Meghan Markle claims she’s always ‘hard at work’ while juggling podcast promotions with the launch of her new money-spinning Instagram shop
One day after unveiling her new digital shop, Meghan Markle is ‘hard at work’ promoting her forthcoming podcast after its first trailer was released earlier today.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, took to her Instagram Stories to share some behind-the-scenes footage from the studio where Confessions of a Female Founder – that will be released next month – was presumably recorded.
In the clip, Meghan can be seen wearing a cream-coloured crew neck sweater, slim-fitting black trousers, and white sneakers, with the Duchess later slipping a pair of black headphones on as she starts speaking into the mic.
She can be seen rifling through papers while reading from a laptop in the short video that is set to Canadian hip-hop musician k-os’s track Crabbuckit.
Her caption read: ‘Confessions of a Female Founder is out today.’
The mother-of-two is gearing up for the launch of her rebranded lifestyle company As Ever while promoting her favourite fashion and beauty brands via an online storefront with affiliate link – weeks after the release of her widely-panned Netflix series.
Seemingly referring to her different ventures and projects, Meghan added: ‘Q: Hard at work or hardly working?
‘A: The former, my friend. The former. Let’s go!’
One day after unveiling her new digital shop, Meghan Markle is ‘hard at work’ promoting her forthcoming podcast after its first trailer was released earlier today.
The Duchess of Sussex , 43, took to her Instagram Stories to share some behind-the-scenes footage from the studio where Confessions of a Female Founder – that will be released next month – was presumably recorded
Meghan also included a link to the trailer of the podcast, produced in association with Lemonada Media, that was first announced on March 13.
The latest promotional post comes after People magazine exclusively revealed the podcast’s first look at 7.30am on Tuesday, March 25.
In the preview for Confessions of a Female Founder, Meghan promises listeners that the podcast will give them the ‘kind of advice that turns small ideas into billion-dollar businesses‘.
It begins: ‘I’m Meghan, and this is Confessions of a Female Founder, a show where I chat with female entrepreneurs and friends about the sleepless nights, the lessons learned and the laser focus that got them to where they are today.
‘We’re diving into the highs – and the lows – and the kind of advice that turns small ideas into billion-dollar businesses. And of course, we’re going to get some girl talk!’
The podcast trailer also includes audio from the show, in which guests speak about their own business ventures.
One says: ‘It just started climbing and climbing, and there was 5,000, 10,000 people on our website. I’m broke, and no one is calling me.’
Another states: ‘I knew in that moment that I’d rather stand for something than sell a whole ton of product and stand for nothing.’
The Duchess yesterday gave her Instagram followers a closer look inside her wardrobe when she launched an online shop – with handpicked pieces from brands such as Heidi Merrick
The launch of the ShopMy website came less than an hour after Meghan shared a rare photograph of herself with her two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, while promoting As Ever
During the teaser, Meghan also giggles about whether one of her business guests is single, in the one-minute preview ahead of the first of eight weekly episodes out on April 8.
‘Are you saying you’re not single now? Have I missed something in the past couple weeks? What’s happening?!’ she can be heard saying.
The audio ends with Meghan affirming the podcast is ‘not Shark Tank’ – while referring to the business reality TV show airing is the US, which is the American franchise of the BBC programme Dragons’ Den.
She explains: ‘This is not Shark Tank, think of this as ‘dolphin tank.’ These are very friendly waters, it’s all going to be good.’
In a statement given to People to accompany the trailer’s release, Meghan spoke about the inspiration she has found from other female founders.
‘What’s been meaningful is being able to talk about my own entrepreneurial journey with other female founders who are either on their own trajectory of growth or have IPO’d, sold, or created high impact brands and gone through all of the learning curves that we all do at the start.
‘You’re just trying to figure out how to walk, then you want to learn how to run, and then you want to learn how to fly. All of those things take time.
‘There’s also something very exciting and energizing about learning something new as we get older. The entrepreneurial journey, for anyone, is a lot, and I’m also really, really lucky that so many of my close friends are female founders that I can glean advice from.’
Meghan’s Spotify contract ended in 2023 after one series of her first podcast Archetypes
Lemonada Media co-founders Jessica Cordova Kramer (left) and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
It comes hours after Meghan launched a new digital shop allowing fans to buy clothing, accessories and jewellery she recommends. In exchange, the Duchess will earn commission as high as 30 per cent for purchases made.
She posted a rare photo of her with her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to her profile, and a story of a collection of her style inspirations with purchase links.
A message on the ShopMy page read: ‘A handpicked and curated collection of the things I love — I hope you enjoy them!’ with the addition: ‘Please note, some products may contain commissionable links.’
The items, mostly in her signature neutral colours, included an oversized white shirt by Reformation for £128, a beige Uniqlo raincoat costing £99.90 and a gold Maya Brenner Happiness Retreat citrine stone necklace, made in collaboration with Meghan’s former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer, for £383.
The collection also includes a pre-order link for a £712 handbag from Cesta Collective, a brand which she told the New York Times she had invested in last summer.
On Tuesday, it appeared Meghan was juggling the two ventures, with the ShopMy storefront having been updated with makeup and skincare products handpicked by the Duchess herself.
New additions to the online shop include a $49 ‘Line Smoothening Treatment and Touch-Up Balm’ from Tatcha and a £195 ‘multi-masking set’ from Tata Harper, including a purifying mask and a hydrating floral mask.
in addition to her podcast and the ‘money-spinner’ digital shop, Meghan has also recently filmed a second season of her Netflix cookery series ‘With Love, Meghan’ that was renewed by the streamer despite largely negative reviews.
The Duchess of Sussex’s new show ‘With Love, Meghan’ came out on Netflix on March 4
Netflix has also become a partner in the duchess’s As Ever business, with the first products set to include raspberry jam, herbal tea and a ready made crepe mix.
Her new podcast, which succeeds her Spotify production Archetypes, was first announced on March 13, with Meghan describing the venture at the time as ‘candid conversations’ with ‘amazing women’ about the success and struggles of their businesses.
She wrote on her Instagram account that she was ‘so excited’ to share the news, describing recording the series as ‘absolutely eye-opening, inspiring…and fun!’
The former Suits actress added: ‘Because what’s the point if we can’t have some fun on this wild adventure?’
She said the women had shared their ‘tips, tricks (and tumbles)’ as well as ‘letting me pick their brains as I build out my own business, As ever’.
The duchess’ Archetypes podcast about female stereotypes in 2022 ran for just one series, and was part of the Sussexes’ previous £20million deal with Spotify, which ended the year after.
The podcast was created as part of a deal Meghan signed last year with Lemonada Media, which said listeners would hear ‘unfiltered stories behind the successes of notable female founders‘.
It also said the series would also be ‘sneaking a peek behind the curtain of Meghan’s own entrepreneurial journey launching As Ever’ – with the company’s rebrand going live in tandem with the release of ‘With Love, Meghan’.
