#309: Annelise Hillmann, Co-Founder and CEO of FRONTMAN, on Reimagining The Men’s Grooming Industry, Cultivating Authenticity in Brand Building, and Designing for Behavior Change

Annelise Hillmann is the co-founder of FRONTMAN, the Gen Z self-care brand for men creating a new grooming category. A story teller at heart, Annelise is an art director and designer focusing on brand identity and marketing strategy for early stage companies. She has a Harvard degree in economics and psychology and lives in Brooklyn. She co-founded FRONTMAN with Nick Bunn in 2018, and also does freelance for companies still in stealth and others post-IPO.

Topics Covered by Annelise Hillmann in this Episode What FRONTMAN is and how Annelise and her co-founder Nick Bunn came up with the idea Developing the product itself and how they navigated contract manufacturing for cosmetics Using a product consultant Designing for behavior change and creating the brand for FRONTMAN Utilizing nostalgia to cultivate authenticity in brand building FRONTMAN’s go to market strategy, and what has and hasn’t worked to target Gen Z How they’ve kept their team small so far Raising a $150K pre-seed and working with Recharge Capital FRONTMAN’s fundraising journey and Annelise’s advice on raising capital How Annelise invests in her own health and wellbeing as a founder

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