149: A Case Study of an ADHD Coach’s Group Program Launch

Dolly DeLong
Welcome back to another episode of the Systems and Workflow Magic podcast. I’m Dolly DeLong, your systems workflow and launching BFF and guide. Today, I’m so excited to pull back the curtain and invite one of my incredible one-to-one launch clients, Kelly, to the Show.
I wanted to bring Kelly to showcase our journey and how my launching services have impacted her latest group program. Kelly has been an absolute rock star, and I’m so proud and impressed with her accomplishments. So before we dive into the details of her past launch, Kelly, could you start by sharing a little about yourself, who you serve, and who you are to our listeners?

Kelly B
Hi everyone, and Dolly, thank you for having me here. You’re my rock star; back at you. So, hi everyone, my name is Kelly Biltz, and I am an ADHD Teen Life Coach. I partner with high schoolers throughout the academic world because they need a lot of support as they navigate daily life with ADHD.

Dolly DeLong
OK, and you all, Kelly is a rock star in coaching teens with ADHD and supporting their parents. Kelly, I learned so much about ADHD because you are a wealth of information.
So listeners, I know this is going to be like a case study episode, but I encourage you, especially listeners with teens who have ADHD or you’re wondering, “Does my teen have these ADHD tendencies?” Please follow Kelly and use her as a resource. I’ll link everything in the show notes, but you’ll want to follow Kelly after this episode. So thank you for sharing all that, Kelly.
Let’s dive into this case study because I want our listeners to look inside your launch process. Every launch is different, and hopefully, they will gain some inspiration for their launches, pushing them to open that group program they’ve been dying to start. Kelly, I know you’ve achieved so much in your business. I’d love for you to share more about how you got started. Why did you decide to become a coach for teens with ADHD? What was your journey leading up to where you are now? What makes you passionate about being a coach?

Kelly B
I love that you said it because it’s so specific, but I didn’t start that way. Part of being an entrepreneur is having no idea how to run a business, automate, or market. I failed forward many times along the way.
But when I first began, I worked with everyone. I worked with families with young children and adults in the workforce. That was about two and a half years of my business, just getting clients and reaching out. When it started taking off in the first year and a half, I hired a business coach, and I was like, “I have no” idea what I’m doing.” Through that process, she helped me understand the importance of my email list, creating a Facebook group, and nurturing those people.
Nurturing is how we know, like, and trust our people. As you and I know, those hot and warm audiences will tend to book with you and become clients.
So, in those two and a half years, I launched this webinar, which failed miserably because I was all over the place. I mean, miserably. I was licking my wounds and felt like I was done. But I realized my messaging was too broad.
I then worked with a business manager, and she asked me, “Who do you want to work with?” I resisted answering that question, but the best thing that came out of that partnership was I said, “Teenagers. T” managers because I have my own. I get them.”
So, teenagers became my people, and part of that was I created, literally overnight, a program where I would partner with them for the academic school year because they all need support, right? And if you have teenagers listening, you know there’s a high possibility they’re not with their parents anymore. That program took off, and they come to me through Google now.
I don’t promote my private coaching because they find me organically, which is a huge blessing. But I knew then that I needed to niche down. And then, the pandemic happened. And here I am with a total yearly roster, which is fantastic. I love supporting teenagers who struggle with managing the day-to-day life of ADHD, school, and all the home responsibilities. That’s my passion. I get joy when their grades improve, and they feel more confident.

Dolly DeLong
Kelly, maybe I knew this about you, but how did you get started with learning about ADHD?

Kelly B
Yes, my son was diagnosed in elementary school. That diagnosis was a massive relief for me because I knew something wasn’t right ht wasn’t communication and parenting, but I didn’t realize that wawhatdn’t know there was such a thing as an ADHD life coach, so I took two years to do research and observe our son. I changed my language and parenting approach and started advocating for him. I became an expert in all of that. Then, about three years after his diagnosis, I saw an ad for an ADHD life coach on Twitter. Are you kidding me?
I completed a year of training and certification, followed by a six-month mentorship to perfect my coaching. I also did a lot of pro bono work until I finally launched my business.

Dolly DeLong
This is a testimony to you. I perceive that you have a good relationship with both of your sons. I know there are ups and downs—teens will be teens—but you have a respectful relationship with them, and they enjoy being around you.

Kelly B
Yes, our kids love us, but I always wanted a peaceful home. I’ve always said I’ll do whatever it takes to foster their independence and individuality. Arguing, yelling, and having tension in the house was never an option. But before he was diagnosed, that’s what was happening. I didn’t like not becoming a parent.
So, I realized, “He’s six or “He’s the adult. I need to change.” I had to humble myself and approach parenting with empathy and compassion, understanding the neurological makeup. That made a huge difference in how I parented.

Dolly DeLong
It’s a testimonial to you because you are walking the walk and talking the talk. If listeners don’t take anything else from this episode, I hope they understand how much your methods bear fruit with your family. Now, let’s talk about your launching journey. Launching wasn’t always on our radar. Can you share when you started thinking about launching and what made you realize it was the right move for your coaching business?

Kelly B
I wanted to prove that the marketing company was wrong. 

Dolly DeLong
You say, “Hold my beer” let me prove you wrong.” I love that.”

Kelly B
Yeah! I hired a marketing company for four months to help launch a parent program. I work one-on-one with teens, so I don’t have much time. My parents wanted to work with me, and I could only accommodate that through a group setting.
So, this marketing company came in, ran Facebook ads, created a lead magnet, and handled all my social media. It was a complete failure. I didn’t have a didn’t-on approach and invested a lot of money.
During Black Friday, they suggested we offer it at a discounted price. I got three people in the program, which was OK but not worth the expense. I stopped working with them and was upset. But then I thought, “You know what?” I’m going to Prove them wrong.
So, I rebar “ded the program because I believe in it and know the value I can bring to struggling families. I wasn’t going wasn’t up. Providentially, I found you and decided to launch again.

Dolly DeLong
I was going to ask, what made you want to launch this program? You answered that. Then you hired this company, and it wasn’t working wasn’t. Then you found me, and again, I feel like it must have been providence because I have no idea how we connected.

Kelly B
Yes, I found you at a summit or something, and then I started following you online. Eventually, I saw you on Instagram. I remember being on a cruise and thinking, “I’m going to this woman, and I’m going toI’mrk with her.” I wanted “someone who would be hands-on with me, and I would know exactly what I was getting.
So, I rebranded the program, found you, decided on a webinar, and then our relationship began. We took it from there.

Dolly DeLong
This goes with why the group program was launched. You offer your ideal clients many digital courses and products, but why the group program?

Kelly B
For me, it’s about the high-touch clients needing that engagement and someone to walk through situations with them. That can’t happen in a digital course. 
We walk through things together. I have five other courses that are part of my group program, but when I look at my ThriveCart, no one has looked at all the courses. That tells me they need me, my brand, my support. They want to pick my brain and have my life support.
Because I don’t typically coach don’t one-on-one, having a community that needs that support was a great use of my time. I go live three times a month, whether it’s Q&A or live training poured into these families. That’s why I chose the program.

Dolly DeLong
Listeners, sometimes you need to look at what your ideal client needs. Launch that digital product if your perfect client can watch a video or read a PDF and still get the transformation. However, a group program might be the best fit if your ideal client needs you to hold their hand through the process to get that transformation. It would be best if you looked at your ideal client. Kelly did that work beforehand, and I appreciated that so much.
I’ve had inquiries before, and people just wanted to launch for the sake of launching. They’d say, “I want to the dve fig” res; I want to make six,” but they didn’t have an apparent didn’t.

Kelly B
Yes, exactly. I would also say that I’m five years into my business. So, after four years of building knowledge, liking, trust, and nurturing my audience, I knew what they needed. I had a smaller version of a six-week program to get that foundation, but this format seems perfect. There is some history and analytics there. You have to know what your people need, and that’s become crystal clear that’s my program.

Dolly DeLong
I love that. I want to talk about my favorite launching phase, the pre-launch. Not many people like this phase because it can feel mundane, but it’s essential. How was the titer-launch phase for you? After you answer, I’ll share my perspective. 

Kelly B: Yes, remember that Dolly is the pre-launch queen! I love that, which is why I hired you. I knew when I wanted to have my opening day, and it had to be at the beginning of summer when I wasn’t talking to my private clients. So, you and I partnered up in March, and I knew spring was my busiest time. I needed plenty of time to get all the pieces together and not feel overwhelmed.
You created an incredible spreadsheet and document of what needed to happen each month and all the pieces involved. I didn’t have that before. Sdidn’tes, I thought, “Am I going to do this?” B “t I had to commit because “se you gave me everything I needed to succeed.
I also wanted to honor my energy and time. There were weeks when I didn’t finish anything, but your Google doc of a three-month launch was a gold mine for staying on task.

Dolly DeLong
Thank you! For the OG listeners, you all know I preach about having a good priming or pre-launch runway. It’s like when a plane takes. Don’t just get on a plane; don’t drift off immediately. There are many steps beforehand, from getting your bags on the plane to finding your seat, and everything takes time.
When the pilot starts moving the plane down the runway, that’s like your launch, and when the plane is in the air, that’s the cart open phase. Everything leading up to that is the pre-launch. That’s where the magic happens. 

Kelly B: Yes! You also sent out a separate document with a 12-week email plan for the pre-launch email sequence. I had never done anything like that before, so my audience was already primed. As I sent those emails, people started signing up for the webinar, which was a huge game-changer.
You helped me with the titles, topics, and how everything should look. I wouldn’t say I like writing emails—it wouldn’t be a part of my existence. But your help made me realize that I knew the pain points, my origin story, and what was at stake if families didn’t invest in ADHD coaching.
As didn’tl as it was, I wrote one email a week. You gave me an incredible document outlining the topics for the 12 weeks, who to send them to, and how to segment my list. That was such a game-changer. When people signed up for the waitlist webinar, I started nurturing them. I nurtured those people between March and April, showing them behind the scenes and sending little videos, so even though it felt like 25 emails, that pre-launch work made a difference.

Dolly DeLong
Yes, it’s a lot of emails!

Kelly B
Yes, it was a game-changer! I learned how to power through it. As much as I respect copywriters, I felt like I was the only one who could get into the nitty-gritty of my message because I knew exactly what was happening in my clients’ homes. I could talk to clients specifically.

Dolly DeLong
A little insight for listeners: if you’re wondering how we formulated your email for Kelly’s emails, it was all about prKelly’s audience. It’s like a domino effect—one dominIt’lls onto the next until you reach the end goal. In this case, the end goal was presenting the solution.
But buyers don’t always realize they need the donation right away. They need to be primed over several weeks. We discussed the consequences of not investing in ADHD coaching, addressing objections like money or time. You have to help them realize the urgency.

Kelly B
Exactly! I think I sent three emails just about objections. It’s detrimental to teenagers living in a home where they’re not understood, and that mindset affects their mental wellness.

Dolly DeLong
Yes, and you did that so beautifully. I watched everything on Kelly’s email list, and she did it. Kelly leaned into what was already working for her—email marketing. She didn’t stress about creating long-term content.
Kelly already uses Pinterest to grow her email list and has a Facebook group, so we leaned into what worked for her instead of starting something new. By the end of our time together, she had grown her list from about 16,000 to around 18,000 subscribers.

Kelly B
Yes, there was a lot of growth, even with some unsubscribes along the way. But we kept driving traffic to the webinar, which was the solution for my ideal client. It was something juicy that they needed to know, and the next step was to sign up for my group program.

Dolly DeLong
You already knew what you wanted to teach your clients, and we packaged that into a webinar. It was something tangible that they could learn from, and then the next step was joining your group program.

Kelly B
My webinar hit the pain points: thriving together and managing ADHD in the home. I knew my audience and niche, and we had great sign-ups and conversions. I remember you said it should be 30–35 minutes, but it ended up being an hour and 11 minutes. But I was speaking slower because I knew my ADHD audience needed that.
It probably could have been shorter, but I took my time and shared more examples. Then, I moved into the launch, inviting them to learn more about implementing strategies.

Dolly DeLong
You did great! Your pre-launch was so much fun, and it was a dream to work with you because you trusted the process. It wasn’t very safe because you had worked wasn’t marketing company before, and I wanted to ensure you had a five-star experience.

Kelly B
I trusted you, honey!