310: Creating an Online Course for Parents

Selling the Couch

I’m the fortunate podcast host with two guests today, which is a first for me! They are long-time friends of mine from grad school who have taken a unique idea and brought it to fruition in starting their company and launching their first online course. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to hear all about it, so join us to hear their story!

Our Featured Guests

Jordana Mortimer, PhD

Erin Avirett, PhD

Jordana Mortimer and Erin Avirett are both child neuropsychologists with independent private practices. They have been friends for 15 years since their days in grad school, and they always had the idea to start a business together. Even though they live in different cities in Texas (Jordana in Fort Worth/Erin in Amarillo), they made things happen this year in starting their company, Mind and Child. In addition, they developed and launched their first online course, Parenting 101, for parents with kiddos under the age of twelve. The course takes their experiential parenting lessons and merges it with solid research and data. In this session, Jordana and Erin share how this business idea originated, how they approached marketing, and how they are handling the practical challenges of working together. Even though close friends don’t always make good business partners, they share with us how they are navigating that intersection and overcoming the odds to make it work well for their families.

Mind and Child Website

Erin’s practice Website

Jordana’s practice Website

You’ll Learn:

• How Jordana and Erin first developed the idea for Mind and Child with the overall goal to help parents and families on a larger scale
• How their roles as testing psychologists helped Jordana and Erin to follow through on their dream of starting a business together
• The hardest parts of creating their online course
• How they promoted the course with social media, blogs, and ads
• How the course feels genuine and authentic with their mission and purpose
• Why they consulted with advertising experts to know which social media platforms were best for marketing their course
• How they have navigated challenges with marketing their business but setting boundaries to protect family time
• How Jordana and Erin coordinate their social media interactions by alternating weeks to handle posts and engagements
• Why Jordana and Erin hired a friend’s video production company to film their course, which was more complicated than they had envisioned
• Specifics of the filming process, set design, using a teleprompter, speaking succinctly, etc.
• Why being close friends and business partners has been beneficial in every way without any real hardships or friendship-threatening challenges for Jordana and Erin
• A few details about their website, course, and private practices

Mentioned in this episode:

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