The Shonda Structure: How to Create Bingeable Content Using Open Loops
The Unschool by Andi Alleman
Andi breaks down the storytelling pattern behind the world’s most bingeable shows — the same structure Shonda Rhimes uses to keep you glued to Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and Bridgerton. It’s a framework you can steal for your content to hold attention, build emotional investment, and make your message unforgettable. Inside, Andi shares: • What an open loop hook is — and why it’s more powerful than a standard hook • How Shonda builds cliffhangers that keep viewers (and your audience) coming back • The psychology behind unfinished stories — the Zygarnik effect • How to...
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Year Zero: The Quiet Work Behind Building an Indie Brand the World Hasn’t Met Yet
The Unschool by Andi Alleman
Andi takes you behind the scenes of Casa Noon’s pre-launch season — from hand-packing 65 boxes at her kitchen table to navigating early PR, pre-orders, and the slow, unseen work of building an indie beauty brand from scratch. She breaks down what most people miss about “year zero,” why visibility often comes after years of grind, and how creators and founders can reconnect to the story beneath their work when the noise gets loud. You’ll hear: • What it really looks like to prep for launch without celebrity backing or big budgets • Why indie brands deserve more energy than...
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Founder Lore: The Story Only You Can Tell — And the Three Steps to Building Your Mythology
The Unschool by Andi Alleman
Get the Unschool News: From founder lore and brand mythology to the rise of magnetism-as-metric, Andi breaks down how story, presence, and point of view shape modern founder brands. She walks through how to build your own lore — the emotional logic behind your work — and why “anti-feed” content and second accounts are quietly becoming the most compelling spaces on the internet. But first, Andi shares what’s happening inside the studio: ✨ The Cult Brand Blueprint Accelerator is now in Week 4 — and founder lore is one of the most transformative lessons of the cohort. ✨ A new ...
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Micro Moves, Big Deal Energy: 5 Shifts That Change Everything
The Unschool by Andi Alleman
From the proof-optional mindset to the Life Edit method, Andi breaks down how tiny, deliberate “micro moves” shape your next era. She walks through the first five moves in her 20 Micro Moves to Become a Big Deal Before 2026 series in more detail. These are the small shifts that create clarity, momentum, and identity-level upgrades over time. But first, Andi shares what’s new behind the scenes: ✨ The Unschool newsletter is now officially rolled into the Unschool brand — welcome to The Unschool News + Pod, your shared home for creativity, intuition, and founder conversations. ✨...
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Excavation Season: Micro Moves + Vibes, Virality, and Value Bombing
The Unschool by Andi Alleman
Andi unpacks how tiny shifts, online and off, create big-deal momentum, plus the content framework that’s rewriting brand growth. From high-performance mindset and “micro moves” that shape identity to the three-post content system powering cult-brand growth, this solo episode is your reminder that becoming a big deal starts with small, deliberate shifts. But first, Andi shares what’s new behind the scenes: The Unschool newsletter + podcast are now fully aligned under one name—your weekly dose of creative strategy and identity-centered, IYKYK factor brand building. ✨ The...
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The Productivity Detox: How to Heal the Need to Always Be Doing With Nine to Kind Founder, Lauren Ruth Martin
The Unschool by Andi Alleman
Join the Today Andi chats with , licensed therapist, speaker, and founder of , on burnout, productivity guilt, and what it really means to build a life that’s sustainable—mentally, emotionally, and professionally. After years of measuring worth through achievement, Lauren hit a wall that forced her to redefine success. What began as her personal healing journey became Nine to Kind: a planner and philosophy helping people move from urgency to intentionality. You’ll hear: The burnout wake-up call: how therapy and awareness helped Lauren untangle her identity from constant productivity....
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Fazit Glitter Freckles: How Taylor Swift Helped Turn a Cult Brand Viral (3,500% Surge + 7-Figure Weekend) with Co-Founder Aliett Buttelman
The Unschool by Andi Alleman
Today Andi chats with Aliett Buttelman, cofounder of Fazit, on the glitter-freckle phenomenon that leapt from TikTok to A-list status. After Taylor Swift (plus Rita Ora, Kacey Musgraves, and Lisa of BLACKPINK) wore Fazit’s Glitter Freckles Makeup Patches, the brand’s press pat peel ritual turned into a movement, spiking sales and cementing Fazit as a cult brand to watch. You’ll hear: The founding arc: from “patch peel” skincare content to the first-ever makeup patches built for instant transformation. The celebrity spark: how a Taylor Swift moment turned into +3,500% traffic and...
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How a Founder Built a Dress Rental Startup, Raised $1M+, and Pivoted From Burnout to Mentorship — with Emily McDonald
The Unschool by Andi Alleman
Get on the waitlist for Come to our NYC Andi chats with Emily McDonald, founder of The Stylist LA and mentor to female founders, for a real conversation on the highs, lows, and pivots that come with entrepreneurship. Emily takes us back to her first company, a pre–Rent the Runway dress rental business she started out of her living room with a single rolling rack. From scaling to showrooms in LA and San Francisco, raising over a million in venture capital, and dressing Bachelor Nation, Emily shares the bts truth of what it actually takes to build, scale, and reinvent. You’ll hear:...
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25 Things Cult Brand Founders Are Obsessing Over Right Now
The Unschool by Andi Alleman
From storytelling that feels lived-in (not polished) to founder POV diaries, retention over reach, cultural commentary in marketing, IRL brand house parties, and legacy thinking—this is the ultimate quick-hit list of the habits and strategies fueling today’s most magnetic founders. But before diving in, Andi shares some exciting updates: The Unschool was just named by the Female Founder Collective as one of the top podcasts for entrepreneurs ready to uplevel—alongside How I Built This, Second Life, Superwoman, Side Hustle Pro, and more. Their words? “This pod challenges business...
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Is It Whiplash Content, Interest Media, or Manufactured Chaos? Do We Really Want to Build Cult Brands This Way?
The Unschool by Andi Alleman
🎟 Sign up for Pitch, Please — it’s free! Learn to pitch with clarity and build the brand deals you actually want. Workshop Takeaways: → How to write pitches that actually get replies → The content that lands brand deals (without sounding like everyone else) → How to use AI to simplify, scale, and stay consistent → For founders and creatives ready for visibility, income, and way more time OOO In this solo episode, Andi is breaking down the state of content in 2025 — from PR chaos to the pressure to go viral — and asking: is this really the way we want to build cult brands?...
info_outlineA cosmic shift: in today’s clubhouse rooms, instagram lives, and socially distanced coffee shop conversations there’s a new lexicon slowly creeping in to the mid-day matcha break banter. You’ve likely heard it. Conversations about birth charts, planetary transits, crystals and meditation - once the domain of the woo, have become as normal to hear this stuff coming up in our day to day conversations.
In this episode I share my journey into the mystical. How I found my inner woo. In 2014 I left my corporate job and moved to a tiny Mediterranean town. I was ready to let the universe guide me. I packed only the essentials — a small bag, my journal, a tarot deck, a moonstone and an astrology book, and then I booked a one way ticket. It was the most spontaneous thing I’d ever done. When I landed I quieted my inner freak out and decided to dive in. I studied the stars, spent my nights at the local Buddhist temple and my days meditating on the seaside.
At first I felt crazy, what in the world had I done? However, over time, I developed a deep gratitude for the beauty of this new experience.
After that I tried it all — every woo woo, mystical and spiritual practice I could get my hands on. I went to Shaman School in the Great Smoky Mountains, trained in Human Design (a system that combines principles of The I Ching, astrology, Kabbalah, the chakra system, and quantum physics), and more.
In this episode I’m here to show you why you should give this stuff a chance, and how over the course of history - so many famous inspirational figures have secretly (and not so secretly) done the same.
Every one of us has the opportunity to live grounded, experience-filled and fiercely magical lives. The big questions we all have:
- What’s next?
- How do I get there?
- How does personal transformation happen?
- How do I move out of doubt, overwhelm, and financial fear, and into living a life filled with success, confidence, abundance and creative expression?
The answer to those questions is what this show is here for.
We each arrived on this planet to do what fills up our soul and the world needs your gifts now more than ever. Mixing in a bit of mystical magic to your daily grind will help those gifts come to light. The practices shared in this episode have enabled me, personally, to experience a tremendous life shift.
Where to find me:
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This show is produced, mixed, recorded and additional music by T'Ben Alleman
Opening and closing music: Pet Fangs
Show art: Anna Liv Design