This is the outcome of turning the talent embedded into your DNA and the passion that exists in your soul into a profitable, impactful course. You have the ability to change your own life and the opportunity to influence the lives of others.
My online course made 7-figures… Never did I even dream I’d make it here. This was a moment I read about in books that seemed like a fable. Yet here I was, a 5’ 3” girl from Palmdale, CA living it IRL.
I watched my account pass $1 million, leaned back in my plastic, white IKEA chair, staring at my laptop, and exhaled. “I did it… I really did it…”
It’s crazy to think, this milestone started with my word—with me recording a video of myself saying:
Imagine all the crazy things we can accomplish in this world, when we KEEP OUR WORD TO OURSELVES.
And listen—if you’re thinking this sounds over the top, know that I started from zero.
This is me in 2011, with no job, no savings, loads of debt, living with my mom in her apartment in Redondo Beach. A friend sent me two videos that changed my trajectory—a whiteboard video with Brendan Bruchard and an episode of MarieTV.
My major takeaway? I could create an online course to reach & teach people all over the world and have the freedom to WFA (Work From Anywhere) with no earning ceiling!
My major takeaway? I could create an online course to reach & teach people all over the world and have the freedom to WFA.
In 2012, I launched my first online course based on my experience helping plan & hosting a sponsored 13-city tour.
I did #alltherightthings, everything the “pros” told me to do and it was a complete #fail. I enrolled 1 person, and #alltherightthings quickly turned into #allthewrongthings.
This is when I started to see there’s a simpler way to create & launch online courses that the everyday, busy, newbie person could execute without fail—it was the beginning of my MVC (Minimum Viable Course) Method.
It was based on my training as a Lean Startup Ambassador and working at startups in Silicon Valley. And it didn’t involve the complicated course outlining, video recording, custom website building approach that I was taught.
And last year, I kept my promise to myself and brought in over $1 million from my online course. I moved into my dream home, took my dad on vacation, flew my family out for Thanksgiving, and spent almost a month in Europe living that WFA (Work From Anywhere) life.
And last year, I kept my promise to myself and brought in over $1 million from my online course. I moved into my dream home, took my dad on vacation, flew my family out for Thanksgiving, and spent almost a month in Europe living that WFA (Work From Anywhere) life. And last year, I kept my promise to myself and brought in over $1 million from my online course. I moved into my dream home, took my dad on vacation, flew my family out for Thanksgiving, and spent almost a month in Europe living that WFA (Work From Anywhere) life.
Take a deep dive into Danielle’s journey of being a student once again as she embraces her seasons of silence to integrate the lessons she had learned and to finally put them into practice.
In San Francisco in 2015, I made my first public talk on why hiring for a “Culture Fit” can exclude those who are different. I suggested that we see ourselves, our teams, and our companies as a Culture Add in the market and hire those who can bring a new perspective, a cultural advantage.
A Quantum Leap means, to collapse time. To take something that takes most people 5 years to accomplish, and do it in 5 months—or even 5 weeks. My secret weapon is to put myself in *proximity* with people who have already done what I’m trying
to do. Proximity = Power.
And last year, I kept my promise to myself and brought in over $1 million from my online course. I moved into my dream home, took my dad on vacation, flew my family out for Thanksgiving, and spent almost a month in Europe living that WFA (Work From Anywhere) life.
After reaching new heights in my business, I realized that I’m not a traditional CEO, Chief Executive Office. “There’s nothing ‘executive’ about me!” I would think. So, I rebranded the role to help my natural gifts shine. CIO stands for Chief Inspiration, Innovation, and Investment Officer. I invite you to rebrand your CEO title to help your 1 of 1-ness shine.
The biggest leaps I’ve taken have come after investing in mentorship. “Your environment fuels your enlightenment.” Early on, I developed a practice of becoming a student of someone who was a few steps ahead of me because I know that the best way to collapse time is to access a new portal of possibility by investing in a mentor, coach, program, or mastermind.
And last year, I kept my promise to myself and brought in over $1 million from my online course. I moved into my dream home, took my dad on vacation, flew my family out for Thanksgiving, and spent almost a month in Europe living that WFA (Work From Anywhere) life.
What makes us unique as humans is our ability to pass down our lessons to the next generation so they can 10x what we were able to accomplish. Our ancestors did this through oral tradition where the elders would tell stories to the next generation. I see online courses as present-day oral tradition. They are the new college and vocational school. I feel blessed to be alive today and have a program that teaches people to create an educational program to uplift the next generation.
Imagine going from watching your mentors command a stage and share their story to being the one on stage. One of my favorite stage moments was when Kajabi featured me in a Fireside Chat for the BlogHer Conference. My mom and sister were in the audience as I shared the story of losing everything and moving back in with my mom to start anew. It was there that I launched my first online course Press Play in 2012 and recorded my first YouTube series with the support of my mom and sister, which became the seed for Course From Scratch years later. Knowing I could share gratitude to my mom and sister with a room of hundreds of women listening in was beyond special.
I set the goal to build or acquire a course hosting platform. I had over 10,000 people in my online course, so why not own the platform that my product lives on? I thought about how Jay-Z started as an artist and recorded albums—his product—and then acquired ownership in Tidal—the platform where his music lives. I was the #1 affiliate for a top course hosting platform, so why not own my own? I had over 10k people in my community on FB, so why not own my own community platform? Well… the vision came to life. I’m a Partner in MemberUp joining an incredible founding team. If you’re looking for a platform for your online course, coaching, community, mastermind, or membership, see how beautiful and customizable MemberUp is.
My younger sister Giselle gave birth to a beautiful little lady Zuri, and the moment I became an aunt was game changing. When I spend time with Zuri, Giselle, and my mom it’s a reminder that life is short and watching Zuri grow has been a reminder of what it was like watching my business and me as a business owner grow from infant to teenager to adult.
One of the best decisions I made was to work with a stylist. We meet once a month for me to share who Danielle is today and who I want to embody. My fashion has become a full expression of my view of myself—zany, imaginative, tomboy at times, and always evolving. I hope to inspire others to lean into their wardrobe and become a walking embodiment of their vision board because that is what it’s become for me..
I attended a life-changing program called Landmark and decided I was committed to keeping my word to myself. I told myself, “When I host a weekly live webinar for 1 year, my online course will make $1 million. I ended up doing the webinars almost every Wednesday for 2 years straight and generated over $5M during that period. I’m a performer at heart, and those weekly webinars became my stage. It proved the WFA (Work From Anywhere) model and gave me the confidence to teach my webinar method inside my Course Alchemy program.
I’m a Cali girl at heart. Los Angeles is the land of imagination. This is where I created my multi-million dollar business. When I moved to New York, I embraced the culture or hustle and urgency and strapped in for the ride from $1M to $10M, the elevation from 4th floor apartment in Oakland to a 50th level floor to ceiling home with views of the Statue of Liberty and The Vessel. In 2023, I’m taking the leap to make my home where my heart feels called.
After the pandemic, I leaned into my personal relationships and turned friends into family. We started a tradition of meeting in different countries to celebrate our collective rebirths. For my last birthday, I hosted a SINCE3000 Future You Drip ‘N’ Paint party where we dressed as our future selves, wrote letters from and painted our future selves. Now I look forward to celebrating with my family every year.
Co-founded a startup called GenJuice to live the Silicon Valley founder dream
I quit my job as an Ad Sales Manager at a Facebook Ads Network and gaming company to join the founding team of GenJuice. We organized and went on a 13-city US GenJuice Tour helping Gen Yers build their personal brands and businesses. We raised $100k from angel investors and got accepted into an accelerator in New York.
Moved back in with my mom with no savings and over $100k in student loan debt
After completing the startup accelerator, we were out of money and called it quits on GenJuice. I moved back with my mom in Redondo Beach. I had no idea what I would do next, but I knew I wanted to be a brand, whatever that meant. I watched YouTube videos to learn how to monetize my knowledge online and enrolled in my first online course for $67 called “Power Teaching” by Pam Slim.
Launched my first online course called Press Play and made my first $1,000 sale
After many late nights, I created and launched my first online course called Press Play where I taught about my experience with hosting the national GenJuice Tour. I hosted webinars, partnered with affiliates, built my email list, started a YouTube series called “Big Fish, Big Tip” (don’t ask lol), and after all that I got 1 sale for $1,000 of my course. I invited two more people to enroll on scholarship and facilitated my first group of students while also deciding that I needed a mentor.
Moved to San Francisco to accept my dream role as Marketing Manager at Udemy
Everyday I got to learn from some of the most brilliant minds in online education in Silicone Valley. Udemy was at the time the largest marketplace of online courses, and I got to coach first-time course creators on how to launch their online course profitably. I wrote educational emails that went out to 40k+ course creators and helped them achieve course sales goals. I worked with a singer, kids yoga teacher, graphic designer, and much more! I also created my second online course to help Udemy instructors market their courses.
Recruited to be Marketing Director at Mayvenn a fast-growing startup in the beauty space
While I Mayvenn I got to learn from a community of 40,000 hair stylists and worked with the internal team to create an online course, the Mayvenn Marketing Guide, to help hair stylists grow their brands and business online. After 7 months, I got laid off and was afraid I’d end up back at my mom’s house.
Launched Course From Scratch to the world on a webinar making $14,000
Launched Course From Scratch after being invited to host a private webinar for attendees of 21Ninety’s annual conference. Even after helping thousands of people launch their courses and Udemy and creating my own, I was riddled with self-doubt but still made $14,000 in 7 days from that webinar. And so began my Course From Scratch era.
Moved into my dream high rise in Midtown Manhattan
Relished in watching the sunrise and sunset and being among the clouds. I couldn’t believe my views—The Vessel, Statue of Liberty, The Highline, and access to an incredible rooftop.
Joined the small circle of people who have made over $10M from ONE online course and celebrate generating $1M in 2 hours.
After hosting my Live Webinar weekly over 100x, I launch my advanced program Course Alchemy which teaches you how to scale your online business to $1M using live & automated webinars. We have over 500 people apply to enroll in Course Alchemy and generate over $1M during our live webinar while getting a 90% Pay In Full rate. New levels unlocked!
Launch my CEO Circle Mastermind for business owners who want to scale past $1M
A group of amazing entrepreneurs including Teri Ijeoma, Dominique Broadway, Tiyana Robinson, and Kyara & Khalil of Charm City Buyers join my CEO Circle. We gather in-person in Miami and New York for Masterminds. I am reminded what it looks like to forge friendships as an adult and that proximity is power.
Dive into the world of crypto and web3 and have my NFT collected by French Montana
I love learning from and being among futurists and pioneers—one of the first to enter a new field. I dove deep into web3 and NFTs. I collaborated with digital artist Isaac Udogwu who designed three NFTs turning actress Julianne Moore’s red carpet couture gowns into 1 of 1, 3D art collectibles. The three SINCE3000 NFTs were auctioned off for 6.8 ETH (around $20k at the time). In fact, French Montana is a collector of one of the SINCE3000 NFTs!
Launched Season 1 of my SINCE3000 podcast as a way to share real-time insights
After getting a divorce in 2020, I was left with the question: “Who am I without this relationship?” I spent the next couple of years gaining more self-awareness and learning the importance of embodying your past, present, and future self. I invited some of my best friends and people I admire most onto Season 1 of the show and recorded it on my sofa in my living room. It was a blast(!) and a reminder that we can recreate ourselves at any time we choose.
Announced that I’m a Partner in new course hosting, community, & membership platform MemberUp
In 2021, I set the goal to build or acquire a course hosting platform. I had over 10,000 people in my online course, so why not own the platform that my product lives on? I thought about how Jay-Z started as an artist and recorded albums (his product) and then acquired ownership in Tidal (the platform where his music lives). Today, I’m honored to be a Partner and be working alongside badass CEO Amy Sangster who is leading a team to build a beautiful customizable all-in-one place to call your online home. MemberUp is the place to set up your course, community, or membership!
Everything you have RIGHT NOW, is everything you need to launch your course and meet your goals. Your life experiences, knowledge, talents, and unique skill set, plus a viable internet connection. Boom.
