Eight years ago, I started definitely telling personal brands and founders they needed to be selling luxury.
Not because it sounded good. Not because I wanted to be provocative.
Because I could see something fundamental shifting. The economics of expertise were changing. What had worked for decades, that comfortable middle tier where good experts charged good prices, was becoming unsustainable.
The truth I kept repeating, the one most people didn’t want to hear: you either need to be exceptional at luxury or exceptional at volume.
Everything in between was disappearing.
I’ve spent the last eight years working with hundreds of extraordinary experts. Some were brave enough to listen early. They claimed their iconic positioning when everyone else was still playing the mainstream game. Many are my long-term clients now. They’re the ones building empires.
Others dismissed it. The middle market felt safe. Proven. “Premium” meant $10K, maybe $20K if you were bold.
I’ve watched some of those experts come back over the years. Different ones, different timing, but the same realization.
“The middle has collapsed. It’s becoming impossible to sustain a business at that level anymore. The pressure is relentless.”
And here’s what’s become exponentially more acute in the last two years: being exceptional at volume requires resources most experts simply don’t have.
If you want to play the volume game? Absolutely. I’m all for it. But you need serious capital. Real market share. Infrastructure that can scale infinitely. You need to be extraordinarily well-funded and build systems that can serve thousands.
I’ve got business partners doing exceptional things in that space, attracting significant investment. It’s a completely viable path if you have the resources and appetite for it.
But if you are genuinely masterful at what you do, if you’re meant to be a market leader and not a volume player, the only way I believe you can build a business that brings you joy is this:
Million-dollar offers. $500K engagements. $100K transformations as your foundation.
Iconic positioning at the luxury level.
This is what I call the Authority Economy.
And it’s not some future trend we’re preparing for. It’s happening right now. Today. This moment.
For those of you who are exceptional at what you do, this puts you in a position of extraordinary power. There is more opportunity in the market right now than I’ve seen in a decade.
But the window is closing.
THE AUTHORITY ECONOMY ISN'T ABOUT TACTICS
Let me be very clear about what this means.
This isn’t about going into the market and selling a whole bunch of $2,000 widgets and whatnots. Or even $20,000 programs.
This is about positioning yourself to lead like a luxury company, but with your personal brand. To build out a legacy that lasts.
True authority means you’re not competing anymore. You’re not one of many good options. You’re not even the best option.
You’re the ONLY option for your specific transformation.
When you operate at this level, price becomes irrelevant. Because you’re not selling services. You’re not even selling transformation, really.
You’re selling certainty.
The absolute certainty that working with you will create the result they need. That you’ve done this dozens or hundreds of times. That you see what they cannot see. That you can take them where they cannot go alone.
And you’re selling an expanded vision of possibility. Things your client doesn’t even know they need yet. Transformations they can’t imagine from where they’re standing. And your absolute certainty in that vision.
That certainty, that vision, is what luxury buyers are actually purchasing. And they will pay extraordinary sums for it.
My clients who understood this eight years ago? The ones brave enough to claim iconic positioning when everyone else was still teaching funnels and ascension models?
They’re sitting on multimillion-dollar empires now. Working with fewer clients. Making more money. Building legacies that will outlast them.
The ones just coming into this market now? The opportunity is absolutely still there. But it’s getting more acute by the month.
WHAT BECOMES POSSIBLE FROM THIS POSITION
And here’s what people miss about the luxury strategy: if you want to scale later, you can do it from a position of absolute power.
Want to write the defining book of your industry? Excellent. The IP you developed in your million-dollar engagements forms the backbone of this. You’re not scrambling to create a methodology. You’re documenting mastery you’ve already proven.
Want to speak on stages with the best of the best? Perfect. Your stories and social proof will be beyond comparison when you’re the Icon of your market, having delivered transformations at the highest level. You’re not hoping to get booked. You’re being pursued.
Want to create true generational wealth? Outstanding. The leverage you will have once you enter those rooms and deliver at this level cannot be surpassed. Board positions. Equity deals. Strategic partnerships. Investment opportunities that simply don’t exist at any other level.
This is what luxury positioning creates. Not limitation. Infinite possibility from a position of unassailable authority.
But here’s what’s happening that most people aren’t talking about:
As we get further into this binary market for personal brands, where you’re either right at the very top selling to people who will invest at the highest level, or you’re exceptional at the volume game, the harder it’s going to be to penetrate either end.
The top is getting more crowded with true authorities who claimed their positioning early. The bottom is getting dominated by well-funded volume players with systems that can scale infinitely.
The middle? It’s not just collapsing anymore. It’s gone.
THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH NO ONE WANTS TO SAY
If you continually kick the can down the road, if you’re not brave enough to just go there, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble.
I’ve been saying this for eight years. It’s becoming more acute right now. Monthly. Weekly even.
Every conversation I have with someone trying to hold on in the middle market, I can hear it. The squeeze. The pressure. The exhaustion of working harder every year for the same or less revenue.
They’re competing with people who have better systems, bigger teams, more automation. And they’re competing with luxury authorities who command ten times what they charge without breaking a sweat.
There’s no comfortable middle anymore.
And here’s what I find fascinating: most experts know this. Deep down, they know it.
They feel it every time they’re in a conversation about pricing and the prospect says “let me think about it” or “I need to compare options” or “that’s a bit steep.”
Those phrases don’t exist at the luxury level. Premium clients don’t shop around. They don’t compare. They seek out the one person who can deliver what no one else can, and they invest.
But admitting that the middle market is dead means admitting you need to make a fundamental shift. And that’s terrifying.
It means claiming a level of authority you might not feel ready for. It means pricing at levels that feel audacious. It means working with a different caliber of client entirely.
It means being brave.
WHY THIS MATTERS RIGHT NOW
The clients who’ve been with me for years, the ones who made this shift when I first started talking about it, they’re not worried about market saturation. They’re not worried about competitors. They’re certainly not worried about being replaced.
Because they own their positioning so completely that comparison becomes impossible.
They’re working at the iconic level. Building empires. Creating generational wealth. Operating in rooms where legacy-level decisions are made.
And they started exactly where you are right now. Knowing they were exceptional at what they do. Knowing they were meant for more. But not quite brave enough to claim it.
Until they were.
The difference between them and the experts still struggling in the middle market? A decision.
Not capability. Not expertise. Not credentials.
A decision to stop playing in the middle and claim iconic positioning at the top.
THE AUTHORITY ECONOMY REWARDS THE BRAVE
I’m not here to convince you that million-dollar offers are possible. If you need convincing, you’re not ready.
I’m here for the people who already know. Who have the inner certainty. Who are just waiting for permission to finally claim what they’ve always known they were capable of.
The Authority Economy isn’t coming. It’s here.
The iconic positions are still available. But as time goes on, as more experts wake up to this reality, those positions will be claimed.
And once they’re claimed, they’re almost impossible to dislodge.
Right now, today, you have the opportunity to position yourself at the top of your market. To become the person everyone thinks of. To build the empire you’ve always known you were meant to build.
But only if you’re brave enough to make the leap.
Eight years ago, I told people the middle market was collapsing. Most didn’t listen.
Today, I’m telling you: the window is closing. The opportunity is acute. The time is now.
You can wait. You can hope things get clearer. You can keep playing it safe in a middle market that no longer exists.
Or you can be brave.
The Authority Economy rewards the brave. It always has.
The question is: are you ready to finally claim what you’ve always known you were capable of?
Because if you are, I’m here. We’re building the greatest greatness community in the world. Icons who understand that luxury positioning isn’t optional anymore. It’s survival.
But I’m only talking to the people who get it. Who are done kicking the can down the road. Who are ready to build their iconic empire.
If that’s you, begin your journey by speaking with our team. We’ll work with you on your next steps.
