Hey Little Loves,
Q2 just walked in and honestly? She has a lot to prove.
The last few months have been a lot. AI flipped the script on how customers find brands. Celebrity product launches are starting to blur together. And everyone is suddenly a “founder.” The market is getting more discerning by the minute and frankly, good. It’s weeding out the noise.
Which brings me to why I’m obsessed with this issue.
Sarah went toe to toe with one of my actual favorite people, Rachel Hirsch, for our Industry Baby feature and the result is the kind of conversation I wish more brand builders were having out loud. Rachel is one of my closest friends and one of the most clear-eyed people I know when it comes to where wellness is actually going. She built her entire platform the real way, through her podcast, her social presence, speaking stages, earned press, and the kind of thought leadership that compounds over time. Her investment portfolio is full of brands I genuinely love and that’s not an accident. She backs conviction, not clout.
Having her in these pages feels very right.
We also have a free webinar on April 22nd that is going to make some of you uncomfortable in the best way. If your brand is not showing up in AI search, we need to talk.
Big Q2 energy only.
-Ali
Inside this issue:
We’re talking celebrity brand fatigue & why ownership is the new endorsement, plus the metric quietly reshaping how customers find you (hint: it’s AI). Plus, our current obsessions from RHOBH to Lollapalooza drops.
Ready to spring into action? Fill out our interest form and let’s make your brand bloom.
Your customers are asking AI what to buy, are you showing up in the answer?
We’re hosting a free, 60-minute working session to show you exactly where your brand stands across the latest LLMs.
April 22 @ 1PM CST
10 spots, free
Here’s the part we’re very excited about: Every brand that signs up gets a personalized AI visibility snapshot BEFORE the session.
So you walk in knowing:
Your AI share of voice (If you’ve ever struggled to prove the impact of PR, content, or brand awareness… this is the missing link.)
Where competitors are beating you
Why AI is recommending other brands instead and what to do about it
This is for anyone with an online presence! founders, CMOs, agencies, service providers. Only requirement: you need an active website so we can run your snapshot.
Spots are limited, but if we get overflow, we’ll open additional sessions, so it’s worth throwing your name in either way.
Reserve your free spot below!
Come for the data, stay for the “Aye, I should have been doing this sooner!” moment.
When we aren’t functioning as boutique agency baddies, this is what we are chatting about, from our Slack channel to your inbox.
Your Brain on Money by Hannah Horvath (IG: @yourbrain_onmoney ): Financial news rooted in psychology and essays on the ‘why’ behind personal finance. The newsletter for personal banking baddies.
Love Letters by Lauren Love: roundups, commentary, thoughts and general musings on the latest in PR from an Industry pro.
Expo West dispatches: yes, we are still talking about the major CPG event that is a mirror for our consumer trends…
Come Fly with Me by Camille Di Maio
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette
Mindless reality tv: currently RHOBH… we think its what makes our pitches pop.
Heart throb marketing: Keep up the good work.
The Lollapalooza lineup that dropped last week: From teaser lollipops, to viral popbase posts, the Lolla lineup announcement is an event of its own.
The Potential Estee Lauder x Puig merger and what may happen when two major prestige portfolios collide
Granny Era Hobbies: Analog activities to decompress (mahjong, needlepoint, puzzles), and the subsequent female social club economy of curated experiences for girlhood and hobbies
Walks by the lake (Chicago)
Beach and pool days (Florida)
A good patio margarita (Unbound by location)
What have you been loving lately? Spill in the comments so we can add it to the rotation.
INDUSTRY BABY
Meet Sarah, our Gen-Z Account Exec: she’s talking to industry pros to figure out what’s actually popping.
In the past decade or so, it feels like every celebrity had a beauty brand, then a tequila brand, now a non-alcoholic adaptogenic botanical elixir (electrolytes optional). We move fast here.
The Olympian on the Wheaties box or LeBron’s Sprite Cranberry cans (formative for my generation) feels like a thing of the past. Instead of hearing “[Celeb Name] for [Brand],” we’re hearing “[Brand] from [Celeb Name]” much more often.
So is the celebrity endorsement dead? Or did it just get promoted?
We were shook when we found out Alix Earle made a controversial $1M off a busted Gymshark deal. But Selena Gomez becoming a literal billionaire from Rare Beauty? (the same fate most likely facing Earle as well with her expertly-marketed upcoming skincare brand) That’s business, baby! Public favor upheld.
Part of this shift feels inevitable. Relevance cycles are ruthless now. If public favor turns on Sprite, LeBron feels it and vice versa. Taylor Swift famously avoids traditional endorsements for this reason. When partnerships are risky and attention spans are short, ownership can function as insulation… or at least a faster path to cashing out.
Technology and social media have also shrunk the distance between celebrity and consumer. Parasocial relationships have created massive purchasing power. I’d argue this traces back to the Kardashians, who perfected the “peek behind the curtain” model and monetized it into lip kits, protein snacks, and spiked seltzers from people who famously do not drink.
Perhaps influencer marketing absorbed the endorsement job. Influencer partnerships have the bones of traditional celebrity ads, but with more editorial freedom and perceived authenticity that customers have grown to expect. In many ways, influencers became the more effective advertiser, which freed celebrities up to move upstream into ownership.
As I was drafting this, I’m fairly certain four more celebrities launched something collagen-adjacent. So instead of just theorizing, I followed the money and spoke to Rachel Hirsch, podcast host and writer behind the top-ranked Substack, 2% club, founder of VC Wellness Growth Ventures, and lifestyle extraordinaire (IG: @rachhirsch)
Have you noticed a shift from celebrity endorsements to celebrity-owned or equity-based brands in your deal flow?
Yes, but we’re still early.
We’re in the first real innings of celebrities and influencers understanding what ownership actually means. Equity is easy to say. Governance, dilution, capital calls, long timelines, and downside risk are different conversations.
What’s shifting now is expectations. Consumers assume celebrities will have equity. That’s no longer novel. Ownership is table stakes.
The next evolution is financial skin in the game.
Q: Does celebrity equity de-risk an investment?
No. Equity alone doesn’t de-risk anything.
If anything, it can introduce concentration risk tied to one personal brand. Relevance cycles are short. Reputations can shift overnight.
What actually feels more meaningful to me is when the celebrity writes a real check. When they put capital in alongside investors, not just equity granted for likeness or promotion.
Cash in is different energy than equity granted. It signals conviction and long-term commitment.
And we still underwrite the same way: if the celebrity stepped back tomorrow, would the business hold?
Q: What separates durable celebrity brands from PR-driven moments?
Durable businesses have strong operating teams. Period.
Not just an incubator optimized for growth marketing and launch velocity. Not just paid media arbitrage dressed up as brand.
You need real operators who understand margin structure, supply chain resilience, retail strategy, and product roadmap.
Celebrity awareness can open the door. Operators build what happens after.
The brands that last are businesses first, celebrity-backed second.
Q: Where is this heading over the next few years?
Celebrity brands are a dime a dozen now. The novelty phase is over.
So I think we’ll see:
Fewer passive equity deals
More celebrities putting capital in
Stronger operator pairings from day one
And investors being much more disciplined about fundamentals
Star power may drive the top of funnel. But in this market, fundamentals drive survival. And capital is paying attention.
Thanks, Rach!
The sheen of a celeb owned brand has worn off to the point where equity means no more than endorsement. We made a circle! Actually, not a circle, more like a pendulum.
Because I think we might start swinging and enter the fatigue phase.
There’s only so many celebrity-founded brands the market can hold before consumers start asking different questions. Rachel’s underwriting question is the one that matters most: if the celebrity stepped back tomorrow, would the business hold?
There’s also a broader cultural layer here that likely fueled this shift in the first place. Celebrities have infrastructure, advisors, lawyers, finance bros, suits. As Rachel said, this is about expectations. Consumers assume celebrities will have equity. It’s no longer shocking that an already-made person has the mechanisms to make more. As the wealth gap widens, that dynamic seeps into branding and PR too.
Meanwhile, when average consumers are stressing about grocery prices, another protein-dusted, collagen-adjacent slop product that doesn’t align with a personal brand can feel thin. Audiences are more skeptical and less dazzled by the word “founder.”
So what do we do now? What do celebs do now? We still need the top of the funnel, so what is the move?
In addition to Rachel’s point about founder funding, I don’t think celebrity ownership disappears. But passive ownership might. As with much of PR right now, the move is authenticity. A celebrity putting real cash down, taking on real downside risk, is standing on business quite literally. If endorsement was polish and equity was power, maybe the next evolution is proof.
The money is watching. And as Rachel said, “capital is paying attention.” In an era defined by new power (volatile trend cycles and shifting hierarchies), authenticity is structural.
Who knows where we swing next, but the advantage belongs to the ones who see it coming and build for it before the rest of us catch up.
What do you think, are we peak celebrity brand, or is another evolution loading? I’ve heard a lot about fiber, maybe PinkPanthress Prunes? Jacob Elordi’s steamy Overnight Oats? Someone update the deck.
Chat soon,
Sarah
P.S. Want to yap with Sarah or see your takes in the next Industry Baby? Hit the button below!
Reformation teamed up with celebrity divorce attorney Laura Wasser on a cheeky “Divorce Collection,” complete with breakup-era dresses and a viral “DUMP HIM” sweatshirt that sold out fast. It reframes divorce as a glow-up, and the unexpected collab makes it feel like cultural commentary as much as a product drop.
Adidas launched a streetwear collection of matching tracksuits and accessories for humans and their dogs. Twinning with your pet is fashion’s next frontier. It’s currently China-exclusive, but we at the office think it needs to be stateside immediately.
David Protein is facing a class-action lawsuit alleging its bars contain more calories and fat than labeled (very Regina George coded), which the brand disputes. In response, the founder hosted an emergency press town hall with Emily Sundberg. We love the transparency, but feel strongly this was a missed opportunity for Puff or Quest to drop a “She doesn’t even go here” in the chat.
We finally know wtfisalixdoing: Alix Earle is entering her beauty founder era with Reale Actives, an acne-focused line rooted in prescription-style actives and her very public skin journey. It’s GRWM transparency turned brand equity—now the question is whether the formulas meet the clinical-level hype.
Call it the anti-social wellness movement: after years of buzzy, see-and-be-seen sauna clubs, consumers are opting for private suites, solo cold plunges, and low-stimulation rituals at spots like Saint NYC and Lore Bathing Club. It reframes wellness as intentional alone time—and right now, solitude is the status symbol brands are learning to package (and price).
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