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Emma Chamberlain first made a name for herself online as a teenager through daily routine vlogs. But over the last few years, she’s jumped from YouTube to Met Gala red carpets to hosting her own podcast, Anything Goes. Most recently, the 2021 30 Under 30 Social Media alum has pivoted to a more traditional style of entrepreneurship: Building her coffee company, Chamberlain Coffee. (See the full Forbes interview with her here.)
The majority of Chamberlain’s earnings come from her podcast and brand campaigns with the likes of Warby Parker and Levi’s, she says. “There are a few things that don't contribute to paying the bills, but there's longer term goals with them,” adds Chamberlain, 22. “YouTube is absolutely that. Even Chamberlain Coffee is that. I'm putting all of the money back into that business right now. So for now, [it’s] a passion project.”
With no experience building a company—nor a high school or business school degree or experience in the food and drink industry—she went to her team at United Talent Agency in 2019 to help her find a roster of seasoned veterans to launch the startup. They partnered with a Los Angeles-based roastery Bixby Coffee to create one limited-edition blend for a beta launch. Within 24 hours, more than one million viewers clicked on the company’s website and the batch sold out.
“We partnered with them to basically do a proof of concept,” Chamberlain says. “We wanted to make sure that this was something that my audience was interested in, and that there was a Gen Z market.”
Since then, the company has grown to offering more than 100 products across coffee, matcha and accessories, which are sold online and in 8,500 retailers across the country, including Target, Walmart and Sprouts. Forbes estimates the company booked $20 million in revenue last year. Even still, Chamberlain is focused on refining what both she and her company offer this year, she says.
For instance, she determines which products are sold on which retailer’s shelves based on each individual store's consumer base. As for her personal brand, refining means returning to her roots. She plans to spend more time on YouTube in the coming months and she’s working on “longer videos that are a bit more challenging to edit.”
She’s reflected on the future of her podcast, too. While her goal for some time was to continually make it bigger and better, “I've actually realized that I don't really need to do that. I don't think that that's the right strategy,” she says. “What I love doing is talking to the listener as though we're on the phone. Over the next six to 12 months, the show will actually go back to that sort of structure, more casual and more laid back and less serious in some ways.”
Until next week,
Alex & Zoya
P.S. Want to hang with the Under 30 community in Africa? Come join us for our 30 Under 30 Summit Africa in Botswana from May 5 to 8. As a thank you for being loyal Under 30 newsletter readers, you can snag tickets here for 50% off on general admission.
How This French Startup Is Helping Companies Clean Up Their Carbon Clutter With $75 Million
Cofounded by Under 30 Europe newcomer Arnaud Delubac, Greenly offers companies like LVMH and TripAdvisor a software to help track and reduce their emissions. The startup is projected to hit some $20 million in revenue this year, thanks to government regulations and incentives pushing businesses to go greener.
Under 30 On-Air
Lucile Guilmard and Paolina Russo made the for their work as the cofounders of Paolina Russo, a London-based knitwear brand. The LVMH Prize 2023 finalists sat down with Forbes Senior Editor Kristin Stoller to share how they landed deals with Montreal-based luxury retailer Ssense and Adidas.
Watch Paolina Russo's interview here.
Lister Lowdown
- Amira Rasool announced a $3.4 million seed funding round for her wholesale marketplace, The Folklore, on Wednesday. Her startup helps local fashion brands from around the world—including Asia and Africa—place their products with luxury retailers like Bergdorf Goodman. The new round was led by VC firm Benchstrength, bringing The Folklore to $6.4 million in total funding.
-Cofounder of omakase restaurant Moko and Angel Zheng is starting a new venture: Isshiki, a matcha brand. Zheng says the matcha is sourced from a women-owned farm in Uji, Kyoto and will be available for sale (in a powdered matcha form) at a brick-and-mortar retail front in New York City and via its website. The bootstrapped venture is set to launch on Saturday.
- listers Julius Gabel Nørgaard and Carl Kronika announced this week a merger between their Copenhagen-based communications agency, COPUS, with design agency Twentyten. After COPUS brought in $1.3 million in revenue last year from clients like L'Oréal, Warner Bros. and Amazon Prime Video, the two companies will now go by the name PONDER. They’ll specialize in strategy, design, PR and content creation for international clients.
-Aura Bora, a startup founded by Madeleine and Paul Voge, sells sparkling water made from herbs, fruits and flowers. This week, they announced their expansion to 2,000 Safeway, Ralphs, Albertsons and more stores across the country.
One Minute With Aimee Smale
We’re bringing you the scoop on a new Under 30 community member. Up this week: Aimee Smale, the founder of the TikTok-viral fashion brand Odd Muse. The ecommerce brand—which sells dresses, jumpsuits and blazers in classic, old-fashion styles—opened a flagship retail store in London in November.
The following has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
How do you start your mornings? I used to strictly be online at 6 a.m., roughly three hours before the rest of my team were online. Now, I still start my mornings early, but take a much slower approach: I make my to-do list with a coffee in hand and dedicate an hour to just being creative, whether that be sketching a new design or any concepts for socials.
What is something that you do every single day? A pen to paper to-do list. It's a non negotiable! Another everyday thing is red light therapy.
What’s your favorite item in your closet? I have a Louis Vuitton pochette bag my partner bought me seven years ago. It was my first luxury piece and will always be my favorite.
What about a dream item you’re waiting to get your hands on? Honestly my dream would be four back-up pairs of my Gucci mules. I wear them most days and Gucci discontinued them.
Thoughts on fashion trends, especially those born from social media that quickly come and go? I don’t feed into them, and neither should anyone. I feel like we are slowly, but surely seeing the decline of fashion “trends.” I feel Odd Muse has been a big part of that movement.
Is there a marketing tactic you swear by when it comes to Odd Muse? Authenticity, and not taking life too seriously. I don’t like how luxury fashion can not only promote the unattainable, but I also think it comes across as boring. I always knew going into Odd Muse that I was my most unique selling point, no one else is you and every founder should remember that.
Is there a business out there you admire most and want to emulate? I really want to keep pushing the boundaries for independent brands like Odd Muse. I’d love to go into further luxury and see how the brand can play in that field. A brand like The Row is very inspiring to me. All about good products, not so much conventional marketing.
Your best piece of advice to aspiring entrepreneurs? My biggest piece of advice is to just start. We often worry too much about the step by step process–I know I did before starting my brand. But I took the decision to just start sketching and figure the rest out as I come to it.
