“Love this episode! You were right when you said that people's fav episodes are the ones of you two chatting! And LOVED someone mentioning the abso powerhouse that Alix is in business. Great as always! - Spotify Podcast Reviewer
ICYMI ⋆˚✿˖°
Hi HSR!
This is the last email from me before we announce something that will change the trajectory of HSR forever. So before we share our big news on December 9 at 9am EST / 6am PST, I want to leave you with a few things I’ve learned, lessons I hope you carry into your own journey:
This is only possible because of this community. HSR is truly a world-class community. HSR grew because people showed up, shared it, believed in it, and kept coming back. If you’re building something, start with the people who you’re building it for. Listen to them, and grow with them. A world-class community can take you further than any algorithm, investor, or viral moment.
You never know who is watching you, keep posting and keep going. Keep telling your story even when you think no one cares. The right people always find you, often silently, and long before you ever know they’re paying attention. This announcement is proof of that.
Deals that stall, fall so move with urgency, yet thoughtfulness. Mirror their energy!
Don’t wait for it to be perfect. Done is better than perfect.
Play the long game, but move fast when the moment comes. Opportunity is luck meets preparation.
Your brand is built long before people realize it with your invisible reputation. It’s the way you show up, the consistency, the integrity, those are the things that people choose to bet on you later with. Most partnerships are earned quietly, long before the public ever sees them.
The best investment you will ever make is into yourself. So bet on yourself louder than anyone else ever will. Big moves feel scary. Big announcements feel surreal. But none of it happens unless you believe in your own ability to build something that deserves to scale.
Don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself. HSR has iterated again and again from TikTok to a newsletter, podcast, events, and investments. Every evolution unlocked a new audience. Reinvention isn’t chaos; it’s strategy. Builders who can evolve fast win bigger.
And lastly, repeat those HSR Loves Notes every damn day until you believe it - my voice has value, my opinion matters, I don’t create for my critics, my haters don’t pay my bills, and insert everything else you feel that helps you keep going!
Which feels serendipitous to get an HSR love note PR package today from none other than Jenn Orr herself (founder of PopOff) and cry on the internet, except this time with my husband by my side.
Thank you HSR, I love you!
The hard work starts now.
PS. I know that The Global HSR WhatsApp Group has been a huge part of this community and the the magic of HSR and know it must be frustrating to not know how to get in or what’s going on! We have had serious spam issues with the link getting blasted far and wide, which has created a problem for our HSR Angels. We are working on a long-term solution! For 24 hours, we’re putting out the link below to request to join and will be prioritizing adding in paid subscribers to the group and moving them off the waitlist into the HSR Global Chat (which is currently at capacity) as spots open up!!
♡ 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.
♡ We’re Just Getting Started ♡
At the beginning of 2025, I started a podcast even though everyone told me the space was saturated and there was no room. I started on three iPhones with nothing but excitement, nativity, and a vision to build the Call Her Daddy x How I Built This show.
Almost a year later, almost 500K people listen to Hot Smart Rich as one of their Top 10 Podcasts...
The best gift Spotify for Creators gives us isn’t just the potential of the shows reach, it’s the insights. Spotify Wrapped lays out exactly who is listening, when they listen, what episodes they replay, and why they stay.
It confirmed that our audience is you, ambitious women who want to build hotter, smarter, richer, and more fulfilling lives.
It also reminded us that your 100th episode is impossible unless you publish your first. And the first, well it might be bad...
For my fellow podcast creators, if you haven’t checked out your Wrapped yet, do it. Let the data tell you where to go next year. Mine is pushing me to get even more specific about exactly who I’m speaking to. So Bella…I’m coming for you. 2026 is going to be even bigger!
Thank you for listening, sharing, DM’ing, crying, debating, sending episodes to your group chats, and building this with us. Hot Smart Rich wasn’t supposed to be this big this fast. But because of you, here we are. Thank you. And we’re just getting started. You can listen to the most recent episode of Hot Smart Rich on Spotify!
♡ Consumer News ♡
♡ the brands, people, places, things that have captured my attention ♡
♡ Women’s Health & Beauty ♡
The hottest beauty campaign is a David protein bar?! — Instagram
The Skinny Confidential’s Lauryn Bosstick is launching Face Towels to disrupt the makeup wipe industry. — Instagram
Wildflower Cases collabs with Ashtin Earle reinforcing phone cases as the current it-girl accessory category. — Instagram
Why are beauty brands rushing to West Africa in December?! Detty December. — Instagram
Grüns launches Jüced with Tinx as a “pre-anything” caffeine play built for pilates, meetings, and nights out. — Instagram
♡ Media, Entertainment & Creator ♡
Spotify Wrapped 2025 is here, and it’s more vital to the company’s bottom line than ever. — Sherwood
The reality tv to Broadway pipeline is hot with Whitney Leavitt confirmed to play Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway. — Variety
After a 10-year divorce almost broke her, Bethenny Frankel launches The Core, a high-cost dating platform positioned as a “serious relationships” alternative. — Instagram
Mario Jooss flagged that the YouTube algorithm changed recently, and not in a good way. — LinkedIn
Netflix to buy Warner Bros. The question is, do they really want to? — Wall Street Journal
♡ E-Commerce, Retail & Social ♡
Forbes Under 30 2025 drops and HSR Ventures portfolio company Locker’s, Mary Grace Scully is highlighted as the community brand hits 300K users. — Instagram
Not everyone is loving Quince’s dupes (they’re being sued). — The Cut
Does in office 5-days a week = “a winning culture”? Instagram sure thinks so. — Instagram
ASAP Rocky, Jon Bon Jovi and Teyana Taylor hop aboard the C train as Chanel’s Matthieu Blazy brings a great Métiers d’Art show to New York.. — New York Times
Chrome Hearts’ latest expansion isn’t retail. It’s a hotel. — Instagram
How Staud turns out hit after hit on the road to $250M in annual sales. — Instagram
Is “Cloud Dancer” worthy of color of the year? Pantone thinks so. — Instagram
♡ Tech, Business & Investing ♡
Kalshi, who recently minted the newest self-made female billionaire, is now powering predictions in legacy media on CNN and CNBC after raising $1B at an $11B valuation. — TechCrunch
Michael and Susan Dell pledge $6.25B to seed investment accounts for 25M American children. — Instagram
I regret to inform you Meta’s new smart glasses are the best I’ve ever tried. — The Verge
Eventbrite agrees to be acquired by Bending Spoons in an all-cash deal valued around $500M, aiming to rebuild the platform with new AI tools. — Instagram
Flex raises a $60M Series B to scale its AI-native “private bank” for high-net-worth middle-market business owners. — Instagram
Radical Health, a San Francisco-based AI health startup to personalize cancer care, has announced a $5M pre-seed funding round, led by Khosla Ventures and Protagonist — Fortune
Photo L-R: Allie Chen, Alix Earle, Lauren Barnwell (Source: Instagram)
This case study was written in collaboration with Duke University’s Women’s Leadership Lab and Professor Sima Sistani. HSR surveyed the 45 students in the class and this case study is written with the real insights!!
The It Girl, Reimagined for a New Generation
On campuses today, the “It Girl” has evolved into something far more layered than the polished archetypes that defined the early 2010s. She isn’t aspirational because she’s perfect. She’s aspirational because she’s real, because she’s willing to show her ambition next to her anxiety, her goals next to her doubts, her routines next to her chaos.
The Duke Women’s Leadership Lab partnered with Hot Smart Rich to understand this shift not as a trend, but as a cultural reset. What we found wasn’t a singular aesthetic or a single influencer but a shared identity forming across campus communities. The next generation of campus It Girls isn’t defined by what they wear or who they follow. She’s defined by the world she builds around herself, and the people she allows to build it with her.
This case study dives into that world: the values that shape it, the creators who influence it, and the pathways brands must take to earn their way inside.
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