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How Jennifer Aniston’s LolaVie brand grew sales 40% with CTV ads
The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Aniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.
FROM THE DESK
I tried to secure a tarp over a woodpile a few years ago using knots I "knew." Three of them came undone in the first wind gust. Turns out there's a difference between a knot you've tied once and a knot you've practiced enough to trust. Five minutes on YouTube and three practice reps later, the tarps now stay tied.
Here's what I've got this morning.
THE BRIEF
Five Knots That Handle Almost Everything
Knot tying sounds like a Boy Scout merit badge, not a practical skill. But in any hands-on scenario, from securing a load to building a shelter to tying down a tarp, knowing a few reliable knots makes you dramatically more effective.
You don't need to know fifty knots. You need five that cover 90% of practical tasks.
The bowline creates a fixed loop that won't slip under load. It's the rescue knot, used to create a loop you can throw to someone or attach to an anchor point. It's easy to untie even after bearing heavy weight. Learn this one first.
The clove hitch attaches a rope to a post, pole, or tree quickly. It's fast to tie and adjust but can slip under variable loads, so it's best for temporary connections or when combined with a half hitch for security.
The taut-line hitch creates an adjustable loop, perfect for tensioning guy lines on tarps and tents. You can slide it to tighten or loosen, but it grips under load. This is the knot that keeps your tarp taut in the wind.
The figure-eight knot (and figure-eight on a bight) is the strongest load-bearing knot. Climbers use it because it's reliable, easy to inspect, and doesn't weaken the rope as much as other knots. For any situation where failure means danger, this is the knot.
The trucker's hitch creates a mechanical advantage for cinching down loads. It's how you secure gear to a roof rack, tighten a clothesline, or lash items to a pack. The mechanical advantage means you can generate much more tension than pulling alone.
Paracord (550 cord) is the utility cordage for preparedness. It's rated for 550 pounds, available in 100-foot hanks for about $8, and can be separated into seven inner strands for lighter tasks like fishing line, dental floss, or sewing thread. Keep some in your kit, your car, and your toolbox.
The way to learn knots is repetition. Watch a tutorial, tie the knot ten times, then tie it without looking. Then tie it in the dark. Then tie it with gloves on. A knot you can tie under stress is a knot you actually know.
ONE THING THIS WEEK
Learn the bowline. Practice it ten times.
Search "bowline knot tutorial" and follow along with a piece of rope, cord, or even a shoelace. Ten reps takes about five minutes. You'll remember it for years.
ON THE RADAR
ER Wait Times Are Stretching From Hours to Days
More than 90% of US emergency departments are operating at or above capacity at least once a week. The national median ER visit now runs 161 minutes — but that average hides the extremes: Washington D.C. averages over 5 hours, New York over 6. A Philadelphia Inquirer investigation published April 30 found wait times stretching from hours to days in major metro hospitals, with patients boarding in hallways because no inpatient beds are available.
The US is projected to face a shortage of 3.2 million healthcare workers by the end of 2026. In a real emergency — a bad cut, a fall, a serious illness — professional help may be hours away. That’s not alarmist. That’s the current baseline.
Source: Saving Advice
LESSON FROM: JOSHUA ENYART
Joshua Enyart covers cordage and lashing extensively in Surviving the Wild. As a Ranger and Green Beret, he used knots daily in field operations, from building shelters to securing equipment to rappelling.
His teaching principle is simple: a knot you don't practice is a knot you don't know. Enyart has his students tie each knot 50 times before he considers it learned. He also teaches improvised cordage, making rope from natural materials like bark, plant fibers, and even plastic bags. The skill of creating cordage when you don't have any is a deep-level survival capability that separates knowledge from dependence.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Drug-Resistant Salmonella Hits 13 States — 38% of Cases Hospitalized
The CDC announced on May 1 that 34 people across 13 states have been sickened by a drug-resistant strain of Salmonella linked to backyard poultry. Thirteen of them — 38% — have been hospitalized. The strain is resistant to standard antibiotics, meaning first-line treatments don’t work and clinicians have to escalate to second- or third-line drugs.
This isn’t an outlier event. The CDC estimates 2.8 million drug-resistant infections occur in the US every year, killing more than 35,000 Americans. As more families turn to backyard chickens for food security, direct animal contact without proper hygiene protocols is creating new exposure pathways for exactly these kinds of resistant strains.
WHAT I'M TESTING
This is mil-spec 550 paracord, meaning it actually meets the military specification for Type III paracord. Not all "paracord" sold commercially does. The difference matters: genuine 550 cord has seven inner nylon strands, each rated for individual use, and an outer sheath that's UV and rot resistant.
I've used it for securing tarps, building a clothesline, hanging a bear bag while camping, and repairing a backpack strap. It's genuinely useful in more situations than you'd expect. At 100 feet, you have enough for multiple projects without worrying about running out.
The inner strands are individually useful. I've used them as fishing line, sewing thread, and dental floss in a pinch. Each strand is thin but surprisingly strong. About $8 for 100 feet.
Budget alternative: Hardware store nylon cord ($4 for 50 feet). Not mil-spec, not separable into inner strands, but perfectly functional for tying, lashing, and securing.
OVERRATED / UNDERRATED
Overrated: Paracord bracelets. They look cool, but they contain about 8 to 10 feet of cord. That's barely enough for one practical task. Keep a 100-foot hank in your bag instead.
Underrated: Bank line. Tarred nylon twisted line that's thinner than paracord but incredibly strong, knot-friendly, and rot-resistant. About $8 for 200 feet. Many bushcraft instructors prefer it over paracord for camp tasks.
THE LINK DUMP
Animated Knots (animatedknots.com) — The best online knot tutorial resource. Clear animations for every knot.
Grokipedia: Figure-eight Knot — Background on the figure eight knot types, history, and applications.
YouTube: "5 Knots Everyone Should Know" — Multiple excellent tutorials. Pick one and practice.
Knots 3D — The best online demo of knots being formed. Organized by category and type.
NEXT ISSUE
Water sources you're overlooking. Beyond the tap and the creek, there's water hiding in your house, your yard, and your neighborhood.
PS: I now keep a short piece of paracord in my car. Not for survival. For practice. Red lights or heavy traffic. Tie a bowline, untie it, repeat. Skills live in your hands, not your head. And it’s kinda relaxing.
How Jennifer Aniston’s LolaVie brand grew sales 40% with CTV ads
The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Aniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.