To receive the Glossy Pop newsletter in your inbox every Friday, click here.
All products featured on Glossy Pop are independently selected by our editorial team. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Over the past year, Substack, which houses content reminiscent of old-school blogs, has become the place to be — for the fashion community, former editors, all kinds of creators and, now, brand founders. While brands struggle to find their place on the platform, be it as advertisers or publishers, founders are finding success.
The four founder-Substackers Glossy spoke to for this story are using the platform in different ways — however, all ways seem intended to build their personal brands, rather than the brands they own. And each said they’re enjoying building a community and having a new creative outlet. They understand what Substack representatives often state: that it is not a marketing platform — though that seems to be changing in real time.
For some, their Substack is a personal endeavor barely connected to the brands they’ve birthed. For others, it is an extension of that brand, with some even focused on the process of building it.
Dianna Cohen, founder of hair-care brand Crown Affair, was reading various Substacks before she committed to consistently publishing her own last fall.
“As a reader, I thought, ‘This is such a special place to share ideas, and I have a lot more I want to say about X, Y and Z,'” she told Glossy.
Cohen’s newsletter, “Take Your Time,” now has 5,700 subscribers. She often ends posts with links to three things she is currently loving — occasionally, one of her own products — and one hair-care tip. Naturally, her role as founder of a hair-care brand informs what she writes about.
“I did one [newsletter] on how to collect art without breaking the bank, which I felt really resonated with people,” she said. “And that doesn’t have anything to do with Crown Affair, necessarily, but it also has everything to do Crown Affair, [in the sense of encouraging people to] surround themselves with things that bring them joy and are beautiful.”
It is by design that the Crown Affair brand does not have its own Substack publication. “My team is doing so much, and these channels are only as good as how [well] you can manage them. And I’m in a season of my life where I would never ask my team to rush and [create] a Substack if we don’t have the bandwidth [to maintain] it,” she said. She added that she does not view Substack as a platform that can drastically grow her business. “For me, it’s the same as my Instagram, in a way,” she said. “People will find us through Instagram, but I’m not on Instagram just to sell Crown Affair.”
Cohen aims to publish new posts 1-4 times a month and posts daily via the platform’s “Notes” feature, which is like a modern Facebook status or Tweet. She noted that not having a paywall has helped posting feel like less of a chore and more like a creative pursuit, as people are not paying in expectation of new posts.
It’s a sentiment echoed by Somsack Sikhounmuong, creative director at the clothing brand Alex Mill, whose Substack — which covers fashion, his career, and other tips and tricks — is dubbed “Somstack” and has 4,100 subscribers. “The fact that I don’t charge has sort of been a godsend in my head, because then I don’t feel the pressure to have to churn out stuff, and obviously I have a full-time job. I’m not in any position to be churning anything out other than [the work I do for] my full-time job,” he said.
Lindsey Carter, founder and CEO at activewear brand Set Active, takes a different approach, charging $5 a month for her newsletter, which is simply called “Lindsey Carter’s Substack.” It has 2,700 subscribers and a higher-than-50% open rate.
“I have always overshared, and Substack feels like a safe place [to share] anything that comes to me, whether it’s [about] business or my personal life,” Carter said. “I figured that if someone’s gonna subscribe and pay for my newsletter, they’re real fans. And if you’re a hater who’s subscribing to my newsletter, and you’re paying money [for it], then you are also a fan.” As such, she can write without having to edit herself. “The reason I have a paywall is to protect my peace,” she said, noting that she is not writing the Substack to make money or acquire customers. It provides education to readers, she said. Plus, “It’s like my online therapist that isn’t able to talk back to me.”
Unlike some other founders on Substack, Carter’s newsletters read like a mini business school lesson. Posts include: “What I would do differently if launching my DTC brand today,” “The hidden weight of success: A founder’s note on anxiety” and “The first 30 days: A realistic guide to starting your brand with no funding.”
“People love the business side of things and they love hearing about how I do things,” Carter said.
Her posts catering to Gen Z, including one titled “The beautiful chaos of your twenties,” have also been successful, she said.
In addition, Substack and its ability to house long-form content has allowed her to set the record straight, when needed. Such was the case in October, after Set Active’s product collaboration with apparel brand Parke sold out in seconds, spurring backlash.
“I had to peel back the curtain on how production works so that people could see we’re not out to get them,” she said. “It’s not like we wake up and sit in a board meeting and say, ‘Let’s fuck with our customers today.”
She added, “Sometimes I’ll be impulsive, like, ‘I need to write about this right now.’ And I’ll clear all of my meetings because it’s flowing through me. Other times, I’ll turn to my [Instagram] Broadcast Channel and ask, ‘What do you guys want me to write about?'”
Recently, Carter — who said she has always loved writing — published the first two chapters of her autobiography on her Substack, one at a time. “Mondays are gonna be my more business-y, Set Active-focused Substacks, and on Wednesdays, I’m gonna start releasing more chapters of [my book],” she said. Carter averages two posts per week.
Cohen also has a serialized extracurricular project taking place on Substack: Through digital check-ins, she’s leading a group of 250 participants as they make their way through the cult-classic workbook “The Artist’s Way.”
Sikhounmuong said his Substack rollout depends on his inspiration. “Sometimes it doesn’t happen once a month — sometimes it’s every month and a half, sometimes it’s twice a month,” he said. But when it’s more than a month between posts, “people are like, ‘Is he still alive?'” he said.
Alex Mill’s marketing manager helps Sikhounmuong publish his work on the platform and encourages experimentation with new features. For example, twice recently, he has gone live on Substack, for a series his team has dubbed a “SomCast.” One, on February 28, gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look at a photoshoot for the brand’s upcoming spring collection as well as an inside look at Sikhounmuong’s own vintage collection. The livestreams have been fairly impromptu, Sikhounmuong said, adding, “The less rehearsed it is, the better.”
Many posts do not mention Alex Mill, though some do. In a November 2024 post titled “Gifts for people who already have it all,” Sikhounmuong mentions the brand’s hand-painted monogrammed totes, writing, “My no-fail gifting advice is always to make it personal. Alex Mill has a great monogrammed shop we just launched — you can get hand-painted or hand-embroidered initials on your favorite Alex Mill totes.” As far as whether or not “Somstack” drives sales, Sikhounmuong said, “It’s never a priority in my head. It’s never, ‘Let’s see how many people we can get.’ … If it happens, it’s great, and it’s been happening because oftentimes we’ll also repost it to the Alex Mill Instagram account.” The brand has 123,000 Instagram followers
Echoing Cohen, Sikhounmuong said there is a through line between his interests, his readers’ interests and the Alex Mill customer’s interests. “A lot of the stuff I end up posting on my Substack, our customers at Alex Mill will find interesting or useful. For the Alex Mill customer, it’s another layer of insight into who is behind the brand and what we do as a brand,” Sikhounmuong said.
For Jessie Randall, founder and creative director of the 21-year-old shoe brand Loeffler Randall, Substack is a place to share the recommendations her friends have always tapped her for anyway. “I’m connecting more with people on Substack, and it feels like a genuine community. It’s not so much about selling — it’s more creative,” she said.
Since its launch in August, Randall has been “religious” about sending out a new issue of her newsletter, “Jessie Loves” (7.9k subscribers), every other Thursday at 9 a.m. ET. “[The newsletter is] definitely me, Jessie Loeffler Randall, as the founder of Loeffler Randall — I’m very candid and authentic, but it’s not a deep dive into my personal issues. I try to be very real, but I also try to have boundaries around the things I talk about. It’s related to who I am in my business life, in that it is about the kind of person I am in my creative life, which is my business. It’s very much intertwined,” she said. At the same time, she acknowledged, someone looking at the company’s Instagram may truly only want to see shoes — and not her tips for a trip to Paris.
Randall recently posted about her “core wardrobe,” linking to five pairs of her own brand’s shoes, among other fashion items. But she doesn’t want to write a shopping-focused newsletter, she said, even though those posts perform well. Another recent post taught readers Randall’s rules for starting a craft club.
As for whether or not she’d recommend founders delve into Substack, Randall said, “I don’t think that people should be on there unless they’re willing to really get into it and dedicate the time, because it’s not something that I think can be done … [if you’re just] promoting your own brand all the time; I don’t think that will work or connect with people.” Substack has a very “reciprocal community,” in which those who engage with one another’s content — not just creating, but also reading what others create — are most rewarded, she said
“I always tell founders starting on Substack to show up as their real, personal selves,” said Christina Loff, Substack’s head of lifestyle partnerships. “Lean into the platform, be yourself, engage with the community, and don’t come to Substack just to market. Don’t think of Substack as [just] another marketing channel. Think of it as a way to actually connect with your audience. Authenticity is what people connect with most, and it’s what works best here.”
She shouted out Randall’s use of Substack’s live video feature, noting that she has gone live with other Substackers and “shows aspects of her life in an honest, relatable way.”
“It feels nice to put so much effort and care into something and see it connecting with people on a deeper level,” Randall said. … “Substack — at least the part of Substack that I’m interacting with— just feels very positive, upbeat and all about creativity, especially during this terrible time in the world.”
Collab of the week
Cleo Wade x Velvet
Poet, activist and influencer Cleo Wade (767,000 Instagram followers) has partnered with Velvet on a collection dubbed “Easeful Essentials,” inclusive of cashmere sweaters, vests, linen tops, basic tees and a trench coat. “This collaboration is inspired by the clothing that makes me feel most comfortable: sweaters and button-ups I steal from my partner, Simon; bandanas I use to keep my hair back when I am writing; classic pants in soft materials that go back to simple tees and tanks; and easy dresses that feel elegant,” Wade said. “Everything goes together or [can be paired with] your favorite jeans. When Jenny [Graham, Velvet’s founder] and I created this, we thought this collection could be the only thing in your carry-on for a nice weekend away.”
Wade said she’s been a fan of Velvet since age 15, when she borrowed a Velvet tee from a friend. “Most of my collaborations are rooted in the fun challenge of trying something new or making my childhood self proud,” she said. “Teen me would be over the moon about being given the opportunity to design this collection.”
Inside our coverage
Beauty & Wellness Briefing: How beauty brands won Oscars weekend
Sephora Strategies: How Violette prepared for her brand’s Sephora debut
Revolve announces global expansion of its shoppable gaming app
Reading list
The latest teen status symbol is $10 hand sanitizer
Can Louis Vuitton win in beauty?
Teen beauty is soaring, but don’t underestimate the category’s risk
