Hi friends. Welcome to the Life with Loverly podcast. I’m Brittany, a wife, mom, and lifestyle entrepreneur here to help you discover your best daily style and encourage you to try new things when getting dressed each day. I took a tiny following on social media and turned it into a community of over one million amazing women, and I am so glad you’re here. I’ll be sharing my heart with you beyond the 15 seconds on Instagram, so we’ll be diving into things like personal growth, friendships, motherhood, marriage, and of course, the business of blogging. Really, this space is here to serve as your go-to resource to building a life you adore while sprinkling some kindness to others along the way. Grab an iced coffee and let’s do life together. I’m Brittany, and this is the Life with Loverly podcast. Hi friends. Welcome back to Loverly on the Road. Really welcome back to the Life with Loverly podcast, but we are on the road right now. We are in Rosemary Beach filming our Hermoza photo shoot. And I have a special guest with me, Allie, who is my brand manager. Welcome to the podcast.

Thank you. I’m honored to be here. It’s been such a fun week already, but can’t wait.

I am so excited for you guys to get a little bit of the behind the scenes of what we’ve been working on, learn more about Allie. She’s another person who just helps me with so many things on behind the scenes at Loverly Gray. So it’s going to be a really great conversation. But today, this morning we did the photo shoot. We had a 5:00 AM call time, did makeup, did our first shots were in the seven o’clock hour. We were up, everybody was locked and loaded. We got our coffee. And the photos from the preview we’ve seen behind the camera have been unbelievable.

I could not have asked for better weather, better turnout. It’s been a dream.

I know. It’s very exciting. Okay. Before we get into the collection, let’s talk a little bit about working together. So how long have you been with the State Five?

I’ve been with the State Five for three and a half years now, which feels much longer than that.

We actually came to Estate Five at the same time.

Yeah. Yeah. We had dinner together.

You came on board and I remember Lindsay being like, “Okay, I think I have this great manager for you.” She’s actually new to our team. And I was like, “I feel like I need a seasoned manager.” She was like, “Trust me on this. She’s going to be the perfect person.” And it has been such a flawless working relationship, I think.

Well, thank you. I mean, that means obviously a lot to me, but I feel the same. And I already knew so much about you from my previous life. So I kind of felt like I knew what you needed and knew what was really expected. So it was great.

It felt like a really natural connection.

Yeah. It does not feel like it’s only been three and a half years though. I know. It feels like forever.

Sometimes it feels like 10 years and sometimes i’m like, “We just signed with Estate.”

I know.

And here we are coming up on four years this year.

I know. So crazy.

That is so wild. Okay. So how would you describe your job to somebody who’s not in the industry?

Usually I lead with just saying I help manage and negotiate brand partnerships for creators. Typically, I still kind of get puzzling faces with that. So I have to give an example. You see the Instagram post of your favorite creator. If you’ve seen Nordstrom, that was likely me who was negotiating the deal and kind of managing that relationship. So that typically does the trick. Boomers have a little bit of a harder time with understanding it.

My parents’ friends are always like, “So now what is. So Brittany’s on the internet. She tries on the clothes.” And my mom will have to be like, “Well, similar to how people used to buy things in magazines, they now buy things online and she works with these brands, but it took a lot of coaching to even get her to understand.” Which is just kind of funny how –

Yeah, I know. And I think too, just explaining to somebody what the link means helps. If you clicked it, you make a purchase, that is helping her business or the creator’s business. So sometimes you just have to get really granular with people.

It’s so true. I feel like while we work closely together, a lot of people might not know that you also probably work even closer with other people on my team to just be successful, which I think is the amazing part about having a team of people to help me behind the scenes. But you and Kat and Yvie, and I mean, even Ellie, there are so many people that you’re having conversations with behind the scenes and then it comes to me. Or I feel like sometimes I’m like, oh gosh, if I just call Allie out of the blue, she’s going to be like, “What’s the 911? Why are you calling me out of the blue?” And then sometimes I’m like, “Hey, just wanted to share this is what’s happening.”

Yeah. No, it’s amazing. I think you’ve done such a great job with your team where I know exactly who to call when. I know when to pick up the phone and call Kristen. I know when to pick up the phone and call Ellie. And it’s just such a well oiled machine. I feel like we all work together super well. And we’ve kind of learned where you guys need us most and step in to fill in there. So yeah, I mean, your team is so amazing. I like to think that I’m an extension and I work with you guys.

You literally are. It’s very true. Okay. So this collection, we’re going to go over the whole thing. So how many pieces did we. I feel like it’s changed because we’ve had things that we’ve added. We had things we’ve taken away since the inception of the project.

It’s 11 total.

11 total.

Six swim for adults.

Yep.

Two littles and then three resortwear styles.

Yeah, man.

Just solid.

Being out there today with all these pieces, I feel like I cannot wait to wear them. I’m at the beach for the next few two weeks. And so I’m like, I want to wear all this stuff immediately. These are the swim I’m wearing. And I felt so great in all of the pieces. I can’t wait for people to get their hands on just the versatility, the fit. Everything about it feels so great.

I think people will be able to tell that too. I think the way that you kind of just stepped into each piece and you really felt like yourself was telling. And I think we all saw it today, but –

Totally.

I think customers will see that too, that it’s just something that looks like you, fits like you. You see Loverly Grey all over this collection.

I agree. Okay. We have a special little glass of champagne work we’re going to be given right now. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

First, let’s cheers because this collection is, it is shot. It’s going live June 2nd. We deserve this. Cheers.

We sure do.

I love it.

Love a good glass of champ.

I know. This is about to get real fun.

Yeah.

Okay. So what were some non-negotiables that we had for this contract with, and just this collection as a whole?

To be honest, my non-negotiables are your non-negotiables. So it was really understanding what you wanted out of this and making sure that that was heard and was clear going back to the brand. But that really was my focus, was making sure that it was what you wanted. It was what the brand obviously wanted, but it was something that you felt comfortable putting your name on.

Totally.

And every high point that you needed hit is something that we kind of took care of upfront.

We were part of this process from the very beginning of picking out the fabrics, picking out the pantones, designing the prints, putting them on the suits. It wasn’t like we just picked a fabric out of a book and then slapped it on an existing swimwear body. There was so much that went into it, but we really wanted to have that consistency, like you just mentioned, with Loverly Gray across all of the pieces. And I do feel like we were really good about if we weren’t feeling that way, we were like, “Hey, hold on. We’ve got to really hone this in.” Or there was even one piece that we ended up dropping from the collection because we just couldn’t get it right. And I was like, “I just need my people to love it the way that I am wanting to love it.” And it just didn’t feel like a good fit. So we ended up taking it out. And I think that’s great because it left room for these other beautiful pieces to shine even brighter. There were even a few moments today just seeing my kids in the suits. And maybe it was because I felt like they were also being on their best behavior while we were doing this, but I just almost brought tears to my eyes that kind of closing the loop on everything that we’ve worked so hard. And not even me, because so much of the work so hard has been the team behind the scenes. And I’m just thinking about like, we could not have done this without all the people behind the scenes. And I just truly felt so honored that all the work just feels so good. And it’s not just about me. It’s about everybody that was behind the scenes too.

Yeah. I mean, we talked about doing this three and a half years ago at that dinner.

Some of the goals we were like, what do you want to do?

And it really does take a village to make it successful.

Okay. So from a manager’s perspective, what does success look like for a collaboration like this?

Yeah. I would say honestly, just making sure that it’s mutually beneficial for both parties. I think I have a unique role and all managers do in this situation where you are facilitating both sides of the team and of the business. And so you want to make sure you’re accomplishing what the brand is looking for, but you’re also wanting your creative direction to come through. And they chose you for a reason. They saw something in you and that’s why they chose to partner with you. So making sure that they still allow you to creatively do what you want to do while hitting the key points that they need to have as a business or as a brand. And just making sure that everyone honestly is happy about it all. That’s one thing about management that I feel like it’s such a relationship position. And that’s the biggest piece is making sure that you are trusted by your clients, both creators and brands, and making sure that they trust that you’ll help get the job done for both parties.

Both parties.

Yeah.

Well, and it’s so true because I feel like along those lines, you help hold me accountable. If there’s things that I’m like, “Well, I don’t know. How can we…” They’re like, “Well, this is what we agreed to. This what we need to see through.” And so I always appreciate that too, because as a creator, sometimes it can be like, “Well, let me just spin it over here now.” And it’s like, “No, this is what we agreed with.” So I think that there’s always. It’s kind of nice to have somebody who you really trust that can help reel it in if needed. Which I’ve felt like we’ve always had a great working relationship where I can be like, “Oh, this is frustrating.” And you’re like, “Okay, but then it’s like, okay, it’s fine.”

Yeah. I mean, it’s hard, especially when there are things that take a year and a half to see to fruition. So there’s something that we might’ve negotiated in March of 2024 that we don’t really have to revisit again until today when we’re filming it.

Yeah. Or things we forget about and we’re like, “Oh, right. We do need to remember to do that.” Or just felt kind of like, “Oh, that’ll happen down the road. We are down the road.”

We are here. So I mean, I was even spending time just reading back through email chains to make sure that we hit everything that we needed to do because it’s easy to not remember some of the things you talked about a year ago.

Totally. Totally. Okay. So let’s break some of the behind the brand partnership with Hermoza down. What were some of the first steps when Hermoza reached out about partnering with me for a collection?

A lot of questions. We always call it the fact finding mission. You’re really asking upwards of 50 questions to whoever you’re speaking to. How many SKUs are we creating? How long will this take? What’s the obligations on your side? What does the pay structure look like? How long will this collection take to come out? When will it come out? Making sure that you’re available. A lot of nitty gritty things, but a lot of things that also apply back to what you do on social media. And questions even as down far into where is your collection coming from? Is it being manufactured here? Is it being manufactured elsewhere? Are you responsible for the product? Is somebody else responsible for the product? So it really just depends. It really is up to the brand or the agency on who you’re working with. They’re all a little bit different. So making sure that we understand the full scope of what they’re looking for, how they’re creating the products, making sure that it’s something that you’re comfortable with. A lot of questions, I would say.

Well, I remember even we did a follow-up call and it was like, okay, now I need to ask you these questions to get back to them. And it’s just so much discovery. Of course, I see brands on their social side, they see brands or brands see me on my social side, but going deeper to really determine, okay, can this actually work? And kind of breaking it all down is kind of. I mean, I remember it’s almost like the courting process. And that does take a little bit. Yeah.

For sure. Yeah. And I feel like sometimes there’s even things that I try to answer as many questions as I can that you would have, but then I reach out and let you guys know, and then there’s more questions that I didn’t even think of. So it’s really just exercising your brain in certain ways to really understand the campaign or the brand or the product itself and just making sure that it’s a right fit for you.

Totally. Okay. So obviously we just had the shoot today and we’re coming fresh off of it. We actually still have like, we wanted to get the birdie dress in the nighttime kind of vibes. So we got a little bit more to go. But what would you say has been just being behind the scenes of the shoot today? Is there a moment that stood out to you that you were like, okay, we’re putting this to bed?

Yeah. This is why I do my job. I feel like for things like this. It’s a labor of love, but it’s so fun to be able to actually see you in the suits, see the girls in the suits, seeing some of the images that we’ve already got previews of and how amazing that they look. I think that is my highlight is just being a part of it because I’m not always a part of your creative flow. I haven’t seen the products. I haven’t touched them. And so I think that was my favorite part of today was just really seeing you in action and seeing your team even help with all of the action because it’s not something that I get to get to see every single day.

It’s so true because I feel like so many times you don’t even see the product until we’ve dropped it in an album to be like, “Hey, here’s previews for the brand.” And it’s funny because sometimes I feel like you and Fiona are like, “Oh my gosh, love.” And we’ve already been so in tune with the ordering, the receiving it, the styling, the shooting. And so then for the final step to be sometimes like y’all’s first time when you’ve been working on a deal that I feel like that’s kind of like, “Ooh, what’s coming? What is she going to do with that? Or what is she going to say with that?”

It’s so great. I mean, even just the way that your accessories were planned to a T, that’s something that I don’t get to see. And everything worked so well.

Okay. So giving a little shout out to Ellie because she has been behind the scenes helping source the accessories. And she put these really fabulous mood boards together to help kind of create the vision for what we wanted. We knew where we were shooting. We knew kind of what the vibes were going to be, but then we needed to accessorize. And some of the things were things I already had and some were new things. And she was like, “Okay, I really want to try this. What are your thoughts?” I look at those pictures and I’m like, “This wouldn’t look this way if Ellie wouldn’t have convinced me to get this cute hat.”

Totally. I’m also impressed with the way that your team thinks like you.

Yeah.

And they really do try to embody Brittany through everything that they do and it comes through so well.

Okay. Let’s talk a little bit more about you.

Okay.

Okay. So tell us what you were doing prior to Estate five. You graduated college. And then what?

So I worked in a little retail shop in Lubbock and worked there for four years. There was a girl who was a year older than me that I really looked up to. She graduated. She got a job in the influencer marketing space. Naturally when I graduated, I was really interested. So I reached out to her. She got me an internship and I worked at LTK for six plus years after that. So I have never had a job not in influencer management or influencer marketing, which is so funny if you think about it.

That is so wild.

I know.

But I feel like you’re truly made for this industry.

I really couldn’t imagine doing anything else at this point. And I got my degree in marketing, but 2016, there was really only blogs at that point. And I think it’s been such a fun evolution of watching how this space can change. Totally. At one point it was Threads and then it was Lemonade. It’s always been Instagram, but there’s always something new. And I think it’s what keeps this job exciting and fun because you always have to stay on your toes because you’re kind of responding to consumers and adapting from there. But yeah, I have been in the industry for 11 years now, which is crazy.

Golly, that is wild. Well, because we first worked together when you were at LTK. And so then that, I feel like made the transition really smooth going into more direct creator relationships. Kind of like what made you want to transition from LTK to more management?

Yeah. Honestly, I think it was just a new step in my career. Affiliate marketing is such an important piece of this entire industry. And I was really interested in learning more about the creator side of the business as a whole. And that’s something on management that we’ve been able to do is go beyond just the links. I’m able to understand your business strategy, what your 10-year plan is, what your five-year plan is, how we can support that and really holistically support you as a brand. And that’s been really fulfilling for me. I think anyone who’s in this industry would probably say the same. It’s the most rewarding part is just being able to see a creator start out at 50,000 followers and then they’re at 1.6 million followers. And being a part of that journey is a really rewarding one.

Totally. I love that. And again, we literally could not do this without Allie behind the scenes. Thank you. Okay. I know you’ve continued to get promoted over the years, which is amazing. Tell us about your new role and what excites you most.

So I’m still first and foremost manager, still executing the partnership side of things. I have recently stepped into more of an internal manager role. So I help run our entire team of managers and associates. A lot more just like team strategy, helping understand what’s going on in the industry. What do we need to be aware of? There’s a lot obviously happening right now and just learning how to pivot with recent changes. So helping our team kind of stay on top of how to continue to support your talent and make sure that you’re pushing them to achieve their goals. It’s more of like the internal part, which I think has been really exciting. Something that I didn’t think I would be great at, but now I can’t imagine doing anything other than working with our team and helping them take their creators really far too is really exciting.

Well, and it’s fun once you become really good at your job, being able to then teach other people how to become really good at their job. I know we’ve talked to you guys a little bit about our upcoming course and mentorship program that we’ll be launching this summer. And I feel the same way sometimes where I’m just like, I have all this knowledge or this is what’s worked with me. I can’t wait to teach other people about that. And I think that takes a special person to feel like fulfilled in doing your job, but then also helping others do their job. Sometimes I’m like, how does Allie have the bandwidth? She is working hard for Leverly Gray. She just hit all the balls that we have up in the air. And so the fact that you can also do so many other things is just always so impressive. And I know everybody on the Estate Five side absolutely loves you and is always like, “Oh, you have the best manager. Allie’s so great.” Oh my gosh. I just feel like there’s like this, it just makes you feel good instead of knowing you’re helping other people too.

Definitely. And I think we have a great leadership team. Lindsay and Lindsay cannot be more supportive to me and make sure that I have what I need to get my job done. And I think I try to do the same for the managers and associates that I work with is make sure that I’m supporting them and helping them go far.

Totally.

Because that’s how I was led. And so I want to lead the same way.

Yeah. That’s great. What would you say a day in your life looks like right now?

Oh gosh. I don’t think I even can say what it looks like. Every day is so different. Part of my job now is bringing on new members to our team. And that is a question that I get asked in interviews often is what does the day look like? And my response is always, it will be different every single day. That’s what I love about this job is that it’s always new, always fresh, always exciting. You’re talking to a new brand every single day, you’re talking about a new product or a new project every single day. It’s something that you can’t really look at your calendar and plan out and map out what’s going to happen for the day, which I respond really well to. But I would say there is no Groundhog Day in influencer marketing. It is you take each day by day and roll with the punches.

Totally. I like to say sometimes I feel like the theme of a month could be similar month after month, but it’s like every day is so different. I mean, I even think of times when you throw in some crazy thing that happens that we’re all like, oh gosh, what do we do? We have to adapt. And all of a sudden it’s like, okay, put this on hold and what are we doing here? And moving and we’re just adapting.

Yeah.

That doesn’t happen all the time, but you kind of have to throw. I really think everybody’s resume should be like, adapts well with change.

Yes, exactly.

Because so many times there are pivots, there are just things that we got to push through and it’s just part of it. But yeah, definitely no two days are the same.

No, never. Which is exciting and keeps it fun.

I agree. Okay. So if somebody wanted to maybe get into the influencer marketing industry or management, do you have any advice that you would give them?

I would say do it, obviously. I will never leave this space. I think it’s something once you’re in it, you won’t leave because if you’re focused on relationships and that’s important to you, you will be so successful in this industry. Obviously you have the relationship with your creator, but you’re also building relationships with brands. And it’s a big industry, but it’s also very small. And we all know each other very well, but everybody tries to lift each other up. So if you want to help people and you like to see people be successful, then I think this is the perfect job for you. Yeah.

So true. What’s one misconception people have about your job?

That I’m a creator. That my Instagram is what a creator should look like. And it is not. I have the worst Instagram ever.

Not true. I love any and all videos of George.

Exactly. It’s just dogs. But it’s funny. I can help you and help tell you what will be successful and what’s good to post when, but certainly don’t take advice from my profile page.

I don’t know. She’s got some really great Gua Shaw tips that we could probably all learn from.

That I could create a video about.

I know. That’ll be what we’ll do next. We’ll do a skincare routine on our next collection. Who knows?

I love it. I love it. Everyone needs a gua shaw, I’m telling you.

Yeah. And she really knows how to work it too. Okay. So wrapping this episode up, I need to do more episodes from a couch somewhere. This is so chill. And with a glass of champagne –

Doesn’t hurt.

Sure. Sign me up. All right. So reflecting a little bit on what this collection represents, I think we’ve mentioned that just like the loverly gray way, who we are as a brand, the coloring. I think we haven’t really touched on that, but the blues and the whites. And then we have this stunner pink and white stripe suit that we kind of threw in there because pink is just such like, it’s even more of like a dusty mob. It’s such a great Loverly Grey color. And as we were trying on every suit with the Pereo, it just goes with everything.

Everything.

And so I think one thing I really wanted was I want women in all stages to be able to wear this. If you’re in college, there’s a suit for you. If you’re a mom, there’s a suit for you. If you’re a new mom, there’s a suit for you. If you’re my mom’s age, there’s a suit for you. If you’re not into swimwear, there’s resortwear for you. There’s just something for everyone in this collection. But I think after putting all the pieces on today and just being in front of the camera with them, I just felt so. I felt good in every suit. And I really want people to feel that when they try on one of these suits and they know it’s good quality. And so I think that is kind of just some of what this collection represents is just thinking of all those things I really desire in a bathing suit. Swimwear can be really tough for some people.

For sure.

But I think all of these pieces are just like stunning and have such potential.

Totally. You can wear these again 10, 15 years and they will age so nicely, which will be amazing.

Yeah, I agree. Okay. So this collection will be going live on June 2nd.

Yes.

Everybody will be able to shop it directly on the Hermoza website. In this Episode, we’ll have a direct link. We’ll have links in our stories. If you’re on our email, we will make sure you know how to find the pieces. One thing I think we really talked with them about was having a good quantity of these pieces. So hopefully everybody who wants it can get something. But I also would say go ahead and set an alarm. I would say that as well. And plan to shop early just to be safe. And I mean, we’ll just see what happens from there. How are we going to celebrate this collection once it goes live?

I mean, starting with this.

Like we already are. The photo shoot was really. And just getting together, getting together with the team, being in this beautiful home where we’re doing this photo shoot, that feels like a celebration.

Yeah. I agree. I feel like this is kind of putting the bow on top is we’re all here together. We signed, sealed, delivered, finished. Now we just have to wait.

I know. I’m so excited for you guys to get your hands on these products. I mean, just being in the pool, swimming with them, tried and true, they are going to be so good. Everybody is going to freak out. I truly feel. So it’s going to be really great.

Yeah. I can’t wait. It’s going to be so great.

And then –

And the images.

Truly. I mean, also props to our photographer. He’s just been such a gem.

Yeah.

Okay. Well, what’s next? You have something major coming up in less than 30 days.

Yep.

For those of you guys watching on YouTube, you might be able to see this sparkly rock on her finger as she’s holding her mic. You’re getting married.

I am, yes. June 13th in Charleston, which is literally, I think, three weeks away, which is crazy.

Oh my gosh. Are you ready? Do you feel good about where you are in the planning and the process?

Yeah, I am. I feel like we had a pretty long engagement, so we got most of it done upfront, but you look at it with a year in advance and you’re like, okay, I’m ready for it to be here. And now it’s almost here. And I’m like, wait, hang on. I haven’t done what I need to do yet.

Do you feel like any of your taste has changed?

100%.

Really?

Yeah. I got a dress for my rehearsal dinner probably six months ago and I hate it now.

So what are you going to do?

I have ordered five. They haven’t arrived yet, but hopefully when I get home, they’ll be one.

And then will be what you want.

Yeah, just panic ordering, which that’s my tip. If you’re getting married, Ellie, don’t shop too early.

Yeah. Well, and then it’s like you want to get something, but what if then you. I mean, so much can change. So we have another girl on our team who just got married and it was quick. She had a five month engagement. It felt like decision was made and she didn’t have time to change her mind. But I definitely see how if you have a long engagement, it will be like, “Well, hold on. The bridal trends have changed or –

Yeah.

I like something better now.

Yeah. I had a completely different floral plan than what I have now. He had to completely redo it because I did it probably in March of last year and now it’s completely different.

Yeah. Well, I think the good thing about your taste is very timeless. So whatever you pick, I feel like will age really well.

Yeah. I hope so.

I think that it will be beautiful no matter what.

I’m excited.

And you don’t really have a ton of time to change anything at this point.

I definitely don’t. It is what it is at this point.

Yeah. Oh my gosh. It’ll be great. I know you’re looking forward to your honeymoon and just like we’ve got some other big things coming down the pipeline too, so we are sure to keep you busy once you return home from France.

I will be ready to go.

Yes. Well, thank you for coming on the podcast today. I know we were kind of like, “Hey, we’re going to do this photo shoot and then we’re going to do a podcast with you.” But I think this was really awesome. And I loved hearing a little bit more about for our listeners to hear what is going on behind the scenes and just, I don’t know.

Yeah. I mean, lots of exciting things coming. I feel like this year, next year, we’re even talking about 2026 and 2027 already, which is crazy.

Which is so wild.

I know. It really is. But it’s been so fun. Thank you for having me, obviously.

Of course. Well, friends, we will share all the details of our Hermoza Swim Collection as soon as it is live. Make sure to check the show notes here as well. And as always, thank you so much for listening. Until next time. Cheers. Cheers. Hi friend. If you’re loving the show, will you go find that follow button on your podcast app? This will ensure that you won’t miss a single episode. I love having you in this community. Until next time. This season of Life with Loverly is produced by Elizabeth Evans Media Productions.