Slutty Founder is a weekly-ish newsletter about the business of beauty.
You guys, I did a thing and recorded my first long-form video episode for Slutty Founder. I resisted this for the longest because of the sheer work, hair, makeup, phone accessories, set design, and editing it takes (in fullest transparency this took me 2 work days to put together and my left eye has started twitching again from looking at my screen for too long—keep this in mind before pressuring your outspoken best friend to start her own podcast), but I’d say it was worth it to get my belt out on The Fifteen Percent Pledge and give them the rest of their (overdue) spanking.
After publishing The Concept of the Fifteen Percent Pledge and posting my initial video critiquing the selective pattern of their Sephora Beauty Grant, the picture that emerged was bigger than I could capture through written word alone.
Who knew this org would be the impetus to me (potentially) committing to a podcast!
Anyway, back onto the Beauty Influencer Awards, I mean the Fifteen Percent Pledge.
With the outpouring of responses from people who have claimed to have either interacted with Aurora James, the Pledge, and even her brand Brother Vellies, I was absolutely incensed to dig deeper.
And the deeper I dug, the more questions I had.
It was undeniable that there was a much larger story to be told than what some might dismiss as just some failed applicants who were jealous they never won the Sephora Beauty Grant.
Some of the questions I developed were around:
The Pledge’s origins
The money
The defunding of the Achievement Award (3-tier monetary grant)
Their relationship with Sephora
That dreaded application process
The spectacle — WTF is that Gala even about?
In this 30-minute dive, I break it all down.
I’ve gotta be honest, up until the final hour, I genuinely considered paywalling this, not only because of the insane level of work it took to piece together, but because I probably don’t need a black Suburban parked outside my house á la They Cloned Tyrone. But I don’t accept that I came this far turn back and be p*ssy, especially after preaching in my earlier article about transcending the fear of speaking up. Maybe more importantly, I feel a duty to hold up the conversation I started.
This investigation took so much yapping, phone storage, and more off-days from my gym routine than I want to allow on my injectable peptide allegations journey. If you have it in your heart for reparations, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. I am an open channel for wealth.
Also, it’s how I’ll be able to keep this up without having to worry about who I’m pissing off.
Love you guys!!!
Enjoy!!
xox,
SF
