The Concept of the Fifteen Percent Pledge

is everyone afraid of aurora james?

Slutty Founder is a weekly-ish newsletter about the business of beauty and the culture behind it.

What better way to kick off our first Black History Month newsletter by giving The Fifteen Percent Pledge their lashings.

This is a conversation, one that (based on my DMs this week) a lot of us have been afraid to have.

I posted a video the other day and I asked a simple question:

“You wanna know why they call it The Fifteen Percent Pledge? It’s because you have a zero point fifteen percent chance of winning if you’re not a famous influencer.”

Was I wrong? lol.

Like most organizations that claim to be Black people focused, it’s evident by now that there’s a clear gap between what it claims to be and what it actually does.

One tell—and perhaps what stoked the flame of the latest online fodder—is who the Fifteen Percent Pledge decides to award their Sephora Beauty Grant to. The pattern has looked the same since its inauguration, except this year folks seemed really fed up.

When you look at all of the past recipients, a few things come into focus pretty clearly.

Each brand awarded hits at least 3/5 of these things:

• A very well known / socially visible founder (ex: Issa Rae - Sienna Naturals)

• Have already won the Sephora Accelerate

• Is already retailing in Sephora (or entering Sephora)

• Has a significant social media following / online presence

• Has a personal connection to one of the judges (allegedly)

I’m not going to argue that these brands are any less deserving or need the money any less than smaller brands do. I’m certain they work very hard and deserve to be congratulated. It’s not their fault they’re superstars. As one friend of mine pointed out on my 4th phone call that afternoon as I was prepping lamb chops—if you took the time to apply in the first place it’s probably because you could use the funds. You know how this industry is. Objects are less shiny than they appear.

Believe it or not, I’m not against cronyism. It’s what makes our world go round. I’ve said it myself that when you’re feeling behind in life it’s because you need better friends.

But why does Fifteen Percent Pledge encourage all of these other founders to apply (even going as far to reach out to non-Sephora affiliated brands directly) and submit essay level questions, detailed financials (unusual, BTW, outside of final rounds), a deck, AND a video component knowing they don’t have a shot?

Do they just have all of these people apply to make it look like there’s work actually being done? Does this add context to their market knowledge?

My biggest critique remains the disconnect in the messaging of the program.

How are you betting big on these Black and Brown-owned brands, but you’re not putting your biggest dollars behind the non-obvious choice? Isn’t that at the heart of being disenfranchised? That people aren’t willing to bet on you because you’re not their most safe or legible choice? It’s like how VC’s love giving moneyed White men even more money. How does this make Fifteen Percent Pledge any different from those existing institutional gatekeepers? A question I’m not afraid to ask!

After I posted my video I was flooded with DMs, voice notes, and phone calls from founders who have been sitting on this feeling about The Fifteen Percent Pledge and its founder Aurora James for a while now, and just needed somebody to say it.

The response painted a much broader picture that the Sephora Beauty Grant is just one way in which the Community thinks the program falls short.

Among some of the messages I received and have permission to share:

Via Devin McGhee Kirkland Threads

“They’re friends, they’re in group chats, they literally hang out together”

- voice note from Anonymous regarding the award recipient(s)

To add insult to injury was this video (referenced by a commenter above):

@monicastylemuse

Monicastylemuse on Instagram: "…😔"

Monica, I’m really sorry that happened to you.

The concept of being left out at an event rooted in equity and inclusion….

In our star-obsessed reality, the celebrity attendees for the Gala naturally overshadow the messaging about the actual initiative. I’d imagine it challenging for an outsider to deduce what the Pledge is actually about. Especially if I can’t tell what change has actually been enacted. And if my DMs are any indicator —nobody can.

Beyond the grants, what does the Pledge actually do? What does 15% commitment of shelf space even mean? How does that guarantee Sephora doesn’t put your ass in the back or on the side like they tried Ami Cole? Not many of the Black founders I know have much problem getting into retail. The real problem tends to be lack of capital to sustain and scale. I’d be curious to see if they have any data / details on how the founders they back are able to scale through retail successfully and remain in store.

As per a recent Vogue article Aurora says:

“Since launching the Pledge, we’ve helped place more than 1,000 Black-owned brands on major retail shelves nationwide, and last year alone, we distributed over $1 million in grants.”

As a beauty editor friend of mine pointed out to me, why don’t we hear much from of any of the 1,000 Black brands placed on shelves and whom FPP distributed said $1M+ dollars to? Girl, you know all the Black people in this industry know each other! LMAO! Plus we tend to share our wins pretty loudly.

We know at least publicly that in 2025 they awarded: RedDrop ($200,000), Brooklyn Tea ($35,000), and Bernard James ($15,000) in their non-Sephora related awards.

Who else is there?

I failed math a couple of times, except for the year my teacher was an ephebophile so my count could be off.

One of the Pledge's recent initiatives according to Aurora also includes: “an AI training initiative to ensure Black founders aren’t left behind as technology reshapes business.”

I’m sorry WHAT lmao. Girl, it’s called get on Claude and create an account. Who needs extensive AI training to run a Shopify store?! N*ggas need money!!

Why are we still weaponizing incompetence when it comes to the actual needs of Black and Brown foundersssss. I’m draineddddd. Please bore someone elseee.

The O’jays said it best and I haven’t heard it since. Say it with me on the count of three.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!!!!!

At this point, The Fifteen Percent Pledge seems more of a concept than a commitment and throwing in Beyoncé adjacent high-profile figures is what has allowed them to skate by.

As for the actual gala which one of my followers referred to as an “initiation,” I still don’t forget about how they had Kim Kardashian posted up as an attendee last year fresh off her MAGA debut. Is there anyone responsible for reading the god damn room?

And you almost have to ask — at $10k a seat for non-celeb attendees ($6k I hear is the Black people discount) — I’m curious as to where gala funds are being appropriated and how it’s gone to support the initiative in tangible ways.

At this point, I wouldn’t put it past them that they do this event in February because it overlaps with Black History Month—a convenience so they don’t have to pretend to care about our Black asses March-January.

I don’t know if you can tell (and I know it’s not funny), but I swear I cannot stop laughing the more I write.

I’ve resolved that we can’t pay these people too much mind, child. The world is a stage.

And in the future when there’s conversation to be had out loud, I want us to stop being so scary! I feel like this fear of speaking out against the many ways in which this industry has harmed so many of us is like an epigenetic trauma response—not rocking the boat once meant self-preservation and survival. But today I think it only keeps us further disenfranchised. Speaking up (to me) is literally curse-breaking.

Anyways. Y’all better get up and put y’all on some O’jays. It’s Black History Month still!!!!

xoxx,

SF