The Provocateurs

I was eleven years old and wearing my first ever bikini (purple with big pink polka-dots). I was five hours away from the second-worst sunburn of my young life. The soundtrack of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” was playing on the stereo. This pool party was awesome.

We had run around and eaten terrible party food and played Marco Polo a dozen times. And then someone – maybe an older sister or parent – said, “Hey, there’s a cool thing we can do.”

At Whoever’s direction, we all arranged ourself at the edge of the pool, facing clockwise. We started walking slowly, pushing water. Younger me, even shorter than the current iteration, was chest-high in the water as I marched valiantly around in circles and wondered when the fun would begin. This felt suspiciously like Work.

But the pushing got easier. Suddenly, I was skipping along instead of grimly marching. And the Whoever said, “Try lifting your legs up.” I did, and I was moving. Magic! I was carried along at a decent speed by the work we’d all done. Exalted, we all started going faster. Soon we were running, light and bouyant, only stopping to be carried along then running again.

That is what community can be like.

We all know why we went it alone.

Navigating the uneasy waters of office politics and gossip? No sir. Take half the morning off to see your friend’s show or just kick back and read a book? Sure thing! Create the product you want! you don’t have to make a three-hour Powerpoint slideshow to convince anyone that it’s a good idea. Don’t like Facebook? Don’t do Facebook! You’re in charge, isn’t it sweet?

It is!

But.

There’s no-one to turn around to and say, “Lookit what I just did! Isn’t it wonderful?”

There’s no-one who doesn’t give you the impression you’re speaking Phoenician when you talk about your work.

There’s no-one to point out the things you’ve forgotten.

There’s no-one to ask, “Dammit, I’m stuck. Can I bounce ideas off you for a while?”

There’s no-one who Gets what you do and why it’s so very, very vital.

There’s no-one to complain to, when all you really need is a good whinge.

There’s no-one to remind you to keep faith, because the reason you got into this still matters.

There’s no-one to ask about your dilemmas.

There’s no-one to reassure you, “Everyone feels that way, really. You’re doing it right.”

There’s no-one to tell you, “Honey, this sucks. You know you could do much better than this.”

Coaches and peers and accountability buddies all help.

I have all of them, and am grateful for it.

But coaches and peers and accountability buddies are all, to a certain degree, predictable. It’s a one-on-one relationship between two known qualities: you, and them.

But groups… ah, groups are where it gets interesting.

You start a conversation with J about your problems with email marketing, and B pipes up and says, “There’s a tool that can help with that.” and C says, “Oh yeah, that’s amazing. I have a code that gets you one month free access, if you want it.” and then L says, “I want to try it too. Can we all try it together and see how it goes?” and then H excitedly says…

And so on. What started as one person pushing against water becomes a tide that helps carry you forward, without carrying you away.

Introducing The Provocateurs.

The Provocateurs is a group of people who want to make squoodles of cash and joy by building a business from their best self.

This community, like the pool, isn’t about one person pushing everyone along. It’s a joint effort, baybee, forged by what the members want and need.

There is a Ning forum where you can share ideas. There’s space to create your own playgroups – private or public – for focused attention to a topic or goal. (Groups like Damn You, Money Issues!, The Shock Absorbers group, Daily Journalling, and Get Away From The Damn Keyboard.)

There are amazing peeps to act as colleagues, cheerleaders and confessors as you journey through transformation. There is quite a bit of me, offering my support both as a member and as a person who gets paid money to give advice.

Members are given monthly challenges that they can tackle and implement within their biz, and get support and feedback from others doing exactly the same. (Including me.)

As the community grows, so will the input/support from us. For every ten new members, we add either an ongoing feature like a monthly “Ask Catherine Anythang” session, or a special one-time offer for the community, such as a free resource. I have a long-ass list of possibilities, but the final choice will always come down to the community and what you decide.

The first big resource was a framework on how to write sales page you’ll still love in the morning. I’ll be selling it to non-members, but Provocateurs get it free.

The exact details are hard to describe, because it’s always evolving to meet the needs of its members. But it will always be about growing you and your biz, and creating a movement toward more cash and joy.

If you’re looking for:

Support from people who really Get It
Accountability without shaming
Permission to be your best self, not anyone else’s idea of your best self
Creative irreverence
Subjective reality
Ten thousands paths to one goal
Biz philosophy
Very concrete action
Frameworks, not recipes
A focus on transformation and action
Inspiration to stretch
A safe place to freak out
Resources designed for you
Blesséd, blesséd momentum

Then you need to join The Provocateurs.

How to join us

The cost is only $25/month. But as we add more and more and more features, that price will DEFINITELY be going up.

What are you waiting for? It’s time to light it up!

Not sure it’s gonna be the right fit? Try it for just one month. We promise to do our best to rock your world.