Where are you based?

New York – Brooklyn!

How long have you been working in the influencer/creator industry?

About 6 years now, I can’t believe how fast it’s flown.

In what ways has the industry changed since you started your career?

It continues to change all the time! I was first introduced to this career while still in college, working as a brand ambassador for Jenny Bird and Outdoor Voices and dabbling in freelance strategy. That background gave me a peek behind the curtain before I started working full-time in influencer marketing, which felt like an immediate leg up in the fresh-out-of-college job market.

When I joined an agency, the industry felt hyper-fixated on the “ambassador” mindset, and every campaign I executed was built around it. We were looking for macro partners who could seemingly do everything: entertain, educate, and convert, all on a monthly retainer. Today, we are focused on niching-down on ownable territories that we can build long-term creator relationships with, while still holding space for one-off partnerships that speak to individual campaigns.

How long have you been at Glossier?

About 10 months.

Glossier helped define what community-driven marketing looked like for many brands, and many have tried to replicate that playbook. Looking back, what do you think Glossier got right early on, and how has the brand adapted as the creator landscape and consumer behavior have evolved?

I’ve been a brand fan since Into the Gloss, which gives me a slight advantage in knowing what this brand looked and, more importantly, felt like to consumers over ten years ago — a true social-first brand.

One of the most powerful pieces of the early strategy was the Glossier Rep Program (shoutout Kelly Mittendorf!), which was essentially the ambassador program that launched a thousand other ambassador programs. Over the years, this evolved into the Glossier Creator Network, but the original program eventually dissolved — and with it, we lost touch with some of our tight-knit community as the creator economy shifted heavily toward one-off influencer partnerships. Right now, we’re focused on rebuilding these relationships and making sure we show up for our community, which has given us so much over the years.

I love that you have personal insight into the original Glossier creator community. It truly feels full circle to now be part of rebuilding some of those relationships. How would you describe Glossier’s influencer ecosystem today, and where does it sit within the broader marketing strategy?

My team manages our organic seeding, relationship-building, and paid creator partnerships, while working closely with Performance Marketing to support our affiliate strategy. Influencer is a central part of Glossier’s marketing strategy, powered by our friends of the brand: creators, experts, and professionals who shape and inspire our work. These relationships feed directly into our owned and paid channels, ensuring our community’s voice is woven through everything we do.

We joined ShopMy at the start of the year, and expanding our creator network through it is a priority. Glossier is an 11-year-old brand, so we’re lucky to have an incredible OG community who have given us so much over the years. We’re also seeing a new wave of talent discover us, so our big focus right now is showing up for our existing community while welcoming new creators into the fold, building love for our hero products, and showing them why Glossier deserves a place in their makeup bag.

Glossier is always partnering with talent, media and other brands like the most recent 831 Stories x Glossier event. Are these events a priority and how do they fit into your influencer strategy?

Events are a huge priority for us as we refocus on connecting with our network IRL. Working with interesting companies like 831 Stories is a two-pronged advantage. It gives our campaign moments an interesting spin while opening our doors to new and existing customers and bridging communities.

Does your role contribute to Into the Gloss?

Historically, it hasn’t, but this year, in partnership with Ashley Weatherford, Director of Social, Editorial, and Content, our team has begun nurturing the relationship between ITG and Glossier — thinking about where our communities overlap, strategizing offline opportunities for our friends of the brand, and incorporating “Top Shelf” and ITG-specific concepts into events.

How do you brief influencers or what is your philosophy on briefing to keep the brand guidelines in place while still giving the influencer creative control?

I’m a strong advocate for giving creators as much creative control as possible when the content is going live on their channels. It feels inauthentic to ask creators to go outside their comfort zone just for the sake of the bit. Working closely with talent and building real relationships with them is what generates that trust between the brand and the creator.

How do you measure success for your campaigns?

It’s important we look at qualitative results in addition to the standard quantitative metrics in this field, so while we do look at EMV and reach, we’ll also look at community sentiment and depth of relationships.

Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

I’m truly blessed to have worked with so many amazing creators that I really admire. I always love working with Benton McClintock, Natalia Spotts, and Halle Robbe.

Who would you love to work with?

Michelle Li had been on my creator wishlist for some time, and I’m so happy we just got to work together on the launch of I <3 NY Balm Dotcom! There is a super power with creators that also work on agency or brand side in influencer marketing – they just get it!

Also on my wishlist, doing an event with Sue Chan (@careofchan), and also working with more mixed media creators (@jasminedowling).

Is there a Glossier campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

I’m most proud of our most recent campaign for I <3 NY Balm Dotcom that just launched on 7/14. In partnership with the New York State Division of Tourism, this is a ‘Big Apple” flavored balm. Our campaign goes beyond the product launch, and shows our love and appreciation for the city as a whole. Through partnerships, surprise mailers, and events, we are connecting with our community in the city we were born and raised in!

The week before launch, we hosted a breakfast in collaboration with Ha’s, produced and hosted by Ariella Starkman of Starkman & Associates, for some of our closest friends of the brand – in attendance were VIPs, influencers, MUAs, and true New Yorkers. We were able to connect offline before the madness of a workday swept everyone away. Just the next day, our team of editors in pink jumpsuits took to the streets to deliver “takeout orders” from the Glossier Balmdega, which was opening the week following, with I <3 NY Balm Dotcom, bagels, and cold brew packed in each bag. The Balmdega is now open at our Soho flagship running through August 31st, during its residency, we’ll be offering prizes through scratch-offs, F+B pop-ups, and more surprises along the way!

Any exciting partnerships or upcoming launches you are excited about this year?

We are still very deep in I <3 NY, but know that this Holiday will be a fun one! Think: event-forward, unfiltered, playful.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Glossier?

   1. It is actually hard to pick for me, it might be tied between Boy Brow and the Body Hero Exfoliating Bar, which is a sleeper hit! I must give Glossier You a shoutout too knowing this has been my signature scent since it was released in 2018.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. Before a big work day, I’ll listen to my friend Sophie’s playlist.

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. J Crew is a dream, Gardenheir too!

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?

   1. Juliana Ghani Sullivan posted in a Cotton On long sleeve batwing tee shirt, so I bought the Cotton On long sleeve batwing tee shirt!

You can stay in touch with Georgia on Instagram & would be shocked, but if you aren’t already, give Glossier a follow! Glossier You fan forever!

Where are you based?

I’m based in Atlanta, Georgia!

How long have you been at Barefaced and how has it evolved since starting?

I joined Barefaced in early 2021 as one of the first employees, and it has been incredibly rewarding to watch the company evolve from an emerging brand into a category-leading business with a passionate customer community. What’s been especially meaningful is that as we’ve grown, we’ve worked hard to maintain the closeness and responsiveness that made customers feel connected to us in the first place. In many ways, our evolution has been about scaling without losing intimacy.

One of the biggest advantages of being an early team member is that I’ve had the opportunity to wear many different hats beyond my formal job description. That cross-functional exposure has given me a deep understanding of how product, customer experience, marketing, operations, and community all connect. As Chief Brand Officer today, I make decisions from a multi-channel perspective and ultimately through the lens of the customer relationship.

That has become even more important in the current marketing landscape. Consumers are more skeptical, more informed, and more selective than ever. The brands that win long term aren’t just the ones with the biggest reach; they’re the ones that create genuine connection with their community at every touchpoint.

From a brand marketing perspective, how has the industry changed since you first started your career?

The skincare industry has always been competitive, but the pace of new launches has accelerated dramatically. It feels like a new brand enters the conversation every quarter, often backed by significant funding, celebrity influence, or viral momentum.

For us, that has made clarity even more important. Barefaced is anchored by our Less but Better philosophy. We are not trying to be everything to everyone. We’re focused on delivering expert-led, results-driven skincare that earns trust over time.

I actually think one of the biggest shifts in marketing is that consumers are becoming fatigued by constant novelty. The industry has trained people to expect newness every month, but trust is built through consistency. Our challenge isn’t to launch products for the sake of headlines; it’s to continue delivering exceptional outcomes while finding creative ways to tell that story. The fact that our returning customer rate is significantly above industry benchmarks (3x!) is one of the metrics I’m most proud of, because it reflects relationship depth, not just acquisition efficiency.

What does your team look like today?

Our internal brand team has been intentionally lean up to this point: myself, a Brand Manager, and a Brand Coordinator. Together, we oversee brand strategy, creative direction, social, influencer and affiliate, PR, partnerships, events, and activations.

We’ve found a lot of success partnering with specialized agencies and strategic thought partners in key areas. I think the future of marketing organizations is less about headcount and more about orchestration...bringing together the right expertise while maintaining a clear, cohesive brand vision internally.

Another benefit of working with external partners is the perspective they bring from other brands and categories. They challenge us to think bigger, question assumptions, and stay ahead of what’s resonating in culture. I love that dynamic because it keeps our thinking fresh without compromising who we are.

Given how much of your role is about orchestrating the right voices around the brand, I’d love to hear how community fits into that. Did influencer and community marketing always play a key role in Barefaced’s strategy?

Community has always been at the center of Barefaced. What’s changed over the past few years is that the line between “customer” and “creator” has become increasingly blurred.

One of my core beliefs is that the customers who make up your community are influencers. They may not have a million followers, but they have credibility, relationships, and trust within their circles. The majority of Barefaced’s growth has come from word of mouth and direct referrals, which I still believe is the most powerful form of marketing.

We certainly value our influencer partnerships for reach and discovery, but the strongest partnerships tend to be the ones that begin organically. Baskin is an example of someone that saw genuine results from using the product and we've continued to work with her since 2023! When someone genuinely uses the products, sees results, and shares that experience authentically, the audience can feel the difference. In today’s environment, authenticity compounds; forced sponsorships often don’t.

When you think about Barefaced’s influencer ecosystem, what are the key pieces and how do they fit into the larger marketing strategy?

Yes, our team oversees affiliate programs across platforms including ShopMy, as well as seeding initiatives and influencer partnerships. ShopMy is an important channel for us because it allows creators to monetize authentic recommendations while giving us clear visibility into performance.

I think of our influencer ecosystem as three layers:

• Organic advocates: People who genuinely use and love the products.

• Long-term brand partners: Creators we invest in over time because there is real alignment and audience trust.

• Campaign-specific collaborators: Creators who help us reach new audiences around particular launches or initiatives.

The key is that influencer marketing doesn’t operate in a silo. It works best when it reinforces product credibility, community conversations, PR storytelling, and customer experience. I think the industry is moving away from transactional influencer relationships (one-off spikes) and toward trust ecosystems. The brands that win will be the ones that cultivate advocates, not just campaigns.

You’re celebrating six years of the brand with pop-ups across four cities. What inspired that decision, and what role do in-person experiences play in building the Barefaced community?

As a direct-to-consumer brand, most of our customer interactions happen through a screen. The six-year anniversary pop-ups were inspired by a simple question: How do we create moments where our community can connect with us, and with each other, in real life?

In-person experiences create a level of emotional connection that digital channels can’t fully replicate. Customers can touch the products, ask questions, meet the team, and feel the brand in a more human way. We’ve found that these events aren’t just acquisition opportunities; they strengthen loyalty and deepen community. In a world where so much marketing is algorithm-driven, face-to-face interaction becomes a meaningful differentiator.

How do you balance brand guidelines with creative freedom when briefing influencers?

Our philosophy is clarity on principles, flexibility on execution. We provide a clear understanding of who we are, the product truths we can substantiate, the audience we’re speaking to, and any compliance requirements. But we don’t want every piece of content to look or sound the same.

The creator knows their audience better than we do. The goal isn’t to turn influencers into brand spokespeople reading a script, it’s to give them enough context to tell a truthful story in their own voice. The best-performing content usually feels like a recommendation from a trusted friend, not an advertisement.

On a practical level, we’ve found success when partners show their before-and-afters because the results speak for themselves, share how they discovered Barefaced because it naturally creates social proof, and recommend a few specific products rather than speaking broadly about the brand. Those details make the content feel more personal, credible, and actionable.

How do you measure success for your campaigns?

We look at both short-term performance and long-term brand health.

• Short-term signals

• Engagement quality

• Traffic

• Conversions

• Affiliate sales

• Customer acquisition

• Long-term signals

• Repeat purchase rate

• Community growth

• Brand sentiment

• Earned media

• Share of conversation

One thing I’m increasingly focused on is quality of engagement over raw reach. A smaller group of highly engaged customers who trust the brand is often more valuable than a large audience with low intent. In the current attention economy, depth matters.

We also pay attention to what I call “relationship momentum.” The right partnerships don’t just drive customer acquisition, they attract other creators, partners, and opportunities into the ecosystem. Some of our most valuable relationships have started because someone saw a trusted voice already aligned with the brand and wanted to be part of that story.

Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

Some of our favorite partnerships are actually the ones that started organically and through real-life experiences with the brand. I tend to value creators who educate, build trust with their audience, and integrate products naturally into their lives rather than treating every partnership as a standalone ad. Those relationships usually produce the most authentic storytelling and the strongest long-term results.

Who would you love to work with?

Barefaced was founded by a Nurse Practitioner, and that clinical expertise has always been one of our greatest differentiators. Recently, we’ve started partnering with more medical professionals and credentialed experts, and I’d love to continue expanding that. As consumers become more educated and discerning, expert voices carry tremendous value because they bring both credibility and context. I think the future of skincare marketing is a balance of aspiration and expertise, and the most trusted brands will deliver both.

Is there a Barefaced campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

I’m especially proud of campaigns where the community became part of the story. The strongest moments for us are often when customers share their own skin journeys, routines, and results. Those stories reinforce that Barefaced isn’t just selling products, it’s helping people feel more confident in their skin. For our “Less but Legendary” campaign we interviewed some of our top influencers and the outcome was true user-led storytelling that wasn’t manufactured. I mentioned earlier that we love to blur the line between “influencer” and “customer” because we believe our customers are influencers. We brought that to live through our holiday campaign last year when we flew some of our top customers out to New York to join us for the unveiling of our Times Square billboard and interviewed them about the skincare journey. The stories that came from that were so moving! It’s one of those moments you go, “okay, THIS is what it’s all about!” and not to mention, it’s incredibly valuable from a brand perspective because it’s real and people can feel that.

Any exciting partnerships or upcoming launches you are excited about?

We have some exciting things ahead, including new brand experiences and extensions that continue to support our mission of simplifying skincare. What I’m most excited about is that every launch is evaluated through the same filter: Does this genuinely make our customer’s skincare routine better? That discipline is a big part of how we protect trust as we grow.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Barefaced?

   1. Overachiever! We just enhanced it and the formulation is incredible. It’s a 10-in-1 serum that addresses the 10 visible signs of aging and after I use it consistently I see such a difference in the overall tone, texture, and GLOW in my skin.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. I tend to rotate between entrepreneurship, mindset, and content that speaks to the season of life I’m in as a full-time working mom. If you’re looking for a new podcast, I’d love to recommend IN IT, which I co-host with Barefaced founder Jordan Harper. We cover the topics women in their 30s and 40s are talking about most—from wellness and mindset to skincare, hormones, relationships, and more. We’d love to have you there:

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brands would you want to partner with?

   1. I'm drawn to brands that pull customers into a distinct world—ones that evoke emotion and make you want to be part of something bigger than the product itself. Brands like Merit, Ring Concierge, Dairy Boy, and Hotel Lobby do this incredibly well. It's so fun to watch brands adopt unexpected personas through their campaigns, creating experiences and stories that feel immersive rather than just promotional.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?

   1. It was actually from Jordan—ha! She keeps my supplement game strong. Most recently, I purchased the Ritual multivitamin based on her recommendation.

You can stay in touch with Ashley on Instagram & if you aren’t already, give Barefaced a follow! Barefaced’s Toning Pads are a favorite part of my routine and now I want to try the Overachiever.

Where are you based?

New York, NY

Let’s step back, how was Margaux founded and what inspired the brand?

Sarah and I founded Margaux in May of 2015, a year after we graduated from college. We met as freshmen at Harvard and became fast friends, and eventually roommates. We were headed for very different paths, I was going into growth equity and Sarah into consulting, but the idea for Margaux came when we both got back to school after our summer internships and had this collective aha that is still the north star of the brand today.

We had both noticed women doing this thing where they’d wear one pair of shoes to get themselves somewhere and then change into another pair once they arrived. It struck us as crazy and outdated. Women deserve shoes they can start and end their day in, shoes that can carry them through everything they’re doing comfortably, beautifully and without compromise. That was the beginning of Margaux, and it’s the thing that still guides us today, our unwavering belief that women deserve to feel as beautiful as they are comfortable.

Did influencer and community marketing always play a key role in Margaux’s strategy?

Community has always been so important to us as a brand, and it’s really at the core of what we do. It’s become a key part of strategy, but it’s also intrinsically tied to our DNA. Sarah, my cofounder, and I were friends first, and I really believe that has colored the way our team and company has grown. For me, community starts with our team, always. The culture of the company we’re building is so important, and when that culture is strong and authentic, I think a customer can feel it. From there it extends to who we decide to work with and bring around the brand, so community becomes not only an expression of who we are but our greatest source of inspiration. It’s interesting to think about how that has expanded to affect the way we approach community as a strategic brand pillar.

We’ve always had incredible women in our network who have organically affected the way we approach content. The clearest example is our Gaux Girl profile series. From the outset that was a way to feature different interesting women doing incredible things. It’s not about selling shoes or making something to use in performance marketing. It’s true storytelling, which I love.

More recently, we launched our own Substack, , and it’s been so much fun building out this new platform and editorial arm of the business. It’s let us think about all the ways we can share more of ourselves as a brand through the stories we decide to tell, and it’s become another expression of that same community instinct. Our editorial stories and relationships with women who love and wear the brand are complemented by a best-in-class approach to working with creators in the marketing space, and together it’s become an amazing flywheel.

How has Margaux and its approach to influencer marketing evolved since you launched?

The tools have changed enormously, but the approach has really stayed the same, because for us it starts and ends with authenticity. Creators have always been important to us, and what’s changed is really the scale at which we’re able to work with them.

When I think about the way we approach working with influencers today, finding talent, gifting them, tracking metrics, it would have been basically impossible when we were first launching. The tools at our disposal right now are so much more advanced and insightful than what they were, and that’s let us become much more proactive about who we bring around the brand.

But the thing that’s really changed is the scale, not the philosophy underneath it. What matters most to us is still building lasting, authentic relationships with the people we work with. We love the organic creators who find us on their own and wear, support, and share the brand, and some of those names have been in our orbit since basically the beginning. Mixing in new names that our team has identified and cultivated a relationship with has been really important for how we’ve grown, especially as we think about continuing to find fresh and interesting ways to show up in the world.

What does the team behind your influencer and creator strategy look like today?

It’s something that our brand and marketing teams hold hands very closely on. The marketing team focuses more on creators in the affiliate space, whereas brand owns the relationship with people who shoot content for us or share the brand offline and in ways that aren’t as easily measured by link clicks. Specifically, that means that our marketing side runs ShopMy and focuses on outreach, gifting, and performance-based programs. The brand team handles more organic influencer management, as well as working with celebrities and press. That latter has been especially interesting of late since Substack creators occupy a new category all their own.

We’re lucky to have some really skilled ex-editors on board who bring experience from both the print world and the commerce-focused digital side, and I see that naturally affecting the dual approach. That happened organically—these are women who have been with us for a while, so it wasn’t anything we ever consciously hired for—but it’s resulted in a really amazing amalgamation that serves us well when developing creator strategies.

How does influencer fit into the larger marketing mix at Margaux? Between affiliate, paid partnerships, and seeding, how do you think about the role each plays and how your team balances them?

Influencer really does straddle the marketing and the brand spheres for us. We’re a tight team with a lot of agility, and I’m always proud of how well we’re able to work in parallel paths on something as important as this. The leads from both sides communicate constantly and are thoughtful about whether outreach comes via a channel like ShopMy or a personal note; some creators work with us in both ways, and others more so in one channel.

Seeding is something that happens in multiple places and ways. We gift via ShopMy, our PR agency, and a celebrity-focused showroom, plus personal relationships. It’s not uncommon for someone on the team to also just send a text or email to someone they know about a new launch or a color that they think they’d love.

Community seems like a meaningful part of how Margaux shows up — the book club is a great example. How did that come about?

Community is essential to our strategy as a brand, and Footnotes is one of my favorite examples of our commitment to that. It began in 2020 out of our shared love of books. We partnered with Marie Claire on a book club for Kiley Reid’s debut novel, and the response was incredible. It was such a hit that we decided to make it our own series, Footnotes, which has convened every few months for the last six years. Each quarter we pick an author we’re excited about, share her book with our community, and invite people to join us in New York at the end for cocktails, delicious food, and a Q&A with the author. Our most recent one was with Belle Burden, whose best-selling book Strangers, has really struck a chord with women. For us, this event has nothing to do with shoes and everything to do with the idea that the brand is about so much more than the shoes we create. It’s about the women who inspire us to make them every day.

Outside of Footnotes, are events a priority?

Events are a real priority for us, but we always make sure they have a “why.” We don’t like the idea of doing an event just for the sake of doing one. There has to be real intention behind it. We like an event to feel clever, from the details to the guest list, and when it comes together that way it can say something about the brand that nothing else can. More than ever, convening in person feels so powerful and important as we continue to realize the brand in the world for our growing community. There’s a warmth and an energy you get from being in a room together that you simply can’t recreate any other way, and that’s exactly what we want people to feel when they meet us.

Margaux recently collaborated with Julia Berolzheimer () on a limited-edition collection. How did that partnership come about and what was the design process with an influencer partner?

We’ve been friends with Juila for years. She’s worn and loved the brand, and we’d worked together in the past, so when the idea of a collection came up it felt like a natural extension of a relationship that already existed.

The design process was wonderfully collaborative. Julia has such a clear, consistent point of view, and our job was to translate that into the Margaux world. We worked together on everything from silhouette to color to the smaller details that really make a capsule feel personal. Julia is incredible to work with. She’s so hard working, and she did such a wonderful job bringing the campaign to life. She’s a true creative partner in every sense, and the success of the collection reflects that.

When you’re thinking about design collaborations like that one, how do you approach selecting the right partner?

Every season is different, and that’s really the starting point for us. We want to tell stories that feel fresh, and we think a lot about having the right chemistry across a year of collaborations, because they should all feel different from one another. So much of it comes down to gut instinct, who we’re excited about, who feels right for the direction the collection is going in, who can push the envelope of the brand or help us tell a story that shows a new dimension of who Margaux is. The ideal collaborator is someone who brings a point of view we couldn’t have arrived at on our own, and who makes the work feel like a true creative partnership.

As a founder, how do you measure success when it comes to influencer marketing — what actually moves the needle for you?

There are so many ways to measure success, from scaling affiliate revenue, to site traffic, to social media acceleration, and we watch all of it closely. But for me, the most important measure is the expansion of the real relationships we’re building, and a continuously evolving expression of the brand because of them.

Who would you love to work with?

My dream three are coming in the next twelve months… so stay tuned :)

Is there a Margaux campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

It’s hard to pick, because I’m proud of all of them, and I love that each one has its own point of view. Every collaboration is a chance for us to expand our customer’s understanding of who we are, what we’re interested in, and what we’re excited about. I love the depth that it gives the brand. If I had to choose one from the last year, it would be our ten year anniversary campaign around the launch of our newest ballet flat, The Fonteyn. To celebrate the birthday, we brought back our original color wheel of flats in a new, more modern shape, and shot twelve women who have become part of the fabric of the brand over the last decade, each in her own color. It was unbelievably special, and the finished product had so much of the warmth and energy that defines the brand for me.

I loved the ten year anniversary campaign. Any exciting partnerships or upcoming launches you are excited about this year?

Yes, several! I think this next year might have our most exciting slate of collaborations to date. I can’t wait to share them with the world very soon… The first launches in September.

Can’t wait to see in September! Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Margaux?

   1. For summer, The Palermo Wrap Sandal in Espresso.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. Good Hang with Amy Poehler

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. Brands that have a beautiful product and a real point of view. Two that come to mind for me right now are Chan Luu and Kallmeyer.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?

   1. A Comme Si shirt, inspired by !

You can stay in touch with on Substack & if you aren’t already, give Margaux a follow and subscribe to ! Big fan of Margaux sandals for summer - especially the Palmero Sandal!

Where are you based?

NY :)

How long have you been working in the influencer industry?

I’ve been working in social media for 10 years and leading influencer in addition for the past two years. Those worlds used to feel pretty separate, but now they’re completely intertwined, so it made sense for my role to evolve that way too.

How long have you been at Graza and how has it evolved since starting?

About two years now! Since starting, the company has grown so much and at such a rapid speed, we’re now the 5th largest national olive oil brand in the US. The brand is also expanding into new categories, launching our own mayo, and (just this week) potato chips!. And while we’ve grown a lot, and our social and creator strategies continue to evolve with the business, what I’m most proud of is that we’ve stayed true to who we are. The brand has always been about being real, approachable and human, and that hasn’t changed. If anything, holding onto that as we scale is what I think about most.

You mentioned that Graza’s social and creator strategies have continued to evolve as the brand has scaled. Since you now oversee influencer from the social side as well, have you seen the industry itself change since you first started your career?

Entirely. When I started out, social and influencer were two separate worlds. We’d collaborate here and there, but they didn’t really inform each other in a meaningful way.

Now I think the best strategies are the ones where those two functions are deeply connected. What performs organically on social should inform how you approach your creator strategy, and what’s resonating in the influencer space should inform your brand’s content. It’s way more of a feedback loop.

There’s also been a big shift in how we even define “influencer”. It used to be very follower-driven, whereas now we care way more about resonance: does this person actually move their audience regardless of how “large” it is?

How is the influencer program structured at Graza, and how do you think about building a creator ecosystem that reflects the brand?

Seeding falls under my team, but we have a separate and incredibly talented paid team who I work closely with. We operate under a very organic-led strategy.

From day one, Graza’s core reason for being was “olive oil for anyone who cooks”. When it comes to influencers, we see them as an opportunity to be living, breathing proof of that concept. So it’s important that yes, we’re working with chefs, but also homecooks, and people who are relevant in the space but entirely outside of food. We also want to be speaking to a range of people within each of those buckets, hitting different communities, locations, backgrounds. We think the roster should feel like a reflection of who we actually believe and say Graza is for.

Has that community-driven approach also shaped how you think about events and IRL experiences? I’m thinking about moments like the US Open or Bernie’s takeover — how did those come together?

This past year was our first real foray into fully built-out influencer events and we saw a lot of success, so we’re excited to keep building there, not just for influencers but for our broader community too! That said, I actually think there’s a bit of a trap right now where brands feel like they need to constantly be throwing events just to keep up.

I tend to think (and have learned) that less is more. As we’ve grown it’s become even more important to us that everything feels intentional. We ask ourselves: what moments actually feel worth amplifying with an IRL experience? How can we show up differently than other brands are in event space? What value are we genuinely offering attendees? And, of course, what’s the goal? If we can’t answer those clearly, it’s probably not the right moment.

Comedians are a core vertical for your influencer partners, why do they work with for Graza?

From the beginning, Graza’s goal has been to make a very traditional and, at times, intimidating category feel approachable and fun! We take our products very seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and comedians naturally live in that same space.

They also just get social! They know how to create content people actually want to share, and they make everything feel more human. While it makes a lot of sense for us, I also love when brands that aren’t an obvious fit for it lean into comedy like this post from J.Crew.

What’s your philosophy on briefing creators in a way that keeps the brand aligned while still giving them creative freedom?

When it comes to briefing creators, I think the phrase “clarity is kindness” is just as relevant in influencer marketing as it is in life. We try to be incredibly clear upfront about what we’re looking to accomplish, in as succinct a way as possible (because no one is reading through a 15-slide brief unforch). From there, it’s important to us that creators have space to interpret it through their own lens. At the end of the day, they know what resonates best with their audience, and the best-performing content almost always feels natural to the person making it. As a brand, it can be so tempting to over-direct to the point where content stops feeling authentic and starts feeling like an “ad”. We care much more about alignment than control.

How do you measure success for your campaigns?

We of course track campaign performance in the traditional sense — engagement, impressions, etc. but the qualitative side matters just as much to us! Shares, saves, and a comment section are huge indicators of success because that’s where you really learn how people are responding. Are people actually talking about the product? Asking questions? Making jokes? Saying they want to try it? To me, something can absolutely “blow up” numbers-wise and still be a miss if the audience walks away remembering the content but not the brand. We’re ultimately looking for content that creates genuine affinity around the product, not just passive views.

Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

Too many to count, but most recently Giovanni Contrada. He started out as a fashion account for his blazer brand and then evolved into food, but the way he weaves both together is so fun and unexpected. His personality and style are so refreshing, and he really breaks the mold of what I feel like I’m constantly seeing on my feed which is such a feat in today’s creator economy.

Who would you love to work with?

He might be a little outside the traditional “influencer” world, but Kyle McLoughlin. Maybe partly because I just rewatched SATC, but mostly because his social media accounts are some of my favorites on the internet.

Is there a Graza campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

I really loved working with NY comedians Marty and Missy. We partnered with them to bring our limited-edition wine launch to life with some fun skits that leaned into the content style they’re known for, and then had them host a Friendsgiving dinner (in celebration of the launch) for influencers and VIPs at Bernie’s to round the whole partnership out. I always love when partnerships extend into real life.

Obsessed with Marty and Missy! Any exciting partnerships or upcoming launches you are excited about this summer?

We just relaunched our potato chips in four new flavors and they are genuinely my favorite things we’ve ever made. A summer beach day staple for sure.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Graza?

   1. Our new Caesar chips. I am a Caesar salad girl through and through so they are, of course, everything to me.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute? (can you link to the book, podcast or song/playlist?)

   1. Good Hang. Every single morning.

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. I’d have to say Merit. Both their creator and social strategy feels so delightfully intentional. I know their makeup philosophy is “less is more,” but I also think they’re an incredible example of that from a marketing perspective. Everything they do is so considered and slow and thoughtful which is SO refreshing.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?

   1. sold me on this Alex Mill skirt this very morning. Feels like a great summer in-office piece AND it’s on sale rn!!

You can stay in touch with Gabby on Instagram (she has the best style) & if you aren’t already, give Graza a follow! The only olive oil that sits on my kitchen counter!!

Where are you based?

Los Angeles, California

How long have you been working in the influencer/creator industry?

I started on the brand side of influencer marketing in 2016 before moving to the creator side in 2020. On the brand side, I worked at Parachute Home and FabFitFun.

When did you first decide to make the switch from brand side to creator side?

It’s a COVID story. I have an autoimmune disease, so I was being really careful and spending most of my time at home. At the time, I was working full-time at FabFitFun, where my role was to find new talent, negotiate deals, and bring creators on as brand partners. A big part of my job was studying who we should work with, what type of content performed well, and why.

I’ve always loved shopping and fashion, and through my role, I felt like I had a guidebook to the influencer industry—understanding the different types of creators, the content they were making, and what actually drove results. At a certain point, I started to feel like I was on the wrong side of the business and that I would enjoy being on the creator side much more.

During COVID, I was already sending my friends constant shopping recommendations. We were all at home and suddenly needed completely different wardrobes. Before COVID, matching sets weren’t really a thing, but they quickly became a staple. I was linking a lot of Aerie—they had the softest sweat sets, fun tie-dye prints, and they weren’t overly expensive. You still wanted to feel somewhat put together, even if you were just at home.

Because of my job, I already understood affiliate marketing, so I thought, why not apply to LTK and see what happens? Even if I was just making a few dollars a day to cover my coffee, that felt exciting. As I started sharing links with friends and getting really positive feedback, I thought—what if I just posted this on my social channels? I didn’t overthink it. I started posting on Instagram Stories, even though I didn’t have swipe-up access at the time. Everything lived in my link in bio through LTK, and I was mostly posting screenshots from websites rather than featuring myself.

I really started as a shopping account, which in hindsight I’m so glad I did. It took the pressure off always needing to be in the content. Now, years later, people know they come to my page to shop and discover products. I’d say I’ve evolved into a lifestyle creator, but with a strong focus on shopping and building a community of shoppers. At the beginning, I was still working my full-time job and creating content before and after work. It definitely didn’t start as an immediate full-time switch.

And what was the moment it shifted into being full-time?

It’s actually a really fun story. I started posting in August 2020, and about seven months later, I was able to go full-time—it happened really quickly. For those first 6–7 months, I was incredibly consistent, posting before work, after work, and on weekends. I was really enjoying it, and my content started to evolve to include more of me. My following was still relatively small—around 4K–5K—but it had started to extend beyond my immediate circle. It wasn’t just people I knew anymore, it was friends of friends, which felt like a shift.

Then one day, Things I Bought and Liked posted a screenshot of my account saying she had been getting all of her shopping recommendations from me and tagged me. I didn’t even realize she was following me at the time. I remember thinking something was wrong with my phone because I suddenly started getting so many notifications. I told Ben, “Something is happening—I think my phone is broken.” Overnight, I gained about 5K followers, which pushed me past 10K and unlocked swipe-up on Stories, which was a huge deal at the time. That moment really changed everything. From there, it took off.

I always say I have to give credit where credit is due—that moment with was a major turning point.

When did brands start reaching out to you?

The first brand I ever worked with was GAP. From the beginning, I always approached this with a long-term mindset, so I wasn’t jumping at every opportunity that came my way. I really enjoyed affiliate marketing and the feeling of working for myself, so I only wanted to partner with brands that felt completely authentic. At the time, my favorite pair of jeans was from GAP, and I was already talking about them organically. When they reached out, I asked if I could include that specific pair because I knew it would perform well. They were totally open to it, and we ended up doing a denim partnership that performed really well. My mom actually took the photos—which she still does—so not much has changed. I shot everything on the balcony of my apartment.

You’ve been intentional with partnerships from the start. How has the industry evolved over the past six years?

The industry has definitely evolved, especially with the shift to Instagram Stories. Before that, everything was blogs and in-feed posts, but Stories completely transformed the space because of how quickly you can share content.

The biggest shift, though, has been video. When I started, everything was very static, and now with TikTok and Reels, video is such a core part of the industry. For me, that was a turning point. I realized video was such a powerful way to showcase my personality. I used to create long, unedited GRWM-style makeup tutorials. Sometimes I would go live, and other times I would post five-minute videos of me getting ready and chatting.

That was a big realization for me. My voice had a lot of power. I’m naturally very passionate and excitable, and that really translates on video, especially when I’m talking about products I genuinely love.

I’ve always been very affiliate-driven, but I’ve seen the broader industry shift in that direction as well. Brands are starting to understand the value of giving creators a piece of the pie. It motivates them to organically promote products they already love. It is a natural extension of what we are doing, and now everyone has really caught onto the power of it.

More recently, the rise of micro-creators has been a big shift. It feels like anyone can give it a shot now, and I really believe there is room for everyone. There is enough to go around, and I genuinely love what I do.

When people ask me for advice on getting started, I always say just start. Do not overthink it or compare yourself to others. Do what feels natural to you. There are new people popping up all the time.

I remember reaching out to Katie Sands early on when I was just dabbling and asking for advice on how to grow. She said something that really stuck with me. If you wanted to be a doctor or a teacher, no one would tell you not to do it. The same should apply here. If you feel like you would be great at it, you should go for it. There is always room for someone new.

It does feel like you’ve built a real community with other creators, whether that’s traveling together or group texts. It almost feels like having coworkers in a way.

Yes, we really support one another because it can be such an isolating career. At the end of the day, it’s just me. When challenges come up, and the industry is constantly shifting, it’s so helpful to be able to bounce ideas off others or even just confirm that they’re experiencing the same things.

At the same time, it’s naturally a pretty private industry. We are all running our own businesses, so in some ways, you could view everyone as competition. That can make people more guarded when it comes to sharing resources or connections. Because of that, when you do find a group of people you can be open and trusting with, you really hold onto it. That kind of support system is invaluable.

Having worked on the brand side of influencer marketing, what’s an industry insight or “behind-the-screen” reality that you think creators should know?

You really have to look at what you do as a business. Coming from the brand side, I saw how many different teams are involved in building and selling a product, from customer service to paid media to influencer marketing to product development. Then you become a creator and realize you are responsible for all of those functions yourself. Every part of the business matters.

Before influencer marketing, I actually started my career in customer service at The Honest Company, so I understand how important that piece is. I think of my DMs as customer service, and I would never leave them unanswered. That’s just as important as the content I’m putting out publicly. I’ve always approached my work with that full-picture mindset. You have to invest time and energy into every part of the business if you want to build something well-rounded and long-lasting.

Being on the brand side myself, that’s always my number one piece of advice for creators as well, thinking of yourself as a business. I love the way you break it down by the different teams.

Right, and a big part of that is just showing up with consistency, which is something you learn in a corporate job. I feel so lucky to do what I’m doing, but at the end of the day, it is my job. I have to show up every day, even on the days I don’t feel like it. That mindset comes from how I’ve approached every role I’ve had. You show up, you do the work, and you stay consistent. That’s what makes the difference.

How would you describe your marketing strategy?

I think it’s a delicate balance. I always want to make sure I’m showing up authentically and continuing to create content that isn’t just a paid partnership, because that’s how I got my start and what my community values most. Even though I’m very selective about the brands I work with and genuinely believe in the products I promote, I’m always thinking about my roots. It started with makeup tutorials, styling outfits, and just chatting.

Affiliate is really my bread and butter. If I were to break it down, about 70% of my focus is on affiliate and 30% is on paid partnerships. Affiliate feels the most true to who I am. I don’t like to overly plan my content. I like to wake up, get dressed, see what I’m loving, explore new arrivals, and bring my audience along with me in real time. When my content feels too planned, it doesn’t feel like me. I always say I’m more of an influencer than a traditional content creator. I’m not operating off a strict content calendar. I want it to feel like you’re coming along for my day. If I’m feeling anxious, I’ll share that too, which is why my community feels so connected. Affiliate marketing allows me to do that naturally. I can weave products into my day and into my story in a way that feels organic.

On the paid side, I try to be really intentional and cap how much I take on so it never feels overwhelming. I usually won’t do more than five partnerships a month, and I have pretty clear parameters before I say yes. First, the product has to feel completely aligned and naturally fit into my life. Second, the content needs to feel authentic. If there are too many restrictions on messaging or how I can show up, it’s not a fit. And third, the partnership itself has to make sense from a compensation standpoint. It all comes back to balance and making sure everything I share still feels like me.

Which leads into my next question, what is your favorite way to be briefed by a brand?

Simplicity is key. I understand from the brand side that there are specific deliverables and goals, but briefs should be creator-dependent. Creators are not one size fits all, and the best partnerships happen when brands play to a creator’s strengths. I’m always open to being pushed in a certain direction, but I really appreciate when a brand has done their homework and is guiding me toward what I do best, not trying to fit me into someone else’s approach.

I especially love when brands reference my own past content. When they pull specific videos I’ve created, it shows they understand how I naturally show up. It’s much more helpful than being sent someone else’s content as a reference, because that’s not who I am or what I do well. And overall, keeping it simple goes a long way.

How do you measure success for your campaigns?

I always want to deliver a strong ROI. Coming from the brand side, that was how we measured success at FabFitFun, so I’ve carried that mindset into how I approach partnerships now. For me, success means a brand genuinely enjoys working with me because I’m driving results and ultimately helping them make money. That’s always the goal. At the end of the day, I want to be a long-term partner for brands, not just a one-off collaboration, and delivering strong performance is what builds that trust!

We had the chance to work together on your latest collection with Shopbop’s private label, LE BOP. Can you share more about that partnership?

Shopbop was truly my dream partner, so it’s hard to top that. Some of my earliest shopping memories are actually on Shopbop. My mom was always shopping there, and I remember sitting with her in high school picking out pieces together. Now it’s where I do the bulk of my shopping, so this felt very full circle. I was already wearing and loving LE BOP, so the partnership felt like a very natural fit. It really came together at the right time with the right partner. What made the experience so unique was how seamless everything felt. From the start, there was a level of trust that allowed me to really bring my vision to life. I was able to design from scratch, choose fabrics, select colors, and have ownership over the details that mattered most to me. The entire process felt almost too good to be true. There was never a catch, it just came together in a way that felt very aligned. And I’m so proud of how it turned out. I truly think people are going to love it.

Are these the types of partnerships you hope to continue in your career?

At my core, I’m more type B, but when it comes to work, I’m definitely type A and can be a bit of a perfectionist. Especially with something like this, where I’m asking my audience to trust me and spend their money, I want everything to feel perfect. Because of that, there’s a real level of involvement required to get a partnership to a place where I feel 100% confident in it. I’m very intentional about what I take on, because there’s only so much I can realistically balance.

I’m absolutely open to doing partnerships like this again, but it has to be the right fit. I give a lot of myself to these types of projects, and it does take time and energy away from other parts of my life. I’m a new mom, a wife, a sister, a daughter, and a friend, and all of those roles are incredibly important to me. There are only so many hours in the day, so I’m very thoughtful about where I invest my time.

What are some of your favorite campaigns that you have worked on?

I really love working with brands I genuinely love on an ongoing basis. Long-term partnerships are the most fun for me. Sézane is a great example. We’re currently working together on a longer-term partnership, which allows me to really integrate the brand into my content in a natural way. Tuckernuck is another one. We’ve mapped out a partnership for the year, and it doesn’t necessarily mean a post every month. It’s more about planning what makes sense over time and how the brand shows up organically. And Loeffler Randall has been so fun to work with as well. At the end of the day, my favorite partnerships are the ones that feel easy!

Dream brands to work with?

I would love to design something with Dôen. I’ve been wearing the brand forever and genuinely love it. I’ve worked with them in a gifting capacity, but they’ve never designed with an influencer before, so I would love to be the first. Let’s put that on the vision board!

Any partnerships you are excited about for 2026?

I’m really focused on getting back to my roots. That means prioritizing organic content and leaning into affiliate, which is such a core part of my business and allows me to create content that genuinely feels good to me. I’m also really excited to attend New York Fashion Week in September for the first time, which feels like a big moment. More than anything, I prioritize fun, both in my work and in my life! So as I think about the rest of the year, I just want to make sure that whatever I take on feels exciting and enjoyable.

What are your long-term career goals for Mally K. Goldman?

I’ve never had a manager, and that’s been very intentional. I want to maintain control over how much I take on, from partnerships to events, without feeling pressure to constantly do more. It’s important to me that everything I say yes to feels balanced, genuine, and aligned. I trust myself to make decisions that are in my best interest, but I’m also very aware of the need to protect that balance. Right now, I feel really happy with where my career and business are. If I could sustain what I’ve built over the next decade, I would be thrilled.

For me, success is staying true to myself and being consistent. I want to continue evolving, but in a way that feels natural and not forced. I’m very focused on playing the long game. I want to be doing this in 10 to 15 years and still feel like someone people trust and come to for recommendations. I always say I want to be your favorite friend to shop with. I never viewed this as a quick opportunity or a cash grab. I believe the industry will continue to evolve, but it’s not going anywhere. That’s why building something sustainable and avoiding burnout is so important to me.

Quick Hits:

1. Favorite products that your audience loves?

   1. The Gap Easy Wide-Leg Pants are so good. They feel very reminiscent of La Ligne’s Colby Pant or The Row’s Gala Pant, but under $100 and perfect for a night out. Also denim. The Citizens of Humanity Winslow every time. A great white tee, the one from my Le Bop collection (the white is almost sold out but the green is just as good). The Sienna Chain from EF Collection that I wear every day. And the Alex Mill Tote. The best.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. I’ve been really laughing at The Toast lately. Podcasts are such a good distraction for me when I’m feeling anxious. I’m not sure if I’m at Toaster status, but I actually went to camp with them, and they crack me up! I’m reading Conform right now - fantasyish. And music, I love the girls of country like Hailey Whitters and Megan Moroney!

3. You already are on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, so if you had to switch back to the marketing side, which brand would you want to work for?

   1. Don’t make me go back! I wouldn’t limit myself to one brand but would want to consult for a handful of brands.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?

   1. I just bought ‘s La Maregold Nicole Pant, and I’m obsessed. My mom is actually my influencer, she influenced me to get them. I definitely get my passion and excitement from her, so when she tells me I need something, I listen. I got the orange pair from the Follow Suit collaboration, but honestly all of the Nicole pants are so good. I would recommend sizing down in them.

Subscribe to + follow her on Instagram for all your shopping needs!

Where are you based?

Los Angeles, California

How long have you been working in the creator industry?

Over 5 years now! It’s something I do on the side because I love taking and creating content and also connecting with people online.

In your creator journey, when did you start Heaven Mayhem, and how did the idea come about?

I had been posting on social media for years and built a small following of around 20K. During lockdown in 2020, I started taking content creation more seriously, and after moving to Los Angeles in 2022, my audience began to grow quickly across Instagram and TikTok.

I started Heaven Mayhem out of a genuine obsession with building a brand—I saw so much opportunity to do things differently. What began as a fun side project quickly became something that really inspired me.

Has the influencer changed since you first started your career?

I was never a full-time influencer or content creator, so I can’t speak to every shift in the industry, but I’ve definitely noticed a change. When I first started, I was genuinely excited and honored to receive any kind of gifting. Now, that feels like the baseline. The industry has grown so quickly and become quite saturated, which makes it even more interesting to see which creators really cut through and why their content resonates. Early on, I said yes to almost every opportunity, whether it was gifting or paid. Now, I am much more intentional. Everything has to align with Heaven Mayhem and my personal brand. It needs to feel authentic and ideally be a product or brand I already know and love.

Does being a creator yourself influence the creator strategy for your brand?

Absolutely. We approach our gifting program very intentionally. We are not sending out high volumes of mailers or excessive product. We want every package to feel special and for creators to be genuinely excited to receive it. Those kinds of thoughtful relationships are what make me value brands as a creator, and that is exactly what we are trying to build with Heaven Mayhem. Beyond that, being a creator gives me real-time insight. Whether it is conversations at events or feedback from other creators, I am constantly learning what resonates and what does not. I use that to shape our strategy, from outreach to briefing. I really value being on both sides. It has given me a much deeper understanding of what makes these partnerships actually work.

How would you describe Heaven Mayhem’s influencer ecosystem and how it fits into your broader marketing strategy?

Influencer is a huge part of our marketing initiatives. The most important piece, and my personal number one priority, is always the content rollout, from teasers to engaging the community through the full campaign launch. From there, influencer activations come next, followed by paid ads and any OOH concepts.

Within influencer, we segment our approach based on a few key buckets. We think about UGC creators whose content we can repost or use across ads and our website, key sales drivers, and tastemakers we want to align the brand with. For every launch, we build a seeding strategy that ensures we are thoughtfully reaching all three.

For sales drivers, we use ShopMy exclusively. It is a tool for both gifting and running “Opportunities,” where we pay influencers in exchange for content with trackable links. These are very sales-driven initiatives where we can directly measure ROI at the individual creator level, and from there decide whether to continue or discontinue working with them. Our paid influencer budget is a relatively small portion of our overall marketing spend, so we are very intentional and primarily execute paid through ShopMy.

On the seeding side, we are constantly testing. For our recent ring launch, we created a PR mailer and seeded around 150 influencers in a more elevated, design-forward box. It came with a significant cost and was also a big lift for our team as everything was hand packed and shipped from our office. While we cannot directly measure ROI from something like this, my perspective is that it did not necessarily move the needle more than a typical gifting package would, but it likely enhanced brand perception.

Being on the influencer side, receiving mailers is always fun, especially when the packaging feels thoughtful and high quality. It definitely makes me think more highly of a brand. But at the end of the day, I probably only post around 5% of the mailers I receive, so it is something we are continuing to evaluate as a team. We are still learning with every launch and refining our approach.

Love how you strategically segment your influencer approach across channels. Are events a priority for the brand as well?

100%. We invest heavily in community events and are typically activating IRL on a monthly basis. It is a huge priority for us to make our community feel like influencers. Having real-life conversations, understanding their perspective, and learning what they want to see from us is incredibly valuable. It also allows us to build genuine excitement around new launches. That direct connection with our community is an integral part of our business.

I know you previously mentioned how your team reports on ShopMy, but are there any other ways you measure for success?

Qualitative feedback is a big part of how we measure success. We look closely at social comments, DMs, and IRL interactions with our community. We also gut check ourselves and ask, do we love it, and would we have changed anything? Depending on the activation, we also look at quantitative metrics. For sales-driven initiatives, we track ROI through ShopMy. We also use Triple Whale to understand what percentage of sales is coming from organic traffic. If we go hard on a campaign rollout, we typically see that number increase. Overall, it is not an exact science when it comes to measuring success.

You just launched into a new category, rings. Can you walk us through the marketing plan and how it came to life?

Yes, I actually just wrote a Substack outlining all of the details!

Pia’s Substack

Our Debut Ring Launch

I’m back in LA after two weeks of traveling around Europe for Fashion Week. Now that I’m finally catching up on everything, I realised I never actually shared a recap of our ring launch…

Read more

5 months ago · 23 likes · 2 comments · A Slice of Heaven

Love that you are sharing a behind the scenes of Heaven Mayhem in your personal content. Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

Honestly everyone - I love when we worked with Pirrie Wright to style our frame collection campaign. We worked on virtual styling and we love tapping tastemakers or ‘influencers’ to do more than just post for us but be a part of the brand.

Who would you love to work with?

Elsa Hosk and collaborate on Helsa!

Is there a Heaven Mayhem campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

Our frame collection with Pirrie! The whole roll out of the campaign was amazing.

Any exciting partnerships or upcoming launches you are excited about this year?

We’re in the midst of planning our summer shoot at the moment and looking to tap another tastemaker to style for the props and clothing so we’re really excited about that!

Can’t wait to see the campaign rollout! Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Heaven Mayhem?

   1. Sloane Sunglasses - wear them every day

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. I listen to HSR with Maggie Sellers all the time!

3. You already are on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, do you have any dream brands you would want to partner with?

   1. YSL!!! My absolute dream.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?

   1. I bought the Fara Homidi blue eyeshadow palette because I saw Georgia Fowler using it!

You can stay in touch with Pia Mance on Substack ( ) & if you aren’t already, give Heaven Mayhem a follow! I highly recommend the laptop case, knot earrings and new rings!

Where are you based?

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York

How long have you been working in the influencer industry?

10 years.

Has the industry changed since you first started your career?

100%!! When I first started working with influencers, it was still a new term and a lot of brands weren’t fully bought in. Not to date myself, but this would have been 2016/2017?! My focus was celebrity dressing/product placement, specifically red carpet because I had a lot of fine jewelry clients. As I began working with a few contemporary fashion brands that weren’t seeing results through red carpet or traditional street style, I started experimenting with influencer gifting instead, and it proved to be far more impactful. I pretty quickly pivoted away from celebrity and focused entirely on influencer because it was exciting to actually see the ROI on my work (and to think where we are now with affiliate!), which was so hard to track for celebrity placement because it’s really the most “top of funnel” you can get.

So things have changed A LOT from the early days, and yet I still feel it’s very much the wild wild west when it comes to rates, engagement, and defining value. It feels like we’re seeing this shift—or rather, an expansion of the creator economy where almost anyone can be considered an influencer. I actually think that’s exciting, especially for a community like ours that has always had a broader view of who an “influencer” can be. wrote a great Substack, The Year of Normie, that really captures this moment.

I love that newsletter from Emily and have referenced it to so many times this year. How long have you been at Argent now?

It’ll be three years in March! When I first joined Argent, influencer marketing wasn’t a core part of the strategy, so over the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to really build that program from the ground up. I was lucky to inherit an incredible community that the team had already been thoughtfully cultivating, and I’ve been able to grow it year over year—bringing new people into the fold through events, campaigns, content, and editorial opportunities, and intentional seeding.

We’re still very much in a grassroots phase because so much of what we do is organic, but that’s also what’s made the community feel so genuine and special. It spans industries, backgrounds, and professions well beyond fashion, which I think is something truly unique to Argent and a big part of what makes the brand resonate.

Congrats on (almost) three years! Having built the program from the ground up, how would you describe the influencer ecosystem at Argent today?

Community really sits at the center of everything we do. As I mentioned, we’re always working to bring new women into our orbit while continuing to deepen the relationships we’ve already built. Thoughtful seeding is still the foundation of our program—my goal is that when someone is getting dressed for a panel, TV appearance, conference, or any meaningful moment, they instinctively reach for an Argent suit. And to achieve that, you’re really playing the long game at times, which we’re cool with!

This past year, we also introduced ShopMy, which has been a great addition to the program. It allows those featuring the brand to earn commission while giving us clearer visibility into who’s driving impact—whether that’s conversation on social, links that convert to sales, or entirely new creators we may not have discovered otherwise.

Argent has such a unique community spanning traditional creators, founders, politicians, athletes, and beyond. How do you define influencer at Argent?

Our “influencer” is the working woman, and that work spans industries, professions, and following size. We recognize and embrace that influence isn’t defined solely by following size, and I love that our community reflects such a diverse network of women. And really, the best part is bringing all these women together and making new connections.

Obsessed with your new Water Cooler Chats on Instagram. How did that idea come about?

Ah, thank you!! It’s been a really fun concept to bring to life. TBH, just carrying the cooler around the city could be its own content series! We are always looking for creative ways to elevate the women in our community and, of course, love to lean into the “work” of it all. So meeting women at a once-sacred place for catching up during the day felt like a no-brainer for good content! While we’re chatting about pop culture, it also gives each guest a chance to share what they’re working on.

What’s your philosophy on briefing creators so the brand guidelines are clear but the content still feels authentic to the creator?

We’re not running paid campaigns at Argent, but when we have partnered in that way, I’ve always preferred to give collaborators creative control. We’re working with them for a reason, and there’s nothing worse than a brand over-directing to the point that the content feels inauthentic. If you have something that specific in mind, the brand should probably just produce it themselves.

When I was agency-side, I spent SO much time stuck in the back-and-forth between clients and talent management… a little PTSD, lol.

A lot of middle-man work in influencer, I completely get it. You’ve built such a strong community online, but you also bring people together beautifully in real life. How do those gatherings factor into your influencer and community strategy?

We really do love an event—especially if Q4 of last year was any indication! Lol. That said, I never want to host something just for the sake of it, there’s always intention behind the gathering. Events are such an important part of community building because nothing replaces the connections made IRL. The hope is that when you attend an Argent event, you meet someone new, and that connection sparks even more good from there. We truly believe in an “all boats rise” mentality and that meaningful things happen when you bring intelligent, hardworking women together.

Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

So many, I feel like it’s hard to name names?!

Who would you love to work with?

I’d love to see Jennifer Lawrence in Argent (Does that count?! Lol I know she’s a celeb…but she influences me!)

She 100% counts! Is there an Argent campaign that you’re particularly proud of?

Our #VotingSuitsYou campaign, in partnership with When We All Vote, surrounding the 2024 presidential election, was really a highlight! The initiative aimed to empower women and first-time voters to use their voices at the ballot box, and we activated a coalition of more than 300 celebrities, athletes, influencers, and grassroots leaders to do just that. Some highlights include Alicia Keys, America Ferrera, Megan Rapinoe, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Bill Nye. The scale, energy, and sense of shared purpose behind the campaign made it an especially meaningful effort to be part of!

I’m also a big fan of ’s newsletter showing you all the ways to wear a tuxedo blazer ft. many ideas for ours :)

Any exciting partnerships or upcoming launches you are excited about this year? We’re celebrating 10 years! So there will be a lot of fun things happening in the fall, more to come there :-)

Ahh exciting! Can’t wait to follow along! Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Argent?

   1. Ah, I really have so many that I wear on repeat! Heroes include the Copain Blazer and Straight Leg Trouser.

2. Book, podcast, or music on your morning commute?

   1. I am obsessed with Good Hang with Amy Poehler and Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang—highly recommend the Jennifer Lawrence episode as a gateway!

3. Being on the other side of the business with your incredible Substack, , what dream brands would you love to partner with?

   1. First, that is so so kind! I am obsessed with all the Scandi brands, and my dream would be to attend Copenhagen Fashion Week, really in any capacity. Lol

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based on an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?

   1. An UNDO Hairware clip, influenced by ! I have been buying these for over a year now, but I just got a new large clip (No.4 in Olive), and they are really just the best.

You can stay in touch with on Substack (one of my favorite reads) & if you aren’t already, give Argent a follow! Their belted blazer from the Citizens of Humanity collaboration is one of my favorites!

Where are you based?

Charleston, SC and can confirm beach living never gets old. I just bought my first home with my husband and our two doggos, so I’m officially in my Pinterest board home project era.

How long have you been working in the influencer industry?

I’ve been in digital marketing for about six years. Now at HART, I’m working across content, influencers, and partnerships. One minute I’m building a mood board for a shoot, the next I’m on a call with a creator I’ve followed forever, then planning an influencer event, designing an email, and pivoting straight into brainstorming a product collab with a dream brand.

It’s very “one second this, one second that,” which is exactly why I love it. I’m a Type B, gets-bored-easily gal, so having no two days look the same is kind of my dream setup.

How long have you been at HART, and how has your role evolved since you started?

I’ve been at HART for about two and a half years, and oh boy, it’s been a fun and wild ride. When I started, our marketing team was literally just me, working out of a cutie house in downtown Charleston alongside our founder and CEO. We had one store, a team of around ten, and I was mainly focused on social.

Fast forward to now: five stores and counting, Nantucket coming this summer!! A 65+ person team (I just checked the headcount and had to do a double take), and a role that’s evolved just as quickly as the brand. It moves fast here, and every year I walk away with a whole new skill set and a little more confidence in how I show up and make decisions. It really forces you to grow, professionally and personally.

That’s incredible growth! What does the brand team look like?

We’re a team of five. I oversee brand and work closely with our Social Media Manager (aka the content queen behind HART), our Digital Marketing Manager, who handles web, email, and performance, a Marketing Manager focused on retail and community, and our newest addition, a Director of Sales & Marketing, who helps keep everything running smoothly as we scale.

We still wear a lot of hats, but everyone is really settling into their lane and becoming an expert in their space, which has been very fun to watch.

As HART has grown, the influencer industry has evolved alongside it. What changes have you noticed since the start of your career?

So much!!! And honestly… does it ever stop? Influencer marketing feels more commercial than ever, but audiences are very good at spotting sponsored content now. I think we’re moving away from perfectly on-brand ads and toward whatever feels most natural to each creator and their audience.

What’s working best for e-comm brands right now is creating the feeling that everyone is genuinely talking about and wearing your brand, not being told to. That shift has pushed us toward working with true brand fans, building longer-term relationships, and investing in creators whose audiences already trust how they show up. Product collaborations are also having a moment. When done well, they give influencers something truly unique to offer their audience and a way to show off their personal style in a more custom, meaningful way.

Given those shifts toward authenticity and long-term relationships, how do paid, affiliate, and seeding efforts work together within your influencer ecosystem?

Paid, affiliate, and seeding all ladder up to overall business goals and constantly inform one another. Seeding helps us identify who’s naturally resonating and converting. ShopMy is a huge priority for us, since it takes a lot of manual tracking off my plate and gives us clear performance data. That data then informs who we deepen relationships with on affiliate, and affiliate performance helps guide who we invest in for larger paid campaigns. Each layer feeds the next.

There’s often a tension between brand guidelines and creative freedom. For paid campaigns, how do you approach briefing influencers to strike that balance?

It’s funny you ask, because we literally had a meeting about this today. A lot of brands are navigating the same tension right now. Do you give talking points? Skip them entirely to keep things feeling natural? It’s especially tricky for a product like ours, where context matters, since so much of it is custom.

Right now, we’re prioritizing creators who genuinely fit the brand and leaning into longer-term partnerships over one-off sponsored posts. We trust influencers to show up in the way their audience is already used to. Some creators hop on Stories and talk to camera, while others screenshot a PDP and drop a link. We want whatever feels natural to them and actually converts with their audience.

How do you measure success for your campaigns?

It always depends on the goal. Sometimes we’re working with an influencer purely for conversion, and other times it’s about the brand halo effect they create. We’ve worked with creators whose names are still referenced by other brands and influencers long after a campaign ends, and that lasting association is a huge win to me. Sometimes that long-term visibility is worth more than a quick spike in sales.

We also think about success in terms of geography, especially when we’re building awareness in markets we want to grow in, which is a big focus for us heading into 2026. Conversion and impressions are the easy metrics. The brand-halo effect is the harder one to justify in terms of dollars, but it’s also where the real long-term payoff lives.

Your storefronts seem to play a big role in building local community, from Charleston to now NYC. Are in-person activations a priority for you?

Very much so. Our product is inherently made to be experienced in person, especially given how custom and tactile it is, which means we work really hard to translate that magic online.

We like our events to feel unexpected and rooted in our “memento mori and martinis” ethos, aka doing the spiritual work while still having fun and not taking ourselves too seriously. That shows up across both community and influencer events. We host vision board workshops where guests reflect on what they’re calling in, then design a necklace that represents it. We’ll take over the coffee shop next door with a DJ at 9am, host an oyster roast in our parking lot, or swap the typical seated influencer dinner for tarot cards and ‘tinis. It’s all about creating experiences that feel playful, creative, and that people actually want in on.

Need to make it to Charleston for the next Oyster Roast!! Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

Grow and are longtime favorites. They both have that “coolest girl in the room without trying too hard” energy, and their personal style feels very natural and lived-in. They’re also firmly in the category of closets I would love to steal from. Watching their personalities come through in the collections they curated, and how they used jewelry as a form of self-expression, is exactly why we do what we do.

And who would you like to work with?

• : Ultimate individualistic style and a strong point of view

• The Halfdays founders: I love their use of color, photography, and dreamy winter settings

• Sporty & Rich: Vintage sporty nostalgia will always have my heart

• Gigi Hadid: Although we haven’t officially worked with Gigi Hadid (yet), her surprise stop by our flagship store to design a necklace felt like a dream, and working with her is now at the top of my list.

Is there a HART campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

From a brand standpoint, our RMS campaign was a big one. It marked a major partnership moment for us, paired with strong digital performance and some standout IRL experiences, including a café takeover with a 9am DJ.

Personally, my favorite was our toolbox campaign, which leaned into the idea of jewelry as a tool for self-expression alongside the launch of our jewelry “toolkit” bundles. The concept felt very on brand, and the imagery gave us so much room to play creatively.

Our first big influencer collaboration with Lilly Sisto in 2023 really stands out. I had just started at HART and flew up to NYC for the shoot and event, and it opened the brand up to so many amazing connections. Plus, there were martini towers, burgers, and fries, so it’s hard to beat.

Love the continued martini theme! You mentioned a storefront opening in Nantucket this summer. Are there any other exciting partnerships or upcoming launches you’re looking forward to?

This year’s launches are honestly too good. We have a photoshoot coming up this Thursday that might be a new personal favorite. I can’t share too much just yet, so I’ll leave y’all with the mood board. We’re also exploring some really fun partnerships - some event-based and some full product moments.

Can’t wait to see more! Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from HART?

   1. My custom charm necklace I wear daily or the bezel earrings that rival most simulated diamonds on the market.

      

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. Long time fan of The Skinny Confidential (listening to their interview with Deepak Chopra as I write this)

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. Freda Salvador, J.Crew, Halfdays, Yellow the Label, Violette_FR.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?

   1. Courtney Grow always gets me. Most recently: the Biodance face mask she linked in her broadcast channel was the culprit.

If you aren’t already, give HART a follow on Instagram! I made my first custom charm necklace this past fall and wear it almost daily! Obsessed with my flying piggy + bezel drop charms.

Where are you based?

New York City’s Greenwich Village with my fiance and toy poodle, Martini :)

How long have you been working in the influencer industry?

Since starting at Hill House, which was about six years ago.

Has Hill House evolved since starting?

Hill House has been my one and only job. I joined in 2019 as employee number four, back when we were fully a bedding company and the Nap Dress® was merely a glimmer in our Founder + CEO Nell Diamond’s eye – more a concept than the category it is today.

While I was still a senior at the University of Florida, I slid into the brand’s DMs, essentially begging to be involved in any capacity. Intern, shop girl, pillow fluffer, however they would have me. I was so in love with the brand’s story-telling/aesthetic and could so clearly see how the world might expand. I still have a note on my phone with collaboration ideas and product expansions I dreamt up before my first interview, equal parts earnest and embarrassing.

To my luck, someone actually answered that DM (it was Sara, employee #2 and current HHH Design Director!) and let me know they were hiring a full-time Customer Experience manager. Spoiler alert: I got the job.

A few weeks in, Nell noticed I was something of an enthusiastic Instagrammer and asked if I’d want to help with the brand’s account. For almost six years, it was just the two of us posting.

Fast forward to 2025: Hill House is a fully fledged fashion brand (we still make bedding, and it’s still fabulous), and I sit in a full Brand Marketing role. It’s been the most surreal, joyful, learn-on-your-feet evolution. I want to say it was a path I couldn’t have planned, but I’m a delusional manifester, so yes – you can plan it.

I’m so glad you sent that DM six years ago — what a full-circle moment. As employee number four, you’ve had such a unique front-row seat to the brand’s evolution. What does the brand marketing team look like today?

Beautifully perfect in every way. I’m a proud manager of two. Courtney, our Brand Marketing Coordinator, supports me across influencer campaigns, creative production, and PR. Celina, our most recent hire, is a full-time content creator — essentially an in-house influencer with a focus on TikTok. You might have seen us pop up on the Hill House TikTok, shameless plug here.

@hillhouseour team’s party dress picks 🎀 personally, I’m partial to the Rosetta #hillhouse #partydress

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We’re supported by the fabulous Communité, a PR and Influencer agency who has evolved right alongside us over the last six years.

The Nap Dress® is such an iconic part of Hill House Home’s story, even as the brand has expanded well beyond it. Would you say your influencer community helped propel that style into what it became?

Absolutely. Our influencer program originated out of pure necessity. It was peak COVID and we had just received samples for a new Nap Dress® drop. We needed to photograph them, but we couldn’t be on set with models or… anyone. Enter: creators. We cast a wonderful group of women to self-shoot, style and creative-direct the content that ultimately became our launch campaign – plus PDP imagery, social content and ads. This strategy became integral for us.

From our influencer program’s inception, it was important to us to work with creators who would style the product in a way that felt true to themself – sometimes even in ways that surprised our audience – rather than adhering strictly to a predefined brand vision. It has evolved from there.

While Hill House has transformed over the years, the broader creator economy has as well. What shifts have you noticed in the industry since you began your career?

The way we shop is totally different now. Communities look to influencer recommendations on IG Stories far more than a paid ad or a beautifully lit grid post. Some of the most impactful creators barely post on their feeds at all. Content has always been king, but there used to be a real emphasis on high-quality, editorial-style imagery you could repurpose across your site and socials. Now the focus has shifted from the grid and still images to video and, increasingly, IG Stories – links, links, links.

We place a huge focus on gifting these days and are very generous, which I’m both proud of and extremely grateful to our planning team for. ShopMy has genuinely changed the game, allowing us to scale that effort and discover new creators of all following sizes with actual data behind them.

And then there’s TikTok. She didn’t even exist (to my knowledge – please don’t fact-check) when I started. TikTok represents a real shift in what content and partnerships are meant to do: they should educate or entertain. A video of a comedian doing a bit in one of our pieces is just as valuable – sometimes more – than a perfectly styled OOTD. Though I’ll happily take both.

Between paid usage, affiliate programs like ShopMy, and a robust seeding strategy, there are a lot of components to influencer marketing today. Which of these do you manage, and how do you see your influencer ecosystem supporting the brand’s larger marketing goals?

I work very closely with our Growth Marketing team who partners with a third party digital agency on the actual nuts-and-bolts of paid – deploying ads, tracking spend, managing the majority of affiliate (think Rakuten, etc.). My role touches paid a bit more surgically. I focus on how it intersects with influencers – paid usage, which creator content gets pulled into ads and, of course, ShopMy.

Seeding falls under my purview and is one of my favorite parts of the job. We’re big believers in going wide and being generous. I think it’s incredibly important to let creators choose their own pieces – you end up with more authentic content and I feel a much stronger desire on their end to actually share it. That said, it is of course a bit of an illusion of choice. I curate a lookbook tailored to what I think will resonate most with their audience.

We think about our influencer ecosystem as a way to break the fourth wall our design and merchandising teams build. When they design a product, there’s a specific person in mind - a character, if you will. My job is to connect those dots and make sure those people feel represented in the product and, ideally, see it show up on their feeds through creators they trust and adore.

In terms of how influencer sits in the larger marketing strategy, it truly is a full funnel tool depending on who you cast and their deliverables. The dream is a creator who themselves can flex into different parts of the funnel – ie allowing you to reach a wide audience while actually driving volume. It continues to remain a vital piece of our content story as well, allowing us to tell our product story on social, ads and the site in a digestible way.

It seems like community is such a core piece of what you do, especially showing up in places your audience naturally spends time. I loved the gift card giveaway at the US Open. How did that come together, and what other in-person moments have you created with your community?

Thank you!! That was such a fun one – basically a year in the making. We attended the US Open last year with our partners at Dallas’ NorthPark Center and I was shook by how many Hill House dresses I spotted. I knew we needed to do something to reward that behavior and also, frankly, show it off a little, hehe.

So we surprised five US Open attendees wearing Hill House with $200 gift cards. Truly surprised – I ran up and startled every single one of them, but once they saw what was in my hand, they were delighted. I really want to train our community to know that happy things happen in Hill House.

Another fun community moment we’ve really franchised is our grand opening gift card scavenger hunts. I hide five gift cards around our newest storefront – most recently along Greenwich Ave (come visit us at 117 Greenwich Ave!) – and post clues for each hiding spot on IG Stories. Watching customers flock to find them and then race to the store to redeem them is truly a joy!

Are events a major priority within your influencer strategy?

Absolutely. Events are a priority, but we’re very strategic about them. Every community has its own specific way it wants to show up and be celebrated, so we never take a one-size-fits-all approach. When we open a store in a new city, we always try to tap a local expert – someone who can point us toward the spots that feel special and culturally relevant and help us understand whether that community prefers an in-store programming moment or an off-site celebration (usually, it’s a mix of both!).

However you slice it, those in-person touchpoints are incredibly important for both brand education and building real loyalty. We’re very lucky to have Nell as our leader, she’s so wonderfully spoken and genuinely passionate that once you meet her, you can’t help but buy into the brand even more. Though she is my boss, I promise I am saying this of my own free will ;)

What’s your philosophy on briefing creators so the brand stays consistent, but they still feel empowered to bring their own voice and style to the content?

I work closely with Communité, our creator agency, to brief creators. We give very basic direction around content quality (we prefer iPhone), lighting and loose styling guidance – Hill House product(s) should be unobstructed/the focus.

We also share examples of top-performing content to give creators a sense of what tends to resonate. However, the real game changer has been pulling references directly from the creator’s own profile – showing them the specific posts of theirs that we love. In the early days, we had a few surprises where we adored someone’s feed but the content they delivered felt markedly different from what made us fall in love with their work. Providing creator-specific references has solved for that disconnect.

Overall, we try to give enough framing to protect the brand while still letting creators do what they do best. We want their voice, their aesthetic, just with a little Hill House context woven in.

How do you measure success for your campaigns?

We measure success differently depending on the campaign and depending on the creator. Not every partner is meant to do the same job and we’re very clear-eyed about that.

Some creators have become our go-tos for content – especially for ads – so with them, success is tied to how that content performs once it’s deployed. For our IG Story linkers, the goal is usually volume or traffic to specific style and we’re tracking clicks and volume. Then there’s our upper-funnel queens, who are incredible at driving new followers, awareness and general brand or product discovery.

So success lives in a few different buckets, but the overarching philosophy is the same – match the goal to the creator’s strength, then measure accordingly.

Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

is a queen – consistently overdelivers in kindness, professionalism, deliverables and results.

Who would you love to work with?

We’re so lucky to have worked with nearly all of my content-creator crushes. Lately, I’m quite obsessed with and her incredibly pointed vision. She has such an eye – I’d love to see her interpret our brand codes and make some magic.

Is there a Hill House Home campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

A particularly fun one from this year was Millie Mackintosh and her two daughters for our Peppa Pig collaboration, photographed in the Cotswolds. Nell grew up in London, and so many of our prints, pieces and visual campaigns pull from English interiors – plus, my preferred tone on social is decidedly cheeky (like our girl Peppa) – so you can imagine what a dream partnership this was on all fronts.

Any exciting partnerships or upcoming launches you are excited about for holiday or Q1?

Q1 2026 is soooooo good. We have an incredible Valentine’s Day Capsule coming out that I’m very excited to leverage our community for. Stay tuned!

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Hill House Home?

   1. It changes every season. Right now – the Quilted Cosmetic Bag. I use them to organize absolutely everything in my life – jewelry, makeup, nipple covers, hair rollers. You get the gist.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute? (can you link to the book, podcast or song/playlist?)

   1. Book: I am indeed a Sarah J. Maas girlie. Currently ripping through the Crescent City series post-ACOTAR + TOG. No spoilers, please.

   2. Podcast: I am, like, parasocial with Jake Shane. I sent his HULU show announcement in my family groupchat. No one responded, but it was important I share the good news with those closest in my life. That said, I love me some Therapuss.

   3. Music: Been listening to Chains of Love by Charlie XCX on repeat.

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. God I love this question! You’re good at your job, Clare. If I could pick one, Sant Ambroeus. Pasta, Princess Cake and the perfect color palette is all you need in this life of sin. And to further manifest… La Veste, Carel, Bode, Chanel.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?

   1. Does a book count? I just added QuickSilver to my library because of Hannah Chody!

You can stay in touch with Kennedy Smith on Instagram & if you aren’t already, give Hill House Home a follow on Instagram and TikTok! I hope they restock the Steffy PJ Set, but the Olivia PJ Set feels like a nice alternative. They are also running their annual sale, offering 25%.

Where are you based?

Toronto, Canada

How long have you been at Jenny Bird, and how has it evolved since starting?

I’ve been at JENNY BIRD for just over 6 years. The foundational elements that I was originally drawn to are still core to the brand - Jenny’s modern designs, brand-first marketing and lightweight pieces our customer keeps coming back for; and at the same time, it has grown a great deal. While there’s always newness, we focus on a core essential collection that is the staple of any good jewelry wardrobe. And we’ve introduced new categories like travel storage, belts and fine that draw a new consumer to us and provide freshness for our repeat customers.

Has the influencer industry changed since you first started your career?

It’s almost unrecognizable. I started my career in women’s consumer magazine publishing when print reigned supreme and Instagram didn’t even exist. Affiliate Marketing as we know it today did not exist. Celebrities and the editors that wrote about them were the original influencers and the pages of Vogue, Elle, Harper’s BAZAAR, US Weekly and People were how we discovered what they wore, ate, and used for skin and hair. I always say, Lucky magazine was the original ShopMy in a lot of ways.

How does the influencer ecosystem at Jenny Bird fit into your larger marketing strategy?

We have an always-on gifting strategy that works well alongside our affiliate and paid program. We try to introduce the brand to creators with bestselling pieces so they get a taste for the tried and true staples that integrate well into a wardrobe. Seasonal collections get seeded too, but we try to avoid those being the first introduction for most creators.

We have found that offering a healthy commission through ShopMy and LTK (ShopMy is our preferred platform) does a good job of keeping us top of mind when creators are linking out. And paid has become more important to us this last year as Meta CPMs continue to rise and we are challenged with diversifying our spend for customer acquisition. Here our strategy has been to work with influencers who have shown proof of conversion and their audience relating to the product. We don’t start with a paid collab till there has been some organic/affiliate baseline.

I’ve said it before, but completely agree with the gifting-to-paid pipeline. With the rise of content needs, how do you stay on top of finding new creators?

Trolling. The best way to find fresh faces is to be perpetually online and taking in new content. ShopMy is also an excellent resource for discovering new-to-us creators.

Y’all are so good at activating in different markets IRL. Do you have any pop-ups or influencer events coming up?

We’re hosting an event in collaboration with ShopMy in Nashville this fall. There are so many amazing tastemakers who have a knack for conversion in that market and we see value in multiple engagement touch points with particular markets rather than going in doing an event once and never returning.

Love the way Shopmy has been partnering with brands on influencer events. How do you measure success for your campaigns?

It’s not always about the data and ability to convert - I look at the clout associating with a particular influencer brings us, the potential brand awareness the partnership or placement can garner and then the halo effect positive brand associations that can’t be measured immediately have in terms of contribution to growth YOY.

Every brand has that dream influencer partner — who would be the ultimate fit for Jenny Bird?

Paige Desorbo could be fun. She wore the Nouveaux Puffs so many times we renamed them the Paige Puffs earlier this summer. I’d love for her to design something in collaboration with Jenny. We don’t really do design collabs so if we dipped our toe there it would have to be with someone who already loved the brand and wore it regularly on their own accord.

I’m a recent Giggly Squad fan, so I love this idea! Is there a Jenny Bird campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

I love when creators discover us on their own or through a stylist, make a purchase and share the brand love with their audience organically. Being able to build something authentic from there has always been very fruitful for us long term.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Jenny Bird?

   1. Right now I find myself reaching for the Estelle Rope Necklace - it makes a basic white tee and blazer combo look more polished and thoughtful.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. Amy Poehler’s Good Hang is my therapy. I look forward to a new episode every week. The way she interacts with her guests, giggles and shows vulnerability is so beautiful. The episode with Zarna Garg is so joy-filled, real and raw. I went back to listen to certain parts multiple times.

3. If the tables were turned and you were the influencer, what brands would be on your dream partnership list?

   1. I’m a hi/lo girl - Toteme, Khaite, Le Set, Doen, Massimo Dutti, Still Here denim, Gap and a few Steve Madden flats for good measure. I loveeee beauty products and am always trying new things - there’d be some Westman Atelier, Makeup by Mario and Saie in the mix for sure.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?

   1. Ooooh it was the Ballerina Farms Vanilla protein powder from Ali Sisto Daniel. She makes these matcha milkshakes with it and as a newly obsessed matcha drinker I had to try and recreate them. Now I’m fully obsessed.

If you aren’t already, give JENNY BIRD a follow! I’ve previously mentioned my obsession with their anklets (I stack mine), but I also just got this silver bangle from their fall collection and can’t wait to wear it.

Where are you based?

New York City

Did you start your career at Alex Mill or were you somewhere before?

I actually started at Madewell as a brand marketing coordinator, which meant I did a little bit of everything - including supporting influencer partnerships. It was 2019, influencer was definitely on the rise, but I don’t think any of us realized just how central it would become - both to the business world and, honestly, to my own career.

How has your role expanded at Alex Mill?

I actually started out on the social side, running our influencer program. Over time my role’s expanded, and now I oversee both brand and creative - but influencer and social are still my bread and butter. I’ve been at Alex Mill for 4.5 years now and I freaking love my team (shoutout to our creative director , my cousin Jen who helps me run the influencer program, and Lili my #1 girl for social).

Was influencer always a big focus for Alex Mill when you started?

When I joined, we had a really small, carefully chosen group of creators we gifted consistently. They were super engaged and really aligned with the brand. Back then, influencer was more of a campaign amplifier - but over time, it’s become the central role in our campaigns. Since we’re a smaller team without big OOH or billboard moments, influencers are essentially our word-of-mouth engine, and that shift has let us grow in a way that feels really authentic.

Are you still working with the original, core community?

Omg, yes - probably even more so now, just on a texting basis. I honestly forget I met some of them through work. It’s been amazing to see their worlds grow too - launching their own brands, Substacks, you name it. One of the first “influencers” I inherited was Alisha Bansal, and she’s now one of my closest friends. Funny how that works!

When you first started working with influencers, did you focus solely on gifting, or were paid partnerships part of the strategy from the start?

Yes - when we started, our approach was purely gifting. I love that because it immediately shows who genuinely wants to wear and shop the brand.

One thing I’ve really learned at Alex Mill is how essential the product is - I know every detail, every fit and finish (something I find really unique to working here). I want influencers to feel that same connection with the clothes.

After a couple of years of building that community, we started layering in paid partnerships - but always with creators we already know and love. It feels less like a transaction and more like celebrating an ongoing collaboration.

One of the first influencer campaigns I remember from you involved a dance to a Grease song. Can you share the strategy behind that and how you decided to incorporate music into the content?

Oh, that was my baby! At Alex Mill, we love taking a hero product and building what we call a “product distortion” campaign around it - creating fun, buzzy moments that get amplified through social and our influencer community.

In 2022, we started with our #1 product at the time, the jumpsuit. We gifted 50 influencers who all posted on the same day and made a fun dance video to an Instagram song that our team and influencers shared. It low-key went viral.

Then in 2024, we used the same approach for our long-awaited jeans launch - but decided to make the dance video the main thing. Our tagline, “Alex Mill Jeans: They’re the ones,” paired perfectly with the Grease song “You’re the One That I Want.”

We launched the campaign with this team video and had 50–70 influencers use the audio to post their own launch-day content.

We partnered with typical creators but also unexpected partnerships - like NY Ferry. The fun expected creators were what differentiated the campaign.

It wasn’t something I’d ever seen done before - and yes it took some convincing to get everyone on board but when everyone was posting on launch day - it felt so worth it.

P.S. look out for our next team dance video - it launched today!

Did you have to buy rights to the song?

Yup - that was the tricky part. For the jumpsuit video, we used a free track from Instagram’s library. When it performed so well, we decided to invest in rights for the jeans campaign - but it totally paid off. The jeans sold out and kept selling out.

At the end of the day, it all comes back to having a great product; without that, the hype doesn’t matter. Our approach is always: how can we use influencers and social to amplify the product in a way that feels fun, authentic, and resonates with people who genuinely want to wear it?

It seems like all of your influencer campaigns are around products rather than a seasonal moment, like the recent Tote Club. Is that how you think through your partnerships?

Yes, absolutely. When I’m building brand campaigns, I’m always leaning on my social and influencer background to ask: what will our community actually be excited about? What will they want to photograph and share?

Focusing on a single product is something I’ve learned from our chairman, Mickey Drexler. Working with Mickey has honestly been like business school - I’ve learned so much about product, quality, development, and design. His bible is “Creativity, focus, a great edit,” and that perfectly sums up how we think about campaigns. We don’t try to sell everything at once. Instead, we spotlight one hero piece and go all in - because we believe in it, and we know our community will too.

Can you share more about the recent Tote campaign?

Yes! Our tote campaign was such a fun one. The tote first launched in 2020, and a few years later we added hand-painted monograms. It became this under-the-radar, IYKYK item.

Then we started noticing celebrities organically carrying it - Emma Chamberlain got papped with hers, Bobbi Brown (who’s friends with Mickey) is a fan, and even Adam Scott has one. They weren’t necessarily gifted—they just bought it, which made the tote feel even more special. Pretty soon, people were asking about it, and we thought: okay, it’s tote time.

We built the campaign around who we always laughingly refer to “real people,” (aka cool people who aren’t models) and profiling them through their totes. They became our “Tote Club.” On launch day, we spotlighted their totes and seeded more to influencers to share. It turned into a full 360 campaign - paid ads, email, social - all working together to celebrate one hero product.

And does affiliate play a part in this or are your goals more brand awareness?

Affiliate has definitely become a huge part of our overall strategy. It used to feel more divided—like there were “brand awareness” influencers on one side and “affiliate” on the other. But now, honestly, it feels like everyone’s an affiliate these days. Our approach is to seed to a healthy mix: affiliate creators, celebrities, and cool content creators we know will take great pics - even if they’re not the ones driving sales directly. It’s a balance!

What does success look like at Alex Mill for these campaigns?

Compared to other brands I’ve worked at, we really prioritize creativity over metrics. Another Mickey-ism I love is “don’t get analysis paralysis.” Of course, we look at data, but on launch day we’re less concerned with impressions or reach and more focused on: are we actually selling totes? Are people talking about us? For us, it’s about the feeling and emotional response - which is something pretty unique to Alex Mill. And honestly, it works.

That said, when we do report, we use ShopMy to track how much our seeded influencers are driving. It’s such an effective way to figure out what’s actually working.

Since your team is so close-knit, do you handle building influencer relationships yourselves? And who makes up your influencer team?

Yes! My team is literally family - I brought in my cousin Jen a few years ago to help with our influencer program. She does influencer at Doen and has always been my forever mentor, so it’s been the perfect team effort. Also my #1, Lili who helps with social & influencer (she’s the one dancing on the table here).

Everything is in-house - we do all the outreach ourselves, and I think that’s where the magic happens. It means we know every single person we work with, and we can make sure they’re nice - that’s really the criteria. When we cast models, our creative director Somsack insists on meeting everyone in person to make sure they’re actually NICE, and we treat influencer partnerships the same way. Over time, so many of them just become our friends.

In thinking about platforms, are you mainly on Instagram or Substack?

Mostly focused on Instagram and Substack. We were early to invest in Substack creators, which happened naturally. Our friends were joining Substack and we caught on. One of our biggest moments was doing a paid newsletter with which eventually lead to a product collaboration.

Given your strong, organic relationships with influencers, how do you typically approach briefing them for campaigns?

We make sure it always feels organic. We’d never want to ask influencers to do something that doesn’t feel authentic to them. Of course we have campaign goals - like getting everyone to dance for our jeans launch - but we worked one-on-one to shape briefs that fit each person’s style. For people who swore off dancing, we’d brainstorm until we found something that felt natural - like an OOTD video cut to the dance audio.

Most of the time, we just gift product and let influencers create in a way that feels true to them. That’s when the content resonates the most.

To keep your community engaged, are you doing evergreen gifting or is it just newness with product launches?

It’s a bit of both. With our core community, it’s about getting them excited for new arrivals - since chances are they already own the classics like the Work Jacket, the Taylor, and the Nico. At the same time, we use those evergreen staples as entry points for new audiences. They’re the pieces that hook people and make them want to try Alex Mill.

What is your favorite campaign that you’ve worked on?

Definitely the jeans campaign! It was a true labor of love - I had to re-record the Grease song, film a music video, and rally influencers to post. It showed how much everyone believed in the brand.

Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

Our partnership with was such a fun one. We’ve been friends for years - a fellow Minnesotan, just like Jen and me. Around the holidays, we did a paid Substack newsletter with her and it ended up being one of our most viral post.

The funniest part? Everyone was obsessed with a skirt she styled the collection with… except it wasn’t ours. We were like, okay then, guess we’ll make it!

One lunch at Sant Ambroeus and a phone call later, the Becky Malinsky “Holiday Things” collection was born - eight pieces she designed with Somsack that perfectly complemented our main line. We launched it exactly a year after that first post. It was such an organic partnership that just naturally grew into something bigger. How fun!

Do you have any other collaborations coming up?

A collection with Margaux and a little something with J.Press. More to come👀

Who would you love to work with?

Jerry Saltz - if anyone can get me his number! We’re always on the lookout for cool, unexpected influencers because honestly… who even is an influencer today? Recently, we gifted every color of our jacket to Jerome - a friend’s husband’s grandfather who happens to love Alex Mill. His daughter-in-law took photos, we interviewed him, and now in the office we joke that Jerome is our best influencer.

It really makes us wonder: who are the other “Jeromes” out there? For us, being an influencer isn’t about follower count - it’s about a personal connection.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Alex Mill

   1. The Taylor

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. I’m an Audible girl. Right now I’m rereading The Ninth Street Women—about the women behind New York’s Abstract Expressionist scene. If you’re into American art history, it’s a must-read.

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. Doen - I always joke that my wardrobe is half Doen, half Alex Mill

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer's post and who the influencer was?

   1. You! The Brooke Callahan pants. I got the red and white - and now do I also need yellow?. *ed note: I was originally influenced by and someone in ’s Substack chat who posted about them!!

You can stay in touch with on Substack & if you aren’t already, give Alex Mill a follow! Mentioned multiple times throughout this interview, but I also highly recommend the Taylor, and I now need to join The Tote Club.

Where are you based?

Los Angeles, CA

Did you always want to work in influencer marketing?

I don’t think I could’ve always wanted to work in influencer. It didn’t really exist when I was in college. Instagram was just launching. But since starting my career, I’ve always had my hand in influencer, even if my title didn’t specifically reflect that. I’ve always been a brand marketer or comms professional with a thesis in influencer because once you develop that unique skillset, you end up doing it everywhere you go. Even when I went out on my own, I thought I’d move away from influencer, but it turns out it’s one of the most in-demand needs for clients.

Is this just because influencer is such a core part of brand marketing today?

A lot of my inbounds are influencer-focused because, like I said, it’s a really specialized skill. I think a lot of founders have been told they need to do influencer—or they’ve seen a competitor go viral—but the reality in 2025 is that “influencer” can mean eighteen different things. It’s a unique channel that can live across different parts of the funnel. You can define it as UGC, paid partnerships, even talent for an ad campaign—but there’s rarely a full understanding of what influencer actually encompasses.

A big part of what I do is helping clients understand influencer as a channel, what it can do, and which parts will actually move the needle for their business. It varies based on category, price point, and what’s happening in the space at that moment. It’s more nuanced than people think—you have to figure out what it means for your brand, what it means for your budget. Because I’ve done this across verticals, I’m good at coming in and saying: here’s what you need, here’s what you don’t, here’s what we can test, and here’s what we can skip.

Some influencer marketers come from more of a pure growth or affiliate background, but because I come from the brand side, I can layer influencer work into broader brand strategy or fractional brand lead work.

What does your scope look like with the different brands you are working with?

I don’t have a set offering—I like to collaborate with clients to create custom scopes. I also work with agencies as a consulting strategist. In those cases, they usually have an influencer agency on board already, so I focus on high-level consulting: reviewing briefs, offering strategic input, and figuring out how influencer fits into the larger campaign. How should influencer show up across channels?

With brand-direct clients, I typically work on influencer strategy scopes. I don’t usually do tactical retainers where I’m executing the program day-to-day long-term. For smaller or early-stage brands, I help define if influencer is worth investing in, what role it should play, how it fits into the business, and then teach the team how to run it—how to outreach, negotiate, choose the right partners, and set smart KPIs. The goal is to eventually hand it back to their team or help them hire someone more junior who can own execution.

Then there are larger scopes. Right now I’m working with a big brand on a full social and content strategy refresh—adding a UGC lens and revamping their briefing and contracting process. It’s more operational and focused on owned channels.

Because of my background, I can offer a wide range of influencer-related strategies tailored to each client, which keeps it interesting for me.

You’ve said influencer didn’t exist in the same way when you were starting out. Can you walk me through your career path and how those early experiences ultimately led you to working for yourself today?

Right out of college, I was a paid intern on the brand marketing team at Le Pain Quotidien, doing early influencer work like seeding WordPress blogs. Then I joined Small Girls PR, one of the first agencies blending influencer and press. They were ahead of their time in recognizing personal social accounts as media channels.

After that, I did a stint at Knotch, a marketing tech company. It ended up being a detour that helped me realize B2B wasn’t for me, which led me to Away during its hyper-growth phase. I was on the brand team, focused on influencer strategy for new markets and audiences. If we launched in Australia, I’d find the local creators to make us feel relevant. If we wanted to speak to men, I’d identify the right menswear voices. It was an intense crash course in influencer marketing. Stories was new, TikTok didn’t exist, and we were still seeding Facebook posts. Budgets were big, CAC was low, and we were just starting to navigate FTC guidelines. I even remember having a meeting to establish our first internal policies. It felt like the wild west, but I built strong relationships with influencers at a time when the space still felt niche and somewhat stigmatized.

Back then, influencers were siloed as just “social media people.” Now, I define an influencer as anyone you're paying for reach or conversion through their platform, no matter the channel. You can have different feelings about the term, influencer, but that’s how the function works.

From there, I joined Modern Citizen. I specifically wanted to go somewhere that wasn’t venture-backed, partly for personal reasons and partly out of curiosity. I ended up staying five years. When I left, I was overseeing Brand, PR, and Partnerships, but influencer had become a major lever I built from the ground up. I had full freedom and a really trusting team, which was incredible. My budget was small, but that forced me to be extra rigorous and strategic.

With that drastic budget shift from Away to Modern Citizen, did it change how you approached working with influencers? Did it become more about relationship-building?

​​In a way, Away gave me more budget freedom, but that also meant I had to constantly propose and justify spend, which was exhausting and created bottlenecks. You have to make educated guesses to predict engagement and pitch KPIs to get a budget—it’s a lot, and we were still learning how to balance due diligence with experimentation. At Modern Citizen, I got to build relationships and gift product without pressure for immediate ROI. We could just test and learn. I figured out what worked and how to write outreach with a that grabs attention without promising money upfront.

We had this amazing roster of supportive creators. From gifting, I could tell who’d make great paid partners because they posted organically and their audiences really connected with the products. When we brought them on for paid partnerships, they were so informed and genuinely excited that they performed really well. I’m grateful for having both gifting and paid experience—I don’t want to rely just on money to decide who I partner with, and that’s a mindset I bring to the brands I work with now.

Totally aligned! I think you should always gift first and see who organically loves the brand to inform who should become a paid partner.

Totally! It’s better for the influencer, too. When their audience has seen the product before a paid partnership, it builds way more trust. Influencers should test audience reaction before committing to paid deals because it reflects on them. There are exceptions for certain products and categories, but this is my general philosophy. There’s definitely an art to gifting, and I learned it by doing.

You mentioned earlier that you learned how to write cold outreach emails that grab attention. What did you find actually works when it comes to standing out in someone’s inbox?

Oh, I have a formula! My cold outreach is locked and loaded. Customizing it is key, but the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that warmth and showing someone you truly see them gets the best responses and builds real relationships. I’m extremely straightforward that I want to gift them but I also tell them why I like their content and why I’m reaching out to them. Influencers also like to work with new, emerging brands, so I always mention that to humanize the brand. I want to be transparent with who my client is and not make it feel like I’m sitting on a $1M budget but not willing to pay them.

The customization of outreach emails is so important. That leads well into your briefing philosophy. How do you share creative briefs with influencers?

I never send scripts. If a client insists on that, I’m not the right fit. What I learned at Away is to brief influencers using their own best-performing content—I send references from their own work. If I can’t, then I shouldn’t be working with them on a paid partnership. I also make sure there’s a relationship before the brief so they feel comfortable asking questions in real time. My goal is to avoid asking for edits or reshoots.

I like to send two briefs: a tactical one with instructions, specs, legal disclosures—clear and plain in a PDF—and a partner guide deck with brand info, talking points, and vibe guidance for concepting content. The tactical brief covers what’s critical for success, while the partner guide keeps things loose, so content doesn’t feel scripted but stays accurate with approved language. I trust my gut when choosing influencers and trust their content.

You are constantly sourcing influencers and creating briefs for different brands and verticals. How are you staying up to date on new creators, trends and platforms?

My least favorite part of this job is never being able to fully disconnect from my phone. I try to limit social media use to work hours. Luckily, most brands and agencies I work with prioritize brand alignment over chasing viral trends. For influencer work, I’m not focused on jumping on every format trend. I don’t want my clients to seem like they’re chasing TikTok trends. If it looks that way, I’m not doing my job right. I want them to fit naturally into their category’s social ecosystem. As for platforms, I don’t stress about them. My sourcing is talent-first, not platform-first. Influencers are better at navigating platforms than I am, and I try to let them lead. .

You’ve mentioned UGC, seeding, and paid partnerships. What are the KPIs that you are setting for your clients?

It really depends on the brand and campaign. I try to steer clients away from purely lower-funnel goals, especially when building foundational influencer programs. Founders often hear stories about affiliate driving $10M in six months or one viral post selling 20k units, but those are exceptions. Generally, a healthy influencer strategy should focus on feeding the top funnel sustainably—especially for higher-priced products or brands focused on long-term equity. There are category exceptions, but most of my clients align with a top-funnel approach. I also want to set them up to sell products at full price and margin later, which means high-quality top-funnel work that brings in great customers and qualified leads. Of course, we also work on conversion-focused campaigns, so influencer can do both. Overall, I’m just trying to move more people away from chasing only conversion or virality.

When you are thinking through KPIs for seeding campaigns, are you measuring the number of posts or quality of the content?

It can even be operational wins. How many emails do you need to send to get influencers to opt in? If an early-stage brand sees a 50% response rate, that’s incredible—the product really resonates. If you’re in a crowded category and the rate is 25%, then you have to plan resources accordingly. Success can mean many things, and I love content that does more than one thing—e.g., drives brand awareness and online chatter, and is high-quality enough to license as a digital ad. That’s the best-case scenario for me, and those are the partners we work with long term. There’s not one KPI.

Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

Lots! I have some ride or dies from my time at Modern Citizen: Sarah Harned, Sophie Joac, , Jesica Elise, and so many more. On the Substack side, I love working with and my friend . I also got to work with Becs Gentry for Nike as both talent and influencer. She is a Peloton instructor with a really strong social platform. She is the best and her social audience is so devoted.

Who would you love to work with?

I love working with micro influencers the most, so the next person I’m going to be obsessed with, I probably haven’t discovered yet. But I'm also obsessed with Romy Mars, and I really want to work with her.

Is there a campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

My proudest moments are when I’m the first to do a paid partnership with a creator before they blow up. I think one of my special abilities as an influencer marketer is spotting and working with talent while they’re still lowkey, which is crucial for smaller brands without six-figure budgets.

We are in a unique position to advocate for other people’s careers, and it does feel like a full ecosystem.

Totally! And I don’t really market this, but maybe I should. I do a little bit of coaching for small creators or anyone not quite ready for full-time management. I offer 1:1 sessions from time to time because I love working with creators early in their careers. I realized there isn’t much transparency between influencers, so I try to open up that channel from the brand side—helping them learn how to pitch, write a solid outreach email, and understand the negotiation process. Keeping it a black box doesn’t help anyone. When creators feel more informed, they become stronger partners.

I love that! If you are a new creator, book a session with Hayden here!

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Some of your favorite client products?

   1. Paula Pant & Lynda Pant from Modern Citizen + Nike Swoosh Sports Bra

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. Lately I’ve been in a heavy 2000’s indie phase. I can’t stop listening to Rilo Kiley. That’s been heavily playing on my “commute” aka walk from my kitchen to my office in my house or a 5 minute drive over to my friend ’s house to work in her backyard.

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brands would you want to partner with?

   1. I wouldn’t want to be an influencer. It’s such a hard job!! But I would love to work with a heritage brand like LL Bean. Or Chili’s, I would make my Instagram public for Chili’s. (Ed note: Chili’s x Tecovas - send Hayden the new boots!!)

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer's post and who the influencer was?

   1. I have a lot of influencer friends who share recommendations straight to my phone which unfortunately typically has a 100% conversion rate. This morning I bought a pair of shoes from Loeffler Randall because Erika sent me a link, and I needed shoes for a wedding.

You can stay in touch with Hayden on LinkedIn & her website.

Where are you based?

Austin, TX (born and raised)

How long have you been working in the influencer industry?

Just over 10 years, since graduating from college! That’s kind of wild to say out loud.

And how much of that time have you been at AG1?

I’ve been at AG1 for three years, and it really has felt like a new company every six months — in the best, most energizing way. When I joined, we had one product sold on our DTC channel. Now we’re on the 53rd iteration of our formula, we’re in retail (hi, Costco!), we’ve worked with thousands of creators, and are expanding our product offerings later this year.

It’s hands-down the most widely known company I’ve worked for — and also the one with the highest integrity. The level of care and quality that goes into the product still kind of rocks my brain. I’ve seen behind the curtain, and I’m still impressed by the standards we hold.

Nothing stays still for long, which keeps things exciting and constantly evolving.

Has the industry changed since you first started your career?

When I first got into this space, influencer marketing was often overlooked or treated as an afterthought. Brands were hesitant to invest in it as a real marketing channel, and there wasn’t a clear understanding of the power it held to shape perception and drive real business outcomes.

Fast forward to today, and the landscape has completely shifted. Influence is no longer reserved for a select few. The barrier to entry has dropped significantly. If you have a strong point of view and show up authentically, there's a real opportunity to grow. Platforms like TikTok have proven that anyone can gain traction overnight if they own their space and connect with the right audience.

We’ve also moved beyond the blog-and-Instagram era and into a social commerce driven environment. Now it’s YouTube, podcasts, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitch, live shopping, and more — each offering its own style of content and influence. It’s more dynamic and fragmented, but also more exciting and creatively rich.

What hasn’t changed is the core of true influence. It's always been about trust — people who are embedded in their communities and have the ability to move culture, not just products. That’s the kind of influence that still drives the most meaningful results, whether you have 2,000 followers or 2 million.

I completely agree. Trust and relatability is everything in this industry, no matter the influencer’s following size. With the constant changes, how do you keep up and stay on top of trends and what competitors are doing in the space?

The limit does not exist with my screen time, but staying plugged in is part of the job. I’ve built strong relationships with teams at TikTok, Meta, and other social commerce platforms, which gives us early access to beta features and allows us to test and adapt quickly. We also have deep partnerships with our influencer sourcing and affiliate platforms, where we collaborate closely to develop tech solutions tailored to the needs of our program. I also love following accounts like to keep a real-time pulse on how other brands are evolving.

I see AG1 everywhere because of creators. Do you manage the full ecosystem, including paid partnerships, affiliate, and gifting?

I’ve managed all facets of our influencer strategy throughout my time at AG1, evolving with the business and adapting to where the greatest impact is needed. A unique strength of AG1 is the maturity of our influencer program—we’ve consistently partnered with credible, trusted voices in the space since day one. It’s never been just a performance lever; it’s a core brand pillar that drives long-term trust and relevance.

Currently, I oversee our Affiliate, Social Commerce, and Brand Creator partnerships, along with our ongoing PR and publisher efforts. These programs are designed to fuel storytelling and deliver meaningful impact across the full funnel — whether that be through whitelisting, brand anthems, educational long-form content, or community events.

What is your philosophy on briefing to keep the brand guidelines in place while still giving the influencer creative control?

My philosophy is to let creators create—that’s why you partner with them in the first place. That said, working in the supplement industry brings a unique layer of complexity with compliance and regulations, so there’s always more nuance in how we brief. The goal is to provide clear guardrails while still giving creators the freedom to show up authentically. It’s a balance that keeps things interesting and pushes us to be more thoughtful and education-focused in how we collaborate.

What platforms are you prioritizing with creators?

Right now, we’re exploring newer spaces like LinkedIn, Twitch, Substack, and TikTok live streaming, while continuing to build on our tried-and-true platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and podcasting. It’s all about staying curious and figuring out where our voice fits as the platforms and audiences keep shifting.

How do you measure success for your campaigns?

It really depends on the type of partnership and what we're optimizing for. Success can look like efficient CAC on conversion-focused campaigns, strong click and sales activity for affiliates, high-quality traffic, or even impressions and acceptance rates for gifting efforts. It’s not one-size-fits-all—but we’re intentional about defining success upfront and aligning metrics to the goals of each campaign.

Who would you love to work with?

Emma Chamberlain. She’s just very cool. Sharp, funny, and has quietly built an empire in the fashion world without losing her edge. Oh and she’s only 24. Am I too old to be watching her YouTube vids?

It’s still shocking to me that she is only 24 and has already accomplished so much in her career! Is there an AG1 campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

One of the most energizing parts of this work for me is building relationships with talent in a way that goes beyond the usual plug-and-play campaign model. I’m most excited when we’re able to create something long-term and multidimensional—especially with voices who are pushing boundaries and changing the conversation.

A favorite example is the partnership we built between AG1 and Dr. Becky Kennedy of Good Inside. It wasn’t just about brand alignment — it was about shared values and meaningful storytelling. We created a full content ecosystem: a thoughtful conversation between Dr. Becky and our CEO Kat Cole, a few podcast reads, an e-mail series tailored to our members, and even gave our internal team access to her app to experience her parenting tools firsthand. It was intentional, layered, and genuinely valuable—not just for the audience, but for the teams behind it.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. Podcast — Giggly Squad. I’m a giggler to my core.

2. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. Flamingo Estate. Everything they do feels elevated and intentional, like they’re creating art out of everyday rituals. Their storytelling, their design, their food, and brand activations — it’s all so sensory and chic. It’s the kind of brand that makes you want to step fully into the lifestyle. My dear friend and mentor , founder of Crown Affair, just hosted a magical event there and I was drooling from afar.

3. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer's post and who the influencer was?

   1. This easy, vintage looking throw-on dress from Grow. Nobody converts me faster than she does.

You can stay in touch with Megan on Instagram and if you aren’t already, give AG1 a follow!

Where are you based?

New York City (born and raised!)

This is my first interview from the talent manager side, but I feel like you have such a unique perspective since you started your career on the brand side.

It is funny to me how novel it was just a few years ago, but I now know so many people who are transitioning from the brand side to the talent side.

Which leads me to my first question. Stepping back, how did you start your career in the influencer industry?

I graduated from Tufts in 2017 and began as an intern on the Product Development team at MAC Cosmetics. While I always knew I wanted to work in beauty (Beauty YouTubers were my thing growing up), I wasn't sure which department to pursue. During the interview process, someone recommended Product Development, and given my love for MAC and creative intuitions, growing up collecting all the lipstick shades and collaborations, it felt like a perfect fit. After my internship, there wasn’t a full-time position available on the PD team, but they offered me a role on the Global Product Marketing team. I initially expected it to focus on advertising and consumer-facing work, but it turned out to be more about project management, cost analysis, and educating internal teams about upcoming launches. I stayed at MAC for two years, but eventually, I realized I wanted to transition into the influencer and social space.

In 2019, I was really into DTC brands like Glossier, Outdoor Voices, fascinated by their disruptive marketing and community-driven activations. This wasn’t a new obsession - I’ve been shopping the DTC space as early as 2013, when Everlane was selling t-shirts for $5 (I went with the Slouchy Pocket Tee in Heather Grey). I’ve been an Everlane customer ever since. With the influencer space booming, I knew I wanted to move to an agency after my time at a corporate brand, so I reached out to Metier Creative via DM. It took a year for the head count to open up, but I finally joined as a Senior Strategy Coordinator, working on the first brand identity for Saie Beauty and with existing brands like Chanel Beauty and Miami Design District. We even did activations at Art Basel with Revolve and Aimee Song/Song of Style, at the height of their influencer trips, which was fascinating and felt very surreal.

Then the pandemic hit, and I was furloughed, which led me to consulting. I worked on the brand identity for French Farmacie, a very chic clean beauty skincare line, but ultimately sought more stability, joining the pre-launch stage of Halsey’s beauty brand, about-face. I launched all their socials and influencer strategy, and being a fan of Halsey growing up, it felt full circle engaging with her community. After about a year post launch, I joined Shiseido’s US team, focusing on skincare, where I ran organic and paid strategy, brand trips, and influencer campaigns. It was an amazing experience that solidified my passion for working with creators.

While at Shiseido, I realized I was more drawn to the creator side of things than the brand social side. The best part was meeting and supporting creators, many of whom were balancing full-time jobs with their growing online presence. Eventually, I left Shiseido to focus on consulting and managing creators. It’s been almost two years now.

Congrats! That’s huge. What did the beginning of being your own boss look like?

I always knew I wanted to keep things small and work closely with people one-on-one. As I started my business, I was creating my own role, learning talent management in real time based on my brand-side experience. It was exciting to go from working on one brand to touching many projects and meeting new people. The first year was challenging, though. Lots of networking, meeting 2-3 people a day, and connecting with agencies and brands to share my story. Now, we have strong local awareness, but it was definitely hardcore networking in the beginning, as it is when pivoting careers.

Did you always know you wanted to create your own agency or did you just think you were going to manage a few creators as part of your consulting capabilities?

My roster came out of natural conversations. For instance, while having dinner with and her cousin on the Upper East Side, she mentioned how overwhelming her inbox was. She offered to be my guinea pig, and many of my creators, who were also friends, were willing to take a chance on me. There were no hard feelings if things didn’t work out. But no, I did not think I was going to start an agency.

How did you build out your roster from there?

I don’t actively seek out new talent - not because the talent pool isn’t fantastic, but because I am super involved with the talent I currently work with. It’s a very untraditional way of working in the space - but I am such a people person (I am a Cancer, shocker!), that I can’t imagine having the lines not be a little blurred. I love getting to know their significant others, their family and the people they’re closest to, and they know mine too. Being a creator is so inherently personal - from what you share with your audience, to the brands you work with - and I think the more I know my clients, the better I can serve them. I also have my talent on copy on most of the emails which some people don’t view as a common best practice, but I’ve never been one to do things by the book.

From my agency experience, it’s nice because it doesn’t feel like you’re gatekeeping your talent, and they can see how you’re speaking to the brand/agency on their behalf.

Yeah, I mean sometimes it can blow up, when people ask about rates for other creators on my roster while we’re discussing something else, and I have to address that separately. I aim to make the experience feel like an in-house extension rather than just another agency with hundreds of clients. I want my creators to feel like part of a team, which is why they’re included in conversations, but I know that approach doesn’t work for everyone. I will say that everyone I’ve worked with on the talent side really enjoys getting to chat with the brands directly and not feeling silo’ed out of conversations.

Looking at your current roster, it is mainly creators in the beauty and fashion space. Was this on purpose?

I wanted to work with people and brands that aligned with my interests to maintain synergy. My beauty experience came from my career, and my fashion knowledge came from growing up in the city and my dad being in the industry. I always loved the business of fashion but didn’t know how it would fit professionally, so it’s been amazing to integrate that. While running a business has its challenges, getting to do things like shoot brand campaigns for my talent (I’ve always loved photography and creative direction) and be by their side during fashion week in Europe makes it all worth it.

When a brand approaches you to work with a creator you manage, how do you handle those conversations? Do you prefer they come with a specific ask, or are you more likely to pivot if you think a different platform or creative approach would be a better fit?

I approach each collaboration holistically. For example, if a beauty brand is launching a sunscreen but the creator prefers to feature a lipstick they’ve been loving, we can include the lipstick, but the sunscreen should be the main focus to drive sales. I think because I am operating by myself most of the time, I am able to have more candid conversations with brands. I’ve also developed more personal relationships with these people which helps us find a balance between what feels true to the creators and delivers results for the brand. Flexibility is key because our goal is to build long-term partnerships, not just one-off collaborations. While one-offs are important for seasonal moments, our focus is always on fostering lasting relationships.

I’d also love to hear your thoughts on Substack and how you approach brand partnerships on the platform, especially since it’s still a relatively new space. Do you find yourself educating brands about how to collaborate effectively with your talent on the platform?

I worked on my first Substack campaign in Winter 2023 with Aerie, a now long-term partner, and it was exciting to see a major brand invest in a new platform so early. I also want to shout out Shopmy, which is a huge advocate for Substack. All my creators are on Shopmy, and I often recommend it because it's so easy to track sales, making it simple to share metrics with brands as a media kit to support collaborations. That said, it’s still tough for brands to fully invest in Substack. It’s a bit like the early days of TikTok, where brands were unsure about ROI. It takes time, case studies, and often, overcoming resistance from senior leadership who are hesitant to take risks without proven results.

I totally agree, there has to be a balance. I’ve really enjoyed using Shopmy from both a consumer and brand perspective—it feels much more user-friendly than platforms like LTK. When working with Shopmy and your talent, do you primarily focus on the affiliate side, or do you also collaborate with them on the paid side?

It depends. Shopmy now offers opportunities and campaigns, and from a manager’s perspective, it’s great because they have manager tools. For example, if I need to see how many jeans a creator has sold for Free People, I can pull that info myself without relying on the creator. I also use a platform called July for analytics, which syncs my entire roster’s data across platforms. I can access stories, reels, TikTok analytics, and more to create wrap reports without needing screenshots. It also allows me to track audience growth and create media kits. Brands love the wrap reports. I’m hoping July adds Substack soon, as it currently supports YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

I’ve never really thought about these platforms from a manager perspective, but it’s so nice to have that access on behalf of your creators on the same platforms they are using.

Yeah, it’s great because the speed at which brands need things for campaigns has become crazy. Brief today, content drafts tomorrow…Lead times are much shorter now. Managers need more tools!

So short! And at the end of the day you are working with humans. We all need our time.

Everyone gets caught up in the cycle. Creators need time away from their phones and inboxes to create content, while I need to stay on top of my inbox to respond to brands and get responses from creators. With agencies, you're often waiting on brands for quick answers, creating this constant chain of communication and endless emails. It can lead to a lot of inefficiencies.

Given how quickly things are moving, do you think it's driven by virality and trends? Do you find that many brands come to you asking your talent to jump on specific trends?

I think there’s that. There are also more campaigns and events than ever. Outside of paid partnerships, they also have to create organic content, engage with their community, and maintain a life beyond content creation. While paid partnerships are a priority, balancing everything is challenging. If creators don't stay engaged, their community feels neglected. Plus, they need to grow their audience and attend events, which can lead to burnout. It's not for the faint of heart! Many of the creators I work with also have full-time jobs, so they’re juggling everything outside of their 9-to-5.

Always impressed by creators! And speaking of your talent, what your favorite campaigns that you have worked on with your talent?

You’re going to have to wait until later this year, but it’s definitely the most exciting collaboration to date and has been such a dream to work on.

Do you have any dream brands you would love to work with?

I would love to see one of my clients attend Copenhagen Fashion Week with a brand. It is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I am dying to go back!

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. I’ve loved Glossy for a long time. I try to listen to their podcast on the subway or when I’m making coffee in the morning. I read on Substack everyday without fail. When it comes to what’s happening in the industry, specific to fashion and beauty, it’s Glossy and Business of Fashion. I’ve also been loving the podcast Fashion People - especially the recent interview with my dad.

2. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand would you want to partner with?

   1. I am a massive Delta groupie, so definitely Delta for travel. I also post a lot about food and dining out on my Instagram, so I’d probably be a food blogger in another life. I’d be gunning for sparkling water and coffee PR lists. I can’t live without sparkling water and coffee (my poor teeth).

3. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer's post and who the influencer was?

   1. I’ll be honest. I bought something off of TikTok Shop last night. I was served an ad for Makeup Forever, and I bought a lip combo set. I’ve used their lip pencils for years, and they just came out recently with matching glosses. I love a matching moment, I love a value kit (going back to the MAC days!), and I don’t know who the creator was, but it got me!

You can stay in touch with Sophie on Instagram & stay up to date with Friends of the House partnerships here!

Where are you based?

Upper East Side, NYC

How long have you been working in the influencer/creator economy?

I’ve been working for 6 years in the creator economy and 11 years in the broader social media industry.

How long have you been at Meta and how has the Creators team evolved since starting?

I started working at Meta 6 years ago when I was recruited to build the strategy for and launch the @creators account on Instagram. It started out as myself and one other person, Liam our Creative Lead and has grown over the past couple of years to now include teams of producers, social media managers and freelance designers. We were originally focused on Instagram creators but in recent months our scope has expanded to building out social channels to support Facebook creators and provide them with education on how Facebook can be a great platform to build their brand and business as creators.

Has the industry changed since you first started your career?

The creator industry has truly exploded over the past 12 years or so. It all started with the OG bloggers who were sharing their lives, style, and adventures through blog posts, and then Instagram came along and branded content started becoming more prevalent, kicking off the "influencer era" where people were sharing photos on their feeds while a small subset of creators were starting to gain traction on YouTube and monetize their content. But it wasn't until 2020, when short-form video platforms like Reels and TikTok rose in popularity during the pandemic, that the real creator economy started to rapidly grow. Suddenly the barrier to entry to become a creator became way more accessible, and people were creating low-fi, personality-driven content from their homes and finding instant audiences, which was a total game-changer for the industry.

How would you describe your influencer ecosystem and how it sits in the larger marketing strategy?

The creators who follow our social channels are highly focused on equipping themselves with any information they can that will help them in their career as creators, whether it’s knowing about the latest product updates or best practices; they’re eager to succeed. Growing our total audience across our channels to over 25M has turned social into a meaningful go to market lever for our marketing teams, whether it’s a product launch or a marketing campaign there is always a social element built in given the proven success we’ve had at reaching creators on platform.

I know y’all show up IRL often through things like Creator Week and inviting Creators to speak at Meta HQ. Can you share more about the importance of meeting creators in person and how these events play a role in your strategy?

Events give us a great opportunity to meet the creators we work with in person and build stronger, mutually beneficial relationships. Our production model is less focused on IRL shooting and more so briefing creators virtually and having them create the content in their own space and time so in general events are a rare time where we get to spend quality time with the creators we work with. Our production model shifted to this way during COVID and it worked so well that we’ve kept it going!

Do you have any advice for brands when briefing creators for Instagram deliverables (Reels, IG Stories, etc)?

In my experience building a really solid brief up front that outlines very granular information in terms of what you need the creators to deliver - down to examples of their previous work that would fit your campaign helps optimize for the best outcome. It’s a fine balance between being overly prescriptive and allowing creators to do what they do best - create. But I find being transparent in outlining where creators should focus their messaging and what they should avoid can help them in delivering something that works for them and the brand.

How do you choose creators to feature on @Creator’s Creator Spotlight series?

We always try to cast creators who have a unique POV, a creative flare to their content and have reached a level of success whether it’s been through growth, monetization or industry recognition that other aspiring creators could learn from. We find creators through a number of different ways from our internal partnerships teams or even just coming across them in our downtime scrolling on IG - we have a team group chat where we DM any gems we come across for future opportunities!

How do you measure success for your campaigns with Creators?

Our main KPIs are focused on reach and engagement so we actively monitor performance and tweak our content strategy as needed to optimize for shareable and engaging content that really provides value to creators.

Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

We have been so lucky to work with so many inspiring creators over the years, some of my favorite pieces recently produced by the team have been with Gat.Noir, a fashion creator known for his fun edits and mrgrandeofficial who’s known for his humorous (and genius!) jingles.

Who would you love to work with?

I have this idea that’s been blooming in my head for a while around a limited series that features creators who have fully leveraged their presence on social to build a career in mainstream media and hear their perspective on the journey behind that! I’m so fascinated by BennyDrama7 who is about to launch his new TV show and Addison Rae with her flourishing music career!

Is there a Meta campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

My favorite @creators campaign to date was actually back in 2022 for Creator Week - we supported 5 events around the world over the course of 6 days and produced a total of 78 pieces of content across Instagram and Tiktok, ranging from Lives to product announcements to a creation challenge with the one and only Khaby Lame! I loved this moment because the creative was so strong, we had the opportunity to feature creators from all around the world and the fact that our small but mighty team worked so hard to bring it all to life.

Are there any new Instagram features rolling out that you are able to share/excited about?

Edits, Instagram’s new video editing app just launched recently and I’m really excited about the value it will bring to creators to make their lives easier by giving them a one stop shop to edit their content, collaborate and find inspiration! I’m also personally really loving Trial reels, which allow you to share a reel with people who don’t follow you if you don’t want to have to worry about being “cringe” in front of your friends and families.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite Creator tool on Instagram

   1. Trial Reels (also not a creator tool but I LOVE the mute button and use it frequently!)

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute? (can you link to the book, podcast or song/playlist?)

   1. Has to be Las Culturistas - pure joy!

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. Away, Violette FR, J. Crew

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer's post and who the influencer was?

   1. I just bought a cute pair of summer sandals as influenced by ’s substack!

You can stay in touch with Michaela on Instagram & if you aren’t already, give Creators a follow!

Where are you based?

I’m in LA, but Rothy’s team is spread across New York, LA and San Francisco. Rothy’s HQ is in San Francisco.

How long have you been working in the influencer/creator industry?

Since graduating from college in 2012, in some capacity, I’ve been in the space. It was so nascent at the time. When I graduated, social media was just coming on the scene in a real way. My first job was running a small consulting agency I started (with the help of my dad as a business advisor), helping brands navigate social media. I was living in Quogue, NY and reverse commuting into the city on weekends, which quickly made me realize it was time to move to the city full-time. I started at Vayner Media in 2013 which felt like getting an MBA in social media. I was on the paid media team which is pretty different from what I do now, although it has been enormously valuable in allowing me to understand the intersection between growth and brand and specifically how influencer and paid media work together. In October 2015, my best friend had been hired to run marketing at Rothy’s. She called me and told me to get ready to pitch them on their social needs because I was going to be her first hire.

That’s incredible! So you’ve been at Rothy’s for 10 years now. What was it like in the beginning?

Yes, since November 2015! In the early days, Rothy’s was basically run by an army of consultants, but technically, I was the third hire who wasn’t a founder. I started out focused solely on social, but because it was such a small and scrappy team, that quickly expanded.

Given my background at Vayner, I also pushed for us to start running paid ads. Since I was still technically a consultant at the time, I set up the Facebook Business Manager under my own company, Young Media. When our ad spend reached a certain threshold, I had to hand it over to Rothy’s because by then, it was too late to build an entirely new Business Manager from scratch.

I love how embedded you’ve been in the business from the beginning. How has your role evolved since then, especially as it’s expanded into brand marketing, touching influencer, events, and other partnerships?

It was a natural progression from being on the social team to thinking about creators with influence and strong social presence we should collaborate with. Around 2016, I started doing cold outreach to influencers. I still have some hilarious email threads offering The Point and The Flat, the only two silhouettes we had at the time, along with links to our three press hits. The responses were a mixed bag: some ignored it, some passed, and a few said yes. A couple even replied over a year later saying the email had been buried and they’d love to accept the offer now.

And this was just gifting outreach?

Yes, this was just gifting. We didn’t really put budget behind influencer until 2018. As the brand has evolved, we’ve been able to partner with creators who feel more aligned with who we are now.

Thinking about your cold outreach gifting in the early days, were there any influencers or talent that you were thrilled to see an organic post from?

Reese Witherspoon was one of them, and I remember that she posted us on Snapchat.. Another standout moment was with Gwyneth Paltrow. In 2016, we created a custom shoe for her at Goop Market, and it sold out completely. Recently, we participated in the Breakthrough Prize in LA, which is like the Oscars for science. We had a shoe bar and were gifting shoes as people left, and Gwyneth Paltrow was one of them. She’s just as lovely as you’d imagine! I asked if she remembered meeting Stephen and Roth at Goop Market, and she said yes! She was so sweet about it. It was a wonderful full-circle moment.

With these full-circle moments, how has the strategy evolved?

There have been so many phases. We build a playbook that works beautifully, but each year we have to reinvent it due to the rapid pace of this industry. Our current strategy has evolved thanks to our CMO, Jamie Gersch, who recognized our success but pushed for more cohesion across all channels. For example, when we host an event, we think about how assets will appear across our website, email, social, and paid media. This approach has helped make our events more visible and consistent. The same goes for our creator program, which we run with many micro-influencers under a ‘direct’ model. My colleague Michael manages this in-house program, doing the work of an agency, but we also collaborate with an agency to scale and ensure we meet the volume needed across all social channels.

Is the ownership of the strategy divided between the agency for scaling and in-house for relationship building?

Yes and no. Our internal team focuses on building relationships, inviting VIPs to events and creating high-touch interactions, but they still engage with all creators. The agency handles scale, as we couldn’t manage the volume of content ourselves. We’re now working with many more assets from creators than we used to. The content we get from creators via the agency supports our Omni Media team, who use it for TikTok and Instagram whitelisting or allow-listing. The size of the creator’s audience isn’t as important because we’re putting spend behind it and if it’s a strong asset, it will scale, regardless of the creator’s following. We also often dark post this content, targeting specific feeds.

Given the needs of the Omnimedia team, is the briefing for these assets very prescriptive?

Yes, exactly. For this strategy, the briefing is very detailed because the objective is to create content specifically tailored for conversion. My personal philosophy on influencer marketing is that you get the best content when you don’t over-brief, but this approach is different. Here, we need content that’s designed to perform, so we focus on all the unsexy details. On the brand side, our team works with a more flexible approach. It's about striking a balance. We set clear guardrails, but leave plenty of room for creative interpretation.

I love hearing how you think about influencers serving different purposes across channels. A lot of brands think one brief works for both brand and paid needs, but that’s not always the case.

Exactly. If I put myself in the influencer’s shoes, I wouldn’t want to post an asset hammering a product that hard. The influencers are building audiences too. Everyone has their own personal brand to manage in a way.

Agreed! Consumers are smart and can read right through it.

On the flip side, I was pulling content examples for a deck yesterday, and some of the influencer videos we’re running in ads are getting 5 to 6 million views thanks to the paid spend behind them. For smaller creators just starting out on TikTok, allowing a brand to use their content in ads can be a huge opportunity to grow and get noticed by other brands.

One great example is , known as @natgawd on social and the creator of The Big Silly Trivia Game. Our relationship started organically. She attended an event we hosted with Melanie Masarin at Ghia House in LA, where we gifted her shoes. A couple of months later, she posted a TikTok wearing our Mary Janes that went viral and caused the shoe to sell out. We purchased that asset, ran it in paid media, and the shoe sold out again. We reconnected with Natalie, and since then, have partnered with her in so many ways. She became an ambassador, co-hosted a Big Silly Trivia event with us, and created a "Mary Jane Marathon" video with three friends in a Sex and the City-style concept. Working with her has been a direct partnership without an agent, and she’s been such a fun and amazing collaborator. Since then, Natalie has had so many brands reaching out to work with her, and she told us that was really a "launch" moment for her content creation with brands. Her video was also a lightbulb moment for our team to double down on TikTok creators in our program.

@natgawd🥿😭 #rothys #maryjane

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So you are seeing success on TikTok with creators over Instagram or does it feel equal?

I think the scale on Meta is still higher, but TikTok is absolutely working for us. The cool thing is that our strategy there, coupled with some new footwear silhouettes, has brought our demographic age down considerably.

I love that your approach to paid partnerships focuses more on organic content and genuine brand affinity, regardless of platform.

Absolutely. That’s a key part of our ecosystem, and it's where ShopMy has been incredibly valuable. , the founder, shared a great piece of advice with us: start with gifting and see who accepts. If they do, it’s a sign they’re genuinely interested in the brand. If they pass, that’s also useful insight. It doesn’t mean you never reach out again, but gifting helps reveal who’s truly excited to engage with your product. From there, we’re able to identify who might be a strong fit for paid partnerships or event invitations.

So are you prioritizing Shopmy for your affiliate strategy?

We have a separate team who runs affiliate. We think about Shopmy more through the brand lens which I know is a funny take. It is a mix of conversion and brand, but because the names on Shopmy are so strong from a brand point of view, it has been a really nice way to get people who we would already want to be approaching for other partnerships talking about us. LTK actually still drives more volume for us, but we aren’t working as closely on the brand side with them. The thing I love about Shopmy is how transparent their data is: who is talking about you, who is driving sales for you, and it makes the mechanics of seeding so much easier. Once you connect your Shopify, you can simply send an influencer a gifting lookbook, and from there they place the order directly by rather than our team having to collect sizes + addresses.

Do you think communication through ShopMy still feels personal, especially with so many brands using it to reach out?

Yes and no. I’m actually on ShopMy as a creator for my Substack, partly to understand how it works from the other side. You get a range of messages, some of which can feel generic, especially around sales. Compared to other affiliate platforms like LTK, it does feel slightly more personal. While it may not be as tailored as a direct email, it strikes a good balance between personalization and scalability, which makes it a valuable tool from a brand perspective.

When you think about events with influencers, are many of them co-hosted or in partnership with an influencer?

At some point, we shifted to a host model for our events. We realized that when influencers bring a group of friends or host a party themselves, the energy feels more authentic and fun. This model has been a game-changer for us. We identify a host, target a specific neighborhood, and choose a venue that fits the vibe. For example, we recently hosted an event in Pasadena with Pia Baroncini, where she brought her friends and we supplemented with our community. Pia hosted at her house, which made it feel personal. Her husband and a team cooked the meal, and they designed the tablescape themselves—it was a true reflection of them.

A few weeks ago, we hosted our first event in Paris to celebrate the Rothy’s popup at Le Bon Marché. Louise Follain, a model and founder of the art magazine Combo, hosted an incredible dinner at Maison Rocher, a venue that’s typically reserved for luxury brands like Hermes and LVMH. The venue owner loved our brand’s values and agreed to host us. We pre-dressed everyone in shoes of their choosing, so we get social buzz and assets from the event. These events not only help us build relationships, but they also provide social proof and generate organic buzz. Plus, we often meet people who we later we later partner with and fold into our friends of the brand community.

How many of these events are you producing per year with influencers?

With our ambassador program, we aim to host about four events per year. In addition, we have smaller, "ambassador light" moments with creators. For example, this weekend we’re hosting an event with at our Soho store. This year, we’re also testing into Substack with creators like Erika, who have such loyal audiences. I believe that what will set creators apart in the next few years are those who engage with their communities offline. Erika does this exceptionally well with EV Salon, and Natalie does the same thing with Big Silly Trivia.

Can you define what ambassador means at Rothy's, as it can vary across brands?

I’m really proud of our ambassador program, which we launched in 2022. We wanted long-term, meaningful partnerships rather than just one-off posts. The goal is to build relationships and create a consistent presence where ambassadors regularly talk about Rothy’s, making them feel like true friends of the brand. Our first ambassadors were Marlien Rentmeester, Cleo Wade, and Babba Rivera.

Our program is built around our brand wrapper, "Possibility," which was developed under the leadership of our CMO, Jamie Gersch. It reflects our ethos of challenging the status quo—just as Roth and Stephen questioned how shoes were traditionally made and innovated with 3D knitting and recycled materials. That "anything is possible" mentality is something we want to carry through to our consumers.

The women we work with are those doing it all, like , who inspired me at our recent lunch together. She’s a mom of two, the creative director at LPA, runs Baroncini Olive Oil, the CMO of her husband’s cashmere brand Ghiaia Cashmer, and has grown an incredibly loyal social following on her own channels. That’s a perfect example of someone who embodies the spirit of possibility.

You run so many different programs with various tiers of creators. How do you measure success?

I’d break it down into three key pillars:

1. Paid Media/Allow Listing: We look at the volume we’re driving, the conversion rate, the efficiency of the creative, and how well it scales.

2. Seeding: Here, we measure the acceptance rate, the excitement around receiving the product, organic stories and mentions, impressions, buzz, and the overall quality of the content. I credit our social team for reposting much of the organic content, which has helped humanize the brand.

3. Events: The first measure is the quality of the content we get back for our team to use. The second is the social buzz—impressions and engagement. We also track how our team has been able to repurpose that content across paid media, email, and other channels.

You’ve already shared so many amazing examples, but can you share a few partnerships that you are proud of?

For several consecutive years we had a presence at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, gifting party guests shoes as they departed the party. It was an amazing way to get our shoes on tired, hurting celebrity feet in an organic way. I'll never forget this post from Jennifer Coolidge, right on the heels of her second season of White Lotus. It was the perfect moment! All entirely organic. Not a dollar was spent on this!

And I can’t not mention, our coolest collaboration ever (Rothy's x Evian in August 2022). We made a tennis collection using Evian bottles collected from the previous year's evian bottles, and debuted it at a party at Rockefeller Plaza during the US Open. It was one of our best, with an amazing mix of athletes and tennis talent plus some stars like Emrata.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Rothy's?

   1. Honestly, our lightweight tote. I got this one from a collaboration with Vogue a few years ago and it’s still one that I use on a daily basis. I love the way styled it in her Substack.

      

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute? (can you link to the book, podcast or song/playlist?)

   1. I’m currently listening to The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins on audible (a little late to the party, I know). I also love the podcast Fashion People by Lauren Sherman of Puck. Last but not least, has a great podcast episode with who writes the popular substack . I loved it.

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. Great question. I’ve recently become enamored with Perfumehead, a luxury fragrance brand out of LA. It is “scent inspired by cinema” and an ode to LA, although the scents are made in France. I think as an influencer, it would be a really sexy brand to work with and you could really get creative. I also love clean beauty and skincare, so I think Westman Atelier or RŌZ Hair would all be really fun. I’d try to choose brands whose values align with mine rather than those who will cut the biggest check. Both Westman Atelier and RŌZ are making waves in the clean beauty space and leading the sustainability charge within beauty, which is really wasteful. I also think a cute baby brand would be fun, since I love nothing more than dressing my daughter up and taking way too many pictures.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer's post and who the influencer was?

   1. Admittedly, too many to count. It’s an occupational hazard, I guess you could say! The last item I purchased was this bag from Loeffler Randal, after reading about it from ‘s Substack. I have to say, it is living up the hype! It is the dream airport workhorse with so many pockets. I just packed for a weekend in Cabo (including snacks and toys for our daughter on the plane…) and it fit everything and zipped.

   2. Separately, I buy a lot of links from . I think she’s adorable and she lives in LA (same as me) and I really like her taste. I also worked with an incredible stylist this year (who, by the way, has an amazing Substack and I shop all of her lists), and she really validated this for me. She said, influencers are doing a lot of the work for you. Don’t discredit them. If they’re genuine, they’re curating the best of the best, testing for quality, fit, and price and flagging when something isn’t right. So, as long as you are careful about who you follow (and know how to spot when something is clearly only paid and disingenuous), I think it can be a great tool for discovery. Amen to that.

You can stay in touch with on Substack & if you aren’t already, give Rothy’s a follow! Highly recommend the Clogs and Mary Jane - comfiest travel shoe out there.

How does your team approach influencer at Saint Laurent?

Our approach in the influencer space is all about authenticity. The talent needs to feel seamlessly connected to the brand. Things have to make sense. Looking at other luxury brands, it sometimes feels like their strategy is that there is no strategy – go for everyone and take as much of the marketplace that they can. When they roll out a new bag, it’s super obvious..

On the flip side, we work with a very small group of influencers who fit the mood of the brand. Our point of view is very tailored and specific. At the end of the day, the talent we work with needs to embody the Saint Laurent person. Overall, it has definitely been an exciting space to navigate, we always try to keep things fresh and new.

How do you determine the talent who is invited to your shows?

We have a small group of talent that we’ve built a relationship with over the years that we repeatedly work with and join us for the show.

Do you have a personal relationship with these influencers or what is your team structure to manage and build these relationships?

Our US VIP + Influencer team consists of myself and two others. In Paris, the global VIP + Influencer team oversees the broader strategy. We collaborate closely with them, as our region plays a key role in influencing global trends, while also providing significant input on the strategy.

And how does merchandising play into the seeding strategy?

Any approach we take in the talent space aligns with our global communications strategy. Each season, we continuously propose new talent, though there’s often repetition due to the strong relationships we’ve built. Of course, we are always working on new ways to activate and engage our audience.

How do you measure results across your influencer + VIP strategies?

We look at EMV metrics. There are also people that we know that resonate with shoppers. We keep these talents in mind too.

Ok going to back up a little, how did you start your career in the influencer industry and have you always been in luxury fashion?

I've been with Saint Laurent for about seven years now. My career started at Oscar de la Renta, where I worked on the wholesale merchandising team. Because I handled samples that every department needed, I gained exposure to various areas of the business. This experience helped me understand which part of the industry interested me most. It was through that role that I realized I wanted to pursue PR. I eventually transitioned to the PR department at Oscar de la Renta. When I had that role I knew this was the path for me.

After that, I joined Saint Laurent in a men's editorial PR role. Shortly after I started, I was given the opportunity to transition into the VIP role. Since then, I’m happy to have grown with the brand.

How has the influencer space evolved at Saint Laurent since you started?

This evolution is twofold. As a brand, we've grown significantly in the influencer and VIP space. When I first started, our talent pool was much smaller. Over time, we've expanded greatly in the number of people we work with, and the impact has grown internally as well. There are now more events, more dressings, more activations. We simply do more.

From a market perspective, it's been fascinating to watch how quickly things evolve. The pace is only accelerating — images have a lifespan of just a few hours before it’s onto the next thing. It’s a constant cycle, and while I wonder how it could possibly get any faster, I’m sure it will. The sheer amount of noise in the industry makes it challenging to keep up.

Right, you may have a successful seeding moment then the next hour there is something new happening online.

It’s crazy — a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, we still want to produce quality work, content, and moments. But with the fast pace, there’s a risk of compromising quality. At the same time, the rapid pace allows for more trial and error. If something doesn’t resonate or isn’t perceived well, it’s easy to move on and try again.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Saint Laurent?

   1. I live in our loafers.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. I’m a big listener of The Toast! It keeps me up to date on what’s going on in pop culture, and I think they are hilarious.

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. In my dream world I would love to work with any homeware/cookware brand. Curating my home and cooking is one of my favorite things. Williams Sonoma, call me!!

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer's post and who the influencer was?

   1. I am ridiculously influenced when it comes to makeup and skincare. I basically buy anything Kelli Anne Sewell tells me to. I love her!

Also everyone should follow Annie on Instagram – love her fashion content! And if you aren’t already, give YSL a follow!

Where are you based?

New York and Los Angeles (Bi-coastal girly)

How long have you been working in the influencer industry?

My whole life! I started as an influencer on YouTube when I was 13.

Incredible! I love that so many marketers were creators first. How long have you been at ILIA, and how has it evolved since starting?

In the past three years, the clean beauty landscape has grown tremendously. In a post-COVID world, showing up offline and in real life (IRL) has made a comeback. We're experimenting more with experiential marketing than ever before, especially after seeing the success of our first pop-up last year in LA. The pop-up was for the launch of our Skin Rewind Complexion Stick.

Has the industry changed since you first started your career?

The democratization of the influencer landscape has changed. Previously, a few macro influencers controlled the beauty market. Now, with platforms like TikTok, anyone can go viral overnight and become an influencer. Today, it’s less about the size of your audience and more about the perspective you offer. Your POV needs to be unique and ownable.

How would you describe ILIA’s influencer ecosystem, and how it sits in the larger marketing strategy?

I manage the entire influencer ecosystem, from organic to paid, and it’s a large part of our marketing strategy. I focus on the entire awareness funnel: What is our creative concept, and how can we build a world around it? If you lean too heavily into one part, it can detract from building brand equity. It’s all a delicate dance.

What is your philosophy on briefing creators to keep the brand guidelines in place while still giving the influencer creative control?

I want influencers to create content that feels natural to them, and it's even better if they can lead the creative concept. Content always performs better when it's authentic to the influencer's channel and less restricted by brand guidelines. While it's easier said than done when content is tied to an ROI, it's still my preference, even as a micro-influencer myself!

With trends always changing, how do you stay on top of current social conversations?

I’m chronically online <3. I also use any free moment to go to a concert, gallery, or movie as a source of inspiration, to be part of the culture, and to understand what/who people are connecting with—helping me create new ideas without solely relying on trends to drive engagement. Often, the less you stay on your phone, the better.

How do you measure success for your campaigns?

When someone comes up to me and tells me they tried and loved ILIA for the first time because of something I worked on :)

Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

I am really interested in working with influencers and/or brands in a 360-degree capacity rather than just through one-off campaigns, especially with talent that has a niche outside of traditional influencing. A great example of this is when we partnered with architect, Gustaf Westman. We collaborated with him takeover Cafe Telegrama in LA and design the space inspired by our newest launch Eye Stylus Shadow stick. We also invited our community test the product out with masterclasses at our pop-up.

Who would you love to work with?

The original influencer, Chloe Sevigny.

Is there an ILIA campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

I really love when we're able to partner with a creator during timely cultural moments rather than just brand-dedicated ones. Last month, I was in New York for NYFW, where we debuted our newest launch, the Eye Stylus, during the Collina Strada Fashion Show. Hilary Taymour is such a playful, color-forward, and sustainable designer, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity to showcase artistry with the product. We debuted it during her fashion show, co-hosted a dinner with Hilary, and sponsored her afterparty. It was such an amazing way to introduce new faces to the brand!

Timely moments can also stem from my personal consumption of pop culture, such as finishing the latest season of Love Island USA and working with Leah Kate, or listening to Addison Rae's new EP and incorporating her into the brand as both a friend and a fan. I also really love watching what Toni Bravo is doing for inclusivity within the beauty community, watching her grow has been a joy to watch. The best partnerships are built on cultivated relationships and real-life experiences. A quote I live by is if you look at the people in your circle and don’t get inspired, then you don’t have a circle, you have a cage.

Writing that quote down! And I have loved y’alls Eye Stylus Launch and the way y’all are showing up IRL.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite product from Ilia?

   1. I have to do three. Skin Rewind Complexion Stick, True Skin Concealer and Limitless Mascara.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. Everything is Romantic by Charli XCX because it is! <3

3. As an influencer yourself, what brand(s) would you want to partner with?

   1. I have been fortunate to work with a few of my faves! I’d say luxury fashion + beauty content tends to be my favorite so anything The Real Real, Miu Miu or Sandy Liang sign me up. I once got my makeup done by Pat McGrapth, and that was the best I’ve ever looked so I would not mind doing that again.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer's post and who the influencer was?

   1. I tend to love the model off duty look. The Vogue Beauty Secrets videos get me everytime. Anything that is repeat featured I’ve bought like the Chanel Baume Essentiel Multistick, Pat McGrath Foundation, and Pat McGrath Concealer. Anok Yai’s is one of my favorites!

You can stay in touch with Tyra on Instagram & if you aren’t already, give ILIA Beauty a follow! Highly recommend the Tinted Lip Oil and can’t wait to try the new Eye Stylus Shadow Stick.

Where do you live?

I was born and raised in CA, but have called Dallas, Texas home now for the past 4.5 years.

How long have you been working in the influencer/creator economy?

I’ve been working in the influencer marketing world for 10 years, but the teams, titles and ways of working have changed. I started my career at Awesomeness TV which is a digital media production company. Started as a YouTube Channel where they casted YouTube creators as the actors and actresses in scripted and unscripted shows that were sold to streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, YouTube Red, etc. This was at the emergence of social media and at the time creators thought their career route was the more traditional acting route. We worked with the OG YouTubers like Bethany Mota, Claudia Sulewski, Aspyn Ovard and so many more. At the time, the now called influencer team, was the “casting” team. I was not on this team, rather on the marketing side, creating social strategies and deliverables for the influencers to post on their channels to promote the shows/films. This led me down a social marketing path, which, of course, closely overlaps with influencer.

Now that you're officially back in an influencer-specific role, how did your previous roles help you get there?

After AwesomenessTV, I took a role at Redbull working on their organic social team. Redbull had their social strategy figured out, so my job was less brand building and more brand sustaining. This was an amazing opportunity that allowed me to travel all over the world, but through this job it showed me the importance of working for a brand where I personally loved and used the product and could relate to the core audience. This discovery led me to my next job at Sephora where I fell in love with the beauty industry.

Sephora feels like the gold standard into the beauty industry. What was happening in the influencer space while you were there?

Musically had just transitioned to TikTok, so we were reprogramming our social strategy to include the new platform. At this time, it was also the second year of Sephora's Squad, which became our main focus for fueling the content on our TikTok. As a result, the influencer and social teams partnered closely to bring this strategy to life.

This is such a fun crossover! The Sephora Squad was created in partnership with the influencer agency Fohr, where I’ve spent the majority of my career. I’d love to hear more about your perspective on the Sephora Squad.

Influencer is so much about authenticity and having those authentic relationships with your audience. Sephora wanted to work with influencers who prioritized an engaged audience rather than just relying on follower count. How Sephora did that in partnership with Fohr, was to create a landing page for the influencer's audience to leave them personal testimonials. I would say Sephora was one of the pioneers of stripping away follower count and putting engagement from the community at the forefront of their strategy.

I love the call out of engagement over follower count. I think this concept is still difficult to sell to brands, especially when they focus on 'potential impressions.' At the end of the day, that number doesn’t hold much value, as it's highly unlikely that 100% of an influencer’s followers will see every post.

Totally! And I even think going from the retailer side to the brand side has been really interesting. On the brand side there are many more questions from the top regarding impressions and revenue tied to a campaign. Whereas on the retailer side, we weren’t discussing revenue with our influencer partners. We partnered with influencers for brand and community building. Once you get to the brand side, budgets are tighter and more questions are asked regarding the ROI.

What was your reason for transitioning from retail to brand side?

During my time at Sephora, I worked on the launch of Rare Beauty. I was able to get a behind the scenes look at what it's like to be on the brand side; launching a brand, developing products and building super innovative campaigns. There was a lot more creativity in building something from the ground up! Being at a retailer the size of Sephora, you have your hands on a lot of different things, but you are not truly leading the creative and building the brand. This made me realize that I wanted to be at the forefront of creative and brand building, which led me to a role at Briogeo.

And what did your role look like at Briogeo?

When I joined the team they didn’t have an ambassador or community program and were lacking content from a brand perspective, and coming from Sephora I knew the importance of this. Our team launched an ambassador program, but now looking back this was much more of a content program. We partnered with 30 micro creators for a year long partnership, who showcased a diverse set of hair types and textures. These creators delivered one piece of content per month along with sharing this content on their channel with an affiliate link.

Were you paying influencers for this program?

Yes, we had a budget for this program, and the ambassadors were contracted with a quarterly flat fee. We quickly learned that this program was fueling a lot of different needs across the business, but content was the biggest need. After the program’s first year, we re-strategized the program only contracting creators for 6-months due to the faces and content starting to feel repetitive and we wanted to make sure the content felt fresh.

And with where the industry is today, do you still feel like that flat fee model works?

No, absolutely not. This program also gave us 1-year usage on all content, which would never fly today. The exciting part of building these micro programs is that some of the creators we worked with at the time now have communities of over 500K+ followers and have grown into successful influencers. We learned and benefited from this as creators who start their journey with you and know you put your trust in them will give more organic love, and partner on more reasonable rates as they continue to grow.

After being at Briogeo for two years, you then moved over to Bondiboost. What did that transition look like?

I was eager to find a role that allowed me to be in-person and BondiBoost’s North America HQ are in Dallas so this made for it being the perfect fit. At the time of joining, their entire influencer team was based in Australia, and I came in to help continue to expand the strategy as the brand had a much larger global footprint. Relationship building in the US was a huge need for them so I need where my focus for 2023-2024 were, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight. My first task at hand was focusing on a seeding strategy that got our hero products in all of the right influencers hands. Now, about a year and a half later, we have built an amazing creator community of true brand lovers who authentically share their love for our products.

How did you achieve the creator community you have now over the past year?

We prioritized a strong seeding/gifting strategy, in-person events in a diverse range of cities, and brought on new partners for paid partnerships. Our first entry point for paid partnerships is always through sharing organically from gifting. If a creator shares organically and their personal brand aligns with our values, we bring that partner on in a paid capacity. This past year's focus, was gifting and contracting creators for TikTok partnerships.

That makes sense because I feel like I saw the infrared round brush all over my feed, both sponsored and organic.

When I joined I knew TikTok needed to be our focus, especially with the purchasing power of Gen Z. The one challenge with partnerships on this platform is tying a direct ROI. This strategy did take a bit of time to prove success on, but as earned media value increased, we knew this strategy was working.

For brand awareness goals, what KPIs have you shared with leadership to prove value?

Earned Media Value our main KPI for awareness, and tracking our performance compared to our competitors. A huge win for us was, a year later after launching our Infrared Thermal Brush, our Thermal Brush was the top searched thermal brush in 2024 on TikTok via Spate. Leadership now sees that building the top of funnel strategies brings in brand awareness while also converting as the brush has moved up to be one of our top selling products. After a year of establishing great relationships with influencers, and testing and learning a lot, we are ready to move these partnerships down the funnel.

@bondiboostWhen the Infared Thermal Brush gives you the *perfect* bouncy blowout in 5 minutes 🥰🫶😍🎀 #bondiboost #5minuteblowout #thermalbrush

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What does that movement look like in 2025?

We just recently launched an affiliate program, so that will be a large focus for us this year, and is a bit more tactical at the bottom of the funnel.We also continue to test and learn with our loyal partners across different channels to test into different KPIs, such as IG Stories. A super big win for us last year was partnering with one of our top creators, Clara Pierce for a custom curated bundle on our dot com. We gifted Clara products over a year and a half ago, and she had such a great hair transformation that she shared her authentic love and testimonials from the products, which then caught our eye to cast her for paid partnerships. We first partnered with her on TikTok to drive brand awareness, and after seeing how her community responded to hair journey we knew we needed to dive into this relationship in a deeper way. That led us to working with her on the custom bundle that sold 1k+ units, and exceeded our revenue goals for the partnership. These Influencer created bundles have allowed creators to come into the brand in a more unique way, and helped with the conversion goals that are tied to our influencer team.

@clararpeirceso excited to bring my @BondiBoost bundle to life!!! A $73 value for $49 plus free minis!! Clara's Good Hair Days Ahead Bundle is available now 🥰❤️🤌🏼 #bondiboostpartner #bondiboost #haircareroutine #hairgrowth #hairtransformation

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Can you give me an example of a partnership that didn’t work?

We partnered with a macro TikTok creator at the beginning of 2024 focusing on one of our core products. This partnership was truly an awareness play to see how it went. This creator did not post about our brand a single time outside of their contracted content, so the authenticity of the partnership was just not there. We did not take this as a huge loss because we still got the recognition, and EMV from a large creator, but it was a good learning experience on partnering with creators who organically love the brand and share outside of paid partnerships. Sometimes we do work with these larger macro creators to just get our foot in the door, and if we don’t see added value from them, we move on. We will still engage them for different moments such as gifts for their birthdays or new product launch mailers, but we aren’t going to engage with them in a paid capacity.

With the TikTok ban still looming, are you still investing in that platform until things change?

Yes, I would say we are still marching forward as if it isn’t going anywhere. My personal back up plan is if a creator has a smaller following on Instagram, we can still transfer that partnership to Reels but have the leverage to negotiate usage. Thankfully we haven’t had to renegotiate this yet, but that’s my back up plan.

Are you looking at YouTube Shorts?

No, we are not. I’m personally not a consumer of YouTube Shorts, and I think that’s actually a challenge of influencer marketing. Part of the personal way you consume content affects your brand strategy. Who do you personally follow? What platforms are you on? Who do you have relationships with? It can be a good thing while also being a challenge to balance.

I would love to hear your briefing philosophy.

Giving creators the freedom to drive the creative is always best! They know their audience best, and what feels most authentic to them so I always want to keep the briefs brief and allow them to drive the creative direction. It also works in our favor when negotiating. Creators always want freedom and autonomy, so by giving them this we are often able to get rates down a bit. I of course give them product overviews, but sometimes that is really it unless it’s tied to a very specific campaign. I also don’t overwhelm them with too many talking points either. If these are the four ingredients in a product, I want to allow them to choose which one resonates best with them and which one made them gravitate towards the product. I also love to give examples of content from their channels to brainstorm off of so that they are more familiar with the vision we may have.

With the fast trend cycle, how do you stay on top of trends and new platforms?

Working in influencer and social marketing I am online all the time. In this industry, it sometimes feels like you are never not working. All the creators we work with I follow on my personal account just to stay in the know. Being on top of social media and keeping up my own scrolling is really how I stay in the know. As for new platforms and trends, I don’t think it's always necessary to just jump on because of all of the internet chatter, especially at smaller brands. At brands such as Sephora and Red Bull, we had larger teams and more resources to test everything, but at both Briogeo and Bondiboost, I like to evaluate the trend/platform and truly identify if it makes sense for the brand and my team's time and resources.

You’ve already touched on measuring success by moving your partners through the funnel, but is there anything additional you want to touch on there?

After focusing on brand awareness and creator community building, I am excited to put a focus on consumer community building this year. It’s a huge focus for a lot of brands, and we are right there with them. As we are in the early phases of building that community, we are exploring unique ways to tap into our creator community and bring their communities into the brand. For example, Jamie Van Slooton is a lifestyle, hair, and fitness influencer, and she has her own pilates platform. We partnered with her to co-host a pilates class event where she shared the event and invited her followers. We then provided branding and products for the event including a flyer that had a QR code on it so that they can join our community on YTB. And for those of your who are not familiar with TYB, look it up because we also just launched on that, and it’s another huge focus for nurturing and interacting with our community.

Like you said, community is the focus for every brand this year! I loved seeing your TYB Wellness Club launch last month and will continue to keep an eye on it.

Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite products from BondiBoost?

   1. My favorite product from BondiBoost is our Infrared Thermal Brush! Before working at BB i was not as versed in hair tools so it’s been fun to learn how to style my hair more.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. I’m a SirusXM which surprises a lot of people so my morning community is dedicated to The Highway station with country blaring.

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brands would you want to partner with?

   1. I love Saie Beauty’s products and marketing so they would be top on my list of beauty brands, but my closet is also entirely Reformation and I am their hugest fan, so naturally that would be my #1 pick.

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer's post and who the influencer was?

   1. I haven’t yet bought it, but do i now NEED a Parke sweatshirt since i have seen it on every one of my favorite influencers? The answer is absolutely.

If you aren’t already, give BondiBoost a follow on Instagram and TikTok! Highly recommend the AirStyler - basically a better priced Dyson Airwrap.

Where do you live?

I currently call Texas home, splitting my time between San Antonio and Austin. I originally moved to Austin at 18 to attend The University of Texas, and it’s a city that always pulls me back, but I work with brands located across coasts.

And which brands are working across?

I’m currently working with Crown Affair and Summer Fridays and previously worked with Sofie Pavitt Face and Salt & Stone.

How long have you been freelancing for beauty brands and how has it evolved since starting?

I’ve been freelancing for beauty brands for about a year and a half, and it’s been incredible to see how much the landscape has evolved since I began. This industry is ever-changing, and staying ahead of trends, uncovering emerging influencers, and adapting to new platforms keeps the work exciting and dynamic.

What were you doing before you decided to go out on your own?

I’ve been immersed in the influencer space for about six years! My career began at Outdoor Voices, where I focused on events and guerilla marketing, and as the industry grew rapidly, my role naturally evolved into influencer marketing. From there, I took full-time positions at Olive & June and Sunday Riley before venturing out on my own. Since then, I’ve freelanced for brands like Salt & Stone and expanded my portfolio to include a range of beauty and lifestyle clients.

Has the industry changed since you first started your career?

Absolutely, the influencer marketing industry has evolved significantly since I first started my career.

• Authentic Connections

  • Initially, the focus was primarily on follower count, with brands prioritizing influencers with the largest audiences. Over time, the industry has shifted toward valuing engagement rates and the quality of an influencer's relationship with their audience, recognizing that authentic connections often drive more impactful results than sheer numbers.

• Type of Content and Platforms

  • When I began, static Instagram posts were the standard, but now short-form video content like TikToks and Instagram Reels dominate, requiring influencers to be more dynamic and creative.

• Measurement and Transparency

  • Brands expect detailed performance metrics, such as conversion rates and ROI, rather than relying solely on vanity metrics like likes and comments. This has also led to the rise of affiliate links and tracking tools to directly tie influencer efforts to sales.

• Legitimacy

  • Contracts, exclusivity clauses, and FTC compliance are now standard, ensuring that collaborations are clear and ethical. Overall, influencer marketing has grown from an experimental strategy to a sophisticated and data-driven cornerstone of many brands' marketing efforts.

Is your role the same across all the brands you are working on or do your responsibilities vary?

Each brand is a little different! Currently, I’m supporting Summer Fridays with several events planned for the first half of 2025. I’m collaborating closely with my dear friend, Kloe Kmiec, who owns White Label Agency, and she’s brought me onboard to help plan and execute these events. Always a pleasure to work with her!

Additionally, I’m working with the Crown Affair team on paid influencer campaigns, ShopMy initiatives, and paid ads. Their team is amazing, and it’s been a dream to partner with a brand I’ve admired since Dianna launched in 2020!

Most recently, I was managing paid influencer campaigns for Sofie Pavitt Face, as well as handling ShopMy gifting and campaigns for the brand.

All three brands are a regular part of my routine! I really loved Sofie Pavitt Face’s moisturizer launch event at Russ & Daughter’s this week. What’s your briefing philosophy for influencers?

I believe in fostering collaboration by meeting with the influencer or their manager after they’ve received the brief and product. This practice has been instrumental in my work at Crown Affair and during my time freelancing for Salt & Stone. These meetings serve multiple purposes: they establish a personal connection with the influencer and the brand, provide an opportunity to clarify any key questions about the brief, and open the door for the influencer to share their creative ideas—particularly around the main hook and how to make the content feel authentic to them.

I find this collaborative approach ensures alignment with brand guidelines while allowing the influencer the creative freedom to produce content that feels personal and engaging. Building genuine partnerships through meaningful interaction is essential to creating content that resonates, while avoiding a purely transactional dynamic.

Completely aligned with this approach! That one on one face time ahead of content creation makes a huge difference. How do you stay on top of trends that could impact briefing and content creation?

Staying on top of current social conversations and trends requires a mix of active engagement and constant learning. I regularly monitor social platforms, trending hashtags, and emerging creators to identify patterns and moments that align with a brand’s voice. I also subscribe to industry newsletters, attend webinars, and follow thought leaders in the marketing and influencer space to stay informed.

We’re also exploring new and emerging channels. Substack, for example, is a platform we’re currently testing to tap into niche, highly engaged audiences. It’s an exciting way to lean into long-form, community-driven content that aligns well with broader brand storytelling.

How do you measure success for your campaigns?

Success is measured differently for each brand, depending on their specific goals and priorities. For instance, when Sofie Pavitt Face launched at Sephora, we collaborated with five influencers to promote the launch and evaluated ROI through social metrics such as reach, engagement, and earned media value (EMV). On the other hand, Crown Affair places a stronger emphasis on conversion metrics, focusing on how well campaigns drive actual sales. Tailoring success metrics to each brand’s objectives ensures we’re delivering meaningful and impactful results.

Are there any influencers you have loved working with?

Absolutely—there are so many! Hailey Polk, Manana Arakelyan, Mada Graviet, Ella McFadin, and Hannah Chody come to mind as standouts. A key reason they’re such a joy to work with is the exceptional managers they have, which truly makes all the difference. Beyond that, they’re incredibly kind, collaborative, and reliable. They consistently deliver high-quality content and perfectly align with the briefs every single time!

Who would you love to work with?

I would love the opportunity to work with Paige Lorenze. I’ve admired her for years and truly respect the intentionality she brings to brand partnerships. She only collaborates with brands she genuinely loves and uses, which makes her content feel effortlessly authentic and relatable.

Is there a campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?

I’m incredibly proud of Taryn Lamb—she’s a dear friend and has truly excelled over the past two years. She only takes on brand partnerships with products and brands she genuinely uses, which adds so much authenticity to her content. Not to mention, she’s just the kindest person! We worked with her on a Salt & Stone ad when the brand was launching at Sephora, and she absolutely nailed it.

@therealtarnanlambmy all time favorite shower product…. the salt & stone body wash in santal!! 🧼 and now @SALT & STONE is offically in @sephora so i no longer have to get it online slay #bodywash #everythingshower #sephora #sephorahaul #comewithme #saltandstone

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Now for a few final, fun questions:

1. Favorite products from Sofie Pavitt Face, Crown Affair, and Summer Fridays?

   1. From Sofie Pavitt Face, Nice Ice is my absolute favorite—it’s become an essential part of my morning routine! I honestly couldn’t live without Crown Affair’s Dry Shampoo. I once ran out of it while traveling and made a special trip to Sephora just to make sure I had it for the rest of my trip! And as for Summer Fridays, the Dream Lip Oil is incredible. It keeps my lips feeling hydrated and soft all day long.

2. Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?

   1. I like to kick off my mornings with an iced matcha and dive into my daily substacks: by , by , and by .

3. If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brands would you want to partner with?

   1. I would love the opportunity to work with Momofuku or Brightland Olive Oil. My fiancé owns a restaurant, so we’re always cooking, and Momofuku and Brightland’s products have become staples in our home. The best partnerships are those that feel genuine, and it’s clear when an influencer has truly used a product. This one would be a no-brainer for me, as we use their products every day. *if you find yourself in San Antonio, you must go to Macy’s fiance’s restaurant, Reese Bros Barbecue. It’s the best BBQ in Texas!

4. Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer's post and who the influencer was?

   1. I recently bought a stunning dress from LPA after seeing it posted on Sarah Walker’s broadcast channel. I also picked up the Saie Tinted Moisturizer after watching Hannah Chody rave about it on her TikTok.

You can stay in touch with Macy on Instagram & if you aren’t already, give Crown Affair, Sofie Pavitt Face and Summer Fridays a follow! Highly recommend the Sofie Pavitt Cleanser, Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm and Crown Affair Cleansing Scrub.