Our Biggest B.L.N.D. Ever!

We started the Beauty, Lifestyle, and Nurturing Diversity (B.LN.D.) initiative in 2018. Our vision is to expand diversity, equity and inclusion in the beauty/lifestyle industry, and our events are  geared toward those working and creating in the beauty and lifestyle industries. 

We’ve held B.L.N.D. events in Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta, as well as virtually in 2020.

This August, we had our biggest B.L.N.D. ever in Los Angeles, our home base. The theme was Beauty Entrepreneurship as an Entrepreneur of Color– and the event sold out twice. We had a phenomenal panel of beauty entrepreneurs along with brand partners and a make-your-own-gift-bag station.

“Everyone we talk to in and out of this industry immediately connects with the vision we shared at that first event in 2018—that it’s not enough to feature a Black person on an Instagram feed in February or a Pride flag in June,” said Agency Guacamole Founder and Principal Bilal Kaiser. “We have to do more in front of and behind the scenes.” 

This year’s panel featured the following four leading beauty entrepreneurs:

• Akilah Releford (@akilahreleford), founder and CEO of Mary Louise Cosmetics

• Margarita Arriagada (@MargaritaArriagada), founder of Valdé Beauty

• Michelle Ranavat (@MichelleRanavat), founder of Ranavat

• Naya Roberts-Smith (@labeautyologist), founder of her own esthetics business

The evening unfolded with light bites and refreshments, including a custom cocktail presented by Hair.com, followed by an incredibly engaging conversation. The panelists shared insights into their experience in the beauty space as entrepreneurs of color–including the value of leaning into your vulnerability. 

Margarita Arriagada shared her experiences around leaving a C-level job to start her own company. “Leaving a successful corporate role to start a brand was very scary and left me feeling vulnerable–but this is the first time in my life that I can feel myself growing.” 

Naya Roberts noted that “you can often feel disadvantaged as a beauty entrepreneur of color, but you have to find your people – the people that root for you and want you to succeed and who will support you at every stage of the journey.”

And there was beauty business advice aplenty, including from Akilah Releford. “As a business owner, it’s incredibly important to be comfortable not getting instant gratification or praise. Learn to celebrate the small victories within yourself.” 

Michelle Ranavat echoed this, telling brand founders to not delay happiness around specific milestones. “Be happy along the journey at every stage. Learning to fail is a skill, and learning to handle failure more and more gracefully over time is such an important skill to have as a successful business owner.”

We have big plans for B.L.N.D. in 2023 and can’t wait to share with you soon. As Bilal said at this year’s event (our 6th!), “Even if we can’t change the world tomorrow we can use our platform and our community—this means you all!—to help change things for the better, one day and one conversation at a time.”

Agency Guacamole Recognized by The PR Net in Its 2nd Annual The PR Net 100

As a PR agency, we’re typically focused on celebrating our client wins, whether that's a great piece of media coverage or a successful influencer campaign. This month, however, we are taking a moment to celebrate an agency win, as Agency Guacamole was recently named to the PR Net 100 list of the top PR firms in the US.

While we are a communications agency that works with a lot of big brands, at heart we are a small business that works hard to bring our clients’ visions to life. We are so excited that our hard work has been recognized by the PR Net.

Launched in 2021, the PR Net 100 recognizes talent, innovation and influence in the very competitive world of PR agencies. Spots on this list are awarded to firms that have shown agility, resilience and a reimagining of the communications business.

"We are so honored to be included on this year's PR Net 100 list," says our Founder and Principal Bilal Kaiser. "It has been a phenomenal year after our fifth anniversary last year and our biggest B.L.N.D. event ever just last month–but this is truly the icing on the cake. What makes this PR Net 100 nod extra special is that we're surrounded by some of the coolest communications firms around–including agencies we partner with and leaders we admire."

As this was the second year for the PR Net 100, the outlet received a large number of nominations from top-tier companies. Winners were selected based on a variety of criteria, including notable long-term clients, recent client wins and company updates such as expansion to new locations, key new hires and new services.

You can check out Agency Guacamole’s listing, along with the full list of honorees here!

As Quoted in: Glossy

The NFL season rolls around in the fall, and with the football season comes one of the biggest musical events of the year: the Super Bowl Halftime Show. In September 2022, it was announced that Rihanna would be the Super Bowl Halftime performer, sending football, music and beauty fans alike into a frenzy. 

Combining one of the most popular sporting events with a globally known superstar into one event has ignited a million hot topics; what will Rihanna wear, what might she play—and the list goes on. But on the brand side, one query keeps popping up: what is Fenty Beauty’s game plan?

Our Principal and Founder Bilal Kaiser spoke with Glossy to share his thoughts on Rihanna’s upcoming Super Bowl performance—and what her Fenty empire might gain from the 2023 show. 

“Done the right way, an organic product-led perspective and music perspective can be tastefully combined as one big pop culture Zeitgeist moment around the Super Bowl.” – Bilal Kaiser

Read the rest of Bilal’s take and Glossy’s story here!

Agency Guacamole Celebrates 5 Years with Company and Capabilities Expansion, 3-City Tour for B.L.N.D. and Limited-Edition Candle Launch

We're turning 5! Check out the press release below to find out what we’ve been up to:

Agency Guacamole, a Los Angeles-based communications agency supporting leading beauty and lifestyle brands, celebrates its fifth year of business and announces the expansion of its company and capabilities; the growth of its Beauty, Lifestyle and Nurturing Diversity (B.L.N.D.) initiative with a national three-city tour; and the introduction of a limited-edition candle scent created as part of the five-year celebration.

“I cannot believe it has been five years of growing brands, producing award-winning events and partnering with influencers and content creators,” said Bilal Kaiser, founder and principal at Agency Guacamole.

“When I started the company in 2016, I wanted to take a new approach to building brands. The vision was to tell a story wherever the consumer was—whatever platform, whatever medium—to build a loyal following. I’m thrilled and honored that we’ve been able to do what we love for five years—and learned so much, especially in 2020—and that we’re able to grow our platform on diversity, inclusivity and representation as a key pillar of who we are as an agency,” he added.

Unlike a traditional PR agency, where creative and strategy lives with the firm and all campaign fulfillment gets outsourced, Agency Guacamole has its own warehouse to handle influencer program execution, sampler box send-outs and mailer fulfillment under one roof. In 2021, the company doubled its office and warehouse footprint at its Los Angeles hub, which in addition to a larger warehouse includes a content studio and additional seating for the growing team.

“The expanded warehouse will allow us to not only grow our partnerships with brands to create fun and engaging influencer campaigns, but our in-house pack-and-ship team can continue closing the loop to actually get our clients’ products to each content partner at scale,” said Kaiser.

“Additionally, with the continued uncertainty around the pandemic, our team can produce turnkey ‘event-in-a-box’ concepts for our retail partners, allowing them to execute small-to-medium scale activations across the country.”

Agency Guacamole’s Beauty, Lifestyle and Nurturing Diversity (B.L.N.D.) initiative, which started in 2018 and has taken place in New York City, Los Angeles and virtually, will go to three cities this year: Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles. The goal is to bring together key opinion leaders, industry execs, content creators/influencers and editors to talk about inclusivity within the beauty industry.

The first event in Atlanta took place on Aug. 31 with the theme of “One Year After 2020, Where Are We Now and Where Do We Need to Go to Make Our Industry More Inclusive?” Moderated by Atlanta-based TV and radio personality Ms. Juicy, the panel was well-rounded with insights from Jayria Woods; Atlanta-based beauty content creator; Olivia Hancock, Byrdie beauty editor and founder of the POC-focused beauty podcast “The Hue Report”; and Cora Miller, founder of the multicutural-focused haircare brand Young King Hair Care

“I’m still on cloud nine after such an amazing event with some of the most hardworking and talented people in the industry,” said Cora Miller, founder of Young King Hair Care, a grooming brand intentionally crafted for young men of color. “Thank you to Agency Guacamole and Bilal Kaiser for bringing us together and putting on an event to highlight and amplify underrepresented voices in the beauty and lifestyle space.”

Over the past five years, Agency Guacamole has been a key partner to top beauty and lifestyle brands, concepting and executing countless successful social media, event, influencer and public relations activations across the country. The LA-based agency’s work has won numerous industry awards including the 2021 #BizBash500 List, Muse Creative Awards, AVA Awards, Hermes Awards and Bulldog PR Awards. Founder Bilal Kaiser received the prestigious Joseph Roos Community Service Award from the Los Angeles Chapter of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA-LA) in 2019.

And in true #TeamAG fashion, which entails expanding the bounds of what a traditional agency is, Agency Guacamole is introducing a limited-edition 5-Year Anniversary Candle created in partnership with LAIT Candles, an LA-based, female-owned artisanal candle company.

“I’ve been collaborating with Agency Guacamole for several years and to say I’m proud of their accomplishments is an understatement,” said Jennifer Rhee, founder and creator of LAIT Candles.

“I’m so grateful that I get to play a part in creating a special, custom candle scent for their five year anniversary. It not only stands out on its own as a delicious fragrance that Bilal and I developed together, but the whole concept underscores how Agency Guacamole is different from other firms—they’re constantly coming with creative concepts to inspire and engage their community.”

The exclusive 5-Year Anniversary Candle was inspired by California, nature and travel, among other things, and has notes of sea salt, damask rose and driftwood. It will be rolled out as part of an exclusive VIP gifting initiative launching in Q4.

With a five-year recap of wins comes a new vision and new goals for the next five years. Coming off the heels of the first of three B.L.N.D. events, a fifth-year celebration and exciting activations and initiatives for our clients underway, Team AG is thrilled to see what the next five years hold.

“We’re incredibly grateful that amidst unprecedented times we’re able to share some good news with our peers, clients and supporters,” Kaiser noted. “The last five years have been quite the journey of growth, and I’m excited to continue the momentum with our community in the years to come.”