How Nell Diamond leaned into authenticity to build Hill House Home
Kait Richmond is a writer, producer and contributor to the M.T. Deco Blog
When we say authenticity is the key to building a community, we mean it - it’s not just good for your follower numbers, it’s good for business. There are few people who demonstrate that better than Nell Diamond, the founder and CEO of Hill House Home.
You’re probably familiar with Nell and HHH for the Nap Dress, a true day-to-night dress that went viral during the pandemic when all of us didn’t want to get dressed up just to sit in our homes, but were dying to wear something other than sweats. That took Nell’s brand from niche to mainstream, and elevated her own profile from NYC socialite attending charity galas to savvy businesswoman talking about the supply chain on CNBC.
Let’s be clear: Nell is rich. “Inescapably rich,” as The Cut put it in a profile last year. AKA, a lot of privilege helped get her to where she is today. Her father Bob Diamond is a well known banker who was forced to resign as Barclays’ CEO in 2012 in the wake of a scandal, and today runs a private equity firm. Nell came to the Internet’s attention after the scandal when she tweeted in defense of her father, and again two years later when she married Teddy Wasserman in France at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc (host to many an it-girl wedding). They live with their three children in a townhouse in New York City’s West Village, and, as you might guess, do all the things rich people do.
Nell could easily be a full-time influencer whose social media following is looking for wish fulfillment over relatability. But she’s making a name for herself with HHH, which she launched in 2016 as a direct-to-consumer bedding company that sought to channel the “cottagecore” trend - a direct line to Nell’s personal style, which can only be described as a modernized version of the costumes from Netflix’s “Bridgerton.” Think puffy sleeves, statement headpieces and absolutely no pants.
Nell gained notoriety online over the years for her over-the-top wedding and for sharing some deeply personal moments on social media, like the struggle of watching her mom fight breast cancer or her experience as a young parent. That has gained her a loyal audience, and most of her detractors are simply irked by her privilege, with some taking issue with her father’s mistakes. Nell is not for everyone, and she knows that.
She does work to cultivate the audience she has, and brought them in on HHH from the earliest days, taking their feedback in comments and DMs, and using that to inform business decisions. That has transformed the brand fans into empowered customers who feel a desire to see it succeed. They call themselves #NapDressNation and have gathered online, not just in the comments of Nell and HHH’s accounts but in Facebook groups with thousands of members where they re-sell to each other, offer styling tips and occasionally talk about Nell.
There’s no question that this is all by design, but Nell and her team probably couldn’t have predicted the virality of the Nap Dress. What’s notable is how they’ve adapted, and used Nell’s social media audience since. They know what so many founders know - no one is better equipped to speak passionately about the brand than the person who started it all.
It works especially well for Nell because she is, as she puts it, “very online.”
“Diamond comes to the role of social-media marketer naturally, or at least generationally; she was 22 the year Instagram launched,” Matthew Schneier wrote in The Cut profile. “I wondered whether she would be posting as eagerly, as constantly, without a business to fluff. She thought so. Sitting in her office, she slipped a dark-silvery ring off one of her fingers: It was a sleep-and-activity-tracking smart device called Oura that measures heart rate and body temperature. ‘I’ve always said that I get very calm by scrolling through social,’ she says. ‘And this proved it.’”
Nell’s social media is part of the business beyond customer feedback, too. Like so many brands, HHH also uses influencers. They partner with the communications agency Communité on campaigns, including a recent collection debut with Net-a-Porter. Back in 2021, Nell and Communité founder Danielle McGrory told Marketing Brew about their influencer strategy, and explained that even finding people to represent the brand can go back to Nell’s social media accounts.
“One of the places the team goes fishing…is on mutual followers’ lists,” Marketing Brew wrote. “If a creator follows a lot of the same accounts as Hill House Home and Diamond, that indicates partnership potential.”
Another obvious partnership? The aforementioned “Bridgerton,” of course. HHH partnered with Netflix and Phenomenal for a collection inspired by the show.
“When I saw Bridgerton, I think the reason I was so excited about it was that the aesthetic is so us,” Nell told Harpers Bazaar, adding that people would tag her on social wearing their nap dresses when they tuned in.
Clearly, there’s a ton of inspiration to be taken from Nell’s approach, especially for founders who want to be the spokesperson of their brand. The big lesson is that Nell is almost over-committed to being herself - you don’t have to scroll far back to clearly understand her point of view. Here are a few additional tips that she employs to not only be herself, but pump out authentic content on a consistent basis:
Mix business and pleasure: If Nell’s social media feed was all HHH all the time, it would be incredibly boring. A look at her Instagram grid posts so far in 2023 show that more than half of her posts are about the business, so she regularly mixes in a lot of her family life. Even better, she blends the two together, like this adorable drop announcement featuring her kids or this vacation post teasing a new dress.
Avoid boxing yourself in: Because at least some of the success of HHH depends on her own brand, Nell can’t just limit herself to the Nap Dress. So many of her Instagram and TikTok posts showcase her style, which is heavy HHH but elegantly builds in other brands (often designer). Not being one of those founders who only talks about her own brand makes it important for fans to follow both Nell and HHH - and be exposed to double the promotional content.
Don’t overthink it: Nell’s sweet spot is definitely Instagram, but she has an impressive 23.7K followers on TikTok where she is, frankly, doing the bare minimum. Her posts there are almost entirely fit checks and sound trends that are low-lift and can be added to even the busiest days. Proof it’s worth trying? Almost all of her most popular TikToks are promoting HHH.
While many brands may want to distinguish themselves from their founders, HHH has clearly seen success doing the opposite. There’s a happy medium that can exist, and you don’t need to share as much as Nell to use some of her tricks in your own playbook. We suggest testing out one or two of Nell’s methods and seeing what resonates with your audience.