Collective Kula's Journey to $20K Monthly: Building a Thriving Yoga Community with Uscreen

Nicole Wilde’s journey started by chance but flourished by choice — transforming Collective Kula into a haven for yoga enthusiasts.

Her journey with Collective Kula began as a passion project. Initially a yoga instructor sharing classes on YouTube and hosting in-person retreats, Nicole used the skills she gained during her bachelor’s degree in film and photography to create engaging content. 

Her decision to grow into a more structured business came naturally as her following expanded. Nicole explained, "I had already received a bachelor's degree in film and photography, so I had the gear to create high-quality content" 

As her YouTube channel grew, so did the feedback from her audience, revealing a clear demand for more structured and accessible yoga sessions. Nicole recalls the pivotal moment: 

"The YouTube thing turned into something much bigger than I thought it would be. And eventually, the community that began to form around our YouTube channel started asking, 'What's next? How can we practice with you more regularly?' That's when I realized it was time to transition to a membership model. I promised to deliver specific content, like uploading new classes three times a week.

-Nicole Wilde, Founder of Collective Kula

In response to this growing demand from her audience on YouTube, Nicole officially launched Collective Kula in 2020. The platform was not just another online yoga class repository but a full-fledged community-oriented membership platform. It was designed to help yogis deepen their practice through both online and in-person retreats, facilitating a dual approach to yoga that was unique at the time.

Today, Collective Kula is a vibrant community of 640+ dedicated yogis and generates a monthly revenue of $20k+. 

Nicole's journey from a humble YouTube channel to a thriving yoga business was an adventurous leap, full of ups and downs. There were two core challenges that had, over time, become substantial roadblocks in growing her community the way she wanted.  

1. Finding the Right Platform for a Growing Yoga Community

When she first launched her membership, Nicole used different platforms that ended up being ill-equipped to handle the specific needs of her growing community. She described her early experiences with her previous platform,  Sqaurespace, as less than ideal: "It wasn't very automated or smooth. It was just a way that I could work around creating a kind of a group.” 

Not having a platform tailored to support a dynamic online community or deliver high-quality video content effectively meant that Nicole faced ongoing difficulties in maintaining engagement and providing value that justified a paid membership.

The disjointed nature of her early platforms, along with the fragmented user experience, took away from the community feel she wanted to cultivate. 

2. Offering An Enhanced Membership Experience 

Persuading her audience to move from free YouTube content to a paid subscription was another big task at hand when she first launched her membership. This transition wasn't just about changing the platform but also about enhancing the value proposition to justify the membership cost. She wanted to focus on offering exclusive content, more personalized interactions, and additional resources that were not available on her free channels. To deliver this to her members, Nicole needed a dedicated platform that could give her tailored tools and functionality. 

The lack of control and overall inadequacy of the early solutions made Nicole look for better, more suited alternatives, eventually leading her to Uscreen. The switch to Uscreen enabled her to centralize her operations, streamline workflows, and improve the overall user experience.

Nicole chose Uscreen as the platform for Collective Kula because of its comprehensive features tailored to support video content management, live streaming, and community engagement. And the best part? Uscreen's all-in-one approach allows Nicole to effortlessly coordinate and expand her offerings, making it easier to engage with her community and grow her business without the need for multiple tools or platforms. 

After moving to Uscreen, Nicole doubled down on her goal to build a platform dedicated to creating a vibrant online community for yogis worldwide. She worked with Uscreen to add more features and functionality to make Collective Kula more than just a place for yoga—it’s a community hub now.

To drive members to her membership, Nicole kept things simple. Her business coach advised starting with an uncomplicated membership model, offering monthly or annual access to all content. This straightforward approach prevented any confusion for new members and let Nicole fine-tune her services as she gathered feedback. 

"I’ve been with Uscreen for a couple of years now, and one thing I truly value is how each meeting involves upgrading features and getting feedback about what I'd like to see next on the platform. This level of continually expanding and listening to your customers, seeking to make it better for people who are using Uscreen is amazing.”

-Nicole Wilde, Founder of Collective Kula

Another one of Nicole’s top priorities after migrating to Uscreen was adding mobile apps to her platform. Based on feedback from her members, she decided to start with the Collective Kula iOS app – and it’s doing so well that she’s now planning to launch more. More apps create the potential for higher viewership, so it’s a great business move. 

Today, with her iOS app, Nicole offers a complete membership experience at Collective Kula. Members can access a vast library of classes, chat in the community forum, and join live streams, all from their iOS devices. It’s like having a yoga studio and a community center right in your pocket!

In Collective Kula’s first year at Uscreen, they gained over 400 subscribers, and that number has been growing ever since.

The switch to a more tailored and specialized platform like Uscreen helped her centralize her operations, streamline workflows, and improve member experience. This change was key in transforming her business model from a free content YouTube channel to a premium service that could effectively monetize her expertise and community engagement. 

Having the tech part sorted for her business also meant Nicole could focus more on the actual content creation and less on managing technical issues. This helped her explore new opportunities for growth, such as hosting exclusive workshops, offering personalized yoga plans, and expanding her merchandise offerings—all within a cohesive and supportive online environment. 

“Uscreen checked the majority of the boxes of what I needed, especially around content management. For example, being able to upload and schedule videos ahead of time and not having to be at my screen when I want to hit the publish button is huge for me. I'll schedule out a month in advance sometimes and then go travel and Uscreen is running behind the scenes." 

-Nicole Wilde, Founder of Collective Kula

Community Engagement Tools

These tools foster a robust online community where members can interact, share experiences, and support each other, enhancing the value of their membership.

"The ability to connect with the people who are on the other side of the screen through the community page and host live classes was a big one for me."

-Nicole Wilde, Founder of Collective Kula

Live Streaming Capabilities

Live sessions help replicate the interactive nature of in-person classes, making the online experience more engaging. Before Uscreen, Nicole hosted live sessions on Instagram. Not only was it complicated to redirect viewers off-platform, but it meant she was only monetizing her livestreams with donations.

Now, Collective Kula’s website and app offer members an efficient, user-friendly way to participate in yoga classes, meditations, Q&A sessions, and more.

"Being able to do either live or recorded uploads and then the ability to have multiple different tiers of memberships within Uscreen is something that I like to use."

-Nicole Wilde, Founder of Collective Kula

Video experience

The content scheduling feature helps Nicole manage her time effectively, particularly when she is leading retreats or involved in teacher training, ensuring that her members have continuous access to new content. 

Dedicated Account Manager

Scaling a business is a lot of work, and Nicole’s dedicated UscreenPlus account manager helps keep The Collective Kula running smoothly. Having personalized support takes the overwhelm out of scaling.

“I love my account manager at Uscreen – she’s such an awesome resource for anything Uscreen-related I need. Even though she’s not technically in-house with Collective Kula, she’s a valuable part of the team.”

-Nicole Wild, Founder of Collective Kula

Story Written By: Aarushi Singh