Chapter 21 Reinvention
Oivia: POV
After confirming Emma was safe and actually doing well as a waitress at that café, I could finally get back to what I'm good at. All that family drama had been eating at me for days, but seeing her busting her ass at Sunrise restaurant was weirdly comforting.
Mike and I decided to give her a week to sort her shit out on her own, and meanwhile, I had a company to help shake up.
I slammed my office door shut, dead set on finishing this marketing proposal I'd been chipping away at for days. The clean white walls of my corner office at Radiance Inc. felt like a refuge after all that emotional chaos. I yanked out the market analysis reports and scattered them across my desk.
"Time to shake things up," I mumbled, throwing my hair into a messy bun.
Our current marketing had been doing okay—I couldn't argue with that. Radiance had found its spot in the organic cosmetics world. But we'd hit a wall, especially with the 25-35 crowd. The numbers were brutal: we needed something new.
My idea was pretty straightforward: quit just pushing products and start pushing what we stand for. Gen Z and younger millennials weren't just buying makeup; they were backing brands that matched their values.
Going green, ethical sourcing, sustainable packaging—this stuff wasn't just trendy bullshit anymore. It was make-or-break.
"Cosmetics shouldn't just make you look good—they should make you feel good about what you're buying," I typed, tweaking the main point of my pitch.
I burned through hours picking apart our current strategy: too much focus on how well the products worked without any emotional hook; barely any talk about doing the right thing; completely missing younger buyers who actually gave a damn about sustainability. Then I laid out my fix—repositioning Radiance as a brand that cared about beauty AND the planet's future.
I was typing like crazy, spelling out how we could go carbon-neutral, use biodegradable packaging, and be totally transparent about where our ingredients came from. I threw in marketing mockups with real women from all backgrounds using our stuff.
By noon, I felt good enough about it to fire it off to Mike's email. Twenty minutes later, my phone buzzed.
[My office. Now.] Mike replied.
I grabbed my tablet and walked to his corner office, my heart beating faster than I wanted to admit. Sure, Mike's my adoptive brother, but he's still the CEO, and I was basically asking him to flip our entire strategy on its head.
When I walked in, he was standing by the window with his tablet, already going through my proposal.
"You're really swinging for the fences here, aren't you?" he said without looking up.
"Someone's gotta," I shot back, dropping into one of his chairs.
Mike finally looked at me, his face giving nothing away. "You get that you're basically saying we should trash our entire marketing approach? The one that's kept us in the black for ten years?"
"The one that's tanking with younger customers," I fired back. "Check out page seven—our growth with under-35s dropped from 15% to 7% in two years."
Mike let out a long breath and sat across from me. "Look, Liv, I get it. But the board's not gonna jump at ditching a strategy that works for—"
"For staying relevant?" I cut him off. "For making sure we don't become another has-been brand that couldn't keep up? Mike, look what happened to those makeup companies that refused to adapt—half of them are barely hanging on."
He stared at me for a second, then nodded slowly. "I set up a meeting with the department heads in an hour. You'll pitch this, and we'll see what they think."
An hour later, I was standing at the front of the conference room, facing our marketing, sales, and product development teams. As I walked them through my proposal, I could feel the pushback building.
"This is way too different from what's been working," Janet from Marketing said, crossing her arms. "Our customers care about quality and results, not all this feel-good environmental stuff."
"Our current customers do," I agreed. "But we're totally missing the next wave of buyers. They're not just buying products; they're buying into what brands believe."
"So we screw over our loyal customers to chase fads?" David from Sales jumped in.
I took a deep breath. "I'm not saying we dump our focus on quality and results. I'm saying we add environmental responsibility to our story. This isn't a fad—this is where consumer behavior is heading."
I pulled up a slide showing what our competitors were doing. "Look at these brands that tried similar moves. They saw a 30% bump in market share with younger demographics in just 18 months."
"We're a cosmetics company in an industry that changes fast," I said, my voice getting stronger. "If we don't innovate, if we don't push boundaries and see where the market's going, we're gonna get left behind. This isn't about chasing trends; it's about making sure we have a future."
The room went quiet. I softened my tone. "I'm not asking us to change everything overnight. I want to try a targeted pilot campaign—one product line with completely sustainable packaging, carbon-neutral production, and marketing that highlights our environmental commitment. Let's test it, see how people respond, then decide if we go bigger."
Mike had been quiet the whole time, just watching everyone. Now he spoke up. "What kind of money and timeline are we talking about for this pilot?"
I ran through my projected costs and three-month plan. The room started buzzing with whispered conversations.
Finally, Anita from Product Development spoke up. "I think Olivia's onto something. My teenage daughter and her friends won't buy from a brand that doesn't have clear sustainability practices. They research everything before they buy anything."
"Exactly," I nodded, grateful for the backup. "And they influence what their parents buy too."
Slowly, things started shifting. Not everyone was sold, but enough people supported giving the pilot a shot that Mike finally held up his hand to quiet everyone down.
"Here's what we're doing," he announced. "Olivia, you'll run a small team to develop this pilot line. You've got three months and the budget you outlined. If the results match your projections, we'll think about rolling it out bigger."
I felt this huge wave of relief. It wasn't everything I wanted, but it was a start—a chance to prove my idea could actually work.
"I won't screw this up," I told Mike as we walked out together.
He smiled and squeezed my shoulder. "I know you won't. That's why I'm giving you this chance. Just remember—results matter more than good intentions in this business."
"Why not both?" I grinned, feeling more pumped than I had in weeks.
By the time I left the building, the evening air felt amazing. I stretched, savoring the feeling of actually getting something done. Between making sure Emma was okay and getting the green light for my pilot project, things were finally looking up.
I was digging through my purse for my phone to call an Uber when a familiar voice made me freeze.
"Working late again? Must run in the Parker family."
I turned to find Blake leaning against a black Range Rover, looking annoyingly good in dark jeans and a navy button-down with rolled-up sleeves. The fading sunlight caught his hair, and for a second, I remembered the kid I knew before he took off for England.
"Blake," I said, caught off guard. "What are you doing here?"
"Just happened to be in the area," he said with that half-smile that clearly meant he definitely hadn't "just happened" to be anywhere.
"Right," I said, not buying it. "Because Radiance headquarters is totally on your usual route."
He laughed and pushed off from the car. "You got me. I was hoping we could talk."
"About what?" I asked, suddenly on guard.
"Nothing heavy. Just catching up." He paused, then added, "I know a good place nearby for dinner."
I hesitated, remembering I'd already made plans to go horseback riding with Victoria and Rachel. "Actually, I was gonna meet my friends tonight."
"Add me to the group," he said immediately. "I promise I won't mess with your girl talk. I just—" He stopped, looking almost vulnerable for a second. "I'd like to hang out. With all of you."
Something about how he looked made it hard to say no.
I gave in. "But are you sure you want to join? We're planning to go horseback riding. Your back isn't fully recovered yet, is it?"