Imagine betting on yourself and creating a business that genuinely inspires you.
Join The Choose Courage Lab, our 3-month group coaching program designed to help you overcome self-doubt, build an entrepreneurial mindset, and launch a business that aligns with your passion and purpose.
You'll go from "I have an idea" to a business you've committed to, priced, and started putting in front of real people ... with the mindset, the plan, and the people to keep you going.
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Here's what's real and what's yours by the end.
A profitable business idea you can actually commit to.
✅ Create a clear, for-profit business idea you've stopped circling and started building
✅ Craft a straight answer to who it's for and what you do (without over-explaining or justifying)
✅ Develop a financial business strategy that you can name out loud without flinching
✅ Create a pre-launch and launch plan you can actually execute on
✅ Make progress towards first landing page and your first real outreach conversations
A healtheir relationship with work and a more healed version of you.
✅ Experience more freedom from the corporate conditioning and survival patterns that kept you small
✅ Gain language for the financial fears you've been carrying, so money stops running the show
✅ Develop enough self-trust that you stop questioning every small bet on yourself
✅ Discover a way to protect your peace and your boundaries while you build, not after
Proof you can do this and the right support system in place.
✅ Enjoy the personalized experience of a pod of no more than 7 people who can support and encourage you.
✅ Grow with a living community of 100+ values-led entrepreneurs at every stage of leaving
✅ Access accountability that keeps you moving between sessions, not just during them
✅ Experience private coaching and personalized feedback with Vivianne aka someone who's walked in your shoes and found a way to experience a different path.
Our Next Program: July - September
What is The Choose Courage Lab?
We help values-led entrepreneurs build businesses that pay well, feel good and protect their peace (without selling their soul) through The Choose Courage Lab aka The Lab: a 3-month structured group coaching program with a new small cohort running July through September.
It's called The Lab because that's what this phase of your journey actually is: a place to experiment, refine, test, iterate and build with intention. This isn't a course you consume on your own. It's an experience you move through with a small group of people doing the same courageous work.
Here's the rhythm: over three months, your pod meets twice a month for one hour, on a weekday (Monday through Friday) between 2pm and 7pm ET, at times your pod chooses together. That's six live sessions in total. If you're still in your 9-5, that window matters: most pods meet during typical work hours, so you'll want to be able to block one hour, twice a month, during the workday. You'll also be working through 6 core business acumen modules outside of the pod meetings to help you go from idea to launch.
You also get to experience:
👩🏾💻 Personalized Small Groups
You'll start with a short self-assessment covering your goals, your working style, and your general availability, so I can place you in a pod of no more than 7 people that fits both who you are and your calendar. Pods are curated so you're surrounded by peers who complement your energy, stretch your thinking and can genuinely support you in this next chapter of your entrepreneurial journey. Example: if 28 people join the cohort, you'll be placed in one of four groups of seven. Groups stay small on purpose. It's how I make sure your voice gets heard and you actually build real connections with the people you're learning alongside.
Your pod sets its own meeting dates together at the start, so the schedule actually works for your lives. Then you'll move through the full program as a group, start to finish. You'll begin together and you'll graduate together.
✅ How Enrollment Works
When you enroll, here's what happens:
You complete the short self-assessment (goals, working style, and availability, all in one form) so I can thoughtfully place you in your pod. This assessment is due Friday June 26th at 7pm ET.
You'll attend a 30-minute Kickoff Session with your pod on Friday July 3rd (during a time your group is free). If you can't make it live, just let me know! Your availability still gets noted and your pod will catch you up.
During the Kickoff, you'll work with your group to schedule all six live sessions (yay, flexibility!) and get onboarded into the cohort and the wider community. Remember: live sessions land on weekdays between 2pm and 7pm ET, and your pod picks the exact days and times together.
Your pod's first live session happens in early July, right after your Kickoff, and your three months run from there.
All times are listed in ET, so please convert to your local time zone.
🫶🏾 Access to a Community and Our Resource Hub
You're also stepping into something bigger than your pod. The Lab includes 3 months of membership to The Entrepreneurship Collective aka The Collective, my active community of 100+ values-led entrepreneurs at every stage of leaving corporate: some still inside, some 30 days out, some a year in, some running profitable businesses. Your cohort has an end date, but the relationships you build don't, and you'll have the option to continue in The Collective after your included three months.
And unlike a lot of the dead Slack channels you're part of, this group is alive, talking and already producing friendships, collaborations and referrals. It also includes access to our Resource Hub of webinars, templates, case studies and more.
Your pod gives you depth and The Collective gives you ongoing support and relief.
Note: the community is hosting an in-person retreat this October in Mexico City. If you join this cohort, you'll have the opportunity to join us there too!
💰 Our Real Results Guarantee**
If you show up fully, do the work, and still don't make clear progress toward launching or growing your business, here's what happens: we'll do a short Progress Review together, I'll give you an additional month of personalized support, and I'll send you $1,000.
No drama. No guilt. Just a promise that your effort won't go unanswered.
More details about this guarantee are at the bottom of this page!
During the program, I doubled my email list, clarified my offerings, and launched a pilot program.
— Sarah Atkinson
I was originally just exploring the idea of a side hustle but I emerged from the cohort program with a fully developed business and a well-defined strategy.
— Wig Mezo-Gadia
I've really taken action in establishing my business, rather than it just being something on paper.
— Stephanie Lawrence
I finally have a realistic, structured plan and real action behind my vision for my business.
— Shayla Williams
In the one year since I set out to build my business, it has been a lonely experience. The Choose Courage community changed that.
— Nyam Adodoadji
This cohort helped me move from hesitation to action, from corporate structure to entrepreneurial flow.
— Elvira Cooper
Many of the fine details of establishing my business were handled through the assignments.
— Victoria Montgomery
The connections didn't end after the three-month engagement. We continue to actively support one another as fellow entrepreneurs.
— Kim Lennox
Six months after our cohort ended, the alumni network is still connected, collaborative, and supportive of each other.
— Cee Reel
Meet your coach and FastCo award-winning founder:
Hi, I'm Vivianne Castillo!
With 12+ years of psychology and research experience, my thoughtwork has been mentioned in Slate, Fortune, Huffington Post, Fast Company, and ELLE Magazine, and I was an invited speaker at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit. I bring a holistic, deeply human approach to business building that refuses to repeat capitalism bro blueprints or exploitative tactics.
After leaving Salesforce in 2021 (a departure written about by Business Insider and Fast Company) to build the FastCo award-winning consultancy HmntyCntrd. I now coach and consult values-led, high-capacity entrepreneurs through Choose Courage Inc., helping aspiring and established founders who refuse to betray their ethics, identity, or humanity for the sake of growth.
And after publicly leaving a toxic workplace 5 years ago, I've been able to experience the reality of healing not being a scarcity and entrepreneurship being a healing experience ... and I want to help others experience this too💙
So if you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, let me show you what it looks like to be excited about your future again. Let's choose courage over comfort, together.
And I'm so confident in the design of this program that I offer a Real Results Guarantee*
Vivianne’s work has also been featured in notable publications such as:
Mindset | Community | Action
Our Approach Is Holistic
This online group coaching experience is specifically designed to nurture your personal and professional well-being by emphasizing the paramount importance of mindset, community, and taking action.
HOW THE LAB IS STRUCTURED
After conducting research and extensive interviews with folks in your position over the years, we've designed this group coaching experience to be holistic and practical.
The program is divided into a live + hybrid model.
Your weekly rhythm within the 3 months will look something like this:
Six one 1-hour pod session with your small group of no more than 7 people (live and facilitated by Vivianne); this is 2hrs each month
Six business acumen modules (self-paced, watch anytime and get timely feedback); modules are dripped on a bi-weekly basis
Weekly community events inside The Choose Courage Collective (a training led by Vivianne, a guest expert, open coffee chat, or other depending on the week)
Weekly Office Hours with Vivianne for you to get timely support and learn from others too
Ongoing async assignments between sessions, with rotating accountability buddy pairings inside your pod
Personalized 1:1 written feedback from Vivianne on critical assignments (so that you get personalized support and make sure your building a strong foundation for your business)
✅ BONUS | A Private 1:1 Session with Vivianne: Personalized insight and guidance tailored to your business goals and mindset blocks (Valued at $500)
✅ BONUS | A Live Legal Q&A with Vivianne's business attorney, Patrice Perkins (Creative Genius Law): Ask real legal questions about starting and protecting your business (Valued at $500)
Learn more below about the Mindset Sessions and our approach to the Business Practicum.
Live | Mindset Sessions (Read More)
Each month, your pod meets twice live for 60min, for a total of 6 sessions. These sessions are pure mindset and discussion work, facilitated by Vivianne and is the most loved part of the program.
We'll support you in letting go of limiting beliefs and outdated, survival-driven patterns from corporate life. This opens space to explore practices that cultivate a healthier relationship with work, build self-trust, and embrace purpose-driven goals.
Topics we cover include:
✓ Belief systems on success, failure & self-worth ✓ Overcoming internal barriers
✓ Accountability in action
✓ Foundational values
✓ Unpacking financial fears
✓ Detoxing from unhealthy corporate mindsets
✓ Learning to trust your gut
✓ Self-care as an imperative
✓ And more!
Hybrid | Business Practicum (Read More)
The business strategy and acumen side of the program lives in a self-paced module library you work through between sessions. Six modules, released on a biweekly drip across the 3 months.
We'll focus on understanding the key building blocks to creating a brand and a business, followed by practical exercises and assignments to apply what you've learned directly to building your business.
You watch on your own schedule, then bring your questions and reflections into your pod session, office hours, or the community. And you won't be alone, as you'll be paired with an accountability buddy for each assignment to meet with them live for at least one hour in between your sessions.
This approach bridges learning with action, empowering you to make informed, impactful decisions as you grow.
Topics we cover include:
✓ Elevator pitch
✓ Business plan
✓ Incorporating your business
✓ Vision and value statements
✓ Pricing strategies
✓ Pre-launch strategies
✓ Brand positioning support
✓ How to find and nurture leads
✓ How to approach sales in a human way
✓ And more!
🚨Registration Closes: Friday June 26th
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THE 3-PHASE ARC
The Lab moves you through three phases over 12 weeks. Each phase is roughly a month, with two pod sessions and two modules per phase.
Phase 1: Confidence
2 Live Pod Sessions + 2 Hybrid Module Experiences
The foundation work. In your first month, you'll work through the mindset barriers that get in the way of real action: the corporate conditioning, the inherited beliefs about success and self-worth, the financial fears, the survival patterns that made sense inside a company and will hurt you outside of one.
Modules introduce the business fundamentals (vision, values, elevator pitch, positioning basics) so you're building strategic and internal clarity at the same time.
The shape of your business. In Month 2, we clarify your offer, your audience, your pricing, and the key building blocks of a business that's purpose-driven, people-focused, and actually profitable. You'll be introduced to the resources, vendors, and partners Vivianne trusts to keep her own business running.
Modules go deeper on pricing strategy, brand positioning, and the pre-launch work that separates ideas from income.
The action phase. In Month 3, you move from planning into doing. Lead generation, launch strategy, your first landing page, your first real outreach conversations.
You'll also learn how to protect yourself from the mindsets and behaviors that derail founders in their first year, so you can keep going without losing yourself in the work.
Still have questions and are unsure if this is a good fit for you & your needs?
We'd love to take the time to answer any questions and make sure you are feeling confident in what it looks like to invest in and bet on yourself, even if it's not with Choose Courage Inc.💙Click below to schedule a brief call with Vivianne!
✅ Six 1-hour live pod sessions (2 live sessions / mo)
Facilitated by Vivianne. Mindset, discussion, and co-reflection with a small group of no more than 7 people (valued at $600/session for a total of $3,600)
✅ Six self-paced business acumen modules (released bi-weekly)
The strategic curriculum: vision, pricing, positioning, launch, lead generation, and more (Valued at $1,500)
✅ 1:1 personalized written feedback from Vivianne on critical assignments
Not a form comment. Real feedback on your critical assignments during your 12 weeks (Valued at $800)
✅ Rotating accountability buddy inside your pod
Every assignment, a new pairing. You'll know everyone in your pod by the end (Not being alone in your thoughts? Priceless)
✅ Weekly Community Events and Office Hours
Office Hours for structured time to ask questions, get unstuck, and keep moving. And weekly additional trainings and opportunities to connect within the community (Valued at $1,200)
✅ Access to our private community, The Choose Courage Collective
Our active community of 100+ values-led entrepreneurs continued support, accountability, and the kind of encouragement that helps you stay focused and hopeful (3 months included with your Lab enrollment!)
✅ Full access to Our Resource Hub
Years of previous trainings, recordings, curated tools and templates so that you have additional support and access to expertise (Valued at $2,000)
🎁 BONUS: 1:1 Private Strategy Session with Vivianne
Personalized insight and guidance tailored to your business goals and mindset blocks (Valued at $500)
🎁 BONUS: Live Legal Q&A with Vivianne’s attorney
Ask real legal questions and get straightforward guidance from someone who understands creative entrepreneurship (Valued at $500)
Over $10K in Value
Yours for $2,850
$2,850
One payment. High ROI.
Go from “I have an idea” to “I’m getting paid.” You’ll get coaching, community, and a clear launch plan — all in one place.
Covered by a our Real Results Guarantee.
This isn’t a course, it's what's overdue: a willingness to bet on yourself💙
✅ So here's the deal with The Real Results Guarantee: If you show up fully, do the work, and still don't make clear progress toward launching or growing your business, we'll do a short Progress Review together. I'll give you an additional month of personalized support, and I'll give you $1,000.
No drama. No guilt. Just a promise that your effort won't go unanswered.
What counts as "showing up fully"
To qualify for the guarantee, you need to commit to a single offer, idea, or business direction for at least 8 weeks of the program and complete the following:
Attend at least 5 of the 6 live pod sessions
Complete the six business acumen modules in the library on time
Submit your assignments on time (these activities are key to building your strategy and offer)
Engage in the community at least twice per week (you can either post a question, share a win, offer support, or ask for feedback; but it needs to be a thoughtful attempt at engagement in the community)
Attend the weekly Office Hours
Take at least two real outreach actions from the following list: pitching your offer to a prospective client, running a beta offering, having a sales conversation, or publishing your first post about your business on LinkedIn.
What "clear progress" means
This isn't about hitting six figures in 90 days. This is about momentum and measurable clarity. If you show up fully, you can expect to:
✓ Have a crystal-clear, for-profit business idea ✓ Know who it's for and how to talk about it ✓ Have started testing or promoting it, even if you're still refining ✓ Have had at least one real conversation with someone about your business
If after completing the program requirements you feel like you still don't have that clarity or traction, we'll do a short Progress Review together. I'll give you an additional month of personalized support and $1,000.
That's my promise.
Why $1,000?
By the time you request it, you've already received coaching, feedback, tools, frameworks, community support, and structure. Real value that doesn't disappear.
This refund isn't a fallback. It's a principle. It reflects what I believe about entrepreneurship:
✓ It's a shared risk ✓ A shared effort ✓ And when it works, a shared win
I'm not here for transactions. I'm here for transformations. The Real Results Guarantee proves it.
