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Lifestyle-focused digital media firm Kin Community has signed three female entrepreneurs who are looking to grow their digital presence.
Kin is now working with yoga instructor and motivational speaker Rachel Brathen, DwellStudio founder Christiane Lemieux and food blogger and French TV host Mimi Thorisson. All three women will launch YouTube channels in partnership with Kin.
Kin, which was founded as DECA but recently rebranded, operates a YouTube network that works with a number of digital influencers, including YouTuber Rosanna Pansino, in the food, fashion and beauty, DIY and entertainment genres. The company also sells advertising for partners such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
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CEO Michael Wayne says Kin wants to represent a range of different clients, including women like Brathen, Lemieux and Thorisson who already have established successful businesses off YouTube and are now interested in finding new audiences on the platform. “We’re a global business, and the really exciting part of this is that our community around the world is connected and share similar values,” he says. “I’m very excited that they’ll be part of Kin. A lot of exciting creative things will come out of it.”
Brathen has developed a devoted following on social media with more than 1 million Instagram followers and has built a name for herself through her annual yoga retreats and recently published book, Yoga Girl. But she says she’s looking to expand beyond yoga classes with her YouTube channel. “I am not looking to put actual yoga classes on YouTube but to go deeper into my life beyond yoga,” she says. “I’m going to share cooking videos, my travels, adventures and everything that’s going on in my life outside of the yoga mat, too.”
Lemieux launched home-decor firm DwellStudio in 2000 and served as creative director until it was acquired by Wayfair in 2013. She now serves as executive creative director of the online shopping company. She’s looking to YouTube to grow her brand through videos on topics such as decorating tips, high-design hacks and entertaining how-tos. Although home-decor videos are less prevalent on YouTube, she says she’s looking to find content that will build up her audience. “It is very difficult to do (home decor) in video,” she says. “it’s very easy to pull off makeup tutorials. We are going to figure this out.”
Thorisson has developed an audience through food blog Manger, in which she details her life in the French countryside with her seven children, 14 dogs and photographer husband. She recently published the cookbook A Kitchen in France and hosts a cooking show on France’s Cuisine+. Her YouTube channel will feature behind-the-scenes videos and instructional videos that demonstrate her techniques. “People like food, they like to eat, they like to cook,” she says. “And short videos, even if they’re made on a low budget, are a perfect way to show an audience, step by step, how it’s done. Cooking channels are like comfort food — easy, familiar, accessible and ultimately very satisfying.”
Wayne says that Kin’s work with these women represents how the company can help accelerate a person’s brand online through video. “They recognize that they want to have a direct relationship with their consumers,” he adds. “We really want to be their partners and help them build their businesses.”
All three women are repped by WME.
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