Getting press can feel like a lucky break until you hear how Annabel Love and her co-founder built a repeatable strategy behind it. In this episode of Dear FoundHer, Annabel shares how a dorm room hair-straightener hack became Nori, an eight-figure, profitable brand now sold nationwide at Target. This is a must-listen for women founders who want a clearer playbook for building visibility, earning trust, and turning attention into revenue.
Annabel walks Lindsay through the early, scrappy days of the company, including customer discovery in the real world, focus groups, and building a product with zero hardware background. You’ll hear what it took to go from idea to manufacturing, then into a go-to-market plan that included Meta ads, influencer partnerships, and getting press that actually moved product. Annabel breaks down how they approached press opportunities like Oprah’s Favorite Things and The Today Show, plus how they repurposed those wins across paid ads, their website, and customer acquisition.
This conversation also covers growing an audience before launch, choosing the right agency partners, and why a lean team can be an advantage when managing rapid growth. Annabel shares how Nori expanded from DTC into retailers like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, and Target, and what changed operationally once mass retail entered the picture. If you are one of the many female entrepreneurs trying to scale without burning cash or building a bloated org chart, you will walk away with concrete lessons you can apply right away.
Episode Breakdown:
00:01 Nori Founder Story: From Dorm Room Idea to Eight-Figure Brand
03:24 Launching a Hardware Startup Without Engineering Experience
07:05 Customer Research and Product Validation Strategy
09:32 Direct-to-Consumer Go-To-Market Plan
11:54 Meta Ads, Influencer Marketing, and Getting Press
13:52 Retail Expansion: Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, and Target
16:10 Fundraising and Profitability in a Consumer Brand
22:18 Scaling to $20 Million With a Lean Team
28:46 The Today Show Impact on Sales Growth
31:14 Advice for Women Starting a Business
Connect with Annabel Love:
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Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
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