#216: How to Run an Unstoppable Online Program with Stew Darling

Welcome back to another episode of the Course Creation Incubator podcast. I’m your host, Gina Onativia, here to help you get excited and move forward with your course, your workshop, your live cohort, whatever it is you are building to put your expertise out there in a different way. And last week I had my friend Christina Lenkowski on about podcast guesting, and I got to love Christina because she always brings the goods.

The specific, the details around how we can get better about booking out other people’s podcasts to help build up our audiences, build our lists. If you haven’t listened to that one yet, please go back. Today’s guest is my friend and I’m for your client, Stew Darling, who is going to talk about his done for you client experience, but also how he became a course creator.

And he’s a former British army officer turned elite strategist. And he’s about discipline, innovation and resilience. And every time I get on a zoom with this guy, he inspires me to take action. It’s one of the reasons I wanted him on his mind is always focused and always ready to go. And I think he’s absolutely brilliant. So I wanted to have Stu on to talk about his course creation journey and the unique way that he’s using his program in his overall products suite.

Stu’s going to talk about what surprised him, what stood out, how building his course gave him not just clarity around his offer, but a stronger voice and presence in his business overall. And if you’ve been curious about what I’ve done for you build and experiences like you’re going to hear Stu walk through it. And if you want to learn more, check out our website Course Creation boutique dot com slash course.

Book a call with me. Talk through the experience with you to see if you’re fit and if we’re fit for you. And you want that kind of handholding and customization when it comes to your of course creation and marketing. All right, let’s tune in to Stu. Stu, welcome to the podcast. So good to see you. Thank you very much.

Looking forward to this conversation. It’s been a minute. It has been a minute. And I love working with Amazing done for you clients like yourself and then having that opportunity to look back and kind of debrief about the process. And my first question for you is why, of course, what prompted that idea in your brain for your business?

So we’ve tried to self design courses in the past and we knew they were a good idea. They’re a good extension to my first book, True Life. So when I wrote Unstuck Verbal, it was written the book was written with the concept of if there was a course that ran alongside it, then it gives people the opportunity to do more work if they want to.

And it also gave me the opportunity to be bigger than just just me. It expanded my my capacity. I love that. And Unstoppable is an awesome book. We’ll make sure to mention it in the show notes. And why get help? Why not? You said you were looking at designing of course yourself. Why? Reach out and get a course consultant to help you if you want the real truth.

It’s because, of course. Yes, customers are. You are not. It was there. There was so much going on. And sometimes when you design and record something yourself, you do it because it’s what you think people want. Bringing in your third party, bringing in an expert who’s done it many times before, allows you to create something that is needed in the marketplace.

So I think these are really there’s a really important differentiation here that says, well, I want to tell you everything that I think’s important versus what do you need? And bringing someone else in who can look at look at the challenge through those lenses was really the power that you brought to designing the course. And I’m curious, what surprised you about the process?

I remember scripting you were we started from the book and then kind of went through that process from there and we went through some iterations. But was there anything that surprised you about the process? You’re the first person in the history of humanity who’s managed to get me to script something and stick to the script. I so that that surprised me because you know me when I talk, I’m very, you know, this is free flowing.

So to actually bring it into to the structure with the way that we did it was a surprised me. The ease at which you made it or the way you made it easy for me to, to follow your process to get the result that we got. Well, one piece that stood out for me is you said, hey, I’m I’m fully capable of recording this on my own.

And and I’ll be honest with you, Stu, sometimes I get experts that say that and then end up hiring a crew. But you went and you did it yourself, and you got it done. Like, how did you have the discipline to do that? What what about you made that happen, the importance of the course. I mean, I truly believe in the mission of Unstoppable Force.

So when it comes down to, you know, writing the book, when it comes down to generating a the content, when it comes down to recording, I’m just do it. And we did it. I mean, I think I think it took us two days and all but three of the recordings where the first take we just you know, we just got all we set the camera up and we just got on and did it.

And you know, when you when you are it’s a cliche, but when you are strong enough is easy. And I love being in front of a camera. So it was easy just to get on and and get it done. Yet if the mission’s strong enough, you will just do it. And did you worry about. Because I saw that.

And you actually you did really great. Like it took one take because you mentioned you’re comfortable on camera. You know how to present. And I also think you didn’t get hung up on if it wasn’t perfect, if there were a couple of pauses or anything like that. Do you agree? Yeah, completely. And I think, you know, for people who are yet new to record your recording and get in front of camera, there is nothing.

plThe last thing we want is is Hollywood. Yeah, because that then looks scripted. There’s less know, there’s less belief in the story if if it’s perfect. So if you make the old glitch and you know, if you make the old glitch, just run with it because people most people won’t see it anyway. But, you know, even if people do, do just go, oh, wow, this is actually this is actually a guy telling telling the story, telling his story.

So know your content and then don’t worry about a little mistake. And Bowie said is a co mentor or a mentor of both of ours. And we just had a class yesterday for his certification and he was talking about him and on his wife about including people in the process. And if there was a mistake because the recent event, there were a few hiccups and people love being part of that process.

And I thought about used to because I felt, well, that’s something that you are completely aligned with. If there’s hiccups, if there’s mistakes, how do you take your people and your audience along with you have the have the confidence, more importantly in conference, have the humility that you life isn’t perfect, so just roll with it, do you Don’t get hung up on It’s all about me.

Because I mean, Beau talks about his energy coming from his audience, and that’s really, really powerful when you give up control to your audience, that actually everything becomes easier and you just flow with it because no one actually wants us to fail. I mean, for the most part, they’re busy thinking about themselves anyway, but people don’t actually want you to fail.

And it all is doing is showing that you’re human. So yeah, bring them with it if you can. If you make a little a light joke about it, then that’s cool as well because that brings them in even further. But you know, I think we try to be far too serious about these things and if it’s just a little bit lighter, it works.

MM Yeah. I want to switch gears a little bit. I think you were such a strong point of view on this course. Like one of the reasons why I felt like our process was so smooth. You knew going in like you said, you had your why, right? You had your purpose behind it. And can you talk a little bit about the transformation about around the course and the promise that you saw behind the book versus the course of the transformation?

Yeah, the book. I mean, you know, the book’s a pretty meaty piece of work. Yeah. And, and yeah, I mean, people are calling it a manifesto. I certainly didn’t call it that. But, you know, people are calling it a manifesto. I’m for life. Well, you’re how do you make that more accessible? Because that can sound that can sound a little bit of a challenge.

So the pivot was really, okay, let’s simplify that. Throughout the book, we you know, we created the worksheets, the access to the worksheets. So this was just the next natural extension that said, look, I’ll work, I’ll work alongside you to get you to where you going. And something that’s really, really important to me across the coaching industry is making sure things are accessible.

You know, everyone has the capacity to join Beau, to join Tony Robbins, those other ones. But do you know what they’re actually often they’re the people who are looking for something. So if you can create something that’s more than a book but less than that huge investment, then know that’s the pathway and the, you know, one of the visions of unstoppable force is to meet people where they are.

If it’s the free content, then we’ll make the free content as high quality as possible. If it’s the book will give you access to a bunch of worksheets which are no you. There are no downloadable off the website now so people can just get access to them. But if you want to go that step further, well, we’ve now got the online course and then there are courses beyond that when, when you’re ready.

But if you’re not, that’s cool because we I know that we’ve got content and product that will meet you where you are. What I love is you’ve got your customer journey really nailed down here and you know, your entry point with the book and then where you’re taking them. Talk to me a little bit about the Living Beyond Your Limits program and how the course is a part of that.

So the living beyond your limits is the next step beyond the course, and that’s the next path on the on the online store, the next piece of the unstoppable pathway. So living beyond your limits, I recognized and this this I’m going to say this might become confrontational, but I don’t believe having run them for years. Yeah I don’t believe one day workshops actually work.

Now they do work. The great people turn up. It’s all really, really exciting and there’s a whole lot of content dropped and everyone leaves. BUZZING Yes. And then the door opens at the end and they start checking their million emails they’ve got. They’ve also got a parking ticket. They’ve got to pick the kids up from school. They’ve got to they’ve got to cook each cook supper for the family.

And then over the next few days, all of that great anticipation, all of that great belief in themselves just disappears and we go back to our normal lives because that’s the way we’re wired. We go back to survival. So what I wanted to do with living beyond Your limits was, Well, say, how about for yet less than the cost of a one day workshop, we will engage with your business for the next 12 months with a plug and play program where you get access to the boot.

You get access to the course, the unreasonable roadmap, and from those we will then coach your team every month for the next 12 months. So again, eight years, is that right? Okay. So the course turned the book turned into the course. Now the course has turned into an opportunity for businesses to truly engage in people’s mental wellness and personal development over a period of time where we actually see the changes rather than just that one hit wonder, which, let’s be honest, is no better than someone saying, Oh, morale’s low, let’s get pizza on a Friday.

So if I’m hearing you right correctly, you’re selling it as a standalone. So a reasonable roadmap is a standalone so you can get it on on its own right. So you have a B to C play. But then also with this program you have more of like a B to B play, like you go into organizations. Yeah, okay.

I love that. I love What made you decide I’m going to get creative with my offers here, looking at the marketplace, looking what’s out there. I mean, you’re the the coaching industry in in New Zealand is is further behind the US and I think you’re that opportunity and people don’t travel to New Zealand because the population is so small.

So either New Zealand you’ve got to travel to the US or to I’m generally Sydney, Australia, or they’ve just got a model along with what we’ve got. And I thought, well actually if we can expand this out and go to go go to businesses and say, well we’ve got something different in the marketplace, let’s let’s take this on, it also means I can grow and force my business beyond me.

So yeah, I’ve now got Diane, an amazing chief operating officer. She’s been with the business for the last six months and I’ve got four coaches that I’m that I can send out to deliver some of the modules of the delivery beyond your limited program. So again, a little bit like designing and having an online course that made the business bigger than just me.

The business has now got a greater scope and the training material is the online course and the book. I love it. Okay, What’s your you’re ready for a certification, it sounds like, by the way. So that’s your that’s probably your next step, Stu, and taking all your incredible material. So we we we seriously thought about it. Yeah, I know.

In fact, that was the genesis of this whole idea. Yeah, I was, you know, last I think it was last September, you talking about write certification. But then we came back and went what are we actually certifying. Mm. What is it was, that’s fun because, you know back then it was, it was just the online course in the book.

Sure. But now that we’ve got Living Beyond Your limits and we’re working away through the process and we’ve got a couple of coaches who are in the program at the moment, and this is their start point of becoming the coach and then at the right point in the future. Yes, certification is a thing, but yet the testing it out with coaches beyond me was the first stage.

Absolutely. And you’re probably getting so much good intel and content based on this. And I and I know you and you like you soak it all up and you just put it back into the business right. And and use it to teach and to train. So yeah. So that’s awesome. Where can folks, listeners learn more about you taking the content?

The book is a great place to start. Where should we go? Just jump on to the website, you know, jump on the website, Dub Dub, Dub Dot Unstoppable Force Doc or Dot NZ. And the first place to go is the resources because you can get even if you don’t have a copy of Unstoppable, you can download the worksheets.

And the other thing that you’ve got access to is the 52 ways. So my, my blue ribbons program is called the 520 and the 520 are people who’ve worked with me for years and they’re still hanging around and a bunch of them came to me at the end of the in fact, they came to me at the end of the Mastermind program last year and said, Stu, how do we keep going?

And all of them resigned for the 520. So what we’ve do, what we’ve developed is the 520 ways to be unstoppable, 520 ways to be unstoppable and dependent on where you are in your journey. You get access to one of the ten, the first module, all the way up to all ten modules. So, you know, one of the one of the bits of free content that we offer get downloadable from the website is and I’ll send you the link so you can include it in the release.

Yeah, everyone gets the, the, the 52 ways and it’s the start point of how do you start living an unstoppable life. It begins to ask you the questions that I know the book, the online course, and Living Beyond Your Limits will help you answer if you choose to. If you choose to join the pathway. Okay, Amazing. And you are literally traveling right now.

I’m so yeah. I’m so grateful you took a few minutes to just hop on and chat with us. So thank you. Hey, no problem at all. You can’t see it, but yeah, it’s a rather gray Brisbane, Australia skyline this morning. But no, I wouldn’t miss it. Was it when you reached out? I was very, very excited too to talk because, you know, I love you, I love Alex, I love the content, I love what you’ve done for Unstoppable Force.

It’s yeah, it is a great relationship. Yeah, it is. And I’m looking forward to hearing more about all of your programs. So thanks for coming by while you’re at the airport. All right. Thank you very much. All right. Would you guys think hearing Stu for me is a great reminder that building a course isn’t just about content, It’s about stepping more fully into your expertise is and showing up for the people you’ve meant to serve.

So please check out Stu’s content. Like I said, I get inspired every time I read his book or check out his scripts Unstoppable Force, Echo, dot, dot, NZ and then try I’ve done for you Think about it and then if you think done for you is a fit for you, go to course creation boutique ecom slash course to check out more details until next week.

Go create be you and be brilliant and get it done.