STUDIO NOIR · Persona Plan · Wealthy TikTok/IG SAHM Wife-Mom Creator

The specific persona that anchors STUDIO NOIR’s Phase 1 launch cohort. Everything downstream in 01_PRELAUNCH_WAITLIST, 03_PR_STRATEGY, 04_MEMBER_ACQUISITION, and the public landing page copy resolves back here.

Companion to 07_MARKET_BRIEF_RDU (research) and 01_BRAND/00_BRAND_BOOK (voice). Read those first if you’re new to this.

Why this persona anchors Phase 1

She is the taste-maker for her friend group. When she joins something, her friends follow within 60 days. When she shares content in the room, the room becomes desirable to five to fifteen thousand other women who did not know they wanted it. Her personal Instagram Story highlight labeled “the club” is worth more than any paid campaign we would run.

We only need 60 to 80 of her to fill Phase 1. There are 35,000 to 40,000 women in her income and life-stage cohort in RDU (see 07_MARKET_BRIEF_RDU). We do not need mass reach; we need surgical warm reach to the right 400.

Who she is

Age: 29 to 42. Married 4+ years. Has one to three children under 12.

Household income: $250K to $1.5M. She may or may not have her own income. Her husband likely works in tech (Cisco, IBM, Epic Games, Red Hat, Fidelity, RTP biotech), finance, medicine, professional sports/coaching (Duke, NC State, Panthers front-office), or has a family business.

Where she lives: West Cary (27519, especially Preston, Amberly, Weldon Ridge, Cameron Pond), ITB Raleigh (27608 Hayes Barton, Budleigh), North Raleigh (27614, 27615), Holly Springs (27540), Chapel Hill Meadowmont, Wake Forest (27587). Tell: two-car garage with a Range Rover Sport plus a Rivian R1S. Publix or Wegmans is the anchor grocery.

What she wears to a workout class: Alo Airbrush cropped set, Bala bangles or ankle weights, Golden Goose or On Cloud, minimal jewelry, Erewhon-style smoothie in hand if traveling.

What she reads: WALTER Magazine, Cup of Jo, The Cut, The Skimm, cookbook Substacks, decor Substacks, a small handful of creator newsletters.

Body signal she’s chasing: the “Pilates body” (long, lean, no visible mass), slight sun-kissed tan, almond-shape nails in glazed donut or beige, glossy hair.

Her calendar: 6am matcha, school drop 7:45, class 9-10, errands and admin until pickup 2:45, kids activities and family dinner. Weekend: brunch, home projects, one social event. Two annual trips (LA/NY/Miami and one European or Caribbean).

Her spending pattern: she is not price-sensitive at the top of her stack. She already pays $199-$249 for Life Time, $30-$40 per class at Solidcore or JETSET, and probably another $200-$500/month on wellness (supplements, red-light, facials, IV drips, Higher Dose blankets). She will pay more if the room is worth it and the story is worth sharing.

What she wants (and what she says she wants)

What she says: “somewhere beautiful,” “a real workout that gets me results,” “a place my friends go,” “somewhere I don’t feel judged.”

What she actually wants (subtext):

1. A room worth photographing that reads editorial, not gym.
2. Membership scarcity she can casually mention (“I’m on the founders list”).
3. Instructors who remember her name and adjust class to her cycle without her asking.
4. A body outcome that’s visible in her existing wardrobe within 90 days.
5. Somewhere she can bring her mother-in-law and not cringe.
6. Somewhere her husband respects her spending on, either because it produces results or because the address itself signals status.
7. A community of women she wants to be seen with, not women trying to sell her something.

Reject strategies: hard-sell membership tours, MLM-style referral bribes, group-chat pressure. She’s been sold to since she was 15 and can smell it in the first email.

What we do NOT do to reach her

• No prepaid founder memberships or dues-before-doors-open. Off-brand, off-integrity, legally messy. See feedback_no_prepaid_memberships.
• No paid ads to cold audiences in month 1. Ad targeting a 34-year-old woman in 27519 will just show her a Solidcore ad she’s ignored 50 times. We do not compete on ad noise; we bypass it.
• No collaborations with fitness influencers whose brand is “coach” or “trainer.” Wrong energy. She does not aspire to be a coach; she aspires to be a woman other women want to be near.
• No pushy waitlist upsells. Waitlist confirmation email says “we’ll be in touch.” That’s it.
• No “girlboss” language. No “empowered.” No “own your power.” She has already read all of that on a Peloton screen and rolled her eyes.

The five-move launch plan

Move 1 · The Charter (Month 1-3 of pre-launch)

Taj personally invites 20 women to be Founding Members before any public waitlist opens. This is the tastemaker cohort. Vetted for:

• Warm relationship to Taj or Trill (not cold outreach)
• Verifiable creator footprint (10K+ followers with actual engagement, or verifiable social influence in the local wealth pockets)
• Fit for the room (this is a taste call, not a metric)
• Lives in or spends time in RDU

We aim for a mix of: local content creators (Julia Marcum tier), RTP executive spouses, Duke/NC State coach spouses, wives of prominent local doctors/attorneys/founders, and one to two women from the entertainment world Taj already knows.

The Charter offer: $0 initiation + first 12 months of dues at 40% off list ($179/month locked instead of $299), in exchange for one public Instagram or TikTok share per quarter (organic, not sponsored) and one Founder Portrait Session with our photographer. Contract signed; both sides opt out at any time.

Why 20: small enough to feel exclusive, large enough to seed word of mouth without depending on any single person.

Move 2 · The Waitlist (Month 2-6)

Simultaneous with the Charter, the public waitlist opens. Landing page at studionoir.thewalkergroup.studio. See 10_MARKETING_LAUNCH/01_PRELAUNCH_WAITLIST for the funnel spec.

• Waitlist form asks: name, email, phone (optional), how did you hear about STUDIO NOIR, one sentence on what you’re looking for in a movement studio.
• Confirmation email is warm, not transactional. Sent by hello@studionoir.thewalkergroup.studio.
• Waitlist members get monthly updates with build progress, palette moments, and one member story.
• No pressure. No countdown timer. No urgency manipulation.

Target: 500 to 1,000 waitlist names by opening day. RDU alone can deliver that from earned reach once the Charter starts posting.

Move 3 · The Story Highlight (ongoing)

Every Charter Founder is asked (not required) to pin a story highlight labeled “STUDIO NOIR” on their Instagram profile. Highlight includes:

• One or two BTS shots of the space during build
• One or two founder portraits from her session
• One clip from her first class
• A one-line personal caption on why she joined

This becomes the “how to know it’s real” surface for every friend who visits her profile. The highlight replaces any linktree; the CTA is a DM to her, which she forwards or answers herself. No public join-us button on the highlight.

Move 4 · The Locally Owned Signal Loop (Month 4-9)

Warm partnerships with the local luxury ecosystem, all reciprocal, all cash-neutral:

• The Umstead (Cary) — day-pass reciprocity for Umstead spa guests; STUDIO NOIR members get 15% off Umstead spa. Introduces us to the Forbes 5-Star clientele.
• 21c Museum Hotel Durham — event co-hosting for one Founder Reception and one member-only art tour.
• WALTER Magazine — long-form founder profile of Taj at opening month.
• RALtoday — soft-launch and full-launch newsletter blasts.
• Local wellness partners (Duke Integrative Medicine, HER Health Collective, Carolina Women+ in Tech) — reciprocal member perks or shared programming.
• Erewhon-style stock at concierge — Poppi, Cure, Kettle & Fire broths, Alo Moves membership gift cards for referrals. Small physical signal that we know her stack.

Full contact list and pitch drafts in 03_PR_STRATEGY and 04_MEMBER_ACQUISITION.

Move 5 · The Content Cadence (ongoing)

Our own channels post on a discipline that supports (never competes with) member-generated content.

Instagram cadence (feed + stories + reels): - 3 feed posts per week - 5-8 stories per week - 1 reel per week - Feed = editorial (space, palette, member portraits with permission, brand voice) - Stories = ephemeral, more casual, insider tone - Reels = one class moment or one member reflection per week

TikTok cadence: - 2 posts per week - Content: BTS build, member portrait day, class prep, “why STUDIO NOIR” in Taj’s voice, aesthetic vignettes - No trends we do not naturally fit. No dance challenges. No lip-sync.

Threads cadence (satellite of IG, not standalone): - 3-4 posts per week - Post to Threads 30 to 90 minutes BEFORE the sibling IG post so the algorithm surfaces us first - Media asset is a repurposed IG still or a 30-60 second Reels clip, natively uploaded (not an IG link) - Hook line is net-new every time (a question, hot take, or class-day observation), never the IG caption verbatim - Format mix each week: 2 image-led, 1 short video, 1 text-with-question - Reply to every comment inside the first 2 hours (reply is the heaviest algorithm signal in 2026) - Owned by Tia. Estimated lift: ~2 hrs/week on top of existing IG production - Full evidence + reasoning in 07_MARKET_BRIEF_RDU.md Section 6

X (Twitter): EXCLUDED from Phase 1. Handle @studionoirclub (or brand equivalent) reserved defensively at launch. No cadence, no content, no ad spend. See 07_MARKET_BRIEF_RDU.md Section 6 for the exclude rationale and the signals that would flip the verdict.

Email cadence: - 1 monthly newsletter to waitlist and members - Format: 1 lead story (150 words), 3 short items (30-50 words each), 1 upcoming class or event - Sent Monday morning

Aesthetic constraints (from 07_MARKET_BRIEF_RDU persona study): - Palette: Black Noir, Espresso, Warm Taupe, Soft Cream, Champagne Gold. No green. No neon. - Typography: Fraunces italic for headlines. Inter for body. Never all-caps stunt fonts. - Motion: slow pans, natural light, film grain when it fits. No music-driven cuts. No text-overlay tutorials. - Body signal: long lines, no muscle-mass focus, no “before-and-after” reveals. - Room signal: matte-black hardware, one perfect plant, terry-cloth robes at concierge, prosecco chiller visible. - No pampas grass. No neon signage on walls.

What we measure (and what we don’t)

Measure weekly: - Waitlist net adds (new signups minus unsubscribes) - IG followers (only as a directional signal; follows are cheap) - Story highlight views on the Charter Founders’ pinned STUDIO NOIR highlights (proxy for warm reach) - Booked introductory tours or Founder consultations - DMs to @studionoir that read as pre-qualified (name, neighborhood, intent)

Measure monthly: - Charter Founder retention (are all 20 still active?) - Waitlist to consultation conversion rate - Member acquisition cost (total marketing spend divided by paid conversions) - Founder-referred signups (attribution)

Do NOT measure: - Vanity follower count as a KPI. She judges us on the room, not the follower graph. - Individual post engagement rates in isolation. The compound halo of the Charter cohort’s shares is the real reach; we cannot see it on our own dashboard. - Waitlist size beyond the 500-1,000 target. Bigger is not better.

The 6-month sprint (August 2026 through January 2027, before Feb 2027 lease signing)

Post-lease sprint (Feb-Sep 2027 build and soft-open): rolled into 00_LAUNCH_ROADMAP and 02_OPENING_WEEK.

Related docs

• 07_MARKET_BRIEF_RDU — the raw persona + market research this plan sits on top of
• 01_PRELAUNCH_WAITLIST — the waitlist funnel spec
• 03_PR_STRATEGY — media outreach playbook
• 04_MEMBER_ACQUISITION — full membership funnel
• 01_BRAND/00_BRAND_BOOK — brand rules that constrain every asset made against this plan