How I Built a Brand Celebrities Can't Stop Wearing
Executive Summary
Heaven Mayhem founder Pia Mance describes starting with handmade necklaces and building an accessories brand around product, content, community and events. She talks about asking customers for useful feedback, keeping a consistent identity and the limits of celebrity exposure. Notes cover selected business passages of the full public auto-captions, checked against official Shopify show notes. Date matches the official March 3, 2026 release. Sales, funding and campaign outcomes are Mance's account of the period, not audited or current figures; the economics of direct sales versus wholesale vary by business.
Key Takeaways
A world, not just a product
She grew up modeling and listening to her husband's family talk business. She wanted people to step into a world and feel they belong, with access to events, content and styling advice.
Four pillars
Product, content, community and events. She says community is everything, because without the people around the brand and buying it, you do not have a brand.
Distinct identity without a logo
Earrings have no logo, but people recognise them from the content. She says the brand identity is something they never veer from, and that people DM her about meeting someone in a Pilates class wearing the earrings.
The name
Heaven Mayhem: when she feels like a mess it is mayhem, and adding jewelry is her final step to feeling ready, which is heaven. Her advice is that once it is a name, it is a name.
Started with $900 and pliers
Her first products were necklaces: vintage pendants she hand-recreated from flea markets, with hand-tied suede cord, packing every order herself. The first drops were 20 one-off pendants each.
Community as feedback
She invites customers to try on product at the office, hosts coffee and girls nights for about 150 people with no selling, and runs a monthly 'conversations in heaven' Zoom. She asks 'what can I do better' rather than 'what did you think'.
Separate attention from sales
Mance describes celebrity wear and influencer content as different forms of exposure. Official show notes stress that celebrity placements did not automatically sell extra units. The useful business lesson is to track what exposure actually does, rather than assume that a recognizable wearer proves customer demand.
The Conversation Breakdown
A world, not just a product
⏱ Untimed topicShe grew up modeling and listening to her husband's family talk business. She wanted people to step into a world and feel they belong, with access to events, content and styling advice.
Four pillars
⏱ Untimed topicProduct, content, community and events. She says community is everything, because without the people around the brand and buying it, you do not have a brand.
Distinct identity without a logo
⏱ Untimed topicEarrings have no logo, but people recognise them from the content. She says the brand identity is something they never veer from, and that people DM her about meeting someone in a Pilates class wearing the earrings.
The name
⏱ Untimed topicHeaven Mayhem: when she feels like a mess it is mayhem, and adding jewelry is her final step to feeling ready, which is heaven. Her advice is that once it is a name, it is a name.
Started with $900 and pliers
⏱ Untimed topicHer first products were necklaces: vintage pendants she hand-recreated from flea markets, with hand-tied suede cord, packing every order herself. The first drops were 20 one-off pendants each.
Community as feedback
⏱ Untimed topicShe invites customers to try on product at the office, hosts coffee and girls nights for about 150 people with no selling, and runs a monthly 'conversations in heaven' Zoom. She asks 'what can I do better' rather than 'what did you think'.
Separate attention from sales
⏱ Untimed topicMance describes celebrity wear and influencer content as different forms of exposure. Official show notes stress that celebrity placements did not automatically sell extra units. The useful business lesson is to track what exposure actually does, rather than assume that a recognizable wearer proves customer demand.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Four brand pillars
Mance names product, content, community and events as linked parts of Heaven Mayhem. A product launch sits inside that wider brand experience.
Ask for an improvement
She asks customers what she can do better rather than only whether they liked something. Office try-ons and monthly calls give that question a repeatable setting.
Attention versus commercial effect
Celebrity visibility and influencer content are not interchangeable with sales. Match each activity with the outcome it is meant to produce and measure that outcome.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Ask customers what you can do better, not what they thought.
- ✓Run one no-sales event for your best customers.
- ✓Decide whether a new product raises customer acquisition or lifetime value, and plan for the trade-off.
- ✓Compare sales and repeat purchase after publicity rather than counting celebrity exposure as a result by itself.
Notable Quotes
“I always say once it's a name, it's a name.”
“community is everything”
“DTOC is a lot more profitable than wholesale”
The One Thing to Remember
I always say once it's a name, it's a name.