As the creator economy has grown, influencers and content creators have monetized their platforms by launching brands, to varying degrees of success. Now, they’re adding C-suite roles to their resumes.
That includes Nadya Okamoto. On Thursday, the TikToker and co-founder of the menstrual-care brand August, was announced as the co-founder and chief marketing officer of the social meet-up app Pie.
Okamoto said she first connected with Pie founder Andy Dunn when he invested in August. She began using Pie as a member of its creator network to organize meet-ups for her Zoomie’s run club when the app launched in New York City in 2026.
“I was searching for a better community organizing tool that didn’t require me to, sort of, puzzle-piece [together] six different apps for different communication lines and functions,” said Okamoto. “I started using Pie and became a super user of it, and just had a lot of ideas on how the product could grow and scale — and how it could grow in New York, too, which was a relatively new market for Pie.”
Dunn, who co-founded the menswear brand Bonobos in 2007 before selling it to Walmart in 2017 for $310 million, founded Pie in 2020. He raised $11.5 million in Series A funding for Pie in September 2024, including backing from Twitter co-founder Ev William. While emerging social platforms like Thursday and Strava may focus on specific events like dating and fitness, Dunn aims for Pie to be both vertical- and category-agnostic, and act as a one-stop shop for finding events and connecting with locals.
“It is everything from nightlife to health and wellness, to something you can use for birthday parties to tech networking events,” said Dunn. “And that’s part of why we call it plans, not events, because events are actually a very small component of in-person hanging out.”
According to Dunn, Pie’s user base has grown 195% year-over-year to a current cohort of 300,000 users across Chicago, Austin, New York and Los Angeles. Dunn has ambitions for Pie to acquire 1 million users by the end of the year, and expand to markets like Boston and the Bay Area.
With Okamoto on board, Dunn said the platform hopes to connect with its growing Gen Z audience and energize its creator network, called the “Pie Creator Club,” with brand partnerships. According to Dunn, the creator network currently has more than 1,000 members who earn revenue for hosting events. The goal is to reach 100,000 members in the coming years with Okamoto’s help.
“We’re trying to build an IRL creator economy of people who like convening others and have a mission to make human connection effortless,” said Dunn of the Pie Creator Club. “We wanted Nadya to lead this movement with other creators who sit at the intersection of content creation and community hosting.”
With the new hire, Pie joins numerous brands that have brought creators into their C-suite. Fragrance brand Phlur relaunched with influencer Chriselle Lim as co-founder in 2022; German candy company Katjes named content creator and podcaster Jake Shane chief creative officer in February.
Okamoto, who has more than 5 million followers across her TikTok and Instagram channels, said her role at Pie will be that of a typical chief marketing officer. She said she will continue to pursue brand partnership opportunities on her social channels while acting as Pie’s CMO.
“I’m primarily known now as a TikToker. But before I had a TikTok, I had founded a direct-to-consumer brand, I was working in consulting,” she said. “So I think of myself very much as a company operator before a content creator.”
Brands have increasingly looked outside of traditional social media marketing to find platforms that offer more IRL connections. Newer social platforms like the fitness tracker app Strava and the newsletter engine Substack have attracted brand partners like Starbucks and J.Crew looking to connect with consumers beyond an Instagram post. Okamoto said she has worked with brands like Red Bull and Bombas on sponsored runs for her Zoomie’s run club.
“It’s no secret that community is a buzzword in the world of consumer marketing,” said Okamoto. “As we think about sampling, building authentic connections and getting to have these more in-person events is very valuable. And that’s kind of why I want to be really selective about [who we partner with].”
Brands have pushed the limits of paid partnerships, sponsoring everything from weddings to bus routes — to the chagrin of some users who bristle at seeing their social lives turned into branded content. Dunn said he has plans to introduce paid tiers to Pie down the line — he estimates that the platform would need around 10 million users for it to be viable — but he and Okamoto believe it will be up to individual users to decide how much paid or sponsored content they wish to engage with on Pie.
“If you want to do brand partnerships, that’s something that maybe we can help you figure out. If you don’t want to, that’s OK, too,” said Dunn. “And I think the vast majority of communities, just like the vast majority of newsletters on Substack, as an example, are going to be free.”
Mane by Jen Atkin names first brand ambassador
On Wednesday, Mane by Jen Atkin, the 3-year-old hair-tools brand by celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin, announced its first-ever brand ambassador: Becca Raziuddin. The L.A.-based hairstylist and educator works with clients including Chrissy Teigen and Desi Perkins, and her work has been featured in ads for Kylie Cosmetics.
Glossy caught up with CEO Rachel Gilman to learn about the brand’s new ambassador plans. –Jill Manoff
Why is now the right time to introduce another expert voice to the brand?
“As our product portfolio has grown, so has the need for trusted education — and Becca is the perfect person to bring that expertise to life.
Becca has been part of the Mane story for years — first assisting Jen’s former assistant, then working with us as a creator and now building an incredible career behind the chair. We’ve had the chance to watch her grow into an incredibly talented stylist and educator, and she’s earned every bit of the credibility she has today.
One thing that’s always been important to Jen and [everyone] at Mane is creating opportunities for the next generation of talent. This isn’t a one-off collaboration; it’s the next chapter in a relationship that’s been years in the making.”
What will Becca’s role as Mane’s first-ever ambassador entail?
As we continue to grow, we want every product to come with the confidence that comes from expert guidance — making professional hair knowledge feel approachable, practical and easy to incorporate into everyday life.”
How does this partnership reflect Mane’s broader vision and direction as a brand?
We’ve always believed the best beauty products are the ones that earn a place in your everyday routine. That means creating products that perform, while giving people the confidence to actually use them. …
This partnership is an exciting milestone because it reflects where Mane is headed: expertly vetted products, approachable education and easy routines that become part of everyday life.”
- Celebrity hairstylist Chris McMillan has published an editorial zine, Summer Hair 2026, designed to translate the styling expertise he’s developed over decades into an educational, consumer-facing product featuring products from his eponymous hair-care brand. The zine will be distributed digitally and in a mailer to select creators.
- The beauty and wellness brand Jolie has launched a collaborative drink with Erewhon dubbed Sacred Water. The “clarified herbal tonic” is selling for $12.
- The upcoming season of “Shark Tank” will be heavy in fashion-native Sharks. They include Kendra Scott, founder of her namesake jewelry brand, plus Favorite Daughter co-founders Erin and Sara Foster, among others.
