In this YouTube case‑study, Scott Perry interviews his client Angel Cartagena, a former lawyer and pastor who now works as a marriage and divorce coach. Angel explains her background, the two main challenges she faced before coaching – a lack of confidence in her new role and difficulty marketing herself – and how a referral from a friend led her to Scott. Through three months of one‑on‑one coaching, Angel highlights the value of Scott’s direct, no‑nonsense style, a mindset shift from “selling” to “being a blessing,” and the creation of a weekly “Tuesday Tips” Facebook Live series that repurposes content on LinkedIn and niche groups. These actions helped her clarify her service offering and pricing, attract several new clients (including local in‑person couples and an out‑of‑state couple referred by a friend), and move toward a realistic solopreneur lifestyle. Angel concludes by emphasizing the difference between a purchase and an investment, urging listeners to view coaching with Scott as a worthwhile investment that can transform their business.
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Hey everyone, it's Scott Perry with one of my rockstar clients. Angel is here. Angel, welcome. I appreciate you doing this case study. Please tell everyone that's tuning in who you are, what you do, and, uh, tell us a little bit about your business.
Yeah, so I'm Angel Cartagena. Uh, my friends call me AC though, so much easier, or Dr. C if you feel like you need to be formal. Uh, I am a marriage and divorce coach. Uh, my long-term history is I spent 15 years practicing law and then felt the calling to be a full-time pastor. And so my approach to both marriage and divorce counsel is all based on the Bible, as well as, you know, studies and literature that essentially will prove certain things. So for example, that marriage has a much higher ability to survive if you do pre-marriage counseling ahead of time. So I basically help people either prepare for marriage, deal with issues in marriage, or, uh, if the marriage hasn't worked out, help them navigate the seas of divorce.
Very good. And you do great work. It's really important work, and it was an absolute thrill to spend the last 3 months working with you. I'd love to have you share what you— your challenge was before we started working together.
Yeah, I think there were two things. One, I struggled sort of with confidence, right? Um, you know, it's one thing when you go to like an accredited law school, you get the law degree, you pass the bar, you're a lawyer, right? Now you still have to learn how to practice law, but you're a lawyer. You know, the coaching thing is different. Uh, there's a lot of stuff out there, a lot of good material to get, but nothing that is, um, sort of solid in terms of, uh, sort of pointing you in the right direction. So confidence was one, and then marketing myself. Was the other thing that I was really, you know, just not good at, have never been good at. And so, and so when, when I expressed these to a very good friend of mine, she suggested I talk to you. And so there I showed up at your electronic doorstep.
I'm grateful to Nikki for that introduction. I'm grateful for you showing up at my digital doorstep. I'm really grateful that I was smart enough to let you on in. And I'd love to, you know, just— was there anything specifically that you had heard about me that made you decide that it was going to— that it was going to be me that you were going to work through these issues with?
You know, I just trusted Nikki's judgment. She said, this guy will help you. He has everything you need. You, once you, once you have spent some time with him, you'll have everything you need to understand how to properly run your coaching business. And she wasn't lying. I mean, I think, you know, everything that I threw at you, everything that we talked about, you always had a good response for, and your ideas were great. And so, you know, the process was, uh, it was really amazing for me, actually.
I love that. Thank you. What was, uh, in particular about working together that was really helpful and Why do you think it was so effective?
Well, I think the one-on-one thing always helps, right? When, when you can personalize your issue and, you know, you just— well, first of all, I think one of the things I really appreciate about you is your no-nonsense directness. Like, I, I don't deal well with, you know, people who feel like they have to, you know, dance around the bush. You're right to the point. And so, you know, like one thing, for example, I realized that I didn't like— one of the challenges with marketing myself is I didn't like doing it because I thought of myself as selling. And you challenged me instead to think of what I have to offer as being a blessing to others. And that, that mind shift alone, um, was major in terms of, um, you know, how I've managed to run my coaching business since we started working together.
Yeah, I love that. Well, share a little bit about, you know, what happened for you through the coaching and what, what's happened for your business since working together.
So there are two things in particular. One is, um, that I, I really, uh, got a much better definition in my mind about what I have to offer and how to price it, which was another big issue that I had when I came to you. Um, and since then, uh, I've actually attracted several clients. And interestingly enough, it was the Be a Blessing thing that you gave me that I flipped into something called Tuesday Tips. So, uh, so just so everyone knows, I will record a video live on Facebook, but then I will post that video on LinkedIn and on some special, uh, specialized groups, of people who are struggling through the issue of divorce or people who are, you know, looking for information on marriage. And the tips, uh, you know, the Tuesday Tips will last anywhere from 8 to say 14 minutes, uh, where I will focus on one particular aspect. And that's actually brought either people to me or has led other people send people to me. And, and so, for example, you know, the most recent client I have is a couple I'm working with from out of state. And they, they were seeking one kind of help from an organization. And the leader of that organization happens to be a really good friend. And so when she discovered that part of their issues were that they're having marriage issues, she was like, I got the guy for you. You got to reach out to him. And so, um, and so that one, just that one thing of Tuesday Tips, no pressure. I just will, you know, uh, hit Facebook Live. I usually know or have thought about what I want to do, but it's something I try to keep short, give some really easy principles for people to walk away with. And as a result, you know, I'm working with, um, two couples in their marriage. One I'm preparing for marriage And then there's one other person that I'm walking them through the journey of divorce.
Yeah, well, I love— so many folks out there listening probably feel like you did, that, you know, I'm really uncomfortable with this marketing or sales thing. And one of the things that I love about your Tuesday Tips is it's a perfect expression of what I call be a blessing marketing. Just do the work that you do Talk to the people that you serve and do that out loud and in public. Be as generous and insightful and inspirational as you can be, and let that good work that you're doing be the marketing and naturally attract more of the right people to be interested in buying from you without having to resort to high-pressure sales tactics. And your Tuesday tips are fantastic. They pop across my screen almost every Tuesday, and I always, even though I'm hopefully not in any kind of trouble that you can help me with directly. I just enjoy—
hopefully not—
your approach. Well, how, how has your life changed since you've been able to get better dialed in around your business and how you promote yourself? And now that clients are starting to come in, so, you know, I'm—
what, what— where I am now is I'm starting to feel like it's a reality of having the goal of being able to work from home or locally, because interestingly enough, one of the couples I'm working with is a local couple. So we actually meet— I actually— that's not true. One marriage couple and the pre-marriage couple are local, and I'm actually working with them in person, which is kind of nice to have that interaction. But really, the biggest part is just I feel like being what you call a solopreneur is a reality. It can happen. And I think that was, that was probably one of the small sort of smidgens of doubt that was in there when I first decided to work with you.
Yeah. Well, where do you think you would be now if you hadn't trusted yourself enough to invest in the difference that you can make and get the kind of help that you needed to get your— to move your endeavor forward?
Probably working at Walmart. I would be working a job basically, and stressing about finances and all that kind of stuff. And as, you know, as this has begun, it's, you know, we've got some momentum now. And so keeping that momentum going is, uh, is something that I'm confident I can do based on the work we did together. And so, um, with that momentum, you know, uh, I'm really hoping that, that all the other things that I was hoping to get with being able to work from home, or at least work with a schedule that is my schedule, in which is spending time with family and doing some traveling, that all of that is possible.
I really appreciate that. If anyone that's watching is, you know, looking through these case studies and trying to figure out, well, should I, should I reach out to Scott Perry? Should I book that Catalyst call and see if it's a possibility that he can help me? What would you tell them about whether or not to go ahead and fill out that form and book the call?
You know, one of the most important lessons that I've learned in life is there's a difference between a purchase and an investment. And so my message to anyone who's thinking about whether they want to work with you or not is, if you're serious about growing your business, you need to make the investment. And this investment is definitely worthwhile. It will definitely pay off, and I can confidently say that.
I really appreciate that, Ángel. I'm so thrilled that we've had the chance to work together. I'm thrilled that you continue to be a member and a big contributor to our community. Just continuing to cheer you on, but also be inspired by the work you're doing and the difference you make. So thanks so much for the time that you lent to us here today.
