Some brands have seen a dramatic increase in consumer interest and growth as they embrace the "new normal" of 2020/2021. At MC's "Power Trip: Off the Grid" conference last week, we spoke with key players from three companies that are "building on their successes" right now. Held at Miraval Berkshires Resort & Spa, the panel, moderated by Elizabeth Holmes, best-selling author of "HRH: Many Thoughts on Royal Style" (opens in new tab), focused on a very difficult and transformative time in the way we work and live. MC asked these leaders about the next direction for their brands.

Panelists included Caryn Seidman-Becker, CEO of CLEAR, which started as an airport security company and later evolved into a health pass and ticketing app; Bailey Richardson, head of community for email news platform Substack; and Maya Watson, global marketing director for voice-only chat app Clubhouse.

"We're trying to make our way into a great culture" Caryn Seidman-Becker's vision of building a safer, frictionless world came to life when she and Ken Cornick launched CLEAR, a biometric-based secure identity platform It became a reality in 2010; CLEAR has more than 7 million members and powers mobility at more than 60 airports, stadiums, and beyond in the United States.

For Seidman-Becker, looking ahead means "continuing to build the organization, with great people and the right structure... Third, perpetuating our culture in a hybrid world. We are back (in the office) two to three days a week. We intend to continue to do so. We started "Work-From-Anywhere" in August. We are trying to make it a great culture in our way. Not how others are doing it, but to perpetuate our passion, hunger, obsessive curiosity, and collaboration in this new global world." [Maya Watson leads the Creators, Partnerships, Community, Editorial and Communications team at Clubhouse. Prior to that, she led Editorial & Publishing at Netflix and was a longtime executive at OWN Networks and Harpo Productions.

She says, "To continue to show and tell people who we are. We are in the long game of sustainable growth and building a platform to serve the world globally. Looking back on the past year, she says, "I think of it as three months, six months, nine months, 12 months. The last six months have been about hiring a team and making the product the best it can be. We just announced today a recording feature called Replay, which will completely change the possibilities in the clubhouse. We feel we are on our way to becoming the YouTube of audio. Everyone's phone will become a radio station, a channel where you can say whatever you want to say, giving everyone a platform and a voice. We are also putting in place the tools for creators and key voices on the platform to build a sustainable business model"

.

"The word community means a million things to a million people," said Bailey Richardson, co-founder of People & Company, which was acquired by Substack earlier this year, and co-author of Get Together (opens in new tab). Bailey was one of Instagram's first employees and helped build the early community.

Beyond 2021, Richardson is focused on diving deeper into the creation of a "whole new world" called Substack. The word community, she says, "means, first of all, a million different things to a million different people." 'By the definition I'm using, it's a group of people who keep getting together about something they care about and can show up in our personal lives. "Substack is carving up many communities in different ways. Our focus is on fostering community among writers," he said. Subscription publications are not a new idea. And writers are learning a lot very quickly. We know they need to stay in touch with each other so they can share their insights on how to build their businesses." Richardson's plans include everything from providing defense funding to helping increase subscriptions.

"The Substack experience for many people now," I might read one person. I might read Heather Fox Richardson. ' We've constructed an amazing graph of what people are reading, what writers are reading. We've built an amazing graph of what people are reading and what writers are reading. That is really exciting to me."