“Before you rethink your entire business because of Amy Porterfield…”

Hello xyz,

A little earlier in the week than usual because the internet is panicking again (sigh!).

You can almost hear the dramatic music playing in the background.

I don’t usually see the worst of the online commentary, because I’m clearly not lurking in the darkest comment threads known to humanity.

But this week, the noise was so loud it broke through anyway.

And some of it has been pretty ugly.

Here’s what actually happened, in case you’ve just seen fragments (or cleverly managed to miss it all).

US based entrepreneur, Amy Porterfield, has announced she’s no longer launching her long-running flagship programme, Digital Course Academy.

Instead, she’s choosing to focus on her mastermind for female entrepreneurs and helping (already) successful business women increase their profits.

On its own, that’s not exactly headline-worthy. People evolve. Businesses change.

But not long before that her friend (and fellow successful online entrepreneur) Jenna Kutcher announced she was pausing her hugely successful The Gold Digger Podcast after nearly a thousand episodes.

Cue chaos.

Suddenly the internet decided:

“Courses are dead.”

“Podcasts are dead.”

“Online business as we know it is over.”

Which is fascinating, because if you look at what’s actually happening, none of that is true.

They haven’t abandoned online business… they haven’t declared courses pointless or podcasts dead and they certainly haven’t said nobody should do these things anymore.

They’ve made personal business decisions about how they want to work next.

But here’s where it gets uncomfortable for others.

A lot of people don’t just learn from online leaders. They outsource their confidence to them.

So when someone at the top changes direction, it doesn’t feel like information… it feels like a threat. And that’s when the panic starts.

The truth is as much as people like to guess, we have absolutely no idea why Amy (or Jenna) made this choice.

Maybe she’s tired of the massive launches that demand huge amounts of energy, focus and emotional bandwidth year after year (that’s why I prefer to avoid those!).

Maybe she wants to work with a different type of student. Beginners require a very different level of support than people who are already established and ready to implement fast.

We’ve made similar pivots in our own business before.

Not because something stopped working, but because we changed.

Which brings me to the bit that I think is most important.

Learn from people. Absolutely. But don’t build your entire belief system around one person.

Watching what others are doing is powerful. It can save you years.

But the moment you invest all your certainty, safety and direction into one individual, you’re setting yourself up for a wobble.

And frankly, that turns you into a sheep, not a business owner.

If you want an online business, you can still have one… if you want an online course, you can still create one… if you want a podcast, you can still start one.

Someone else choosing to stop or pause does not mean you have to.

Amy herself has said that despite her change in direction, she doesn’t believe online courses are going anywhere. They are here to stay.

In my opinion they are changing though, and yes, AI is part of that.

AI is creating a lot of overwhelm right now, I see that daily. But I’ve been in this industry for decades.

I remember when Google arrived and everyone confidently announced that publishing, teaching and expertise were finished.

They weren’t.

They adapted. And in many ways, they got better.

The same thing is happening now.

People will use AI to learn. But they will still want humans to guide them.

They will want real-world experience, context, nuance, support.

Someone who understands the things that go wrong, not just the theory.

That does not disappear.

What I do believe will change is that courses will need more human touch. Less content dumping. More guidance, accountability and real connection.

And the upside? AI takes care of the boring bits so you can actually show up for your people.

Which makes this, in my opinion, a genuinely exciting time.

And just to say it out loud because it’s true: Amy built a great course. It helped a lot of people create online courses.

Obviously, I think mine’s better 😉 but credit where it’s due.

Mostly though, I applaud both Amy and Jenna for doing what’s right for them.

And I’m sorry they’re being dragged through unnecessary negativity simply for evolving.

They’re allowed to change. So are you.

So let’s stop catastrophising. Let’s stop outsourcing our confidence.

And let’s move forward focused on what actually matters to us.