u/crying_in4K

Ever seen those influencer led brands where the founders act all wholesome, hardworking and “couple goals” online but behind the scenes it’s a complete mess?

I recently got to know a LOT about one such beauty brand through someone extremely close to the founders and honestly… the difference between social media and reality is insane.

Online they push this image of being this sweet husband wife duo building a dream brand from scratch. Internally? Apparently it’s pure chaos, zero structure and unrealistic expectations dumped on employees while the founders enjoy the glamorous side of owning a startup.

From what I heard, the wife is mostly just the face of the brand and barely involved in the actual functioning of it she knows nothing about what’s happening. Employees are expected to handle literally everything scripts, launch planning, execution, problem solving, content direction basically spoon feed the founders while still somehow being made to feel like they’re underperforming.

And the launches? Apparently half the ideas are just random nonsense labelled as “creative.” No actual strategy, no proper understanding of branding or business, just throwing weird ideas around and expecting employees to magically make them work. At some point “creativity” just became an excuse for poorly thought out launches.

The work culture sounds exhausting too.

Majority female team but somehow absolutely no empathy for health issues, burnout or personal situations. The expectation is apparently to work nonstop like robots because the brand comes before literally everything else. No boundaries, no emotional intelligence, just pressure pressure pressure.

And the creepiest part? I was told the husband spends an unhealthy amount of time watching employees through cctv cameras and keeping track of conversations and activities throughout the office. Imagine working in an environment where you constantly feel watched instead of trusted.

Apparently there are rules for EVERYTHING except proper management.

No systems, no mature leadership, no communication structure just performative discipline and impossible expectations from employees while the founders act like they’re running some revolutionary empire.

Honestly after hearing all this from someone genuinely close to the situation, I’m not even surprised the employee turnover is so high and people keep leaving. You can only run a company on influencer image and arrogance for so long before reality starts catching up.

The funniest part is that these founders seem extremely obsessed with their own image and think they’ve built some iconic brand when most of their audience still comes from their old tiktok era & social media popularity.

The internet version of some founders and the real life version can truly be two completely different people.

Some influencer founders are genuinely the most delusional people walking this planet.

They sit online acting like self made visionaries and “power couple CEOs” meanwhile their company is running on overworked employees, panic and pure stupidity.

Got to know a lot about one such beauty brand recently and holy shit the amount of fake image building is insane.

The husband wife founder duo act all humble and hardworking online but apparently behind closed doors it’s just ego, chaos and nonsense management. No structure, no planning, no brains just constant pressure dumped on employees while the founders play dress up founder on Instagram.

And apparently the wife barely even knows what’s happening inside the company. Just the face of the brand smiling in campaigns while employees literally spoon fed every single thing to the founders like they’re toddlers running a startup.

Scripts?
Employees.

Launch planning?
Employees.

Execution?
Employees.

Fixing terrible ideas?
Employees.

Meanwhile founders just sit there throwing out dumbass ideas and calling it “creative.”

At some point “creativity” just becomes a fancy word for “we have no clue what we’re doing.”

Apparently these launches are filled with the most random bullshit ideas imaginable and employees are expected to magically turn that garbage into successful campaigns overnight.

Like please shut the fuck up nobody is a “marketing genius” because they suggested some cringe launch concept during a meeting.

And the work culture sounds absolutely miserable.

Majority female team yet somehow zero empathy for health issues, burnout or personal situations. Just nonstop pressure and guilt tripping like the company should become your entire life.

The funniest thing is founders like this genuinely think suffering = productivity.

No babe.
You’re just bad at management.

And the CCTV obsession is creepy as hell too. Imagine being so insecure as a founder that you constantly need to monitor employees instead of trusting them to do their jobs normally. That’s not leadership, that’s control freak behavior.

Apparently there are rules for breathing, talking, existing except actual systems to run the company properly.

No communication.
No leadership.
No planning.
Just ego, micromanagement and fake startup energy.

Then these same founders cry about employee turnover as if people are leaving for no reason.

Maybe people leave because working under emotionally immature influencer bosses who think they’re revolutionizing the beauty industry is mentally exhausting.

And the funniest part?
Most of these brands are surviving purely because of old social media popularity and parasocial followers, not because the founders are some genius entrepreneurs.

Good lighting and fake humility really fool people online.