With Kimra Luna, online business strategist who has led over 15,000 students through her business and marketing courses, and over 90,000 students through her workshops. Kimra is founder of the Riot Doll Society community on Discord and host of the Riot Doll podcast, as well as creator of the Freedom Hackers and her former course, Be True Brand You. She has been featured in Forbes, Inc. Magazine and The New York Times. She is a one-of-a-kind online rebel, with a huge heart, and a special knack for online business launch strategies (having orchestrated her own launches, including a 1.8 million dollar launch).

Join us for this conversation about how she went from being a mom struggling to get by on welfare, to creating a successful online business earning over 1 million dollars within the first year. Listen as Kimra candidly shares her journey, including how she moved to New York, continued to build her business, and then lost it in a divorce. Kimra shares some lessons learned along the way, and how it has all led to what she is creating now (with the launch of her new program, Galaxy), why she is so focused on building community and teaching her students to be more of themselves online in order to create more successful businesses.

Kimra also shares the role that Pinterest played in the early days of getting her start in the online space, a bit about her perceptions of the dark underbelly of the online business marketplace where unethical business coaches and other experts take advantage of clients, and how she has always done things her own way, despite some of the advice she has received from others along her path.

If you are creating a personal brand, an online business, or want to launch an online course or program, you will not want to miss this conversation with Kimra Luna. She has a lot to say that will help you on your own journey.

For more information, check out Kimra’s podcast and Twitch channel, where she covers topics on online business, self-healing, sex, love, relationships, music, sensuality, self-love, psychology and activism. She is a Queer non-binary single mama to 3 boys and spends her free time going to punk shows and making vegan food for her family and friends.

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Biggest takeaways (or quotes) you don’t want to miss:

• Why being more of yourself is the key to your success
• Why it does not always pay to “listen to the experts.”
• You don’t have to be an expert at tech to be extraordinarily successful online
• Resilience through Community. None of us build businesses alone.

Check out these highlights:

• 4:31 “There’s no fluff in my stuff.”
• 18:40 Hear Kimra’s thoughts on one of the biggest risk that goes along with getting support with your online business.
• 33:50 Learn what lead to Kimra shutting down her blog – a blog that was getting 100,000 views per month!
• 46:29 Listen to Kimra share about paying thousands of dollars, flying across the country to work with a high end coach, and then not taking any of his advice. This highlights the importance of doing what is right for you, and not following the experts “just because.” 
• 57:01 Hear Kimra’s take on why her programs sell, and the importance of building resilience through community. 

How to get in touch with Kimra:

On social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimraluna/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riotdollsociety

Find out more about Kimra and her new program The Galaxy, by visiting her website here. 

Imperfect Show Notes

We are happy to offer these imperfect show notes to make this podcast more accessible to those who are hearing impaired or those who prefer reading over listening. While we would love to offer more polished show notes, we are currently offering an automated transcription (which likely includes errors, but hopefully will still deliver great value), below.

GGGB Intro  00:00

Coming up today on Guts, Grit & Great Business™… 

Kimra Luna  00:04

So I’m like, I’m gonna teach people to be more of themselves. But they’re gonna do business, right? And so like, like I said, I still don’t know what the hell is it I didn’t have the program created. But I created a sales page. And I actually because at this point I’d made a little bit of money I made probably were like $10,000 by like, within like, maybe two months or something like I made a little bit of money. So I was like, because people hired me to be like, one on one coaching with them. So then I was like, Okay, well, I’m gonna take some of this money, and I’m gonna pay a person to help me with a copy for the sales page because I wrote it myself. And I was like, Okay, I need someone to help me like, I can’t express what it is that I’m trying to do here, you know, because there wasn’t any programs that were like this like, be more self you know what I mean? Like there was nothing out there that was like talking about the importance of this and like being more the more authentic You are the the stronger of a business you can build like there weren’t people talking about at the time. Now there’s a lot of people that do but at the time, there wasn’t.

GGGB Intro  00:57

The Adventure of entrepreneurship and building a life and business you love, preferably at the same time is not for the faint of heart. That’s why Heather Pearce Campbell is bringing you a dose of guts, grit and great business stories that will inspire and motivate you to create what you want in your business and life. Welcome to the Guts, Grit & Great Business™ podcast where endurance is required. Now, here’s your host, The Legal Website Warrior®, Heather Pearce Campbell.

Heather Pearce Campbell  01:30

All righty, welcome. I am Heather Pearce Campbell, The Legal Website Warrior®. I’m an attorney and legal coach based here in Seattle, Washington, serving entrepreneurs throughout the US and around the world. Welcome to another episode of Guts, Grit & Great Business™. I am so excited to bring you my friend Kimra Luna today. Welcome Kimra. 

Kimra Luna  01:56

Hi. Thanks for having me. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  01:58

Absolutely. So for those of you that don’t know Kimra, Kimra is a one-of-a-kind online rebel with a huge heart and a brilliant mind for online business launch strategies. She is a cosmic sensuality coach, somatic ritualist, pleasure activist and personal branding and online business strategist. She is also the founder of the Riot Doll Society community on Discord and is the host of the Riot Doll Podcast. Kimra is the real deal. She has helped over 15,000 students in seven years in her business and marketing courses, over 90,000 participants in her workshops, and has helped over 100 private clients to have sold out launches their way. Her podcast and Twitch channel cover topics on online business, self healing, sex, love, relationships, music, sensuality, self love, psychology and activism. kimbra has been featured in Forbes, Inc magazine and the New York Times and has been interviewed on over 100 podcasts. She is a queer, non binary single mama to three boys and spends her free time going to punk shows and making vegan food for her family and friends. Kimra, I love your bio. And I’m so happy to connect with you today. Thanks for joining me. 

Kimra Luna  03:20

Yeah, I’m super excited to be here and and have a nice, candid conversation. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  03:26

I love that. And I, you know, we just have connected even though we’ve been connected online for years, I’ve actually been in some of your short trainings, like your day long trainings. And one of the things I will say for people that are listening that are not yet familiar with your work is that I always appreciated how, first of all, direct you are you and also your trainings are  super step-by-step. You were one of the few people I felt like in the online space who really opened the doors to show, here’s what I’ve done, here’s what worked for me, here’s what does work. And it doesn’t feel like fluff. It doesn’t feel like you’re overselling which I feel like a lot of people do. And so, I’ve always appreciated that about you and also how openly you talk about personal issues and motherhood. I know just before we went live, we’ve been sharing some motherhood stories and it’s just, I don’t know, I just want to start by saying that and it’s it’s really nice to connect with you here today. So yeah, thank you. 

Kimra Luna  04:32

Thank you. Yeah, I’m not I’m not the person is gonna have any fluff in any of my programs or workshops. Like I’m like, I like fluffy – you know, it’s really great on bunnies and puppies and things like that, but there’s no fluff in my stuff. (Laughing). 

Heather Pearce Campbell  04:47

No, there isn’t. And it was just so clear and like step by step because the online world and we were also chatting a little bit about this the online world and building a business in the online space and learning how to market in that space – there are so many moving parts. And I feel like, you know, people can really sell you some stuff in this space that that doesn’t work, isn’t a fit, is not a real strategy that you should be using in your own business. And so people can end up feeling really lost and frustrated, and like they’ve been scammed at times, you know? 

Kimra Luna  05:23

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I get those people coming to me who are like, well, like this program, I didn’t learn this or that, or, or whatever, you know, and, and it’s a, it’s a diff, it’s an interesting space to be in, because there is no like, regulations. There’s no like, and so it’s, there’s no standards of like, operating your business. I mean, there’s a lot of things. But yeah, I’ve had a lot of people who will tell me like, Oh, my gosh, I wish I would have found your program sooner. You know, I wish I would have worked with you sooner before I spent money on a lot of these other programs that, you know, really don’t show people exactly how to do things. And I’m very much like, here’s where you click – click this thing. This is the exact tool used for this. This is a thing. Yeah, you know, like, I’m very much direct like that. And I’ve recently have discovered, like, that might be just one of my superpowers is that I’m direct, like, I’m just like, this is it, do that. And we were like, Okay, got it. And that makes it a lot more simple for people. There’s a lot of programs that really teach like what you’re supposed to do, but they don’t really teach how you do it. And then the hilarious thing is, even in their marketing, they’ll say, we’re gonna teach you how to do it, but then you join the program, and they still don’t teach you how to do it. And so people are really lost. And like you said that overselling happens quite a bit in the online industry. They’ll say this program is for everyone. And no matter where you’re at in business, and they’ll say those sorts of language and I’m like, but really, is this for anybody, wherever they’re at in business? Or no, and then you buy it, and you’re like, absolutely, this is not like, I’ll buy a program that’s like, way too advanced for someone who’s a beginner, or I’ll buy a program, that’s way beginner. So if someone was more advanced, it would be like, you know, even it wouldn’t be much value to them. So, you know, in marketing, you know, there’s a lot of like, languages be very clear. And there’s a lot of people who purposely are actually less clear, because they want everyone to just think it’s for them, they just want to get as many people in the door. And I don’t know, I find that like really unethical. Like, I think overselling is an unethical practice. But because I definitely don’t do that if there’s people that are like, Hey, this is what I’m going through. This is my program, I’ll tell them that, well, this one’s not for you, like you’d like somebody else’s program might be for you, but mine’s not the right one. And I don’t mind saying I would rather turn someone away, then have somebody join, and then, you know, they’re asking for a refund, you got to do all this other stuff, you know, so it’s like, I’d rather just say, No, it’s not for you. Yeah, peasy, you know, type of thing. So I always think it’s interesting how in the industry, like, people kind of, they just do this, like, because they see what all the other people were doing. They’re like, Oh, well, that person’s doing that. So I’m going to do and so it’s like, they’ll clone each other. And I’m just like, That, I think, because I’m a person who’s just always, you know, kind of, like almost desire to be unique, like, I’m an Aquarius, it’s kind of like our thing. You know, we like being different than other people. I never really ran my business the way other people ran their business, I’ve never done like the standard, like, you know, three part video series launch, like, all these, I was like, and I’ve been, I was recommended that by a person who I hired as, like my first ever coach. And I was like, I’m not going to do that. Like, that’s literally not my vibe, like I just, it’s just not my thing. I’m going to build it the way I want to build it. And then I ended up having like, a super successful launch, doing literally the exact opposite of what he told me to do. And so I was like, I don’t know if that’s the rebel in me, or if it’s just, I just don’t want to do it my way, you know, and I believe that people can build businesses in their own way. And that’s kind of the thing I’m known for is that, you know, people’s stuff is custom. And, and even in my digital programs, like I previous had a program called Be True Brand You, but my newer one is called The Galaxy for legal reasons. And we could get into that later. But, you know, like, even in that program, it’s very much like kind of like a choose your own adventure, sort of program where Yes, you get a lot of all the foundational pieces. But because I also, you know, do lots of group support, people are really building their business like based off of what’s best for them and like where they’re at. And, you know, people have different lifestyles, some people have full time jobs, some people who come in, they don’t have a job at all, so they have more time to apply other things in their business. So everybody’s very different. And there’s really no other like people out there that are in the similar spaces me that give that sort of customized feedback for people inside of their programs. And it because I’ve had people tell me, they’re just like, you’re the only one who does this, you know, it’s almost like oh, I am like, because I’m too lazy to buy all their programs, you know, other people’s work – I don’t got time for this. (Laughing). But you know, like, I, I’m very proud that I’m a person who you know, wants to, you know, really support my students and let them run their business in a way that feels good to them. Because there’s definitely a lot of things that are taught that are just icky, like icky, just doesn’t feel good. Like, they’re teaching people to like, send random DMs to people on Instagram and just pitch people immediately and all this stuff. And there’s a lot of stuff that’s icky. And so I’m grateful to be a person that’s like, I teach you the non-icky way to build a business, you know, well, in this this piece about, you know, there’s no one path through this and that you can do it in a way that’s authentic to you. And you don’t have to follow all this canned advice or step by step of like, here’s how somebody else did it. So here’s how you have to do it. Right? Yeah, it doesn’t have to say,

Heather Pearce Campbell  10:56

No, and it doesn’t serve people because I think you’re right, like, everybody’s business model needs to be a fit for them. Mm hmm. But it can, it can be challenging to get that advice and get the support is I think, especially early on and, you know, I want to dig in a little bit more to the people that you support, what phase they’re at, in business, etc. But I think people can spend a lot of time wandering around trying to get the support they need and hitting up against a lot of obstacles and hurdles. And even just like simple tech challenges, right? 

Kimra Luna  11:33

Yeah, absolutely. And, and that’s one of the things where, like, for myself, like, I kind of became known as a person who like, literally shows you where to click. And the thing is, is I’m actually not that techie. That’s the thing. I’m a person where like, I will like, ask my boyfriend, how do I fix this on my phone? Like, I don’t like like, Can you do it, you know, like, I’m like, handing them like my phone, because I’m like, I don’t want you just do it. I’m, I’m just not very techie, in general, but I had to learn how to run a business like I didn’t really have much of an option. I’m not very, I tell people, I’m not psychologically employable. Like I just like I like I, my brain doesn’t work and like the regular nine to five type of way. And so the only way for me to make money is online. And so I had to figure out how to use the tools, how to use the things. And there’s a lot of other, you know, business owners who sell marketing programs and stuff like that. And the reason why they don’t answer everybody’s questions is because they actually don’t know the answer to those questions, because they’re not really in the trenches, like how I am with my clients, and with my students. And as how I always have been, I’ve always been in the trenches, I know what tools to use, I know what they’re supposed to, you know, like, what things stack on top, they call it, like, you know, like your tech stack, like all the tech news for your business, like what goes into that tech stack based off of different businesses, you know, some people’s model is just one on one client, other people want to make digital programs, and they want to do it, that sort of style. Some people want to do a hybrid of things like, but everybody’s business is still very different and unique to them. And, you know, like I had one client where she still worked a full time job. And so she can only take clients, like a few evenings a week, you know, so it’s like, okay, how’s this person going to build a business, so it had to be very customized to the person and I know a lot of people’s really big struggles is actually the fact that they end up wasting a lot of money when they’re first starting their business, because they’re hiring a lot of coaches who usually are pretty expensive, like they’re joining like these $10,000 group programs, when I’m like, shaking my head half the time because the person was a complete beginner, and they didn’t really have like that solid program develop, they didn’t have that methodology in which they’re helping a client have a transformation, like all that stuff wasn’t developed yet. And then they hired this coach, but by the time they finished the program, they’re just like, wait, I barely figured out what I’m doing. You know, and so it’s kind of like, I don’t know, to me, I feel like people are kind of scamming people in that way, even though Yes, they are helping them and yes, they are coaching them. But the scam is that they’re saying, Yeah, you should join this right now, when it’s like really $10,000 that could build the person’s website, the person can get copywriting done, that person could, you know, get a lot more, you know, combined, one of my programs is way less expensive, and like, you know, or even doing my free stuff to like, learn what they need to do and get this stuff up and running. Like, there’s a lot of other stuff that they could use that money for, they can use it for paid advertisements to test out what their market is, like, there’s a lot of stuff they can use that money for. And a lot of people they end up buying that sort of stuff. And then of course, on top of that if they’re like a personal brand or working for themselves, you know, their, you know, spouse is mad because they just wasted $10,000 on a program. And so how are they going to be like, Oh, well, I want to invest in something else that’s going to help my business or I need to spend money on this tool or things like that. And then that causes distress in a relationship even. So that’s why I find like a lot of like, and that doesn’t mean like no, I want Like, yes, I’ve sold expensive masterminds, but I’ve only sold them to people that are already making six figures or seven figures, I don’t sell them to people who are newbies. And I know there’s gonna be people that are probably pissed off about me for saying this, but I just feel like it’s, it’s just a messed up thing to do to go to someone who’s completely new and say, Hey, give me a $10,000, I’m going to help you, when there’s a lot of other material out there, that’s a lower price point where they can go through it and get to a place where then maybe they can actually afford you, you know, because to me, that’s a huge chunk of money. I mean, that’s like, two down payments on a car or a down payment on a house or something, you know, like, that’s a lot of money. And then to like, not actually get the results at the end. I mean, you don’t know how many DMS I get from people who are like, Oh, I paid that Coach 12,000 I paid that Coach 15,000 I paid them this, and I’m nowhere in my business. Yeah. And I’m just like, this is it’s devastating, like, this is devastating to families, and it’s causing harm to families, and especially, you know, marginalized groups. So it’s very, to me, it’s, it’s very frustrating to see this happening when people are saying, oh, like, we empower women, or we believe in, you know, empowerment, and I’m just like, how is to me, that’s disempowering. All you did was convince a person to give you $10,000. And then they weren’t empowered at the end of it. You didn’t do your job, you didn’t do what you said, you were gonna do, you know. And so, like I said, People don’t like me, because I speak up about these things. But But I really don’t care. Because to me, it starts to feel like this unethical, sort of, you know, area, and because like, our industry doesn’t have any sort of, you know, rules to the to the industry, like, there’s no regulation. People get away with this. And that I mean, and I have just complete horror stories where people have joined programs, and then they figure Oh, well, it’s not really a good fit for me. And then the person will be like, Oh, well, you can’t back out of this contract. You can’t do like, all this sort of stuff. And I’m, and I’m like, so you’re saying you’re empowering women, but then you’re holding them financially captive to a program that they don’t even want to be part of anymore, like, like, or that they literally cannot afford, 

Heather Pearce Campbell  17:04

Right? Or, or the person selling the program didn’t take enough time back to your point about timing, didn’t take enough time to figure out is this person really a fit based on the timing of where they’re at in their business? Right, wrong time, wrong place? Like, yeah, maybe that newbie is not for you. And it’s the same, it’s the same way in my business. If somebody comes to me and says, Hey, you know, I’m working on a budget, this is where I’m at, like, I’m gonna ask him questions like, do you have personal assets? If not, we’re having a totally different conversation about where you should be investing your money than if you’re somebody that has personal assets in your life, because I’m not going to tell you to go spend $10,000 on legal startup costs, if you don’t really have anything to protect, I’m going to tell you to go make some money, and then come back, when you have created some clients. And you’ve got a little bit of money set aside and we can talk about how to stair-step your legal needs, right? Yeah. But if I was other attorneys, I could push them and say, don’t do anything in your business until you have it set up properly. But yeah, that’s just not a fit for everyone. 

Kimra Luna  18:08

Just Yeah, it doesn’t work for everyone. And some people, yeah, they’ll choose to get all that stuff set up first, and everything like that. And then, but like, I did that, and then I ended up having to undo a bunch of the stuff. So I was just like, okay, like, so I’m like starting like a brand new business, like right now. And so I’m like, Well, I’m just gonna wait, once I have some cash, then I’ll, you know, invest all that and then get all that stuff set up. You know, I have like, some of the basic stuff, but, you know, like, I tell people all the time, I’m just like, you know, you have to start where you are, you know, and it does, you know, like, in in even some of those people to like, like you said, like, you know, they’re not really like vetting enough to figure out where that person is at. I think some of them honestly just don’t care. Like they just don’t even care like they just want to make as much money as possible. They just want their masterminding make them, you know, 100 grand, so they want to get 10 people into the mastermind and so they don’t care, they’ll just book the people in even if they know they’re not a good fit. And I and I recently had a friend who paid $17,000 for a program and after the first like two calls, she was like, I’m way more advanced than all these other people here. And she went and asked them like, Hey, you know, like, She’s like, I’m not gonna ask for a refund. Like you did the calls, you know, but she’s like, I would like to, you know, remove myself from the program. And the person’s just like threatening her with lawsuits and all that sort of stuff. And I’m just like, are you kidding me right now? Are you kidding me? And I just told her I said, do a chargeback? The credit card company is going to choose you do a chargeback I said you don’t have to take legal advice from me but in your situation, I would do a chargeback and tell that person fine sue me and they’re probably not going to because they know that that’s going to be too much energy too much effort like they’re not gonna they’re not gonna start international lawsuit. You know, over, you know, something like that, you know, but it’s like, the thing is, is like, it’s such, like I said, as an industry that’s not like regulated. But even if those person did take legal action, the judge would say, it’s unreasonable to ask a person to pay you $2,000 a month for a service, you’re not going to provide real judgment say that, you know what I mean? Like, they would be like, what this person like, like, you don’t, you can’t, you don’t, you know, go to like a massage therapist, give them money, and then the massage doesn’t ever happen. Like, that’s, you know, and so people like, kind of in the coaching space, they think they could just get away with it. And I’m just like, I don’t know, someone’s gonna start cracking down on these people eventually. And, and, you know, I’m gonna just laugh when it happened. So, like, I can’t wait for them to crack down on these people doing this, you know?  

Heather Pearce Campbell  20:48

Yeah, definitely on the consumer protection side, like, to the extent that somebody is like that taking advantage of, you know, clients or being unreasonable. I mean, those things absolutely should not be happening, and they do happen in the industry. And I think that there are also well intentioned coaches, business owners, etc, who just don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t understand the law, they don’t, you know, they don’t put good structure in place around their client contracts around their business, etc. And, you know, all kinds of things can go wrong in those services. And in those business and clients feeling like they’re trapped, and they’ve overpaid for something that’s actually not a fit for them. 

Kimra Luna  21:31

It is sad that it happens so much. It’s a it’s a real tragedy in the industry. And, and, and honestly, I almost left the industry, because I felt like there were so many unethical practices going on. And it was just making me feel like uncomfortable to be in the industry and be considered a business coach or mentor, you know, like, it almost was like, Oh my gosh, like, we’re all getting a horrible name, because all these people really scamming people and stuff. And, you know, I have rarely ever charged, you know, super high ticket sort of prices. And like I said, If I do, those people are already making multiple, six figures or closer to seven figures at that point before they would hire me for, you know, supporting their lunches and things like that. But, you know, like, most of my other stuff is like, you know, lower price point and things like that. So it, you know, people can’t afford it. So they’re not at lower risk. And there’s muscle of a risk, but also, I give a lot of high value for even those prices, like I had this course, that was a $50 course. But the content was by far worth more than like, 1000 can compare to other people’s programs. And like this one, this one woman, she had bought a course that was like, similar from another person, but their course was $3,000. And she asked them for a refund, because she had bought my course because mine was like 50. And she said mine was like, way better. So she asked them for a refund. And then that guy came like after me was like, you know, emailing me like hate emails and all this sort of stuff. And I’m like, just because your customer thought your product sucks compared to mine, doesn’t mean I deserve to be talked to this way. Like what like, and this guy’s a top guy in the industry, multi multi millionaire, he probably makes close to 20 million a year, probably closer to 30 even now. And yeah, he literally started emailing me bullying me because my $50 course was better than his $3,000 one. And it just made me like, I was like, laughing I’m like, later on, like, laughing while they’re playing his email, cuz I’m like, this is so absurd. Like, I’ve never had somebody just start viciously attacking me, like this, like, I just thought it was so like, are especially not a successful person. Like, I was like, you have a lot of success, like, why do you even care, you know, but it’s just the fact that, you know, his ego was attacked, because someone mentioned that to him and, and he got mad that they asked for a refund in which they were within their refund period. So, you know, he did end up giving them the refund. But I just found it really interesting that there’s people that are even like, top level people in the industry who actually treat people badly and things like that. And, and there’s like really no, like, you know, website where people can like review them. It’s like Amazon, you know what I mean? But there’s like reviews, you know, on everything. Well, the only problem with it is somebody might just be mad about something and then go and like post something. You know, I mean, I have people who like hate my guts, just because of like, my belief systems, you know, so I would probably have like a one star review because people don’t just people just want to people just don’t like me because of how I am. And, you know, I’m very, you know, political and you know, like I you know, just because of stuff I share there would be I would literally have a one star just because …

Heather Pearce Campbell  24:28

Isn’t a joke that you’ve arrived in the online space once you have haters, and it really is true. People go there to post things like that. And so yeah, I get what you’re saying. And, and you’re right. I mean, it’s it’s a little bit the conversation we were having before we went live about the online space. And specifically I’m talking about, you know, consultants, coaches, online educators, information based businesses, a lot of them are building personal brands, maybe consulting agencies coaching, you know, businesses, but they’re largely smaller businesses that are information based and it is the wild west of business. In the online space people can throw up a website “be in business” overnight and literally have no clue what they’re doing. They don’t understand marketing regulations. They don’t understand privacy. They don’t understand what needs to be in a solid client contract. They they don’t really know how to run a business. 

Kimra Luna  24:36

Yeah, absolutely. They just like oh, here I am. These pop up someday. And like, there’s a sometimes we’re like, I’ll see like a Facebook ad. I’m like, Who the heck is this person? You know, like, it’s like, like, it’s like new faces just pop up like every day and I’m right. Yeah, it is definitely the Wild West out here in the online business space.

Heather Pearce Campbell  25:48

Okay, let’s pause briefly to hear from today’s sponsor. Today’s sponsor is Turnkey Podcast. Now I have a quick story about the guys behind the Turnkey Podcast because last year, I launched this podcast, I had not considered having a podcast before intersecting with Doug Sandler and Strickland Bonner. We met at an event in San Diego right before COVID hit. And of course, these guys are podcast experts. They are both podcasters and hosts of multiple podcasts, including the wildly popular nice guys on business podcast. They have created and produced over 1000 episodes of their own podcast interview interviewing hundreds of guests from well known celebrities to everyday working heroes. Their show has been downloaded nearly 4 million times and shared millions of times in over 175 countries. turnkey podcast productions leadership team are thought leaders in the podcast space, and they want to help you launch your podcast, build community grow your influence and monetize your show to Duggan Stricker, the perfect pair to bring you professional award winning service to help you put your best foot forward. So again, back to that time in San Diego when I crossed paths with these guys. Of course, they said to me, You need a podcast at the time I thought I do. And then I thought about it. And I thought you’re right I do. So with their guidance, I joined their program, the ultimate podcast Launch Formula. I went from not even thinking about having a podcast, to not only thinking about it, but literally having one launched in about four weeks. If you think that’s not possible for you, let me tell you it is I am mom to two busy wild children at home. This was in the middle of COVID. So my kids were at a school I had no childcare, no nannies, nothing in place. And I’m also behind the scenes running two separate businesses. So if I can do it, you can do it. And with these guys help it you will find that it is so streamlined, it is so easy. They cut out all of the unnecessary stuff that you can skip, they help you go from A to Z and do it very quickly. So be sure to check them out at turnkey podcast.com. If you are an expert, an online educator, a coach, a consultant, a speaker and author and you know that you need your own podcast, be sure to jump over check them out again at turnkey podcast.com. The ultimate podcast launch formula is right there on their homepage and it will show you that you are the expert in your podcast will prove it. Okay, and Now back to today’s fabulous guest Share with us and our listeners a bit about how you got your start in this space like where your experience comes from. 

Kimra Luna  29:14

Yeah, so I had several blogs and businesses before this. But my The main thing that got me into this was actually a vegan mommy blog. So I started this vegan mommy blog. And I had a Facebook group that I grew with this. And this was 13 years ago that I started this Facebook group like I love I was pregnant with my first son and he’s 12. So I was like 13 years. I’m like what is crazy to think about. And so anyway, so then a few years after that, I ended up starting my blog. So about I would say about 11 years ago, I started like the blog that went along with the group. So I had been running the group for a few years and I decided to do a blog. And with the blog, like I was blogging every single day like I was also doing a video blog. So I was like kind of showcasing my life like I was like doing a lot of like schooling with the kids was like showcasing all that stuff. And it grew pretty rapidly. Like, with before the before a year, I had already gotten 100,000 unique views to my site in a month. And I was utilizing Pinterest very heavily to do this. So then I started making money, like say, like, I was, like, promoting Vitamix and like, things like that. And like, I would like, make commissions and stuff. And so I like was like, Whoa, like, I’m actually making money with my blog. And like, I was selling like, protein powders on I was just like, I was like, oh, like, I guess I should try to make money. You know, like, you know, like, I have all these viewers now, like people coming to my page, or coming to my live blog posts, right? So, and at the time, I didn’t even understand like, email list building. Like I finally kind of started to once I was almost like ending like, my, my, my blog, because people started asking me how I grew it. And then one of my friends was in the online marketing space. And he had asked me, he was like, oh, like, how is like your, you know, your blog doing? And I said, Oh, well, you know, I’ve been getting 100,000 unique views a month. And he’s like, Oh, are you doing like paid ads? Like, what are you doing? I said, No, I’m using Pinterest. And he’s like, What the hell’s that? You know, I didn’t even like know what it was. And I was just like, wow, like, it’s this thing. Like, you could get a lot of backlinks. And it’s kind of more like a search engine type of thing. And he was like, What the heck are you talking? He’s like, Okay, you got to show my community how to do this. I’m like, What do you mean? So he wanted me to host a webinar. And I never done that before. And I was like, oh, what the hell. This is like, I was like, I don’t even know how to make a PowerPoint presentation. I said, the only thing I know how to do is post pictures and write on the blog. You know, like, I don’t know how to do anything, you know, like, I’m not like I said, I’m not techie. Right. So I was like, I don’t even know how to use PowerPoint. Like, I didn’t do this in school. Like, I was like, the kid in school who, like, didn’t have a computer, you know, like I like, like, I don’t know how to do any of this stuff. And so he was just like, well just write it on a Word document. He’s like, you have word on your computer that Yeah, I got words. It’s like write everything on a Word document of what you want to teach and show everyone and then you can screen share. And this was like, when Google Hangouts first came out, he’s like, I’ll make a Google Hangout, and they could click the screen share button, you could show your Pinterest and show like what you do, right. And so I did that it ended up being like a three hour long thing. There were like, 1000s of people watching this thing. It was mortified, like I was, I was terrified out of my freaking mind as dripping sweat the whole time, like, stuttering the whole time. I mean, it was just it was, but I got through it, right, I got through it. I was like, I didn’t die. So but the thing is, so I learned a few things there. Like one of the things was like I really loved teaching. And then afterwards, I actually got some people to who wanted to work with me, they were like, oh, like, how can I hire you to help me with my Pinterest? And I was just like, sure, you know, and I mean, I didn’t have a client contract, or any of that stuff, because I didn’t I don’t even know what this stuff was, you know, so I was like, yeah, sure, pay me $500, I’ll help you. You know, like, I was just like, I had no clue, like what to do with the charge any sort of stuff. And the thing that was interesting, though, and this really shaped my whole entire brand, and my whole philosophy on business, and there were people who emailed me afterwards, and literally told me, You should never give away that much information for free. You should, you should have charged for that. Like, you should have not gave us all the information like you should have just, you know, showed us a little bit and then told us that we had to work with you, like, people were like, basically like trying, like, coach me on how to be in the space. I’m like, and I’m like, I don’t know what the hell you are, like, what are you talking? Like, I literally don’t even know these people. And they were emailing me telling me this, because at the end of the presentation, I said, Well, if you you know, you want to connect with me, like, here’s my email, you know, hit me up, if you want to say hi, or something like that, you know, and, and anyways, like, all these people started saying that to me, and it just really went against, like, who I am. Like, it went against, like, my whole beingness of Kimra. I was like, that goes against my beingness you know, as I think that’s where but my beingness of who I who I be, right? Like I was like, that’s just not me, like, I like to give lots of value. I like to help people like I will like my, my blog, like I shared all my recipes, I shared all my tips. Like I never held things back from people like that’s just not how I am as a person. And I you know, I just want to help people as it as I just want help people. And in any ways that’s I think, what made my brand really stand out because what I did to so basically happen, I was like, You know what, I want to teach people this stuff. I want to do that full time. So I’m gonna like, I’m going to shut down my blog, I literally shut the blog completely down a blog that was getting 100,000 unique views a month, I shut it down completely. And I said, I’m going to create this new brand called freedom hackers, and I’m going to just go for it right. And so I did that. And I started like a Facebook groups ago with it. I started growing my email list I had, like, you know, like, like, I have like a little course that people could like buy. It was like $200 or something like it wasn’t like super crazy expensive. So I like a little course that people could buy. And I kind of just like, like, started doing a bunch of webinars basically that was it. Like I literally did a webinar on how to use PicMonkey that was like the first like webinar like I officially did. And I actually did Facebook ads to promote it. Like and this was like before a lot of people are doing this. So this was like 2013, 2014 I remember what year I think it was probably the end of 2013 somewhere on there. But no, it was 2014, 2014. Now I remember correctly, I’m like trying to do math. So it was like 2014 that I hosted this, this workshop. And because my son was born 2015 That’s why I remember now. But so I did this workshop. And it was just so popular, people were just obsessed with it. And so I was like, Okay, well, because everybody loves it so much. I’ll do another one next week. And I’ll actually split it into two webinars, because this ended up being like, three, then it’d be like three hours long or something crazy. So because I was just like, helping everyone answering everyone’s questions, and just helping people. Because that’s just what I do. And I didn’t have anything to sell or anything like that. I just said, you know, if you want to work with me, you know, send me an email or something, and we’ll talk about it, you know, like, I feel like I really didn’t know what to do. But I had like a brand new website I made and, you know, I was just like, this is like my new brand. And I’m just gonna do it. And I kept posting workshops every single Saturday, because at the time, my ex husband, like, at the time, he was, you know, working just like, you know, like a regular day job working for FedEx. And he was, you know, like, you’d be at work for like 12 hours a day, like driving and stuff like that. So I didn’t really have time to do workshops in the middle of the week, because I had my my two little ones. And so I would host them on Saturdays, because that way he would he could be there with the kids. And so I started hosting them every single Saturday. And then I had people you know, who hired me to coach them and help them and I said, Well, I’m gonna put together this program called beetroot brand new. And I was like, I’m gonna teach people how to be more of themselves, but create a brand around that because that because my my blog was called the misfit Mama. Like it was like totally me like it was all it was was a blog. It was just a blog. It was literally me that was it. That was it like I like, so I’m like, I’m going to teach people to be more of themselves. And they’re, but they’re going to do business. Right. And so like, like I said, I still don’t know what the hell is Yeah, I didn’t have the program created. But I created a sales page. And I actually because at this point, I’d made a little bit of money I made probably, like, $10,000 by it, like within like, maybe two months or something like I made a little bit of money. So I was like, because people hired me to be like, one on one coaching with them. So then I was like, Okay, well, I’m gonna take some of this money, and I’m gonna pay a person to help me with a copy for the sales page because I wrote it myself. And I was like, Okay, I need someone to help me like, I can’t express what it is that I’m trying to do here, you know, because there wasn’t any programs that were like this, like, be more self, you know what I mean? Like there was nothing out there. That was like talking about the importance of this and like being more the more authentic You are the the stronger of a business you can build, like there weren’t people talking about at the time. Now there’s a lot of people that do but at the time, there wasn’t and then, and so anyway, so we articulated it, and I made this janky ass sales page. It was so hideous, like when I think about it, I was like this was hideous. How did anybody even buy from me? Like it was so ugly?

Heather Pearce Campbell  37:50

Like it’s like serious I if I saw it right now, I’d probably start crying. Well, the thing is, in my mind, I’m trying to actually think about when you and I first connected online, because then the funny thing is for any moms listening, they do that math in their head that you just did like, wait, I was pregnant, I was not yet a mom, I do the same thing when I’m talking about timelines in my business, but for people who are just listening and don’t know Kimra, I’ll just say that, like when we first connected, right, you had blue hair there was you know, like, your online presence was very distinctive, which is also what made me such a fan is like, you know what, this is what people need to hear, which is this message of authenticity, being more of yourself and not just falling in line with all of this other, you know, conformity and in the online space, especially like you can observe trends, and I’m sure you’ve seen this over the years. You observe trends in branding and language – 

Kimra Luna  38:50

The gold lettering! The gold lettering was like killing me for years, like, years. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  38:56

Oh, my gosh, the stock photos, I know exactly what you’re talking. 

Kimra Luna  39:01

Yeah. Can someone please kill gold lettering, like, but I mean, it’s only because like, we’re in the space, so we’d see it a lot. You know what I mean? So other people, it probably didn’t bother them. But for me, I’m just like the gold lettering, like the gold borders around everything. Like I was just like, Oh my gosh, how much oil gold is there on these people’s websites? Like it was insane for a while. But yeah, people were really just mimicking each other. They were just like, like, they’re just like, I just want to have a website that looks like that person’s website. But then you went to my motherfucking website. So So anyway, so a few years. So a few months into the business, I decided to launch my Be True Brand You program, and it wasn’t even developed yet. At the time, it was $1200 which after people signed up, they’re like, Kimra, you charge way too low like charge more. Like my students literally told me you need to charge more like this is worth a lot more. And so at the time, I was charging $1200 for it and then there was an upsell for people to buy like a like a small group coaching package for like a six week coaching package that was like $3000 dollars, which is like the most I’ve ever charged ever at the time, like, I was like, Oh my god, like, no one’s gonna want to buy this. But like the first five people who signed up bought it. Like, I was like, What is going on here? You know, so, so I closed it because I was like, I don’t want it anymore. Like, I can only handle five people, you know, because I just like, because I didn’t know how many people were going to join the rest of the course you know what I mean? So I was like, I can only handle five one on one people or like group people. And then everybody else, you know, can be like in the main group, you know. And so I ended up doing $65,000 in sales, without launch, and I did it, which is hosting webinars and pitching And get this, I had never taken a sales training, I had never, like, took a like, this is how you host a webinar, none of that. I just did it by being myself. And by serving people that was there was like, No, like, those were the that was the formula. Be yourself and serve people that was all like, that was literally it and, and so I just hosted all these presentations and because my community was like used to me, you know, hosting them. They they felt comfortable coming on the presentations with me and and I wasn’t like a you know, kind of like the the people that like their whole entire webinars just a sales pitch. Right. It’s all scripted. It’s all yeah, it’s all it’s all scripted, with like the slides and all sorts of stuff, like mine was really just like, here’s the program I’m creating, if you want and join, if you don’t want in, that’s fine, we’re going to cover all these topics like, this is the program, you know, like I was it was very simple types of pitch. But I did a lot of teaching on those workshops to like I genuinely teach people. So I think that was something where the industry actually ended up having to do a bit of a shift, because of what I was doing. And I’ve had people tell me that were there like Kimra, you actually had to shift how people were, you know, you doing their content online, in the information space, because a lot of people they were just holding back so much. And now people they don’t want to buy from you, if you’re holding back, they see that you help them, right used to be all of the like, here’s what you’re going to learn if you join, here’s what you’re going to do if you join, right, it’s it wasn’t like this, this giving first kind of approach. And that really stands out when you see it and you see it, like certain people really are dedicated to giving value before you even do business with them. Yeah, absolutely. And it and it’s something that I’m very, I’m very grateful that I was able to teach that to so many other people by being an example. Like that’s something that really like the other day, I actually calculated how many people had attended my live webinars. And when I calculated it was over 90,000 people have attended my presentations over you know, this whole span of time. And I’m like, I’ve affected 90,000 lives by being an example of showing like you can give value first. And value first is very important. You can really actually support people and still make money. And I know there’s probably people out there that would say like, well, you probably lost money because you you know, you weren’t doing like those really strong pitches. You weren’t you know, but some people probably say that. And I’d be like, well, if I did I did you know what I mean? Like, I’m not gonna sit here and think about like the what ifs of it. And eventually, like with that program, it started going so well. And so this was like three months in business, I did a $65,000 launch, then I opened it up again on Black Friday, just for a day. And I did 40,000 in sales in one day. And I opened it for just like a flash type of sale. And I was just like just this is the last time it’s going to be at this low price point. I’m literally doubling the price when I launch again in February. And that I also found out I was pregnant with third son at this point. So I was just like, I’m gonna launch it again in February, and then I’m gonna pop out this baby, you know, and then you know that like, it’s doubling though it’s doubling like I like I’m doubling this. And so so that was only me about four months into business five months in the business. And so by this point had already done over $100,000 in sales, it was less than it was but is less than six months. So it’s like I started my first webinar was in June. So it was like, or near the end of May. So it’s like may so then like June, July, August, September, October, November, it was like six months where I had made six figures. And I started getting noticed by a lot of people like top industry leaders and stuff. They’re like, Who the heck is this freakin chick with the blue hair, you know, like so I started getting like noticed, and people started, you know, reaching out to me and seeing like, what I was doing a lot of them were trying to actually figure out my strategies. I was like, bitch, if you want to talk to me, you better pay me for coaching. You know, like, and I was like, I don’t care how I don’t care what top leader you are in the industry. You know, like, if you want this information in my brain, you’re paying for it. And so and so anyway, so a lot of them started stalking me they were like on my email list, like I could see them and like all of their assistants names on my email list, you know, and stuff like that. So because they wanted like stock my launches and like see like what I was really doing, and then what I did and then so yeah, so you know, I’m like pregnant now. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  44:56

And, really quick: how were you getting eyeballs right?  So for an initial launch and that that strategy of like running some workshops opening up your program, how were you? Were you using Pinterest? How were you getting all those eyballs? 

Kimra Luna  45:07

With that business. No, no, I wasn’t using Pinterest at all, I was using ads. So I started using Facebook ads, because that’s because at the time, a lot of people were starting to open up these business Facebook groups. And so that’s when I was like, well, then all the business people are on Facebook, you know, they’re all hanging out here. So you know, if whether they’re in somebody else’s group, if they start scrolling, they’ll see one of my ads. And so I start, I did mostly utilize Facebook ads at $65,000 launch, I had spent maybe 1000 on ads. And then for the black for the Black Friday, I didn’t spend anything on ads for that. l

Heather Pearce Campbell  45:27

Were you emailing your list?

Kimra Luna  45:44

Yeah, and then I posted in my group. And then and then so shortly after that, like I saw, I ended up hiring this this person to be like my coach for like a it was like a, like a two day mastermind It was like $2,000 or something. So I went to this two day mastermind, and he tells me to do like this, like, three part video series. And he wanted me to script it. I was like, first of all, I am pregnant. I do not want to be on camera like that, okay, like I just, I just didn’t want to be like I was like, I’m comfortable in my body. Like my face is all around. Like I just like I just I just like I just didn’t want to do that. I said then I if I paid all this money to do these videos, I wouldn’t be able to use them again the next year, because I want to be pregnant the next year. And everyone would be like, oh, like this is like old videos like so I was like, I don’t want to do this. Right. So I didn’t listen to anything I said it’s like I literally spent two days wasting my life. And then I is sexually because I have flown out there because it was like in like Laguna Beach or something. Like I flew across the country like go there. And you know, I get like, you know, nauseated on the plane. I mean, as far as like, this is horrible ism speakers, pregnancy and travel. But yeah, it was bad. It was bad news. So anyway, so I, you know, I didn’t listen to anything he said. And then I ended up doing a launch. So what I did is I did create a brand video, I created a video like about myself, and like, who I was, like, my values, what I what I cared about what freedom hackers meant to me, like, you know, like, and it wasn’t really selling my program, it was more just about like, who I was, you know, that was like, I just wanted people to introduce myself to people. And so and that video cost me like $400 or something for someone to make, it wasn’t very expensive. And then I ended up doing some Facebook ads. And I did just like six webinars. And I was like, I’m just gonna do six webinar presentations, all different topics. And these are topics that I go more deep and more in depth in inside of my program. So it made sense to host those webinars. And then I hosted those six webinars, I put I, you know, promoted them on Facebook ads, I spent about $5,000 on ads, and I ended up making $780,000 in sales. Like, just an astronomical jump. And so that video ended up going kind of going viral, like it had almost a million views, the video and because people were sharing tagging their friends on it. And during my workshops, I would say like, well, I’m going to give away a prize for like, if you comment on that video. And if you share it, you get two, you get two points into the raffle. Right? So I was like getting people to like, share it and kind of like make a viral effect with that video. Even though the video wasn’t pitching my program. It was just thing people like, oh, check out her website type of thing, like so that people could come they can read about me, they can see my about page. Like, it just gets to know me, it’s just an introduction, you know, of like, who I was and what I was about, you know, which clearly people could see I was, you know, very rebellious and all about liberation. And you know, like people could very blatantly kind of tell, right, what I’m like, I’m like, rollerskating in this video. And so I was like doing all this stuff. And it was really fun. But anyways, they you know, that launch, I did a $780,000 launch. And it was like completely astronomical compared to the rest of the industry. Like I only had at this point, about 15,000 people on my email list, which was relatively small, to hosts a launch of that size. Like, like, there were people in the industry who literally didn’t even believe me when I told them that they were like that, there’s no way you did that. Like, I’m not like they literally said, there’s no way you did that. And I’m like, I just did so like, like, you know, like I just did it. And so you know, so my business sort of growing very rapidly, you know, and at the time I was like pregnant is about to have babies so and I didn’t even have a team at this point. It was just me. And then the one person who I hired to write the copy for the sales page. And so that was it. Right? So I had a copywriter who helped write the sales page. I wrote all the emails I wrote I made I literally made all the landing pages on lead pages myself, like I like I made all the webinar links myself, I did all of that stuff myself. And I had no team and then I had a $780,000 launch and I’m pregnant my third son and I’m like, I should probably hire some assistants now. And so then I ended up hiring some virtual assistants some of which who have been with me the whole time like since then, one that you know, I still hire her for like you know sometimes Time work and things like that, and, and on some interesting certain projects and stuff, because I can’t keep on full time right now. So we’ll get to that. But But you know, like I like so like, I mean, I and then by the time I was 18 months in business, I had made over a million dollars in sales, and my first 18 months, and this grew so rapidly, you know, and it was, it was kind of crazy at the time, and I only launched my program once a year. So, you know, I would just work with all the students and do all the work and stuff. And then I would just, you know, post like some like lower price point products and, and do lots of different ads to like different webinars, and I would do webinars writing a pitch anything, you know, I would just be like wanting to teach people stuff like, oh, there’s like some new strategies I learned who wants to learn it, you know, I’m sort of stuff. And so I was just giving lots of free content throughout the year. And then I decided to move to New York City, because I’d always wanted to live there. So I’m like, that’s it, we’re packing up the kids, we’re going to New York City. So I moved to New York City. And yeah, so that so the seminar $80,000 launch was in February, because I remember because I did it on my birthday time. And then the next the next year, I did it again in February, because I wanted to launch on my 30th birthday. So I was like, as a launch day as my 30th birthday. It’s my birthday, we’re gonna launch. And then on that one day, I ended and I did a very similar model, I did like a brand video, again, I did like the, like six different webinars is basically the same thing. It’s just this time, I actually had a copywriter that actually helped me write the emails, like I actually had, you know, a proper sales page. So it didn’t look all janky like the one I had made, you know, you know, there, you know, I had like a bit more pieces in place, I had, you know, assistance to like, help me and things like that. But I did all the Facebook ads myself. Because that’s just something I’m good at. So I do those myself, I still will, I mean, I’ll probably always do them myself, honestly, like, I don’t think I’ll ever delegate that out. And this maybe I trained someone to do it, how I do it or something maybe. But you know, like I you know, did all this stuff myself. And but you know, I did have more team at this point. And then, and then I saw I end up launching on my 30th birthday. And on my 30th birthday, I did 150,000 cells on the one day of my birthday. And then by the end of the launch, we did 1.8 million in sales by the end of it. And a lot of those were like payments that would like come out like over a 12 month period of time, I offer long payment plans of my programs, which was something again, that wasn’t going on at the time, because you also deliver long programs, right? So people are getting, it was only 16 weeks, the problem was that first weeks, but they could still pay longer period of time, because I wanted to make sure my programs were accessible to people most other people’s programs. So because at this point, the program was 20 $400. But I would do payment plans for people, because I just felt like, you know, they needed access to this. And, you know, like not everybody has a credit card that where they can just put 20 $400 on it, you know, not everybody can even do 500 a month, you know, and so and most of the programs out there at the time, were like you could do it in two payments, or you can do you know, just pay in full and maybe we’ll give you a discount if you pay in full or whatever. But and so I was one of the first people in my industry, I mean, I don’t know of anybody else who did it before me where I was like, Oh, you could do 10 payments, you could do 12 payments, like, like I was the first one to really do that to make my programs more accessible to people. And that’s something that’s very important to me, because when I was first starting my business and educating myself on marketing, and you know, watching every video I could find on YouTube and listening to all the podcasts and things like that I couldn’t afford any courses. I couldn’t afford anything like more than like $20. You know, and so I wanted to make sure that I’m helping the people that don’t have all that money to invest and they can start their their business on a budget. Like I actually have a program where I teach people how to start their business where they don’t even have a website, you know, so you don’t even need a website. Like, here’s how you do it. Like, here are the steps to do that. Like you don’t need to have all this shiny, pretty stuff and all these fancy photoshoots done and all this sort of stuff. You don’t need any of that, you know, like you can actually still get clients without all those things. And so, I like to show people, those sorts of things too, because I feel like there’s so many people in this space, who you know, they just, you know, they’re just after it for the money. And I’m like, into me, I’m after to serve people. That’s it, period, period.  I just want to serve as many humans as I possibly can because I know I’m helping people have financial liberation, which financial liberation, it goes into their families, their communities, it like it expands everything, it creates liberation all over. So and so that’s something that’s very important to me and dear to my heart as a person who grew up raised on welfare. My whole entire childhood. I literally don’t even remember a time we weren’t on welfare. You know, I lived in a two bedroom house with six siblings, in my parents. I slept on the floor most of my childhood. You know, so coming from a place like that and knowing what like a real real struggle is, you know, I was homeless when I was 18. Like I moved out of my home two weeks after high school, I lived in a very abusive home. I just was like, peace out, I’m out. I’m just I was completely out, I was not gonna – I never returned and never returned to my family home. Never. And I, you know, I lef,t I moved to Seattle, because I’m born and raised Idaho, I’m going to Seattle, got a job at Dick’s Drive-In. You know, I was like booking concerts and working at venues and stuff. And, you know, and I went to art school to study film, but then I couldn’t afford to keep going. So I had, I had to drop out. But I was just like, I’m out of here. Like, I like I want to make a new life for myself and coming from and there was several times when I lived there where I was homeless, even though I had a job. I was like, how to go sleep at the shelter, you know, and then my boss was like, You slept at a shelter last night? And I said, Yeah, and he’s like, why don’t you ask someone here, if you could crash on the couch or something, you know, and I just like, Oh, yeah, that’s a good idea. So like, one of the employees, like, let me like, crash on their couch for a little while, and until I was able to get on my feet. But you know, it was like, like, I, you know, like, I really, like I came from something where it’s so low. And I know that there’s people who really, genuinely don’t have 10 grand to invest in something, don’t have a lot of money, start their business, but they have a passion. And they have a desire to serve people, and they want to help people. And I attract people who really want to change the world, they want to change the lives of people’s, you know, they want to support people help people, like, all of the people that come to me are so service driven, and so passionate. And I think it’s partly because I am so like attracts like, I tend to attract people who are like me, and have that same heart that I have. And that’s something where I feel like my brand has stood out because of that, because of the type of people that are attracted into my community. Right? Like, like, that makes my business different. And everybody always thinks like, Well, you know, I didn’t have like the blue hair like you How can my business be different? It’s like, you really think blue hair is what made people buy from me, like, no, they bought from me, because I was serving them. Like, it doesn’t matter what I look like, I could have looked like a frickin Oompa Loompa. And people would have bought from me, because my program was awesome. And they knew it was going to be awesome. So that’s why they bought, right. And then all of the testimonials and all that sort of stuff, like a heavy piece of my testimonials was about community. And I’m a huge preacher of resilience through community. Like, we really cannot build our businesses alone. And it’s very difficult to do. So it’s like, and I know, because when I started, I was very alone in building it, you know, and then my but my community and and, you know, we can kind of fast forward, like, you know, I built very successful business, but like, I ended up going through divorce and like losing my business. But the one thing that I have had that’s kept me resilient is my community. That’s actually what has kept me to be able to have the strength to keep going, Well, everything completely giving up right after a divorce, you know, well, and this this unique piece of people in the online space, because this is primarily the audience that I serve, right online information based businesses, experts, you know, regardless of location, the overlap is usually that they have a huge percentage of their audience base in the US. But you know, it building a business in that space can be a very lonely, isolating experience. And particularly because often people that are in that space, like, you know, I even look at my own journey of being a mom shifting my legal practice some of the twists and turns that you don’t always have control over. You know, there can be other contributing factors that also make that experience of, you know, building an online business, in your limited time that you have, like, you talked about that client that you worked with that, you know, needed to only serve clients, like two evenings a week or whatever. There can be other limiting factors that I think really create some aloneness in this space of trying to build an online business based around your expertise based around a body of work or information that you have. And so the the importance of community cannot be overstated. Absolutely. And, and it’s something where, for, like I was talking to one of my previous students the other day, and I was like, I don’t know, should I make some post just like bragging about how awesome my community is, like, everybody’s amazing and talented and wonderful and uplift each other and, and those are the types of people that I attract to myself, because I believe in that so much. And, you know, you’re gonna attract people that have similar values as you that care about the similar things as you. And you know, because I really want to just help people, I attract people who want to help people. And so everybody just helps each other, you know, and she’s like, Yeah, absolutely. You should be bragging about that Kimra like you needed to say more about that I was like, Okay, I’ll make some more post about it, I’ll send out an email, I’ll send out some emails that are just about that, you know. And that’s something where, you know, for myself, like I said, like, going through divorce, you know, my youngest son got diagnosed with autism, like he’s mostly nonverbal. And he’s, he’s, he’s more verbal than he was, but he’s mostly nonverbal. You know, there’s a lot of things that started happening all at once. And the thing that kept me through all of that was my community, that it was my community, like, that’s really the thing that was like, I can keep going. And, you know, relaunched my my program under a different name. Because I couldn’t do it legally under the other name, and kind of revamped everything and restarted my whole business over again, it’s been about three and a half years since my separation. So this is the first time I’ve launched since then. And so I wasn’t like, expecting to, like do this, like right now. But I just like, okay, I just really want to do it. And I had a lot of, you know, past students who were like, encouraging me and her just like, yes, Kimra, we still want to learn from you, we still want to do this. And, you know, last week, I hosted some workshops. And then afterwards, I was literally just in tears, because I was like, the fact that people still like, really want to learn from me. And, you know, really, just because it’s like, I’m different, like, I’m not the same as other people. Like, I’m just not like, I’m like some this queer Mexican single mom who like lives in Idaho of all places, you know, like, I’m just, I’m just not the same as other people, you know, like, I never have been, I’m like, super ADHD, from what we’re aware, I’m also probably on the spectrum as well. And so I’m working on those diagnoses, you know, I have PTSD pretty severely from my childhood, like, I’m different. I’m not, I’m not just, I’m not especially compared to people in my industry, you know, and I’m actually in this Facebook group, where there’s a lot of six and seven figure business owners in the group. And it’s just a small group, there’s about 150 of us in the group. And I’d made a post like asking, you know, like, how many people here actually come from, like, severe poverty, like, I mean, like, straight up, like, you were homeless numerous times as a kid, like that sort of stuff. And only two other people in that whole community of 150 said that everybody else came from middle class or upper class families, most of them were also college educated as well. I was like, you know, who here is, you know, has gone to college, who has, you know, has a degree like who’s done this, that or the other, you know, who has, you know, able to buy a home when they were young, like who’s been, you know, who’s had family that’s been able to help them start their business, stuff like that. And, you know, there was only a few people who, who, in that whole community, most of these people, their coaches, their supporting people, stuff like that, who actually came from very, very low types of places. And we’re able to have success, and I’m and I really hope that more people can see that they can have success, in spite of all those things that happened to them, right. And those things don’t have to be hindrances to them. When we have community when we have people who are supporting us, and cheering us on and saying, Hey, we got your back, you know, we are here to support you, we’re on your side, you know, even though maybe the rest of the world isn’t on your side, our community is and that’s something I know that that made my business stand out. And I know that more people have success, because of the types of people that I attracted into my programs, because of the types of people they were, you know, type heart that they had the values that they had the mission that they had in the world. And, you know, I’m I’m so grateful to, you know, be a person who facilitates community. I feel like that’s definitely one of my biggest strengths is facilitating community and holding space for people. And, you know, like, with my programs, I’m so I’m just so excited to be like doing this again. It’s kind of like, I’ve still had, like, you know, my online community and, you know, my followers and lists and things like that. But, you know, I haven’t really done it in the same sort of capacity as I do with my beach, your brand new program and my new programs called the galaxy and, you know, like, I, I, I’m just so excited, because like I said, I was literally in tears of like, tears of joy of like, my community is so amazing. And I love teaching like that, as my element is teaching people like I, I could sit there I can do that all day. Yeah, literally all day long. I could just teach people like I, I, it’s my favorite thing to do. And I’m so excited to be hosting all sorts of workshops and just supporting people again, and getting back into my element. And like I said, like, tears of joy, you know, type of stuff. Like I was like, my heart was just like, like, I spent like almost a whole day like crying. But it was like happy tears.  

Heather Pearce Campbell  1:04:37

Yeah, the feeling of like doing what you’re called to do, right? Doing what you’re here to do is so mutually rewarding. I mean, even last year, in the midst of COVID you know, I made a big push to try to get online businesses supported with their legal support with their necessary legal and so I did an Ask Me Anything LIVE every week, every Monday I went live. And I just answered people’s questions and served them every Monday for a set period of time. And it was so rewarding not only to just be able to have interaction with people building businesses, but to be able to give them valuable information and advice that they could go turn around and work on and save them weeks, if not months of time connecting with the right attorney who would know enough about their business model to be able to answer that question. And then you know, what it takes to get on somebody’s calendar, pay the constants, like we just skipped all that, right? I just want them understanding the map already. And so I know that feeling of just like getting off of, you know, because those calls were really teaching calls, people would show up and ask questions, and I would teach them about their business, from a legal perspective, and it was so so rewarding. There’s just no replacing that. So I love I was excited to see you jumping in. And again, like when I saw I can’t remember if I saw an email or social media, I was like, heck, yeah, I want to support this and support Kimra getting back at it, because I know the benefit of those kinds of trainings, especially for people that are really early in their journey, trying to figure it out, trying to figure out like, what pieces of the puzzle do they need, right? And having having information and support from somebody that really cares about them as individuals and cares about their business can make or break that journey for some people? 

Kimra Luna  1:06:28

Absolutely. And so story time, so I was I moved to New York City, and there was a person in my industry who you know, sells, you know, marketing and business courses and things like that. And I was like a little business event. And I was talking to this guy, as told him about like, my students, like, I was like, Oh, yeah, this one like is working on this thing. And this up the other end, he asked me, he was like, how do you know so much about your students? And I said, Oh, well, I have a good Thursday, office hours straight. And they can ask questions there. And I give them feedback on whatever it is they need feedback on, you know, I’m here to support them the best that I can. And he was just like, oh, he’s like, I don’t really know a lot about my students. And I said, Well, you don’t have like, an office hours. He’s like, No, and I was like, why me should have an office hours. But you know, he was like, Why don’t know, he’s like, I think you’re doing too much work for how much you’re paying, you’re charging. So he just kind of like flipped it – like on me, and I was just like, Okay, and then I never spoke to him again. And at the time he was, he was doing very, very big launches with his programs. And he doesn’t know anything about his students like, and I was just like, kind of baffled by that. I was just like, why wouldn’t you want to know about them? But it’s because he didn’t care? Yeah, yeah. And now he’s no longer in the in the space, like, now he has several other different businesses, but he’s no longer, you know, in the teaching space. And so he had actually made a post saying that, you know, it wasn’t his favorite thing to do, like teaching was his favorite thing to do. So, it made sense to me that, you know, he didn’t care about the students as much, because I just maybe he just wasn’t born to be a teacher, I don’t know. But, you know, so, you know, it is what it is. But I feel kind of sad for the students because they didn’t weren’t getting the support that they really needed. And I find it interesting that people will charge someone $2,000 and then not give them support. And I’m like, if you went to college, and you paid $2,000 for classes, your professor would help you like if you had to go up and you have to ask a question. Also, most professionals have an office hours. So I just found it really interesting that there’s a lot of these programs like I actually had joined a program that was $5,000. And you never had access to the person whose program they’d created it. And when I emailed I emailed and asked for a refund, because I was like, there’s no access. Like I like I need some individual help with this with you know, a few of the videos that I watched, and they got all mad at me because I asked for a refund. And I was just like, I don’t like you’re giving me a refund, or I’m just gonna charge back from my credit card company. Like, I don’t care, like you’re giving me a refund or I’m doing a chargeback. And the chargeback will look worse on your end. So you know, pick your battle dude. And so he so yeah, he did end up refunding me but, you know, it was just I was just like, there’s no support, like, how do I? How do I, you know, get the help that I need? If I watch a video, I’m confused on something or you know, and so yeah, it was it. I mean, it doesn’t surprise me because like I said, there’s like, no rules, basically, like you said, it’s the Wild West. And so like there’s there’s a just a difference between the types of people who I think are like meant to be teachers. And there was one time this woman had made a post saying like, well, we’re marketers, we’re not teachers. And I literally commented, you have that exactly the opposite. I’m a teacher. First and foremost before I’m a marketer. I’m not a marketer. I’m a teacher. And I just happen to know how to market because I want my stuff to be in more people’s hands and I want to serve more people, but I’m, I’m a teacher first and foremost, and that’s the thing that I’m, I’m, you know, I would say like, I’m very proud of myself of being a teacher and the way I teach and the way I support my students. And because I had a person who had asked me, actually, the guy that I’m dating had, he had asked me, he was like, oh, like, what are you most proud of us? Like, well, like, you know, like my parenting, though, it’s definitely a major thing. A person who’d grown up with a lot of trauma, like me, I feel I’ve done a pretty freakin kick ass job, you know, I’m doing doing really good with that my kids are, you know, very well rounded, they’re doing good. But my other thing is, like, I love teaching. And that’s something I’m very proud of being a teacher and the amount of students that I’ve had, I’ve had over 15,000 students who have bought my programs. And like I mentioned earlier, over 90,000 have attended my workshops and should not have even count like workshops I’ve done on other people’s programs, and, you know, things like that. So it’s probably even much tremendously higher than that. And, you know, all the podcasts that I’ve been on, and all the, you know, YouTube videos and interviews and things I’ve done over the years, and workshops I’ve hosted in person. And so it definitely adds up to a lot of people. And I feel, you know, very, very proud that I’ve, I’ve been able to do that, because I know that it’s it’s like what I’m supposed to be doing. Like it really feels like that. I’m just like, wow, like, I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. You know, and I have tons of other interests too. You know, like, I’m a certified sex coach. I mean, I have all these other interests, like, I can’t help myself, like, I’m like, I got all sorts of interest. Right, you know, but, you know, like, I definitely just feel very proud of my teaching and the way I teach, and I have people tell me, you know, I joined your program, because I like the I like the style of how you teach, you know, and I was just like, wow, like, I didn’t know, I had a teaching style, but Thanks for the compliment. I’m glad I have a teaching style. I didn’t know that was a thing, you know. But yeah, so I’m just super excited to get my program rolling again and, and gonna be opening the enrollment like a few times a year. But But yeah, I’m super excited to get rockin with with The Galaxy. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  1:12:02

Totally well, and for those that are still listening, talk to us a little bit about where you show up online currently, where you’d like people to connect with you, I will be including for those that are listening and that are interested in what Kimra is doing, including checking out the details of The Galaxy, ways that you can get some awesome support for creating and building out an online business. If that’s the space that you’re in. Check out the links below. They can all be found at the show notes page, which is www.legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast, but Kimra share with us where you like to show up online. And then I want to ask you a few details about The Galaxy. 

Kimra Luna  1:12:40

Yeah, so the main places where I’m at online would be Instagram, that’s kind of where people can DM me and hit me up over there. So it’s just my name, Kimra, Luna KIMRA LUNA. And then I have the Riot Doll podcast, you can find that on Spotify or iTunes. It’s just called Riot Doll podcast, pretty easy to find. And then you can also just hit me up on my website, kimraluna.com – there you can you know learn about my programs you can get on my email list to go to my Discord community, or just DM me on Instagram, and I’ll send you the link to join my Discord. But my discord community is kind of like where I hang out and answer people’s questions and, you know, help people and we talk about all different types of topics, you know, run business, sexuality, things like that. So, so those are kind of the main the main places. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  1:13:33

I just I so appreciate that you bring your full self to your business, to your clients. And I think that we need, you know, more people in this space doing that. So really excited for people to get to know you, to get some exposure to your work. Again, check out Kimra’s link at the show notes page, legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast. Kimra, give us the quick, like one minute overview of The Galaxy? Who is it for? What are you going to be teaching? What type of support do they get? 

Kimra Luna  1:14:02

Yeah, so The Galaxy, it’s a nine week program, but it’s with 12 months of support. So there’s actually 12 months of group coaching calls and Office Hours threads, so that people can not only you know, watch the course material, but also be able to get the support, they need to apply the information that they learn in in the material. Because you it’s kind of like those people that if they read a book and they never apply anything that they read in the book, well guess what you’re going to have the support to actually apply all the information that you learn inside of the program, you get a whole 12 months of support. And then some of the things that we’re teaching as I know some of the main lay the foundational pieces of the business because I feel so many people skip the foundational pieces, they jump right into like I need to make a fancy fancy website and I you know all this stuff and they jumped straight to that. But you know, we get into all the brand identity messaging like what you’re gonna do like putting your product packages together like what is your program is going to be, what sort of, you know, products are you going to sell, we work on your business model. So like, what is your actual business model, then it look like for you like for something it’s gonna work with, like your lifestyle that you currently have, and then what it can transform into later once, you know, your lifestyle may change a little bit once you’re making some sales and getting clients and such, we work on developing like your signature methodologies to that you can use to like you know, transform your clients lives or, or businesses or whatever it is that you’re supporting people with.  It’s mostly for service based business owners and people who want to sell digital programs. So we cover selling digital courses and developing them and launching digital courses. We cover that throughout the program as well. So basically, all of like your digital business foundations will be set up through this program. So you’ll eventually you’ll eventually you’ll have your website done, but we work on like copy, we have like copywriting bonuses. And then we also do Nervous System regulation work too. So I’m also a breathwork facilitator. So we host breath breathwork sessions and things like that, because that’s a really important piece to growing a business is taking care of your mind and your body and yourself and all that sort of stuff. So healing, all that sort of stuff is very important for growing a business because a lot of things come up. When you’re growing a business, anybody that’s a business owner for any length of time will tell you that. So business is definitely the most personal development journey, pretty much you can get on besides parenting parenting is probably number one business would be like number two. And so. So yeah, so there’s a big journey there. So you do get that type of support, as well. And then we have a private discord community for that group where we match people up with accountability buddies, you don’t we also do twice a month co working sessions. We also do sprints, and there’s like prizes during the sprint. So it’s like, oh, like if you finish writing your copy for your sales page, like you get put into a raffle for like a prize. So we also make it really fun. Because what would business be? We don’t have fun in it. Right? We can’t just be we can’t just be so serious all the time. And I mean, I’m really serious. I’m definitely serious type. But you know, we had the playfulness into it, too. So it’s a Yeah, so it’s a super awesome program. It’s called the galaxy, you can find it on my main website, KimraLuna.com just my name Kimra, Luna. And you know, it’s pretty easy to Google and find me. And you can learn all about it there. I open the enrollment for a few times a year, or at least that’s the plan. So just depends on how big the launches are, I guess. And but yeah, so that’s, that’s the plan is to open the program a few times a year, but you do get 12 months of support, which is very different than most programs at the same price point. The program does have a 12 month payment plan as well. So it makes it more affordable for people. But yeah, so that’s kind of the …

Heather Pearce Campbell  1:17:46

That’s amazing. And I love you know, I personally also love supporting people in the online space with digital information based businesses. You know, it’s the world that really transforms lives – people in this space really do amazing work. So I’m so glad that you’re offering this again.  If you’re listening to this episode, it will drop, while Kimra still has access to The Galaxy program open for a few more days. So be sure if you’re interested, hop over, check it out right away. If you are listening to this episode, and her doors have already closed, put a pin in it and revisit it or message her and find out when it’ll open again, because it will be packed with tons of support. Kimra, I’m so happy to connect with you today and have you share so much of your story. I know, it’s still just like the tip of the iceberg, you know, for what you could share, but you’ve got a really rich background and story and a lot of nuance. And, you know, I just think it’s so important for people to be talking about this. And so thank you, thanks for sharing your voice. Any final thoughts you want to leave people with today? 

Kimra Luna  1:18:53

Um, I would say you know, work on discovering yourself, you know, the more you discover who you are, the, the stronger your brand and business is going to be. But not only that, it’s good for your own just personal growth, it’s good for you as a person to to recognize who you are, we oftentimes can get lost in things. I mean, I know as a mother, sometimes you can get lost in being a mother, like there’s a lot of things that we can kind of get lost in in our lives. And so, you know, work on discovering for yourself. It’s a really important part of the journey. And yeah, just wishing everybody the best success in business. 

Heather Pearce Campbell  1:19:30

Yeah, I love that. I don’t think anybody on this podcast yet to date has ended with that advice. So super, super valuable Kimra. Great to see you. I hope to have you on here again sometime. 

Kimra Luna  1:19:41

Absolutely.

GGGB Intro  1:19:46

Thank you for joining us today on the Guts, Grit & Great Business™ podcast. We hope that we’ve added a little fuel to your tank, some coffee to your cup and pep in your step to keep you moving forward in your own great adventures. For key takeaways, links to any resources mentioned in today’s show and more see the show notes which can be found at www.legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and if you enjoyed today’s conversation, please give us some stars and a review on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast so others will find us too. Keep up the great work you are doing in the world and we’ll see you next week.