Dirty Chats

Kelly Clarkson walked into Brooklyn toy shop Art of Play for five minutes and what has ensued truly makes my heart sing.

And Molly's heart, also. 

There was a Pretty Woman comparison, two Instagram statements that made everything worse, and the owner's responses that got increasingly worse. 

So this week on Dirty Chats, I’m putting my hard-hitting journalism skills to work with a full timeline of the Kelly Clarkson vs Art of Play feud... plus the PR plan that could have turned this mess into the best marketing campaign of the year.

In this episode:

• Kelly Clarkson’s original post, the elevator eyes and the thumbs down heard round the world
• Art of Play’s “Molly isn’t for sale” statement... and the price tag that says otherwise
• The secret twin bird, the $2,000 alternative and the surveillance footage nobody asked for
• Why the internet has split into two very loud camps (and which one I’m in, sort of)
• My PR plan for Art of Play, featuring Pretty Woman, Gen Z actors and a very special delivery

(Plan B involves an Australian man who yells at people about their beards.)

Then in Dirty Business, we get into the real scandal. Not the bird. The feelings. Why emotions are the number one thing holding women back in business, the space between stimulus and response, and my favorite piece of business advice: get so booked you don’t have time to feel.

Plus, I get honest about almost talking myself out of my own challenge.

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Emma Grede is my favourite, but maybe I disagree with her this episode? Also, Brooklyn Beckham is being mean to his mum, Pete Davidson is being mean to influencers. And this week, I'm being  mean to millennial women...

On the menu:

• Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz's Paris Fashion Week date night
• Emma Grede's take on personal branding
• Pete Davidson's rant about female content creators
• My five tips to grow your personal brand in 2026

In Dirty Dish, Victoria Beckham shows her Spring/Summer 2027 collection at Paris Fashion Week... and Brooklyn and Nicola are just down the road, holding hands for the paps. I have thoughts. None of them are nice.

Then in Dirty Business, Emma Grede tells women to stop obsessing over their personal brand and get good at something first. Pete Davidson wants to know why "girls" are making $40 million a year talking to their phones. And Courtney Johnson jumps in with a spicy take of her own.

So who's right? I agree with Emma... and I also completely disagree with her. Because the rules for building credibility have changed.

(I also explain why millennials find it so hard to show up on social media. Blame your mum's good crystal glasses.)

Press play to find out:

→ Why Emma Grede's "content is not the point" advice is only half right for women building online businesses
 → What Pete Davidson's influencer comments get wrong about the attention economy
 → Why millennial women struggle to show up on Instagram and TikTok (and why Gen Z doesn't)
 → How to position your personal brand around the thing you think holds you back
 → How to promote yourself shamelessly, with real creator pitches that went viral
 → My five-step personal brand strategy for service-based businesses in 2026

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It's a big day, people!!! Taylor Swift has released Showgirl: The Encore, and I'm debriefing all four songs. 

Here's what's also on the ep:

• The Laughing Cow's mysterious "Not Laughing Cow" campaign
• The Encore song reviews
• The science of manifesting (yes, actual science)

First up, The Laughing Cow has lost her smile for the first time in over 100 years. I've gone from not thinking about cheese wedges in decades to being completely obsessed. It's curiosity marketing at its finest, and I break down exactly why it works.

Then it's my honest review of Patient Zero, Cleveland, Pink Clouding and Babylon. 

(And I have a theory about what's missing from all four songs that every marketer needs to hear.)

In Dirty Business, I get into manifesting. I used to think it was woo-woo nonsense sold by course creators... until it started working for me. So what's actually happening in your brain when you visualise a goal? And why can positive thinking on its own make you LESS likely to get there?

Press play to find out:

→ Why The Laughing Cow's curiosity campaign makes people care about a brand they'd forgotten
 → What Taylor Swift's Showgirl Encore teaches us about emotion and participation in marketing
 → How neuroplasticity and your brain's filter decide what you notice
 → Why Gabriele Oettingen's research shows visualising success alone can backfire
 → How Peter Gollwitzer's if-then planning keeps you moving when self-doubt kicks in
 → The four-step manifesting process I use for launches and speaking gigs

It's our 50th EPISODE!! Can you believe it?!? First up in Dirty Dish: Shailene Woodley's 2026 Emmys look in Balenciaga couture was a disaster, and her stylist Karla Welch got eviscerated on the internet, got butthurt, and did the exact wrong thing. 

Naturally, I break down the exact PR play she should have run instead... seven days of it, actually.

Then Patrick Clancy sat down for his 60 Minutes interview alongside his new wife, and I get into why the whole thing felt so rehearsed, what that overwhelming human urge to "set the record straight" does to us, and how it once landed me my first celebrity interview.

Then Dirty Business, and this one's for anyone building a brand: the psychology of Easter eggs.

Alix Earle packed her latest Reale Actives campaign with hidden references (the ad I wrote a carousel about that hit 440,000 views), Taylor Swift has the whole internet decoding her Emmys promo, and there are five separate psychological mechanisms firing every time you spot one.

I break down all five, and exactly how to use them for a brand your size.

→ Why "I found it" beats "they told me" every time (the earned insight effect, and how to build it into a launch)
 → How Easter eggs create insiders and outsiders, and why belonging is one of the strongest triggers you can pull
 → Why Alix Earle's Reale Actives puzzle campaign trained her audience to never scroll past her again
 → How decoding lowers a buyer's guard in a way that selling to them directly never can
 → The world-building move that turns one-off content into a community with its own lore
 → How to use all of it as a small brand, with the real businesses pulling it off right now

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Check out my viral carousel on Alix Earle's campaign HERE

Season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is back and I'm giving you my quickfire thoughts. 

... Taylor Frankie Paul, the engagement nobody believes, the co-parenting ick, and the one cast member I've completely changed my mind about.

Then we get to Celine Dion, who has just returned to the stage for her Celine Dion Paris 2026 residency, and I have a take that's...surprisingly. 

Because the internet has been suspiciously kind to her. And there's a reason nobody will say the obvious thing out loud.

I break down exactly what's going on, and it's one of the most powerful storytelling principles you can steal for your own brand.

Then in Dirty Business, the marketing trend I reckon will make or break product and service brands through 2027: experiential marketing.

I get into why the brands winning right now are the ones dragging people off their phones and into an actual room, using Glossier, Cartier, Hailey Bieber's Rhode, the Erewhon smoothie, and the Lululemon Dupe Swap to show how they stack effort, scarcity and belonging until a product stops being a product and becomes a badge.

Plus how to steal all of it if you run a service business and don't have a store.

→ The narrative transportation principle behind why fans defend a brand instead of judging it, and how to build it into your copy
 → Why an unfinished story keeps people hooked (the Zeigarnik effect) and how to use open loops on purpose
 → How Celine Dion's comeback explains effort justification, aka why people value what they've watched you fight for
 → Why experiential marketing is the 2026 trend that turns customers into your unpaid marketing team
 → How the Lululemon Dupe Swap converted 50% brand-new customers without ever telling them the product was better
 → The service-business version of all of it when you've got nothing physical to hand over

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The Lindsay Clancy trial is officially a mistrial, Isobel Lorna launches a £300 planner that's made the internet whinge, and I break down the behind-the-scenes of my $50,000 USD launch. 

First up in Dirty Dish: the Lindsay Clancy case has been ruled a mistrial, and I get into what one holdout juror changed, whether a retrial can ever find an untainted jury, and the thing about the public reaction to this case that I genuinely can't stop thinking about.

Then we get to Isobel Lorna and Agende, the luxury planner that had TikTok in a full tantrum over its price tag.

I break down exactly why it's not too expensive... and why the people whinging about the price are the entire reason it worked.

Then in Dirty Business, I pull back the curtain on my own $50K launch.

The real numbers, what I actually spent and the one decision I fought my launch strategist on that turned out to be genius. 

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Dirty Chats is back after a four week break, and Meghan and Harry are BACK IN THE UK. 

But first, how was my time away overseas? True thoughts about Powerhouse Women? And my take on the horrific true crime doco The Death of a Pastor's Wife. 

First up in Dirty Dish, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have made a shock return to the UK. This from the man who swore he couldn't see a world where he'd bring his family back within a year.

So what changed?

I've got six theories. 

We get into the Cotswolds move, the convenient six-month "trial," the ongoing security battle with King Charles and the RAVEC committee (including the Al-Qaeda plots Harry says were kept from him), and whether this was really a financial flight dressed up as a freedom flight.

Plus the Guy Ritchie casting rumour around The Gentlemen that might have been the smartest piece of newsjacking all year.

And of course I help Meghan out with a new UK marketing plan to claw back her reputation. 

She won't use it, but she definitely should. 

Then in Dirty Business, I'm unpacking why Dolly Parton is a universally loved, and a marketing genius. 

→ How Meghan and Harry's UK return doubles as a reputation-marketing case study (and the image-rehab plan I'd actually run for her)
 → What newsjacking really is, and how a Meghan Markle rumour may have sold Season 2 of The Gentlemen
 → Why Dolly Parton refusing to change her look was the smartest brand decision of her career
 → How "leaning into your Dolly-ness," aka doubling down on what makes you YOU, is the Seth Godin principle most business owners are too scared to use
 → Why saying no to the biggest star in the world eventually made Dolly millions

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Kim Kardashian just dropped the most psychologically dialled ad of the year... and I'm jealous I didn't write it.

7.7 million views in nine hours (and counting). And no, it's not just because she's Kim Kardashian.

But first, Dirty Dish. This week I'm covering:

• Robbie Williams, a FIFA interview, and the mystery white object that fell onto his mic.
• Amanda Batula shutting down pregnancy rumours in the most Amanda way possible.
• Kris Jenner going on plastic surgeon Simon Ourian's podcast to defend Kendall Jenner's nose.

Then in Dirty Business, I'm breaking down Kim Kardashian's debut campaign for Update, her new energy drink brand. This isn't a "celebrity posts ad, ad goes viral" story. There are six specific psychological tactics baked into this reel, and every single one of them is stealable for your business... even if your audience is 700 followers and not 75 million.

I also have a very exciting announcement about something I've been building behind the scenes.

You'll want to hear this one.

→ Why Kim Kardashian's Update energy drink ad entertains first and sells second (and the brain chemistry that makes it work)
 → How self-deprecation works as a security signal that builds audience trust
 → What world-building and parasocial relationships have to do with why customers become loyal to brands
 → Why pain point marketing beats listing features every single time
 → How to use personality-driven marketing to convert your website visitors, even as a small business

Sign up for my free 5-day workshop, How to Get Found, Liked, and Booked on AI, HERE

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Phoebe Gates raised over $35 million for her shopping app Phia. Now the whole internet is asking one question... did she commit fraud?

This week on Dirty Chats:

• The Phia cookie stuffing scandal taking over the tech internet
• Justin and Emily Baldoni's surprise statement after two years of silence
• A hot take on whether you should lie in your business to get ahead

First, Justin Baldoni and Emily Baldoni broke their silence with a statement reel nobody saw coming... and I break down why their PR playbook has been flawless from day one.

Then, Phoebe Gates (yes, Bill Gates' daughter) and co-founder Sophia Kianni are accused of cookie stuffing through Phia, their AI shopping app backed by celebrity investors like Sydney Sweeney and Hailey Bieber. I explain what cookie stuffing actually means in plain English, why the word "fraud" is being thrown around, and the halo effect... the marketing shortcut that made all of us trust them without checking a single thing.

I also lay out my PR comeback plan and redemption arc for Phoebe. 

Then in Dirty Business, a 15K business coach posted that lying at the start of your career is basically mandatory... and I have thoughts. 

I share the terrifying first time I called myself a copywriter, how I landed my first keynote without begging for it, and the one kind of lying I fully endorse.

→ What cookie stuffing (affiliate attribution fraud) is and why Phia's "it was a bug" defence isn't landing

→ How the halo effect lets founders borrow celebrity credibility... and why investors hand over millions without checking

→ The crisis PR moves Phia is getting wrong right now

→ Why "fake it till you make it" hits differently for women raising capital

→ The mindset shift behind booking speaking gigs, clients, and opportunities before you feel ready

JOIN the Get Found, Get Liked, Get Booked Workshop HERE

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Taylor Swift married Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden, and everyone (except me) is reading it wrong

Taylor Alison Swift is married, and the internet is losing its mind over a peach curtain.

In Dirty Dish, I'm unpacking the royal wedding of the year: the thousand guests, the raffle, the "T and T married" billboard in the world's most boring font, the Adam Sandler of it all. 

I've got a theory that reframes this whole thing the second you stop looking at it as a wedding...😏

I also get into the Blake Lively snub (a thousand people invited and she still didn't make the list), and the Karlie Kloss feud that may have quietly healed itself. 

Then in Dirty Business, we stay right on Taylor, because she is the single greatest living example of the one marketing skill every commentator is obsessed with in 2026: world-building.

Why do we all feel personally betrayed by a venue choice? Because Taylor has spent years making millions of strangers feel like they know her, and she did it on purpose. I break down exactly how, plus two brands pulling off the same trick with zero celebrity attached.

→ Why world-building is the marketing skill everyone's talking about in 2026, and how Taylor Swift quietly mastered it years ago
 → How giving your audience a job inside your brand (instead of just talking at them) turns casual followers into people who defend you
 → What Duolingo's fake owl funeral and Liquid Death's billion-dollar "canned water" empire teach you about building a brand world
 → Why effort is the glue that makes people loyal, and how small rituals get your audience marketing for you for free
 → The one thing AI genuinely cannot copy in 2026, and why it's your biggest competitive advantage