Hey, I’m Gemma

I got burnt out by my multi-offer business

Back in 2019, I got fully-booked with 1-1 clients and soon became completely overwhelmed with client delivery hours.

As an introvert, I found back-to-back sessions draining and unsustainable. I finished each day exhausted, always scrambling to get through my overflowing inbox and feeling dread instead of excitement with each new enquiry. 

Plus, my 1-1 was a significant investment and there were so many people in my audience who I knew I could help that just didn’t have the resources for this core offer.

So I started a membership

Then added a 6 month group programme

Then a one month ‘sprint’ group programme

Then a 3 month group programme

I was making 20-30K a month but I was also on a fast route to burn out

I was constantly launching my membership to try and beat the churn of members leaving each month. On top of that, I felt like I was in never-ending launch cycles to get the next group programme out there. I became totally confused with my marketing message as I had so many different ideal clients, which meant I wasn’t really known as the go-to expert for anything. 

It wasn’t sustainable or enjoyable. I value simplicity and time freedom, and a multi-offer business wasn’t suiting me.

So I closed down my membership

This was painful as fuck. We’d just re-branded (to this day, I still love this brand) and moved our 250 members to a new platform.

But ultimately, I’d realised the membership model was not for me. 

The trouble with memberships

What I thought would happen

  • Easy to sell as it’s a low monthly cost

  • Accessible for most

  • Serve lots of people

  • Easy to run

  • Recurring revenue 

  • Consistent growth

  • Easy to scale

  • Engaged members

  • Awesome client results

What actually happened

  • Hard to sell ongoing subscription

  • Never-ending content creation

  • Admin-heavy

  • Constantly battling churn

  • Have to ‘prove’ value month on month 

  • Income plateaus

  • Small % members engaged

  • Low completion of trainings 

  • Member expectation high but commitment low

  • Takes over your life

  • Constant sense of obligation to be in there

The membership model is so much harder than people think

I think it works especially well if you have an established audience and you want your membership to be your main offer. That way you can really master all your back-end systems and how to consistently fill it.

But as one of many offers so you have an ‘affordable option’

… it’s a lot of work.

Closing my membership meant instantly cutting 10K recurring revenue from my business which was terrifying, but I knew I had to close it to have the time and energy to focus on one thing.

Focussing on high-touch group programmes

With a well-designed group programme, I found I could work deeply with fewer clients at a higher price point and get my clients better results. 

That meant overall I needed way less clients than in the membership model and it was much easier to hit my income goals.

I love the energy of running smaller groups and as a former teacher, building curriculums and facilitating group sessions are my happy place.

However, running my group programmes in start/stop cohorts had felt frustrating for a couple of years. 

Cohort group programmes kept me in the launch / deliver cycles.

That meant income highs when I launched, and income lows when the programme finished.

And the frustration that I couldn’t enrol anyone once the programme had started - I’d watch perfect fit clients go and buy from someone else because I had nothing to offer.

I wanted a business model which kept my income consistent, meant I always had something to sell and which didn’t rely on launches.

Enter evergreen group programmes.

Group Programme Structures

Cohort ‘Start/Stop’ Group Programme

  • Exhausting launch to fill it & reliant on success of launch

  • What do you do if you don’t get the numbers?

  • Sales pressure can feel icky

  • Frequent launches affects relationship with audience

  • Income highs and lows

  • Audience can’t buy when they need it or join once it’s started

  • Not all clients keep up with pace of programme and get left behind

  • Client delivery can feel intensive

  • Need other offers to support

Evergreen Group Programme

  • Offer runs all the time

  • Get known for doing one thing really well so easily referred

  • Need fewer clients at a time (2-10 a month depending on your price point and goals) so can work with natural lead flow

  • Consistent marketing rhythm instead of intense launches

  • Works with launches too

  • Create curriculum once so clients get results without you

  • Consistent or growing revenue

  • 3-5 hours of client delivery a week

  • Can be your only offer so your business is simple

  • Can add tiers to cater for different needs

When I discovered the evergreen group programme format I use today, it just made sense.

Solve one problem for one ideal client

With one core offer you can enrol into any time

Focus on one traffic source - a way to get attention from new people

Deepen your relationship with your audience in one place

Master one way of selling your offer again and again

My business is simple. I’m known for one thing and easily recommended. 


I focus on adding 5 clients every month into my one core offer, rather than 15-20 in one go.  If I miss my target one month… it doesn’t matter. There’s always next month.

Instead of intense high pressure launches, I focus on a consistent marketing rhythm. I can experiment each month using creative ideas to serve and engage my audience.

I run bigger launch-style events twice a year as they’re great for building momentum, but there’s no hard sell at the end. No deadline. No 15 sales emails.

My client delivery is typically 3-5 hours a week. I take one week off a month and August completely off my business.

And revenue wise, I now match what I was making before (20-30K months)


Best of all, I have true spaciousness in my calendar.

My business works around my life and not the other way around - I work 25 hours a week, take my son to school every day, walk my dog and go to the gym. I have time for marketing and sales. And an unexpected benefit… I’ve had more time for fun collaborations with others.

Interested to learn more? Watch my workshop series where I walk you through my whole model and show you how to design it for yourself.