The Ember

Client: Dr. Heli B.
Role: Executive Leadership Coach, Psychologist, and Global Speaker
Challenge: Marketing a premium leadership course without using traditional social media promotions

BACKGROUND

Dr. Heli Bergström is an internationally experienced leadership coach with over 25 years of deep work in executive coaching and team transformation. When she approached me to help bring her flagship course, Coaching-Driven Leadership, to market, she had one clear non-negotiable:

❝I don’t want to market this on social media.❞

That wasn’t a suggestion. It was a boundary.

As someone who lives and breathes digital marketing and is incredibly comfortable with leveraging organic platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, this presented a challenge.

But also—an opportunity.

THE CHALLENGE

Dr. Heli’s course was deeply impactful. But her audience?
• Busy executives.
• Corporate decision-makers.
• HR directors and leadership consultants.

They don’t live on Instagram reels.

And Dr. Heli preferred credibility-based outreach over vanity-based visibility.

I had to build a marketing foundation that honored her brand’s tone—quiet confidence, high-trust, high-ticket—and deliver results without using the typical playbook of viral videos, influencer-style content, or daily social media grind.

THE STRATEGY

Instead of trying to convince Dr. Heli to “go viral,” I listened.

Together, we aligned on a strategy rooted in precision and positioning:

✅ Built a full LinkedIn SOP for team outreach targeting corporate L&D leads, coaches, and HR managers
✅ Crafted a personalized outreach funnel with 3 types of offers: affiliate, licensing, and direct enrollment
✅ Created collateral that positions Dr. Heli as an authority—without needing her to post daily or "go live"
✅ Developed lead search criteria + Boolean strings for non-social platforms like Google, company websites, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator
✅ Implemented a VA-led outreach system using carefully worded emails and connection scripts aligned with her voice

All of this was built to scale—without compromising her values.

THE OUTCOME

In just a few weeks, we had:

⭐ A professional, brand-aligned outreach system that didn’t rely on Dr. Heli creating content herself
⭐ A scalable foundation for affiliate partnerships and licensing conversations
⭐ A confident shift from “I don’t want to be visible” to “I can lead quietly—and still win”

THE TAKEAWAY

Not every expert wants to dance on TikTok.

And not every course creator needs to be loud to be profitable.

This project reminded me that true marketing isn’t about imposing your preferred method—it’s about listening, adapting, and building strategies that work for them.

And that’s what we did.

Rebekah had been in my world for years — she bought all 9 of my courses (yup, all of them). She knew she wanted to teach online, but like many multi-passionate entrepreneurs, she didn’t have a clear direction. Her previous attempts at launching felt heavy, inconsistent, and misaligned with her deeper purpose.

Inside Maia, we gave her direction — and clarity that stuck.

The Starting Point:

• No clear niche or transformation

• Confused about what to teach (productivity, project management, or faith-based topics?)

• Afraid her ideas were “too different”

• Burned out from trying to figure it out alone

What We Did Together:

✅ Clarified her transformation: Helping Christian VAs get their first client — something she’d already done herself successfully

✅ Designed a 3-Day Live Workshop as a low-ticket offer to validate her niche and build proof

✅ Mapped out a long-term value ladder: Workshop → Community → Membership

✅ Created a messaging strategy that matched her values, voice, and vision

✅ Built confidence through visibility planning and a soft, story-driven launch

The Launch Plan: We didn’t start with building a course. We started by building demand.

• A simple sales page

•  Two weeks of consistent value posts on IG and FB

• Zero ad spend

• No full curriculum created yet

The Results:

✅ 9 sales BEFORE the course even started

✅ A proven niche she can now own

✅ A community of Christians who resonate deeply with her work

✅ A clear path toward scaling into a faith-driven brand

The Transformation: Before Maia, Rebekah was stuck in analysis. After Maia, she was clear, confident, and in motion — with sales to show for it.

And the best part? She now has a replicable model she can run again and again — aligned with her mission, grounded in clarity, and built to grow.

"And all I can say if you’re new to her learning space, I just wanna encourage you and let you know that you just found your way to someone who I believe is in the top 1% of the coaching/e-learning industry with all her top tier quality lessons.

From the actual content to the delivery and quality of materials, always an overkill."

- Rebekah M.