can get for you.Julia McCoy is the CEO and founder of First Movers, a learning and innovation platform helping entrepreneurs and creators master AI tools to grow their businesses. As a long‑time content strategist, author, and educator, Julia built her company on consistency—publishing, speaking, and teaching nonstop. But in early 2025, that rhythm came to a halt.
After a sudden and severe health crash, Julia could no longer film, record, or even sit upright for long periods. “It was the scariest time of my life,” Julia said. “I went from hiking one day to being in the hospital that night turning blue. I couldn’t lift my arms. I couldn’t breathe.” Months of tests and misdiagnoses followed. Doctors couldn’t explain her symptoms. “If I didn’t have my clone and my avatar,” Julia reflected, “I wouldn’t have been able to talk to my audience at all.”
Her business depended on her presence. She needed a way to stay visible, serve her community, and keep First Movers running without the physical demands of video production. That’s when Julia turned to HeyGen to build a realistic digital clone of herself.
Exploring AI to overcome physical and creative barriers
Before adopting HeyGen, Julia’s business relied entirely on live video. She filmed every tutorial, webinar, and course herself, managing everything from makeup and camera setup to editing. “It was fun,” Julia said. “But from a practical and financial point of view, it was a huge amount of work. One ten‑minute video could take days.”
Even before her illness, that process was unsustainable. “I’m an entrepreneur. I want to move fast. I’d have an idea for a video and want it done yesterday,” Julia said. “But the process always slowed me down.”
When her health crisis hit, the entire model had to change. She physically couldn’t film or travel. “Every time I sat down to speak, I felt like my organs were tearing,” Julia said. “I had to ration my energy and choose between brushing my hair or recording a video.”
That’s when Julia began experimenting with AI. She started testing AI voice and avatar tools, exploring how far she could replicate her presence on camera without losing authenticity. “My clone became not just a tool,” Julia said. “It was my lifeline.”
Building a digital twin to create without limits
Julia combined HeyGen’s custom avatar builder with ElevenLabs for professional voice cloning, spending over 25 hours refining the data to make sure her digital self looked and sounded real.
“The most important thing is the training data,” Julia said. “Clean, consistent audio. No jump cuts. The same mic throughout. You’re literally teaching the AI who you are.”
Using her own high‑quality videos and studio footage, Julia built an avatar capable of delivering full‑length YouTube content. HeyGen handled the facial expressions, gestures, and mouth movement while Eleven Labs provided a seamless, emotion‑accurate voice.
When she tested her first cloned video, the results shocked her. “I published a video that had a clone of me inside it and it had the most engagement out of anything I’ve ever released,” Julia said. The video, titled “03 Just Broke the AI Ceiling,” achieved 3.8x higher views, a 7.8% clickthrough rate, and an average view duration of eight minutes, which were well above her previous benchmarks.
That success gave her confidence to double down. In a single three‑day sprint, Julia produced six videos. Before, that volume would’ve taken weeks. “For the first time in 12 years of marketing, this became manageable. I could write, direct, and publish without burning out,” Julia said.
Behind the scenes, Julia still relied on her human team for editing and creative polish. “My producer is based in the Philippines,” Julia said. “She edits everything by hand. That human touch goes the extra mile.” But HeyGen handled the heavy lifting, freeing her to focus on research, writing, and strategy.
“Cloning yourself is freedom from work,” Julia said. “It’s freedom from the grind. Now I can rest, recharge, and still create.”
Reclaiming time, health, and impact through HeyGen
Since adopting HeyGen, Julia has transformed not only her workflow, but her entire relationship with work.
Results
- 3.8x higher video engagement: Julia’s clone‑driven video outperformed all previous uploads, with 7.8 % CTR and 8‑minute average watch time.
- 6 videos in 3 days: A new record for output, made possible by cloning.
- Sustained business continuity during illness: HeyGen allowed Julia to maintain audience connection and revenue even while working only 30 minutes a day.
Beyond the data, the emotional impact was profound. “This clone saved my business, but more importantly, it saved me,” Julia said. “I could rest, heal, and still show up for my audience.”
She now teaches these methods inside First Movers Labs, helping entrepreneurs build their own AI‑driven workflows. “I want more people to know how to do this,” Julia said. “You can dial in a clone so good no one knows the difference, but it still has a human touch. That’s the key.”
Today, Julia calls HeyGen the defining tool of her career. “There’s an era before HeyGen and an era after HeyGen,” Julia said. “It’s the biggest game‑changer I’ve ever seen.”
See Julia’s clone in action: @JuliaEMcCoy
