209: Why We Created Alumni-Only Perks Inside Pattern+

I remember the first group of students who came through Surface Design Immersion like it was yesterday. As soon as I started connecting with them inside the course and in the community and in the comments and through their projects, I knew these were my people. They were curious, they were committed, they were a little bit nerdy, and they were ready to really build something big. That first year was so personal. I was in the weeds with them, answering questions and checking in and helping them stay focused and encouraged. I wasn't trying to go really big. I was just trying to serve them well. And honestly, I never stopped. Even now, years later, I still check this alumni community every single day to see what they're working on. And I love seeing how our alumni come together and connect and how far they go and what they're building and how they're showing up. That connection has and will always stay really close to my heart. So as we grew through Flourish and now through Pattern Plus, I knew I wanted to preserve a space that felt just like that. That felt like those first relationships, those first students, that early trust. So in today's episode, I want to share with you how we've built an alumni only focus and feature inside Pattern Plus. Not as a way to exclude anyone, but as a way to serve people more personally, more deeply, and in a way that meets them where they are when we have a shared experience.

I'm Bonnie Christine. And this is where all things creativity, design, business and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains, running a multi seven figure business and doing the most creative and impactful work of my life.

But when I first set out to

become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today. I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but also teaching others how to design their creative life and

experience their same success.

I'm here to help you spend your life doing something that lights you up. I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom you want, and is wildly profitable. Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast.

Here's how this might apply to you. Because whether you're running a membership like me, or working with clients, or creating an online program, this idea of layered support, of making thoughtful decisions about who gets what and when and where, is one of the most powerful things that you can do for your business. It allows you to keep that experience really personal and it helps Your best customers stay connected to you even longer. It also gives you the space to meet each person with the right level of support. Now, of course, this can be really hard. You want to give everything to everyone. I do too. But part of building a sustainable business is learning when to simplify and when to go deeper. So what we found was this. Our alumni needed something different than our brand new members. They already had this immense foundation. They already knew the language, the tools and the rhythm of our work. So we created alumni Only features that give them ongoing coaching, deeper community, more support, and spaces to grow together as peers. This decision has been one of the best things we've done, not just for things inside the membership, but for trust. And today, I want to walk you through why it works, how we designed it, and how you can apply the same thinking to your own business, whether you're running a membership or not. This episode will help you think differently about how you serve your customers and how you might build something that grows with them and not just around them. Over the years, I've had the honor of watching thousands of our alumni grow not just as artists, but as entrepreneurs and educators and product developers and leaders in the surface design industry. I've seen people go from unsure and overwhelmed to fully licensing their work, building collections with confidence, running entire businesses, making manufacturing manufacturing decisions, launching product lines, mentoring others in our community. And honestly, a lot of that momentum is because they have stayed connected. That's one of the things that I've loved most about this journey, is getting to stay in relationship with the people who have come through immersion, because they're people I've had relationships with, people that I've coached, friends that I root for year after year. And it was those relationships that really helped shape how we design Pattern Plus. I knew that I wanted it to feel welcoming and helpful for everyone, no matter where they're starting. But I also knew that I wanted to carve out something really special for our alumni. A space where they could go deeper, a community that they could stay strong in and support that could match really the level of learning that they were in. So that's where the Alumni Only features inside Pattern plus came in. We created three main touch points that are specifically designed for alumni members only. We call them our insiders. These are live attendance to our coaching sessions, access to the Love Squad, which is our support team and the community. So let's start by looking at coaching. The alumni Only coaching calls are relaxed, they're grounded, they're really personal. They're not just Q and A'S. They're definitely not presentations, but they're really honest, thoughtful conversations. Sometimes we're talking about pitching, other times we're talking about productivity or product development or pricing or things that are happening in the industry like tariffs or AI use and all kinds of things that are coming up for our industry. Sometimes it's just walking someone through like a block and helping them figure out what's really holding them back. The thing that makes these sessions so valuable is that no one has to come in with the perfect question because there's no pressure to have it all figured out before you even have the question. It's more like, come as you are, listen, learn, take what resonates, apply it to what you're doing. And honestly, it has been such a gift. It's one of my favorite things that I do in Pattern plus every month. Now, the live coaching sessions are accessible to the insiders, but what we do for the public version of Pattern plus, these, both of these are the same price, by the way. So everyone pays the same price. But alumni have insider perks. So the public version, that's for members who are not alumni, they get the replays so they can come in and watch and get access to the replays of these coaching calls anytime they want, which I think is such a gift for that kind of level as well, because you can come and listen in on the conversation that we're having post immersion, you know, training. Then there's the Love Squad. This is our dedicated support team and it's made up of team members who really, really know this journey. They are experts in Adobe Illustrator. They are artists who have personally walked through Surface Design immersion and supported students for months and months and months. And they are working artists in the industry and they're there to answer questions and give feedback on people's work and do kind of look at their portfolios and help them troubleshoot tech issues. It's like having a team in your pocket. They've been where you are, they are committed to helping you keep going, and they are truly experts in what they do. And then the third one is the community. So the community space where all of the members are staying connected, they're helping each other, they are peer to peer relationship growing, they're asking questions and getting that support is right there in the community. So we were really thoughtful about how we did this. The alumni only insider features are simple by design because simple is what helps keep things focused and meaningful. So those three elements, the coaching sessions, the Love Squad and the community. The very first issue of Pattern magazine is here. Volume 1 Creatively Creative this quarterly print magazine was made just for surface pattern designers, and it's dedicated to celebrating both the art and the business of this beautiful industry. Our debut issue invites you to explore what creativity looks like in summertime to return to the joy of making without pressure, without rules, just purposeful play. Inside, you'll find 120 full color pages designed to support your creative growth, filled with artist features and mood boards, color forecasts, licensing strategies, and creative prompts to keep you inspired and moving forward. You'll meet artists who embody play and curiosity in their work, including Oana Beffert, Helen Dealtree, Diane Hill, Kara Cummings, Karen Shipper, Melissa Johnson, and Sarah Bourne Rafferty. I've also included a few of my favorite summer tools, gardening notes and a peek behind the scenes of what makes this season so creatively rich, and even the story of how our family's road trip in a 1962 Airstream trailer inspired one of my very favorite pattern collections. If you've been craving a moment to slow down and make something simply for the joy of it, this issue is for you. Creatively Creative is your invitation to pause how you create in other seasons and play a little differently in these sunshine filled days. To get your copy of volume one, head to bonniecristine.com patternmagazine and order yours today. There's an art to slow, a beauty to soft, and a purpose in the unpredictable. And it's all waiting for you inside. Creatively Creative so let's talk about why this works. It is for anyone thinking about how to serve your own audience more meaningfully. Here's what we have learned when you create layered support, your trust grows. Alumni know that we're still walking with them. They don't have to start over or figure things out alone. They are being held and seen and supported and coached. And at the same time, new members aren't overwhelmed by things they're not ready for. They can move at their own pace without the pressure of keeping up with someone who might be further along. This tiered model also helps honor people where they are. An artist who's just starting is working from a different toolkit than someone licensing collections or developing products. Their needs are different and their questions are different, and how they engage with the community is different. So by supporting those different levels inside the membership, we're just able to offer a stronger, more focused support at every stage while also not over complicating the system. There's a mindset that I hear often from entrepreneurs Especially my fellow heart led ones. And it sounds like this. If I'm building something meaningful, I want to make sure it's accessible to everyone. And that comes from a really beautiful place because we care and we want to help. We want to make sure everyone feels supported. But what I've learned through our programs is that trying to give everything to everyone can actually water down the experience for the people who really need you the most. So when we try to be everything for everyone all the time, no one feels truly deeply supported. The edges get blurry and the clarity begins to fade away. And it gets harder to meet people where they actually are. This is kind of what happened to us years ago when we changed Flourish to become alumni only. It was because people were leaving and they often cited that it was either too advanced or not advanced enough. And that's because we had beginners and alumni in the same membership. And the edges began to blur. So that's why building in layered support is really with honor to the different places that your audience are. It honors the new creative who's getting started and needs clear guidance. It also honors the seasoned alumni who are ready for deeper work, both in their professional life and their personal life. Higher level strategy in connection with peers who have a similar foundation. That kind of support takes a lot of intention. It takes more focus, but the results are really, really powerful. Because when you serve from a place of depth instead of volume, when you slow down and say, what does this person need right now? That builds trust that lasts a really long time. Not everything needs to be available all at once, and not everything should be. Sometimes the most generous thing that you can do is offer the right thing to the right person at the right time. And that's what we're practicing inside of Pattern Plus. That's what I want to encourage you to think about in your own work as well. So here's what I hope this episode has shown you. Creating a layered support inside your business in tiered levels. It is really honoring and seeing all the people at all the different places. It helps them with a foundation and it helps them them see and go deeper. We built this layered approach to honor both of those things. So to support creatives wherever they are, and especially to keep walking with the artists who have already gone through immersion and are ready to kind of go deeper on what we learned there, that relationship and that trust really, really matters. And so by continuing to serve with a lot of clarity and care, I think it's one of the most meaningful things that we can do. So whether you run a membership or offer a course, or maybe you have coaching clients? My invitation is to take a moment and think about how you're serving your people. Are there opportunities to go deeper, not necessarily wider? And could layering your support actually create more value for both new customers and your longtime clients as well? You don't have to overhaul everything, you just ask what does this person need next? And see if that brings any clarity up for you. Now, if you are an Immersion alum and you've been wondering what's next, we would love to have you as a PatternPlus insider. And if you haven't taken immersion, Pattern plus is the perfect place for you to be. You'll get licensing opportunities every month, all of our monthly resources, mockups, pitch tip lengths, trend reports, the industry kit, and so much more. You're going to find all the details in today's show notes or you can head over to BonnieCristine.com PatternPlus and as always, if you have any questions, me and my team are here for you. You can just reach out, my friends. Create the beauty that you want to see come alive in the world. And remember, there's room for you.