[00:00:18] EMMA: Today I wanna talk about The behind the scenes of the Thriving Women Launch. I get asked so many questions about this. "What happened? What did you do? What didn't you do? What worked? What didn't work?" Wowses. I have to say upfront, it took a lot. And so today we are going to have a look at what really happened, what I learned, what I may have done differently.
[00:00:42] Uh, but I really wanna, this is not a polished version. This is You see my socials, you see the gorgeous photos at the events. You see me. Beautifully made up. This is not that. This is, I'm rolling up my sleeves and I'm going to share with you the real story of a 12 week launch saying that out loud makes me feel like it was really long.
[00:01:04] That should give you a little hint into how I'm feeling about it, the planning, the pressure, the moments I had to dig super deep, and the personal heartache I was carrying while still showing up from the outside. This launch looked like a huge success, but behind the scenes. Life was happening and it was happening hard, and I think it's about time that I let you in on the secrets or the behind the scenes of what actually happening.
[00:01:33] So I'm going to pull the curtain back for you on the biggest launch that I do every single year, thriving women. You see the results. You see the amazing women who join. You see the energy at events like Dinner with the Queen, and go get a day. You see the polished content and all the celebrations. These launches, they have layers, so many layers like [00:02:00] cheesecake layers, layer on top of layer.
[00:02:02] On top of layer. There is the strategy, there is the emotional load, and then there's the behind the scenes engine that no one talks about. So if you are ever gonna do a launch, this might be the episode to listen to. And today I wanna walk you through what really happened during those 12 weeks, how I held it, and what I learned along the way.
[00:02:21] You ready? Oh my goodness. My first lesson, there are a few lessons. We had a 12 week runway hint. It was way too long. It was way too early, and it was way too much. We ran a 12 week runway for this launch. I don't know why whose bright sparky idea, unfortunately, or mine. It was intentional, it was structured and it was full of tactics.
[00:02:43] But looking back it was way too long and way too early for the decisions that we needed from people. When you think about our go-getters day on the 6th of September, that's when we ripped the bandaid off and showed the world what thriving women 2026 was going to be. But a month before that, we were building up our audience and doing a whole stack of things.
[00:03:06] Here's what I held during that runway. I focused heavily on our current thriving women. These thriving women in 2025 have lent into all the things they've used, all the resources, they've had lots of conversations, we've done lots of small group coaching. Uh, they have embraced when they've needed something, they've reached out and said, can I have this? I have made it for them. They have done all the things.
[00:03:31] It's so important to me to keep retention rates high. So important because this container moves women in the right direction. I know it in the bottom of my heart. And so what I really wanted to do was help them understand what was coming, what was changing, what support they would receive, and how the tiers were evolving.
[00:03:52] I had calls, we did a group call. I had. Updates. We did workshops. There was chats, there was behind the scene, videos, there was behind the scene, Marco Polos. There was a lot retention matters to me, and so that took a lot of energy. I showed up on organics in terms of socials, every single. Day. It felt like Beck, my social media manager would say every week, but it was pretty much every day.
[00:04:18] It was reels, it was stories, it was carousels. It was behind the scenes. It was the wins, it was the momentum, and it looked effortless. I know it looked effortless on Instagram, but the emotional bandwidth to show up that consistently, it's real. On top of that, we layered paid ads for lead generation retargeting event ads, warm audience ads.
[00:04:44] It helped to build the momentum, but boy oh boy, did it add more pressure. You're starting to think, holy crap, I don't wanna do a launch. I ran Instagram lives. I did q and A sessions on Instagram lives. I did alumni chats on Instagram lives. I did mindset pieces, launch day lives, giveaway. Oh my goodness. I love this style of connecting, but it takes energy to be on again and again and again.
[00:05:12] I delivered master classes and workshops, tasters, live coaching group coaching, warmup events, every single one valuable. Each one adding to the load of all the things that we were doing. I had countless, I can't even tell you how many conversations I had behind the scenes. Voice notes, messages, text messages, clarity calls, helping women choose the right tier for where they're at, providing emotional support, guiding women who were a little bit scared or a little bit unsure.
[00:05:41] This is part of my magic but is the heavy lifting that most people never ever see. I don't think launching is feather faint-hearted. I honestly don't think, well, the way I did it, wasn't it? And could I have done things better? Maybe, but I need to tell you this. Everything that I've just spoken about, that all sat on top of my normal programming.
[00:06:04] I was still running the BD sprints. I was still running BD challenges. I was still running revenue raise. I still had my one-on-one clients. I was still podcasting. I was still managing my community. I was still prepping for Go-Getter day and I was still running events like dinner with the Queen.
[00:06:20] I know it's a lot. You can see launching did not replace my workload. It sat on top of it and by the end I knew it was too much. Not gonna lie, I had this 12 week stress. I'm like, I'm just gonna work really hard in these 12 weeks. And ladies, I'm a worker. So I'm not afraid of hard work. But this one. This one almost broke me.
[00:06:43] Here's the season that I was in. This is when life was happening super hard, and up until this point, I've not spoken openly about all these bits and pieces, but during those 12 weeks, life was certainly not gentle with me. I lost my 16-year-old dog dispen. I split my chin open and ended up in emergency.
[00:07:05] The day after I hosted a dinner for 30 women and the day after that I go get a day for 75 women, which was video grafted. I received a cancer diagnosis. I went through two surgeries. We had school holidays in the mix and I am currently navigating menopause and my own health journey. So when I say the runway felt heavy, please know, I mean it.
[00:07:29] Here I am. And here I stand. Incredibly proud of all the work that we have done in the moments I needed to show up. I did even when I was tired, even when I was emotional, even when I was stitched up, bandaged up, or recovering in some way, I showed up because this work matters to me and because the women in this community, they matter to me.
[00:07:54] It takes its toll and it did take its toll. This was not a breezy 12 weeks where I was like, [00:08:00] no. It was a season that stretched me, challenged me, and reminded me what resilience and grit actually looks like. Boy, oh boy.
[00:08:11] I wanna talk about the results because I feel like when you listen to a podcast like this, yes, it feels hard and. We are not always open and honest about the numbers, and so I'm going to crack the top off and just go, all right, here's the results. Right? Firstly, I do wanna say this, we did not hit the numbers that would have made the effort feel equal to the output, so from a conversion point of view, it was lighter than I had hoped.
[00:08:44] And after 12 weeks of buildup, that's been hard to sit with and hard to talk about. And you know what, the only reason I'm telling you this is because, you know, Brianna from Bamby, my, uh, podcasting guru is forcing me to talk about this because she also knows that women don't hear this enough. I want you to also know that this does not come from a place of a lack of gratitude.
[00:09:10] Please hear me very clearly. The women who have joined 2026 are phenomenal. The community feels so aligned, strong, and ready for growth, so ready for growth that while I was doing this launch, knowing it was a long time between. 2025 and 2026, I started a private newbie, Marco Polo group, and I've already started supporting those people because that is who I am.
[00:09:38] So just add that in, right? And this launch, this launch generated half a million dollars in revenue. And I don't tell you that to brag. I say it because from the outside, this launch looked like a huge success and people told me to be proud. And I am proud, no doubt, but I'm so desperate for [00:10:00] more impact.
[00:10:01] I want more women making more money. I want bigger breakthroughs, more transformation, and deeper change. I want all the effort to translate into real shifts in women's lives and. I know it will. I trust the long game, but I am also honest enough to say it didn't land the way that I had imagined, and that is the truth.
[00:10:25] Here's what I learned and what I will change next time. This launch taught me so much about myself, about how hard I push myself, about my own expectations on my team, about my own expectations, on myself, all the things. But here's what it taught me. 12 weeks, way too long. It was just too long to hold the entire energy of a launch.
[00:10:50] Women decide closer to the deadline? Not at the start. Oh, we just did my head in. I'm like, you can get all these bonuses if you sign up now. And they're like, well, just take our time. Take our time. the other thing I learned is I need to protect my energy much more intentionally. And so next year I'm hoping that we'll be able to go, okay, I am gonna carve out some time so that I'm not layering every single thing on top of the launch so that I actually have time in the launch to breathe.
[00:11:18] I think a shorter, sharper runway will serve us better. My health has always and has to always come first. If I don't have my health, I don't have anything else. We cannot pile a launch on top of a full
[00:11:33] programming load. Don't know why I thought that was a smart thing to do. Honestly, I've got no idea. I learned that grace is needed when life and business collide and grace for myself really, and this one won't surprise anyone.
[00:11:50] I'm much stronger. I'm more resilient than I give myself credit for. March, March stronger, and I have to celebrate that. And these experience will absolutely [00:12:00] shape how we launch thriving women in the future. More simplicity, shorter timeframes, less overwhelm, and more humanness. Although I feel like I'm pretty human already, let's be honest.
[00:12:11] Yeah. So if you are listening to this and thinking, oh, Emma, I feel you, please know that you are not alone. Launching is not linear. Oh my goodness. I wish it was. Maybe I could make it linear anyway. Life does not stop for business, and sometimes you're doing the most important work of your life while carrying things that no one else sees.
[00:12:34] And you can still build something beautiful in the middle of the messy season, you can still grow with limited capacity. You can still move forward even when life is heavy, and maybe that might be what life is reminding you about too.
[00:12:50] If you are in a season that feels full and you still wanna grow your business. I'm your girl, don't you think I am your girl? To give you the support one-on-one, because when we work together, we look at everything. We look at the energy, we look at the goals, we look at your health, we look at your business model, we look at your habits, and we look at your capacity in the season that you're currently in.
[00:13:15] And we create something sustainable and something strong, something that gives, that supports the life you want, not the life you feel pressured to live. Can I say that again? Just so that you've heard me really clearly. Something that supports the life you want, not the life you feel pressured to live.
[00:13:37] Make no mistake, ladies, this is the life I want. Absolutely. And therefore I was willing to do what it took. And I'm a slow learner sometimes. We all know that from the stories that I've told this year, and so sometimes it takes me a little bit of time to work out. Yeah. Probably shouldn't have done that.
[00:13:53] So if you want that kind of support, please reach out through my website. I'd love to walk beside you. Thank you for listening to this [00:14:00] episode of Behind the Scenes. I hope that it gives you some little nuggets of what not to do and maybe an idea of what you need to do when you launch.
