The Laylee Emadi Podcast — For Speakers, Coaches, and Course Creators · Laylee Emadi

212: What I’ve Learned Running My First Membership for Educators

July 28, 2025·24 min·1 clip

Laylee Emadi expected 10 members, then got over 80 signups in a week.

1. The Laylee Emadi Podcast episode 212 is a one-year recap of the Educators Lounge membership for educators, speakers, and course creators. 2. Laylee Emadi hosts the episode as both creator and community builder, and she uses the Educators Lounge, the conference, and the Creative Educator Academy as her reference points. 3. The episode asks what a first year of membership ownership actually looks like when the goal is community, not just content. 4. Laylee says the membership exists so educators can keep connecting outside the once-a-year conference. 5. She says the community was built for creative educators, speakers, course creators, mentors, and other people who monetize education. 6. She says the launch goal was 10 people, but more than 80 signed up within a week. 7. She says that fast launch growth felt exciting and terrifying enough that she talked about it in therapy. 8. She says the initial structure included monthly content, coworking calls, community access, guest experts, and a resource library. 9. She says surveys suggested people joined mostly for community, not for the content stack. 10. She says the suggestion box became a real operating tool, not just a symbolic form. 11. She says she implemented as many member suggestions as possible and explained her reasoning when she did not. 12. She says coworking calls were removed because attendance was low, even though some members later asked for them back. 13. She says Q&A calls with her became a major value point because they offered direct access to her advice and eyes on members' businesses. 14. She says the pricing was intentionally low enough to feel like a no-brainer for the audience. 15. She says she spent about $6,000 on a six-month group program earlier in the year and did not want members to feel that kind of pressure. 16. She says a member-resource program added a new reminder system and too much administrative work, so the team backed it out. 17. She says the most important correction was shifting time from content toward connection. 18. She says networking calls now use small groups, gives and asks, and peer feedback in a format that reminds members of the conference small groups. 19. The episode sounds conversational, reflective, and practical, with Laylee speaking directly to members and founders. 20. Listeners who run memberships, communities, or educator businesses will get the most out of it, while people wanting a tightly edited interview may skip it.

As heard by us

A candid year one look at membership ownership.

One year in, the Educators Lounge comes across as a useful, if slightly uneven, membership play for creative educators, speakers, course creators, mentors, and others who monetize their education.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want the real numbers behind a first-year membership recap.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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