BUILDING & BREAKING with Nina L. Kovner
BUILDING & BREAKING with Nina L Kovner is a podcast about how brands are built, how trust is broken, and what it all means for salon owners, hairstylists, small business creatives and brands who give a damn. Each week, Nina takes you behind the scenes of brand strategy, leadership decisions, and real-world examples from inside and outside the beauty industry. With decades of experience building brands (and witnessing heartbreaking downfalls), Nina breaks down the moments that define a brand: the bold moves, the missed opportunities, the trust built, and lost. Whether you're leading a team, growing behind the chair, or navigating the noise of modern marketing, this podcast will help you slow down, get clear, and make aligned decisions that build trust and higher lifetime client and team value. No fluff. No BS. Just truth, context, and clarity from someone who's been behind the chair and inside the brands.
Episodes
Social media and the internet didn't just become part of our lives; they became a brand we were asked to trust.
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I'm sharing this episode again because the salon industry continues to be confused about brand story, market position, and how that drives every decision you make for your salon business, including how you price your services. There is a market for everyone!
In this episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we take a closer look at how Madison Reed filled the gap between drugstore box color and major salon transformati...
In this Extended Encore episode, we're combining three episodes, from three iconic legacy brands, Trader Joe's, Costco, and In-N-Out Burger, and what they all share in common, and can te...
In this episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we're talking why the nostalgia macro trend has become one of the most powerful trust-building forces in business and why so many brands are leaning into the familiar, the simple, and the human.
Through the story of Sundance Film Festival and its decision to lea...
Apple didn't just design products; they designed and consistently delivered an experience.
In this episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we look at how Apple used brand story cla...
In this episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we are doing something a little different.
Instead of unpacking another company's brand story, I'm sharing my own brand evolution, moving from Passion Squared (a business brand) to Nina L. Kovner (my personal brand), and why I created MENTORED. with Nina L...
In the 90s and early 2000s, GAP wasn't just a store; it was a cultural force. Then came overexpansion, distraction, and one of the most infamous logo fails in branding history. For years, GAP drifted in a sea of sameness, losing clarity and connection.
But today, under the leadership of CEO Richard Dickson, GAP is staging a reclamation, not by chasing trends, but by staying true to its original br...
In this short follow-up episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we're revisiting e.l.f. Cosmetics, a brand we recently celebrated for its clarity, consistency, and connection with its audience. But something shifted. After releasing their most recent ad campaign that contradicted their values-forward brand and staying silent when their audience called it out, e.l....
In this episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, I'm diving into the story of Red Lobster's recent comeback and what it teaches us about brand clarity, decision-making, leadership, and trust.
From the chaos of the Endless Shrimp promotion to the arrival of new CEO Damola Adamolekun, this isn't a story about flashy reinvention or ...
In this episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we take a closer look at Rihanna, not just as an artist, but as a personal brand that has redefined what it means to lead, serve, and build businesses that matter.
We explore how Rihanna's brand began with a purpose, to challenge the lack of representation in beauty and culture, and how that clarity shaped everything from Fenty Beauty to Savage X Fent...
In this episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we take a closer look at how Southwest Airlines went from beloved to broken, by abandoning the very promises that made them different.
Southwest wasn't built by analysts. It was built by Herb Kelleher, a rebellious, people-first founder who believed business and air travel could be joyful, human, and accessible.
From the single ai...
In this episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we take a closer look at how Madison Reed filled the gap between drugstore box color and major salon transformations by knowing exactly who they serve, what those clients value, and how to deliver consistency at scale. Madison Reed isn't stealing your clients. They're speaking directly to the consumer who values the solutions they offer.
We explore ho...
In this episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we're diving into the brand story of e.l.f. Cosmetics, the brand proving that low price doesn't have to mean low value.
From launching $1 products in 2004 to becoming one of beauty's fastest-growing brands, e.l.f. shows how clarity of brand story and market position drives trust, connection, and growth, even at the lowest price points.
In this 10th episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we're recapping the first nine episodes by connecting the dots between Costco, Starbucks, In-N-Out, Taylor Swift, Aveda, Olaplex, Trader Joe's, Drybar, and Target.
From warehouse giants to pop icons, these brands might look different, but the fundamentals that build or break trust are universal.
In this special rec...
Drybar didn't invent the blowout, but they turned it into a brand with a crystal-clear promise: No cuts. No color. Just blowouts.
Drybar built a business and brand on simplicity, consistency, and solving one real and relevant problem for busy people who wanted beautiful hair without the hassle.
But as Drybar grew, fast and wide, the cracks began to show. Ownership and l...
Olaplex didn't just create a product, it created a category. It provided stylists a new language around hair health and made the salon pro, at every level, feel more confident, understood, and seen. But as the brand scaled and shifted toward the consumer market, something got lost: connection and community.
In this episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, we explore how one of the most iconic and be...
We're off this week, so please enjoy an encore of the first episode of BUILDING & BREAKING in case you missed it. Be back next week with a new episode!
In the premiere episode of BUILDING & BREAKING, Nina dives deep into one of the greatest brand loyalty stories of our time: Costco.
Through personal reflections as a newer Costco member (yet longtime studier of the brand) and decades of expe...
This week, we're driving straight into the In-N-Out experience, a brand that's never chased trends, but instead chose clarity, consistency, and connection. No chicken sandwiches. No seasonal drops. Just a focused menu, a powerful brand promise, and systems that deliver, over and over again.
In This Episode:
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