146: Building Brands Women Actually Trust ft. Sara Brooks

In this episode, host Alex sits down with Sara Brooks — co-founder of Goldilocks, a CPG brand strategy and marketing consultancy, co-founder of Plainspeak, and one of the most respected voices in consumer brand building — for a conversation about the shift happening right now in how women consume, who they trust, and what it actually takes to build a brand they will actually buy. Sara founded Covet PR, which became one of the country's fastest-growing consumer agencies before being acquired by Power Digital in 2020, where she went on to serve as Chief Brand Officer. Over the course of her career she has partnered with more than 200 consumer brands — from pre-revenue startups to public companies — helping founders build brands that people actually care about. Now she is putting her own money, time, and reputation on the line with Plainspeak, a consumer wellness brand born out of a group chat between three women who were tired of being confused, overwhelmed, and over-marketed to. And it is already changing the conversation. This is the episode for every woman who has ever added something to her cart because an influencer told her to — and every founder who wants to build something she actually believes in. 💬 Topics we cover: 0:00 Meet Sara Brooks 2:30 The Shift Happening Right Now in How Women Buy 6:00 Why Influencer Marketing Stopped Working 10:00 How Plainspeak Was Born Out of a Group Chat 14:00 A Year in R&D and a Million Moments of Self Doubt 18:00 Why Picking a Co-Founder Is Like Picking a Spouse 22:00 Being on the Other Side — What It Feels Like to Be the Founder 26:00 The Postal Service Disaster That Actually Made the Brand Better 30:00 Why They Launched in a Facebook Group and Have Zero Regrets 34:00 Why Celebrity Brands Keep Failing 37:00 How We All Got Smarter About Marketing 40:00 The One Thing to Do Before You Build Anything 43:00 One Piece of Advice for Every Female Founder Starting Out If you have ever wondered whether the thing you are building actually matters to the people you are building it for — this is the episode for you. New episodes drop every Monday. Ready to Cultivate? Hit Subscribe. Learn more about Big River Film Co.’s work: food.bigriverfilmco.com ⛺️ Camp Collective: https://www.cnywomensnetwork.com/camp... 📝 Follow Cultivate with Alex Canavan on Substack: https://substack.com/@cultivatewithal... 🎥 Follow Cultivate with Alex Canavan on Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   / alexcanavanpodcast   Apply to be a guest on Cultivate:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA... Connect with Alex Canavan, the host of Cultivate: Website: https://www.alexcanavan.com/ LinkedIn:   / alexcanavan   Instagram:   / alexcanavan.co   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Diam Media Group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: https://www.diammedia.com/