Dreams Come True: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Quali Q Online School
Hello Qualitative Mind,
Welcome to July; yours truly birthday month!
Last week Quali Q launched an online mini course called “Qualitative Data Analysis Masterclass”, and it was a moment I dreamed of ever since I started thinking about Quali Q back in December 2018! This blog post is dedicated to qualitative research learning, but today I will be sharing with you a bit about my course creation journey. I know that there are many graduate students, trainees, and practitioners in the Quali Q audience, and it feels important to me to discuss with you the career path I’m eagerly trying to carve out for myself through Quali Q. It might be what you need to read as you figure out your next professional or personal step or, maybe, it’s just one of the things you need to read no matter where you are at.
I purchased my first online course from a business coach in February 2019. At that point, I was on compassionate leave from my PhD and solely looking after my daughter during her chemotherapy cycles. I had lost my appetite for my career, PhD, future as an academic, and was looking for a meaningful way to move forward with my life; one that aligned with my new priorities. I needed to regain a bit of my old self (the driven woman with dreams and aspirations) while fully embracing the mother/caregiver role to a child with a serious health issue. It was in this context that I started seeing offering online courses outside the academic sphere as something that could work well for me.
I started doing more research about building online courses and, thanks to a friend, learned about Amy Porterfield’s podcast – the Online Marketing Made Easy. Having an experienced digital course creator walk me through all the necessary steps and tech was vital. Her free resources, online courses and then membership site, made me think about important aspects of my baby business (i.e., Quali Q). I began thinking about the topics I wanted to teach, the frameworks to explore, the ideas to build. My desire was to continue learning qualitative research methods while inspiring learning among members of the Quali Q community. Because the Quali Q Guide to Qualitative Content Analysis, the first free Quali Q resource, was well-received, I decided that my first online offer would be about qualitative data analysis; thus, the Qualitative Data Analysis Masterclass.
Creating course content aligns so much with my unique genius, what I absolutely enjoy doing... call me weird but I’m one of those people who enjoys creating PowerPoint presentations! However, there have been so many other aspects of the online course creation journey that I never thought I would be doing, e.g., learning how to work with numerous software for video recording and editing, integrating email service provider and website platform, becoming more comfortable with live (and recorded) videos, setting up for online payment, etc. Truth be told, I don’t love it all.
When I look back at everything I’ve learned, I feel thankful that I didn’t know all the things I’d have to learn; otherwise, I might have given up. I came to this realization two weeks ago, when I posted about the mini course inside Cathy Mazak’s “I Should Be Writing…” Private Facebook Group. I was bursting with joy and filled with emotion because a dream of mine had come true. So, Qualitative Mind, dreams come true and, based on my experience, they are more likely to come true when you find the right resources to guide your learning, surround yourself with a supportive community, identify great mentors for what you need, and love what you do in such a way that you can give your blood, sweat and tears and not look back.
Amy Porterfield’s Digital Course Academy was the best online course I bought in 2019.
Thank you for being part of my course creation journey! This post includes links to some of my mentors’ resources and groups. In addition, if you want to learn more about finding your unique genius, The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks is a good book to read. If you’re trying to decide whether I might be one of the mentors you want alongside you, in your qualitative and professional journey, you can learn more about my journey here. If you’re beyond ready to commit to an online course on qualitative data analysis, I hope to see your inside Qualitative Data Analysis Masterclass. You can register here.
Last but not least, I was interviewed by Cathy Mazak for her podcast Amplified Womxn Academic, and the episode was released on June 30th, 2020. “A Career in Maternal Health and a Mother During Grad School: An Interview with Maira Quintanilha” is available here.
Talk soon,
Maira Quintanilha
“You never know when it will happen, when you will experience a moment that dramatically transforms your life. When you look back, often years later, you may see how a brief conversation or an insight you read somewhere changed the entire course of your life””