This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →
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Krissy Cela, the fitness influencer and founder of the activewear brand Oner Active, spent 10 years building up her expertise as a creator before finally launching her brand.
That time spent researching, getting to know the community, and building an audience has paid off. Just six years of the brand’s existence, it has already reached nearly $200 million in annual revenue.
For this week’s Glossy Podcast, Cela joined Glossy editor-in-chief Jill Manoff for a live recording from the stage of the Glossy E-Commerce Summit in Miami, where the discussion centered on how she’s been able to scale up her brand so quickly.
Part of that comes from her knowledge of the community. Oner Active’s ambassadors program opens for applications once a year and routinely gets around over 30,000 applicants.
“All of them are vetted, and then we send them a free set from the latest collection — no one else will have access to that collection,” Cela said. “And in return, they’ll create content. I think we’ve created 16 million impressions across social when only gifting 100 sets,” she said, explaining the program’s high ROI. “The girl with the content that performs the best then becomes affiliated with the brand. [She can then earn] commission. She gets sets from each drop, and eventually, she becomes an ambassador — and some of our ambassadors are making millions a year.”
Cela said that around $52 million of the brand’s projected $280 million in revenue this year will come from its ambassadors, making them an extremely valuable part of the company’s growth.
