When Cass DiMicco founded her jewelry brand, Aureum Collective, in 2019, she became the face of the brand. An influencer in her own right with nearly 500,000 followers on Instagram, DiMicco models all the products and is featured heavily in the brand’s advertising, in addition to founding and designing for the brand.

According to DiMicco, she initially worried that her existing audience wouldn’t be enough to launch the brand. At the time, she only had 150,000 followers.

“I thought that you needed to have a million followers to be able to launch a successful brand, but I realized that’s not exactly the case,” DiMicco said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. “I had 150,000 followers, but those people were all following me specifically for fashion and style. Whatever brand I ended up creating, their tastes would align with it.”

DiMicco spoke to Glossy about how she founded her brand, how her own influencer status plays into the brand’s marketing, and how she’s navigating pricing and luxury in the changing climate.