An academy built to replace her salary.
Rebuilt her scattered one-off courses into a single gamified academy priced to replace the majority of her corporate salary.
Watch the interviewRetiring From Corporate To Consultancy with ConfidenceNickquolette B. is the CEO and founder of iRock Resumes and president of the Society of Elite Resume Writers and Coaches. She built the business alongside a corporate career that is closing in on 30 years.
She already had the pieces. What she had was a set of one-off courses for resume writers, built largely on what she assumed they needed, each one ending with another sales conversation to get the buyer into the next course. They were also priced below what she was worth.
Over 10 weeks working one-to-one with Carla, she put those courses into one continuum that carries a resume writer through to career-practitioner certification, gamified it so people stay engaged, and raised the price. She also ran the research process on her own market, which was the part she had been most afraid of.
She has a date set for leaving corporate. In her own framing, this one program is built to replace the majority of her salary, and the resume work and executive coaching she already does is gravy on top.
The interview
Carla Cherry with Nickquolette B..
Hi, it's Carla Cherry of Power Offer Consultants. I'm sitting here with Nickquolette B., CEO and founder of iRock Resumes and the new president of the Society of Elite Resume Writers and Coaches. Thank you so much for joining me.
So glad to be here, Carla.
We worked one-to-one for over 10 weeks. Straight out of the gate, what was your biggest win?
Oh, gosh. Showing me the potential of what I had. You said you're sitting on a gold mine. And I'm like, oh, I am? To me it felt mismatched and everything. But to be able to see the potential and possibility of what I had to offer was mind-blowing to me.
You're in corporate, you're a rock star, and you're very strategic. You wanted to move over to consultancy and coaching in a strategic way, so that when you got there you would have money and a thriving business. You had already built a lot of the pieces, but you said, I really want to put this into a process. Basically we were building an academy for you. What did it do for you to know the potential of what you had?
It really showed me that some of the things I was doing were good, but they could be better by taking them to that next level. And the fact that I could actually charge my worth. That was shocking, because when you started showing me the numbers, I was like, I can really charge that amount. When you think about your knowledge and how you're organizing your knowledge in different pockets, I had them in scattered pockets everywhere. You showed me the layers on what I can do, how to frame it up and get the value out of it that I'm worth. To me that was mind-blowing. It was scary to see the numbers, to ask somebody to pay that. But as I was talking to my people, they're like, the potential is actually there. So it really brought it to fruition that I can do this.
You're a creator. You have that super creative mind and you're creating all over the place. What I saw when we looked at your program was, you have phase 1, phase 2, phase 3. You're going to take somebody from writing resumes to becoming a career coach and actually helping many, many people get jobs. This is almost like an academy that you're putting them through.
Yes. Certifying at different levels. And when they saw that possibility, they got excited. It was so funny, because a lot of times resume writers only think about the resume. They don't think about how they can help their client holistically. I kind of thought that through, but I was doing it in pieces, and it was just kind of a hodgepodge. Then I started thinking, what if we could take them and make them career practitioners who really can service their clients? That's when the program started coming together. You put the puzzle together for me, so I can see it.
So instead of writing a resume, you're creating a career for somebody, and they're helping their people. People will pay for that. So we gamified it. I ran a cohort and helped you with certain pieces: here's how we make it more fun and more engaging for your people.
That was a scary piece, because when you're learning a lot of stuff like that, building out your business, as I'm leading these business owners to do, it gets kind of lonely. Being able to see the potential of having a group, and gamifying it, and the engagement, I had never even thought about that. You opened my eyes up to the potential of it not just being an academy, but an engaging academy that they will tell others to come and join. That's what's so exciting for me, because I want this program to continue. I know the potential of my writers and coaches and what they can build in their businesses. I want that for them.
You had one-off courses already built. The problem is that when somebody completes a one-off course, you have to talk them into going to the next one, and then the next one. So we changed that, so they enter at point A and continue for much longer, getting all the value. And the lifetime value of the client increases exponentially for you.
Yeah, because I didn't want to have to keep recreating the wheel. And that's what I was doing. I'd end, and then I'd be like, okay, now what next? But having that continuum really shows the value of the actual program. So basically you transferred your enthusiasm to me, and now I've transferred it to them. I guess that's the best way to say it. You're like, you can do this. And then I told my people, y'all can do this. So now they're excited.
You mentioned that one of the biggest changes for you was doing the research. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
You can't assume they know. It happens that you assume stuff. Some of my programs were built based on assumption. But when I started actually talking to my people, it made it clearer. I was scared to do it. But doing the actual exercise uncovered some things that I did assume, and it had me change some things and look from a different perspective, which makes the program even better. So if you're scared about talking to your people, doing research, don't be. It will take your assumptions and squash them and build something better. That's what it allowed me to do.
It's like getting the answers to the test. I have the system completely built out. If you do it exactly how it's designed, it takes away the fear of doing the actual research, because you have a process. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
The process of actually asking them the specific questions. You cannot veer from the questions, because if you veer from the questions then you get the wrong answer. And you have to ask the questions of each person, because you want to make sure they're giving you a full picture of what you're trying to build. So it was very methodical, and it gave me what I needed in order to build a better program. That's what I loved about it. Because again, it was scary for me, because I'm just thinking, I know what y'all need. And it's like, okay, no.
And I have to tell this one story. One client uncovered that she paid a huge amount of money for a program that did not work. I was just sitting there floored. And that made the price point we were talking about even more realistic, because you never know what people are out there paying for non-results. And I know my program built with you is going to give them better results. So that was one of the biggest ahas, that people will spend that money.
They will spend that money, especially when you have the research. We know exactly what they want and what they don't want, what we lean on, what we strengthen, what we put more emphasis on. And we have a sales psychology, so that when you're pitching it on top of it, it's a no-brainer.
Yeah, because they're excited. They can't wait. They were like, okay, so when is this program coming? That's what you want at the end of every discussion, when they're asking when. They even put it in a Facebook group: I know she's got something good cooking up for us, I can't wait. I just got so tickled.
You have a set deadline for when you're retiring, and you have this whole career, and you're a pastor's wife. You have so many things going on. But you're a strategic person, and you said to me, I am tired of creating all these results for someone else's vision, for this massive company that I work for. I want to do that for myself, and I want to do it by this date. So how do you feel now about your retirement?
I tell so many people, even people who don't own a business, I'm telling you, this program is giving me the financial security that I wanted before I roll off. At that time it'll be 30 years with this organization, and I have a pretty hefty salary. This program is actually going to replace the majority of my salary, just with this program. And that's not even talking about the resumes I write, the career coaching I do with my executives. That's just going to be gravy. This one program is going to give me that. I just can't thank you enough, because I'm totally in awe and just over the moon excited about this program. And I already told you I'll be back with my other one.
We're going to be working together again, because you've got something else. You can't stop. You are creative.
Yes. I can't wait.
If anybody is sitting on the fence about whether to work one-to-one, what would you say to them?
Do it. You get tired of making decisions and thinking all the time. I hired Carla right off the gate, because number one, I said, she's the one I need, and because I got tired of thinking about it. I was sitting on the fence thinking, so what am I going to do with this? But when I made that decision, the clarity came into place and the excitement got there. So you're going to get your return on your investment. You're going to be able to see clarity in what you're doing. And you have a great thought partner, things that you never even thought about. I think a lot all day long, and I got tired. I said, I need somebody else to help me think through this, because it's not coming together. Carla, how many years have I been sitting on this? I think I started this like 4 or 5 years ago. And now it's coming to fruition. So I would say do it now. Please do it now.
Thank you so much for sharing that. I really, really appreciate you.
Oh, you're welcome. I can't wait for phase 2.
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