Welcome to The Thought Process, where we explore how successful experts build profitable online learning businesses.

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As the founder of EF Specialists and the Executive Function Coaching Academy, Sean helps students master crucial life skills like organization and time management. He also empowers like-minded educators to build their own coaching practices, with the goal of helping more students with ADHD and autism transition successfully into college, their careers, and adulthood. 

Below, Sean reveals his strategy for incorporating various learning experiences into his business, how he builds systems for scalable growth, and how continuous learning has been instrumental to his success.

What’s the driving force behind starting EF Specialists?

I was drawn to executive function coaching during my time as a special education teacher in the public school system. When I had my first child, I needed more flexibility for my family and well-being. I started exploring options and realized that the work I loved most was helping students with organization, planning, time management, and follow-through. That’s executive function coaching in a nutshell.

As I began coaching, I realized how many families needed this kind of support and how much students could thrive with the right tools. To meet the growing demand and create a more sustainable lifestyle, I began hiring other special educators and built EF Specialists as a way to reach more students, while empowering educators like me to do meaningful, flexible work.

Sean leveraged his experience in growing a coaching business to build his academy for aspiring coaches.

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How did you transition from providing in-person coaching to building an online learning business?

Initially, I was providing in-person coaching and driving from one client to the next, but I quickly realized that model wasn’t scalable. Switching to online sessions allowed me to be more efficient and see more clients in a day. 

At the same time, I needed a better way to train my growing team. Building an online course made more sense than repeating the same training over and over. Eventually, I realized I could offer that course to other educators looking to start their own coaching practices.

How did you get your course and coaching business off the ground?

When I launched my first course, what really moved the needle was building an email list and sending out a weekly newsletter with soft calls to action, inviting people to learn more about my coaching program. I also started offering free webinars using an evergreen format I learned through courses on Thinkific.

As I put myself out there more, I leaned into learning. I used the Thinkific Facebook group to ask questions, like how to drive more webinar attendance, and got advice from more experienced course creators. The combination of consistent content, email marketing, and community learning helped me go from a few hundred dollars in my first year to over $10,000 in my second.

Any tips on offering a mix of different online learning experiences to drive revenue? 

I recommend starting with a flagship course, such as six core classes that teach your main framework or skill set. From there, you can offer an upsell, such as a discounted coaching session, allowing learners to receive more personalized support.

When you’re just starting out, it also helps to have smaller, lower-priced products or mini-courses that act as entry points. These provide people with an opportunity to experience the value you offer without a significant investment, often leading to course or coaching sales.

I also run a community, and when someone enrolls in my course, they get 90 days of access. That community piece is essential as it keeps people engaged, helps them build habits faster, and connects them with others on a similar path. When people feel like they’re part of something, they stick with it longer and get better results. Once you have them in your community, you can offer them longer or lifetime memberships to provide more value and increase your customer lifetime value. 

How have you scaled your business since it first launched? 

I’ve grown my courses year over year, starting with under $1,000 in my first year, just over $10,000 in year two, breaking $100,000 in year three, and hitting over $300,000 in year four. That growth didn’t come from doing more, but rather simplifying, automating, and being consistent with offering value to my small audience. 

I focused on building systems that could scale, and creating a smooth, repeatable customer journey with a personal touch wherever possible. I use tools like Zapier to automate key parts of the process, like inviting learners to book a call with me for a longer membership once they complete my course, or following up when their 90-day membership is about to end. I constantly look for ways to improve the value of my core offer, rather than spinning up dozens of new ones. Also crucial to growth is that I keep learning. I invest in courses, get coaching, and seek out advice from people who are a few steps ahead of me. 

What have been some of the biggest milestones for your academy? 

One of the biggest milestones has been seeing the ripple effect of the work. Many coaches I’ve trained have gone on to support students with special needs, helping them build essential life skills, communicate more effectively, and successfully transition to college. Knowing that my work is scaling through them is incredibly rewarding.

It’s also been exciting to watch graduates of the academy expand beyond 1:1 coaching. Some have launched their own courses, landed speaking gigs, or built profitable practices. Many of them started as classroom teachers, and now they’re creating real change while designing lives that work for them.

What advice would you give other subject matter experts who are growing their own online learning businesses?

Don’t discount your expertise. You just need to find the people who want to learn from what you know. There are over four billion people online. Can you find 100 of them who’d want to engage with and learn from you? I think so.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.