Course Lab
Interview with Melinda Cohan
CEO, Coaches Console
Interview Summary
Melinda Cohan, CEO of Coaches Console, shares how she and her business partner Kate built a $1,495 coaching program that enrolls several hundred people per cohort. After nearly a decade of one-on-one work, they shifted to a one-to-many model with dedicated coaches recruited from their own graduates, a community-first onboarding process, and a results guarantee that holds the entire team accountable for student outcomes.
From One-on-One to One-to-Many
Melinda spent 17 years supporting coaches in launching and running their businesses. For almost a decade, she and her partner Kate worked one-on-one with clients through their software platform. But the limitations of that model became clear. "We're here to help more coaches," Melinda explains. "The more coaches can have more clients, the more impact we can make, and the ripple effect is bigger." That realization drove the shift to an online course format. Their Coaching Business System distills years of research into seven success systems every coaching business needs, priced at $1,495 per enrollment. What makes it work at scale is their team of dedicated coaches, all graduates of the program who lived the transformation themselves. Melinda is intentional about coach-student pairings: "I don't just want the coach to know about the process, I want them to have lived the process so that they can relate on a different level."
"We're here to help more coaches. The more coaches can have more clients, the more impact we can make, and the ripple effect is bigger."
Villains, Superpowers, and Mindset Design
One of the most creative elements of Melinda's course design is the use of personified "villains" to address common mindset blocks. After studying years of student interactions, refund requests, and dropout patterns, she identified recurring patterns: perfectionism, self-doubt, comparison. Her partner Kate, known as "the queen of fun," suggested giving them names. "We personified them," Melinda says. "Once we could personify it, it became silly. It's like, oh my gosh, Fraudulent Frank is creeping up again. Oh my God, there's Perfect Portia showing up." The approach transforms heavy emotional blocks into something students can externalize and laugh about. Each villain has a corresponding superpower, and both are woven throughout the program. Combined with a "Focus Forward" exercise during onboarding that helps students identify their personal success vision and potential sabotage patterns, the mindset work creates a foundation before any content delivery begins.
"Once we personified it, it became silly. It's like, oh my gosh, Fraudulent Frank is creeping up again. Oh my God, there's Perfect Portia showing up."
Guaranteeing Results, Not Just Satisfaction
Melinda's program comes with a genuine results guarantee: students will earn back their investment, or her team will work with them until they do. This evolved from an early money-back refund policy that "felt weird" and didn't align with her values. The shift came from a conversation with a friend who trains world-champion dog agility competitors. "When the dog isn't doing something, my friend always says: don't blame the dog, blame the environment," Melinda recalls. "I translated that to our students. If our students aren't getting results, don't blame the student, blame the environment." This philosophy drove the team to build comprehensive support structures, including dedicated coaching, community, and the mindset tools, before making the guarantee. The result is a program where the guarantee is not a marketing gimmick but a natural outcome of the design: when you invest in the right environment, student success follows.
"If our students aren't getting results, don't blame the student, blame the environment."
Melinda's Action Steps
Melinda recommends these 3 steps to improve your course planning:
Map your students' journey of transformation
Before deciding what content to include, outline the transformation from start to finish. Melinda calls it "the journey of transformation" and uses it to pinpoint milestones and action items. This keeps you focused on what drives results rather than overwhelming students with everything you know.
Recruit coaches from your own graduates
Your best coaches are people who have lived the transformation. They bring massive compassion and credibility. Start with yourself, then bring on graduates as you reach the economies of scale to support it.
Move from a refund guarantee to a results guarantee
A results guarantee forces you to build the support structures that drive outcomes. It also signals confidence and credibility in a market where most courses offer no accountability. Start by identifying what result you can guarantee, then build backward from there.
About Melinda Cohan
CEO, Coaches Console
Melinda Cohan is the CEO of Coaches Console, a software, training, and coaching company that has helped thousands of coaches create profitable and sustainable businesses. With 17 years in the industry, she has built a coaching ecosystem that enrolls several hundred students per cohort at $1,495, supported by a team of dedicated coaches and a results guarantee. She is also the author of The Confident Coach and the host of the Just Between Coaches podcast.
Listen to the full episode
From Course Lab with Abe Crystal & Ari Iny on Mirasee FM