of them at least every month. And then I have guest facilitators coming in to do, not guests because a lot of folks are regular facilitators, but I have other facilitators coming in to expand Horizons. And so it's not just me. But, you know, I'm organizing schedules and now I have Amy, who's an assistant, my assistant, and, you know, websites.

14:16 And there's all these buttons that aren't working and links that are supposed to be doing something that they're not doing. And, you know, there's other things that come up. Like if you want to have a group program, then you need to have more people. You know, like people leave Monday Mentorings and then if you... Want to keep it at the same level that you got to have more people coming in all the time. So it's a different type of work. It's not easier. It's not better. It's just different. I really enjoy it. I enjoy having the mix of Monday Mentoring and my one-on-one work, but it's definitely a different, it's kind of a different beast. And anyway, so those are some things that have come up in terms of what's on the horizon for Monday Mentoring, like improvements, things that I want to make.

14:57 Some of the things that are on my mind to grapple with moving into the end of 2024 and on into 2025 is that I'm constantly trying to walk the line between having Monday Mentoring not be the Camille show. I really, my intention is that it is a group of people working together and that it's not just, oh, here's what Camille thinks about this, but But really, we're, you know, me stepping out of the way and facilitating, you know, a group of people to work together on something. And so I definitely, sometimes I'm on the wrong side of that line. And I need to constantly remind myself to listen more than I'm talking and to keep my role really clear so that it's not all about me.

15:43 Teaching, when I'm teaching continuing education, then it is kind of the Camille show. but for the facilitated sessions, which is most of Monday mentoring, I'm trying to remind myself to, to leave lots of space for other people. And then the other growing edge for Monday Mentoring that I'm thinking about going forward is really just the simplicity aspect of it. Because as my interest is always like, oh, we could do this and we could do that. And we could add, you know, we could add this here or that there. And what I found works really well for people is actually if it's just simple. The more simple I can keep it, the less overwhelmed people feel. So I've started trying to explain Monday Mentoring to People as just show up for one hour a week to either attend a live session or review one of our webinars in the library for continuing education or even just showing up in the community forum and meeting some other people.

16:36 If you just do an hour a week on improving your business or growing as a practitioner, then you'll find that you're evolving quite a bit. So I'm really working on not overwhelming people and not having it be too complicated so that it's like, oh, I'm missing out on stuff, but really thinking like, how can I make this accessible and easy and something that feels supportive and building rather than something that's wearing you down and just constantly adding to your to-do list. So those are things that I'm that I'm working on as we move forward into the next into the next iteration of wherever that's going to take us. So I hope this has been helpful for you just to hear a little bit more about how things have evolved and where we are.

17:21 If you have specific questions about Monday Mentoring, just the admin parts of things or anything else, I would love to answer your questions here on the podcast. You can go to intheclinic.com and there's a little area there. It should be pretty obvious where you can submit questions and that would be a great way. I'd love to hear them and help you out if I can. am. So send me your questions. If you are not already signed up for my newsletter, you can do so at intheclinic.com or you can go to my website, camillefreeman.com and sign up there. I'd love to have you on my website for practitioners and I'll see you next time. All right, take care.