I’m Hannah Hally, and today we’re exploring how Blake Lively turned her fame into something more enduring. Yes, she’s an actress known for iconic roles, but over the past few years she has become an entrepreneur whose work teaches powerful lessons about integrity, business strategy, and what it means to build something you believe in. In this episode, we’ll trace her journey: why she started what she did, what she learned from failure, how she builds with purpose, and what influence looks like when you care about more than just profit.

Segment 1: The foundation of belief and early ventures

Blake Lively grew up among actors, craft, style—and from early on she had a sense for storytelling, beauty, and design. Her transition from roles in Gossip Girl to film work showed range, but she always seemed to want more than performance. She wanted ownership, creative agency.

One of her earliest business ventures was ‘Preserve’, a lifestyle site launched around 2014 to celebrate artisanal makers and curate beautiful things. She conceived it from what she cared about: craftsmanship, stories, quality. But it launched before she felt it was truly ready. She later said the site “never caught up to its original mission,” asked herself whether it was making a meaningful difference. She took the hard step of closing it, rather than settling for something half-realized. That moment revealed something rare: the courage to take a loss, admit something isn’t fulfilling what you believe it should, and walk away to build better. 

Segment 2: Brands, standards & business ethos

After Preserve, Blake doubled down on ventures where she could truly shape every detail. She founded ‘Betty Buzz’ in September 2021, a line of non-alcoholic sparkling mixers made with clean, non-GMO ingredients, no artificial flavours, colours, or sweeteners. She cared about juice, flavour, the experience—both for people who drink cocktails and those who don’t. The brand was not born from chasing trends, but out of her own convictions and taste. 

She then expanded into ‘Betty Booze’, canned cocktails, and now mocktails, because people using Betty Buzz often mixed and experimented, gave feedback, asked for more. She listened. She pivoted. She responded to her audience’s desires. That’s a lesson: build something, but stay ready to evolve. 

In 2024, she launched ‘Blake Brown’, a haircare line defined by clean formulas and strong performance, at a mass price point. It became the biggest haircare launch in Target history. That success didn’t come from celebrity alone—it came from attention to formulation, fragrance, packaging, listening to what people want. Her team dug into what works for real hair, what smells good, what feels good, and what customers value. She said: you must believe in what you are creating, and if you don’t, people will notice. 

All of these businesses share common themes: authenticity, detail, conviction. She doesn’t just license her name; she builds products she herself wants, standards she herself demands. She uses feedback from users, tweaks things, learns from what isn’t perfect. That approach makes the difference between fleeting attention and lasting brand.

Segment 3: Lessons from criticism, closure & ownership

Blake’s journey hasn’t been perfect. ‘Preserve’, a lifestyle business closed because it didn’t meet her expectations. She said she launched too soon, before everything was aligned; user experience was flawed; mission not fulfilled. But she took ownership and acted accordingly.  She said: “you can’t be an entrepreneur for other people.” What she builds needs to be what she wants, what she would use. It has to be fit for purpose.

When Betty Buzz was under development, she worked for years making sure the mixers tasted right, the flavours honest, the carbonation just so. She values small details that others might ignore—bubbles you can see, fragrance you’ll remember. That takes willingness to do the hard work behind scenes, to care deeply about things many assume irrelevant. 

And she has been vocal about choosing partners and collaborators who share values. She expects her teams to feel ownership. When you hear her talk about her haircare line, or her beverages, she speaks not just of function but of identity—community, taste, and standard. She accepts that failure or criticism may come, but chooses truth over convenience. Those are business lessons: stand for something, care about the product, be ready to pivot.

Segment 4: Future, growth & influence in action
 

Blake Lively’s brands are still growing, still shaping what consumer expectations are. Her hair line, her beverages—they’re showing that there’s huge demand for products made with integrity. Mass retailers like Target expect quality and performance, or they won't support you. Blake Brown’s success in that environment shows that premium does not have to mean inaccessible. It can mean thoughtful and inclusive. 

She’s expanding — mocktails, body mists, fragrance extensions, caring about scent, affordability, fragrance  and experience. She’s learning all the time and Her business isn’t static. Her identity as businessperson, plus creative, plus storyteller, giving her a unique edge. She’s less about riding fame and more about building legacy.

Through her decisions, she has directed what to launch, what to cancel. She’s decided how involved she stays, how often she responds to customer and she’s teaching that influence in business outcomes not just from opportunity, but from values, from standards, from being willing to risk embarrassment to do something you believe in.

Closing

Blake Lively teaches us that influence built with purpose lasts. When you believe deeply, when you care about what you create; when you refuse shortcuts and you face criticism with humility and resolve; when you choose authenticity and ownership — you build something meaningful.

If this episode gives you ideas, maybe it’s time to ask: what product or story am I building that aligns with my values? What am I willing to fail at if it lets me do something truer? Please subscribe, leave a review, share with someone who cares not only about success, but about doing it well. I’m Hannah Hally, and this was Icons of Influence. Until next time — create with conviction, build with standards, influence with heart.