Influencer or CEO?
Do we *have* to be both?!
The Operator vs. The Influencer
One of the biggest tensions I grapple with daily is the dual expectation of being both an operator and an influencer.
If you look at high-profile examples—say, Hailey Bieber with Rhode—the model is clear. She is the face. She’s the “glazed skin” that drives demand on TikTok and Instagram. Behind her stands a seasoned team of operators handling the less glamorous realities: fulfillment, supply chain, product development, margins.
In that model, one person owns the spotlight, while another team owns the operations.
But for small and mid-sized businesses, the expectation is different. We’re expected to be both.
Starting Out: Face-First
When I first launched 1987, I had no budget for models, no celebrity name to lean on. The only option was to put myself forward. TikTok was the easiest distribution channel, and I gained some traction with personal content that I later parlayed into brand storytelling. I was always wearing a hoodie, weaving the product into my daily life.
It worked. But as the company grew, so did the demands on me as an operator.
The Operator’s Reality
Most of my days now are filled with what actually keeps a company alive:
Leading and developing a young, talented, driven team
Managing operations and finances
Tracking cost of goods and velocity
Ensuring production timelines are met
Nurturing wholesale partnerships
Expanding into new lines like our {LUXURY LINE}
By the time I finish that work, the creative energy required to be “on camera” is gone. I might still have the best intentions—film a “what I eat in a day” while wearing the brand, post a lifestyle reel—but it ends up at the bottom of the to-do list.
And yet, the pressure remains: to be face-forward, to drive awareness, to generate content.
The Trade-Off
Here’s the reality: being an influencer and being an operator are two separate skill sets. Both take time. Both take talent. Both are jobs in their own right.
Could I lean into being the face and hire an operator to run the business side? Possibly. But the truth is, my background—an MBA from a top-10 program, a decade of corporate experience across some of the world’s best brands—is incredibly valuable on the operator side. Hiring someone with similar expertise would be prohibitively expensive, especially since I’ve chosen not to take a large salary myself. I’ve always prioritized reinvesting into the business to keep it healthy and profitable long-term.
So yes, I could “outsource” operations to do more content. But the ROI on my operator skill set is higher than my ROI as an influencer.
What I Don’t Want
Here’s the part I wrestle with most: I don’t want to be known as an influencer. That’s not my ambition.
I didn’t train, educate, and work for a decade to be dismissed as someone who “got lucky” and then hired seasoned operators. I am the seasoned operator. I’m the one steering strategy, finance, product development, growth.
And yet, the current culture makes you feel as though not leaning into the influencer role is a missed opportunity—or worse, negligence.
The Conversation We Need
The real conversation entrepreneurs need to have is this: why are we expecting founders to be both operators and influencers?
It’s not a fair expectation, and it’s not sustainable. Some founders thrive as content creators and hire operators behind them. Others thrive as operators and hire content creators to be the brand face. Both models work.
But what doesn’t work is pretending one person can do both jobs:
*well*
- at scale-
indefinitely.
Closing Thought
I feel a pressure every day to generate content that keeps our brand in motion. But I’ve also built a business rooted in solid fundamentals—finance, operations, strategy—that will last.
Influencer and operator are not interchangeable roles.
Both are valuable.
Both are necessary.
But it’s time we start recognizing them as distinct careers, not one job description disguised as two.
XXX
Jennifer DeAngelis McNamara
CEO & FOUNDER
1987