Meet Ali Schiller of Accountability Works in Santa Barbara

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ali Schiller.

Ali, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started my career as a mechanical engineer. My big dream was to be an aerospace engineer. My 3rd job out of college was designing astronaut’s backpacks, and I thought it would be so much fun. However, it wasn’t. I found myself bored out of my mind and a little sick to my stomach thinking about the long road ahead of me. I was pretty certain that I had chosen the wrong path. I jumped ship, made a series of perplexing decisions from the viewpoint of my parents and my then boyfriend, now husband. Those included teaching at a community college, working in the marketing department of a large corporate firm, and finally going back to school to study physics.

When I was a year into my degree, I fell in love with a piece of land while traveling in Costa Rica. For the first time since graduating from college, I had a sense of purpose. I still to this day don’t know why I was so clear that I had to purchase that piece of land, but I did. I went back to San Francisco, left school, and started a new career in real estate. Real estate seemed like a safe bet because the housing market was doing well, but after I got my license, I had a wave of panic. How was I going to sell anything to anyone, let alone a house?

A student of personal development, I decided to start an informal group that would support each other. We would share our goals and hold each other accountable every week. My goal was to sell one house. 12 weeks later, I had a commission check for over $20,000, and I was on my way. Two years later, I had paid for the land. Better than that, I had finally found the “work” I wanted to do in the world. I started leading groups in my office, then other offices, and finally left real estate to start my own business – Accountability Works.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I started Accountability Works when I had a one-year-old and three-year-old. There is nothing smooth about starting a business when you are in that phase of life. It’s like you are failing at everything at once no matter what you do.

Initially, I thought I would work in a physical space, but when I sent a survey out to my colleagues and clients about my fledgling business, I got an interesting piece of feedback.

One person who lived across the country said she desperately needed something like what I was thinking of offering and wanted to participate. So I decided to lead the groups virtually. Creating an online business came with a huge learning curve.

The next challenge came with scaling the business. When you are doing everything yourself from a converted shed in your backyard, there is a certain simplicity and control that comes with that.

Once you are dealing with multiple coaches, complicated systems, and automation you really learn that what worked in the beginning, no longer works. That’s when I brought on Marissa Boisvert as my partner. She has the skill set the business needed to keep growing, and I lacked.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Accountability Works – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Accountability Works® exists to solve the problem of doing what you say you are going to do… consistently. From that first session when I committed to selling my first house, it wasn’t that I didn’t know what to do. My office gave me a marketing plan. It was that I needed to follow through on it which included doing things over and over again no matter how uncomfortable it made me.

Back then I wasn’t sure if there were other people that also struggled with following through. When I started that first group, I learned that I was not alone and that many of the people I admired most, struggled too. They wanted to be forthright and open about their challenges. They liked making commitments to their goals.

They appreciated having a place to check-in every week that was consistent and dependable. They wanted to be brought back to their priorities. Again and again. Having that container resulted in so many changes. They did the things they wanted to do. Built awesome businesses, got healthy, traveled the world, bought dream homes, they did ALL THE THINGS.

That is what I’m most proud of about our company. The thing that sets us apart is definitely structure. Every part of our process is dialed in. You know exactly what to expect, and you know what is expected of you. It’s also what makes our process flexible and repeatable. Our clients come back because they are always thinking of new things they want to accomplish and know that accountability works.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
This year we added a one-year membership when we realized that our average member stayed in our program for 15-months. We figured this would be a great option for current members. What we didn’t expect was how many clients wanted the 1-year membership and that people that had never been in the process would also be ready to make the commitment.

That means for 2020 we have to be ready. Systems. Staffing. Training more coaches. We also have a coaching certification program. There are so many more people these days interested in accountability and becoming accountability coaches. We are thrilled to train them so they can build their own businesses and/or hire them back to coach for us as demand continues to grow.

It’s March, and we are already working on January 2020 which we know sounds crazy!

Pricing:

• $249/month for small group coaching – 3-month commitment
• $497/month for private coaching – 3-month commitment
• $3000/coaching program – 6-month commitment

Contact Info:

• Website: https://accountabilityworks.com
• Phone: 9255771151
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/accountabilityworks/

Image Credit:
Heidi Bergseteren

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