On paper, I look like someone who couldn't commit. But every pivot taught me something I'm using right now. Paul Hastings: As a hospitality lawyer, I learned how brands get built, licensed, and protected, and how much the smallest details matter. Todd Shemarya Artists: I became a commercial agent because I was convinced that people could be brands, too. Rachel Zoe: I helped build a taste brand across retail, DTC, subscription, QVC, licensing, media and content-commerce. QVC taught me more about why people actually buy things than almost anything I've ever done. You could watch, in real time, what made someone want something and what got them to pick up the phone. Everything But The House: I learned the deeply unglamorous side of physical goods: logistics, shipping, breakage, inventory, and how differently people shop from one zip code to the next. I also learned how many ways you can collapse a thriving business. Some of the most valuable lessons came from what didn't work. I Am A Voter: I created it from nothing, applying everything I'd learned about branding to a cause rather than a product. With a group of incredibly talented women, we made civic engagement culturally relevant and aspirational. Through unexpected partnerships, collaborations, and grassroots organizing, from the NBA and NFL to Disney and hundreds of cultural leaders, I learned how to take something people had stopped paying attention to and make them want to be part of it. Archewell: I learned how stories can create lasting impact. Calanet Foundation: I brought brand building, advocacy, and cultural storytelling together to create an incubator for new approaches to combating antisemitism. For years, it felt like zigzagging, and my parents were constantly freaking out. Then Sarah Tavel told me to read Range by David Epstein. Epstein argues that in "wicked" environments, where the rules are murky and nothing holds still, range can be your greatest asset. Now I'm finally building the brand I've always dreamed of building, and for the first time, all those scattered chapters are converging. I'm using all of it. Some decisions were mistakes, and some lessons were expensive. But I believe in building your toolbox, even when you can't explain where it's taking you. The full letter, plus my conversation with Jake Arnold: https://lnkd.in/gd9QptdB
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