Forbes

I’m honored to share that after a 7-figure strategic investment from Steven Barlett @The Diary Of A CEO and Steven.com, @hotsmartrich is officially joining FlightStory!!! So where do I even begin to do justice to this moment? How do I look back at the 22-year-old version of me who was told by her first boss out of college that she would never be successful unless she changed her voice and the way she looked, and tell her that everything she dreamed of would not only work out, but exceed her imagination? This is not just the story of the last year building this show. It is the story of my life. And it is the story and shared experience of so many women reading this. Being underestimated. Being put in a box. Being discounted for things outside your control. HSR was born the moment I decided I was done letting other people narrate my potential and I would take my power back with the exact thing my boss told me to change, my voice. I started the @Hot Smart Rich podcast with nothing but a mission, three iPhones, two portable mics, and my sister, despite the odds stacked against women in media, including the fact that only 7 percent of business podcasts are hosted by women (still true today!!). I wanted to create a sense of freedom for women everywhere who were tired of being judged, written off, or told to shrink. A space where ambition was not something to hide, but something to celebrate. And then the HSR Angels showed up. You turned this into a movement. You turned this into a business, an investable business. You made this bigger than anything I could have imagined. Which is why joining forces with Steven and FlightStory feels surreal. They are truly best in class, builders of culture, architects of global storytelling, and partners who believe as deeply as I do in what HSR can become. I am grateful. I am in awe. I am inspired. But more than anything, I am motivated. The hard work starts now. Together, we are motivated to build the biggest female ambition brand in the world and create a place we all deserve. Motivated to create a space for women to explore ownership, money, business, power, and relationships, the real conversations that shape our lives. And motivated to deliver it all with the same group chat energy that made HSR what it is today.