Daniella Pierson started her media company, The Newsette, at age 19, then built it into a juggernaut valued at $200 million, and became what Forbes called “one of the wealthiest women of color in the U.S.” Now she’s launching a new media company to help people do what she’s done — achieve financial freedom.
“The whole thing is money equals freedom,” says Pierson, who is 28. “It’s framing finance as financial fitness, so it becomes a daily practice and something you’re actually excited about.”
The new company is called Be a Breadwinner. It launches on March 20 with a kickoff event at J.P. Morgan Chase’s headquarters in New York City, as well as a newsletter. Other media products, including a podcast network and a book, as well as a new venture capital arm, are slated to follow.
J.P. Morgan Wealth Management is the company’s first partner, and Pierson spent a lot of time developing the concept with Kristin Lemkau, chief executive officer of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. J.P. Morgan will co-host the kickoff event in New York — where speakers include designer Diane von Furstenberg, poet Rupi Kaur, Sakara Life cofounder Danielle DuBoise, and Love Wellness founder Lo Bosworth — and J.P. Morgan will distribute content from the event as well.
Pierson says that Be a Breadwinner and J.P. Morgan are currently exploring a longer-term partnership.
Be a Breadwinner will be aimed at a wide audience, but Pierson says she’s particularly focused on reaching people like her — someone who, at an earlier stage of life, did not think she could be financially successful. Pierson is open about her mental health challenges, including having ADHD, OCD, and depression, as well as the difficulties she faced starting a business and getting partners to take her seriously.
“It’s based on the struggles that I faced,” she says, “and taking my struggles and my story and everything I learned and building an ecosystem for anyone to become their own breadwinner.”
In addition to Newsette, Pierson also co-founded Wondermind, a mental fitness company she started with Selena Gomez and Mandy Teefey. The trio were featured on Entrepreneur‘s cover in 2021.