Time for my favorite part of the week, ICYMI!!!

ICYMI  

Hi! Hello!

I am in Miami for F1 and I managed to get in time to record with two women I put on my vision board when I first started the podcast!! Any guesses?

I was seriously asked this past week “if my work was still important to me with the demands of my travel schedule and relationship?” (something a man would never be asked) and although it did get in my head for a few days, I have something that keeps me going even when it’s hard, “a why”.

It’s not always easy. So just like Sheena said in this week’s episode, you develop systems and tools to help you out of those slumps when you are in one.

And I can honestly say that whenever I’m in a confidence slump, I invest 2 hours of my time into rewatching the Martha Stewart Documentary to get back my inspiration. 

Martha was the original influencer. She faced parental abuse, infidelity, divorce, multiple careers, and was truly the first to turn her personal life into a brand. I think that is what is so powerful about building a personal brand. It gives women what they have been searching for throughout history, freedom and power.  

When women learn how to monetize their personal tastes, preferences, experiences, at scale and at the masses, we might even start to see the scales tip in terms of power for women for the first time in history which is why this week’s case study is more important than ever.

Because if the Giggly Squad Take Over tells us one thing, it’s the power of building a personal brand with female friendships. 

♡ Get Ready To Get Haute (Smart Rich)♡

LA ANGELS! On Monday May 19, I’m hosting a healthy networking event with my portfolio company, De Soi, for something very special!! They’re launching Haute Margarita, De Soi’s bold new spicy marg, just in time for summer and we couldn’t not do a Hot Smart Rich x De Soi event on May 19th at the Proper Hotel in Santa Monica.

Your ticket includes:

✨ A rooftop mat pilates class with me and Proper's resident instructors (on the Olea Terrace)

✨ Haute Margarita (lots!) + light bites

✨ A community of inspiring women to sip, chat, and connect with

✨ A curated goodie bag with your fave brands to take home

Spaces are EXTREMELY limited so be the first to sign up—and get ready to get Haute.

♡ This Week’s Mood Board ♡

♡ This Week’s Episode ♡

Ok, the angels are obsessed with this episode! Especially on YouTube! This episode and interview has been one of the most impactful ones for me to date. Being able to open up about my own experience on celebrating life choices and making big changes was so powerful.

This week on Hot Smart Rich, I sat down with Sheena Zadeh, the founder of Kosas, for a real and raw conversation about what it actually takes to build an iconic brand—while surviving everything life throws your way. Sheena opened up about losing her house in the LA fires, navigating a divorce while scaling a startup, and what it really meant to rebuild—not just her company, but her entire life.

♡ Giveaway ♡

This week, Sheena is giving away $222 worth of Kosas products of your choice to on HSR Angel!!

To enter:

1. Share the episode on your Instagram stories or feed

2. Tag @hotsmartrich, @sheenazadeh, @kosas, and @maggiesellers

That’s it. We’ll pick one winner next week—good luck! 💋

♡ Consumer Trends I Gossiped ♡
About Most This Week

♡ Would you freeze your eggs for free—if it meant donating half to a family who otherwise couldn’t conceive?

Women are taking to social media to afford, fundraise & document their egg freezing journeys (meet Brecken and Cora), and it’s putting a spotlight on fertility care like never before. That’s why this $7.25M raise matters more than you think: to make egg freezing more accessible, egg donation less transactional, and fertility care more equitable, transparent, and human-centered.

♡ The Price of Being Cool in Miami this Weekend is $3,000. I wonder who actually drops $3K for access—and who gets comp’d—just so Major Food Group can say they were at the hottest F1 Miami party: Carbone Beach.

♡ Spotify paid to all podcasters in the first quarter less than what SiriusXM paid to Alex Cooper for Unwell.

♡ “Youth is the fullness of the face” so say goodbye to filler and hello to fat-grafting. Fat grafting procedures are up 50 percent, according to a 2024 member survey from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery BUT Botox sales slipped for the first time since 2021, yikes.

♡ Our economy is in a situationship. It’s rather complicated, because as consumer sentiment keeps dropping, people keep spending. 

♡ 50 years of Hello Kitty, why are adults still obsessed with childish things (me included)

Consumer News

♡ the brands, people, places, things that have captured my attention ♡

♡ Women’s Health & Beauty ♡

• Alix Earle launches a drugstore hair care collaboration with Pantene, inspired by her viral “everyday hair” routine – from WWD

• Desi Perkins talks building Dezi into a legacy beauty brand—one that reflects her cultural roots and vision for Latina entrepreneurship – from Yahoo

• Botox sales are slipping as consumer priorities shift toward affordability and preventative wellness alternatives – from Sherwood News

• Lawless Beauty’s new Forget the Filler Foundation exceeds sales targets, reinforcing the demand for hybrid formulas that combine makeup and skincare – from Beauty Independent

• Bala introduces Bala Mama, a fitness equipment line designed specifically for pre- and postnatal care, expanding the wellness brand’s reach into motherhood – from WWD

♡ Media, Entertainment & Creator ♡

• Serena Kerrigan announces her debut book Let’s F**ing Date*, a confidence-first guide to modern dating – from Instagram

• Alex Cooper’s Call Her Alex docuseries to premiere at Tribeca before debuting on Hulu – from What’s Trending

• Mimi Bouchard releases her personal development book Activate Your Future Self, blending spirituality with practical tools – from Instagram

• Aureum x Parke drops a new 10-piece capsule collection – from Instagram

• Emma Grede joins the Obama Foundation Board of Directors – from Instagram

♡ E-Commerce, Retail & Social ♡

• Chiara Ferragni takes full control of her namesake brand in a strategic move to revitalize its image – from WWD

♡ Tech, Business & Investing ♡

• FPV Ventures, a backer of Canva, raises a fresh $525M fund to invest in transformative tech and consumer brands – from LinkedIn

• Gorgie, an energy drink brand by LIVELY founder Michelle Cordeiro Grant, raises $24.5M Series A – from Fortune

• Fora Travel raises $60M Series C to scale its travel advisor platform despite a recessionary travel market – from Fortune

• Hims & Hers stock jumps after announcing a GLP-1 partnership with Novo Nordisk – from Yahoo Finance

• U.S. economic confidence remains fragile amid persistent inflation and tariff fears – from AP News

• The Tory Burch Foundation announces a new goal: support women entrepreneurs whose businesses will collectively generate $1 billion in revenue or economic impact by 2030 – from Instagram

There’s a myth in modern business that the most valuable connections are made in boardrooms. But the truth is, for many of the most successful women in media, fashion, and tech, the most important relationships started over dinner tables, DM threads, and late-night voice notes.

This week’s HSR case study is about the power of female friendship—not as a feel-good side story, but as a strategic force. The right friend can be your co-signer, your silent investor, your launch partner, your hype woman, and your reality check. Sometimes all at once.

Friendship isn’t just a support system—it’s a strategy. But in 2025, the most magnetic friendships aren’t the overly polished, PR-perfect duos. They’re the raw ones. The unfiltered ones. The “let’s talk about our UTIs on-air” ones.

The rise of podcasts like Giggly Squad proves it: what women crave isn’t surface-level perfection—it’s messy intimacy. That parasocial magic where it feels like you're in the group chat, not on the outside of it.

Power Duos Who Grew Together

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