Don’t Box Me In — But If You Must, Call Me Jerry Buss

People love categories....

It’s how our brains make sense of the world. We put people in boxes, assign them labels, and then decide how to engage with them.

But here’s the thing: I’ve never fit into a category. Not in business, not in life. And that’s been a blessing and a frustration. Because when people can’t categorize you, they don’t know where to file you. They don’t know how to measure you. They don’t know what to do with your energy.

So let me make it simple. If you must categorize me, then think of me as the modern, (non philander) female equivalent of Jerry Buss.

Why Jerry Buss?

Dr. Jerry Buss wasn’t just the owner of the Lakers. He was an architect of culture. He saw the game differently, and because of that, he changed it forever.

Here’s why the comparison fits:

• He built an empire out of entertainment.
  Buss didn’t just buy a basketball team. He built the Lakers into a global brand, creating Showtime basketball and turning games into a full-scale cultural event. I’m doing the same in CPG — building brands that are more than products, they’re ecosystems of meaning, mission, and magnetism.

• He knew it was about the experience, not just the numbers.
  Anyone can crunch revenue. Buss understood that the emotional resonance of what you build, the feeling people get when they engage with it, is the real engine of growth. That’s the same ethos behind what I’m building. The product is just the vessel. The resonance is the revolution.

• He attracted stars because he radiated belief.
  Magic Johnson, Kareem, the coaches, the entertainers; Buss had a gravitational pull because he made people feel like they were part of something bigger. I operate the same way. People join me not just because of contracts or equity, but because they feel the vision and want to be inside it.

• He wasn’t afraid of being different.
  Buss turned the NBA into Hollywood. He blurred lines, broke rules, and created new ones. That energy is exactly what I bring to consumer brands: refusing the template, refusing the pro forma, and insisting that greatness doesn’t fit inside someone else’s box.

Energy Translation

If you’re looking for a neat little category to explain me, here it is: I’m building a multi-billion-dollar cultural empire in the consumer space the way Jerry Buss did with sports and entertainment. And just like Buss, I’m not here to fit into your spreadsheet. I’m here to rewrite the playbook. So no, you can’t box me in. But if you need a frame of reference? Call me the female Jerry Buss and then watch as I build something even bigger, on my own terms.