From “what’s a funnel?” to fully booked: How Founder Yéléna grew Tote & Paint with Growclass

Being a solo founder means wearing every hat.

You’re running operations, marketing, and client-facing work—sometimes all in the same hour. It’s exciting. It’s exhausting. And if you don’t come from a marketing background, it can feel like you’re constantly scrambling to keep up.

That was Yéléna Menash.

She’s the founder of Tote & Paint, a creative workshop business that helps corporate teams connect through hands-on painting experiences. With a strong background in procurement and ops, she was confident running the business—but knew she needed help growing it.

“I didn’t even know what a marketing funnel was.”

She joined Growclass to build the marketing skills she didn’t yet have—and walked away with the clarity, tools, and confidence to turn her side hustle into a fully booked business.

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Structured learning, without overwhelm

Yéléna didn’t want to cram her brain full of marketing theory she’d forget in a week. She wanted to actually learn in a way that felt manageable, clear, and real.

That’s what she found in Growclass.

Instead of overwhelm, she got a clear structure that walked her through the entire growth funnel, step-by-step. She didn’t just watch videos and call it a day. She got live feedback from channel experts, peer support from a kind and super smart community, and weekly assignments she could apply directly to her business.

“I found it super easy to understand... It really helped me not to be overwhelmed, to take it one step at a time.”

The accountability helped her follow through. The mix of on-demand lessons and real-time connection gave her flexibility and support to make the learning stick.

Yéléna came in looking for practical marketing skills. She left with something even better: confidence in her ability to grow her business.

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From learning to implementation: The recipe for Yéléna’s success

Growclass is built to be implemented as you go. Each module is packed with practical lessons, and every week students apply what they’ve learned directly to their own business. For Yéléna, that structure was a game changer.

Throughout her time with Growclass, she was able to launch new programs, improve her messaging, and she uncovered the real reason customers were hesitating to book, which led to strategic changes in her offering.

She talked to her customers and uncovered a key point of friction

Yéléna ran her first customer interviews during Growclass. It felt awkward at first (as it always does), but one conversation changed everything.

Her original offer—a tote bag painting workshop for corporate teams—was designed to be a fun, creative team-building activity. But in a customer interview, she uncovered a big reason companies were hesitant to book: they didn’t have a venue. And they didn’t want to deal with the logistics of finding one.

Yéléna realized she was losing out on bookings simply because organizers didn’t want to add another item to their already-packed to-do list.

So she made it easier. She partnered with a downtown Toronto venue and began offering the space as part of the package—removing a key barrier and unlocking a new wave of clients.

She rewrote her website copy using real customer insights

After those interviews, Yéléna didn’t just tweak a headline—she gave her site a full copy refresh.

She pulled language directly from what her customers had told her. She paired that with office hours and peer feedback to test different headlines, tones, and CTAs. She even ran experiments with her button colors—putting her experimentation lessons into practice in real-time.

Within a few weeks, her bounce rate dropped and her leads got stronger.

She launched her first email marketing program

When Yéléna joined Growclass, she didn’t have an email list.

No welcome email.

No newsletters.

She knew that she should be doing email, but had no idea where to begin.

By week five, that changed. She had a working email funnel in place, and took advantage of Growclass’s office hours to fine-tune her tone, CTAs, and subject lines.

“I didn’t use email for marketing at all before Growclass. Because of the email marketing module, I was able to launch my first newsletter and other campaigns. 100% thanks to Growclass.”

Her first sequence went live during the course. 🙌

She stopped outsourcing Google Ads—and started running them herself

Ads are a scary channel for even the most seasoned marketers, let alone someone just getting started. Before Growclass, Yéléna didn’t feel confident managing paid ads, so she outsourced it.

But, after Growclass, she was running her own Google campaigns—and doing it well. With her new skills, she started targeting higher-quality keywords and attracting better-fit leads. The results spoke for themselves.

“I used to outsource my ads. After Growclass, I started running them myself. Best of all, I actually understood what I was doing!”

From overwhelmed to empowered

When Yéléna first joined Growclass, she wasn’t even sure what a marketing funnel was. Today, she’s confidently running Google Ads, sending newsletters, and converting more leads through refined copy and customer insights.

Here’s a screenshot of the metrics comparison before and after GC

Her creative business has gone from side hustle to a fully-booked, in-demand experience for corporate teams.

But even more than the marketing wins, Yéléna walked away with something deeper: a sense of confidence. Growclass gave her the clarity and support she needed to grow her business on her own terms. Not only was she able to improve her marketing, but she had knowledge to understand the why behind the things she was doing.

Yéléna’s story is proof that you don’t need a marketing degree to make impactful changes to your business’s marketing efforts. You just need the right tools, support, and a little momentum.

Ready to take the next step? Explore if Growclass is the right fit for you.

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