i have forgotten how to do nothing

C.O.U.R.T. Report 8/15/2025

Jesters,

Took me 48 hours to come out of the marketing brain haze. I had forgotten how necessary it is to take time for a creative reset and much to my disappointment, I have forgotten how to do nothing.

So to make productivity out of my frustrations, here are a number of the thoughts I’ve been having while on vacation in a special edition of C.O.U.R.T. Report:

Content-Driven Opinions :

• You know I love athletes that make commentary about pop culture. Which is why I’m newly obsessed with Trevor, a North Carolina FC player, who is garnering algorithmic traction and fan love for sharing his recaps and takes of recently aired TSITP episodes. It’s a brilliant start of a reoccurring social series, a lovable character, indisputable commentary, and anchored in relevant cultural conversation. I wish I could tell the team’s social manager to put all his features into a playlist and pin them to the top of their profile.

• Mirror Palais disappointingly acknowledged that their designs are the guiding light in the fast-fashion brand machine. I predict it will be a flex shortly to say you’ve never bought anything on TikTok shop.

• Trypophobes be warned, there’s a new content hyper-fixation similar to ASMR or pimple popping and it’s centered around…crabs. This kind fisherman Matt removes the barnacles and debris off of sea crabs before tossing them back in a sort of cleansing ritual. There’s something so gross about it, but even with full body chills that only trypophobia gives me, I can’t stop watching.

• Yeah, you know what, there IS a pipeline between musical theater, journalism, and content creation.

• Off the back of

  Feed Me
  insight, my intern told me that incoming potential new members (PNM’s) of sororities are factoring a sorority’s ability to secure brand partnerships in their decision to choose a final house. She said “you don’t want to choose a house that doesn’t get Poppi gifting”. After that convo, I’ve been seeing a digital talent manager friendly of mine brokering brand partnerships with sororities at a number of different colleges, with none of her own digital talent faces included. What she’s executing definitely isn’t just gifting opportunities, they’re paid campaigns across fashion, wellness, beauty, F&B. None of them are FTC compliant but also, what are the rules in such a gray area?

• Loved the Taylor x Travis x Jason interview on New Heights for the way he is so clearly in love with her and because I’ve never heard her speak consecutively for that long (other than the Eras Tour). Jason Kelce will make for a great analyst in the next phase of his career, I found his questions to be the best part of the programming by far. Also, it was smart for her to go on a podcast where she could completely control the narrative and output, as that’s always been my assumption of why she doesn’t ever do them.

• I’m noticing a rise in journaling / romanticizing journaling content again. It's being used as a signal for intelligence, similar to the spike in reading overall. I’m not mad. This time around it’s taking the shape of notebook aesthetics. It started with Claudia Sulewski sharing her “notebook ecosystem tour” in July and revealing a Louise Carmen leather notebook that retails for roughly $160. Now it feels like everyone is out to set up their own “ecosystems”.

• UTA/DBA got Love Island breakout star Olandria. Great move all around. In my opinion, the best of any of the finalists.

• Creator Micky Gordon (with a fresh 700K+! followers now) being featured in InStyle’s The Intern series was so much fun, and it’s great to editorial media outlets embrace a new talent face. I’ve been pushing a brand client to execute a partnership deal with Micky for no joke, 4 months now. Going to be a tough conversation when relaying that her rates have just wildly increased with new audience interest….

• Do I get dream dress #1 or dream dress #2. It’s fashion content like these that honestly sell clothes.

• Canadian creator Jack Innanen landed another TV role. At what point will we start saying he’s a full fledged actor? I’m sure his publicist wishes the pivot would’ve happened already. I could guess a few heartthrobs that are mad at this announcement. Chris Briney is NOT one of them.

• What’s the math on fan edit creates for Team Nicolandria (Love Island) vs. Team Bonrad (TSITP)?

• I would pay anything to see Mama Ru in the CLUB!!!!! More of this!!!

Overheard On The Town:

• All I wanted on my week off was a luxurious scalp treatment appointment at a head spa. With TikTok research guiding my path forward, I landed on M Head Spa on Fairfax, because I did not want to drive to the San Gabriel Valley and because they make TikTok content that showcase not only the services, but the actual specialists that will take care of you. I told the woman when I entered that I recognized her from the content series and it playfully softened our appointment entirely. She told me she texted her boss to see if I could be used as a future hair model. Keep an eye out for me and my Rapunzel-level locks.

• Delightfully attended 831 Stories’s event this week held at the new store location of Favorite Daughter to celebrate

  Erika Veurink
  s forthcoming novella Exit Lane. Chatted with Clare Mazur, co-founder of 831, finally getting the chance to tell her that those little books got me through the wildfires earlier this year. But like all other 831 titles, read this newest in 24 hours and now I want a rugby shirt and my own Teddy. Comes out 9/16— go get it.

• Drank shirley’s and gossiped at Mel’s with the 4 horsemen of all internet lore, my old One Direction fangirl friends turned professional digital media strategists/entrepreneurs. It reminded me that no one’s internet history ever dies and that experiencing life alongside the friends that experienced you in your most authentic, vulnerable state is such a blessing.

• Former Paramount Global exec, creator economy veteran, and genuine champion of creator talent, RJ Larese just announced his new role as President of Sixteenth US. Big big big big big move for him to move into management.

Under Oath:

• Despite liking the podcast interview, I’m not sure about The Life of A Showgirl album cover. She should not have such pixilated glitter on the cover of her 12th album. Like WTF is that? Canva? My expectation of her is that any glitter on the cover of TS12 needs to be at the very least, high grade quality confetti. Don’t get me started on the typography and lettering placement. Graphic design nightmare. I have to accept that her mind is brilliant, her taste more questionable. Said with love.

• Anxiety for me comes in many forms— on vacation, it takes the shape of panic that I am not doing enough on my rest days, not being productive enough in my side quests, not utilizing the free time for more important thought mapping or strategy. I trade waking up in the middle of the night worried of brand campaigns to waking up worried that I don’t have a plan for maximizing every moment of the day. My tangible approach was to do 1x productive thing / 1x “just-for-fun” daily.

• I unsubscribed from a TON of email newsletters, Substack newsletters, general email marketing after feeling like I needed to declutter my intake. With a leaner inbox, I’m hopeful it’ll help guide me back to consuming media I truly like.

Reality Check:

• This week marks five years of calling Los Angeles my home. My cross country move in 2020 prompted by the opportunity to work in a TikTok content house was by far the biggest risk I’ve ever taken and there was no way to know just how much the decision would change my life. It gave me career and community, but also growth across areas of my life that felt stagnant previously. In retrospect, the choice to uproot my life for the potential at a fulfilled future is my favorite tangible piece of evidence that I know myself well enough to know when a risk is worth taking.

• I built up walls of protection against embarrassment when I was a teenager. It manifested in worry and I counteracted it with wanting to be taken seriously, so I gave up reading or writing fiction and instead only consumed creative nonfiction. I was judgemental about people who loved whimsy, fantasy, silliness. But my recent spike in exploring the romance genre has reminded me that my first true writing success and joy came from writing Harry Styles fan fiction. What wasted time protecting myself from joyful passions because of perception. Also, I should’ve done more improv.

• Wind in my face is one of the biggest pleasures of my life. That’s why I braved my first ride on a Lime bike this week, after years of paranoia that I’d look stupid or not follow appropriate road rules. $4 for ultimate joy.

• Another $4 well spent— a day pass to swim laps at the Hollywood pool. I didn’t want to drive to Malibu to submerge myself. I think it unblocked my heart chakra, which has been a recent discovery per my visit with a spiritual guide.

Temporary Insanity:

• Ate at Funke in Beverly Hills, in the company of both Erika Jayne and Lisa Rinna. Not seated together, just to clarify.

• Yeah, I do think Taylor Swift will go on Therapuss. If there’s someone who might bend to the whims of a talent-edit, I think it’s Jake. Wouldn’t blame him for it either.

• Someone is giving me the opportunity to voice my own dream creation and it is much scarier to me than when tasked with contorting myself into the shape someone else wants me to be. I am panicked at the thought of endless possibility. It’s never been such a possibility. Paralyzed by choice is a great way to miss your shot. Desperately trying to ensure that doesn’t happen to me.