In Memory Of

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

ICYMI ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊

Hi Angels,

Our family lost a real-life angel this week, Dr. Victoria “Torie” Whitehead. Katie’s incredible husband, Carter, lost his 34-year-old sister after a short 7-month battle with the most aggressive form of stage 4 colorectal/liver cancer, just 3 months after she started finally practicing anesthesiology after 12 years of school.

It’s tough to know how to work as you navigate through loss, grief and also know that the world keeps moving on. If you want to hear more about her story and how you can support her Arjan, her newlywed husband, who inherited her medical school debt to give her a chance to survive and fight, you can read more about it here.

In other news, I’m in Hawaii with my other family celebrating Spring Break. Working remotely is good for the soul, although we had planned this trip before we got our beautiful new house. Can’t wait to share more on that now that our renovations are underway!!

This Week’s Mood Board

♡ This Week’s Episode ♡

On this episode of Hot Smart Rich, I sit down with my sister and former CFO of billion-dollar DTC brands, Katie Sellers, to talk all things Hot Smart Rich Money Mindset. The truth? Women are being lied to about money—and it’s making our boyfriends, husbands, brothers, and the men in our lives richer by default. They’re not smarter. They’re just in the room when financial decisions are being made.

Meanwhile, we as women control 85% of consumer spending—we decide what to buy, where to shop, and which brands take off. We are the market. But we’re still being left out of wealth-building conversations, especially around angel investing, equity, and financial freedom.

This week, Katie and I go deep on the real money rules that changed our lives—from the 50-20-20-10 budgeting framework to the mindset blocks women face when managing money. It’s not just about spreadsheets—it’s about power, access, and confidence.

Consumer Trends I Gossiped
About Most This Week

♡ PR is No Longer Under Embargo: There’s a new type of PR move in town—I’m calling it the Tease and Announce. Think of it as the bend and snap of media strategy. Poppi, OpenAI, and Paris Hilton have all used it to build buzz ahead of major reveals. Paris Hilton teased the launch of 11:11 Media’s beauty brand in late 2024 before unveiling her skincare line Parívie earlier this week. Poppi and PepsiCo issued a joint teaser that something was “coming soon” the week before they formally announced their $1.95B acquisition earlier this month. And OpenAI teased “something new” with a cryptic post hinting at their $40B raise —reportedly the largest venture capital round in history. In an attention-driven economy, it makes sense: why wait for the press release when you can own the pre-hype?

♡ Alix Earle’s Latest Hot Mess? Alex Cooper set the record straight that Alix Earle is not battling Unwell over the name of her podcast, which she’s just announced is on hold indefinitely. Here’s what I would’ve done differently—especially now that YouTube has officially surpassed Spotify and Apple as the #1 platform for podcast consumption AND Americans watched YouTube on their TVs more than anything else for the second time last month. With podcasting and vlogging merging into more dynamic, visual-first formats, this was the moment for Alix to pivot to vlog-style podcasting. I’ve already started experimenting with it myself, blending Day-in-My-Life content with sit-down talking to camera moments in my London Vlog. This new style of episode is dropping soon, post-Tokyo and I have a feeling we’re about the see this style of content only co-mingling more and more.

♡ Beauty’s New Obsession: Neck cream is in—and I’ve been secretly testing one to help with my tech neck (which I talked about on last week’s pod). Turns out, I’m not alone. According to the latest Baird Beauty & Wellness report, certain categories are seeing strong growth—and neck cream is one of them. Looks like this little beauty niche is having a main character moment.

♡ Don’t Believe Everything You Read Online: TikTok has been flooded with claims that Alix Earle made $15 million from Poppi—which is why I posted a clarifying video this week to set the record straight. But my favorite clap back came from Alex Pall of The Chainsmokers (and GP at Mantis VC), who responded directly to an online troll accusing him of “missing out on a TAX-FREE $50M after making “$58.5M gain at exit”. I’m sorry, unless we see Alex Pall buying a new G450, there is zero chance he made $58.5M at Poppi’s exit.

♡ Kim K Pulled an Ariana Grande: Kim Kardashian just bought back her beauty brand, SKKN, from Coty—following the same playbook Ariana used with r.e.m. beauty. Which is exactly why I said last year that JVN and Rose Inc should’ve fired their teams when their brands, under the Biossance umbrella, were headed for bankruptcy court. Imagine what could’ve happened if they’d bought back their IP and rebuilt with a stronger team and clearer strategy—like Kim just did (for what insiders estimate was close to $200M).

Consumer News

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

♡ Women’s Health & Beauty ♡

• Paris Hilton unveils Parívie, her debut luxury skincare brand launching May 7 – from Instagram

• Frida launches a new 2-in-1 manual breast pump and celebrates with “breast milk ice cream” – from People Brands and Things

• MegaLabs expands its skincare portfolio with the acquisition of Geologie – from Beauty Independent

• ROSEN Skincare founder starts Flora Studios, a manufacturer supporting emerging BIPOC-led beauty brands – from Beauty Independent

• ShopMy is transforming content creators into sales powerhouses for beauty brands – from Beauty Independent

♡ Media, Entertainment & Creator ♡

• Pop the Balloon or Find Love, a viral YouTube dating show, is officially headed to Netflix – from Instagram

• Alix Earle settles her $1M lawsuit with Gymshark over a dropped deal tied to her pro-Israel post – from Instagram

• The original suit: Alix Earle sues Gymshark for $1M after contract termination amid political backlash – from TikTok

♡ E-Commerce, Retail & Social ♡

• Kim Kardashian repurchases Coty’s stake in SKKN by Kim, officially folding it under SKIMS – from Traded Venture Capital

• Doji, an AI-powered virtual try-on fashion app, gains traction among tech workers and secures early-stage funding from Alexis Ohanian’s VC firm – from Traded Venture Capital

♡ Tech, Business & Investing ♡

• 23andMe files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as CEO Anne Wojcicki resigns – from AP News

• Women founders face growing challenges as diversity-focused VC efforts are rolled back under legal pressure – from Business of Fashion

There’s a popular saying in startup land: “Bet on the founder.” But in real life? The biggest bet you’ll make isn’t on your co-founder — it’s on your life partner.

And if you ask us, that bet has ROI implications no one is really talking about — until now.

Paige DeSorbo: Breaking Up, Glowing Up

Let’s get one thing straight: Paige DeSorbo did not just dump her boyfriend. She executed a rebrand.

Subscribe to Monthly to read the rest.