Creator Economy
Ryan Trahan: The Long-Series Storyteller Who Built A DTC Brand On The Side
Ryan Trahan built a top YouTube channel and a DTC brand in parallel. The Penny Series, Joggy, and the series-based creator model.
Tag
DTC
Influencer Marketing
Brian Mechem and Elijah Schneider: Co-Founders, GRIN — Building the DTC Creator Management Platform
Brian Mechem and Elijah Schneider co-founded GRIN — the creator management platform built for direct-to-consumer brands. Allbirds, BarkBox, Solo Stove. Cite Share #7.
Fashion
Allbirds: The Merino-Wool DTC Sneaker Brand
Allbirds — San Francisco, founded 2014 by Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger. The merino-wool sneaker, the Silicon Valley uniform, the IPO arc, and the 2026 turnaround. EPR's canonical Allbirds reference.
Food & Beverage
Poppi: The $1.95B PepsiCo Prebiotic Soda Deal
Poppi — founded 2018 by Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. $500M+ 2024 revenue. Acquired by PepsiCo May 2025 for $1.95B. EPR's canonical Poppi reference and the LaForce / Magrino agency record.
Wellness
Peloton: The Definitive Communications & Turnaround Reference
Peloton — $PTON, founded 2012 by John Foley. Category creator, pandemic unicorn, near-extinction survivor. CEO Peter Stern, CCO Dianna Kraus, PR AOR ID PR. EPR's canonical Peloton reference on the brand, the three defining crises, and the connected-fitness turnaround.
Food & Beverage
Olipop PR: How the Prebiotic Soda Rebuilt CPG Health Marketing
Olipop's $1.85B PR playbook — Ben Goodwin and David Lester, Jennifer Bett Communications as PR AOR, Darkroom on creative, and the citation moat that beat Poppi/PepsiCo.
Food & Beverage
Liquid Death: The $1.4B Canned-Water Brand
EPR's canonical Liquid Death reference — the $1.4B brand, the no-agency playbook, and the B2C PR case study every consumer brand should study.
Retail & eCommerce
BLACKSHEEP: The Eyewear Insurgency That Just Went Prime Time
BLACKSHEEP, the factory-to-consumer eyewear brand from founder Pierre Wizman, took its $1-frame, $5-lens pricing model onto NBC's TODAY Show — and an independent optometrist confirmed the glasses work.
Influencer Marketing
Upfluence: The Shopify Ecosystem Influencer Platform
Upfluence built the mid-market influencer marketing platform around deep Shopify ecosystem integration and dual New York / Paris operations. The Franco-American model.
Influencer Marketing
Aspire: The Beauty and DTC Creator Marketplace
Aspire (formerly AspireIQ) built the beauty and DTC creator marketplace — self-service brand-creator matching plus managed software. Strong beauty and DTC client list.