Letting Go of What Works: Why I Retired My Most Successful Program - Woman of Influence

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Letting Go of What Works: Why I Retired My Most Successful Program"

Episode Overview

In the June 25, 2025 episode of The Influencer Podcast, host Julie Solomon delves into a deeply personal and transformative decision: retiring her highly successful program, Pitch It Perfect (PIP). This episode serves as a candid exploration of the reasons behind this significant shift, the emotional and strategic processes involved, and the new directions in which Julie is steering her business to better align with her evolved identity and the needs of her clients.

1. Announcing the Retirement of Pitch It Perfect (00:40 - 01:09)

Julie Solomon begins the episode by revealing a milestone moment in her professional journey—retiring Pitch It Perfect, a program that has been instrumental in her success and has empowered over 10,000 women to secure brand deals and generate millions in revenue. Contrary to what one might expect, Julie emphasizes that this decision wasn't due to the program's ineffectiveness.

“I didn’t retire Pitch It Perfect because it wasn’t working. I retired it because I felt so complete with that version of my business and so much of me and what I do now in my business…” (00:40 - 01:09)

2. Evolution Beyond Pitch It Perfect (01:09 - 06:20)

Julie elaborates on her reasons for retiring PIP, highlighting that while the program was effective, it no longer reflected who she is or whom she aims to serve. Over the years, as her business and personal growth progressed, the original program began attracting clients whose needs no longer aligned with her current offerings. This misalignment created a "residue" of past personas and strategies that Julie felt hindered her ability to lead authentically and support her clients deeply.

“The public Persona and my public brand hadn't caught up. And when you are known for something for nearly a decade, there is a kind of residue that clings to you.” (04:50)

3. The Struggle with Legacy and Residue (06:20 - 12:24)

Despite attempts to evolve PIP gradually—such as shutting down memberships and community groups—Julie found that these measures did not fully address the lingering association with the old program. The strategy continued to attract a demographic she had moved beyond, prompting her to make a decisive break to realign her brand with her current mission.

“I needed a clean break… because it's something that still technically works, but no longer mirrors who I am.” (09:15)

4. Energetic Blueprint of Evolution (15:00 - 14:38)

Julie introduces her Energetic Blueprint of Evolution, a framework she used to navigate this transition. This blueprint comprises several phases:

Listening: Granting herself stillness to truly hear her inner voice and the needs of her evolving identity.
Residue Reckoning: Confronting the legacy of her old programs and acknowledging the outdated perceptions and audience expectations.
Sacred Integration: Embracing her evolution by revealing her current work and aligning it with her true self.
Discernment: Clearing out the clutter and publicly declaring the retirement of outdated elements to maintain integrity and foster authentic connections.

“It started with what I am calling this energetic blueprint of evolution… It was about revealing the work I'm doing now.” (15:00 - 17:30)

5. Making the Clean Break (17:30 - 26:41)

Julie recounts how observing her friend Christina Galbato’s successful clean break from her own program inspired her to take similar decisive action. Recognizing the importance of aligning her external offerings with her internal evolution, Julie publicly retired PIP to remove the energetic residue that no longer served her or her community.

“I needed to really claim it in order for the Energy to feel clean… I had to retire anything that no longer matched my frequency.” (20:45 - 22:10)

6. Embracing Identity Alignment and Deeper Work (26:41 - 27:17)

Transitioning from strategy-focused offerings, Julie now emphasizes identity alignment and deeper, soul-level work with her clients. Her new approach is about fostering wholeness and authentic leadership, ensuring that her message and services resonate deeply with her evolved self and the next era of her business.

“My highest level clients… want identity alignment… It's a full energy identity alignment of who they have always been, but who they are dropping into.” (24:30 - 25:15)

7. Introducing New Offerings (27:17 - End)

Julie outlines her new suite of programs tailored to high-level entrepreneurs seeking profound business and personal growth:

Revenue Accelerator: A small group accelerator for high-integrity founders ready to realign their message with their truth.
Brand Accelerator: A self-paced program focused on clearing clutter and deepening identity work with group calls.
Private One-on-One Mentorship: Personalized support for women undergoing full recalibration in their business and personal lives.

“We do some really beautiful work in there… it's identity level work… you need resonance, you need frequency, you need audacious and unapologetic reclamation of your identity.” (25:30 - 28:00)

8. Invitation to the Audience (28:00 - End)

Julie extends a heartfelt invitation to her listeners to join her in this new era if they resonate with her evolved mission. She encourages those who feel aligned with her deeper work to connect through various channels, ensuring that her community is authentically engaged with her current offerings.

“If you’re building something successful, but your voice feels tired, your content feels diluted… you need resonance, you need frequency, you need audacious and unapologetic reclamation of your identity.” (27:30 - 28:45)

She also hints at future podcast episodes that will reflect this deeper work, promising richer and more authentic content beyond mere strategies and frameworks.

“We are going to be having some really beautiful conversations… revealing more of this deeper work that happens typically behind the paywall and behind the scenes.” (28:10 - 29:00)

Conclusion

Julie Solomon's decision to retire Pitch It Perfect marks a pivotal shift from strategy-centric offerings to a more holistic approach centered on identity and authentic leadership. This episode serves as an inspiring blueprint for entrepreneurs feeling confined by their past successes, encouraging them to embrace evolution and align their ventures with their true selves. Through vulnerability and strategic clarity, Julie invites her community to partake in this transformative journey, promising deeper connections and more meaningful growth.

Notable Quotes:

Retirement Reason:
“I didn't retire Pitch It Perfect because it wasn't working… it no longer reflects who I am” (00:40).
Energetic Blueprint Explanation:
“It started with what I am calling this energetic blueprint of evolution” (15:00).
Clean Break Necessity:
“I had to retire anything that no longer matched my frequency” (22:10).
Invitation to Transformation:
“You don’t need a rebrand… you need resonance, you need frequency, you need audacious and unapologetic reclamation of your identity.” (27:30).

Takeaway

This episode is a testament to the importance of aligning one's business with personal growth and evolving identities. Julie Solomon's journey underscores that true success lies not just in what works, but in what truly resonates with who you are today. For entrepreneurs and leaders feeling the stirrings of their own evolution, Julie's experience offers both inspiration and a roadmap for making meaningful, integrity-driven changes.

Transcript

Julie Solomon (0:00)

That strategy will always be a part of my gift and part of how I lead and part of those greater conversations. But it's complete. And not because it stopped working, but truly because it no longer reflects who I am, who I serve now, or most importantly, why they come into my world.

Julie Solomon (0:18)

Welcome to the Influencer podcast. I'm your host, Julie Solomon. If you found yourself here, it means you are ready to unleash the powerful visionary that lives inside you, turning you into an authentic leader who creates influence, impact, and change.

Unknown (0:34)

Let's get started.

Julie Solomon (0:40)

Hello, my friends. It's Julie. And today's episode is one I've been holding close for a while, because for the first time in over nine years, I have officially closed, retired one of my most successful programs that I have ever created, and it is called Pitch It Perfect. Now, I didn't retire Pitch It Perfect because it wasn't working.

Unknown (1:06)

It still works very good.

Julie Solomon (1:09)

I didn't retire it because it wasn't valuable anymore. People were still buying it. I retired it because I felt so complete with. With that version of my business and so much of me and what I do now in my business and the clients that I worked with had already moved on. And when it comes to my work and my offers and how I show up in the world, I want everything to reflect the integrity and the level of work that I'm doing now. The depth, the embodiment, and the evolution. And that is already here. And if you have ever felt the tension and really the residue of carrying something that still technically works, but no longer mirrors who you are, this episode is for you. Today I am walking you through why I closed a program that helped over 10,000 women and made them millions of dollars and made my business millions of dollars. What actually happens behind the scenes of an evolution like this and how I have supported myself and now my incredible clients through this kind of identity shift. This is not a marketing pivot. It's so much deeper than that. It is truly a reclamation. And I can't wait to dive in. Let's drop in. Okay, let's be honest. Pidget Perfect. And if you've been in my world for any amount of time, you've probably heard of Pidget Perfect. I launched it in 2016. It was the program that really put me on the map. It was the program that really dictated a lot of the content that I created for a long time. The episodes that I would do on this podcast and really curated this perception of who I was, you know, for a long time. It was. If you want to Learn how to pitch and land brand deals and work with brands you called Solomon. That is who you learn that from. And it works. And it worked. It helped a generation of women truly realize that they could pitch with confidence, they could partner with brands and they could get paid to show up as themselves without millions of followers, without going viral, without having a perfectly curated feed. But if I'm being real, when I started this method, the pitch it Perfect method, that became a magnet for so many, and that magnet kept pulling in buyers that as I grew and evolved in this industry, I mean, this was nine years ago when I first created Pigeon Perfect. And of course I've updated the program since then. But there was a time when I was really outpacing what that original strategy and teacher and buyer was. And that magnet started to continue to pull in buyers that I had long since evolved from. I had already moved on. And the problem was my public Persona and my public brand hadn't caught up. And when you are known for, for something for nearly a decade, there is a kind of residue that clings to you. And no matter how hard I would try to evolve the offers and evolve the messaging and evolve the brand and, you know, be so sharply intentional with what I said and who I called in it, I needed a clean break. And so to give you some kind of background, you know, I started to really feel this from Pidget Perfect way back in 2022, 2023, and again, even though the strategy works incredibly, I had, I had just evolved and it was time for me to work with women in a much deeper way. And I'll get to that in a moment. So there were parts of the program, like I had a membership for it one time, and then I like shut that down. And then I had a free community group and I shut that down. Like there were these little, like, I was like dipping my toes into it, right? But not really giving myself that, like drawing the line in the sand and that clean break. And then last year, it was last June that I finally told my ads team, I said, I want to stop running ads to pitch it perfect. You know, we can leave it on the website. I can still have, you know, the funnel going and the free training up if people want to tap into it. But, you know, I'm just, I've so evolved past that. Like, yes, the strategy of pitching and brand deals and the nuances of that and negotiations still happen in the higher level conversations that I have with my clients now. But the intention behind it is so different that, than what used to be the typical PIP buyer that would come in to land brand deals. It was kind of like that PIP buyer. And not that she was bad or wrong, my gosh. Like, I used to be the pit buyer. I love the pit buyer. She's amazing. She's. She's a former version of me. But it was kind of where she was at in her journey. It was like everything began and ended with brand deals. And as long as she could get brand deals and as long as she could learn how to kind of be. Monopolize the affiliate rat race a little bit, like, she was good. She wasn't really wanting at the time that I was feeling this pivot to pivot with me and to do the deeper work and to really work on that resonance and that identity shift and that leadership work and how that relates to your voice and your message and your influence and your greater impact as a business and as a brand. And I started feeling that very early on. And so I knew that the shifts had to happen. So I told my ads team finally last year, after kind of, like, tip, you know, dipping my toes into, like, evolving from this, I just said, I want to stop running ads because, you know, I. I've really gotten clear on my offer suite. I know who I'm talking to. And even though the strategies of Pitch It Perfect could play a role in that person's business, it's not the end all, be all. It's not like, the reason why she wants to start a business. It's not to land brand deals, right? Like, it's an ancillary thing that complements the work that she's doing. It's not the whole thing. And that worked, you know, and for this last year, you know, I have really gotten so clear and intentional with my clients. The clients that I get to work with are so amazing. The types of conversations that we get to have are calibrated in such a deeper, more meaningful way. I get to work with them longer and deeper than I used to with a PIP student. I have a more intentional relationship with them. I know them more. I know them deeper. Just things that truly align with who I am now. But again, this idea of this residue kept coming up, and I was actually talking to a friend of mine who was also in this space, Christina Galbato, who has been going through similar things in her business. And Christina and I have gotten to know each other over the last few years and have had a lot of synergies with, you know, how we've been feeling about our business and what we've been called into and how we're dropping in deeper to that. And as we continue to have these conversations, we were talking a few months ago and about this, and she was like, well, you know, how did you kind of handle pip? And I was like, well, I just internally, like, retired it, but outside looking in, like, it's still there. And, you know, I'll let Christina go into her own path and her own journey with what she's doing. I won't give too many details about that. You can go check it out. She's amazing, but she kind of was, you know, reflecting back to me. She was like, okay, no, I need a clean break. Like, I need to, like, cut it off at the source. And she. So she did that for her own business and her own journey. And as I was watching her do that and just reflecting back on our conversations, I was like, you know, I can see how this energetically probably does so much for you. And it was so beautiful to see her go through that. And it really reminded me a lot of what I think I already knew. And I think that we can all relate to this of, like, you know, we can know something and believe it and maybe even share it with somebody else, but then we don't necessarily do it ourselves. It's interesting how that can happen. And so kind of watching her go through that and really feeling through the conversations, I was like, I can see where this. Because I'm not drawing the line in the sand publicly, and I'm not letting this incredible, beautiful community that, you know, some of you have been with me since the early PIP days, you know, 2016 is when that first came out. And it's like, if I'm not letting them know who I am and where I'm going and what has changed and why that has changed, how do I expect them to understand the evolution that's happening? How do I expect them to either continue to see themselves in me in the work that I do, or to not. Right. And then have agency to tap out. Like, I'm not really giving my community the. The truth and the resonance that they need to actually see who I am fully now in this stage of my business. And so it was such a beautiful reclamation for me to be like, I've got to clear out this. This energetic residue because it's still here, even though I feel like I have retired this a year ago and. And have been on this kind of dipping my toes in the water of this retirement for several years. Like, I need to really claim it in order for the Energy to feel clean in order for it to feel an integrity and most importantly, in order to have that reciprocity of communication with this beautiful community that, you know, some of which of you have been with me since the beginning, you know, and if I don't do that, it's like no one's paying attention to me, right? No one's paying attention to anybody because.