Alba Montana: from corporate success to purpose-led founder
Company: Feelbright Kids
Founder: Alba Montana, Co-Founder
Stage: Idea → Incorporated Startup
Engagement: Professional and health coaching within lume’s Performance Lab
Before lume: a founder in waiting
When Alba Montana first entered lume’s Performance Lab, Feelbright Kids wasn’t a company yet — it was an idea she’d been carrying for years. A thought in the back of her mind. A pull she couldn’t ignore. But not something she had stepped into fully.
At the time, Alba was a product leader at CVS Health, working inside a large corporate system that no longer matched the identity she was growing into. Her purpose was shifting toward improving the health of our children, and she found herself missing the creativity, autonomy, and purpose that fueled her work.
“I kept asking myself, how did I end up in Big Corp? I left product design, I am not working on children’s health, and I felt like my designer and creator sides were sitting on a shelf.”
Personally, she was in a season of transition. A mom of two, she had spent years making decisions around what was best for her family. But as her kids grew more independent, an old question resurfaced:
Who am I beyond being a mother?
It was the combination of purpose, identity, and values misalignment that pushed her toward coaching.
Searching for clarity, and permission
Before joining lume, Alba had already worked with another coach. She learned a lot but kept feeling like something was missing: someone who understood career, purpose, health, and identity as a combined system — not separate tracks.
She wanted support that wasn’t limited to “find your next job” or “optimize your wellness.” She needed a partner to help her understand the deeper thing getting in the way of stepping into entrepreneurship.
That led her back to lume. She had known one of the co-founders for years and felt drawn to the type of work lume was doing: performance + personal growth + leadership + health.
When she met her coach, something clicked.
“I told her: I have a company inside me. I can feel it. But something is stopping me from moving. Help me not kill it too early.”
Together, they began the work.
Inside the lab: uncovering the blockers
Alba came into coaching with a fully formed mission: helping children develop emotional, physical, and social wellbeing through play. But emotionally, she was stuck at the edge of the diving board, unable to make the leap.
Coaching became a safe place to understand why.
1. Untangling fears and expectations
A major part of the work was exploring Alba’s fears: fear of leaving stability, fear of what people would say, fear of disappointing her parents, fear of failing publicly, fear of making a “selfish” decision after years of choosing for others.
“I had this image of being at the edge of the pool, going back and forth. I just needed help jumping. I knew I could swim, something was just holding me back.”
Through coaching, she developed language, tools, and grounding practices to navigate these emotional barriers clearly and compassionately.
2. Rebuilding identity as a founder
Another theme was shifting how she saw herself. For years she had introduced herself as “someone at CVS,” even though her heart was already in Feelbright.
Her coach helped her step into a new identity — founder, creator, builder — and practice speaking from that place before she even left her job.
Her first public post announcing Feelbright, with her kids and husband by her side, was a turning point.
“Posting on LinkedIn made it real. It was scary, but it finally felt like I was owning my decision.”
3. Moving from talking to doing
Perhaps the biggest unlock was action. Alba could articulate her mission clearly, but execution was stuck behind emotional friction.
Coaching shifted her from overthinking to moving.
“I can convince anyone that Feelbright is what I want to do. But something kept me from acting. Meredith pushed me — in a healthy way — to finally move.”
They worked on small, doable steps each week: setting timelines, defining commitments, mapping priorities, and breaking the idea into actions that built momentum.
From potential → company
With clarity and support, Alba made the leap. She left her full-time job. She incorporated Feelbright Kids. She became a full-time founder.
Within months, the things that once felt impossible became real:
Feelbright’s first physical products moved into development
A pre-order system launched
Early customer testing began
She hired an illustrator
The company shifted from a concept to a living, breathing business
The mission, supporting children’s emotional and physical wellbeing, became the fuel pulling her forward.
“It stopped being about me and started being about the mission. That’s what got me out of my comfort zone.”
A new operating system
Alba’s transformation wasn’t just entrepreneurial. It was personal.
She began making decisions with ownership, not fear. She found her voice again — creatively, professionally, and as a leader. She reconnected to purpose, not performance. She took agency over her time, her energy, and her identity.
“Before, I felt like decisions just happened to me. Now I feel like I own them. Even when things are hard, they’re hard choices that I chose.”
She also learned to structure her life as a founder with two kids: defining boundaries, managing energy, and staying grounded through the chaos of early building.
The transformation
Alba’s journey through lume’s Performance Lab reflects a founder stepping into who she always was — with clarity, courage, and a system to sustain the leap.
By working through identity, fears, purpose, and action, she turned an idea into a company, and a feeling into momentum.
“I used to wake up feeling like my real career was on the shelf. Now I’m living it. Feelbright is real, and I’m building it every day.”
