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The way Alua Arthur Aids Thousands of Students Redefine Death

Apr 1, 2023

Alua Aruthur's unique founder's journey began on a bus ride in Cuba. Soon after she was diagnosed with depression that was clinical and ending her career in law, Alua found herself sitting next to a woman who was suffering from terminal uterine cancer. It was not clear that what would transpire when the conversation took place between them. It would forever alter her entire life forever.

"I have been able to ask her many questions on death- the type of questions that you wouldn't have to ask someone who you aren't familiar with and yet she was so honest to me. We spoke for hours about the things she feared and what she was scared to give up, as well as her regrets about things she could have done differently during her time," Alua recalls.

"Coming off the conversation, I wondered why I hadn't engaged with my spouse in meaningful conversations regarding deaths in my 34 years of life. The more I considered it, the more I thought, 'I want to change that.'"

Upon returning home in the United States, Alua threw herself into aiding others in the process of planning for their death. A lawyer by profession She knew she did not want to work into the medical field or social job. Although psychology wasn't the career she was looking for, she decoded to enroll in the psychology program that specifically focused on spirituality and death. But shortly after completing her studies the brother of her was diagnosed with terminal illness.

"I was able to help support his final two months of his existence. I was by his side every single day in the day, as well as out of itsitting in his living room or sitting on the ground doing errands, taking patients from hospitals, taking medications, in addition to doing the necessary research" she recounts.

"I was becoming more dissatisfied that there was nobody I could contact who could provide these answers to our queries or, at the very minimum an individual outside our network of contacts that would recognize what the issue that we faced. In those moments I decided, If I didn't have the answer, I would have invented it."

This realization was the catalyst to Moving with Grace funeral doula's education and plan for the end of life that is aiming to enhance and redefine the notion of death using the individual life experiences to form the foundation.

Alua welcomes more than 1800 people into her "End of Life Training Program', accumulated nearly 15,000 new customers to her newsletter and earned $2.5 million in sales. Here's how she accomplished this feat.

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     Her personal experience into her company's mission    

From the very beginning, Alua has been intentional in allowing Going With Grace to originate from a personal location. It is her belief that even though many try to distinguish between professional and personal life, each other both are one and the same.

"How you show up at home will show how you conduct yourself professionally. It was always an personal project -- I wanted to rectify what I had been struggling to overcome through my demise. The idea for Going With Grace was born in that space ."

The personal experiences of Alua have allowed her to walk in the shoes of her clients in a unique way- she understood all of their needs before they discovered her services.

"The dying process can be so isolating. The main goal was to make sure that patients don't feel isolated while going through these challenges. It's enough to be difficult regardless of having top doctors and the best help system. It's overwhelming ."

The book's author goes on to say: "The mission of Going with Grace helps people find the answer to the "What can I do in order to achieve peace within myself, in order that I remain in the present moment and die without a hitch? Whatever someone's answers may be we'll be there to help them. Sometimes it's about healing relationships or discussing the fear of dying or seeking out the principles people want to live their lives by. Our main goal is to help people find their values ."

Her messaging was consistent with her private, natural messaging

When it was time to translate her personalized messaging into a commercial marketing campaign, Alua stuck to her home base. Alua developed her site to serve a specific purpose that was to give permission for people to discuss the loss and grieving process without censorship.

"When I realized that such a space was not there, I was determined to create it because I was convinced that someone else was searching for the space. Perhaps it was one of a million, but I'm certain that someone other person has experienced a similar experience to my experience," she says.

"As an outcome of that thinking process, my marketing evolved organically and that's probably why people resonated with it so deeply."

However, Alua discovered that her organic messages can only go so far without consistent messaging.

"When there's an ignition of something inside someone which is not a good thing, then it's worth something. The intensity of the fire will not be yours  but it's the responsibility of you to start the flame. If you're constantly passionate and openly discussing the same topics In time, you'll be close to ."

     In the initial phase of her launch, Alua was also able to appreciate the significance of being authentic and true to her personality. In the beginning, she was not conscious of her name, however when she focused on herself, she was able to boost her authority and credibility.

"One important element in branding and marketing is staying true to who you are. I'm not a quiet person, serene, or even a human being, however, people tend to think that we should talk about and play around with issues of dying and the dead. By being unapologetic about my persona, I was able to draw attention from my friends ."

When she first started doing this, Alua started posting one-minute videos on social media that focused on her own experiences as well as her purpose statement as well as the online course she was about to create. In the past, Alua had pre-sold 57 subscriptions prior to when she began to design the course. And, not only that but her collection of 400 email addresses started growing rapidly.

"I really believed that perhaps 10 people would sign up. Then, I realized I actually did have the intention of doing this ."

The instructor clarified the course's structure by using a method that was concrete

Once she had established her intended audience, Alua started to wrap her thoughts around the challenging project of designing her first course online, titled 'The The Art of Dying'. Much like many course creators, she created a basic framework that she fleshed out each module.

"It was very helpful to think about the kinds of blocks of information my students required at specific moments throughout the course. I'd think to myself 'Here's the foundation. The next step is to follow. In the event that we're in this situation, what are we require to do for us to get to the goal?" I'd always think about the purpose of the course with an eye on the goal. And then, break the course into bite-sized chunks," she explains.

The framework was eventually developed in a way that was practical. Alua was able to divide the entire program into three fundamental segments. The first segment serves as the basis of what can funeral doulas really do? What is the role of medical specialists? What are the indicators of the death process? Are there reasons to consider your own demise? The second segment focuses on natural death care and funeral home operation along with funeral legacies and ceremonies. The final segment blends all of these elements into an action.

     Alua has developed a variety of software programs based on this design and all of them have the completion rate of 76% and overall scores that is 4.9 stars. She believes none of this would have been possible without .

" is the one aspect that truly made me think about my concept. The first time I started my journey, I searched for a long duration for an online learning platform however none could be available or accessible enough. Since I'm an analogue person, I'm not certain what to do about changing the ringtone on my phone however it was simple, and extremely efficient. It's how we got to the point we are now." she says.

She has incorporated her own voice into her classes

In addition to the advent of this new curriculum, Alua has been intentional in allowing her personal style to reflect in her online classes.

"I tell a lot of personal stories about my clients that I've had to deal with in order to help my students be able to comprehend the process in real in real time. I'm mindful of speaking directly to camera and also avoiding hiding my life from the shadows" she says.

"I believe that my online courses could be beautiful snapshots into the moment of my life and who I am as a person. "The Art of Dying' in the year 2018 , and then within four years, my course may be a completely different person than who I was at the time. When I design my courses, I stay away from being a slave to how I feel at the moment and also letting go of holding onto what the future could be. ."

Her focus was on her community as she chose to diversify her income streams

Alua has put a strong emphasis on building community within and beyond her course. Through leveraging the power studies groups she's found a way to improve her income stream.

"One of the best things concerning our classes is that they provide everything online. And there are also regular group study sessions in which participants discuss topics on Zoom live. Participants are able to answer queries in the discussions, which is not just an opportunity to keep their attention and involved and engaged, but it also helps create an increased sense of community. They become close to one other, they build relationships to the point that I've created space for them to carry out the activities that they naturally would perform at their own pace. ."

She continues: "I'm simply following the breadcrumbs that already exist. One of my students engaged not long ago, and seven students from their online class attended the wedding. This to me is the true power behind our work ."

In addition to her online courses, Alua has created various community-driven initiatives to support her model of business.

"Another significant source of income is"the Death Doula Den -- it's an online community for members in which individuals gather to discuss dying and dying. Additionally, we host distinct Zoom calls where we talk about  topics that are hot button in addition to offering support in this regard," she says.

"Ultimately there are communities for people who are seeking services themselves, and communities that seek to understand what it takes to be able to help others."

She was able to overcome the primary obstacle that course creators have to overcome

Looking at the progress of Go With Grace up to now, Alua is very transparent regarding how she's struggled to overcome various obstacles during her journey as a creator and a performer. Despite that, the struggles she has faced have helped make her more effective on a personal and professional level.

"The largest leap I've ever taken was hitting the "Publish" button during my very first lesson. I was crying hysterically when I pressed the button. The only thing I thought was"Oh My God What have I done? Do I really think that I is? What's the rationale behind why I would make a decision similar to this? ?'"

In a few years down in the future, Alua has a few tips she'd give her self at the time:

"The best thing you can do is stop the voices saying, "It's not possible. "You're not enough. You're not worth it. You're not sure the way you'll go. Do not think about it, and push on because you know someone else out there has what you have to offer. Do it. not perfect but it's likely to result in a mess and embarrassing to reflect at in a few many years. However, it's much more effective than doing absolutely nothing. ."

Are you inspired by Alua's success story in building an incredibly successful online-based course company? Are you ready to make your own leap? Sign up and start today.

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