Meet Amy
“It’s been a year since I started Zero to launch and I can’t believe where I am now compared to where I was then.”
— Amy Shah
“I always had this passion, but I couldn’t express it”
When Amy was in medical school, she was frequently ill. She visited doctor after doctor, trying to diagnose what was wrong. They all told her, “You’re fine. You’re just stressed.”
She knew they were missing something, so she did her own research. Eventually she decided to overhaul her diet, and within months, she felt better.
The entire experience made her want to help others go from tired and moody to energetic and happy, too.
“I had a lightbulb moment — I could help people with this same problem since they weren’t getting help from their doctors.”
Amy had always been passionate about nutrition (that’s why she became a doctor in the first place), so she was excited to share what she’d learned. Trouble was, nobody would listen.
While Western medicine focuses on helping you once you’re sick, Amy wanted to keep people from getting sick in the first place. Yet when she talked to her patients, they wanted pills, not advice on what to eat. She felt forced to keep what she learned to herself.
“I thought of this as my passion or side interest and didn’t pursue it in my medical practice.”
“I was afraid they’d call me a quack”
Years later, Amy realized she could share what she’d learned with the world by writing a guest post on a popular blog, MindBodyGreen.
“I contributed an article. When they published it, I realized, ‘Oh my God, I can start to reach and influence people and do something bigger than what I ever thought was possible!’”
Amy’s first post on MindBodyGreen.comAmy saw this as a way to finally share her passion with the world. But there was still a massive barrier in her way.
As an MD, she had a reputation to protect. If she was connected to some “scammy blog” or “sleazy online business,” she’d be ruined financially and her career would be destroyed.
“I was afraid my colleagues would judge me. That they would say, ‘Oh she’s this quack doctor, she believes in essential oils for treating cancer.’ It was a big risk for me to put this out there.”
“I didn’t have the time or energy to do this myself”
With no business background and a demanding career, Amy knew she’d need guidance. So she joined a popular program that teaches people how to turn their blog into a profitable business.
Unfortunately, it didn’t help.
“I really felt lost. The material was vague and general, and I didn’t want to post anything in the Facebook group because I didn’t feel I had anything in common with the people there. It was a waste.”
So Amy turned to another source for help. She joined a mastermind group run by Zero to Launch graduate Selena Soo.
When she told Selena her goal — to educate people on how proper nutrition can help them avoid illness and diseases — Selena suggested she build an online course and recommended joining Zero to Launch.
“There were so many people, including Selena, telling me Zero to Launch was a great way to build a course. They said it’d be a great foundation to get started since I didn’t know anything about the internet business world.”
“I needed to know I wasn’t wasting my time”
When Zero to Launch opened, Amy followed Selena’s advice and joined.
She quickly discovered it was much more detailed than the other course. Zero to Launch went step by step and gave her specific benchmarks to hit before moving to the next step. She found this incredibly helpful.
“I needed some kind of structure to know I was on the right track and wasn’t wasting my time. So I loved how specific Ramit was about hitting benchmark measures.”
But it wasn’t just the information and structure she loved. What really made the difference was the support she got from the community.
“One of the best things about the Zero to Launch community is that we really got to know each other.”
“I knew someone in the group was coming out with a course 2 weeks before me, so I called her to ask a few questions. She was so warm and friendly and told me everything that went right or wrong so I could prepare myself a few weeks later. That was priceless.”
Amy’s website, AmyShahMD.com
“My revenue doubles every time I launch”
In October 2015, 6 months after joining, Amy launched her first online course.
“My audience told me they really wanted to know about gut and hormone health. So I created my course around that.”
And she offered two versions of it: The lower-tier version sold for $600. The higher-tier version, which included one-on-one coaching — something her reader specifically asked for — sold for $1,500.
Her first launch made more than $10,000.
Since then, Amy’s continued to use Zero to Launch techniques to grow her email list to more than 12,000 subscribers — and sales have skyrocketed.
“Ever since my first launch, my revenue has doubled every time I launch a course or product.”
Amy’s made more than $30,000 from her online business in less than a year
Amy has appeared on the Dr. Oz Show“Because of the success of that first course, a lot of people approached me to work with them: I partnered with MindBodyGreen to create a 7-day gut reboot course. And I have books and other courses and collaboration projects in the works.”
“I can’t believe where I am now”
Though she was originally afraid online business would hurt her reputation, it’s actually helped Amy’s career soar.
“It’s a year since I started Zero to launch, and I can’t believe where I am now compared to where I was then.”
She’s become so well-known that her colleagues, who used to tease her about her “little blog,” worry she might leave them.
“They say things like, ‘Are you going to leave our practice? This is getting bigger and bigger, is it going to be your main thing now?’”
Even better, thanks to her online business, Amy’s finally making the impact she’s dreamed of since starting medical school.
“People come up to me all the time with problems Western medicine can’t solve. I’m helping thousands, if not millions, of people take control of their health and prevent disease and the heartache that comes with that. I’m doing something that will change their lives forever.”
Hear more of Amy’s story
In March 2016, we invited Amy into our studio to tell her full story. Click below to learn:
- Why the set-your-own-pace style of Zero to Launch helped her stay productive and on track to create top-shelf material (2:43)
- Exactly what she did to find out what course her audience was desperate for her to create (all it took was one automated email) (5:25)
Sell in a way that boosts your reputation
Amy was afraid online business would hurt her reputation because there’s so much “scammy” online marketing out there. She didn’t want to be associated with that.
But through our course, Amy learned how to sell with integrity and confidence. Without that mindset shift, she may never have released her first product, and all the success that followed never would’ve never happened.
