How to Maintain Market Share in a Crowded Industry: Katie Hunt’s Secrets to Thriving in Digital Courses, Education, Coaching & Product Design

Katie Hunt’s journey is a true testament to adaptability, resilience, and innovation. From her beginnings in corporate America to venturing into entrepreneurship, Katie Hunt took a bold leap into the world of digital products. With a passion for empowering others, she founded Proof to Product, a company dedicated to helping makers and product creators build sustainable, successful businesses. Over the past 14 years, Katie has not only built her own thriving business but has also worked with over 30,000 entrepreneurs to help them do the same.

Along the way, Katie navigated the ever-evolving world of online courses, education, and coaching, adjusting her strategies to stay relevant in an increasingly competitive industry. In this episode, Katie shares her invaluable insights on how to maintain market share in a crowded industry, stay ahead of shifting trends, and find your blue ocean in the world of digital products. If you’re a digital entrepreneur looking to scale and thrive in an ever-changing market, this conversation is a must-listen!

APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY

Press play for the full interview or keep reading below!

• [00:00]: Introduction to Katie Hunt and Her Journey
• [02:58]: The Birth of Proof Your Products
• [06:03]: Navigating Early Challenges in Business
• [09:06]: Transitioning from Product to Coaching
• [12:00]: Balancing Business and Family Life
• [14:58]: Growth and Evolution of Proof to Product
• [17:57]: Financial Goals and Business Motivation
• [20:58]: Rebranding and Future Directions
• [25:04]: Recalibrating in a Saturated Market
• [27:54]: The Power of Financial Literacy
• [29:10]: Shifts in Coaching and Community
• [30:14]: Navigating Expectations in Entrepreneurship
• [34:51]: Celebrating Small Wins
• [36:58]: Finding Focus Amidst Information Overload
• [38:20]: Establishing Boundaries for Work-Life Harmony
• [41:49]: Quick Fire Insights and Reflections

Katie Hunt’s Business Journey: From the Start to Now

I run a company called Proof to Product, where I help product-based businesses sell wholesale and scale sustainably and profitably. In the beginning, I started the company in 2011 because I had a need. I launched my own product-based business in 2008 and was figuring everything out alone. This was before social media was what it is today—we relied on blogs and Twitter for information, which was scarce.

At the time, many of us were preparing for trade shows, so I suggested we get on calls to share what we knew. I have a strategic, numbers-driven mindset, and I was self-taught in the art I created for my business. Many of the creative entrepreneurs I spoke with were artists first, business owners second. I realized I had valuable insights to offer, and they had knowledge that would expand my perspective.

That’s how Proof to Product started in 2011. We began with teleconference calls—before webinars and online courses existed—and built a thriving community. Since then, we’ve worked with over 30,000 brands. It’s been a wild journey of growing businesses and raising babies at the same time!

First Business, First Product, and the Path to Entrepreneurship

I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I was drawn to sales, marketing, and building relationships. After college, I worked at a PR agency, then spent over a decade in legal marketing, leading business development teams and helping attorneys grow their client base—essentially what I do now for brands.

While working in legal marketing, I was planning my wedding and wanted a creative outlet. I designed my own wedding invitations, along with note cards and gifts for family and friends. Soon, people started asking me to create for them too. It started as a side project on nights and weekends but grew quickly.

Custom work ramped up fast, but balancing it with my demanding job was tough. My mom, an entrepreneur herself, encouraged me to take it further—sell in stores and exhibit at a trade show. In 2008, I took the leap without fully understanding wholesale or what I was getting into. By 2009, I was wholesaling and exhibiting at international trade shows, quickly realizing how much I had to learn. I made mistakes but knew I could do better, especially by connecting with others in the same space.

My business was a stationery brand, creating greeting cards, bookplates, and notepads. I ran it for six years, overlapping with my day job and eventually launching Proof to Product.

Navigating Pricing, Trade Shows, and Wholesale in the Stationery Industry

I made a lot of mistakes early on, and I tell my clients they don’t have to make the same ones—we’ve already made them for them. I had to figure everything out on my own. At the time, we learned through blog posts if people chose to share, but there wasn’t much information available. Twitter was different back then, but it became a hub where we connected at night, discussing trade show prep, marketing strategies, and pricing.

I was doing my research, visiting retail stores to understand pricing, calculating costs, and trying to determine my wholesale pricing. Despite all my homework, I overpriced my products at my first trade show. I wouldn’t have realized it without being there because information wasn’t as accessible as it is now. Walking through the show, I compared my pricing to others and made a gut decision to lower prices on a few items. That adjustment led to orders and momentum.

In any startup, you don’t know what you don’t know until you’re in it. Some lessons have to be learned firsthand. While starting a business is easier today with more resources available, scaling it is the real challenge.

Recognizing the Right Time to Pivot into Coaching, Community, and Consulting

I was about two and a half to three years into running my product brand when I started what is now Proof to Product. It had a different name and format, but we evolved over time. In February 2011, I launched it out of a personal need for community and connection. I saw that others in the industry needed a space for open discussions and transparency on how to start and grow a business.

At the time, there weren’t many models for this. I based it on my corporate job, where I helped attorneys connect and learn from each other. We used what we had, starting with teleconference calls before transitioning to GoToWebinar, which was expensive. To save money, I canceled it between live sessions. I focused on the simplest way to get people in a virtual room to share knowledge.

My first coaching calls weren’t even called coaching—they were roundtable discussions. We charged $25 for a one-hour conference call, where participants had to press *3 to unmute. It was scrappy, but it worked. Over time, we evolved into memberships, a podcast, coaching, and a mastermind program.

Business is Always an Experiment

While the first six to twelve months are critical for testing, adaptation never stops. We have to evolve with our own needs and those of our customers.

I was about two and a half to three years into running my product brand when I started what is now Proof to Product. It had a different name and format, and we’ve adjusted as we’ve grown. I launched the business out of my own need for community and connection. I saw that people in the industry needed a place to talk, share experiences, and have more transparency on how to start and grow successful businesses.

At the time, there weren’t many models for this. I based it on what I was doing in my corporate job—helping attorneys connect and learn from each other. We used what we had, starting with teleconference calls, then moving to GoToWebinar, which had a hefty corporate price tag. I canceled it between live classes to save money. We were scrappy, focused on the minimum viable option to bring people together in a virtual space to learn and share.

My first coaching calls weren’t called coaching calls—I called them round table discussions. They were $25 for a one-hour call on a conference line where participants pressed *3 to unmute. It was wild. People joined from landlines and early smartphones. We made it work with what we had.

Over the years, we’ve evolved significantly. We now have a membership, a podcast, a coaching mastermind, and more. But business isn’t just an experiment for the first six to twelve months—it’s an ongoing experiment. It’s up to us to adapt and shift, not only to meet our personal needs but also the needs of our customers.

Balancing Business and Babies Through Life’s Changing Seasons

I have four children, ages 15 to 8, and I was pregnant with my oldest at my first trade show. I’ve never known a season of business without also being a mom. I didn’t plan for it—I just figured things out as I went.

Now that my oldest is in high school and the others are in elementary and middle school, it’s a completely different phase than when they were all younger. Each stage had its own challenges, and those challenges often aligned with different phases of my business. In the beginning, exhaustion made it hard to think strategically—it felt like I was on cruise control, just trying to get things done.

Now, with older kids, my evenings from 3 to 9 PM are packed with activities and driving them around. Over time, I’ve adjusted how I block off work time and plan my business, but I’ve always stayed flexible. That’s the advice I give other working parents too—stay adaptable. Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, things shift again.

The Evolution of Proof to Product and Letting Go of the Stationery Line

At first, people were drawn to Proof to Product because there was nothing like it, especially for physical product makers balancing a side hustle. Many related to my story since I was doing the same. We started with simple roundtable calls on specific topics, where people signed up, got a call link, and joined. Eventually, we transitioned to a four-call series, then a seven-week course around 2015.

Live interaction has always been a key part of my programs. I believe people need to hear information directly and have the chance to ask questions. I also bring in guest experts because I want participants to gain different perspectives beyond my own. The business grew quickly—probably could have grown faster if I had focused solely on it from the start.

I didn’t fully commit to coaching until 2016, after five years of overlap with my product-based business. Proof to Product wasn’t originally about becoming a coach—it started from my own need for connection. As my needs and my customers’ needs evolved, so did the business.

By 2016, I hit a wall. That year, I had my fourth baby, taught four classes for Creative Live while 28 weeks pregnant, and was juggling two successful businesses. Both were growing, revenue was increasing, and demand was high, but I was overwhelmed. I took a solo retreat for three days to reflect on what I wanted my life and work to look like. I needed a structure that worked for me, my family, my business, and my clients.

That’s when I decided to stop manufacturing my product brand. I still do some licensing deals and earn royalties, but running the product business felt too heavy. With four young kids, shifting full-time into coaching gave me more freedom and allowed me to make a bigger impact.

Growing Proof to Product: When Hiring Help Became Necessary

In 2016, it was just me. During my solo retreat, I made three key decisions: I would stop running my product business, hire help at home and in the business, and stop speaking at live events to focus on starting a podcast. That year, I had traveled a lot for speaking engagements, and I knew I couldn’t keep up with that pace.

After the retreat, I hired a publicist for five hours a month to pitch me for podcast interviews so I could stay visible without traveling. At home, we started with a cleaner once a month and later increased it to twice a month. I started small.

Many people think hiring means committing to full-time employees with benefits, but there’s plenty of flexible, part-time help available. That was my gateway to building a team.

Finding Motivation: Balancing Business, Family, and Personal Goals

The stationery business started purely as a creative outlet. Proof to Product, on the other hand, came from recognizing a need and feeling personally fulfilled by helping others. I left my corporate job in 2012—four years after starting my product business and one year into the coaching business. At that point, I had to ensure my businesses could financially support my family the way my corporate salary had.

There was financial motivation, but we’ve always been conservative in our personal life. My initial goal was to match my corporate salary to cover our basics. Over time, that expanded to thinking about what else we wanted to earn and build.

I also believe in knowing your “enough” when it comes to finances—how much money is truly needed to live a good life. From there, I determine how much my business needs to make. I don’t believe in hustling toward an arbitrary number set by society or others. We focus on reaching our enough, and anything beyond that is a bonus that allows us to do more for ourselves and others.

When Proof to Product Got Its Name

We rebranded in 2019 from Trade Show Bootcamp to Proof to Product because we had expanded beyond trade shows, and the name no longer fit. Along with the name change, we updated the website and refreshed some of our offers.

Our wholesale program has been our core focus since 2011. We’ll run the 45th round in early 2025, which is wild. That course remains our main offering, but we’ve added layers over time. The membership launched in 2020, and I’ve had my mastermind since 2018. Each addition has been based on my capacity and what our customers need.

When Proof to Product Started Gaining Momentum

We’ve had steady growth the whole way through, with a few peak years where we saw significant momentum. 2017 was a big year because I was fully focused on Proof to Product and had more capacity to serve my customers. That was also when we launched our podcast, which people loved.

2019 was another peak with the rebrand. People connected more with the brand, seeing themselves in it rather than feeling like it wasn’t for them. Then, surprisingly, 2020 was another major growth year despite the pandemic. That’s when we launched our membership, which has been a great entry point for people starting product-based businesses or filling in foundational gaps they didn’t realize they needed.

We’ve had continued financial growth year after year, which has been great. But it’s interesting—many businesses saw peaks during the pandemic when cash flow was strong. We’ve continued to grow, but things are softening now. I see some business owners getting nervous, especially those who started in 2020 or 2021 and never saw what things were like before. Now, we’re in a recalibration period, adjusting to a new normal.

The Biggest Lesson Katie Hunt Has Learned About Money

Compound interest. When I was 21, my then-boyfriend, now husband, told me we needed to start Roth IRAs. It was April 14th, and he said, “We need $2,000 to max it out. It’ll be worth a lot later.” I had the money, so we did it.

That lesson stuck with me, and now we’re teaching it to our kids. They’re already saving and will be in a much better financial position than we were at their age. Even small savings can grow into something significant over time. That’s one of the best money lessons I’ve learned, and it’s served me well ever since.

How Katie Hunt’s Coaching Has Evolved and the Community She Serves Today

Our membership community is about 300 people right now. It’s been closed for the past year while I recalibrated some things in the business, but we’re reopening it soon for ongoing enrollment, so I expect an influx of new members.

I also run a high-level mastermind group with daily one-on-one access to me, which I cap at 16 members. Our signature program, Paper Camp, runs live twice a year because I personally answer hundreds of questions each session. We usually cap that at around 100 participants.

I support a lot of people daily—both clients and family—but I’ve built in boundaries and systems to ensure everyone is taken care of without burning myself out.

How Katie Hunt Finds Balance Between Business and Family

A few years ago, I started using asynchronous coaching with my clients through Voxer, a walkie-talkie app. They can send voice messages, videos, texts, or links for review, allowing for more flexibility. For example, I pick up my kids from school every day around 2:30 and have a packed schedule until 9:00 PM with their activities. While waiting in the pickup line, I listen to and respond to client messages. They know they might hear from me in real time occasionally, but they don’t expect immediate back-and-forth conversations.

This approach has strengthened my boundaries with clients and given me more dedicated time with my family. Before implementing asynchronous coaching, I was on calls all day, felt drained, and wasn’t showing up at my best for my kids or my clients. Now, clients can think through their questions, and we can problem-solve more efficiently without waiting for a scheduled call. Instead of only checking in once a month, we can address challenges as they arise, leading to better outcomes. This system has been a huge win for both me and my clients.

More from this Episode

To hear the full story and more about Katie, press play on the player above for the full interview or click here to download the transcript.

 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Company of One

Paper Camp

_

Katie Hunt

Katie Hunt is the founder of Proof to Product, podcast host, business strategist, and community builder for product-based business owners. Since 2011, Katie has helped thousands of brands get their products on the shelves of retail stores big & small. Her alumni’s products are sold in Target, Nordstrom, Container Store, Starbucks as well as independent boutiques around the world. Katie has been a contributor to Entrepreneur.com and her work has been featured online in Forbes, NY Times, Buzzfeed, Brit & Co and on select podcasts such as eCommerce Badassery, What Works, Gift Biz Unwrapped, and Planning for Profit to name a few.

Katie brings experience, education, and a love of learning into her programs. She earned a dual MBA in marketing & finance from Loyola Marymount University and she has over 20 years of experience teaching innovative business development and marketing strategies. Her strengths lie in connecting people and bringing ideas to life – brainstorming, making a plan, and executing.

CONNECT WITH KATIE:

Website | Instagram