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Entrepreneur
14 hours ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Lauryn Bosstick's Multi-Million-Dollar Playbook: Build an Audience First, Then Create Products Just for Them
Lauryn Bosstick, founder of The Skinny Confidential, says more founders should reverse the typical business playbook. Most entrepreneurs build a product, then find an audience. But what if you could do it in reverse — build an audience first, and then create a product to serve them? That's what Lauryn Bosstick advocates to new founders. She's run this playbook to great success: She first built a fanbase of millions through blogging (The Skinny Confidential) and podcasting (The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Show), then spun out a top-tier podcast network (Dear Media) and a thriving beauty brand (also called The Skinny Confidential). "My audience is invested in the development of the product," Bosstick tells me on the Entrepreneur podcast Problem Solvers. "So by the time that it's launched, they feel like they've been a part of every step of the way." People often misunderstand this strategy, she says: It's not about just being an "influencer" who spins off products. It's about mitigating your risk. When you launch a product without an audience, you have no idea who (if anyone) truly wants what you have. But when you develop your audience first, you can learn exactly what they want — and then serve them. " I really focused on the audience and the community for, gosh, like eight years," she says. "And then I launched products." Want to try it? Listen to our conversation, or read her step-by-step playbook below. 1. Find Your Point of View Founders are often afraid to say what they think. They want their products do the talking. Bosstick understands that — to a point. "A point of view can get you in big trouble," she says. "But I think the pendulum is swinging. If you don't have a point of view, you're going to get eaten alive." Why? Two reasons. First, the world is full of noise, and only strong points of view break through. Also, consumers today are looking for brands they identify with, not just brands that make good products. Everyone has a point of view, Bosstick says, but not everyone knows how to articulate it in a consumer-focused way. If you're struggling, go back to basics — and find the root of what you're passionate about. "Ask your parents, and think about what you really liked when you were little," she says. "What are the things you were gravitating towards, whether or not they made you money? Ask your childhood friends: What do they remember about you?" She also recommends reading Donald Miller's book Building a StoryBrand, which explains how to take complex ideas and make them simple and resonant. 2. Pick your medium Once you know what you want to say, you need to figure out how to say it. Bosstick emphasizes being "incredibly self-aware of what medium works for you." For her, the medium was clear: "I was born to talk on a mic. I came out with a mic in my hand," she jokes. That led naturally to podcasting. (Her show has been downloaded more than 500 million times.) But maybe you're better behind the scenes. Bosstick points to successful creators on Substack who are "creating huge community" through writing. "If I'm that girl on Substack, I already have a book planned two years down the road," she says. "From the book, I already have a podcast planned. From the podcast, I already have a brand planned." The key is matching your natural strengths to the right platform, then thinking several moves ahead. Don't get overwhelmed, she says: You don't need to be on every platform. " If you can delete something off your plate that you really don't need, delete it," she says. "I mean, I can't keep up with my inbox on LinkedIn. That's not realistic. Choose the one that's going to be the most impactful. For me, that's Instagram." 3. Gather insights that convert Once you have an audience, start listening closely to them. "I crowdsourced my audience — not for money, but for their opinion," she explains. For nine years, she watched her analytics, answered hundreds of DMs daily, and responded to tweets. She was "in the field" with her community, understanding their pain points and desires in real time. This helped her understand, for example, the kind of beauty challenges her audience was frustrated with — and the specific pain points they have with existing products. That's why she ultimately launched a beauty brand, and then focused on specific products inside the category. The Skinny Confidential ice roller is a good example, she says. Her audience spent years complaining about existing ice rollers on the market. All she needed to do was listen. "I found a problem, I disrupted it. I made it better. I made it more beautiful," she says. "When they got it in the mail, it exceeded their expectations." 4. Provide value before you sell Bosstick follows what she calls the "give, give, ask" model: Give your audience tons of value through content. Give more value by focusing on each community member. Ask them to buy your product. For that to work, however, you need to spend a long time engaging with and being valuable to your audience. Get to know them personally and become their champion — not just a salesperson. It's human nature: People want to feel seen, heard, and valued. When you give them that through consistent, valuable content, they'll reward you with their attention, their trust, and eventually, their money. "It's slow, it's meticulous, it's really watering the community," she says. "From there, you can have the sale and the product later down the road."
Los Angeles Times
16 hours ago
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
She delivered Hailey Bieber's baby and saved Olivia Munn's life. Her new calling? Podcast host
Stepping into Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi's Beverly Hills space, you may forget for a second you're in a gynecologist's office. A massive glass chandelier dangles from the ceiling. Ceramic sculptures dot the sleek surfaces. Nearby sits a potted olive tree and a lighted antique silver Illuminazione candle. Crystal butterflies sit in two ornate cabinets. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows show a 360-degree view of the Hollywood Hills. And then, there's the physician herself. Clad in a bright blue dress she's held onto since a guest appearance on 'The Doctors' 10 years ago, she acknowledges she personally opts for neutrals in real life (and her signature pink scrubs when seeing her patients), but that she'd been advised to wear jewel tones for 'on camera' moments. In a town known for sculpting movie stars, Aliabadi looks like she could be on 'Grey's Anatomy' as she towers in high heels and a sparkly pink and white butterfly necklace as she poses for a Los Angeles Times photographer. Aliabadi has delivered the babies of Rihanna, Khloe Kardashian and Hailey Bieber. She has also diagnosed Olivia Munn with breast cancer, Tiffany Haddish with endometriosis and Florence Pugh with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). All of these celebrities' health journeys are public information because her famous patients have discussed them in detail on her weekly podcast, 'SHE MD,' which she co-hosts with former fashion designer Mary Alice Haney. The show — which was launched by Dear Media, the largest women's podcast network, in March of last year — aims to educate women about common overlooked medical conditions. It regularly features interviews with Aliabadi's famous patients and other celebrity doctors or authors who discuss everything from preeclampsia to egg-freezing. 'My dad was like, 'I did some research and the best person in the business is this doctor named Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi,'' Sofia Richie Grainge, daughter of Lionel Richie, explains on a recent episode of the podcast. She started seeing Aliabadi at 15. 'They are the most privileged women in this world — especially when it comes to access to medical care,' Aliabadi says of the podcast's famous guests. 'These are women who have good insurance. They can afford going to any doctor on this planet and yet their symptoms are [still] dismissed. They're speaking from their heart because they want to help another woman.' Aliabadi's high-profile clients and podcast have elevated her status on social media. Called Dr. A by patients and fans, she boasts 441,000 followers on Instagram, where she shares clips of her celebrity interviews. She regularly appears on network television to discuss women's health. She has even made the occasional cameo on 'The Kardashians' as Khloe Kardashian's ob-gyn. She's run with the role, both with the professed hopes of educating women on their health, but also with business prospects. Haney urged Aliabadi to co-create SHE MD to combat misinformation surrounding women's health issues. 'We are providing a resource that is backed by science and medicine,' says Haney. 'People are getting their medical information on TikTok. That's dangerous.' With women's health entering the spotlight as an overlooked area of medicine and as fewer people have access to healthcare, becoming one's own medical advocate has never been more important — and confusing. It's led to the rise of wellness influencers with questionable qualifications, which is why Aliabadi says she committed to doing the podcast. 'If you want to talk about endometriosis, how many endometriosis surgeries have you done?' Aliabadi says. 'How many thousands of patients have you treated?' Aliabadi is connecting with consumers on many platforms with 'SHE MD,' which is filmed like a glossy talk show from a Brentwood office. They can listen to her and Haney's hourlong podcast episodes or catch video clips on social media. 'SHE MD,' which stands for 'Strong Healthy Empowered,' features deep dives with health and medical experts — as well as celebrities such as SZA, Shailene Woodley, Tiffany Haddish and Olivia Munn — on a variety of topics including fertility, breast cancer, menopause and endometriosis. Key takeaways and action plans are available following each conversation. Munn's story in particular garnered national attention after Aliabadi diagnosed her with an aggressive breast cancer in April 2023. With a clear mammogram, ultrasound and pap smear, Munn's cancer could've been among the estimated 20% that go undetected, according to the National Cancer Institute. But it was discovered after Aliabadi introduced her to the Tyrer-Cuzick test, which assesses one's lifetime risk of breast cancer. Munn's score was an alarming 37.3%. (Anything above 20% is considered high-risk.) An MRI, further ultrasounds and biopsies revealed she had Stage 1 invasive cancer, and Munn underwent a double mastectomy. 'Without Thaïs being so proactive I don't know when or at what stage I would've found it,' Munn tells The Times. 'She saved my life.' Aliabadi says Munn felt a responsibility to turn her pain into purpose. 'Olivia came to me and said, 'I want to talk about this issue,'' she recalls. 'She knew that sharing her story will save millions of lives.' Munn felt compelled to speak out while still coming to terms with her diagnosis. 'I was looking back on photos of playing with my then 1-year-old son, and I realized that at that time I had just had a clear mammogram and ultrasound — yet I had breast cancer and didn't know it,' she says. 'I asked myself, 'How many other women [are] also walking around unaware they had breast cancer?' I knew then that I had to talk about it. This little known, lifetime risk score test is free, online and saved my life. Every woman can and should know their score. Thaïs told me this test had been around for years, and it was her lifelong mission to get every woman in the world to know about it. It has since become my mission too.' Long before becoming ob-gyn to the stars, Aliabadi recalls waking to the sounds of sirens and bombs while growing up in Tehran during the Iranian revolution in 1979. 'We would all run down to the shelter that we had created underground,' she says. 'Imagine a 12-year-old doing that five times a night.' Her family was granted a green card when she was 17. 'It felt like the gates of heaven were opening for me,' she recalls thinking after landing in Los Altos. 'We were like, 'Why would we ever go anywhere else?'' After medical school at Georgetown University School of Medicine and completing her residency at USC Medical Center, Aliabadi, 54, opened her private practice at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 2002. She credits word of mouth, and her office manager of nearly 25 years, Kimmy Ferdowski, with helping her build the practice she has today. 'When I first started, there was a gynecologist across the hall who told me something I'll never forget,' Aliabadi recalls. 'He said, 'Every happy patient who leaves your office will refer four other patients to you.'' That mantra and her detailed approach are the secret to her success, she says. 'I look at my patient as a whole,' says Aliabadi, whose appointments run between 30 minutes to an hour, leading her to stop taking insurance around seven years ago. 'I don't just look at your uterus, tubes, ovaries, breasts and say, 'You're done.' I talk about depression. This morning, I was scheduling an MRI and MRA of a brain to rule out [a] possible stroke in a patient of mine.' Now, her fees vary by patient, but she offers 'superbills' for potential reimbursement, similar to therapists who don't take insurance. Women with 'complicated cases' typically come to her with health concerns that have gone otherwise undiagnosed elsewhere. Take for example, 'Lopez vs Lopez' actor Mayan Lopez, daughter of comedian George Lopez, whom Aliabadi diagnosed with insulin resistant PCOS in her 20s — even though she'd been describing the same symptoms to other doctors since she was 10. Her symptoms became even more prevalent during college, when she developed excess facial hair and gained 75 pounds in three months without explanation despite eating well and exercising. By 23, her hormone levels were so low she was practically menopausal. Lopez says she felt elated once she had a diagnosis and plan for proper treatment. 'I just remember going into the car and crying from pure relief,' she says. 'For the first time in a decade, I felt hopeful and unafraid of my body.' 'I see every dismissed woman in this town,' Aliabadi says. 'These patients are complicated. You need to sit down and listen [to their symptoms].' Aliabadi has other frustrations with the healthcare system. 'The issue is,' she says as she lets out an exasperated sigh. 'I mean, there are so many issues.' She points out that even the most informed person still needs access to a doctor willing to listen as well as the ability to afford treatment. 'If they're going to charge you $3,800 for a breast MRI, 'Can you afford it?'' she says. 'There are limitations at so many levels.' By not taking insurance, one could argue she too is creating another limit, but she blames insurance companies that don't recognize quality time spent with patients. 'I'm not seeing you in five minutes.' Given the limited time patients often have with their doctors, Aliabadi hopes women will demand more from their care providers if she arms them with the right questions to ask. Despite trying to build an online persona with the help of her celebrity circle, Aliabadi confesses she's not very online or in touch with pop culture. 'Sometimes [Khloe Kardashian] calls me, and I think I'm just talking to her,' says Aliabadi, who delivered her second baby via a surrogate on the show in 2022. 'Then six months later, my daughter's like, 'Mom, they called you [on the show.]'' That's why Haney is the media savvy yin to Aliabadi's medical yang. 'She's a doctor first, and she's a podcast host second,' says Haney. Like other medical professionals and influencers in the wellness world aiming to expand their reach, Aliabadi has her own nutritional supplement, Ovii, which she advertises on her podcast. At $79.99, Ovii is aimed at women with PCOS and includes ingredients such as vitamin D, magnesium and biotin. And like other supplements advertised on podcasts, it hasn't been tested in peer-reviewed clinical studies. In the long term, she's exploring a chatbot, a tool increasingly used by influencers to communicate with fans. Aliabadi believes her chatbot can help expand access to women's health education. 'It'll sound like me. It'll be trained by me. Obviously, it's just for knowledge and education. It cannot treat or prescribe,' she says. Aliabadi welcomes technological advances to shake up the medical field. 'I look forward to robotic doctors,' she says. 'The robot will not dismiss a woman who said, 'I've gained 40 pounds in two years, and I'm doing exactly what my skinny sister is doing. Something's wrong.'' Aliabadi has four daughters, who are 20, 19, 13 and 4 (she recently adopted the youngest). Her oldest daughters attend Stanford University and she sees them following in her footsteps. She advises them to become doctors or develop technology to help women around the world. 'I think that is more powerful,' she says.
New York Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Is Dear Media's Podcast Network the ‘Manosphere' for Women?
Men dominate the top of the podcasting charts. As listeners, they slightly outnumber women, too. 'Brocasters' and the 'manosphere' have even become a media obsession, and for good reason. During the election, conservatives successfully tapped into a world of dude-driven content to reach disengaged voters. But there has been a surge of podcasts made by women, for women, too. And a company called Dear Media is at the center of much of it. Based in Austin, Texas, Dear Media operates the largest network of podcasts for women. Its nearly 100 shows are as freewheeling and chummy as those in the 'manosphere,' similarly hosted by comedians and content creators. Except here, Joe Rogan's alpha masculinity and Logan Paul's unabashed idiocy are swapped for girlboss confidence and therapy speak. Gone, too, is the overt conservatism that now blankets the manosphere — but not all of its ideas. Dear Media emphasizes health and wellness in its programming, at times dipping into the same kind of contrarian thinking that powers Make America Healthy Again, the agenda of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Aimee Lou Wood Makes Her Thoughts on Patrick Scharzenegger Very Clear
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Amy Lou Wood has a lot to say about Patrick Schwarzenegger. Fortunately, it's all positive. In a series of Instagram posts uploaded on May 4, the 31-year-old actress described Schwarzenegger as the "hardest working and kindest man ever." She shared a clip of an interview with Dear Media's Real Pod, in which Schwarzenegger was asked how he feels about being told he "only got this role because his dad's in the industry." He replied, "There'll be other people that'll say, well, 'I wonder what his dad paid him to get that job.' You know, what am I going to do? Convince all these people that that's not true? It's just such a waste of my energy." Aimee Lou Wood attends the world premiere of "The White Lotus" Season 3 at Paramount Studios on February 10, 2025 in Los Angeles, continued, "I'm never, ever going to convince everybody out there that I'm — that I work hard, that I have my own values in life, that I want to make my own name for myself, that I don't do drugs, that I'm not a screw-up, that I'm not a bad, mean person." Schwarzenegger wrapped up, "Everyone's always going to have their opinion of you — no matter what." Schwarzenegger, 31, doesn't plan on lowering his expectations for himself anytime soon. In fact, he has his heart set on the role of Patrick Bateman in Luca Guadagnino's feature adaptation of American Psycho. In a May 1 response to a user posting that Schwarzenegger should play the role, he replied, "I'd love nothing more." Schwarzenegger's first speaking role came in 2012 in the film, Stuck In Love. He has since acted in Scream Queens, Dear Eleanor, Daniel Isn't Real, The Staircase, and American Sports Story. Related: The 'Thunderbolts*' Scene Florence Pugh Fought to Keep
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Big Little Feelings is bringing their 'After Bedtime' podcast back. Why they're ready to dive into the 'real, messy, hilarious, sometimes hard parts of parenthood.'
For parents looking for answers as they try to navigate everything from potty training and sibling rivalry to the pressure to do everything perfectly, Big Little Feelings has been a lifesaver, offering practical advice while having 'ridiculously honest' conversations about the messiness of parenthood. It's an approach that has clearly resonated with many parents: Big Little Feelings boasts 3.5 million followers on Instagram, along with popular online parenting courses. The moms and real-life best friends behind the parenting platform are Kristin Gallant, a parenting coach with a background in maternal and child education, and Deena Margolin, a child therapist specializing in interpersonal neurobiology. Together they blend their expertise with candor, humor and 'real talk' about what it's like raising kids. Now, after a yearlong hiatus, they're bringing a parenting podcast back into the mix. The podcast, After Bedtime With Big Little Feelings, hosted by Gallant and Margolin, will relaunch with Dear Media starting on May 28, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday. The duo will be diving into some big topics, including 'imperfect marriages, miscarriages, managing toddler mania, apologizing to our kids and everything in between,' Gallant and Margolin tell Yahoo over email. 'We're going there — no topic is too big, too small or too 'did I just say that out loud?' this season,' they say. 'We're excited to talk about the invisible side of parenting that no one tells you about, how parenting can sometimes feel like Groundhog Day (and that's OK) and what it actually looks like to keep your identity and your sanity when you're raising little ones.' Gallant and Margolin say they're also digging into tougher topics with the podcast, 'like what happens to your marriage after kids and how to deal when your toddler's behavior triggers you. It's the real, messy, hilarious, sometimes hard parts of parenthood — and we promise you'll never feel alone in it.' The moms say that what makes this parenting podcast different from others is that they're not just spouting advice. 'We're in the trenches with you — laughing, crying, learning (sometimes failing) and figuring it all out in real time,' they say. 'Yes, we bring expert-backed tools, but we also bring the perspective of two real-life moms who know how overwhelming, lonely and straight-up wild parenting can be.' Their hope is that podcast feels more like 'a late-night group chat with your smartest, most supportive mom friends — the ones who keep it 100% real and remind you that you're doing way better than you think.' Both Margolin and Gallant have gone through a lot themselves since launching Big Little Feelings in 2020, from the ups and downs of infertility to new babies, and they say they've grown 'a ton' in the past five years. 'There's been a lot of joy but also a lot of pain and challenges that have stretched us and deepened our empathy for what parents are going through at every stage,' they say. 'We've learned how to hold space for grief and gratitude at the same time, and that's changed how we show up as moms and as a team.' They've also learned to give themselves 'permission' to ask for help when they need it and 'rewrite the story of what 'good parenting' really means. 'We're still learning every single day — and that's what makes this next chapter so exciting,' they say.
