The beauty of the Dishing Up Digital School is that you're getting a proven roadmap to success — no more getting confused between advice from different coaches or piecing together random tips from the internet. You put your blinders on, follow the DDS curriculum, and take it step by step.

I've had students book their first paying client within a matter of weeks, and others where it might take a couple of months. It really depends on how much you're willing to put into the process and how open you are to feedback in the community.

It took me personally 10 months to replace my 9-to-5 income and go full-time as a social media manager — but I'm proud to say my students do this in two to three months. Their journey is so much more accelerated because they have the proven framework and support from both the student community and myself.

Alongside the self-study curriculum, you get access to a private student community — think of it like a Facebook group or Slack channel exclusively for DDS students.

Inside this community, we host twice-monthly live classes, and I'm active answering questions every day, Monday to Friday (New Zealand time). You can post any question — nothing is off limits. I personally respond to each one with detailed answers. Sometimes that's a written message; sometimes it's a six-to-eight-minute voice note; and if it's a bigger question or I'm auditing your Instagram page, a piece of content, or your client's page, it might be a 15-to-20-minute video message from me.

Although this is support in a group container, it's very much high-level coaching. Students often say their favourite thing about DDS is the student community because of how responsive and supportive I am.

Previously, DDS was only a group programme with self-study curriculum and community support. Recently, though, we added a bonus: anyone who selects the pay-in-full option gets a 60-minute one-on-one coaching call with me for free.

A one-on-one coaching call is where you and I meet on Zoom to deep dive into your business — troubleshooting, finding where the blocks are, and getting focused, personalised attention. You can book this in at any time within your 12 months of access.

If you choose the payment plan and don't get that one-on-one call, you can still get a similar experience by coming along to our live Q&A sessions. This is where we do hot-seat coaching — you can submit questions in advance or bring them to the live class, and we spend around 10 to 15 minutes on each person. Even without the one-on-one call, the level of support inside DDS is genuinely extensive.

While there is live support through our bi-monthly calls and open student community, the bulk of the work is self-study through our video lessons and course library. You can go through these at your own pace, which is exactly why I've set up the programme this way. I'm there to support you when you need it, but primarily you get to structure things around your life.

We have students who are busy mums with large families, students working demanding full-time jobs, and students juggling study and several side hustles. You get 12 whole months of access to the student community. I often have people who spend six months slowly working through the self-study video lessons and then feel ready to come along to live classes or get me to review their work. There's no set timeline — it's about what works best for you.

I also firmly believe that when it comes to business, there's no perfect time to start. There's always going to be something happening in your life or the world that creates distraction. At some point, you just have to take the leap and slowly start taking steps — no matter how small — towards your goals.

You get lifetime access to the course hub — all 70+ video lessons are yours forever. That also means you get any curriculum updates at no extra cost. A great example: at the end of 2024, I completely upgraded the entire curriculum with brand new video lessons, and anyone who had purchased DDS in 2022 or 2023 automatically received all of those updates. I'm constantly adding new lessons as the industry evolves, plus new templates and resources.

The only thing with a time limit is your access to the student community. This is intentional — it's there to make sure you're showing up, staying accountable, and making the most of the 12 months of support. After your 12 months, there are affordable monthly subscription options if you'd like to continue being part of the community.

Let's talk numbers. The full investment for DDS is $2,297 USD.

To make that back, you'd only need to book one client at $500/month and keep them for about five months. Or book two clients at $1,200 each. Or land just one client at $2,500 and you've already covered the full investment. Many of our students make their investment back within the first few months — some within weeks.

But here's the bigger picture: you're not just paying for a course. You're building a skill set that becomes the foundation for future businesses and can realistically turn into a six-figure recurring income stream. This isn't a one-time purchase that expires — it's an investment in a career and a lifestyle that keeps paying you back.

Yes! You can split the investment across five monthly payments of $497 USD, making it much more manageable. You get the same access to everything — the full curriculum, the student community, the live classes, and Dishy (our AI coaching assistant). The only difference is that the pay-in-full option saves you a bit and includes a bonus 60-minute one-on-one coaching call with me.

Here's the thing — my free content on YouTube and Instagram is genuinely excellent, and I'm proud of that. But if you're on this page reading these FAQs, something isn't quite clicking yet, right?

The difference between free content and DDS comes down to two things. First, structure: inside DDS you get a proven, step-by-step curriculum that takes you from A to Z in a logical order — versus trying to piece together 100 different YouTube videos and hoping you haven't missed something critical. Second, and honestly the biggest one, is support. Inside DDS, you get personalised feedback on your actual work. Someone to talk to when you hit a roadblock. Someone to review your pitch when no one's replying. Someone to lean on when you get difficult client feedback or just feel lonely in the journey. Free content can't give you that.

Absolutely. The Dishing Up Digital School caters to both people with existing experience and those who are starting from scratch. A huge portion of our students join with zero clients, zero experience, and zero portfolio — and that's exactly what the programme is designed for. The curriculum walks you through everything from creating your services and building your portfolio to booking your very first client.

We've had a huge variety of service providers sign up for DDS — from copywriters to photographers. Although yes, we're teaching social media management services, it's a great option if you want to diversify your services or simply learn more.

A lot of what we teach is fundamentally a business programme. We're not just talking about social media skills — we're talking about building a freelance business. We have students who just sell strategy services, students who only do content creation, and even students who do things like websites and copywriting. Whatever your niche, the business foundations, client acquisition strategies, and support apply to you.

Yes! We have students from all over the world inside DDS. I'm a firm believer that anyone can be a social media manager, no matter where they live — which is often why I talk about being from New Zealand (aka a country at the bottom of the world) and still working with my own international clients. Location is not a barrier.

If at any point you're struggling, the student community is there to support you — and so am I.

Not getting clients? Let's look at your lead generation strategies. No one replying to your cold pitch? Let me review it and see which clients you're pitching to. Struggling to get anywhere? Let's go back to your portfolio and make tweaks and adjustments.

In my experience, there's always a solution. It's not about you not being made for this industry — anyone can do it. It's about learning where your advantage lies and which lever you need to pull. That personalised support through the student community — the voice messages, the video messages from me — is where it really pays off in gold.

We don't offer refunds for DDS due to its digital nature, but we absolutely have support in place for students who are finding things challenging.

The Dishing Up Digital School is in a world of its own. I'm not someone who started coaching after a few months of working with clients. I've been freelancing since March 2019 — that's when I booked my first paid client — and for the first three to four years of my business, social media management was my dominant income stream. I started coaching because I genuinely love it. You can't stop me teaching people. It lights me up. That passion is poured into every single lesson, and it's one of the reasons students consistently rave about the curriculum and my teaching style.

What really sets this programme apart, though, is the level of support. This isn't just a self-study course — it's a mentorship programme. A business accelerator. I care deeply about every single student and providing a high level of feedback and support, which is just something you don't see in a lot of programmes.

Here's the full breakdown:

Self-Study Curriculum — 12 Modules, 70+ Video Lessons (Lifetime Access)

1. Mindset & Goals — Install the CEO mindset, eliminate imposter syndrome, set clear income goals, and stop overthinking.
2. Creating Your Services — Build premium offers clients are excited to pay for and position yourself to charge $2k–$5k/month.
3. Booking Clients — Sign your first (or next) client with a clear, repeatable system and sell confidently on discovery calls.
4. Social Strategy — Deliver strategies clients actually see results from and become the SMM clients trust long-term.
5. Systems & Workflows — Set up smooth onboarding, create time-saving systems, and run your business like a business.
6. Content Creation — Create content that attracts clients (not just likes), write captions that convert, and build a system you can stick to.
7. UGC (Bonus Skill) — Add UGC as an additional income stream and expand your earning potential beyond retainers.
8. Client Relationships — Communicate confidently, set boundaries, handle feedback without spiralling, and build long-term client relationships.
9. Legal & Money — Get paid properly, set up contracts that protect you, and feel confident managing your money.
10. Scaling — Increase your rates, build consistent monthly income, create additional income streams, and start thinking like a CEO.
11. Marketing Your Business — Attract clients through your content, build a premium personal brand, and turn your audience into paying clients.
12. Coaching & Long-Term Growth — Step into leadership, expand beyond 1:1 work, and build a sustainable, scalable business.

Plus:

• 10 guided workbooks
• Proven templates for pitching, proposals, onboarding, and more
• 12 months access to the private student community
• Twice-monthly live classes and Q&A sessions
• Daily support from Ellen, Monday to Friday (NZ time)
• 24/7 access to Dishy, our AI coaching assistant (trained on all of Ellen's strategy)
• Automatic curriculum updates as the industry evolves

Scroll down to read some of our student testimonials, or visit our Student Stories page to find long-form podcast interviews with students about what worked for them and how they grew their businesses.

This is something I'm genuinely proud of. The Dishing Up Digital School is constantly updated with new material and new lessons. It's also why we have the live classes — so I can update you in real time on things like what's changed in the industry this week, what's working for my Facebook ads right now, or what I'm currently doing for clients.

Social media is so fast-paced, so of course keeping DDS fresh and up to date is something we take really seriously. The self-study curriculum has a strong foundation of business strategy and social media strategy that doesn't change, but we're always updating things like our AI module to make sure you're staying ahead of the curve.

Absolutely. We have a full module dedicated to AI, and it's being updated constantly right now with the changing industry and evolving tools. If you're new to AI, it's a great introduction. If you're more advanced, we're adding more tutorials on skills, automations, and co-working with AI as we speak.

One of the standout AI features we have is Dishy — our AI coaching assistant, available to you 24/7. She's trained on all of my strategy and frameworks, so she can review your work, answer your questions, and guide you through the DDS programme anytime — even outside of my support hours.

100%. DDS isn't just for beginners — it's designed to meet you wherever you are. If you've already got social media experience, the programme will help you refine your processes, package and price your services at a premium level, and build the business systems you need to scale. Many of our experienced students say DDS gave them the structure and confidence to go from "doing social media" to running a real, profitable business. The curriculum covers everything from advanced strategy and client management to scaling and creating additional income streams — so there's plenty of depth no matter where you're starting from.