Weaving social good into your brand’s DNA is no longer optional—it’s expected. In fact, 89% of Gen Zers would rather buy from a company that is addressing social or environmental issues than from one that is not, and 92% say they would switch to a brand associated with a good cause. Bombas, a sock company that has had social good built into its DNA from…
Cosmo Publisher Nancy Berger on Building Brands Millennials and Gen Zers Love
As Publisher of Cosmopolitan—the biggest young women’s media brand in the world—as well as Seventeen and Women’s Health, Nancy Berger is one of the highest-profile executives in the magazine business. Her storied career has also included senior roles at Gourmet, Allureand Marie Claire, and she’s seen consumer magazines’ evolution into the digital age from the inside. Berger recently sat down with host Matt Rubel to…
Fern Mallis on New York Fashion Week (and How One Crumbling Ceiling Helped Create It)
The electricity went out during one of the runway shows. At another, the fashion editors got stuck in a broken elevator. But the last straw was when ceiling plaster came crumbling down on both the models on the catwalk and the press in the front row at one of the New York Market Week shows in 1991. The models brushed the dust off their shoulders…
Why the Smartest Global Retailers Are Headed to Africa for Growth
When Jack Ma first visited Africa in 2017, he was struck by the massive economic potential of the continent. Late that year, Alibaba and the UN invited 25 African entrepreneurs to participate in the eFounders Fellowship Program at Alibaba’s headquarters in China. One of those entrepreneurs was Jessica Anuna, CEO and Founder of Klasha, the first online marketplace to offer affordable fast fashion to millennials…
Going Commando with CEO Kerry O’Brien
Kerry O’Brien quit her corporate PR job in NYC after 9/11 and moved to Vermont with her husband to start a new chapter in life. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but she’d always loved fashion and had long been frustrated that there wasn’t an intimates brand that seemed to understand what she wanted—garments that were comfortable and gave her confidence. In…
Why 70% of Men and Women Lie on their Online Dating Profiles…and How Personal Branding Can Be Deceptive
A whopping 70% of online daters lie in their dating profile, mostly about height, weight and age, says relationship and online dating expert Dr. Jess Carbino. But only major exaggerations seem to matter much to people using the platforms. Dr. Jess, a PhD sociologist, has researched how people create their own personal storefront and romantic brand to attract the attention of potential mates on dating…
Christine Hunsicker Is Bringing the Sharing Economy to the Fashion World
Christine Hunsicker had an idea to bring the sharing economy to apparel. Airbnb’s success had convinced her that consumers would embrace clothing rental: if people were willing to lay their heads on strangers’ pillows, she thought, they’d certainly be willing to wear clothes someone else had worn. Tuxedo rental had long been the norm, and women had always passed along maternity wear and kids’ hand-me-downs….
Mindy Grossman on Profound, Radical Change in Business
What She’s Learned from Working with Oprah Winfrey, Ralph Lauren, Barry Diller and Phil Knight Before Mindy Grossman joined WW International as CEO, she took a day to visit board member Oprah Winfrey to see if their visions for the company’s future were aligned. Grossman knew consumers were focusing more on community and living a meaningful, healthy life than they had in the past. She’d…
How Dani Beckerman Used Instagram to Build a Thriving Dessert Business from Scratch
“When did you realize that Instagram could be your store?” That’s one of the questions host Matt Rubel asked Dani Beckerman when they sat down to talk about the business Beckerman unwittingly launched nearly six years ago with a single Instagram post. Beckerman was in culinary school at the time, and often experimented in her kitchen at home, creating pretty, layered desserts in glass jars….
CBD Beauty: Where Beauty, Wellness and Cannabis Intersect
CBD is one of the most exciting new trends in beauty and wellness since retinols. A natural molecule found in cannabis, CBD is different from THC, the chemical that produces a “high.” A federal law passed in December made it legal in every state to make products containing hemp-derived CBD, essentially opening up space in the US market for a whole new category of products….