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It's me, your culture-obsessed brand founder and strategist who is fairly obsessed with the psychology of marketing — and will do a deep dive so you don't have to into what's actually working on the internet each week.
If you were anywhere near Instagram last week, you probably watched Brigette Pheloung — aka Acquired Style — document her bachelorette trip to St. Barths. Private jet. Luxury villa. Matching neon sweatsuits. And woven throughout every single video: a sleek AI mirror with Swan Beauty branding that just kept showing up on screen.
The internet had one question: who is this company?
Swan is a beauty technology company — an AI smart mirror that does skin analysis, AR makeup tutorials, and shoppable product recommendations, all from your vanity. The mirror retails for $795. You don't impulse-purchase it. You discover it, research it, sit with it, and watch your favorite creators use it before you decide. So when the internet went looking, Swan needed something real to find. And they had it.
Here's the thing. Swan had said at launch: "We're not building for virality." Two months later, one of the most viral beauty moments of the year. Ironic or genius. Probably both.
The collab — private jet, St. Barths villa, 16 guests — is estimated to have cost several hundred thousand dollars. Swan went from practically anonymous to all-time-high Google search volume in a single week. Brigette hit one million Instagram followers the same week. And Swan's search volume hit an all-time high the same Friday.
Swan is backed by the Mitchell Family Office — founded by Mark Mitchell, whose wife Colby runs Swan. He built Visiting Physicians Association, the largest house-call medical practice in the US, and sold a majority stake for $325 million. In September 2025, the Mitchell Family Office acquired Cos Bar. The luxury beauty retailer. 21 stores. Nine states. Sisley Paris, Augustinus Bader, La Prairie, Charlotte Tilbury.
That acquisition gave Swan its marketplace inventory, its in-store activation channel, and retail credibility before the mirror ever shipped. Swan Bar installations are already going into Cos Bar locations in Aspen, Dallas, California, and New Jersey — letting customers try the AI skin analyzer in person before committing to $795.
So the viral moment was the marketing. The ecosystem was the strategy. And the ecosystem was built with permanent capital before anyone knew Swan's name.
For founders: this is not a brand deal story. It's a distribution story. The internet just did the launch campaign.
And then there's Rhode.
10 products. No retail. Okay, not unheard of…
Marketing spend at 11% of revenue. Now you must be lying!
Sold for a billion dollars in three years. HOWWWW?
As if I need to tell you — Hailey Bieber has a brand identity so coherent and consistent that it replaced paid advertising entirely. And before you argue BUT SHE'S HAILEY BIEBER! I know, I know, but Kylie Jenner is Kylie Jenner and she's not getting the same numbers as our gal Hailey.
The difference is brand infrastructure. Rhode launched with a clear identity, a tightly edited product range, and a visual world so consistent that every post, every drop, every campaign felt like the same brand. You land on the page and you know immediately who it's for.
None of this happened because of posting more or being a Kar-Jenner rage-baiter on the internet. tbh.
And then Coachella happened.
Rhode led every brand at the festival with $13.4 million in earned media value — 484 pieces of content, 21.4 million engagements. No official sponsorship. Rhode World generated $10 million in Media Impact Value in five days. A single TikTok from one creator drove $429K on its own.
The analyst who tracked it said: "The brands generating the most value were not the ones with the biggest budgets or the most content. They were the ones that understood where culture was already moving and found a credible way in."
That's the whole thesis right there, and someone else said it, so I didn't have to. BUT — I want to help you create your own Swan, Rhode, or whoever you are in your world moments.
So here’s the thing:
We are in the middle of a trust crisis. Audiences are swimming in AI-generated content — and even when they can't name what's off, they feel it. Mintel named "the human touch revolution" one of the defining trends of 2026. Research now shows that AI-labeled content creates a measurable drop in purchase intent. The scarcest resource in the market right now isn't reach.
It's realness.
Matthieu Blazy said it after the Chanel spring 2026 show: "Everything is so overdone and velvety and well arranged — being yourself became the ultimate luxury."
He was talking about fashion.
I'm thinking about every founder trying to figure out how to show up in a world where everything is starting to look and sound the same.
The brands cutting through have something in common. A documented identity. A consistent voice. A person who knows the brand as well as the founder does and makes sure nothing goes out misaligned. Someone who can look at everything going out and say: this is on, this is off, this is us.
That's what we built Oui, We Studio to be.
Smart Girls Opportunities: Two ways to work with us now.
Fractional CBO — Brand Direction
I come in as your dedicated brand strategist — the person all brand decisions run through. Think of me as your brand sherpa: I know where you're going, how to get there, and I make sure nothing goes out misaligned. Each month, we have a strategy call, and you get an updated content plan and brand strategy document. It’s all built on myCult Brand Blueprint framework.
This one is for you if you have an audience, a product that's ready, and a brand that needs the strategic infrastructure to match. Beauty founders, fashion labels, wellness brands, creative entrepreneurs — the ones who are generating revenue and know that what they're missing is the foundation underneath.
The Content Studio
This is the number one request we've been getting. You need a creator to help you — and you don't want to go to a traditional agency for that.
So here’s the plan: You’ll get brand strategy from me. Content from my Studio team, created and delivered to you each month — ready to post. It’ll be either photo-forward or video-forward, depending on where your brand lives and what we decide you and your company need.
This one is for you if your brand needs help and you need a team that can execute from a brand brief — not a mood board and a vibe.
Engagements start at $3,500/month.
If you're interested, simply let us know here, and we’ll set up time to chat
This issue of the Unschool is sponsored by Aramore. I personally love the brand and pair their NAD+ skincare with my Sabbatical Serum retinol alternative and it’s pretty magical. Learn more:
Finally, Skincare That Boosts NAD+ At the Source
For decades, skincare has focused on aesthetic results. But we started by asking a different question: what if instead of trying to preserve our skin's youth, we prioritized optimizing our skin's function? That's how Aramore’s NAD+ skincare was born.
Developed by Harvard & MIT scientists, Aramore is a skincare system based on skin’s performance, not just its appearance. NAD+ production slows down significantly as we age, and this causes all the telltale science of aging.
Aramore is the only skincare formulated to help skin produce NAD+ like much younger skin would. The result? Skin that’s stronger, firmer, and more resilient, that not only looks better, but stays healthier over time.
See you back here again next week! Want to chat, DM me over at @ouiwegirl, or hit reply to this newsletter. It comes straight to my inbox.
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