During our Reach Summit, we introduced three Teachable members with very different paths to success by asking them to write a letter to future independent entrepreneurs. Meet Rachel Paul of College Nutritionist and Beat the Algorithm below:

Imagine it’s 2017. Picture me as a busy PhD program candidate hustling with a few side jobs and realizing that with the little free time I had, I really want to refocus on what had previously been a passion project—my little Instagram account called The College Nutritionist.

I was pretty on top of my PhD thesis, so, during the last year of my program I had some extra time to see if I could revive my old side hustle. I originally started The College Nutritionist website and social media handles in 2013 (I personally had a lot of emotional eating struggles when I was in college, and wanted to give back to that population), but because I was so busy with school, I had let it fall by the wayside. But now in 2017 with more free time, I was able to refocus my energy toward growing my website and social media presence—particularly on Instagram.

I started posting easy, nutritious recipes on Instagram in the fall of 2017 and grew my Instagram account (now at 375,000 followers in just over two years!) at lightning speed.

I originally focused on coaching as my “next step” for leads coming from Instagram—my experience as a coach in my side job really paid off in that respect. But with the crazy growth of new followers I was seeing on Instagram—it just wasn’t possible for me to help everyone who found me with one-on-one coaching. There just wasn’t enough time in the day—and I needed to stop trading time for dollars!

If you’re a coach, you know that while every client is different, you end up saying a lot of the same things over and over again. I needed a way to automate that process and advice. So, I organized my thoughts, added them to PowerPoint slides, and created my first version of “Best Body” as a static (one-time purchase) nutrition course on Teachable in the summer of 2018.

I was nervous! I put the link on my website—not even talking about it on social media. I was worried that people wouldn’t be able to make lifestyle changes without the handholding provided in one-on-one coaching.

But, I got excellent feedback. Students liked the course!

So, in January 2019, I launched a subscription-based model of my “Best Body” course on Teachable with the addition of weekly meal plans. I just duplicated the original Best Body static course, and added PDF meal plans each week. The feedback was amazing, and I now had reliable income coming in each month—such a relief for an entrepreneur, am I right?!

I now only see 2-3 clients per week, instead of 30! I can reach thousands of women who are looking for nutrition help, and I can sleep eight hours each night, exercise each morning, and spend time with my fiance on the weekend.

I’ve absolutely loved working with Teachable—the ease of creating lessons and not having to worry about billing and backend details was so helpful for a new (and crazy-busy) entrepreneur like me. Using Teachable to create reliable income from my coaching experience has truly changed my life.

Rachel Paul

The College Nutritionist

@CollegeNutritionist