Entrepreneurial Inspiration
The power of celebrity can be potent. Dorian Renaud’s skincare brand, Buttah Skin, has gotten attention from such well-known people as Beyoncè, Amber Riley, Nina Parker, Keri Hilson and 2Chainz. And his products – already carried by retailers including Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and Nordstrom – last week got picked up by Ulta stores nationwide. Renaud, probably best known for his appearances on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” is featured in this year’s HBO Max documentary, “The Beauty of Blackness.”
He attributes much of his success in L.A. with the upbringing he got in his hometown of Beaumont, Texas. His father had a barber shop that repaired shoes. Last month, Renaud told the Beaumont Enterprise, “I started working there at the age of eight and I learned … everything about business.”
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You know that Andy Warhol created iconic pop art works featuring the likes of Campbell’s soup cans and Marilyn Monroe, but did you know he loved making silk screens and drawings of cars?
In fact, Mercedes-Benz commissioned him in 1986 to create 80 pieces depicting various Mercedes models to celebrate the carmaker’s 100th anniversary. Alas, he completed only 49 before dying unexpectedly the following year. But beginning July 23, the Petersen Automotive Museum on the Miracle Mile will put on what it is calling a “groundbreaking exhibition” showing 40 pieces of Warhol’s car art along with five of the Mercedes models that inspired his work.
Among them: a 1937 W 125, a 637-horsepower thoroughbred that was built for Grand Prix racing and remained one of the world’s most powerful cars for decades. Interestingly, according to the press materials, Warhol loved cars but never got a driver’s license. Instead, he rode as a passenger in his 1974 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow (also on display at the exhibition). Among his famous friends who acted as his chauffeur: Mick Jagger, Imelda Marcos and Liza Minnelli.
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The average Californian would be willing to sell their personal online shopping data for $1,580. That’s according to a new survey from CouponBirds, an online coupon aggregator.
As everyone knows – or at least suspects – whenever we shop online, and especially when we allow cookies to track our movements, browsers pick up all manner of details about us – details that are valuable to marketers.
According to the survey of more than 3,500 consumers, 85% believe they should be compensated when their personal shopping information is sold to a third party.
And they put a pretty high price on what they would take to sell their data, if it were up to them. The national average is $1,452. Regardless, any amount would be more than consumers now get. Which is zero.
The Insider column is compiled by Editor- in-Chief Charles Crumpley. Submit items to ccrumpley@sfvbj.com.
