What Ulta Beauty World Teaches Us About the New Era of Experiential Marketing

7 May 2026 · 33 min · 20 chapters

Ask about this episode

Ask anything about it. ChatGPT or Claude reads this page and answers with the times it was said.

Connect VO and ask about every podcast you hear, including the moments you saved. Add to ChatGPT · Add to Claude

In short

The episode covers three things: Claire’s comeback strategy for Gen Alpha, Ulta Beauty World as a model for experiential retail marketing, and Meta overtaking Google in ad revenue plus what that means for paid strategy.

Guests

No external guests. Hosts/participants are Jasmine (creator/CEO of Female Founder World), Natalie (team member and new founder), and Paige (co-founder of Benny; contributor).

Key claims

Claire’s was acquired out of bankruptcy for $140M (Sept 2025) and is relaunching with a new C-suite hire, Michelle Goad (ex Athleta/Gap; Nike; Alo). Ulta Beauty World sold out 3,000 tickets in 71 minutes; 3M tried to get in; swag bag valued $2,000; event run by Ulta CMO Kelly Mahoney and newly created chief retail officer Amy Bayer Thomas. Meta is forecast to surpass Google in ad revenue for the first time.

Notable examples

Claire’s “girl SMIs and ASMR” campaign; focus on ear piercing and experiential store redesign; use of Coverstar (AI-moderated alternative to TikTok). Ulta activations and creator-led hype; discussion of retailer ad platforms (Target/Ulta) and Meta ads’ “more organic” feel.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

The Comeback of Claire's

0:45 to 1:32

Discussion on Claire's brand revival and strategic hires.

“just overtook Google in advertising for the first time ever.”

Leadership Changes at Claire's

1:32 to 3:35

Insight into new leadership at Claire's and their plans for the brand.

“I love the idea of having a third space for this gen alpha demographic.”

Targeting Gen Alpha

3:35 to 4:49

Exploring how Claire's aims to attract Gen Alpha through experiential marketing.

Innovative Marketing Approaches

4:49 to 5:47

Discussion about Claire's digital marketing strategies and platform usage.

“they kicked off the relaunch with this um the campaign was called a girl SMIs and ASMR and the idea was that, you know, Gen Alpha is obsessed with ASMR.”

Brand Differentiation in Retail

5:47 to 8:02

Analyzing how Claire's can stand out against online competition.

“if you're a brand that's trying to tap into this younger demographic that these platforms are actually being taken seriously.”

Introduction to Ulta Beauty World

8:02 to 8:12

Overview of the Ulta Beauty World event's success and consumer interest.

“save the sinking ship and it it seems like Michelle is the perfect person for this so I I think that was a genius hire.”

What Happens at Ulta Beauty World

8:12 to 10:15

Details about the immersive experiences at Ulta Beauty World.

“And I don't know if you saw this all over your feeds, but I certainly did.”

Marketing Strategies for Success

10:15 to 12:02

Exploring Ulta Beauty's marketing strategies leading to event success.

“One is what did they do, Safrai, to get 3 million people to their website when the tickets went live?”

Comparing Events in the Beauty Industry

12:02 to 14:00

Comparison between Ulta Beauty World and other beauty events like Beautycon.

Founder-Led Engagement at Ulta Beauty World

14:02 to 15:06

Explore the impact of founder-led brands on consumer engagement at Ulta Beauty World.

“I did think it was interesting that, like you were saying, Paige, like it does seem to be quite founder-led, some of the activations and what's been going on at Alter Beauty World.”
Show all 20 chapters

Community vs. Influencer Marketing Strategies

15:06 to 17:11

Discuss the importance of community engagement over influencer marketing for brand growth.

“Then it goes out in the newsletter, which is the next year of engagement.”

Shifting Trends in Paid Advertising

17:11 to 18:55

Analyze the recent shift in digital advertising trends from Google to Meta platforms.

“at such a mass scale but kind of like what we talked about a few weeks ago is that the stickiest consumer is that just someone that wants a ton of free stuff?”

Retail Ad Strategies and ROI Considerations

18:55 to 21:08

Understand the complexities of advertising strategies for retail brands and their ROI.

Navigating the Retail Landscape for Brand Growth

21:08 to 22:20

Learn about building a profitable growth strategy in retail and the long-term commitment it requires.

“But when you're, when you start working with one of the bigger guys at Sephora, a Target and Alta, you are required to sell your product.”

The Meta Advertising Revolution

22:20 to 23:12

Discover how Meta advertising has become a primary focus for brands in recent years.

Evolving Personal Brand Strategies

23:12 to 24:41

Examine how personal brand strategies integrate with business growth, using case studies.

“I was just listening to a podcast this morning with one of the founders of Bloom, B-L-O-O-M.”

Creative Pop-Up Displays

28:00 to 28:58

Discover innovative strategies for creating eye-catching pop-up displays.

“And I feel like if I were at some sort of marketplace that would catch my eye.”

Digital Detox with Brick

28:59 to 30:09

Learn about a device that helps manage phone usage and reduce distractions.

“But it is just such a great way to break that habit of like picking up your phone and scrolling when, you know, I feel like we all do this.”

Lighting for Confidence on Calls

30:10 to 31:44

Explore how proper lighting can enhance confidence during virtual meetings.

“you said that you were using it for 13 hours at a time.”

A Call for Better Tech Solutions

31:45 to 32:18

A humorous plea for integrated lighting solutions in tech to improve appearance.

“How have we not had an embedded light yet?”
Hear the part that matters, and keep it.Open this episode in VO. Double tap your headphones to save a moment as you listen.
Get VO free

Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00We're the Hartford, with decades of experience insuring millions of unique small businesses. When it comes to your small business insurance, one size absolutely does not fit all. Get a quote or find an agent today at thehartford.com slash small business.

0:15Jasmine:This episode of Female Founder World is presented by OmniSend. Hey everyone, and welcome back to your weekly group chat with Female Founder World. I'm Jasmine. I am the creator and the CEO of Female Founder World. I'm Natalie. I'm a team member here at Female Founder World. and a new founder. I'm Paige. I am one of the co-founders of Benny and I'm a contributor here at Female Founder World. Okay, the things we're covering this week. So first up, Claire's is back. We need to talk about who is behind the brand's comeback and what their playbook is. Plus Meta just overtook Google in advertising for the first time ever.

0:48Jasmine:So we're breaking down exactly what this means for you and where you should be putting your dollars. And then finally, Alter Beauty World. We're talking about why this beauty event has become the Super Bowl of Beauty and what brands at every size can learn from it. But first I want to talk about Claire's. It was the brand of so many people's childhoods. They had the clip-on earrings, the butterfly clips, friendship bracelets, and then it went bankrupt twice. Last year it was acquired for$140 million by a private equity firm and the first thing they did was hire a really impressive brand executive and now Claire's is climbing its way back.

1:24Jasmine:Paige, can you give some background about Claire's and what they're doing? Totally. No, I was so excited to see this news. So Claire's was acquired by Ames Watson, the North American Claire's business, for their business and their intellectual property in September 2025 for$140 million out of bankruptcy with a plan to like revitalize the business, focusing on ear piercing, curated products, and a modernized store experience, which putting that into context okay 140 million dollars we see brands like grooms being acquired for like five times that where clares was my child clares is an institution like it's it blows my mind i wish i could have bought clares i would have um so their first kind of most important hire that people are talking about right now is michelle goad so she is the new chief brand officer and their first c-suite hire since the acquisition so she was most recently the chief digital officer at Athleta under Gap and before that was a senior leader at Nike leading Gen Z digital innovation and at Alo Yoga so she's got quite the track record she also has her own digital consultancy so group chat girlies maybe we should be hitting her up but she's not just a marketer she's like a real proven leader with such a strong track record and her focus is on making these stores more experiential spaces for the teen and tween demo which I feel like is so cool and so important with like parents wanting these like new safe spaces let's get in person and let's stop going to Sephora and Starbucks like let's have a space that's for this group I think it's genius I'm I'm actually so excited to like watch what happens.

3:12Jasmine:I love the idea of having a third space for this gen alpha demographic. I mean, I feel like a lot of retail can learn from this playbook of how do you actually make your in relaxed space feel like an alternative to Starbucks, like a true third space where people can like come and hang out regardless of like what it is that they're buying from your brand. But the first thing I want to mention is the shift to the purple. Do you guys see they like swapped to this like pastel? It's like Lilith purple, I think is the color which you look at the the original branding that like deep purple and then there's kind of like lilac rebrands and i think just says everything about where they're going you just see this lilac purple and i'm like oh yeah i get it it's giving glossier like gen alpha glossier i'm upset like i i before the show i told jasmine if i wasn't doing what i'm doing i would be really trying to work at the new clairs like i don't know why like like to be a leader there i have been seeing the buyers quite active on LinkedIn so if you have a product that makes sense there like I think if you have a better for you snack um or you know anything that fits them I don't I don't really want to target the Gen Alpha quite yet it doesn't feel good for energy drinks but I'm like I'm watching this space I think that there's something to say about this whole rebrand like there need to be more brands or places for Gen Alpha to go like instead of that Sephora instead of Aritzia like they're young and they don't I feel like they don't have as much as we had like we had the limited two and the the Claire's and all of those things so I love this concept and I personally feel like almost anything can be salvaged I think Claire's has has a chance at making it back with this this whole idea like I would get my ears pierced there like why not they kicked off the relaunch with this um the campaign was called a girl SMIs and ASMR and the idea was that, you know, Gen Alpha is obsessed with ASMR.

5:04Jasmine:They love sensory objects like fidget toys, slimes, squishies. And so they, they had a digital campaign and they were really focusing on those products that they actually sold in store, which I thought was interesting. But what, you know, I was reading through those people, brands and things did an interview with the new exec hire. And she was saying that they're using a platform called Coverstar and it's basically like a safe alternative to TikTok. I hadn't heard of it before. It's an AI moderator built for creativity, not doom scrolling, safe space and they've been focusing the campaign on there and yes, they are on TikTok and other platforms but that was the first time I actually discovered this space and I thought that was interesting if you're a brand that's trying to tap into this younger demographic that these platforms are actually being taken seriously.

5:53Jasmine:Had you guys heard of Coverstar? Never, no. interesting i hadn't until that article interesting i wonder how many people are using it i know i wonder if it'll be one of those flash in the pans like what was i don't know if you guys still see anything about it but like lemonade when yes tiktok was gonna be banned we were like what are we gonna do on lemonade nothing the other thing that i've been thinking about about claire's and this very brand is the idea of like what does your brand offer that the internet genuinely can't replicate. One of the things that Michelle said in her interviews that I've seen in the coverage is this idea that they want to move away from being kind of like a commodity brand and they don't want to compete in that space.

6:34Jasmine:And that was quite interesting about what does your brand bring to the table that can't be replicated by, you know, anyone on Timo or Shein or Amazon or, you know, what is that? I'm curious to our conversation last week on partnerships and the gap of it all I hope they bring some cool partnerships like I feel like Gen Alpha rides for their people like we saw with Sincerely Jewels that skincare brand that went like so so so insane Sincerely Yours that one Sincerely Yours yes yes there was some crazy stats I don't know Jazz if you if you remember any of those you know their sellout moment it was like the most insane they filled the Mall of America or something like yes Gen Alpha goes hard and I hope they go hard for Claire's like they need this Natalie did you go to Claire's like do you know Claire's of course I went to Claire's I was actually gonna ask you guys did you guys go because I'm assuming it probably wasn't quite present well maybe in Canada I'm not quite sure but oh yeah it's not an Israeli thing oh it was such a mall staple but I do yeah not I do think that the turning point for Claire's now especially with Michelle will be the use of latching on now again we talked about this last week to the cool brands and then taking Claire's along with them I really think that they can achieve some some you know some refresh with hopping on with what Jen Alpha is really already shopping uh while filling like that space that no one else can really fill I mean they have legacy and they have lore so I don't know if Claire's can ever be recreated but they've really gotta save the sinking ship and it it seems like Michelle is the perfect person for this so I I think that was a genius hire.

8:08Jasmine:The next thing I want to talk about is Ulta Beauty World. Three million people tried to get tickets for 3 ,000 spots. They sold out in 71 minutes. And I don't know if you saw this all over your feeds, but I certainly did. Guests were literally running to the booths when they opened. The swag bag was worth over$2 ,000 and everyone got that swag bag with the$160 tickets. We're only in the second year of Ulta Beauty World and it's already becoming genuinely just one of the most coveted hottest events in the beauty industry and I wanted to unpack this with you guys Natalie can you tell us a little bit more about what actually happens at Ulta Beauty World and give us the background I can't believe it's only been around for two years I know this much of a magnetic force to the consumer but Ulta Beauty World is like an all-day immersive expo where attendees can interact with their favorite brands across makeup skincare hair and like Jazz said the first event was in 2025 in san antonio texas and this most recent event for 2026 was april 15 to 16 in orlando which had over 220 brands which is a pretty large number when you think about it um you're also probably wondering why does this exist who runs it what's the deal the event was conceived as part of ulta's back to basic strategy to re-engage its core U.S.

9:30customer base. We're always talking about Sephora and I feel like Ulta probably felt a little left behind so this is a great way to engage their consumers and the key executives behind it are Kelly Mahoney, Ulta's CMO, and Amy Bayer Thomas, the newly created chief retail officer. The concept was deliberately modeled as a consumer facing convention, Ulta's answer to Sephora, but it positioned it squarely in the American heartland rather than major cities, which is an interesting take. And I mean, clearly that didn't stop anyone from joining in. That's for sure.

10:06Jasmine:I saw that it brought like millions of dollars of economic activity to the city as well, which, you know, is an interesting data point. But the reason why I wanted to talk about this, a few reasons. One is what did they do, Safrai, to get 3 million people to their website when the tickets went live? Because I think for any launch event, even if it is something where you're getting that much value for that lower ticket price is pretty wild and so I wanted to dive into that and then also think about a little bit about how brands can get involved and if you are in the beauty space what you can do to actually like tap into this um ultra beauty world fever next year because I'm sure they're going to be doing this again and doing it in a really really big way last year they had 1500 tickets this year they doubled it and when I was looking at how they managed to get this many hype around the event it was a few different things.

10:54Jasmine:One, they had a lot of hype built from last year. So they really let a lot of that TikTok content from the event last year do the heavy lifting for them, you know, showing people with like their empty suitcases packed with product. And they also worked with a lot of creators. So there's been a bit of backlash around that as well, because they really did prioritize letting creators and influencers get these tickets over there. For example, loyal diamond status customers who spend quite a lot of money with Ulta annually and missed out. And judging by the comment section, are pretty annoyed that they missed out.

11:31Jasmine:But in saying that, it worked in terms of building that hype and getting people to actually want to buy those tickets. Something that I thought was really fascinating was the fact that the teasers of the stations or what brands were going to bring to the expo was what was a huge push for people. Because honestly, like seeing what might be available to you is what really gets the crowd going I think if people didn't know what it was going to be like there wouldn't have been such a surge in tickets but I think there were some crazy activations that were teased online that like really did a huge number on on the tickets yeah when I think about female founder on summit I'm kind of thinking now okay how do we engage all of the people who are going to be involved in the event and rather than just relying on our own channels for promoting the event how we let those folks talk about their involvement and bring in their micro communities as well do you guys know any founders that were there like last year this year did we talk to anyone it just blew over my like radar i totally forgot about it obviously not with me right but i wish i wish we had this in consumer i think for founders like the real takeaway and like what it sounds like the magic is is like getting to connect like face to face like I read a quote from a smaller brand that didn't have any crazy booth but they were there and like getting to meet real consumers which you don't often like get that real experience of meeting you know thousands of people in a day I wish we had this I'm like Target can we do this I'm gonna I'm gonna ask I feel like we see this for the industry when it comes to shopping or exploring new brands but not for consumers which again like we're seeing the shift into incorporating the consumer and it seems to be working you know what it made me think of is um is beauty con do you guys remember beauty con yes this is a flashback episode the clara's and the beauty yes beauty con's back as well like they i don't think i i'm curious about why they don't seem to have had quite as much hype as this ultra beauty world event but they've been back for a couple of years now as well they closed during 2020 and sold and restructured blah blah but they're back and they're you know focused on bringing this in real life experience in the beauty space personally haven't been seeing as much about it but i'm not sure why that is i don't know if it's because alter maybe alter beauty has that ongoing year-long relationship with their customers and so when it actually comes to doing an in-person experience they already have that like really sticky community there who want to get involved.

14:02Jasmine:I did think it was interesting that, like you were saying, Paige, like it does seem to be quite founder-led, some of the activations and what's been going on at Alter Beauty World. So Sunnit Riley and Stacia Saw, I think that's how you say it, they had really large and engaged crowds compared to the non-founder-led brands. But I didn't see like, and maybe it just wasn't coming up my feet, but I didn't see, for example, like Deepika from Live Tinted or I think like Is Ceremonia at Ulta. I didn't see kind of like Baba there, you know, so I am curious about which brands actually got involved versus who didn't like get invited to have quite as large a presence because I do think that those smaller brands have such a tight community even if they don't have the bigger reach and it would be like a real miss not to get them involved.

14:45Somebody needs to do like a community brand trip. I don't know if Coco Kind's there or Tarte is in Ulta. I am like never in an Ulta but like Maureen Kelly, we need to get the the tart alta brand i'm surprised i'm surprised they haven't done that i'm really surprised well

15:01Jasmine:they've done like giveaways i feel like it'll be a learning opportunity like this will be a real learning moment for them with the pushback around focusing on influences versus maybe their community and i think that they're probably looking at it as you know a marketer where you have just that clear really clear roi that you need and and you know alta beauty is a is a big company that we're looking at summits and they would be thinking okay if we invite x amount of creators give them x amount of deliverables this is what our reach and roi is going to be and uh i think now they're probably looking at this and thinking okay that intangible that intangible community element is really important um and they're probably thinking for next year how do we prioritize our our titus customers like i look at the way that we do summit and we prioritize anyone who is one of our paid business bestie members they get first dibs then it goes into the group chat which is kind of the next year of engagement.

15:51Jasmine:Then it goes out in the newsletter, which is the next year of engagement. And really prioritizing that. Whereas honestly, probably makes better sense from an ROI perspective to just go out all of the buzzy like TikTok facing influencers again with them involved in summit first. But I don't think that that is a long-term play for building brand and community. Yeah. No, when I hear all of this, I'm so curious too, and I will find a founder. I'm going to reach out to someone that was there but I'm curious whenever anything is totally retail-led I'm sure there's a ton of wins like getting to you know connect with that many consumers but I wonder if the Alta buyers are sometimes how buyers are like a bit like threatening on their programs like they're like you have to participate in Alta Beauty World and this is the thing like I wonder if that is kind of like a metric that buyers are looking towards and I wonder what the cost is you know like maybe you're not paying a slotting fee I don't know the economics of beauty like I do CPG but not paying a slotting fee but you're paying now like 100k or whatever for your booth it's it's interesting I have no idea I'm wondering if it's contractually obligated for some of these brands do you think yeah I think so for sure or if it's not it will be moving forward because you think about the amount of products that they're getting in those five bags and I can guarantee like Alta's not forking out for them the brands.

17:10No yeah totally which is nice to sample at such a mass scale but kind of like what we talked about a few weeks ago is that the stickiest consumer is that just someone that wants a ton of free stuff?

17:22Jasmine:Well I mean it's also like when you're thinking about getting creators and influencers involved like there's independent brands need that ROI as well like they can't just be having the loyal Alta beauty customers that maybe don't know their brand or aren't interested in their brand they probably also want to see the reach of the creators who are attending the events if they're going to be gifting at that scale, because that's pretty significant. The last thing I wanted to bring to the group chat was a quick conversation about paid ads and paid strategy, because for the past, I don't know, 25 years, Google has definitely been the undisputed king when it comes to digital advertising.

17:56Jasmine:And this year, for the first time ever, Meta has actually overtaken it. And I don't think we need to talk about this for half an hour, but I do think that it is an interesting data point as brands are thinking about where they're putting their money and where they're focusing right now, because it really does have real implications for where brands are going to be spending their ad dollars. So just like a little bit of background, Meta is forecast to reach 243.46 billion in net worldwide ad revenue this year, and Google will reach 239.54 billion. So last year, Google was actually ahead, and this is going to be the first time that Meta overtakes Google, which for me, I think about, okay, all I actually hear about is brands doing meta ads.

18:36Jasmine:So I kind of forget about Google a little bit because I think that a lot of brands in our space are prioritizing, you know, the meta growth. But I wanted to just bring this to you guys and talk about where you're seeing brand spending and what you're seeing working right now when it comes to paid strategy. Paige, I know that Benny is a brand that is like quite like retail focused, but does that mean you don't spend on paid ads or is this a big part of what you're doing we have once in the past ever like for like maybe a month we did paid ads that drove to a coupon to get a free can at target which was like a very like clicky offer and it went well enough but honestly I think what's really surprised me as we've like really scaled into retail and like see what the real like competitors are doing and the real big guys are doing not just the small like mom and pop shops that are on a organic Instagram page in a prayer like we have been for forever um is using the platforms of these retailers like meta ads like it is like no question that you're spending you know tens of thousands of dollars a month on two targets ad platform and then to this one's ad platform and you have like an ad buyer of all of those so it's like a whole new landscape outside of these guys that I'm curious on like what you know that impact will be because I know that that is how does that work so it's it's like what do you are you basically advertising within their emails on within the website themselves like their search really like their search their apps their websites um the return is really good like our ROAS are quite strong but it's also like another back to the Ulta Beauty piece it's like another like the retailers want you to say we're investing xyz into your ad platform whereas if we were to say we're spending a million dollars this year at Meta they would be like I don't really know why you're even telling me that so yeah it's it's that's a real wild wild west but I think it's an interesting way to d2cify that's what I say if that makes sense to me d2cify your retail business um and we're getting to know some like really great buyers DM me you guys if you want to recco there's like certain people that are just like the best of the best um and I think it's a nice way we we are just scratching the surface and I know I'm derailing this conversation but for cpg brands where you can't always articulate your return on investment to investors that like you could as an amazon brand or a d2c brand that you can kind of now articulate like you know our return on ad spend at target is xyz in a way that i didn't even know was going on it's so interesting because i do think it's something that is not really widely discussed i think you know the folks who are listening who have been building business for quite a few years who have a good like wholesale retail strategy will get this.

21:27Jasmine:But when you're, when you start working with one of the bigger guys at Sephora, a Target and Alta, you are required to sell your product. And that doesn't just mean having great organic content and your own email marketing means paying to participate in their promotions and their own advertising channels. And I hear from folks who launched at Sephora, like they're not expecting profitability through that channel for like more than five years. That's one of the craziest facts. When you told me that a couple of months back, Jasmine, I had no idea. I can't believe that. And that's one of the reasons we've got a program called Retail Bootcamp.

22:04Jasmine:And we talk about building your like indie retail strategy and why, you know, obviously brands are doing that because that can be actually like a profitable growth channel that you can control rather than spending with some of these bigger platforms. And wow, we've really moved this away from digital ads in retail but sorry google and meta yeah sorry google and meta we got born the only observation i can make is that when i was in college google ads was something that they were kind of touching on in school and it has just shifted i feel like in the past two years really to meta meta meta meta meta heavy and if you are someone listening to this who's an expert in meta definitely reach out to us or pop in the group chat because i can't tell you how many founders i've seen asking for someone who's an expert in meta so I don't know it's definitely on the rise as a new-ish founder for those who are new I recently started my own business I feel like the only ad spend I would even consider right now is meta my mom is like the perfect consumer she she's she's like a great test consumer because she really cares um but she's also like very easy too convinced to buy and she's such a like um a reels shopper or instagram story shopper because she'll be thinking it's actually someone's story not realizing it's a meta ad and purchase and it could be from amazon for all she knows but whereas if it's like a google ad i just don't know that she would fall for it in the same way not that it's sinister that she's falling for it but it's just like catches her off guard yes it feels like more organic this was fascinating on the i I totally agree with all of that, Natalie, on the flow and it feeling so much more organic.

23:44I was just listening to a podcast this morning with one of the founders of Bloom, B-L-O-O-M. There's a million Blooms, I feel like, but the like nutrition greens energy drink brand. Greg, the co-founder, was talking about in their early days, they would do a ton of meta ads to get their co-founder followers. Mari, who's kind of the face of the brand, not Bloom. And I was like, that is fascinating. I would never think to that. I've been considering that. So actually that makes me feel a little less crazy. Yeah. No, I think it's genius.

24:19Jasmine:You'd have to be so buttoned up with your personal brand strategy and how that was integrated with the business. Totally. I think it makes sense for Bloom when I think about what she's creating. We actually did an Instagram carousel if anyone wants to dive into that brand. I'll put a link in the show notes because it's an interesting case study around how they've grown and some of the things that they've been focusing on if anyone wants to dive into it. The other thing that I think is worth flagging is just how easy MetaAds has become. Now, you've mentioned before, lots of brands in the community are asking for resources, for consultants.

24:51Jasmine:I think a lot of folks have been really, really burned by MetaAgencies, like hands up, I have. I've spent a lot of money on MetaAgencies in the past and just not seen that ROI. And now with the way that Meta is using AI, it just feels so easy to do this yourself genuinely if you're someone who is good at creating content and you can actually you're confident with the content creation piece actually targeting and all that a lot of it is done by ai now and so actually working with like one consultant to help you set things up figure things out or doing a course i think is the way to go when you're focusing on that ads in 2026 something that sticks out to me is that episode we had way back Jasmine with um sock candy and I believe she found some an expert on fiverr which again it's like a swing and a miss and I believe it's in the show notes whoever she recommended we worked with her yeah how was it it was great she's great I honestly I would say I was not like focused enough I probably wasn't the best student um but she was great and like you said Jazz like it's so easy these days I'll send the link I'll find her contact again and we'll put it in the show notes because she's wonderful um and i've recommended so many friends who've loved her i just don't know if i am the d to c you know the yeah but she was great because we got so many people asking for recommendations um for that so maybe we'll put some of the show notes as well so people are looking for folks to work with on matter ads we'll put those um contacts in the show notes we've all had that moment when you're sending out an email marketing campaign and you're stuck in some clunky platform drowning in features that you've never even touched, but you're definitely overpaying for.

26:30Jasmine:Then you go and ask customer support for help, please help. And you're hit with an AI chatbot. It's genuinely so frustrating. That's why Female Founder World is partnering with OmniSend, a reliable and easy to use email and SMS marketing tool trusted by over 150 ,000 brands just like yours. The best part, at least for me, is their human award-winning customer support team. If you need help, you'll be answered in minutes by real people 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Switching to OmniSend is the smartest swap you can make in your business today. And right now, OmniSend will do the hard work for you and migrate your business from your existing email provider to get completely set up on OmniSend in just five days.

27:18Jasmine:This is a totally free service for any paid OmniSend user. Try OmniSend at omnisend.com forward slash female founder world, or by clicking the link in the show notes to get a 50 % discount for the first three months using OmniSend. All right, it's time for our smart swabs. I want to know what you are swapping in or swapping out this week to get towards your goals, make your business better, and make your life better in general, who should we start with? Who's got a good one? I do. I'm really excited about mine. Okay, now you go. So this past weekend, I hosted a marketplace literally on my rooftop and we didn't even get a chance to talk about this, but it was so fun.

27:55And everyone like, it was hilarious because after the slotted time of the pop-up, all these female founders packed up their little Mary Poppins bag and we're out in like 60 seconds. Like we've allocated an hour for cleanup and everyone was like, these people do pop-ups like it's their full-time job because it is so something that I recently saw on Instagram was by this creator Sammy Jean um s-a-m-m-m-i-e-g no j-e-a-n I need to like plug her because this was her idea basically instead of a typical jewelry display for her pop-ups she goes to the tile store and buys beautiful tile samples and she lays those out and travels with them in like a little suitcase and her display just stood out to me on Instagram.

28:41And I feel like if I were at some sort of marketplace that would catch my eye. It's also just, it really just made her branding even more striking. So if you're someone who does pop-ups, it doesn't even have to be jewelry. It can be food and beverage. Just, I think, think out of the box a little bit when it comes to your pop-up display. It goes a really long way. Smart. Okay.

29:01Jasmine:I'm going to do mine next because I've been using my brick and I it's one of those things where if you know it you know it so well and you love it you think they're amazing and then I recommend this to folks and they've never even heard but brick is basically a physical device you put it on your phone and you tap it to your phone and it basically locks you out of a bunch of apps that you have predetermined that you do not want to use for a little while so for me that is TikTok Instagram um I let email and I'll let myself use like WhatsApp or whatever to communicate with my family in case of emergencies.

29:34Jasmine:But it is just such a great way to break that habit of like picking up your phone and scrolling when, you know, I feel like we all do this. We click up our phone to like check something or to Google something or to like look up a, find a photo. And then we end up on reels and be like, how did I even get here? Like five or 10 minutes has passed. I don't even know how this happened. Break is such a good way to stop you from doing that. And then you need to re-tap your phone to unlock it again. So you can really like get those solid doom scrolling free hours into your day. And now before we recorded, you said that you were using it for 13 hours at a time.

30:12Jasmine:I do like five and I'm pretty arrogant about it. Yeah, I'm really dedicated. So impressive. Okay, Paige, what's your swap? I need a brick. I need a code. We are going to reach out. Like, please. yeah you guys are both feeding me i'm like five minutes who knows so my swap honestly life-changing and you guys saw me before we got on this caller before i turned my light on it's getting a little light for your camera i know jazz you talked a while ago about getting a high-end camera that's nice i don't use my camera all the time my webcam for my laptop but what i do use 99 of the time now is this like tiny tiny it's like smaller than my phone little light for calls and you know how it is when you're on a zoom call and you just feel so ugly like I just don't want to feel so gross all day and it actually has changed my life and my confidence on my calls my co-founder is always like you're glowing I'm like it's not me it's this light and it's like ten dollars I do think sometimes you like turn on you turn on your camera and you're like oh god I really don't want to have to chat with this person I know they're recording it so I feel totally even if they're not recording it I want to I want to show up feel good I'm gonna stare in my little corner probably most of the call so like yeah let's make it pleasant I do think someone someone out there who's building something in AI like can you I don't need to have an AI avatar I need to have like an AI integration into zoom and google meets and slack hangout like slack that just makes me look like the best version of myself like make me look like my hairs we've dried and my makeups we've done but be me yeah How have we not had an embedded light yet?

31:52Jasmine:Totally. We have a flashlight. Yeah. Yeah. We do in here. I have the craziest light set up right now. It's unbelievable. No, it's wild. We've been to the moon. Why do I need to try fun? We're being to the moon. Why do we have built-in lighting? Apple 911. It's because all the bros are building it. Let's get the girls on it. Truly. Someone build that, please. All right, everyone. That's your show. So it was so great chatting with you guys. See you next week. Bye.

From the publisher

Jasmine, Natalie and Paige are back to debrief on the business and brand news we're thinking about this week.

First, Claire's is back, so we need to talk about who is behind the comeback and what their playbook is. Plus Meta just overtook Google in advertising for the first time ever, and we're breaking down exactly what that means for where you should be putting your dollars. And finally, Ulta Beauty World. We're talking about why this event has become the Super Bowl of beauty and what brands, at every size,can learn from it.

Thank you to Omnisend for making this show possible! Try Omnisend with the code FFW50 and get 50% off.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More from Female Founder World

All 184 episodes
What Ulta Beauty World Teaches Us About the New Era of Experiential MarketingFemale Founder World · 33 min
Listen in VO