Brandon G.
Disappointing experience
The program promised significant media exposure but failed to deliver. While the knowledge and expertise offered was beneficial to helping build a brand, the actual media features were misleading and underwhelming. The media coverage provided was inferior to my existing media connections, offering no real benefit to myself or my company. In the initial interview I shared what I had already done and would have expected full disclosure that what I was getting was less than what I had. For the substantial cost of the program, much more individual attention and genuine follow-through on the promise of major media exposure was expected. Instead, the program appeared to be a tool for upselling a longer, more expensive program. It is challenging to consider further investment when initial commitments were not honored. Overall, the program did not live up to its promises and was a disappointing use of resources.
Response from Cheryl HunterJun 13, 2024
Brandon, I’m confused, as you told a dramatically different story on your recorded exit interview on Nov. 27th 2023 with Coach Pericles from our team. In that exit interview you praised us, celebrated your accomplishments from working with us, and you made plans to work with us in the future. Specifically, during that recorded Zoom session Coach Pericles asked you, “What are you celebrating today out of your participation in Magnify Your Message?" You responded, "You know, the best part is just the kind of the exposure and the conversation and the language change that I've had for myself, because fundraising season for us is October, November, December. Last year we did $65,000 in fundraising, and we're at $160,000 this year…and a lot of that came from consistently sharing my message, you know, talking to the big donors...I’ve always had a good story. It was just never soundbites. It was never clearly defined. I could get lost in my message. Which is fine when you're doing an intake with a parent, but not whenever I'm fundraising and getting donations. This has completely changed my language and it's really made me understand...I mean, I was winging it before and, and...now that I have some actual, you know, solid information to go on. I'm, I'm really happy with that.” Coach Pericles responded, "Congratulations on that. Really great work. Now, do you remember what life was like before you did Magnify Your Message?" You responded, "You know, it was a lot of scrambling. I hired a person to do PR for me, and then I realized very quickly that she couldn't share the message like I could...she had the contacts, but all I was missing was knowing how to get the message out...you know, fine tune the language a little bit more specifically for what they're looking for." Coach Pericles acknowledged you again. You replied, "This has made me understand how to leverage my previous media because...I can use this exposure that we have to create more.” You went on to say, “The area I feel the most growth has happened because I just didn't know what I didn't know! And, and now having this new understanding, it'll only get better! Because if you could see all the different pitches and all the different things I've got together on my computer and all the different messaging for the different people. I mean, I've got probably a hundred different new ways to message this. And I've got so many different contacts and people to reach out to. So I've got this huge list. It's a little bit overwhelming at the moment because one of those homework assignments was like, come up with like five major media and, and I stopped at like 60! I was like, I need to go to bed. I got lost in it because it was exciting." After all your celebrating, and before your session completed, you and Pericles discussed what was next for you. He invited you into our graduate program, and you responded, “You know, it sounds perfect. I mean, this is exactly what I've been needing to do.” You and Pericles then scheduled a follow-up call for the following Monday, December 4, to discuss registering you into that program once you’d spoken with your accountant. No one forced you to share that overwhelmingly positive testimony with us on your exit interview. If you were unhappy, you could have shared that at the time. Rather, you expressed satisfaction, excitement, and accomplishment. Given your unwavering praise during your recorded exit interview, I’m truly curious as to why you would contradict yourself so fully in this review to the point where you would disparage us, our work, and our time together. What happened, Brandon? Why the change of heart?