No one's handing over the mic.

It’s a rainy weekend in Los Angeles. I’ve been moving through the usual things: emails, a trip to Costco, the post office. I stopped at one of my favorite used bookstores to grab an extra copy of the book we’re reading in my family book club.

We’ve been doing this for years, with a group thread to trade reactions in real time. It’s one of those simple things that makes me feel more tethered to the people I love, even when we’re all in our own little bubbles on opposite sides of the country.

At the post office, I shipped off 65 boxes of Casa Noon merch to our TYB members and editor samples (fingers crossed for some big mentions in the new year).

All of them packed by hand, my hands mind you, at the kitchen table. The boxes were stacked across the house this week. It’s the kind of mess that says “something’s happening here!” but still feels like no one really sees it unless they’re in the room with you.

I know it’s going to be like this for a while. That’s the thing about being an indie brand. No one’s handing you the mic. You’ve got to hold it yourself, even when your voice (and your box packing hands) is tired.

I had a convo at a founder’s dinner this week about getting ready to start shipping Casa Noon. (We’re still in pre-order now.) The gal I was chatting with said, “Doesn’t it feel great to get to the finish line after three years of working on this brand!?” and I said, “Honestly, I’m just getting to the starting line.”

It’s true. Three years of concepting, sample after sample, finding the right chemist, packaging, partners, and advisors… and finally it feels like we’re ready to begin.

This morning, my husband and I were chatting over coffee about the Grammy nominations. He’s an artist; he’s been in this long enough not to be easily impressed by industry noise. He made a comment about how these days, the music world feels like a full-blown popularity contest. It’s not about the most innovative or emotionally resonant work. It’s about who has the biggest reach on social, the trending 15 second sound, the right machine behind them. (Not always, but often.)

Then he said, “Imagine if it was like that in beauty.”
And I was like… uhm it is. Hailey, Selena, Riri, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, even Dua Lipa now all have product lines.

There’s some version of this in so many industries.

When I look at Casa Noon, a line I’m building without a celebrity face, without a corporate budget, without global shelf space (yet), I know exactly what we’re up against, but it’s scary wondering if we can actually get our pre-order numbers where I’d like them to be before year end.

What we do have is a clear point of view. And the belief that when this product actually gets on people’s skin, they’ll love it. They’ll wear it. They’ll share it. And they’ll come back for more.

That conversation stuck with me. Because it’s not just us. So many of us are out here building something that wasn’t born to be algorithm-optimized. Sometimes it feels like people only see you once you’re already everywhere.

So maybe this is your reminder, as we head into gifting season, to support the people you actually know. The ones making things with their own hands (not because they’re doing it because it’s the best business decision, but because they can’t not).

Skip the Skims and Rhode haul this year. Buy the indie record. Send the link to the Etsy shop. Gift the beauty line that doesn’t have shelf space yet.

And if that friend is you: if you’re the one behind the brand or the art, if you’re trying to figure out how to get the sales moving, how to build something that feels like you… I just want to say: you're not doing it wrong.

Most founders I talk to aren’t stuck because they lack strategy. They’re stuck because they’re trying to say the “right thing,” and somewhere along the way, their voice got lost in the translation.

It’s not that your ideas aren’t good.
It’s not that you’re not putting in the work.
It’s just that we can’t always hear you.

What I want you to do is think about how we can truly FEEL you.

That’s what people are looking for. Presence. Proof that there’s a real person behind the brand or the art, one who believes in something. One who’s building something worth staying close to.

This week inside the Cult Brand Blueprint, we’ve been mapping what I call founder lore. The story that lives underneath your brand, your mythology. It’s what explains why what you do exists, and why people might want to be part of it.

And honestly, sitting with these stories, helping founders find the right words… it reminded me how easy it is to lose your clarity when you're trying to get everything “right.” But the story that actually sticks? It’s the one that’s been there the whole time. The one only you can tell.

So inside this week’s issue, we’re getting into it:
– Founder lore (and how to write yours without sounding like a startup pitch deck)
– A handful of GPT prompts I’d actually use for brand building
– And a few things I’m loving right now that just might open up something for you too.

xo,
Andi

Inside the Cult Brand Blueprint Accelerator this week, we’ve been focusing on something that’s easy to skip but often explains why a brand either clicks or doesn’t: the founder’s story.

This is the part that gives shape to your decisions. It clarifies what you’re doing and why it matters. And when you know how to talk about it, your content, products, offers, and brand voice start to come together in a way that actually makes sense.

Every time I sit with a founder and help them name this clearly, something shifts. The writing gets easier. The messaging becomes more natural. The products start to feel like they belong.

That’s been true for me, too.

With Casa Noon, the story behind it has informed every single decision. I spent years on planes and in the sun — hopping time zones, working non-stop, rarely giving my skin the reset it needed. I’ve always had sensitive skin. I’ve also always loved actives (retinols, AHAs) and ingredients that actually do something. But I don’t want the downtime. I didn’t have space for a ten-step routine.

Eventually I realized that if I wanted a product that did all of that, it was time to make it. It needed to be aloe-based, with sea-derived phyto retinols. No recovery time. No redness. And it had to fit into the smallest TSA bag.

Now, I use it every day. And OMG it works. My 45+ skin isn’t lying.

If your brand’s starting to feel a little off… if the language isn’t landing or your people seem confused, this is probably the part that needs your attention.

Here’s how to map your founder lore:

You don’t need to tell your whole life story. You just need to tell the right part of it.

That’s what creates clarity. That’s what makes people want to be part of it.

GPT Prompts Cult Brand Founders Actually Use

These aren’t generic content prompts. They’re built around the key traits of cult brands — the ones that build insider language, create shared lore, and give customers something to belong to. You can copy and paste these straight into ChatGPT and start building smarter, sharper brand language.

➡ Use this to develop community language, content themes, or subtle on-brand easter eggs. Then reinforce them across launches, packaging, and IG captions to deepen brand memory.

➡ This one is about drawing a line in the sand. It creates tension, edge, and values people can actually align with. Great for ‘About’ pages, brand manifestos, and founder-led content.

➡ This helps your audience feel like they have a seat at the table. Use it to drive engagement, increase buy-in, and crowdsource high-intent feedback before you launch.

➡ Great for pitch decks, podcast intros, and making your bio page actually feel like a story. It should sound like a moment of conviction, not a bullet-point list of achievements.

➡ Cult brands go beyond value exchange. This one’s about emotional reward — creating an experience or subtle "secret" that creates deep engagement and makes customers feel like curators and discoverers of a detail the brand intentionally hid just for them.

A few patterns, frameworks, and storytelling shifts we’re loving lately — the kind of things that change how you show up creatively, even if just by a degree.

There’s something about the way Shonda Rhimes tells a story — she never gives you everything at once. Instead, she builds tension through open loops: questions without answers, scenes that cut right before the reveal, cliffhangers that keep you watching when you swore you were going to bed. I’ve been using this in brand storytelling and content structure lately, and it works. Because our brains remember what’s unfinished — and we stay with the story until we get the resolution.
We broke it down on IG →

Some of the smartest brand decisions happening right now aren’t about category disruption, they’re about creative subversion inside of very established spaces.

The product isn’t new. The format isn’t revolutionary.
But the execution is totally unexpected.

→ Think metal, chaotic Liquid Death in a lineup of serene, blue-label hydration brands
→ Or OPEN Studio, which positions a meditation product like a surrealist film, not an app-store utility
→ Or Barbour’s archive-heavy, utilitarian styling in a traditionally conservative British fashion space
→ Even inside beauty we’re seeing a shift toward saturated colors, unpredictable type, and storytelling that leans more experimental art school than clean girl aesthetic

If I were developing a wellness brand, here’s what I might consider:

Steal this: Look at your category. What’s the expected tone, color story, or design move? What’s the default founder voice or marketing style? Now break one thing — on purpose.

For indie founders, artists, and brand builders who move with intention.

1. The Pollination Project – Seed Grants
$1K for early-stage, grassroots projects building a more compassionate world. No nonprofit status required.
→ Apply → (Rolling deadline)

2. Pollock-Krasner Grants
Up to $50K for visual artists (painters, sculptors, printmakers).
→ Details → (Rolling)

3. Netflix – Social Manager, Publishing
$170K–$300K. Lead social for Netflix editorial across Discord, Reddit, more.
→ Apply → (Open now)

4. Heaven Mayhem – Graphic Designer
LA or remote. Design across e-comm, UX, packaging, campaigns.
→ Apply → (Open now)

Hot tip:
Want to post your own “ISO a Smart Girl” or an opportunity that could be helpful to the community? Reply here so we can get you in the next issue.

Before we go…

P.S. Our Black Friday Table is Coming
If you were around last year, you know we don’t do random discount codes — we build a full Founder & Creator’s Table of our most-loved resources from the vault at truly wild prices. Courses, templates, and tools designed to move the needle and feel good to use.

✨ Waitlist opens first → Add your name here

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