It's a Fish Girl Summer

This issue features

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

ICYMI ⋆˚✿˖°

It’s a fish girl summer, and I am your chief coelacanth. If you’re confused, let me explain. Pinterest actually predicted the rise of sardinecore (aka the obsession with the fisherman aesthetic) back in 2024. But personally, I think it really started in 2022 when Bottega launched their Sardine Bag—which, by the way, is still very in. If you’re like me and not willing to drop that kind of money on a bag regularly, I’m loving these new fish bags—spotted on Paige DeSorbo herself—that just launched for $600 started by a new mom and girl I know, Gabby. I love to see mom’s side hustling IRL as the WSJ has just reported that American’s are side-hustling like we’re in a recession. At this rate, we’re probably only a few weeks away from seeing a fish Labubu. And honestly? I might need to bite the bullet, since Lucky #3 has called me a fish since we started dating. A coelacanth, to be specific but that is a story for a podcast episode…

Project Petal—the sleep brand I’m incubating as a founding partner—was overwhelmed by the incredible applications we received for our Community Co-Founders program. We’re so grateful!!! I couldn’t believe how lucky I am reading through all the applications with Marissa. But unfortunately, that means we won’t be able to accept everyone. We put together a very diverse group to get as much variety of opinions as possible. Think location, job, sleep quality, and more. And, a quick note: we learned after the fact that, for legal reasons, we’ll need to keep the initial cohort limited to U.S.-based applicants and over 18+. We’re hoping to expand this in the future as soon as we can!! We will be in touch this week if you’ve been chosen via email.

There is so much business/ consumer news I was gossiping about this week with all the incredible female founders I met at The Legacy Circle that I can’t wait to get your opinions on (see below). But now I am thrilled to be home, getting back into a routine and just soaking up summer in LA for a bit as a hermit. Have I mentioned how much I love my alone time?!

♡ The queen of the blow dry is no more. Alli Webb, founder of Drybar, is now the founder of Messy, a brand built with the polar opposite mission. Now available exclusively at Sephora. Perks of being a second-time founder I suppose.

♡ Everyone’s talking about hating the Bezos Wedding (so far, all the posts I’ve seen about it are just mean girl behavior IMO) but if we’re talking about things we hate, I hate that this ai startup just raised $15M from a16z to cheat on literally everything. Bizarre and so weird but capitalists be capitalists.

♡ The peak of community marketing is having your customers walk your runway show, which both Pickle and Miu Miu leaned into this week with Serena Kerrigan and one of Miu Miu’s top customers. Love.

♡Ring Concierge is going deep on influencer marketing—and I’d bet it’s close to $150K deep on one collaboration alone. People are speculating whether Acquired Style’s ring was gifted, and my gut says yes (though we’ll probably never know for sure). What I am more confident predicting? Coco Schiffer is likely launching a capsule or custom piece with Ring Concierge soon based on this post and the comments.

♡ EVRY Jewels is going viral for all the right reasons. I had never heard of the brand before, but in under a minute, it won me over—gifting PR to a woman fighting cancer and jumping on TikTok’s “how many brands will comment” trend.

♡ Move over grandma, there’s a new needlepointer in town with the rise of 20-somethings taking up grandma’s favorite hobbies as reported by NY Times and my favorite teacher if you’re looking to get into it or get inspiration is Kenzie Elizabeth.

♡ As all attention turns to Wimbledon, where our favorite tennis stars are battling it out for £3 million, it’s interesting to consider that most players outside the Top 10 are barely breaking even—and to look at the breakdown of “tennis player” as a business to understand why.

♡ Its a branded roof summer and so far my favorites are Burberry x The Standard Ibiza and Missoni at Hotel Swexan (which I spotted on Yola Robert’s IG) a few days ago.

♡ What is up with dating RN? Rates of sexual activity and dating have dropped significantly over generations according to Vox.com and Bumble’s feeling the change, planning to cut 30% of their workforce because of it.

Last week on Hot Smart Rich, my sister Katie and I got real about money in relationships, influencer wedding pressure, and how to handle brand copycats (hint: trademark or die). We shared stories from my Euro trip, how the DCC scored a 400% raise, and dropped the advice we wish we had—prenups, trademarks, and ambitious partners included. I always love how much positive feedback we get on this format of the show!!

This week, Natalie Holloway from Bala is getting Hot Smart Rich!! This is one of our favorite early episodes of HSR and with so many new angles joining us and hanging out with Natalie this week at the female founders retreat I was at, I thought this would be a perfect episode for your 4th of July week while most people are off, enjoying and soaking up SUMMER.

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

♡ Women’s Health & Beauty ♡

♡ Media, Entertainment & Creator ♡

♡ E-Commerce, Retail & Social ♡

♡ Tech, Business, & Investing ♡

At a recent retreat in the Hamptons with 25 female founders, one question echoed louder than any other: Do I have to be a front-facing founder to win in today’s landscape? Nearly every woman there shared some version of the same insight — things have shifted dramatically in the last few years, and even more so in the past twelve months.

The pressure to create content, build a personal brand, and be “the face” of the business is at an all-time high. For founders who started their businesses before this wave of online founder visibility — like Dianna Cohen (Crown Affair) or Sheena Zadeh (Kosas) — the rise of founder-driven distribution can feel like an unfair advantage.

But it doesn’t have to be.