Success & You life-coaching participants complain to ASIC after investments introduced in courses go bad

A major Australian life-coaching business is facing backlash from participants who say they were enticed into investing in companies that failed.

A Sydney woman who lost $235,000 after buying into “one of Australia’s largest personal success providers” is urging other investors to complain to the corporate regulator, which has already received an allegation of misconduct in an official report from a liquidator.

Simone Brustolin’s experience with the “Success & You” life-coaching group began with courses that included firewalking but ended with her effectively torching her entire superannuation savings of $100,000, along with $120,000 borrowed against her then home.

Ms Brustolin is one of several former course participants who say they were encouraged to invest in the business, run by Peter and Jodie Conna, near the end of intense week-long courses.

Since 2001, thousands of Australians have gone through this course, which costs $5000-plus, drawn in by the promise of learning secret tips and strategies to “create a lifestyle of abundance, freedom and happiness … 100 per cent guaranteed.”

While many participants say the Conna courses are worthwhile, some are critical of attempts to sell them shares in the EQ group of companies behind the Success & You brand.

Simone Brustolin is encouraging disgruntled Success & You investors to complain. Picture: Richard Dobson

Another Sydney woman Bindi Hatcher — who bought $15,000 of shares in EQ but has never seen a cent in return — said: “The appropriateness of selling us stuff when they had broken us down into a place of emotional vulnerability was not great.”

Ms Hatcher said during the course she was invited to invest. She bought $15,000 of shares in an EQ company. The money was a mix of savings, inheritance and $2000 won from other participants in a course game.

Life coaches Jodie and Peter Conna. Picture: Jodie Conna’s Facebook page

A co-branded EQ/Success & You share offer document seen by The Telegraph touts an expected return of more than 22 per cent.

Ms Brustolin said she was tired and emotional when, during a course, she agreed to an initial investment of $15,000.

She went on to volunteer and work in the Success & You enterprise. She then outlayed a further $220,000 for a stake in the NSW part of EQ.

In 2018, Mr Conna, who was the sole director of that NSW EQ company, wrote to Ms Brustolin to say it had not performed as expected and to make a “generous offer” to buy her out or convert her shares into another group company.

No agreement was concluded. Ms Brustolin has received nothing and the company she originally invested in was deregistered in 2020.

In a report to creditors earlier this year, the liquidator of umbrella company EQ Pty Ltd said he had alleged misconduct by the director, Mr Conna, in an official report to ASIC.

The liquidator did not respond when contacted. Mr Conna did not take up requests for comment.

Ms Brustolin is hopeful that investors can get some of their money back. Picture: Richard Dobson

But Mrs Conna did, saying she had “no clue” what the liquidator was referring to, before adding “we had a psychic tell me our accountant made a mistake in the liquidation … maybe it’s that”.

Mrs Conna said she was still willing to “potentially pay” Ms Brustolin out “at least” 50 cents in the dollar, as in 2018.

Mrs Conna said Ms Brustolin was “partly responsible” for her investment failing because “the marketing wasn’t delivering the numbers in programs and … she was marketing.”

Ms Brustolin responded: “It’s her husband who was ultimately responsible – he made all the decisions. The ideas I put forward were rejected.”

Mrs Conna said investments weren’t finalised during courses. And some parts of the business did deliver average returns of 18 to 19 per cent, she said.

Mrs Conna is now the sole director of the new company behind Success & You and is delivering the courses. Participants are not offered the opportunity to invest any more, she said.

It is known that ASIC has received numerous complaints about EQ companies.

Commenting generally, a spokesman said complaints were able to be made to ASIC online.