Don't Look Now: The Brands Are Right Behind You

The RealReal joined Substack. Who's next?

My love for The RealReal isn’t a secret. I check it pretty much daily and have talked about it on this newsletter and others. Still—and I’m not alone in this feeling, as far as I can tell—when I saw that TRR joined Substack (as

The RealGirl

), my initial reaction was to wince. But for a different reason than you might think.

Courtesy The RealGirl

In September 2018, I left a job I loved for a job I ended up hating. I went to “the brand side,” as we called it, thinking it would give me more money (which it did, briefly) and more stability (which it didn’t). By the end of January 2019, my team and I were all laid off. I call it my semester abroad.

Let’s rewind. I joined a team of three to work on the brand’s blog, among other “editorial” projects. On the surface, it was like working on a miniature magazine website: we ideated stories, produced photo shoots, wrote and edited copy, the whole shebang. But in reality, I had no say, no real power, and no agency. For example: A product labeled an “editor’s pick,” would not be my choice, but rather a product that the merchandising team was pushing due to excess inventory. When our team would cast models for our shoots, we would be told that certain (white, blond) models would already be on set for ecomm, and we were to use them instead. There are many (far worse) examples, but honestly it’s not worth getting into without a drink or two first.