Case Study: Tricia Lanette

How did you find out about WP Rockstar?

So I found out about WP Rockstar from actually a Facebook ad of Julia blowing up the computer. I think it was oh, she had like suit all over her face and a stick of dynamite or something like that. And it caught my attention and I didn't really know what it was for or why it came up. But then obviously I stopped on it long enough to where Facebook kept showing it to me and showing it to me and showing it to me. And that's how I found out about Julia.  

What was your life like before you joined WP Rockstar?

So my life before WP Rockstar was, I mean, I had a great life. I'm not complaining, except for I was just kind of stuck on this hamster wheel and I was burned out. I was a makeup artist and I was also doing financial transformations. Like I was running very profitable businesses. And as far as my ability to earn was pretty much capped out, I was at a glass ceiling and these businesses were profiting more and more. And I was not. And I had a problem with that, I guess. You know, I just felt like I was giving my all to do it and I just really wanted really what I really wanted was location independence. I wanted to be able to go wherever I want and not have to ask anybody for time off. And then that Facebook ad came up.  

What actions did you take as a result of taking the course and being part of the GeekPack® community?

So the actions that I took as a result of taking the course and being part of the GeekPack® community, the way I look at it is that GeekPack® was kind of like that little cake at the beginning of the Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole that I went down as a result of taking the course. I just knew I wanted to work for myself. I knew that whatever I put my mind to, I could do. And so I just at the very beginning, it was kind of like right when COVID happened. So already that kind of launched me forward to the motivation to actually take the course because I was like, well, if I'm going to do anything, it needs to be creative. And so I wanted time and freedom too. So I started off doing website maintenance, basically kind of putting myself out there and then it kind of turned into website development. And then what I was, what was happening is I was realizing that the website wasn't the whole picture of things. People needed more than that. They needed messaging, they needed positioning, they needed copywriting, they needed logos, they needed a whole spectrum of things that I hated when it came to that.  And I would be like, okay, well you need to find somebody to do a logo and then come back to me or you need to find somebody to do this and come back to me and then what I found was they would come back to me with crap. They would come back to me with something that I was like, Okay, I need to pull back. I need to figure this out because I know that I can help them so much more. And so I wanted to be able to, when they approached me, help them with everything that they needed for that project. So I kind of was I started adding those and then it turned into, okay, now I have an agency because I'm not going to be a graphic designer even though I have skills. And that's when I started bringing people in and helping me with the projects and now it's even grown. Now I'm doing interior design too, as part of the project. So it's like full branding from the digital to the physical space. For my niche audience, which is dentists, profitable dentists. So now, you know, I'm working on a podcast and now I'm working on a book and you know, so it's just like it is, it's the Alice in Wonderland adventure that is making a pretty incredible woman out of me, I think. And entrepreneur.  

How was the journey to growing a team?  

I started doing just the website design. And then I was pretty good at copywriting, but, you know, I was just always learning, learning, learning. You know, it's not just about the words, but it's about what message you are trying to convey? And then realizing that, wait a minute, the website design is actually the easiest part of the whole thing, because if you've got your messaging, you've got your positioning and you know exactly your audience, you know, all of these things are carved out. The website, the easiest part is just making something beautiful that goes along with that. So yeah, I started off by myself and then and now I have a copywriter that does the copywriting for me. Sometimes I still do it. It just depends on the project. And I have a graphic designer, I have two interior designers on the team. So yeah, I went from a one person agency to now I have a few people and it's perfect. They're all everybody's specialized in their own right and it makes things a lot easier. I don't I haven't even coded. I can't even tell you the last time I coded, I probably wouldn't remember if I sat down to do it because now I have team members that help me do it and I can be the creative mastermind of the project. You know, the creative director, which is where I'm happy at.  

Did you have any experience as a freelancer or building websites prior to joining WP Rockstar?

So I didn't have any experience as a freelancer. I did have experience building websites, some and I say that lightly. It was through Wix and this was way back before these website builder softwares were anything. They were pretty much the only one on the market that did that. The learning curve was extremely steep. I mean, I knew nothing and I had to just teach myself and learn and figure it out. And what I, I wasn't doing it to make money. I was doing it to build a website for my make-up business. You know, to display my portfolio and all of that. So, I did kind of have experience, but I wasn't doing coding or anything like that. You know, it was, it was kind of a nightmare and it was yeah.  

Did you feel intimidated by coding before joining the program?

I did not feel intimidated by coding before I joined the course just because I have a I'm very I'm very much a problem solver. So I just know about myself. If I put my entire focus and my entire heart into any endeavour, I know that I will succeed. It's just how I am. So my brain is wired, but the thing is, it has to interest me. Otherwise I get bored and I don't want to do it. You know, it's not that I can't do it. I don't want to do it. So, you know, the I wasn't intimidated, but from what I have had seen, there was a lot of bro marketing, you know, I don't know if you're familiar with that term, but, you know, the young guy who's 23 and he's got a Lamborghini and he mansplain just like, argh, you know. And so I wasn't intimidated by it, but it was more like I was almost disgusted by it, you know, like I, it just, it feels yucky. It still feels yucky. But then when I came across the GeekPack® program and I realized that, okay, there is a resource out there where it's first of all, it's geared towards women. And I love that. And it felt very non-threatening. It felt like I could ask any questions. I did ask any question and it was always met with grace. It was always met with compassion, and it was always met with somebody, whoever it was answering the question, really wanting me to understand the answer to my question or pushing me in the right direction for it. And so it was, you know, that was really the most, I think, important part of that program because the skill is the skill you can know, it's easy to learn the skill. She just does it in such a better way than trying to do it yourself. Going to Google all of these things like she's got it, she's got it laid out. And then the community environment was just really what helped me and my success really truthfully.  

How long did it take you to earn back your investment?

Maybe about three months, I think. Uh, I'm trying to remember. I'm pretty sure that I've put it somewhere in the GeekPack®, you know, group the way back in the archives I wrote it, but I think it was about three months from the time that I finished doing the course to putting myself out there and the.  

Can you tell us a little bit about how you found your first client and how you made your first thousand dollars?

Yeah. So my first client, my first business. So what I did in order to get my first client or my first thousand dollars was exactly what Julia recommends. Change the Facebook profile. And so I did that. And I mean, it felt like instantly I think I had two or three people who I didn't know that you did that. And, you know, I need help with this or I know somebody who needs help with this. And that's kind of how it started. And so one of those clients actually that very first reached out to me, I still work with them today. You know, they still come back to me for projects here or there. So that really it was so it was about three projects for my first thousand dollars and that was probably within four or five months, you know that I earned that. And with every project that I did, my confidence just grew exponentially and not in the sense of, Oh, I'm so good. But it's more in the sense of, Oh my gosh, I can really help people. Like people need help and I can provide that help for them. So that's really satisfying for me.   

How much time and effort did you put into the course?

Yeah. So as far as how much time and effort I put into the course, I truthfully, I don't remember. And I think that it was kind of more towards the beginning of when she was first building this business. And so I know it's really grown so much since, you know, since I was in there. I just remember that I was all in, you know, it was just I just drove in and I gave it my all. And I, I tried really hard to stay focused and, you know, having a supportive partner was a huge part of that because, you know, working, working my regular job and then spending my evening hours and oftentimes my weekend hours trying to learn the content and apply it and build my own website for my own and figure out what, you know. It was just a lot of time, you know, but that's the investment that you make. You know, it's not just the investment of the curriculum. That's the small investment that it's like the smallest investment. The biggest investment is time. And, you know, it's a business and it's a lot of work. And you don't just learn the curriculum and then all of a sudden you're making money. You know, you have to go out and get clients and you have to earn the money. And then you have to learn your processes and what works for you, what doesn't work for you, get your systems in order. You know, it's a lot of time investment, but not the actual curriculum itself. It's everything beyond the curriculum where the time investment really was, you know, looking backwards. That's how I see it. And it's kind of like when you get clients in, you realize, you know, you work with one type of client, you go, okay, that's not my, that's not my ideal client, okay? I want to work with those kinds of people anymore, okay? And then you start to learn who you want to work with and not it's not even as much who you want to work with, but who can you provide the most amount of value for? You know, I'm going to be able to help people in, for example, the dental industry. A lot more because that's where a lot of my background lies. So I have so I bring a lot more to the table. So what does that mean? When I niche down, it means I can charge a lot more because I have a lot more answers. I'm not just a web developer. I can help understand where what's, you know, what's going on in your business. I always ask one of my favorite questions to ask my clients. If I could wave a magic wand in your business and solve one problem, what would it be? And I know very confidently because of my prior experience, that I can help them with not only just their brand and their website and all of that, but I can help them on the business and that really helps gain trust just because I know how to solve the problem. So they know that I'm specifically wired in a way that other just website developers are not wired. And so therefore I get more clients that way and I charge a lot more money that way.  

Did it take long for you to niche down into the dental industry, or did you always know that’s what you wanted to do?

Yes, it did, actually. And the reason why is because when I started it, when I started back when I started this whole journey, I was trying to get out of the dental industry because I was burnt out on it. And, you know, makeup was also part of it. But that's kind of, you know, that was just something that allowed me to be creative and make extra money. And, you know, it was but it wasn't a full time thing, you know, it was for events, it was for magazine layouts. It was for all of these things. But it really wasn't full time. And I was trying to get away from dentistry. I was trying to get away from dentists. I was just tired of it. And then, you know, at some point during this evolution of adding these services, adding these services, working with clients, going, then I just realized why am I working so hard to fight something I know so much about? Like, why would I do that? You know, I can. I can just provide a whole extra layer of value if I do go with, you know, these dentists and I already speak their language and I already know what their problems are, and I already know how to solve those problems. And so, you know, it did take me a while because I thought about it a lot. And then finally I just gave in and I was like, you know, I think that I'm just a much more valuable service provider helping the people who I know exactly how to help, you know. So if I have somebody who I work with service providers so I don't do websites to productize, you know, nope, I don't do any kind of product. It's just for service based businesses. But if I have a lawyer come to me, I'm going to be able and a dentist, I'm going to be able to help both of them. I can build you a website. I can build you, you know, a high voltage super awesome brand. But I'm going to be able to help those dentists even more and I'm going to be able to charge more for it. So that's my thing. You get it. I want to work. I want to charge a lot more and work a lot less. So I'm right now only taking even like 1 to 2 clients a month. And I do them intensively. I don't have multiple clients at a time. I only do one and I do them one at a time, and I work intensively to fill the projects done and then I move on to the next project. And so GeekPack® is the beginning of that journey, you know, is what I wanted from the get go. It was location independence, which I have now. It's financial independence, which I have that now it's working less and making more. And I have that now. Like all of those things, it started with GeekPack®.  

You mentioned how you're able to charge more now. Do you remember sort of like how much you charged then and what your packages look like now?

Yes. So I think, again, there's a post in the GeekPack®. I don't remember exactly. So don't quote me, but I'm pretty sure that the very first time when I told my price it was 50 or 75 bucks an hour? And I was like, I couldn't believe I was just like, I'm just going to do it. I'm just going to say it because that's how much I want to make for this. And, you know, I just did it and they accepted and I was blown away. I was like, Oh, my gosh, there's so much opportunity here. I was so excited. I mean, and like now, I mean, we're in 2022 right now. In 2023, I'm already going to raise my prices again. And my packages are anywhere between $ 9,000 and $ 25,000. And in addition to that, I don't I don't do discovery or anything like that for free. I do not work for free. My prices are on the website. There's a range of fees that I have. So people know right off the bat how, you know, the investment that it's going to take to work with me. And in order to do that, we get paid to pitch, I get paid to do the discovery. And that was also pretty life changing because I was finding I was doing so much work just to try to get the client. And then then what? They don't say yes. And then I will have invested all of that time, really put my heart and love into it and then to just be denied. It was like, this doesn't work for me. Like just here's my prices and it. And the very first step is, you know, I don't even call it discovery. I, I do a deep dove interview and that's something that you have to pay for and then they don't want to work with. You know, if they decide, you know, this isn't for me, then that's it. That's a small investment that they make in order for my time. And then either they can take that because I give them a brief, they can either take that and build the brand themselves or they could pay me to do it and those are my prices, which they already knew. So it's getting your, you know, pricing confidence is definitely something I gained with the program from the very, very, very first client. You know, I already doubled what I was making per hour in my first project and it's just grown and grown and grown since then. You can do big jumps. You know, there are no rules. That's another beautiful part about it. And if, you know, if you want to offer somebody, you know, reduced, you know, fees or something like that, it's fine. I really don't recommend it because those who are the worst providers end up being the most difficult clients. They are the most needy. You know, they are especially for friends and family, you know, I honestly, if it's friends or family, it's like just doing it for free. If you really want to help them, just do it for free. Because the minute that they start, you know, it just becomes a lot. So you just kind of have to be in the business mindset of This is my business and I'm building my business, and if you want to help somebody truly, then just help them and give it to them.  

Did you feel supported when going through the WP Rockstar and being part of the GeekPack® community?

I felt extremely supported when I was going through GeekPack® and with the community, I just any questions that I had were answered. They were met with compassion. They were met with grace. You know, it was really a loving environment. And I know that Julia goes through a lot of effort to keep the haters out. And it really does make a difference, especially when you're in the learning process and you're learning something that is pretty technical. You know, it's not that it's hard, but it's technical and it requires focus. One semicolon that's there or not there, like, you know, it just requires a lot of focus and it requires humility, you know, and it requires making mistakes and learning from your mistakes. And having such a supportive environment is really so empowering. It's so empowering to remove rejection and remove, you know, frustration or all of the other things that social media can bring your way. So I felt very, very supported and it helped boost my confidence.  

What are your future plans?

My future plan. My future plans are to I live in Southern California and I live in San Diego, and my future plans are to live three or four months here and then three or four months in Texas, which is where some of our other family lives, and then three or four months in the Caribbean and just keep having I don't want to say a nomadic lifestyle because I want a home and each place and too, I'm at two out of three. So I just want to be able to be here, which is where my family is go to Texas, spend time with, you know, my partner and family and then go to the Caribbean, which is my favorite place on earth, and be there peacefully, you know, for three or four months and then be able to just make money wherever I'm at with a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection, you know, and ideally, I want to get to the place where I'm only working when I'm in San Diego, when I'm in Texas, and then taking those three or four months completely and being able to just relax and enjoy my life and not feel like I'm working 12 months out of the year.  So that's my future. My future is making five times what I was making and working half the time, if not a third of the time.   

What would you say to someone who is on the fence about joining WP Rockstar?

Oh, my gosh. Just do it, the course. You know, the coding, the investment. It's only the beginning. It's like I said, it's if anything, it's the smallest investment you'll make in your business for the truth of it. But if you're feeling like you want to be an entrepreneur, if you're feeling like you want location independence, if you're feeling like you just want to get off the hamster wheel, you know, if you're willing to put in the time and the effort to build the life that you want, it takes time. It takes mistakes. And I don't even say mistakes like it just takes learning what works for you and what doesn't work for you and never, ever quitting. Like there, there were weeks sometimes where I was just tired trying to work at a job and build a business. And I just then didn't work on my business for weeks at a time because I was mentally exhausted and I gave myself the space to be able to do that. But I never quit. It wasn't quitting. It was just giving myself, just recognizing that mental health is very important and you can't grind 24 hours a day for months and months and months and not pay the consequences with your health and not pay the consequences with your relationships. You know, there's balance to be had and so you just have to know that it's perseverance and you have to push forward and push forward. And even with the setbacks and even with the imposter syndrome, all of those things, you know, you just still have to do it if you want to be successful. Otherwise you're going to be back on the wheel. So, you know, my advice to anybody who's on the fence about joining WP Rockstar is go down the Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole for yourself and be proud of yourself at every moment, every step of the journey, even the small wins celebrate them right them down so that you can look back and go, Wow, I'm so proud of myself. Look how far I've come. And you know, it's not easy, but if it's something that you're interested in doing. Life is short and tomorrow is not promised. And you should do it unless you want to spend the rest of your life working for someone else, making them rich. You choose.  

What stood out to you about GeekPack® and WP Rockstar?

What stood out to me? What stood out to me about GeekPack® and WP Rockstar was that it was not intimidating at all and that it was women-centered. It was a very women-centered business and there's a lot of bro marketing. And I just saw that it was the exact opposite of that. And, you know, there's all kinds of groups, obviously, on Facebook. And, you know, you can go in there, you can ask a question and then it's like mansplaining or yeah, everybody knows that kind of attitude and so what stood out to me is that this wasn't that. And truly, I felt like it was an opportunity for me to really step into and become the woman that I was created to be in a loving and supportive environment. And that set me up for success.