Why I’ll Never Cater To Men! Krissy Cela's Strategy To Build A $190M Empire
1h 19m 57s
Chrissy Challa, a female founder of the billion-dollar brand Honor, shares her journey of building a female-led athletic wear empire rooted in authenticity, empathy, and self-trust. She challenges the male-dominated norms in the fitness and lifestyle industry, highlighting that success for women is not just financial but cultural—proving that female-led brands can thrive by aligning with real women’s needs, such as their menstrual cycles, to create products that feel personal and inclusive. Challa openly discusses the emotional toll of public scrutiny, the toxicity of online criticism, and the importance of self-compassion, emphasizing that being called a "bitch" or facing hate is a sign of vulnerability, not failure. She advocates for female founders to embrace their true selves, avoid performative perfection, and build communities based on trust rather than vanity. Her business growth—reaching $119 million in revenue and an 85–90% attention rate—is attributed not just to marketing but to deep community loyalty and product authenticity. She introduces a six-step rebranding framework that prioritizes measured goals, personal growth, and sustainable habits. Ultimately, Challa delivers a powerful message: women are achieving financial independence through the creator economy, and their success should be celebrated not as exceptions, but as a necessary evolution in how business and leadership are defined. Her journey reflects a shift where women are no longer just participants in the economy—they are leaders, innovators, and visionaries shaping a more inclusive, honest, and empowering future.
Last year, we ended the year on $119 million. Whether anyone likes it or not, I am going to achieve it. Were you always comfortable being called a (bleep) a boss has to make a decision at times. But the mistake I made was, as soon as a man enters the Pilates studio, like I can feel the peace leaving the room. Lululemon, Yuri, Aloeoga, these are billion-dollar brands built by men. It's the principle that there's never been an athlete, a brand that's majority-founded by a woman who's ever hate unicorn status. The cash is nice, too. (laughs) Sorry, guys, it's just got emotional for no reason. It's the first time that women are becoming millionaires in their own rights. How do we still have female founders that tear other female founders down? I've never seen that happen. Have you seen that? Rosie, are you joking? Who's done that to you? Who'd you want me to go find? No. I remember posting 15-second videos, wake up 7 million views, and then that's when the hate came. Anyone that's sat hate in in their little room or calling you cringe 'cause you've put yourself out there, is a loser. Don't try and act like you don't want the world to see your winning. You want the world to see your winning, and you should want the world to see your winning. So someone loves listening to this that wants to reinvent their life, like they want to re-brand. You have a six-step process. Can you expand on that a little bit? So the first thing I said was, Hi, angels. Did you know that subscribing to our channel is free? And it's the simplest way that you can support our show and help us grow. If you do this, we can bring you even more of the content and the guests that you love. All you have to do is just hit the subscribe button below. So please, if you wouldn't mind, subscribe to the channel, and thank you. (upbeat music) In case you missed it, you're allowed to be hot, smart, and rich. So let's get into it. (upbeat music) - Chrissy Challa, are you ready to get hot, my rich? - I am. I'm so excited that you're here. I feel like you are one of the people I put on my vision board. - No way, yeah. Because I think you have a really interesting story. You also were like very in the podcast world and you haven't done a lot. So for someone that's just clicked into this conversation that maybe knows about you, maybe doesn't. What would you tell them about what they're gonna learn today? - I think you're gonna learn that especially if you're a woman, you are gonna go through a lot of hurdles and it's okay to say no. It's okay to be called a bitch 'cause I think a lot of women don't like being called a bitch, 'cause it has such a negative connotation around it. And I think and I hope that you actually learn something from this podcast and it's not just like a bunch of nonsense and gossip, which I know in your podcast, it's like the best, most informative podcast that's why I'm here and I love it. So just enjoy it, sit back and enjoy and learn, I guess. Were you always comfortable being called a bitch? - No, no, I wasn't. I started my first business when I was 21 years old and I don't have any business background. I come from two immigrant parents who moved from Albania to the UK. My mom used to work like three jobs. My dad was a truck driver back in the day. So money wasn't really a thing that we were accustomed to. We didn't have privilege as such. Privige in a sense that I had family and that's like a blessing but no finances or someone to tell me how to handle my money or business. So when I started my business, I was 21 years old and I just wanted to be liked. I wanted to be the cool boss. I wanted to be the boss that everyone was like, I have the best boss in the world but I ended up not being the cool boss at all and I ended up being probably one of the worst bosses because I didn't know what I was doing. So I thought I was doing the right thing but half the time I was doing the wrong thing. - How did you learn to step into that place of not being liked by everyone and that being okay? - I think the number one most important thing that I learned was feeling comfortable enough not to be a people pleaser because I spent so much of my 20s on social media because I had still have such a large platform. And when you have a platform over 6 million people, you want to just feel liked and you just want to feel like you don't want to upset anyone, you want to be passive, you don't talk about things that are questionable or could get you canceled 'cause that word is really scary in our industry. And so I became such a people pleaser in business that it ended up causing me a lot of losses. And now in my 30s, I'm turning 32 this year and being in business for a decade. If I have to make a decision, that's going to upset one person to save the masses. Or if I have to make a decision that's going to make sure the longevity of my business is looked after, that's what I'm gonna do over making sure that this one person is okay. - Do you think that you can have two totally different personas like one persona online and then another persona in the workplace? Yeah, do you do that? Yes, can you explain a little bit more about that? I've actually always wanted to talk about this and I've never quite felt comfortable enough to talk about it but I think now I'm ready to talk about it. A lot of people that I've hired in the past had a very big power of social relationship with me. And so they used to follow me online because I started my career online first and then built my businesses. So they would know who I was and they'd have a pre-judgment of who I was when they would come and work for me if I would say no or if I would say that's not acceptable or if I said I don't like this and it needs to change or if I wouldn't tolerate certain things that would make them feel uncomfortable. And listen, given you can always still be kind, you can always be nice, you can always be those things but a boss has to make a decision at times and I'm not the girl online walking her dog and being with her son or with her family at UC that my followers see. Sometimes as a boss I have to make a pretty difficult decision that you're not gonna like. And so that parasocial relationship was very difficult for me to navigate and it goes back to me trying to be liked by everyone and now I realize that I don't really care about that as much anymore. Do you think that you still want to hire people that are so bought into the brand because they followed you for so long or now do you wanna hire people that don't actually follow you aren't necessarily like a fan of Chrissy but just wanna build in the spaces that you're building in? - I hire people who are relevant for the role. Some know who I am and can like manage it and some have no idea who I am and that's like the best feeling in the world because you're building honor and you're building a worldview which are my two businesses you're not building me. If I want a team for my personal brand I will have a personal brand team and I know a lot of founder to business relationships people say you are the business, the business is you which yes to some extent but honor is so big now that it kind of surpasses me as an individual. If you'd asked me that question maybe three years ago it would have been a different answer if you asked me the question now I would arguably say that honor is bigger than me. That's how I feel about it. Do you feel misunderstood as a founder and as an entrepreneur? - I don't think I'm given the same understanding because of having a platform to a brand that was faceless. So because I'm so exposed and my community of access to me and all of my team have access to my social media I feel like I am under the microscope a lot and it puts so much pressure because if I say certain things if I act a certain way then I have to go back in the office and everyone has seen that whereas normally you don't have that relationship with your boss so you don't have that relationship with your team you clock out you don't know what your boss is doing on the weekend but for me I still have to maintain a community and I want to maintain a community but that's open to everyone. So I think I'm definitely under I would say a lot more scrutiny than a brand that has no face behind it. Well in front of it and you can't really just send a message on DM or text them. Oh I saw that you walked to this on the weekend. How did it go and I'm like wait a minute I don't even know about your weekend. So I can't even have a normal conversation with you 'cause you know all about my life I don't know anything about you. So I think tons of a question yes. Yeah, even in your body language I can tell that there's like multiple sides of you and I think this is what the whole point of this podcast is and it was really interesting actually watching the DOAC recording last night because it was one of the first questions that Steven asked you was like do you feel like you are underestimated because of the platform that you have based on how even how big your business is today and it feels like there's a lot more to that story that you're like excited to talk about today is that a fair assumption? Oh gods, I don't know how to navigate that question because I'm so lucky with what I do and I never had the things I have today [BLANK_AUDIO]
ever I never had the privileges I have today I didn't grow up in it so I don't want to necessarily lose it and if you've never come from something like that especially if you have that immigrant mentality in you you feel like you're gonna lose at any moment and you feel like you can't see being chased that's how you always feel so you're always on flight and and flight mode right and I'm very cautious of that because I don't want to lose it but also at the same time I don't want to change who I am and I don't want to be under the surveillance of other people's opinions and judgments and start to completely alter who I am just to keep what I have and I'm getting close to basically telling myself that it's okay to have nothing but have your freedom then have everything and be in this under the surveillance of everyone else's opinion so I'm getting really close to changing that perception of myself where's before I was like you must be a good girl you must be like you must be everyone's cup of tea to now I'm like fuck that. Ranging the business that on a scale is not for the lighthearted it is a some serious shit you know having over 200 employees is some serious shit and it's scary and it's nerve-wracking and you can't afford all have time to be anyone else but you you know when you're navigating it how would you describe the real you like no surveillance like you get to be Chrissy both in the workplace and online like who is that person if you were to ring me and tell me that you've been arrested I wouldn't ask you what it's for I'd ask you how much bell money you need that's who I am meaning like I'm not gonna judge you anything you've done I've probably heard it before I will look out for you I will have your back I will support you anything you need but I also have like a no bullshit tolerance so if you are not loyal if you are not gonna have my back like I have yours I don't want anything to do with you there's no like in between with me we're either like right or die or like get me the shovel where we hide in the body why did you need me to hide the body but there's no in between with me so that's how I would say I am and do you feel like you've had to not show that side more and more and more online because of how big honor is gone or because you've had so many more people follow you that like the pressure and stakes feel a lot higher and the microscope feels like it's getting a lot closer to you I actually think I'm becoming more open okay it's interesting I actually feel like I'm not as reserved I'm more like this is who I am so I even started a TikTok account called unfiltered Chrissy for like shits and giggles and on now I post anything it's so random and it was never with the intention to grow it was always with the intention of let me just show you like who I really am not this polished version of who you think I am and I've built probably the strongest connections doing that rather than being so curated online where you feel unreachable and I can't stress this enough is that if you are a founder with a platform and you want to grow your business or if you're somewhere the platform that wants a business please be so authentically you because no one can use it against you and I've seen a lot of founders be like a goody two shoes and be perfect then when they do something wrong it comes back to bite them in the us because they have perceived as this like angel and it's like oh wait I heard that you were bitch whereas like people know that I'm actually just like sometimes a bitch what I need to be but it's better like it's better to be who you are I a thousand percent agree and I think it's a it's an industry and macro change of females in business because I think there's been a cycle right if you look at like the Emily Wises of the world it's like as soon as you get to a certain point you are just pulled down when you are a woman later and I think why I was so excited to have you here one I think you're one of the founders has one of the biggest platforms that's come on to the show but I think specifically in the industry that you are building in it is been built by male founders in the billion dollar athletes are category so like Lululemon Viori alo yoga these are built by these are billion dollar brands built by men and I feel like you are building a billion dollar brand built by a female yeah so having that inherently female leadership style is so important how do you think of yourself building towards a billion dollar brand first of all I'm gonna achieve it whether whether anyone likes or not I am going to achieve it and it's not even to do with the cash it's the principle it's the principle that there's never been an athlete your brand that's majority founded by a woman who's ever hit unicorn status so all of this active where we're wearing as women has been predominantly founded if not all founded by men and to me I'm like oh my gosh come on give us a chance give women a chance so not only is the founding story of honor active so unbelievably authentic like I have a personal training qualification and strength training I trained millions of women online and thousands of women offline and I knew what women were looking for so I catered for myself I never tried to be something that I wasn't I didn't fall into specific trends majority of what we do are honest strength training and every woman in the world should be strength training doesn't mean you have to go lift four hundred pounds at a time even if you're lifting ten pounds that's absolutely amazing but I know what women want I know that they want to be enhanced in certain things or maybe hide in a way certain things certain colors are more flattering than other colors certain silhouettes fabrics that's my passion that's what I want to do and the whole status of honor becoming a billion dollar babies that's what I call it because it's so young still it's five years old it's crazy to me yeah five years old and yeah the growth has been insane but it's the principle of I am also doing this for all the young girls that grew up with nothing they didn't have anything they didn't have like a safety net they didn't have their mum and dad's guiding them sorry it's just no it's really powerful you know I'm building this for them I'm building this so they understand that you can achieve it and you can have it and you can do it and I want them to know that if someone is going to drag you down that's on them because no one powerful drags you down they support you and pull you up so that's the status of the billion dollar of the billion dollar mark rather than the cash but the cash is nice too sorry guys it's got emotional for no reason it's not for no reason I think because even if you just look at the facts of it I just said right like females are the most pressurized part of society for how they look yet all of these billion dollar brands and athletes are have been built by the opposite sex and I've always found it really fascinating when I look at you know the female founder landscapes specifically in that leisure there's a lot of brands that get caught in that like under 50 million dollar revenue mark like there's a lot of incredible female founders I think that will even listen to this that are at like you know 10 to 20 to 30 million for that leisure but just like can't seem to break through that ceiling and I want to know from someone who has which we're going to get into like what does it take as a leader to get through that 50 million dollar ceiling oh I mean where do I start this morning I was a proven social content and the business has grown a hundred percent year on year and I'm still a proven social content I think as a founder you have to be willing to do everything you're the jack of all trades and the master of none that's the way I see it but you also have to lean into what you're really passionate about so for me it's product I love product I'm obsessed with it if I'm not in the product room or in my little studio room at home I'm come shopping I'm in museums I'm doing things like to just understand how honor can produce the best act of wear on the market without an extortion at price meaning you don't have to pay a hundred and thirty dollars for a pair of leggings that's US dollars may I add not Australian dollars it doesn't need to be like that but that then means who else handles all the other bits so you have to be really good at navigating where you need to let go so one of the best decisions I ever made was three years into the business I hired a CEO and that CEO was actually my mentor and he was brought in by my ops manager and he was the CEO of Victoria Beckham at the time and he was like I don't want to work with other celebrities or influencers but you know and not in a disrespectful way I think he was just he just needed some time because he'd been a CEO for such a long time and he's a brilliant CEO I was like okay just mentor me just mentor me you don't have to come in as CEO just mentor me and so he ended up mentoring me for good like 18 to 20 months and he saw that I wasn't just going approved yeah don't care about that because a lot of people have this perception about celebrities and influencers whacking their face on it not giving a shit and an off you go as an influencer you can't afford to do that I'm sorry Because you've built everything on your own.
of your community, they will see straight through that. So hiring a CEO and convincing him to come over was really, really important. Leaning into the things that you are greater as a founder is your superpower. But also being the jack of all trades, like nothing is below you. You know, I will never freaking forget when I had an event in Melrose, 3000 women showed up to that event. I went and checked the fucking toilets to see if there was shit in the toilets. It was, yeah, I don't care. Telling anyone, as I'm not having any of my community members experience that, like everything they touch, smell and see has to be the on-a-verse. So I don't want them to step into a toiter and experience that. I was going and checking every single toilets. I didn't want anyone else to do that. I'm happy to do that. Don't worry about it. Not that anyone said they wouldn't. But my point being is don't start getting cocky up hairs 'cause you're the founder and you think you're too high and mighty for the little things. But I think that's what makes female founders like so incredibly exceptional and different. And I think going back to what you said about, like even just the focus on product, right? Because I think you talk about four key movements that mimic a women's menstrual cycle as part of the honor identity, values in terms of product design. Can you expand on that a little bit more? Yes, so this actually came about when I was pregnant with my son. So I always say like he's my biggest blessing from a personal perspective, but also from a business perspective. And my body obviously changed so much the way I was moving changed so much and the act of where I had built prior to pregnancy was very different to post pregnancy and during pregnancy. So it was very much like seamless, tight, enhanced in scrunchbub. And then when he came along, I was like, oh my god, I need stretchy, I need flow, I need comfort, this is too much for me. So the on a cycle basically consists of four key pillars. Lift in, hybrid, stretch and living. And living is kind of like rest and recovery in dual outdoor living. And essentially if you look at your menstrual cycle, you're kind of the strongest at the top, then you go into feeling your sexiest, which is your hybrid and you're like running and jumping. Then you're about to enter your menstrual cycle so we put you into stretch and then finally living, which is you're on your menstrual cycle, slow it the fuck down. So encompassing that strategy, one has never been done before in active wear, two, it's now really given my team a North Star. Does anything you're doing cater for one of these pillars? What are we building today? Are we building for lift? Are we building for hybrid? Are we building for stretch? And each one of those pillars consists of 25% of the business. So 25% of the product franchises. And that means we will always sustain being a 75% athletic performance brand first 'cause the 25% is only the living part. And that also removes us from having more competition 'cause a lot of active wear brands are machar and like chilling and going for shopping, but we want to sustain being a true movement brand for women. So if I was to die tomorrow, they would use that and go along with it. It's just fascinating to think about a woman listening to this and not wanting to purchase your brand because I personally run my entire life off of my cycle. And I went and spoke at Duke University, shout out to the girls who still listened to it from Duke. And I remember answering a question that was not at all based on my menstrual cycle and saying like I actually have harder conversations at work when I'm in my follicular phase because I'm not as prone to being emotional as I would be during my loodial phase. And it was really interesting because I guess like maybe it's a younger generation thing but so many of them were like really taken aback by that. And I'm interested for you personally, like not just based on the products and like how you're actually building the business but like how critical is it for a woman listening to this to really take up like listen to how important it is syncing your cycle and applying that to her life. - Oh my God, it's so important because when you're dealing with blocs, they don't understand. You know, even my poor fiance with like I love my entire heart, I'm like move it. Move the thing, he's like, whoa, what's going on with you? And I'm like, I don't know, I don't know what's going on and then he's like, oh my God, I can't know what's going on because he understands what's happening but like I may have missed that I'm due on because I'm so frantic at work or with my baby or whatever but I think what we experience as women first of all periods every month, then perimenopause, then menopause, potentially pregnancy if that's what you want. Then on top of all of that it's looking a certain way, articulating yourself a certain way. Even sports like look at female sports, certain sports are deemed as too aggressive, a masculine, certain physics are deemed as too aggressive, a masculine. So it's like, oh my gosh, what do we do? So I can't stress it enough where moving your body within your cycle, wearing the right active wear within your cycle because there is a massive difference why I've created soft motion under stretch because it's so stretchy. So when you're feeling bloated, you're not going to feel like shit. Whereas when you're wearing something tight and you're bloated, it's not going to work. Is that why you have not gone into men's? I will never go into men's ever. - Expend on that. - Period, done. There's enough, honey. There's just enough of you. You've only acted wear wild as founders. You own sports, leave me alone. This is for the girls. I want it to be for the girls by the girls with the girls and I have nothing against men. I love men. But I just want to keep this, I call it the onaverse. I want to keep it us. I want to create an oasis where women come and train and they're in the sauna and steam room and they feel comfortable. I want to create on a hubs, which is our retail spaces, which the first ones launch in New York. Whether girls can come and they feel comfortable and they feel considered. So I love men and anyone can wear ona, but I do want this to be female first. - Have you ever created a piece of content that's ready to go live? You've were in the caption, but instead of hitting publish, your finger just covers. And then you don't. You just don't put it live. Well, I've done that more times than I can count. When I first started posting content, I found publishing to be the worst part. But through the years of posting every single day, I learned that if you're waiting to feel confident enough before you start posting, then you're going to be waiting forever. Because confidence actually comes once you hit publish. My partners at Stan built their AI coach Stanley to help you and other creators show up consistently. Stanley pulls from your own content. It learns your voice and helps you turn your thoughts into posts that you can publish every single day. You don't need to be perfect to start. You just actually need to start and then keep going. And Stanley will help you do that. So search Stanley now. You can learn more at stanley.stan.store. I saw this hilarious threads this morning that said, as soon as a man enters the Pilates Studio, like I can feel the peace leaving the room. And I could not relate to it more where it's like you're in an all-girl class, like no matter what happened, it's fine. And then a man comes in and you're just like, the whole vibe is gone. But I think it's hard to keep your eye on the prize because people vote with their dollars. And I'm so interested to dig in a little bit to the growth of the business because you have built such an incredibly sized company just for females without getting distracted of like, okay, we need to increase revenue. Let's go this way. So to brag a little bit, last year, you made $9 million in one week from two drops. And that was just five years in business. How do you manufacture something like that? I still think on as a bit of an anomaly. Like I still lay in bed and I can't make sense of it. So last year, we ended the year on $119 million. US, yes, US dollars. Yeah. And till this day, I don't take it for granted. I lay in bed and I'm like, oh, it's gonna go tomorrow. Okay, well that was fun because I'm like, how, why, why is this happening? And so I never get cocky with her and I'm always like, how can I make about it? How can I, how can I make customer service better? Shipping faster because we've had all these issues in the past. How do we clean it up? How do we make it better? But I think the number one stat that always shocks me with honor is that our attention rate is up to 85 to 90%. So you never just purchase once. And what's crazy is that our availability of stock now has increased 10 folds that people were buying once every three months, they're buying once every four weeks at honor. It is obscene. Like when I look at these numbers, it is obscene. And I do think it is 100% because of the community that we've built. And that comes from number one, me building the community first of my platform. And there is a big difference between someone having loads of numbers 'cause sometimes they don't convert. I've seen influencers that I've hired with millions of followers and they can't sell peanuts. [BLANK_AUDIO]
So I'm like, oh, right. What's happened here? So creating a community that actually converts is a business in itself. And it's a craft in itself and not many people can do. And then the second thing is maintaining that retention rate is so important and then that comes through product. So, you know, your campaigns could be amazing. Your events could be sick. Your shipment could be like 24 hours, but if your product is really bad and you're not considerate, no one's going to have that retention rate. You have had a few viral products but nothing probably stands out like your straight leg bottoms. Yeah. Can you explain the phenomenon of that a little bit? You know, that product was never meant to be made. Well, I heard that you came up with it during pregnancy. Is that true? Yes. I hear pregnancy gives you like a brain where you can't think and all these horrible lies. I think we're told about pregnancy. Yeah. And then I'm reading and looking at your research and I'm like, her most viral product was developed as she had this set of pregnancy brain. I need to know about this. You know what it was? I was walking in Abakini and I kept seeing girls west straight leg joggers. And I was a tantrum my fiance at the time, shout out my fiancee who always listens to my ideas. And I go to him, oh my god, everything's so heavy. Like I wish we had something light as a straight leg. And he was like, just make it then. Like you talk about it, make it. And I was like, you know what, you're down my I can make it. So at the time, we developed our fabric called soft motion. So it's trademarked to the fabric to the company. And it took us two years to develop that fabric. So what really happened on hand with the mill, our fabric technician in house, she's incredible. And I said to the team, can we add a straight leg and they were like, oh, we don't know. And at the time, I had this incredible designer who I loved till this day. And she always took all my ideas crazy, wacky. And she always made me feel safe. And she was like, let's just try it. And then she pushed for it. I pushed for it because you also have to battle with buying a merch. Like, is this commercial, is this going to trade? Because I can have a gut feeling as a founder, but it might not necessarily sell to a market or a product might be too ahead of its time with Caprice, for example, if I had launched Caprice three years ago, it would have been way too ahead of time. So they were, I'm in an hour and it was a late ad in. I remember posting it, post pregnancy, I was about four months postpartum. I was wearing a blue straight leg pan. And I just did a turn. I just, I just put my hands up and I was like, I think I made the best wide leg pants. Did a 360 turn 15 second videos, put tape McCray on the back, posted it, didn't think much of it, woke up 7 million views. 7 million TikTok views. I was like, what? And then in the car, I was like, is, do I have a camel toe? Like, what is going on for the comments? I want these pants. I want these pants. And then that's when the hate came. Why is this never in stock? You don't know what you're doing. You clearly don't know what you're doing. You're giving it all to influencers. And I was like, guys, I can't make 7 million units of stock. It's impossible, especially with custom blended fabric. You can't just pick and plot. So yeah, that was kind of crazy. Do you think it's possible to post online and only receive success? No. So there's something like that bother you. Oh, it bothers me a lot. It bothered me a lot because I was like, you know, you want people to be happy and you want people to have a positive experience with your brand and, you know, no founder sets out to create a negative experience that work or for their community. They know one does that. And so when something happens that's out of your control, such as a video going viral, I always say this going viral is not a good thing. I always say this to people. You are so much better off spending three years growing your community really steady. Then go viral in three months. And you have an influx of people who know nothing about you. And I just going to want to tear you down because they don't know why you've become so quote unquote famous. So yeah. Is that a muscle that you build? Yeah. Just by habit, like it just happens and you just get used to it or there are things that people can do that like prepare them for what's about to come. If you reach that success, which everyone listening to the show wants to be. I don't know why people want to be so famous. It still tickles my brain till this day. If I could have the business, the growth of the business and none of the platform, I would take that option and a heartbeat in my opinion. But I would love to have the community without the platform. I can't explain it like, no, it makes complete sense to me because I guess we just had on this show, Cody Sanchez says there's nothing worse than being famous and poor. If you can be rich and unknown, that is like the best outcome for everyone. But I think it's actually unfair to not talk about the fact that females in my opinion are finally catching up because this relevancy that we have is a form of currency. The followers that you have the attention that you can actually get from people, the respect that we can have as women, I don't think that there was the same level of ability to do that pre-social media for women. And so I think it's one of those things where it's like a blessing in a curse, right? Because it's like having that cultural currency actually puts us on a level where we can compete with men in a way that I just don't think was possible before. But I get what you're saying because it's like, if you could do it over again, it would be easier, but would you really trade it based on the community that you've built? You know, I said it earlier where I'm like, I would rather have nothing than be in the surveillance of people because I think your happiness and freedom are absolutely priceless. And before anyone says, oh, but you haven't been poor, I've been poor. I've been homeless. I've been poor. I've been homeless. I've had to live with my best friend for two years. I've had to pull my mom out of a bathtub because she wanted to kill herself. I've had to deal with a gambling addiction dad. Like, I know what it's like. And I would still choose my happiness and peace over people's surveillance over me and control over me. And I just would never trade my peace for anything. With that being said, I read a really interesting fact actually. It was from is it my, is it what's the thing like my shot or shot my shot? There's another one called link link, like to know it, like something like that. And they were responsible from 2011 for over 400 millionaires. Yeah, something crazy like all women. Like majority, I think it was like 99 percent women. And the thing is about the creator economy is that it's run by women. It's the first time that we are creating as a world and industry like women are becoming millionaires in their own rights. And I think that that's such a powerful thing. And we have to lean into it more. And even with honor, like we have an ambassador program. And we actually pay for, I think it's about 45 ambassadors are on our payroll. And some of these ambassadors are making bank rightfully so. You know, they put in the work, they create exceptional content for the business. And I would rather give those creators money. And also our community can also become affiliates. If we love their content and they get 10 percent commission on any sales that they may. And if they do exceptional, we put them on a payroll as well. So I would rather do that than give it to like ad spend or, you know, other ways where I don't really know where this money is going. So I think if we can create more economies to feel more women becoming millionaires and make more money than they could have ever imagined to help their families help their careers. Like I don't know, I don't understand what anyone would even question that. You know, you know, what I can understand as you're saying that, like what I think about is if you put that into perspective for like what this creator economy can do for women in society, how do we still have female founders that tear other female founders down or pin against each other? Have you seen that? Have you seen that? Are you joking? Is someone done that to me? No, but I kind of think that there's like, okay, when Iser's first started posting content, who's done that to you? I think it's more so just like the female founder community, we still have that mentality where it's like one of us can succeed, right? And I think that there is this mentality of like, we're doing this campaign right now with one of our brand partners where it's all about posting every single day. And the biggest theme that I had to communicate to people was like posting through the cringe, posting through caring what people are going to think about you, posting through the hate. And if you think about what the creator economy for women can actually do, and then you think about all of the things that are working against that, the hate comments, the criticism, like the embarrassment, and not supporting. I still feel like there is quite a lot of that that people have to push their way through. You never face that when you were building your brand? No, I faced that. I thought you meant like in terms of other. the founders because, you know, like if you need my help, I would do anything in my power to help you because, you know, like same, same for you to me because that's just what you do when you want other people to succeed on your level. And, you know, when you are successful, you provide support. That is just how I've always seen it. And, you know, there's another quote when you're pretty, you give a compliment, when you're rich, you give money, whatever the fuck that is. But point being, oh my god, anyone that's sat hating in their little room or calling you cringe because you've put yourself out there is a loser. Like they are an absolute loser. They are weird and they are a loser. And I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I've never had the desire to say and comment, oh my god, you're so cringed, oh my god, your business is going to fail. Like that doesn't even register in my head. And if I saw my friend do that, they wouldn't be my friend, put it that way. But to your point, yes, it is other women doing it. When I even look on TikTok, a lot of the people making cancel videos and whatnot is women making it about other women, which I've never understood. And there's this, this sense of righteousness where it's like, I'm spilling the tea. I'm telling you the truth about this person. And it's just like, honey, have you never done anything wrong in your life to sit and judge in the comfort of your own home? Have you never done one mistake? You've gone through life as a pure angel and you've never messed up. You've never needed a second chance in your life. And now I'm not talking about crazy, crazy shit, you know. But in business, you're going to make constant mistakes and you're going to, you're going to have to deal with those consequences, especially being front facing, which I am. But at the same time, you have to give women grace. You have to give them grace because you would want the same grace back. Totally. So someone left listening to this that wants to reinvent their life, like they want to rebrand. You have a six step process to set goals at the beginning of the year. Oh my God. Is this my rebrand process? Yeah. That was intense. My six step rebranding routine. And may I preference by saying you don't have to rebrand yourself, but there's always room to improve. So the first thing I said was stop seeing yourself as a person and start seeing yourself as a brand. I got a lot of hate for that. I love that. Yeah. I really think it was like an unlock for me where when you said like set KPI's to it, why would we not hold herself to the same standard that is right? You become too personal. And the thing is when you're setting yourself goals, it has to be more like KPI and structured because then you become disciplined and disciplined gives you freedom. So I think by creating it, seeing yourself more as a brand also helps you envision yourself in a more 360 manner, because I don't build my brand with the tunnel vision of one focus. I build it as like, how does this impact everything in my brand? So for example, if I start going to the gym three days a week, how will that impact my entire well being and life? So that's a KPI, for example. People got very emotional over it because I called humans brands over people and that's not really what I meant from the emotional side. I meant it was like, like a logical thing inside. Then the other thing was choose a rebrand name tagline. Again, this is really important. I do this to honor. So one of the things for this year was equity for honor. How can we saturate our equity? Every decision that we make must enhance it. So for example, it could be boss babe, financial independence finally, the year I became a creator. So what's your tagline and that's going to be your north star that you always try and aimful? Then I went into divide and into H1 and 2, which is six month milestones because a lot of people do monthly milestones and I feel that's very overwhelming, especially fitness goals because you can't really see that much results in four weeks. You'll feel good, but it'll take a good two to three months to see some legitimate results if you're consistent. And I always say that to all of my overall view community, whenever I used to post on YouTube, I used to say stop looking for a quick fix. Four weeks is not enough. You'll feel good in four weeks, you'll see results in three months. So by putting it in H1 and 2, it gives you six months, which gives you less pressure. And then I put smaller monthly goals. So this is more like health and wellness. So going to the gym three days a week, finances. So maybe you don't want Matt coffee. Maybe you'll put in that six dollar matcha aside every single day. Will that be a small little habit that you do? But again, it matches nice. So you know, you do with your money, what you will. Autopilot goals. This was really important and I realise a lot of people don't have this. Whenever you build a business, you've got to have, like call it autopilot and foundations. Are your foundations ticking along right before you can start doing like the big things? And recently, we went through this phase where a lot of things were going wrong because we grew. So we're going from startup to scale up. And it's got messy. So all these processes have leaks because the things that worked two years ago, no longer work now. So me and my CEO have had to sit back and we've been like, right, everything that we decide to change, we're going to give people 24 hour critical thinking period where you're going to sit and you're going to think about what you want to bring to the table during this process. You're not going to decide on this meeting. You're going to digest it. You're going to think you're going to come back to us. And then when the process is changed, you're going to take a week and you're going to see if this process makes sense. And if we have to change it again, my point being is you can't reach for those incredible big goals if you don't have your foundations laid out and your foundations are a clean space. That should be an autopilot goal. Clean space, clean mind, making sure your car is clean. I know it's a little one, but having a messy car everywhere is going to make you feel really anxious, making sure that you're moving your body, making sure that you're not on your phone as much. These are autopilot things that you just naturally adopt. Again, they'll give you more freedom. And then the final one is, be honest with yourself. And again, I think a lot of people set themselves really unrealistic goals, like I want to be on the cover of Vogue in a year, but you've never even gone online. So it's like great, like I want that for you, but let's start slow and build it up because thing you're not disappointing yourself. And I think when you disappoint yourself, you really like hurt your ego. I'm so happy that you're in the chair because I think you've obviously adopted these principles across like everything in your life, right? It's like your story is a reflection of that rebrand principle that you just said. While I have you in the chair talking around motivation, because it was really interesting to me that this year, the number one resolution was for people to move their body more and to work out more than even like saving money, eating while it was like movement. But it's hard to keep a routine. What are the small things that people can be doing to build the muscle of motivation? I think start and slow. Because if you've never been to the gym before, if you've never worked out before, setting yourself these big goals is so overwhelming. And then if you fail, you're just going to feel really shitty about yourself and no one should be feeling like that. You know, we have enough pressure from external opinions. You don't want to add that pressure to yourself. So I would say start slow. If you're going to the gym even twice a week, that is phenomenal. You should be really proud of yourself. Then after four to six weeks, you've adapted a bit of a routine. Now up to three. Okay. Now in two months time, add another fourth. And you're going to see that you're going to be a bit more gentle with yourself. And I think the number one thing is people have zero patients with themselves. They have patients that everyone else around them. They'd give their ex-boyfriends a million second chances. They'd give their best friend a million chances, but they don't give themselves the patients and grace that they would give other people. So I definitely think if you genuinely want to succeed in anything you want to do in your life, you have to take it slow, which is like a count of what founders do because we're always agile. But if you want a serious change, you have to take it slow. How do you set goals? Like even work out goals, financial goals, business goals, like what is that framework for you? Like I have a mentality where I have nothing. So I spend below my means. And like I'm quite careful with it. So with finances, I always just like, underspend. But is it like a numerical? Like I need to make this or save this amount because I feel like no, hide themselves to these things that are so arbitrary? I'm not driven by cash. I know, I know a lot of people say that, but like ask anyone, probably should be sharing this, but like we've had our evaluation of the business. It's it's obscene. And like that evaluation of the business is could potentially be up to half a billion. So like I owe 50% of this business. That doesn't excite me. You still own 50%. I owe 50% of honor. I don't sit and I go, oh my god.
I'm worth X. I don't sit there and and like get gassed over that. In my head, I'm like, how many retail spaces can I open it two years? Yeah, dare are. So I don't get driven by like a fancy car. I have a nice car, but I don't need 20 cars. I have a nice bag, but I don't need thousand bags. And like maybe that will change over time. In this phase of my life, it's not my bill or end all. It might change. My fitness goals changed as well. I used to be like, I need to lift 250 pounds of squat for reps. And now I'm like, I really hope I make it to the gym today. So it's just like, I think your goals change as you evolve through life. Now my biggest goal is spending as much time with my son as possible in all honesty above everything. So again, they just change maybe one is like 10 years old and I'm bored of them. And I'm like, Oh, it's time for you to leave at 18. I'll be like, Oh, what, what can I go do now? So yeah, what do you think? I genuinely get so motivated by like a win. Is that publicly or personally like I want to win publicly. I want honor to be the best in the game. Like that excites me when I feel like we've made something groundbreaking or when I feel like we've made something that is sick. Oh my gosh, like I have my high of the week. When I feel like we haven't my low is low. So like, if you could just leave me in a room and not talking me for a week. I'll come out after a week and be fine. But the highs are really high and the lows are really low with that brand. I must admit for me personally. So I'm learning to navigate it a bit better. And I don't really have vices. So I don't really drink. I don't smoke. I don't do crazy shit. So my vice is the gym. I train a lot when I need to like blow some steam because it's my escape and the gym has always been my safe haven. But winning is definitely the thing that drives me over anything else. It's so funny. I broke up with a boy in the past because I was obsessed with him and he was super successful. And I remember my favorite question to ask people is like, when are you genuinely the most happy. My husband's answer would probably be like, with my family, like at a dinner table, just like talking about our legacy and like talking about making it impact on the world. The boy that I dated before looked at me straight dead in the eye and was like winning. That was when I'm like, you would eat one piece of steak. No, but it was just hilarious. It was like when he was the most happy was when he was winning. And I would say that like, there's a part of me that relates to that. Surely you would never get this far if you didn't want to win. Come on. And by the way, the reason I asked it to you in this way was like, it is publicly as well. Yeah, I always I was an athlete growing up. I always perform bass when people were watching like my coach would die of laughter when there was cute boys coming to the volleyball volleyball game. I would perform 10x more than I would if no one was watching that I was trying to impress. And I think that people that are specifically building personal brands would be lying if there wasn't a little bit of that I want to win publicly. They're lying. They're lying. They want to come across this humble and sweet. And it's just like, no, I'm sorry. Then why you on a podcast? You want to be seen. Why are you on social media? Why are you taking press shots? Like, come on, go, don't try and act like you don't want the world to see you winning. You want the world to see you winning. And you should want the world to see you winning. Well, and I think that's where it gets hard for people to contextualize that because there's no nuance anymore. It's like, I want to make an impact for women the same way that you do. But there is a piece of it inside of both of us as founders that like want to win. And it's, it's both. It's not one or the other, but I feel like the world has made it so hard to have that nuance now. It's like it's either one or the other. And I've been so fascinated because I used to work for celebrities. And it's so interesting thinking about a music artists career, right? Because you have times where you're recording the records. You're in the studio. You're not really in the public eye. You're not doing interviews that you're really private in those moments focusing on your art. And then there's the cycle where you go on tour. You're doing every single interview. You're doing Vogue. What's in my bag, arg, digest, like every single thing that you can do to put yourself out there to promote whatever project that you're doing. And then the cycle continues. And it's kind of like this. And there's a way for people to keep parts of their life private when they want to have those ebbs and flows. Whereas when you're building a crater brand, it's a lot harder to go through those ups and downs because people have expectations of you. And it was really interesting when I was doing research and I was talking to my team that's, you know, from the UK and has watched you for the last decade. There have been times where you've been a lot more public and then there's been times where you're like a lot more quiet and a lot more private. And so I'm interested in how you've been able to figure that out, keeping the relevancy the way that you have while also keeping parts of yourself private during certain areas of your life. Oh, wow, you asked really good questions. I'm not sure if anyone's told you that you asked the best questions. Like, I've been on so many podcasts and you're like the best. Sorry, say anyone else. I love you all both. Stephen, you heard it. Oh, Stephen. Oh, Stephen boy. We, we, it's been a while. Do you know what it is? I was very public about my relationships online, like exceptionally public about them. So I was engaged last 22, which is mad. Don't recommend if you're happy, go for it. But I think I just kind of did it at the time because I didn't really have a stable family life with my personal family and he provided that until this day, I absolutely adore him. I still work with him. He's my co-founder of Evolvue. I love him to death. He is one of the people that I still trust till this day, but it just didn't work out romantically and that's OK, but that was really public online. And then I moved over to my ex and by one, this all happened in my 20s. So then I moved over to my ex and everyone was very positively, you know, receiving that news and they were very encouraging and that relationship lasted three years, which. In my perspective, three years is a success, three years of a relationship, but it didn't feel right. And now I'm with my fiance, but through all of that, it was all very public. But when I got with my fiance, who is the father of my child and the man I want to marry, there was so much chaos. I've never been called more of a slag and a slot in my entire life by women. I've never had more threads made about me. I've never had so much gossip and nonsense that wasn't even true spread about me. Whilst I was still building on her and whilst I was pregnant, so I was just like, what the fuck is going on here? And bear in mind, all of this was happening in 10 years of my 20s. So I dated three people in my 20s. And even if I dated 13 or 30, what the fuck do you care? Like it's weird that you're this obsessed with how many people I'm dating. But the mistake I made was I shared it all. And so I think that there was a fine line between sharing because you connect. And a lot of girls connected to my story and they were like, I was engaged really young. I didn't want to be with him. I met someone then it didn't work or your relationship has inspired me not to tolerate like. So I saw a media overseas and I know that I can be happier elsewhere, but the other side was so unbelievably toxic. And this negative narrative around women who date multiple people in their 20s are named something. But men who do the same are not like, oh bro, check you out. You know, where's with the woman? It's like, oh my god, another one. And I'm like, actually not enough. Not enough. I should have been shaking us in me can ask more in my 20s. But you know, like in my head, I'm I think that's what pulled me back from sharing a lot. Because then I became a mother and then my son came to the world. And in fact, we actually had a scary moment where I was so comfortable sharing things that people knew I lived and my address got leaked. And that's when we were like, we have to move. So that was really scary. And then even worse, people would show up at campaign shoots. So I would just be shooting with my team and people would be showing up and saying, can I be part of the campaign, which is so amazing. But at the same time, it's like, oh my god, it's because I overshared the locations and which was silly. But again, I didn't think much of it. I was just like, well, I'm just sharing my life of my community. But there's two ends to the spectrum. There is genuinely the people that care about you and our beautiful people. And then there are people that take it too far. So then it taught me to never share real time again. And also never overshare certain things and never share something that you don't want discussed. That's what I do now.
so if I don't want something discussed publicly or on threads or on TikTok, I don't share it. Is there anything more disruptive than a hangover? Minor? So bad that I can barely drink anymore unless I'm celebrating a big moment, but I still love a ritual that signals the end of the day. So saying goodness I came across Vesper by our sponsor, Peak. Angels, you already know how much I love Peak's wellness products like their matcha. Every single one combines science and powerful botanicals to help shift your mood. So when they sent me Vesper, they're adeptogenic upper teeth. I was very intrigued. Vesper is made with ingredients that help you relax and sleep better, but also ingredients that help you stay more present in conversations. As far as I'm concerned, this is the new standard for relaxation, especially after a chaotic busy day when I just want to unwind and chill. If you'd like to give it a try or get 10% off peak for life, head to peaklife.com/HSR. Cheers! I'm obsessed with anything that makes my money work harder, without me doing any more work. Last month, I told you about our incredible sponsor belt, which lets you earn points on every rent payment you make. To use on flights, hotels, lift rides, amazon.com purchases, and so much more. Well, as of now, built members can now earn points on mortgage payments too. Crazy, so whether you own or rent your home, you'll get rewarded. And built benefits list is incredible. 45,000 restaurants fitness studios, pharmacies. Just to name a few, the list goes on. This is the kind of low effort, high impact move that adds up fast, especially if you're investing and want your money working for you in the background. And it's not about spending more. It's about being strategic with what you already spend. If you're paying rent or a mortgage every month, you might as well turn it into something that fuels your lifestyle because it's expensive. So head to joinbuilt.com/HSR to sign up and start getting rewarded on one of life's biggest expenses. That's joinbuilt.com/HSR. Make sure you use our URLs so that they know we sent you. How do your male co-founders and leadership at honor think about your personal brand as Chrissy? Oh, they have no choice. But you know what's funny, I must admit, I had my tits done after my son. And I told I had to tell them, I was like, okay, guys, I'm just getting my boobs done. And I'm getting my nose done just so you know. And they were like, right, okay, what does that mean? I'm like, I'll have the surgery. I'll be back in two days. But then I had like, I had to go to New York for potential, like, invest in meetings and whatnot. I could have not go to New York because I had a tick job. Do you know what I'm trying to say? Like, that would make you seem inappropriate. So I flew, which I don't recommend, to New York four days postpart in my boob job. My boobs nearly like exploded in the air. I was in so much pain. But I made it to the meeting because I was like, I don't want them thinking I'm like, ditsy and stupid, not that you are. But you know, what I'm trying to say, people have perceptions. But they have no choice. That's how they met me. So my co-founder, my co-founder who is my co-founder for a Volvo view, I met him when I didn't even have a platform. So I grew the platform when I was with him. And then my co-founders for honor active who I love so dearly, they had known me as a creator for eight years beforehand. And so we had that trust. So they had no choice. And I think anyone who I go into business with next has to accept that that's part of the journey. Someone else listening to this that wants to pick a co-founder for their business, having picked a lot of different co-founders. What are your rules for success? And what would you never do again? Oh my God, so good. First of all, I think having a co-founder is a superpower. I can't stress enough how don't do it alone. I would never run a business on my own. Ever. I don't think it's a badge of honor. I think of running it with people that know better than you. And you know better than them, match made in heaven. And I always call it the "why guy" and the "how guy". Who's the "why" behind the business? I'm the "why". I'm the vision. I'm gonna take you to the North Star. They're the "how". How are we gonna do it? And so they start thinking about how we're gonna like break it down. So I would first ask the question of what are you trying to achieve? What are you trying to do? So in my case with honor, it was manufacturing and warehouse facility. That's what I was looking for. So I knew to go into business with people who already had that setup. And that was like the best thing I did because I utilized and incubated their setup onto my business. And then now it's like grown to the next level. And my co-founders have so much more experience. And so I just absorbed all that. And I took all that. And now I'm like fully formed. So I think definitely people have more experience than you. Definitely people who have the infrastructure that you're looking for, depending on what your business is. If you're the visionary and you're a little bit more creative, someone who's a little bit more logistical and pragmatic. But if you're like that, finding someone who's a bit more creative because you need both, I feel. So many girls listening to this want to find a life co-founder. And it's a really hard decision, right? It's like who is the perfect person for you? And I think it's hard because there is no one size formula fits all. But I am so interested because right when you were on Stephen's podcast, you talked about like who you thought the archetype of who you were going to end up with it. So talking about your life co-founder now, your partner, your fiance, like what is your guys as dynamic in terms of like doing life together? I always thought I was going to end up with someone who was more quiet than me. And I thought I was going to end up with someone who was a bit more passive because I'm so like, and we're both, he's the militant. If you know anything about Caribbean, they like to party, they like to have fun, they're all like not problem. Like we have a bit of tequila, it's a good time. And so in my head, it was completely opposite to who I thought I would end up with. And so I knew Vic for a really long time. I knew him for a decade, but I was never, it was never like that. He was at the time married, I was engaged, and we knew each other through the industry, but we didn't even have each other's numbers. And then one thing led after the other and we knew each other. And I was like, hold on a minute, I'm having a lot of fun with this guy. And like, I'm having a lot of fun learning. And I can't encourage every woman listening to this to find a partner that teaches them. I learned so much with Vic. He has taught me so much about enjoying life, so much about being present in life, so much about even finances. And I'm constantly learning from him, constantly like absorbing his mind. And I didn't have that before. I felt like I was always the one teaching, and I found that really tiring because I was like teaching at work, then teaching at home, and then teaching my family. And I was like, who's going to come and teach me? Who's going to look after me? So he definitely looks after me. He definitely teaches me. I don't think that opposite's attract all the time. I think sometimes, but I think sometimes you need kind of the same dynamic as well because you understand each other more. And so we balance each other out like that because I get when he's overdone or he gets when I'm overdone. So yeah, I mean, he definitely is the the funnest part of my life, I would say. Yeah. That's amazing. It's so funny. I have a lot of really, really, really successful women in this chair. And a common theme that I think people don't necessarily want to hear is that being very masculine in your job as a female is what we want when you are a hyper performing ambitious, successful female. And it's more often than not. I can say the opposite dynamic that a lot of these women sitting here have at their home, which I was also never in before with my current husband. Like I dated people that I led. Like I was the leader. I was the educator. I was the person that really like had the answers, planned the things. And I think that there is this new wave where women that are hyper successful and ambitious at work that like are very born leaders. They actually want to be led in their private life and in their dynamic relationship. Is that true for you? Yeah. I remember being a podcast one once and I said this not got dragged online because I was like, I don't want to lead. I don't want to. And the song was like, what do you want a PA and an EA? And I was like, no, but hold on a minute because if the roles were reversed. And let's say the guy was on the podcast and he was paying for everything. He was booking everything. He was doing everything. He was leading everything. You would potentially call the girl a gold digger. But the other way around, you're saying the females too demanding and she wants an EA. Like which one is it? Because at the end of the day, I think that
A life partner is just that, a partner. If you see I've had a really difficult day at work, help me out. What can you do, have I eaten today maybe? Could you help me out there? I would do the same for you if the roles were reversed. So I definitely don't do any of the leading on my personal life. I don't know where any of the utility bills are. I don't know when the garbage goes out. I don't know when any of that stuff happens to be frank with you. I think we're moving again and he's handling it. I don't even know where I'm moving. I just co-along. But I can't do this part and also do this part. It's honestly virtually impossible. It's not that I don't want to. It's that I physically just can't do it all. But also Vic runs his own business. And he's hyper-hyper-hyper successful, but he wants to do those things. He finds enjoyment in leading, whereas I don't, and on my personal life. So it's also finding a partner that enjoys leading over you because I don't like doing that. With you and your ex because you guys started the business together, what are the lessons that you took? Because I've heard you say another podcast like that just stopped being romantic because it was so pragmatic of figuring out how are we growing the business? What are the lessons that you take from that to keep your relationship fun and exciting and not necessarily feel like it's just the same thing over and over again? I don't work with Vic. So I have honor. He has his business. We advise each other, like I say we're having dinner and we advise, but he has his thing I have my thing. If God forbid, we're ever to part ways. I still have my thing. You still have your thing. And I think that's really important. Having separation is so important. He has his hobbies. So he rides motorbikes. I do my things. I love beauty. I love treatment. So if I could be like to have a treatment a day, I would. And that's my hobbies. So like we have our own lives. Whereas with my ex, it was merged. So I run the business. We had the same hobby, the same friends, the same everything. So it became like a claustrophobic. Whereas with Vic, it gives me time to miss each other. So he tells me about what he's done at work. I tell him the chaos at honor and help me. I need help, what to do with this. And he helps me. And on the weekend, he goes rides his bike. I go and do my treatments. And I think that separation is really important. So the number one lesson is happen. Independent lives, as well as your lives together. Okay, speaking of that, we need to do some rapid fire. Yeah, I'm so interested in your answers. What is the last thing you put on your credit card? Oh my God. I'm at God. I think I paid a bill. I swear to God, I think I paid a bill. What bill? I think it was like the mortgage or something. Okay, hey, calories and food are drinks. A food? LA or London? LA, you're an LA girl now? No, I'm still not, I love New York over LA. Sorry. I do, I love New York. But you're not moving to New York. I'm not moving to New York now. I'm gonna move to Miami. You're moving to Miami. When? I can't do the LA time. My team, I wake up at 5 a.m. So I actually have the exact same problem. Like I used to love living in LA. And then I think it's been the last two years when I like my sister became my business partner. She's based in Toronto now with flight story based in London. I'm like, I cannot do the Pacific Times one anymore. Miami is one of my favorite cities. Why Miami? I'm gonna go, why don't you move with me? Well, we do spend a long time in Miami. Then why you here? I mean, I love LA too, but just like that flexibility of having another spot. So like we are very transient. So like in January, we're a lot of the time in Montana, which is closer. Miami, we spend a lot of time in. And then in the summer, we spend a lot of time in Europe because of the time zone. Yeah, yeah. That's why because my team is gonna be divided in London, New York. And so I'm just like, LA does make sense. And I'm in New York pretty much every other week. So I can't do the time zone. It's like killing me 11 hour flights to London is killing me. So when are you moving to Miami? As soon as I find a house. As soon as I find a house, I'm gone. Yeah, do you think that there is the ability to build a business as big as honor is in LA as it is in Miami or New York? I mean, I never built the business in LA. The origin was London. And then I moved to LA two years ago when I was pregnant. So I had my son in Santa Monica. And LA has been a real big research piece to see how people live here. And it's very different to New York, very different to Miami. But our biggest consumers are US based and our biggest states are New York, Miami, LA. So I'm always across those free states and Texas actually. So seeing how people live is very different and the colors that they buy and the silhouettes that they buy. So in my ideal world, I would have a place in all of those states just purely for research. Even the hot classes, the things the girls wear in New York to what they wear in LA, to what they wear in Miami, so different, so different. Even our website now where literally buildings are state based pages. So we have location bases and cents of US, UK, Germany, whatever. But we don't have specific state ones where if you're in New York, it will show you the New York banners. And basically in New York, they buy darker colors than they do in Miami. That makes sense. That makes sense. But imagine just going on there if you're in Miami and just seeing all the bright colors that honor has to offer rather than everything that every state sees. What is the difference between the distrapper that you would say an LA girl versus a New York girl versus a Miami girl? I think LA is cool, but I think New York is cooler in the sense of it's understated. So I think New Yorkers are like about their business. Like they need to get shit done. It needs to be practical. It needs to fit. It needs to work. They're in and out of classes. Sometimes they're double class in that shit. So they're like, there's like no funny business. Where's an LA is a bit more chilled, I've realized. And it's a bit more flexibility. And you have a bit more time. So product needs to be a bit more transitional. That's why you see a lot of lounge wear here. And then in Miami, it's so fun. Bright colors, fun, more quarkiness. Like even the classes, they use more like bad bunny or they use more fun music. So it's very interesting. I always say the US is like a well-don'ts and itself being a London girl myself, like being in the UK. I didn't even live in London until I was like 25. I was in like the farms and stuff. So I didn't even know London life. So I went to London, checked out London. Then I moved over to LA, New York, Miami. So yeah. So fast needing. OK, treatments. Lymphatic drainage or facial? Lymphatic drain over facial. How often do you do that? I would do one every week, if I could. I think they're so good for you. But time called plunge or sauna, sauna. Favorite wellness brand that is not yours. I really like. What's that brand called? Ancient nature. Ancient nature. Oh, Ancient nature. Ancient nature. Do you use their really good collagen? No, I use their firming body cream. It is so good. I kid you not. I used to get quite a bit of like bumpy arms and acne because I'm acne pro the best. I love that. I also supplement wise, I worked with them for a bit as a creative director. Don't work with them anymore, but love them still promix. I think promix is great. Love them down. Love the founders. And I would say Ilya, Ilya Beauty as well. I think they're great. And I love the founder Sasha. I think she's great. So yeah. But I know it's not wellness. No, that's perfect. I love her. Yeah. Okay. Just a few more. Favorite comfort creator. Oh, my God. I don't, I don't watch any one. You don't go on any social media to watch anyone. I don't watch anyone. I look only at tags and story tags. I look at community. I don't look at anyone. I don't follow anyone on my unfiltered. I only, only watch my community. I swear to God. That is the best answer I've heard. Okay. So I do this thing called an age of our love now, which is basically like an affirmation that is to retrain negative thoughts in my brain. If you would only tell yourself one thing for the rest of your life that you would call an age of our love now, what would it be? I always say to myself, this too shall pass. And I think that's a good reminder that when you're going for something really difficult, it's not going to last forever. It's going to pass and you're going to be okay again. Thank you so much for coming on "Hots and Art" to be love you. Thank you. Where can people find you? Instagram, TikTok, on the honor, active website. Can't wait till you come back when you're a billionaire brand. Thank you.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Chrissy Challa built a billion-dollar brand, Honor, as a female founder, breaking the trend of male-dominated athletic wear brands and challenging the status quo.
She emphasizes authenticity, admitting to being called a "bitch" and embracing her raw, unfiltered personality to build trust and real connections with her audience.
A core principle of her leadership is prioritizing business longevity over appeasing individuals, making tough decisions that may upset some but benefit the overall mission.
She highlights the importance of community, noting that her brand’s success stems from deep customer engagement, high retention, and a cultural shift where women are now creating wealth independently.
The brand’s product design is rooted in women’s menstrual cycles—aligning with four key phases (lift, hybrid, stretch, living)—to create a more empathetic, inclusive, and personalized experience.
Chrissy advocates for female founders to be unapologetically themselves, rejecting the performative "good girl" image and embracing vulnerability and honesty.
She shares a six-step rebranding process focused on seeing oneself as a brand, setting realistic KPIs, establishing milestones, and building autopilot habits for sustainable growth.
She stresses that success in business and life comes from resilience, self-compassion, and a refusal to let external judgment define one’s worth or progress.
Summary:
Chrissy Challa, a female founder of the billion-dollar brand Honor, shares her journey of building a female-led athletic wear empire rooted in authenticity, empathy, and self-trust. She challenges the male-dominated norms in the fitness and lifestyle industry, highlighting that success for women is not just financial but cultural—proving that female-led brands can thrive by aligning with real women’s needs, such as their menstrual cycles, to create products that feel personal and inclusive. Challa openly discusses the emotional toll of public scrutiny, the toxicity of online criticism, and the importance of self-compassion, emphasizing that being called a "bitch" or facing hate is a sign of vulnerability, not failure.
She advocates for female founders to embrace their true selves, avoid performative perfection, and build communities based on trust rather than vanity. Her business growth—reaching $119 million in revenue and an 85–90% attention rate—is attributed not just to marketing but to deep community loyalty and product authenticity. She introduces a six-step rebranding framework that prioritizes measured goals, personal growth, and sustainable habits.
Ultimately, Challa delivers a powerful message: women are achieving financial independence through the creator economy, and their success should be celebrated not as exceptions, but as a necessary evolution in how business and leadership are defined. Her journey reflects a shift where women are no longer just participants in the economy—they are leaders, innovators, and visionaries shaping a more inclusive, honest, and empowering future.
FAQs
Chrissy emphasizes making tough decisions for the long-term health of the business over pleasing individual stakeholders. She prioritizes authenticity, transparency, and accountability, stating that she's no longer a people-pleaser and will make decisions that benefit the brand, even if they upset someone.
She highlights that Honor is one of the first billion-dollar brands in the athletic wear space founded primarily by a woman. This challenges the historical dominance of male-led brands and represents a shift in the industry, giving women a powerful platform to lead and innovate.
She acknowledges that her online presence and personal brand create a strong connection with followers, but she’s learned to separate her public image from her private decisions. As a leader, she makes tough calls that may not align with her personal life, and she values authenticity over constant likability.
The strategy, based on the menstrual cycle, was inspired by Chrissy’s own experience during pregnancy. She developed four key pillars—Lift, Hybrid, Stretch, and Living—mirroring the natural rhythms of a woman’s body, ensuring products are designed with real-life needs and cycles in mind.
She encourages founders to be authentically themselves, even in vulnerability. By creating platforms like 'unfiltered Chrissy' that showcase raw, unpolished moments, she builds deeper, more genuine connections with audiences who value honesty over perfection.
She notes that being highly visible and constantly under scrutiny creates immense pressure. She feels constantly judged, especially when her personal life is exposed, and stresses that she values her personal peace and freedom over public approval.
Chat with AI
Loading...
Pro features
Go deeper with this episode
Unlock creator-grade tools that turn any transcript into show notes and subtitle files.