YvonJane van Leeuwen had been coaching creative souls for 23 years. She was good at it. Her offline workshops were always full. But there was a problem.
"I'm a non-tech really in capital letters," YvonJane admits.
Yet somehow, this mixed media artist from the Netherlands who had never built a website in her life launched The Creative Healing Path membership. She started with 4 founding members in July and officially opened her Hub in November 2025 to excited responses: "It looks so beautiful and wow."
Here's what makes this story remarkable: YvonJane went from panicky non-tech person to confident membership owner in 6 months while working a full-time job.
This isn't a story about someone who had all the advantages. It's about what happens when you take it step by step, embrace progress over perfection, and get the right support.
YvonJane had built something most coaches dream of. Twenty-three years of experience. A reputation for helping creative entrepreneurs build rock-solid mindsets. Offline workshops that people loved attending.
But offline coaching has limits.
The Hassle Problem
"Organizing workshops offline became such a hassle," YvonJane explains. "It became more and more difficult."
You need a physical space. People have to show up in person. You're limited to your geographic area. And you're constantly trading time for money.
The Income Problem
"I've never, ever in my whole life had a regular income," YvonJane shares honestly. After 23 years as an entrepreneur, including 15 years as a performing artist in musical theater, she knew what regular paychecks felt like during that theater run. "I would feel really assured, secure. I don't live for money, but I just want to have some rest in my life."
That desire for stability isn't about greed. It's about being able to sleep at night. About building something sustainable next to her art career.
In late 2024, YvonJane came across Stu McLaren's The Membership Experience™ (formerly TRIBE) program through her mentor Michelle Lloyd (United Art Space).
"From the first moment I met all of you guys, it was like love at first sight," YvonJane remembers. "Everyone is nice, friendly, supportive. I felt home right away."
But she didn't just jump in. That's not YvonJane's style. As she puts it, "We are kind of people that will not go jump into everything without thinking. And my character is, I rather lean to overthinking."
She spent an entire year studying. Watching every webinar. Following every training. Making it her New Year's resolution to join Stu’s training program in 2024.
YvonJane describes herself as "a non-tech, a perfectionist, an overthinker," everything that wasn't really coming in handy when building a membership site for artists.
"I was totally lost at one point," she admits.
What Changed
The support became her lifeline.
"The help you get from the TME team members and Membership.io is unprecedented," YvonJane shares. "I've never, never ever experienced it in this way."
She would mail support almost daily. Sometimes multiple times. "I was mailing them at a certain point every day and I was saying like, I hope you are not, you know, maybe they think I'm stupid."
The response? "No, you're not. You're building a site for the first time. We love to help you."
The Strategy That Worked
Stu's advice became YvonJane's mantra: "Progress over perfection."
"Just take it step by step. It's really the only way to go," YvonJane explains. "You can't overview everything."
She used AI to set up the basic frame. She started with styling the site (the easy, creative part) before tackling the technical pieces. She learned that once you truly understand something, you know it forever.
Most importantly, she let go of perfectionism. "I had to let so many things go."
In July 2024, YvonJane launched to founding members.
She had 4 members. Not 40. Just 4.
"What belongs with me will come to me," YvonJane reminded herself. "I've been embracing that for all my life now. And it always works."
These weren't beginners. They were "very experienced people, life experience, professional creatives." They understood they were co-creating something together.
"You are founding members, so you're basically going to brainstorm with me," YvonJane told them from the start. "We're going to talk about how to do this and what direction we are going to take."
That transparency changed everything. "The whole thing about, oh, I have to be ready, oh, they have to be satisfied about everything that I created, it all disappeared."
In November 2025, YvonJane opened The Creative Healing Path Hub to her founding members.
After months of working alone, this was the moment of truth.
"I was quite, I wouldn't say stressful, but was excited," YvonJane recalls. "I've never done it, so it was quite excited to open it."
The Response
"They were all like, wha, wow, it looks so beautiful and wow," YvonJane shares, still sounding amazed.
She was worried about what wasn't finished. They saw what was there.
The onboarding was clear. No one felt overwhelmed. Members went through the welcome videos, moved to the Hub, introduced themselves in the community, and knew exactly what to do next.
"The beauty of it is no one is feeling any overwhelm," YvonJane says. "It's very clear. They all said, it's very clear. It's very beautiful. I'm so excited."
YvonJane serves "creative souls, makers, artists, entrepreneurs who want to build basically a rock solid mindset."
After 23 years of coaching creatives, YvonJane understands something crucial about her audience.
"Creatives are even more sensitive than the average person," she explains. "They're vulnerable. And you know, if I look at showbiz, there are a lot of sharks."
This isn't just coaching. It's creating a safe space where vulnerable creative people can build the mindset to stand firm in a crazy world.
"I firmly believe that you can build a great mindset, a steady mindset to feel steady," YvonJane says. "So even if something happens that really sweeps you off your feet in the wrong way, you can bounce back in a good way or stand tall and stand firm."
For someone who had never built a website, choosing the right platform was critical.
"A lot of things were preset," YvonJane explains about Membership.io. "I used the AI to set up the frame. I just had to type in what kind of membership I wanted to create. And I already knew that because of the study."
The recorder feature changed everything. Recording welcome videos, success path introductions, and Zoom calls with founding members became simple.
"It's so easy to operate," YvonJane says. "Usually with video, you have to edit or you start and forget half of what you wanted to say. You just press stop and it deletes and you start again. Easy peasy. A child could do it."
The non-tech-friendly approach meant YvonJane could focus on serving her members instead of fighting technology.
Right now, YvonJane is preparing for her first public launch.
"I'm going to do a coaching week of five days in January," she shares. "And then I'm going to let the first public launch for other members to join."
Starting the new year with a bang. From 4 founding members who helped shape the membership to opening the doors for creative souls worldwide who need what YvonJane offers.
When asked what she'd tell someone on the fence about starting a membership, YvonJane doesn't hesitate.
"It's a no brainer, but just do it."
She knows what it's like to be scared of the tech. To overthink every decision. To want everything perfect before you start.
"What stands out for me at Membership.io and TME is the people, the people, the team, the way they treat you," YvonJane says. "I feel seen, like I'm not some number."
Why Experience Matters
"Stu has been doing this since 2008. People, come on then," YvonJane points out. "You know what you're doing. You know what works, you know what doesn't work. He is taking all his wisdom and all his experience and poured that into TME and Membership.io."
That track record mattered to YvonJane. She wanted true advice, true knowledge, true experience, not "some one liner that I could be shocked for."
Ask YvonJane what she's most proud of, and it's not about the platform she built or the members she has.
"I am about overcoming so many things while being on this journey," YvonJane reflects. "I'm a perfectionist. I had to let that go, and it worked."
She went from panicking about tech to feeling confident. From thinking "I can't do this" while looking at an empty site to actually building something beautiful.
"I was learning things here on a personal level that are invaluable," YvonJane says. "What I most learn is how I want to stand in life."
The Future
"I have a very positive feeling about my future," YvonJane shares. "I have this membership, I have all of you guys. If something is not working out right, it's not wrong anymore. It's just like, okay, someone is going to help me, and it's going to be fixed."
That shift from "wrong" to "fixable" changes everything.
YvonJane didn't have all the answers when she started. She had 23 years of offline experience, a year of studying the membership model, and the courage to take it step by step.
The members who need what you know are waiting. They don't need perfection. They need you to start.
Membership.io is the dedicated membership platform built by membership owners for membership owners. We give you intuitive tools that work for non-tech people, support when you get stuck (even daily emails), and the freedom to build something beautiful.
Start your free trial today or email us at help@membership.io to learn how we can support your vision.
Your expertise is ready. Your people are waiting. Just start.