The most important arenas of legitimacy for the micro-celebrity coach are however their courses, seminars, and lectures which eventually manifest their capacity to transfer knowledge and advice. These arenas are not merely important for the symbolic capital they can ofer to the coaches, as posting photos and reels for instance mostly does, but they are additionally an important source of income (sold in platforms either as on-demand sessions or live streams or a variation of both). Apart from revenue, the courses are also a guarantee that their community will reproduce itself and develop as new members join it. I enrolled in two life coaching on-demand courses in Udemy, the first titled “Life Coaching Certificate Course (Beginner to Intermediate)”, led by Ramsay, and the second titled “Transformation Life Coach Certification (Accredited)” led by the Joeel and Natalie Rivera. I completed both courses and for both I received a certificate via email, the former accredited by “Achology” and the latter by the “Transformation Academy”, which are both self-styled online academies founded by the instructors of the courses. Generally, online coaching courses would typically lead to some sort of certificate that is accredited by a school. The terms “certificate”, “accreditation”, and “school” are critical for luring clients as they make these courses look credible assuring a qualification that can be used as a proof of expertise among followers and fans. It is, for instance, not rare to see a younger, aspiring coach adding to their Instagram profile the titles of the courses they have completed appearing as accredited coaches by a school. Thus, for freelance coaches like Ramsey or Joeel and Natalie Rivera the establishment of a school (Achology and the Transformation Academy respectively), whatever a school in this case means, functions as a façade of credibility, as the students can think that their course is certified by a school, that is by an institution rather than just a person. Yet, if there were no online platforms these schools would simply not exist, at least in their current form, as they would not be able to physically attract students from all over the world. The numbers sound astronomical: indicatively, at the time of writing, Ramsay ofers 32 diferent pre-recorded coaching courses in Udemy and has been a teacher to 615,835 students with 152,635 reviews, while Joeel and Natalie Rivera ofer 96 courses and had 569,001 students with 184,720 reviews.8
These and other schools in the English-speaking coaching field and beyond include online and ofline courses that greatly vary in price, quality, duration, pricing models, and learning outcomes.9 Tellingly, the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC) charges almost \$12,000 for two years of attendance, the course ofered by Brookes Castillo and the Life Coach School ranges between \$1,800 and \$3,000, while the ondemand Udemy courses cost around \$150 (most coaching courses after the COVID-19 pandemic adapted an online format). In turn, the International
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Cultures of Platform Capitalism