ICYMI
I write this from Holts Cafe drinking a flat white before stopping at The Row trying to fit in last minute shopping before I lose out on the exchange rate being in Canada.
Which speaking of clothes, I am such a bad influencer. I linked the chicest and perfect work appropriate conference dress I wore to speak to 260 families and 26 billion dollars worth of assets last week and forgot to link it to my ShopMy so didn’t capture any of the affiliate revenue. 1532 link clicks later, $0 to show for it. Affiliate has not been a big part of my business but part of the HSR money mindset is never miss out on a deserved dollar so I’m linking it again and we are officially looking for a freelancer to help on affiliate before the holidays. Does this sound like you? If so, please email katie at [email protected].
I have a 6 hour flight back to LA tonight and I found an early release of Daddy Issues… there seems to be some leakage, specifically in Canada, and the teasers on TikTok do not disappoint. So for the next 6 hours, I plan to absorb myself with someone else’s daddy issues.
I have 2 new team members starting this week, Katie in town and I am going to try to do some more BTS DIML vlogs like this and this from the past week because I think it does the best job at showcasing my personality. Allison Ellsworth is this week’s HSR guest and it’s an episode you don’t want to miss. She talks about the details she’s never discussed before about selling Poppi to Pepsi and what she is doing differently with her next beverage brand, Jetty.
And after a big week of being out of routine, the only thing to help me make my 8am workout tomorrow is enough hydration and LMNT is always my go-to. They are the first things I pack to make sure I can get back into routine like nothing ever happened. These are my favs!
This Week’s Mood Board
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I would never hire a friend
Should you build a personal brand? What is an invisible reputation? And what is a cosign... and how did Sabrina Carpenter get one from Taylor Swift?
I'm back post-egg retrieval for an unfiltered solo episode, getting into everything I missed online while I was away (which feels like a lot). I'm breaking down my controversial POV on who actually needs to build a personal brand, the reputation you're building even when you're not posting, and how the right cosign can fast-track your business.
I'm also answering your questions like should you go into business with a friend? Why do founder partnerships fall apart? And what should you look for before choosing a business partner?
Plus, I'm opening up about the hard business calls I've been struggling with (including one I had to call Steven about), what I'm learning as a recovering people pleaser, and why sometimes a friendship breakup is exactly what you need.
Consumer Gossip
all the brands, people, places, things we’re gossiping about this week
Women’s Health & Beauty
No sales yet? This beauty fund is still interested. True Beauty Ventures has raised nearly $60M toward a $100M fund backing brands before their first sale, betting on founders before there's a revenue track record. - TradedVC / Beauty Independent
Her nursing bra made $146,000 in 4 hours. The breakthrough wasn't new technology: Lindsay White built The Little Milk Bar community-first, showing real nursing and pumping bodies and keeping the product focused on fit and comfort. - Inc.
More women are turning to experimental peptides for fertility. Providers are seeing patients use unapproved injections as birthrates climb for women over 40, despite doctors' and regulators' safety concerns. - WSJ
Rhode's Sephora Europe debut was the biggest launch in Sephora's history. Hailey Bieber's brand powered E.l.f. Beauty's 51% quarterly sales surge to $520.8 million, beating Wall Street estimates. - WWD
WHOOP is partnering with Ulta Beauty to sell its wearables online and in select stores from March 2027, bringing health tracking to Ulta's 47 million loyalty members. - WHOOP
Media, Entertainment & Creator
Print is having its comeback era. LIFE, NYLON, Saveur and Field & Stream are returning to print, proving that physical media still has cultural value in a digital-first world. - Instagram
The self-help industry keeps getting more personal. Queer Eye alum Karamo is releasing The Unpredictable Choice, a new book about breaking repetitive thought patterns and reclaiming control. - People
Reality TV stars are becoming their own media empires. Whitney Leavitt is returning to Hulu with her own series, moving beyond The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives to star in and produce a show about her family and rising fame. - Deadline
Consumer, E-Commerce & Retail
Viral yogurt brand Sourmilk fought off an AI-made copycat weeks before its Whole Foods rollout. More than 500 fans rallied after the founders posted side-by-side packaging comparisons; 60-plus Whole Foods stores this fall, 50-plus Target stores next month, Inc reports. - Inc.
More customers. More sales. Less profit. Revolve's sales jumped 20%, but profits fell 27% as shipping costs climbed and shoppers spent less per order. A reminder that revenue growth doesn't tell the whole story. - WWD
This one decision took Sweet Loren's from Making $350K a Year to $100M Business. Inc profiles the business from founder Loren Castle's account: after customers requested allergen-free options, the 2017 chocolate chunk dough became the top SKU within six months, and she converted the whole line in 2018. - Inc.
Krissy Cela's activewear brand just opened its NYC flagship. Projecting $250 million in revenue this year with zero outside funding, the DTC brand's next channel is physical retail and Los Angeles is next. - Glossy
Blake Lively is calling last call on Betty Buzz and Betty Booze. The beverage brands are reportedly shutting down five years in - even with national distribution, sales slid once her It Ends With Us legal drama became the story. - Inc.
Tech, Business & Investing
The Disney Channel-to-CEO pipeline just hit a $2B valuation. Bridgit Mendler's space startup Northwood Space raised $375M, backed by Andreessen Horowitz and DFJ Growth. - TechCrunch
The internet's next big opportunity might be going small. Stratechery argues that unique perspectives, niche communities and experiences could become more valuable as AI makes content infinitely abundant. - Stratechery
Canva's AI reckoning is forcing Melanie Perkins to rethink the company from the ground up. The highest-valued female-founded startup has cut growth forecasts as AI demand raises costs and rivals eat its use case. Earlier this week it laid off or asked to relocate 22% of its workforce, about 1,200 people. - Fortune
Let's go, girls (and learn a skilled trade). The fix for the skilled-trade shortage is women and companies are courting women with paid maternity leave and flexibility - and it's working: women are 4.4% of trade workers, up from 2.9% a decade ago. - WSJ
There Was $18 Billion in the Room. Here's What We Told Them About Money, Marriage, and Investing
This week I got to do something I have never done before: sit on a stage with my husband, in my hometown, in front of a room full of people who help manage some of the country's biggest family office fortunes
Courtney and I were invited to speak at Prime Quadrant's annual conference this week and they are an independent multi-family office that works with more than 260 ultra-affluent families and consults on about US$18.5 billion in assets. In other words, this was the room where the real deals get done.
It was also moderated by one of our closest friends Sylvia, who, fun fact, got ordained and married us in our backyard.
We got into the conversations most people avoid entirely: prenups, power, and what it actually means to build wealth together.
So let's skip the gatekeeping and get to what actually mattered in money to health, investing and building a business. These are the seven lessons I’m bringing back from that conversation.
What we get into:
Why being underestimated is the best advantage I have ever had
The money conversation Courtney and I had on our fifth date that some couples still haven’t had three years in.
My streamlined investment thesis and what founders I’m investing in next. If you’re looking to raise money from me, read this first.
How Courtney thinks about writing a $100K to $10M check and how we approach our investing together.
I wanted to be a power couple. Courtney told me that wasn’t the dream but this was instead.
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