January 27, 2021 • 33 mins
Once a year Marie Forleo opens the doors to her B-School course: a 6-week, interactive video-based training program that claims to teach smart, effective online marketing strategies to business owners who want more sales and more impact from their online presence.
But what’s it really like in B-School?
In today’s episode I talk to a group of B-School alumni about their experiences. What they loved and hated, whether it was worth the money, who they would recommend it to, and much more.
Rather than reading highly polished testimonials, join us for an insider’s view to find out what four alumni really want you to know about the course.
As background to this episode, it’s worth noting that historically Marie Forleo offered a generous affiliate scheme so many people signed up for B-School via an affiliate who was also offering their own program or course as a bonus.
I took B-School back in 2013 and at that time there was a community run Facebook group, which was then taken over by Team Forleo and used as the main alumni group for B-Schoolers. In 2020, Marie Forleo made a number of wrong turns in the group in response to Black Lives Matter and eventually decided to exit the group completely, leaving it to the community.
At the current time it is understood that B-School will no longer have a Facebook community or an affiliate program.
The guests on today’s show are Astrid Ferguson, Carla Diaz, Charelle Griffith and Darci Ellenberger. Visit Angel Rated to read dozens of independent reviews of B-School from them and other alumni.
In this episode, we talk about:
- What made them want to take the course (03:05)
- What they loved about B-School (06:16)
- What was missing or needs improving (09:25)
- What they got out of it and whether it met their expectations (12:11)
- Whether it was worth what they paid for it (16:20)
- Who they think it is ideal for (18:55)
- The impact it has had on their life and business (22:15)
- Whether they would recommend it (27:07)
- What they really want you know about B-School (29:24)
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At Angel Rated, we are all about ratings and reviews, so if you liked this episode, I would love you to rate and review The Angel Rated Show on your favourite podcast platform. Also, do subscribe to the podcast and share it with your online business friends.
Links mentioned in this episode
Connect with Astrid Ferguson :
Connect with Carla Diaz :
Connect with Charelle Griffith :
Darci Ellenberger is not currently building her business.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angela Bryant (00:08):
Welcome, I'm Angela Bryant, and you're
listening to The Angel RatedShow, where we have inspiring
conversations with the peoplebehind the products and services
most often used by onlinebusiness owners. On the show,
you'll hear how their personalbeliefs and values have
influenced their businesses. Ifyou're an online entrepreneur
who wants to know about theintegrity and impact of the
(00:29):
businesses you're buying from,then this is the show for you.
Hello, and welcome to The AngelRated Show. I'm Angela Bryant,
and today we're talking aboutMarie Forleo's B-School program.
But rather than interview thefounder of the course, instead,
I've invited a group of B-Schoolalumni to share their
(00:50):
experiences. As a bit ofbackground to this episode, it's
worth noting that B-School runsannually and that Marie Forleo
has previously offered agenerous affiliate scheme, so
many people signed up forB-School via an affiliate who
was offering their own programor course as a bonus on top of
B-School. I took B-School backin 2013. And coming straight
from the corporate world, it hada massive impact on me. It
(01:13):
really opened my eyes to a wholenew world that I didn't know
existed, and made me believethat I could build my own online
business. It also allowed me tobecome part of the wonderful
community of fellow onlinebusiness owners, many of whom
have become close friends. Backwhen I joined B-School, there
was a community run Facebookgroup, which was then taken over
by Team Forleo and used as themain alumni group for
(01:34):
B-Schoolers. In 2020, MarieForleo made a number of wrong
turns in the group in responseto Black Lives Matter, and
eventually decided to exit thegroup completely leaving it to
the community. At the time ofrecording, it's unclear whether
B-School will have any Facebookcommunity in 2021 and beyond, or
whether there will be anyaffiliate program. So with no
(01:55):
further ado, let's start bygetting Astrid, Carla, Charelle
and Darci to introducethemselves.
Astrid Ferguson (02:02):
Yeah, so I'm Astrid Ferguson. And I am a
Certified Professional Coach,which means you know, I can help
you with life coaching andcareer coaching. I'm a writer
and I'm a poet.
Carla Diaz (02:16):
My name is Carla Diaz, I am a physical therapist
by profession. But morerecently, I've decided to move
out of the health care arena tobecome a health and wellness
coach. I took B-School earlierthis year, and I'm really happy
to share, you know, myexperience the whole B-School
(02:37):
experience.
Charelle Griffith (02:39):
Hi, my name is Charelle Griffith. I am a
marketing strategist for coachesand consultants. I focus on
taking the overwhelm out ofmarketing. And instead, creating
marketing strategies are simpleto follow, showcase my client's
expertise, and most importantly,drive sales. And I first took
B-School back in 2017.
Darci Ellenberger (02:58):
So my name is Darci Ellenberger. I'm a
copywriter. I live inPennsylvania in the United
States.
Angela Bryant (03:05):
So let's start with what made you want to take
the course in the first place?
What were you expecting to getout of it?
Astrid Ferguson (03:10):
I guess I was trying to gain some sort of
clarity of what I could be doingas an entrepreneur, like, I had
my website, but I had, you know,like, I was writing blogs, and
it was to like crickets. So Iwas like, what should I be
focusing on? And then what was alead magnet? Like what would
(03:34):
that look like for someone likeme? So I went in there going,
you know, trying to see clarity,so to speak, and, and what it
involved being an entrepreneurand how to scale my business.
Carla Diaz (03:51):
So I actually, it wasn't on my radar, believe it
or not to take B-School, like Ihad heard of it. But it wasn't
the big course of the year thatI wanted to take. But I actually
learned more about it and becameinterested through another
business coach, Amy Porterfield,because she was actually
(04:13):
promoting it. And so I startedlistening. And then I started
realizing how B-School couldhelp me with my business, to
better promote myself online,because I didn't really have an
education around that. So thatwas the reason why I started
looking into B-School and itseemed like it was going to be
pretty comprehensive. And I hadknown of Marie Forleo for maybe
(04:39):
two years listening to herpodcast, I loved her vibe, and I
really felt like she would bethe one to teach me how to be a
better online marketer. Andthat's why I decided to just on
a whim kind of join B-School andjust go for it.
Charelle Griffith (04:54):
So I think I was following Marie on her
YouTube channel for a whilebefore and I I had a side hustle
that I felt, if I did, theprogram would probably help me
to turn it into a properbusiness. Obviously, I have a
background in marketing, so itwasn't necessarily the marketing
side of things, but I think itwas more around getting clarity
(05:15):
around everything it takes torun an online business. And it
seemed to me to be a course thatwas going to help you to do
that. Going into it, Idefinitely felt that it would
give me the overall knowledge tobe able to set up an online
business successfully.
Darci Ellenberger (05:30):
I was aware of B-School, I've been in the
online entrepreneurial space andlearning space for a while, but
I just never really been willingto invest that much. Then one of
Marie's affiliates, she got me,she got me in like the last 12
(05:50):
hours of the school being open.
And I was just like, alright,I'm just going to do it, I
needed something to kind of holdme accountable, I needed to have
more at stake so that Icontinued moving forward with
what I was working on. And Itrusted the Marie Forleo name
because it was so established,and had so much history behind
it.
Angela Bryant (06:14):
So tell us a bit more about what you really liked
about it
Astrid Ferguson (06:17):
I did like that she has, you know, things that
she has you working on andreally sitting down and thinking
about who your niche audienceis. I did like that she has
those type of activities goingon in there, there's like a
(06:37):
vault in there. And everythingis video based. So you can go
through it quickly. It'sseamless, there's a lot of
information shared, there's,it's interactive. And who
doesn't love looking at MarieForleo, right.
Carla Diaz (06:56):
What I really liked honestly, it was even not even
just the core course itself, butshe had these two prerequisite
courses, and one of them wascalled Start the Right Business.
And for me, that really made itclear, because I had heard had
heard before about what yourbusiness idea is or what your
business model is. But I reallydidn't have any real
(07:19):
understanding of what that was.
It was just kind of like aterminology that was thrown
around. And so that prerequisitecourse actually helped me to
solidify what it was that Iwanted to attempt to achieve
through B-School, I knew that Iwas going to get an education.
And overall, it was socomprehensive. But I do feel
like towards the end, because Iwas still kind of new in my
(07:41):
business, the last two modulesreally didn't apply to me yet.
So that's why I am lookingforward to doing a school again.
That's one of the things that Idid like like, once you're you
are join B-School, you're amember for life.
Charelle Griffith (07:56):
I particularly like the structure
of the program. So whilst it'san eight week course, it's six
modules. And I rememberparticularly the fact they were
the implementation week in likeweek four and week eight, was
really useful, because actually,it's quite a lot of information
you're having to work through,there was a lot, it's a very
thorough course, I rememberthinking that was good for me to
actually be able to work throughit. And it felt like a very
(08:21):
comprehensive program in termsof I was using it at the time to
review another business and Ibut I also thought actually, I
could use this to start a newbusiness. And it is most of the
things that you need to know inorder to make an online
business.
Darci Ellenberger (08:36):
One thing I loved about B-School was that
like, it felt fun, and it's notdry. And it felt like I had kind
of found my people because itwas not so much about make X
amount of money, as it was aboutdoing what you love, and leading
from your heart. And I really,really bought in on that part of
(08:58):
it, because that really speaksto me. And you know, I, of
course, like making money, but Iwant to be satisfied by more
than the amount of money in mybank account. So I appreciated
that, at the time, it seemedlike our values were in
(09:18):
alignment there.
Angela Bryant (09:21):
So what did you think wasn't so great about it
or what could be improved aboutthe course itself?
Astrid Ferguson (09:27):
Community. I think community is what it's
lacking. I think many peopletook the course because they did
like the Facebook community. Andnow that that's gone, it feels
like a very lonely journey.
Carla Diaz (09:46):
Thinking back now, my experience is probably more
favorable because of the factthat B-School in itself is kind
of like a DIY, right? But it'sit's such a big monster of a
course that if you don't haveaccountability partners, like if
you're trying to attempt to goit alone, you're going to get
stuck. There's a lot of stuffthere that you may not know,
(10:08):
like, for example, there was thewebsite module one that really
threw a lot of people for aloop. And because I had came in
through Amy Porterfield'saffiliate offer, I was able to
fill in that gap. Because hercommunity and her team really
worked hard to make theexperience as enjoyable and give
(10:30):
a real community around it.
Whereas the B-School programitself, like they had Q and A's
that you could, that you couldsign up for, and they were, you
know, filmed live. And ofcourse, it was available on
replay if you didn't have theopportunity, because it didn't
fit your schedule to attend itlive. And they also did have
like, a section within theschool where they could you
(10:51):
could ask questions, and youwould get answers. But if I
could say that the one thingthat was kind of lacking was the
cohesiveness of the community, Ijust kind of feel like, I think
entrepreneurs now they if it'snot their first course, they're
looking for that community feel.
And in many respects, I feellike the B-School experience,
(11:14):
they didn't have a strongcommunity on its own.
Charelle Griffith (11:17):
So personally, I think the like
social media aspect of it is oneof the most lacking because
Marie doesn't have a businessthat is focused on social, which
I think she's quite honest aboutthe fact she's not someone who
loves it. And because she's hasa business that was made, I
don't know how many years ago,but it's obviously a long
standing business, she can relymuch more on like her YouTube
(11:39):
channel and her email. And so Ithink that for someone who's
newer, it's probably a bitlacking. And I think actually,
after that course, itdefinitely, I have done some
other courses that are the samething of like, six, eight week
long and they're meant to doeverything. And they're more
robust in terms of their socialside of things. And I think that
maybe in some ways, it's not ascohesive a program about what an
(12:05):
online business, it could be Ithink they are you are left with
some holes.
Angela Bryant (12:11):
So in the end, did you achieve what you were
hoping to get out of the course?
Astrid Ferguson (12:15):
It was definitely a lot more than I
thought it was going to be. Alot of it didn't apply to me, I
think it applied to people whoalready had a business and
already kind of knew what theywere doing and already had a
strategy. I think if you have abusiness that like you have a
(12:36):
product, or you already knowwhat the service is, then it
would help you. But I basicallytook all of B-School and figured
that, okay, what I need to focuson is increasing my list, my
email list, that's pretty muchwhat I got from it. Maybe if I
(12:57):
went through it, as you know, aperson as I am now where I'm
more clear about what I'm doingand what I'm providing and that
type of stuff, then it would bemore useful. But a lot of the
stuff that she shared was heavy,very heavy on marketing, you
know, at least that's what Ifound, like she she focused a
(13:17):
lot on pricing and a lot on, youknow, different strategies that
you can use if you're going tohave workshops, and she did
share a lot of usefulinformation on business and
scaling, like books and, and,and that type of stuff. But
(13:38):
again, I think it was just whereI was in my business. It wasn't,
it didn't really end up beingwhat I was looking for at the
moment.
Carla Diaz (13:46):
Yes, it's one of those things. It's like you're
excited. And you know, like Ialready have kind of like a
sense that I'm an entrepreneur.
So I have to kind of becoachable and just be open and
just be willing to learn. Soyeah, B-School was really a good
general program. I still feellike there's work to be done.
But I do feel overall that I dohave the groundwork there. It's
(14:10):
just a matter of me going backand applying and to keep with
every next level that I get toto apply the teachings and I'm
sure that I would find morevalue out of it. Overall, I
would still recommend it becauseI don't know of any other course
that provides that, that MBAwithout actually going to an
(14:30):
institution. So I just kind offeel like B-School overall was a
good decision for me.
Charelle Griffith (14:41):
I think if I'm really honest, no, I don't
think I actually left thatcourse feeling as confident
about the business that I wantedto make as I had expected to. I
think I did have very highexpectations. I you know, I
think I'd watched Marie for along time and really thought all
this is going to changeeverything and I would I got a
fairly good input and like wasreally active during that
(15:04):
period. But I also think it's alot to get through in that
amount of time. And I thinkthat's one of the things I think
if you're going to get do it,and you really want to get the
most out of it, doing it inthose eight weeks when it's
live, is the key time to do it.
But it is a lot of work.
Darci Ellenberger (15:20):
The course content did cover what I
expected, what I found was whenI would sit down and work
through the different chapters,even if I didn't necessarily
need what that module was about,because I already had that
established, or it didn't reallyapply to my business, it's still
always inspired the creativityin me, and got me over my block
(15:47):
of I can't do this, it's toomuch, it's overwhelming, and got
me into it, and then into moreof a flow. So I always came out
of it with work that I coulduse, even if it wasn't directly
the answers to her questions. Itwas well that inspired this
thought which gave me this ideawhich made me think of a new
(16:07):
product, you know, so for that,absolutely, I think that if you
just need to work through allthe different angles and and you
feel blocked doing it on yourown. I think B-School is very
good for that.
Angela Bryant (16:20):
So if I asked you whether you thought it was worth
what you paid for it, what wouldyou say for that?
Astrid Ferguson (16:26):
It depends on what value you put on it. So if
you're looking at it from a, Iwant to say physical like
monetization value, no. Becauseafter investing that much in the
course, I did not make that backby the end of the year. But if
you're looking at it from avalue of gaining insight,
(16:47):
gaining some clarity, evengaining some resources, then
yeah.
Carla Diaz (16:54):
I feel it was, I feel it was because I can only
imagine like for me, like I lookat it this way. Yes, it was a
lot of money, but it is aninvestment in my business. And
it's something that I can alwaysgo back to, I can always in
every year, there's going to bemore stuff added to it. So for
(17:16):
me, I am someone that I needinformation. And I like to have
to have it accessible at my owntime and my own convenience. I
know that other people mightfeel well, I feel like I could
have gotten more working one onone with a business coach. Yes,
that you could, but for the waythat I like to learn, I'm kind
of an independent kind oflearner. So I do feel overall
(17:39):
that it was it was worth themoney. Because I feel that I
have to see myself as you knowthat I'm I'm worthy of that
investment. It allowed me toalso come in contact with a lot
of other entrepreneurs. And Ideveloped a lot of
accountability partners on myown, not through, you know,
B-School initiative. But it wasjust something that the
(18:01):
opportunity presented itself andI worked with other
accountability partners. Butagain, that's something that I
knew beforehand, that to getthrough like a big course like
this, like you need to have, youneed to have friends who are
just as invested in growing andlearning. So definitely,
definitely worth my investment.
Charelle Griffith (18:21):
So I bought it through an affiliate. So not
only did I get B-School, but Ibought it through Denise
Duffield Thomas. So I became amember of Money Bootcamp. And
for that reason, for mefinancially, it was worth it. If
I was just buying it. If I justbought it as a one course and I
hadn't bought it for anyoneelse, I'm not as convinced that
(18:43):
I thought it was good value formoney.
Darci Ellenberger (18:46):
For me, the course was not worth what I paid
for it.
Angela Bryant (18:51):
So who do you think it would be perfect for
who would it be good for thecourse?
Astrid Ferguson (18:56):
I think course would be good for someone who
has some skin in the game thathas been doing their business
for a little while they kind ofalready know what they're doing.
And they're looking to scaletheir business. So if you
already have a audience, you'realready you know, you have
(19:17):
products that you're selling,maybe you're already making, I
don't know, $10,000 a year orsomething. But you're making you
know, some kind of income, somesteady income. And you're you're
looking for what is the nextthing to do, then, yeah, then
take B-School, that would beB-School is for you. If you're
(19:38):
new, you don't know what you'redoing. I don't, I don't think
it's for you. You're gonna spenda lot of money you may gain a
lot of resources, but many of ityou may not even end up
applying.
Carla Diaz (19:49):
I feel that it's the perfect course for a beginner to
maybe intermediate marketer orsomeone who has an idea of what
they want to do. And someone whois is willing to put in the time
and effort. Who understands thatthe price point alone is that's
just the beginning of yourbusiness, you are going to have
(20:10):
to look into purchasing otherservices or purchasing other
platforms to grow your business.
I feel someone that iscoachable, would definitely and
resourceful would definitelybenefit from from joining this.
And again, like I said, I don'tknow of any other courses that
are similar to what what Marieteaches. So regardless, I mean,
(20:31):
I don't feel like I need to, Idon't feel like I need to look
for another similar course,because I feel like she provided
everything that I needed withinB-School.
Charelle Griffith (20:45):
I think the course is good for someone who
is really new to business andmarketing. So if you are someone
that currently has an idea, andyou want to formulate that idea,
and actually make it intosomething that might be
profitable, like the firstmodule is all around, I suppose
forming your idea and making areal profit plan. I think that's
really useful for someone who'snew to business. And I would say
(21:08):
if you have a current businessthat isn't reaching its full
potential, I think there isdefinitely is value, I think you
can have a business and be goingback through all of that, and
using the course as a sort ofguide to give you the structure
to work through it. So maybe ifyou're someone who had a side
hustle that like blew up quitequickly, or you've definitely
(21:30):
got holes in your structure, andyou're like, basically like
plastering things together andhoping everything stays up. But
you're like, No, I want to tryand go through something in a
cohesive and comprehensive wayand check the different
elements. And I think you'llfind it useful to.
Darci Ellenberger (21:44):
The courses good for people who want to go
into business for themselvesthat don't place a high value on
antiracism work, andinclusivity. I mean, if if those
things aren't a priority to you,I think you'll enjoy it.
Angela Bryant (22:06):
And what impact is taking the course had on your
life or your business?
Astrid Ferguson (22:12):
I want to say taking the course, I mean, it
was good to sit with yourself,and understand that whatever
business you build, you are themost unique thing that comes to
your business. So it should becentered around who you are,
what you enjoy, how you wantpeople to view you, what's the
(22:36):
main message. So that's what Iwant to say the course
reaffirmed for me, because Ithink I was trying so hard to be
what I thought people wanted meto be. And what I thought in my
mind, author should look like orsomething like that. And the
(22:57):
course pretty much just said,you know, you are the most
unique thing that exists. So itshould be authentically you. You
know, I think that's what Igained most about the course. It
helped me with, you know, mywriting my copy too.
Carla Diaz (23:15):
I think I just gave me permission and just let me
see what the possibilities wereI just it just it's really like
you go in saying okay, I want todo this. And then going through
the actual journey. It's theprocess that kind of refines
what your message is, it refineswhat your business is going to
(23:36):
be. And so having thoseteachings and knowing that I can
always go back and when I have anew business idea, I can go back
and do B-School again for thatbusiness idea. Because it is it
is applicable to whatever I wantto do like whether if I want to
work on a coaching business, orif I want to do online courses,
or create a product related toyou know, health and wellness, I
(24:00):
mean, I can always go back toB-School and take the modules
again, to perfect, what it isthat I'm trying to bring to the
world. So I think that that is Ifeel assurance that I have a
good source of information to goto.
Charelle Griffith (24:16):
I think it's really hard to say because I
have done a lot of other things.
And I don't feel as if it hasdramatically changed, like
changed it in a way. I think itwas useful to go through it and
it definitely gave me a lot oflearnings and it did help me to
reflect on a lot of stuff and tochange things but I don't have
(24:37):
that sort of like bing you know,all of a sudden now I was
writing emails that were 10times better or like there was
nothing that's a dramatic impactthat I could tell you about.
Darci Ellenberger (24:49):
I would say that the total impact of the
course for me is that I amseveral $1,000 less well off and
really all I got for it wasstress and upset. I got I got
some inspiration there in thebeginning. And I will say that I
connected with some reallyamazing people in the group. And
that's fantastic. But I cannotcredit that to B-School. So what
(25:14):
have I gotten from the school? Acouple of ideas and a whole lot
of stress.
Angela Bryant (25:21):
So would you take another course by Marie Forleo?
Astrid Ferguson (25:26):
As much as I love her, probably not. Yeah,
probably probably not.
Especially if it's thatexpensive again.
Carla Diaz (25:37):
I actually did. I signed up for her Copy Cure
course, like right after, like,in May when it was released. So
yeah, definitely, I would takeanother course of hers, because
I do like her style. She'sentertaining. She's very
knowledgeable. And I'vepurchased her book, Everything
(25:57):
is Figureoutable so yeah, I'mdefinitely a Marie Forleo fan.
Charelle Griffith (26:02):
So I have considered doing Copy Cure
before. And part of me justfeels like her marketing is so
great that I'm probably gonnahave got sucked in and will it?
Will it deliver? Again, as Isaid, I, I would say I probably
would do something else again.
But Copy Cure hasn't got meacross the line yet. So we'll
have to wait and see.
Darci Ellenberger (26:24):
No, absolutely not. I won't put my
money with someone who I know isnot interested in being anti
racist. So and in protectingmarginalized communities?
Because it goes much it goesdeeper than racism, absolutely
racism needs to be addressed.
Now. It's long overdue. And I'mnot gonna participate in spaces
(26:50):
or or, you know, vote with mydollars with businesses that are
willing to harm anyone.
Angela Bryant (27:01):
And would you recommend the course to someone
who asked you about it?
Astrid Ferguson (27:05):
I would have to ask them where they're at. If
they feel like you know,depending on what they're
looking for, if they tell me,you know, they're already a
established entrepreneur, andthey're looking to scale then
yeah. But if they would say thatthey were in my same boat, I
would be like, you're gonnaspend all that money just to
find out that you already had aninkling of where you should have
(27:28):
started. So just save yourselfsome money and start there.
Carla Diaz (27:34):
I would, I would definitely tell them that, but I
would tell them to do it throughAmy Porterfield's affiliation,
because that to me, again, Iknow, this is not about Amy
Porterfield but just theexperience that she created for
her students really made theB-School experience what it was
for me, I think without it, Ithink I probably would have
(27:55):
ranked it lower. That's howimpressed I was by by Amy's way
of bringing us into B-School.
Charelle Griffith (28:04):
So I have recommended B-School to people
in the past. There's definitelysome times because the type of
people that approached me, Ihave recommended it. However,
for me, one of the most valuablethings has been the Facebook
group. And because that nowcurrently is under question
about what's going to happen fornext year, I wouldn't recommend
it right now.
Darci Ellenberger (28:22):
No, I mean, and I'd probably say what I'm
saying now, because I think ifI'm just like, oh, Marie Forleo
is racist, like people are gonnabe like, wait, that can't be
right. Like, there's got to bemore context than that, which is
why I try and stay neutral andsay, it's not a bad course. It
can help you work on thefoundation of your business, and
(28:46):
it can help you get overroadblocks and find inspiration.
But it professes to be onething. And that is heart led and
it is not that. So if that is adeal breaker for you, I don't
recommend it. And ideally,anyone I know that would be
(29:07):
asking me for recommendation,hopefully is anti racist. And
I'd be like, well, she doesn'tprotect her black members. And
they'd be like, Oh, no, then I'mout.
Angela Bryant (29:17):
And just to finish up, can you summarize in
a sentence or two just what youwant people to know about the
course?
Astrid Ferguson (29:26):
Sure. So B-School is what is stands for,
you know, it's business school.
So you're going to learn allabout business, you're going to
learn all about marketing. Marieis the queen of marketing. So if
you want to learn aboutmarketing and you're looking to
scale your business up to thenext biggest thing, then
B-School is absolutely for you.
Carla Diaz (29:51):
I would say that it is a all around it is a solid
introduction to what onlinebusiness marketing can be And
where it can take your business.
And I guess what I would say isthat since having taken B-School
and since, you know, joiningother communities around other
business courses, for example,if I can speak to like, right
(30:13):
now I'm in Amy PorterfieldDigital Course Academy, I feel
like going through the schoolfirst has really helped me to
appreciate what Amy's doing inDigital Course Academy. And I
have met other entrepreneurs whosigned up for Digital Course
Academy without taking B-School.
(30:37):
And I always tell them, you needto take B-School, you know,
because B-School gives you theclarity that you need to
understand, what is yourmessage? What is your product,
like? Who are you serving? Andlike I said, that's, that's
pretty much what I would sayabout it. So definitely it is it
is a prerequisite, I would feelinto whatever it is that you
(31:00):
want to bring out into the worldas an online entrepreneur. It's
a it's a good starting point.
Charelle Griffith (31:07):
So I think Marie Forleo B-School is a
comprehensive course, if youwant to start a new online
business. However, Marie is anonline business that wasn't
formed in the last couple ofyears. So I think that's
important to think about itrealistically, it's probably one
of the older online businessesand therefore that is reflected
on how the program is structuredand what the content is. I think
(31:28):
it is comprehensive. However,you would really need to think
about what level of support youfeel you need to be able to even
launch your business or to makethe changes that you need inside
of it.
Darci Ellenberger (31:42):
Okay, my two sentence, B-School review. The
business advice is great. Shedoes not live up to her
professed values. And that is adeal breaker for me. If all you
want to take out of B-School isthe lessons pertaining to the
business and working through thesteps to define your business. I
(32:04):
think it's very good for that. Iwould not buy into B-School
knowing what I know now I wouldnot buy into B-School in any way
for the community.
Angela Bryant (32:16):
And you want to just tell people where they can
find you and your business.
Astrid Ferguson (32:21):
Yeah, you can find me at astridferguson.com.
Everything is on there. MyInstagram, which is A S T R I D
underscore Ferg F E R G.
Carla Diaz (32:35):
So I my website is heycarladiaz.com. So you can
find me there. I'm also onInstagram at HeyCarlaDiaz.
Charelle Griffith (32:45):
Yep, so you can find me at
charellegriffith.com so that's Ch A R E double L E. And then
Griffith is G R I double F I T Hand that is the same on
Instagram. But yet that's thebest place to find me.
Angela Bryant (33:01):
Thanks for joining us. To read the show
notes from this episode, go toangelrated.com/podcast. If you
enjoyed this episode, I'd loveyou to subscribe to the show.
And leave a review on yourfavorite podcast platform. And
don't forget to share thisepisode with anyone who might
need it.
The Angel Rated Show is broughtto you by Angel Rated the
(33:24):
independent directory and reviewsite for all the products
courses and services used byonline business owners. It's the
best place to find the perfectproduct for the next stage of
your business or personalgrowth. Learn more and list your
business free of charge atangelrated.com
Welcome, I'm Angela Bryant, and you're
listening to The Angel RatedShow, where we have inspiring
conversations with the peoplebehind the products and services
most often used by onlinebusiness owners. On the show,
you'll hear how their personalbeliefs and values have
influenced their businesses. Ifyou're an online entrepreneur
who wants to know about theintegrity and impact of the
(00:29):
businesses you're buying from,then this is the show for you.
Hello, and welcome to The AngelRated Show. I'm Angela Bryant,
and today we're talking aboutMarie Forleo's B-School program.
But rather than interview thefounder of the course, instead,
I've invited a group of B-Schoolalumni to share their
(00:50):
experiences. As a bit ofbackground to this episode, it's
worth noting that B-School runsannually and that Marie Forleo
has previously offered agenerous affiliate scheme, so
many people signed up forB-School via an affiliate who
was offering their own programor course as a bonus on top of
B-School. I took B-School backin 2013. And coming straight
from the corporate world, it hada massive impact on me. It
(01:13):
really opened my eyes to a wholenew world that I didn't know
existed, and made me believethat I could build my own online
business. It also allowed me tobecome part of the wonderful
community of fellow onlinebusiness owners, many of whom
have become close friends. Backwhen I joined B-School, there
was a community run Facebookgroup, which was then taken over
by Team Forleo and used as themain alumni group for
(01:34):
B-Schoolers. In 2020, MarieForleo made a number of wrong
turns in the group in responseto Black Lives Matter, and
eventually decided to exit thegroup completely leaving it to
the community. At the time ofrecording, it's unclear whether
B-School will have any Facebookcommunity in 2021 and beyond, or
whether there will be anyaffiliate program. So with no
(01:55):
further ado, let's start bygetting Astrid, Carla, Charelle
and Darci to introducethemselves.
Astrid Ferguson (02:02):
Yeah, so I'm Astrid Ferguson. And I am a
Certified Professional Coach,which means you know, I can help
you with life coaching andcareer coaching. I'm a writer
and I'm a poet.
Carla Diaz (02:16):
My name is Carla Diaz, I am a physical therapist
by profession. But morerecently, I've decided to move
out of the health care arena tobecome a health and wellness
coach. I took B-School earlierthis year, and I'm really happy
to share, you know, myexperience the whole B-School
(02:37):
experience.
Charelle Griffith (02:39):
Hi, my name is Charelle Griffith. I am a
marketing strategist for coachesand consultants. I focus on
taking the overwhelm out ofmarketing. And instead, creating
marketing strategies are simpleto follow, showcase my client's
expertise, and most importantly,drive sales. And I first took
B-School back in 2017.
Darci Ellenberger (02:58):
So my name is Darci Ellenberger. I'm a
copywriter. I live inPennsylvania in the United
States.
Angela Bryant (03:05):
So let's start with what made you want to take
the course in the first place?
What were you expecting to getout of it?
Astrid Ferguson (03:10):
I guess I was trying to gain some sort of
clarity of what I could be doingas an entrepreneur, like, I had
my website, but I had, you know,like, I was writing blogs, and
it was to like crickets. So Iwas like, what should I be
focusing on? And then what was alead magnet? Like what would
(03:34):
that look like for someone likeme? So I went in there going,
you know, trying to see clarity,so to speak, and, and what it
involved being an entrepreneurand how to scale my business.
Carla Diaz (03:51):
So I actually, it wasn't on my radar, believe it
or not to take B-School, like Ihad heard of it. But it wasn't
the big course of the year thatI wanted to take. But I actually
learned more about it and becameinterested through another
business coach, Amy Porterfield,because she was actually
(04:13):
promoting it. And so I startedlistening. And then I started
realizing how B-School couldhelp me with my business, to
better promote myself online,because I didn't really have an
education around that. So thatwas the reason why I started
looking into B-School and itseemed like it was going to be
pretty comprehensive. And I hadknown of Marie Forleo for maybe
(04:39):
two years listening to herpodcast, I loved her vibe, and I
really felt like she would bethe one to teach me how to be a
better online marketer. Andthat's why I decided to just on
a whim kind of join B-School andjust go for it.
Charelle Griffith (04:54):
So I think I was following Marie on her
YouTube channel for a whilebefore and I I had a side hustle
that I felt, if I did, theprogram would probably help me
to turn it into a properbusiness. Obviously, I have a
background in marketing, so itwasn't necessarily the marketing
side of things, but I think itwas more around getting clarity
(05:15):
around everything it takes torun an online business. And it
seemed to me to be a course thatwas going to help you to do
that. Going into it, Idefinitely felt that it would
give me the overall knowledge tobe able to set up an online
business successfully.
Darci Ellenberger (05:30):
I was aware of B-School, I've been in the
online entrepreneurial space andlearning space for a while, but
I just never really been willingto invest that much. Then one of
Marie's affiliates, she got me,she got me in like the last 12
(05:50):
hours of the school being open.
And I was just like, alright,I'm just going to do it, I
needed something to kind of holdme accountable, I needed to have
more at stake so that Icontinued moving forward with
what I was working on. And Itrusted the Marie Forleo name
because it was so established,and had so much history behind
it.
Angela Bryant (06:14):
So tell us a bit more about what you really liked
about it
Astrid Ferguson (06:17):
I did like that she has, you know, things that
she has you working on andreally sitting down and thinking
about who your niche audienceis. I did like that she has
those type of activities goingon in there, there's like a
(06:37):
vault in there. And everythingis video based. So you can go
through it quickly. It'sseamless, there's a lot of
information shared, there's,it's interactive. And who
doesn't love looking at MarieForleo, right.
Carla Diaz (06:56):
What I really liked honestly, it was even not even
just the core course itself, butshe had these two prerequisite
courses, and one of them wascalled Start the Right Business.
And for me, that really made itclear, because I had heard had
heard before about what yourbusiness idea is or what your
business model is. But I reallydidn't have any real
(07:19):
understanding of what that was.
It was just kind of like aterminology that was thrown
around. And so that prerequisitecourse actually helped me to
solidify what it was that Iwanted to attempt to achieve
through B-School, I knew that Iwas going to get an education.
And overall, it was socomprehensive. But I do feel
like towards the end, because Iwas still kind of new in my
(07:41):
business, the last two modulesreally didn't apply to me yet.
So that's why I am lookingforward to doing a school again.
That's one of the things that Idid like like, once you're you
are join B-School, you're amember for life.
Charelle Griffith (07:56):
I particularly like the structure
of the program. So whilst it'san eight week course, it's six
modules. And I rememberparticularly the fact they were
the implementation week in likeweek four and week eight, was
really useful, because actually,it's quite a lot of information
you're having to work through,there was a lot, it's a very
thorough course, I rememberthinking that was good for me to
actually be able to work throughit. And it felt like a very
(08:21):
comprehensive program in termsof I was using it at the time to
review another business and Ibut I also thought actually, I
could use this to start a newbusiness. And it is most of the
things that you need to know inorder to make an online
business.
Darci Ellenberger (08:36):
One thing I loved about B-School was that
like, it felt fun, and it's notdry. And it felt like I had kind
of found my people because itwas not so much about make X
amount of money, as it was aboutdoing what you love, and leading
from your heart. And I really,really bought in on that part of
(08:58):
it, because that really speaksto me. And you know, I, of
course, like making money, but Iwant to be satisfied by more
than the amount of money in mybank account. So I appreciated
that, at the time, it seemedlike our values were in
(09:18):
alignment there.
Angela Bryant (09:21):
So what did you think wasn't so great about it
or what could be improved aboutthe course itself?
Astrid Ferguson (09:27):
Community. I think community is what it's
lacking. I think many peopletook the course because they did
like the Facebook community. Andnow that that's gone, it feels
like a very lonely journey.
Carla Diaz (09:46):
Thinking back now, my experience is probably more
favorable because of the factthat B-School in itself is kind
of like a DIY, right? But it'sit's such a big monster of a
course that if you don't haveaccountability partners, like if
you're trying to attempt to goit alone, you're going to get
stuck. There's a lot of stuffthere that you may not know,
(10:08):
like, for example, there was thewebsite module one that really
threw a lot of people for aloop. And because I had came in
through Amy Porterfield'saffiliate offer, I was able to
fill in that gap. Because hercommunity and her team really
worked hard to make theexperience as enjoyable and give
(10:30):
a real community around it.
Whereas the B-School programitself, like they had Q and A's
that you could, that you couldsign up for, and they were, you
know, filmed live. And ofcourse, it was available on
replay if you didn't have theopportunity, because it didn't
fit your schedule to attend itlive. And they also did have
like, a section within theschool where they could you
(10:51):
could ask questions, and youwould get answers. But if I
could say that the one thingthat was kind of lacking was the
cohesiveness of the community, Ijust kind of feel like, I think
entrepreneurs now they if it'snot their first course, they're
looking for that community feel.
And in many respects, I feellike the B-School experience,
(11:14):
they didn't have a strongcommunity on its own.
Charelle Griffith (11:17):
So personally, I think the like
social media aspect of it is oneof the most lacking because
Marie doesn't have a businessthat is focused on social, which
I think she's quite honest aboutthe fact she's not someone who
loves it. And because she's hasa business that was made, I
don't know how many years ago,but it's obviously a long
standing business, she can relymuch more on like her YouTube
(11:39):
channel and her email. And so Ithink that for someone who's
newer, it's probably a bitlacking. And I think actually,
after that course, itdefinitely, I have done some
other courses that are the samething of like, six, eight week
long and they're meant to doeverything. And they're more
robust in terms of their socialside of things. And I think that
maybe in some ways, it's not ascohesive a program about what an
(12:05):
online business, it could be Ithink they are you are left with
some holes.
Angela Bryant (12:11):
So in the end, did you achieve what you were
hoping to get out of the course?
Astrid Ferguson (12:15):
It was definitely a lot more than I
thought it was going to be. Alot of it didn't apply to me, I
think it applied to people whoalready had a business and
already kind of knew what theywere doing and already had a
strategy. I think if you have abusiness that like you have a
(12:36):
product, or you already knowwhat the service is, then it
would help you. But I basicallytook all of B-School and figured
that, okay, what I need to focuson is increasing my list, my
email list, that's pretty muchwhat I got from it. Maybe if I
(12:57):
went through it, as you know, aperson as I am now where I'm
more clear about what I'm doingand what I'm providing and that
type of stuff, then it would bemore useful. But a lot of the
stuff that she shared was heavy,very heavy on marketing, you
know, at least that's what Ifound, like she she focused a
(13:17):
lot on pricing and a lot on, youknow, different strategies that
you can use if you're going tohave workshops, and she did
share a lot of usefulinformation on business and
scaling, like books and, and,and that type of stuff. But
(13:38):
again, I think it was just whereI was in my business. It wasn't,
it didn't really end up beingwhat I was looking for at the
moment.
Carla Diaz (13:46):
Yes, it's one of those things. It's like you're
excited. And you know, like Ialready have kind of like a
sense that I'm an entrepreneur.
So I have to kind of becoachable and just be open and
just be willing to learn. Soyeah, B-School was really a good
general program. I still feellike there's work to be done.
But I do feel overall that I dohave the groundwork there. It's
(14:10):
just a matter of me going backand applying and to keep with
every next level that I get toto apply the teachings and I'm
sure that I would find morevalue out of it. Overall, I
would still recommend it becauseI don't know of any other course
that provides that, that MBAwithout actually going to an
(14:30):
institution. So I just kind offeel like B-School overall was a
good decision for me.
Charelle Griffith (14:41):
I think if I'm really honest, no, I don't
think I actually left thatcourse feeling as confident
about the business that I wantedto make as I had expected to. I
think I did have very highexpectations. I you know, I
think I'd watched Marie for along time and really thought all
this is going to changeeverything and I would I got a
fairly good input and like wasreally active during that
(15:04):
period. But I also think it's alot to get through in that
amount of time. And I thinkthat's one of the things I think
if you're going to get do it,and you really want to get the
most out of it, doing it inthose eight weeks when it's
live, is the key time to do it.
But it is a lot of work.
Darci Ellenberger (15:20):
The course content did cover what I
expected, what I found was whenI would sit down and work
through the different chapters,even if I didn't necessarily
need what that module was about,because I already had that
established, or it didn't reallyapply to my business, it's still
always inspired the creativityin me, and got me over my block
(15:47):
of I can't do this, it's toomuch, it's overwhelming, and got
me into it, and then into moreof a flow. So I always came out
of it with work that I coulduse, even if it wasn't directly
the answers to her questions. Itwas well that inspired this
thought which gave me this ideawhich made me think of a new
(16:07):
product, you know, so for that,absolutely, I think that if you
just need to work through allthe different angles and and you
feel blocked doing it on yourown. I think B-School is very
good for that.
Angela Bryant (16:20):
So if I asked you whether you thought it was worth
what you paid for it, what wouldyou say for that?
Astrid Ferguson (16:26):
It depends on what value you put on it. So if
you're looking at it from a, Iwant to say physical like
monetization value, no. Becauseafter investing that much in the
course, I did not make that backby the end of the year. But if
you're looking at it from avalue of gaining insight,
(16:47):
gaining some clarity, evengaining some resources, then
yeah.
Carla Diaz (16:54):
I feel it was, I feel it was because I can only
imagine like for me, like I lookat it this way. Yes, it was a
lot of money, but it is aninvestment in my business. And
it's something that I can alwaysgo back to, I can always in
every year, there's going to bemore stuff added to it. So for
(17:16):
me, I am someone that I needinformation. And I like to have
to have it accessible at my owntime and my own convenience. I
know that other people mightfeel well, I feel like I could
have gotten more working one onone with a business coach. Yes,
that you could, but for the waythat I like to learn, I'm kind
of an independent kind oflearner. So I do feel overall
(17:39):
that it was it was worth themoney. Because I feel that I
have to see myself as you knowthat I'm I'm worthy of that
investment. It allowed me toalso come in contact with a lot
of other entrepreneurs. And Ideveloped a lot of
accountability partners on myown, not through, you know,
B-School initiative. But it wasjust something that the
(18:01):
opportunity presented itself andI worked with other
accountability partners. Butagain, that's something that I
knew beforehand, that to getthrough like a big course like
this, like you need to have, youneed to have friends who are
just as invested in growing andlearning. So definitely,
definitely worth my investment.
Charelle Griffith (18:21):
So I bought it through an affiliate. So not
only did I get B-School, but Ibought it through Denise
Duffield Thomas. So I became amember of Money Bootcamp. And
for that reason, for mefinancially, it was worth it. If
I was just buying it. If I justbought it as a one course and I
hadn't bought it for anyoneelse, I'm not as convinced that
(18:43):
I thought it was good value formoney.
Darci Ellenberger (18:46):
For me, the course was not worth what I paid
for it.
Angela Bryant (18:51):
So who do you think it would be perfect for
who would it be good for thecourse?
Astrid Ferguson (18:56):
I think course would be good for someone who
has some skin in the game thathas been doing their business
for a little while they kind ofalready know what they're doing.
And they're looking to scaletheir business. So if you
already have a audience, you'realready you know, you have
(19:17):
products that you're selling,maybe you're already making, I
don't know, $10,000 a year orsomething. But you're making you
know, some kind of income, somesteady income. And you're you're
looking for what is the nextthing to do, then, yeah, then
take B-School, that would beB-School is for you. If you're
(19:38):
new, you don't know what you'redoing. I don't, I don't think
it's for you. You're gonna spenda lot of money you may gain a
lot of resources, but many of ityou may not even end up
applying.
Carla Diaz (19:49):
I feel that it's the perfect course for a beginner to
maybe intermediate marketer orsomeone who has an idea of what
they want to do. And someone whois is willing to put in the time
and effort. Who understands thatthe price point alone is that's
just the beginning of yourbusiness, you are going to have
(20:10):
to look into purchasing otherservices or purchasing other
platforms to grow your business.
I feel someone that iscoachable, would definitely and
resourceful would definitelybenefit from from joining this.
And again, like I said, I don'tknow of any other courses that
are similar to what what Marieteaches. So regardless, I mean,
(20:31):
I don't feel like I need to, Idon't feel like I need to look
for another similar course,because I feel like she provided
everything that I needed withinB-School.
Charelle Griffith (20:45):
I think the course is good for someone who
is really new to business andmarketing. So if you are someone
that currently has an idea, andyou want to formulate that idea,
and actually make it intosomething that might be
profitable, like the firstmodule is all around, I suppose
forming your idea and making areal profit plan. I think that's
really useful for someone who'snew to business. And I would say
(21:08):
if you have a current businessthat isn't reaching its full
potential, I think there isdefinitely is value, I think you
can have a business and be goingback through all of that, and
using the course as a sort ofguide to give you the structure
to work through it. So maybe ifyou're someone who had a side
hustle that like blew up quitequickly, or you've definitely
(21:30):
got holes in your structure, andyou're like, basically like
plastering things together andhoping everything stays up. But
you're like, No, I want to tryand go through something in a
cohesive and comprehensive wayand check the different
elements. And I think you'llfind it useful to.
Darci Ellenberger (21:44):
The courses good for people who want to go
into business for themselvesthat don't place a high value on
antiracism work, andinclusivity. I mean, if if those
things aren't a priority to you,I think you'll enjoy it.
Angela Bryant (22:06):
And what impact is taking the course had on your
life or your business?
Astrid Ferguson (22:12):
I want to say taking the course, I mean, it
was good to sit with yourself,and understand that whatever
business you build, you are themost unique thing that comes to
your business. So it should becentered around who you are,
what you enjoy, how you wantpeople to view you, what's the
(22:36):
main message. So that's what Iwant to say the course
reaffirmed for me, because Ithink I was trying so hard to be
what I thought people wanted meto be. And what I thought in my
mind, author should look like orsomething like that. And the
(22:57):
course pretty much just said,you know, you are the most
unique thing that exists. So itshould be authentically you. You
know, I think that's what Igained most about the course. It
helped me with, you know, mywriting my copy too.
Carla Diaz (23:15):
I think I just gave me permission and just let me
see what the possibilities wereI just it just it's really like
you go in saying okay, I want todo this. And then going through
the actual journey. It's theprocess that kind of refines
what your message is, it refineswhat your business is going to
(23:36):
be. And so having thoseteachings and knowing that I can
always go back and when I have anew business idea, I can go back
and do B-School again for thatbusiness idea. Because it is it
is applicable to whatever I wantto do like whether if I want to
work on a coaching business, orif I want to do online courses,
or create a product related toyou know, health and wellness, I
(24:00):
mean, I can always go back toB-School and take the modules
again, to perfect, what it isthat I'm trying to bring to the
world. So I think that that is Ifeel assurance that I have a
good source of information to goto.
Charelle Griffith (24:16):
I think it's really hard to say because I
have done a lot of other things.
And I don't feel as if it hasdramatically changed, like
changed it in a way. I think itwas useful to go through it and
it definitely gave me a lot oflearnings and it did help me to
reflect on a lot of stuff and tochange things but I don't have
(24:37):
that sort of like bing you know,all of a sudden now I was
writing emails that were 10times better or like there was
nothing that's a dramatic impactthat I could tell you about.
Darci Ellenberger (24:49):
I would say that the total impact of the
course for me is that I amseveral $1,000 less well off and
really all I got for it wasstress and upset. I got I got
some inspiration there in thebeginning. And I will say that I
connected with some reallyamazing people in the group. And
that's fantastic. But I cannotcredit that to B-School. So what
(25:14):
have I gotten from the school? Acouple of ideas and a whole lot
of stress.
Angela Bryant (25:21):
So would you take another course by Marie Forleo?
Astrid Ferguson (25:26):
As much as I love her, probably not. Yeah,
probably probably not.
Especially if it's thatexpensive again.
Carla Diaz (25:37):
I actually did. I signed up for her Copy Cure
course, like right after, like,in May when it was released. So
yeah, definitely, I would takeanother course of hers, because
I do like her style. She'sentertaining. She's very
knowledgeable. And I'vepurchased her book, Everything
(25:57):
is Figureoutable so yeah, I'mdefinitely a Marie Forleo fan.
Charelle Griffith (26:02):
So I have considered doing Copy Cure
before. And part of me justfeels like her marketing is so
great that I'm probably gonnahave got sucked in and will it?
Will it deliver? Again, as Isaid, I, I would say I probably
would do something else again.
But Copy Cure hasn't got meacross the line yet. So we'll
have to wait and see.
Darci Ellenberger (26:24):
No, absolutely not. I won't put my
money with someone who I know isnot interested in being anti
racist. So and in protectingmarginalized communities?
Because it goes much it goesdeeper than racism, absolutely
racism needs to be addressed.
Now. It's long overdue. And I'mnot gonna participate in spaces
(26:50):
or or, you know, vote with mydollars with businesses that are
willing to harm anyone.
Angela Bryant (27:01):
And would you recommend the course to someone
who asked you about it?
Astrid Ferguson (27:05):
I would have to ask them where they're at. If
they feel like you know,depending on what they're
looking for, if they tell me,you know, they're already a
established entrepreneur, andthey're looking to scale then
yeah. But if they would say thatthey were in my same boat, I
would be like, you're gonnaspend all that money just to
find out that you already had aninkling of where you should have
(27:28):
started. So just save yourselfsome money and start there.
Carla Diaz (27:34):
I would, I would definitely tell them that, but I
would tell them to do it throughAmy Porterfield's affiliation,
because that to me, again, Iknow, this is not about Amy
Porterfield but just theexperience that she created for
her students really made theB-School experience what it was
for me, I think without it, Ithink I probably would have
(27:55):
ranked it lower. That's howimpressed I was by by Amy's way
of bringing us into B-School.
Charelle Griffith (28:04):
So I have recommended B-School to people
in the past. There's definitelysome times because the type of
people that approached me, Ihave recommended it. However,
for me, one of the most valuablethings has been the Facebook
group. And because that nowcurrently is under question
about what's going to happen fornext year, I wouldn't recommend
it right now.
Darci Ellenberger (28:22):
No, I mean, and I'd probably say what I'm
saying now, because I think ifI'm just like, oh, Marie Forleo
is racist, like people are gonnabe like, wait, that can't be
right. Like, there's got to bemore context than that, which is
why I try and stay neutral andsay, it's not a bad course. It
can help you work on thefoundation of your business, and
(28:46):
it can help you get overroadblocks and find inspiration.
But it professes to be onething. And that is heart led and
it is not that. So if that is adeal breaker for you, I don't
recommend it. And ideally,anyone I know that would be
(29:07):
asking me for recommendation,hopefully is anti racist. And
I'd be like, well, she doesn'tprotect her black members. And
they'd be like, Oh, no, then I'mout.
Angela Bryant (29:17):
And just to finish up, can you summarize in
a sentence or two just what youwant people to know about the
course?
Astrid Ferguson (29:26):
Sure. So B-School is what is stands for,
you know, it's business school.
So you're going to learn allabout business, you're going to
learn all about marketing. Marieis the queen of marketing. So if
you want to learn aboutmarketing and you're looking to
scale your business up to thenext biggest thing, then
B-School is absolutely for you.
Carla Diaz (29:51):
I would say that it is a all around it is a solid
introduction to what onlinebusiness marketing can be And
where it can take your business.
And I guess what I would say isthat since having taken B-School
and since, you know, joiningother communities around other
business courses, for example,if I can speak to like, right
(30:13):
now I'm in Amy PorterfieldDigital Course Academy, I feel
like going through the schoolfirst has really helped me to
appreciate what Amy's doing inDigital Course Academy. And I
have met other entrepreneurs whosigned up for Digital Course
Academy without taking B-School.
(30:37):
And I always tell them, you needto take B-School, you know,
because B-School gives you theclarity that you need to
understand, what is yourmessage? What is your product,
like? Who are you serving? Andlike I said, that's, that's
pretty much what I would sayabout it. So definitely it is it
is a prerequisite, I would feelinto whatever it is that you
(31:00):
want to bring out into the worldas an online entrepreneur. It's
a it's a good starting point.
Charelle Griffith (31:07):
So I think Marie Forleo B-School is a
comprehensive course, if youwant to start a new online
business. However, Marie is anonline business that wasn't
formed in the last couple ofyears. So I think that's
important to think about itrealistically, it's probably one
of the older online businessesand therefore that is reflected
on how the program is structuredand what the content is. I think
(31:28):
it is comprehensive. However,you would really need to think
about what level of support youfeel you need to be able to even
launch your business or to makethe changes that you need inside
of it.
Darci Ellenberger (31:42):
Okay, my two sentence, B-School review. The
business advice is great. Shedoes not live up to her
professed values. And that is adeal breaker for me. If all you
want to take out of B-School isthe lessons pertaining to the
business and working through thesteps to define your business. I
(32:04):
think it's very good for that. Iwould not buy into B-School
knowing what I know now I wouldnot buy into B-School in any way
for the community.
Angela Bryant (32:16):
And you want to just tell people where they can
find you and your business.
Astrid Ferguson (32:21):
Yeah, you can find me at astridferguson.com.
Everything is on there. MyInstagram, which is A S T R I D
underscore Ferg F E R G.
Carla Diaz (32:35):
So I my website is heycarladiaz.com. So you can
find me there. I'm also onInstagram at HeyCarlaDiaz.
Charelle Griffith (32:45):
Yep, so you can find me at
charellegriffith.com so that's Ch A R E double L E. And then
Griffith is G R I double F I T Hand that is the same on
Instagram. But yet that's thebest place to find me.
Angela Bryant (33:01):
Thanks for joining us. To read the show
notes from this episode, go toangelrated.com/podcast. If you
enjoyed this episode, I'd loveyou to subscribe to the show.
And leave a review on yourfavorite podcast platform. And
don't forget to share thisepisode with anyone who might
need it.
The Angel Rated Show is broughtto you by Angel Rated the
(33:24):
independent directory and reviewsite for all the products
courses and services used byonline business owners. It's the
best place to find the perfectproduct for the next stage of
your business or personalgrowth. Learn more and list your
business free of charge atangelrated.com
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