Unless of course I’m paying $500 specifically to have
someone tell me what to do.
In Brooklyn there is currently an Adult-Pre-K course run by Michelle
Joni Lapidos. Her website is here: http://michellejoni.com/
At this Adult Pre-K grown women (and 1 guy) pay for sessions
that mimic Pre-K activities; such as nap time and finger painting. This story
briefly hit pop culture a few weeks ago, with predictable pundits complaining
about things they didn't understand.
To be clear, part of the American Dream is finding ways to
get fools to part with their money. Ms. Lapidos has clearly realized there was
a market for Adult Pre-K classes and she decided to fill that market and turn a
profit. Good for her. Anyone hating on her
is misguided or jealous or, more likely, both.
Rather than criticize Ms. Lapidos it is much more
instructive to look at why someone would want to attend such a class.
The pitch for the class on Ms. Lapidos website is here: http://michellejoni.com/preschool-mastermind/
Sure, it seems like Ms. Lapidos is selling Pre-K activities,
like snacks, story time, and coloring. But those are all things any participant
could easily do at home on their own time. Yet they are paying to instead do
those things with Ms. Lapidos. This should tell you that the customers are
really buying something else, something that Ms. Lapidos doesn’t directly articulate,
but that they are connecting with on a non-conscious level.
For insight into that, some quotes from the class
participants are illuminating.
They were all interviewed for this piece at WSJ.
If it’s pay-walled sometimes clicking to it from Fbook can
help (https://www.facebook.com/wsjsmallbusiness/posts/885207451530562)
For example:
“Steven Chu, a 30-year-old website developer and photographer who lives on the Upper East Side, hopes the class can dissolve his creative blocks and boost his entrepreneurial spirits. Four-year-olds don’t take ‘no’ for an answer, he notes. “Where did it happen, in growing up, that I let one ‘no’ or one person’s advice shut me down?” he says.”