Meghan Markle is sharing the song that perfectly captures her deep connection to her home state of California.
On the fifth episode of her Lemonada Media podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, the Duchess of Sussex sat down with Hannah Mendoza, founder of Clevr Blends, the plant-based, superfood latte brand of which Meghan is an investor.
During their conversation, the duo reflected on their entrepreneurial journeys, sharing their deep connection to California — and the songs that capture what the state means to them.
“When my plane touched down at LAX, I listened to ‘Party In the USA’ by Miley Cyrus, in my headphones,” Mendoza said.
Meghan then shared: “When my plane touched down at LAX and I was going back and forth when I was filming [Suits] in Toronto for a long time… I would always hear Joni Mitchell’s ‘California, I’m coming home’ every single time in my head, and I would just go, ‘I’m home!’”
Though Meghan was born and raised in California, she now calls Montecito home, where she lives with Prince Harry and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
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Meghan Markle at The Paley Gala Honoring Tyler Perry at Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on December 4, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Of her decision to invest in Clevr Blends years ago, Meghan said, “The funniest thing about it is I had never invested in something before…You saw me when I was very pregnant and my friend sent over this gift basket filled with an assortment of products that he thought I would like…One of the things within this big basket was this [Clevr Blends] product. I said, ‘Turmeric latte, and just add water? Okay.’ I tried it and I looked at the back. I said, ‘Who is this person?…What is this company?’”
“It’s so bizarre because I didn’t have a portfolio at the time. I didn’t have a roster of female founders that I invested in. It was the first and truly organic experience of looking at something and saying, ‘I want to support this’. I was watching a lot of Shark Tank at the time. And I said, ‘This is not Shark Tank. Think of this as Dolphin Tank. These are very friendly waters.’”
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Meghan is also the one who turned Oprah Winfrey on to Mendoza’s brand.
“I want this [Clevr Blends] to succeed, but I also want to authentically share it, in the same way that you authentically show up…I remember calling you and saying, ‘I just want to share it with my wonderful neighbor, Miss Oprah Winfrey.’ It was a turmeric latte that I loved the most, the Golden Latte,” she said.
Mendoza then shared: “There’s a little count of how many people are on our website. Three people are looking at our website. And then it just started climbing and climbing and climbing. And there were five thousand, ten thousand people on our website, within a matter of thirty seconds…I see the Instagram tag: ‘Oprah tagged you in a post.’ I fell off my chair.”
Samir Hussein/WireImage; Meghan/Instagram
Meghan Markle
Of her own brand, As ever, which sold out its first run in March, Meghan said: “When I think about big milestones for my own business, As ever…Netflix coming on as my business partner is huge. Just having a global powerhouse that believed in me, and the site selling out in the first 45 minutes of launch – everything, every single piece that we had been working on.
“That told me that customers — people — believed in me and this vision. That’s all you really want as a founder. That becomes your proof point that those late nights and the midnight musings are worth it.”
Meghan has also relied on her close friends who are founders as she got her business off the ground.
Karwai Tang/WireImage; Netflix
Meghan Markle
“The safety of stream of consciousness with someone who understands it…That is part of that sisterhood and that understanding of, ‘Okay, every day is not going to be the same. Some days are going to be harder to show up as your best and shiniest self,'” she said.
“Maybe on that day something really painful happened in your real life, but for your team, that is not how you show up. You can’t,” she added.
Meghan recently had the tables turned as she sat down for her first-ever podcast interview. Appearing on The Jamie Kern Lima Show, a podcast hosted by the founder of IT Cosmetics, on Monday, April 28, Meghan opened up about her life with Harry and their kids.
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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex/Instagram
Prince Harry, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet
“It’s not something to be taken for granted when you have a partner, a spouse, who is just so behind you,” she said. “H, that man loves me so much. Look what we’ve built? We have a beautiful life, we have two healthy, beautiful children.”
“I always think about it like the end of Super Mario Bros. When you get to the final, final level and they go, ‘Slay the dragon, save the princess.’ I’m like, that’s my husband,” said the Duchess of Sussex.
“He’s constantly going to do whatever he can to make sure that our family is safe and protected, and we’re uplifted and still make time for date nights.”
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