Meghan Markle is opening up about the real challenges of running her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, and how she’s navigating the pressure of early success.
In a bonus episode of her podcast With Love, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, sat down for a heartfelt conversation with Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles. During the chat, Meghan didn’t hold back about the growing pains of building her brand as Ever, especially after its surprise sell-out launch.
“I wonder if one day I’ll be in business with Lily and we’ll be building something,” Meghan said at one point, referring to her daughter, Princess Lilibet. Tina responded warmly, “That’s the best”, reported The Sun.
But Meghan quickly got into the nitty-gritty of what it’s really like trying to scale a brand when demand completely explodes. “So, for me at the moment, with As Ever, it was great. We planned for a year we get and then everything sells out in 45 minutes,” she explained. “Yes, amazing, great news. Then what do you do?”
She admitted that while the instant sell-out was exciting, it also raised tough questions. “And then you say, ‘Ok, we planned as best as we could. Are we going to replenish and sell out again in an hour? Or is that annoying as a customer?” she said.
Instead of rushing to restock, Meghan says she’s taking a breath and focusing on getting everything in order before going full steam ahead again. “I’m looking at it, saying, ‘Just pause. That happened. Let’s wait until we are completely stable and we have everything we need.”
The Duchess’s honest comments give a rare glimpse into the messy, behind-the-scenes reality of trying to grow a business with the whole world watching. While the hype is real and the sales were fast, Meghan is more focused on creating something that’s sustainable and worth the wait.