Interview with Kay Adams
Director, Center for Journal Therapy
Interview Summary
Kay Adams, a registered journal therapist with nearly 39 years of experience, built a global education business from a single workshop idea. Her key insight: deep expertise in a narrow niche, combined with willingness to push past personal discomfort, creates an unmatched market position — and short, timely courses can serve as powerful lead magnets that grow your audience by 50%+.
From Introversion to Impact
Kay Adams did not set out to become a course creator. She was an introvert who found it "really scary to talk to people." But she had spent decades refining the practice of journal therapy and realized she had something to say that was more important than feeling comfortable. That conviction carried her from leading in-person workshops for therapists to building Journalversity, an online learning platform with over 7,000 enrollments. The journey included iterating through every format imaginable — cassette tapes, workbooks, live workshops, and eventually online courses — before landing on a model that serves both professionals seeking continuing education credits and individuals seeking personal growth.
I realized that even though I was introverted and it was really scary for me to talk to people, I had something to say that was more important than feeling comfortable.
Two Audiences, Two Tracks
One of Kay's smartest structural decisions was recognizing that she serves two distinct audiences: licensed therapists who need continuing education credits, and general public interested in personal growth through journaling. Rather than forcing both into one offering, she created tailored tracks. The professional track includes accredited CE hours and clinical frameworks. The personal growth track focuses on creative expression and self-discovery. The core content overlaps significantly — the difference is in framing, assessment, and certification. This dual-track approach doubled her addressable market without doubling her content creation work.
Courses as Lead Magnets: The COVID Experiment
When COVID hit, Kay created a free seven-day drip course on journaling for resilience. It was timely, simple, and required minimal production effort. The result: 1,231 new students enrolled, growing her email list by over 50%. Many of those students went on to purchase paid courses and join her community. The lesson was clear — a short, free course aligned with a pressing need is one of the most effective lead generation tools available to course creators. It also gave Kay data on what topics resonated most, informing her paid course development.
Find your passion and teach that, find what really lights you up from the inside out and then develop material around that that is infused with every bit of starry-eyed love that you have for whatever that one thing is.
Kay's Action Steps
Kay recommends these 3 steps to improve your course planning:
Identify whether you serve two distinct audiences
Professionals needing credentials and individuals seeking personal growth often want the same core content but in different packaging. Create tailored tracks rather than a one-size-fits-all course.
Use a short free course as a lead magnet
A timely 5-7 day drip course aligned with a pressing need can grow your list significantly and funnel students into paid offerings. Keep production simple — substance matters more than polish.
Follow the trail of breadcrumbs
Have deep conversations with current clients about how they found you and what they were looking for. Build courses that address those exact needs rather than guessing at topics.
About Kay Adams
Director, Center for Journal Therapy
Kay Adams is a registered poetry and journal therapist, licensed professional counselor, and director of the Center for Journal Therapy. Author of 14 books including the bestselling Journal to the Self, she has taught 8,000+ therapists in live workshops and built Journalversity with over 7,000 online enrollments across nearly four decades of practice.
Listen to the full episode
From Course Lab with Abe Crystal & Ari Iny on Mirasee FM