Sharon Pope remembers the exact moment she knew something had to change.
She was coaching women through the hardest decisions of their lives — should they stay in their marriages or go? She'd built a thriving practice charging $10,000 for transformational work. But she could only help a handful of women at a time.
Every week, women who desperately needed help couldn't afford five figures for coaching.
These women were stuck in marriages that looked fine from the outside but felt lonely and disconnected on the inside. They were living Sharon's story from 16 years earlier, when she went through her own painful stay-or-go decision in her first marriage.
Six years ago, Sharon made a decision of her own. She would build a membership called The Decision where women worldwide could access her 14 years of expertise, customize their journey, and find a community that actually understood.
Today, she shows up for just one hour a week and serves 250 members. She has far more time freedom. And she's built something that can live beyond her and impact lives for many years.
Here's how she did it.
Sharon had built what most coaches dream of - a premium practice with clients who paid well. But premium pricing creates a premium problem.
She could work with maybe 10 women at a time. Every slot filled meant another woman couldn't access help. High-end coaching meant trading time for money at a higher rate, but she was still trading time. All her expertise was helping 10 women at a time.
"There were a lot of women who were struggling in their marriages who couldn't afford $10,000 but still really, really needed the help," Sharon explains.
That's when she made the shift from coaching to a membership model.
Sharon didn't want to create another course. She wanted women to customize their experience based on their specific challenges - communication problems, unmet needs, how to leave peacefully, or whether to stay.
The membership includes around 1,000 hours of content, live weekly sessions, two tiers ($297 and $497/month), a private community, powerful search functionality, mobile app access, and an AI assistant fed by all her content.
But it wasn't about piling on content. It was about creating a space where women could find exactly what they needed without feeling overwhelmed or alone.
Sharon went from coaching 10 women to serving 250 members - 25 times more impact.
But the real transformation isn't about scale. It's about time for freedom.
"I used to coach 10 women at a time or in small groups, and it took a lot of time," Sharon reflects. "Now I show up once a week for an hour and have been consistently doing that for six years."
One hour per week for core member delivery. The rest of her time? Creating content, building systems, growing the business, living her life.
The revenue is predictable, too. A member at $297/month for a year represents $3,564 compared to $10,000 coaching engagement that ends. Recurring revenue means she can plan, invest in growth, and build something sustainable.
The search functionality in Membership.io changed everything. "Members can type in 'how to set boundaries' and get every single time I've talked about it," Sharon explains. With 1,000 hours of content, members could feel overwhelmed. Instead, they find exactly what they need.
But here's what surprised Sharon: the community became the real transformation.
When The Decision was in Facebook, women were scared to post about their marital challenges. They worried about friends and family seeing their struggles.
Everything changed with a private, safe platform.
Now women share real struggles. They get advice from others who've been there. They see someone else take a hard step and think, "If they can do that, maybe I can do this."
Sharon calls it "borrowed courage."
"Women realize they're not alone," Sharon says. "There are women literally all over the world struggling in the exact same way."
When you're stuck in a marriage that's slowly suffocating you, that connection isn't nice to have. It's lifesaving.
Sharon isn't selling information. Anyone can Google "how to know if you should get divorced."
What Sharon sells is The Decision Process™ - her proven framework developed over 14 years of coaching hundreds of women through this exact moment. It's not about content. It's about finding your answer.
And the women don't just come for her expertise. They stay for each other. When you've found your people - women who truly understand without judgment - you don't leave. That borrowed courage becomes real courage.
ChatGPT can't give you that. A course can't give you that. Only a real membership community can.
Ask Sharon about her proudest moment, and it's not the revenue or the 250 members.
"What we've built can live beyond me," Sharon says. "When I was just coaching, I had to be there. This is something that can now live beyond me and can impact lives for many, many years."
Sharon built something that doesn't require her to show up every single time. The framework is documented. The community supports itself. The systems work.
Members are changing their own lives, their children's lives, and their families' lives. That's not just a business. That's a legacy.
When Sharon talks to people considering a membership, her advice is remarkably simple.
"Be willing to take imperfect action."
"Far too many people want it to be just absolutely perfect," Sharon explains. "And perfectionism is not your friend here. You have to be willing to just take action, take imperfect action, but just do it."
The Decision didn't launch with 1,000 hours of content. Sharon started with her framework, her expertise, and a vision. Then she built it piece by piece, showing up every week for six years.
"Just like going to the gym every day," Sharon says.
"You go to the gym one day, and you look at yourself, and you're like, nothing changed. But if you go to the gym every single day, you know that at some point that's going to materialize into something meaningful."
One week of showing up doesn't build a thriving membership. But showing up consistently, week after week, taking imperfect action again and again? That builds something remarkable.
Sharon's honest about what made the difference. When she switched to Membership.io, the search functionality, mobile app, and community features created the safe space women needed.
"It's the most affordable, it's the most efficient, it has the most capabilities," Sharon says. "The thing that I appreciate about this platform is that it was built specifically for this purpose."
Not a course platform with a community bolted on. A dedicated membership platform built by membership owners who understand what creators need.
When members made the switch, it "felt like a breath of fresh air because they could access everything in a much easier platform."
Sharon's journey shows what's possible when you shift from hours worked to impact created.
You don't need to choose between income and impact. Sharon serves 25 times more women while working less and earning predictable revenue.
You don't need perfection to start. Six years of consistent showing up beats waiting for everything to be perfect.
Starting a successful membership site requires tools that support your vision, not fight it. Sharon's platform gave her a search that works, a community that feels safe, and mobile access that meets members where they are.
The real power of the membership model isn't just recurring revenue or time freedom. It's building something that creates transformation beyond your direct presence. Something that lives beyond you.
Sharon didn't have it all figured out when she started. She had expertise, a framework that worked, a vision for what women needed, and the courage to take imperfect action.
Six years of showing up consistently turned that vision into a thriving membership serving 250 women worldwide.
Membership.io is the dedicated membership platform built by membership owners for membership owners. We give you the tools Sharon needed - search that works, safe community features, mobile access, and systems that enable your vision.
Start your free trial today or email us at help@membership.io to learn how we can support your membership vision.