This profile is part of the Glossy Pop Guide to Influencer-Founded Brands, covering the fashion, beauty and wellness companies started by people who built their careers on social media. More from the series →
Before Instagram, Shea Marie grew her influencer platform from her lifestyle blog, Peace Love Shea. Just three years after her blog was created in 2010, she was receiving a million views per month. Since then, she’s worked with prestigious fashion brands around the globe, including Dior, Fendi, Ralph Lauren and Nars. According to Shea Marie, being an early player in the influencer marketing game, people used to tell her that her influencer aspirations were unrealistic. Shea Marie’s skin-care brand, The Feelist, launched in 2020. Her passion for clean products led her to research botanical wellness, specifically the benefits of CBD. Now, The Feelist’s products are all plant-based.
Who: Shea Marie, The Feelist
Platform: Instagram
What are you known for & how did you get your start?
Back in 2010 (pre-IG, imagine that!), I launched a website of fashion and lifestyle inspiration including photos of myself and what I was wearing. At first, people thought the idea sounded crazy, but within three years and nearly a million views a month, I went from a small-town girl to working with some of the most prestigious brands and traveling all over the world. It was the beginning of influencer marketing, and in a sense, Instagram before Instagram.
What’s the brand: Skin care
Find it: TheFeelist.com
Why did you decide to bring a brand into this crowded marketplace?
Over the past 10 years working in the industry, I’ve tried nearly every skin-care, beauty product and treatment on the market. When I started working on The Feelist nearly four years ago, I was using mainly clean, plant-based products myself, because I believe that what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in your body. The options were limited and they all had similar branding: neutral earth tones, greens or brown paper bag type packaging. They were the type of products that were hiding on the bottom shelf away from the beautifully curated “shelfies” I was posting on Instagram. I felt like the market was missing a line of affordable, clean, good-for-you products that looked high-end, luxurious and beautiful.
What makes the brand different?
We made ‘clean’ and ‘plant-based’ look luxurious, and we made luxurious affordable. Most importantly, our products are effective. All our formulas are proprietary and we spend years researching and developing each product. We crowd-source information to help us decide what to create, so we know what people are looking for and what people need. New brands rarely have direct access to millions of target consumers before launch, and it was this unparalleled access and knowledge that allowed us to build a brand for everyone, a brand that people truly want.
Fun Fact: The Most Wanted Radiant Facial Oil was named in reference to the research we did via social media to find out what people wanted most.
Best seller: Most Wanted Radiant Facial Oil
To read the rest of The Glossy Pop guide to influencer-founded brands, click here.
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