Inspiring Conversations with Lisa Agerman of Second Home PR and Unsweetwine.com

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Agerman.

Lisa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m originally from Stockholm, Sweden, and I’ve been living in Los Angeles for almost a decade. I became an American citizen this year, which feels like a big full circle moment. Before starting my own companies, I worked at & Other Stories (within H&M Group) as Head of Expansion, opening stores all over the world, from Seoul, Milan, Paris, London, Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles. It was an incredible experience and gave me a front row seat to how global brands enter new markets with large teams, big budgets, and massive visibility.

At the same time, I became very aware of how difficult that journey is for smaller brands. I met so many talented founders with strong products and big dreams of launching in the US, especially California, but without the resources or structure to do it in a less risky way. That gap is what led me to start my PR company, Second Home PR, in Los Angeles, focused on helping fashion, lifestyle, and wellness brands grow in the US without needing a full local setup. Through PR, events, and influencer gifting, brands can start selling directly to American customers through their own channels and expand in a much less risky way that feels more modern.

Before that, I also co-founded a California based wine company. The idea came from something I noticed early on living in LA. People here read every ingredient on oat milk or skincare, yet wine labels offer almost no transparency. Coming from Sweden, where labeling is strictly regulated, that contrast stood out. I wanted to create a wine brand built on simplicity and honesty, with clean ingredients, no additives, zero sugar, always vegan and with full nutritional labeling, so consumers actually know what they’re drinking, and that led me to start UnsweetWine.com.

In both cases, I saw opportunities to bring a more modern, transparent approach to industries that hadn’t fully caught up with how people shop and live today.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Moving between countries, building a life from scratch, and starting two businesses in a market that isn’t your home comes with a lot of uncertainty.

I often say that in Sweden, I had the “cake”. A great job with a steady paycheck, free healthcare, education, and a strong safety net that I never really had to think about. But I felt like I was missing the cherries on top. When I moved to the US, I found those cherries, ambition, energy, scale, and opportunity. At the same time, the cake wasn’t there. I suddenly had to actively seek and try to build security, structure, and stability that I had previously taken for granted.

One of the biggest challenges has been doing many things at once. Building companies while raising a family, navigating immigration and later citizenship, and creating financial stability without a built-in safety net has required a lot of resilience.

Another challenge has been learning how to do things. I come from a background where things are more structured and long term, while the US market moves fast and expects quick results. Finding the balance between patience and momentum has taken time.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Second Home PR and Unsweetwine.com?
Second Home PR is a Los Angeles based PR and brand expansion studio built around a very simple idea: so many talented entrepreneurs dream of making it in California, but the US market can feel intimidating, expensive, and out of reach. I wanted to create a way for brands to test, grow, and show up here without having to risk everything or invest huge amounts of money upfront.

We work with fashion, lifestyle, beauty, and wellness brands, many of them international, and especially Scandinavian.

There is a strong and ongoing interest in the Scandi aesthetic in the US, from design and fashion to wellness and lifestyle. Simplicity, quality, functionality and that Scandi look resonates with American consumers and our role is to help brands bring that to the US in a way that feels modern and natural, not only trend driven.

Instead of asking brands to set up full teams or offices, we help them enter the market in a smarter way through PR, events, influencer gifting, and partnerships.

What makes Second Home PR different is that we act as a bridge. We understand both the Scandinavian mindset and the American market. Our work is very hands on and relationship driven, and we work closely with founders throughout the process.

What I’m most proud of is seeing founders take that first step. Watching brands go from “maybe one day” to then being present in California, selling to US customers, getting press, hosting events, and getting a part of that American Dream without having overextended themselves.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I love most about Los Angeles is that it feels like a thousand cities in one. I can drive 40 minutes and suddenly be somewhere completely different, a new landscape, a new vibe, even a new microclimate. That sense of constant contrast still feels new to me.

I love the everyday life here and all our routines. I love dropping my daughter off at the Carpenter Community Charter school, stopping by the local Starbucks where she orders her sugary drink. I love Christmas tree shopping in flip flops at Home Depot on Sunset Boulevard, roller skating together on the boardwalk in Manhattan Beach, hiking around the Hollywood Reservoir feeding the deer carrots you are not supposed to feed, and nights at the Hollywood Bowl, walking out and buying a drink from the street vendors right outside. LA backyard parties. December lunches outside in the sun. I love my office at Heimat and my morning commute over Laurel Canyon and Mulholland Drive. Grocery shopping at the local Trader Joe’s, and how the staff always hand my daughter a lollipop.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.secondhomepr.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondhomepr/?hl=en and https://www.instagram.com/lisaagerman/?hl=en