The History of the Mentorship

[10 min read]

The Functional Medicine Mentorship started in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. Some would say it was a crazy time to start a business, but for us it was perfect. 

Why?

• People were desperate to learn more about the immune system. 
• Lockdowns meant everyone had an app called Zoom & extra time to study.
• Helping people with viruses & immune problems just so happened to be my area of expertise.

Building the mentorship through such turbulent times undoubtably came with a few twists and turns and lessons along the way, which I’ll share with you below.

Why did we create the mentorship?

The mentorship was designed to be the next level of education beyond the workshops I taught with Dr Perry Nickleston (Stop Chasing Pain). Our company, Functional Health Solutions, was mighty but short-lived. We achieved 13k followers in a matter of months, with 6 sold-out workshops around the world. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the rest due to COVID.

With no travel or workshops possible, I decided that an online mentorship was the next best option. Our workshop students were thirsty for more functional medicine, and they wanted step-by-step guidance as they applied it to their clients.

And so the mentorship was born.

Lesson #1: Opportunity can emerge from chaos. It’s all about how you respond. 

The most resilient people (and the most resilient immune systems) aren’t the strongest ones, they’re the most adaptable. Where can you find opportunity where others only see problems?

The people behind the mentorship:

The first mentorship was created in a matter of weeks with a small team of 3 people. It was the definition of quick, messy action. I’m not going to lie, I had my doubts if it would work. Would people really want to buy a program like this? Was I good enough to be their mentor?

It was met with a resounding YES. We sold 40 spots paid-in-full, without creating a single thing.

Lesson #2: Presell. Always validate your idea first. Don’t waste time creating something no one will buy.

Once it was confirmed the mentorship was going ahead, we had some tech decisions to make. Do we use PowerPoint? Keynote? Zoom? Webinarjam? Screenflow? Kajabi? And how do we do this remotely? Our tech guy Dave was locked down in Melbourne, while I was living in Byron Bay with the worst wi-fi imaginable.

Lesson #3: Don’t let decisions about technology stop you from moving forward. There will never be the perfect software – they all have their flaws and technology changes all the time. Choose one that does 95% of the job you need it to do & figure out the rest later.

Somehow, we managed to pull it off – the first mentorship was a success. It was a lot of fun, a lot of stress and perhaps a little unprofessional with one too many practical jokes. But we delivered the content, our students were happy and more importantly, they were getting results for themselves, their clients and their businesses.

Lesson #4: Embrace quick, messy action. Get it out first, perfect it later.

Rebranding, Refinement & Selling to a Cold Audience:

After the success of the first mentorship, we prepared ourselves for round 2. We knew we’d sold to a very warm audience and so the question remained… could we do it again?

We decided to rebrand from Functional Health Solutions. It was time for the mentorship to stand on its own. The name “Innate Immunity” was chosen reflect the thing I was well-known for: the different immune types (Th1, Th2, Th17). It represented the entire method taught within the mentorship – how to restore balance & return people back to their innate immune system.

Lesson #6: Try to choose a business name that reflects your x-factor (otherwise known as your Unique Selling Point or USP). An “umbrella name” also doesn’t box you into one role or a physical location. It allows room for your inevitable growth and will move with you, no matter which way you pivot.

We created a new logo, chose a new colour palette, designed templates and filmed with proper lighting, cameras and microphones. We took advantage of being locked down together in Melbourne and re-filmed the entire 6-month mentorship in just one week (not a small task!). Dave & Kate worked tirelessly on the slides in one room while I was filming video after video in the room next door.

Our hard work paid off. The second mentorship was an even bigger success, selling organically through word-of-mouth and social media posts, with no proper marketing campaign or strategy.

Why we moved away from Innate Immunity

The mentorship was quickly gaining traction, but so was the insanity around the pandemic. By the time we reached the end of 2021, certain words became difficult to use on social media.

In fact, anything to do with natural health or the immune system had noticeably lower engagement.

We did our best to pivot around the problem. Inserting a random full stop in the middle of the word “immunit.y” worked for a while. Then we had to completely cover up the word altogether. It’s very hard to promote your brand or direct people to your website when you can’t even use the words in it! Eventually, our social media account got shadow banned, where it remains forever stuck. No matter how many new people follow, the same number are automatically removed. #rip

Lesson #8: Grow your email list, not your followers. Don’t ever rely on social media (no matter how easy it is to sell there), your access to your audience can disappear overnight.

We learned the hard way.

Decision Time:

By the end of 2022, we had some big decisions to make. We had a business name we couldn’t use, a baby on the way and our tech guy unexpectedly buried with some heavy life stuff.

The quickest and easiest move was to switch platforms and start teaching on our other existing website: Functional Medicine Services.

The pros were that our costs were lower. Our team of 3 was down to 2 and we were fortunate to share many plugin licences and training sessions with our developer. We had a business name that was visible again on social media and could be used for paid advertising.

The cons were that we now had 2 different platforms for the mentorship – our precious alumni on one, and new users on the other – which became confusing.

Lesson #9: Fail fast, learn faster.

We’re in the process of merging both platforms & look forward to the day when this is complete. The entire process hasn’t been smooth sailing and there’s been a ton of learning along the way. The predictability of business is always challenging due to the complex and dynamic nature of the market (thank you Covid), advancements in technology (hello AI) and unforeseen events (too many to name). We’re proud to have built a successful product during such turbulent times, and know that it’s a sign that the information is powerful enough to stand on its own. Round-after-round the testimonials keep coming in.

And now?

It’s 2025 and we’re still here. In fact, we’re steadily growing (this time OFF social media). Instead of wearing all the hats, we have a new team of people working around the clock to ensure this program sails smoothly.

Our best-selling 6-month mentorship has also been upgraded: Functional Medicine Mentorship 2.0 is designed specifically for the musculoskeletal practitioner to help them bring functional medicine into their practice.

It’s been an honour to watch our students completely transform their businesses and help people in so many different ways. The mentorship has changed many lives for the better, including mine. I’m a much better practitioner and teacher than I was 5 years ago, all thanks to my students. Full credit goes to them for being co-authors of the mentorship. The information has evolved from their insightful questions and cases. They’ve gifted me so many rabbit holes to go down, which has led to new ways of thinking and multiple breakthroughs, all of which I continue to share and give back.

If you’ve been part of this journey from the beginning, thank you for still being here (and for reading all of this!). I hope we continue learning together in the future and can’t wait to see more of the ripple effect in action. Watch this space!