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🪩 Volume 124 | February 18, 2026

 

Last week, I launched a Substack for founders. It’s called… drumroll please… “Lost & Founders”—and it’s where I’m documenting the complete-and-messy middle of building founder-led content in public.

 

What I test, what performs, what leads to actual business, what DOESN’T (like being put in a speed networking group with a sex therapist-turned astrologer). 

 

Which btw, no, I have not cracked some secret code, I’ve just been showing up on LinkedIn, Substack, and Instagram for the last YEAR and learning what resonates in real time.

 

This Substack is the summation of ME paying attention to what people actually need. Growth finally doens’t feel random :’) 

Aaaaaaaaand that idea of “need vs. noise” has been sittin’ heavy in my brain these last few days… especially after going down the Frida Mom rabbit hole.

 

 

 

If you’re not familiar: Frida is under some heavy scrutiny right now as consumers have shed some light on less than favorable (er, highly inappropriate) messaging throughout their product packaging and old social media posts. (See image below).

 

I cringe as I write this because y’all… THIS IS A BRAND I’VE ACTUALLY LOVED FOR YEARS.

 

2021 and 2024 postpartum Lauren was NOT reading packaging copy. Postpartum Lauren was ripping open the box in a hormonal-rage-haze and using whatever was inside. 

 

I know I cannot be alone in this: I was seeing the product on the Target shelf or Amazon search results and thinking “blue letters, says nasal aspirator, perfect, adds to cart.” 

 

Frida made postpartum feel less sterile. They normalized the unspoken parts of early motherhood (I’m not referencing the messaging lololol), they used packaging as branding real estate (DON’T LIE, IT’S PRETTY), and they met millennial moms where they were at (see above note: Target and Amazon). 

Important note: The messaging did not build the brand alone. Distribution, packing, and cultural timing DID. 

 

Even still, when the current scandal came to light (Just Google “FRIDA BABY SCANDAL” and you’ll see what I’m talking about). The disappointment was REAL. 

 

 

Let’s take 502 steps back. I can guarantee the messaging process wasn’t someone being like “ha, let’s get edgy.” 

 

Whoever wrote these words wrote them off the backs of something millennials all shared: trauma-laced dry humor and internet-born irony. And yea, they probably ran this through legal. ← terrifying.

 

And YET. On paper, sexualizing baby-adjacent messaging is where the line gets radioactive.

Mix that with the fact that we live in a culture that is always on edge, always online, always ready to screenshot.

 

An example here: a few years ago, celebrities started getting canceled for their April Fool’s joke being pregnancy announcements (that were false). 

 

Another example: in recent years, if you don’t like the halftime show, INSTANT backlash (and quick jumps to “racism.”)

 

I could go on… 

 

This is the operating environment that any ONE PERSON OR BRAND that exists on the internet, trying to make money, lives inside.

 

So yeah, the margin for boldness is way shrinking. The PRESSURE to STAND OUT is growing. 

 

Where’s the damn ceiling?????? 

 

By no means am I trying to solve a cultural war. But I do have some takeaways because I think as brands, we are all surviving, not thriving, when it comes to just how far we can push the envelope with how we use our words. 

 

Here’s what I have to say about that:

You can be paralyzed by the possibility of offending someone, but you also cannot outsource your brand voice to “let’s go viral.” 

 

Did Balenciaga not teach us anything??? 

 

 

Purchases happen when someone feels a need intensely enough to act. That’s it. 

 

It’s NOT when your copy is shocking. It’s NOT when your packaging is viral (although sometimes that’s enough to make someone “need” it). It’s when the need is real. You say the right bold things to the right people at the right moment of need. 

 

 

People are not buying your products because they are entertained. They are standing in the Target aisle thinking “I’m bleeding. I haven’t slept. My baby won’t latch. Please let this product solve my problem.” They see your beautiful, modern packaging that somehow perfectly illustrates its use, and clearly so. 

 

 

Attention gets you seen.

Trust gets you considered.

Need gets you purchased. 

 

Boldness that amplifies a need = powerful

Boldness that DISTRACTS from the need = risky

 

The way to a mom’s wallet → Call out all the ways her LIFE has changed since having kids. If I wasn’t already working with this executive assistant company, this would be what tipped me over. 

The Tiny Post → A brand that kick-started in AUGUST with 50 subs a month at $11/mo for mailed letters that contain prints, stickers, and recipes, just surpassed 4500 subs… all through Instagram/TikTok content. I have been STUDYING businesses from The Koerner Office podcast now for a few months. Don’t be surprised if this company gets the front-and-center campaign next week… because there is something to be said for snail mail.