Course Lab: Lessons from Successful Online Course Creators

Kay Adams melds her talents in therapy and writing to guide others toward healing through journaling. With a deep well of experience, she shares key tips for course creators on the importance of authenticity, overcoming discomfort, testing and validating, and understanding their audience.

Kay Adams is a psychotherapist and founder of the Center for Journal Therapy and Journalversity.

In this episode, Ari, Abe, and Kay discuss: 

  • Kay’s journey starting in 1985 through becoming an expert in journal therapy 
  • Her transition from in-person workshops to online courses over several years 
  • Embracing video teaching despite initial fear and establishing an online presence with Ruzuku 
  • Current focus on 80% online teaching and creation of hybrid courses 
  • Distinguishing audiences: therapists needing continuing education units (CEUs) and the general public interested in journaling for self-improvement 
  • Adaptation during the pandemic: creating relevant courses and significant growth in mailing list and enrollments 
  • Key takeaways: overcoming personal discomfort, validating content through testing, continuous learning, and maintaining authenticity and integrity 


“I realized that even though I was introverted and it was really scary for me to talk to people, I had something to say that was more important than feeling comfortable.” — Kay Adams 


Guest Bio

Kathleen (Kay) Adams
LPC is a best-selling author, speaker, psychotherapist, visionary and founder of the Center for Journal Therapy. Her first book, Journal to the Self (1990), is a classic best-seller that helped define the field of personal writing as a tool for healing, growth, and change. She has written 13 more books (and one card deck), and her innovative work has led to a movement in writing and healing.


Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

Mirasee
Ruzuku
Kay’s website: JournalTherapy.com


Credits:

Hosts: Ari Iny and Abe Crystal
Producer: Cynthia Lamb
Executive Producer: Danny Iny
Audio Editor: Marvin del Rosario
Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

To catch the great episodes that are coming up on Course Lab, please follow us on Mirasee FM's YouTube channel or your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.

Music credits:

Track Title: Bossa BB
Artist Name: Marie
Writer Name: Chelsea McGough
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Track Title: Coo Coos
Artist Name: Dresden, The Flamingo
Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Track Title: Grace
Artist Name: Shimmer
Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

Track Title: Carousel Lights
Artist Name: Chelsea McGough
Writer Name: Chelsea McGough
Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION
Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

Special effects credits:
24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market.

Episode transcript: Pioneering Journal Therapy (Kay Adams).

Creators & Guests

Host
Abe Crystal
Host
Ari Iny
Producer
Cynthia Lamb
Guest
Kay Adams
Editor
Marvin Del Rosario

What is Course Lab: Lessons from Successful Online Course Creators?

Want to create a hugely successful online course, one that has a major impact on the lives of your students? If you want to learn how to create online courses from the best, you turn to Mirasee; and if you want to host that course, you can’t go wrong using the powerful platform, Ruzuku.

Ruzuku co-founder Abe Crystal and Mirasee founder and CEO Danny Iny know what it takes to stand out and be successful in the online courses industry. And now they’re teaming up to share this intel with you in their new Course Lab podcast.

In every episode, Course Lab showcases an entrepreneur/course creator who is nailing it with their online course -- and not because they’re teaching people how to make more money. In fact, most of these creators occupy unusual or overlooked niches, like music, writing for video games, overcoming inherent bias, and finding your life purpose.

Turns out, the key to their success all comes down to their online course design. In this podcast, Danny and Abe reveal the most important design tactics that are making all the difference for these online course creators -- and how you can implement them in your own online course. So if you want to create a successful online course that changes the lives of your students, this is your big chance to learn how it’s done from the best in the industry!