“Wow so this is what guidance feels like!”

(For context, if you’re new here, I’m a Fractional CMO, and Brand Growth Mentor for beauty, wellness, and lifestyle driven founders.)

This is a founder who has invested significant money, time, energy, and life into her business over the last 2 years.

She’s tried a LOT of things; she’s hired agencies and freelancers. She’s tried almost every marketing channel in “some” shape or form, but nothing seems to move the needle.

And she felt like her brand was just missing something.

When we started, she said:

“I have to be honest with you about where I was today. I was feeling like, What the fuck have I been doing to move this business forward, I started to really go in on myself”

And in just 4 weeks, her mind has been blown open, multiple times.

“Thank you for your stewardship with this new realization of clarity when it comes to my business; it feels almost like another superpower. That’s how good it feels. Thank you again.”

Another example you might relate to, was during a meeting I had before I left for my trip to NY last week, with a super cool wellness founder who has been in business for 2 years and is ready to grow.

She had just finished a 3-day business retreat in Topanga with a stellar Creative Business Coach to help her with the creative vision and product structure (it’s an app).

But even after 3 days of intensive exploration, they found themselves continuing to get stuck on things like:

• “Who is our core customer?”

• “How should we approach our go-to-market with this V2.0?”

• “What marketing channels should we prioritize and what should we do?”

That’s why she wanted to meet with me urgently while she was visiting LA.

And that’s why she’s probably going to take one of the last spots in the last cohort of my Brand Growth Mentorship and Incubator (CFI)

The acceptance period for the last cohort of CFI, my 14- week Brand Growth Mentorship, ends this week.

I’ve only got 1 spot truly open, because I have 3 founders who have already said yes, and 2 pending yes’.

Traditional marketing in this space would tell me to “handle objections” or “use scarcity to drive action”, “send an email EVERY DAY”.

But as I opened up my laptop to write some emails and send a few invitations out to founders in my circle, I thought, nah, I’m just going to be real with you.

I’m not “here to sell” anything; I’m here, inviting you to do what you probably know you need to do, to get the support you need, to help you get to where you know you could be.

No one reaches their goals on their own! I know this first-hand, and I walk the walk.

Every moment I’ve grown personally and professionally, it’s been with the support of a coach or mentor I’ve invested in.

I don’t typically talk about what I do on Substack, but I thought I’d send this to see if anyone out there is watching, waiting, and ready to get the support they need and take 1 of these last spots.

It’s not just a matter of filling spots, it’s that I would truly love to welcome 6 incredible founders into this last cohort, so we can have all 6 of you at the end of the 14 weeks, saying “fuck yeah, we did that” and living your version of fulfilled success.

I created CFI to give founders access to CMO-level partnership at that exact point of WTF Next?! Like the founders I just told you about.

WTF Next spiralling for founders can be defined as: that place of not knowing what to focus on, what to prioritize, and what will move the needle when it comes to getting your brand out there, or having a marketing, content, and sales strategy that works, questing yourself all the time, then feeling like you might just give up.

When you are part of CFI, I am your CMO Mentor and Thought Partner, which means 1:1 collaboration and daily communication, not more advice and a big list of things to do with no support on how or when.

I will help you grow your business, become an expert marketer, a confident founder, and - make your brand click, stick, connect, and convert.

Is it for you? Well, if -

• You are a founder who has invested in your business already ~ time, money, energy (life!)

• You’re working on something truly innovative

• You’ve been thinking about getting support like this this year

• You have big milestones to hit, but you’re never on the right track to hit them

• You know you won’t get where you’re trying to go on your own

• And - you are ready to take your business seriously

Yes? You are 10000% a fit.

Go ahead and find a time here for us to talk.

My Coaching and Mentorships with clients cover a lot of things because, as a startup serialist, I’ve been there, done that, so it’s always hard to define it all in just one email or IG post.

Founders love my frameworks and structure for sure, but the partnership we’re in together is nimble, flexible, and super personalized because I also know every business and founder is unique.

That said, the core focus areas are:

• Sticky Brand DNA; founder story, standout market opportunity, BFF customer profiling, and positioning that makes it super fucking sticky, this becomes our solid marketing foundation

• Content: Visual and verbal storytelling so that people connect to what they’re doing

• Marketing: Leveraging the right channels (not any and all of them!) so that they get the brand out there in front of their BFF customer target

• Sales: Like, revenue channels, sales structure, and ecomm strategy - how it makes money

• And last but not least, confidence: an overlooked but essential element of building a successful business.

If something else comes up, like your packaging, or pitching an investor, or a partnership offer - we work on that too.

I love it all.

I get so much fulfillment from seeing clients’ lives change because they finally feel confident about what they’re doing, how to show up, what to prioritize, where to focus, how to make money, and GROW.

But it’s important for you to know I’m also here doing it for MYSELF every, single, day.

Every day I take Creating Forward action; being awkward, pitching, posting, coffee-ing, being embarrassed, excited, disappointed, making scary decisions, hiring people who know more than me, learning new things, working super early and super late, getting fucking clearer and clearer (the work is never done) on my own Sticky Brand DNA, showing up and keeping my marketing ecosystem going, making money, investing it back…

Notice some themes here? Putting myself out there, building community, investing in myself, and getting results.

And I have fun doing it all!

My mum gave me this advice as a kid, and I live by it: “Don’t ever just have a job, do what you love.”

Thanks mum :)

Success can be many things: Self-love, relationships, creativity, business, health, freedom, finance. If you’re like me, success is all of the above and I call it Fulfilled Success.

That’s what CFI, my Brand Growth Mentorship and Incubator, is all about: helping you find fulfilled success in what you’re building too.

If you’re like, “OMG, this is exactly what I need to make 2026 the year I want it to be” go ahead and find a time here for us to talk.

OR - “I totally wanna be a part of something like this in 2027” jump on this waitlist.

When it comes down to it, my idea of success is to help as many incredible founders who have an incredible vision step into their potential and make their vision a reality.

So - what do you say? Are we going to create forward together, or you want to keep spinning in circles?

I really hope to hear from you.

x - Sax

PS: You can check out just some of the comments from past founders I’ve mentored here and I’d be happy to share even more examples on our call

So - think about it:

Have you ever stopped to consider that this version of you is the one that’s worthy enough?

That where you are now is exactly where you set the bar not that long ago?

I’ve been doing quite a lot of work this year, with my clients for sure, but also on my own business.

I’m always doing “self-work”. I’m one of those types of people.

The one that is continually raising the bar on herself right?

I’m almost 3 years into this iteration of my business, Creating Forward Studio…if we’re talking first client to hire me for Mentorship Container style work, I guess Jan 2027 will be 3 years.

If we’re talking first time I had the a’ha moment, probably closer to 5 if we’re talking first time I died and hit post on first bit of business content, it’s right in between at 4 years I think?

Anyway, 2023 is when I really went all in, and that’s a long time to be sacrificing vacation, building everything from scratch, working away every day, solo, hiring, making good decisions, making bad ones, thinking about money, creating content...all the things you know too well if you’re a founder right?

What keeps me going is that I am invested in myself, in this vision, and in the impact I can make on founders.

The proof is what fuels all of that.

I’ve been ambitious; I’ve set my goals way too high.

I’ve been disappointed; I’ve been stoked about trying.

I’ve NEVER given up.

For the past year, I’ve been doing this daily manifestation meditation, and one day last week I had this realization that prompted this post on TikTok, which seemingly hit with quite a few people.

I realized as I sat down to do my daily manifesting meditation that I had nothing left to manifest.

After a year of raising the bar for my business - I realized I hit it.

And I don’t need to “always” be raising it.

I could just be happy there for a minute.

Normally I’d always find something, but that day, I thought, “no, I’m satisfied.”

I joined a founders round table event that same day - the conversation theme was self-worth - and as I listened to everyone go around the table, most of what I heard was “who else” they should be becoming, or ”what else” they should be doing to feel worthy.

When it got to my turn, I said, “But maybe, sometimes this version of you is the one that’s worthy enough”.

So, as we head into September, Fall, back-to-school energy, I want you to sit with that for a minute too.

Is what you’ve done enough for today, for this week, for this month?

Can we sit in that for a minute and celebrate it before we chase the next thing?

(pause)

(like really)

Part of the work I do with founders is putting practices in place to recognize their progression; because recognizing growth is as much part of the growth process as making the progression itself.

That’s why I bring it up - quite a lot :)

I know I just gave you a whole pep-talk about being ok with here and now, but I also know that as we approach the end of the year, everyone is going to start looking at their annual goals and checking them against their progression so far.

If you’re realizing there are quite a few milestones you still want to hit for 2026, but they’re feeling a little out of reach, then you might be the right kind of founder to join CFI, my high-touch, 14-week mentorship and incubator.

It’s the last chance to work with me in this capacity for 2026, and I am full for Fractional CMO work until mid-2027.

Four founders have already said yes to being a Forward Founder, which means there are only 2 spots left, and the acceptance period ends in 10 days, on Aug 30.

Three times a year, I invite a small group of founders to work alongside me as part of CFI; it’s an opportunity to grow your business, expand your skillset, and make your brand click, stick, connect, and convert, with the hands-on support of me, someone who knows how to do what you’re trying to do, and genuinely has your back.

It’s one of the most genuinely impactful things I’ve built; a true culmination of everything I’ve learned in my 20-year career building brands.

It’s for founders who have invested in their businesses already ~ time, money, energy ~ but know they won’t get where they’re trying to go on their own, and are ready to take it seriously.

When you are part of CFI, I act as your CMO Mentor, which means 1:1 collaboration, strategy sessions, and daily communication, plus:

• A private community of very cool and very smart founders to tap into

• Accountability, time management, and prioritization

• Copy + paste templates to save all that time you spend wondering “Is this how you do it?”

If you’re working on something truly innovative, are ready to take your business seriously, to get yourself out of the weeds, and get into your zone of genius - let’s talk?

I’d be more than happy to share one of the many testimonials I’ve received from past founders and help you decide if this is the right thing for you right now.

I really hope to hear from you.

Sax - X

And I like it, because it really all comes down to brand building, which I love, because what I don’t love is lazy marketing.

This push is making marketers uncomfortable, getting them out of their comfort zone, and - giving founders and other industries the marketing reins.

I started talking about this in my last article, “everyone is building a brand now” which was actually secondary to this conversation: that when it comes to marketing strategies in 2026, industries are converging more and more.

What I realized when I started thinking about writing this piece about industries converging and marketing tactics we can all borrow from each other is that - brand - is the foundation of it all.

And that’s why everything, and everyone, is “building a brand” now.

For better or worse, you tell me…

In typical me fashion, those two topics became too long to write about as one article, so I split it up into two.

This is two.

In this article, I’m going to give you examples of industries that are borrowing, swapping (or stealing 😏) from each other.

My goal is to give you some ideas to think outside the traditional marketing playbook for your industry too.

My entire career has always been in product-based brands.

My job when I moved to NYC in 2012 was literally to research and report retail, style, digital, marketing, and street trends back to Australia.

I’ve seen the shifts from retail to ecomm, from DTC to pop-up shops, from big box retail to omnichannel, and now, TikTok Shop and Amazon.

But, it’s not just the shopping avenues that have changed.

Over the last 2 or so years, I’ve been developing a new marketing muscle myself, as a brand where I am the product, as a service-based business.

Having been in the product brand world for my entire working life, the new world of marketing as “an online business” (that’s what the OG “service-providers” call it) was a BIG learning curve for me, one I wasn’t quite prepared for.

At the start of this year, I said to myself, “I’m just going to treat it the same as I would a client’s product-based brand”.

I’m not the only one.

Let’s Get Into The Examples & Links

Media & Entertainment:

• Directors used to film a movie or a show, run some trailers, have a premiere, maybe get some pre-opening press, and sell tickets at the cinema.

• Musicians would record, maybe get some pre-album press, or do a concert, and sell tickets or albums.

Now, there’s a whole world (the brand) built around the film, the actors, the artist, the album that lives beyond it.

And that brand is amplified across many of the marketing channels we’re used to seeing for product brands:

• Ecomm sites with merch products to buy like this “I don’t want a boyfriend tee”

• Pop-up experiences w/ products to buy, like the three-day, multi-city pop-up this artist ran for her album release

• Social media profiles, this movie has nearly 6M followers

• This artist with a weekly newsletter, turned book club, turned podcast

• Spotify “get the pre-release” waitlists ~ I was recently on the Steve Lacey one for Oh Yeah (worth a listen)

A friend of mine does digital content strategy for some of the biggest names you have definitely heard of, like Olivia Dean, Gracie Abrams, Gaga and a bunch more, and one of the best ways she can market an artist’s new songs is to have them hit the trending sound list on TikTok or IG.

Which leads me to…

Content Creators:

This is really a big shift; formerly known as “influencers” and now “talent”, this industry is not just people earning $$$ to create content and post for a brand.

Like, there really weren’t many other marketing channels for an influencer other than social media right?

Well, now, they’re building their own brands, and marketing like it:

• Launching physical and “how I did it” digital products to sell - you couldn’t have missed this skincare line drop four hero products that sold out within 10 hours of launch, and this creator has a Creator has a Content College

• Waitlisting - the same above brand built a 57,000 person deepwaitlist for restocks

• Email list building - this investor started with POV content on Tik Tok, started a highly valuable, opeanable, clickable newsletter, and ended up selling her company in a multi 7-fig deal

• Hosting events, or even going on tour like this creator who turned her podcast into a sponsored, multi-city live tour

• Building pop-ups - like this massive creator who took her CPG brand and turned it into physical LA cafes

• Expanding to long-form content, like podcasting or newsletters

And, it’s now not just influencers who are the Creators…

Careerists:

I just made up that word to describe this set, but basically, it’s people with a “job” who are building their brand, and marketing it like one. This is also coming at a time when companies are building brands leveraging their team in content.

Agencies, doctors, marketers, aestheticians, accountants, investors, data scientists…

Previously, it was kind of gross to be “marketing yourself” right? I think that’s dumb, but, it was very much a thing, ESPECIALLY in Australia with this thing we call “tall poppy syndrome” (which is literally in Wikipedia, wow)

You’d have a resume, and that was basically it. If you were on the creative side, sure, a website, portfolio…

If you were in the C-Suite, sure you might get some press, be quoted somewhere.

Now? Careerists at every level, are becoming more like creators - and getting hired for the best jobs.

• Social media platforms; IG, TT, YouTube, LinkedIn: like this 20-year classroom teacher with 3.5 million followers across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, who also does paid keynote speaking at education/tech conferences

• This agency has it’s own podcast hosted by the team

• Creating communities, SO many Slack channels

Which leads us into the service provider industry set -

Service-Providers:

The classic marketing channels service providers would rely on are things like:

• Word of mouth client referrals

• Inbound requests form agencies

• Lead-generating resources (“free” PDF’s that lead to a sales funnel)

Many service-based businesses (like mine) are operating the same way as product-based brands now though:

• Social media profiles: IG, TT, YouTube, Substack, Podcasting, LinkedIn, this one is pretty strong on every platform, and I can speak from experience SO MUCH CONTENT 😅

• Adopting the title of Founder

• Creating “this is how I did it” courses, programs, masterminds like “How to Go Freelance”

• Hosting events, I’m taking this one for myself bc I have two business events I host every month (join this list to get the invites)

  • Monthly Marketing Meetup: a free workshop meets mentorship session with a new theme every month

  • City Walk Chats: a walk to talk business with investors, founders, creativesi in the brand building world, next one is Aug 8 (register here)

• Building waitlists like a musician or product brand would, my friend and past mentor is the queen of a waitlist

• Launching shops with digital products or merch, this one has a social media planner shop

• HAVING a marketing calendar, like this

Many have become hybrid Content Creators X Service-Providers, and many of the above tactics come from traditional product brand marketing…

Product Brands:

To simplify, a traditional marketing channel mix for a product-based brand would be something like:

• Email newsletter and campaigns

• Retail placement or owned stores

• Direct sales via ecomm

• Press features

• Brand partnerships and collaborations

• Basic product photography and a “campaign” shoot

Now we’re seeing beauty, food, fashion, wellness brands lean pretty heavily into the media and entertainment with things like:

• Podcasting,

• Substacks, it’s delicate balance to be a brand here, but this is a good guide

• Sponsoring sports events; this beauty brand became an Official Partner of the New York Knicks, with brand exposure via in-arena LED signage during home games - some of the highest organic exposure you could have

• Going “on tour” with event series, this brand does it so well with Zoom skincare masterclasses, and IRL hangs

• Then there’s the experiential boom like all of these brands

• Waitlist drops of products, this has become pretty standard now, my client is doing it well

• Branded communities; this one

• Rewards systems, she build an entire company around it

And of course, probably the biggest and most obvious one, the content space:

• Prioritizing top-tier content roles as a large part of their talent budget (Heads of Content (up 376%) and VPs of Content (up 308%)

• Founder-creator content (tons of examples + a guide on how-to here)

• Mixing lifestyle & campaign (this is campaign content) (this is lifestyle content) from a brand I recently fell in love with

• Video production (literally everywhere) but I like how this brand is doing it

But, the thing that truly is at the center of all of these examples for every industry?

Brand.

Brand.

Brand.

They all have a brand.

Which leads me back to something I talk about a LOT if you’re new here:

Sticky Brand DNA ™

It’s a signature framework I created and is the foundation of every obsession-level brand.

Because it’s not enough to just have a good product, or just rely on word-of-mouth, or to be creating great content, or to partner with an influencer that has 1M followers.

To be a brand that converts - you have to click, stick, and connect first.

Sticky Brand DNA ™ is how you do that.

I’ve dropped the Sticky Brand Playbook links below: what it is, how it works, and how to personalize it for your business.

But, feel free to drop a comment if you wanna talk about it :) or join one of my events.

Sax - x

(and in case you’re new here -Hi)

Everything and everyone is a brand.

And the reason I started considering this is that I’ve been observing how marketing is starting to converge across all these industries too, but that’s for my next article…

Today, we’re talking about the underlying foundation of that shift - BRAND.

You can’t activate a marketing campaign if you don’t have a real brand as your foundation.

The momentum behind all this, reminds me of when “building community” became such an overused term and sea of underwhelming “this is not community” examples back in 2023; “building a brand” is following suit.

There are real ones; then there are not.

Your brand isn’t a logo, graphics, and a color palette. That’s a visual brand identity. On its own, that’s just a cute outfit with no personality.

It’s also not jumping on camera to post on social media.

I don’t want that to be you, so this article is going to help you differentiate the faux “building a brand” from the real “building a brand” and apply it to whatever you’re doing.

When I first started even slightly contemplating the words “personal brand” and how they might apply to me, it was when I read the book, Be, by Jessica Zweig.

“A no-bullshit guide to increasing your self worth and net worth by simply being yourself.”

Then I bought the workbook that went with it, and truly that was the beginning of me seeing how my experiences and unique POV about building brands, entrepreneurship, and self-work could be turned into a brand.

Before that, I felt like personal brands were something reserved for people like Oprah, Gwyneth Paltrow, or Deepak Chopra.

I was at a crossroads in my career and business, having just wrapped up a contract as the CMO of a wellness supplement brand I helped launch and run for its first 2 years with Kate Hudson.

Wondering, what do I want to do next, who do I want to work with, and what am I truly good at, where can I make the biggest impact and add value?

The reason I picked up the book was that I had started missing the experience of “having my own brand” after my first business and brand, OVERT, closed in 2018 after 4 years of NY founder life.

I didn’t want to start another product-based brand, though, and started thinking, “well, couldn’t I build a brand around what I do?”.

I had no idea that was what we all now reference all day long: a personal brand.

That was the end of 2022; now, here in 2026 ~ the concept of “personal brand” isn’t an unknown, a risk, or a maybe; it’s basically a given for any industry.

• Personal brand: the one going more mainstream in recent years, based on a human’s unique POV, and usually used to enhance their revenue streams.

• Creator brand: kind of like a personal brand really, and definitely a revenue stream with partnerships.

• Career brand: a careerist, leveraging their skillset and POV to enhance job opportunities and revenue streams.

• Product brand: the classic brand style, a physical product, that needs it to sell units.

• Service brand: an agency, a business (like mine) providing a service, and leveraging brand to reach their people.

• Movie brand: Marty Supreme. Case and point. A way to build longterm equity and sell tickets.

• Artist brand: Charlie XCX, Gracie Abrams…also a way to build longterm equity, sell tickets, albums, or, create sponsorship deals.

• Physical brand: Hospitality and wellness do this well, Solidcore, Soho House - businesses that drive equity, and visits or memberships.

All the best and most successful ones?

Have a brand.

Having a great product, skill, location - isn’t enough anymore.

So, what is a brand?

A brand is a world (also a bit of an overused term, but - hey - it works).

A brand goes beyond product.

A brand has a DNA, just like a human.

A brand has something to stick to.

Something I refer to as Sticky Brand DNA ™. And something I built a framework for.

It looks like this:

1. Founder Story + Intention/Motivation

2. Standout Market Opportunity

3. BFF Customer Connection

4. Unique Brand POV + Product Positioning

5. Conversation Themes

Just like us as people, your brand needs to have personality and substance, it needs to stand out, it needs to click, stick, connect, then finally - convert.

A human’s personality DNA might look like:

1. Origin story & background

2. Why you’re different

3. Your people, your type

4. Unique perspectives & “ism’s”

5. Things you talk about all day long

This is what makes you click, stick, connect, and make friends with people.

That’s an analogy I reference often “building a brand is just like making friends, at scale”, I’ve linked the article I wrote about that below.

Ok, so how does brand or specifically Sticky Brand DNA ™ relate to marketing?

First, I’m going to reference the list I gave you as a human.

It’s how you show up in the world right?

The decisions you make about where to hang out, who to be friends with, what to consume, what to talk about, things to buy…

It all gets dictated by your inner compass, your “brand”.

It’s exactly the same for your business brand.

Your personalized Sticky Brand DNA ™ is how you show up in the world.

The content you create, the partnerships you say yes to, the customer you’re speaking to, the products you’re going to put out there…

So, if you’re thinking about marketing, and it’s feeling overwhelming, unclear, all over the place, disjointed, it’s probably becuase you don’t have a Sticky Brand DNA ™ as your foundation.

And when you do, all those things come sooooo much easier.

They are also received easier.

And that, is how you click, stick, connect, and convert.

That is how you build a successful brand and business.

I will leave you on that note, but next week, I’ll be sharing the follow up to this, talking about all the convergence of marketing across all these industries, and how their brands, are helping them stand out.

Have a beautiful weekend.

Today, I’ll be heading to the 6th year of Aussie Xmas, an experience two of our friends created that has since become a brand and reflection of Australian Summer and Hospitality.

Come join us if you’re in LA?

xx - Sax

PS. I also have this free exercise I call the IFGT (I Fucking Got This) Founder Exercise, which might help you get a bit of clarity on where your brand is heading….

This 4-part exercise is designed to get you into a future-focused, decision-making mindset to see beyond the daily chaos and start uncovering the real foundation behind your brand and marketing strategy based on my Sticky Brand DNA Framework ™ and BFF-Level Connections ™.

It’s the first thing I do with every Founder that comes my way and most of them say this process alone helps them:

• Organize all the thoughts swirling in their head

• Clarify what’s working (and what’s not)

• Take a beat to think about what they really want, and what’s going on

PPS - 🥸

Related Reading:

Did I feel like my life had direction? Nowhere near.

Did I feel like I was doing the right thing? Almost never.

But now I realize, it was, I did, and I am.

Sometimes we’re on the right journey and don’t even know it until we have the benefit of retrospect.

And if you’re ambitious, filled with ideas and possibility - it’s likely you’re impatient like I’ve always been.

So this is something I want you to know if you’re out there building something, feeling uncertain, feeling scared, feeling failed.

You’re not behind, you’re on your way. And this post might help you be more present in the process.

I’ll be sharing a list of resources in the chat for people that want them.

There are quite a few influencer (for lack of a better word) freelancers, fractionals, consultants out there in the contentsphere right now, and I think it’s amazing. I wish I’d had that type of person to follow and learn from when I found myself in that category of work.

Alas, I did not. I was just a founder who had just closed her business and “fell into” freelancing.

So I’m not going to sugar coat it.

There have been countless times over the last decade where I was under-valuing and under-charging.

To the point I hit a rock bottom (a rut as would say) that only an uncomfortable coaching investment could get me out of.

I’m a pretty self motivated person, I’m optimistic, I’m resourceful, but this was different and I had this feeling (one I’m familiar with now and continue to hit) that I wasn’t going to get out of it, or to where I wanted to be or knew I was capable of being, on my own.

I’d never even heard of coaching let alone considered it and I can’t remember what made me think of it, but I researched a few people, which I’m sharing below in case it’s helpful:

• Megan Hellerer, The Underfulfilled Overachiever

• , The Tools

• and there was one other one I can’t remember…

I signed on with the incredible Kristan Sargeant who was mentoring under Barry Michaels and Phil Stutz (the coaches for many celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore and a ton more) and led me out of that rut and quite honestly, a life changing moment, leveraging The Tools. (I recommend checking out some of their podcast interviews to learn more about the work which I’ll link at the end of this post.)

It was NYC, 2018. I’d been a founder for 4 years, in the height of “DTC” brands taking off. I loved it.

But, after some big decisions and my co-founder moving back to Australia with her two babies, I had to let it go. VC money was pouring into brands back then and I had a few investor conversations but inevitably decided that wasn’t the kind of business I wanted, and I’m thankful for that decision to this day.

Do I wish OVERT still existed, yup. I bloody loved that brand, but the good news is, is that I realized I could take all the things I loved about it, and integrate them into my business now, and that’s what Creating Forward Studio is.

Both as the brand itself, and how I build brands as the service I provide inside it to help other people build a brand and business.

• Innovative founder community.

• Storytelling and content.

• IRL events and collaboration.

Anyway, so it was 2018, my business had ended (we literally just shut it when we should have sold it - another lesson learned the hard way) and I found that I had no idea what I was “good” at. Because you’re kind of good at everything by that point, but also kind of insecure about yourself.

I never intended to be a service-based entrepreneur. I just fell into it.

Other brands and founders started asking me to help them with (fill in the blank) and I just said yes. Charged definitely not enough, and jumped into their business, while subconsciously grieving my own and resenting not having “my own thing” anymore.

So there I was in a rut, charging barely anything, struggling to keep up or feel good about myself in NYC, and then the pandemic hit.

I was back in Australia for my mum’s 60th, and decided to stay for the 3 months to wait it out a little, thankfully.

During that time I had this feeling that as everyone else lost jobs, felt lost, the world was catching up to me, or I was able to catch up to them.

I remember feeling so guilty for thinking that.

Fast forward - we had already decided to move to LA that following year, but when we got back to NY we just fast-tracked it so we would avoid another winter.

I honestly didn’t know anyone here, other than 1 old friend from NY and it wasn’t exactly the best time to network with masks and social distancing still a thing.

But, through a fortunate coffee date, I was introduced to Kate Hudson and her co-founding team to lead the launch and first 2 years of growth for her nutrition supplement brand, INBLOOM.

My life literally did a 360. I lived in a 2 bedroom bungalow, 5 mins from Venice Beach.

I was consulting at a rate that covered 150% of my old full time salary.

For an, at the time, innovative, wellness brand and visiting Kate Hudson at her house for photoshoots or dealing with Vogue, Goop, Drew Barrymore, and even making an ice cream with Van Leeuewen.

I owe all this to the work I did with Kristan.

I owe this to the calling I had to invest in myself even when I couldn’t afford it, because I knew on the other side of that uncomfortable investment, was what I wanted. So I couldn’t afford to not do it.

Bigger dreams. More aligned opportunities. The version of me I knew I could be.

And in fact, the name of my company, Creating Forward was a mantra we created for me to stay in action, to not get stuck in the overthinking, over-planning mode because that’s when I’d get in a rut again.

And as long as I was creating, as long as I was moving forward, and taking scary, imperfect action, I was in momentum and I was gaining confidence.

I wrapped up that 2 years with Kate, and took a beat to look at the market, to consider what I wanted my life to look like, what I was truly great at, and who I wanted to work with.

What I discovered, is what Creating Forward Studio is today. An accumulative representation of allllll the things I didn’t think made sense - up until now.

And, literally, up until as recently as 12 months ago, there were still a bunch of times, I’ve thought, “maybe I should just get a job?” and hit LinkedIn.

Once. Back in that awkward who am I moment in NYC, I even GOT a job. I needed cash and a visa. It lasted 6 months before I was back to doing my own thing. Lucky it was fun and got my work into NY Mag.

Sometimes it seems easier, right? Show up, be told what to do, have a team, get paid the same time, the same amount. Benefits. Tax that isn’t a science project.

IYKYK.

But I want you to know, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I like changing directions when I want to, or more accurately, when I see an opportunity.

I like the challenge of working across different things and categories.

I like bringing in talent I respect when I need them.

I like working from anywhere in the world.

I like to build.

I like to build a brand from scratch.

And I like that it’s mine.

When I first set out to build Creating Forward Studio, my mission was to help early stage founders build their brands and businesses.

Because I saw a gap ~

There were more people starting brands than ever before.

There were no agencies or consultants that wouldn’t work with their budget.

There were inexperienced freelancers delivering bad work and ripping them off.

I’ve been that founder before, I’ve also been that consultant before.

(but I have not been than freelancer before!)

As you’ve now learned, it’s taken me a few turns and dips, many many post-it notes, definitely too many Notion pages, and well-spent dollars on coaching to get to where I am now.

But right now - for the first time - it genuinely feels like a real business.

Here’s what that looks like:

1. A brand that people discover me by and connect with.

2. A signature framework that leverages all my experiences and unique approach.

3. An ecosystem of CMO-level services for brands at varying stages.

4. Regular events that bring cool people together and delivers impact.

5. A community of brand builders and entrepreneurs I’m obsessed with, on and offline.

What once felt like “too many things” came together when I realized I don’t have to be good at just one thing.

My zone of genius is the fact that I am very good, and know a lot, about a lot of things when it comes to being a founder, building a brand, doing marketing, and running a business.

I lead founders through the journey of creating a brand that stands out; positioning, marketing, content, sales, and, honestly the most underrated skill, confidence.

The foundation of everything I do, is my signature Sticky Brand DNA ™ framework and a very humanized approach to brand building.

I wrote a two-part Sticky Brand Playbook recently if you want to find out more about the process:

What that looks like is different for every single founder, because it’s personalized, but I get so much fulfillment from the founders I support, the incredibly innovative, brave and scared shitless at the same time women I get to call clients.

When I see them go from talking quietly, nervously, anxiously about their business or their vision, to lit up, loud, confident and “it’s inevitable” thinking.

• When they double their conversion rates.

• When they get a seriously cool partnership.

• When they launch their website.

• When they land a rad retailer.

• When they do their first post on Instagram.

• When they hire talent that does work they love.

• When they realize, they are the one to do this.

I’m not exaggerating when I say there have been tears and chills about the absolute break throughs we have in our strategy sessions together.

That’s not something I’d trade for a salary, a team, or tax that makes sense.

So now I see my journey was actually perfect, and in retrospect very linear.

From my early career at McDonalds, to a fashion retail career, to product development, to trend research, to launching a brand dedicated to the City Girl, and passing it all on in my subsequent consulting work.

It was always about being obsessed with the customer and bridging the gap between them and a sale, with brand.

That’s my approach to the work I do with clients now, we get obsessed with the customer (BFF Customer Profiling) and every decision we make, is made through that lens.

And tbh, same with my business. I’m obsessed with founders and building for them.

I want to end on this:

I call this ~ Creating Forward. As long as you continue to create and move forward, you will build confidence, and you will find the path too.

If you’re in the process of figuring out what your brand is, or how you can harness your zone of genius, schedule a free intro chat here, or just drop me a message in the chat if you’re not quite there yet.

x - Sax

Hi - I’m Sax. A CMO, Advisor, and Mentor for innovative brands, founders, doctors, and service-based entrepreneurs in the beauty, wellness and lifestyle industries.

I’m as invested in the in-between wu-wu, and mindset stuff as the business stuff. I’m a 40+ woman navigating her next chapter of life and entrepreneurship, with a ton of curiosity, travel, and no kids.

I write about all these things here on Substack. Feel free to subscribe, and come say hi somewhere in the contentsphere 😎

Subscribe now

→ TikTok: @creatingforward.studio

→ Instagram: @creatingforward.studio / @sarahnsaxty

→ LinkedIn: Sarah Saxty

→ Website: creatingforward.studio

The last few have become essays, and that’s not what this was supposed to be, so here we go.

Here’s what’s on deck:

O — Observing: Wellness brands need to be medically backed.

A shift I’m seeing in the wellness industry.

P — Practicing: A new content hire.

I made a new investment in support for my video content. Here’s why.

E — Exploring: Summer in LA.

Spots to eat outside, road trips, and cultural activities going on my list.

N — Noting: New books on my reading list.

I spent about 1 hour this weekend browsing Libby and pulling a bunch of new books to add to my Saved list or Hold list. Here are some of them.

Open Tabs Vol. 06

O — Observing: Wellness Brands Need to be Medically Backed.

In the theme of keeping things short and sweet, here’s a shift I’ve been thinking about for awhile now, and plan to do as a solo deep dive on it so subscribe if you wanna know more about it, but for now - here’s the short and punchy version:

Medical professionals are entering the brand space, and a lot more consumers, expecting a wellness brand to have medical affiliation to be trustworthy.

Here’s how I see it coming to life:

1. Doctor & other medically qualified founders.

   1. I personally, have worked with four of these kinds of founders recently.

2. Medical Advisory Boards being table stakes.

   1. 50% of the founders and wellness brands I’m working with are building these.

3. Medically qualified content creators.

   1. This is already happening, but I see it expanding and taking over the standard “wellness creators”.

My most recent experience with this:

About a year ago, I worked with ENT Surgeon on his idea for a consumer product.

As a consultant, I fleshed out the business concept and developed the Sticky Brand DNA. He went on to raise a seed round with his co-founder to launch it. Now, I’m the CMO Advisor and equity partner, leading the launch.

Phase 1 of that launch plan is to build his personal brand.

In just 2 months, he’s reached nearly a million people and grown his account from stagnant 800 followers, to over 3000.

Follow him for ENT wellness here :)

Why are we seeing this shift?

I’ll talk about it more in the dedicated Substack, but for now, I’d say:

People that are serious about health, want to hear from people that know what they’re talking about, and they don’t care if it’s “wellness aesthetic”.

P — Practicing: New content hire.

I’ve worked with a few different types of people over the last couple of years for my business, and lot for my clients.

But I recently hired a new content coach, firstly to rethink my strategy, and now secondly, to shoot and edit with me. Here’s what the insights say 1 week into posting the new content style, and I’ve been getting so many messages! From under 500 average, to 1 - 2K.

There are a few reasons for me doing this:

1. Like I always say, it’s hard to do things for yourself when you’re so in the weeds. Often, that means we overcomplicate, and overlook the obvious. Having someone else come in, learn everything about me and my offering, then pulling out what people want to see and hear, is like gold.

2. I’m not a content creator. I don’t want to be a content creator. I actually have fun doing it when I’m in it, but me, investing 5 hours into editing a reel is not the best investment for me and my business. By bringing in this team, I can invest that time into things that are in my zone of genius - my client work.

3. Accountability. When you make an investment in something, you make sure you show up for it. Having a team to answer to, that I’ve paid money for, helps me be even more accountable for content.

4. Content is working for me. I’ve done it alone, with the help of a few video editors or interns on and off for the past 2 or so years, and it pays off. Clients, collaborations, podcasts all come my way because of content. Knowing that, means it is a good business decision to invest in amplifying it.

Just this weekend, I hosted my monthly City Walk Chat here in LA, and as the first few guests arrived, I asked them how they found out about it since I hadn’t met any of them before. Their answers?

Four of the five responses were content channels.

I couldn’t have been fucking happier.

Instagram. LinkedIn. TikTok. Substack. Another Founder.

Case and point.

I’m not a content creator. I don’t want to be a content creator. I actually have fun doing it when I’m in it, but me, investing 15 hours into writing hooks and editing reels is not the best investment for me and my business. By bringing in this team, I can invest that time into things that are in my zone of genius - my client work.

E — Exploring: Summer in LA.

I’ve been pretty in love with LA so far this year and normally I travel quite a lot in the Summer season but this year we have a lot of travel coming up toward the back end of the year so I’ll be hanging out locally on the west coast a lot.

I’ve got a few things on my wishlist already:

1. LACMA ~ they just opened a new wing and apparently it’s an architectural masterpiece, plus, an Erewhon. So LA…

2. Laguna weekend ~ I love it down there, but I haven’t spent a full weekend before, so I want to book a house on Kindred with some friends, go surfing, and do dinner at Ahba which has been on my list for a bit.

3. Outdoor dining ~ and not just in Venice :) I saw these two restaurants on IG and now they’re on my list. Mediterranean, Casalena in Woodland Hills, and Italian, Fia in Santa Monica.

Then of course, I’ll be continuing to host my City Walk Chats for founders, creatives, investors and operators building brands.

Get on the First Dibs list to get the next invitation.

N — Noting:New books.

I spent about 1 hour this weekend browsing Libby and pulling a bunch of new books to add to my Saved list or Hold list.

I’m also very late to the Libby party…I was using the LA Public Library website to borrow all my books…WTF?!

I typically have a few books on the go at a time so I can dip into what I feel like and they are usually in the below categories.

Here are the ones currently in my loaned shelf, and I have another 25 on hold…!

Business/Self Help/Growth

• Stories That Stick, Kindra Hall

  • “A clear framework of ideals and a concise set of action to take complete control of your own story, utilizing the principles behind the world’s most effective business storytelling strategies.”

• Empire of AI, Karen Hao.

  • “From a brilliant longtime AI insider with intimate access to the world of Sam Altman’s OpenAI from the beginning, an eye-opening account of the tech arms race in history that is reshaping the planet in real time.”

• The Go Giver, Bob Burg, John Mann

  • “A classic bestseller taht bring to life the old proverb, “Give and you shall receive”.

Fiction

• Contrapposto, Dave Eggers

  • “Follows two art-obsessed friends, Rob “Cricket” Dibb and Olympia, over several decades as they navigate their lifelong friendship, love, and the art world. ”

• The Wedding People, Alison Espach

  • “A depressed woman, Phoebe, who checks into a luxury hotel intending to end her life but gets swept up in a chaotic wedding party, leading to unexpected connections and a new perspective on life.”

Non-Fiction

• JFK Jr, RoseMarie Terenzio.

  • An intimate oral biography that my bestie told me she loved after watching Love Story

• Careless People, Sarah Wynn Williams

  • “An explosive memoir charting one woman’s career at the heart of one of the most influential companies on the planet. A front-row seat to Facebook, the decisions that have shaped world events in recent decades, and the people who made them.”

Got any good reccs for me?

Ok, that’s it for this month’s Open Tabs volume, and I think I missed June, sorrryyyy.

I’d love to hear what you thought, and even more so, I’d love to open the dialogue so let’s chat.

If you want to catch any of the other Open Tabs editions, you can find them all here.

Sax - X

In case you’re new here, Hi! I’m Sax, the founder of Creating Forward Studio, brand marketing mentor, fractional CMO and consultant for beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands. I’m an Aussie, living in LA after almost a decade in NYC - I’m 44, exploring this next chapter of life and building my business with curiosity.

Normally I’m here with a weekly Super Dose edition, talking about brand building and marketing, sharing business insights and industry observations.

Open Tabs, is the monthly volume of all the other stuff.

Subscribe now

This isn’t that.

When I see a founder go - from - talking quietly, nervously, anxiously about their business - to - lit up, loud, confident and “it’s inevitable” thinking, it makes me light up.

When they double their conversion rates.

When they get a seriously cool partnership.

When they launch their website.

When they land a rad retailer.

When they do their first post on Instagram.

When they hire talent that does work they love.

When they realize, they are the one to do this.

I’m not exaggerating when I say there have been tears and chills in the strategy sessions I have with founders.

But that’s what I’m here for.

And starting this week, I’m opening the door for more founders to experience this kind of energy - for free - inside the Forward Founder Studio.

FFS is a private platform (not another slack or whatsapp) and curated, application-based space for founders who are incredibly innovative, brave and scared shitless at the same time.

It all started with City Walk Chats, an IRL Series in LA for founders, creatives, investors, and operators in the brand building world.

I started hosting this series in LA and NYC early this year as a way to bring people together.

I had my guesses about how it’d play out, but the hundreds of people that have registered, and what started happening beyond the walks was the proof.

Founders found new suppliers for producing samples.

They updated their launch strategies based on one conversation.

They went on to collaborate and co-host their own events together.

All of this, from a walk.

All this from someone just creating the space and curating the people.

So then I was like, what if more founders could be in that space, even if they’re not in LA or NYC?

What if I could continue that energy between the walks?

Forward Founder Studio is the answer to that.

If you’re interested in being in the company of the stellar humans I get to cross paths with, this is probably the place for you.

This is not a noisy group chat you want to mute after 3 days.

It’s not the one packed with thousands of random people just for the sake of vanity numbers.

And it’s not for lurkers.

Hard. No.

It’s a space to:

1. ENGAGE with each other

2. CONTRIBUTE your knowledge

3. RECEIVE fresh insights

Members get access to the thoughtfully curated channels, designed for actual growth and collaboration, plus:

• Live Monthly Marketing Meetup based on a specific theme + Q&A with me (our next one is July 11)

• Challenges dedicated to taking action together, in short sprint-style bursts

• Weekly Reflection + Prioritization Check-ins for accountability

  

I’ve already started making private invitations to select founders on my list.

So far? 5 for 5 yes.

You know the funniest thing? Those yes’ made me just as excited as the 5 and 6-figure yes’ I’ve gotten recently.

Are you ready to invest in yourself? Consider this your invitation.

Here’s what applying looks like, it takes about 3–5 minutes:

1. Apply. Answer a few quick questions so I know who you are and what you’re building.

2. Hear back. I personally review every application and will get back to you within a few days.

3. Come in. Once you’re approved, you’ll get your link to join with a welcome onboarding to dive right in.

The application process is to protect the energy and curate the group effectively, yes, but it’s also so I have a better understand of where you are at and can facilitate the right support, be it in an introduction, a podcast recommendation, or a business insight - whatever it is, because when you’re in my world, I don’t let you down.

Apply to join the Forward Founder Studio.

I’ll see you on the inside.

Sax - X

There were a few things I was thinking about and working on while we were away, part of which are here in this volume of Open Tabs.

Here’s what’s on deck:

O — Observing: Hormone-aware everything.

Menopause has been no so quietly becoming a massive market , but now I’m seeing a crop of brands and substacks popping up as an extension of the “menopause” chat to introduce hormone-awareness more broadly.

P — Practicing: Going BIGGER.

This was a word that came up for me during a reflection practice I did on a recent Lunar cycle and I’ve been well and truly putting it into practice since then. Bigger goals. Bigger business. Bigger energy.

E — Exploring: Fresh podcasts.

In Europe, I spent a lot of the work week solo, and my main mode of transport was walking or riding = prime podcast listening time. I felt like I was in a bit of a podcast rut, so I did some hunting and have quite a few new ones in my rotation now, same categories, different approaches, business, style, entrepreneurship, and health. Here they are.

N — Noting: Summer style.

I’ve got weddings and bachelorettes coming up, which has me scouring fashion brands more than usual. Here are a few swim + summer brands going into my Pinterest board as a wedding guest, bridesmaid, and bachelorette coordinator.

Open Tabs Vol. 05

O — Observing: Hormone Aware Everything.

I’m approaching “mid-40’s” in exactly 5 months, so “perimenopause” is a real thing in my group chats and catch-ups.

Cycle tracking, endometriosis or PCOS are not new topics.

But - what I’m observing is an expansion of the hormone conversation within the wellness brand world, and an introduction of brands that speak to being hormone-aware more broadly, and the hormonal lifestyle shifts we go through.

Here are 5 examples of where I’m seeing this conversation become more prominent:

1. Founders I’m working with:

• Four of the founders inside [CFI] my Brand + Marketing Incubator, are working on launching products in this category:

  • Daily Few, a metabolic hormone health supplement powder, by founder, Rossi

  • In Rhythm, a hormone-condition-aware personalized fitness app, by founder, Hailey.

  • Another one is Elevate, by founder Jacqueline, is an experiential business based on replenishing joy in our lives with “emotional fitness” that cultivates elevated emotional states, proven to support our long-term health. Emotions that are often suppressed due to hormonal imbalances.

  • Then, there is another one, in skincare, Still Skin, by founder, Shannon, centering on skin that is in an evolutionary state, ones that are mostly due to hormonal shifts.

2. Shifts in the medical industry:

• Destigmatized Hormone Replacement Therapies:

  The prescribing of estrogen-based Hormone Replacement Therapy has surged as treatments—particularly patches and vaginal creams—become widely destigmatized and modernized.

• Biomarker Tracking:

  Wearables and instant at-home testing tools are moving beyond basic step-counting to dynamic, real-time sensing of hormonal shifts. Startups are pioneering rapid saliva and hormone-monitoring tech to help people sync their daily nutrition and sleep with their specific cycle phases.

• Fiber as the New Protein:

  The focus is squarely on fiber-rich diets to support gut health and hormones, paired with sensible strength training and regulated circadian rhythms.

• Wellness trend we’re now avoiding: Cold therapy, intermittent fasting, HIIT

  What were once the hot trends in wellness for women are now no-nos - because of their impact on our hormones.

3. Hormone-based products:

The launch of various products as an extension of existing brands, or new, dedicated brands. Here’s what a very basic Google Search shows:

4. Substack content:

Literally, more conversation, I’m seeing more wellness thought leaders contribute to hormone awareness.

• Hormone Healthy Eats by Lauren Chambers

• What I Got Wrong About Menopause, Metabolism and What I Recommend Now, and The New Perimenopause by Dr Marie Claire Haver

• It’s Time We Talk About Hormones by Katie Stone

• The Anti-Diet Guide to Happier Hormones by Rosamund Dean

• Anti-Aging Evidece for Estrogen by Eric Topol

5. Hormone Disruptive Activewear:

This is definitely a personal one. I’ve kind of gotten to the point that every time I’m in my hot yoga or sculpt classes, dripping with sweat, I can’t stop thinking about this. The conversation is definitely getting louder, and I’m seeing more truly healthy, active brands cropping up when I search.

I found this podcast particularly useful.

P — Practicing: Going BIGGER.

This was a word that came up for me during a reflection practice I did on a recent Lunar cycle, and I’ve been well and truly putting it into practice since then.

I shared it recently in a group call for a coaching cohort I am a part of and despit being something so simple, it resonated.

For me, it’s bigger energy overall:

• Bigger goals.

• Bigger deals.

• Bigger living.

Where could you be thinking a bit bigger in your life?

Leave a comment

E — Exploring: Fresh podcasts.

I felt like I was in a bit of a podcast rut, so I did some hunting and have quite a few new ones in my rotation now, same categories, different approaches, business, style, entrepreneurship, and health.

Here are three I’ve been loving:

1. Business: Womansplain by Brooke + Soto

   1. I’ll be co-hosting my next City Walk Chat (a community hang for founders, investors, marketers, and brand builders) with Brooke + Soto in NYC.
      Get on the First Dibs list to get your invitation.

2. Culture: How Long Gone with Chris + Jason

3. Health: Longevity + Optimization with Kayla Barnes-Lentz

I’ve got a lot more where these came from - feel free to drop a comment or message me and I can share the rest with you.

N — Noting: Summer style.

I’ve got weddings and bachelorettes coming up, which has me scouring fashion brands more than usual.

I’m not a massive shopper, and when I do, I tend to try and go vintage or resale because - environment - but at the start of a new season, if there are gaps in my wardrobe for things that are going to last or have high wearability, I’ll branch into virgin brands, but try to look for more consciously produced ones.

Here are a few brands going into my Pinterest board ~ not surprisingly, many are Australian… (I’m an Aussie ICYMI)

For Bridesmaid looks:

• Shona Joy

• Bec + Bridge

• Meshki

For Wedding guest looks

Something I’ll aim to double as fun summer pieces.

• Third Form

• Bronze Snake

• Marfa Istanbul

For Bachelorette looks:

We’re going to my happy place, Todos Santos so it’s beach + pool party vibes.

• I Am Delilah

• Baobab

• Divino Seas

Ok, that’s it for this month’s Open Tabs volume.

I’d love to hear what you thought, and even more so, I’d love to open the dialogue so let’s chat.

Have a beautiful rest of the Spring season!

Sax - X

In case you’re new here, Hi! I’m Sax, the founder of Creating Forward Studio, brand marketing mentor, fractional CMO and consultant for beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands. I’m an Aussie, living in LA after almost a decade in NYC - I’m 44, exploring this next chapter of life and building my business with curiosity.

Normally I’m here with a weekly Super Dose edition, talking about brand building and marketing, sharing business insights and industry observations.

Open Tabs, is the monthly volume of all the other stuff.

Subscribe now

They have tons of traction and are in growth mode.

AKA their content is popping off, their sales are going up month over month, they’re getting into all the retailers, investors are interested, cool brands are dying to do partnerships with them…

Well, first up - they don’t have it all together. No one has it ALL figured out.

Secondly, they all start somewhere, not everywhere.

That’s the most important thing for you to remember if your business is already making sales but feels like your brand isn't pulling its weight, or if you’re just getting started in pre-launch mode.

The recipe for traction and growth isn’t doing more, spending more, trying more - it’s having a solid foundation so you can prioritize, focus, and make informed decisions.

That foundation is Sticky Brand DNA ™.

When founders come to me, overwhelmed by all the decisions they have to make, trying to figure out how to make their brand click, stick and make more sales.

They think they have a marketing problem.

But 9 times out of 10, what they really have…is a brand problem.

Sticky Brand DNA ™ bridges the gap between your product and your customer, on a new level, so you can become a part of their personal brand DNA; getting you on their “I’m telling all my friends about this” list.

It’s not just something that should be done when you’re starting out either.

I’ve done this with brands that were already in market, making 7-fig revenue, and by repositioning their products, based on the research we did for their DNA, we doubled their conversion rate on their DTC site.

Positioning is powerful stuff, but it’s also one of the hardest things to do when you’re in it.

This is Part 2 of The Sticky Brand Playbook.

If you’ve been in my world for a minute, you’ll know I’ll yap about this all day long.

Any podcast interviewer who asks me what the most common thing that brands miss - it’s this.

Any brand I’ve ever had my hands on, the thing that made it work - it’s this.

Any founder I speak to or mentor who is feeling stuck, the answer - is this.

In Part 1, I talked about what it is and why you need it.

If you’re ready for part 2, the juicy stuff, the ACTUAL Framework, then - Hi.

What’s Inside:

• A breakdown of the 5-Part Creating Forward Sticky Brand DNA ™ Framework

• SBDNA in Action: A Taste of Where It Goes to Work to Create Growth

Breaking down the 5-Part Creating Forward Sticky Brand DNA ™ Framework

Like I said in Part 1, basic brand strategy and a 75-page brand guidelines deck that just gathers digital dust, is not “it” anymore, if it ever was…

Not if you’re trying to build the type of brand we’re seeing succeed in 2026, brands people click with, stick to, buy from, and rely on.

I also shared the origin story of the Sticky Brand DNA ™ Framework in Part 1 in case you want the credibility backstory.

But here it is, the foundation of a successful brand.

It’s nothing out of this world; it just makes sense, and it works.

Phase 1: Excavation + Discovery

The first 3 parts are where we go into discovery and excavation mode.

This helps us understand exactly what’s going on in the world: your business, your category, the wider industry, and your customer.

1. Core Elements of Your Founder Story + Big Vision

You’ve for sure heard of “founder led brands”? Well, I have a theory - that term is redundant, because if you’re a founder, building a brand, you are a founder led brand no matter what.

What we define here is ~10 core elements of your founder story, and how it contributes to your brand DNA.

Usually, it’s the parts founders don’t even realize are special that really pop, or there is a throughline to what felt like a seemingly all over the place story, that is the catalyst for their vision.

This is where we also get super clear on exactly what is your vision? And what intentions you have, what do you want to make a reality, very specifically?

We also talk about where you are comfortable being “founder facing” and design a plan around that, so don’t worry, you don’t have to all be on camera every day to be successful.

(I wrote a guide on Founder Led Brand Building too FYI)

2. Future Proof Trends + Standout Market Validation

There are a few reasons we do this, and a lot of reasons you’ll use it to grow your business, which you’ll see the next part of this post.

• We don’t want you to just build a business that’s solves a right now problem, we want you to build a business that solves a future problem too.

• We want to get a comprehensive understanding and holistic view of what the customer is dealing with and seeing out there in your industry and the adjacent landscape.

So here, we do a sweep of:

• Cultural and consumer trends relevant to your category

• Direct market landscape

• Adjacent market landscape

I have a background in trend research and reporting, so this is where that part of my career comes into play.

We do it all with a structured template to analyze a bunch of different touchpoints; from IG bios, to landing pages, to SKU offering, to retailers, founder story and much more.

Then we analyze it all to look at what’s going right, what’s going wrong, what’s missing, what words are they using, and overall patterns and observations.

This is the information we use to validate what you are doing and formulate your standout positioning later on.

It’s hard for you to standout if you don’t know what you’re standing out from right?

3. BFF Customer Connection™

One of my FAVORITE topics. If there has ever been a time to be obsessed with your customer, it’s now.

Every success story podcast you listen to, they’ll tell you:

• Be obsessed with your customer.

• Don’t try to speak to everyone in the beginning.

But how do you do that? BFF Customer Profiling is how.

This is not a standard customer archetype.

This is not “make best friends with your customer”.

I refer to it fondly, as stalking most of the time.

It’s doing the research to understand EXACTLY who this perfect person for your brand is, how they think, what they do every second of the day, what they truly care about, and what they all have in common.

• We want to get out of your head and into theirs.

• We want to stop using words we think are right and start using words they use.

• We want to show up where they are.

• We want to begin every decision with “what would my BFF think, want, say?”

Phase 2: Defining Your Sticky Brand DNA

Here we develop the framework to determine how your brand will show up in that world, and most importantly, how it will click and stick, so that people buy from and fall in love with it.

4. Unique Brand Language + Product Positioning

Here, we want to define exactly who your brand is, and how it will show up in the world, BASED ON the excavation and discovery we just did ^^.

Firstly, we build your brand vocabulary:

• words we love and hate to describe the brand (internal)

• words we love and hate to use in our vocabulary (external)

Guess where those words come from? Yup, all the research we just did.

We choose words that standout from what everyone else is doing.

Words that are uniquely yours.

Then, we think about how those words are used in action, think taglines, one liners, that kind of thing.

Product positioning is where we align on how we talk about your product, and your product category.

I love this part a lot. We want to try and develop “proprietary” language for what you’re doing, but also make it easy to understand.

5. Brand POV + Conversation Themes

So now you have some standout language and positioning, we want to think about the brand perspective and the conversations you’ll lead.

Think about you and your friends, you have topics you know, love, and could yap on about all day right? People trust you for that.

Your brand is the same. Here is where we take ALLLLLL of the above knowledge, and define 5-10 conversation themes that your brand will lean on, beyond buy my product.

We also consider examples of where these themes might come into play and how to give it all context:

• would it a substack post? what would the post be?

• is it a series on IG? what is the series?

• is it a topic you cover in your interviews? where would you pitch it?

Hopefully by now, you’re seeing how Sticky Brand DNA is not just brand strategy.

It’s not brand guidelines.

It’s a D-N-A. It’s how your brand shows up in the world.

It’s something for people to click with, stick to, and buy from.

SBDNA in Action: A Taste of Where It Goes to Work to Create Growth

Someone literally asked me this week “how do you define the “thing” founders get when they have their Sticky Brand DNA ™ defined?”

And I was like…”honestly, everything.”

The problem with that, is that you can’t market “everything”.

It goes against my entire point - trying to say and do too much only dilutes your efforts.

So, what we landed on, and I’d love to see how you resonate with it, was GROWTH.

In my opinion, that’s what all businesses want and need to be successful.

Growth means all or any of these things:

• your content is sticking and feels easier

• Shopify notifications are blowing up your phone

• people get it when you tell them about your brand

• your product is an easy yes for people

• investors are answering your Linkedin messages

• cool brands want to do partnerships with you

Is growth how you would define these things in one word?

Here’s just a snapshot of how each element goes to work in your business to create more growth.

Part of what we do when we’re working together is to integrate your SBDNA across all the key touchpoints and develop your Aligned Marketing Strategy.

But I wanted to give you a taste of exactly where this framework is put into action.

Free free to grab one of my free Strategy Sessions to see how it’d work for your brand.

1. Core Elements of Your Founder Story + Big Vision

• In interviews (podcasts, media)

• Investor pitches, they’re investing in YOU after all

2. Future Proof Trends + Standout Market Validation

• Partnership ideas from the adjacent category list

• Launches, evergreen marketing and sales plans, zig where they all zag

3. BFF Customer + Community Profiling

• Copywriting, everywhere, website hero lines, social content, emails…speak in their own real language to create connection

• Product development, create what they need

4. Unique Brand Language + Product Positioning

• Of course, all your copywriting, but specifically, packaging

• Product pitch decks for retailers

5. Brand POV + Conversation Themes

• Anywhere you’re sharing content, both verbally in conversations

• And digitally, storytelling on social media, emails, audio, decks, websites etc

When you have this DNA, this real-life, breathing thing that you pull from over and over again, you start to build trust, because your messaging is cohesive, and it all ladders up to your key goals:

• Cohesive storytelling and positioning that clicks

• Connect with the customer on the BFF level

• Increase conversions to grow your business

Coming up next: Part 3 - Examples of SBDNA in action

In the last part of the series, I’m going to reverse engineer the Sticky Brand DNA ™ for a few real brands as examples, because sometimes visuals are the best way to make something click, and stick - see what I did there? :)

If you have a brand you want me to reverse engineer, drop a comment below.

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Sticky Brand DNA ™ is the foundation of the work I do with businesses as a Fractional CMO, Consultant, and Mentor in the Creating Forward Incubator.

If you want to build this for your brand, I have opened up spots for my free Supercharged Strategy Sessions, you can go ahead and book one here.

Thanks for creating forward with me! I’ll be back in LA next week but for now, tschuss from Hamburg.

Sax - x

PS: In case you’re new here, Hi! I’m Sax, the founder of Creating Forward Studio, Fractional CMO, brand marketing mentor and business consultant for beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands. I’m an Aussie, living in LA after almost a decade in NYC - I’m 44, exploring this next chapter of life and building my business with curiosity.

I share a weekly Super Dose edition (like this one) about brand building, marketing, and IFGT Confident mindset, sharing business insights and industry observations that sit within the beauty, wellness, and lifestyle categories.

I show up monthly, with Open Tabs, a curated edit of the things I’m Observing, Practicing, Exploring, Noting in life, business, and style.

The thing is, most brands think they have a marketing problem, but what they have is a brand problem.

We’re talking about what makes a brand stick, versus get stuck.

The brands that stick aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets or the most followers.

They’re the ones that know exactly who they are, who they’re for, and how to show up for them, consistently with value that goes beyond “buy my product”.

They have Sticky Brand DNA ™.

Sticky Brand DNA ™ gives you the foundation to connect, convert, and grow.

If you’re new here, (SBDNA) is my signature 5-part framework for building a brand people are obsessed with, and a sustainable business that drives revenue.

This week, in an interview, someone asked me, “Where did Sticky Brand DNA ™ come from Sax?”

And I was like, “I can tell you exactly where it came from.”

This Sticky Brand Playbook is a series where I’ll share the full framework and your guide to building a successful brand in 2026 here on Substack. The same one I’ve shared with tons of other beauty, wellness, fashion, and lifestyle clients and guests in my marketing workshops.

Get your invite to the next live workshop in May at the end of this post!

What’s Inside:

• Why basic brand strategy doesn’t cut it anymore

• Sticky Brand Qualities

• The Sticky Brand DNA ™ Framework

• The Three Core Elements of Building A Sticky Brand + A Sustainable Business

Basic brand strategy doesn’t cut it anymore

I’ve been in the “brand” space in various capacities, I've spent 20 years building and studying brands from the inside, as a CMO, a DTC founder, a trends lead, consultant, mentor, advisor and workshop host ~

In 2023, when I had wrapped up my 2 year CMO consulting project with Kate Hudson, I had the vision for what my business is now, and was in deep research mode and early product development for the Creating Forward Incubator.

I thought (LOTS of things 🫠) but essentially -

“Where are we heading with brands?”

“What are brands getting right?”

“Where are brands going wrong?”

“How is the customer culture shifting?”

“What is my unique approach to brand building?”

The things that kept coming up were connection, community, and storytelling.

So, that’s where it started. Then I thought about -

“Ok, what are the processes I’ve used to build brands? How do I go about it?”

“What is it about the brands I’m obsessed with?”

“Where are brands succeeding, or going to succeed in this era?”

Sticky Brand Qualities:

• A cool founder story

• Doing something different and standing out in the market

• They’re future thinking, future proof

• Tapping into their customer like a friend would

• Unique brand perspective

• Gotta have it product positioning (that’s easy to understand)

• Good banter, aka, conversation and value to bring to the table (beyond product)

• Feel human, like, they care

• People that talk about it

• A sense of community that’s not just for the sake of the word

• And of course - a sick product

• That sells

• Over and over

• With customers that tell their friends about it

The Creating Forward Sticky Brand DNA Framework

The brands that stick aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets or the most followers.

They’re the ones that know exactly who they are, who they’re for, and how to show up for them, consistently with value that goes beyond “buy my product”.

Sticky Brand DNA gives you the foundation to do that.

The Three Core Elements of Building A Sticky Brand + A Sustainable Business

It’s easy to get wrapped up in all the fragmented advice out there “do this, don’t do this, do it this way, use this prompt, try this tool”.

I call this the WTF Next Founder Spiral and you probably know it too well…

But, I have one simple philosophy when it comes to building a brand people love, and a sustainable business:

CONNECT » CONVERT » GROW

Connections = conversion, it’s hard to make a sale or get a yes to anything without a genuine connection.

Conversion = growth, you can’t grow your business without any sales.

Sticky Brand DNA ™ = the core element of this theory.

Sticky Brand DNA is your foundation. It gives you confidence and keeps you centered, part of that, is you (BFF) Customer Profile.

It’s increasingly hard to get in front of people, AND hold their attention long enough to make a connection, AND get them to buy, AND make an impression that keeps them coming back, AND want to tell all their friends about it.

In my experiences (and the brands I shared above) it’s the human approach that works best.

And what I mean by that isn’t necessarily AI related, it’s like the fundamentals of what makes humans work.

How do humans build connection and community?

Humans have their own unique DNA to guide their decisions.

Humans create connections through conversation.

Humans cultivate loyalty by showing up.

That’s part of the reason we’re seeing every brand race to the IRL party in 2026.

Connection is your number one KPI.

Conversion is the outcome.

I’ll break down each of the 5 Elements of the Sticky Brand DNA Framework in the next edition of The Super Dose, my weekly no-bs brand-building and marketing newsletter.

With examples of how you can leverage SDNA to make life, marketing, sales and content easier,

AND - I’ll be hosting my signature Marketing Workshop, [Connect, Convert, Grow] in May.

I’ll break down the Sticky Brand DNA Framework in detail, with cool brand examples, and you’ll leave with:

• A clearer understanding of what makes your brands connect

• A perspective shift on how to increase your conversions

• A sharper lens for evaluating your marketing decisions

• A take-home Dashboard + Exercises to implement the work right away

Join the next Workshop

In the meantime, here’s a question for you to sit with:

“What makes your brand actually different, and who is it really for?”

Can you answer it in two sentences, confidently, without rambling?

If not, that’s your starting point. And that’s exactly what the SBDNA Framework is built to give you.

Drop your brand in the comments so I can check it out, and we can jam on what elements of Sticky Brand DNA you are missing.

I’m in Europe working remotely for a few weeks right now, so byyyeeee from Amsterdam!

Sax - X

O — Observing

Can this be listening? I vote yes, so in that case, this month I’m sharing a rad new Girl DJ I’m listening to on Spotify right now.

P — Practicing

Socializing + community building bc you get what you put in. I’m sharing my very full calendar of people - join, cohost, or get inspired.

E — Exploring

A Work/Play City Guide Substack - ? I always get asked for my travel itineraries, and how to even plan a trip, where to look etc. so I’m exploring this and want to see what you think.

N — Noting

New Mexico trip this weekend. On that note…tomorrow I head to New Mexico, a spot I’ve had on my list since my New York days.

In case you’re new here, Hi! I’m Sax, the founder of Creating Forward Studio, and brand marketing mentor and business coach for beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands. I’m an Aussie, living in LA after almost a decade in NYC - I’m 44, exploring this next chapter of life and building my business with curiosity.

Normally I’m here with a weekly Super Dose edition, talking about brand building and marketing, sharing business insights and industry observations that sit somewhere within the beauty, wellness, and lifestyle categories.

But this is Open Tabs, is a monthly edit of the open tabs in my mind.

Each one follows this OPEN format.

O — Observing - Something I’m noticing (trend, behavior, shift, idea)

P — Practicing - Something I’m using (tool, product, habit)

E — Exploring - Something I’m curious about doing or putting into action

N — Noting - Something I keep coming back to or have saved for later

Open Tabs Vol. 04

O — Observing

We’re going with listening for this edition.

So I’m sharing a rad new girl DJ I have on repeat.

I met Mona at the Venice Pizza Club my husband, me and a friend hosted on Easter Sunday, she was wearing a cap from an old friend of mine’s design studio in Brooklyn, so that was our connection.

But our first hello was over a Hot Cross Bun, something I was handing out to bewildered Americans, and delighted Aussies.

Here are the two playlists I’ve listened to and love so far:

1. Work Work Work

2. Fanny Flutters

I also love listening to one of my Creating Forward Founder’s playlists - who is a creative director, healer, and founder building a first-of-its-kind, epic bathhouse in Berlin.

These are more your binaural beats, deep work or meditative kind of playlists.

P — Practicing

Socializing + Community! Because, you get what you put in.

Following on from last week's Super Dose Edition (my no-BS brand-building and marketing mentorship newsletter) I’m going to share all the live events I attended and hosted this month, to inspire you, either to join me as a guest or cohost, or, to show up, and gather people in your way.

First up, these are the recurring live events on my cal every month, which are for founder clients:

Weekly: Office Hours with the founders inside my Incubator Program (2 hours of async, in real time mentorship)

Bi-weekly: Live Group Mentor calls with the founders inside my Incubator Program (1 hour to workshop and collaborate or get coaching from me)

Monthly: Monthly Marketing Meetup for Forward Founder Studio members, and Incubator founders (a 1 hour, live, themed group coaching session)

Then of course I have 1:1’s and meetings for my consulting projects, but for the purpose of this post, we’re just talking EVENTS.

Ok - now onto the other schedule:

Mar 1: Attended Frieze LA

Mar 3: Attended a Mindfulness Evening with Besound, Kook (CF alumni) and Quantum Leap Breathwork (met 3 new wellness friends)

Mar 4: Attended the Fireflies (my husband’s cycling crew) Tour Kick-off Party for 2026 at Mother, the creative agency in West Adams (dream office inspo)

Mar 7: Attended Venice Hike Club (met a potential new client and went into collaboration as a gift bag curator for our Ojai Field Trip this month)

Mar 11: Hosted my signature workshop for the Dream Ventures Accelerator founders “Sticky Brand DNA: A marketing framework to increase connection and conversion” (signed on 1 new beauty founder for CFI, and intro’d another 3, plus a bunch of new social followers)

Mar 11: Attended “A Night with Oscar Nomininees Bentley & Kwedar” the Director/Producer team behind Train Dreams, at Soho House screening room (watch it!)

Mar 24: Hosted another online workshop in collaboration with Expert Copywriter, Shiri Feldman “Humanized Brands in the AI Era” - get the replay and dashboard here.

Mar 26: Hosted a business lunch with Leonie, the founder of Female X Finance (new collab brewing)

Mar 27: Attended Walk Sip Chat, a monthly walk for women to connect while walking around Venice, hosted by the legend, Ana (met 2 new biz contacts + friends)

Mar 27: Attended live podcast recording of “The Alchemy of Success” by my dear friend and panel conversation with three female entrepreneurs about “the second phase” of business (connected a founder with 3 leads for her business, and made one new VC friend)

Mar 28: Attended The Ness at Regent, a pop up fitness class and wellness gifting suite by Well Up Collective (connected with the two founders from Miami I was only internet friends with before, and two wellness founders of Juna, and The Ness)

Mar 29: Hosted City Walk Chats 03 with guest partner, founder, of Casa Noon beauty, Andi Eaton (join the list for invites)

++ Around 30 maybe even 50 total intro calls, coffees or beach walks with founders, entrepreneurs and friends.

My email list is +150, and my monthly new IG follower count is 3X what it was in Jan when I wasn’t out there IRL.

I gave a biz buddy a bunch of advice on activating her business IRL this week and she suggested that I should mentor people on their IRL Event & Marketing Strategy.

I’m thinking this could be a 1-week kind of mentorship:

• onboarding so I’m up to speed on where you’re at

• a deep dive strategy session with me

• one week of async follow up to complete the plan

What do you think?

E — Exploring

A Work/Play Travel Substack.

I always get asked for my travel itineraries, and how to even plan a trip, where to look etc.

My husband and I have designed a life, and have the luxury of living, working, and playing around the world, without kids.

We love activities, hiking, culture, museums, galleries, music, great food, wine, cocktails, architecture, shopping, and “off the beaten track” kind of stuff.

We’re both also VERY type A when it comes to trip planning.

We LOVE to research, organized Notion pages, and coordinating saved spots on our Google Maps with cute emoji’s.

• my friend and inspiration, suggested I share all my favorite aesthetic spots to visit in the world

• my neighbor (Hi Katie) suggested I share the “how” of trip planning as well, where to research, and how to make decisions about what to book V not

• I recently got reinspired to join the Amigo app (after seeing my girl crush sharing her tips on there) and thought that could be a good integration for the Substack

• I have SO many messages like this, of just purely “where should we go and what should we do”

NOT that I need another content channel, or thing to produce, but…

As I’ve been plotting out my long weekend New Mexico itinerary over the last few weeks, I was thinking “I could literally be doing this inside Substack”.

So, what do you think? Here’s another poll on that!

PS: What spots do you have on your list this year?

Leave a comment

N — Noting

On that note…this weekend we’re heading to New Mexico.

I’ve had NM on my list for years, so I’m stoked to finally be making it happen.

Side note, the reason it’s happening is thanks to my AFY Ritual (get it for free), where we reflect on each year, make plans for the next one, and then show up for the goals, All Fucking Year with my Weekly Life/Biz Ritual (grab the template for free w/ a video guide)

By checking in for 10 or so mins at the end of every week, those “things” on my list for the year, never get forgotten, and turn into action instead of a dusty list come Dec 31.

I wrote about this at the start of the year.

Anyway, back to New Mexico.

The places we choose are a combination of various data points, pretty much in order:

• Hotel guides, both hotels we’re staying at have good starting points

  • Hotel Willa in Taos

  • El Rey Court in Santa Fe

• Travel books we own

• Magazine articles read and places saved over the years

• Substack guides (I read one by for this trip)

• Other online guides, our go-tos are usually:

  • NYT 36 Hours In…

  • Conde Naste

  • Vogue

  • Goop

  • Mr & Mrs Smith

• Tik Tok

• And this time, I also looked at the Amigo app and found a few spots

We do our own due diligence and look EVERY spot up before it gets selected for our plan.

So there you, a little taste of how my brain works when it comes to travel planning :)

I’d love to hear what you thought of my fourth Open Tabs edition, and even more so, I’d love to open the dialogue so let’s chat.

Have a beautiful April, and start of Q2!

Sax - X

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• red tape

• pressure

• ulterior motive

And more:

• uniquism + creativity

• real people

• intentional connection

I’m also a big fan of grassroots scrappy marketing, and a lot of the time that includes IRL brand moments.

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ll know there’s no shortage of “IRL IS IN” content out there.

But the coolest IRL isn’t just a $100K budget and tasking an agency.

IMO, the coolest IRL stuff is the kind of stuff you’ll find in my saved folder.

The kind of stuff that when I scroll past it, I could basically start clapping out loud right there and then at the genius of it all.

Part of my job as a Brand Marketing Mentor and CMO Advisor for founders and early-stage teams is to be out here on their behalf.

Knowing what’s going on in the beauty, wellness, and lifestyle business world. I’m also innately charged by unique stories, founders, products, and marketing tactics.

Hype Watch is a channel inside Forward Founder Studio, my private founder community platform, where I share this kind of stuff ~ FFS is also where the founders inside CFI, my 12-week marketing incubator program for cool brands live.

But I don’t just share ideas - I personalize and contextualize.

So yes, I share the cool inspiration, but then I provide context as to why it works, and help the founders inside my program figure out how we can action something similar or inspired by - in their own unique way.

One that aligns with who their brand, customer, budget, business goals, and bandwidth are.

In the good nature of sharing, I thought I’d mix things up a bit in this week’s Super Dose and drop a bunch of these scrappy, clever, IRL marketing moments here for you.

What’s Inside:

A list of 5 standout IRL moments I’ve saved, with a breakdown of:

• What they did

• How they did it

• The results

• Why it works

• What you can do about it

In case you’re new here, Hi! I’m Sax, the founder of Creating Forward Studio, and brand marketing mentor and business coach for beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands. I’m an Aussie, living in LA after almost a decade in NYC - I’m 44, exploring this next chapter of life and building my business with curiosity.

This is the weekly edition of The Super Dose where I share no-BS brand building, business and marketing mentorship, then once a month I drop a more lifestyle, edited curation of things I’m obsessing over called Open Tabs, catch up here.

Ciele Cosmetics “Beauty Trivia Night” at Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood

This is by far my favorite WHAT A GOOD IDEA.

I saw it and was like, wow, that’s fucking clever.

And the fact that they hosted it at Barney’s Beanery, which is defined as a “divey west hollywood sports bar that became cool again in 2025” is just so perfect.

WHAT THEY DID:

• beauty trivia (suggested to bring your friends / form a team = amplified reach)

• food + drinks to purchase (no budget requried)

• giveaways + prizes (product in hands)

• photobooth (follow-up content)

• first 100 attendees receive a FREE canvas tote bag (incentivize actually coming)

• open to all (all age, all gender friendly)

HOW THEY DID IT:

• social content + street posters to promote it

• partiful RSVP page (easy for follow up and instant, direct communication via text)

• included a branded photobooth (UGC opps)

• followed up on partiful with photos

• announced a surprise giveaway for early arrivals on the day

• the space was customized in Ciele branding

  • the pool table

  • fries wrapping

  • a spin the wheel

  • neon signs

HOW THEY GOT ALMOST 600 SIGN UPS:

• Social content

• Street posters

• Features in local LA event round ups but no big press

On Tik Tok and Instagram, it was all mostly the team being funny, sneak peeks at the Q’s, the prizes, and then setting it up and a recap.

They reposted the same content on each platform.

LA Bakery Half Marathon Walk

This one wasn’t by a brand per-say, but it’s still relevant IMO because it’s a very easy idea to replicate as a brand, OR to collaborate with.

It’s somewhat similar to my City Walk Chats concept (the next event below!)

WHAT THEY DID:

• A personal project to explore local bakeries in different neighborhoods

• Invited 100 people along for the walk via IG

• 13 mile path and curated list of bakeries to visit

HOW THEY DID IT:

• 100 participant cap (manages the experience)

• Lottery-style acceptance (creates fomo)

• Partnered with the bakeries to do prepped foods + welcome guests (highlights other businesses and elevates the experience)

• Included a photographer to capture cool content (marketing for the next walks)

• Share the Route after the walk (people continue engaging on social outside the walk)

THE RESULTS:

• 12,500 IG followers after just 3 walks

• Insane engagement on each post

  • 10,500 likes

  • Thousands of comments

• 100 participants fulfilled (and I’m assuming over-subscribed) for each one

City Walk Chats by me :)

This started as part of my IRL Era plan for 2026, along with some other events and workshops you can find here.

City Walk Chats is a culmination of many of my favorite things.

• New activities and exploring neighborhoods in different cities

• Supporting cool brands + collaboration

• Business, brand, and marketing chats

WHAT I DID:

• Bring a bunch of cool people in and around the brand, marketing, or specific beauty, wellness, fashion, lifestyle brand categories to explore a new neighborhood or do a new activity together

• Walk, while talking about business, brands, community, and marketing

• Invite a cool brand in each location to co-host with me for each on

HOW I DID IT:

• Invited the founders of Carry, from Seattle, who were in LA for an investment meetings to be my first co-host (support the pre-launch of their super chic and functional first of it’s kind weighted vest for women)

• We put together an agenda: Menotti’s Coffee, walk, mini workout stop, back to the start (creating the space or people to connect)

• Organized snacks by GEM nutrition bites (a bonus for guests + another brand highlight)

• Published it on Luma (easy registration and communications)

• The first 5 guests got to wear a prototype weighted vest for the walk (incentivize showing up early + promote product)

THE RESULTS:

• Had ~70 sign-ups, women in varying industries who were all interested in collaboration, supporting cool brands, and wellness

• These posts are some of my highest engaged and shared posts on IG and TT

• Multiple people are interested in buying Carry’s weighted vest and collaborating

• Everyone joined my First Dibs guest list to get access to future events

I also met my next co-host Andi, the founder of beauty brand, Casa Noon, for our next City Walk Chat on Mar 29!

Join us!

MERIT Salon Series 01: Book Swap

This reminds me a little of what I’m doing with City Walk Chats. Of course, Merit has a bit more budget to work with here, but this particular activation is a good example of a lower lift, smaller-scale collaboration for them.

And it looks like something they’re doing more of:

WHAT THEY DID:

• For their first event, they hosted a book swap event in New York

• Guests were invited to share their favorite books, discover new ones

• They also got to try Merit’s new Signature Lip Blush

HOW THEY DID IT:

• Partnered with the founder of @buffys__ book club to co-host the experience (a qualified book crowd that is “MERIT”esque)

• Booked out GEM Home on Mott Street (a coveted spot for events to drive incentive)

• Had branded candy stations, book notes (photo moments + integration)

• Included board games, styled with candles and flowers to feel cozy (cultivating connection)

I can’t see much in terms of results, and there’s no event sign up on their site or link in bio, so let’s see where it goes!

Ok, so what now?

All these things are great ideas, BUT, the reason they work is that they align with each brand’s unique (Sticky) Brand DNA.

(WTF is SBDNA? This)

These brands all have a strong sense of their:

• Unique brand perspective: their POV on things, from founder story, to product positioning, to true point of difference in the market

• Conversation themes: the topics they can be known for beyond selling product

• BFF-Customer profile: who they’re targeting, and the types of activities, brands, places, people their BFF likes

All of ^these^ are part of the 5-part SBDNA Framework.

The events I’ve shared - all reflect their SBDNA.

From who they partner with, to where they go, to the audience they attract, to the social media plays, to the positioning.

That’s why I always talk about SBDNA being the foundation of any successful brand in 2026, and the breadth of support your SBDNA framework and BFF-Customer Profiling can provide you.

Like Merit says, it’s not just product and that’s why they are so successful beyond a “beauty brand”:

So who is your brand really?

Do you know your Sticky Brand DNA? Who are the people you’re going after? Do you know who they are on a BFF-level? What is your unique POV? What other things can you do or talk about that aren’t just selling product?

THAT is how you become a successful humanized brand in 2026, with people that love you, and tell all their friends about you.

THAT is sticky.

If you don’t know the answers to that Q, then book a free Intro Chat here, I open up a few spots every week.

If you’d like to join one of my future events or be a brand partner, or co-host, please drop me a note below, or email me sax@creatingforward.studio.

We’ll popping up in New York City, Brooklyn, Mexico City, Melbourne Australia, Los Angeles, and Hamburg Germany this year.

Leave a comment

Thanks for Creating Forward with me!

Sax - X

PS. You can also find me on Tik Tok with daily biz building and marketing tips.

My girl Louise is one of those.

She DM’d me this from Australia, and I read it while I was sitting here reflecting on the month just passed, a month full of IRL events, less full of Instagram.

And I realized, “Huh, she’s right. Look at all this amazing community traction we’ve built in the last 6 weeks”.

It’s exactly what I set out to do at the start of this year and told her when I was back in Australia.

If you’re a founder, feeling like the running of your business is a little chaotic, and focusing probably a little too much on social content, but not sure what else to do, then this edition of The Super Dose is for you.

Because that was me just a few months ago, and come Jan, I snapped out of the haze, and did something about it.

What’s Inside:

• Changing our relationship to content and Instagram as founders

• The channels I divested my time, money, and headspace into instead

• The results on my business - literal screenshots of metrics + tangible takeaways

Disclaimer: This isn’t me saying I hate Instagram. It’s me saying divest your time, money, and headspace into other marketing channels that may move the needle more, and to change your relationship to content.

Because the fact is, I LOVE IG, I have made the most incredible friendships and collaborations there, in the DM’s or comments, planned trips, booked dinners, gone on hikes and activities - all based on content I’ve been fed there.

It’s just that I had a problem.

I was in a content k-hole.

You probably know it.

You’re saving Julia Broome content tips like mad.

You’re over-indexed on ideas so your saved collections folders are overflowing.

You’re reworking your “content chat” in Claude or GPT like your life depends on it.

You’re telling yourself you’ll only spend 1 hour on “this post” and all of a sudden it’s been 5.

You’re constantly saying “Wait, I’m just doing this post” to your partner while they patiently wait for you to do something or listen to them.

You’re trying to remind yourself that vanity metrics don’t matter, but why did that boring and basic carousel or reel someone else just posted in your space, got 457 comments and yours got exactly 1 - your own, or a “send me this post” bot.

It’s actually soul-destroying.

Not only that, it’s brand-destroying.

It’s business-destroying.

And like me, you should know you’re better than that.

I realized that the marketing advice I was giving all the founders I mentor wasn’t being applied to my own business.

You’re not a content creator.

You’re a founder, building a business.

Content, is not the be all and end all in brand building.

It’s a very important part of it, but only if it’s done in a way that reflects YOUR unique brand DNA (I call this Sticky Brand DNA ™ )

But what had happened is that in the midst of all the saving, consuming, trying, pushing, I was diluting my unique DNA.

I was being pulled away from other things that are my zone of genius, that are the right channels for me and my ideal audience.

That’s what I mean by it being destroying for your brand and business.

I decided to divest my time, money, and headspace into other marketing channels and KPI’s.

For me, that looked like different content platforms:

• Tik Tok, a place I could give up the constraints of “hooks, scripts, covers, blah blah blah”

• Substack, where I was sharing these weekly editions already, but really leaning into it more and cross-promoting on my other channels

• Linkedin, I mean, I work with businesses, founders, investors, other marketers - a business social platform is where I wanna be

And, community (x 100000):

• IRL, I’m a connector, I love building communities. I’ve done it my entire life. Why wasn’t I actively doing it for Creating Forward outside of IG DM’s? That meant going to events, and hosting them.

• Press, that big ugly P word we all like to avoid or at least I had been, journalists, podcasts, substacks…

• Email subscriber nurture content, I’d kind of let that go to the wayside since starting Substack, but the people on your email list are already somewhat bought into what you do, so we should be nurturing them

• Collaborations, I love nothing more than a partnership or collaboration, for many reasons:
  A/ you get to support another brand or business
  B/ you get to share audiences
  C/ you get to do it with someone else! Being a founder is isolating AF, you know that too.

CONNECTION is my #1 KPI.

The founders in my world will know this by heart, or should by now :)

Connection = Conversion.

It’s crazy how quickly my calendar filled up with newness, and my business picked up momentum once I’d cleared the space.

And yes, I live in LA, so while I’m very strategic and did the work to bring this to life…

I’m part wu-wu, so IMO it manifested.

Here’s what happened:

We’ll start with the community-driven channels, then I’ll show you the metrics from the content channels.

Podcasts/Press:

• I recorded two podcast guest spots (coming out soon!)

• I reconnected with a journalist from my Kate Hudson days over lunch

• I met my quota to send 20 messages to 20 journalists (only 1 reply for now, but you don’t get out there if you don’t get out there)

Events Attended:

• Walk Sip Chat - an LA brand and business girlies walk in Venice, where I was tagged in stories and a founder who saw it, contacted me to join my Incubator program

• Fractionals & Founders - a networking mixer, by Michael Meo, where I met Hannah, the CMO for Ancient Brave, who I ended up doing a collab with later that month for their pop-up (below)

• Friday Brunch Club - I got invited to this intimate brunch, hosted by Matt Gerlach, off the back of the above event by the founder of the networking mixer along with 10 other entrepreneurs, we become biz buddies, but then I have also got intro calls scheduled with 3 of the people there

Collaborations + Events Hosted:

• Content Coworking: In collaboration with Sacia Ashe, a creative business owner. We hosteda 2-hour block for me, her, and 8 other founders at Zinque, dedicated to anything related to content that isn’t scrolling or saving inspo.

  • Personally, I wasn’t “that” productive in this session but -

  • The connection and accountability piece was useful for everyone

  • We all realized that we overestimate what we could get done in a 45 min block

• Move Into Momentum community walk: I’ve been watching and chatting with the founders of Carry for a while, and often reference them as a brand to watch when it comes to launching. So when they were coming to LA for an investor event, I suggested we host a rucking walk with their weighted vest.

  • 65 people sign up, and 40 join us live

  • Snacks were provided by founder Sara Cullen, and her brand GEM

  • Content repurposing across TT, IG and LI

  • New connections made include beauty brand founder Andi Eaton and Noelle, from the JP Morgan startup office + many others

• Guided by the Ocean panel conversation + party: I helped curate the speakers and moderated the panel for a pop-up with Ancient + Brave on Abbott Kinney with Creating Forward alumni founder, Christina of ocean-performance beauty brand, KOOK, and my biz buddies, Savannah (moss) and Sam (Papa Sweater)

  • All round this was a stellar event, great guests (2 turned into intro calls for me)

  • Moderating a panel was new for me and I loved it

• City Walk Chats: This is a global series I’m going to do each month. The first one was a business brunch hosted in collaboration with Meredith DiSantos, focussed on helping founders “Step Into Alignment” leveraging Human Design X Sticky Brand DNA.

  • Again, founders loved meeting each other - KEY

  • I got to invite a few founders I had only met online, to meet IRL

  • Two of the girls have booked intro strategy sessions with me

Key takeaway: Events, workshops, and collaborations will stay as part of my foundational marketing stack.

Join Us In March

I have secured a bunch of AWESOME collabs, events and workshops for March, which are all live on my site here so come hang and build your biz with us!

Ok, onto the content platforms:

LinkedIn:

• I’m posting here 3 - 4 times a week, plus resharing interesting news from people in my industry, with thoughts

• I’ve been introduced to founders, investors, other business owners, podcasts, and journalists here

• Metrics are all up

  • Impressions +45% vs. 90 day period with +50% in members reached

  • I’m sitting at ~2000 followers, up ~10% vs. prior 90 day period

  

Tik Tok:

• I show up there every day Mon - Fri to share raw, mostly unedited “Daily Biz Building + Marketing Tips”

• The founder community over there is so awesome, it’s warm and juicy

• I’ve met 3 people IRL from there already, including 1 founder who joined my Incubator program

  • Metrics range from Shares + 17% to Comments + 255% vs the 60 days prior

  • 90% of my traffic is from the FYP (new people)

  • Follower count is +340% vs. prior 60 days

Substack:

• I must admit, I missed posting my edition last week…sorry!

• But, I’ve continued to consume, engage, and share Notes here

• And, cross promote my Substacks on LI and IG

• I’ve got some work to do to increase my followers and subscribers here, but am happy with a steady, incremental growth pattern to begin :)

The other crazy thing is that my Instagram metrics are all up despite doing less.

• Post views were 4X what they were vs the 3 months prior

• Post interactions went from 14 on average to 150

Yes, I did post on Instagram. But hardly at all compared to my usual 5x/week.

I was just as active in the DM’s.

And I continued to show up on stories most days.

Remember, this wasn’t a boycott of IG. It was a reframe.

What I posted had NOTHING to do with what experts told me to post.

And EVERYTHING to do with my Sticky Brand DNA ™ .

Open, honest, raw, a little messy maybe, but very Creating Forward.

WTF is this Sticky Brand DNA I keep talking about?

Sticky Brand DNA ™ is my signature framework for building a brand people get, love, buy, and tell all their friends about.

It’s the foundational piece missing from most marketing plans and is what makes marketing make so much more sense, and sales.

If you want support figuring out your SBDNA and what the right channel matrix is for you, or if you have no idea how to actually execute all of ^this^ kind of marketing and workflows - that’s what we do inside the Creating Forward Incubator, or what I do for you if you hire me as your fractional CMO or consultant for a project :)

CFI is my 12-week high-touch program for cool beauty, wellness, fashion, and lifestyle founders or early-stage teams to launch, grow and scale, based on my Creating Forward Core Frameworks.

I built it because, while there are so many people starting brands, there are not enough options for them to get access to expert level support that isn’t a 5-6 figure consulting retainer or agency.

We develop your Sticky Brand DNA ™ so you have a solid foundation to build from:

• core elements of your founder story + intention

• future proof and clear market opportunity

• BFF-Customer profiling

• unique product positioning and brand POV, language

• conversation themes for storytelling beyond product

We bring it to life visually and verbally across all the key customer touchpoints to cultivate BFF Level Connection ™ and make sure you have access to the right talent at the right price if you need it.

We decide what the right Marketing Channel Matrix is for you, based on budget, bandwidth, BFF customer and business goals.

We implement the Repeatable 3D Launch Method, from hype building to sales.

We build your 90-Day Aligned Marketing Campaign, with a strong multi-channel marketing, content and sales strategy to execute it.

We establish Scalable Systems + Structure in your business to streamline efforts, assign KPI’s, track metrics and adopt the test, learn, evolve process so you’re making confident and informed decisions.

And we implement I Fucking Got This founder practices and mindset all the way through, to keep you on track and in momentum.

It’s a hybrid of live 1:1 and group-format coaching from me, on-demand training videos and tools to consume on your schedule, access to my Little Black Book of talent, plus, a private platform to connect and collaborate.

We’re half sold out, and we close the doors for this acceptance period on April 15, then the next one will be in the summer.

It’s by invitation becuase I want to make sure it’s the right thing for you before you join, so if you’re intrigued, I invite you to book a free Supercharged Strategy Sesh with me so I can take a look at your brand and provide some guidance on your marketing plan.

There’s no pressure, and either way, you’ll get some free mentorship for your business, and will be on my radar moving forward so I can keep you in mind for brand partnership opportunities too!

Have a beautiful week my friends, I’m so grateful we are in a position to be founders, to be working on our vision, for it to be a reality, every day.

Sax - x

I hope this edition of The Super Dose (my weekly no-BS brand and marketing newsletter) helped you shift your perspective on content and realize that marketing doesn’t have to be hard , or removed from who you are.

I’d love to hear how it landed for you - where did we net out?

How are you feeling about your content?

How are you feeling about your marketing channels?

Leave a comment

O — Observing

Is everyone dumping Chat GPT and moving to Claude?

P — Practicing

Bali Jamu, a homemade health tonic, every morning.

E — Exploring

Swallowing my own marketing pill.

N — Noting

Graceful, powerful-aging role models over 50.

In case you’re new here, Hi! I’m Sax, the founder of Creating Forward Studio, and brand marketing mentor and business coach for beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands. I’m an Aussie, living in LA after almost a decade in NYC - I’m 44, exploring this next chapter of life and building my business with curiosity.

Normally I’m here with a weekly Super Dose edition, talking about brand building and marketing, sharing business insights and industry observations that sit somewhere within the beauty, wellness, and lifestyle categories.

But this is Open Tabs, is a monthly edit of the open tabs in my mind.

Each one follows this OPEN format.

O — Observing - Something I’m noticing (trend, behavior, shift, idea)

P — Practicing - Something I’m using (tool, product, habit)

E — Exploring - Something I’m curious about doing or putting into action

N — Noting - Something I keep coming back to or have saved for later

Open Tabs Vol. 03

O — Observing

Is everyone dumping Chat GPT and moving to Claude?

Here’s what Gemini said:

Here’s what GPT said:

Here’s what Claude said:

Here’s what I’m thinking:

• GPT has been INSTRUMENTAL in my life and business since I started using it in March 2024

• Lately, it’s been kind of annoying, like an underperforming team member that often leaves me feeling like “ugh, I just have to redo that anyway, I should have done it myself” and then do

• I was toggling between Claude and GPT at one stage, Claude for creative writing and GPT for everything else, but then it wasn’t worth the $40 investment every month to keep both and I didn’t see the upside with Claude really at that time

• Ruben Hassid is one of the OG GPT thought leaders that I’ve been following through it all, I trust him on all things AI related, and he recently posted this guide to moving over to Claude.

“And right now, in February 2026, Claude is the single most important AI tool for anyone doing knowledge work. Not because it’s perfect (it’s not, and I will share where it falls short). But because what it does well, nothing else comes close.” Ruben Hassid

If he is doing it, I am going to give it a go too.

Where are you at with it all?

Leave a comment

P — Practicing

Bali Jamu, a homemade health tonic, every morning.

I’ve always been a hot water and lemon kind of morning girl, like, every day for YEARS.

But while I was in Australia recently, staying with my sis in law and her partner in Mermaid Beach (it’s a real place) I was introduced to “jamu”, something they adopted after a stay in Indonesia.

It is known for its powerful anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties and is consumed to aid digestion, treat nausea, reduce muscle soreness, boost immunity, and provide a daily energy lift.

We immediately ordered these fresh organic ginger, and turmeric juices for our return, and I’ve been taking a 30ml shot of the below concoction every day since. I make up a bulk batch so I can just pour it out every day instead of making it from scratch.

• 50/50 ginger + turmeric juice

• ¼ part ACV

• a good amount of freshly cracked black pepper

• the traditional recipe has honey and lime juice, but I don’t, so this is just my take on it

E — Exploring

This year, I’ve been exploring the marketing mentorship and strategies I give my product-based clients, as a playbook for my own business. Because that’s what I love and it’s working.

So here we are, fresh off a full month, hosting and attending entrepreneurial events in LA.

Holding space for and cultivating human connection are some of my favorite things to do in life, and wherever we have lived, my husband and I have always hosted dinner parties, pizza clubs, cocktail classes, field trips, birthday festivals…we just like bringing people together, curating experiences, and branding them ☺️

This just so happens to be a good marketing strategy too.

I’ve written about IRL marketing and community building before - here, and here.

But partnerships, community programming, collaboration, and events were truly crucial in the growth of my first business OVERT in 2014, and the subsequent brands I’ve helped build in the 10 years to follow, including founder, Kate Hudson, and the “Kate’s Kitchen” franchise we leveraged for our TV, editorial, digital content, and community marketing channels.

They are all key channels we focus on inside the Creating Forward Incubator too, and are things I’m actively coaching the brands inside the program on right now.

I truly loved that chapter of entrepreneurship with OVERT, so part of my 2026 manifestation list and the Creating Forward Studio marketing calendar was to lean into those same strategies.

Just because I don’t have a physical product, doesn’t mean I can’t adopt my consumer product strategies.

So here we are. The focus areas for me in 2026 are:

• Real people, community-based storytelling to shine a light on people that inspire me, and sometimes don’t get the opportunity

• Collaborative events, both virtually and IRL, here in LA, but also in some of the cities I travel to

• Taking imperfect action, showing up, embracing grass roots energy - creating forward

I just wrapped the 4th event for Feb, (like literally as I wrote this) and it felt so good, for the guests and my partners, the co-founders of Carry, and me.

Why?

• It combines things that come easily to me, collaboration, and holding space.

• I feel in flow when I’m holding space for people to connect, learn, share, expand, and feel good about themselves (the CFI program is all about this too)

• It doesn’t have to have a direct ROI, it’s just something I feel good about doing, one of the biggest payoffs for me, is when I turn around at the end and everyone there is exchanging details and saying, “you should do more of this!” or when people visibly feel confident just by being a part of it.

• It cultivates connection with the kind of people I want my life to be filled with, people that are open to new things, that want to challenge the status quo, and are willing to be vulnerable and show up to the unexpected

My last event for the month is on Feb 28, and is the first of what I hope will be a series of City Walk Chats, exploring a new area, location, or city while talking about business, brand, and expansion.

Stepping in Alignment w/ entrepreneur and Human Design strategist, Meredith De Santos

Feb 28: City Walk Chats Registration

Here’s what’s coming up in March:

• [Virtual] Beauty & Wellness Brand DNA & Copywriting Workshop with Shiri Feldman, a beauty + wellness brand copywritier, and creator of Substacks, ,

• City Walk Chats: Theme + location coming soon

If you want to join cool events, curated for founders, investors, brand builders, and people who are part of or obsessed with the beauty, wellness, and fashion brand ecosystem, get on my events guest list, First Dibs.

First Dibs | Event Guest List

N — Noticing

Graceful, powerful-aging role models over 50. Not a new topic for me as a 44 yo woman navigating aging and a changing body while avoiding synthetic interventions…

And I’m always noticing in this category, innovation, thought leaders, insights, studies, solutions…

So, to be more specific, for this edition, I’m noting Christine Morrison, an ex-Calvin Klein exec, author, and creator of the Substack Writing in Black & White, who is “changing the aging narrative by examining the grey areas of fashion + beauty.

I read this piece recently on being in the “in-between” and really loved this:

Then she wrote something else about “aging naturally V aging with intervention” here. A conversation I find myself having in my head or with friends often.

We connected on IG, we had a call on Friday while she was out walking her dog Montauk, and I invited her to be one of my Forward Founder Feature guests, a new series I’ll be kicking off next month (following on from my above goal of adopting that real people storytelling thing).

But before then, I wanted to include her here because ~

I need more women like her, in their 50’s as role models and maybe you do too.

She talked about the post-40 stages of life; from style, to body, to career, and for her, at 40, going from being single in NYC to being married and not in the city, and becoming a mother.

I bought her book immediately, like, literally as we were talking, and can already see myself passing it on to every woman in my life from now on.

If you have any other kick ass, hot, cool, funny, talented, women over 50 that you admire, please share their names in the comments.

I’d love to see more of that in my world.

Leave a comment

On that note - thanks for being here.

I’d love to hear what you thought of my third Open Tabs edition, and even more so, I’d love to open the dialogue so let’s chat.

Have a beautiful week, Sax - X

And I’m gonna explain it all using my party analogy because once this clicks, marketing stops feeling like shouting into the void and starts feeling like you’re building relationships and growing your business.

I’ve seen the way this analogy affects every single founder, journalist, investor, and marketer in the business that I’ve shared it with.

I believe in it so much that I made it a standalone lesson inside my brand development and marketing Incubator program which, PS, is half full, and doors close Mar 30, just sayin…

In this post, the full lesson is basically here for you, Substack friends.

This approach, is also one of the reasons all the cool brands have these two things on their marketing agenda this year:

1. Events

2. Community

What’s Inside

• A brand-building analogy you’ll never unsee

• The pull toward community and event marketing

• A step-by-step comparison of how brand building = just making friends

• An exercise - because you don’t have time to not be practical

The shift: from “How do I get sales?” to “How do I make friends at scale?”

Successful brands are built on emotional connection.

Connection = conversion.

Again, take it back to human interaction, it’s very hard to get a yes out of anyone if you don’t make some sort of connection first right?

Successful brands build trust by showing up like a real person:

• someone who sees you

• someone who creates space for you

• someone you want to be around

• someone you show up for

• someone you tell all your friends about

• someone you keep hanging out with

Just like humans do, brands need to have a strong DNA as their foundation.

I call this Sticky Brand DNA.

When you have that as your foundation, and you shift from “How do I get sales?” to “How do I make friends at scale?”:

• your brand is more magnetic

• your revenue is more sustainable

• your marketing is more effective

Because you’re not just trying to fill a room with anyone and everyone (random customer acquisition) and call it a party (community). Right?

You’re trying to build a room people want to join, stay in… and bring their friends to.

That’s the marketing flywheel.

Peer-to-peer recommendation is the key to organic growth.

Think back to how you became BFF’s with your BFF’s.

(pause)

It took a fucking long time to go from, hey what’s your name to texting every day right?

In case you hadn’t noticed, there are a lot of brands out there, and a lot of clutter for your consumer to wade through before they find something they’re obsessed with.

You exist in a world full of other brands trying to find their obsession-level customers, like you exist in a world full of other people, trying to find their perfect humans to share life with.

Every touchpoint is a moment of connection.

Every interaction is an invitation into your brand world.

A DM.

Your homepage.

An event.

A pitch to a collaborator, retailer, or investor.

These touchpoints shouldn’t be considered as transactions.

They’re introductions.

ICYMI: Hi, I’m Sax! A brand marketing mentor and business coach for beauty, wellness, and lifestyle founders and early stage teams, Creating Forward Studio is my business, the name of my Incubator program, this Substack, and my life mantra.

I’m 44 yr Aussie girl, I live in Venice Beach after almost 10 years in NYC. I write about brands, marketing, entrepreneurship, navigating the 40’s chapter, health, and self work :) more in my “intro” post here.

You can subscribe for free, or upgrade to paid and get a free membership for the Forward Founder Studio, my private community platform that includes live group mentorship every month + hangs with other cool people building cool brands.

Subscribe now

The party analogy (aka: how BFF-level connection actually happens)

Imagine you’re going to a really cool party.

You’re like: “Okay, I’m gonna walk in, meet cool people, build community, get invited to dinner parties, the whole thing.”

But then you walk in, you don’t know anyone, you look around… and you leave.

No connections. No follow-up. Nothing.

This is what so many brands do.

They just - launch. They just - post. They just - send an email.

And they’re like: “Cool, people are gonna find me.” or “This is so good people are gonna love it.”

No. They’re not.

Think about the times you actually made a BFF from a party or networking thing.

It didn’t happen in one moment.

It happened in a sequence.

Think of your brand as a person in a room full of other people at a really busy party.

And every touchpoint you have is basically you walking up to someone at a party and giving them a reason to be like:

“Oh wait… I like you. Let’s chat.”

All the way to:

“OMG you’re the best, you should meet my friends.”

The Step-By-Step Comparison

Here’s how the making BFF’s sequence works in real life, and how it applies to brands.

Step 1: The micro interaction (aka: the tap on the shoulder)

At a party, it starts tiny:

• “I like your shoes.”

• “Wait I have that bag too.”

• “Obsessed with your dress.”

You’re just trying to create a human connection point — a commonality — something that breaks the barrier.

Brand version of this:

• a Reel that makes someone feel seen

• a product page line that makes them go “lol yes”

• a DM reply that feels human

• a website headline that reads like you got inside their minds

Step 2: The second moment (aka: “I’ve seen you before”)

Then you see them again.

Maybe you were in the check-in line together and now you’re in the restroom like:

“Oh hey! How’s your night going?”

That’s familiarity. Repetition. Context.

Brand version of this:

• they see your content again

• they get your email after visiting the site

• they notice you show up consistently with the same vibe

• they start to recognize your POV

Step 3: The exchange (aka: “let’s stay connected”)

At some point you exchange numbers / Instagram / LinkedIn.

It’s a small “yes” that says: I’m willing to let you into my world.

Brand version of this:

• an email subscriber

• an Instagram follow

• a trial kit purchase (bigger “yes”)

• a community join

• a “wait I’m into this” click

Step 4: The follow-up (this is where most brands drop off)

If you exchange details and then never follow up… you don’t become best friends.

Same for brands.

If someone gets into your world and you do nothing with them:

• no nurture

• no warmth

• no personality

• no invitation

• no relationship-building

They’re not becoming a customer.

And they’re definitely not becoming a repeat customer.

So you follow up because you actually want the connection.

At a party that might look like:

“Hey it was so good to meet you, have you watched Heated Rivalry yet? I just binged it this week!”

Brand version of this:

• emails that feel like a human wrote them

• content that opens conversations

• a post that makes people DM you a story

• a welcome flow that doesn’t sound like corporate onboarding

Step 5: The hang (coffee / walk / zoom)

Then you close the gap:

• “Want to grab a coffee?”

• “Want to go for a walk?”

• “Let’s hang again.”

Brand version of this:

• they join a live / workshop

• they reply to your email

• they book a call

• they engage in community

• they watch multiple pieces of content and start trusting you

Step 6: The dinner (aka: first purchase)

If dinner = first purchase…

You can’t be like: “Awesome. We had dinner. We’re best friends now.”

No babe.

This is where retention lives.

You keep showing up.

You keep nurturing.

You keep being worth sticking around for.

Brand version of this:

• post-purchase experience

• product quality (obviously)

• customer support tone

• ongoing brand presence

• making them feel like they joined something, not just bought something

Step 7: The “meet my friends” moment (referrals + advocacy)

Eventually… they invite you into their world.

You meet their friends.

And now you have a bunch of new friends who came through the relationship you built with that one person.

Brand version of this:

• referrals

• “I told my friend about you”

• UGC

• word of mouth

• repeat purchases

• “this brand gets me” energy

This is the journey of making a BFF.

This is how you build a sustainable business and obsession-level brand.

Where this shows up (aka: every touchpoint is a chance to make a friend)

When I say “every touchpoint” I mean:

• your homepage

• your product page

• your emails

• your DMs

• an event

• a pitch to a partner

• an investor deck

• a retailer intro

• your content cadence

• your post-purchase flow

All of it is either:

1. helping someone feel closer to you

2. creating a disconnect

Hint: You want it to be #1 ☺️

The Practical Part: Apply this right away (no overthinking)

If you want to apply this right away, try sitting with these three prompts:

1. Where is your brand already making friends?

   1. Where are you showing up? What marketing channels are you on?

2. Where might you be skipping steps or asking too much too soon?

   1. How are you showing up there? Take an audit.

3. What’s one moment recently where you felt genuinely connected to a brand? Why?

   1. Who is doing this well?

Then do this -

Pick ONE message you’ve written recently:

A caption.
An email.
A pitch.

Ask yourself:

Was I trying to make a friend? (remember, this means a connection)
Or was I just making an ask? (usually this is a sale, or email sign-up)

What would this sound like if connection was the goal, not conversion?

Rewrite it twice:

• Version A: as if you’re making an ask

• Version B: as if you’re trying to make a friend

And notice how different it feels

Because that is the whole point.

Marketing works better when it feels like a relationship, not a transaction.

Reply in the comments with your updated message, and I’d be happy to check it out and help you make it more BFF level.

Because this is the work I do with founders and early-stage teams building cool brands inside the Creating Forward Studio Incubator, and as a reminder, I’m closing up doors on Mar 30 and there are only 5 spots left now!

TAKE THIS WITH YOU:

Be a brand that cultivates BFF-level connections.

Create a world people want to stay in.

Grow a business that lasts.

I’ll see you in the notes or here next week?

– Sax 😗

Part 2: Today

3. The aesthetic pivot from perfect to imperfect, isn’t just about the aesthetic + how to become a humanized brand

4. From URL to IRL “I want more irl connection this year” (said everyone)

5. A long list of marketing ideas w/ examples you can steal and implement

Part 1: Yesterday ICYMI

In case you’re new here, Hi! I’m Sax, a brand marketing and business mentor for beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands, I’m an Aussie, living in LA after almost a decade in NYC - I’m 44 and here, exploring this next chapter of life and building my business with curiosity.

This is The Super Dose, a weekly edition, where talking about brand building and marketing, sharing business insights and industry observations that sit somewhere within the beauty, wellness, and lifestyle categories.

Get it all as a free subscriber. Paid peeps get a free annual membership for my private brand community.

From Perfectly Curated Edits to Imperfect Real-Life Chaos

This isn’t the first time we have seen a shift away from perfect and edited to imperfect and real.

The first one I recall was, you guessed it, in 2016, ok 2015, but close enough.

It goes back to what I said in my post yesterday, related to the real girls’ real shit MO of OVERT, my first business.

What I’m noticing is that the coverage related to this aesthetic shift is only focusing on the aesthetic, but what about why people are attracted to real-life chaos over perfectly curated?

There is a lot of chatter about it being related to the rejection of AI-generated perfection and, fair.

But it’s also the rejection of out-of-touch content that massive (and massively endorsed) influencers often share, and a life that feels unreal to many.

• The Range Rover

• The Malibu mansion

• The never-ending matching workout sets

• The hair that’s never out of place

• The impeccable skin

• The Erewhon macrobiotic bowl

• The hard to get a res restaurant

• The circle of girls who look & sound the same

It’s not just the aesthetic people are tired bored of; it’s the real human connection they want to see and feel.

Connection = Conversion.

That’s how brands are successful now, by making a real connection.

That’s what I yap about all day long.

My 5-Part Sticky Brand DNA ™ Framework is the foundation of everything you do as a brand; it sets the tone for how your and your brand show up in the world, just like a human does.

1. Core elements of your founder story and vision

2. Future-proof market opportunity

3. BFF-Level customer profiling

4. Visual and verbal language + product positioning

5. Unique POV and conversation themes

You can’t just all of a sudden create a moodboard that reads “real life chic”, do a new shoot, and you’re set.

You have to embody it.

You have to leverage real-life storytelling and accessible offline moments that cultivate connection (and just the right amount of aspiration).

You have to invite real people into your brand world, and share real, imperfect, and relatable content that your customer can connect with.

I saved this post from Business of Fashion’s (@liz_flora) ⬇️

But I added that last point to it when I shared it in my stories recently:

It’s about real life storytelling not just real life aesthetic.

AI can’t take away real-life human connection.

It can still create “imperfect real life” images.

And how do you create real-life images?

You go offline…you live life, for real, with real humans.

Ahhhh, look what I did there :)

From URL to IRL: Going Offline, Desperate for In-Person

I sat in on a Culture Report for 2026 and Beyond by WGSN last week. You can still access it on their LinkedIn here.

The resounding message that came through was:

“Brands will need to create micro moments of joy to be relevant.”

“IRL, IRL, IRL”

It’s not surprising people are desperate to get off their phones, and investing in things like Brick and digital detoxes to wean themselves off, or wearing blue light glasses to literally shield themselves from it.

Brick blew UP over the last 3 months.

Then there’s the incredible rise of communities and clubs right? Because what are people going to do if they’re not on their phone?

My (+ everyone at my wellness club) fave yoga teacher (Hi Blake) just started a Venice Hike Club, and after just a few weeks has almost 500 people in the Whatsapp chat.

I went for the first time last week and everyone I spoke to shared that this year “they want to do more offline things and meet new people.”

I’ve talked about brands leveraging IRL and community building intiatives before, but it seems like a good time to revisit them.

The What Do I Do With All This Part

I want to give you something tangible to walk away with rather than a feeling of “cool, but how do I do it if I don’t have a budget?”

I shared this post when I’d just decided to test the Substack waters, so I feel like no one saw it, but it’s packed with tons of actionable mentorship:

• A very simple Grassroots Marketing Framework

• A BUNCH of grassroots marketing strategies, ideas, and links that you can afford, and honestly, probably can’t afford to NOT read and put into action

• Examples of it-brands like Saie Beauty, Clearstem Arrae, Primally Pure, Mara who all prioritized grassroots marketing in their early days, and BFF Customer Connection ™

• A bonus “get more people on your email list” list

• A Creating Forward plan to get you into action this week

If we need more proof that IRL is piquing - USAL a cool outdoors kinda brand that does a ton of cool events here in LA invested in opening a dedicated space to host them and it’s ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

And then, something cool I saw is that LA recently launched: MEHKO Made in Home Kitchen, which allows residents to legally serve food from their homes.

Which, to me, is a reflection of a few of both the boom of IRL events and in-person connection with real people.

The first one to open is Granada Echo Park, I can’t wait to visit (I just have to drive 1.5 hours to get there because - LA traffic)

I’m back in my events era too and have a full calendar for Feb!

📆 Check out what’s coming up + join us here.

I do spend quite a lot of time curating these posts, and imagine you on the other side of the screen while I do :)

So, if you have 5 secs longer, please drop a note to share what came up for you, or introduce yourself in the comments.

Sax - X

Leave a comment

By the end of the next two posts, you’ll have a good understanding of the why and what, plus how you can do something about it all this buzz as a brand, founder, or marketer.

I’m going to dive into each one of these topics across two posts, including an introduction to the brand I was building in 2016, and how we thought about marketing with our community-based blueprint.

The more I dug in, the more value it had, and I want to give you space to digest.

Part 1: Today (Feb 4)

1. The obsession with 2016 (my lived experience as a DTC founder + consumer)

2. The power of real-life human curators > the uber human influencers (our community-based marketing blueprint)

Part 2: Thursday (Feb 5)

3. The pivot from perfectly curated aesthetic to imperfect real-life chaos (the missing link for brands)

4. The Brick craze, going offline (“I want more irl connection this year” said everyone)

In case you’re new here, Hi! I’m Sax, a brand marketing and business mentor for beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands, I’m an Aussie, living in LA after almost a decade in NYC - I’m 44 and here, exploring this next chapter of life and building my business with curiosity.

This is The Super Dose, a weekly edition, where talking about brand building and marketing, sharing business insights and industry observations that sit somewhere within the beauty, wellness, and lifestyle categories.

Get it all as a subscriber. Paid peeps get a free annual membership for my private brand community.

1. The Obsession With 2016

If we look at 2016 and why people are leaning into it, it’s because it was the year before the social media hook world we live in now took over.

In 2016, in the consumer product world, brands were branding.

Especially if you lived in NYC.

There was a huge changing of the guard from big box retail, to indie newly coined “DTC” brands.

Instagram was a “social media” platform that enabled brands like my first one (that you’re going to hear about today) to grow intentionally and organically.

Ads - worked. And were welcomed.

Retail leases lapsed. Pop-ups took over.

Shopify, Squarespace, and Mailchimp were your “tech-stack”.

Things were somewhat simpler; there was less noise, in business, and in life.

In 2016, I was 4 years into my move to NYC from Australia, and in Year 2 of building my first business and brand from the ground up, and honestly, all the behaviors and shifts we’re seeing now are truly the marketing strategies we were living for back then.

Our legit 2016 brand standards - a pre-GPT brand:

We were in the company of DTC up-and-comers in the local NYC community:

• AWAY - at that time, two female founders who were taking on an outdated luggage category were assigned to us as Mentors for the Mastermind we were enrolled in

• Warby Parker - the OG, who at that time, had lines for their “come see our studio on LaFayette and shop the collection” invitation, which was filled with kids in glasses behind Mac screens

• Outdoor Voices - at that time, shared our logo abbreviation and lifestyle :) OV, and were a small team on Canal St that we went to visit to chat collabs

• Glossier - at that time, was a hole-in-the-wall temporary space with exposed brick walls, a place to come see Emily’s 3 products which were rested on top of 3 pedestals and that was it

That was the vibe in 2016.

That kind of IYKYK energy.

Collaboration was key and encouraged.

Our brand was called OVERT, we had one signature product, The Noho Bag ~ a backpack that “functioned like a North Face but with a YSL aesthetic”, here she is:

The Noho, was the ultimate bag for your life (doing it all) in the city - which looked like this for most of us:

you leave the house at 7AM, pack your bag(s) for the day, laptop, gym clothes, shoes, make-up, snacks, water, never knowing what might happen, leave your 5th floor walk up, hit the subway, and spend your day in the office, at the gym, popping out for coffee, grab lunch, going to happy hour, ending up at dinner, on a date hiding your ridiculous amount of stuff, trying to coat check it at the club, getting home at 1AM and then probably doing it all again in some shape or form.

If you live or lived in NYC, I know you’re nodding your head, and maybe you even had one?

If you’re getting messages about your brand 10 years later…it says something.

The Takeaway

OVERT was built based on these core elements:

• Standout product

• Clear customer

• Connected community

• Real people storytelling

Which is the perfect segue into the second part of this post >

The Power of Real Life Human Curators > The Uber Human Influencers

In 2016, people were fatigued of influencers in stilettos and ubers in Soho, wearing contemporary fashion brands from Intermix or Bergdorf’s.

They related more to the real girls doing real things, building cool stuff, with just enough aspiration to make it iconic.

Sounds a lot like today right? The difference is now it’s called “micro-influencers”. 😝

We wanted to bring our brand and product to life by highlighting the “real” City Girls of NYC - the ones hustling and building cool things, over the out-of-reach influencers.

Community became our second product; we hosted pop-ups, happy hours, brunches, art gallery walks.

Here are just a handful of the hundreds of awesome babes who were part of our OVERT City Girls ~ Real Girls Doing Real Shit content series.

• Sarah Levey - was breaking yoga, with Y7 Yoga, which at that time was a single studio in a dark sweaty brooklyn basement, which is where we met Sarah who was our very first OVERT City Girl ❤️‍🔥

• Cyndi Ramirez - was the lady of the house at The Garret, her cool bar in East Village, and starting the early concept of Chillhouse (the just acquired nail business (this is my favorite color polish), she’s also on Substack)

• Dianna Cohen - was part of the early team at Spring, a shopping platform for indie brands that we were a part of, hosting fireside chats with business leaders in their office (now the it-girl founder of Crown Affair + Take Your Time substack)

• Laura Jung - was building Uniform back then, “the perfect leather jacket’“ which I still wear to this day (I recommend her substack Digestifs)

• Lively - at that time, Michelle, and Ali, two more of our brand ambassadors and collaborators, were little did we know, building a $MM empire, and hosting community hangs in warehouse lofts in Chelsea (Michelle, now building another empire and just signed Alix Earle with Gorgie, and Ali, producing podcasts like Create & Cultivate and Domino)

I wish I could list them all because they’ve all gone on to do incredible things in the world, maybe I need to do a throwback interview series!?

I will be introducing features and contributions from the founders and operators in my community here on Substack soon, so it’d make sense to include them right?

Want to hear from the OV City Girls?

Here’s a selection of the babes wearing our Noho Bag around the world:

That period of my life and entrepreneurial career became the backbone of my marketing approach; it is the foundation of the frameworks I created and use to mentor founders inside the CFI Program and to build brands for consulting projects.

Based on all the marketing reports and news I’m reading and reporting for 2026, it’s all feeling pretty familiar.

Don’t you think?

I’m pretty happy about the 2016 era being “back” and the fact that I’m here today, building my brand, Creating Forward Studio using these same principles.

And that I get to help other founders build their brands with this same kind of energy.

I’d love to hear about what you’re building and talk about how this can work for your brand, so please feel free to book one of my Intro Strategy Sessions 😎

And if you’re in LA, I’m back in my events era and have a full Feb calendar. Join any of the upcoming hangs here or get on the First Dibs list for future invitations.

Next up, part 2: Imperfect Real-Life Chaos > Perfectly Curated Aesthetic & Offline > Online

One of the best things about Substack, is that it gives us an opportunity to have open dialogue - so let’s chat.

Have a beautiful week, Sax - X

O — Observing

I Love LA ~ I might be late to the party, but I just started it a few weeks back and am hooked. It’s like real-time documentary of ‘Zillennials” right now, albeit a pretty privileged set of humans, but, it’s brilliant and there are a bunch of takeaways to be had on brand culture in the show.

P — Practicing

It’s not like anyone needs another step to add to their morning routine, but I’ve been doing this 5-part lymph mini massage after I (think) I got targeted on IG.

E — Exploring

Work Stacking! A new concept for my working style to stay accountable, connected, and focussed.

N — Noting

Travel travel travel. My husband and my annual travel planning process and what’s in our notes for 2026 as a couple, sans kids, who live/work/travel a lot, here’s how we do it, using a $2 calendar from etsy + Gemini.

In case you’re new here, Hi! I’m Sax, a brand marketing mentor and business coach for beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands, I’m an Aussie, living in LA after almost a decade in NYC - I’m 44 and here, exploring this next chapter of life and building my business with curiosity.

Normally I’m here with a weekly Super Dose edition, talking about brand building and marketing, sharing business insights and industry observations that sit somewhere within the beauty, wellness, and lifestyle categories.

But this is Open Tabs, is a monthly edit of the open tabs in my mind, in my notebook, in my Notion…

Each one follows this OPEN format.

O — Observing - Something I’m noticing (trend, behavior, shift, idea)

P — Practicing - Something I’m using (tool, product, habit)

E — Exploring - Something I’m curious about doing or putting into action

N — Noting - Something I keep coming back to or have saved for later

Open Tabs Vol. 02

O — Observing

I Love LA, the show.

But honestly, right now, sitting in my Venice Beach bungalow, sun pouring in, having spent the day yesterday in Malibu, at Clark’s Oyster Bar, and walking First Point at sunset…planning an afternoon hiking out in the Hollywood Hills…while the rest of America is in a declared “Deep Freeze” I do <3 LA.

Like I said in the intro, this show feels like a documentary on twenty-somethings in 2026, which I now know are Zillennials…

We are talking about 5 main characters who are:

1. Alani (True Whitaker) A (ridiculously beautiful) nepo-baby with a famous Hollywood director Dad, sick house + wardrobe

2. Charlie (Jordan Firstman) A queer (hilarious) stylist to celebrities who cracks me up + wears cool jackets

3. Maia (Rachel Sennot, also the creator) A girl working for “alyssa 180” the hottest influencer management agency in Hollywood (also extremely hot)

4. Tallullah (Odessa A’zion) A Tik Tok superstar that doesn’t follow any rules and receives an overwhelming amount of PR boxes (you guessed it, a babe)

5. Dylan (Josh Hutcherson) An “always the nice guy” boyfriend of Maia (cutie)

So, is it real life? In some ways, yes. It’s like a bit of an albeit exaggerated peek behind a curtain.

Or, as a review by calls it “a satire of zillennial influencer hustle culture” which seems pretty accurate to me based on this definition by GPT when I asked it to define this term:

The show leans into the “influencer world” and “clout culture” for sure, but what I love so much is the way it highlights “brand”.

Mostly around personal brand, and the lifestyle decisions you make that bring your Brand DNA to life, like:

• Locations you visit

• Products you consume

• Clothes you wear

• Community you hang with

But then also on the brand side, how these particular brands have positioned themselves to even be on the roster for the show.

The businesses referenced have built their brand worlds so well, that now they’re used as props to tell a deeper story about a character.

Locations:

A ton of the discourse + coverage is about where they go, and when you watch it you’ll see why, me and my husband spend a lot of the show going “is that Canyon Coffee?” “is that a real place?”

Emma Specter wrote a piece for Vogue called “Every Hollywood-Girlie Location Featured on I Love LA” and opens with this:

as a spoiled millennial Angeleno currently living closer than I would like to the Scientology Center, watching I Love LA in my 30s and seeing people, places, and things I recognize firsthand holds the same thrill as when I would watch Girls in my 20s and recognize the various third-wave coffee shops, shitty bars, and even shittier men that reflected my Brooklyn life at the time.

Same. Mostly.

But I was in my 30’s in NYC, and in my 40’s here. And I live in Venice Beach, which is basically the other side of the world from the East Side where the show is set.

Products:

There are so many references here, from Erewhon to Canyon Coffee, then there’s fashion label drops, Acne, IRO, and wellness references like IV drips…

Canyon Coffee is my FAVORITE coffee, we use use their beans at home every day.

I recently listened to this great Shopify Masters podcast interview with the founders, and, they’re opening in Brooklyn. Jealous. Come to Venice next please!

Style:

Costume designer Christina Flannery talks about building style that feels true to real neighborhoods and I think she nails it.

I recognize a lot of Y2K style going on, which makes sense given that’s what’s cool right now for this age group (OMG I was in Frankie’s Bikini Malibu store yesterday, and it’s literally this, bustierres, satin, lace, frill edging…)

Here’s how Christina Flannery describes each character’s style, with commentary pulled from this piece on Fashion Magazine by Natalie Michie (also on Substack):

• “Maia is a ’90s-inspired PR assistant in her Saturn return.”

  • Maia is feeling lost and searching for a new sense of purpose.

• “Tallulah is an ex-New York underground anarchist to the social media platforms, while also using them to make her income”

  • Like many creators trying to make it big, Tallulah’s designer wardrobe is in large part performative—concealing her dire financial situation.

• “Alani is “a private school girl with archived pieces gifted from her mother,

  • She’s the kind of person you’d find casually hanging out with Kylie Jenner and grocery shopping exclusively at Erewhon.”

• “Charlie is “a wild card stylist,” he snags pieces from his talent, and mixes and matches with vintage,”

  • He’s insider-y and status-seeking, and his colourful statement pieces show it.

Community:

Life is always going to be about who you know. In a good way, though. Like a reminder, that getting out IRL, and collaboration are key for building a successful business.

That said, there are the funniest moments where the lead character, Maia, is always somehow on the periphery, always trying to be the cool one, the popular one, the connected one, but is never quite there…while her other 3 friends effortlessly float along to the front of a queue, get the best table, or invites to the parties.

A lot of the show’s moments are a funny-but-dark reminder that a lot of “growth” online is… a mirage.

Like the episode last night where they were at a party at Elijah Wood’s house is hosted by Quenlin Blackwell (playing a OTT version of herself) who has a secret click farm, dozens of old phones manipulating engagement data set up in a room of the house, I felt physically sick.

IRL is becoming a key credibility layer because online attention is so easily manufactured.

HBO treated the rollout like a real-world brand moment too, it was a masterclass in Sticky Brand DNA, with IRL takeovers at a handful of Eastside spots, custom menus, merch, the whole thing.

On IRL marketing & real-people brand building…

My next Super Dose edition, coming this week, is all about the 2016 Era of brands; why we’re obsessed with that year, and what brands can learn and replicate from it.

IRL is a big part of that conversation and I’ll be sharing a bunch of insights from my time as a founder in 2016, and how it applies to the work I do now inside the Creating Forward Incubator program, and the conversations I have inside the Forward Founder Studio private community.

P — Practicing

It’s not like anyone needs another step to add to their morning routine, but I’ve been doing this 5-part lymph mini massage after I (think) I got targeted on IG.

I do it every day after my shower, during my body moisturizing phase, using this Osea Anti-aging Body Balm (thanks to my happy place wellness club, Hume).

But here’s why I’m practicing this:

• I’ve heard “lymphatic drainage” floating around in various ways in the locker room

  or in my girls’ chats, maybe you have too?

  • it gets rid of fat

  • it debloats your body or depuffs your face

  • it detoxifies your body

• I have had a couple of lymphatic massages, and tbh, I didn’t really know what to expect and hadn’t done much research on it when I went in so it wasn’t really that worth it

• I wanted to know what was.

• I listened to this Huberman podcast and was like “ooohhh, ok, this makes sense now” I’m not a Stanford scientist so I suggest having a listen, but here are my takeaways;

  • lymph, is a kind of fluid in your body, it captures toxins, and things you don’t need or want

  • there are 5 points where your body naturally regulates and drains lymph

  • those drains run one way (up) and light massage or jumping can help with drainage

I just started like a week ago, so I’ll keep you posted, but it feels kind of nice and honestly takes 5 more minutes.

PS, on the topic of body, is anyone else getting SLAMMED by One Skin body moisturizer ads!?

I’m actually a subscribing customer to their Facial Moisturizer and SPF Skin Tint, but the volume and influx of obviously paid UGC content is making me devalue what I thought was a premium brand.

I do really love these products, though and the founders and scientists have some pretty compelling insights and studies on the peptides (search One Skin in your podcast app and a bunch of interviews will come up)

So if you wanna try them, follow this link and get $30 off :)

Takeaway for you: If you’re a brand working with UGC, don’t do that. I’m all about real people content, but don’t force it or get desperate, create real connection and real UGC.

E — Exploring

Work Stacking!

I realized that I tend to follow through the most when I Habit Stack (the famous approach by James Clear and his book Atomic Habits)

So I’m going to apply it toward work blocks.

I tried blocking my calendar and I just ignore it 🙄 I’m going to stick to a few blocks that are related to my core priorities and stack them with things that will hold me accountable and keep me in the zone.

Like:

👉🏼 an IRL Content Coworking Circle with other founders & businesses to focus on anything content-related that isn’t scrolling or saving inspo

👉🏼 a virtual Visibility Vortex with one of my biz besties focussing on outreach to increase visibility

👉🏼 a Location Lock-in tactic where I go to somewhere (that isn’t my desk) and focus on one thing and that place becomes the place I always do that thing

Yes ofc I had to brand them all with fun names 🫣 even internal stuff is about POSITIONING guys 😌

If you want in on the Content Coworking in LA get on the First Dibs list, it’ll be invite only.

If you want to host one in your city, drop me a note and I’ll share the format with you.

N — Noting

Travel travel travel.

My husband and I don’t have kids, his company is based in Germany, we are both from Australia, have close friends in NY, and I run my own business, which means we live/work/travel quite a lot.

We recently did our annual travel calendar planning and I’ve got quite a few places to dive into, and spots to find to stay.

Here’s what our annual planning process looks like:

1. I print a giant annual calendar
   (I got this digital file from Etsy for $2 and printed it at Staples)

2. We use color-coded post-its to lock in:

   1. Maybes for both of us

   2. Maybes for him

   3. Maybes for me

   4. Confirmed trips we both have together

   5. Confirmed trips he has

   6. Confirmed trips I have

   7. Things we want to fit in on the want list

3. Then it goes into a spreadsheet for us to track

4. This year, I put that into Gemini and gave it this prompt to help me prepare, and it nailed it tbh

Here are some of the places we have noted on our calendar for the year:

• New York City + Upstate

• New Mexico, Taos & Santa Fe

• Australia, Adelaide + Melbourne

• Tulum

• Todos Santos

• Mammoth

• Lake Tahoe

• San Francisco

• Big Sur

• Hamburg

• Swiss Alps

• Mexico City

• Greece

That’s it!

I’d love to hear what you thought of my second Open Tabs edition, and even more so, I’d love to open the dialogue so let’s chat.

Have a beautiful week, Sax - X

• The Experiment: Switching the list of “what” I want to work toward for 2026 to “how” I want to show up as an entrepreneur, mentor, and friend

• The Real Rules for 2026: A set of rules we can all play by this year

I said it last week, but I take it back, THIS is the first official week back isn’t it?

I’m back in Venice Beach, doing beach walks, making my yummy MCT coffee at home, going to the farmers market, wearing my Hommey robe and working on the sofa on the weekends, going to my wellness happy place Hume every day, showing up on Tik Tok for my series “First Sip” ~ a daily marketing and biz tip with my first sip of coffee, seeing friends, taking Intro Strategy Sessions with super cool founders, hosting events for founders in my community - ah, routine.

Last week, I talked about how, when I was in Australia, I had a lot of time verbally reflecting with friends and family on the year passed, and time to internally consider the next one.

Specifically, how I want to design my next year.

I realized, I was focusing on how I want to show up this year, more than the what.

And the foundations for how I’ll be guiding my founder and business community to show up.

Not what achievements I’m going to go for.

Not what is on my manifestation list.

Not what to create or build or do.

But how.

How to live, how to show up, how to exist.

In last week’s post, I also shared a step-by-step guide + template for my Annual AFY Ritual

One thing I decided I’m firmly leaving behind in 2025, is unnecessary, self-induced overwhelm.

Along with the feelings and thoughts like “I should do that email” “I have to get a post in for that” “I need to (anything)”

A mindset business coach I worked with, very validly, planted the lesson that “should” in fact, “should” not be in my vocabulary, as a human, or entrepreneur, very firmly in my brain.

And when it pops up now, I subconsciously check in with myself, is it a should really?

Should can be replaced with:

I can

I want

I will

Anyway, I digress.

In all my years, investing time, energy, and thousands of dollars into essential self-work, I’m really starting to realize that how I show up and how I think is what helps the what’s come to life.

When we’re moving through the world in our real and unique self, we build confidence, we attract the right people, we see clearly, we have direction, and we are in a state of creating forward.

Literally every time good shit has happened, and my life and business have felt in momentum, it’s been when I’m showing up as my real, unique, and “a little bit scared but doing it anyway” self.

And if we’re being honest, the times that the not so good shit has showed up, it’s usually when I’m not showing up as my true self…

That’s what this post is: a simple list of what I’m calling The Real Rules.

A set of beliefs that I hope will inspire, motivate, and charge you up for a powerfully magnetic, aligned, and expansive 2026.

Because, no matter what your situation is, if you’re going all in on making a vision become a reality - there are always going to be moments you’re showing up [publicly] but doubting yourself [privately].

These are the rules I’m playing by this year.

The beliefs I’ll be coming back to, to keep myself in momentum and IFGT (I Fucking Got This) mindset for 2026.

Save them.

Share them.

Say them out loud.

You don’t have to use them all, choose your top 3, or take one each month ~ whatever energizes you.

Just know you don’t have to go at it all alone and whatever you do - don’t give up. ❤️‍🔥

ICYMI: Hi, I’m Sax! A brand marketing mentor and business coach for beauty, wellness, and lifestyle founders and early stage teams, Creating Forward is my business, the name of this Substack, and my life mantra.

I’m 44 yr Aussie girl, I live in Venice Beach after almost 10 years in NYC. I write about brands, marketing, entrepreneurship, navigating the 40’s chapter, travel, health, and self work :) More on all that in my “intro” post here.

The Real Rules for 2026

When the New Year hype wears off & the self doubt creeps in…

I am not behind. I am on my way.

I am going to be the most uniquely real version of myself so whoever is looking for me can find me.

Comparison is not worth my headspace or energy.

All the things that don’t turn out how I thought they would are just building blocks for what will.

Taking action=/__u/creatingforward.substack.com/momentum.%3C/p>

Me building my business is really me learning to trust myself in public.

There is no such thing as ready.

I choose to be genuinely busy over chronically distracted.

I am building the life I truly want and it’s working out.

I promise to not always be working.

Progress is messy.

The scariest place to be is the same place as yesterday.

I prioritize and attract aligned collaboration and amplifiying opportunities.

I pay homage to good content with engagement instead of passive consumption.

I am creating forward.

What one are you going to take with you for January? Drop it below and make it real.

Sax - X

Subscribe to Creating Forward with Sax for free, or join the paid level and get an annual membership for the Forward Founder Studio ~ a private community platform for founders & early stage teams ~ included.

• Step-by-step of the 3-Part AFY Ritual (AFY = All Fucking Year)

• Breakdown of the Weekly, Monthly & Quarterly Check-In Process

• My Universe: My Notion dashboard

• The link to get the Notion template & guide for all of ^^

It’s so weird, the day I started writing this, I woke up and saw all this content and messaging like “It’s the first Monday of the year!” and I’m in Australia so I’m like, wait, that was yesterday…

Either way - it’s the first official week back for the world, whatever timezone you’re in.

During my almost 3-week trip down here in Australia, I’ve had a lot of space to think about how I want to design my next year.

And definitely a lot of time verbally, inadvertently, reflecting on the year passed in all my catch-ups with friends and family, and FUCK, I did a lot.

My poor little brain, or my magically complex brain - depends on what way you look at it right?

I diligently completed Week 52 while I was in Byron Bay, as part of my AFY Life/Biz Weekly Check-in Ritual, and was thrilled to see that I have filled it in every single week this year, which means I documented receipts for everything for every week of the year.

Ideas, learnings, blocks, wins, connections, sales, energy, health - more on that below.

I started this Ritual about 5 years ago and have refined it over the years with new ways of thinking I’ve adopted and the self-work I’ve invested in.

But, the AFY Ritual is a process that helps you show up All Fucking Year, instead of just at the start of the New Year like most rituals do, and it integrates both life and business because if you’re anything like me, they are one and the same.

Every year (around the new year-ish, and ideally somewhere in nature), I do a big reflection and reset for the year ahead using this system.

The idea is to have incremental, weekly, monthly and quarterly check-ins on your life and business so that you:

• Can organize your brain and keep track of ideas or inspiration (we have a lot of them as entrepreneurs!)

• Feel confident about your progress and priorities from week to week

• Recognize your progress and track momentum

• Catch learnings before it’s too late

• Stay on top of the areas in your life & business that mean the most to you

The 3-Part AFY Ritual - here’s how it works:

Cut to the chase and get the full template and guide here.

The EOY Reflection & Intention Setting part

You only have to do this part once a year.

• Part 01: The Big Annual Reset

  • We reflect on the year passed, we look forward for the year ahead using my thought starter Q’s in each category. Yes, this might sound pretty standard for an annual ritual so far, but stay with me…

• Part 02: The Life List

  • We create a list of manifestations or goals, based on a comprehensive list of categories and using my prompts.

This is where most rituals end - you have a list, you feel lit up and inspired about it.

Then life happens.

You forget about it until the end of the year and think, “shit, I didn’t cover as much as I’d hoped” “Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that goal I had”.

The difference with this process is that we check in on this list every week, month, and quarter with the AFY Life/Biz Check-In template.

We also create a moodboard if that’s your jam.

This was mine for 2025:

Part 03: The Show Up AFY (All Fucking Year) part

This is where you continue to show up, beyond the EOY reset.

• Weekly Life/Biz Check-In:

  • I spend 5ish mins every week on this ritual, documenting the week passed and take a look at the things I said I’d prioritize for that quarter from my master Life List to see how I’m tracking or if I can cross anything off yet.

• Monthly Reset:

  • Every month, I pull up the Monthly Check-in, and follow the prompts to get ready for the month ahead, using my weekly check-ins to remember.

  • I review my quarter Life List here again to see how I’m tracking and make edits if needed (things change, that’s ok)

• Quarterly Reset:

  • Every quarter, I do a deeper dive into everything and plan for the quarter ahead, using the aggregated weekly and monthly check-ins.

  • Once again, we look at that quarter Life List, and ideally, cross a few things off.

  • Then, I choose a few new priorities from the master List to become my focus List for that quarter.

You can see how showing up every week, month, and quarter - and coming back to the master Life List - helps you actually show up for those goals and visions, All Fucking Year right?

There’s something about revisiting the list every week having it top of mind that actually makes it a reality, subconsciously present and processing.

Then, once you get through the year, we do it all again!

Get the full template and guide here.

The Biz Metrics Dashboard

Of course, as a marketer and entrepreneur, tracking data is important so that you can make informed decisions.

We use this spreadsheet to track all the data every week, month, and quarter as well, from Google Analytics, to Shopify, to Social Platforms, Email, and Events, Partnerships or other marketing activations.

Get the full template as part of the AFY Ritual here.

A peek inside the Check-Ins:

I designed these templates to track what I think are essential elements of holistic wellbeing in both your life and business, but you can change them to whatever suits you.

Biz Reset:

• Vibes: Overall, how are you feeling

• Wins & Action: What you did, and what success you had

• Blocks & Inaction: What you felt stuck on or didn’t do

• Connections: People you met or reconnected with

• Pings: Ideas you had

• Learnings: Things you learned (duh)

• Revenue: Aggregate sales or income

• Overwhelm, networking, content, amplifiers: Each one gets rated 1 - 10 in effort (these are priorities for me)

Life Reset:

• Vibes: Overall, how are you feeling

• Wins & Action: What you did, and what success you had

• Blocks & Inaction: What you felt stuck on or didn’t do

• Connections: People you met or reconnected with

• Pings: Ideas you had

• Learnings: Things you learned

• Overwhelm, mind, body, friends: Each one gets rated 1 - 10 in effort (these are priorities for me)

Get the full template and guide here.

My Universe

This is where I manage everything in my world, it’s a Notion dashboard-style page that looks like this:

Every quarter I create a new Notion header banner to set the mood.

This was my last one for 2025 - I borrowed the design for this header and some elements of my Universe dashboard from and her Leisure Ethic template.

I’m looking forward to sitting down to do my 2026 Ritual this weekend and will drop my new header and moodboard into the Chat when I do.

In the meantime, I’d love to see yours or hear what you think about this process.

Drop your comments here or in the Chat :)

Until then, I’ll see you for the next post: The Real Rules of 2026 and an experiment I’ll be running for my own life and biz this year.

Sax - X

ICYMI: Hi, I’m Sax! A brand marketing mentor and business coach for beauty, wellness, and lifestyle founders and early-stage teams, Creating Forward is my business, the name of this Substack, and my life mantra.

I’m 44 yr Aussie girl, I live in Venice Beach after almost 10 years in NYC. I write about brands, marketing, entrepreneurship, navigating the 40’s chapter, travel, health, and self work :) More on all that in my “intro” post here.

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