What My Users Taught Me About Teams

I built the platform for individuals. My users are showing me it's also for teams. Month one data is in — and the users who stuck around are asking: "Can my team use this?"

By Dr. Latisha Chisholm — February 23, 2026

"The first thing I did was advocate for $20K to invest in my team.

Four years ago, I was brought in to turn around a team that had been working hard but not seeing results. Employees were churning and only three were left. One of my first moves was to invest in both individual coaching and team development. Individuals needed their own safe places, collective culture must also be intentionally developed.

So, now that I've built my own coaching platform for others, I'm not surprised by what the data says.

I built the platform for individuals. My users are showing me it's also for teams.

Month one data is in. 39 new signups! And here's the thing I didn't expect:

The users who stuck around aren't just using Zmara for themselves. They are now asking: ""Can my team use this?""

Not because I marketed it that way. Because the experience was effective enough that they wanted it for the people they're responsible for and collaborate with regularly.

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That changed everything about how I'm building.

I had designed community features for a path that didn't match user behavior. So I cut them. Ruthlessly. Not because they were bad ideas, because they were the wrong ideas for right now.

Now community serves two purposes: → Spaces to bring people into the ecosystem during presentations and events → Team spaces where Zmara can engage with multiple people at once

That second one? I haven't seen it anywhere else. A thinking partner that knows each person on your team individually, and can support the team collectively. Especially for hybrid or dispersed teams where you can't always be present.

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This is why I'm speaking at the Howard Black Male Educators Summit this Saturday.

Educators are the original people-developers. They don't need convincing that development matters. They need tools that match their commitment.

In my workshop, I'm not pitching software. I'm asking:

Who are you responsible for developing, and what support do they have?

If the answer is ""me, when I have time"", that's not a development plan. That's a hope.

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My users taught me something my business plan couldn't: the best marketing is someone saying ""Zmara helped me"" and then asking ""Can Zmara help us?""

I'm following the users. Not the plan."