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Published on:

19th May 2022

310: Creating an Online Course for Parents

I’m the fortunate podcast host with two guests today, which is a first for me! They are long-time friends of mine from grad school who have taken a unique idea and brought it to fruition in starting their company and launching their first online course. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to hear all about it, so join us to hear their story!

Our Featured Guests

Jordana Mortimer, PhD

Erin Avirett, PhD


Jordana Mortimer and Erin Avirett are both child neuropsychologists with independent private practices. They have been friends for 15 years since their days in grad school, and they always had the idea to start a business together. Even though they live in different cities in Texas (Jordana in Fort Worth/Erin in Amarillo), they made things happen this year in starting their company, Mind and Child. In addition, they developed and launched their first online course, Parenting 101, for parents with kiddos under the age of twelve. The course takes their experiential parenting lessons and merges it with solid research and data. In this session, Jordana and Erin share how this business idea originated, how they approached marketing, and how they are handling the practical challenges of working together. Even though close friends don’t always make good business partners, they share with us how they are navigating that intersection and overcoming the odds to make it work well for their families.  


Mind and Child Website

Erin’s practice Website

Jordana’s practice Website


You’ll Learn:


  • How Jordana and Erin first developed the idea for Mind and Child with the overall goal to help parents and families on a larger scale 
  • How their roles as testing psychologists helped Jordana and Erin to follow through on their dream of starting a business together
  • The hardest parts of creating their online course
  • How they promoted the course with social media, blogs, and ads
  • How the course feels genuine and authentic with their mission and purpose
  • Why they consulted with advertising experts to know which social media platforms were best for marketing their course
  • How they have navigated challenges with marketing their business but setting boundaries to protect family time
  • How Jordana and Erin coordinate their social media interactions by alternating weeks to handle posts and engagements
  • Why Jordana and Erin hired a friend’s video production company to film their course, which was more complicated than they had envisioned
  • Specifics of the filming process, set design, using a teleprompter, speaking succinctly, etc. 
  • Why being close friends and business partners has been beneficial in every way without any real hardships or friendship-threatening challenges for Jordana and Erin
  • A few details about their website, course, and private practices

Mentioned in this episode:

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We'd LOVE To Partner With You!

➡️ Want to launch your online course? Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit  ➡️ Looking to launch a successful podcast? Please check out our free "Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business" workshop for therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop

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About the Podcast

Selling the Couch
Impact + Income Beyond The Therapy Room
With over 1.5 million downloads, Selling the Couch is a top podcast for mental health private practitioners who think differently.

Psychologist Melvin Varghese interviews successful therapists, top entrepreneurs, business/marketing, productivity, and social media experts.

You'll learn how therapists get referrals, make money, work through fears, and how they've stopped "trading time for income."

Melvin also shares the lessons as he grows his impact + income beyond the therapy room (podcasting, video, online courses, masterminds, investing, etc) and the tips, tools, and tech he uses to grow STC from a single-person business to the CEO of a 5-person 100% remote team.

You get bite-sized and highly actionable tips to guide your private practice and entrepreneurial journey.

About your host

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Melvin Varghese, PhD

Hi. I'm Melvin. I'm a psychologist, girl dad, and online creator living in Philadelphia, PA.

In 2014, I began to think about how to use our therapist skillset in different realms besides clinical work (e.g., podcasting, consulting, online course creation, writing, etc).

This allows us to serve others on larger scales while diversifying our income beyond 1 to 1 work.

I make podcasts and videos about business, tech, productivity, and lessons I'm learning from becoming the CEO of a lean, mean 5 person 100% remote team (we're not really mean..it just rhymed =P).