Case Study: The Local Optimists by Peiman Raf and Mason Spector

Creating a streetwear brand and normalizing talking about mental health may not seem like an obvious pairing of goals, but for Madhappy co-founders Peiman Raf and Mason Spector, fashion has always been a means of spreading a positive message. For Raf and Spector, who each have personal experiences with mental health, Madhappy clothing is all about inclusion and optimism.

One of the first slogans they used on their clothes was “The Local Optimist,” representing the idea that everyone can have a positive impact on their community, so when they launched a content arm soon after the clothing line, it took on the name. The goal of their content is to de-stigmatize the conversation around mental health and share resources that readers can benefit from, including a podcast and toolkits on different mental health topics. Earlier this year, the content team launched “The Local Optimist Digest” to provide their audience with a weekly crib sheet on the latest news and advice in the mental health space.

The newsletter sports a bright green tea-colored background with quirky fonts and peace signs, placing a fun and uplifting spin on topics (ranging from antidepressants to eating disorder recovery to climate anxiety) that are often portrayed in a negative or shameful light. In sending out The Digest with a different, more light-hearted tone, the team hopes to encourage greater openness in the way we talk about mental health and serve as a reminder that it’s something every single of us experiences. We spoke to The Local Optimist’s Managing Editor Jessica Schiffer and Madhappy’s Senior Manager of Retention Carter Tesh about changing the narrative around mental health, engaging with readers through social media and via beehiiv, and how they’ve tied Madhappy products into the referral program.

The Newsletter: The Local Optimist

The Team 

Mason Spector, Madhappy Co-Founder, Jessica Schiffer, Managing Editor, Stephanie White, Editorial Coordinator, Ravi Shah, Director of Brand Marketing, Andrew Wetmore, Social Media Manager, and Carter Tesh, Senior Manager of Retention

Top posts to check out

The Local Optimist Digest #8: Psychedelics are back for veterans, anorexia’s impact on the brain, and the stress of being a therapist online

The Local Optimist Digest #7: The UK tests a 4-days work week, the music industry’s mental health crisis, and a TikTok trend said to cure anxiety

2022 Goals: Growth! We’re off to a great start and hope to see our subscriber base continuing to expand both organically and through our recently launched referral program. 

Advice for other writers

Have fun with your design! Although simplicity reigns the newsletter space right now, and you want the content to shine more than anything, it’s helpful to find a sweet spot where your newsletter template stands out from the rest without being too distracting from the content itself.

Favorite beehiiv feature

We are most excited about the referral program as we launched this a few weeks ago. We have not tried out any efforts like this before and this would be such a larger lift for us to execute if we did not have beehiiv. We are able to track everything within the platform from progress toward rewards to fulfillment.

Previous newsletter platform and why you switched

We previously used Klaviyo, which is built more for e-commerce and product-focused newsletters rather than a content newsletter. Klaviyo lacked the simplicity and ease of use that beehiiv has, we wanted a modern, functional platform that we could easily edit and customize. Our main reason for moving to beehiiv was the built-in landing page creation and the referral program. Our main focus right now is growing our subscriber list and the referral program was a huge draw.

Advice for anyone considering a switch to beehiiv

The support from the beehiiv team is incredible. We've been asked multiple times for any feedback we have or new features that would be most useful for us. The team is committed to continuing to build out the platform in a way that makes the most sense for current publishers.

Tell me about ‘The Local Optimist Digest’

We started the newsletter in February of this year to provide people with a round-up of all the most important mental health news of the week so they would have a go-to place to stay up to date on what’s happening in the space. We cover everything from national mental health news to specific subcategories, like news relating to the mind-body connection and the internet’s impact on mental health. Although mental health is a serious topic, we infuse some humor into the newsletter because we feel it’s sorely lacking in the mental health space and provides our readers with some much-needed levity when the news is often bleak.

And how does this connect to clothing?

Madhappy is a clothing brand that’s focused on normalizing mental health and putting out positive messages into the world. The founders wanted to make products that were inclusive, which isn’t always the case in the fashion world. Having dealt with their own mental health struggles, the goal was always to normalize that conversation and do more than just sell clothing. We saw a white space in newsletters focused on mental health, especially for a younger demographic, and thus “The Local Optimist Digest” was launched.

Tell me about your approach to mental health related news and content- who are you reaching?

We try to bring up topics that might be awkward to talk about with friends or wouldn’t normally make for light reading. The energetic and playful design style helps, even though the content can be heavy. We balance the more serious topics with some lighter pieces, as we don’t want the entire newsletter to be overwhelming. The bulk of the newsletter features bite-sized takes on the latest news and research in mental health for people who don’t have tons of time to read each article top to bottom.

Our target reader ranges from their early twenties to mid thirties, but we’re thrilled that many readers fall outside that age range. The more people we can reach, the better.

What are your plans for growing your audience?

We are trying to grow on multiple channels, beyond just sending the Digest out in email form which is a big reason why we started using beehiiv. We knew we wanted a landing page and an archive of past issues that people could refer to to help encourage them to subscribe, which beehiiv creates seamlessly and makes look great.

We’ve also utilized our most engaged followers to help with growth. We have built strong relationships with them over the years and, as a result, they’ve been really eager to spread the word about the newsletter across their own social media. It offers us a direct line to our audience who gives us feedback on what they’re most interested in.

Tell me about launching the referral program!

We launched our referral program about a month ago and beehiiv made it so easy to set up. We’ve gotten really good feedback from readers so far and it's been awesome to see how many of them are willing to share the newsletter with their friends and family. Our rewards for referrals include Madhappy stickers, The Madhappy Journal (which helps users get in touch with and make sense of their emotions) and Madhappy dad hats, which are all very popular.

Why is it important that we change the way we talk about mental health?

Mental health is just as important as physical health, but for too long the latter has been prioritized above all else. We’re trying to change that perception and remove the shame and stigma that has surrounded it in order to help us all lead happier, healthier lives. It can be difficult and scary to open up and be vulnerable about what you’re going through, and we recognize that, so we do our best to make it easier by offering resources and reminding readers of just how omnipresent different mental health concerns are. One of the ways our own team has managed to get through different mental health struggles is using humor, so we’ve made that a central part of the Digest – because no matter how serious things may be, a little laughter can be healing and help to ease some of the internal tension we all sometimes feel.