Latest news with #ConfessionsOfAFemaleFounder
Fox News
2 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Meghan Markle claims 'guilt' over having too much money as experts accuse her of being inauthentic
Meghan Markle's podcast "Confessions of a Female Founder" wrapped Tuesday, leaving several royal experts wondering if it will be renewed for a new season. No official announcement of a season 2 has been formally made. Fox News Digital reached out to Archewell, which handles the office for the Duchess of Sussex, for comment. Meghan made headlines with comments about money in the final episode. "I think so many women, especially, we're taught to not even talk about money, and there's lots of guilt mentality surrounding having a lot," the Duchess of Sussex said, as quoted by People magazine. "And at the same time, there's a scarcity mindset that it's easy to attach to, of like, 'I'll never have enough.'" The Duchess of Sussex was having a sit-down with Sara Blakely, who became a billionaire after creating Spanx. Doug Eldridge, a branding expert and the founder of Achilles PR, claimed to Fox News Digital that the former American actress' "confessions" from this past season only continue to brand the former American actress as "inauthentic." "The personal revelations were inevitable but terribly inauthentic," Eldridge told Fox News Digital. "It's like humidity – you can't see it, but you feel it and it's undeniable. For Meghan, this was a tactic to try and become more relatable to her audience, but you can't fake authenticity; you either have it or you don't. This has been an ongoing struggle for her." "In terms of the royal family, her indirect references continue to hurt her with the target audience," Eldridge claimed. "The perpetual use of the 'victim card' has backfired," he claimed. "Over a long enough timeline, the cracks in the story – coupled with the past allegations of her mistreatment of staff – have turned into gaping fissures." "Not only does this fail to move the ball forward for Meghan, but it's akin to a series of self-inflicted holding penalties; she started at midfield, but now she's back on her one-yard line," Eldridge added. Markle's comments about money got a big reaction from listeners. The royal couple is far from struggling in California. Forbes previously reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a five-year, $100 million contract with Netflix in 2020. That year, they splurged on a $14.7 million home in the wealthy, coastal city of Montecito, the outlet reported. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020. In 2021, Meghan's husband, Prince Harry, told Oprah Winfrey in a televised tell-all that the royal family "literally cut me off financially" after their royal exit. The 40-year-old noted that he had money left to him by his late mother, Princess Diana. "Without that, we wouldn't have been able to do this," said the prince, referring to the couple's California move. While they signed deals with Netflix and Spotify after their exit, Harry told the talk show mogul "that was never part of the plan." In the final episode of her podcast, the mother of two also described the difficulties she faced in running a business. She originally launched her lifestyle company as American Riviera Orchard in March 2024, but rebranded it to As Ever in February 2025 due to reported trademark woes. She partnered with Netflix, which premiered her lifestyle series, "With Love, Meghan" in March of this year. "I was gonna do it all by myself, took a complete U-turn because I really believe in what Netflix and their CPG department are doing, but it is a different experience than if you're doing it on your own," said the 43-year-old. "When you only have yourself to answer to, I think it's twofold: It can be incredibly liberating, it can be incredibly lonely." During that same episode, the "Suits" alum spoke about her pregnancy as a working royal. She gave birth to her son, Prince Archie, in 2019, while they were still working royals. "I always wear my five-inch, pointy-toed stilettos," said Meghan about her past maternity style. She noted that a friend remarked to her, "You have the most enormous bump, and your tiny little ankles are bracing themselves in these high heels.'" "But all my weight was in the front," said Meghan. "So you're just going, 'How on Earth am I not just tipping, you know, face planting?' I was clinging very closely to my husband, like, 'Please don't let me fall.'" In a previous episode, Meghan also admitted that royal motherhood didn't go according to plan. "I will say, for myself, especially when they are baby babies, and before I was a mom, I've always wanted to be a mom," she said. "I was like, 'Oh gosh, I'm going to give a speech with a baby on my hip.' I had a whole vision. Granted, I had a lot of external things happening by the time I had both pregnancies and both babies. But it was not the way I envisioned it." Following Meghan's statements, Eldridge is adamant that her relatable role isn't convincing. "The ongoing struggle for Meghan has been authenticity," he said. "If you want ad dollars, you need eyeballs. If you want eyeballs, you need connection. If you want connection, you need relatability. If you want relatability, you need authenticity. You have to follow the blueprint as it's laid out. You can't skip steps, take shortcuts or devalue certain variables. If you do, your structure will never have a solid foundation, and without that, you have nothing." "My brand advice has been evergreen: drop the act, quit the victim marketing and just be yourself," said Eldridge. "The show and podcast were your chance to do just that, yet most viewers seem to think you've rolled another gutter ball." British royal expert Hilary Fordwich claimed to Fox News Digital that the podcast just didn't have "Markle Sparkle" to prompt a second season. It's noted that unlike her previous podcast "Archetypes" on Spotify, which had an all-star guest list, "Confessions," is focused on conversations with female entrepreneurs. But it's the star power that will attract a wider audience, Fordwich insisted. "Given the dearth of high-profile guests… a future series looks unlikely," Fordwich claimed. "Not only has she failed to attract marquee names, but her show has also received harsh criticism due to being so shallow, yet again self-focused and lacking substantive business acumen. She has failed to deliver beneficial advice to the audience." "Her conversations are centered on her own narrative," Fordwich claimed. "She fails to probe her guests who could share valid experiences and/or practical tips… There has [also] been an overall lack of media buzz… Her inauthenticity has rendered her unpopular on both sides of the Atlantic… She's had a rather privileged background… and yet her [comments] rang hollow, undermining her very own efforts to connect with even her own fans." "Her podcasting career is uncertain with her plummeting popularity… without significant changes," Fordwich added. WATCH: MEGHAN MARKLE WILL NEVER WIN OVER UK PUBLIC AGAIN, AUTHOR CLAIMS Eldridge said it's "difficult to say" what Meghan's future as a business woman is or what her podcast will look like if she doesn't revamp her image. "If Meghan is still trying to find herself and her voice, then it's going to be nearly impossible to disambiguate who her audience is," warned Eldridge. "You need gasoline and oil – authenticity and audience. Right now, Meghan has neither." Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital that there's no doubt Meghan has more in store for audiences. He pointed out that new episodes of "With Love, Meghan" will premiere this fall. Still, "Confessions" needs more – much more. "Her previous podcast 'Archetypes'… did better than 'Confessions,'" he said. "It needed Beyoncé and Taylor Swift or their equivalent… Maybe this shows that Meghan really isn't interesting enough." The Duke and Duchess of Sussex parted ways with Spotify in 2023. Meghan partnered with Lemonada Media in 2024, leading to the launch of "Confessions." Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner sees things differently. "Meghan is a born survivor," he told Fox News Digital. "With Harry and the children by her side, she will find natural ways of engaging with her audience. She is the type of royal that ethnic communities in Britain long for to represent them… Her natural qualities will come out on top." Eldridge stressed that if Meghan wants to succeed as a solo act, she needs to first understand who her audience is. "The production cost of a podcast is demonstrably lower than a lifestyle show like she has with Netflix," he explained. "That said, if the listener numbers aren't there for the podcast, she won't have the advertisers and that is ultimately the oil that keeps the engine running. The listeners and guests are the proverbial gasoline that keeps the vehicle moving forward, but without the lubrication of ad dollars, the pistons lock up, and you're on the side of the road." "It remains to be seen whether Meghan will move into the HOV lane with season 2, or be left on the shoulder with her blinkers on," he added.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Meghan shares rare glimpse of her and Prince Harry's rescue beagle Mia in latest As Ever promo - amid uncertainty about the future of her lifestyle brand
Meghan Markle has given fans a rare glimpse of her and Prince Harry 's rescue beagle Mamma Mia in a promo post for As Ever amid uncertainty over the future of her lifestyle brand. On Wednesday, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, shared a sweet snap of the pooch, Mia, sniffing the contents of her woven bag that was filled with fresh vegetables grown in her garden on Instagram. Referring to Mia, who the Sussexes rescued in 2022, Meghan captioned her post: 'The unofficial quality inspector of this morning's garden haul.' The 'haul' comprised of broccoli, carrots, corn, red peppers and squash as well as spring onions and an assortment of fresh herbs as Mia buried her face in the produce. The latest post on As Ever's social media page comes one day after Meghan revealed she plans to 'step back to assess' what the lifestyle brand had achieved in its first year - and what it could become in the future. Meghan, who unveiled the company at the start of the year, recently revealed she may never restock her famous jam - one of the many homely products she sold under the As Ever brand - in an interview with The Fast Company. The Duchess was speaking about her business and balancing work with motherhood as the first series of her podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, drew to a close yesterday. Asked about As Ever, Meghan said she 'step back, gather data from the launch, and figure out exactly what' the company's future holds - as she confirmed new products won't go live until the first quarter of 2026. The Duchess of Sussex, 43, shared a sweet snap of the pooch, Mia, sniffing the contents of her woven bag that was filled with fresh vegetables grown in her garden on Instagram Meghan also revealed the surprising turn As Ever could take - hinting at a future step into the fashion industry that she deemed an 'interesting space for me'. The inaugural run of As Ever products, such as jams, honey and teas, sold out within 45 minutes of the launch. Her previous store sold out in 45 minutes and contained homely items as well as her long-awaited pots of jam. Meghan and Harry's rescue, beagle Mia, was first seen in the family's Christmas card last December. Among six pictures included in the festive greetings card was one which featured the Sussexes with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, as well as their rescue dogs including Mia, beloved beagle Guy - who passed away earlier this year - and their labrador Pula. Nine-year-old Mia was rescued by the couple from an animal testing centre in 2022 The pup was one of 4,000 dogs bred for Envigo breeding and research facility in Virginia. Mia had arrived at the rescue centre having just given birth to eight puppies. The dogs had been bred for pharmaceutical and biotech research - but inspections of the centre had found dozens of violations of federal law over a two year period. Animal lover Meghan has adopted a number of rescue dogs over the past few years and brought her American rescue beagle Guy to the UK when she married Harry. Also in the picture was the couple's black Lab, Pula, who was introduced to the family ahead of Archie's birth in 2019. The pooch's unique name is the currency in Botswana, a country the couple visited in the early days of their relationship. Though not included in their greetings card, the Sussexes also own several rescue chickens, who live with them at their $14m, seven-acre mansion in Montecito, California. Meghan's latest As Ever post comes one day after the Duchess released the eighth and final episode of her podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, featuring Spanx entrepreneur Sara Blakely. Promoting the podcast and As Ever, Meghan told The Fast Company that she wouldn't know 'what to call herself' if she had to write a resume. She said: 'If I had to write a résumé, I don't know what I would call myself. 'I think it speaks to this chapter many of us find ourselves in, where none of us are one note. But I believe all the notes I am playing are part of the same song.' Meghan added that the 'mom moments' push her to success in the business world, with plans in the future ranging from home goods to fashion. Revealing her son Archie has begun to lose his teeth, she described becoming the tooth fairy and leaving coins and a little dinosaur underneath his pillow. She said: 'I had a lot of business meetings the next morning, but I still chose to cuddle with him the rest of the night. Those mom moments energize me to be a better founder, a better employer, a better boss.'
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Meghan Markle shares pointed advice for parents on naming babies after 'row'
On the last episode in the series of her podcast, Meghan Markle talked about the pressure of naming a business - and ended up issuing advice to parents on naming the children, years after a row over one of her children's names Meghan Markle has shared pointed advice for parents when it comes to naming their babies. In the final episode of her podcast series, Confessions Of A Female Founder, the Duchess of Sussex described the difficulties of trying to start a successful company while caring for young children. She made the comments while expressing her admiration for podcast guest Sara Blakely, founder of the shapewear clothing company Spanx and a mother of four. During the chat, the pair discussed the pressure of choosing a name for their business, with Meghan opting for the name As Ever for her lifestyle brand. And she shared her own advice for those expecting children when it comes to names saying "Don't ask anyone's opinion". Meghan talked about the pressure to get "everyone's approval" for a brand name and added: "You're like, 'What do you think?" And she added: "It's no different — I will say this to every woman in the world or every person in the world who's going to have a child — if you have an idea about what you are going to name that baby, you keep it so close to your heart until that baby is born and it's named. Don't ask anyone's opinion." Prince Harry and Meghan, of course, chose the names Archie and Lilibet for their children, with their daughter's name, a tribute to the late Queen, raising eyebrows at the time. The name Lilibet was first used when Harry's late grandmother was just a toddler and unable to pronounce her own name, Elizabeth, properly. Her grandfather King George V would affectionately call her Lilibet imitating her own attempts to say Elizabeth. The sweet nickname stuck, and she became Lilibet to her family from then on. When Harry and Meghan's daughter was born almost four years ago, a spokesperson for the couple insisted that the duke spoke to his grandmother in advance and would not have used the name had the monarch not been supportive. However, a palace source told the BBC that the couple had asked the late Queen about the naming of their daughter. Later, in a biography of King Charles, respected royal author Robert Hardman claimed that the late Queen was "as angry as I'd ever seen her" after the Sussexes said they had her blessing to call their daughter Lilibet. However, in his book Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, fellow royal writer Gyles Brandreth writes: "According to the Queen, Harry told her the Sussexes wanted to call the baby 'Lilibet' in her honour, and she accepted their choice with good grace, taking it as the compliment it was intended to be. "Others in the family found the choice 'bewildering' and 'rather presumptuous', given that 'Lilibet' as a name had always been intimately and exclusively the Queen's. Later, the Queen said: 'I hear they're calling her Lili, which is very pretty and seems just right.'" When it comes to their son, the Sussexes reportedly chose the name because, according to the sympathetic Finding Freedom biography of the pair, they wanted "something traditional, a name that was powerful even without a title in front of it." His middle name is Harrison, a tribute to Harry as it means 'son of Henry' or 'son of Harry.' Lilibet's middle name is Diana, in tribute to her late grandmother, Princess Diana.
The Age
3 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Who wants to be a billionaire? Meghan talks money
The Duchess of Sussex has claimed she was taught to feel guilty about having money. In the latest episode of her podcast, Meghan, 43, said women are 'taught to not even talk about money, and there's lots of guilt mentality surrounding having a lot'. She added that 'at the same time, there's a scarcity mindset' where people believe they will 'never have enough'. Speaking with Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, she said many female business owners were 'not able to buy into the hope or the promise of something more for themselves and financial freedom'. It comes after a well-placed source told Britain's Daily Telegraph the Duchess is convinced her new business ventures will make her 'a billionaire'. On the 'girl talk' podcast, Confessions Of A Female Founder, listeners are advised on how to turn 'small ideas into billion-dollar businesses', such as Blakely's success with her shapewear brand. Speaking to the duchess, the self-made billionaire asked: 'What's your mindset on money, what's your mindset on success?' Blakely added: 'A lot of people have not realised they have not got great narratives around success or around obtaining a lot of financial freedom and money for themselves.' Meghan suggested that she 'would love to adopt' her friend's mindset of not feeling guilt at making money or being successful.
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Who wants to be a billionaire? Meghan talks money
The Duchess of Sussex has claimed she was taught to feel guilty about having money. In the latest episode of her podcast, Meghan, 43, said women are 'taught to not even talk about money, and there's lots of guilt mentality surrounding having a lot'. She added that 'at the same time, there's a scarcity mindset' where people believe they will 'never have enough'. Speaking with Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, she said many female business owners were 'not able to buy into the hope or the promise of something more for themselves and financial freedom'. It comes after a well-placed source told Britain's Daily Telegraph the Duchess is convinced her new business ventures will make her 'a billionaire'. On the 'girl talk' podcast, Confessions Of A Female Founder, listeners are advised on how to turn 'small ideas into billion-dollar businesses', such as Blakely's success with her shapewear brand. Speaking to the duchess, the self-made billionaire asked: 'What's your mindset on money, what's your mindset on success?' Blakely added: 'A lot of people have not realised they have not got great narratives around success or around obtaining a lot of financial freedom and money for themselves.' Meghan suggested that she 'would love to adopt' her friend's mindset of not feeling guilt at making money or being successful.
