Creator Science Podcast Episode #240: Valerie Feghali – Her FAST Evolution from Coach to Creator with Custom Software

Introduction

In Episode #240 of Creator Science, host Jay Clouse delves into the transformative journey of Valerie Feghali, a seasoned health and wellness coach who has successfully pivoted into the realm of content creation and SaaS (Software as a Service) development. This episode offers a comprehensive look at Valerie's strategic transitions, the challenges she faced, and the innovative solutions she implemented to scale her business effectively. Valerie's story is not just inspiring but also serves as a practical guide for creators aiming to elevate their ventures through observation, experimentation, and iteration.

From Wellness Coach to Content Creator

Valerie Feghali began her career as a physical therapist, dedicating over eleven years to the field. Her transition into health coaching was driven by a desire to address the gaps she perceived in the healthcare system, particularly the lack of emphasis on natural healing methods. As Valerie pivoted to wellness coaching, she encountered the common challenge of scalability—balancing one-on-one client interactions with the creation of customized content such as meal plans, recipe bundles, and supplement guides.

Notable Quote:

Valerie Feghali [01:28]: "I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I don't write code. I am in the health and wellness space and now I am a business owner primarily and also trying to create the SaaS platform which was a whole other ball game."

Scaling Through Content and Paid Advertising

Recognizing the time-consuming nature of creating individualized plans, Valerie began to develop templates that other coaches could customize, thereby reducing the workload while maintaining personalized service. This approach led her to explore paid advertising as a means to accelerate growth. Valerie emphasizes the importance of learning paid ads personally to maintain control and understanding of her marketing efforts.

Notable Quote:

Valerie Feghali [18:10]: "I started with ads. It's something I had done before working with my health coaching clients as well. So I had some experience in it. And I just said, you know what we're going to, instead of this slow growth, I want fast paced growth. And that came from paid advertisements."

Valerie's strategy involved using Meta (Facebook and Instagram) ads over other platforms like Google and YouTube, finding Meta ads to be more effective for her business model.

Developing the Wellness Vault SaaS

As Valerie's content offerings plateaued, she identified the need to transition from selling plug-and-play resources to developing a custom software platform—the Wellness Vault. This SaaS solution allows coaches to create and customize health plans efficiently, addressing the limitations of her previous membership model where content had to be manually updated and could expire after a set period.

Notable Quote:

Valerie Feghali [33:23]: "That's where the SaaS idea came in that we were like, okay, we're plateauing here and, and we're recognizing the needs of our clientele. The only way to do this is through software."

The development process was intensive, taking Valerie and her developer over a year to launch a fully functional platform. Valerie candidly shares the challenges of building software without a background in coding, highlighting the importance of perseverance and iterative feedback during the development phase.

Notable Quote:

Valerie Feghali [50:05]: "So you want, want to have a starting rate to have about $300,000 to invest. Yeah, it's not cheap. It's not cheap. And it takes time and effort and grit and sleepless nights, but it's."

Building and Maintaining a High-Retention Membership

A critical component of Valerie's success is the high retention rate of her membership, which averages around 11 months. This retention is driven by the real utility her platform provides—saving coaches significant time and enhancing their service offerings. Valerie emphasizes the importance of user-friendly design and continuous engagement through Q&A sessions and responsive customer support.

Notable Quote:

Valerie Feghali [40:48]: "At this transition point, two things had to happen. And so I value having you in the lab, because this is a seemingly rare skill set that we have in the community at least."

Strategies for Effective Paid Advertising

Valerie shares her insights on running successful paid ads, advocating for a tested and iterative approach. She recommends starting with expert training, conducting continuous testing of different ad formats, and carefully selecting target audiences to maximize conversion rates. Valerie also discusses the balance between automated audience expansion and maintaining control over ad spending to ensure quality leads.

Notable Quote:

Valerie Feghali [23:40]: "I would definitely recommend speaking with somebody who knows exactly what they're doing that's an expert in running ads. And there are plenty of paid programs that you can purchase that can be group programs."

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Embracing Feedback

Throughout her journey, Valerie faced challenges such as imposter syndrome and initial negative feedback. However, she underscores the value of embracing constructive criticism and using it to refine her offerings. This mindset shift was pivotal in evolving her business model from one-on-one coaching to a scalable SaaS platform.

Notable Quote:

Valerie Feghali [12:52]: "But there was that imposter syndrome, right? There always is. It's like, okay, yes, I've been in the health space for over 11 years, but I've only been doing health coaching for a couple of years, right? And so there was that feeling of, like, am I the right person to be doing this?"

Lessons Learned and Key Takeaways

Valerie concludes that every challenge she encountered provided invaluable lessons that shaped her current success. She advises creators to deeply understand their audience, remain flexible in their business strategies, and prioritize user-friendly solutions to ensure customer satisfaction and retention.

Notable Quote:

Valerie Feghali [53:03]: "I don't think I would change anything. And I know that that's a boring answer and not probably what you want to hear to help your clients move through it faster, but I truly think that the levels of progress that we go through in a business all have a lesson learned from it."

Conclusion

Valerie Feghali's journey from a health and wellness coach to a successful SaaS founder exemplifies the essence of Creator Science—growing a creator's business through strategic observation, experimentation, and iteration. Her story provides actionable insights into scaling a business, leveraging paid advertising, developing user-centric software, and maintaining high customer retention through continuous value delivery.

For creators seeking to break through the noise and scale their ventures, Valerie's experience offers a blueprint for leveraging content and technology to build a sustainable and impactful business.

Additional Resources

• Visit Valerie Feghali's website at wellnessvault.com
• Follow Valerie on Instagram @wellness_vault

Creator Science Podcast encourages listeners to join the Lab membership community for deeper insights and access to exclusive workshops and resources shared by top creators like Valerie.