Ana Figueiredo Success Story: How a FaceDance Creator Built Her Online Home with Zenler

David Zenler Author

Mar 12, 2026 |

See how Ana used Zenler to turn her FaceDance concept into a professional online business, replace multiple tools & build her foundation for growth.

Ana's story is one of quiet courage. She moved to England from Portugal eight years ago unable to hold a conversation in English. She is hard of hearing. Three years ago, she could not have imagined sitting in front of a camera doing an interview. Today, she has created an entirely original movement method, built her own website under her own domain, launched courses in two languages, and is steadily growing the audience that will one day support a membership community.

That is not a small thing. That is a complete reinvention.

From Face Yoga to FaceDance: Finding a New Direction

Ana did not set out to become an online course creator. She came to England for a fresh start, and for years she worked in a secondary school while quietly exploring other paths.

Two years ago, she discovered face yoga and trained as a certified face yoga teacher. But when the course ended, she found herself asking a question that many newly qualified practitioners ask: what do I do with this now?

Her answer was honest and creative in equal measure. She did not connect with yoga as a concept. She liked the method, but not the form. So instead of trying to fit herself into something that did not feel natural, she invented something new.

One evening, the idea came to her: FaceDance. Facial movement, set to music. A method that kept everything she valued about face yoga — the results, the confidence, the sense of ease in your own face — but wrapped it in something more alive, more playful, more her.

"Three years ago, it would have been impossible for me to be here on camera doing an interview. This really helped me overcome all my fears and start feeling more at ease with myself."

That personal transformation is the heartbeat of everything Ana does. She is not teaching a technique. She is teaching people to be comfortable being seen.

Building From Scratch in a Second Language

Ana's journey into online business came through a Portuguese training course she took to help her get started. That course pointed her toward Zenler as the platform to use. She did not choose Zenler after comparing alternatives. She was guided to it. But what happened next was entirely her own.

She set up her account, created her first course — the same one she had developed through the Portuguese programme — and started learning her way around the platform.

It was not instant. At first she found the course creation process confusing and over-complicated things. But when she went through Zenler's Accelerator programme, something shifted.

"I understood how easy it was, and I was just over-complicating. Now it's easier than I expected — I was complicating it because I wouldn't expect it to be so easy."

That realisation — that the platform was simpler than she had assumed — was the turning point.

The Moment She Decided to Stay

Ana is candid about the fact that her commitment to Zenler was not immediate. When she received an email saying Zenler would no longer be free, her first reaction was concern. She was not yet generating income from her courses. Investing in a paid platform felt like a risk.

But the Accelerator programme changed her mind.

It was not just the features. It was the realisation that she would not be on her own. She would have a team, training, workshops, and a community around her. That mattered enormously.

"I understood that I wouldn't be alone on this."

The other thing that convinced her was the website builder. Ana had spent over a year trying to build a website on another platform and had never managed to get it to where she wanted it. Within Zenler, she finally built it — with her own domain, in her own way.

That was the moment the decision was made.

Replacing the Patchwork with One Platform

Before Zenler, Ana was juggling WordPress, MailerLite, Zoom, and Google Meet. Four separate tools, four subscriptions, four different places to manage, and none of them talking properly to each other.

Zenler replaced all of it.

"Now I only have one platform."

That simplicity has a practical value that goes beyond cost savings. When your website, courses, live sessions, email, and blog all live in the same place, the mental load drops. You stop switching between systems and start focusing on the work itself.

For Ana, that has meant more time to write her weekly blog posts, develop her content, and learn the automations that will support her business as it grows.

What Has Pleasantly Surprised Her

Ana came into Zenler expecting a course platform. What she found was considerably more.

The thing that has surprised her most is how complete it is. Live Zoom sessions embedded directly into the platform. A full website builder. A blog. Workshops. A donation page — something she never imagined she would be able to create, let alone do it easily inside a single tool.

She discovered the donation page through one of Zenler's community workshops, and it is a good example of how Ana has learned to use the platform: not by exploring everything at once, but by showing up to the training, paying attention, and picking up new capabilities one at a time.

"I love the fact that we have everything in one platform. The live Zooms, the creation of a website, all the courses — everything in one."

Still Building: The Honest Picture

Ana does not dress up where she is. Her business is early stage. She has not yet generated income from her courses. She knows that.

But she also knows why, and she knows what she is doing about it.

She is building the blog consistently — one post per week — because she understands that organic visibility takes time. She is working on her automations. She is developing her English-language course so she can reach a wider audience beyond the Portuguese-speaking community she started with. And she has a clear vision of where the business is heading.

"The main thing is I'm setting up the route. With a good foundation, I hope it will grow."

That is not a failure story. That is a foundation story. The work she is doing now is exactly the right work for where she is in her journey.

What Is Next for Ana and FaceDance

Ana's roadmap is clear, even if the timeline is still taking shape.

The first priority is launching an English-language version of her FaceDance course. Right now her main course is in Portuguese. Expanding into English opens up an entirely different scale of audience.

The second priority is continuing to grow the blog. She is already posting weekly and sees this as the main engine for building visibility and organic reach over the next twelve months.

The longer-term dream is a membership. She envisions something like a FaceDance gym — a regular, live, community-based space where people come together to work on their facial movement, their confidence, and their comfort with being seen. She already has a Zenler community set up and waiting. She is building toward the audience that will bring it to life.

"My idea is in the future to build my audience and create memberships and develop my community."

She is giving herself a year. That is not vagueness — that is patience. She knows what needs to happen first.

What Business Owners Can Learn from Ana

Ana's story is quieter than some. There is no dramatic revenue number, no overnight breakthrough. What it offers instead is something arguably more useful: a real picture of what early-stage online business building actually looks like when someone is doing it properly.

A few things stand out.

Start with what transformed you. Ana did not invent FaceDance from market research. She built it from personal experience of what the method did for her confidence. That authenticity runs through everything she does.

Having a home online is its own kind of success. Before Zenler, Ana had ideas but no place to put them. Now she has a domain, a website, a course, a blog, and a community space — all under one roof. That foundation matters more than it might seem.

Do not rush the audience. Ana wants a membership but is not launching one before she has the people to fill it. That restraint will save her enormous frustration later.

Lean on the training. The Accelerator programme was the turning point for Ana. The workshops introduced her to features she would never have found alone. The support gave her confidence. None of that was passive — she showed up and did the work.

"There's no fear in anything. Just launch yourself, and you won't regret it."

Connect with Ana and FaceDance

Ana's work is worth exploring, whether you are curious about facial movement, confidence, or simply what it looks like to build something genuinely original from scratch.

Visit: https://www.anawith1n.com

FAQ

Who is Ana? Ana is the creator of FaceDance, a facial movement method set to music. She is a certified face yoga teacher who developed her own concept after qualifying, combining the techniques of face yoga with music to help people feel more comfortable and confident being seen.

What is FaceDance? FaceDance is Ana's original facial movement method, developed from face yoga but set to music. It is designed to help creatives and individuals feel more at ease with their faces and more comfortable being visible — on camera, in business, and in daily life.

Who does Ana help? She helps creatives and individuals who want to feel more confident and at ease with how they present themselves, particularly those who struggle with being on camera or feel uncomfortable with visibility.

Why is Ana's success story important? Her story shows that success at the early stage of an online business is about building the right foundation — not just generating income. It is an honest and encouraging account of what it looks like to build something original while working in a second language, managing real personal challenges, and learning new skills.

Why did Ana choose Zenler? She was guided to Zenler through a business training course she completed. She stayed because the Accelerator programme showed her she would not be alone, and because Zenler was the first platform where she was finally able to build a website under her own domain.

What Zenler features have made the biggest difference for Ana? The website builder with custom domain, the all-in-one setup replacing WordPress, MailerLite and Zoom, the blog, live session integration, workshops, and the donation page feature have all played a significant role.

Is Ana making money from her courses yet? Not yet. Her business is in the audience-building phase. She is focused on weekly blogging, course development, and automations, with a view to launching a membership once her audience is large enough to support it.

What is Ana building next on Zenler? An English-language FaceDance course, a growing blog for organic visibility, and eventually a membership community — a regular live space for people to practise FaceDance and build confidence together.

What can other business owners learn from Ana's journey? Build the foundation first. Show up consistently with content. Use the training and community available to you. And do not let the absence of immediate results convince you the work is not worth doing.

Categories: : Entrepeneur Success Stories