Deep Read with Phoebe Lovatt

Find Deep Reading lists for each episode at phoebe.substack.com

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Deep Read #49 is with Annie Kreighbaum, a creative director and beauty-world architect who helped shape Glossier in its defining era and is now building KRAUM, a brand that begins with five exquisitely small makeup brushes made to her exacting specifications in Japan — what she half-jokingly calls a “vanity project,” for reasons that become clear as we talk. We revisit the optimism and extravagant funding energy of 2016, and the skills she honed in that moment — instinct, language, taste, and the discipline of editing — before turning to the bigger thesis behind KRAUM: not just better tools, but a slower, more intentional approach to getting ready. We also discuss fast beauty, permanence, her resistance to AI as a shortcut in creative work, and the books that shape her thinking.

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@phoebelovatt

@deepread.phoebelovatt

@annieokay

@kraum.co

Amil Niazi is the writer behind The Cut’s column 'The Hard Part' and author of a new book: Life After Ambition: A “Good Enough” Memoir.

 

You might’ve read Amil’s piece Losing My Ambition, which went viral back in 2022— partly because it named something that was already in the air post-pandemic: this creeping disillusionment, not just with our jobs, but with the whole story we were sold about work.

 

In this conversation we talk about the shift from ambition as aspiration to ambition as survival strategy, and what it means to work hard and still find that the doors don’t open. We also talk about motherhood vs. work. vs. meaning, the burgeoning Millennial mid-life crisis, and of course Amil shares her favourite books.

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@phoebelovatt

@deepread.phoebelovatt

@amilniazi

phoebe.substack.com

Zoe Dubno is the author of Happiness and Love – a buzzy new novel set inside the decadent but spiritually empty downtown New York art world, where artists, collectors, and social climbers circle each other in pursuit of status and survival.

Our chat that moves between New York and London, artists and patrons, boredom and desire. We also covered the performance of taste, the emotional cost of ambition, and what it means to live inside a culture that rewards image over substance. And, of course, Zoe shared some of her favourite books.

I hope you enjoy the conversation.

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@phoebelovatt

@deepread.phoebelovatt

@zoedubno

phoebe.substack.com

Deep Reading Lists can be found at phoebe.substack.com

@phoebelovatt

@deepread.phoebelovatt

@sueperchan

@careofchan

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Today's guest is Sue Chan, founder of Care of Chan, the hospitality-driven creative agency behind some of the busiest events, dinners and cultural moments you've seen online (or maybe even been lucky enough to attend in person). Sue and I first met over a decade ago back when she was transitioning out of her role as brand director at iconic New York City restaurant Momofuku and beginning to build what would eventually become Care of Chan.

 

Since then, the world and the way we come together has completely transformed. We talk about that transformation, the loneliness epidemic, the rise of the event economy, and the way in-person experiences have become the new status symbol when so much of our culture is mediated through screens. From influencer trips that break the internet, to why a good dinner can feel more radical than ever, to the psychological barriers that stop so many people reaching out.

Find Deep Reading lists for each episode at phoebe.substack.com

Follow Phoebe and the podcast: @phoebelovatt @deepread.podcast

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Today's episode was recorded live in London as part of our Deep Read Salon event series, with my longtime friend and returning guest, Sharmadean Reid (@sharmadeanreid).

 

We reunited for this live episode at Mason & Fifth in West London, where Sharma was hosting a pop-up for her new luxury bathing brand, 39BC (@39bc.world). As a master of what the internet loves to call “worldbuilding,” Sharma has created an entire universe around this brand — drawing on ancient bathing rituals from around the world to build something really special and unique.

 

It felt like the perfect moment to ask her more about her reading and research process, the evolution of her business philosophy, and the personal and professional transitions that have brought her into this new era of her life and career.

 

Sharma and I have loved talking to each other for over 15 years now, and I think you can hear that in this conversation. I hope you enjoy it.