My Honest Thoughts About My Skool Experiment [Ep 234]

In this episode, I’m sharing the unexpected lessons from my Skool community experiment - why it’s sparked deeper conversations in days than I’ve had in years, and what it’s reminded me about connection, trust, and sustainable growth.

This isn’t about platforms.
 It’s about depth over noise and building businesses that actually feel good to run.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why small rooms create deeper trust than big audiences
• How accessibility beats attendance when it comes to connection
• Why email still matters - and how community expands it
• The role fun plays in sustainable business growth
• How to build depth without burning yourself out

Ready to grow your business without social media or burnout?

Join my NEW Skool group - Online Biz Without Social here:
https://www.skool.com/online-biz-growth/about

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Transcript

Kylie Kelly [00:00:00]:
I need to tell you something that genuinely surprised the shit out of me. A few days ago, I started a school community, fully expecting it to be fine, helpful, quiet, and instead it has lit me up in a matter of days. I've had deeper conversations with people on my email list than I've had in years and it's made something really clear to me. Today I want to tell you about my school experiment. Why I've decided to jump on in what I am seeing and and the lessons that I'm already learning so that you can take all of these learnings and apply it to your own business in your own way. Let's talk about it.

Kylie Kelly [00:00:39]:
Are you a female business owner frustrated with battling the algorithm and looking for growth strategies that don't involve awkwardly pointing or dancing online or throwing cash at paid ads? Welcome to the Email Growth Show. I'm your host, Kylie Kelly, visibility and email marketing strategist. I grew my email list from zero to almost 10,000 subscribers in less than two years. And the same is possible for you too. Are you ready to build your email list and start making more money in your online business? Let's head into today's episode.

Kylie Kelly [00:01:11]:
Hey. Hey. Welcome back to the Email Growth Show. Now today's episode is very much a thinking out loud one and if you've been here a while, you know that these episodes are actually my favorite. So today I want to talk about my school experiment. And before you tune out thinking this is about a platform, it really isn't. This is more about connection, depth, fun and remembering why we started business in the first place. Now let me be very clear.

Kylie Kelly [00:01:40]:
I was very skeptical. I did not jump into school excited. I resisted it for a long time because honestly, I'm not a huge Hermozy fan. I didn't understand the tape on the nose. I thought that this space being school from the outside, I thought it would be very much bro marketer kind of hustle culture. Like I just didn't think it would be very aligned. I have since googled her Moses tape situation and found out that it actually helped him breathe. So now I feel a bit shitty judging him on that.

Kylie Kelly [00:02:11]:
But regardless, he also made that part of his personal brand which I do think is weird. That aside, if you are listening to this thinking, hang on, you started a school community. Same. I am surprised too. This wasn't a grand strategy. There was no funnel, there was no monetization plan. I created this school group purely out of curiosity. That was it.

Kylie Kelly [00:02:32]:
I honestly thought people would lurk, engagement would be really slow it would take weeks for anyone to open up and it might feel a bit flat. You know that feeling when something is fine but it's not alive? A lot of Facebook groups have that feeling, right? That's kind of what I expected. But instead, within days, I have over 130 people that have joined from my email list. People are posting, they're being thoughtful, open, honest. We're having really deep conversations. And this has caught me so much off guard. I've already had one on one conversations with people inside that group who until now were just a name and an email address on my list. Some of them have been on my list for years.

Kylie Kelly [00:03:14]:
Years. And yet we'd never actually spoken. There was no tone, no nuance, no back and forth, just email receive, repeat, right? But suddenly in a smaller room, they're telling me what's really going on. Not the polished version, not the this sounds smart version, the actual real version. And it reminded me of something I think we've all forgotten a little bit. Going deep beats going wide. Every single time. Small rooms change how people speak.

Kylie Kelly [00:03:44]:
They soften, they stop performing, they stop trying to impress. They just talk. And trust forms fast when people feel safe. We know this now. This actually connects to something I shared back in episode 222, which was called the number one email strategy that no one's talking about. In that episode, I talked about the Empire Mixer. So back in October last year, I started hosting networking events for my email list. Invite only superintentional connection led.

Kylie Kelly [00:04:14]:
And on paper they were great. We'd have maybe 50, sometimes 55 women register and then around 30 to 35 would actually attend. And then I noticed something interesting. Each time I hosted one, which was monthly, the attendance dropped slightly. Not because people didn't care, not because the conversations weren't valuable, everyone loved them. But because of life time zones, kids, energy, capacity, it started to feel like, oh, another zoom meeting, right? And what this school experiment has shown me is that accessibility wins every time. A space people can drop into when it suits them, when they have the energy, when it feels fun for them. Like that creates far more connection than a calendar dependent event ever can.

Kylie Kelly [00:04:59]:
Because inside this community, no one is missing out if they can't make a call. The conversation is already happening, the connection is already there. And then, yes, we can host networking calls inside the group, right? Amazing. But they're layered on top of connection already, not replacing it. So if you can't make the call, you're still a part of the room, you're still a part of the group, you're still being seen, you still feel connected. This feels so much more human and so much more sustainable. Now I want to be really clear and make sure I say that this isn't about email failing. I want to be super clear with this.

Kylie Kelly [00:05:33]:
This is not an email doesn't work conversation. Email is still my home. It is still powerful. It's still where long term relationships get built. But community adds a different dimension because email is me talking to you, community is us talking with each other. And that changes everything. I've had more meaningful conversations in a few days than I sometimes do in months of sending emails. Not because the emails are bad, but because intimacy is built in these smaller spaces.

Kylie Kelly [00:06:02]:
The other thing that I am loving about this school experiment is, is that I am getting a voice of customer without feeling gross about it, right? So from like a voice of customer perspective, holy shit, it's gold. People are telling me in their own words what they're stuck on, what they're tired of, what they don't want anymore, what they're craving instead. And then here's the part that matters most to me. There's nothing for sale in this group. It's free. There's no pitch. So people aren't guarded, they're not wondering, is this leading somewhere? They're just being themselves. And that kind of insight, you can't fake it, you can't survey it, you can't reverse engineer it.

Kylie Kelly [00:06:38]:
You just have to listen and it's there. Which I think is so incredible. Now I want to share something personal as well. I have a post it note on my desk that says what feels fun right now? I've had this post it note on my desk now for probably a good 18 months. And the reason that I wrote it was because 18 months ago, when I created it, I was not feeling like I was having any fun in my business. And I was starting to really resent some of the work I was doing. So I say that because somewhere last year, I stopped asking myself that question. It wasn't intentional, it wasn't dramatic.

Kylie Kelly [00:07:10]:
I just got busy. I was focused. I was being responsible. The school community has reminded me that fun is information. Like this has felt light, playful, alive. I want to check in, I want to reply, I want to be there. And that feeling matters because when business stops being fun, it starts to feel heavy. And heavy businesses do not last.

Kylie Kelly [00:07:34]:
Fun isn't a reward. It's actually a signal of what we're building. A signal of the strength of what we're building. Now, this experiment is teaching me a few things. Really. Clearly, people want quieter rooms. I already knew that from my Empire expansion events. But they want quieter rooms.

Kylie Kelly [00:07:51]:
They want to feel seen. They want pressure free spaces that build trust fast. That depth creates momentum, right? And that growth doesn't need to be loud to be powerful. And honestly, this experiment in just a couple days has reminded me that it gets to be simple, right? We get to keep things human and grounded and real. And the connection that we get to have because of that, oh my goodness. That is what I want more of in my business. Which brings me to this. Next month I've decided to run a Breakup with Instagram Challenge inside this school group because this feels like the right room for that conversation.

Kylie Kelly [00:08:28]:
So there's no yelling into the void. There's no performing for strangers. We're going to be sitting in a space with people who are already questioning the noise. So I ask you if social media feels heavy, if it feels draining, if you want to grow without burning yourself out and pointing and dancing and all the things, this is your invitation. So right now, the community is completely free. There's nothing for sale that might change one day or it might not. I'm letting it unfold. But if you are craving depth over noise, a real conversation, a space that feels calm and thoughtful, I would love to welcome you in.

Kylie Kelly [00:09:03]:
You'll find the link in the show notes, so go and request to join. You'll be inside then when we do the Breaking up with Instagram challenge next month, I would love to have a conversation and see you in there. Now, I do want to say, whether you join or not, I want to leave you with this question. What feels fun right now? And where might you be craving depth instead of just more? I would love you to sit with that. Follow those answers. They will never lead you astray. All right, my loves, that is it from me this week. I hope that you found that interesting.

Kylie Kelly [00:09:36]:
Please come and join the school community if you want to stay up to date with what I'm doing over there. If you want to see it in real time until next week, I will talk to you soon. I hope you're doing really well. Have a beautiful rest of your week. I will see you next Friday. Bye for now.

Kylie Kelly [00:09:49]:
Have a great day.

Kylie Kelly [00:09:50]:
Thank you so much for tuning into.

Kylie Kelly [00:09:51]:
This episode of the Email Growth Show. I hope you found valuable insights into the next steps you can take to grow your email list and boost your business without relying on social media or paid ads. If you enjoy this episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show and share it with others. Your feedback helps me reach more female entrepreneurs just like you who are ready to say goodbye to social media and leverage email marketing to grow their business and make a bigger impact.

Kylie Kelly [00:10:17]:
Thank you so much for listening and.

Kylie Kelly [00:10:19]:
I'll see you in the next episode.