Hot Takes, Cold Tea: Calling Out The Call-Outs

A few high-profile creators just retired their signature programs, and the internet had thoughts. We wade past the hot takes to unpack what’s really going on when a business pivots: proximity to customers, fatigue with scale for scale’s sake, and the need to run a model that actually pays you back. Along the way, we share why we’re sunsetting the “influencer” label and adopting a profit-first lens that prizes durable systems over fleeting visibility.

You’ll hear our candid view on call-out culture and why it often skips the nuance of real operational decisions. We talk about the pitfalls of chasing page views, the limits of passive courses when feedback loops go stale, and the simple practices that keep a business healthy: cleaner offers, tighter margins, and intentional pathways from content to conversion. We also explain why adding a membership from the start kept us close to real problems and led to better products, stronger retention, and a calmer operator’s schedule.

If you’ve been wondering whether it’s “okay” to change your mind, rebrand, or retire a flagship program, consider this your permission slip. Markets shift, audience needs evolve, and leaders adapt. We break down how to evaluate a pivot without drama, what metrics deserve your attention beyond follower counts, and how language shapes strategy—starting with our own move to a name that reflects what we teach: practice to profit. Subscribe for more grounded strategy, share this with a friend who’s on the fence about a pivot, and leave a review with one change you’re making this quarter.

Chapters

• 0:00 A Controversy In Online Courses
• 0:34 Public Call-Outs And Integrity
• 1:27 Renaming The Podcast And Why
• 2:02 Profit Over Trends And Page Views
• 3:30 Getting Closer To Your Audience
• 4:12 Honest Reasons For Pivots
• 5:07 Permission To Evolve Your Business

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

I promised you my real thoughts, and there was a bit of a controversy that happened probably in the last week or two. Um, not sure if you noticed it, but Amy Porterfield and Jenna Kutcher both put out that they were taking their signature programs and taking them off the shelves. Amy talked about no more DCA, she was closing it up, it wasn't gonna be offered anymore. And I believe Jenna was doing getting rid of her, maybe it was her podcasting course or a Pinterest course, I can't remember which one. But the controversy that I saw that I was kind of blown away by was Jessica Stanberry. She got on and did a reel where she actually screenshotted Amy's announcement about pivoting and called her out for her reason for pivoting to be bullshit and was very vocal about it in her reel. It was interesting to me because we all have thoughts. Uh, not sure that I would be calling out Amy Porterfield or Jenna Kutcher. I can have my opinions, but to say that the reasoning they give about something is total BS, not really sure you're in the right place to be throwing stones when have you been totally honest about every single little thing that you have changed and why you have changed it. So the reason why I wanted to talk about it is because many of you heard me talk about and have watched me over the years pivot. I recently announced inside my insiders group that I am changing the name of the podcast. Influencer entrepreneurs just doesn't sit right with me anymore. I don't see the name influencer meaning as much. And so the podcast will be changing to the name practice to profit because that's what we do. We put practices into place to make a larger profit. Because from the very beginning stages of that podcast, I talked about the fact that it's the importance of understanding that you're a business and to treat yourself like a business. You need to run it that way with the intention of increasing your revenue, making money, making decisions so that you are having a greater profit and not being stuck worrying about page views and visibility. Yes, these visibility is important, and yes, you need to get people coming to your site, but you need to be doing it not with the intention of following trends. And the word influencer gave me that feeling of that's what people associate that word with. And when I had chosen influencer entrepreneur, I was trying to change the mindset of those people. And I think many of you have come along for the ride with me, but I do think that an influencer just kind of comes with that connotation of you are chasing page views and you are going after just trying to make money off of affiliates or sponsorships or things of that nature where you're just trying to get views on social media. And that is not what I want to be talking about because it's a very up and down, it's not really a business model, it doesn't take into a fact that you are thinking about your audience. So, with the recent calling out, as I like to say it, of why they pivoted, they talked about the fact that they want to be closer to their audience. And I understand what they're saying because I also have done the same thing. I find that it's isolating to simply have an online course where I don't get any hands-on understanding what the problems are of my people, which is why I created insiders from the right out of the gate. The first course I launched came with an upsell for a membership because I wanted contact with people to better understand what they needed more of. So it's not necessarily that their reason for pivoting is BS, it very well probably has something to do with the fact that it's not selling the way that it used to, maybe for them. I don't know if that's the case. We don't really know anyone's numbers. Everyone can talk about I'm a million-dollar business owner. And unless you're giving numbers, you can't really back that up. So for Jessica to call her out like that, I it was just a little shocking to me. And I'm sure the reel has continued to go viral because of it because the comments were insane. Some people agreeing with her, some people asking why she thought this, and she got a little put not so happy with getting questioned. Um, so yes, I just wanted to kind of bring it to light. And I do want to tell you that if you are thinking of pivoting, it should be to step into a better business model for you. You are entitled to that pivot. And I think that's kind of the piece that Jessica missed is that she said that their reasoning was BS, and it almost kind of like put it aside as if you shouldn't pivot within your business. And that's just not true. You have to do what makes sense for you and the business that you want to continue to grow. It's going to change. We know that. I've watched Jessica's business change. All she used to talk about was YouTube. Now I see her talking about AI and video content. It's always going to shift and pivot with the times, and there is nothing wrong with that.