How Stella grows

Works 'backwards': build distribution first (1.2M Instagram, 2.8M TikTok followers in the manifestation niche), then pick the product. Once a video pops off, ask what product could be naturally inserted into that video to help its virality and solve a viewer problem, and read comments for 'I wish this existed' / 'I'm struggling with this'. Stella came from her own habit of listening to generic visualizations and wanting custom ones, which AI now makes possible.

Compared videos that only mention Stella with videos that demo the use case; demos convert better even with fewer views. Balances pure-viral videos with specific app-demo videos that convert.

After launching Stella she started a brand-new TikTok account, and separately runs another account she 'spam posts' on, beyond her 2.8M main account. Claims she can take any new account to ~50K followers in 3-4 months because virality is a skill, not an existing audience.

No coding background; used Claude Code, Claude and Google AI Studio. MVP took about 2 days, the full app 2-3 months. Treats speed as the main ingredient: the sooner you test an MVP, the sooner you have a product that performs.

Affirmation video: she recites affirmations ('My mind is worth millions... I get paid to exist'), a second person asks 'How can I remember all these?', and she answers 'You can actually get custom affirmations on your lock screen every single day using my app, Stella.' Core approach: find the most viral content in your niche, study the psychology, and 'recreate it to infinity' once a video hits; she has remade the same viral content for years and it still converts.

Affirmation videos open with an instruction like 'Repeat these affirmations for 7 days' or 'Listen three times'. Because viewers need to come back, they save the video; saves raise engagement and push distribution. General rule: make content that naturally earns shares or saves.

On Instagram, uses ManyChat: 'Comment download and I'll send you your custom affirmations.' The auto-DM sends them to download the app, and also says 'Hey, if you review the app, let me know so I can thank you personally' to encourage App Store reviews.