How Brandy Woods-Smith Made Nearly $6M on Thinkific

Brandy Woods-Smith, the visionary behind the Childcare Millionaires Association, has dedicated herself to empowering childcare owners and leaders through her online platform.

Based in Houston, Texas, Woods-Smith’s career journey began when she was a public school teacher. She climbed the ladder, growing her role to become an assistant principal, curriculum director, and finally an assistant superintendent. However, she realized that to truly make the impact she envisioned, she needed to forge her path by opening Imagine Me Academy—a pioneering learning center focusing on early childhood development.

Driven by a profound understanding of the critical role early education plays in shaping young minds, Woods-Smith founded the Childcare Millionaires Association in 2018. Initially conceived as a Facebook support group, it quickly evolved into a hub for childcare owners to access invaluable resources, webinars, and masterclasses hosted on Thinkific and aimed at enhancing their business acumen.

“A lot of childcare owners don’t have a lot of business knowledge,” she shares. “They have a lot of passion—and they deserve the biggest hero award in the world. But many don’t have business experience.“

She knew she had a viable business when she posted in the group, asking if anyone wanted to learn how to open a daycare. Within a couple of hours, she had over 300 messages. As demand for this kind of guidance grew, she decided to develop paid programs on Thinkific to help childcare owners stabilize and grow their centers. Since, Childcare Millionaires has generated over $6M since its conception, impacting owners across 46 states. 

Here’s how Woods-Smith created a multi-million dollar online course business.

She developed a supportive community

During the pandemic, people in her Facebook group—which now has close to 8,000 members—leaned on each other for support. “When we knew school was closing the following Monday, we hopped online to chat it out and share resources,” she says. “It made me think, if we can collaborate like this when we’re in pain and facing uncertainty, then what would happen if we collaborated like this on a daily basis to make sure that our businesses can stay strong?”

Soon, she launched four paid programs on Thinkific. On top of her a la carte course library of 50 classes, she has two online programs: Accelerator and Daycare University. Then, she also has two mastermind courses, Elevation and Ascension. “Thinkific helped us bring our knowledge into the world in a relevant and systemized way,” she shares.

In Woods-Smith’s experience, a lot of business coaches view the person next to them as competition. However, her support group believes in the power of coming together to help each other.

“We believe that our biggest tool is collaboration, especially in getting an industry standard for childcare. The truth is, there aren’t enough people sharing good, sound business practices for this industry.” 🤝

She found a niche market

Developing a business in a niche market is a big part of what led to her success; she specifically caters her content towards childcare owners and directors who want to grow their businesses.

Keeping this target customer in mind helped her to find her voice and develop material that would resonate with them. “Whenever I put any content out, including ads, I speak directly to childcare owners and directors,” she continues.

“Make it clear who you’re talking to,” she advises. “If you’re talking to everybody, you’re talking to nobody.”

Despite being based out of Houston, Texas, that’s not where her biggest market is. Her organization has tons of members—mainly between the ages of 34 to 60—in Louisiana, New Orleans, Georgia, Tennessee, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, spanning a total of 46 states. They also have members in the Bahamas, Saint Thomas and Saint Croix.

She focused on the big picture

Central to Woods-Smith’s philosophy is the belief that profitable businesses are better equipped to make a lasting impact. By providing childcare owners with the tools to run successful enterprises, Woods-Smith aims to foster a ripple effect that extends beyond individual centers to benefit entire communities. “We want to help businesses become profitable, because you can’t really make an impact if you don’t have enough money to take care of yourself and your family,” she shares.

She is passionate about helping to create jobs for women, which in turn helps them take care of their families. “A lot of the childcare owners that we work with are employing people in their own community—and in particular, they’re employing women, which is one of the ways that we can help close the wage gap.”

“In our programs, we support over 30,000 childcare owners,” she continues. “If the average owner has 20 employees, we’re affecting hundreds of thousands of people by giving those childcare owners good systems.”

According to Woods-Smith, this domino effect creates the most impact. “If we can help stabilize childcare centers, then these centers can help their 20 employees, and those 20 employees can help those hundred children, and systematically we can help the whole family.”

She offered free content

Before launching her paid programs, all of her learning material was free. Turns out, this strategy was a huge determinant of her later success.

“There is never too much you can give people,” she says. “Some people say, ‘if you give them everything, what will they buy?’ Don’t worry about that. Give people enough to know that you’re valuable.”

“I feel like when you help people get what they want, you will get what you want,” she continues. “The person who gives will always receive.”

Soon she launched a free course, 100 Days Better. As word spread, she decided it was time to launch paid programs in 2019. Despite the fact that this step can be nerve wracking in most creators’ online course creation journeys, Woods-Smith encourages people to not let the fear of failure get to them. “Don’t be afraid to finally put a price tag on something,” she shares. “Whatever you think your program is worth, don’t be scared to put a cost to it—just make sure it’s quality.”

Aside from word-of-mouth and the Facebook group, Woods-Smith says that most people hear about her business through Facebook ads, especially via her online challenges. She also promotes the business via LinkedIn and Instagram.

She matched students to the right programs

Depending if someone is just opening their center or has been in the business for longer, Woods-Smith helps direct them to the right program.

For example, Daycare University is for brand new owners—or those who want to open a center. It’s a 12-week program and it costs $997 or $1,997 for VIP if they pay in full.

The Accelerator is their core program. This is the program most owners start in, and it costs $99 a month unless they purchase a full year, which gives them lifetime access, for $1,299.

Then, she offers two masterminds. The first is Elevation, which is a year-long program where she works one-on-one with owners monthly and meets them in person four times in a year. This program is $18,000 per year. The second is Ascension, a program for those who own multiple, stabilized centers and want to begin working on their personal branding so that they can make an impact in the world in a different way. This program is $30,000 per year.

Each program is offered through multiple mediums, such as pre-recorded videos, audio, PDFs and live coaching, including Q&A sessions. Woods-Smith’s team also offers live work sessions, which helps promote motivation and accountability; for example, students set time aside and all meet on Zoom to be able to work on things together. The masterminds have live classes every month—on top of pre-recorded content—and they also have access to their own performance coach who they can ask questions and work through their goals with.

When creating the courses, her team leans heavily on ClickFunnels for landing pages, Active Campaign to create her email newsletter, Gamma to create PowerPoints, CapCut to edit simple videos, and Otter to provide transcripts.

She gave her audience what they asked for

Over time, Woods-Smith’s team has gathered insights from their audience about their learning needs, often derived from the questions people ask. “When we create content, we want it to be research-based, practical and based on best practices,” she shares.

For example, when planning live classes, she asks herself: what can I give people in an hour that they can take back and implement in the next 30 days? “We want to give them quick wins, because we believe that a series of quick wins will build that confidence to do some of the bigger things,” she reveals.

Woods-Smith highlights one standout piece of content, her course titled Enroll 20 Students in 20 Days, as particularly impactful. “This course has the potential to completely transform a center’s financial situation,” she asserts. “Focusing on filling 20 seats in just 20 days can be a game-changer.”

While this course is available in their a la carte library, it’s also included when anyone signs up for one of their memberships—as well as in multiple bundles that she sells on her Thinkific site.

She didn’t let fear take over

Woods-Smith believes that the number one thing that’s led to her success is that she doesn’t let fear paralyze her.

“I didn’t used to have a lot,” she shares. “I’ve been homeless, and my daughters and I slept in a car for a while. I don’t have much fear about how bad it can get, because I think I’ve experienced some of the worst things that can happen to a person.”

She shares that when she has an idea, she’s quick to action; she doesn’t mull it over for six months before starting.

“I don’t operate from fear,” she reiterates. “I operate from caution, but I know that if something doesn’t work, the only thing I can do is fix it and make it work next time.”

“People don’t want perfection, they just want help. And I’m willing to help,” Woods-Smith adds.

She worked on her money mindset

One of the reasons that Woods-Smith is quick to action is because she believes that money loves speed. “I believe that the faster you are to do something, the more money you’ll make,” she says.

Last year, her team made nearly $1.6M. This year, her goal is to make $3M, and over the next three to five years she hopes to easily hit $10M annually. On top of running online courses, her organization offers several conferences for childcare owners. This year, they’re on tour and will visit 20 cities around the US.

But getting to this level of success didn’t happen overnight; Woods-Smith spent time learning about how to cultivate an empowered money mindset. “Money is everywhere and it’s abundant,” she shares of her learnings. “You may not have it right now, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

Part of cultivating this mentality is about recognizing that it wasn’t the money she wanted, it was the impact and freedom that money allowed her. “Money is a tool,” she says.

One of the reasons she wants to generate more revenue is so that she can pay her staff more.

“We want to pay all of our association full-time staff at least $100,000, because they’re worth it,” she says. “We also want to have a bigger reach; the more money we can make, the more we can market, and the more cities we can travel to.”

She firmly believes that if creators don’t do what they’re called to do, money can’t get to them. “Don’t be the roadblock between you and your money,” she says. “When you give your gift to the world, I guarantee you all the gifts you’ve been praying, wishing, and hoping for will come back to you multiplied.”

Showing up online with authenticity is also key in Woods-Smith’s book.

“There are people waiting for you. If you decide to get up and show up, they’re going to be there and they’re going to be saying, ‘oh my god, I’ve been looking for this.’”

She determined strategic pricing

Her programs range in price from $99 a month to $30,000 a year. The prices are based on how much human interaction there is in each program, as well as what it costs to run it.

“In one of our masterminds, we meet in-person four times a years,” she explains. “That’s a big cost for the team. We look at how much it costs to deliver the program and then set an appropriate price above the actual cost.”

“Our prices aren’t based on emotion,” she continues. “They’re based on the cost it takes us to fulfill the program.”

Beyond financial success, Woods-Smith’s ultimate goal is to foster a sense of community and collaboration among childcare professionals. Through her association’s initiatives, she creates a supportive ecosystem where individuals can share insights, celebrate successes, and navigate challenges together; at the heart of her journey lies a deep-seated belief in the transformative power of education and entrepreneurship. Her story serves as a testament to the profound impact that passionate individuals can achieve when they combine their expertise with a commitment to collective growth and empowerment.

If Brandy Woods-Smith’s journey inspires you, perhaps it’s time to try your hand at online course creation. With the ability to sign up for Thinkific for free, there’s nothing to lose.

As Woods-Smith suggests, don’t let fear stop you.