Shopify Masters: The Marketing Mistake Most Brands are Making Today (+ How to Fix It)

Guest: Erin Harvey, Co-founder & Creative Director of Flamingo Estate
Host: Shopify
Date: April 7, 2026

Overview

This episode of Shopify Masters dives deep into the fascinating story of Flamingo Estate, an eight-figure hospitality and lifestyle brand known for its ritual-driven products and cult following. Co-founder and creative director Erin Harvey shares the brand’s unlikely pandemic origins, the raw authenticity powering its marketing, and the essential (often-misunderstood) strategies for building community and differentiating in e-commerce. The conversation centers on why many brands miss the mark on marketing—and how Flamingo Estate’s creative-first, intuition-driven approach sets it apart.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Myth and Mystery of Flamingo Estate

• The Nature of the Brand:
  Erin describes Flamingo Estate as "a hospitality brand" that’s intentionally ambiguous—a home, a brand, an atelier, a fantasy (00:00-01:09).

  • "There's a beauty to a bit of mystery...questions created in people's minds is maybe one of the pluses." (01:20, Erin)

• Behind the Scenes:
  Richard is the public face; Erin prefers to stay behind, embracing mystery and focusing on “making an honest product.” (01:15-02:05)

2. Origins: From Community Lifeline to Cult Brand

• Pandemic Inception:
  The business began organically as a way to help a local farmer during the COVID lockdowns by selling produce boxes. The operation scaled rapidly through community ties and social media (02:13-03:53).

  • "That first weekend, she thought maybe we could sell 25 of these produce boxes. You know, we sold 100. And then the week after, it was 200 and 300." (03:13, Erin)

• Building with Earnestness:
  Success came from genuine passion, transparency, and vulnerability—“building in public” with personal Instagram posts and direct communication (04:03-04:41).

  • "Richard gets a list of our top 50 customers for the week and he will send a text message to each and every one of them and then he'll engage in conversation." (04:42, Erin)

3. Community, Authenticity, and Celebrities—But Not for Show

• Authenticity Over Strategy:
  Community isn’t built as a marketing tactic. Flamingo Estate’s network grew naturally through honest, personal relationships, not by design (05:10-05:20).

  • "If there's not something there, then what's the point?...There has to be, like, more to it than that." (06:06, Erin)

• Tapping Celebrity for Meaningful Impact:
  While celebrity involvement brings visibility, it must be grounded in shared values (e.g., Pamela Anderson’s pickles driving wildlife charity) (06:06-07:27).

4. Hospitality as a Brand Philosophy

• Extending Care Outward (and Inward):
  Hospitality, for Flamingo Estate, is about facilitating moments of care for others and oneself—rituals, scents, and experiences that become memory (08:20-10:02).

  • "We should also be doing the same thing for ourselves. Light the candle, cook the meal, use the thing." (08:20, Erin)

• Product Magic: The Tomato Candle Story:
  The bestselling tomato candle is a testament to the power of curiosity and sensory storytelling—drawing people in with the unexpected (09:52-10:56).

5. Partnership, Vulnerability, and Leadership

• Co-founder Dynamics:
  Erin and Richard’s partnership is deeply intertwined, making “the stakes of things feel quite high at all times" (12:59).

  • "How I show up every day is not only a reflection of myself, it's also a reflection on our business." (13:11, Erin)

• Division of Labor:
  Richard is the big-picture creative; Erin obsesses over executional detail and operational excellence (13:32-15:08).

  • “He's much more like a vibe person...my piece of the puzzle is much more executional.” (13:58, Erin)

6. Details as Differentiation

• Obsessive Packaging and Presentation:
  Every detail in Flamingo Estate’s packaging is meticulously crafted—a core reason customers feel the brand’s difference, even subconsciously (15:16-17:10).
  • "I think that details are the kind of thing when they're right, you don't notice them. When they are wrong, this is the thing that you will notice." (17:10, Erin)

7. The Creative-First Model vs. Marketing-Driven Brands

• Creative as the Driver:
  Flamingo Estate operates more like a fashion house, letting inspiration and aesthetics lead—not targeting a demographic and building strategy around it (17:41-18:21).

• Scaling Without Losing Soul:
  As the company scales and brings on staff, Flamingo Estate maintains “operationalized” excellence without cutting the heart out of the business—for example, keeping their curated produce boxes alive despite margin pressure (18:42-19:38).

  • "People need to taste real food. They need to understand that it comes from a person. Someone grew this with their hands." (19:38, Erin)

8. Staying True Amid External Advice and Expansion Pressure

• Resisting Misaligned Suggestions:
  Outside investors, advisors, and business coaches often push for “logical” growth levers (supplements, over-simplified need states) that don’t fit Flamingo’s mission.

  • "We got to stop talking to these people...That's a great business. It's just not the one we want to make." (21:25-22:54, Erin)

• Gut-Check Decision-Making:
  The brand’s compass remains intuition—reflecting often, adapting thoughtfully, and not being afraid to learn from mistakes (22:54-23:42).

9. Product Expansion and Learning from Mistakes

• Experimentation and Failures:
  Not all product forays work. Dog-related products, for example, didn’t resonate with customers—leading to valuable learning (24:04-24:59).

• Intentional Growth:
  Moving deeper in categories where they excel (fragrance, sensory experiences) drives future product development (25:01-27:04).

10. Learning and Doing—Advice for New Entrepreneurs

• You Don’t Need All the Answers to Start:
  Erin encourages founders to focus on passion and curiosity over operational know-how, trusting they’ll “figure it out” as they go (28:07-30:48).

  • "I now am aware that the tools that I need are passion, curiosity, kindness. I have those. So I can do whatever." (29:59, Erin)

• Everything is Figureoutable:
  Deep expertise can be built through necessity and resourcefulness rather than credentials (30:47-30:55).

11. Marketing Mistake: Mistaking Tactics for Genuine Community

• Why Most Brands Get It Wrong:
  The episode’s central marketing mistake: building “community” and “authenticity” via strategy rather than real care, which audiences detect as hollow.

  • "Community...it's like one of these words that's lost its meaning. The same way that, like, authenticity, like, it doesn't mean anything anymore." (33:17, Erin)

• Go Deep, Not Broad:
  Flamingo’s campaign targeting L.A. insiders (billboards referencing “Teddy’s”) demonstrates the power of speaking directly and specifically—even on a grand scale (31:02-34:31).

  • "For that other percentage that does, it's an immediate kind of, like, recognition that we are in some way similar...This is the thing that will create community." (33:17, Erin)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Brand Mystery:
  "There's a beauty to a bit of mystery...is it a house? Is it a brand?...I don't have a deep need to explain everything." (01:20, Erin)

• On Community:
  "It has to be honest and it has to be natural...You can't build community as a tactic." (05:20, Erin)

• On Hospitality:
  "Light the candle, cook the meal, use the thing...the things are there for us to use and to love and to create moments." (08:20, Erin)

• On Details and Differentiation:
  "Details are the kind of thing when they're right, you don't notice them. When they are wrong...that is the thing you notice." (17:10, Erin)

• On Following Intuition:
  "The universe pulls us in certain directions...does it feel right in your stomach?...We do a lot of that gut checking." (22:54, Erin)

• On Building Without All the Answers:
  "I now am aware that the tools that I need are passion, curiosity, kindness. I have those. So I can do whatever." (29:59, Erin)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:00-02:05]: Introduction to Flamingo Estate’s mysterious duality and founding partnership
• [02:13-03:53]: Pandemic origins and explosive organic growth
• [04:03-05:20]: Building community through honesty, not strategy
• [08:20-09:52]: Hospitality-driven philosophy and product as conduit for self-care
• [10:02-10:56]: The story and impact of the tomato candle
• [15:16-17:10]: How packaging and tiny details shape the customer experience
• [19:38-20:47]: Sticking with margin-imperfect produce boxes for brand differentiation
• [21:25-22:54]: Navigating, and often rejecting, external advice that doesn’t align
• [24:04-24:59]: Learning from failed product experiments (pet product line)
• [28:07-30:55]: Advice for new founders: self-teaching, curiosity, and resourcefulness
• [31:02-34:31]: Niche out-of-home campaigns and community-building through specificity

Final Thoughts

This episode illuminates what most brands get wrong about marketing and community: substituting strategic playbooks for genuine care and human connection. Flamingo Estate succeeds because it roots everything—from product design to customer engagement—in honest passion, relentless attention to detail, and intuition.

Above all, creative leadership and vulnerability are their “secret sauce”—offering lessons that any founder or marketer can apply, provided they’re willing to listen, work hard, and trust their gut.

Listen to the full episode on Shopify Masters for more unfiltered insights and behind-the-scenes stories.