The Power of Influence: How Lo Bosworth went from reality TV star to CEO and Founder

If you’re into podcasts (who isn’t?), you know that the big trend right now is “rewatch” pods, when former cast members reunite and re-watch whatever hit television show they were on, providing commentary and behind-the-scenes secrets. Some of the latest examples that have been getting press recently are “Back to the Beach” and “Was it Real?”, which look back at two of MTV’s most iconic contributions to reality TV as we know it: Laguna Beach and The Hills (respectively).

As we all travel together down memory lane, you may find yourself looking for other cast members on social media to see what they have been up to. When it comes to these two shows, many of these people now live normal lives, some have stuck around the entertainment industry, and a few have found notable business success. 

One of those to most successfully pivot from reality TV is Lo Bosworth. She stumbled upon fame during her senior year of high school when she was cast on Laguna Beach, and several years later joined The Hills. While she may be best known for those shows, her more recent entrepreneurial journey is what we should all be taking notes on.

First, let’s go back…back to the beginning. (IYKYK)

After The Hills wrapped in 2010, Lo had a year-long stint with a sports talent agency, which she recently classified as the worst job she’s had. She left for New York City and set her sights on culinary school in hopes of partnering with the Food Network or Cooking Channel on a new show. When that didn’t work, she tried her hand at content creation, becoming an influencer before we even called it that.

Along the way, she started feeling unwell, and found herself battling many health issues, including depression and anxiety, yeast infections and even vertigo. As she tells it, she eventually learned that her problems stemmed from severe vitamin deficiencies. She continually found herself in the personal care aisles at drug stores as she worked with her doctors on a wellness plan.

Lo was unhappy with the traditional options - vitamins that she says were not made with women in mind, and marketed to make customers feel badly about themselves. This frustration unlocked that magical white space that entrepreneurs look for, and the idea for Love Wellness was born.

Love Wellness makes personal care products with “clean” ingredients and is designed for women - everything from probiotics to suppositories. When Lo started the company in 2016, she worked with a medical advisory board that advised on the types of products to bring to market. But otherwise, she did most of the work herself. (She recently talked a lot about the nitty gritty of the business and the science behind it on the Trading Secrets podcast.)

“I invested every dollar I had left from The Hills and creating content, basically my nest egg, into starting my business. I built the first website myself, did all the customer experience, and cold-called manufacturers,” she recently told Elle. “We launched with five personal care products, which are still available today and are our best-sellers. I started to learn and understand that there is a really meaningful audience for feminine body care that works, that is mission-driven, focused on innovation, and cares about women’s bodies.”

Today, as founder and CEO, Lo leads many aspects of the brand, including new product development, which she says includes working with doctors, food scientists, nutritionists and naturopaths. These people are also brought in to help with the educational and community arms of Love Wellness, which are core to the company’s mission of making women’s health products more accessible. (Check out LW’s Wellness Advisors.)

While Love Wellness is still a relatively young company, it’s already logged some early successes; including distribution with two major retailers, Target and Ulta, notable fans like Jessie James Decker and Emily DiDonato, and a growing brand ambassador program. Most recently, Lo announced a new book, “Love Yourself Well: An Empowering Wellness Guide to Supporting Your Gut, Brain, and Vagina,” that will hit shelves later this year.

If you’re thinking, “Cool, but what is there to learn from a reality star who put her name on a brand?”, we don’t blame you. There’s no shortage of celebrity-backed companies, and most of the time, they come with highly-produced digital strategies that are nice to look at but lack the voices or personalities of the recognizable faces behind them. And it’s debatable whether their products would even sell if they were not associated with a big name.

Lo knows all of this, and acknowledges that her time on two of reality TV’s most popular shows has been an asset to her company. “I was fortunate to be able to talk about the brand on my own channels for free for the first two years and create that initial brand success, awareness, and customer base through my own network,” she told The Cut last year. “There is no denying that I had a leg up when it came to launching the business.”

But Lo has put her TV days behind her and intentionally stays behind the scenes as much as possible: “For the brand to have the best opportunity it possibly can to help people, me being behind the scenes [of the company] is critical,” she said in her Elle story. “I don’t really care if you like me or dislike me; if the products work for you, that’s all that matters. I don’t care if you know that I’m the CEO. It doesn’t do anything for me or my ego, I’m just happy to have the opportunity to create something that works.”

If you’re not sold, go back and read the story from The Cut, which digs behind the shiny filter that the beauty industry puts on itself and examines whether Lo and Love Wellness are the real deal. (Thousands of 5-star reviews across platforms and “healthy sales through the pandemic” indicate a “yes.”)

Most of us don’t have a built-in audience like Lo, but what we can relate to is how hard she works to keep them around. Social media is a major priority for the Love Wellness team, as the company’s president Joanne Hsieh said earlier this year: “We have engaged communities on both Love Wellness’ and Lo Bosworth’s social channels, where we are seen as experts on women’s health and wellness. We’ve been successful on TikTok for discovery and brand awareness, while Instagram has been a primary avenue to educate our target audience on ingredients and product benefits. We’re focused on social media—the channel has replaced Google for Gen Z, who depend on social search to learn about a brand. We lean into putting our community’s voice first, with the right mix of founder-focused storytelling.”

Standing out is tough, particularly in a competitive field like women’s wellness. With the rise of TikTok, the Internet can feel even more saturated, especially when everyone rushes to jump on each big trend. But there’s truly no shortage of opportunity if you can identify what you have to offer, and consistently deliver valuable content. Oftentimes, as Lo shows us, what you have to offer comes from an obstacle you overcame, and your unique perspective on it. And it’s why, even though she prefers being behind the scenes, she is sharing her story more and more.

“If you have had a personal experience and solved your own problem, then you probably have a great business idea on your hands,” Lo said to Elle. “The opportunity to start new businesses is still limitless. I think we’re at a point where everybody thinks all of the good ideas are taken, but that’s simply not true, because as humans continue to evolve, there are problems left and right.”

^^ Ditto to digital strategy.

Scrolling through the Love Wellness social accounts, Lo’s vision is clear: straightforward and informative while still being feminine and fun. We see Lo from time to time, but her content is very much supplemental to the brand, which mixes strong informational graphics with the faces of Lo, the Love Wellness team and its brand ambassadors.

What’s reflected on both accounts is that Lo and her team know people look to her for wellness tips, so they run with it. Lo’s personal accounts are treasure troves of information that position her as an expert, making people buy into Love Wellness even more. 

Authenticity is the name of the game when it comes to building your account in a way that supports your company, so here are a few takeaways from Lo that you can start using tomorrow:

  • Add Value [and personalize it!] - We say this all the time, but people will keep coming back if you give them content that adds value to their lives. Lo is a master at this, taking on wellness in all its forms, and sprinkling in a look at CEO life. Currently, she’s talking a lot about her now-infamous under-the-desk treadmill, and it’s taken on a life of its own, from her TikTok to the LW blog! (Shameless plug: the importance of owned platforms!)

  • Be Yourself and don’t over edit - Curated social accounts are pretty to look at, but they’re often more trouble than they’re worth. When it comes to your personal page, you want to spend your time on the value, not the aesthetic. Lo’s content is well done but not overly produced. 

  • Talk WITH People - The comments can be a scary place, but building a community means not ignoring what people have to say. Lo regularly jumps in and replies on TikTok for almost every post, both with text and videos (like when she shared her scary TBI story or made fun of a troll).

  • Get creative in how you build your community - Lo recently announced a walking club that she's launching with Love Wellness. The goal is to bring members of the Love Wellness community together IRL, talk all things wellness and make new friends. Walking as exercise has seen a major spike in popularity thanks to TikTok (#HotGirlWalk), but it gives fans a chance to meet Lo in person. 

  • Collaborate [internally and externally] - whether it’s with other brands, influencers or your own team, collaboration is key. Notably, the majority of Love Wellness’ brand ambassadors are micro-influencers with 10k or less followers. While their audiences are smaller than more mainstream influencers, micro-influencers can wield even more power than those with larger followings since their communities tend to be niche and highly engaged with their content. Additionally, The Love Wellness TikTok heavily features different members of their team and is largely about office life and work, and notably not selling products. A strategic choice that allows their audience to emotionally connect with the humans behind the brand, without the sales pitch cringe factor.

What Lo got from reality TV was not just a built-in audience but also a thick skin that seems to make authenticity come a little easier to her, having been in the public eye since 2004. These days, having proven herself through the success of Love Wellness, she’s more comfortable than ever in who she is - and it shows. We hope her journey and strategy will give you a dose on inspiration as we head into a new season!

SeriesMelissa BlumComment