Diary of a Founder: Let’s Celebrate 2022 and Welcome 2023!
As we dive into 2023, we want to first thank you for your continued support and invite you to celebrate our 2022 wins with us. We are big believers in taking time to pat ourselves on the back and reflect on all the goodness that came from completing that never ending to-do list, keeping our cameras on for weekly zoom meetings, non-stop travel and always on brain space.? You have invested your time and trust in us and we are forever grateful as we have adapted and grown over the course of this remarkable year.?
Since launching last October, BrainTrust Founders Studio has become the largest platform dedicated to Black founders of beauty and wellness companies. We are proud to share that we have 81+ founders: 100% Black, 91% women representing 650+ skus in the market — with our top 10 founders driving revenues of $90MM+. We anticipate supporting 200 founders by this time next year!
Founders House?
We launched our inaugural Founders House, an inclusive, community-meets-commerce pop-up experience for founders, influencers, industry leaders, service providers and investors. After a successful launch in New Orleans in 2022, Founders House is planning 2023 “pop-ups” in Austin, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York.?
If you are interested in more information or participating in Founders House 2023 please email [email protected].
Founders Dinner
We launched our first Founders Dinner Series in NY and LA, bringing founders and service providers together for 1:1 curated conversations surrounding manufacturing to finance.?
Check out our latest Founder Dinner hosted by Jonathan Hodge, Private Wealth Manager at Merill Lynch and Hassan K. Webb, Senior Vice President, Marketing Executive, Commercial Banking at Bank of America.
FounderMade x BrainTrust Founders Studio Partnership
Brand and resource innovation platform, FOUNDERMADE, who recently hosted its first BeautyMade: The Show for High Growth Beauty Innovators earlier this month, has announced a BIPOC partnership with BrainTrust Founders Studio, the largest platform dedicated to Black founders of beauty and wellness brands.?
Sponsored by Mason Hub, a provider of scalable fulfillment services and Tatari, a self-serve platform for buying & measuring TV, BrainTrust Founders Studio highlighted 80+ Black founders and brands during FOUNDERMADE’s inaugural BeautyMade show. This partnership is part of a larger effort kicking off in 2023 to ensure that 15% of the show floor is dedicated to Black founders.
“BrainTrust Founders Studio is elated about this partnership to increase overall diversity amongst the FOUNDERMADE community and beyond,” explains Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Founder/CEO of BrainTrust.? “For a year now, we have been creating an ecosystem toward winning for Black founders of beauty and wellness companies. It’s our hope that this opportunity further amplifies the impactful strides Black founders are making in the beauty industry and beyond.”
Read More HERE.
?Alongside BrainTrust Founders Studio, BrainTrust Agency supported new clients, dynamic activations and product launches.
领英推荐
BrainTrust Agency partnered with Dark & Lovely to celebrate their 50 year anniversary by asking aspirational, career-driven women to share what their vision is for the future of the beauty industry. We were thrilled with the submissions and the innovative thinking the next generation of bold leaders shared. In January, we will announce the recipient of the grand prize which includes a $5,000 business grant and a trip to Dark & Lovely's headquarters in NYC to go behind the scenes to experience what it takes to build and grow a sustainable brand.
BrainTrust Agency was brought into the conversation about the current state of athletic apparel by Greatness Wins. Navigating this saturated market, one major question kept coming up: what happened to the ‘sport’ in sportswear? Quality and durability are questionable with many athletic brands, while the focus of athleisure is more on fashion than fitness. BrainTrust Agency in partnership with Studio West launched the social media presence for this brand, leveraging our experience in both the fashion and fitness spaces. We successfully integrated the faces of the brand including Derek Jeter and Missy Copeland in a compelling way that drove significant growth of the brand's social media channels.
BrainTrust Agency has been fortunate to work with Revelations Entertainment, Morgan Freeman, Lori McCreary, Co-founder and CEO, and the entire team for the past several years on their digital strategy. The team was on set for the short film Heros and Villians to capture Morgan Freeman uttering Metro Boomin's notable phrase “You know what they say? If Young Metro don’t trust you, where the fu*k are you gonna run?” In partnership with Revelations, BrainTrust helped leverage this content across social media and experienced a reaffirming response to Freeman's significant impact and relevance to the culture.
Cantu Elevate
As a long-standing BrainTrust Agency client, Cantu Beauty partnered with BrainTrust Founders Studio to strategize and launch the second year program for Cantu Elevate. Cantu Elevate was designed to help Black female entrepreneurs navigate today’s marketing landscape using strategic, digital tools customized specifically for businesses in beauty. Through partnerships with BrainTrust Agency, The Sasha Group (a VaynerX company), and Reddish, Cantu Elevate facilitated growth for select businesses with tips and tools from experts on everything from how to build a strong brand presence to activating on new and emerging platforms. During Founders House, Cantu Elevate, BrainTrust Agency and the Sasha Group launched a pitch competition that resulted in awarding $45K in grant dollars to BrainTrust Founders Studio founders including:? $20,000 grant winner, Ezinne Iroanya, founder and CEO of SKNMUSE, $10,000 grant winner Rachel Lambo, founder of Sade Baron and $10,000 grant winner Kim Roxie, founder of Lamik Beauty, in addition $1,000 grants were awarded to the remaining five competitors for their participation.?
I am so fortunate to host the Business of the Beat podcast produced by Mean Ole Lion Media. Over the last two seasons, we’ve spent over 90 episodes together sharing what’s going on behind the scenes in the beauty industry. This is the only podcast hosted by a Black woman with a Black producing team focused on the business of beauty and wellness specifically through the lens of BIPOC founders, senior executives, influencers and operators. You’ve listened as we’ve unpacked what goes into launching, building, scaling and exiting a beauty brand.
You can find Business of the Beat on all platforms from Apple Podcasts to Stitcher to Spotify. Tune into the premier of Business of the Beat Season Three this Sunday to hear from Monaè Everett!?
One of our dear BrainTrust Founders Studio founders and founder of D’Lashes, Dionne Phillips has been using her platform to share her breast cancer journey in the hopes of educating and saving other women. Now we hope to amplify her voice and support her battle against breast cancer.?
Dionne's chemo treatments are underway with her husband, Terry, by her side every step of the way. However, medical expenses and bills can certainly be a burden. We ask on behalf of Dionne, her family and anyone that has ever had to fight this battle, please join us in our support of Dionne's fight against breast cancer.?
Show your support at the GoFundMe HERE.?
If you missed Kendra and Dionne on Business of the Beat, make sure to check out their episode HERE.?
Strategic Sales and Gen AI Learning Leader | Professor of Marketing
2 年A powerhouse of accomplishments for the community. Bravo Kendra. your team, and the founders! ??