Choosing my rooms wisely
including a room in a protected rainforest
In today’s issue: The art of raising prices, how “vibe coding” is the new way to pitch investors, and my favorite shoppable brand collabs
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Notes from a messy desk
This weekend I found myself in Kenmare, a small town in southwest Ireland I hadn’t heard of until a few years ago. That’s when my friend Bryan Meehan – a serial founder and the former CEO of Blue Bottle Coffee (which he sold to Nestlé for an obscene amount of money) – and his wife Tara bought the 128-year-old Park Hotel Kenmare, a stately Victorian-era hotel with grand, old-world charm. Bryan and Tara have been steadily upgrading it: museum-quality art, all the right textures, and, critically, Blue Bottle coffee. As far as I know, it’s the only place in Europe where you can get it. (Yes, I was asked to invest in 2013. No, I didn’t. Let’s move on.)
This weekend, Bryan and Tara hosted about 40 people for something they called “Friends at the Park.” I knew a few people before we went (life update: it’s now “we,” and he’s not just a friend), but really it was taking a bet on a social dynamic I couldn’t predict. As an introvert, this stuff is typical hell on earth for me. I’ll join group stuff that’s essential and work-adjacent – namely conferences. But just for fun? Yikes.
Turns out, it was worth it.
The Meehans are what someone at the event called “collectors of beautiful souls.” That might sound a little woo woo, but the proof was in the room. Their taste doesn’t stop at interiors or wine lists – it extends to people. Good people beget good people. We hiked, swam in a freezing lake in Glengarriff, packed into a sauna in the middle of Dromgarriff – a privately owned, protected rainforest they somehow managed to acquire – chugged some of the best coffee in the world, and made friends I actually want to keep. In fact, I’m off to meet one for coffee right now.
To sum it up, sometimes the greater risk is saying no – it’s missing what might happen if you do. With the right people around, even introverts can feel energized, not drained. You just have to choose your rooms wisely, and then be brave enough to walk into them.
Wheels up,
Sophia
🫖 Tea with GPT — This Week’s Uses
It’s episode 2 of my favorite new segment! This week, GPT helped me…
Draft a “graceful no” email to a VC who reached out with a potential investment opportunity. GPT helped me say “not now” without sounding like a flake.
Brainstorm influencer deals with business and creative SaaS brands. I’m targeting the overlap between my audience and what I actually use.
Fix my email deliverability issue. GPT helped me break down what might be going wrong and pointed me toward multi-Gmail tools with solid deliverability (still testing options).
Plan my Marrakech birthday trip — it helped me research places to eat, how to navigate the Medina, and a few ideas for what to wear.
Started a new “Project” and created a running London guide –– where I can drop names and links of places I’ve been recommended, things I want to do, and places I want to go.
Help me write an Instagram caption about things that make me weird.
Research “zip and link” mattresses (two small mattresses that zip together), since the one that came with my flat is too small and a bigger one won’t fit through the door.
Help me choose the best open seat on upcoming flights by screenshotting and uploading the seating chart.
Research whether it’s best to port my US phone number to Google Voice, OpenPhone, GoogleFi, or just get an eSIM, and how to do it.
Figure out the best places to visit next by uploading my natal chart and asking GPT to be the best astrocartographer in the world.
Let’s help you sleep
Show me a gorgeous device that cuts into my late night internet rabbit holes on airline deals and lulls me to sleep with nature sounds and I’m locked in.
Hatch’s Restore 3 is a screenless sleep buddy for your nightstand with features like phone-free sleep content, a dimmable light, and sunrise alarm.
Collabs on my radar
The Last of Us, a post-apocalyptic show with fungi-infected zombies, dropped a denim-heavy collection with Wrangler. It looks straight out of Pedro Pascal’s Wyoming wardrobe. Mushroom coffee brand Four Sigmatic also launched a Last of Us blend. The limited-edition Loops earbuds for Coachella are very good. The blue-gold metallic gradient is inspired by the sun setting in the California desert. The Hikerkind collaboration with Gossamer Gear is very good – it’s a daypack designed for people going from the city to the trails. Kind of into this corset tee from Elena Velez’s OnlyFans collab. The White Lotus season is over, but you can still branded Brunch resort gear. The Del Maar x River Island collection is an island getaway fever dream. Look at this macramé maxi skirt. More vacation allure: STAUD created a capsule collection for St. Regis Hotels & Resorts. This mini dress and tote bag are on my immediate wishlist. You can finally shop the kate spade new york collection for Target, like this cute matches charm, this $10 large tote, and these waterproof playing cards. Mate the Label dropped a collection with Lisa Says Gah featuring lots of spring greens. The Disney x Coperni collection is actually pretty sick. If anyone can make a Disney adult look effortlessly cool, it’s the French womenswear brand. They even held a fashion show at Disneyland Paris. Inked by Dani dropped a temp tattoo collection based on your favorite cult shows/movies, like Clueless and Mean Girls. You can shop A$AP Rocky’s Ray-Ban collection. He joined as the brand’s first creative director in February.
Collab report: Last week, subscribers were most into the Simone Rocha x Crocs, Marni x Hoka sneakers, and Target’s kate spade new york collection.
Shop my favorite brand collabs.
Shop my look, the tote’s full edition
Shop the look – which includes my favorite chunky mules and cashmere sweater.
Links to make you smarter and more interesting
The art of raising your prices. Nothing says fun like explaining to your customers why their favorite serum or hoodie now costs more. Thanks, tariffs. The tricky part? Saying it out loud without sparking a comment section revolt.
You’ve crunched the numbers, delayed the inevitable, maybe even whispered “we’ll figure it out” into a spreadsheet at 2am. But at some point, raising prices stops being optional. Handled right, it’s less damage control, more brand-defining moment – you get to turn bad news into a deeper connection.
The anatomy of a, dare I say it, 💫 endearing 💫 price hike post hits the following:
Transparency that earns trust. Tell it like it is. Your customers can handle the truth. Break down exactly why prices are going up – name the tariffs, supply chain issues, or cost hikes, and don’t sugarcoat it.
A thread back to your mission. Remind them why you started and who you're building for. Tie the increase to your values: sustainability, small-batch production, fair wages – whatever matters most to your brand.
Your brand, loud and clear. Copy and visuals should still feel you—this doesn’t have to be bleak or beige. Keep your tone consistent, and design the post like any other brand moment – on-brand fonts, colors, and voice included.
A touch of creativity. See how Golde, Dieux, and Areaware kept it real and made it fun. Add a wink, a meme, or even get on camera and tell it like it is. A little humor or levity can go a long way in softening the blow.
OpenAI might be building a social network. The company is reportedly toying with the idea of a social network built around its viral image tools to rival X. Part power move, part data play, part “why not us?” OpenAI doesn’t just want to generate your content – it might want to own the feed, too.
Want to bump sales at your brick-and-mortar store? Collab with this trending photo booth Gen Z loves. Genic, a photobooth startup from two UCLA grads, installed one of their high-angle booths at Idyllic Cafe in L.A. They’ve pulled in nearly 1,000 photo sessions and a steady stream of customers who came for the pics and stuck around to spend. For brick-and-mortar brands, the takeaway’s simple: moments of delight move product. Lean into trends that tap nostalgia, spark joy, or turn your space into a destination. A clever photo op, limited drop, or just a really good mirror can go a long way.
The rise in “vibe coding” means you should pitch investors on stability, growth potential, and preparedness, not just technical skills. Today’s investors want architects, not just builders. They’re looking for founders with deep domain expertise, a clear vision for product growth, and the ability to adapt using AI. Pitch on reliability, not just your technical chops. And if you’re not already fluent in AI, it’s time to level up.
Dieux, Starface, and Topicals prove bland branding is dead in 2025. Dieux uses a custom Perpetua font, rooted in Renaissance design. Starface has Big Yellow, a quirky smiley face character drawn from '90s cartoons. Topicals packaging is bold and funky. On TikTok and Instagram, your brand has seconds to grab attention or it’s gone. Stand out with unique visuals, or get lost in the noise.
Stacey Levine, a beauty brand consultant, says indie brands often allocate 10-20% of their annual revenue to marketing. But here's the kicker: she recommends investing heavily in just a few high-impact areas, like influencer partnerships and paid social, instead of ticking off every box. It’s smarter to double down on what works for your audience than to waste money on ‘all the things.’ Keep your budget tight and targeted for better results.
If you’re panicked about tariffs, you could learn something from Von Dutch’s licensing agreements. They’ve baked flexibility into contracts, allowing partners to adjust sourcing and production to avoid tariff impacts. This setup helps the brand stay nimble and responsive in a volatile global market. If you want to learn the basics of licensing, you can go here.
Google searches in the US for “press on nails” and “blonde to brunette hair” are up 10% and 17% since February, respectively. Conscious consumers are doubling down on mindful spending habits – it’s time to recession-proof your brand strategy to meet them where they’re at.
A growing number of entrepreneurs, moguls, and even heads of state in South Asia are turning to astrologers to time deals, pick office locations, and decode client vibes. One commodities trader now exports mostly white rice—98% of his business—after an astrologer once told him to focus on the color white.
The “newstalgia” trend hits harder when it comes with receipts. Milani turned America’s Next Top Model into a makeup launch. Ugg dropped chestnut boots with Telfar and Lil’ Kim. True Religion treated its archive like IP. Don’t just chase Gen Z with throwback fonts and Y2K filters. Start with the people who gave your brand meaning the first time around – the ones who wore it, talked about it, made it part of the culture. That’s your foundation.
Small business nepo babies are up 13% year-over-year as of January. The share of small businesses hiring their adult kids has doubled since 2018. “For the first time in a generation, there’s more excitement and interest in taking over a business that already exists,” Mark Valentino, the head of business banking at Citizens, told the Wall Street Journal.
Canva is making spreadsheets beautiful… and fun. They just rolled out Canva Sheets, which makes it easier to create polished charts in seconds and then drop ‘em into a pitch deck, a social post, wherever you might want to share a gorgeous piece of data. Coming for Excel’s lunch.
Link report: Last week, subscribers were most into Rachel Karten’s brand social trend report for Q1 2025, the “30 under 30” entrepreneur who doesn’t want to wear an ankle monitor because it interferes with Pilates, and the fact that Lauryn Bosstick used to respond to every email, DM, and tweet.
More from my rich universe of endeavors
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What's the scoop on the best option for changing your US number! Signed a fellow newbie to Britain!
Hey Sophia! Are there any AI courses you recommend for creatives/budding entrepreneurs to really learn how to write prompts and understand the full extent we can sustainably use this tool?