Blindfold Archivesby Jackie Carter
Seth Matlins has been in in the entertainment business, sports business, music business and has even sold water for a living. Now, the former Global CMO of Live Nation, and one of the leaders of the marketing group at CAA (Creative Artists Agency) has stepped out of Hollywood to ‘help make the world a happier place for women and girls,’ by founding Feel More Better (www.feelmorebetter.com), a feel-good and do-good (and “unhesitatingly for profit”) lifestyle brand with his wife, Eva.
Photo by Jeramy Pritchett /
Seth Matlins
Seth Matlins has been in in the entertainment business, sports business, music business and has even sold water for a living. Now, the former Global CMO of Live Nation, and one of the leaders of the marketing group at CAA (Creative Artists Agency) has stepped out of Hollywood to ‘help make the world a happier place for women and girls,’ by founding Feel More Better (www.feelmorebetter.com), a feel-good and do-good (and “unhesitatingly for profit”) lifestyle brand with his wife, Eva.
So what drives someone to leave working with the biggest brands in corporate America, and some of the biggest names in Hollywood? Seth says it was his kids, now 6 year-old Otis, and 7 year-old EllaRose. “I didn’t think I was teaching them anything about prioritizing happiness, just about making money. I don’t think money and happiness are mutually exclusive at all, but Eva and I wanted to prioritize and model fulfillment and happiness above anything else. And when EllaRose was born, I’d begun to look at the world through the eyes of a girl for the first time – and didn’t like what I saw. It was like suddenly, all these things that could get in the way of her being the happiest version of herself, just because she was a girl, kept popping up like so many whack-a-moles. So we felt this need to start doing what we could to smack them down and out of her (and Otis’) way…individually, and culturally, because our popular culture still treats women and girls as something less-than.”
Photo by Jeramy Pritchett /
Seth Matlins with his wife, Eva and kids
To this end, one of Feel More Better’s priorities is trying to change the view of how beauty and perfection are portrayed, and to help make it clear how media is affecting the way girls and women see and define their selves.
“80% of women and girls who read beauty magazines feel worse about themselves afterwards,” says Seth. “70% of girls under the age of 18 don’t think they’re ‘pretty enough. 50% of 18-25 year-old women would rather be hit by a truck than be fat. Hit by a truck! We have to look at the messages, ideals, and images that are being put out there and take some responsibility for how people feel about themselves as a result.”
Photo by Jeramy Pritchett /
Eva Matlins with her daughter
While Seth says everything Feel More Better does, from their t-shirt collection to their online magazine works to help girls ‘feel more-better about themselves.’ Last year Seth and Eva developed the Media & Public Health Act, proposing federal legislation, that would require “Truth in Advertising” labels be put on ads that change women’s (or men’s) bodies through digital means.
“We’re not saying don’t Photoshop, we’re not saying stop doing what you’re doing. What we are saying is if you do it, if you change someone’s body, you need to tell us you did it. Not telling us is deceitful and deceptive. We have a right to know, and advertisers have a responsibility to the truth. This is nothing more than truth-in-advertising and transparency,” Seth explains. “We have to make clear the cause and effect relationship between what we see and how we feel, between media and public health. And this is a public health crisis going largely ignored by the mainstream.