The Duchess of Sussex has branded American Riviera Orchard, the former name of her lifestyle business, a “word salad”, adding: “I didn’t love that so much.”
Meghan ran into trademark issues when the US Patent and Trademark Office said geographical locations could not be patented, and she eventually renamed her venture As Ever.
In the latest episode of her podcast Confessions Of A Female Founder, Meghan insists it was “really just helpful to have that quiet period” before her As Ever name was unveiled, “when no-one was sniffing around”.
The duchess recorded a conversation with her own hair colourist and “dear friend” Kadi Lee, co-founder of hair wellness brand Highbrow Hippie, which Meghan reportedly invested in last year.
The former Suits actress said: “I had secured As Ever as a name in 2022, and then, as everything started to evolve last year, and bringing in a partner the size that it was, it was just so interesting.
“You remember, I said ‘I like American Riviera as an umbrella’, and then be able to have verticals beneath it.
“And maybe have the Orchard really small. But when that’s not feasible … suddenly it became this word salad. I didn’t love that so much.
“I was like ‘OK, let’s go back to the thing that I’ve always loved. Let’s use the name that I protected for a reason that had sort of been under wraps’.
“And then we were able to focus in the quiet and put our heads down and build on something that no-one was sniffing around to even see about.
“It was really just helpful to have that quiet period.”
Meghan greeted Lee by saying: “Disregard the state of my hair right now. I’m so excited I’m seeing you next week. I should have a baseball cap on.”
The duchess said the pair met in 2020 – the year of Megxit when Meghan and the Duke of Sussex quit the working monarchy for a new life in the US – and told of her attempts to dye her own hair at home during the pandemic.
Meghan said: “It was 2020 – it was very much 2020.”
She added: “My family had just moved to California. We were staying in our friend’s home and, because it was the pandemic, I kept ordering boxed hair dye, and I thought I’m gonna look just like she does on the box.
“And instead it was this very inky, almost Elvira-esque black hair.”
Lee, who was called in at the time to help Meghan with her hair, said: “I remember meeting you guys, and you were so warm and both you and H wrapped us up in these big bear hugs and I was like ‘I don’t even know these people and I’m not a hugger but let’s do it’.”
Reflecting on having to close her hair salon during the pandemic, Lee added: “It felt like such whiplash and it felt like, gosh we cannot get a break, you know?”
Meghan laughed and added: “Oh, I understand.”
The duchess promoted the Highbrow Hippie brand during the podcast, saying: “Look at you now – I mean, the name Highbrow Hippie is no longer just a blog and a hair salon, it’s a product line too.
“You have a hair supplement and hair serum that you just launched late last year, and it’s already been named best hair serum by Oprah Daily.”
Meghan was pictured at the launch party for the firm’s new hair wellness range in California in November 2024 amid reports she was financially backing Lee’s venture.
The duchess described working on her podcast, her As Ever products including raspberry spread and flower sprinkles, and her much-criticised Netflix show at the same time as “energising”.
She said: “I’m doing the podcast right now, the show and the brand.
“That’s three launches at the same time. It’s a lot of moving pieces, but it’s also energising.”
– The episode is the third instalment from Meghan’s eight-part series with Lemonada Media, which promised “girl talk” and advice on how to create “billion-dollar businesses”.
