You Know Your Shit. Let's Turn it Into a Course that Proves It.

Written By Catrina Mitchum

In Episode 1, Dr. Catrina Mitchum works through Suzanne's real course challenge live and the conversation turns into a masterclass in what it actually means to build a learning experience from scratch. Not a content dump. Not a manual. An experience that prepares a student to actually learn.

What We Work Through

  • Why giving students a 117-page manual is not a preparation strategy, and what to build instead

  • The three goals Suzanne and Dr. Catrina map out together for that mini-course

  • Why breaking a practice-based course into smaller chunks might feel ridiculous to the expert, and why that is exactly right

  • How to use features like self-recorded video, audio, and journaling to let students teach themselves

  • The before-and-after artifact: why self-paced students cannot see their own incremental change and how to build in moments that show it to them

  • Why students do not ask for help in online courses and how to build for that

  • Why explaining the "why" behind each step is not optional if you want students to keep going

  • Accessibility as a real design consideration - leveraging different modes of participation for each step

Closing

Suzanne came in with a real course problem and left with a three-goal curriculum framework, a clearer picture of her mini-course structure, and homework she is genuinely excited to do.

Suzanne's Homework

Map out the specific exercises to lead students through in phase 2 of the mini-course. Write out how each one connects to the goal of the module and the course overall. First, articulate the connection for yourself. Then figure out how you would explain it to a student.

About the Guest

Suzanne Pugh is a Freediving Hypnotist with over 25 years of teaching experience. She teaches people how to calm their nervous system and their mind so they can have freediving adventures around the world. She is also a yoga teacher, energy healer, and hypnotherapist, and runs Freedive Egypt, where her instructors guide students through in-water training.

Work with Catrina?

Apply to be a guest: https://forms.gle/J6BGa5BBf2XcPatJ8

Subscribe to my ⁠⁠Cut the Course Creation Crap Newsletter⁠⁠

Music credit: Alex Mitchum

Alex, Catrina's youngest brother, was a jazz guitarist and his family established a scholarship in his name at his alma mater. Please consider donating: https://www.alexmitchum.com/scholarship

Your students think they are telling you what they need. But what if the problem they're naming isn't actually the problem? In this BS Breakthrough episode, Dr. Catrina Mitchum unpacks a real conversation from Episode 1 and pulls out three takeaways you can apply to your course right now, whether you're just starting or stuck somewhere in the middle.

Topics Covered

  • The stated problem is rarely the whole problem. Your students say they need X. But X is often a symptom. The real work is figuring out what's underneath it, and whether your course is actually built to solve that deeper thing.

  • Logistics questions can be a sneaky way to avoid the foundational ones. Platform, pricing, tech setup -- these feel productive. But if you don't yet know what transformation your course is supposed to create, you're building on sand. Dr. Catrina gives you a one-question gut check for this.

  • Live does not automatically translate to async. If you've been running live sessions and recorded them to make a "course," this one's for you. What works in a Zoom room doesn't work on demand, and Dr. Catrina explains exactly what's missing and what to build instead.

  • The stepping stone course. Sometimes the course your students need first is smaller and different from the one you planned. Dr. Catrina walks through how identifying that foundational gap can actually open up your offer suite and serve more people.

  • Two concrete action steps. Not concepts to think about. Not frameworks to research. Two things you can do today to figure out whether your course is solving the right problem and whether you actually know what you're building yet.

This episode is bite-sized on purpose. If you've been spinning on the wrong questions, or building something that feels off but you can't name why, this is the reset you need. Go back and listen to the full Episode 1 conversation with Suzanne Pugh if you haven't yet -- this BS Breakthrough hits differently once you do.

Work with Catrina?

Apply to be a guest: https://forms.gle/J6BGa5BBf2XcPatJ8

Subscribe to my ⁠⁠Cut the Course Creation Crap Newsletter⁠⁠

Music credit: Alex Mitchum

Alex, Catrina's youngest brother, was a jazz guitarist and his family established a scholarship in his name at his alma mater. Please consider donating: https://www.alexmitchum.com/scholarship

Catrina Mitchum
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