Fast Company – May 2019

14 FASTCOMPANY.COM MAY 2019

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emphasizes image over substance, looks matter: “The reality of the situation
is, I have to make time to build my go-to-market strategy and get my weave
done. There’s no world where anyone’s going to be okay with me looking like
boo boo the fool,” she says. As a black female founder, Matthews feels the bur-
den of representation even more acutely. “You can’t be what you can’t see,” she
says. “I have to, to a certain extent, be willing to live out loud [on social media].”
Even when Instagram is being used to spread an empowering message,
certain stereotypes are perpetuated. Often, female entrepreneurs must traffic
in self-deprecation, conveying “a little bit of relatability,” says cultural critic and
brand strategist Aminatou Sow, cofounder of the popular Call Your Girlfriend
podcast. She has noticed that while male CEOs seem comfortable posting selfies
taken aboard private jets, women tend to relegate posts that reveal their new-
found lavish lifestyles to private accounts, or forgo them altogether. Outdoor
Voices’ Haney says she’s conscious of not appearing too “daunting” on social
media and avoids flaunting her success.
There are practical hazards to tying your company’s image to your own. Po-
lina Veksler and Alex Waldman, cofounders of the clothing company Universal
Standard, which is known for its 00-to-40 size range, have both opted out of
social media. To become the faces of Universal Standard would mean typecast-
ing a brand whose entire ethos is to be untypecastable. “There’s a Chanel girl,
an Armani woman,” Waldman says. “There’s no Universal Standard woman.”
A founder’s personal failings can also be catastrophic to a company when their
brands are intertwined. Period-underwear startup Thinx is still trying to recover
from accusations two years ago that its flamboyant cofounder, Miki Agrawal,
sexually harassed employees and created a hostile work environment. (She
stepped down as CEO in 2017.)
Being a brand ambassador can also be extraordinarily time-consuming. It’s
perhaps not coincidental that many prominent female founders have depu-
ties or top executives with quiet or nonexistent social media presences. Haney
recently hired sportswear veteran Pamela Catlett as Outdoor Voices’ president
and chief operating officer. Catlett has no Instagram account. Jen Rubio’s Away

Free-spirited

capitalist, 49.5K

followers

“Let’s live it all the

way up !”

Tyler Haney

Founder and CEO,

Outdoor Voices

NEXT

N Big Idea

Founder Influencers

HOW FIVE ENTREPRENEURS USE THEIR INSTAGRAM MEGAPHONE

Inside the hustle,

8K followers

“By the end of this

week, we’ll be 1/6th

of the way through

2019. What do you
      need to finish?”

Jessica O.

Matthews

Founder and CEO,

Uncharted Power

Jen Rubio

Cofounder and chief

brand officer, Away

Fresh-faced

domination, 447K

followers

“Oil or wet or.. .”

Emily Weiss

Founder and CEO,

Glossier

Model boss (and

mom), 111K followers

“Sunday Vibes”

Katherine Power

Cofounder and CEO,

Clique Brands

cofounder, CEO Steph Korey, is less active on

social media. Drybar founder Alli Webb is the

voice of the brand, while CEO John Heff ner

runs the company day-to-day. At the rising

apparel brand Cuyana, the labor is often

split between cofounders Karla Gallardo,

the CEO who is less public-facing, and Shilpa

Shah, who handles branding and serves as a

spokeswoman. “I get the privilege of connect-

ing with our audience,” Shah says, “because

Karla has created the time for me to do so.”

For some female founders, even dabbling

in the social media game is not worth the

risk. Katerina Schneider, founder and CEO

of the female-oriented vitamin brand Ritual,

made a decision to avoid it completely. She

admits that her team frequently suggests

that the company might benefit if its cus-

tomers had insight into Schneider’s expe-

riences as an entrepreneur and a mother.

“When I speak at events, I tell women

that they don’t have to choose: They can

have kids and grow a business,” Schneider

says. But she’s not interested in turning her

private life into a showcase. “I don’t want to

spend my time thinking about my outfit or

the lighting or how my face is going to look

in a selfie,” she says. “I prefer to spend it

developing the best possible product.” For

female founders in the age of Instagram,

that’s an increasingly daring choice.

INSTA STYLE

SAMPLE POST

Getting it done, out

of a suitcase, 36.3K

followers

“ (and

some antelope too)”