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Hot Smart Rich

Maggie Sellers
Hot Smart Rich
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  • Dear Media Star Les Alfred on Going From Corporate Girlie to Six-Figure Influencer in 3 Years (and the Rebrand That Changed Everything)
    Have you ever wondered how long it really takes to go from a 9–5 to a six-figure influencer?What if your next chapter starts by trusting your gut, and not your job title?Les Alfred didn’t come from wealth. She didn’t have connections. But she had a voice, a podcast, and a powerful desire to grow beyond what her 9–5 at Hubspot allowed. In this episode of Hot Smart Rich, Maggie sits down with Les, the host of @shessoluckypod (Dear Media), to talk about what really happened for Les to reinvent herself, create her dream life, and make six-figures while doing it.They go deep on:How Les actually makes money as a creator (sponsorships, live events, speaking, and more)How to launch a podcast that people actually want to listen to—and how she grew to 10K+ downloads per episodeWhy her biggest opportunities (Michelle Obama, Melinda Gates interviews) came from her existing network—not cold pitchingWhat changed when she stopped DIY-ing and hired people better than herHow moving to New York unexpectedly unlocked everything she was cravingAnd the truth about dating when you're an ambitious woman building something bigWhether you're side-hustling, thinking about quitting, or feeling the pull to do more—this episode is your sign.⸻Chapters00:00 – Meet Les Alfred from Dear Media's She's So Lucky Podcast2:29 – How to Reinvent Your Life and Career From the Ground Up5:13 – How to Get Your Podcast Signed to Dear Media10:02 – How to Shift From Scarcity to Abundance With Money13:43 – How to Turn Your Content Into a Real Six-Figure Business18:28 – How to Build a Vision for Your Future (and Actually Get There)23:08 – How to Break Free From Stereotypes and Build Your Own Identity25:28 – How to Know When to Walk Away From the Wrong Relationship27:01 – How to Date With an Abundance Mindset (Even When It’s Hard)30:18 – How to Find the Right People to Support You As a Creator32:51 – How to Get Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunities34:54 – How to Rebrand Without Losing Your Audience40:02 – How to Start a Podcast That People Actually Want to Listen To42:02 – Rapid Fire: How to Know What You Really Love⸻This episode is sponsored by:- HSR Newsletter - Get 3 months free using ⁠this link⁠. ⸻⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐If you like what you hear, rate, review, and subscribe to Hot Smart Rich, the podcast supporting women who own their worth — in business, wealth, and life.⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe on Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⸻💌Own your worth — and build the life you want. Subscribe to the Hot Smart Rich newsletter, the no-BS guide to startup life, consumer brands, and becoming your hottest, smartest, richest self, written by Maggie Sellers. Join 250,000+ women building wealth, confidence, and community on their own terms.⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⸻Follow Maggie here:Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@maggiesellers⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@maggiesellers_ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Maggie Sellers⁠⁠⁠⁠ ShopMy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Maggie Sellers⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon Storefront: ⁠⁠⁠⁠maggiesellers⁠⁠⁠⁠⸻Follow Les & She's So Lucky:Instagram: @lesalfred & @shessoluckypodYoutube: @shessoluckypod⸻More from Hot Smart Rich:⁠⁠⁠⁠The Hot Smart Rich Money Mindset⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⸻This episode is produced by HSR Media, a division of Creative MES LLC, with support from Coldea Productions.
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  • Your Wall Street & Silicon Valley Big Sisters Tell All: MBAs, Money, Power & Startup Lore (With The Tiger Sisters)
    What if your big sisters worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, LinkedIn, and Snap, and went to Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and Dartmouth, just so they could hand you the playbook?In this episode of Hot Smart Rich, Maggie sits down with Tiger Sisters Jean and Cherie Brooke Luo, two powerhouse siblings with Wall Street and Silicon Valley resumes who are making elite career advice radically more relatable. Jean (Harvard MBA, Dartmouth undergrad) built a $300M business at Snap. Cherie (Stanford MBA, Columbia engineering) scaled products at LinkedIn. Now, they’re spilling the tea on everything from Ivy League admissions and imposter syndrome to dating as a successful woman and the real ROI of a $250K MBA.You’ll hear what it was like growing up with a Tiger Mom, how they hacked their way into the Ivy League (and why you don’t have to), the power dynamics of being a woman in finance, and how to stop doing free work and start owning your narrative. This one is filled with tactical gems, big sister energy, and real talk on money, identity, ambition, and building a life that feels as good as it looks.⸻This episode is sponsored by:- ⁠Pique⁠ - Use this link for 20% off. - HSR Newsletter - Get 3 months free using this link.⸻⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐If you like what you hear, rate, review, and subscribe to Hot Smart Rich, the podcast supporting women who own their worth — in business, wealth, and life.⁠⁠⁠Subscribe on Youtube⁠⁠⁠⸻💌Own your worth — and build the life you want. Subscribe to the Hot Smart Rich newsletter, the no-BS guide to startup life, consumer brands, and becoming your hottest, smartest, richest self, written by Maggie Sellers. Join 250,000+ women building wealth, confidence, and community on their own terms.⁠⁠⁠Subscribe here!⁠⁠⁠⸻Follow Maggie here:Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@maggiesellers⁠⁠⁠TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠@maggiesellers_ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠Maggie Sellers⁠⁠⁠ ShopMy: ⁠⁠⁠Maggie Sellers⁠⁠⁠Amazon Storefront: ⁠⁠⁠maggiesellers⁠⁠⁠⸻Follow Tiger Sisters here:Instagram⁠: @cherie.brooke & @jeanluo_ Youtube: @cherie.brooke & The Tiger SistersShop Sisters Matcha⸻More from Hot Smart Rich:⁠⁠⁠The Hot Smart Rich Money Mindset⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch⁠⁠⁠⸻This episode is produced by HSR Media, a division of Creative MES LLC, with support from Coldea Productions.
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  • Aishwarya Iyer, Founder of Brightland, on Building a Cult-Favorite Luxury Brand From Burnout, the Truth About the NYT Olive Oil Wars, and How Becoming a Mom Changed Everything
    Aishwarya Iyer, Founder of Brightland, on Copycats, Creator Culture, and Building a Luxury Brand From BurnoutWhat happens when a health scare leads you to reinvent the olive oil aisle—and you end up in the middle of a New York Times “olive oil war” after being bullied online by another founder?In this episode of Hot Smart Rich, Maggie sits down with Aishwarya Iyer, the founder of Brightland, to unpack how one wellness wake-up call turned into a category-defining pantry brand that landed on Oprah’s Favorite Things list in 2022. Aishwarya shares the moment her health shifted everything, why she turned to fashion houses like Gucci and Ralph Lauren—not food brands—for inspiration, and how she reimagined a dusty commodity into a cult-status luxury product. And how wholesale partners like Amazon and Nordstrom helped scale her business.They go deep on what it really takes to build a premium brand in a saturated category, how to handle copycats with clarity instead of chaos, and why going viral isn’t a requirement for building something iconic. Aishwarya also opens up about becoming a mom after nine years of marriage, not knowing if she wanted kids—and what motherhood taught her about identity, ambition, and leadership.Whether you're building a brand, balancing personal transformation, or trying to define success on your own terms, this one’s for you.⸻🔑 Key TakeawaysFrom burnout to Brightland. A personal health scare led Aishwarya to create Brightland—not to build a brand, but to solve a real kitchen problem. That authenticity became her edge.Luxury in the details. Inspired by Gucci and Ralph Lauren, Brightland’s premium packaging and positioning turned pantry staples into cultural icons—proving that higher pricing only works when backed by quality.Success invites copycats. After the New York Times spotlighted the “olive oil wars,” Aishwarya reflects on being mimicked and publicly called out. Her response? Founders should lead with vision, not defensiveness.Motherhood changes everything. Launching Brightland and becoming a mother at the same time brought guilt, growth, and identity shifts—reshaping how she leads.Visibility isn’t everything. Aishwarya skipped TikTok and virality, choosing substance over flash. Staying behind the scenes helped her build lasting brand equity.⸻This episode is sponsored by- Pique - Use this link for 20% off. - Frate Returns - Tell them HSR sent you and learn more here⸻Items Mentioned in This Episode- Brightland Olive Oil - use code HSRBRIGHTLAND for 20% off your first purchase up until November 1, 2025 ⸻LinksUse ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Opus Clip⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to turn long videos into shorts.⸻⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐If you like what you hear, rate, review, and subscribe to Hot Smart Rich, the podcast supporting women who own their worth — in business, wealth, and life.⁠⁠Subscribe on Youtube⁠⁠⸻💌Own your worth — and build the life you want. Subscribe to the Hot Smart Rich newsletter, the no-BS guide to startup life, consumer brands, and becoming your hottest, smartest, richest self, written by Maggie Sellers. Join 250,000+ women building wealth, confidence, and community on their own terms.⁠⁠Subscribe here!⁠⁠⸻Follow Maggie here:Instagram: ⁠⁠@maggiesellers⁠⁠TikTok: ⁠⁠@maggiesellers_ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn: ⁠⁠Maggie Sellers⁠⁠ ShopMy: ⁠⁠Maggie Sellers⁠⁠Amazon Storefront: ⁠⁠maggiesellers⁠⁠⸻Follow Aishwarya here:Instagram@helloaishwarya@wearebrightland⸻More from Hot Smart Rich:⁠⁠The Hot Smart Rich Money Mindset⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch⁠⁠⸻This episode is produced by HSR Media, a division of Creative MES LLC, with support from Coldea Productions.
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  • Natalie Holloway's Secret To Getting A Shark Tank Deal & Bootstrapping to $20M, While Having 3 Kids (Bala Founder)
    On this episode of Hot Smart Rich, Maggie Sellers sits down with Natalie Holloway, co-founder of ⁠Bala⁠, the brand that made fitness hot. Natalie built Bala into a $20M business with a Shark Tank deal from Mark Cuban, faced near bankruptcy, and navigated the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship—all while raising three kids under four.The conversation gets real as Natalie shares the hardest moments of scaling Bala, from the chaos of explosive growth during COVID to nearly losing the company. She breaks down what saved the business, why she prioritizes profit overgrowth, and how she made the tough call to lay off nearly her entire team while pregnant.Maggie and Natalie also dive into motherhood, ambition, and the reality of balancing it all—plus, Natalie shares what really happened with Bala’s Drunk Elephant drama, how she deals with copycats, and why she believes affiliate marketing is the future for brands.⸻🔑 Key TakeawaysYou can build a $20M brand without raising big VC money. Bala’s success proves that profitability is more important than endless fundraising. Natalie and her husband bootstrapped their way to the top—then nearly lost it all.Scaling fast can break you. Bala blew up overnight after Shark Tank and COVID, but hypergrowth almost killed the business. Natalie shares the hard truth about layoffs, cash flow, and surviving the free fall.Motherhood and entrepreneurship? There’s no perfect balance. Natalie had to make brutal business decisions while pregnant. The real talk: founders don’t get maternity leave, and work-life balance is a myth.Copycats and competition will come—so stay ahead.Drunk Elephant launched a Bala-inspired product. Knockoffs are everywhere. The only way to win is to innovate faster than they can copy.The smartest founders are shifting from influencers to affiliates.Natalie shares why paying influencers big bucks is outdated and why affiliate marketing is the new power move for brands.Negotiate like a man. Women are still underpricing themselves in business. Natalie learned to ask for more, own her worth, and not settle for the first offer.Bala is just getting started. NYC fitness studio? More retail expansion? Natalie spills what’s next and why she’s betting big on IRL experiences and digital fitness.⸻This episode is sponsored by Frate Returns. Tell them HSR sent you and learn more here!⸻Items Mentioned in This EpisodeBala — the original workout bangles. ⁠Shop here⁠Form x Bala — the set. ⁠Shop here⸻⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐If you like what you hear, rate, review, and subscribe to Hot Smart Rich, the podcast supporting women who own their worth — in business, wealth, and life.Subscribe on YouTube⸻💌Own your worth — and build the life you want. Subscribe to the Hot Smart Rich newsletter, the no-BS guide to startup life, consumer brands, and becoming your hottest, smartest, richest self, written by Maggie Sellers. Join 250,000+ women building wealth, confidence, and community on their own terms.Subscribe here⸻Follow Maggie here:Instagram: @maggiesellersTiktok: @maggiesellers_ ⁠⁠LinkedIn: Maggie SellersShopMyAmazon Storefront⸻Follow Natalie here:Instagram: ⁠@natalieholloway@bala⁠ ⁠@balacize⁠⸻More from Hot Smart Rich:The Hot Smart Rich Money MindsetMerch⸻This episode is produced by HSR Media, a division of Creative MES LLC, with support from Vandana Ravi and Coldea Productions.
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  • Maggie Sellers on Why It’s Time to Get the Prenup, Call Out Your Copycats, and Stop Doing Work for Free (ft. Katie Sellers)
    Weddings. Wealth. Women doing free work.This week, Hot Smart Rich is back with sisters Maggie and Katie Sellers—talking candidly about navigating money in relationships, the pressure of influencer wedding culture, and what happens when someone starts copying your brand move for move. (Hint: you trademark or die.)From a quick catch-up post Maggie's Euro trip to a 400% raise for the DCC, this episode covers personal stories, hard-earned lessons, and straight-up tactical advice on everything from prenups to trademarking to finding a partner who gets your ambition.If you’re navigating wedding pressure, financial conversations in your relationship, or trying to protect your brand from copycats—this one’s for you.⸻Key TakeawaysMixed finances doesn’t mean mixed values.Maggie and Katie break down how to approach money in relationships, what to consider before combining finances, and why a prenup is self-respect—not pessimism.Wedding culture is spiraling.From Sophia Richie Grainge to the Bezos/Sanchez media circus, we dissect the current state of influencer weddings—and how to stay grounded in your own vision.You’re not crazy—they’re copying you.Maggie opens up about the reality of being copied and why protecting your intellectual property is not optional. Trademark early, trademark everything.The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders effect.The power of reality TV is underestimated—especially when building in public. We explore how narrative-driven platforms shape culture and why founders should pay attention.Women need to stop doing free work.Katie shares the moment that led to a 409% raise—and why advocating for yourself is the most HSR move you can make.AI is not optional.We break down why creators must start experimenting with AI tools (yes, even if you’re not “technical”) and how to think bigger than ChatGPT.Supportive partners are a strategic advantage.Maggie shares the top questions to ask when dating to find someone who supports—not competes with—your ambition.⸻LinksUse ⁠⁠⁠⁠Opus Clip⁠⁠⁠⁠ to turn long videos into shorts.⸻⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐If you like what you hear, rate, review, and subscribe to Hot Smart Rich, the podcast supporting women who own their worth — in business, wealth, and life.⁠Subscribe on Youtube⁠⸻💌Own your worth — and build the life you want. Subscribe to the Hot Smart Rich newsletter, the no-BS guide to startup life, consumer brands, and becoming your hottest, smartest, richest self, written by Maggie Sellers. Join 250,000+ women building wealth, confidence, and community on their own terms.⁠Subscribe here!⁠⸻Follow Maggie here:Instagram: ⁠@maggiesellers⁠TikTok: ⁠@maggiesellers_ ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn: ⁠Maggie Sellers⁠ ShopMy: ⁠Maggie Sellers⁠Amazon Storefront: ⁠maggiesellers⁠⸻Follow Katie here:Instagram: ⁠@katiesellers_ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn: ⁠Katie Sellers⁠⸻More from Hot Smart Rich:⁠The Hot Smart Rich Money Mindset⁠⁠Merch⁠⸻This episode is produced by HSR Media, a division of Creative MES LLC, with support from Coldea Productions.
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About Hot Smart Rich

Hot Smart Rich is your place to hear unfiltered conversations with the people shaping the future of culture, creators, startups and community. Hosted by Maggie Sellers, investor and media powerhouse, and guests breaking the mold, you’ll get the real deal as it relates to navigating the startup fast lane, leveling up your life or becoming your hottest, smartest, richest self. New episodes weekly on Wednesdays.
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