PODCAST: Season 6, Episode 33
Grab your coffee and settle in for an inspiring conversation! Mills sits down with Courtenay, who has built an incredibly engaged Instagram community of 30,000 followers through radical honesty and authentic communication. If you’ve ever wondered how to build real engagement (not just vanity metrics) or how to navigate the tricky relationship between spirituality and money, this episode is pure gold.
Meet Courtenay Pipkin
Courtenay is a yoga teacher, business owner, and manifesto generator who has created something truly special – a thriving online community built on honest conversations about the realities of teaching yoga. She’s proof that you don’t need to be controversial for the sake of it; you just need to be authentically you.
Key Topics Covered
In this engaging conversation, Mills and Courtenay explore:
- Building authentic engagement on Instagram – why 30K followers with real community beats 100K passive followers
- The “accidental sale” – how Mills sold to Courtenay without even realizing it
- Manifestor human design in business – riding the creative highs and honoring the hermit phases
- Money and spirituality – navigating the yoga industry’s complicated relationship with abundance
- Building business in reverse – creating products for an existing engaged audience
- Affordable accessibility – serving your community without undervaluing yourself
The Instagram Strategy That Actually Works
Courtenay’s Approach:
- Posted every day for a month as an experiment (“either this works or I park it”)
- Focused on filling gaps in conversations rather than being controversial
- Built community through honest dialogue, not one-way broadcasting
- Created content that made people stop mid-scroll and think “how does she know that?”
Key Insight: “I don’t approach it as I’m the expert sitting in this seat telling you things. It’s very much – I’m in the trenches with you, let’s figure this out together.”
The Business Built in Reverse
Unlike traditional business models, Courtenay had the dream scenario:
- Built an engaged audience first through authentic content
- Had people asking “how can I work with you?” before she had offerings
- Created affordable, value-packed courses (£37 for university-level content)
- Focused on volume sales rather than high-ticket offerings
The Philosophy Club Success: Threw out an idea to her email list without even a sales page – 30 people joined immediately, generating enough revenue to cover her first month of coaching with Mills.
Manifestor Human Design in Action
Courtenay shares how discovering she’s a manifestor changed everything:
The Permission to Move On: “When it’s successful, you’re done. Like mentally you’re like, I don’t want to go around that boy again.”
Working with Natural Cycles:
- Riding the creative highs when ideas flow
- Honoring the hermit phases for integration
- Not forcing long-term commitments that don’t light her up
Mills’ Observation: “Your coaching you has also helped me understand my daughter Isla a little bit more” (also a manifestor).
Navigating Money & Spirituality in Yoga
The Industry Challenge: Unspoken rules that yogis shouldn’t make money or should teach “for the love”
Courtenay’s Balanced Approach:
- “At the least you need to be watering your own garden”
- Focus on value exchange – is what you’re offering worth more than what students pay?
- Avoid manipulation tactics that don’t align with yogic principles
- Make practices accessible without martyring yourself
The Reality Check: A teacher who donated all class fees couldn’t pay her bills and had to stop teaching entirely.
The Art of Authentic Content
What Makes Courtenay’s Content Magnetic:
- Nuanced takes on divisive topics (like walking around during yoga class)
- “One-woman debate team” approach – exploring all sides
- Encouraging critical thinking over prescriptive answers
- Permission-giving rather than rule-making
Her Philosophy: “Find your own way. There’s no instruction manual for being a good yoga teacher.”
Building Boundaries as a Creative Entrepreneur
Courtenay’s Energy Management:
- Works around her son’s nursery schedule (3 days/week)
- Goes with creative flow rather than rigid content calendars
- Keeps parenting and work time separate
- Dictates ideas into notes when inspiration strikes
The 20-Minute Blog Post: “I can blam out a 2000-word blog post in 15-20 minutes because it’s there. But if I try to structure that too much, the cursor just blinks.”
The “Accidental Sale” Story
Mills accidentally sold to Courtenay by being brutally honest about dropping a product:
Mills: “Everyone thinks their business is gonna change in six weeks. How on earth is that possible?”
Why It Worked: No sales pressure, just honest communication about what works and what doesn’t.
Courtenay’s Splenic Authority: “I’m in or I’m not, I know” – made the decision immediately and they started working together the next week.
Resources Mentioned
- Courtenay’s Instagram: @thehonestyogateacher
- Her Substack: In-depth weekly blog posts
- Philosophy Club: Self-study group for yoga philosophy
- Human Design: Understanding manifestor energy and splenic authority
- Mills’ approach: Energy-first business strategy
Powerful Quotes from This Episode
“My nervous system can’t handle being polarizing for the sake of it. I don’t want to invite that energy into my world.”
“Everyone has ideas, but you get the thing off the ground. The permission to get the thing off the ground and then walk away and do something else.”
“It feels like a community. It’s not speaking into the void – we’re in conversation.”
“Don’t be a martyr. You can’t help anyone if you’re burnt out, and that’s just silly.”
“Let’s think sensibly about this. Who’s paying her mortgage? Who’s paying her bills?”
Take Action
For Content Creators:
- Focus on building genuine community over vanity metrics
- Be authentic rather than controversial for the sake of it
- Create content that fills gaps in conversations
For Spiritual Entrepreneurs:
- Examine your relationship with money and abundance
- Focus on value exchange rather than price-justification
- Don’t martyr yourself in service of others
For Manifestors:
- Honor your natural cycles of creative energy and integration
- Give yourself permission to move on when projects feel complete
- Build support systems that can maintain momentum when you step back
Let’s Connect!
Find Courtenay on Instagram @thehonestyogateacher for daily honest conversations about yoga, business, and life. Subscribe to her Substack for deeper dives into the topics that matter.
Remember
You don’t need to be controversial to be magnetic. Authenticity, nuance, and genuine care for your community will always win over shock tactics. Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is simply be honest about your experience.
This episode is essential listening for anyone building an online community, navigating the intersection of spirituality and business, or learning to work with their natural energy patterns rather than against them.