Leah Marcus is the co-founder of Good Girl Snacks, the viral snack brand behind Hot Girl Pickles, which she launched with her best friend and co-founder, Yasaman Bakhtiar. A USC communications graduate who began her career in growth and marketing at a tech startup, she bonded with Bakhtiar over a shared Middle Eastern heritage, a love of pickles, and a passion for storytelling and brand-building.
Unfulfilled in their first post-college jobs and noticing the explosive popularity of pickles on social media, the two left their roles with no prior food-and-beverage experience and founded Good Girl Snacks in 2023, launching Hot Girl Pickles in early 2024. Drawing on their digital-marketing instincts and a "build in public" approach, Marcus helped grow the brand into a viral success, landing in retailers like Erewhon and securing pre-seed funding, all without paid advertising.
