The Duchess of Sussex was a speaker at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, DC on Tuesday. She wore a creamy ensemble from Brochu Walker, lowkey one of her favorite post-Sussexit labels. She also wore some jewelry pieces from Ukrainian brand Guzema! She wore some Guzema pieces in New York as well. I have no idea if she was gifted all of these rings and earrings, or if she received one or two gifts and decided to buy more. I do know that Harry came back from Kyiv absolutely loaded down with gifts, many of which were specifically for Meghan. Anyway, the blouse is beautiful, and Meghan just looked amazing here.
During her Q&A session, Meghan spoke at length about women’s financial independence, what her first year of As Ever taught her, and what was her headspace in 2020, when she and Harry were just starting to build their lives in California. I was really interested in a lot of business talk. She confirmed that With Love, Meghan has an eighty-person crew, which still astounds me. And yet, she says that As Ever has a ten-person team. Hm. She also spoke about the new Netflix deal, which the Sussexes signed a couple of months back. Some quotes:
Meghan’s 10-person As Ever team: “I think you have to work as a team. You’re only as solid as the rest of the people around you. And also, I want the life-work balance, if such a thing exists. I’m still going to go and chaperone the first-grade field trip and run back and try to finish the meetings. I love the creative part, which I think I’ve touched on quite a bit, and the brand is an extension of my aesthetic, but it’s more than that. The operational side is so key.”
The Sussexes’ new first-look deal with Netflix: “My husband and I were in an overall deal with Netflix then, not dissimilar to Higher Ground and the Obamas’ deal, once that had come to its term, the extension of it — which was such an incredible sign of the strength of our partnership — was now being in a first-look deal. Which is also exciting because it gives us flexibility to go to our partners first, then at the same time, shop content that might not be the right fit for Netflix but has a home somewhere else.”
Whether we’ll get a WLM Season 3: “Well, the holiday special is coming out in November. It’s a really good one. So I think looking at that format — again, it’s a year of learns — so we’re able to say, ‘Eight episodes for two seasons — it’s a lot of work. And having done Suits for seven years, I remember what goes into a production. I also recognize how much people want content in different sizes. Part of what we’re testing out now is, it’s amazing to sit and watch a show for 30 minutes, but how can I give you a recipe in two minutes? And where can I share that with you? And how that continues to grow As ever.”
I’m including the full video of the Q&A session below. Meghan expands even further on the new Netflix deal and mentions that there’s been work behind-the-scenes developing content, and she makes it sound like there are some projects coming up in the next year. That being said, it doesn’t sound (to me) like she’s super-committed to With Love, Meghan. Her priority is clearly As Ever above all else, and she sees WLM as primarily adjacent to As Ever at this point. It will be very curious to see if there’s a Season 3. While her WLM crew is insanely large for such a small, intimate show, I also feel like they’re shooting the episodes pretty quickly. So… I don’t know.
Screencaps courtesy of Fortune’s video.
