I know a thing or two about branding...

This article was originally published in the Girlboss newsletter.

I think it’s fair to say I know a thing or two about branding—Girlboss wouldn’t be half of what it is today if I hadn’t kept this “mission” at the forefront of my mind. To grow from a book to a movement to a media company is not the normal way we were taught to build things. But with Girlboss, it worked because of our brand—and more importantly, because of our belief in our brand. Take one glance at the book, the content of our site, the images on our Instagram and the women that make our community so truly bitchin’ (I love that word), and you’ll understand who we are and what we stand for instantly.

Building a great brand starts with a great product—be it a book, a necklace, a blog. You must have something so great that the first people who like your product are so effusive about it that they share it with someone else, and that person shares it with another, and so on. 

Which means: Once you have your product, community becomes king. Or queen. Or gender-fluid leader. Your call. 

On my journey, Girlboss the book happened, I channeled it into a podcast and then a Netflix series, and that has mushroomed into a hashtag that has been used 10 million times on Instagram alone. Who did that? You did. Why? Because there was a hole in the world that Girlboss filled. A conversation for the women who didn’t fit into the perfect mold of what our careers should look like, who were looking for new ways, and hadn’t seen a goofball like myself accomplish what I did. Let me repeat: I didn’t do this, you did. Without a group of engaged people who love what you do and are excited about what’s next, you have a pipe dream and a lot of tears ahead of you. 

I think of brands as an imprint. A logo, a phrase, a flagship product that is so memorable it becomes emblazoned on your psyche forever. Brands should be emotional. Someone once told me that “great brands give people permission to be themselves;” and as a brand builder and marketer, I’ve never heard anything more true. 

Girlboss was just that. Call it a hashtag, a marketing ploy, an outdated and gendered term; the fact is that it worked, and it’s still working four years later. I realized that Girlboss was, yes, an opportunity to create media across social, a website, video, podcasts, newsletters and more. But transcending all of that, Girlboss has become a brand. And the power of a brand is that it can transact in many directions. 

Yes, we work with partners and are so proud of the work we do with brands like Google, Cadillac, and others. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for us. With those relationships, we’re creating value in all directions—firstly for you, then for our partners, and then for ourselves. If the branded content we create doesn’t create value for you, we suck. If it doesn’t create value for our partners, we get fired. If it doesn’t create value for us, either financially or via innovation, this whole thing is a futile exercise. 

But that’s not all. We plan to do so much more, if you’ll join me and this talented team to build the future together. Because you built Girlboss, we want to include you in every step of our evolution, and hope you’ll trust us with your wildest hopes and dreams—and help us shape this thing into what it can become.

What I hope we can do is give you the tools and connections to become your own brand, whatever that may be. Or not. Do you want to become a Benedictine Monk? Do that. Or something else. But no matter what, Girlboss has to be a judgement-free and dogma-free place that provides just the inspiration you need to take your life into your own hands and emblazon your purpose upon the world.

Change is coming. We are working on several things that level-up Girlboss in big ways. Stay tuned, and keep coming back here to be the first to know when we start rolling things out. And please: Keep napping, yapping, hustling, and dreaming on with us.

Xx, Sophia