Part 1: From Silicon Valley to Clarity: A Strategy that Lasts | Nathalie Doremieux

Welcome to Spark & Ignite Your Marketing, the podcast where real conversations meet real strategies. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, founder and fairy godmother of brand clarity at Wickedly Branded. With over 25 years of experience, I’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs awaken their brand magic, attract the right people, and build businesses that light them up.

In this episode, we welcome Nathalie Doremieux, co-founder of The Membership Lab and Podcast LeadFlow. We explore her transition from Silicon Valley engineer to business strategist in the south of France. Nathalie candidly discusses her journey as an "accidental entrepreneur," how she created a recurring revenue business with a small team, and the importance of simplicity and aligned visibility. If you’re looking for more confidence and clarity without burnout, this episode is your invitation to build differently.

Three Key  Marketing Topics Discussed:

1. Building Confidence as an Accidental Entrepreneur: Nathalie shares her transition from software engineer to online business owner, and how stepping into visibility, especially in a second language, became a game-changer.
2. From Complexity to Flow: Finding Your Zone of Genius: Learn how Nathalie helps clients get clear on what lights them up (and drains them), and how strategic delegation unlocks creative momentum. Check out our spells for Simplifying your Marketing!
3. Why Recurring Revenue Creates Long-Term Business Freedom: We explore how predictable income supports not just stability, but also scale, peace of mind, and future exit opportunities. Discover how to make your business feel aligned!

Follow Nathalie:
Nathalie Doremieux | LinkedIn
Nathalie Doremieux | Facebook
Podcast LeadFlow | Website
The Membership Lab | Website

Transcript

Beverly: 0:09

Did you know that behind some of the most seamless online memberships is a woman who left Silicon Valley, moved to the south of France and built a business on her own terms without a big team. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, founder and fairy godmother of brand Clarity. At Wickedly Branded, we have helped hundreds of overwhelmed overachieving consultants, creatives, and coaches awaken their brand magic and boldly bring their marketing to life so that they feel more confident and attract their absolute favorite and most profitable clients. In today's episode, I'm joined by Natali Doremieux co-founder of the Membership Lab and Podcast Leadflow. She's a powerhouse behind the scenes of high converting membership and course platforms. We're gonna dive into how her mindset, how simplicity and strategic use of AI can unlock powerful momentum without, oh my gosh, the burnout. Please more of this. If you ever wanted your business to feel more flow and less force, this conversation is for you. Nathalie, welcome.

Nathalie: 1:09

Thank you so much for having me, Beverly.

Beverly: 1:12

I'm so excited. So I wanna go back to the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey. What led you to start your business and what did those early days look like for you, and how did it grow from there?

Nathalie: 1:24

So actually the business really started in 2005. I ran a family business with my husband. We met at school and after school, we decided to move to the US to live the American dream. So we went there for the summer and we were like, we find a job, we'll stay. If we don't, we come back. And we were both software engineers in the Silicon Valley, so that worked out perfectly. It was in 95. At this time, I found a job quite easily in Berkeley. We got married in Reno, the little Las Vegas, so he could stay, he got a job. So we stayed there for 10 years. We got three kids there. And 10 years later, in 2005, we decided to sell everything and move back to France. The goal was to stay two years. But circumstances, life and business and stuff, we are still here. So basically what happened is that we found it as an opportunity to start our own business because my husband has always wanted to be his own boss. And I just became an entrepreneur for love, like just to follow him in his dreams. So that's why I got started. And of course it got complicated for me because I'm not wired as an entrepreneur. Lots of struggles and mistakes, at least for at least the first six years.

Beverly: 2:37

Yeah. The entrepreneurial path is never from A to B or C or D. It's like do you remember, when you were a kid, I dunno if you had these kits where you could take the yarn and put it in all the different places. I feel like that is what being an entrepreneur is like, there's ups and downs and sideways and it's never what you think it's going to be. Did your husband tend to land a little bit easier than you in this entrepreneurial'cause I'm an accidental entrepreneur too. I didn't go into this thinking this is what I wanted to do. Was it easier for him because that's something he always wanted to do?

Nathalie: 3:06

I think so. I think that he is more wired like that. He's really like problem solver. He likes to be his own boss. Makes his own decisions. He loves the idea of anything is possible versus wearing, you're an employee. You are capped by basically your salary. Or the occasional bonus or tap in the back. But that's what's always attracted to him is how you, what you have control over what is possible.

Beverly: 3:30

So talk about how you started. So the membership lab was first, right? You chose a name and how your brand started and then how it's evolved since 2005. That's 20 years Nathalie. That's amazing. How has it evolved over the last 20 years?

Nathalie: 3:45

Actually didn't start at the membership lab because we were not even doing memberships at the beginning. We were doing websites The formal name of the business is new software marketing. It's hard to say. It's hard to type. It's not the best, but that's like the formal name of the business, if you will. And originally what we were going to do is really focus on our expertise, which was software engineering. So let's build software. And because we knew nothing about marketing and sales, we were like let's build it. It's gonna be so amazing that people will buy. And guess what people don't buy. Took six years and half a million dollars, gone.'cause we were financing ourselves. To realize, to finally get a coach, get some help, but they say, you need to be online, right? You guys are tech. You need to build websites. So that's how we got started and that's what new software marketing became, building websites. And quickly it evolved into e-learning. Because we saw a lot of competition building websites, and I'm not like a branding expert, like design and stuff. I'm more like the tech, like the automation and the systems. So we are like, this is not where we can compete, nor do we want to build this like window websites. But there is room for improvement to improve the experience, to improve the e-learning experience for people that are left alone in front of their computer. And when, most people don't complete online courses, you're like there is room to grow there. So we went into that direction and that's how the membership lab was born. Because the membership is the e-learning. With the recurring income building community, which creates that financial predictability, which when you are not an entrepreneur, you like predictability. You like not starting your months at zero and having to find clients again and again. So that's really how it got started. And again, podcast Leadflow, very recent. Just January, 2025. When we really started to talk about it same thing comes from a problem that we found that gap between not knowing as a podcaster, who are your listeners, who are my listeners. And when we had clients say, I have a podcast, my clients are telling me they listen to my podcast. I'm like, oh, really? There's a gap because you have nothing to actually connect people. So how can we create something? To bridge that gap, and that's how Podcast Lead came about.

Beverly: 6:08

As a podcaster, we have so many clients to podcast, it's a great tool to possibly capture the lead, but I actually serve them customized content, which is amazing. I love that idea of not only are we creating something that is a show that has opportunity to inspire and to teach but also to be able to create that customized, personalized relationship, which is what everybody's looking for today. Exactly. So one thing you said earlier was about reoccurring income. Nathalie. Yeah. As a marketer, we have retainer clients, things like that. But, it's great as a owner of a business to have reoccurring income, but that reoccurring income is so important for bank loans for scaling opportunities for forecasting, to create your business vision, but also at some point when you wanna retire, it's the thing that makes you really attractive to a buyer. You're giving them something that actually has repeating income, which is a much better safety net for the business for sure. So I love that you talk about the recurring income aspect of it.'cause I don't think people always think about that in the beginning of how do we create this predictable. I used to say I just want enough income to keep the lights on, and then everything else is like cake. Now I have bigger goals. The thing at the beginning was if I could just have something that just kept the lights on, paid all the bills, then at least I know I had a sustainable business for a long-term kind of situation. Such an important part of it Nathalie that I think we haven't really talked about much on the podcast. So this particular season is all about confidence and mindset. What does confidence look like you for a business owner? And can you share a moment when you realized you were truly showing up with it? Because you talked about in the beginning how this was outside your comfort zone, so that had to make you feel a little less confident. So how has that evolved over time?

Nathalie: 7:45

One of the questions I saw in your previous visit that you ask is what is that one thing you know that is maybe preventing you, to move forward and things like that. And for me it's that fear of being visible. Like what I'm doing right now. But I do it with a purpose. It's very different, like when like I wouldn't be the person that goes on Instagram and shares pictures of me doing this and doing that and selfies, that's not me. So what I found is that one only do the things that feel like it's me. So I'm giving myself permission to not do that even, and if people say you have to do that, I don't think so. You have to find the way for you to be visible in a way that aligns with who you really are. And for me, that's not that. I think that also surrounding myself, with other people, that think like me, they might be more comfortable, in sharing and things like that. Just like this podcast, like you'll hear inspiring stories where there is more than one way. So for me, it's all about finding my way. For example, I was able to do a hundred lives for a hundred days on Facebook. I think I did it twice. Okay. And that was more like on a dare from a coach that says I want you to do this. And I'm like, I can do this and I will do this and I did it. But for me it has to have a purpose. It's very hard for me to do something if I don't know what it's going to be doing to the business. It has to be strategic

Beverly: 9:11

and intention, and we talked about that. When things are set with intention it's really clear and focused, the results tend to be a lot better and you feel more confident and comfortable in the process. I know also when you're doing podcast interviews, the interviewer can make or break it like for you, if they fake you feel comfortable, if it feels a little stuffy. Like you can get real nervous and your tongue can get caught up and I applaud you Nathalie. There is absolutely no way I wanna do a podcast in Spanish. I can go to the beach in Spanish, but I don't know if I'd wanna do business in Spanish. So just kudos for you to not only be visible in French, but to be visible in a non-native language is extremely vulnerable. I wanna take a second to just honor that because, I know you lived here for 10 years and all the things, but it's still not your native tongue. That is just a whole nother level of visibility. That is very vulnerable.

Nathalie: 10:03

Yeah. It's interesting you say that because I am much more comfortable speaking in English than speaking in French to the French market really? There was a reason why we're having this conversation, and I'm not on the French podcast today. It's because I don't connect with the culture, so I would be like this way of saying things and knowing all, I know it I just don't connect with the French market at all. So I'm actually more comfortable with the US.

Beverly: 10:31

I would think it would be the opposite. But if you were young enough when you were here too. When I was in Spain, I was young enough and I feel a very strong affinity to the Latin culture because of my experience. And I joke, I say to my husband all the time that's my people. And he looks at me and he goes Beverly, really? You realize you're like really white with freckles and green eyes and red hair. And I'm like, yeah, but those are still my people. I think when you have those really powerful experiences, you connect in a way that you didn't even know you could possibly connect. So I think it's so beautiful and so many levels. So this idea of, you're still a little uncomfortable today. And you said, as long as you have intention, I feel like confidence is built. That's something I talk a lot about with my clients. And it takes just continuous steps of courage to do the thing. Despite the fear or the doubt or the imposter syndrome that you're feeling. As you prepare for the podcast, as you prepare for this, even though you have intention, how do you work through that to get to hear?'cause you look, and you sound confident

Nathalie: 11:27

I've done lots of'em, right? When this goes live will be a different thing, but here there is, it's only you and I having a conversation, right? So it's very different and I talk to people every day. But just to answer your question I was on a run after lunch, right before a call that clears my head and to prepare myself. I either listen to music I just look at positive things, I know one of the things sometimes you ask about books and stuff like that. So I'm like if she ask about book, so I prepared it, it builds my confidence to know that I actually prepared the interview. I've looked into the questions you could answer so that it could provide value and things like that. So that's my way of basically setting the intention on how do I wanna show up.

Beverly: 12:08

Yeah, I think that's so great. And I think as a podcast host, we were really intentional about that. We wanted our guests to be on the podcast to feel like they were prepared. Now, we might not ask the exact question, but if they knew the answers to these questions, they would be comfortable with the interview because we want it to be something that you feel more comfortable with. So I love that you take a little bit of a mental time. I do the same thing. I write an outline for myself. I just get my thoughts in an order before I go on a podcast. What are the main things I wanna make sure I touch on? Those are the things that I think most people who guest on podcasts or people who think about public speaking that do it well. They're prepared and they've said it to themselves, they've said it out loud. A lot of times I'll read it out loud to myself to make sure it flows off my tongue. All the things. I love the idea of walking or running or doing something physical while you're like thinking it through. Very powerful. So you mentioned that what makes your business unique is your ability to turn complexity into flow, especially when it's aligned with the client's vision. What did it take for you to get clear on your specific, unique zone of genius and how do you communicate that in a way that truly connects with your particular clients and course creators and coaches? cause I feel like there's two sides of that, right? You have to be clear, but then you also have to share the message in a way that's super clear.

Nathalie: 14:33

Yeah, absolutely. It's one of those things where it is easier to help people do it than to do it for yourself. And one of the things that I learned, through I guess trial and errors and then just being surrounded by other people is that when there is resistance when you procrastinate and that is someone right now, at the moment that does that, says that really well. Like you are not lazy, you are just out of an alignment. So questioning like when you said you are going to do something and you're not doing it, you are not lazy, it's not about blaming yourself. Look at why maybe it's not really aligned with what you want to do. When I help people build memberships, you can see the people that are all excited and you know that they are like in flow and things feel simpler. I didn't say easy, but simpler. Because we don't procrastinate. We don't overcomplicate. We're not looking for perfect. We're looking for flow and just moving forward, knowing that there will be hiccups, there will be some failures and things like that, but doesn't matter. We get back up, we keep going, and we can do that when we are aligned, right? Instead of trying to say what it is that I really want to do, we go after the next, what we call the shiny objects. Oh, lot of people seem to be successful with this. Let me do that. Let me do a podcast. Let me do a membership. Oh, I need to apply a school group. Oh, I need to do that. But they don't look at what it is that I really want to do.

Beverly: 16:00

So you talk about flow. I love being in flow. I have ADHD, and it's very easy to get distracted, but when I'm in my flow, ooh, it is my most favorite place. One thing that I ask my clients to do is to make a list of drainers versus drivers. What are the things that you always wanna do first? What are the things that excite you when you have it on your to-do list? And what are the drainers where you put'em off till tomorrow? Don't wanna do it. Don't feel inspired by it. And how can you either automate it? Or how can you hire someone either on your team, like a VA or an actual vendor to take that off of your list? So for me, it was bookkeeping. That was the very first drainer. I was like I'm a creative soul. Please. No, please, no. And I wish I had done that sooner, but I thought I had to do it all myself. The thing that you've mentioned earlier even was you can create the business that is good for you. And if that means that you don't do this part, that doesn't mean you're less than or less perfect. It just means that you have the foresight to say, my zone of genius is here and my flow is here, and this is the optimum place for me to sit. So to work with someone like you, I've created courses there's psychology and education principles and flow principles and quizzes for memory retention. And there's so many things that go into course creation. Not to mention the actual marketing of it. It's a whole nother level. And so if I am a coach that does wellness, i'm not gonna necessarily know the psychological or educational principles for how to impart disinformation on them. So having vendors and partners like you help offload some of that stuff so that I can just sit in the wellness stuff that I am, that is my expertise and all of those things. So people who come to you and they get in the flow, how do you get them more in the flow? How do you relieve that pressure from them to have to do all the things?

Nathalie: 17:48

That's basically also how I support people in a course. It's not open now, but I have a course, for membership, it's called First Members. But for a client, when we build a membership is the same thing, is making sure that we each have roles where we excel, when we are in the flow or in our zone of brilliance, if you will, right? That's basically where we have the best ideas where we really shine, right? We all have in the business and in life, things that we love and are great at, love doing, and things that we don't enjoy doing. We are not really good at it. It drives our energy, right? So it's about learning, what it is that. You love to do when you're great at. And just outsource or get rid of the rest. Because this idea that we can be everything and do everything, like we can be an amazing marketer, an amazing salesperson, an amazing teacher, and an amazing social media manager. That's bs that doesn't exist. But when you can figure out more about you and give yourself permission to really look at what it is that I'm really good at and I want to do, and then let's figure out, let's build a team, or let's find the tool and the automation to do the rest so that it's okay. It's not perfect, but it's okay. That's the job. That's where you can grow. And that's what I do with my clients. There are clients that. I barely talk to, right? They are busy. Everybody's busy, but they have a plan. There are already a certain windows where I can speak to them and I make sure that I ask them everything that I need and I can go back. There are the people that need a lot of back and forth. They need validation. They need one to three ideas and bounce back ideas, right? So I think this is our job also when we work with clients. Yes, we have a framework, a way of working, but we need to also adapt to the way they communicate. So that they can do the best job that they can and I can do the best job that I can.

Beverly: 19:44

The very first thing that we do with our clients is we call it a brand Spark experience. It's a 90 minute deep dive where we look at where they've been, where they're going. We talk about core values and mission and vision, and we talk about content pillars and messaging and the next best four to six opportunities to grow into their vision, whatever that looks like for them, that blueprint that we give to them after a couple weeks after that interview is so empowering to use with people like you because they can go to you and say, Hey, this is who I am and this is where I wanna go and I need help. And sometimes you need someone from the outside to help you get straight on where you're at in your head and where you wanna go. You have so many ideas in your head. Entrepreneurs are great at building things. So that's why the bright shiny object syndrome is such a real issue is we wanna build and build. And actually, I joke, but good marketing is boring because you have your four to six content pillars. You wanna be known for those things. That's your brand promise. It's really simple when you get down to this brass tacks of what it actually should be. Good marketing can be fun and sassy and all those things, but if you do it for long enough, it can be a little bit boring'cause you're doing the saying the same things. Cause that is your brand promise. And people think I need to change it up. Not necessarily don't overthink this. They're not consuming every single bit of your content. We would love to think that they're doing that. Gosh, that would be awesome if they were. But they aren't. They're coming in and seeing this one piece of content this week, and maybe they're seeing your email next week and maybe they're seeing a podcast a week later. They're not seeing it all in the big plan that you have created. And really, if you have a good gear of content, you could repurpose that and tweak it. Be good for a long time. But getting really clear first is the thing that's the power in it. When you're clear, you have your right left limits, you understand? Yes, nos really quick. Should I do that? Yes. Should I do that? No. Is this fit me? Yes. Does it fit me? No. Is this work with what I wanna go? Yes. This is exactly what I need. And also when everything is out of your head on a plan like that, on a piece of paper, it frees your mind to do other things that you're really good at and that you should be doing. In your application, you mentioned a couple of names, James Wedmore and Kate Northrop that you've worked with. Can you maybe talk a little bit how you've helped them and what that looks like for them?

Nathalie: 21:52

Yeah. So for James Wedmore, now I don't know if you follow him, but he has this new program, business by Design. But before I did that, it was the video guy. And that's in that era when we were still doing websites and sales pages. So basically we were the tech behind the landing pages, the free video series and all that stuff. Yeah. So basically that's a great example where he was in his zone of genius. This is what I want to do. Yeah. There is like a designer, this is what it's going to look like. Let's make the automation, let's make the take happen. And when you are in a team like that when roles are, really clearly defined. Then he doesn't have to worry about, like even looking into that, so that's an example. We help him through several launches, actually, all of his launches. I still have the website. It was called the WP Help Club. And if you look, there is a tag line and it says, James Wedmore says, I don't make a move when it comes to my websites. I don't make a move without Nathalie and Olivier. And that was like the best testimonial I've ever had for people. And that's what we were, because he needed something, this is what I need. And then he wouldn't think twice about how it was gonna get done. To me it's this is what I need. Like we know where he is right now. How much he has grown and how he's actually changed direction, just because that was his vision. So with Kate Northrop, this is at the time where she had a book, but same thing, landing pages for a book for, I think she was doing webinars at the time and things like that. So very similar, in the other zone of genius. So it was working more with actually a husband, like the tech who was the person that I was interacting with. And it's about this is the launch we are doing, this is what needs to happen on the site. And then you just make it happen, right? So these are, people that are really great at defining those boundaries and those roles. It's about building the right team. It's about trusting people. It's about being able to clearly articulate what it is that we want. Those were like great, client to work with because they basically say, I just need this, and then you can just go in and there is no micromanaging or anything like that.

Beverly: 24:05

Hey there, you've just finished part one of the Spark Ignite Your marketing episode. How are you feeling? Excited, inspired, but we're just getting started. This Thursday We're dropping part two, and you won't wanna miss it. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter, so you'll be the first to know when it goes live. Until then, take a breather, let those ideas simmer, and we'll see you next week.