Secret Weddings are the New Status Symbol

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“I’m obsessed with HSR. Today I needed advice on a business question (how to buy a X) for my startup nonprofit. I texted a bunch of VCs and Y Combinator founders. No one had advice. Then I put it in the Global HSR WhatsApp Chat and immediately two people had amazing answers (one was a clever tactic and the other immediately offered to ask their friend, who’s a Y, on my behalf)” - Allison Wu (Principal at Slow Ventures)"

We’ve had more than 300 people join from this one review I put on IG, join the fun here!

ICYMI ⋆˚✿˖°

HAPPY SUNDAY HSR — from Ibiza 🇪🇸!!

But no, I’m not hungover or sleep-deprived. I skipped the 3am UNVRS party last night and sent Lucky #3 with our crew to scout it out and report back. I was in our hotel in my red light mask and PJs.

UNVRS just opened as the world’s largest nightclub, with a 10,000-person capacity (!!!), and is already building its brand with partnerships like Off-White. Our group hit up “Elrow” night — which touts itself as “the kind of crazy we need in the world” — and while the marketing promises a reinvention of nightlife, the experience apparently felt very on-brand and similar for the owner’s other spots: Hï Ibiza, Ushuaïa, etc.

We’re staying for the week at Sabina Ibiza, where barefoot luxury meets biohacking. Sabina is a private residential community designed for the ultra-well — but what makes it different from the typical luxury compound? A wellness philosophy rooted in circadian rhythm design.

Which brings me to this: what do Project Posie, Sabina Ibiza, and Jack Dorsey have in common? A shared obsession with circadian rhythm.

The future of circadian rhythm research holds serious promise — especially in medicine and preventative health — so it’s no surprise to see Jack Dorsey, the former Twitter CEO known for his intense biohacking routine, lean all the way in with his latest launch- Sun Day — a minimalist iOS app (currently in beta via TestFlight) that tracks UV exposure and estimates vitamin D synthesis.

He’s not alone. Sabina Ibiza’s ultra-luxury villas feature circadian-friendly light fixtures, and brands like Project Posie are already designing wellness protocols around light, sleep, and natural rhythm.

Be prepared that the next wave of wellness isn’t just about supplements or skincare — it’s about a protocol of syncing your body to the sun.

In the spirit of transparency, our episode with the Tiger Sisters is at 361,387 plays and 155,000 downloads on Spotify and Apple. If that isn’t enough reason to listen to the episode, then I don’t know what is!!!

Six months ago, I launched Hot Smart Rich, a video-first podcast for anyone obsessed with the future of culture, creators, startups, and self-growth, on Spotify. We hit Spotify’s Top Business Podcasts in week one. Since then, we’ve charted 7 times, peaked at #5 in the U.S., and landed in Spotify’s Top 50 US podcasts overall.

What surprised me most? How quickly video unlocked growth. On Spotify, my audience could seamlessly switch between watching and listening—just like the 300M+ listeners on the platform doing the same thing. That flexibility helped us attract not just more fans, but the right fans. The kind who binge episodes, send me DMs, share clips with their group chats, and now proudly call themselves HSR Angels.

And yes, I turned it into a business. Through the Spotify Partner Program with Spotify for Creators, creators can monetize video content without giving up creative control. It’s real revenue, real reach, and a real community. (And let’s be honest: most platforms can’t say that.)

If you’re thinking about launching, here’s what I’d tell you:

You don’t need millions to start. You just need a camera, a mic, a message, and Spotify.

And for all aspiring creators and podcasters, I have a special episode coming up this week, because I’m sitting down with my friend Les Alfred, Host of She’s So Lucky. Les was a corporate girlie climbing the ladder at HubSpot, until she walked away to bet on herself. Three years later, she’s a six-figure creator, who manifested signing to Dear Media, with a chart-topping podcast. In this episode she shares her secrets on how she has built and leveraged a personal brand that has become her business and exactly how you can too.

♡ Ty Haney isn’t back — she never slowed down. AOV (After Outdoor Voices), Ty has been anything but quiet. First came Joggy, then TYB, and now? It looks like Ty’s back at the helm of Outdoor Voices. (Peep the bio here and the following list here 👀.) and I think this next chapter is unfolding exactly how she planned.

♡ It really is a fish girl summer with David Protein launching cod… and unlike their ingredient list I can’t read for their bars and (won’t be buying), I kind of love it. Is launching cod totally unhinged? Maybe. Frozen food is an incredibly hard category so I don’t think this will be their “hero sku”. But I don’t think that was David’s Protein intention here. This isn’t just about fish; it’s just a smart PR move to reframe David a “real” protein company.

♡ Secret Weddings are the new status symbol. The pendulum might be swinging away from lavish “bezos-type” productions and back toward low-key, high-intimacy nuptials. Case in point: Charli XCX just married her longtime partner at City Hall in London, surrounded by a tiny, inner-circle crew. So here for it.

♡ The 50-20-20-10 budgeting method by HSR is finally getting the attention it deserves. Thanks to The Everygirl, this smart, doable budget strategy is having a main character moment — and I love that it’s being framed as a way to live your dream life, not just “get your finances in order.” I even had a thread going with a few people at at agency about something completely different, and this one thread reply stood out:

We love a testimonial moment — and a reminder that money isn’t just math, it’s mindset.

♡ Women are falling behind again in the workplace, thanks to the return-to-office movement. New WSJ data confirms what many of us already feel: women are falling behind at work because they’re less likely to be back in the office. It’s not just about remote work vs. in-office; it’s about who gets seen, heard, promoted, and paid

♡ Over 75% of American adults take at least one daily supplement, according to the FDA so what makes yours different? Well for Cymbiotika it’s their new Wellness Café that just opened inside the Fontainebleau in Vegas — selling smoothies, functional mocktails, and supplements to a jet-set crowd who already live on magnesium and mushroom lattes. 

♡ Iconic brand Ami Colé is closing its doors — and it won’t be the last. Founder Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye announced the news in a brave, honest interview with The Cut, and it hit hard. Beloved brand. Loyal community. Mission-driven to the core. And still, it wasn’t enough. I’m afraid we’re going to see more of this — because as BoF puts it, the most in-demand role in fashion and beauty right now isn’t founder or creative director... it’s the turnaround expert. Which raises the question: what kind of brand survives in this era? One with a story? Or one with a fixer?

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

♡ Women’s Health & Beauty ♡

♡ Media, Entertainment & Creator ♡

♡ E-Commerce, Retail & Social ♡

♡ Tech, Business & Investing ♡

In the past few years, the beauty industry has gone from unicorn mania to an oversaturated, underperforming mess. And the most recent wave of shutdowns in color cosmetics is proof. These aren’t just under-the-radar brands quietly exiting. These are brands with impressive backers, distribution at Sephora and Ulta, founder buzz, and even celebrity firepower. So what went wrong?

In the last few days, we’ve been on calls with strategic buyers, LPs, bankers, and beauty founders, and the word that kept coming up was "disenchantment." In 2021 and 2022, the beauty sector saw massive valuations and M&A interest. Investment bankers were shopping some of the buzziest names: