The final episode of Confessions of a Female Founder Season 1 has been released. Last week’s episode was originally supposed to be the last episode, but then the Duchess of Sussex surprised everyone by announcing that Tina Knowles contacted her and wanted to be on the pod. Ms. Tina is mostly promoting Cecred, the haircare line Tina founded with her daughter Beyonce. Tina is also talking about her memoir! This was a great episode. “Tyler talks about you all the time” – as in, Tyler Perry talks to Beyonce’s mother about Meghan all the time! I looooove that they talk about their signs right away – Beyonce is a Virgo, Prince Harry is a Virgo, and Ms. Tina ends up surrounded by Virgos! Meghan loves Virgos too (Virgos feel differently about most Leos). During the conversation, Meghan and Ms. Tina also spoke about what’s next for As Ever.
Ms. Tina on her hair salon in the 1990s: Knowles, who opened Houston hair salon Headliners in 1990, told Meghan she “learned to be a boss” through her decades in the hair industry. “I think that you start your business and then you find yourself,” she said during the episode. “It gives you confidence that you didn’t have before.”
Launching Cécred: It was a longtime goal to create her own beauty products. “It has been a dream of mine forever, and Beyoncé, it’s been a dream of hers,” she told the duchess. In fact, Knowles revealed that Beyoncé “could actually be a hairstylist” since she grew up watching her at the salon.
Beyonce always wins: “You know you have disagreements, and you have to—I’m the one to always cave,” Knowles admitted. “If my kids are mad at me, I can’t take it. I’ll cave.” She added that with Beyoncé, “If we have a disagreement, it’s her business, so she gets the win.”
Meghan on what’s next for As Ever: “For me at the moment with As ever, it was…great, we plan, we planned for a year, and then everything sells out in 45 minutes—which yes, amazing. Great news… And then you say, ‘Okay, we planned as best as we could. Are we going to replenish and sell out again in an hour? Or is that annoying as a customer?'” the duchess continued. Ultimately, Meghan said she decided to reassess rather than leave people disappointed. “I’m looking at it saying, ‘Just pause. That happened. Let’s wait until we are completely stable and we have everything we need.'” The duchess pointed out that a “scarcity mentality at the beginning might be a hook for people,” comparing it to “a sneaker drop.” However, she said in terms of a long-term customer experience, it’s not ideal. “I don’t want you to eat that jam once every six months!” she said.
You guys know I support Meghan’s endeavors, especially her commercial endeavors. But her indecisiveness about what to do next with As Ever is strange. This isn’t hard – she needs to restock most of the products as soon as possible. She needs to introduce new products and expand the line. Restock and grow – it’s not reinventing the wheel. “Are we going to replenish and sell out again in an hour? Or is that annoying as a customer?” She’s only sold one once, mind you! I have personal reasons for wanting a resupply – I’m obsessed with that raspberry spread and I’m annoyed that nothing has been restocked. As for Ms. Tina – one of my favorite things is seeing people on my timeline raving about Cecred. Ms. Tina put some hair-growing magic in those products.
Update: We’ll have a new story on this tomorrow, but As Ever’s Instagram just announced that new products will be coming “this month.”
Photos courtesy of Meghan’s IG, Avalon Red, screengrabs from The Jamie Kern Lima Show.
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – DECEMBER 03: Tina Knowles arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix’s ‘The Six Triple Eight’ held at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on December 3, 2024 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 942875652, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Tina Knowles, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – FEBRUARY 01: Tina Knowles arrives at the 4th Annual Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala held at Paramount Pictures Studios on February 1, 2025 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 959610834, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Tina Knowles, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
I agree they need to restock and get on with it — the reality is that there are a ton of great fruit spreads, probably many that are more easily sourced and at a lower price point — the point of THIS one is the aspiration aspect, the desire to support the person and the brand and the whimsy that ties the show with the products — if you allow people to lose that or move on to the next big thing, how do you recapture that audience.
Just updated – products coming this month!
I think what Meghan is saying is that simply restocking and selling out immediately is not a good long term plan. Better to be able to provide your product without always selling out, so making sure your stock can keep being replenished easily is likely the plan. So insuring you can reliably source your materials and keep it in stock is likely what she has been doing. I believe she learned a lot about her customer base and what will sell with her first launch of products. I think she will have some nice surprises and will be offering some great new products along with her previous items. Better to go slow and build a steady base and tried and true line of products than to go big without having the data. The woman is smart and willing to take creative risks, but she is also not reckless.
I love Meghan but I have to agree. This indecisiveness will cost her dearly. But I know exactly what happened. Meghan is such a perfectionist that she’s in a perfection freeze. She wants everything to be perfect and if it can’t be 100% perfect, she freezes. I see her. But she needs to really work on that if she wants As Ever to succeed.
I agree with this and recognize it. She’s gotta find a balance between high quality and forward momentum.
Aaaaand she’s coming out with as ever products this month so the momentum is momentuming and pretty sure the audience is still captivated…since we’re talking about it.
I still think Meghan’s perfectionism is hindering her and slowing her down. I get it, though. I’m a perfectionist like that too. I just see how it can cause trouble for her in this business.
Whether it will ultimately be a huge hindrance to Meghan remains to be seen. But in the context of her products coming out, I’m sorry, but April 2 to June is not that bad.
Pausing for 2 months while you work out how much product you need to produce in order to not sell out super quickly is not indecisiveness it’s a sensible pause.
Agree it was a wise move to pause – ONCE. Now she needs to have enough stock to cover several months worth of demand and not let stock levels fall below a certain amount so that she can try to avoid sellouts.
I also believe she should be introducing more products by the time the one-year anniversary of the brand launch arrives. Introducing at least 1-2 more flavours each of the spreads/jams and teas and at least one more ready to make baked good(s) would be a good idea.
If I had to guess, the raspberry will be restocked along with a strawberry bc that was what was in the picture of the announcement. There might be some kind of flower tea too idk.
Need time to get it made as well.
Restocking a food product that’s not mass-produced isn’t an easy thing to do. Sourcing ingredients to ensure the broadest customer base is tricky enough let alone right now with supply uncertainty. Meghan isn’t wrong at all to want to pause and take in everything that needs to happen to ensure as many as possible can enjoy the products.
Right!
I agree with MrsBanjo. Meghan should not rush to restock for us to end up with a half ass product. The more, more mentally of society is killing us all!
And not just the sourcing of larger amounts of quality ingredients, you have to have the capacity for cooking and processing more batches and creating more jars of product. It may be that the current processor can only handle small batches, which means contracting with a larger processor, re-sourcing labels, jars, working out storage and the logistics of shipping, etc.
I think that’s what so many people are ignoring about all of this. She recently went with people at Netflix to find a more suitable place to produce and manufacture her products because it’s obvious that the place she initially had couldn’t handle the demand that none of them expected, including her. I can’t fault a person for wanting to make sure that she makes adequate adjustments for the demands of her company by being more prepared with suppliers and manufactures who can facilitate the high demand.
The supplier can’t cope??? Her mass produced items are made by the HUGE drop shipper Snow Commerce which is affiliated with Netflix. They handle the entire production, manufacturing and dispatch. From start to finish. Meghan is not brewing pots up on her stove. The are not artisinal products.
Yes, this makes sense. But what I don’t get is why she/they aren’t using the most obvious method to communicate with their (potential) customers about the current status. From the launch, the As Ever website has been collecting “Subscriber” emails to notify people about upcoming drops. They must have tens (hundreds?) of thousands of names by now. The simplest and most straightforward thing to do is send something directly to people who’ve signed up. Let them (us) have some solid information – doesn’t have to be detailed – instead of having to interpret where things are at via the unreliable information from media sources. This is where I think they’re making a mistake; or, at least, not taking advantage of a useful and productive opportunity of talking directly to the people who’ve specifically shown their interest.
Yes, thank you. Subscribers expect to have subscribed to something, at least an occasional newsletter.
People must REALLY want the jam😬.
In line with reports last week that a restock was coming soon & all the As Ever teasers, Meghan has just posted on IG that restocks & what I’m guessing are further spreads are coming in June. Like last time I expect a newsletter will come just before the items are available for sale & I guess you’ll get details of any new products then
Ah, saw the IG post. Providing info direct from her, good step. I got nothing at launch, don’t expect to get anything the second time, and I’m fine with that (despite people posting here that the jam is the best they’ve ever tasted!). No doubt it’ll take a while for them to ramp up to better match supply and demand, and for the novelty to wear off. I agree with those talking about potential issues with a new product, new company, supply issues, etc. I can wait. Just that from a customer standpoint, I think it serves her best to communicate directly where she can (e.g., not via interviews, etc.) with the many people hoping for her success.
I think meghan makes a really valid point here: if they do a quick restock only for it to immediately sell out again it can look like they’re trying to create a intentional scarcity. It’s better to take the time to make sure the supply chain is in place before relaunching the products, for them to reach as many customers as possible.
Agree. She needs a different business model because boutique just won’t work with someone of her commercial power.
I agree, now that they definitively know that there is a great demand for Meghan’s products, they need to ensure they can keep their products stocked. Fruit spread/jam is something most people have on hand all of the time, and not everyone is going to be checking As Ever daily, they will just forget about it.
Well, she does say that she doesn’t want people to only be able to eat the jam every six months. So that’s promising. And it sounds like they made enough to sell for a year. Or thought they did. So a years worth selling in 45 minutes is crazy. Looking forward to having a steady stock of raspberry jam.
But that doesn’t really make sense to make enough product for a year when it’s a food product. It would expire..
Gah! I’m sorry. I’m spreading misinformation! It’s me. She said they were planning for a year and my mind heard that they planned enough for a year.
Thanks for the clarification- that makes way more sense.
I had to go back and recheck. Sorry! Mutli-tasking and commenting in the am can get me in trouble but I will def try and correct when I mess it up.
The paralysis of analysis will cost her if she doesn’t get it together fast. She should be saying “We have new products ready to go.” But ultimately this is her and Netflix’s decision.
So you want her to lie and say what makes you and others happy, regardless of her own happiness and expectations for her own business? Her products are good products that people want because they love the products, so if she releases them today, tomorrow or months from now shouldn’t be an issue for those who genuinely bought the items or want to buy the items because they enjoy them. She should only speak the truth to what she feels, knows and wants. She shouldn’t ever rush anything to facilitate the desires of others, including her fans, especially if she doesn’t feel like it’s the right time.
Agreed, Nerd. Meghan’s fruit spread is legitimately the best I have had, and I’ve bought much pricier ones at a farmers’ market. I want her to make sure she keeps the quality the same, so I can keep buying it forever!
As someone who has been using the Cecred products, they are amazing. The shampoo, conditioner, hair mask, drops, and hair oil have really made a difference with my hair and I don’t always jump on a celebrity hair care line. There are times where I have to wash my hair in between appointments and the products work great.
As someone who missed out on all her as ever products I’m annoyed too but it is still a new company. Hopefully she will get her footing with this.
Do you use the hydrating shampoo?
Yes I do. I also use the hydrating conditioner, restructuring treatment mask. I just ordered the moisture sealing lotion.
this is what i’m here for – a review of the Cecred products lol. On my wish list!
I think it’s a huge mistake not to restock it as soon as possible. Many of us weren’t able to get any because it sold out so fast. She made the jams for her fans so please give them to us!!!! Also if she doesn’t restock the DM and other blogs will keep saying As Ever is a failure.
The DM would say she is a failure even if she restocked every month and won all the awards in the food industry. She can’t live by ‘what the DM will say’…
So you want a potentially lesser quality product so long as it’s immediate? This is contributing to the scarcity mentality that she’s specifically setting out to avoid. “Mine mine mine” without regard to what’s involved in making a quality product. And her team thought they’d made enough. No one. NO ONE. Could predict that it would sell out in less than an hour. If she rushes out a product now because people lost the ability to be remotely patient, then it leads to mistakes and leads to exclusionary practices – which she’s been very clear she is against.
She should never make decisions based on what her haters will say because regardless of what successes she has they will always say otherwise. That is their intention regardless of what she does or accomplishes. Regarding restocking, shouldn’t she (and Netflix) have a better idea of what will work best regarding her business than those who aren’t in the business or privileged to all that happens behind the scenes? We know that she and Netflix are looking to expanding and are trying to improve production of the products, which explains her flight on AA recently. It’s obvious that the supply was greater than she and Netflix expected and they are making decisions to avoid the same issue of selling out so quickly from happening again. She makes a good point that for some selling out so quickly is great but with that it means that you are back to square one of having to access the supply and demand again, in hopes of avoiding disappointing your buyers. Expecting her to just restock for our own needs without taking into account how that impacts the manufacturing and distribution that is also overwhelmed by the instant selling out of products, is shortsighted. I’m of the belief that if the product is good, why would anyone who’s genuinely buying because they like the product not still be there whenever she restocks?
@Nerd — Totally agree with this POV.
Clearly there was a huge gap between projected sales numbers and actual sales. Because if this was all just a ploy to increase interest and buzz, she would have restocked by now!
Typing that out, it occurs to me to wonder if the people (presumably Netflix product development folks) who did the original analysis looked at the Highgrove and other UK “royal” product lines, and based their projections on those numbers?
If so that would be absolutely hilarious, because her numbers totally left Charles The Cruel and his Highfalutin’ Honey in the dust! 🤣
The only thing I would say is that it seems to me it would be good marketing strategy if she would just send everyone who has signed up for As Ever updates an email.
Tell us straight out that she is thrilled to have so much interest in the products, that in order to meet demand she is retooling and scaling up production, while maintaining the same high level of quality. That this will take some time, and current projections are for a restock/relaunch no later than … whenever, whether it be summer, fall, or 2026.
Under-promise and over-deliver is a great strategy, but this protracted silence is not customer-friendly. Let me know it will be six months or so, and I’ll happily turn my attention to other things, secure in the knowledge that As Ever will let us know when they’re ready.
Dropping a mention in an epilog episode of her podcast is fine, for what it is, but it doesn’t make me feel cared about by the brand, and that’s half of what makes HRH Meghan attractive to me — the deep sense that she really does care about people.
Meghan needs to put out a cookbook/entertainment book out soon. It’s one item that can be reprinted and mostly available. I was rewatching WLM and in the game night episode Meghan or someone said they need a Mahjong cookbook and then ONe of them said Game night cookbook. I immediately thought is the a new product that will come out with Season 2. I think a lot of people just want to buy the Jam because it’s Meghans.
I’m thrilled that now I know how to pronounce Cecred!!
It is awesome and heartening to listen to two Black women be powerful together. This whole episode was excellent.
I can understand her wanting to pause and make sure she has everything sorted in her supply chain. It makes sense that she doesn’t want to restock only to sell out again for months. We have been told by her team that products are coming soon and I believe them.
Exactly this Julia. People need to remember that based on what was said on today’s podcast, Meghan’s discussion with Tina was recorded around 2/3 May which was about a month after the shop went live & sold out. Since then Meghan has had the fast company interview where she discussed going on a field trip to suppliers & manufacturers & there’s been comments to the press that a restock is coming soon.
I would imagine since the collection sold out they’ve been looking at how to scale up production so that they have much larger inventory when the existing products go on sale again. I liked the fact that Tina could relate to this point because as I’ve mentioned, Cecred also has their edges product that people are loving & therefore demanding more of its produced because it sells out really quickly each time.
I think Netflix and Meghan are working on their next steps. Maybe they did not realize it was going to be sold so quickly and they are re-assessing. I learned from the podcast there is a lot of recalibrating to see where to go next. I think they trying to figure to be a niche or global. If it is global more production staffs and location productions will be needed distributions and all that involves. The only thing I think she should have kept.it quiet but people are asking for the products so she let them know to wait a little.
I said this before when this comes up, but supply chain is tricky and it’s not as easy as people imagine to put out product. And making sure it’s product you wouldn’t be embarrassed to have your name on. And we have to be fair here, for all the questions about why doesn’t she just do this, she is not judged like other people. She has to be a perfectionist, because even reasonable business decisions that everyone makes is treated like she has the worst business ever. Slight trademark issues, slight supply chain issues, delays in production, all things that happen pretty much in every business is treated like she just doesn’t know what she’s doing. And when you have The Spectator and the Washington Post reviewing lifestyle shows and fruit spreads, you can’t just release anything.
Here’s the thing, I said the same thing about every single thing she’s done when people complained. She will release a new podcast when she’s ready, they’ll release something on Netflix when she’s ready, she’ll rejoin social media, and she’ll release more product when she’s ready. If people lose interest and don’t want to watch, follow, or purchase I’m sure that’s something she’s aware of and either has strategy to address or is okay with.
Yes this. The way people are essentially throwing tantrums because she’s not doing it on their timeline with a FOOD PRODUCT is something else.
I know folks are paying attention to the Demon Administration’s shenanigans with the FDA and tariffs, and yet want Meghan to magically have all the supply and quality for more jam immediately.
Also, for those of you not aware, California is currently in fire season. We’re a primary agricultural supplier. Oh and of course, ICE doing their Gestapo acts, affecting labor. Please think on that when moaning that Meghan is misstepping because she wants to evaluate how to account for demand.
@MrsBanjo, 😭😭 it is so funny people saying everyone is gonna move on if she doesn’t bring more products soon. It has been years, nobody moves on from Meghan. The minute she does something, it is global news.
I definitely understand why she is taking her time. We are just so used to getting everything so quickly even if it does lack quality, thought. It is the modern business model, do something and fix the mistakes along the way. Meghan has a more traditional approach and I am sure this is both her character and the enormous media attention on her for any potential mistakes. It was international news that H&M forgot to pay their foundation’s fee in California. It was processing mistake of the government, but that didn’t stop media from writing hundreds of articles out of it. Let the woman take her time, ffs.
@MrsBanjo and @Sevenblue exactly. People, and fans particularly have complained about everything that Harry and Meghan have done as far as being on social media, promoting Netflix series, and now how quickly she releases new products. But the thing is she always takes her time, and then what she release always breaks records and is well received. So I guess my point is at what point are you just going to stop being impatient and trust her business sense. I think sometimes the desire to see them succeed as a take that to the establishment sometimes clouds people’s judgment about what it actually takes to succeed.
The supply chain is tricky, but also in the spirit of fairness, they do have access to the best resources, best advisors, and best everything, that most businesses and startups absolutely don’t have. It’s not like she is bootstrapping As Ever.
I would much rather not get any more because they sold out than be waiting in limbo, wondering if/when the raspberry spread will come back. It’s delicious and I think demand for the next shipment will be even greater, now that people know the products are all good.
The interesting thing to me is she says in this podcast that she purposely started with a small amount so it would sell out quickly. As someone who got the…sorry we wish we had enough email…grrrr to that.
Also, this is not small batch. It is mass produced. She showed the production line multiple times on her IG and the videos are still up if you want to look.
I agree that pausing right now will probably result in losing some momentum for her brand. We shall see!
@Grandmapearl did we listen to the same podcast because she didn’t say that? She said they planned for a year and then sold out in 45 minutes which is obviously something that surprised them. At no point does she say they produced a small amount so it would sell out. That sounds like a line from the Daily Mail! Why put words in her mouth?
How is a food product produced for a full year, it has a shelf life. I think what she meant is that they planned production for a year. But when they sold out the production plan was behind. At least I hope this is what she meant. I doubt anyone wants to receive a spread that’s expired.
@ELO when I said they planned for a year my understanding was they planned behind the scenes for the launch for a year not that the products would be in stock for a year. They probably expected the products to be in stock for a couple of months and to restock in the summer. They didn’t expect to sell out straight away.
No, she didn’t say that? I just listened, I don’t remember her saying this? She said it would be annoying for the customers going to her website and finding everything sold out every time, so she is planning better now she saw the demand. She didn’t talk about intentionally supplying low quantity of products.
I thought they said they made what they assumed was going to be a year’s worth of product?
Grandma Pearl are you a Deranger in disguise? Because I certainly did not hear Meghan say that.
Is everyone forgetting the UPHEAVAL in agriculture due to the FASCIST OVERLORD IN D.C.? The workers who SUPPLY HER (ALL OF US 🇺🇸) CHAIN are being SNATCHED UP and hauled away 🤬
This part! Who’s picking the fruit?
OMG thank you!! Meghan is producing product during a HUGE upheaval in our domestic labor market and overseas supply chain as well as complete economic uncertainty. she owes us NOTHING. why do people act like she owes them?
Meghan mentioned her As Ever products were all made in USA. So I presume the overseas ingredients, products, labors & manufacturing are out. (Unlike the F47TACO & his daughter selling their merchandise which were made in China.) Combined with selecting fresh seasonal fruits/plants/grains, it makes sense the restock is not up. (AsEver is not Shein.) Hack, they prepared a year’s worth of inventory to sell, but no one could’ve predicted the demand for Meghan’s products were so robustly that they all sold out in 45 minutes.
Yes, people need to give Meghan some grace.
It is frustrating that they haven’t restocked yet so hope they will do that while ramping up production. You want the products to be readily available most of the year so I hope its both restock ASAP and plan for longer term availability. She dies have a large partner in this so don’t think she’s making this decision alone and again, restocking immediately after selling out the way she did may not even be a quick production turn around.
Ha! She just posted that more products are coming this month and it looks like more jam flavors. I will be ready this time.
I completely get where Meghan and Ms. Tina are coming from. When you have a new product you budget and estimate how much you need to sell to turn a profit and how soon you can get to that amount. Based on these estimates you draft contracts with your suppliers, manufacturer, and shippers. So yes when you sell out that’s great! But then that also means you have to reassess your whole workplan and budget for year 1. As a new business you anticipated gradual growth which would give you time to locate additional suppliers, renegotiate larger orders with manufactures and expand your supply and delivery chain. As Meghan mentioned on the podcast they created enough product for the year and that sold out in 45mins so now As Ever has to scale up VERY quickly to meet that demand without being sure of what the real sustained level of interest is because there’s only been one drop. Will there be another shortage? As Meghan said she doesn’t want people eating the jam every 6 months because that’s annoying to the customer. She also wouldn’t want to scale up and find out all this happened just because it was As Ever’s first drop and then be stuck with a lot of perishable product because that would be terrible for a new business. Imagine being overextended in year 1! That’s every entrepreneur’s nightmare. Ms. Tina is lucky in that Cecred products can sit for 3 years so if they accidently overestimate demand they can just slow production and sell the excess. That’s not possible with perishable items. Everything we eat takes time to grow and expires quickly which means its really easy and really expense to waste product.
What Meghan and Ms. Tina are experiencing are “good problems” to have but they are still big problems because meeting customer demand and minimizing costs is crucial for any business. You could hear the stress in both their voices when they talked about how selling out isn’t always good. What any business owner wants is steady predictable consumer demand and the ability to meet that demand. That’s why both are taking there time. They want to make sure they really know what their customers want from their products and they can meet customer demand in the most financially safe way possible.
I especially feel for Meghan because her raspberry spread is insanely popular but there are also a lot of jams and preserves on the market. I’m sure most established raspberry growers already have contracts in place with her competitors. They can’t just plant more raspberry bushes because it takes raspberries a year to produce fruit after they’re planted. If raspberry bushes are already planted they take weeks-months to grow. Plus if her suppliers don’t live in a place like California where the growing season is year round then she would have to wait for raspberry season which is June-September and As Ever sold out on April 2nd. Things like this is why selling perishables is more difficult and selling out becomes a more serious problem.
I anticipate more preserves later this year after raspberry season is over and I’m sure the As Ever team is working on contracting with more suppliers to prevent this from happening next year so we all just have to be patient. Lol soon Meghan’s jam will be something we can eat every morning.
👏👏👏👏
Did she really explicitly say they thought they had produced enough product for a year? I do not remember hearing that, just that they were super surprised and that people should not have to wait six months. I understand they did not anticipate that it would be 45 minutes. But to not have a plan for let‘s say selling out within 2-3 weeks? People would understand if it takes 1-2 months to restock, but not that there is no info whatsoever after one month on when things can be expected. I fully agree with you B that the whole business case needs to be reconsidered and it can take time and I would not suggest that she produces another year‘s worth. But I would produce enough right away for all those who are on waiting lists of some type to not disappoint my most loyal client base. I am really a bit surprised that Netflix with all their data analysis was so far off the mark on that one of the one year thing is true
No, she didn’t say she had planned enough product for a year. She said that she had planned for a year before the first rollout. That’s on me.
I really enjoyed this episode. I get what Meghan is saying. She wants the customer to always have to a chance to buy products rather than it selling out and leaving them disappointed because they sold out. A lot of people were disappointed that they were unable to get products because it sold out so fast. She did mention in her Fast company interview that she and the team were looking for new facilities to manufacture items.
This was such a good episode and when you hear what she said in the context of the conversation with Ms. Tina, about keeping inventory in stock, what she said makes a lot of sense and is for the long term.
I love the jam and will repurchase. I think my issue is there needs to be a more cohesive or one statement on this. It seems, and it could be my fault for reading other peoples wording of her words, that it’s coming back then it is paused, it’s soon or it’s fall. “We are restocking the jam with other items this year.” would be great. I also give her grace given the pressure, everything she does will be picked apart, examined. I think most people, here at least, want her to succeed and we all have thoughts on how she should go about that but it’s easy to say not being in her position.
While we were speculating:
aseverofficial. To all who’ve been wondering and waiting, thank you! Your favorites are returning, plus a few NEW things we can’t wait to show you. Coming this month…get excited!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DKcqWizphUL/
(I’m pretty much immune to consumer appeals but I do love those porcelain nesting measuring cups.)
I came here to post this.
Looks like production and supply chain have been ironed out!
I was just going to post the IG update, but noted Artfossil had already posted. I like Meghan, but this is a scattered approach.
I love her aesthetic but her communication style makes me vexed and peevish.
Let’s call things as they are. No one is perfect, and Meghan has clearly made some serious business mistakes. I’m not here to assign blame, but from the sudden name change reportedly due to trademark issues, to the product strategy and the one-off sales campaign—along with hints that she might pivot to an entirely different market—it all comes across, frankly, as amateurish.
I believe it would be far better—for her and for the credibility of the whole venture—if she came out and communicated transparently. Something like: “This was the plan. This is where I sourced the raw materials from, this is where production took place, we had this amount in stock, we sold this many units, and restocking has proven significantly more difficult than anticipated due to higher-than-expected demand.”
Otherwise, the whole project comes off as a vanity exercise with no real strategic or business plan behind it. Sorry to say it, but that’s how it looks.
Ummm. Sorry. It does not look like a vanity project? What makes it a vanity project? The fact that she is the one making it and the tabs have said she’s a vain person? From where I stand, she’s someone taking a shot. Whether you like her business plan or not, whether you think she’s suffering from perfectionism overload or on the flip side you think she’s suffering from a scattered approach, her jam was good and it’s being restocked within 3 months. But sure. What’s the next critique? How dare she restock the jam during the same month as the trooping of the color? The audacity!
You can’t even try with these people, @jais. The above poster is an obvious deranger and Meghan hater. Changing names happens constantly in business – billionaires do it too. But these people want to bully Meghan.
This is a little extreme, and not that accurate. Trademark complications early on aren’t uncommon, and if it was anyone other than Meghan, whose every move is dogged by the BM, chances are we’d never have known about this. And, have never heard anything about pivoting to an entirely different market, but rather, that products would ultimately be added, which matches what we know about the items included as part of the trademark application. Finally, of course she has a product strategy; we see this with today’s IG announcement of what’s coming this month. She’s working with an experienced team at Netflix who have a real stake in this undertaking and this would have all been worked out in advance of going live. No reason to believe the initial plan was scattershot or amateurish, and Netflix has no need to be involved in a vanity project. What wasn’t predicted was the massive initial demand, fueled not only by potential long term customers, but also by short term purchasers looking for a way to make a few bucks capitalizing on Meghan’s name by “reviewing” her products. Having the entire stock disappear in 45 minutes created an unanticipated problem but it looks like the team is working on solving it.
I do agree communication could be improved, but it’s none of our business where production took place, how much stock they had, how much was sold. We don’t need to review her business plan. Just the last line about restocking taking time because of the demand, and what they’re hoping to happen in the near future would suffice – along the lines of what was just posted to IG.
The comms is poor but the rest of your diatribe is utterly ridiculous. No one is owed her business plan, no one is owed the source of her raw materials, no one is owed the location of production, no one is owed the amount of stock, no one is owed the number of units sold.
It’s almost perverse in nature the ways in which folks want to know everything about what Meghan does. Like you want to possess her.
All I wanted was a restock estimate and she’s provided that. I’m happy with that.
Thing is Meghan never said As ever restock was happening in fall etc. that may be a reference to With Love Meghan which NETFLIX announced was coming in fall.
I don’t remember seeing timelines for existing As Ever collection. When the stock sold out in April the website said products coming soon & told customers to sign up for updates which is standard .
Meghan has been recording & releasing podcast eps during this period so some of her conversations around stock have been weeks old by time the podcast aired. So eg when she said on today’s podcast that she was pausing to ensure there was enough inventory etc that was a conversation that happened at the beginning of May, shortly after the first collection sold out.
But prior to today’s podcast & in more up to date look of things she has teased As Ever products on IG & said stay close for updates coming soon. even though I could tell the fast company interview happened a bit of time before it was released- it still indicated that restock was happening, she was looking at new suppliers etc & it was NEW products (likely garden & homeware) that was coming in first quarter of 2026. Mags like people mag reported last week that there would be restocks coming soon. I was always expecting that restock would happen in next few weeks based on this info. And now Meghan has posted that restock will happen in June which I think people were asking for. Seems like more info than we’d normally get for a brand tbh
In relation to trademark she did apply for trademarks for ARO & she actually obtained it in some categories & in some countries. But came across opposition in relation to some categories from people who didn’t have registered rights etc. that’s not always something you can pick up & can happen. I was listening to another woman focused business podcast where they were talking about their issues with trademarks. It happens & that’s why Meghan had back ups which she had successfully registered. She was pretty clear on the name change when she discussed it on her IG.
I could have sworn that after the last drop, Meghan (or the As Ever team) said to expect seasonal offerings (or some reference to seasonal). So I’ve actually been expecting a June drop this whole time (then Sept., Dec., etc.). I don’t know what the ultimate vision is — seasonal offerings + enough product to be offered throughout the season? Maybe? But getting an insight to her thought process is interesting and also, like you said, somewhat more than we’d get for similar orgs. Perhaps it’s too much as we’re all interpreting differently (and excited for jam!).
And completely agree that having trademark issues is normal, especially since it’s a new area for her. There’s such a hyper focus on everything she does and certain types make it into such a big deal when, honestly, it really isn’t. She’s made mistakes; she’ll make more; and build and grow from there.
I think the mistake was underestimating how quickly the products would sell. I was always under the impression that more and different products would be added gradually, and I imagine that they would take consumer reactions into account. I never thought As ever would drop 200 products all at once. I assume she is building a customer base and demand. If some things are meant to be seasonal, then when they’re gone, they’re gone until the next season. I think it would be great if she had unique products seasonally and just for that season, not to be seen again because there will be something new the next time. It would be great fun, I think. I don’t think the intent is to saturate the market with massive production. Looking forward to seeing what her new products are. Mind you, I can’t order anything where I live, but I do understand the frustration of the people who have ordered, love the product and want to reorder. Anyway, it seems restocks new products are coming this month. Enjoy, everyone who can!
I never thought a huge line either, it takes a long time to build that up.
But I would have thought a few things to accompany the items, like a few flower cookie cutter for the shortbread, like that.
She introduced ARO the year before, that seems plenty of time to me to have a few other things to complement the food items.
Meghan’s PR people must go a little nuts when she says something like this!
The episode was recorded in May before Archie’s birthday so she was on a pause at that moment having sold out in April. Rather than restocking right away and selling out again because they underestimated demand she paused for a couple of months. The problem is people over analysing what she says when she never said there would be no restock.
But you’ve highlighted another problem: the lack of clarification or official email announcement from the company.
Not just Meghan, but the company itself.
Regular emails and updates are a must. People want to know.
Comments on a podcast recorded a month before release isn’t enough when people are spending money.
So something to learn here too I think.
I feel like everyone is hyper focused on the jam lol
There are other products she might have restocked, the teas, etc.
Or put packages together to complement the already sold items, like mugs or something.
There are avenues to restock that aren’t just jam related.
I think the biggest thing for me, as others have said too, is the lack of communication from the company. No email updates, etc. Not just restock updates, no emails at all.
That’s not a great way to do it, you do have to engage with clients regularly.
Who cares if it seems like she’s creating a scarce mentality. I remember when Kylie Jenner first started her beauty line, she would do small drops of products. Everything would sell out, then she’d drop some more. Didn’t hurt her business or her brand. In fact, she became a billionaire. You have to strike while you’re hot because people move on to the next thing.