Product Strategy & Customer Research

I help expert-led and mission-driven brands figure out what to build next, how to position it, and build it with them.

Customer research, product strategy, and go-to-market for brands in education, health, media, DTC, and social impact.

See My Work Get in Touch

Published & Featured in

The New York Times Entrepreneur Magazine
The Skinny Confidential Human Progress Help Wanted Crazy Good Turns

Some of the brands I've worked with

Esther Perel Product direction + course development
Death Wish Coffee Customer research for new product launch
Science of People Repositioning + sales funnel rebuild
Codie Sanchez Customer psychology research
Vim & Vigr Customer research + repositioning
Ramit Sethi Product research + development
Nir Eyal Customer research before book launch
David Perell Customer research + positioning
Tiago Forte Research + positioning for flagship course
Precision Nutrition Customer experience at scale
Hologram Customer research before $65M Series B
Hydrant Customer research before $8.5M round
Napa Valley Wine Academy Product + market research
Your brand? Let's talk →
$1M+ in sales after repositioning
160% net growth after repositioning
22% conversion lift on top pages
$73M+ raised by clients within a year

Selected Work

Esther Perel Fractional Head of Product · 2+ Years

Helping a world-renowned therapist turn her expertise into digital products

Esther had built an audience of millions but the digital product side of the business was still running on one-off launches. I embedded for two years to figure out what products to build, how to structure them so they stayed true to her voice, and how to get product and marketing working together instead of in parallel.

Result

Complex clinical frameworks became accessible digital products without losing depth. Product and marketing started making decisions as one team.

Science of People Vanessa Van Edwards · Repositioning

Repositioning that unlocked $1M+ in sales

Vanessa had a loyal audience and real behavioral science expertise, but the products weren't converting at the level they should have been. I researched what was driving purchases and what was stalling them, then repositioned the offer and rebuilt the funnel around how her audience actually made buying decisions.

Result

$1M+ in sales once the offer matched what customers were actually looking for.

Death Wish Coffee Customer Research · Product Launch

A new product launch that beat Q1 goals in days

Death Wish was launching a Medium Roast. A real departure for a brand known as "world's strongest coffee." They needed to know: who is this for, and how do we sell it without confusing the people who already love us? I ran customer research to answer both questions, then built the positioning around it.

Result

Exceeded Q1 sales goals within days of launch.

"Richelle's research and insights have transformed our company. Her work is often referenced by C-level employees."

Shannon Sweeney, Death Wish Coffee
Vim & Vigr Customer Research · Repositioning

Customer-led repositioning for 160% net growth

Good product, but the positioning wasn't connecting with the right people. I researched who was buying, why, and the exact language they used to describe the value. Then repositioned the brand around what customers already believed about it.

Result

160% net growth. Higher average order values. One clear story the whole team could sell.

"Richelle was instrumental in helping us pivot our business and better understand our customers."

Michelle Hieu, Vim & Vigr
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How I think about the work

When you've built a brand around your expertise or your mission, every product decision feels high-stakes. Your audience trusts you. Your credibility is the business. The wrong product or the wrong positioning doesn't just miss on revenue. It can cost you the trust you've spent years building.

I do customer research to take the guessing out of those decisions. I find out what your audience actually wants, why they engage, and what language they use. Then I help you turn that into product direction, positioning, and go-to-market you can move on with confidence.

The goal is always the same: know what to build, know how to talk about it, and build it together.

"Richelle is highly empathetic and really understands what customers want."

Ramit Sethi, NYT Best-Selling Author

"I highly, highly recommend Richelle for content creation and product work."

Sam Gavis-Hughson, Byte by Byte

If you want to work together

Three ways to work together.

Choose the level of support that fits where you are right now.

Customer Clarity Sprint

4 to 8 weeks

You've built something your audience loves, but you're not sure what to build next or how to position what you have. I run focused customer research and hand you a clear picture of what your audience actually wants and how to talk about it.

You'll walk away with:

  • A clear picture of who's buying, why, and what language they use
  • Product positioning grounded in real customer evidence
  • A strategy brief your team can execute without me
Let's Talk

Embedded Strategy Partner

3 to 6 months

You need more than a research report. You need someone inside the business helping figure out product direction, connecting product and marketing, and building alongside your team until the system works without me.

You'll walk away with:

  • Product and marketing aligned around the same customer insight
  • Positioning, go-to-market, and launch plans built on evidence
  • A team that knows how to make these decisions after I'm gone
Let's Talk

Advisory

Ongoing or one-off

You have a team. You need a strategic thinking partner who's spent 15 years inside businesses like yours and can help you see around the corner on product, positioning, and growth decisions.

You'll walk away with:

  • Sharper thinking on what to build, how to position it, and when to move
  • Pattern recognition from 15 years inside expert-led and mission-driven brands
  • Honest feedback, not validation
Let's Talk

Not sure which is right? Reach out. I'll tell you honestly which one fits, or if none of them do.

Who this is for

I work with expert-led and mission-driven brands in education, health, media, DTC, and social impact. If you've built something people believe in and want to figure out what comes next with real evidence behind it, we should talk.

Coming Soon

The Insight Engine

A system for building AI-powered research agents that surface customer insights while you sleep. Set up the automations once, then wake up to answers instead of a blank page.

For experts, founders, and mission-driven teams who want customer intelligence running continuously in the background.

No spam. Just a note when it's ready.

Richelle DeVoe

About

Hi, I'm Richelle.

I started my career organizing people. I helped launch National Voter Registration Day, coordinated over 1,000 partner groups, and broke the record for most people registered to vote in a single day. That program has since registered 4.7 million voters. That's where all of this started. I learned that if you understand what people actually care about, you can build something that moves them.

I've been doing that ever since. For the last 15 years, I've worked with expert-led and mission-driven brands to figure out what their audiences want and then build the right products, positioning, and go-to-market around it.

I was fractional head of product for Esther Perel for two years. I built products and ran research for Ramit Sethi, Vanessa Van Edwards, Death Wish Coffee, Codie Sanchez, and Nir Eyal, among others. Two companies I researched went on to close a combined $73M+ in funding.

I also became a paraglider to get over a fear of flying (retired after 40 flights), volunteered with No One Dies Alone to sit vigil with the dying, and once bottle-fed an African Crested Porcupine at a wildlife rescue. I live in Missoula, Montana, and work remotely with teams everywhere.