ICYMI ⋆˚✿˖°

Hello! Hi, HSR!

This week in my bubble, a few things became even more clear. The world is moving fast thanks to AI, and the work cycle is insane. You go to bed, you wake up, and nothing remains the same. How is someone supposed to keep up? I hate to say it, but it feels especially intense when you think about the hidden costs of being a woman.

The admin. The emotional labor. The scheduling. The group chats. The skincare. The hair. The hormones. The “quick errand” that turns into a 90-minute production. The mental tabs you keep open for everyone else while still trying to build a career, a body, a relationship, a life. And after this week, it became clear to me that the girls cannot afford to be late to AI.

So I did something about it. I invited THE girls’ girl AI expert to record the podcast last week (it drops this Wednesday), and I’ve spent the last few days implementing her tips to save time, save money, and become a more productive version of myself. Example: she even got me to push past the sunk cost fallacy of time spent on ChatGPT building a “relationship” so it knew me, and move to Claude as my personal AI platform (we’re keeping ChatGPT for HSR).

Because at the end of the day, I’m just a girl who loves love, enjoys fresh flowers waiting on her doorstep, and chooses to spend on lasers and Botox twice a year to feel and look my best. And yes, I did just get BBL/MOXI + microneedling three weeks out from the wedding, so my face is currently honoring the Year of the Snake with a full ceremonial shedding. Perfect timing, since the Year of the Snake ends tomorrow, February 16. So call my appointment on Friday a closing ritual, a rebirth if you will.

But after some research, it seems those facts could be at odds with each other. According to a new study, women are adopting AI at 25% less than men. And if women are going to use AI, it can’t only be to optimize our faces and decode luxury purchases. It has to be to optimize our lives.

After recording this conversation (coming out Wednesday), it’s clear AI is not here to replace your taste, your intuition, your standards, or your softness. It’s here to give you leverage. And even if I’m only a few days ahead of you, get ready for your own transformation once you listen and put it to good use during the Year of the Horse.

♡ This Week’s Mood Board ♡

HSR ICYMI is a weekly newsletter and educational resource — its $8 a month or $80 a year. If you want to expense it, use this template if you need to ask.

Finish The Challenge, Split $100,000

Instagram post

Women don’t want $100,000 for bags or trips. We want financial freedom. The kind that lets you walk out the moment respect leaves the room. So here’s the challenge.

What would it take for you to post once a day for 30 days? Would you do it if you could get that much closer to your dream life?

I’m so excited to announce I’ve officially partnered with Stan, the brand of ambition and possibility that gives people the tools, guidance and community to build real ownership.

So join me in Stan’s Dare to Post Challenge. Post one video per day for 30 days. Finish the challenge and split $100,000.

The challenge starts on February 17th at 12pm PT. Head over to Dare To Post to find out everything you need to know!

Why Most Ambitious Women Are
In The Wrong Relationship

You would never accept a $10K salary if you knew you were capable of earning $100K?

So why are so many ambitious women accepting emotionally unavailable partners?

Last week’s episode explores how dating multiple people at once can actually lead to healthier, more intentional relationship choices. Sabrina Zohar unpacks the psychology behind modern dating, from anxious and avoidant attachment patterns to the pressure for instant certainty and explains why strong chemistry or early physical connection does not always mean long term compatibility. Drawing on neuroscience, trauma awareness, and her own journey from heartbreak to building a multi-million-dollar company featured on Shark Tank, she shares practical tools for regulating your nervous system, setting boundaries, spotting red flags, and balancing ambition with love so you can date with clarity, confidence, and self-trust.

If you haven’t watched this episode yet, now’s the time to tune in.❤️

Consumer News

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

♡ Women’s Health & Beauty ♡

  • Kiehl’s taps Hannah Berner to launch its first-ever medicated Ultra Facial Cream, turning skincare emergencies into content. — Byrdie

  • Emily DiDonato is the face of L’Oréal entry into collagen with Vichy’s first nutricosmetic supplement. —Instagram

  • Hold the phone. John Frida’s Hot Hair Hotline with the Naders Sisters is here. WWD

  • Cardi B launches Grow Good Beauty, declaring it’s time to make “these b****es hair grow.” — People Brands and Things

  • Glossier lays off 50 employees, a third of its workforce as CEO Colin Walsh attempts a full brand reset. — Puck

  • Party of You launches as a Gen Z ‘counter-wellness’ skin care brand. — Cosmetics Business

♡ Media, Entertainment & Creator ♡

  • Jake Shane goes from TikTok comedian to chief creative officer at $1B candy brand Katjes. — Forbes

  • Unwell hosts a Galentine’s watch party with Margot Robbie as Wuthering Heights hits theaters. — Instagram

  • Chicken Shop Date” creator and host Amelia Dimoldenberg is developing a romantic comedy for Amazon MGM Studios. — Variety

  • Wishbone Kitchen’s Meredith Hayden is officially heading to TV. — Instagram

  • Tinx partners with Walmart’s Jinx cat food, proving pet brands are the new creator cash grab. — Tinx

  • Victoria’s Secret teams up with the Fifteen Percent Pledge to launch a Black-owned brand accelerator. — Afrotech

  • Jay Shetty launches Perfect Strangers Media, expanding from viral wisdom to film, TV and podcast production. — Variety

  • Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show pulls massive ratings, proving global artists now dominate U.S. cultural moments. — Variety

♡ E-Commerce, Retail & Social ♡

  • MrBeast’s company acquires Gen-Z fintech app Step, merging creator economy clout with banking. — TechCrunch

  • Hanky Panky sells after 48 years as its new owner eyes a Gen Z reinvention. — Inc

  • Luxury grocery stores like Erewhon and Meadow Lane are turning food into fashion-level status symbols. — WSJ

♡ Tech, Business & Investing ♡

  • Oura files a patent for ring-controlled AR smart glasses, hinting at ambient health tracking 2.0. — Fitt Insider

  • Jennifer Garner’s Once Upon a Farm IPO jumps 40% as the company raises $198 million. — Fortune

  • Talkitry, provider of in-network telepsychiatry, raises $210 million led by Perceptive Advisors, and prior lead investor Andreessen Horowitz. — Instagram

  • Veritas raises $1.75M pre-seed led by Alexis Ohanian’s 776 to fight luxury counterfeiting. — Instagram

  • Nike is using the Winter Olympics to relaunch an outdoor brand you’ve probably never heard. — Business Insider

Most film marketing still thinks their job is to convince you the movie is good. Studios have relied on the fact that a good trailer, press, and a premiere justifies people buying a ticket.

The rollout of Wuthering Heights understood the real job: make the internet want to participate. Wuthering Heights is not being sold as a period piece. It’s being sold as a feeling, a trope, a mood you can wear, quote, repost, and recreate.

The marketing for the film was not “go watch this.” It was more like, join the cult of yearning and longing.

Both Margot Robbie’s production house, and Warner Brothers turned a classic love story into a modern distribution machine by doing three things:

  1. Timing the release to a cultural moment that already has built-in attention (Valentine’s Day)

  2. Designing key movie creative (the kiss poster) that doubles as a UGC template

  3. Using press, fashion, and merch as ongoing episodic content

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, this is what marketing looks like when it’s entertainment based and optimized for social.

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