EP 167 Postpartum University 2.0 A New Chapter!

Big changes are underway for the future of Postpartum University resources!

Here I'll dive into the reasons behind transitioning from a membership model to a course-based system and address common questions from the community.

I'm sharing my vision for the future of Postpartum University and explaining how these changes align with the overall mission.

In this episode, we're sharing:

1. 1. Transition from Membership to Course Model 
      • The decision to move from a membership model to a course-based system, explaining the benefits and initial reactions from her team and clients.
   2. Challenges of the Membership Model 
      • Insights into why membership models are challenging, including the emotional and technical workload involved.
   3. Impact and Reception of the Transition 
      • Positive reception from the community, with 80% of members transitioning to the new course model, validating the decision to change.
   4. Upcoming Changes and New Initiatives 
      • Sneak peek into future plans for Postpartum University, including the integration of the Mama Thrive method and upcoming technological upgrades.
   5. Managing Multiple Community Spaces and Engagement Issues 
      • Explanation of why the Facebook group was closed and how community engagement will be managed moving forward, focusing on user-friendly and efficient platforms.

I'm also addressing additional listener questions about the recent changes and sharing my excitement for the future developments at Postpartum University.
 
Rest assured these changes are designed to enhance your experience and support in the most effective way possible.
Stay connected and reach out with any further questions via Instagram.

Click to read more and stay in the loop! 

Grab your FREE Provider's Postpartum Nutrition Toolkit
18 pages of PDF handouts that serve as your comprehensive resource for delivering whole-body nutrition care and achieving better health outcomes for the families you support.

• Learn what your symptoms really mean with our Postpartum Health Assessment
• Come hang out with us on Instagram!

Feeling inspired and ready to learn more about how you can actively revolutionize postpartum care?

• Learn about the Postpartum University Professional All Access Pass
• Stay in the loop about the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Program
• Check out our courses in Postpartum Mental Health, Postpartum Nutrition, and Herbal Care

Transcript

Maranda Bower: 0:02

Depression, anxiety and autoimmune symptoms after birth is not how it's supposed to be. There is a much better way, and I'm here to show you how to do just that. Hey, my friend, I'm Miranda Bauer, a mother to four kids and a biology student turned scientist obsessed with changing the world through postpartum care. Join us as we talk to mothers and the providers who serve them and getting evidence-based information that actually supports the mind, body and soul in the years after birth. Hey, hey, everyone, welcome to this episode, and I am going to bring you a little bit behind the scenes today and answer some really important questions that we've got from a bunch of people in regard to some of the absolutely crazy things that have been transpiring within Postpartum University. So I kind of want to give you just a little preview of what we have been doing behind the scenes, which feels so incredibly amazing and awesome and large and scary all at the same time. So, if you've been following us for some time, I'll just share with you a couple of things that we've been up to. We have this incredible membership y'all this membership has been going on for quite some time and we are very, very engaged in this membership and we just we're done with it. We left the membership model and we've opened it up to a course model module and it's been really a beautiful thing. And I will tell you initially, everybody my coaches, my team members, I've even had clients come to me and say, oh my gosh, what are you doing? You are absolutely insane, because you know the membership model is about residual income, right and like, creating this community space. And here I am with this amazing, robust community, hundreds of members, and we are deleting that. We're like it's no longer in existence. And first off, I wanna say like the transition was absolutely gorgeous and wonderful and everybody, just about everybody, has been really happy with how we've managed that, and I will share a little bit more about that process with you, just in case you are wondering. And two, why in the world we did this? And this was a huge question that I have been getting over and over and over again why in the world are we making this big shift? Why am I essentially like we've canceled thousands and thousands of dollars of payments? Why did we do that? Monthly payments, y'all monthly payments, reoccurring income. Why did we do that in favor of creating like a one-time fee for a course? And I'm going to do my best to explain it because I don't know if it's going to come out logically, but again, I'm just going to do my best here.

Maranda Bower: 3:18

I really I love the membership, but I'm not a big fan of memberships. For one, like, when I go to sign up for someone's membership, like it takes so much of me to to make that happen, like I'm just not someone who wants to pay monthly or yearly and sometimes I get like this, this inkling, like you know, if it's a community space, it's totally fine, which we definitely do have. But you know, if I'm paying for like content and stuff, like if I paid for it once, like that should be the thing, like I don't wanna lose it right, and a part of me just has this little about it and I've been hearing from my coaches you need to work this out. Like this is an internal thing and you know what, likely that is totally legit. I need to probably work out my own stuff. But also, the membership model is like the hardest business model to ever run. I'm telling you straight up there's one-on-one programs, there's group programs, there's courses, there's the memberships, and I love every single one of them. I've done all of the things y'all. I have legit done all of the things. I've been in business for almost 15 years doing this work.

Maranda Bower: 4:44

I was talking about postpartum before anyone else was talking about postpartum. It wasn't a thing right, and that's honestly. When you see someone talking about postpartum, like we have so many people who follow our work and all of this that we've trained, that we've we've helped become coaches, that we've helped work with other providers and professionals and moms in the world, it's been an absolute amazing journey and one that I am so, so grateful for. So I feel like I've done all the things and I am not a big fan of the membership model. It takes so much work, y'all, so much work On the back end too. Just the amount of tech support that I have to have on hand, the amount of time that we have to spend it's astronomical and it's weighing heavy right. It just weighs heavy on my heart and on you know and I think my team is fine Like it's not a big deal for them but for me, like it, there's an emotional component to it and I know like the idea of losing thousands of dollars is like the number one thing everybody goes to you know per month is like the.

Maranda Bower: 6:08

You know, the basis for reasoning is to not get rid of the membership and I'm telling you that is the worst space to focus your attention on this. It's not about the money, it's about the change that we're making in the world and although I really feel like we were making good change, I know that if my heart is not in it, if my heart is not in it and y'all feel my heart I hear this all the time oh, I feel your passion, like it is so incredibly important to me that you feel that and if I am not giving that, if I don't feel that about something it does not need to be an existence and moving it over to a course model, I will tell you we had 80% 80% of our people who are in the membership move over to the course, who are in the membership move over to the course like 80% converted because there's so much high value in there. And we've been told over and over again like I can't believe you're doing this. This is absolutely crazy. But I am so grateful because now I don't have to worry about the time constraints of like oh, I got to do this now because my membership is going to end at X, y, z date, right, or whatever the case may be like. It takes the pressure off.

Maranda Bower: 7:33

People can browse, people can look, people can go do what it is that they want, and we're making it so much more clear and fresher in the back end of things. So it's like you want business support when it comes to all things related to postpartum and women care, then go here and we have like this whole course and library of information for you. And if you want advanced training specific on postpartum, whether it be on the gallbladder or whether it be on using herbs in postpartum or nutrition or whatever the case may be like go here and we have. We have like 15 plus advanced trainings. And then if you want to help your body heal, if you like personal healing because you, at the end of the day, is so paramount, so important, and many people are in this field because they need their own healing too, right because of their own experiences into motherhood. So it's this perfect blend between personal healing, advanced trainings and business support that we're giving everyone, and so to be able to break it down in that way and just give people the opportunity to come in and take what it is that they need at any time that they need, without having to feel like financial constraints, time constraints. Like what a blessing for everyone and legit. Over 80% of people came from the membership to the all access pass to like everything that we have in postpartum universities. So that has been such a huge blessing and such a really just like confirmation that we are doing the right thing. And it is not about the money, it's about the passion, it's about changing lives and that's what we're doing.

Maranda Bower: 9:29

So I I'm coming on the podcast because I want to answer that for you publicly and just kind of share how that kind of transpired. It's been an ongoing thing for the last several years where I've just been up and down with it, and then the last few months have just been like I have to do something about this and you know what it's. I have been sitting on this for so long because mainly like here's the other component and this this is money related because I have put in so much behind the scenes, like five plus figures, like mid to high five figures. I have invested in creating an entire membership model, from tech teams to tech support to the whole back end, like it's not something that can be duplicatable and like I tried so hard to make this work and invest so much in it and it's just like to. I almost feel like I was feeling for a long time Like I was just giving up on it and that's not the case. I feel so freaking free now that I said this is not for us. This is going to be moving into something different, and the amount of positive comments and emails that we have received only further validates that. So thank you so so much.

Maranda Bower: 10:57

I did have a couple of other questions. We sent a private group, like what would you like want to know about this recent shift or anything else related to the significant changes that are occurring in postpartum university? Because I am not even sharing all the things like there's some behind the scenes stuff that are occurring in postpartum university, cause I am not even sharing all the things like there's some behind the scenes stuff that are coming up that is going to blow your freaking mind. Some things that I'll I'll share with you here in the podcast, but others are you're just going to have to wait, like, cause it's going to be so awesome. But we've got a couple of questions and I want to take the time to answer those here.

Maranda Bower: 11:32

Emily P asks how does this change align with your overall vision for postpartum university? This is a hot, freaking question. I love this. So, Emily, this change is really a first phase, basically, of what's going to be transpiring within postpartum university. We are shifting so much to align with some other things that we have coming up and I won't dive too much into that because some of it is still like in the air, like how exactly we're maneuvering, how exactly we're making those shifts. But I will tell you, the Mama Thrive method is going to be a significant part of postpartum university and these two are going to blend really beautifully together. So postpartum university is going to be I'll give you a little hint here the provider side of things and where we teach providers and professionals how to support postpartum women.

Maranda Bower: 12:33

And so the all access pass is kind of like the blend, the course that blends both the mother's side of things and the Mama Thrive method with postpartum university into one thing where we can all come together in one space. Like that's the all access path. So that is kind of like a little preview of of what's to come in the future and I'm I'm operating a little bit backwards, um, and how we are doing this, but I again, I'm doing what feels good. I'm doing what is aligned and what I'm really passionate about and what I'm really good at, and using that as my stepping stone to move further than, rather than doing it and and another way of like, wow, I can't, I can't say anymore. I want to say more, but I just want to make sure that y'all know I've got some big stuff coming out. It is happening very soon. Time wise. We're looking at likely by the beginning of 2025, you're gonna see a lot of this and it's gonna be solidified by fall 2025. Like, it's gonna take a lot of this and it's going to be solidified by fall 2025. Like, it's going to take a lot of time and energy and resources to create what we are creating and it's going to be freaking amazing.

Maranda Bower: 14:02

Okay, here's another one from Faye. Faye says you closed your Facebook group. I miss it. You closed your Facebook group, I miss it. What part of this falls into that idea of closure? Would you have a group elsewhere or will you have a group elsewhere? Okay, faye, I love this question. Thank you so much for asking.

Maranda Bower: 14:24

Honestly, the closing of the Facebook group was not necessarily a part of this big expansion or this. You know the things that we have under our plates. Really, the Facebook closure was just due to the lack of engagement. We've had that group for a really long time, right In the teens, 2018s. I don't know what that means, but it's been around for quite some time and we've had a massive engagement, but something happened in the Facebook algorithms. I don't know. They're just not putting a lot of attention to Facebook groups and, no matter what we do, less than 5% of our audience sees our posts, which is absolutely crazy. Even when other people post in that group like they're just not showing, and I don't know if you've noticed but even other people's groups like other Facebook groups. It's very, very similar. There's only a handful of groups that I've seen where they've been able to maintain high engagements, and even some of the bigger groups that I have seen that have higher engagement rates are shifting because they are.

Maranda Bower: 15:35

Facebook has changed so much that they're not able to run a group in which they want to run a group Like they. We've been. A lot of our abilities and and ways in which to support group growth and community has been stripped, has been taken away, and that's really frustrating and I think a lot of people are just done with that kind of model, like it's, it's over. If Facebook is not supporting it, then we, there's nothing that we can do. And honestly, this was a huge kicker for me. You know, I've been, I've had that open and without a lot of engagement for well over a year and it's not a big deal for me. Like, I know that people come in and I get messages all the time saying oh, I was, I was able to do a search about X, y, z and I found this can you leave me there? And they're not necessarily engaging in the group, but they're finding the group, they're asking questions and private messages and, like I'm hearing about, you know the things that are transpiring in there. So I know people are getting value, even with it just being kind of stagnant. But it was also eating up so much of my time and I would find like this was a really big challenge for me. We have the. I have a certification program that has a very private group. We had the Facebook group, we have the. Now what's now the all access pass online community space, and then we have another separate private group for business and it's just like it is.

Maranda Bower: 17:13

It was way too much for me to keep up with on top of emails and I don't even manage y'all. I don't even manage my emails, like if you ever emailed me you're. You're usually getting in touch with Amy or Alicia and that's fabulous, but it's still really overwhelming the amount of of things I was spending, um, at least 50% of my business, uh, instead of creating new things for you and new content and new tools and and working on the things that are, like, super important for me, um, and and some of the amazing things that are coming your way, I was spending answering questions, replying to people, which, again, I love. But there we're in a period of growth right now that I need to focus on, and so it was just one of those things where it's like, okay, this is an area where I need to let go and that has been amazing. But, yes, we still do have a group. That's absolutely amazing and you can connect in with us within the all access pass, and that's where most people are getting my time and attention. That's where I'm spending most of my time and attention.

Maranda Bower: 18:28

Okay, jordan says are there any new technologies or methodologies you are excited to incorporate in your programs? Jordan? That is a fiery question, holy smokes. So, yes, I already shared about the Mama Thrive method that is coming and that we're going to be implementing and, in regard to tech, be implementing and in regard to tech, you're making some huge, significant changes. So that is a big part of you know, postpartum university 2.0, as we're shifting all of our tech elsewhere, and I won't talk about exactly where that is just yet, but I'm going to say that we're going to move to a platform that hosts courses rather than building out our own, and it's going to have an even better community space that is geared specifically for engagement, as well as like having libraries of information and a way that's so, so easy to navigate and user-friendly.

Maranda Bower: 19:37

We have a lot of that already established, but what I found was that one the system that we've currently built out it is impossible to manage. I just all like all transparency here. We have built a freaking machine and it's not something that I can manage. It's not even something that my assistants can manage. We have no idea how to manage our tech and that scares the crap out of me because we have built such a robust system that has so many components. Like I will do a Q&A call and then I'll go post that Q&A call in the portal for you all.

Maranda Bower: 20:21

And I can't, because I've tried, like and legit, I'll mess it up every single time because I forgot to press this button or I forgot to use this little line code on this particular thing, and it's just like it's too much. I have to rely on an entire tech team to manage the portal and all of the goods that you have and all of the courses and everything, and it's just like it's not manageable anymore and that is really really difficult and really frustrating. And I don't think that it's necessarily a sign of good growth, like I had anticipated, like growing significantly, which is exactly what we've done, but we've built a monster. That is really really challenging. And what's happening on top of it and many of you have probably seen it's like oh, today this is working and then tomorrow, all of a sudden, it's not like this video isn't working or like, why did this button disappear?

Maranda Bower: 21:20

Like little, weird, weird system things like that we don't have any control over. It's like the system did an upgrade and now we have, like this little code piece isn't working anymore and it's like and again, I don't have any control over fixing that, nor did I have any control of like or knowledge of like what was happening, and so we're constantly doing damage control and that is not I'm done Like. I don't want you to ever have to deal with those issues, and not only are they frustrating for me, they're frustrating for the people I serve, they're frustrating for you and I can't stand that. Like it's not okay, it's not conducive to happy nervous systems, like that's what we're promoting here and healing and calm, and like if you're struggling with a system issue in my portal, then you are not getting what you need. So we're going to make those changes to a platform that does not have those issues, that it's already like kind of prebuilt and like it's just going to be a million times easier to flow too.

Maranda Bower: 22:30

Because here's the other component that I recognized we built like this monster, right, but it's constantly being added to, and so when you're adding, adding, adding, adding, adding, it's like a library, right, I love books, I love libraries, but I have tons of, I have multiple bookshelves and my dream is to build a library, but often what happens is that, okay, I'm gonna back up. I have like a book budget that I have per month. Like I freaking love books and I read an average of three to six books a month, right, and so I have all of these shelves that I put my books on, and if I just keep adding to it, I just keep adding, adding, adding, after a year it's a complete disaster, right, and I have to take everything off the shelves, not just to dust, but to reorganize everything, because there's just so much awesomeness on my bookshelves. They're all beautiful, they're all amazing, but I like it's so disorganized because I just added, added, added and they got, you know, out of space. And that's exactly what has happened within the portal too.

Maranda Bower: 23:43

We've added so much content and so many amazing trainings that it's it feels for me at least and I haven't necessarily heard this from others, especially those who are in the portal but it just feels overwhelming to me, and I know if it's overwhelming to me and you're not like, not, I'm not like, okay, where do I find this? Like I, if I have to dig, I'm, I'm mad, I'm not okay, and I know you are too, and I'm done with that. So we're going to. It's going to be such a beautiful transition user-friendly approach, very easy to find all your things and happy nervous systems. So, jordan, thank you so much for asking that question. That's all I have for today.

Maranda Bower: 24:25

I wanted to make that really short and sweet and just keep you posted on what's happening and transpiring, and I will continue to do so. And just take note that there is a lot of stuff that are coming your way, a lot of amazing work, and I'm so excited for all of these things. Like it's gonna be revolutionary and not something that you've ever seen before, but just expect that it's gonna be as freaking amazing as postpartum university. Like we have really high standards. You've seen that over and over and over again. We put our clients first. You see that over and over and over again and that's gonna continue and we're going to actually we're just expanding on that in a way that you haven't seen yet.

Maranda Bower: 25:14

So stick around and if you have any questions, hit me up, get in my DMs. Instagram is the perfect place to connect with me. I love, love, love to chat with you and I'm happy to share more there. All right, bye everyone, bye everyone. I am so grateful you turned into the Postpartum University podcast. We've hoped you enjoyed this episode enough to leave us a quick review and, more importantly, I hope more than ever that you take what you've learned here, applied it to your own life and consider joining us in the Postpartum University membership to your own life and consider joining us in the Postpartum University membership. It's a private space where mothers and providers learn the real truth and the real tools needed to heal in the years postpartum. You can learn more at wwwpostpartumucom. We'll see you next week.