Wovvo’s Paula Hlavacek: UGC Creators Should Build Skills First
Paula Hlavacek, co-founder of the creator platform Wovvo, says new UGC creators should build their skills before they worry about raising their rates. In the article, which profiles her approach, she advises beginners to post imperfect early videos and treat first projects as practice.
From WhatsApp Group to Paid App
Hlavacek is a Vancouver-based UGC creator who has worked since 2022 with clients including Magic Spoon and Sown Beauty. She co-founded Wovvo in 2025 with Ian Slater. The company began as a free WhatsApp group in which she shared UGC job postings she found on X. The group grew past 500 members over two years.
When it became too large to run for free, she asked members and her X followers whether they would pay for a platform. They said yes, and she says the lesson is not to build until demand is confirmed. Wovvo launched in beta in April 2025 and sold 350 lifetime passes. The company says membership passed 4,000 by January 2026. Hlavacek says she chose not to raise outside funding.
The app combines a jobs feed with courses, coaching calls and a private community. The company says the feed pulls 1,000 to 5,000 postings a month from more than 10 platforms, updated hourly.
Skills Before Rates
Hlavacek says brands naturally want the lowest price, so beginners gain more by improving their editing, scripting and on-camera confidence. She compares an overpriced novice to a roofer who charges top dollar for a leaky roof. She says creators she has worked with who started at $25 to $100 per video now earn about $1,500 per package. Wovvo reports an average of $514 per UGC video.
Pitching Like a Strategist
For higher earnings, she recommends researching a brand, spotting what it lacks and offering more than one video. She also suggests reviewing performance after the content goes live and proposing improvements. She says this approach separates creators earning $10,000 to $20,000 a month from those earning $500.
She also says brands share responsibility. In her view, weak briefs, missing performance data and vague job posts, such as listings promising anywhere from $1 to $10,000, leave new creators struggling. Wovvo uses AI to flag suspect posts, and members flag the ones it misses.
Why Human Creators Still Matter
Hlavacek is not worried about AI-generated UGC. She believes it will make audiences want real people more, and she says brands need older creators in categories such as life insurance, heart medication and wrinkle cream. She coaches creators aged 35 and over, and her oldest member is 70.
She cites Goldman Sachs’ projection that the creator economy could reach $480 billion by 2027. She also cites a 2026 CreatorIQ study finding that 67% of creators earn less than $10,000 a year. Wovvo plans to release version 4.0 of its app in January 2027.
Source: netinfluencer.com
Image: Froukje hoorenbeek / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
