SCWB Media's Kirstie Nicole: Brands That Backtrack Lose LGBTQ+ Trust

Creator and media founder Kirstie Nicole has a direct message for brands courting LGBTQ+ audiences: "Don't backtrack, stand on it." Her media company, She Comes With Baggage Media (SCWB Media), launched in early 2026 and now runs a podcast, a publication and a community platform, all aimed at LGBTQ+ audiences and the brands that want to reach them.

Nicole brings more than a decade of travel content to the business. Her own channels count more than 800,000 followers, and her past partnerships include National Geographic and Virgin Atlantic. She sits on both sides of every brand deal: as a creator who vets sponsors and as the head of a company selling formats to advertisers.

What does she advise brands to change?

Timing comes first. "You don't have to only put all of your focus in one month. You can sprinkle it in year-round," Nicole says. She argues that audiences can tell which brands appear only when a moment is culturally relevant, and that the brands holding their position earn their support.

Before choosing any format, she says brands should consult people with lived experience. "If you don't have people with that lived experience in the room, at the table when you're discussing these campaigns, I think it might fall short," she says. A brand does not need a finished plan to start. Some clients arrive wanting only a consultation on how to begin adding representation, and Nicole treats that as a reasonable entry point.

She also warns against treating the audience as a single group. "Being LGBTQ plus is not just one type of person," she says, pointing to trans and non-binary people, gay men, lesbian women and the identities in between. Identity connects to everything else a person cares about, including families, the environment, pets, sustainability and education. "Whenever I speak with brands, I don't want them to just think about surface-level identity," she notes.

How does pinkwashing show up?

A few years ago, brands often showed up only when they could capitalize on a moment, typically through a rainbow flag or logo throughout June. Nicole calls this pinkwashing, and she sees a broader version in what she terms purpose washing. "It's not just limited to the queer community," she notes.

She applies the same test of motive to her own deals. She recently turned down a brand over its history on labor practices and fair pay, which she considers a basic human right. She reads a large budget from a poorly matched brand as a premium paid for a weak fit. "It doesn't work, and it doesn't correlate, which means it's not going to speak authentically to the audience and it's going to create distrust," she says.

She points to companies pulling funding from the LGBTQ+ community, Pride campaigns withdrawn and some parades shut down after sponsors left. "They are very clearly indicating that they were only there when money was involved, not because the values are deeply part of the company culture," she argues.

Which campaign does she hold up as a model?

KLM flew LGBTQ+ creators from the U.S., the UK and Canada to WorldPride in Amsterdam to cover the parades and floats, a campaign Nicole worked on. What set it apart was the KLM Pride House, which brought people from countries where openly expressing their identity or celebrating Pride was not always possible, so they could feel seen and safe. Nicole links the creator payoff to the airline's motive. "That also gives the content creators something really good to share," she says.

She asks creators for the same clarity. A creator who knows why they want an audience connects better with brands, partly because audiences recognize an ad when they see one. "Whenever you know exactly why you're sharing your content, you'll be able to create more authentic campaigns which create better engagement and KPIs for the brand," she says.

What comes next for SCWB Media?

The company's community platform, The Amistara, runs on desktop with a phone app in development. Nicole says 27 members from around the world met in person for the first time at WorldPride in Amsterdam and have since traveled together. She is moving to London after Christmas to expand into the UK, and she hopes to reach South America and parts of Asia within five to ten years. The stated goal is to build "one of the most impactful lesbian-owned media companies in the world."

Her closing point concerns what creators owe their followers. "We are the new voice, we are the new platforms that people are turning to and trusting," Nicole says. "And with that comes a responsibility."