BTS of Growing a 7-Figure Brand in One Year: Part 1 - The Origin Story + All the Tea

In this first episode of a multi-part series, I’m taking you back through the origin story year that forced me to stop building the business I thought made sense and would help people – and finally build the one I *actually* wanted. There was an almost-fatal tooth infection discovered because of a dream (yes, really), internet drama, a moment on my couch that changed everything, and the decision to build Visionaries around one concept: generosity really is the whole strategy. And while that decision worked spectacularly, it did not make everything easy. This episode gives you context for the story behind the seven-figure growth Visionaries has built to – before we get into exactly what worked, what did not, and where all of this is going next in the future episodes in the series. What’s Inside This Episode The bizarre series of events that made the first half of 2025 feel less like the beginning of a breakout business year and more like the universe had bad jokes on me The dream I had that I think saved my life?! The business I *thought* I was building before Visionaries took over – and why being genuinely good at something turned out not to be a compelling enough reason to keep doing it The thing that became the easiest decisions operationally for me, even though it is objectively the most complicated thing inside the company What happened when I changed my community membership model structure (spoiler: it was a hot mess) How selling community has been dramatically harder than selling education for me, despite having decades of experience selling expertise, strategy, and transformation My road-trip realization that convinced me to eliminate an entire layer of the business even though it was quite profitable The initiative I launched while privately wondering whether I was being a little bit ridiculous to even do it – that become one of the most rewarding things I've done What years of reviewing grant applications taught me about the quiet credibility signal that can make someone’s accomplishments land differently on paper The Visionaries initiative that has been by far the hardest, messiest, most stressful thing to build – and why none of that has made me want to stop doing it Connect with Adriane and Visionaries! Let's be friends on the 'gram – @visionariesonline or @adrianegalea Connect on Linkedin – with Adriane or Visionaries Visit us on the web at visionaries.co Join the community! Learn more about The Visionaries Collective Join us live in Los Angeles from Sept 27-20 for Visionary – ticket sales close September 10!