So, what is the influencer recession?

To put it simply, people are tired of influencers whose entire content is showing off their lives. What started as relatable and attainable grew into making hundreds of thousands or millions per year, renting $10,000+ a month apartments in NYC, purchasing homes, filming get ready with me’s in business class on your way to euro summer, and the latest trend - unboxing the coveted Birkin.

When majority of Americans don’t have $1000 for emergencies, can’t afford a one-bedroom apartment, let alone buying a home, and are getting laid off due to job displacement - this content feels more dystopian than reality.

This is usually the graph of being an influencer:

But, hasn’t that always been the case? Why does 2026 feel different? And does an influencer recession mean influencers are going away? Keep in mind, I am using a lot of anecdotal evidence, but would love to know if you’re seeing this too.

The death of the lifestyle influencer

When I started on social media in 2011, the word “influencer” was not being used. Social media was in the early days. I started on YouTube before I even had an Instagram account. You didn’t start seeing it appear until 2016:

This was the era of creators moving to LA, some even dropping out of high school to pursue full-time social media, and amassing millions of followers (and dollars) while posting their lives on the internet.

And when there were a few limited people doing it, it was novel. People wanted to follow their new favorite family vloggers, college vloggers, and corporate girls share their morning routines. These things were relatable:

• Raising a family

• Going to school

• Going to your 9-5

And when you grow your following because of your “relatability”, the only other path is for you to grow too quickly and become “unrelatable” (see the graph above).

I was one of those girls vlogging the corporate life. I got my degree in Industrial Engineering, worked as a consultant at Accenture, and loved sharing the relatable moments of my 9-5. To say I was terrified to quit my job because of the community I had built would be an understatement. But, when I made the announcement, there were a few disappointed people, but majority were supportive and were excited for my next adventure.

I don’t believe quitting your job and doing content creation full-time is a death sentence. I don’t even think becoming rich and making millions on content creation is a death sentence (re: the rise of the niche creator below).

What I do believe is causing the influencer recession is quite simple: people are getting tired of watching other peoples lives through a screen and gaining nothing from it. Only jealousy. Only anger. Only bitterness. Read the comment section of someone with over 1 million followers or go to a Reddit snark page (actually, don’t.) if you don’t believe me.

Please know - I am not blaming the women (yes, the lifestyle influencer is mainly women) who are creating content monetizing their lives for this recession or disdain people are having. I don’t think it is on the creator to apologize for the fame and success they now have. However, I don’t think we should be surprised when people get tired of watching excessive consumerism while people are struggling to pay rent.

What will happen with influencer marketing

A recession indicates growth slowing down and people losing jobs and money, right? So, is that happening? Are brands not spending money on influencers? Are these influencers not getting paid the same rates? Are they not getting brand deals? According to Oberlo, it does not look like it:

Let me explain what I think is happening (and will continue to happen):

Since the late-2010s and early 2020’s, the world has seen how much money influencers can make. Influencer marketers will come on TikTok sharing they just paid six-figures to a creator for a 30-second TikTok, creators are sharing their $100,000+ months, influencers are buying second homes in the Hamptons. There’s a reason the number one job for children today is to become an influencer. When I was growing up being “rich and famous” meant being a movie star. Now, it means being the next YouTuber or TikToker.

@averybouchif i dont laugh i’ll cry #nyc #influencermarketing #entertainment #entertainmentindustry #nyclife #corporatelife #idreamedadream #annehathaway #lesmiserables #lesmis

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I don’t think (and the data backs me up) that influencer marketing will dry up. I only think it will continue to grow. We spend majority of our day on our phones (yikes), we doom scroll for hours before bed, and TikTok is coming for Amazon when it comes to online shopping. The marketing dollars are justified.

Why then are more and more creators coming to the internet saying they are going back to work full-time, or sharing how difficult it’s been to grow their following if so many brands are pouring money into the industry?

@itsmarisa_kay @itsmarisa_kay ♬ original sound - Marisa Kay

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Could it be because there are millions of more creators so the marketing dollars are being spread out? Maybe, but rates have continued to increase across the board, according to Matriochka, a European influencer agency.

As someone who is on both sides of the influencer industry: I am a creator and have made a full-time living off of it for 7 years AND I own a business and have managed our influencer campaigns, I think I know the reason.

Why is someone watching your content?

I know, it sounds like a rhetorical question. But seriously… why would they watch your content?

The lifestyle influencers that are making millions of dollars are not too worried about this question. They are the “1%”. They have surpassed that threshold of being irrelevant. People tune in because the lifestyle is interesting, they tune in because its a life they aspire to have, they tune in because they love them, or the worst one - they tune in because they hate them (re: the jealousy, anger, and bitterness part).

The average creator with a few thousand followers looking to imitate that doesn’t have that privilege. So, again, ask yourself: why is someone watching your content and sticking around?

If you don’t have an answer to that question, then you may be one of the thousands of people feeling the impact of the influencer recession most.

Which brings me to who is winning during this influencer recession.

The rise of the niche creator

“You are the niche” is some of the worst beginner content advice I have ever heard. You are not the niche. You don’t have the privilege of being the niche when you are just starting out. Why? Because no one knows you. No one trusts you. You don’t have the reps.

When you are starting out on content, you should start with a niche. A “why.” Why is someone following you and why you specifically? What point-of-view do you have that no one else does?

Why does this matter? Because in 2026, when the smaller lifestyle influencer is feeling the effects of this alleged influencer recession we are in, the niche creator isn’t. In fact, they are feeling the opposite.

In 2019, I quit my corporate job and was a full-time lifestyle creator making over double my salary at Accenture (which was $60,000 at the time). Since around 2021, I noticed my income declining year over year. 2025 was my lowest income year yet as a lifestyle creator. In November 2025, I decided to do a hard pivot and only focus on founder and entrepreneurship. I picked a niche after over a decade on the internet. Because of that, 2026 is shaping out to be my highest revenue year ever. And its the first time in 5 years my followers have grown. And it’s not just any followers. Other entrepreneurs and founders are following me now. The exact people I am speaking to with my niche.

And I see this on the flip side, too. At Rella, we only work with creators who speak directly to social media managers. They have courses, they’re coaches, they share behind-the-scenes content of social media management, or they share social media marketing tips. That’s it. Our highest performers are people who don’t share their personal life at all. The opposite of a lifestyle influencer.

Still don’t believe me? Look at the top earning creators and their niches:

Why do you think this is happening?

Because these creators have a “why.” They provide value in some way. People do not watch their lives from a distance like a reality TV show. They are coming for one thing and leaving with it. They are looking for people with common interests, not just interesting lives.

This is why we see Substack, newsletters, and community groups on the rise. The people yearn for value, common interests, and community.

So no, I don’t believe we are in a true influencer recession. I think we are experiencing the death of the lifestyle influencer.

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This week, Rella took six of our users on our first-ever brand trip to Miami. Not influencers. Not creators with massive followings. Our actual users — the people who open the app every week and tell their friends about it.

That was intentional.

It started with a thought I had while scrolling through what felt like an influencer’s 20th brand trip to an exotic destination. I couldn’t even remember what brand it was for. The same faces, the same aesthetics, the same Bali villa. As a consumer, I’ve seen it so many times that it barely registers anymore. And instead of concluding that brand trips don’t work, I started asking a different question: what would it take to flip the model entirely?

Three things came to mind:

• Make it anything but another beauty brand doing this

• Bring a completely different group of people than what’s typically on these trips

• Document the process from the brand’s POV — the stuff that usually stays internal

So I did what I always do with an idea I don’t want to lose: I created a task in ClickUp on December 30th and wrote out exactly why Rella should do a brand trip in 2026.

Why Users, Not Influencers

At Rella, community isn’t a marketing tactic — it’s how we operate. We do live demo calls with new and existing users, offer live support calls, run a Facebook group with over 1,000 members, host free quarterly webinars, and give merch to our top users. Until two weeks ago, it was just me and Natacha personally handling every single support ticket and email that came through. Our first hire was a community role. None of this is accidental.

Word of mouth is our number one driver. Which means our users are our influencers. So why would we fly strangers to Miami when the people who actually evangelize the product every day exist right inside our community?

The Application Process (And Why It Was Also a Marketing Play)

We announced the trip as an open application — not a casting call, but an invitation for users to share how they use Rella online. We wanted people who were already excited, and we wanted the process itself to generate organic exposure.

35 people submitted applications within 10 days. That’s 35 organic posts before a single dollar was spent on the trip itself. One Instagram reel can cost $3,000 or more. We got 35 pieces of content for free, just by making the selection process public.

The Cost Breakdown

We’re a team of 8 at a startup that doesn’t have Tarte’s budget. When I originally scoped this, I was working with $10K–$15K for everything — flights, Airbnb, food, activities, content. We came in at $14,762, and here’s exactly where that went:

Alexis, our Head of Community helped us with all the details and brand partnerships — she didn't just show up, she came with deals already in place. It wouldn’t be a brand trip without decorating the girls rooms with PR. She secured $6,000 in brand partnerships tied to the trip, which offset nearly half of our total spend.

I love being transparent about our thought process, the numbers, and if it was worth it. Time will tell how this converts to revenue, however we’re here for the long game. Building a community that trusts you doesn’t happen overnight and spending a few days with the users who shape our product was invaluable.

I would love to hear your thoughts: would you host a brand trip and do you think they move the needle like they once did?

If you’ve somehow missed Liaison (where have you been?!), it’s one of the biggest activewear brands on TikTok right now. I just shopped her latest drop (my first time shopping a drop in real time!) and I’m in her broadcast channel, which feels like the internet’s most supportive group chat. Stefana has built something really special — not just aesthetically, but emotionally.

We had so much to talk about on the podcast that we couldn’t fit it all into one episode — so this Q&A picks up where the podcast left off.

Stefana shares what’s actually driving growth behind Liaison: how she’s landed collabs with creators like Halley Kate, got featured on Dancing With the Stars, and why press and celebrity placements don’t always translate into sales.

You’ve managed to get Liaison the Label featured by some major influencers and on TV shows like Dancing With The Stars. Do you have a specific strategy or secret for getting your product in front of more people? And does it boost sales as much as people assume?

@stefana.avara@Liaison The Label ON DANCING WITH THE STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭 HOW IS THIS REAL LIFE #DWTS #dancingwiththestars

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Honestly, there’s no big secret. A lot of it comes down to being scrappy and intentional. We’ll DM people we genuinely think would love the product and offer to gift it, sometimes their team reaches out to us, and at one point we also worked with a PR agency that helped land some really cool celebrity and TV placements, including Dancing With The Stars.

What people don’t always realize is that those big moments don’t automatically translate to sales. They’re amazing for credibility and awareness, but they don’t always “move the needle” the way you’d expect. What actually drives sales for us is trust and repetition, seeing the same creators wear the product consistently, talk about it naturally, and genuinely stand behind it. When it feels real and consistent, sales follow.

You’ve collaborated with other creators, like Halley Kate and Kelsey Anderson. How do these partnerships typically come about? Do you reach out to them, and are the creators deeply involved in the design process? How do these collaborations differ from influencer campaigns or affiliate marketing?

Our creator collaborations typically begin with a direct outreach to the creator’s management team, where we pitch a concept and align on shared vision, values, and audience fit. From there, we negotiate the structure of the partnership collaboratively.

What truly differentiates these collaborations is the level of involvement. The creators are deeply hands-on throughout the process, from selecting colorways and fabrics to refining fit, silhouettes, and overall styling. They aren’t simply promoting an existing product; they’re actively co-creating it alongside our team.

These partnerships also differ from traditional influencer campaigns or affiliate marketing in how they’re structured and perceived. Rather than earning a standard commission, creators participate in a profit-share model, which aligns incentives and reflects their creative and strategic contribution. As a result, the collaboration feels more personal and credible to their audience, fostering deeper brand trust, long-term loyalty, and meaningful customer acquisition.

What would you say has been the biggest driver of sales for you—organic content, your own founder content, influencers, or press? Could you rank them?

1. Founder Content + transparent conversations

2. Influencers wearing our products

3. TikToks posted on the brand’s account

4. Organic TikToks posted by customers and community members

4. Meta Ads

5. Celebrities wearing our product (good for credibility but not for sales)

-100: Press/news placements (LOL) it moved the needle 0 for us!

the ✨DELUSIONAL✨ confidence that built a multimillion $$$ brand your fave influencers are wearing

You need to watch this one.

This episode is about real, messy, behind-the-scenes growth. No overnight success, no trust fund, no shortcuts. Just grit, community, and trusting your gut even when the path doesn’t make sense.

If you’ve ever thought about starting a brand — or just needed the reminder that you can — watch this:

Stefana’s story is proof that you don’t need a perfect background, connections, or a huge budget to build something impactful — just relentless belief, a clear vision, and the willingness to keep going when it’s hard.

If this episode resonated with you, send it to a friend who needs to hear it, or leave a review on the podcast — it really helps more people discover these stories. And if you’re building something of your own… I’m rooting for you. 💛

P.S This is the set I bought and I am SO excited…

Thanks for reading The Growth List! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

2026 prediction: the next billion-dollar brands will be creator-owned.

That’s what Jeff Frommer, founder of OWM, believes — and after talking with him, I get why.

I recently sat down with Jeff to unpack why creator brands aren’t just a trend, but the next generation of category leaders. His thesis was simple and hard to ignore: distribution is the moat now.

Think about what used to protect startups. Software? Not anymore. Tools like Replit and Lovable are making product creation faster and cheaper than ever. The barrier isn’t building — it’s getting attention.

When I spoke with Erica Wenger of Park Rangers Capital, she said something that stuck with me: she only invests in companies with a clear, defensible distribution strategy. Every week she sees dozens of startups with the same idea. The ones that stand out already have an audience, a personal brand, or a community baked in from day one.

So no — you don’t have to be an influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers to start a business. But if you’re an aspiring founder, you should be thinking about your personal brand just as seriously as your product. And if that’s not your strength? Partner with someone whose distribution already works.

The Sephora Effect

As someone who started as a “beauty guru” back in 2011, Sephora has always felt familiar to me. I remember walking the aisles in high school grabbing Makeup Forever, NARS, Too Faced, Urban Decay. I never once thought about who founded them — it didn’t matter. Truthfully, I still have no idea.

Today? Totally different story.

When I walk into Sephora now, I don’t just see brands — I see names I recognize and feel emotionally connected to: Fenty Beauty, Rare Beauty, Rhode, Makeup by Mario, Summer Fridays, Haus Labs.

Beauty was just the first domino.

Walk into a grocery store and you’ll see the same shift happening in food and beverage: Feastables, Chamberlain Coffee, Unwell.

And a category I know well — software — is following quickly: Tezza, Rella, Retrograde.

These aren’t side projects. These are creators building real businesses and actively taking market share from legacy incumbents. Like Jeff said — if I were a conglomerate like L’Oréal, I’d be paying very close attention.

Every industry is about to be reshaped by creators — not because they’re famous, but because they own trust and attention at scale.

However, not every creator should start a company. And not every creator wants to run one. It would be naïve to think great distribution automatically equals great execution.

That’s where partnerships come in.

We’re already seeing more creators shift from paid promotions to equity-based relationships, where they bring distribution and trust while operators handle everything else.

The Poppi × Alix Earle Moment

Creators have been angel investing for years, but the most high-profile recent example might be Alix Earle and Poppi.

Instead of traditional sponsored posts, Alix reportedly shifted into an equity-style partnership. Poppi showed up organically in her “get ready with me” videos, Coachella vlogs, and even behind-the-scenes Super Bowl content. She didn’t feel like an ad — she felt like a genuine fan.

@alixearleCoachearla got me hooked on @Poppi 🍋🍋‍🟩 #proudinvestor #poppipartner

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Not long after, PepsiCo acquired Poppi for ~$1.95B (or ~$1.65B net, depending on how you look at it).

Neither side disclosed exact terms, but estimates suggest Alix may have earned anywhere from $4M to nearly $40M.

Alix didn’t have to start Poppi from scratch. She didn’t have to raise venture capital, build a team, manage manufacturing, navigate retail partnerships, or spend years figuring out supply chain and margins. She didn’t carry payroll risk. She didn’t have to survive product recalls, inventory issues, or retailer chargebacks. She showed up where she already had leverage: attention and trust.

Creators aren’t replacing companies. They’re replacing the most expensive part of building one: attention.

How the Next Billion-Dollar Brands Will Be Built

If you’re betting on the next breakout brand, look for one thing first: built-in distribution.

The strongest companies of the next decade won’t start with ads — they’ll start with trust. And the fastest way to build that is by partnering with creators who’ve already spent years earning attention from their audience.

I’m excited to see this next wave of creators building, partnering, and investing. It’s going to define who has real longevity — and who fades when the algorithm changes.

You can listen to my conversation with Jeff here:

The creator economy isn’t just producing content anymore — it’s producing companies. The brands that win won’t start with ads or awareness; they’ll start with trust. And increasingly, that trust is owned by individuals, not institutions.

As this model scales, what do you think matters more: who builds the product, or who brings the audience?

When I was thinking of what I wanted this substack to be, I thought, “what content do I want to see as a founder?”

I wanted transparency, I wanted real examples of emails you sent, marketing pitches, investor reports, and I wanted to know what the roller coaster really looks like. Partially because I’m nosey, but mainly because it actually provides value. Don’t give me motivational quotes and “aesthetic founder” content of you working with a blazer at a nice coffee shop (hello, Im writing this with my hair in a bun, no makeup, severly jet lagged, and sweats on).

I just sent our December/end of year investor report and wanted to share it with the world. One day I may feel comfortable enough to not redact every number, but hopefully this either:

• Helps you write your investor report

• Feeds your curiosity on what other companies send to their investors

• Gives you inspiration that you can come back from the trenches, too

🌿 2025 Rella Investor Report

BCC: all of our investors - don’t make the mistake I did by adding everyone to the “to” line

Subject: December 2025 Investor Update: A Pivotal Year and the Road to $10M ARR

Hi everyone -

Happy New Year! Hopefully, by now, I’m the last person wishing you that. I apologize for the delay in sharing the December 2025 update—the first week of the year has been all about catching up.

Rella had an incredible 2025. At the start of the year, we were preparing to shut down by January 2025, as many of you knew. However, things turned around quickly: we became profitable in February, reached $1M ARR in July, $2M ARR in November, and are on track to hit $3M ARR in Q1 of 2026. We now have more than 3400 active subscriptions worldwide, and our team has grown from 4 to 6 members.

Here’s a summary of December:

• MRR: $***K | ARR: $2.*M (up 1.12% from last month)

• Churn: **% (down from **% last month)

• New subscriptions: 569 (down 25% from last month)

• Total subscriptions: 3,414 (up 4.4% from last month)

• CAC: $** (up 46% from last month)

• LTV:CAC: 6.1

• Profit margin: **% (up from **% last month)

And a recap of 2025:

• Total revenue: $*M

• Average MoM growth: 17.41%

• Overall CAC: $**

• Overall profit margin: **%

We’re so proud of how the year ended! December was slower compared to the rest of the year, largely due to the holidays—people weren’t buying new software, and many were OOO. Additionally, higher ad spending in Q4 (when ad budgets peak and competition is high) led to a significant increase in CAC for the month.

That said, January is already off to a strong start. Our trial-to-conversion rate has hit an all-time high of 68%, and free trials are up 40% compared to this time last month.

As we gear up for 2026, here’s what we’re working on:

• Improving data tracking and making more informed decisions:

  In 2025, our focus was survival, which meant making quick decisions based on qualitative insights. While we’re maintaining our speed, we’re now investing in better data tracking with tools like PostHog. This includes building dashboards and gathering user insights (e.g., onboarding questions) to make more data-driven decisions.

• Revamping the onboarding experience:

  Our onboarding hadn’t been updated in over a year, so we’ve made changes, and the results are already promising. More users are signing up directly for our higher-tier plan, Rella Premium, instead of Pro.

• Expanding marketing and community efforts:

  We’ve brought on Alexis Woody to help with these initiatives. Alexis has a strong background in community building, and we’re working on creating a “marketing web.” Last year, we focused mainly on social media content volume. This year, we’re partnering with strategic creators, building our SEO/LLM presence, and amplifying our story to a broader audience. We’re excited to host our first webinar of the year this Thursday! If you’re interested, you can join the 2026 Social Strategy Session, which already garnered over 700 sign-ups within 24 hours 🎉 The Rella community is active!

• Enhancing Ella AI and project management features:

  One of the most exciting aspects of Rella is how much users want to rely on it for everything. Ella AI continues to receive exceptional feedback and is a key reason users stick with us. Ella’s ability to understand users’ and clients’ brand voices without a learning curve is a huge differentiator—we’ve even heard it surpasses ChatGPT. We’re expanding Ella’s functionality across the app and improving our project management capabilities. This will allow social media teams to replace tools like Notion, Asana, and Monday.com, using Rella as their all-in-one solution for organization and collaboration.

Asks:

• We’re exploring podcast sponsorships. Most networks require significant budgets ($20K+) since podcast ads are most effective when done in volume for brand awareness. Have your portfolio companies had success with podcast ads, particularly in B2B SaaS versus CPG brands (which often run many podcast campaigns)? We’d love to hear about their experiences.

• As we plan for 2026, we’d love any advice or perspective on scaling from ~$2M to $10M ARR. If you’ve seen what tends to matter most or where teams commonly misstep at this stage, we’d really value your insight.

Thank you once again for your support this past year. It has meant so much to our team, and we’re thrilled to continue growing in 2026—this is just the beginning.

As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Best,

🎙️ Video Recap: Day in the Life of a Tech Startup 💁🏻‍♀️ How We Compete With BILLION Dollar Companies 💻

PINCH ME! Claude Code sponsored this weeks video -

Claude has been such a pivotal part of Rella’s toolkit, so being able to work with them is truly a dream. If you’re interested in seeing the BTS of a release day, I think you will enjoy the vlog.

Try Claude Code today: http://clau.de/nataliebarbu

What you’ll find:

• How we ship features quickly with 3 developers

• Behind the scenes of release day with our CTO

• The tools that help us compete with billion-dollar companies

• Real talk on testing, support, and hitting $2M ARR

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

And Happy New Year! This has felt like the most “New Year” New Year for me in a while. And from what my algorithm is showing me online, a lot of you feel the same way too.

I’ve always been a New Year’s resolution person. The beginning of a new year helps me stay accountable, and I’m proud to say there are plenty of resolutions I’ve stuck to, even to this day.

• 2016: I made the resolution to start going to the gym consistently and working out. I never played sports growing up and was always so afraid of the gym. I’ve gained confidence, muscle, and have stayed consistent for the past 10 years.

• 2018: I had a resolution to stop drinking soda. I was an “order a Diet Coke at a restaurant” girl. I made a goal to never drink traditional soda again (You can pry Olipop or Poppi’s cola flavors out of my hands!) For the past seven years, I haven’t had any soda. No chasers, mixed drinks, or Diet Coke orders.

• 2025: Last year, my resolution was to cook more. I was spending $1,000 a month on restaurants and realized I had a serious going-out-to-eat problem. I blamed it on not knowing how to cook, food going bad quickly, and traveling too much. But I figured it out this year and can say I go out to eat at most once a week when I’m home, and I’ve actually learned to enjoy cooking.

So if you’re wondering whether this time of year is significant for sticking to your goals, I’d say I’m a pretty good case study.

However, all of those goals are habits. Things I can control. What about the goals I can’t fully control? Like making a certain amount of income this year, growing my following, or getting more users on Rella?

Every year I set numerical goals, and when I do hit them, which isn’t often, it’s usually because of luck or an unintentional change I made along the way. So this year, I’m taking what’s worked for me in the past. I’m adding consistent habits as the goal and building systems around the goals I “can’t control” to make them more formulaic.

For example, I have a goal to earn a certain amount of money this year and hit a certain follower count. I share the full goals in my latest episode. To get there, I need to:

• Niche down on valuable content for higher-paying brand deals and for an audience of aspiring entrepreneurs, founders, and creators to find me

• Post 5+ times a week on Instagram and once a week on YouTube and the podcast

By focusing on the things I can control, like consistency, I give myself a real shot at hitting the goals I technically can’t control.

What are your goals this year and how are you reverse engineering them?

🌿 2026 Brand + Creator Predictions

Prediction 1: Higher-quality content is entering short-form.

I don’t mean perfection is taking over, but the bar is rising. When everyone can post a video from their phone, the casual iPhone style becomes oversaturated. Those videos can still go viral, but getting someone to stop scrolling now requires something that looks different from the last hour of content they’ve already seen. This is where higher-quality content makes a comeback. Not overly produced, just more intentional. Better framing, clearer audio, stronger storytelling. The pendulum always swings once something becomes too saturated.

When TikTok first took off, casual, FaceTime-style content dominated. And while that still works for some, building a loyal audience will be easier if you’re producing higher-quality content that signals authority and legitimacy.

Bilt took this route and created a series called Bilt that feels more like Im watching an episode of The Office rather than a reel on Instagram:

Prediction 2: Only a few lifestyle influencers will remain.

If you’re just starting on social media in 2026, you need authority in something or you need to be known for something specific.

Ask yourself: why would people follow me?

If you don’t have a clear answer, it’s time to go back to the strategy session.

This isn’t a brand-new trend for 2026. It’s just happening faster. Take my own content as an example. I started in 2011 in fashion and beauty, then slowly evolved into lifestyle. Over time, I didn’t intentionally change anything. I just kept posting about my life as a creator. But what were people actually following me for? There wasn’t a clear reason.

My brand slowly started to fade. That changed when I rebranded into founder content. Now I have a very clear answer to that question, and everything I create ties back to it.

And to the lifestyle influencers today? We’re going to see a real shift toward lifestyle influencers starting businesses to sustain both their brand and their income.

Prediction 3: Smaller brands will prioritize their community and employees over influencers.

I recently made a short-form video about Cocokind bringing their community on brand trips instead of larger influencers, and I think this is the future of brand trips.

More importantly, it foreshadows what we’ll see across marketing campaigns in 2026.

Instead of smaller brands paying large influencers thousands of dollars for a brand deal that drives low engagement, we’re going to see them invest in the people who already love and use their products. These customers will become their biggest ambassadors. That looks like inviting them on trips, sending them PR, and even bringing them into the product roadmap.

At the same time, we’ll see more brands tapping into their employees to create content that humanizes the brand. I recently came across JP Morgan promoting their internship program by having an intern film a day in the life. It felt real, relatable, and far more compelling than a polished ad.

Smaller brands don’t need bigger influencers. They need deeper trust, and their community already has it.

Stay tuned for a Rella trip in 2026… 👀

Prediction 4: Long-form content is making a big comeback.

In the 2010s, YouTube or blogging was the only real way to become an influencer. You had to invest hundreds of dollars in equipment and editing software, plus spend hours editing. Being an “influencer” required real time, money, and effort.

Then 2020 hit and TikTok blew up. Suddenly, you could build a full-time career by filming one-minute videos directly in the app, no editing required.

Like I said earlier, the pendulum always swings. And this time, it’s swinging back to long-form. But not fully.

Here’s how I see it breaking down:

2010s: Start on YouTube or a blog, then people would follow you on Instagram if they wanted more.

2020–2025: Start on short-form. Long-form became optional and more of a waste of time.

2026: A hybrid model. Short-form is where you experiment, get discovered, and test ideas. Long-form is where you deepen the relationship, provide real value, and build loyalty. Think: YouTube, Podcast, or Substack. To truly grow a strong audience now, you need both working together.

Prediction 5: The funnel is dead. The loop replaced it.

At Rella, we stopped thinking about our marketing “funnel” and started thinking about it as a marketing “web.” A funnel is too simplistic for how people actually make decisions today.

Watch an ad → sign up → convert

Enter an email → receive campaigns → convert

If only it were that easy.

The funnel has been replaced by a web, and that web requires far more experimentation. People come in from different places, leave, come back, lurk, follow, unfollow, and only convert once they’ve seen you multiple times across different touchpoints.

For us, our marketing “web” this quarter includes multiple channels working together, not in a straight line.

And the key is repetition. You have to reach customers at different points in the web before they convert. One ad, one influencer campaign, or one podcast is usually not enough. Trust is built over time, across platforms, and through consistency.

🎙️ Video Recap: I’m Done With Generic Goals—Here’s My 2026 Blueprint 📝🎯

What you’ll find:

• A candid reset for 2026, including lessons learned and why past goals didn’t stick

• The framework I use to set goals that are both realistic and motivating

• How to focus on what you can actually control and turn goals into daily habits

• My system for staying accountable with structured days and monthly check-ins

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

I can’t believe this is the last official full week of 2025. We say it every year, but this one truly flew by. So I wanted to take a moment to reflect on how this year started vs. how it’s ending.

🌿 How it started vs. How it’s going…

How It Started

January 2025: Rella was supposed to shut down.

In October, we realized we only had runway through January. We told our investors we’d be done. My cofounders started looking for (and getting offered!) other jobs. I was preparing to go back to being a full-time influencer—which I’m very glad didn’t happen (that’s a whole blog post on its own).

February 2025: Our first profitable month. Ever.

As a VC-backed company, this was huge. It meant we weren’t relying on constant fundraising—and more importantly, that we were building something sustainable.

June 2025: Summer in London.

I was nervous that a five-hour time difference and being abroad would hurt the business. Instead, July became our strongest growth month—and we hit $1M ARR. I’m endlessly grateful for a team that operates so effectively, fully remote.

July 2025: We launched Ella.

Ella changed the game for Rella. We hit $1M ARR just 11 months after relaunching. I repeat this stat often because going from 0 → 1 is one of the hardest things we’ve ever done—and we didn’t give up.

October 2025: Our first non-founding hires.

We grew from 4 to 6 people—a 50% team increase. As CEO, this was terrifying. Hiring wrong, onboarding, training… all of it felt heavy. But growth requires uncomfortable decisions, and I’m so glad we made them.

November 2025: $2M ARR.

Four months after hitting $1M. Going from 0 → 1 felt impossible. Now it’s time for 0 → 10.

How It’s Going

December 2025:

We made Forbes 30 Under 30. We’re ending the year with a team of six and planning an ambitious Q1.

I never want these reflections to come across as entitled. This was hard. There were years of failure before this—and none of it would’ve been possible without our team, our customers, and our community.

If sharing the messy, uncomfortable, almost-failed parts of this journey helps even one founder feel less alone—or avoid a mistake we made—then it’s worth it.

Here’s to 2026 🚀

🎙️ Video Recap: Day in My Life as an Entrepreneur: Building My 7-Figure Brand 💼✨

What you’ll find:

• Prepping for December and Q1

• Reaction to making Forbes 30 Under 30

• Content planning for the month

• How Im thinking about my personal brand in 2026

👀 On your radar

Stay in the know without scrolling all day.

• Maggie Sellers Reum + FlightStory: Steven Bartlett’s FlightStory made a seven-figure investment into Hot Smart Rich, betting on Maggie Sellers Reum’s creator-led media brand as a scalable platform across content, community, and commerce.

  • What else FlightStory backs: FlightStory has invested across creator-first businesses including Diary of a CEO, Begin Again, creator commerce platform Stan Store, and multiple consumer, health, and fintech startups — all centered on audience-driven distribution.

• Alix Earle invests in GORGIE: Alix Earle took an equity stake in clean energy drink brand GORGIE, signaling a shift from influencer partnerships to true creator ownership in consumer brands.

  • What this means for energy drinks: Creator equity is becoming a category moat — as consumers move toward cleaner formulations, brands backed by trusted personalities may outcompete legacy energy drinks on both relevance and distribution.

  • Stay tuned: I have an episode dropping next month with Jeff Frommer, the founder of OWM about what the future of creator equity deals look like and asking: is equity the future of influencer marketing?

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

This past month, I’ve felt a real shift in how I show up as a founder. What once felt like a scary decision to fully embrace my identity as a founder has actually been incredibly liberating. It has sparked a whole new wave of inspiration. I’m overflowing with ideas, dream guests I want to chat with, and a community I’m excited to build.

If I’m honest, what held me back before was the fear of being “cringe.”

When you put yourself out there, it can feel like there are hundreds of people waiting for you to fail. So I tried to protect myself by padding my founder content with “safer” lifestyle content.

But my goal is not to play it safe. It is to inspire more people to start businesses, to remind founders they are not alone, and to help others build the confidence to go for it.

This is the content I have always searched for, and I am choosing to believe I am not the only one.

And this week really proved to me that the shift was worth it, because Rella’s team made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list! A goal I have had for the past decade, and it seems fitting that in the final year of my 20s, it finally happened.

🌿 What It Looks Like to Make Forbes 30 Under 30

I woke up on Tuesday morning to an email saying “Congratulations! You made Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2026”!

I was so excited. I wasn’t excited because it now means we are successful. I wasn’t excited because my life would change in anyway. I was excited because it was something I set my mind at when I first learned about this list. My college roommate reminded me on LinkedIn that she remembers me talking about then, even before I had a business.

If you can relate, here is how we were able to make Forbes 30 Under 30:

How can you make the list?

There are three ways to make the list: nominate yourself, have someone else nominate you, or get contacted directly by the Forbes team. We nominated ourselves. Our whole team applied because when a company is selected, all cofounders under 30 are included. Connor and I had made a local Miami Forbes 30 Under 30 list and a journalist had reached out to me via LinkedIn for that.

The application is lengthy. They want to know everything about your business and your numbers, but they also want to know you as a person. Your thoughts on the future, the economy, your inspirations. It feels a bit like a college application without the essay.

We submitted ours the day before the deadline because we wanted our numbers to reflect the most up-to-date state of the business, especially since we were growing so quickly.

What was the process like?

We heard back a few weeks later from a journalist who had a few clarifying questions. She wanted more detail on our revenue, which gave us the chance to share how much we had grown since the initial application. The same journalist reached out another three or four times with follow-up questions and eventually asked for our investors’ contact information so she could verify their investment.

One thing that surprised me was the criminal background check. They flagged a criminal charge under my name in North Carolina and asked for clarification. I nearly fell out of my chair because I’ve never had anything more than a speeding ticket in my life. After looking up the date, I realized the “criminal charge” was actually that speeding ticket. I sent over the documents and cleared everything up.

Apparently, North Carolina labels those as criminal, which is definitely misleading and had my heart stopping for a second thinking someone was out there committing crimes as me.

I had applied in the past, as I mentioned. I submitted every year, even before I had a business, and I had heard back from journalists twice before, so I tried not to get my hopes up. But never had it gone this far. Based on the year we had at Rella, I genuinely felt we had a real shot this time.

What tips do you have?

Put yourself out there! It is not cringe to apply. It is not cringe to ask someone to nominate you. Brag about yourself and your accomplishments. This is your moment to put your work forward and reflect on how far you’ve come.

I also recommend applying for the most relevant but least saturated categories. In previous years, we applied for Social Media because I was a creator and it felt logical. But with Rella, we support social media teams and marketing agencies, so Marketing and Advertising made more sense. It was also less competitive than the Social Media category.

And remember… not making the list does not mean anything about your worth or success. It does not make you less accomplished or impressive. Two things can be true:

1. I am proud of myself for making it.

2. Making it does not determine any marker of success. Your hard work and perseverance do.

Congrats to everyone who made it, and good luck to everyone applying next year!

🎙️ Podcast Recap: 5 Businesses I WOULDN’T Start in 2026 (and Why!)

Listen on Spotify:

Listen on Apple:

What you’ll find:

• Hear my honest take on what to avoid in 2026.

• Get practical tips for choosing the right business model.

• Learn key mistakes new founders often make.

• Find out what makes a business idea sustainable.

👀 On your radar

Stay in the know without scrolling all day.

• MrBeast (and Beast Industries) is building a new platform to connect creators with big advertisers — a marketplace that could shape how creator-brand deals look from here on out. This feels very relevant if you watched my latest podcast…

• Spotify Wrapped takes over the internet again, revealing massive 2025 listening trends. Spotify hit 713 million users this year, with Bad Bunny dethroning Taylor Swift as the most-streamed global artist with nearly 20 billion streams. Wrapped also introduced new social features like Wrapped Party, signaling Spotify’s push to turn the annual recap into a fully interactive cultural event.

• TikTok Shop hit over $500 million in U.S. sales during Black Friday–Cyber Monday, marking its biggest BFCM ever — while Shopify merchants generated roughly $14.6 billion over the same weekend, underscoring just how fast TikTok Shop is scaling relative to established e-commerce giants.

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

RELLA REMINDER: We have a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale. GET $20 OFF RELLA. Use code GRATEFUL for new users signing up for Premium + Premium Plus. Use code THANKYOU for existing users upgrading to Premium Plus

🎁 Holiday Gift Guide

FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR…

• The Productivity Planner: A beautifully structured planner that helps founders prioritize what actually matters and stay focused without burning out. It’s the perfect gift for anyone juggling a million ideas and needing clarity.

• Substack Gift Card. Great for writers, creators, or anyone building a personal brand—this gift funds their creative work and helps them invest in their newsletter or audience growth. It’s thoughtful, practical, and always useful.

• Logitech Mouse + Keyboard Setup. Ergonomic gear makes long work sessions more comfortable and productive. I have the pink keyboard and mouse set, and I've received so many compliments. A solid mouse/keyboard combo instantly upgrades any founder’s desk setup

• BEIS Computer Bag. A sleek, durable bag that keeps their laptop, cables, and essentials organized on the move. Ideal for entrepreneurs bouncing between meetings, coworking spaces, and travel days. This is a non-negotiable for me and I own multiple different computer bags from BEIS.

• Tech Pack. A compact kit for chargers, cables, and on-the-go tech essentials that keeps everything tidy and accessible. Perfect for founders who work from everywhere.

• Brick. I have been seeing ads for this everywhere and am hoping someone gets me this for Christmas. Brick helps entrepreneurs stay focused by removing the temptation of constant notifications—just lock your phone away and reclaim deep work time. It’s a simple, clever tool for anyone trying to protect their attention and productivity.

FOR THE CHRONICALLY ONLINE…

• Patreon Gift Card. Perfect for creators who support other artists or run their own memberships—this gift lets them invest in community, education, or inspiration. It’s flexible, thoughtful, and always appreciated.

• Canon G7X. The go-to influencer camera. It’s what all the girls are taking their Instagram photos with (and a great starter vlogging camera)!

• Film Camera. A film camera adds nostalgia, texture, and storytelling to their content, inspiring creativity in a totally different medium. It’s a fun, aesthetic gift that sparks new ideas.

• Tripod. A stable tripod instantly upgrades filming quality, enabling sharper shots, hands-free recording, and consistent angles. It’s one of the most useful tools for any creator, beginner or pro.

• Rella Merch. We have more coming soon… it’s comfortable, community-driven merch that lets creators rep a brand built for ambitious women building their online presence. It’s cozy, cute, and perfect for work-from-anywhere days.

• Matcha. It’s half pick-me-up, half aesthetic drink for your Instagram story. And it’s great for early filming days or long editing sessions. A small luxury that makes their routine feel elevated.

FOR THE HEALTH AND WELLNESS FRIEND…

• Vibrating Plate — Great for activating muscles, improving circulation, and boosting lymphatic drainage. A perfect gift for someone building a consistent at-home wellness routine. Going to add this to my morning routine.

• Cyklar — An influencer brand done right. Claudia Sulewski’s new brand has made self-care luxurious with body lotions, washes, and fragrences that are actually worth the hype.

• HigherDOSE Face Mask — This LED mask supports skin rejuvenation, glow, and recovery—all from home. It’s a luxe self-care upgrade for beauty and wellness lovers.

• Gua Sha and Facial Oil — Helps reduce tension, sculpt the face, and promote lymphatic drainage. A simple ritual that feels grounding and delivers visible results. I have seen such a difference doing this every morning.

• Air Fryer — Makes healthy cooking faster, crispier, and more fun with minimal clean-up. Great for anyone who wants convenient, tasty meals without the effort. I genuinely could not make dinners every night without mine.

• Mouth Tape — Encourages nasal breathing, better sleep, and higher-quality rest. A small but transformative wellness hack for the biohacker in your life and all the health and wellness gurus are doing it.

• Ice Roller — Refreshes the skin, de-puffs instantly, and boosts circulation for a morning reset. Perfect for someone who loves a quick, cooling ritual.

• Bala Bangles — Stylish wearable weights that elevate any walk, workout, or pilates session. Fun, aesthetic, and perfect for building strength with ease. It makes at-home workouts more fun.

FOR THE TRAVELER…

• Lemme Sleep — Since my boyfriend lives in London, I have learned the art of sleeping on a plane. A gentle sleep gummy that helps calm the mind and support deeper rest. Perfect for frequent travelers or anyone who needs a smoother nighttime routine.

• Louis Vuitton Wallet Keychain — I have had mine for a decade and it’s still held up perfectly. A chic, compact luxury accessory that keeps cards and keys in one place. It’s a timeless gift that adds a little everyday elegance.

• BEIS Luggage — Durable, spacious, and beautifully designed—ideal for anyone who travels often or wants to upgrade their suitcase game. Functional meets aesthetic.

• Portable Steamer — Keeps outfits wrinkle-free on the go, whether for trips, events, or everyday touch-ups. A small lifesaver for polished, low-effort style.

• My go-to duffle bag — A versatile carryall for weekend trips, gym days, or quick getaways. Practical, stylish, and endlessly useful. Also, the neoprane makes it super easy to clean (even when its on airport floors). This is how I manage to travel with only a carry-on suitcase and this.

• Phone Chain — A cute and functional accessory that keeps your phone accessible and hands-free. Great for travel days, errands, or creators filming on the move.

Subscribe now

🌱 Sprouts

• Last weekend, we took a day trip to the Keys and spent a day at Playa Largo with Resort Pass. It was 10/10 worth the drive. You can get $20 off your Resport Pass here.

• My favorite week - Thanksgiving! Plus, my boyfriend is celebrating his first Thanksgiving with my family. We pulled a little prank on him here 😂

🍂 Setbacks

• Mine and London Boy’s shortest trip yet - only one week, but Ill be going back to the UK right after Christmas. Hoping to catch some Christmas markets while I am there!

🎙️ Podcast Recap: 6 Lessons I learned in 2025 in 18 Minutes

What you’ll find:

• Reflections on the most important lessons learned in 2025 as a founder and content creator.

• The importance of niching down and targeting a specific audience for business success.

• Why true customer obsession means being hands-on with support and listening to user feedback.

• The advantages of staying small and productive as a startup team.

• The dangers of comparing your business journey to others and the value of focusing on your own path.

• How consistency is the most critical trait for founders and the key to long-term growth.

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

🌿 This week in Growth

This week I made a real mental shift: I’m a business creator.

I know — you’re probably thinking, “Yeah, we know.” But for years I’ve been stuck in this internal tug-of-war between being a lifestyle creator and a business creator. I’ve been online since I was 15 (14 years… wild), and somewhere along the way I convinced myself I had social media figured out. That I didn’t need strategy. That I didn’t need to work at it the way I used to.

I was wrong.

There have been multiple social-media lifetimes between then and now — honestly even between last year and today. The platforms move fast, and I hadn’t been moving with them… until now.

I finally decided to stop posting random content no one cares about and start building an actual community. Because follower count ≠ community. That means niching down (which I resisted for so long) and giving real value every time I show up. No one cares about my day or a GRWM unless there’s a takeaway for them.

And honestly? I feel free.

Knowing what I create, who it’s for, and why it matters is energizing. I know rebuilding community takes time, but I’m excited again — genuinely excited. I posted a video about Sonder shutting down and the lore behind it, and the engagement was so affirming. It reminded me what happens when I share something meaningful.

I feel inspired, focused, and ready to keep going down this path.

Subscribe now

🌱 Sprouts

• My brother is in town and we’ve had such a joyful time “living together” again! He’s a new content creator who’s growing like crazy — one of his followers even sent us to the Heat vs. Knicks game (for free!) because he loves the sports content my brother is putting out. And yes — out of Mark Cuban’s 1,200 follow list, my brother is one of them. Jealous? A little. Proud? Definitely.

🍂 Setbacks

• I got sick — at the worst possible time! Feeling under the weather for the past few days. Especially tricky because I need to film a month’s worth of content for Rella this week (yes, I film a month at a time). It’s a lesson in how even when we plan ahead, health (and timing) can throw us off.

🎙️ Podcast Recap: We Spent 2 Years (and $1 Million) Building the Wrong Product!

What you’ll find:

• Learn what product-market fit really means (and what it doesn’t).

• Spot the real signals of a product people love.

• Avoid common founder mistakes and vanity metrics.

• Get practical tips for knowing when to pivot or persevere.

👀 On your radar

Stay in the know without scrolling all day.

• Creator-marketing infrastructure scaling: Startup Agentio just announced a $40 M Series B to help brands buy creator content as seamlessly as ads — good to watch if you’re in the content space.

• Instagram’s new Edits app is becoming a quiet growth hack — creators using it are seeing stronger reach because the app outputs cleaner, higher-quality Reels that the algorithm favors, meaning adopting Edits early can give you a meaningful visibility edge on IG.

• Synthio Labs, a voice-AI startup, raised $5M from Y Combinator and others, indicating continued investor interest in AI modalities beyond just text.

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

Subscribe now

🌿This Week in Growth

This week marks the first time our team grew from 4 to 6. On Monday morning we held our first all-hands with the six of us. I’m so excited that Alexis and David (yes, I just realized the Schitt’s Creek reference…) have joined us, and I wanted to share how our hiring process went:

Step one: Share with your community

Instead of relying on typical job boards, we tapped our community. We’ve previously hired people via DMs, cold emails, and referrals. We were lucky — but maybe it wasn’t luck. Maybe job boards simply aren’t cutting it anymore, and this is the new way of hiring.

Step two: Create your own job application

We used ClickUp forms for the job description and application (since we already use ClickUp internally). But we did away with traditional resumes — we asked for a LinkedIn link only. We didn’t care about school or major. We wanted to know: Why do you want to work with us? What experience do you bring? Are you a creative, independent, self-starter with initiative? We even asked for a video to see personality (and make sure they were real!). We entered this with an open mind.

Step three: Be transparent, fair, and honest with applicants

Applying for jobs is stressful. We told people our timeline clearly, how many rounds (we had three), and when we’d get back to them. We skipped full interviews if someone clearly wasn’t a fit — no one’s time wasted. For those who made it to Round 2, we required a project — but it was paid. It turned out many applicants told us it was their first paid project ever. If you’re a founder reading this: paying a project shows you respect the applicant’s time and effort. Also, this kept us focused — only candidates we thought were strong got to that stage. We hope our values came through in the process.

Step four: Have the entire team meet them — if possible

Since we’re a small startup, culture is everything. The process looked like: Round 1 with one person from the team (for the role it was me or Natacha), Round 2 with the leads (me & Natacha), and Round 3 with the whole team. Enough for everyone to give the go-ahead — and for the candidate to feel our culture. Hiring the wrong person at this size can be costly.

We’re really proud of how we ran this process and excited about the amazing candidates who joined us. We can’t wait to build Rella with them!

🌱 Sprouts

• My brother is spending the next two weeks in Miami with me! Our sibling dynamics change so much as we get older — but it’ll be great to show him what living in Miami is like.

• The custom closets from Ikea were built + chairs for my office arrived… it’s coming together! I can’t wait to share the renovation and all the changes I made — buying new furniture and doing a mini-renovation is not cheap.

🍂 Setbacks

• Though having visitors is a positive, my routine has been thrown off — which always takes a bit longer to get back into focus mode.

🎙️ Video Recap: My REALISTIC Week In My Life!

Every month, I’m going to do one vlog (at least)! Enjoy a week in my life

What you’ll find:

1. What We Look For in Candidates

2. Company Turnaround and Milestones

3. Paid Projects in Hiring

4. Summary and What Viewers Can Expect

5. Weekly Planning and Key Takeaway

👀 On your radar

Stay in the know without scrolling all day.

• If you’ve ever wanted to be a journalist, you may want to start posting on social media… The boundaries between creators and newsrooms are collapsing — a new piece argues that journalists must adapt and behave like creators, otherwise they risk being displaced by the very creator economy they cover.

• We’re going to see an increase in creators becoming partners with brands vs. one-off brand deals. Brands are now treating creators as full-funnel partners, not just top-of-funnel reach machines — the business model of the creator economy is maturing. If you’re a business, start thinking of your dream creators to work with. And if you’re a creator, start

• TikTok just teamed up with iHeartMedia to launch the TikTok Podcast Network, featuring up to 25 creator-led shows distributed across major audio platforms. It’s a big signal that TikTok is expanding beyond short-form video into audio storytelling and cross-platform creator brands.

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

Subscribe now

🌿This Week in Growth

How is it already November?!

I may or may not have started bringing out the holiday decor — a few festive pillows and throws have officially made their debut. 😅

Nothing makes time move faster than writing an investor update. Every time I sit down to draft one, it feels like I just sent the last one. Here’s a peek at our October investor report (with a few redactions, of course).

Hi everyone,

We’re excited to share our October update — a month that brought continued profitability, solid customer growth, and our highest revenue to date. While growth slowed compared to previous months, we’re making strategic hires and digging deeper into onboarding data to improve conversion and retention. As always, we appreciate your support as we build Rella into the go-to platform for social media teams.

📊October Overview

• October Revenue: $***K (+3.4%)

• October Profit: $**K

• Active Customers: 3077 (+11.4%)

• Subscriber Churn: *%

• Net MRR Churn: *%

Despite a slower October due to lower annual contracts and average revenue per customer, we are still on track to hit $2M ARR next month and $3M in January

⭐ Highlights

• We’re excited to announce we’re growing our team by 50% with two new hires! Our first addition, Alexis, has joined us as our new Community and Growth Associate. Alexis will focus on expanding word-of-mouth initiatives, building our community and ambassador programs, and driving influencer marketing efforts. We’re also thrilled to welcome David, a talented software engineer.

• We have been increasing our marketing spend and still have a 40% profit margin. We expect this to go down slightly due to 2 new hires + increase in marketing spend in the following month

🚀 Takeaways

• October marked our slowest growth month to date, despite achieving our highest revenue. Although our customer base has expanded, the average spend per customer has decreased, and our trial-to-conversion rate has declined from *% to *%. To address this, we are enhancing our onboarding process with additional questions to better understand who is signing up, allowing us to identify the cohorts that are spending less and are less likely to convert.

• Paid advertisements account for 40% of our new trials, while the remaining 60% come from word-of-mouth, organic social channels, and influencers. We’re excited to strengthen our community efforts with our latest hire! Rella’s community is incredibly engaged—out of 3,100 users, 700 have already joined our Facebook Community Group.

👥 Hiring Questions

• As mentioned, we are bringing on two new team members! Redacted since we were asking some technical HR questions... If so, what was your experience like?

As we move into November, we’re focused on ramping up marketing, streamlining our onboarding funnel, and supporting our new hires in making an immediate impact. We’re still on track to hit $2M ARR next month and $3M in January, and are feeling confident in our momentum going into 2026.

🌱 Sprouts

• Alexis, our first employee outside of the founders started this week! It was our first time onboarding a salaried employee. We created an onboarding presentation, put SOPs together, and created a 30/60/90 day plan! Let me know if you want to see what those looked like for us? I vlogged her first day here.

🍂 Setbacks

• Who knew renovating a room would be SO expensive?! I am renovating my office and let’s just say demolishing a wall, adding custom closets (even though they are Ikea), and buying new furniture is not cheap… but I am excited to share the after with you!

🎙️ Podcast Recap: We Got Rejected 200+ Times—Here’s How We Finally Raised $1M!

Key Takeaways:

• The Four Questions Every Pitch Must Answer

• Storytelling is Key to Fundraising

• Fundraising Does Not Equal Success

• Be Creative in Reaching Investors

• Mindset: Expect Rejection, Persist Anyway

🔗 Listen + Watch: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

👀 On your radar

Stay in the know without scrolling all day.

• Steven Bartlett’s creator‑holding company hits ~$425M valuation

  Steven’s firm, Steven.com, secured an eight‑figure funding round that brings its valuation to $425 million as it aims to become the “Disney of the creator economy.” Putting this out there now: A goal of mine is to be a guest on DOAC or have Steven on the podcast!

• Would you sell your image for $1 million? Anthropic is paying creators over $1.5 billion to train their models and a growing number of video creators are being paid over $1 million to licence their archives to AI companies that need large datasets for training

• Startup funding ramps up again in October. A recent report shows global startup funding activity picked up in October, including multiple billion‑dollar rounds across AI, infrastructure and new tech categories.

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

Subscribe now

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🌿This Week in Growth

Bonjour from Paris! I just got back from spending the week in Paris and, while I can’t confirm or deny where I was when the Louvre was robbed that morning (kidding), I can say it was such a beautiful, much-needed trip. Normally when I visit London to see my boyfriend, I don’t really take time off — I just work remotely and keep my routine. But this week, I decided to actually take time off (well, as much as a founder really can) and just enjoy my favorite city: PARIS.

Here’s a little recap of how we spent 6 days in the most romantic city in the world — filled with walking, eating, exploring, and of course… steak frites.

Day One – Strolling & Shopping

We stayed in Bastille (11th arrondissement), which I had never explored before—and I loved it. It felt super local and cozy, like we lived there. (Use my code bgnataliebarbu for a discount on your next Blueground stay!)

• Breakfast at Café des Anges near our apartment—classic French breakfast vibes.

• Coffee stop at Harvest—great place to work from if you’re ever in Paris with your laptop.

• Spent the day wandering through Bastille and Le Marais (my favorite neighborhood in Paris).

• Had crepes at Breizh Café—one savory, one sweet (best combo).

• Afternoon coffee at Cortado, a cute Latin café with amazing coffee and a solid food menu.

• Ended the night with steak frites at Les Comperes, just steps from where we were staying.

Watch the day one vlog here.

Day Two – Baking & Montmartre

Late start today—we left the apartment around 11 a.m.

• Grabbed coffee from Saint Barista, another gem in Bastille.

• Walked along the canals (tbh, you can skip this—wasn’t the highlight).

• Popped into a random Lebanese deli for lunch and it was so good.

• Did an Airbnb Experience in Montmartre: a baking class with a French grandma! We made madeleines and apple tarts and I was genuinely proud of how they turned out.

• Explored Montmartre, had wine, wandered.

• Dinner at Sacrée Fleur—our favorite steak frites of the whole trip. Make a res if you go.

Day Three – All the Steps

This was our busiest day—my boyfriend arrived and it was his first time in Paris.

• Took him back to our fave breakfast + coffee spots from earlier in the trip.

• Walked through Bastille, then headed to Jardin du Luxembourg—I need to come back with a book and sit there for hours next time.

• Got amazing (but pricey) sandwiches at Caractère de Cochon—do not skip this.

• Explored the Latin Quarter before our Seine river cruise at sunset. Yes, it’s touristy, but absolutely worth doing at least once.

• Dinner at Chez Sophie—another great steak frites spot.

Day Four – Peak Paris Vibes

Finally had our first croissant… on day four. Criminal, I know.

• Got pastries from Meime Boulangerie and picked up a baguette for gouter later.

• Back to Montmartre to explore more—my boyfriend had it on his list.

• Lunch at Au Virage Lepic—wine, steak tartare, and the best French onion soup.

• Dessert stop at Chapon et la Chocolaterie du Bar for chocolate mousse.

• Walked to the Eiffel Tower, through the park and over to Rue de Buenos Aires for a photo-worthy view.

• Ended with pho at a Vietnamese spot in Saint-Germain—perfect for a chilly night.

Day Five – Farmers Market & Farewell

Our last full day, and it was rainy—but still beautiful.

• Coffee + croissant from Meime again, then wandered the Bastille farmers market (only open Thurs + Sun).

• If you love food, go to a farmers market in any city you visit. Always worth it.

• Cheese + wine at Le Verre Luisant, hot chocolate at Carette, and one last dinner at Les Comperes (yes, again) for a final steak frites.

🌱 Sprouts

• Back in Miami, in my routine, and checking so many things off my to-do list

• We are currently at our highest number of free trials and trial revenue yet 👏

• Released an update with Google Business - finally! It was one of our highest requested features and we finally got it out!

🍂 Setbacks

• I have made SO many mistakes with this podcast… saying the name of the podcast wrong in the episode, launching newsletters late, releasing the podcast episode on the wrong date, forgetting to change the subject from the previous week in my newsletter… list can go on… but at least Im doing it, right? 😅

🎙️ Podcast Recap: From $0 to $1M ARR: How to find the RIGHT customers for your business

Key Takeaways:

• Finding the right customers is the hardest part of starting a business.

• Focus on early adopters and a narrow audience, not the masses.

• Use social media to share your journey and attract your community.

• Word of mouth and referrals from real customers are powerful growth tools.

• Execution and persistence matter more than just having a great idea.

🔗 Listen + Watch: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

👀 On your radar

Stay in the know without scrolling all day.

• I would worry if I were Google right now… OpenAI just launched Atlas, a direct Chrome competitor with ChatGPT built in. This means you can ask AI to help you with tasks, research, etc. all while browsing the internet on Atlas. Think of it as an AI agent integrated directly into your browser.

• Remember the Tea app that caused chaos when women were rating men… and then got caught? Well, Apple pulled Tea and TeaOnHer from the App Store. But, thats not stopping copycats from gaining traction. I haven’t downloaded any of those apps (and don’t plan on it), but I’ll be lying if I didn’t find the “Are We Dating the Same Guy?” Facebook groups entertaining.

• Instagram is entering the award show ring… with Rings! They are awarding 25 creators with a new trophy. After looking at the list, I’m more confused with what the awards represent but excited to see how it evolves through the years.

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

Subscribe now

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🌿This Week in Growth

I haven’t been back to Miami in two weeks, and when I looked at my calendar… I realized I’m basically gone for half the year. That might sound stressful to some, but honestly? I get antsy, restless, and even less productive if I’m in the same place for too long. Not sure what that says about me — but travel has always been fuel for my creativity.

Last week, I shared how I stay productive while traveling. This week, I’m giving you my go-to London guide — my favorite neighborhoods, cafes, food spots, and underrated ways to explore the city.

NEIGHBORHOODS

Where you should stay, visit, and find a cafe to work out of

• Notting Hill. It’s exactly what you’d imagine — charming, colorful, and cinematic (literally). It somehow feels local and lively at the same time. If I ever lived in London, this would be top of my list.

• Covent Garden. Yes, it’s central and yes, it’s touristy — but it’s also magical. Think NYC’s Soho, but more British. I actually lived here over the summer (not the norm!), and shockingly loved it.

• Shoreditch. Trendy and full of personality — from amazing restaurants to creative energy. I always carve out a day in Shoreditch, and if you need a hotel, Redchurch Townhouse is a 10/10.

• Chelsea. Quiet luxury energy. Upscale shops, beautiful cafes, and a peaceful vibe that makes you forget you’re in a major city.

FOOD

Some of the more memorable restaurants I’ve been to in London

• Le Swine - Best English breakfast, which is a hard feat. Bonus: it’s right by Richmond Park.

• Borough Market. TikTok-famous, but worth the hype. Go for The Black Pig sandwich (trust me) and get chocolate-dipped strawberries after. Don’t be fooled by the long lines, they go back quickly.

• Dishoom. Incredible Indian food with cozy Bombay café vibes. Don’t skip the chai.

• Din Tai Fung. I know it’s a chain. I also don’t care. The dumplings and dessert are musts.

• Franco Manca. Sourdough pizza done right. Easy, casual, and always delicious

CAFES

London has so many amazing cafes, its hard to go wrong. But here are some of my favorites.

• Jolene. Tiny corner café with flaky pastries and sentimental value (my boyfriend and I go every trip).

• Mahali Bakery. Grab a coffee, stroll Battersea Park, and thank me later.

• WatchHouse. Work-friendly, scenic AF. One of my go-tos for a productive day. My favorite WatchHouse has to be the one in Somerset House. You feel like you’re working with a palace view.

• Qima Cafe. The pastries are literal art. Also: pistachio coffee. Enough said.

TRAVEL TIPS

• Take the Uber Boat on the Thames — underrated way to see the city and skip traffic.

• Ride the bus instead of the tube — it’s cheaper, you’ll see more of the city, and it’s oddly peaceful.

• Use TikTok (or ChatGPT 😉) to build walking tours so you can explore at your own pace without overloading your day.

Next week, I’ll be sharing my full Paris itinerary — complete with wine bars, cheese tastings, hidden gems, and a few solo adventures. Let me know if you have any London recs I missed! 💌

🌱 Sprouts

• Being in Paris with my boyfriend + sister! It’s his first time in Paris and France is my favorite country to travel to so being able to share it with them is so special.

🍂 Setbacks

• Lugging a 65 lb suitcase up 10 flights of stairs, transferring train lines, and through the Paris streets at night 🙃 huge shoutout to the one guy who offered to help us down one flight of stairs!

🎙️ Podcast Recap: How to Build Your MVP (minimal viable product)

Key Takeaways:

1. Launch early—keep it simple.

2. Don’t overload with features.

3. Use modern tools to build fast.

4. Engage early users for feedback.

5. Improve by focusing on what works.

🔗 Listen + Watch: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

👀 On your radar

Stay in the know without scrolling all day.

• Creator ad revenue is surpassing traditional media. In a major shift, ad revenue from social media creators is expected to overtake TV, film, and traditional news outlets this year — signaling a permanent power shift in the media landscape and looks like the creator economy is not going anywhere.

• 67% of creators now sell their own products or services. A majority of creators are moving beyond brand deals — monetizing through courses, digital products, coaching, merch, and more. The creator business model is evolving fast.

• Jellysmack spins off its original content arm. The creator infrastructure giant Jellysmack has spun off its Originals division into a new company called Blue Foxes. Why? To refocus on its core tools and services for creators (like automation, analytics, and multi-platform growth) as competition heats up in the creator infrastructure space.

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

Subscribe now

🌿This Week in Growth

Shared my weekly agenda for London on Instagram (@nataliebarbu)

I hopped across the pond and am spending the week in London! After over a year in a long-distance relationship, I’ve gotten pretty good at balancing work and travel. If you’re someone who works remotely — or wants to — here are some of my top tips for staying productive while on the go:

1. Stick to your routine (even if you’re type B). I’m definitely not the ultra-structured, Type A kind of person — but I do need a solid morning routine to feel grounded, especially when I’m traveling. Even in a new city, I try to stick to the same rhythm: wake up around 7am, take my supplements, hit the gym, and have coffee and breakfast. My favorite way to travel is to live like a local — no jam-packed itinerary, no pressure to see everything. (This is where my Type B comes out.) I don’t mind working while I travel — it actually makes me enjoy the experience more.

2. Find a dedicated workspace. I’m a member of Soho House, which is great because I always know I’ll have a table, an outlet, and strong WiFi wherever I go. But even if you’re not a member anywhere, hotel lobbies, coffee shops, and local libraries are underrated gems. Having a go-to spot to work — outside of your hotel or Airbnb — makes it way easier to stay focused and feel plugged into the city.

3. Use the time zone to your advantage. Working from BST is my favorite. I get to have slow, intentional mornings — go for a walk, meet someone for coffee, even explore a bit — and still log on before my East Coast team is awake. I’ll usually start work around 11am, and if I need to, I don’t mind hopping back on after dinner. It breaks up my day in a way that feels more sustainable and enjoyable.

4. Meet people wherever you are. One of the best parts of working remotely is being able to meet other entrepreneurs around the world. Every time I travel, I reach out to people I follow on social, ask someone to be on the podcast, or find a local networking event. This week, I went to a tech event and met up with friends I’ve only known online. Last year in Stockholm, I woke up an hour before my family and grabbed coffee with an investor — because when else will I be in that city? If you know someone I should meet or have on the podcast, reply to this email. If I’m in their city, I’m definitely reaching out.

Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not possible to travel and be productive! I’ll share my favorite spots in London and what we did this week in next week’s newsletter.

Next week I am headed to… Paris! Please send any and all Paris recs since I’m actually taking some time off for a few days.

🌱 Sprouts

• Being in London with London Boy! Everyone in a LDR knows what that feeling is like and it’s so nice to be able to be together in real life. My FaceTime screen time has gone down substantially.

🍂 Setbacks

• I recently found out I’m allergic to something in my makeup — my eyelids get itchy and swell up. I’ve been good about sticking to clean products, but while traveling I grabbed a cheap lotion from Boots, forgot to wash my hands after, and had a mini flare-up. Not as bad as before, but still so annoying when allergies come out of nowhere.

🎙️ Podcast Recap: How to Find a Cofounder and Red Flags to Look For

Key Takeaways:

• Most startups fail due to co-founder issues—choose carefully.

• Only get a co-founder if it truly benefits your business.

• Look for shared vision, complementary skills, and trust.

• Avoid co-founders with poor communication, big egos, or low motivation.

• Discuss equity and legal agreements early, and use a vesting schedule

🔗 Listen + Watch: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

👀 On your radar

Stay in the know without scrolling all day.

• The creator economy is projected to reach $600B by 2030, with AI-powered workflows helping more people become creators and niche-focused creators driving the next wave of monetization. One of the big reasons is why I decided to niche down on business and entrepreneurship content vs. just lifestyle.

• OpenAI is coming for Apple’s App Store by launching apps. With the launch of apps inside ChatGPT, OpenAI is turning its chat interface into a full-blown platform—letting users interact with services like Spotify, Canva, and Zillow without ever leaving the chat. This positions ChatGPT as a new kind of operating system, quietly competing with Apple and Google for the future of user interfaces.

• Oura Ring competitor, Ultrahuman, turns a profit. The Indian healthtech startup reported $9M USD in profit for 2025 after growing revenue nearly 5x ~$68M. Most of its revenue came from its smart ring sales, but its subscription services helped boost margins — proving there’s room for wearables beyond Whoop and Oura.

📣We’re Hiring!

We’re looking for a Community & Growth Marketing Associate to help us scale our brand, connect with social media managers, and build a community people genuinely want to be part of 💬📈

This role is perfect for someone who loves social media, knows how to create content that resonates, and can spot growth opportunities in the wild. You’ll help us pitch Rella to the right people, grow our presence online and in community spaces, and support our marketing team across campaigns.

🟣 Remote/hybrid

🟣 Flexible working hours

🟣 Health & dental (US only)

🟣 Unlimited PTO

🟣 Fast-growing startup with big momentum

If this sounds like you, apply here! And an engineering role coming soon… Send this to your friends who seem like a good fit!

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. Reply to this email with what else you want to see!

If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

🌿This Week in Growth

The Rella team took over Miami this week! Half of us are based here, half in North Carolina — and while we love the flexibility of working remotely (it works for us because we’re all hyper-independent and in very distinct roles), nothing beats getting together IRL to reset, regroup, and plan what’s next.

We hadn’t all been in the same place since November 2024 — way too long — so this week was overdue. Here’s what we were up to:

✨ We sponsored The Social Reset, an incredible 3-day event for social media managers hosted by Nidia and Sam. It was the perfect way to connect directly with our audience, many of whom already use Rella. Putting faces to usernames and seeing how people use the product in real life is always so energizing.

📈 We celebrated hitting $1M ARR — a milestone we’ve barely taken a second to acknowledge. So we made a reservation at Cote (a Rella team fave) and toasted to how far we’ve come — and how far we’re going. We also finally got a high-quality team photo. No more iPhone timer shots 😅

🧠 We had deep-dive convos around product roadmap, vision, and hiring (👀 more on that below). We’re growing fast — and we’re no longer just the four of us. This week, we officially became a team of six.

We spent time reflecting on everything we’ve been through: trying to keep the lights on, looking for jobs when we thought the company wouldn’t make it, and the viral moment that changed everything. It’s been a year of resilience, wild pivots, and growth — and it still feels like we’re just getting started.

Rella team at Cote last night!

🌱 Sprouts

• Having the Rella team together in person always leaves me recharged and re-inspired. Pro tip: choose cofounders you can be locked in a room with for days and still come out laughing.

• The elevator in my building finally got fixed so my couch (from April!) was delivered… but it broke again the next day so I still can’t sell the old ones. A win is a win though.

🍂 Setbacks

• Honestly, this week has been great. I won’t add any negativity this week… besides my elevator breaking (again!) 😅

🎙️ Podcast Recap: 7 things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting A Business

Did you notice this video went live on a Tuesday instead of Wednesday? Since it was sponsored by Skillshare, they needed it live in September so we made it work by going live a day earlier! Next videos will go up on Wednesday ☺

Key Takeaways:

• Write it down - Get your idea out of your head and onto paper with clear vision, features, and value proposition

• Get feedback early - Share your idea with others and start building buzz online (no one will steal it, but you need validation)

• Start with a niche - Target a specific customer segment first rather than trying to serve everyone from day one

• Charge from the beginning - Free users aren’t real customers; paying customers give you honest feedback and real validation.

• Launch simple and fast - Build an MVP with one core feature that delivers value, then iterate based on user feedback

🔗 Listen + Watch: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

👀 On your radar

Stay in the know without scrolling all day.

• AI platforms are coming for social media. Meta is rolling out a new AI-driven video feed called Vibes inside its AI app, letting users create, remix, and share AI-based videos directly to IG / Facebook. OpenAI released a short‑video app “Sora,” letting users generate AI-based videos of themselves in imaginative scenarios. Some worry about authenticity and AI content saturation.

• Creators swapping influence for equity. A new platform called OWM lets creators trade influence for equity in startups — a model trying to shift creators from promotion to ownership. If you are a creator, are you excited for this? Or would you rather have compensation in cash?

• Syracuse University launches the first academic Center for the Creator Economy. The new center will study, teach, and institutionalize the creator economy’s role in business, media, and entrepreneurship. Seems like universities are catching up. Which university will be the first to have “Influencer” as a major?

📣We’re Hiring!

We’re looking for a Community & Growth Marketing Associate to help us scale our brand, connect with social media managers, and build a community people genuinely want to be part of 💬📈

This role is perfect for someone who loves social media, knows how to create content that resonates, and can spot growth opportunities in the wild. You’ll help us pitch Rella to the right people, grow our presence online and in community spaces, and support our marketing team across campaigns.

🟣 Remote/hybrid

🟣 Flexible working hours

🟣 Health & dental (US only)

🟣 Unlimited PTO

🟣 Fast-growing startup with big momentum

If this sounds like you, apply here! And an engineering role coming soon… Send this to your friends who seem like a good fit!

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

🌿This Week in Growth

Every week, I’ll be sharing a peek behind the scenes — the sprouts 🌱 and setbacks 🍂, and what real life as a founder actually looks like. No two weeks are the same, and this space is where I’ll give you a candid look at what’s going on — in business and in life.

This week, everything revolved around the launch of Just Grow With It. I started recording episodes in early September, but this has been in the works since June. I’ve had a podcast before, but to be honest — I never gave it the time or vision it deserved. This time, I’m doing it differently. I’ve been outlining the rollout, finalizing edits, and putting the finishing touches on everything before launch. Thankfully the episodes were already edited, but this week was about packaging it with intention.

On a personal note — I’m in the season of life where it feels like everyone around me is moving, getting married, or having babies. (29 hits you like that, huh?) That’s left me with more time and space — and I’ve been using it to pour into my brand, my business, and my creativity. I’ve been finding so much peace in staying in, cooking at home, and letting the ideas flow. And I’ll be spending the next 3 weeks in the UK and France! I’ll be in London visiting London Boy 😉 for 2 weeks and my sister and I are spending 1 week in Paris. Send me all the recs!

Over at Rella, we’ve been doing some behind-the-scenes heavy lifting. After launching our biggest update yet — Ella, our AI creative assistant — we saw a huge wave of new users and traction. That kind of growth is exciting… but also chaotic. So this week, the team (shoutout Connor and Nick) has been focused on backend cleanup, refining the product, and laying the groundwork for our next phase as we march toward $10M ARR. It’s not glamorous, but it’s necessary.

🌱 Sprouts

• Took myself on a peaceful solo date and explored new spots in Miami. Highly recommend doing this more often. And I vlogged it!

• Felt a creative reset from staying in, cooking more, and getting out of my own head.

🍂 Setbacks

• I currently have 2.5 couches in my living room. Yes, 2.5. The elevator in my building broke, so my new couch couldn’t be delivered — and the old ones can’t be removed. It’s a living room jungle gym now. But hey, if this is the worst of it, I’ll take it.

🎙️ Podcast Recap: How I Went From Influencer to Tech Founder

Key Takeaways:

• I started YouTube at 15 with zero expectations — just curiosity and impulse

• Quit my job at Accenture to go full-time on social — but only after matching + exceeding my salary (and I share how much I made at Accenture vs. as an influencer)

• Built and closed two businesses (Shop Barbu & an agency) before launching Rella

• Launched Rella 1.0… and almost had to shut it down 😅

• Pivoted, relaunched, and within a year, built a profitable multi-million dollar company

🔗 Listen + Watch: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

👀 On your radar

Stay in the know without scrolling all day.

• Phia (founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni) just closed an $8M seed round - investors included Hailey Bieber, Kris Jenner, Sara Blakely, and more.

• YouTube just dropped AI-powered tools for creators, including auto lip-synced dubs in multiple languages, likeness detection, and AskStudio, an AI assistant helps creators get quick answers on video performance and audience feedback — like having a chatbot analyst in your dashboard. Let me know if you want my review after I play around with it!

• Female founders are scaling smarter — and proving the ROI

  2024 data shows that women-led startups are driving outsized results, even while receiving a fraction of the funding.

  • Accounted for 24% of all U.S. VC exits, nearly doubling in the past decade

  • IPOs by women grew 7x, now representing almost 1 in 10 public listings

  • Generate 2.5x more revenue per dollar raised — despite receiving just 2.1% of total VC funding

• TikTok’s U.S. operations will soon be controlled by American companies under a new deal backed by Trump. The White House announced that U.S. investors will control TikTok’s algorithm, Oracle will oversee data and privacy, and Americans will hold 6 of 7 board seats. The deal is expected to be signed soon, though China hasn’t confirmed approval. The app will avoid a U.S. ban — for now… this TikTok ban has felt like a rollercoaster that is changing everyday.

🔗 Links Worth Sharing

Apps, links, and inspo worth your time.

• Replit — I just dropped a new YouTube video with Replit showing how I built an app in under an hour with zero coding experience. If you’ve ever had an idea and didn’t know where to start, this is your sign — it’s way easier than you think.

• My go-to matcha that’s better than most coffee shops — and saves me so much money making it at home. Matcha might be the drink of the year, but this one actually lives up to the hype.

• For the multi-taskers, if you need to step up your skincare routine while working, I have started using the Higher Dose red light therapy mask and I cannot wait to see the results!

✨ Founder Spotlight

Meet the People Behind Rella

You hear my story in this first episode, but none of this would be possible without the incredible team behind Rella.

We’re a lean (and scrappy) team of four, wearing many hats, moving fast, and building with purpose. From engineering to design to marketing — everything you see (and don’t see) is built by this small but mighty crew.

Shoutout to Connor, Nick, and Natacha — the real MVPs. You’ll hear more from us as we peel back the layers of building a startup from the inside out 💻✨

Also - we’re a remote team and meeting in Miami for a team offsite. Should we film more content together?

I want this section to highlight YOU in future issues — the founders, side-hustlers, and builders in this community. If you’re building something cool or want to be featured, reply to this email or DM me on IG @nataliebarbu.

I’ll be featuring community questions in future podcast episodes, exclusive tools in upcoming newsletters, and sharing open calls for founders to be guests on the pod. Let me know what you think of issue #1 and episode #1!

💬 That’s a wrap for this week.

Thanks for reading The Growth List — I hope it gave you something to think about, build on, or share with a friend. If you loved it, forward it to someone who’s growing too. And if you’re working on something cool, I want to hear about it — just hit reply.

Until next week,

Natalie Barbu

Subscribe now