How a Storytelling Expert Built 14 Courses Reaching 837 Students with Near-Perfect Completion Rates
The Backstory
Lisa Bloom is an internationally recognized storytelling trainer, Amazon bestselling author of 'Cinderella and the Coach,' and Director of Mirasee's ACES Business Acceleration Program. She coaches executives at organizations like YPO, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft, and trains coaches to use storytelling as a business tool. She had a thriving in-person training business based in South Africa with corporate and individual clients worldwide — but she needed a way to deliver her signature programs online without losing the intimacy and depth that made her in-person work so effective.
What Was Getting in the Way
- Storytelling training depends on vulnerability and trust — generic course platforms felt too transactional
- Her certification program required deep peer-to-peer feedback, not just content delivery
- Corporate clients like Intel and NetElixer needed professional, reliable delivery
- She needed to run the same program repeatedly with growing cohorts, not reinvent each time
What They Were Hoping For
- Deliver her flagship Selling Through Story workshop as a scalable online cohort program
- Build a Story Coach Certification program with the intimacy of small-group coaching
- Serve both individual coaches and corporate teams from a single platform
- Grow cohort sizes over time while maintaining high engagement and completion
How Ruzuku Fit In
What Clicked
Lisa chose Ruzuku because the platform's discussion-first design matched how storytelling training actually works — students need to share their stories, get feedback from peers, and build trust over weeks together. The clean interface kept the focus on the work rather than the technology, and the cohort model let her run her programs on a schedule with real accountability.
What They Built
Lisa built 14 courses on Ruzuku spanning her full curriculum: Selling Through Story (her flagship — run 6 times from 2022 to 2025, growing from 47 to 125 students per cohort), the Story Coach Certification (small cohorts of 9–18 with intensive peer coaching), AI Storytelling (her newest program, 109 students in its first run), and corporate programs for organizations like Intel Global Public Affairs and NetElixer. Each program uses structured discussion prompts where students share real stories from their businesses and get feedback from both Lisa and their peers.
The Tools That Helped Most
What Changed
Lisa has built one of the most consistently engaging course businesses on Ruzuku. Over 14 courses and nearly a decade on the platform, she's enrolled 837 students who have collectively posted 12,012 discussion comments. Her Selling Through Story program grew from 47 students in its first cohort to 125 in its most recent — a 166% increase — while maintaining 14–22 comments per student. Her Story Coach Certification cohorts achieve 89–100% completion rates with 29 comments per student, reflecting the deep engagement her approach demands.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| STS Cohort Growth | 47 students (first cohort) | 125 students (sixth cohort) |
| Student Engagement | Standard online course | 12,012 discussion comments across 837 students |
| Certification Completion | Industry avg ~15% | 89–100% completion rate |
| Program Breadth | In-person workshops | 14 online courses including corporate programs |
Timeline: On Ruzuku since 2016. Selling Through Story launched 2022, run 6 times through 2025. AI Storytelling launched December 2025 with 109 students.
"One of my favorite things about being a coach is watching my clients learn, grow, and succeed in their goals — which is why I love to provide courses for my coaching clients. It's the easiest way I can be sure those clients grow and learn even more than they could with coaching alone. Ruzuku is a learning management system that is easy to use even for people who don't necessarily love technology. I've been using Ruzuku for my business for over five years now, and I'm so glad that I found it when I did."
Lessons Worth Sharing
Storytelling training thrives online when discussion is built into the course structure — Lisa's students average 14+ comments each because the platform makes sharing feel natural
Running the same program repeatedly lets you refine and grow — Selling Through Story went from 47 to 125 students over six cohorts without changing the core curriculum
Small certification cohorts (9–18 students) can achieve near-perfect completion when the platform supports intimate peer interaction
Corporate and individual programs can coexist on the same platform — Lisa serves Intel alongside individual coaches without separate infrastructure
A decade of commitment to one platform compounds — 14 courses and 12,012 discussion comments represent a body of work that wouldn't exist if Lisa had switched platforms every year