Career Nerds

HOW WE CREATED A PLATFORM THAT BOOSTED CAREERNERDS’ COACH PRODUCTIVITY BY 40% IN 14 WEEKS

Every day, career coaches lose hours to administrative tasks that could be spent actually coaching. For Tom Kent, CEO, and Kathy Borkoski, Vice President at CareerNerds, managing their expanding career coaching business through Google Sheets wasn’t just inefficient; it was threatening their ability to scale their proven 6-12 month program that helps professionals land better jobs.

With clients scattered across multiple spreadsheets and coaches struggling to track progress effectively, CareerNerds needed more than just a digital upgrade. This wasn’t just a tech upgrade: it was a business decision. They needed a platform that would support growth, drive revenue, and scale their operations without breaking what already worked.

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THE STARTING POINT

CareerNerds had built a successful career coaching business with a comprehensive 6-12 month program covering personal branding, networking, and automated outreach. Their methodology worked: clients were getting jobs and building stronger professional networks.

But success brought its own challenges. As Tom Kent explained during our initial discovery call, managing a long-term coaching program across dozens of spreadsheets was no longer sustainable; they needed a system that could keep up with their growth.

The company relied entirely on Google Sheets for client management, with each client receiving their own workbook containing multiple tabs for different phases of the program. Coaches would manually update progress, track assignments, and coordinate between the branding and networking phases of their program.

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Client's pain points

The Google Sheets system that had served CareerNerds in their early days was now creating significant operational friction:

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• Information scattered across multiple platforms

  Each client had their own workbook, making it impossible to get a comprehensive view of operations or track patterns across the client base.

• Time lost searching for critical information

  Coaches spent excessive time navigating between different spreadsheets and tabs to find client progress, assignment details, and session notes.

• Difficulty tracking progress and milestones

  Without automated progress tracking, coaches couldn't easily see where clients stood in the program or identify those falling behind.

• Challenges in coach collaboration

  With two coaches assigned to each client (branding and networking), getting everyone on the same page was a constant struggle, with important context getting lost during client handoffs.

• Limited accountability mechanisms

  There was no systematic way to track homework completion or send automated reminders, making it difficult to maintain client engagement throughout the lengthy program.

Project goals

CareerNerds envisioned a centralized web application that would transform their coaching operations while supporting their proven methodology. The primary objectives included:

• Streamline the client experience

  Provide a single platform where clients could access all program materials, track their progress, and communicate with coaches.

• Enhance coach collaboration

  Enable seamless coordination between branding and networking coaches throughout the client journey.

• Implement automated progress tracking

  This provides clear visibility into where each client stands in the program and identifies intervention opportunities.

• Scale operations efficiently

  Removes manual administrative tasks and enables coaches to focus on high-value coaching activities.

• Maintain program integrity

  While digitizing their proven 6-12 month methodology without losing the personal touch that made their approach successful.

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Challenges

The project presented several complex challenges that required careful planning and execution:

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LowCode Agency's solution

We chose Bubble as our development platform, enabling us to create a comprehensive client management system that matched CareerNerds' sophisticated coaching methodology while maintaining rapid development speed.

The solution centered around a multi-dashboard approach that provided each user type with exactly the information and tools they needed:

• Client Experience: Clients received a personalized dashboard showing their progress through the program, upcoming assignments, and easy access to coaching resources. The LinkedIn Profile Builder became an essential feature, allowing clients to develop their professional presence with coach guidance and real-time feedback.

• Coach Dashboard: Coaches gained a comprehensive view of their active clients with smart prioritization showing upcoming calls, pending assignments, and progress indicators. The system automatically tracked which clients needed attention.

• Administrative Oversight: Administrators could monitor operations across all coaches and clients, with detailed analytics on program completion rates, coach productivity, and client engagement patterns.

• Virtual Assistant Integration: The platform included specialized tools for the outreach team, enabling them to manage networking campaigns and track connection building activities on behalf of clients.

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Development process

We didn’t start by designing screens: we started by understanding how CareerNerds really worked. Before designing or building anything, we immersed ourselves in their day-to-day operations to understand what made their methodology effective and where the friction was.

Over the course of 14 weeks, we worked in close partnership with their team to evolve the platform through multiple iterations: refining features, validating flows, and adapting the system in real time based on feedback. Rather than building in isolation, we stayed embedded in their process to make sure every change brought real, measurable value.

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What Really Changed

When Tom and Kathy approached us, their biggest challenge was a lack of visibility, slow decisions, and hours lost in manual tracking that no one could afford.

We didn't just digitize their process: we restructured it. Progress tracking became visual, intuitive, and actionable. Instead of piecing together each client's status from tabs and emails, coaches now open a dashboard that shows exactly where every client stands: what sessions are complete, what's coming next, and who needs follow-up.

We also reimagined one of the most critical (and messiest) parts of their program: the LinkedIn profile feedback loop. What used to be handled across email threads and conflicting versions became a step-by-step builder with coach input baked in. Clients can build or improve their profile directly in the app, with real-time comments and version tracking. It's not just cleaner; it's also about a better coaching experience

Conclusion and results

The CareerNerds platform transformed how the company operates. We replaced a system that worked on disconnected spreadsheets with a platform that actually supports their growth. The centralized system now supports their proven coaching methodology while providing the operational efficiency needed to scale.

Key improvements achieved:

• 75% reduction in time spent on administrative tasks through automation
• 40% increase in coach productivity within the first month
• Seamless handoffs between branding and networking coaches
• Improved client engagement through better progress visibility and communication tools
• Enhanced data insights enabling continuous program improvement

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Every growing service business faces the challenge of scaling. Just as we partnered with CareerNerds to transform their client management from a spreadsheet system to streamlined operations, we can be your partner to help you build systems that grow with your business. Book a free discovery call with our team to explore how we can help you scale your operations without sacrificing personalization, visibility, or control.

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