That’s Liz. Laughing hysterically at my mom jokes. We have a pretty great relationship.
The TLDR $2500 is a fuckton of money to pay, for a “mentorship” that focuses on “doing your chores and being appreciative towards your parents.” This is a cookie cutter modular program, not something tailored to your teen. My personal opinion: The RJ Life Coaching Program known as Life Scholars Academy is severely overpriced. And what you are sold on, is’t what you actually get.
My main takeaway is that $2500 for this program or what they call “mentorship” is GROSSLY over priced. This is a $599 product at best, and that’s even for the “difficult parent/child relationship and household dynamic.” This was not just MONEY WASTED, but TIME WASTED. Not only will I not receive a refund (because I did inquire), but I can’t get time back. Time lost for myself, time taken from Josh, and time stolen from Liz. Plain and simple this program wasn’t a good fit for what we originally were looking for, or were sold on.
Now let’s get to the real talk. I saw an ad online for Dr RJ’s teen life coaching mentorship… know as Life Scholars Academy. I was intrigued. Watched a few of his videos and thought, “This seems pretty high energy and motivational.” So I set an appointment, paid $39 to have a “screening” to see if the program would be a good fit for my teenager. And really, a mentorship is priceless… but this one has a pretty hefty price tag for what it actually offers.
EDIT 8/7/21:
I decided to look up Life Scholars Academy, LLC recently (on Open Corporates) to learn more about the company itself. LSA, LLC was incorporated in October 2020. So this actual program is less than a year old. Of course there’s going to be some fine-tuning of RJ’s program as they learn, pivot and grow their product.
Just a heads up, your mentor and life coach won’t be RJ unless your child in the older teen (18-21) ages… so that should have been a red flag from the get go. For $2500 to have private group sessions with someone successful, ok I could kinda understand that. But we didn’t get small groups with RJ, we got a trained facilitator for weekly teen sessions. More on that below. In essence, we’re those types of parents that want to give our kiddo whatever opportunity that we feel will benefit her overall growth. They totally saw us coming!
Dr RJ Jackson is an Orthodontist who’s passion is to make people happy. He likes to create smiles on the inside and the outside. This experience doesn’t give me inside smiles. RJ’s been certified by the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching as a life coach for teens, but I’m unsure if that means he has a doctorate in child development. If he does- LMK send me the link. Also, from what I understand RJ doesn’t have teens of his own, YET… his kiddos are under 8, and although we’ve all once been teenagers, the world itself has changed and shifted, especially during these past few years with covid. RJ has a life long mission of spreading happiness. I like that mentality. I’ve watched some of his podcasts, and he mirrors a lot of what we’ve already read in many personal growth books. (I’ll link those at the bottom if you’re looking for some good reading.)
SO back to us, just to give you a peek into our family dynamic: Josh and I both have a pretty great relationship with Liz. We talk about a lot of different life things, no subject is off the table. Josh and Liz have their weekly hang out where they chat about life and stuff, and they create those “you just had to be there moments and inside jokes.” At night Liz and I have a nightly convo at bedtime and just chat about whatever is going on in the world of Liz (sometimes it’s a 5 minute chat, some nights we’ll be chatting for over an hour)… Let’s just say that we’re pretty dialed in as parents. We haven’t really had to deal with major “behavioral issues”; We don’t have screaming matches or fights. We’re just not that kind of family. We actually like each other and get along. Liz takes care of all her own stuff. I don’t do her laundry or clean her bathroom, and haven’t since she was about 10 or 11. I don’t manage her online schedule for classes that she’s taking. You may ask, “Why?” Because she’s grown up with a sense of ownership and responsibility for herself. Liz helps out with dinners through out the week, does things most of the time without having to be asked, most of the time. If she sees something that needs to be done, or that she can help us out with, she just takes it upon herself to do it.
So when we presented RJ’s program to her, it was under the understanding that it was an actual mentorship with an strong emphasis on a peer group that would foster a sense of friendship, and also give her insight on life planning through high school and beyond.
What we were sold by COACH A, during our interview (which comes at the price of $39 – just to book the interview) to see if WE would be a good candidate for the program, was not what the program actually ended up being. Plain and simple, we saw the hook, took the bait… and didn’t get exactly what our personalized sales pitch actually offered at the time. Well… let me put it this way, as long as you have the money, they will be more that happy to take it, and sell you whatever you’re asking for. And then just hope for the best. Read the fine print.
Now, Josh and I asked a ton of questions during our screening interview with COACH A. Our main goal and focus for this program was that Liz would be not only having a dedicated mentor to talk with, you know, someone who could offer guidance with life planning and navigating the upcoming years through and beyond high-school, but to ALSO have an active “dedicated peer community and group” that would foster a sense of friendship. Cue the high-school musical song “We’re all in this together.”
Her actual “mentor/life coach” was swapped once or twice, due to scheduling and illness… onboarding and scheduling wasn’t really crystal clear on my end. And let me be frank- this person wasn’t a mentor, they were more like a facilitator of the peer group get together. The facilitator of her peer group sessions was lack luster. Like low energy and fairly meek, just not super engaging. I walked by L’s room week 5 and heard, “*Timmy, do you want to turn on your screen this week? – no response, “OK well maybe next week.” Very unlike the RJ experience in the videos and modules, and not COACH A who has a high energy sales pitch that is super positive and promises the moon. It’s hard to engage kids, if you aren’t an engaging person. Maybe you need you to down a few pixi sticks and a double espresso and then meet these kids with some ENERGY! (*name changed to protect the innocent. #TIMMY)
This program COACH A and RJ’s team just wasn’t that. 100% satisfaction guarantee, nope not really… but I’m like 20% satisfied. And that’s being really generous. The kicker is, not every person with money to spend is a person to turn into a customer. And their one size fits most program, just really wasn’t a good fit for us. But hey, we can’t always be 100% happy with every choice or decision we’ve made.
OK so here’s a loose overview of the program. I’m not going to discuss his “secret sauce” or share what the modules actual until or what Liz worked on. That wouldn’t be fair to RJ.
The first 4 out of 8 modules, had some decent refresher information for Liz… But after that the program really fell short. She of course did all the exercises in the modules, because she really wanted to gain something from this program, but in the end, she didn’t feel like she gained any insight or knowledge that she hadn’t already heard from us. AND… At the end of her 8 weeks she was “graduated” and set on her way.
During the 8 week course parents are supposed to send in a progress report every 2 weeks. Not once did I get any info about what the program was actually focusing on. The kids are autonomous. Which is great for my self sufficient kiddo who actually talks and shares with me. But I was still underwhelmed with the parent check in, because the modules don’t really correlate or change based on your child’s needs. After the first 2 check-ins I didn’t continue the follow up. I didn’t see the value or benefit. This might be because the correctional path that they focused on, was not at all what we were sold that the program focus would be. And for $2500 this is a cookie cutter program. Not individualized. If Liz could have opted into a group that was, “Yeah I do my chores and like my parents and talk to them about more than 75% of my life.” That might have been better. But still, not.
Weeks 1-4 Liz wrote out 2-3 paragraph answers for the modules, but they weren’t turned in or really responded to. They were used as a conversation started for the topic for the weekly group sessions. But hey, most of the time, the facilitator talked, kids barely gave detailed answers, and most complained about homework and wanting to play video games, pretty typical stuff. Liz said the conversations weren’t really deep, the kids weren’t really opening up, and she really didn’t jive with the ho-hum energy. But we also thought this program was more about life planning and more individualized. Oh and the facilitator kept addressing Liz as “IZZY” which is not her name. Liz corrected her on 2 occasions, and decided that if the facilitator couldn’t get her name right after being reminded, then this person, Coach C really didn’t have any interest in her as a person. YEP- interested in the $2500 but not in building confidence. If you can’t address a child by their proper name, you pretty much loose credibility.
Parents are asked to attend a parent check in online with other parents, sometime in the first few weeks of the program. Our facilitator talked about “how times have changed and how kids spend a lot of time on YouTube, but that it’s beneficial because they learn so much stuff there.” That meeting went over time by like 15 minutes, but really didn’t go anywhere. The few parents that engaged, asked about how to correct their child’s attitude and behavior, and how to get them to do their chores and homework without talking back.
DUDE, back in my day, if you sassed back, you got a mouth full of soap. But I grew up during the times of wooden spoons, hairbrushes and belts. I also went to private Catholic school where we learned from nuns with rulers in their hands. Discipline. Guidelines. Expectations. Fortunately, Liz has been a relatively easy kiddo. She has been given perimeters, and understands them, and when she doesn’t she’s pretty logical and asks about it. My wooden spoons are for stirring the pot, not spankings! Most importantly, Liz has been brought up with RESPECT, which goes both ways in our family. Sing it Tina!
Part of RJ’s parent sessions on Sundays take about how we react to things. Yeah RJ, I know all about stimulus and response. It’s kinda like when you deal with a dog. You can say the same thing in a different tone, it’s the tone that creates the effect, not what you say but how you say it. YEP. Also, that over reacting, usually creates a blockade, yep, I totally know that too. Yelling at a kid, usually doesn’t get the same result as lowering your voice so they’re forced to listen to the words coming out of your mouth. I didn’t need to be taught how to amend my ways of cause effect or reaction and response. I read! (Seriously, I’ll link some book below.)
Graduation, comes and goes and I get no word for like a month after the program other than the auto-generated invite to the parent sessions and the Invite for Liz to attend the Sunday session with like 300 kids online to listen to RJ’s topic of the week. Did they even know she “graduated” from their program? Yeah a whole month, and during that time I had been sitting on an email that I didn’t want to send, because I kinda wanted to see what their customer service, support, feedback department, dare I say retention or upsell department was going to do… I’ll get to that in a bit.
End of 8 weeks, kids are “graduated” and asked, “What are you going to do to celebrate?” Liz thought the facilitator, was joking. She came out of the last session and said, “So that’s done? I graduated and they asked about celebrating. What a joke, and a waste of time, oh and she still kept calling me I’m IZZY even after correcting her.” See, my kid is fairly aware, no I take that back, she is FULLY AWARE.
Again this program is not a mentorship in the traditional sense. This program might be great for kids who have behavioral issues or for families that don’t communicate well with one another. Also Liz said the verbiage seemed a bit young… maybe better for the 9-12 age range. Again, that’s not our dynamic, not what we were sold on by Coach A… so we were NOT a good candidate for the program… but boy oh boy- they were quick to say all the right things and take my CC info.
So here’s the kicker. ONE MONTH LATER, ( 9 JULY) I get a voice message from the original sales person COACH A “Just wanting to touch base and get our opinion of the program, and see how happy we are with the progress.” Remember, I had been waiting to see if they would ever actually follow up? After a phone call that was 30 minutes long, where I opened the conversation with, “What we were sold is not the program that we wanted or needed, and not every potential candidate should be your customer.” I got a response of, “I’m sorry the program didn’t meet your expectations.” Oh! and an offer for 4 weeks of one on one life coaching for Liz. Thanks, but no thanks.
I would say there were a few key points and takeaways that in weeks 1-4 L said gave her some insight and different ways of thinking about things. Most of which parroted what Josh and I have been already telling her (seriously I’m going to add a book list)… but we all know that sometimes you have to get the same pearls of wisdom from someone else other than your parents, because surely you’re parents can’t know everything, can they?
Now for the nuts and bolts of my review: The RJ program is an 8 week module. Teens log in and watch the module. Then they think about how it pertains to them. They answer some questions, that are to be discussed at the weekly check in. Now let me say, week one, L did the module, wrote out a 3 paragraph answer to the module, really gave it some thought and put in the work. The next few weeks she wrote a paragraph answer to be prepared. But they don’t turn in this work. During the sessions L mentioned each participant got a few minutes just to discuss what they wrote. It’s just not very granular or personalized. For the $2500 price point, I was expecting rainbows and unicorns. If you have a hard time getting your kid to open up, it MIGHT be helpful, but the price is not reflective of the actual product, and the product is geared toward a younger audience, IMHO.
Each week the teens do the module, attend their 30 minute session with a facilitator. There’s a Sunday teen class that’s an hour long- Thats’ the RJ group meeting with 200-300 kids. Parents are asked to send in an open ended email to “report any changes or progress” every 2 weeks, also to let them know if your child is going through anything difficult. We had our Pug put down and I noted that in the beginning of signing up, but I’m not sure if the facilitator mentioned it to Liz in any of their weekly group meeting. Ya know like a, “My condolences on the loss of your pet.”
Parent participation. Parents are to send in a progress report, or really just an open ended email about what’s going on in your kid’s life, good or bad. But it didn’t seem like the modules or the course was geared towards anything that related to the emails sent. Meaning that the course was already set in stone regardless of whatever your child was or was not experiencing in life during those two weeks. I stopped doing them, to see if I would get pinged for an update after missing the 3rd and 4th “check in emails” – I wasn’t. To me it seems like we were just another number and part of the growing vanity metric of “happy customers sold.” Again our number is $2500.
Speaking of selling. We attended one of RJ’s Sunday parent online sessions (there had to be about 200 of us online on Mother’s Day- yeah Mother’s Day) and part of the session was about how to talk and react to your teen, and about family dynamics and how to improve them. OK, great for people who chimed in about their kids yelling and screaming at them on the daily, or for giving these moms their worst Mother’s Day ever… and I sat there, with Josh in the background and just counted my blessings. Of course there was some sort of gentle nudge to the parent course, I don’t even know if it was free or had a price. I’ll be honest I tuned it out.
So that’s our experience with the RJ Teen Life Coaching Program. Would we do it again? NOPE!! ABSOLUTELY NOT! Definitely not for $2500, it’s a $599 program at best.
Oh and I saw a some BBB reviews of RJ’s program. One parent wasn’t happy and was charged $1500. I wonder why I was charged an extra thousand dollars for the same modular program? Since I’ve posted my complaint, a few 5star reviews have trickled in. Probably hoping to get a better rating.
BUYER BEWARE: What we were sold, was not what we got. We paid $2500 for RJ’s program, GROSSLY over priced. This is a $599 product at best. Plain and simple this was a cookie cutter program to get kids and parents to have better attitudes towards one another. It wasn’t a good fit for us, and what we were sold, didn’t exactly mirror what we received.
EDIT: 01/07/24
Just wanted to post a quick update.
After 2.5 years, I finally received a refund
from Life Scholars Academy LLC.
Now for a little bit of positivity. During this time, Liz also attended an online weekly teen group. They meet once a week for 45 minutes. They talk about life, the world, what’s going on, and how they’re feeling, the weather, whatever. Her instructor is super engaging, has great energy and gets all the kids talking and participating. Liz has made real connections with a few of the kids, and they chat outside of the class throughout the week. The class is about 8-10 kids and she actually looks forward to it. Oh and it’s not $2500, it’s under $25 a week. LOL
BOOKS TO READ: I’ll get links up in a bit. I really will!
========================================
EDIT 8/4/21:
Here’s a list of some great books (with AMAZON affiliate links because if I can make a few pennies back on the books, that would be swell). These books have been helpful with self improvement, self awareness and personal development and growth. Much of which can be applied to your daily life. Josh and I tend to read a lot of different things. This list is a combination of what we’ve both read that we felt has been interesting and insightful.
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
https://amzn.to/3xfelfL
Very much a book about how “less is more”. Good take away about the value of “play” in your life to balance out the “productivity” in your life. Work/life balance is important for everyone: Professionals, homemakers, and even children.
Become an Idea Machine
Writing prompts for coming up with ideas. Often when we’re “bad” at something it’s because we haven’t put in the time to work the “muscle” to get “strong” or good at something. It’s also a great way to remind yourself that practice makes you get better, and to not get discouraged the first time you try something new.
The Alchemist
Bit of fiction to break things up. Not the most complex story but teaches a valuable lesson about how the grass can oftentimes be better right under your feet. Everyone in our family has read this book. It’s interesting that we all had different things that resonated with us. We’re all on our own path and journey, so we all see and experience things differently It was great to chat about the book together, gave us all insight on how we each view things.
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
Sometimes it’s as simple as writing stuff down. Make a list of steps that you know will help you accomplish your goal. Making the process repeatable can help improve precision. Sometimes the “list of things to do” can be overwhelming. Some people thrive with a daily to be done list. Others like a running list of GSD (get sh!t done) and others like to prioritize their list. Everyone is different, knowing what works for you is helpful in getting to the task.
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
One of Josh’s favorite books. Taking ownership is extremely important in life, and even more important in war. While our day to day lives aren’t necessarily life or death, taking ownership and owning up earns you mad respect from folks. Same thing can be applied with parenting and parent/child dynamics: RESPECT IS EARNED. Respect is a 2 way street.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
https://amzn.to/3ljYn1w
Habits, good or bad, are formed a certain way in those crazy brains of ours. Discusses how to approach building and breaking habits in small pieces to make things easier. For me I tend to run a spreadsheet when starting a new habit, or trying to get into the habit of something. I plan out 30-90 days of how I want to build that habit, and then track my progress, good and bad. I also have a note section for each day where I can write a line to remind myself what was going on that day, to reflect upon later.
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Marie Kondo
Adding a bit of fluff to the list. If you haven’t heard about the “KONMARIE” method of decluttering, where have you been? I really loved this book. I actually made notes in it- to Marie- which is funny because I’ve lent my personal book out 3 or 4 times and my friends said my notes made it even better! The take away from this is that having less clutter in life allows you to focus on the things that are important. Bonus was that Liz really likes to have a clutter free room. I don’t have to ask her to clean her room because she is surrounded by the things that are important to her, which gives her a sense of pride and ownership for her space in the house. Hence, it’s always clean and tidy.
The Little Book of Hygge
One more piece of fluff is the Book of Hygge. This philosophy comes from the Danish, also known as the happiest people in the world. Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) is all about creating personal spaces that are inviting, welcoming, that evoke a sense of comfortless and togetherness. I think it’s important to have a house, feel like a home. That doesn’t mean run out and buy all new furniture and spend money on crappy wall art. But to be mindful about how you live. I feel that having a calm feeling in the house, generates a sense of calm throughout the house. That then affects the overall mood of the house and those who dwell within.
The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It
We’re so quick to blame stress for things, but stress can actually be beneficial. Once you acknowledge what’s going on, and understand how this can benefit you, you can use it to your advantage. Some people work better under pressure or with a deadline. Knowing how you react to stress helps you to cope and overcome that stressful feeling.
The Miracle Morning
Admittedly, I haven’t read this one YET, it’s on my list. Josh has read about it by way of other books on his reading list.. The gist is that waking up early and practicing a morning routine can help you get into the right headspace and really crush the day. It’s kind of like setting up your day for success. If you start the day in the right frame of mind, you have better control of what the day might throw at you along the way.
Bonus, blog posts from the hubs: Seriously Click the links and read 2 of Josh’s blog posts.
https://joshtronic.com/2015/06/26/empower-your-child-with-an-allowance/
Oh yeah- I need to do an “allowance post” although we don’t call it allowance. Liz is on salary here at the Sherman house. She became a “salaried member” on her 5th birthday. At that time we were learning about the first American colonists. Perfect timing to instill the Capitan John Smith, “If you don’t work you don’t eat.” mentality. Which means, you have to be a productive member of the household because we all live here under the same roof and all have responsibilities and expectations to be met for things to run smoothly.
https://joshtronic.com/2017/11/01/empower-your-child-by-letting-them-cook-dinner/
Oh yeah- Liz can actually cook! We started with her in the kitchen when she was younger, because cooking is vital if you want to live. As she’s gotten older, she’s actually been able to take one night a week to make dinner for the family. I think it’s empowering when a kid can make dinner and everyone enjoys the meal. It’s also great that she has ownership of what she wants to cook, and she has the option to play it safe or get creative. It also taught Liz that making dinner every night can sometimes be WORK. She’s definitely appreciative when food is put in front of her because she knows what it takes to put a nice meal together. Most nights when I’m cooking she’s along she of me helping out and learning. It’s great for bonding. She’s honing her skills and at least she won’t starve when she moves out in a few years.
I think that’s a decent list of stuff to read. 🙂
Oh my gosh… I had a similar experience. However, I reached out after the first week to let them know it just wasn’t resonating with my son for a multitude of reasons, including that my son refused to participate after attending an accountability session and one session with Dr. RJ. They lost him from the get-go. Nobody responded for days and my son was worse off because of it. The havoc that ensued due to me forcing him to participate (where were they to help) made things intolerable. It just wasn’t the bill of goods they sold me. I tried to get my money back after assessing it wasn’t a good fit, which was incredibly disappointing bc I had huge hopes for this program. BEWARE: They are very much there for you when you sign up— forget it afterward. I received an email days later telling me that it wouldn’t be possible due to the fine print in the contract, which they cut and pasted into the email, highlighting the portions which stated their no refund policy. I am here to tell you that this is an all in game. I want you to know what you have to lose before you move forward. READ the FINE PRINT and be SURE you are willing to part with your hard earned $2600– you can’t get it back. The max they will credit is $800, and I had to fight for $600. I’m happy he is apparently helping kids, but it did more HARM than good for my teen. Please know my goal isn’t to take away from the kids in the program he has helped. However, I find it problematic that Dr. RJ doesn’t stand behind his work and certainly doesn’t seem to care when the program isn’t working for other kids.
To make it more clear as to why it didn’t resonate for my particular child, the following are a few reasons why:
Problem 1:
The program seems to be better for tweens, rather than teens. Perhaps if I found this a couple years ago, it may have worked. I have to admit, the counselor’s even spoke to me in a language that made me want to cringe.
Problem 2:
When I signed up, I thought we were getting more of a life coach, whereas my son thought I hired a therapist. Dr. RJ speaks a lot about the fact that this is not therapy, but it certainly came across to my son that way. How can I undo that? The type of kid in his group seemed to have difficulty making friends, or at least the subject matter was tailored toward it. It is NOT individualized. Given that I thought the subject matter would be addressing motivation and life skills from a teen perspective, this was an instant turn off for my son, who instantly felt he did not need what Dr. RJ was offering. If you lose them week one, you have a problem.
Problem 3:
They certainly show up on the front end to sign you up, but they are absent on the backend. They seem to be short on staff and take days to return an email. Meanwhile, I was left holding the bag trying to explain to him why I had signed my son up for this in the first place and left to pick up the pieces in my household. It arguably made matters worse. I reached out. Chirp. Chirp. To make matters worse, when they responded, I rarely received correspondence with anyone’s name signed. I had no idea who I was even speaking with, and had to ask.
Problem 4:
The counselor urged me not to give up, but I am not the one who needed the support. If your child won’t participate, that kind of makes it extremely difficult. I did manage to get him on a third call, which only seemed worse than the first. They also offered to meet with my son one on one, rather than in the group setting, but after speaking with the counselor and listening to her suggestions, I knew this was not an option!!! Cringe again. Totally not relatable.
Problem 5:
To make matters worse, the maximum they will ever refund is $800- an $1800 loss. Also, please know that the fine print states that you need to request said refund in the first week of the program. Cringe again. They urged me to continue participating in the calls after I notified them it wasn’t a good fit. What I didn’t realize is they would continue valuing each call at $100, which continued to be DEDUCTED from my potential refund. Had I only known! I only made him participate in good faith, and they had the gall to deduct that??? Now I was sitting on a $2000 loss. For what?!? It’s an absolute racket.
The email I received from them stated something to the effect that: According to the contract I signed, to please note Section 8 (which they copied and pasted into the email), that it states that once my Member’s Area was created, the portion of the program valued at $1700, was non-refundable. I had paid to date $2600. Given that my son had been scheduled for two group accountability coaching sessions, they told me that they would be willing to issue a refund of $600 according to the signed contract, as a sign of good faith.
NOTE: that is a $2000 loss after one week- for nothing! I will include the fine print in the contract at the end of this response..
Problem 6:
What bothers me more than anything is that Dr. RJ is dealing in the sensitive nature of kids, and he just doesn’t seem to care when his program has an adverse effect.. I love that it works for many, and I don’t want to take away from that, but he needs a major wake up call.
I wish the program was relatable on any level for my son. My goal is not to deter Dr. RJ from helping kids, but rather, to shed some light on when it goes wrong and urge people to read the fine print. It is not a small sum of money, and he should stand behind his word. I wish I had read a review like this one. I wish they existed. I wondered why everything was five stars… I believe I have since figured that out. My comment was removed from his board. If you choose to move forward with the program, at least you will be more informed than I was. And for all those Dr. RJ has helped, bravo! I have no doubt his high energy and infectious smile resonates with many… I hope he continues to help children. I also hope he rethinks his policy and steps up to provide support for those his program doesn’t work for. I am so disappointed. He doesn’t deserve my $2000 and should give it back. I was more than happy to give it to him prior to his program not living up to its word.
Here’s the fine print:
*** The Client is eligible for a full refund for the Accountability Calls and Confidence Calls portion of the Program, valued at $800, after the first, but before the second, week. The Client may request a refund after the second week and beyond, but it will be up to the Coach’s full discretion to grant the refund or not. If the Coach grants a refund, the amount of the refund will be determined as follows: the number of weeks remaining x $100 for a maximum of $800. The Client is required to participate in one Accountability Call per week beginning immediately upon receiving access to the Program. There will be no refunds given for Accountability Calls missed.
Hi Melissa,
I’m so sorry that you had a similar experience with the “mentorship” with DR RJ Jackson. Much of what you wrote in your comment, mirrors our experience. It’s really bad business that RJ doesn’t stand behind his product, and hides behind the fine print in his contract. Congrats on getting at least a morsel of a refund. You fared better than I.
After my initial complaint with Coach A, I wrote this blog. The following Monday, I received an email from RJ’s support team. I too was reminded about their refund policy, or lack thereof; probably was the same copy and paste email you received. We were offered four 1-on-1 coaching sessions for my daughter, since we felt the program wasn’t a good fit. But the program wasn’t only a bad fit, it wasn’t what we wanted… or should I say: it wasn’t what we were originally sold. So, no- I definitely didn’t want to subject my kid to one more minute of his program.
As for the “life coaches” RJ employs, the language used in all the modules, and the “coaching sessions” and those Sunday “pump ups” yeah, a lot of it was cringe worthy… definitely geared for a younger audience. But that’s also a bit scary, young kids are impressionable. Again, what I was sold on, was a life planning course for my teen. What we got with his cookie cutter module system, like you- wasn’t what we wanted or purchased based on our interview with coach A.
And you make many good points about how the program is lacking. It seems like both of our kids, had the same take away about the program. She was actually excited about having a mentorship, someone to talk about future goals, life planning. Navigating high school and college. Not someone to tell her to appreciate her parents, do her schoolwork, and help out with chores. Again, I agree with you, this system seems better suited for a younger audience. But the autonomy the kids have during that 8 week program is also a bit of an alarm because the kids are isolated and interacting with this “life coach/mentor” and there’s no interaction with the parents about how things are going. That portion is very one sided. RJ wants the parents to divulge information about their kids, seeking accolades about how the program is improving everyones life. But he doesn’t take the negative or constructive feedback very well. And there’s no return response after coaching sessions on any progress. That made ME a bit wary. So I decided they didn’t need to have a one way window into my child’s personal life.
At the end of the day, we all want to provide the best opportunities for our kids. As I let RJ and his staff know, not every person that inquires about his program will be a good fit. The price doesn’t reflect the actual quality of the product. The product sold, is not the same as the sales pitch we received. Satisfaction is not guaranteed.
I also made a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epNME9GZHQQ&t=1s) about my experience with RJ’s program. Like you, I just want for people to be aware of an actual experience that wasn’t 5 stars. I think RJ has purchased so many ads (that we likely have helped to fund- LOL) that when anyone searches for his program, all they see are the ads and 5-star reviews.
Again, I’m so sorry your experience was so similar to mine, but it’s nice to know I’m not alone.
Thanks again for posting your experience and thanks for reading my post.
~thatgirljen
Hi. I decided to google for reviews of Dr RJ before I signed my teen up for a very inexpensive half day seminar which Im sure is just a sales pitch for the mentoring classes. But I am wondering what is the weekly support group your daughter went to? I didn’t see a link. Thank you for your honest review!
Hi Shannon,
Unfortunately I don’t have any links or resources for group therapy as my daughter didn’t attend a weekly support group. You might be asking about her weekly online groups, which were just social meetups online. Nothing medical or clinical, and not group therapy. These groups she attended were used as a way of connecting with other kids around the world with like interests, while she was homeschooled and during Covid19. She definitely had fun during her weekly online meetups as they were a great social outlet and experience, especially while we were staying at home and in the covid bubble.
Thanks for reading and for the question,
~thatgirljen
Thank you for your review ! I was considering this course. Can you please post th list of books ! Thank you !
Hello Inna,
Thanks for reading my review. I’ve updated the post to now include just some of the books that we’ve (Josh and I) read that have been really great about setting mindset, lifestyle, and productivity. Much of this we’ve implemented and applied to ourselves and in our parenting style.
That being said. Kids don’t come with a manual when they’re born. Each kid is different. Each parent is different. We all tend to learn and process things in our own way. Finding what works best for you, your family and everything in between is just part of the process. We’re not one size fits all cookie cutter projects. SO it’s all a balancing act with some trial and error to see what works best for everyone involved.
The list I posted has a lot of different books to consider as reading material. None of it is child development or parenting books per se. In the end we’re all just decent humans, trying to raise decent humans. Am I right?
Anyways- Hope you find a book or two on there that resonates with you.
~thatgirljen
I am glad I read your review. Save me $2500+. I am curious about the program that costs $25/week though
Hi Carlyn,
My experience with Life Scholars was a few years ago, I’m curious if anything has changed with Rj’s actual program.
During Covid-19 and being home, I signed my daughter up for a few different online classes. I think some of the most fun and social were the ones we found on OUTSCHOOL. It’s been a few years so I’m unsure what is currently being offered or the current pricing. I do remember that OUTSCHOOL classes vary in price, but a few years ago there were many social groups available. It was a great starting point. Oh and OUTSCHOOL was not a “life coach product”.
Hopefully you find something for your kiddo!
~thatgirljen
We had a completely different experience. Dr. RJ is amazing!!!!
He has completely transformed my teenager.
My husband and I read the contract. It was a normal contract for life coaching. I’ve used a life coach for my business and the contracts were similar.
Life coaching can only work if there is a commitment. My teen resisted at first but I followed Dr. RJ’s recommendation to stay firm. After a few weeks, my teen decided to give it a try and she was hooked. She found a friend within the first two weeks of committing to the program.
Each week, I watched her confidence sky rocket.
Have you participated in Dr. RJ’s Facebook group? My guess is that you haven’t. Dr. RJ gives so much to us parents. I’m shocked to read this blog.
There are so many parents in Dr. RJ’s Facebook group that share how much of a difference he made in their teens’ lives. It is a shame that you are attempting to persuade parents not to try Dr. RJ out for themselves.
I’m sure if you reached out to his team directly they would help you to resolve your issues. To me, his program was worth much more than $2500.
If you are a parent, my recommendation is to join Dr. RJ’s parent group on Facebook first then make form your opinion.
Hello Susan,
I’m actually happy to hear that RJ’s program worked for your child and family. That means you were the right candidate for what his program has to offer. I’m sincerely glad you have found value in his system. It worked for you! You made a good investment, and benefited from it.
If you read my entire original post and my responses to other comments, you would have read that when we presented RJ’s program to our daughter, she was initially excited and actually did put in the work. We all went in with the best of intentions.
Most importantly some of the things we addressed and asked about in our initial screening that we paid $39 for with Coach A, didn’t exactly marry up or mirror how or what we were sold on. That’s one of my frustrations with the program as a whole.
We weren’t looking for a complete makeover of our child, just a bit of insight and guidance for her to focus more on life goals and future planning. With changes in facilitators, one who didn’t get my child’s name correct even after being first corrected and second reminded of the name right there on the screen, well that didn’t spark my child’s confidence in the person that she was checking in with towards the end of the program.
I honestly think his current program would be best for ages 9-12, with the entire family participating in the weekly modules together and attending the check-ins as a unit. RJ’s Sunday content should remain as is, broken out into separate parent and child content as he is currently supporting. I still don’t agree with the $2500 price point for what my family experienced, and more importantly what we were initially sold on during our screening call. Again, just thatgirljen’s opinion.
Also RJ’s been doing business under “Life Scholars Academy LLC” since October 2020. So his particular “book of business” is currently less than a year old. I would expect a few bumps along the way as he grows and hones his product. With that, the product is still in that phase of fine tuning on his end.
Based on what we were looking for, and what THIS particular piece of his company is offering, we just weren’t the right customer. It’s like hiring the wrong person for the job… it didn’t work out. I would think that over time, Life Scholars Academy and RJ will continue to grow and add different products to offer. From what we experienced, he’s doing just that and has since added a parent coaching course. So that shows that he’s growing his business.
I have stated not every single person that inquires, should be sold into becoming a customer. I think we just weren’t the right candidate for THIS particular module that RJ is currently offering. Also what we were initially looking for, and what we were sold on during our sales pitch did not reflect what we received. YMMV… It happens.
In my post within the first three paragraphs, I did note that I reached out to his team and inquired about a refund. I was refused, not even a partial reimbursement was offered. I was reminded that i signed the contract which states their very narrow refund terms. Again what we were sold on, didn’t exactly marry up to what we experienced 100% and we all are striving for that 100% metric in life, aren’t we?
As you said, he has a Facebook group where he has many parents that have found success with his program. He has control of that content, so of course there wouldn’t be anything that didn’t glean that 100% happiness about the experience. And yeah, per his social media and “WHY I LIKE” reviews, he has nothing by happy customers. It worked for their kids. Again, I think that’s great! However, what we were sold on, and what we experienced, coupled with our expectation of what the presented program was, for us it fell short. Part of that fell short in the initial sales pitch, and then with the cookie cutter, non-individualized module, and the weekly facilitators that were subject to change.
On a more personal level, I’m sure RJ is a great guy. He seems like he cares about his program, and seems like he has a life mission of helping others. His personality is what drew us all in. I’d like to think he has a good heart. I think outside all of the RJ Teen Life Coaching Program stuff, he’d be someone that I would truly like as a person and a decent human being.
He needs to care a bit more about those interactions and the clients that didn’t find value, or have a 100% experience, so he can grow, improve, implement and progress. I sincerely hope he learns and makes his product better.
My intention for this post is to be honest, share my personal experience, and well… that’s my opinion to which I am 100% entitled to.
If RJ sells his product to 1000 people over less than 1 year’s time just on a metric of “happy customers” – If I’m the ONLY one single solitary person that was unhappy (.1%), then he would in theory have 100% success and happiness.
So maybe I’m just that one single solitary person that didn’t resonate with what RJ’s program had to offer for my child.
Again, I’m glad to hear you had success with his program and that it helped your teenager.
And thanks for your comment. 😉
~thatgirljen
Susan’s review sounds phony and the whole thing sounds like a scam. They put just enough effort in to seem legit and then sell sell sell, never refund. Shady!
Hello IslandMama,
I wish my experience was better, especially since we invested not just $2500 into what we were SOLD… but also time. Time was invested, and the outcome was lackluster. The lack of customer service when a paying customer is UNHAPPY, really shows the main focus and intention of the product.
Susan was fortunate that she got what she wanted and paid for.
But yeah, I agree… SHADY for sure.
Thanks for reading and for posting,
thatgirljen
Jen would you mind sharing how you found the online group discussion that you daughter likes and has found connections with?
Hello Jason R, We used a few different online services that had moderators and facilitators for online group zoom chats. It was great during our time home during COVID, when everyone was home with online schooling. Check out Outschool and see if there’s anything your child ma be interested in.
Thanks for commenting,
~thatgirljen
Hello Susan,
This is Melissa… I wrote the first response to Jen’s blog and was relieved to find a place where I could voice my frustrations with Dr. RJ’s program. It is very sad that you are reading my comments, thinking I am trying to dissuade people from signing up for his program. To be clear, my intention is to shed light on what it looks like when it DOESN’T work, allowing one to make a more informed decision BEFORE signing on the dotted line. Clearly, $2600 is not a small sum, so given that this is an all-in game, it means that making an informed decision is more important than ever. With a 1 week refund policy in place, I find it very hypocritical that Dr. RJ, his team, or his customers would criticize any family for following through with THEIR policy in order to rectify the situation, esp knowing how wrong the program was for our family in the first place. Surely not all size 6 jeans fit everyone? Their contract states that $1800 isn’t ever refundable due to having access to his modules, but given that they lock you out of them, I am still not sure what we purchased in the first place. And lastly, given that you are shocked that the program didn’t work for my family, and you think we clearly failed bc we gave up (so misinformed), I will take some time to gather my thoughts and make it more clear as to why it didn’t work for us, who I think it might be good for, as well as why I remain more frustrated than ever.
I feel that is a huge component for tweens – if they make a connection with another kid..
Thank you for this honest review. I was excited about RJ’s program after tuning in to his free podcasts, but after reading about these experiences, I think we’ll stick to the free stuff!
Hi Maggie,
Thanks for reading my review. Again, I wrote this review just to share my personal experience, and my personal opinion of how things were handled. Especially after my teen graduated the program. I might be the only person that wasn’t 100% satisfied with what was offered, especially for the price paid. You live and you learn. 😉
There are a lot of great resources out there for sure! We, as humans, are always evolving as we learn and grow and progress through out life.
RJ’s does have his free podcasts available to listen to, which do have some great morsels of info. Gentle reminders of stuff you probably already know. And it’s nice that he has them free of charge available online and on YouTube. There’s just so much additional content available, from a multitude of sources once you start looking.
Again, this was just my experience with RJ’s program, and my opinion of my expectations vs the product sold. He actually does have many happy clients and 5 star reviews. “WHY I LIKE” (whyilike.com) parents on his FB page and in his FB group have all seen transformations and have are happy with the program. So he’s helped many teens and their families and have experience successful transitions. Those parents and clients were all just a good fit for RJ’s program and found what they needed, or wanted. That just wasn’t my take away or experience, or opinion.
Should you or anyone that has read my review feel his program is exactly what they need and are looking for, I would simply wish nothing but happiness, growth and experience success with RJ and his Life Scholars Academy Program. (LLC since October 2020).
Good luck and thanks for your comment!
~thatgirljen
Melissa, my comment was in response to your message. My comment was to Jen. And Jen responded.
Susan, Given that your comments seemed relevant to my situation, I thought readers might find it helpful if I shed a little more light on the situation given that you seemed perplexed about why the program might not be right for every child. As I mentioned above, Dr. RJ’s program is probably a very effective program for tweens. He has amazing energy and certainly lights up a room. But let me ask you a question? If his current program is so buttoned up and wonderful for teenagers, why is he now launching a program FOR teens? Lastly, I also happen to have experience in dealing with Dr. RJ’s team in regards to trying to resolve our issue at hand. If you happen to be curious about what they require of you in order to make that happen, just ask. I’ll be happy to share.
Hello Melissa,
I agree, I too thought readers might find it helpful to know that I wasn’t the ONLY unhappy parent/customer/client in regards to RJ’s Teen Life Coach Program with Life Scholars Academy. So I thank you for your honesty and sharing your experience with me and whomever else happens across this blog post.
Thanks for your sincerity,
~thatgirljen
Hey Susan,
Yeah whenever I receive a comment, I do make an effort to give a heartfelt response or answer. 😉
Thanks for posting!
~thatgirljen
Appreciate your honest detailed review. Could you provide some information on the online weekly teen group that Liz participated?
Hello Lief,
Thanks for reading my review. As for a fully detailed overview of the 30 minute group chat session, I didn’t monitor Liz 100% of the time when she was online with her “coach”. I treated the course much like a school class, I’m not with her at school, so I didn’t sit next to her or linger outside her door when she was online. I only overheard a few minutes of one session when Coach C asked “Timmy” if he would turn on his screen, and then she said, ok maybe next week…
From what I understand there was a module to watch before the group class, then during the group class the facilitator would talk about the module to the kids online, and then there was some light discussion about how they could apply that knowledge to their lives. Then the kids would each take a turn talking about a way to “improve” or as RJ’s team promotes “transformation and building confidence,” so the focus was on changing mindset and attitudes.
Unfortunately I don’t have a list of what each week’s module topic was or what each session discussed. That information might be on RJ’s website for you to gain more information about his product.
Thanks for reading and posting a comment!
~thatgirljen
Hey there! If anyone is interested, I mentor teens. I do not have a one size fits all plan. For example, I am helping one teen get in “the zone” when he plays music, and I am helping a parent manage their kid’s grades. I’ve been working with teens for about twenty years and I love working with kids. I left teaching because the system constantly made decisions that were good for adults, but not for kids.
I hope promoting my services is not in poor taste. I found your blog because I was researching other similar businesses. It sounds like you have a great relationship with your kids. I’m sorry you had to waste so much money on a module that didn’t work.
Hello Linda,
Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for the comment. 😉
Since I’m not personally familiar with you or your service, I didn’t want to seem like I was endorsing your mentorship program by including your link to your website or YouTube channel. I hope you understand.
I do think that finding a good mentor or a life coach can be beneficial for anyone at any age. I agree that a lot of how I parent stems from how I interact and talk with my kiddo. Like any relationship, the key is communication.
Thanks for posting,
thatgirljen
Can you share the online teen group that your daughter actually enjoyed for $25/week? Thank you for your review.
Hi Lyn,
We’ve come across a lot of different online resources for kids to connect. One of my favorites is called Outschool. There are many different social groups that span a cornucopia of interests from Star Wars, LOTR and D&D to baking, animals and music – Oh and there’s courses for ADHD, LQBT and life-skills; There’s really so much to choose from!
Over the past year and a half with COVID-19 it’s been a great way for my daughter to interact and share thoughts and ideas, and make online friends. What I personally like about Outschool is the vast amount of weekly online meetups available, the price per week ranges anywhere from $10-25 a week – depending on the instructor/facilitator that sets the price, and run 30 min to an hour again depending on the schedule available.
It’s been a positive experience for my daughter.
Thanks for reading and for the question!
~thatgirljen
Thanks for posting this review, Jen. I have been listening to Dr RJ’s podcast and wondering if it would help my 14 year old son who has always been the quiet/not very communicative sort but over the past year or so with remote schooling, etc. it went into overdrive and he is now heading down what I think is a bad path. The program seemed a little too good to be true but I have tried every way I can think of to help my son and he is so resistant to everything I try that I was really considering it — especially since in the podcast he says “you don’t leave the program until you get results” — but now I think I will follow my initial gut feeling. Thanks again for posting your experience!
Hey Another Jen,
Gut feelings are always good to follow. 🙂
When we had our initial interview with “Coach A” – my gut feeling was, “Maybe we should dive a bit deeper into Life Scholars to see what they’re all about before investing a large sum of money.” Yeah, I think $2500 is a fairly large sum to spend and not be happy.
But I didn’t follow my gut.
I saw all the “Why I Like” reviews and thought, well there aren’t any negative reviews… I should have looked into what ‘Why I Like” is – checking out that company was a bit of an eyeopener. THEN I looked into “Life Scholars” and saw that they were only in business for less than a year… So yeah, I personally feel like their once size fits all cookie cutter module program, just wasn’t a good fit for me, my family, of our daughter.
Also when we heard that RJ wasn’t going to be our daughter’s actual mentor, that was something that both my husband and I were like, “OH???” and we did wonder if we should have moved forward… and we did because of all the positive reviews… and not one single negative review anywhere online… kinda makes you wonder.
Which is why I decided to write about my experience with Life Scholars and RJ’s program.
Things are so different now with Covid-19, and online schooling. Some kids are just a little more introverted or closed off, especially with everything going on in the world over the past year and a half. All I can say is keep talking with your son. Find something he is into and talk about that. Go on a drive, give him control of the music, and just hang out and connect. You don’t even need to talk. Just drive and spend time together. Liz and I go out a 2 hour long drive once a month just to get out of the house. I pull out of the neighborhood and ask, “Which way, left or right?” and then we just go. Then she tells me when to turn next- just to kinda explore and whatever. French fries and a car ride- it’s simple but a fun way to connect! <3
Every Saturday Josh and Liz get out of the house to run errands, grab coffee or lunch, go shopping or just drive around. It's their time to interact and this has been going on since she was 5! Their relationship is great, I'm thankful that Josh makes time for Liz. They actually enjoy hanging out, and it gives me a morning to clean the house! LOL
So yeah, try taking a little drive together! 🙂
Thanks for reading my post and for your comment,
~thatgirljen
PS- I like your name! LOL 😛
I want to share with everyone the reasons I WILL be scheduling a consultation with Dr. RJ’s program.
1. His positive reviews prove that majority of families have an amazing experience with his program. Not even Disney has a 100% satisfaction. Also what are the alternatives? I haven’t found therapists or any other programs with a 100% satisfaction.
2. Jen’s complaints about the program do NOT seem genuine. It’s honestly hard for me to consider Jen’s points when her behavior online proves that this is a vindictive attack. She wrote an entire blog post about Dr. RJ, but she is not a professional reviewer nor is her blog centered around reviews. She also made a YouTube video about him (Who does that?). Jen actually started her You Tube channel to speak negatively about Dr. RJ. Go check it out. Dr. RJ’s review was her first video.
Finally, Jen wrote a blog about a site where Dr. RJ has more positive reviews. I’ve found several places online where Dr. RJ has positive reviews. Again, her behavior appears to be a vindictive attack.
Therefore, I must take what Jen says with a grain of salt.
3. I’ve listened to Dr. RJ’s podcast. He is a true expert. His podcast has helped me and my family. In fact, the only reason I may not purchase the program is because we have gained so much value for free. He has a gift and I hope others give him a try without being persuaded by Jen’s personal attack.
I have no doubt that Dr. RJ’s program may have unhappy customers. I have found NO service that has 100% satisfaction. For me, when I see companies with all five star reviews, I do not believe the reviews are all real.
If you are reading this, I encourage you check out Dr. RJ for yourself. This blog and YouTube video is clearly from a place of anger.
Hello Christina,
I’m glad that you’re scheduling a consultation and wish you, your family and child all the best in happiness and success. May your child’s transformation be all that you are hoping for and looking for.
Now to address your 3 points:
1.) Yes RJ has many positive reviews online. “Why I Like” is a company that allows the business to cherry pick the reviews that get posted. So any less than perfect reviews, probably wouldn’t be shared beyond the back office. And it’s true, not even Disney has 100% satisfaction. I used to work at the most magical place on Earth. Disney strives for guest happiness. And no program or therapist can offer 100% satisfaction. But RJ’s program is not therapy.
2.) My “complaints” are actually very genuine, as they are my opinion of RJ’s Life Scholars program. As for being a “professional reviewer” no I don’t get paid for my reviews. This is my personal blog. I write about my life, experience, whatever I want to share online. Never did I claim that I was a professional reviewer. BTW thanks for visiting my blog! I appreciate it! As for my YouTube post, let’s just say that the channel was something that I was always wanting to do, and well, one day I felt like I had something to share, and so I made a video and posted it. Last I checked this is America, I’m entitled to my opinion, as are you.
AND in full transparency: You’re on MY blog, and I’m allowing you to share your opinion. If I were a “professional reviewer” I probably wouldn’t have allowed your response. 😉 You’re welcome.
As for being vindictive. Nope, I’m not vengeful or seeking revenge. I’d have to start my own teen mentorship program if I were really attempting to be vindictive. But that’s not how I roll. LOL
3.) I’m glad that RJ’s free podcasts have helped you family. What he’s selling, you’re looking for and a good candidate. As I have mentioned before, many people have found value in what he has to offer… However there are other families that have been less than satisfied with his program.
The BBB had 5 or 6 negative reviews about RJ’s program, Then my blog post sparked RJ’s team to spring into action. Since then, some of those families were offered full refunds, but only AFTER they removed their negative reviews from the BBB. I didn’t take the refund money. I could have, but that would have meant taking down any negative reviews… but then I would have been a “paid professional review”- but only after removing my post.
Again, this is my experience. I’m not angry about it, I’m just disappointed.
Thanks for the post,
~thatgirljen
Christina,
I can assure you that I do not have a bone to pick in regards to Dr. RJ, and I had the same take away/experience as Jen. I also had nothing but sheer disappointed with Dr. Rj’s product, as well as with his customer service, which is why I felt relieved to find a place to convey my disappointment and shared experience.
When I was looking for a life coach for my son, I found it challenging to find any reviews other than the “Why I like” positive lead generated reviews on his website, which should have caused me to raise an eyebrow in the first place. Unfortunately, I had no idea what those were until now. Had I dug a little deeper, I might have noticed the negative reviews on the BBB, which have since been removed. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have proceeded, but I definitely would have given the program a longer look and read the contract more thoroughly before parting ways with our hard earned $2600 (for which I take accountability).
In regards to his program, I too derived a lot of good from his online content. Unfortunately, it just didn’t transfer to the program itself. There is no need to reiterate the why, as it’s stated above. However, if you choose to move forward with the program, I truly do hope you do find the value you were looking for. Believe me, I wish we had.
What bothers me more than anything is that you seem to take such issue with someone conveying their own truth. You even went so far as to state that Jen’s reviews don’t seem genuine, and perhaps, even vindictive. It seems to me that it’s your post that doesn’t seem genuine. If you’re truly a parent seeking out a life coach and doing your research, one would think you might appreciate reading about an opposing experience, perhaps even ask questions, or at the very least, find it informative and move on. This really feels like nothing more than a personal attack. Hmmm. I wonder from where or from whom this is really coming from.
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for sharing your experience with me and for having the courage to post about it here on thatgirljen.com – It’s reassuring to know I wasn’t the ONLY single solitary client/paying customer who wasn’t 100% satisfied with our experience with RJ and his Life Scholars Academy. Although it sucks that you’re also out a fairly large sum of money. I’m not making bank with my blog or my reviews. Maybe one day… ;P
Best part of this whole experience is I’ve made a new friend online! silver lining I suppose! LOL
Thanks for posting,
~thatgirljen
Thanks for posting this review. My husband and I were scheduled for our $39. intake call this morning and the “Coach” was 5 min. late when we hung up. We are both coaches and have lots of experience doing it and we were amazed because coaches are NEVER late. They have been texting and calling us trying to reschedule for 3 hours. Now the “manager” is calling me. Our son is a great kid with an active sneaker business and a monetized YouTube channel who doesn’t get why he needs to go to social studies. He is not a problem kid in any way. We were already feeling like this was probably a clickfunnel coaching program and your review confirmed it. I think I’m going to look for a 1:1 ICF certified master coach to work with him. For the money you’re talking about why not go with the best! We want him to continue his success with his businesses but need someone to marry that with the value of an education, really looking for a 1:1 mentor. Like you said, no one wants to listen to their parents all the time! Just not the program for us.
Hello KatyMom,
Surprised that they were late, that’s like leaving money on the table. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise? Curious if they will refund your money since they were late to your appointment.
Sounds like you have an exceptional son who’s is already on a very successful path. I think getting a mentor sounds like a great option for you all… LMK if you find one! That’s really what we are looking for for our daughter, an actual mentorship.
Thanks for reading and for the post,
~thatgirljen
What is the teen group you said lizzy likes to be part of? You mentioned it in the post about Dr. rJ
Hello Jen,
We utilized a few different sources to gap fill social interaction during our time of being homebound during covid-19. During that time (2020-2021) Lizzy was involved with a few ONLINE teen groups. I found a some of those groups through Outschool. I especially liked using Outschool’s platform. At the time, the had a lot of different interests available. Some classes were just teen chats, others had themes, and some were coupled with learning a subject. Another plus point was the online get togethers were teacher led and moderated, and the instructors did a good job of getting everyone involved. Hope this info is helpful.
~thatgirljen
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I know this post is old but I came across it while looking for reviews on Dr. RJ’s program. I didn’t feel in any way that you were attacking Dr. RJ or his program. You were just simply sharing your experience and again, I thank you for that. I guess I’ll have to find a therapist for my son.
Hello ADM,
Yes, it’s been a while since our experience with Life Scholars and RJ.
I definitely wanted to share my experience, especially after everything transpired. I really found it peculiar that there seems to be absolutely NO other negative reviews about his program. I hope you find a good life coach/therapist for your son.
Thanks for reading my post!
~thatgirljen
Found this review just to say it is 2024, and Dr RJ is still in full swing! Got totally and utterly sold a teen life coaching program that I did not receive. The marketing and consultation do not line up with what this program is and you have no way of knowing this until after the contract is signed. Once you get started with the program materials and the very large group meetings you begin to understand what you are in for. There is no backing out, I have kindly made request for refund, have met with their personnel twice and asked them to escalate it to upper management and still receive the same answer. No refunds since we already accessed the portal and participated in 3 classes. What a racket! To me a life coach is someone that would assist in goal setting and knowing where you are in life and where you want to be. This man could not tell you ONE THING about my son, for nearly 3000 dollars I would think at least he would recall his first name. Dont be fooled by the enthusiasm, imo this is a straight money making venture for Dr RJ!
Hi Lela,
WOW WOW WOW… I’m so sorry to hear that in March 2024, you’ve had an extremely similar negative experience with RJ and Life Scholars Academy. It seems things haven’t really changed or improved since my original post nearly 3 years ago. I had hoped that the modular program (for the price) had been revised and more tailored to each child and family’s needs and requests. As parents all we want to do is provide the very best for our kids, and help them grow into who they want to be… I mean $3000 is a bit of money to invest with the hope of getting what you actually paid for.
You mentioned your personal consult didn’t reflect the actual program you received, and the lack of customer service and accountability you’ve experienced as a dissatisfied customer with what RJ and Life Scholars had offered you. I’ve been there, I know your frustration! I agree with your understanding of what a life coach is, “someone that would assist in goal setting and knowing where you are in life and where you want to be,” which was what I also wanted for my teen. Unfortunately it’s not what either of us received or experienced with Life Scholars program.
I know there are many happy customers that have gone through RJ’s program and they got what they wanted; And I’m truly happy for them. I just think his one size fit’s all program doesn’t always offer what every customer is looking for, and that’s where the disconnect is. This is why I’ve opted to keep my review and post up about my personal experience. It seems every few months, another parent finds my post and reaffirms my experience.
SO Lela, Please keep me posted and let me know if they offer you a partial refund, that sometimes happens after a response on my blog… Oh and have you seen any of his social, his TikTok is interesting…
Thanks for posting and sharing your experience. Good luck with everything! 🙂
~thatgirljen
Hi again, I see that you had posted an update that you did receive a refund from Dr RJ’s program. I was working through the process and their final demand was that I not only remove my comments here but that I send a letter retracting the comment. Which I of course took offense to, in order to retract the comment I would need to lie and state the program was something completely different for me and my son. Did the program make any similar requests of you? Of course I see that your blog post is still up. Please feel free to reach out directly to me at my email address also, much appreciated!
Lela
We are reading the reviews and experiences with Dr. RJs program. Thank you for posting your experience. You mention toward the end of your write up that your daughter Liz is now attending a “weekly online team group” that has just a few kids and costs $25 a week. Can you share how you came across this group.
Hi Tracey,
The weekly online teen meetups were a great way for my daughter to socialize, especially during covid. This was not therapy or anything clinical or medical just incase you’re looking for something of that nature. These meetups and courses were either completely social or educational. Since we homeschooled at the time, we were using the OUTSCHOOL platform. They have so many online courses and meetups geared for online learning. OUTSHCOOL offers tutoring, educational courses and enrichment. If you’re looking for that- check out what they have currently online under their “Clubs and Enrichment” tab. . I’m unsure of pricing, as it’s different for each facilitator or instructor.
Hope this info helps and thanks for reading,
~thatgirljen
Just met with the ‘sales person’ for the pitch which was $10 (great sales tactic…getting paid $10 no matter what). Throughout the conversation, the ‘interviewer’ kept saying I’d have unlimited access to RJ and/or his brother… I did hear some phrases that indicated that there would be other ‘facilitators’ involved and when I asked the price….wait for it…. $12,000 for RJ or $5,500 for his brother. The ‘sales person’ continually got my son’s name wrong and even called him by my name once. The call lasted 10 minutes and at the end of the call, I could tell the person was ready to end the call and move on to the next call. I’m wondering if the sales person gets to keep that $10 as part of their pay and then maybe a commission from anything sold. Wow. I think I found my new calling… 😉
Hi Andrew,
OMGosh, that’s more than a pretty penny for a teen mentorship. Maybe if it were Tony Robbins, I could get behind that price point. Really? $12,000.00 US dollar dollar bills y’all… wait HOW MUCH? for how long, is it a lifetime direct line for guidance and mentorship?
As for the wrong name game, yep we had that happen too. Totes profesh 100%
WOW, thanks for finding me sharing your experience, and LMK if you’re hiring! 🙂
~thatgirljen