Stuck? Don’t Ask How. Ask Who.

A few years ago, I hit a wall in one of my online schools.

Student growth had plateaued. My tech stack looked like a Jenga tower built by caffeinated raccoons. My teachers were burning out. I knew I needed to fix it… but every “how” I came up with led to another rabbit hole.

How do I build a better funnel?
How do I automate onboarding?
How do I keep students engaged after week three?

Each “how” added more to my to-do list. And every item felt like a side quest in a game I didn’t want to play.

Then I read Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. And the game changed.

The core idea of the book is painfully simple (like all genius ideas). When you hit a roadblock, don’t ask, “How can I fix this?”
Ask, “Who can help me solve this?”

If you run an online school, this mindset shift is not just helpful. It’s essential.

Because here’s the truth… the bigger your school grows, the more your job becomes about building a network of Whos, not becoming a master of Hows.

Let’s look at a few real-world examples.

You’re buried in curriculum planning.

You spend 40 hours designing lesson slides and typing out rubrics for a new cohort. You’re drowning in Google Docs.

Old way of thinking:
How can I get faster at building this curriculum? Maybe I go back to school and learn how to do it.

New way of thinking:
Who already knows how to build this curriculum in half the time?

There are brilliant instructional designers who eat scope and sequencing for breakfast. Hiring one for a short-term contract might get you what you need in a week… while you go work on growing your student base.

Your support inbox is a dumpster fire.

Students are asking the same five questions over and over. Your team is overwhelmed. Students are annoyed. You’re avoiding your inbox like it’s an ancient tomb rigged with booby traps Indiana Jones wouldn’t touch.

Old way of thinking:
How can I write better canned replies or build a fancy help desk?

New way of thinking:
Who can build me a support system that scales and keeps students happy?

There’s someone out there who has scaled support teams in online schools, SaaS, or coaching businesses. They know what tech to use, how to write macros that don’t sound robotic, and how to create a feedback loop that improves retention.

Let them be your Who.

You know your sales could be better.

You’re getting leads… but conversions are inconsistent. You don’t want to feel like a pushy salesperson. You want people to enroll because they believe.

Old way of thinking:
How do I write better email sequences or perfect my sales call script?

New way of thinking:
Who can help me build a teacher-led sales process that converts without feeling slimy?

Hint: you probably don’t need a “closer.” You need a teacher who knows how to guide a student from confusion to clarity. Maybe someone who has done it before in dozens of Productized Education businesses.

(Also maybe… someone like me. Just saying.)

Here’s where this gets even more powerful.

Asking Who instead of How doesn’t just help you solve the problem. It helps you stay in your zone of genius.

Your job as a school founder is not to become a Swiss Army Knife of skills. Your job is to be the swordsmith. The strategist. The one who sees the battlefield clearly and calls the right allies into formation.

This is especially true in Productized Education.

You’re not just selling information. You’re selling transformation. And that means Clarity, Connection, and Accountability… three things that cannot happen if you’re stuck duct-taping systems together all day.

You need Whos in every pillar of the business:

Growth

• A Who for your paid ads and funnel building
• A Who for sales and teacher training
• A Who for partnership outreach
  

Fulfillment

• A Who to lead curriculum design
• A Who to build your student success workflows
• A Who to support your teachers and keep your NPS above 9
  

Operations

• A Who for automations and tech integrations
• A Who to manage contractors and projects
• A Who to track finances and forecast growth
  

You might not find them all on day one. That’s fine. But every time you feel stuck, pause and ask:

Is this a how problem… or a who problem?

I can tell you from experience, the fastest growth always happens after you find the right Who.

For me, my business didn’t hit seven figures because I mastered Zapier or learned to write the perfect onboarding email. It grew because I learned to find the Whos who already had.

And if you’re building your school and feeling like you’re trying to solo the whole thing like a level-12 wizard with no party members…

Maybe it’s time to ask a different question.

Maybe I’m one of your Whos.

I’ve helped dozens of founders build and scale Productized Education businesses… with real humans, real accountability, and real systems that don’t burn them out.

I don’t have all the answers. But I’ve built enough schools to know the map.

And I’d be happy to walk it with you.

You don’t have to go alone.

You just have to ask the right Who.