Katelyn Bourgoin: Why Buyer Psychology Is the Real Growth Hack
"People don't change when they see the light. They change when they feel the heat. And so if you want to sell something effectively, you need to know how to take a problem and flip it into a compelling pain-killing promise."
What happens when your dream startup fails, you lose everything—including other people’s money—and you still choose to build again?
In this episode of Forward Obsessed, host Pete Sena sits down with Katelyn Bourgoin, the founder of Why We Buy and Unignorable, to talk about her incredible journey—from PR school to startup bankruptcy to becoming one of the internet’s most trusted voices on buyer psychology. This is an unfiltered conversation about the emotional toll of failure, the power of transparency, and how Katelyn rebuilt her business and personal brand into a seven-figure media company—one smart insight at a time.
You’ll learn why most startups get customer research wrong, how to write messaging that actually converts, and why AI is both a gift and a threat to creatives. Plus, Katelyn shares how she turned her pain into purpose and found her niche by helping others sell with empathy and science.
🔎 Find Out More About Katelyn Bourgoin
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbourgoin
Twitter/X:https://twitter.com/KateBour
Why We Buy: https://www.learnwhywebuy.com
Unignorable:https://www.beunignorable.com
Nudge Podcast:https://www.nudgepodcast.com
Key Moments
Why Buyers Buy: Katelyn Bourgoin on Psychology, Resilience, and Building Unignorable Brands
The entrepreneurial journey is rarely linear, and few embody this better than Katelyn Bourgoin. On this episode of the Forward Obsessed podcast, host Pete Sena speaks with Katelyn—founder of Why We Buy and Unignorable—about how she turned personal bankruptcy, professional failure, and total burnout into a thriving media empire built around buyer psychology. What unfolds is not just a lesson in marketing, but in human resilience, self-awareness, and the psychology of decision-making.
Katelyn’s story is as real as it gets: no fluff, no fake overnight success stories. Just the raw, unfiltered truth about what it takes to build something people care about—and how to recover when everything falls apart.
From Burnout to Breakthrough: The Power of Rock Bottom
Katelyn's early career reads like the modern entrepreneurial playbook—English degree, a dream job in PR, a pivot to marketing, and eventually launching her own agency. But when she co-founded a venture-backed startup aimed at helping early-stage women entrepreneurs connect, the cracks began to show. Despite press coverage and investor backing, the business model didn’t work. What followed was a total collapse, both financially and emotionally.
“I had to tell people I lost their money... and that I was going bankrupt,” Katelyn shares. “I wasn’t sleeping. I couldn’t drive. My anxiety was through the roof.” But instead of hiding, she wrote a blog post titled I Killed My Startup and Then Some Crazy Sh*t Happened, and went public with her failure.
That vulnerability was the catalyst for a wave of unexpected opportunities—from consulting offers to major speaking gigs. Her transparency not only healed her, it made her magnetic.
Building “Why We Buy”: The Accidental Business That Changed Everything
Katelyn didn’t set out to build amedia company. She just wanted to generate leads for a futureinsights agency. So she started a newsletter on buyer psychology. Itquickly took on a life of its own.
Why? Because Katelyntapped into something few marketers understand: people don’t want“research,” they want insights that make them money. Her playful,science-backed approach to buyer psychology hit a nerve—and soon,she was being courted by sponsors and fans alike.
“Everyonesays don’t sell your time for dollars. I think that’s horsesh*t,”Katelyn laughs. “People don’t want research. They wantwallet-opening words.”
On Messaging, Painkillers, and the Rise of the “Real” Creator
Katelyn’s tools—like Wallet Opening Words and the Painkiller Messaging System—aren’t just digital products. They’re strategic frameworks built from years of hard-earned lessons. Her work helps founders and marketers turn vague positioning into irresistible messaging that speaks directly to customer pain.
“Transformation doesn’t matter unless you start with a pain point,” she says. “People don’t change when they see the light. They change when they feel the heat.”
Her take on solopreneurship is equally grounded. While she’s become a poster child for the one-person, seven-figure business, Katelyn doesn’t sugarcoat the loneliness or pressure. “It fucking sucks sometimes,” she admits. “But it also taught me I can do really hard things.”
How AI is Reshaping Marketing—and What Katelyn Sees Coming
AI plays a huge role in Katelyn’s business—she builds GPTs for her products and uses them to help others write faster, better copy. But she’s not naive about the risks. “AI can do 80% of your job now. But the magic is in the 20% that’s still human.”
She warns about a world full of copy-paste content and fake testimonials. Her advice? Stay real. Share your real stories. And don’t let ChatGPT be your entire voice. “If everything you post comes straight out of AI, why should people keep reading your stuff?”
What’s Next: Scaling Unignorable Ideas
Looking ahead, Katelyn is expanding Unignorable—her personal branding venture—into one-on-one strategic work for founders and executives. The goal? Help them identify and amplify their “ownable ideas” in a world where trust is currency and differentiation is survival.
“Personal branding won’t be a nice-to-have,” she says. “It’s going to be essential. You need someone people can trust—and trust comes from showing up.”
Key Takeaways:
✅ Failure isn’t final. Katelyn Bourgoin’s greatest success came after a public startup failure and personal bankruptcy—because she chose to share her story instead of hiding it.
✅ Buyer psychology is the growth hack. Understanding what drives people to pay attention—and to act—is more powerful than any tactic or funnel.
✅ Words matter more than ever. In a noisy world (and an AI-saturated one), messaging that speaks directly to pain points will always win.
✅ Solopreneurship isn’t always sexy. Despite the hype, building alone is hard—and often lonely. The key is knowing yourself and what kind of business you actually want to run.
✅ AI can’t fake real experience. ChatGPT can help you write faster, but it can’t replicate lived stories, original insight, or the trust that comes from authenticity.
✅ Personal brands drive real business. In a world of algorithmic noise, founders and execs need to show up as people, not just logos. Trust is built face-forward.
Further Reading:
Alchemy by Rory Sutherland (Book): A bold and entertaining look at how irrational thinking often leads to better business outcomes. Sutherland makes the case for embracing creative, unexpected solutions—especially in marketing.
Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini (Book): A deep dive into what happens before someone makes a decision. Cialdini explores how setting context, framing, and timing can influence a “yes” before you even ask.
Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger (Book): Why do certain ideas catch on? Berger breaks down the science of virality and explains the psychology behind word-of-mouth marketing.
