Even in a "normal" year (whatever that means), working on your solo business or side-project can be a pretty isolating experience. Some days it feels like a miracle to get anything done at all.
It's just you and your thoughts, bouncing back and forth between bursts of excitement and a dance with your own self doubt. Productivity ebbs and flows with your mood, and those self-imposed (and way-too-easy to punt) deadlines slip through your fingers over and over.
When every decision is yours, even the smallest decisions can feel like massive boulders in the way of your progress. And it's not just tools and strategies! You're craving honest feedback and trusted support to help you see around corners and anticipate mistakes before they bite you.
But who you can turn to? Will they reinforce your self doubt and try to talk you out of your best ideas, or help you make smarter, confident decisions and encourage you to push forward?
What if, instead of chasing that elusive sense of progress alone, you could create a sense of progress with a supportive group of professionals like you?
You could get unstuck, take control of your work, and learn alongside people with businesses and goals you can relate to.
A community of solopreneurs at all stages - from getting your first project into the world, to growing a service business to sustainability, to launching new products and services.
We're building that community, and it's called ✓Work in Progress!
The magic is that while we're working on our own stuff, we're supporting each other to push through challenges and solve problems.
So if you're ready to take your solo biz or side project to the next level, apply now to be a part of our next season.
There have been lots of nuggets of gold that folks have shared along the way, but the support, encouragement and camaraderie have really helped me get through the last few months!
...full speed ahead! Now that I got help launching my new website, I'm tremendously motivated to keep generating stuff to populate it. Better than my wildest hopes and dreams for joining Work in Progress.
Look, nobody wants to spend more time on Zoom, especially if it's an unstructured, unplanned, wandering time suck.
That's why all of our sessions are guided by a facilitator – a fellow creative or entrepreneur like you! – using battle-tested techniques to make sure every minute on Zoom is worth your time:
If you're someone who needs some public accountability (aka friendly peer pressure) to meet your milestones, you'll have two ways to get and stay on track built right into your membership.
The Accountability Machine Included in all memberships
Use our "Accountability Machine" to set, share, and track progress towards your weekly goals and milestones.
Once you submit your goal, it's visible to the Work in Progress community, and we'll even check in on your progress towards that goal throughout the week.
Buddy System Included in Pro membership and higher
To help you stick to your goals through the season – and build a few more relationships along the way - we'll match you into a three-person accountability group to get and give a little extra nudge when it's needed most.
In the Work in Progress community, the expertise you need is often already "in the room." For everything else, our extended networks can reach just about any kind of expertise you might need to succeed!
So instead of sitting through another boring webinar, our Solo Business Roundtables are a more community-centric approach to helping you learn about the skills, techniques, and tools you can use in your work.
You might even get to share your valuable know-how and experiences with the community, too!
Bonus: Every Roundtable session is recorded and transcribed, and added to a growing library you can reference anytime!
Live Roundtable participation included in Pro membership only
Roundtable Library access to recordings and transcripts available to all member levels
You'll have access to a private online community space to share progress updates and get feedback from the community.
You will have access to a collection of shared channels, accessible to all members, to encourage even more sharing and cross pollination.
You can also use this online community space to share your daily goals and accomplishments, join virtual coworking sessions, create shared momentum with "work sprints" and more!
Included in all memberships
When you join with a Work in Progress Pro Membership, you'll be matched up with a club of ~12 like-minded people to set goals, share ideas, and push through your challenges together.
Still a part of a larger community, these small curated groups ensure you can build strong bonds and build genuine relationships.
Included in Pro membership and higher.When you meet your club and your facilitator for the first time, you'll kick things off with a Springboard Session to help you set concrete and specific goals to work towards over the next 4 months.
Sound daunting, or even impossible? Don't stress! It's all part of the process and you'll have plenty of support to get focused and make sure your goals are clearly defined and achievable.
You might not know exactly how to get to the goal yet, but you'll leave your Springboard Session with the confidence that you're headed in the right direction and have the community support to get there.
Included in Pro membership and higher.Twice monthly after your Springboard Session, you'll meet with your private club in a Spotlight Session to focus the energy, experience, and creativity of the group on supporting one person at a time, with 2 individual spotlights in each session.
These Spotlight Sessions are specially designed and facilitated to make the most of your time together, and to avoid the common pitfalls of both asking for and giving advice.
But the real ✨ magic is that even when you aren't the center of attention, you will learn valuable lessons and and powerful insights from how other people work through their challenges.
Bonus:
Every Spotlight Session is recorded and transcribed (only visible to your private club) so you can reference it anytime you want!
Thankful for all of the readily surfaced and nuanced recommendations from this community! I’ve greatly reduced the time & energy needed to identify the right tools for my business, both now and down the road.
The Discord has been great for a sense of accountability, solidarity, and community. The Spotlight Sessions have helped me to see a lot of the commonalities in our experiences despite different backgrounds and projects.
Get the support you need with with a clear goals, access to community, motivation & support, and a path forward.
Members-only Discord Community for support, feedback, work sprints & more
Access Community Roundtable Replay Library (no live)
Accountability Machine
Everything in Starter Membership, plus:
Get matched up with a ~12 person club of peers for the 4 month season
Club-specific private Discord channels
Join LIVE for "Community Roundtables" on community suggested topics
Accountability buddies & check-ins
Live "Springboard Session" to help you set goals you can actually stick to
2x Monthly Live "Spotlight Session" for individual support from the group
Everything in Pro membership, plus:
Private, intensive 1-1 founder support & business strategy with Alex Hillman.
Best for solo businesses earning at least $10k/month
Partial and Full Opportunity Scholarships available for BIPOC applicants
All memberships 4 month minimum, then change or cancel anytime
If you join now you'll also get these books as free bonuses. We reference them a lot in the Work in Progress community, so it's very helpful for you to read and use them!
Just F#!king Ship Ebook from Amy Hoy
Use this book from Amy Hoy to learn her 21 principles to take your next project across the finish line, or even just get started.
If you can plan a dinner party, you can successfully ship your project. JFS will show you how.
The Tiny MBA Ebook from Alex Hillman
Use this collection of business truisms will help you make better decisions & take smarter actions towards your goals.
"Wherever you are in the process of starting a business stop. Read this book." - Katel LeDu
Program Designer & Facilitator
Visual Brand Strategy and Design by trade, solo-preneur since 2008. Syracuse, NY.
Program Designer & Biz Coach
Business & marketing strategy by trade, solo-preneur since 2005. Philadelphia, PA.