Business as usual: unexpected Kardashian collab, a take on the bag charm trend, from the ashes of Boisson, & hideous "Sneex"
Plus Labor Day Sale finds and a diary from my first trip to Nantucket. š āļø
Good morning! NOTHING is better than the new Sabrina Carpenter album. There are really only two songs I didnāt download, and I like them all! I just love them marginally less than the others. Itās a great listen, end to end.
The song below feels like every single conversation Iāve had with my single female friends (so 95% of all my friends) in the last 4 years. (cc: Scott Gallowayā¦.)
Iām seeing so many great Substack events popping off latelyā Jess Graves, Emilia Petrarca and many more. Iād LOVE to host something for First Rodeo subscribers in NY this fall and LA this winterā¦ is that interesting to you?
Brands (or Substack HQ), Iād love to hear from you if youād want to get in the mix!
As usual, this email is a bit too long for email, so click here to read it in browser.
I did my best to hold back my feedback on Sara Blakelyās newest launch. I like Sara Blakely! One of the most earnest things Iāve ever done was take her Masterclass on starting a business before I took the leap and started my own. (Unfortunately, this did not make me successful. Donāt tell Masterclass.)
That saidā¦ this launch brings back visceral feelings ofā¦ 1999. The name! Eek! It makes me want to hide my face in my shirt like a turtle! Thatās all.
Sustainable retailer The Rounds raised more money, $24M more money, to be exact. I think I applied for a very junior job there after I wrapped Goldune and they were a much younger company. I didnāt get a call back, which sticks in my craw a bit even after all these years. Itās sort of my shit!
Aspiring entrepreneurs should read Emily Obergās piece on starting Sporty & Rich. I like that Substack gives platform to founders who can clap back on all the āyour rich parents funded this businessā claim, sort of how like Instagram made it easy for celebrities to refute tabloid gossip.
FWIW, I agree heartily with Emilyās point about how spicy founders or operators should probably not be the necessarily-empathetic and patient customer care reps who answer angry and unhinged customer emails all day. (This is a fast way to go insane. I know because it keeps happening to me!)
When I worked in sales and rev ops, we used to always try to separate the salespeople from the chaos or internal friction with editorial or product teams who tended to default to a ānoā vs. a āyes, andā when there was a client requestā it just didnāt serve the salespeople to be going out into the world and trying to get a million dollars for the company when they couldnāt be confident that once they brought the deal in, itād be 1.) appreciated by the team (it rarely was) 2.) executed on willingly and without objection (which it also rarely was). I often think the same thing about founders fundraising: they need to be insulated, to some degree, from the clusterfuck of snafus and myriad disasters, they need to stay drunk on their own Kool Aid so as not to lose hope and give up the ship.Anna Mackenzie wrote a brilliant ā5 types of portfolio careerā breakdown that is a must read for any freelancers or consultantsā or anyone who has ever even considered going down that path. I think I am a āSpecial Generalistā if not a multi-hyphenate. What do you think you are?
This collab between Kourtney Kardashian and Simon Huckās Lemme and Brooklyn charm jewelry brand Haricot Vert was so not on my bingo card for the year. I think itās actually pretty smart for Lemme but then begs the questionā if mega brands with endless pockets are partnering with the indie brandsā¦ who the hell are the other, smaller indie brands supposed to partner with? Itās like theyāre swimming in our end of the pool.
One of the co-founders of (now-bankrupt) Boissonā a NA liquor store concept, basicallyā has founded yet another liquor store concept. This feels likeā¦ a long shotā¦ to me! But we all know I have a bias against marketplaces, having been there done that ;)
I liked Hema Padhuās āReady to rebrand? Wait! Read this first!ā. This is a must-read if you are always wanting to rebrand or value brand over everything else (including sanity and budget). Too often founders walk away unhappy after spending tens of thousands on a new brand identityā¦
I really agree with Emily Sundberg that there is a hair-loss category explosion that is about to reach fever pitch. The reality is that thereās likeā¦ 2 or 3 key ingredients in-market that actually support hair growth/prevent hair loss. The only thing thatās changing is the branding, packaging, ordering experience.
My initial take on Great Many, the newest āinnovationā here, is that it looks like nothing special. All the guys I know use Hims or Keeps and all the women I know use Nutrafolā shoutout to my friend Sophie, our resident telehealth and Ozempy expert (promise her AMA is coming soon! Sheās a busy bee!) who used to run the show over at Keeps. Our friend group was blessed with luscious hair during that era and Iām pretty sure they all still use Keeps.
What Iām trying to say is that if youāre already pretty far gone on the hair loss journey, maybe consider a transplant! These brands want your subscription money for all eternity, but you could also just fork over a few grand, if you have that much money to spend on your scalp, say somewhere like Portugal or Turkey, and be done with it.
Iāve been steadily updating my BURST OF RED moodboard and I am now fully enamored with red everything. Much of it is or will be on sale for Labor Day. Truthfully I just have a lot of fun discovering cool red things and adding them here.
I loved this piece from Big Salad: a bunch of different female POVs on moving to a different country! The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Germany, many more. Made me want to move, as usual, lol.
I am keeping my eye on smart things that are going on super sale this weekend: Rhode, J. Crew, Ciao Lucia (shockingly mortal prices right now), Mansur Gavriel, Dusen Dusen (sample sale!), (my favorite sleepy gummiesā they happen to be one of the most clicked links Iāve shared here, so you must need help sleeping to!) and many, many more. Everything Iāve saved right here!
Deeply resonated with Erika Veurinkās piece on not wanting to dress like a cool girl, but wanting to dress like a Nora Ephron character. Yup! For me, this could also be dressing like a Nancy Meyers protagonistā whether the 11 year old ones or the 60 year old ones.
File this under CULTURE: Weāre leaving for Portugal next weekā for most of Septemberā and here are a few things I canāt wait to not think about, hear, read about or talk about during that time.
brat
discourse about the seasons, whether it is summer or fall, and what people think about whichever season it is or isnāt
retrograde anything
brainrot
the election
TikTok
I did see Grace Atwood and Becca Freeman post about Hotel Lobby Candleās first foray into home! (Diffusers, soaps, etc.) I am intrigued, I bet theyāre crushing it with this launchā and I really like that they launched with refills off the bat. Becca had me when she mentioned the diffuser had really good throwā¦
In my inbox this morning: Tell the Bees on The Age of Entitlement. A great read on getting what you wantā¦. and not, particularly online.
This new-to-me luxury bag brand is really funā I love how unique they look. (I am a big fan of not looking the same as everyone else.) Also a fun take on the bag charm trend that is sweeping the nationā similar but different.
Longtime readers know that after devouring 25+ Elin Hilderbrand novels, Iāve been dying to get my ass to Nantucket! And last Thursdayā¦ I finally did.
(At the same time as Alisha Ramos, no less, who wrote a fun first timers guide to Nantucket here! I was in great company, though I didnāt run into Alisha around townāsurprising since itās a small town and I ran into other folks! We had different stays/criteria, and I loved reading hersā so leaving my thoughts below.)