Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Chanel CEO Leena Nair is bringing new experience to an old brand, more high earning women are paying alimony, and Shay Mitchell’s travel brand Béis prioritizes profitability. Have a terrific Tuesday!
– On the go. This fall will mark five years since actress Shay Mitchell launched Béis, a luggage and travel brand. The brand has grown from five employees to almost 40, from Instagram ads to a more diversified acquisition strategy, with $120 million in revenue in its most recent fiscal year and an eye on profitable growth.
Béis sells luggage, travel accessories, diaper bags, and more. The brand, backed by the incubator Beach House Group (which is also behind Tracee Ellis Ross’s Pattern Beauty), initially appealed to millennials and Gen Zers; it competed with Away, another millennial travel favorite. Today, Mitchell and brand president Adeela Hussain Johnson define their customers by qualities, not demographics: socially engaged and trend-forward whether they’re 23 or 50.
With the backing of one operator rather than a lineup of VCs demanding growth, Béis prioritized profitability; the company says it’s on track to reach $200 million in revenue in its next fiscal year and says that it is profitable; it did not share exact profits. “Once you grow a business, those are people’s jobs and people’s lives. And there are consumers relying on the brand,” says Hussain Johnson. Béis is still mostly sold direct-to-consumer with some retail partnerships, like Nordstrom, and isn’t opening its own retail locations. Hussain Johnson says she’s seen “few case studies where DTC brands have developed their own brick-and-mortar and been highly successful.”
Shay Mitchell, founder of travel brand Béis. Courtesy of Béis Stability was important to Mitchell, too, who says that a half-decade as a founder has taught her about the importance of building a strong team and culture. Before debuting her company, Mitchell was best known as an actor on the TV show Pretty Little Liars. That experience taught her about leading by example.
“A lot of it came from my acting career. As one of the top people on the call sheet, you set the tone for everybody else—your eagerness, your passion, your kindness,” she remembers. “I think I took that into Béis.”
Mitchell grew up in Canada with a passion not just for travel, but for travel supplies. She says her family would drive across the U.S. border to Seattle, where she would go to Target and Sephora and beeline for the Caboodle toiletry and makeup bags.
She hopes that authenticity comes across as Béis is joined by an ever-growing array of celebrity-backed brands. “We all know who’s super involved with their brands and who just wants to lend their name to it,” Mitchell says. “I could have 24-hour meetings about Béis,” she adds. “It’s my favorite thing to do.”
Since Béis products are usually used on the go, Mitchell says she often sees people carrying bags through airports and will compliment them—and many don’t know her connection to the brand. “There’s a reason I didn’t call it Béis by Shay Mitchell,” she says. “I wanted this and always knew it would have a life of its own.”
Emma Hinchliffe emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com @_emmahinchliffe
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- Firm foundation. Leena Nair, former chief human resources officer at retail powerhouse Unilever, was an unusual pick for Chanel CEO when she assumed the role last year. Yet with new product lines, an expanding array of boutiques, and a renewed emphasis on Foundation Chanel, the company’s fund supporting women and girls around the world, Chanel’s first female CEO is already making a mark. Wall Street Journal
- Early adopter. Fidelity CEO Abby Johnson drew flack when she steered her company toward Bitcoin early in the crypto wave of the 2010s. Her push for crypto acceptance has since led to a burgeoning Fidelity group dubbed the "crypto mafia," and many are now praising the CEO for her efforts to modernize the mutual fund giant. Wall Street Journal
- Biles piles on. Simone Biles made history this past weekend by winning her eighth title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. She now holds the most championship titles of any gymnast in history and, at age 26, became the oldest gymnast to have clinched the crown. Bloomberg
- CoHo controversy. Colleen Hoover is one of this generation’s best-known authors: Last year, her books sold 14.6 million copies and one of her hottest titles, It Ends With Us, secured a coming movie adaptation. That attention, however, has brought accusations that the author normalizes toxic and abusive relationships in her books, which are most popular among young women. CNN
- 'Galimony.' Alimony is usually paid by men to women. Today, more women—their families' breadwinners and primary caregivers—are sending monthly payments to ex-husbands, a trend sparking rage among female divorcées. This story dives into the experiences of women with "failure-to-launch ex-husbands." Washingtonian
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Freshworks appointed Johanna Jackman as chief people officer. Bon Appétit has named Philadelphia Inquirer editor Jamila Robinson as its new editor-in-chief. Fiona Hick resigned as CEO of Fortescue Metals less than six months into the job.
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How becoming a mother made me into a writer Vogue
Women’s tennis is more unpredictable—and fun—than ever going into US Open Bloomberg
A day in the life of a chief sustainability officer: Q&A with Google’s Kate Brandt Fast Company
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