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From Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty to Dwayne Johnson’s Teremana, even the most successful star-backed brands began with just the spark of an idea and the courage to get behind it. “I commend anyone that takes the risk and makes it through all the hurdles,” says Gomez, one of The Hollywood Reporter’s Top 30 Star Entrepreneurs of 2024.
Top agents, investors and brand builders helped THR identify six new celebrity ventures that are just at the starting line. Read what their star founders have to say about the art of business and finding their way in the scrappy startup space.
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Christina Aguilera
Playground
Christina Aguilera was named chief brand adviser and co-founder of Playground in March 2023; the sexual wellness company’s latest lube, Pillow Talk ($20 for 109 ml), is her brainchild. “With startups, you need to disrupt the current norms,” Aguilera says. “I always lean into products and art that take more creative risks and push boundaries.” Playground closed a seed fundraising round in October and has retail partners from Amazon to Target.
What I learned about myself from building a business “Building and co-founding a business has been a rewarding and eye-opening journey. It’s not just about having a vision, but being adaptable, learning from setbacks, and staying true to who you are. The creative process in business is much like making music — it requires passion, dedication, and the courage to take risks. I learned I’m not just a singer and performer, but also a businesswoman who can navigate challenges and create and build something that means a lot to me from the ground up.”
Beyoncé
Cécred
Beauty insiders have great expectations for the megastar’s hair-care brand Cecréd, which launched in February with eight products ($30-$52), following her Cé Noir fragrance debut.
Beyoncé, whose partnership with Adidas on apparel line Ivy Park ended in March, has said she built Cécred “from the ground up and funded it myself.” She shared a #cecredwashday video tutorial with her 317 million Instagram followers in April.
Kaley Cuoco
Oh Norman!
Pet-care company Oh Norman!, which donates a portion of every sale to rescue dogs, launched in October with $3 million in venture funding and made a splash with its Amazon debut during Prime Day in July, when two of its products rose to No. 1 Hot New Brand status. Co-founder Kaley Cuoco cites Jennifer Aniston (founder of LolaVie hair care) and Courteney Cox (founder of household products line Homecourt) as among her entrepreneurial role models.
What I learned about myself from building a business “I’ve learned that this sort of endeavor is a marathon not a sprint, and that teamwork makes the dream work every time!”
What Hollywood could learn from startup culture “I was excited to start Oh Norman because I was looking for clean, healthy products that gave back and I couldn’t find them on the market. Hollywood should be investing in new innovative ideas that come from unexpected people and places!”
Simu Liu
MìLà
Simu Liu joined MìLà — known for its authentic frozen soup dumplings ($40-$45 for 50) — as chief content officer in 2023, shortly after it closed a $22.5 million fund-raise (Liu was previously an angel investor). MìLà is now in 2,000 stores from Costco to Whole Foods. “What I love about startup culture is that we are constantly encouraged to be disruptive,” says Liu, “and to challenge the status quo.”
My entrepreneurial role model “Ryan Reynolds. I think he has completely raised the bar on what celebrity partnerships could be. By leveraging his unique voice and self-aware humor in all of his branded endeavors he’s made endorsements engaging and fun.”
Matthew McConaughey & Camila Alves
Pantalones
In a crowded market, Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves have found a way to stand out with cheeky, pants-less ads for their Pantalones tequila ($45-$55 a bottle), which launched in October. McConaughey says the venture has revealed his wife’s “incredibly savvy street-smart negotiating skills,” while Alves bows to his marketing mind.
What we learned about each other from building a business “This is Camila and my first business venture together as forward-facing partners, so I’m going to share some of what I’ve learned from her. As a businesswoman Camila is deliberate about taking the time to question everything at each successive stage. She understands that every new choice or decision can affect a prior one, so at every step of the way — from the financial agreement, to making the juice, to marketing, to finding new partners — Camila is always measuring how a new idea can or will affect a prior arrangement. And to her patience’s credit, along the way she has flagged a few very important decision-making consequences that would have otherwise gone unnoticed,” says McConnaughey. Adds Alves, “Matthew has the best marketing mind I have ever seen; it shows in everything we do. He has a brilliant way of storytelling that connects deeper than most. He also comes up with amazing concepts, names, tag lines, scenarios, designs — and he knows how to get the message across in a way that best reflects who we are.”
Brooke Shields
Commence
Brooke Shields’ over-40 hair-care brand Commence launched in June with a wait list of more than 23,000 people and three products ($21-$30), including a shampoo that sold out in less than two weeks. Launching a brand has helped the star trust her gut, she says. “I learned that I’m even more ambitious than I thought I was, and I’m good at navigating opposing ideas.”
What Hollywood could learn from startup culture “That slow and thoughtful beats out fast, flash-in -the-pan success.”
My entrepreneurial role model “[Spanx founder] Sara Blakely.”
A version of this story first appeared in the August 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
