Isobel Lorna: How She Sold $300K in 1 Hour, Out-Earning College Degrees, and Why She Wants to Spend Money Loudly

Influencer and founder, Isobel Lorna, made over $1 million straight from her phone…and last week, her new brand Agende sold $300,000 in just one hour before selling out completely. In this episode of Hot Smart Rich, Isobel sits down with Maggie Sellers Reum to break down her exact playbook for personal branding, standing out online, and turning luxury buys into high-return investments. From Porsches to Birkins, Isobel explains why she refuses to apologize for spending her money loudly and why she identifies as an influencer, not a content creator. She also opens up about her early obsession with wealth, skipping university, and how she navigates line-crossing comment sections from degree holders she out-earns in a single month. Get unselfish access to insights that will help you own the room. Sign up now https://linkly.link/2jPXJ ⸻ Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (03:30) Influencer, Not Creator (04:53) Obsessed with Money as a Child (08:33) Scarcity Money Mindset (09:49) Spending as an Investment (11:22) Negotiating Brand Deals (13:44) Influencing Full Time (16:53) The Art of the Pivot (19:27) Online Persona vs Real Life (23:11) Alya Ad (24:23) Shopify Ad (25:41) Why People Hate Influencers (27:51) Tips on Influencing as a Career (32:53) How Do You Own the Room? (36:28) Creator Success & Criticism (44:25) OSEA Ad (45:26) Fiverr Ad (46:25) Launching a Business (49:19) Biggest Business Lessons (52:12) Launching Agende (57:38) Knowing Your Audience (59:44) Rapid Fire ⸻ Sponsors: Shopify - http://Shopify.com/HSR Alya - https://alyahealth.com/s/hsr and use code HSR for 20% off Osea - Use code HSR for 10% off at http://oseamalibu.com Fiverr - If you are scaling a business, then you need to visit https://pro.fiverr.com ⸻ Hot Smart Rich: Your Business & Culture Gossip For ambitious women wanting to own the room, gain power, and build wealth. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hotsmartrich/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hotsmartrich Maggie Sellers Reum: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggiesellersreum/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maggiesellersreum LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sellersmaggie/ Locker: https://www.wantlocker.com/users/maggiesellers ShopMy: https://shopmy.us/maggiesellers Amazon Storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/maggiesellers/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Maggie Sellers Reum?

  If you're starting a business, there are certain things that are so fun to think about. Y'all know I love a mood board, so everything that relates to the creative, the name, the brand, the website, the vision board. But then there are the things that make you pause and ask, am I even doing this correctly? Or do I even want to be doing this? Like forming your business, getting the right documents, keeping your personal information private. This is where our sponsor, Northwest Registered Agent, is so helpful. They're a one-stop shop for founders who want to launch and legitimize their business without turning it into a giant admin spiral. They help you form an LLC or a corporation, act as your registered agent, and give you tools like a business address, operating agreement, website, phone number, professional email, and free guides.

• 0:43Maggie Sellers Reum?

  They also have real corporate guides who know your local laws. Visit northwestregisteredagent.com/hsrfree and start using free resources to build something amazing. Get more with Northwest Registered Agent at northwestregisteredagent.com/hsrfree.

• 1:06Speaker 01

  The action's on the court, and as the official beer sponsor of the NBA, Michelob Ultra is getting fans closer to the game with a chance to win courtside seats, merch, and more. Visit michelobultra.com/courtside to enter. Michelob Ultra Courtside, 26 to 27. No purchase necessary. Open to U.S. residents 21+. Begins on October 1st, 2026 and ends on June 30th, 2027. Multiple entry periods. See official rules at michelobultra.com/courtside for free entry, entry deadlines, prizes, and details.

• 1:33Speaker 02

  One of my most frequent hate comments has always been, she has to be an escort. How does she have a burkin' and a house in London? I'm getting fed up. Like, why can't we just earn our money and enjoy it? Loudly.

• 1:44Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I loved you from the beginning because I'm like, this girl loves her life.

• 1:48Speaker 02

  I do, I do.

• 1:49Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Right.

• 1:49Speaker 02

  I was always scared of being a full-time influencer, but I set a target at the start of the year to make a million pounds from influencing, and I'm gonna go over it. But it's not just all fun, fun, fun. Holiday with my friends in Saint-Tropez, private jet. I do have to work for it. And from a young age, I was like, I wanna earn money. So I worked hard to leave my corporate job. And when I started filming on TikTok, everything changed from there. Like, I make their salary for the next 30 years in a year.

• 2:16Maggie Sellers Reum?

  How did you learn to negotiate at numbers that are as large as like $25,000 to $45,000?

• 2:23Speaker 02

  I always say, if you want something, you need to work hard to get it. Nothing's gonna fall on your lap. You only get lucky if you put yourself in the room to get lucky, which takes a lot of hard work.

• 2:33Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Whether you are a creator or you're just going through a life change, I'm very curious, in the art of the pivot, what are three things that people can do to actually make this a career?

• 2:43Speaker 02

  The biggest way to stand out is...

• 2:47Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Hi, angels. Did you know that subscribing to our channel is free? It doesn't cost you anything, and it is the simplest way for you to support Hot, Smart, Rich and help us grow so that we can bring you more of the conversations you love. Just hit the subscribe button below, and thank you.

• 3:08Maggie Sellers Reum?

  In case you missed it, you're allowed to be hot, smart, and rich. So let's get into it.

• 3:18Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Isobel, Lorna, are you ready to get hot, smart, rich?

• 3:20Speaker 02

  I'm so ready.

• 3:22Maggie Sellers Reum?

  For someone that just clicked into this conversation, they don't know who you are, what would you tell them to get them to stay today?

• 3:29Speaker 02

  I'm a proud influencer, entrepreneur, and business owner with no marketing qualifications. And if I could describe my mission in like two sentences, I'd probably say, I try and encourage girls to wanna buy their own Porsche instead of being a Porsche mom where your husband just buys a car for you. I went against the curve to create my dream life and took a lot of risks, and I want all of the girls that follow me to aspire to do the same.

• 3:56Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I decided to start doing this with guests to give a promise to my community. If they listen to an episode in full, what will they learn? What will they take away, knowing my brand and why I'm inviting people on before they get to know you? And so what I said for you is if people, my angels, listen to this episode in full, they will be able to build a business without a blueprint, make their own money, and never live out of alignment again. Is that a fair promise we can make for them?

• 4:22Speaker 02

  Correct. And what I say all the time to everyone is, and what my mom said to me from when I was young, is that the world is your oyster and you can do anything, and you don't always need to abide to social norms in order to be able to do something.

• 4:36Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I'm obsessed with that. So you're somebody that I'm filming with in the UK that I actually am not meeting for the first time or seeing for the first time because you and I started following each other a few months ago, which I don't remember how it happened to you.

• 4:48Speaker 02

  I messaged you about your daily, uh, your daily affirmations. You write the daily affirmations on your story.

• 4:55Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Yeah, HSR love notes.

• 4:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think I just replied to one of them and you were like, well, I do it every day. So strap in. And I was like, I love it.

• 5:03Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I just feel like I loved you from the beginning because you're so unapologetically yourself. And one of the things that was so interesting when I was prepping for this and I was reading the notes is that you said to my team, I am not a creator, I am an influencer.

• 5:16Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 5:18Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Why do you identify as an influencer over a creator?

• 5:22Speaker 02

  So for me, the word creator, not that there's anything wrong with this, signifies someone that creates content with their iPhone. An influencer is someone that has influence on people's behavior, buying patterns and opinions. So I don't know why, well, I know why, but I don't understand why we keep closing ourselves off as content creators when actually what we're doing and what we're building is influencing people in a positive way. Obviously, some people don't influence other people in a positive way, but I strive to influence people in a positive way. So why not just say loud and proud, I'm an influencer? And it's my favorite thing to do when I'm at a wedding or an event where I don't know people and they don't know who I am. Oh, hi, nice to meet you. What'd you do? And I say, I'm an influencer.

• 6:07Speaker 02

  And I find it so interesting to see who screws their face up and like goes cold and who asks more questions. And that's a topic we can get into, but I am a loud and proud influencer and I never call myself content creator.

• 6:21Maggie Sellers Reum?

  When someone calls you a content creator, do you correct them?

• 6:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:26Maggie Sellers Reum?

  So, okay, Isobel, talk to me about what you were like as a child because you seem to be able to do things online and in person that is standing up for yourself and your values. Were you always like that?

• 6:37Speaker 02

  I was, yeah. And I hated school. I hated being told what to do. I was very polite and obedient, but I always say like, bend the rules, don't stick to them. And I think I always wanted to do my own thing and I always wanted to have my own way with morals involved. But yeah, I think I was, I was very headstrong from the beginning. I just didn't know what for.

• 7:00Maggie Sellers Reum?

  And in the UK, is that very abnormal?

• 7:05Speaker 02

  I would say so, yeah. So in the UK, you go to secondary school, then you go to sixth form, and they tell everyone to go to university. I was like, hmm, I don't really wanna go to university and sit in a dorm and like read another book. I wanna go and earn money. So when I was 13, my parents said to me, if you wanna have a car when you turn 17, you have to buy it yourself. We're not gonna pay for it for you. That was like the biggest, the most offensive thing anyone could ever say to me. What do you mean I can't have a car? So I was like, well, if I get a job now, by the time I'm 17, I should be able to buy one. So I got a job in the, like a local pottery studio, and I would basically take the pot, wipe the bottom, write the date on it for two hours every Tuesday.

• 7:48Speaker 02

  Then I did Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I was earning £12 a week. So 12 times four, God, my maths is terrible, £48? £48 a month. And I put all the money away, and then I was like, now I want another job and I want more money. So from literally when I was 13 to 17, I worked in hairdressers, I worked in the local shop, I worked in the local pub. Any local establishment was the running joke was that I had worked there or was working there. And at times I had like three jobs. So in my spare time, I didn't wanna go to the playground and go to the rec with the kids. I mean, I did do that as well, but I wanted to earn money. And that's why when I got to sixth form and I was finishing and they were shoving all these uni courses down my throat, I was like, well, I don't wanna do that.

• 8:32Speaker 02

  I wanna earn money now. So in the UK, they have something called an apprenticeship. Do you have those in America?

• 8:37Maggie Sellers Reum?

  No.

• 8:38Speaker 02

  Okay. So instead of going to university and getting a degree, you start working and then one day a week, you'll study towards the degree or the course or whatever you're doing. So I had done work experience in a law firm. My mom got an email about them doing an apprenticeship, and I was like, I wanna go and do an apprenticeship. The law firm's called Burgess Salmon. It's like a big law firm in the UK. I was like, I wanna do a legal business apprenticeship in a law firm, and then I can figure out if I wanna do business or law. So I started doing that, and then that's when I started filming on TikTok and posting, and everything changed from there. So because I went against what everyone wanted me to do, I ended up being sat here today. And that's why I say to everyone, you don't have to do what everyone else does, and you

• 9:20Speaker 02

  don't have to have qualifications to achieve the dreams you wanna do.

• 9:25Maggie Sellers Reum?

  How did you think about money growing up, to be obsessed with it at that young of an age?

• 9:31Speaker 02

  I, I think about this a lot, and I don't know. I come from a very loving family. I went to state school. My parents were both public servants. They worked very hard. My mom worked all through my childhood. But I think it's just because I was in a small village and I wanted more, not because I wasn't happy, but because I saw glimmers of like, I guess, the outside, the bigger world. And I was like, I don't wanna be stuck in the village. I wanna be out there in the big world. I wanna be in London. I used to get the bus down to London with my mom. And I'd be like, I know I'm gonna live here when I'm older, but if I wanna live in London, I need more money. So I honestly think it was just from that.

• 10:07Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Did you have a scarcity mindset towards money?

• 10:09Speaker 02

  I still do, actually. I find it quite hard. Like, if I'm, if I go and spend a lot of money, I'll feel bad.

• 10:15Maggie Sellers Reum?

  That was gonna be one of my questions for you because I feel like people go one of two ways. They either don't think about it because they think about money as like a way that will be a currency, it will come back, or they actually, even if they're spending something, they feel guilty about it?

• 10:29Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 10:31Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Has that adjusted at all?

• 10:33Speaker 02

  A little bit. So this is a really good example that I'll give you. I'm going to Saint-Tropez on my annual girls' trip next week, which is like no work, just fun. And I left all my outfits to the last minute, so I did a big order online. They all came and I liked all of them. And I was like, God, I'm paying for these myself and I'm not working. And I was like, God, Isobel, let yourself have something that doesn't have something to do with work. So every time I spend money, I try and do it in an investment of some form. You know, I can pass anything off as an investment, handbag, holiday, nice thing, because it's all coming back down to my content and my brand image and who I am. But I do struggle when it's nothing to do with work. I find it really hard. Even if I go to like Tesco, there'll be like a Tesco-owned olive oil and a, and a Porsche one, and I'll pick the Tesco-owned.

• 11:19Speaker 02

  Cause it's got nothing to do with work.

• 11:22Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I just heard of a really large creator say that women talking about money is tacky. And it really bothered me because I was like, this is keeping your community poor. If you are not actually telling them how you're getting your dream life or how to do it for themselves. Now, having built a career in luxury, a lot of people don't associate luxury with like talking about money. What is your take on that?

• 11:47Speaker 02

  I think one thing that springs to mind is I went to the Monaco Grand Prix in May. And afterwards, I saw this Instagram post and it was like, new money goes to the Monaco F1. Old money goes to the the south of France hills and doesn't watch the F1 and doesn't post any content. And I remember looking at it and thinking, why can't everyone just earn their money and spend it however the fuck they want? And why do girls especially, every time they want to do something nice or they want to earn their own money? Why is it always, like you said, called tacky? And I think that post, I put it on my story and I had so many people respond like, I'm getting fed up. I'm getting fed up. Like, why can't we just earn our money and enjoy it loudly?

• 12:29Speaker 02

  Why do I have to be quiet about buying a Birkin? Why do I have to be quiet about buying a house? Like, that's one of my most, my most frequent comments, especially when I buy something is, why do you have to show everyone? Why the fuck not? Because I know there's probably a 15 year old girl watching thinking, oh, maybe one day when I'm 25, I'll be able to buy a house in London. So if you don't share it, people can't see it, they can't be inspired. And that's why I like using the word influencer, because we're influencing, especially in a positive way.

• 12:55Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I think you do that so well. And I think that that's what I really wanted to get into today because I believe that the content creator economy has the ability to really level the playing field. Like, there are no gatekeepers, there are no archaic industries that we have to go and spend 20 years in a career to finally be able to like do the things that are going to bring us what we actually want in our lives. So let's talk a little bit about money, the power of social media, everything that comes with that. It is reported that creators with 250 to a million followers can make between 20 to 45,000 dollars for a sponsored Instagram post, according to business.com. Do you believe that that is the ceiling or the floor for a luxury creator?

• 13:36Speaker 02

  The floor?

• 13:40Speaker 02

  Where are we going with this?

• 13:41Maggie Sellers Reum?

  How did you learn your value to negotiate at numbers that are as large as like 25 to 45,000 dollars?

• 13:49Speaker 02

  So I rarely work on like one-off videos now. It needs to be like three videos, one every two months, one a month. And then if you're actually using it and showing that you're using it, of course, people are going to start believing you that it works. And if you're showing the results and you install more trust in your audience.

• 14:06Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Have you seen all of my videos on creator equity and like this exact thing that we are moving towards an equity model? Because this is, it's a long-term relationship. And to your point, it's like even the cash part of it still feels a little transactional. When you have equity and ownership into a brand, you genuinely have mutually aligned interests. Have brands started coming to you wanting to give you equity in their brands in exchange for what you do so well?

• 14:31Speaker 02

  I have had a few more recently on the influencing side. I've had more on my marketing agency side, which I've actually shrunk recently. So I'm not running my marketing agency anymore. I counted the other day, I had 14 equity offers for the marketing side. So purely like people using my brain, people wanting to tap into my marketing brain, how are we going to do our content? How are we going to run our socials? I turned all of them down apart from one. And that was the founder of Celia. I've co-founded an intimate beauty brand with her. So I basically cancelled out the agency and I'm just doing that with her because I've got equity in it.

• 15:09Speaker 02

  I think the UK is a bit behind on the equity model. I want more of it to come over, but I think we're just a bit behind.

• 15:17Maggie Sellers Reum?

  So you just decided to shut down your agency? And this is what you started when you also started being a content creator? So how long were you doing the two of those jobs and two of those different businesses?

• 15:27Speaker 02

  So this is really interesting because I was always scared of being a full-time influencer. So the agency was kind of like a backup. So at first it was great because I was obviously making videos, walking around a corporate office, motivating people to get up and work, being in a corporate outfit, being in a big shiny office, getting my coffee every morning. And I knew if I stopped going into work, if I quit the job, where's the content? Why do I have 600,000 followers and I quit the job? Where are they going to go? What am I going to do? Just film hair videos and skincare videos all day? I was, I need to replace the office with something else. And because I knew, basically, the only thing I knew I was good at was making videos for social media and coming up with creative, crazy ideas.

• 16:10Speaker 02

  So I was like, if I quit the job, I'll replace it with launching my own business, which was a social marketing agency. This is four years ago when no one else had a social marketing agency in London and no one knew how to make TikToks. Now everyone knows how to make TikToks and there's thousands of amazing content creators in London that can make videos for your brand. But that was my way of kind of like weighing it up because I thought the influencing was a backup. And actually, I should have dissolved the marketing agency one or two years ago because I've actually figured out that it's kind of stunted my growth on the influencing side because I was putting 50% of my energy into the agency, 50% into influencing.

• 16:51Speaker 02

  With an agency model, you can only make so much before you need more staff and you need an office space and you need more equipment and more subscriptions. So you hit like 30, 40K a month. Oh, but then I need four employees. So then the profit comes down. And before you know it, I'm running an agency all month to get the same fee as posting a TikTok. And I kept doing it for so long until I realized, actually, there's so many projects I've put off doing because I'm running this agency. And don't get me wrong, that was amazing for me. I learned so many valuable lessons. I learned so much about marketing. And I wouldn't change that for the world. But I should have probably looked at doing that a year ago, not waiting so long. But it kind of felt like a failure to me.

• 17:34Speaker 02

  It felt like I was failing if I dissolved it, whereas actually I had to reframe it in my brain as a change of effort. So instead of putting the time into that, I'm putting it into my other projects. And it's an investment. I'm reinvesting the time in a better way. Because, you know, the agency model in social media and TikTok was very capped and I didn't want to, I hit 25 and I was thinking, I've got loads of responsibility and loads of clients. And I'm trying to be an influencer and I'm trying to launch a brand. I was, I feel like I'm 50. And I think I just need to tone it down a bit. And I have not been running that business now for about three months. And I honestly feel like I'm on a summer holiday. Because I've always been doing influencing and something else.

• 18:19Speaker 02

  So now I've stopped. It's like, I've, it's like, I've, it's like, I've like come up for a bit of air and now I'm ready to launch another business.

• 18:26Maggie Sellers Reum?

  But I think that that's what's so interesting because right now, being a B2B creator or being in a corporate creator role is the thing. Like, that's what everybody wants. So these people start these jobs. I see it. It's like late night working as like an investment banker and private equity. And then ultimately they end up leaving and they're not actually doing their corporate job that got them the platform. And so I think a lot of people will be very curious in the art of the pivot as a creator. Because whether you are a corporate creator or influencer, or you're just going through a life change. And like, I don't know if you saw that a few years ago where everyone was unfollowing you if you like got pregnant or got married. And people as influencers or creators are going to go through different life changes.

• 19:07Maggie Sellers Reum?

  How do you manage the art of the pivot so well as someone with a public persona when they follow you for one thing? And you've clearly attracted a totally new audience?

• 19:18Speaker 02

  I did definitely go for a phase where I didn't really know what I was outputting and I didn't know what I was outputting for. And I would say that knowing that you have to replace, like I replaced the corporate job with launching a business. And I've actually spoken to a lot of creators that have quit their nine to five jobs. And the advice I've given them is like, if you're quitting your corporate job to launch a brand and you've been filming videos going into the office every day, why not get your own office and film yourself going into that and bring the audience along with you? But you have to bring something, a piece of you along with you. You don't have to keep all the pieces all the time. But if you can just bring one piece of you over.

• 19:58Speaker 02

  I veered off for a while and started doing aesthetic content. That didn't work for me, like cute girly videos, very aesthetic. I don't really like aesthetic content. And actually, more recently, I've just been, I went to Paris with Amy and we basically we just like got over excited and we kept drinking champagne and like forgetting to film. And I kept putting my phone up and just sticking my phone on the window, no tripod, nothing, just stick my phone on the window and pressing record. And we'd film like some stupid video and then I'd like stop recording and be like, oh, that was probably really shit. Like, we're not going to be able to do anything with that. And then I edited one and I posted it and everyone was like, I love this. I can actually see who you are. I can see you laughing. I can see like your banter.

• 20:41Speaker 02

  And that was a big turning point for me because I was like, wow, the biggest way to stand out and get people to like you and to listen to you is just to be yourself. And I think if you're yourself in every piece of content you make, then it doesn't matter if you're on holiday, if you're having a baby, if you're launching a business, if your personality is there, then people will stay.

• 21:01Maggie Sellers Reum?

  My team is going to love that you're on this couch right now because every single time they're like, just post your real personality because it feels a little bit of an oxymoron. But then I have to ask you because you've said that Isobel Lorna is an alter ego. So how do you balance an alter ego that helps you show up in a specific way with your real self?

• 21:22Speaker 02

  So I think what quite a lot of people won't know about me is that I have filming days and I have not filming days. So if I have a filming day, my hair's done, my makeup's done, I'll be going about my same day. But I'll just be in like Isobel mode. And I call, I talk about Isobel Lorna in the third person because she is an overly elaborated version of myself. Like today, I've got an amazing outfit on, my hair's perfect, I've got all my makeup on. God, that sounds so stuck up. You know, it's like, this is me, fully Isobel. But there's days where I'm only half Isobel. And that's why I like using the word elaborated because it's not fake, it's just ramped up.

• 22:01Speaker 02

  And I have a, my solid friendship group in London, like they find it funny when they call me Isobel McDonald, when I'm like not Isobel Lorna.

• 22:09Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Why is that your real name?

• 22:10Speaker 02

  McDonald, yeah, is my surname. Lorna is my middle name.

• 22:14Speaker 02

  That's because when I had a corporate job, I didn't want people to know I was posting TikToks. I mean, it's quite obvious my face was in it. But I thought if I used a different name, like people from work wouldn't see. I mean, it was kind of obvious.

• 22:24Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I have to ask you this now because I even get this to this day is like, I think because I did, let's say maybe 10 years in corporate or startup life. So I was so in that routine of like going into the office every single day, having all of these meetings, being so productive in that traditional office sense that I have something which I call corporate guilt. It's like mom guilt. So moms get guilt when they're with their kid, when they're at work because they're not with their kids. I genuinely feel like when I am creating content, it is not a job. Like I have corporate guilt. Do you also have that and how do you break out of that?

• 22:57Speaker 02

  I don't have it because I hated working in corporate. I think by the end of it, I was put on, what is it when you're like on a probation?

• 23:05Maggie Sellers Reum?

  For us, it's, yeah, probation, yeah.

• 23:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, like I had like a card so they would like check in on me every week. Like I just wasn't there. It just didn't fit with me. And like every morning I'd be racing to the train station to get on the train to work, always late, like very composed and I knew how to be corporate, but I'd be sat at my desk, like, you know, planning my holiday and like writing out to do lists for when I got home. And it just didn't sit with me, like the corporate just never sat with me. It taught me amazing things. So when I joined corporate, because I was 18, we had an induction to corporate. It literally had a two week calendar that was called corporate induction. And we had lessons on to, on how to walk into a meeting room, lessons on how to answer

• 23:46Speaker 02

  the phone, lessons on how to write an email, how to sign off your email, how to talk professionally. And that's because I was 18, I was a baby. I didn't, they had all these kids in the office and they needed to train us. So I think once I'd done that and I learned how to make a PowerPoint, you have to practice it three times to get it perfect. That sticks so much in my brain. I was like, I've got the skills now. I don't want to be here anymore, but I stayed because of the content. But I think the content not feeling like a job, I had that up until now when I've let go of that business and that reliable income. I mean, influencing money is now very reliable, but three years ago it wasn't as reliable.

• 24:30Speaker 02

  And because I've been, I'm like, this is now an investment into myself and my future. I have to put a hundred percent into it. I've, I, I pencil in filming into my calendar and I see it as work because I know I'm going to get a return on it, even if it's not a paid ad, it's getting some kind of return.

• 24:45Maggie Sellers Reum?

  A few months ago, I come downstairs and Courtney is answering emails and chugging out of our olive oil bottle. I was intrigued, kind of disgusted, but very curious. So I started looking into the benefits. I found the most chic brand that fits into my hot, smart, rich life with Alya Health. Alia makes these daily olive oil shots from a rare Tunisian olive that's naturally really high in polyphenols, which are nature's best medicine that helps to naturally lower your inflammation in your body. Even before they became a sponsor, I've been taking one before I eat and I've actually noticed less bloating and fewer sugar cravings. I cannot eat without these now.

• 25:25Maggie Sellers Reum?

  And with my ADHD, I'm loving these for a clearer head and more steady focus. I love that I only need one shot a day and I don't have to worry about poor digestion, bloating or fatigue anymore. And they taste amazing, smooth, buttery with that little peppery kick. So olives have officially made it from my wedding into my daily routine and I'm giving my angels a code for 20% off. Just use HSR at alyahealth.com. I've said it before and I'm gonna say it again. This is one of the best times in history to build something of your own. If you have an idea for a business, I want you to pick up your phone right now because

• 26:10Maggie Sellers Reum?

  genuinely you just need to start. Now, entrepreneurship is far from easy, but if it's a product business, there's infrastructure like our sponsor Shopify that can get you up and running almost overnight. The storefront, the payments, the orders, all built in. And for women especially, there are so many gatekeepers we just don't have to deal with in the same way anymore. The bank, the landlord, all those people who used to decide whether you got a shot. There's a reason Shopify's stock jumped 17% recently. There's also a reason that I applied to Shopify 11 times.

• 26:53Maggie Sellers Reum?

  They are the backbone of entrepreneurship. You may never feel completely ready, but you've never had more of an opportunity to start. There is no better feeling than having something that is truly yours. Find out what it's like to say, that's my business at Shopify.com slash HSR. That's Shopify.com slash HSR. It's so fascinating to me because I think the world is changing so much.

• 27:20Speaker 01

  The action's on the court and as the official beer sponsor of the NBA, Michelob Ultra is getting fans closer to the game with a chance to win courtside seats, merch and more. Visit michelobultra.com/courtside to enter. Michelob Ultra Courtside, 26 to 27. No purchase necessary. Open to US residents 21 plus. Begins on October 1st, 2026 and ends on June 30th, 2027. Multiple entry periods. See official rules at michelobultra.com/courtside for free entry, entry deadlines, prizes and details.

• 27:49Speaker 03

  This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now, then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

• 28:19Speaker 04

  Low energy, unfocused, foggy, you might be dehydrated. Gatorade zero powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body with a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colors or flavors. Great tasting hydration, no matter where you're going. Shop now online or at retailers nationwide. Gatorade hydrates better than water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist.

• 28:47Maggie Sellers Reum?

  And at Cannes this year specifically, it should have been called like the creator economy conference, truly. And for the first time in 2026, Forbes top 50 creator list collectively broke a billion dollars.

• 29:00Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 29:00Maggie Sellers Reum?

  And it's just wild to me if you think about 50 creators bringing in a billion dollars.

• 29:06Speaker 02

  And I believe it.

• 29:07Maggie Sellers Reum?

  It's crazy, but these people, they're so brave. They like share what they're making and like even Steven, it's like he's number three on the list, you know? And I think it's so interesting where on one side you're seeing a billion dollars is being made from that. And then on the other side, people still don't take creating content or influencing seriously. Who do you feel like is the hardest to convince that this is a real job? Like when you talked about at the beginning of the episode, when you go to a wedding and you're like, I'm an influencer. Who scrunches their face and doesn't give you the same credibility that a bit, a brand that is being built that's doing 50 million dollars in revenue is doing?

• 29:41Speaker 02

  So I think the reason that people dislike influencers and they don't take the role seriously is because they go to school, they get their grades, they go to university, they do the internship, they work five years in a corporate job, job where they keep getting a little promotion, a little promotion, a little promotion. And then someone like me comes along with my iPhone and I make their salary for the next 30 years in a year. It's like, it's not fair. People see it as not fair, right? It's, but it's the same as running a business. It's just that business owners 20 years ago weren't posting all about it online because most, a lot of business owners don't have any qualifications and they didn't work a long corporate job. Most of them didn't even finish school, but you don't, you didn't hear about that and

• 30:26Speaker 02

  you didn't know about it. Whereas now it's shoved in your face. Like I don't have a, I don't have a degree. I didn't, I don't have any qualifications, but I'm earning more money than you. It's like, it's not fair in society. So I actually understand why people dislike influencers, but I think there's such a lack of education around what we do and how we make money and how much effort and thought goes into it, that they can't actually understand what we're doing. They think we're just walking around with an iPhone.

• 30:53Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I agree with you. Like I even think for me, when I first started this, there was actually a big VC who, listen, it was like a really nice compliment, but I feel like my whole life I'm very used to backhanded compliments where it's like, you're so much smarter than I thought you were going to be. Hence the name Hot Smart Rich. And she made this video and it was like, girls can do anything, kind of what your mom was saying, like the world is your oyster. And then about three quarters of the video, she's like, like there's this girl Maggie and we're all obsessed with her. But when she started this, I was like, where are you going with this? And where are you going with Hot Smart Rich? Where, and it's taken a lot, a lot, a lot of being dragged publicly and behind closed doors for people to be like, oh, now I'm paying attention.

• 31:34Maggie Sellers Reum?

  And I think that like, there's a lot of people that can't handle that pressure, right? And there's also a lot of people that are in the creator economy influencer space that will never reach the level of having that financial freedom through the creator economy. Like this, this actually shocked me where it's like half of creators online earn less than $15,000 a year. So while I have an expert in the chair, it's like, what do you think that they are doing wrong? And what are three things that these people can do to actually make this a career?

• 32:02Speaker 02

  I think authenticity to start with. I want to watch a girl's video where I feel like I could genuinely have a conversation with her. If it's all cute with music and you're not talking, how am I going to connect you through the phone? How am I going to trust your opinion? How am I going to listen to your voice? Whereas if you show up, put the phone up, yap, yap, yap, yap, yap, talking and I'm just being myself, you trust me, right? It's like when you go into a coffee shop and someone's really chatty and they talk to you, hi, how's your morning? How's it going? And you, you, you walk out. If you go in and they're like, don't say anything, you're like, oh, they were a bit, like, how are you going to make them like you? You have to make them like you. So I think authenticity, I know it's ironic, but authenticity is key. And like I said, get your personality across, be yourself.

• 32:47Speaker 02

  And that is hard because it's really difficult. I even struggle sometimes I put the phone up and I'm like, can't get myself out. But authenticity brings trust and trust brings deals and deals will translate to sales if your audience trusts you. So I think number one would be authenticity. Number two would be make it easy for people to remember you. So when you think of me, what'd you think of?

• 33:12Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Porch or Mazbags?

• 33:16Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Great personality, humorous, luxury content.

• 33:19Speaker 02

  So two of those things are objects, right, that I always hold. And I say all the time, the easiest way for you to be remembered online, which is great for the bank account girls, is just wear the same thing. I'm always wearing navy blue or burgundy or brown. And I think that people can really remember you from colors. And actually, if you go on TikTok and click most popular on my videos, I think six of the nine videos I'm wearing maroon. And like, there must be some, I'm sure like a color analysis would tell you, but that must make me look pop and friendly and loyal. And navy blue signals loyalty. So, but there's something about that burgundy, maroon color for me that people seem to gel with.

• 34:04Speaker 02

  Like, that's not chance, six out of nine of my most viral videos, that's not chance. Two would be chance. Six out of nine? What percentage is that? Like 66%?

• 34:14Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Yeah.

• 34:15Speaker 02

  So having objects that people remember you by, wearing the same outfit, having the same hair. I always have my hair done the same way. Having the same bag, having, you know, showing up. I constantly say, save the pennies in the Porsche by itself. Little catchphrases, easy things that you say and hold that people will remember you for. And an analogy I really like using is if you're walking down the street and you're wearing just, you know, like a gray outfit and you're just heads on the floor, trundling along. Do you think anyone that walks past you is gonna remember you?

• 34:47Maggie Sellers Reum?

  No.

• 34:48Speaker 02

  No. But if you're singing with like a bright outfit on and you're dancing, everyone's gonna look at you, right? It's the same, it's just for a phone.

• 34:56Maggie Sellers Reum?

  You make it sound so simple, but I think that like, there is a lot to what you're even talking about, that analysis. But I go back to like Alyssa Lu, which is like a US athlete at the Olympics, winning gold, because she was just having fun.

• 35:08Speaker 02

  It's complicated, but it's simple because even when I was making my corporate videos, I used to have three things in every video. My YSL Saktija, my YSL coffee cup and my black notebook. And I had those in all my videos and people knew me for those three objects. Doesn't have to be designer. You could have a pair of sunglasses you wear in every single one of your videos. There's a girl I love following. I think she's Nigerian and she has all these bracelets down her arms and she's always holding a pen and like moving around. And I recognize her from that, I love that like maximalist jewelry she has going on. And she's talked so beautifully and it's so eye catching. And that's just her bracelets, that's just one thing.

• 35:48Speaker 02

  So I think if you just find an object and you always have it on or you always feature it, that's a really easy way to get remembered. And anyone can do that.

• 35:56Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Well, it's funny because even as I was thinking about like, what is the point of this show? And it's like the authenticity of it, right? And usually we remove the lip gloss and the lip thing and we remove the matcha, we remove all these things. And I'm like, but that's actually what this whole show is about, like being a girl, being herself, being able to do it all. And that's actually been my superpower, my whole career to own the room. That's like our whole theme right now, is being able to own any room that you walk into. And you're in a lot of very powerful rooms now, like whether you're at Cannes or you're at F1 or you're in these, like you walked the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival. How do you walk into a room to own the room?

• 36:31Speaker 02

  So when I was at Cannes Film Festival, I remember having this thought that went through my head. And I was on the carpet, I was very nervous for that. I don't normally get nervous about doing things. That I was very nervous for. And I remember being on the front of the carpet and I was like, I just want to melt into that red carpet and disappear. Because I just was, I think Cara Delevingne was in front of me. I mean, who am I next to Cara Delevingne? Bad thought. But I remember looking at the carpet in front of me and I was like, I can either go back to the hotel or I can walk down it. And I was like, there's only one option here. And it's almost like when you go skiing and you look down a mountain, you think, my dad always used to say to me, there's only one way you can get down it. You've got, you've got to go down it.

• 37:14Speaker 02

  I don't like the word fake it till you make it, but knowing that you have to go, you have to walk that path to get to the other end. And it's just like a bit of a danger zone, right? So I sometimes imagine like two riverbeds and like a river with like some alligators on. But if you just quickly go through it without thinking about it too much, you're not gonna get eaten. But if you kind of faff around in the middle, you're not sure, game over. So I think just being head smart and like tunnel visioning on the end thing and just not letting anything around you affect, or you know, like when people are talking about you or they're thinking, you think they're thinking about you, should ignore it and just like tunnel vision into the end.

• 37:54Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I feel like that's probably why you initially messaged me about the HSR love notes. Because I feel like something that my community really loves is like when they see someone that they obviously aspire to be, they find aspirational. Like that someone being you, to hear that you also have had those thoughts and that like, that's something that, we call them like HSR toxic thoughts. And I wrote all of them out one day. And like for me, sometimes it's even truthfully, like if a friend doesn't respond to a message to me within like a day, I think I've done something wrong. And that was something that I had to unlearn because I show up differently when I have all this mental load of thinking about those things that aren't even happening. And my therapist said it to me where he was like, you know that you are acting clinically insane when you act upon thoughts that are not real.

• 38:39Maggie Sellers Reum?

  And when he said that to me, I was, he's like, do you consider yourself an insane person? And I was like, no, I consider myself a very sane person. And he's like, then stop doing insane things. So for you, how did you actually get out into the space where like you can even stop yourself and be like, bad thought, I can't do that? Because so many people listening to this, that's why they're paralyzed, that's why they can't post, that's why they can't ask for the job promotion. Their thoughts are stopping them from even trying.

• 39:07Speaker 02

  I think actually, knowing that I earned a place to be there. I worked fucking hard when I was younger and I worked really hard to leave that corporate job. Sometimes if you look back, it gives you like a bit of breathing space to look ahead. So your initial thought might be, I don't belong in this, I don't belong in this podcast studio today. But I do, because I've looked back and I've thought about all the thing, all the small things and all the small challenges I've overcome to get here.

• 39:31Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Do you feel like people online don't believe that like you've made all of this money yourself?

• 39:37Speaker 02

  Yeah. One of my most frequent hate comments has always been people saying, oh, she's an escort. She must be an escort. She has to be an escort. How does she have a burkin and a house in London? And I honestly think that comes from a place of not understanding how much money you can make as an influencer and how much money is actually in the creator economy. Brands pump most of their money now into influencer marketing, but you still look at an influencer and think, oh, she's got a nice handbag, she must be an escort. Like, how, how have we got to that point? How come no one looks at successful young men and go, oh, he's a drug dealer? But why is it always, oh, she must be an escort? There's no way she could possibly afford a burkin on her own.

• 40:22Speaker 02

  Like, how have we got to that point?

• 40:25Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I think it also goes back though, Isobel, to like,

• 40:30Maggie Sellers Reum?

  influencers are afraid to share how much they are actually making because they are worried about the other people that hate and then think like, well, you're making my salary in one post. So it actually is that catch 22, which is why I love that Forbes top 50 list now. Because I'm like, look at these people and how much money they are making. Whether it's like Steven's making $50 million a year, like he publicly said that. That is insane when you think about it. To me, it is so motivating and I actually wanted to post this during my wedding and I didn't. But I was like, if you are healed, you will see an expander. And if you are not healed, you will feel jealousy. And I truly believe that, like for me, seeing those types of numbers, I'm like, wow, this is the opportunity?

• 41:15Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Like, I'm doing something wrong right now because it's nowhere near that.

• 41:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:19Maggie Sellers Reum?

  But I think that this is why it is the way that it is, because so many women are afraid to be like, this is what I'm actually making. Because then it's like, oh, I have a whole new target on my back.

• 41:29Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:29Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Do you think?

• 41:30Speaker 02

  Yeah. So I set a target at the start of the year to make a million pounds from influencing and I'm gonna go over it. We've already got to the, to the close target. And that's what makes me think it has to be from a lack of understanding. Because if you knew that I was, this year I've signed over a hundred thousand pounds in brand deals, just this month. But you think that I have to be an escort to afford a burkin? Burkin's 10K. Do you know what I mean? So it's like, if you actually understood the market and you knew what we were making, and here I am telling you, they'd probably still turn around and say, I don't believe her. Because they're jealous. And it does, it does, I hate to use the word jealousy, but it does boil down to jealousy.

• 42:12Speaker 02

  And also people just not, it's just that lack of education around the biggest section of marketing in the world that companies are putting the most of their budget into. And people still think that you're getting a hundred dollars for a post. It's crazy.

• 42:27Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Well, that's why I like, so right now, the creator economy is worth $250 billion. I'm like, where do these people think that the money is going?

• 42:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, split it out into all the people in the UK that you follow. And you're gonna start thinking, this is just the UK, what about the rest of the world? And, you know, it's like, I've seen a bit of controversy recently about creators doing these videos about how much money I earn in a month. And then people have made up this theory, like they're just saying that so they get booked for higher brand deals. And it's like, God, you can't win. You're honest about what you make, people say you're lying. You're not honest about what you make, people say, oh, she must be making it another way, there's no way she's, she's an influencer. And I'm sorry, but that must be coming back down to jealousy and what I was talking about at first, which is that it's almost like people, it's not fair.

• 43:15Speaker 02

  It's like someone just like tearing something up in front of your face, like a contract, you know? It's like, you, you've, you've lost that trade off that you normally have. You normally go to university, get a degree, work for 10 years and then you get a high salary. But there's an 18 year old with an iPhone earning that instead of you. It's, it's like, it's unfair. But I think life's not fair and people need to understand that life's not fair and that not everything's gonna always work out your way. And I always say, like, if you want something, you need to fucking work hard to get it. Nothing's gonna fall on your lap, no one's gonna give anything to you on a plate. You only get lucky if you put yourself in the room to get lucky, which you have to do by opening the door, which is really heavy and takes a lot of hard work.

• 43:57Speaker 02

  And I would say that's, actually, if I could summarize it, it's because people think that life's fair and it's not.

• 44:04Maggie Sellers Reum?

  It's so interesting too, because you listened to the Jun You episode, right?

• 44:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, so good. I messaged him, I was like, that was, I would actually say the best podcast I've ever listened to, which is making me nervous because I'm like, mine's not gonna be as good as hers.

• 44:16Maggie Sellers Reum?

  No, yours is actually like, this is why I was so happy to have you on because I want to actually debate and discuss this. Because for Jun You, he openly was like, I make fourteen million dollars a year. And we are so bought into his story because he's like, I grew up in literal poverty, like sleeping on a couch. I've paid off my dad's debt, his mortgage, my mom left when she was thirteen. And so we're like so rooting for him. But then there's like creators where it's like for you, like I genuinely love you because you are like escapism to me in an aspirational way. Like I hate reality TV, it's like a little dirty secret. I don't watch Love Island, I've literally never seen Love is Blind, like I just don't, I don't relate. And if some of your storytelling turned into like all the time about like the same Jun You story,

• 45:00Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I don't know if that's like one hundred percent every time I would want to go to Isobel Lauren. Like I go to Isobel Lauren because I'm like, this girl fucking loves her life and I want to love my life.

• 45:12Speaker 02

  I do, I do.

• 45:13Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Right. So it's like, do you think that that type of content can work for everyone?

• 45:18Speaker 02

  I think, so I do that content minimally and with right timing. So a good example is I went to Paris in November and I was actually buying gifts for my annual Christmas giveaway. And I went to Paris just to buy a giant Ritz Paris teddy bear. And then we were actually on the way back to the Eurostar. And I was like, should I just go into Hermes and film like a silly video? Like maybe the giant teddy bear will score me a Birkin. But it did, it literally did score me a Birkin, like all the staff loved it. They took me upstairs, I was like, I want a burgundy Birkin twenty-five or gold hardware. They're like, anything else? No, that's what I want. What did they bring out forty-five minutes later?

• 46:02Speaker 02

  Burgundy twenty-five with gold hardware. And then I was like, I think I'd bought something the week before or I'd spent money on something and done a video about what I'd bought, something like that. And I was like, fuck, this is a bit too close. Like I don't like buying, buying, buying, I like to balance that out with working. So that, that week, I did a post about all the jobs I've had from when I was thirteen until when I was twenty-five. And it's just a little bit of balance for everyone new coming to my page to understand that I don't just run around buying Birkins. I have actually worked from a very young, young age to learn what a work ethic is and build my skillset. And that's why I've got myself into a position I'm in today.

• 46:46Speaker 02

  So I think I can do it sometimes. If I did it all the time, like you said, I don't think that's what people necessarily want. But I like to remind them that it's not just all fun, fun, fun, shopping with Amy, holiday with my friends in Santa Fe, private jet, Birkin. I do have to work for it and I think that's where, I should have a schedule really for it, but I don't.

• 47:08Maggie Sellers Reum?

  You don't have a schedule?

• 47:09Speaker 02

  No.

• 47:11Maggie Sellers Reum?

  You just post what you feel in the morning?

• 47:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, I have like rough notes, but I just, I'll batch film certain videos. When I go away, I film a lot when I go away. But like here and there vlogs, I just, oh, I want to make a vlog today to film and post it.

• 47:28Maggie Sellers Reum?

  This was the first brand I heard about when I moved to Los Angeles almost eight years ago, Osea. Now, this brand I remember hearing about because when I moved to LA and it was dry AF, someone told me about this Andaria algae body oil. I started using it and fell in love with the ritual of taking care of my skin. It's wild to me that eight years later, multiple careers later, they are now a show sponsor. Their Andaria algae body oil is one of their best products. Clinically shown to instantly and visibly improve skin elasticity and deeply moisturize because it's made with Andaria seaweed, known to help skin feel firmer and more youthful.

• 48:13Maggie Sellers Reum?

  If you want to give this incredible oil a try, I have a special discount for my HSR Angels, ten percent off with your first order with code HSR at oseamalibu.com. That's code HSR at oseamalibu.com and let me know what you think. I just asked all of you guys this one question. What is the one thing holding you and your team back from using AI properly? The answers were fascinating because everyone was basically circling the same problem, the same one that I had. They don't know where to start. People said things like, we don't know the right prompts, we don't know how to set up an AI agent, our systems don't talk to each other. I think every company today needs someone thinking about this properly. How can AI save time or increase output?

• 48:58Maggie Sellers Reum?

  How can it make your business smarter without replacing the human judgment that actually makes the work really good and unique? That is where our sponsor Fiverr Pro is so valuable because it connects you with vetted specialists who understand AI and more importantly, understand how to turn it into a real outcome for your business. So instead of your team trying to figure it out alone, you can bring in expert talent who can move quickly, plug into what you're building and help you use AI in a way that actually works. Visit pro.fiverr.com to learn more. When we've talked about how lucrative being a creator is, it's like, why launch other businesses?

• 49:37Speaker 01

  The action's on the court and as the official beer sponsor of the NBA, Michelob Ultra is getting fans closer to the game with a chance to win courtside seats, merch and more. Visit michelobultra.com/courtside to enter. Michelob Ultra Courtside, twenty-six to twenty-seven, no purchase necessary, open to US residents twenty-one plus. Begins on October first, twenty twenty-six and ends on June thirty of twenty twenty-seven. Multiple entry periods. See official rules at michelobultra.com/courtside for free entry, entry deadlines, prizes and details.

• 50:05Speaker 03

  This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a seventy-five dollar sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

• 50:34Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Why do it?

• 50:36Speaker 02

  I think because it gives you longevity, something else to focus your energy into and because I want more money.

• 50:45Maggie Sellers Reum?

  But you know what is like so interesting about when you are a creator and you start things, right? Like you started Viewer.

• 50:50Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 50:50Maggie Sellers Reum?

  And then, did you ever announce that you were no longer doing it to your audience?

• 50:54Speaker 02

  I haven't announced it, no, but I was thinking about announcing it and then I didn't want to because I, I honestly felt for a good twelve months, I felt like it was like a failure that I decided not to continue that business. Like, why can't I run that business as well? But then when I started thinking about it, I was like, it's not a failure. I'm just investing that time I was spending on that into something else. And when I realized that actually I was losing out because I was running that business, that's when I was like, shit, I could have launched my brand a year ago. And I could have had probably a million followers on Instagram by now, which is my goal for the end of the year. But because I was so obsessed with keeping that business alive because I didn't want to fail,

• 51:38Speaker 02

  I've actually failed in other areas just because I basically couldn't swallow my ego and see it as that I was pivoting as opposed to failing. Because it's hard, right? You normally see when people stop running their businesses, it's because they've had a cash flow problem or they haven't had enough sales. But that wasn't the case. The case was never that there was not enough business. It was that my heart wasn't in it anymore. And actually, the money it was making wasn't enough to run the business when I had all these better offers on the table. It's like, would you take a five pound note if you had an a hundred pound note and a fifty pound note and a twenty pound note next to it? No.

• 52:18Maggie Sellers Reum?

  But it's so interesting because I think like when you are a creator, you're going to have businesses that will do really well. And then you're going to have some that aren't going to work. And by the way, that is true for like every single major CEO that we admire. Like all of these super successful people that have started these companies, they've even exited. Their next company might not actually work. Like even if you think about the Kardashians, not every single one of their businesses has worked. There are so many that I've like, I remember I did this video one time and it was like all the businesses that have failed by the Kardashians, not to like.

• 52:49Speaker 02

  I saw it.

• 52:49Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Yeah, it was not to be a bashing video. It was like, don't let your failure or something that didn't work stop you from reaching your full potential. And that's how I truly feel. Like I have started so many businesses that have not worked. Hot Smart Rich was the one that was like mission driven, aligned. It ended up taking off, but there was like fifteen in the back. And there's something inside of me that keeps wanting to start them, which obviously you have too. So what do you think is next for you as it relates to like entrepreneurship and having other income streams that isn't just brand partnerships?

• 53:22Speaker 02

  So interestingly, I have almost launched a lot of businesses and then got scared just before and not done them, which I'll explain. But I think that comes down to what we were talking about earlier, which is like the scarcity mindset. So I was like, that's going to be a big investment, I don't feel ready to take it. So when I think about the fact that I've, you know, shrunk, dissolved, whatever you want to call it, not running the marketing agency anymore at the moment, I might relaunch it again in a few years with a different angle, but let's see. I think, first of all, running that business for four years, I worked with loads of brands. I saw loads of brands launch, I saw loads of collections launch. I learned what does well on social media, what doesn't.

• 54:05Speaker 02

  I learned about email marketing, paid ads, everything that no one, everything you can't learn at school, I learned through running that business. So I had all these ideas and I nearly did it, but it's like I just wanted to wait and get as much experience as I possibly could before I launched my own thing. We're nearly there, we're coming. So I was then watching a TikTok one day and it was the story about how the Birkin bag was created. Do you know the story about this?

• 54:31Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Jane, yeah, on the airplane.

• 54:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, so Jane Birkin dropped her agenda and everything fell all over the floor. And Mr. Hermes was sat next to her and he said, why don't you have a handbag? And she said something like, oh, I don't, I don't like them, they're not practical. So they sat on the airplane and they sketched the Birkin bag on the back of a plane napkin. And I love Birkins. And what do you get when you merge a leather handbag and a planner? An agenda. So it's like I've done a full circle. So I'm basically launching a luxury accessory brand for girls that wanna be smart. The followers I have follow me for luxury goods, like Hermes bags and Chanel bags.

• 55:14Speaker 02

  And they also follow me because they find it inspiring and motivating. So I've kind of just merged those two things into one product. And the reason I'm so headstrong about it is because I've gone through all those failed ideas and I'm like, this one lands and I feel like this is was the right thing for me to do. So obviously I didn't just launch it straight away. I wanted to do my research. So in February, I went and I bought a Louis Vuitton agenda, just to test the market. Are people gonna bite it? Are they gonna be like, why the fuck are you using that? Like, where's your handbag? And people really liked it and people started tagging me in stories, like digging out their old agendas, like the agendas, the accessory of 2026,

• 55:58Speaker 02

  writing their to-do list, tagging me in stories. And I started getting tagged in. I've bought the Louis Vuitton agenda because of Isobel, which is £650 by the way. So I'm like, right, everyone's buying Louis Vuitton agendas that are cost a fortune because of my video. So this, I know this is the product that lands for me. So I've basically redesigned the agenda to be a modern agenda for a modern woman. And I want the agenda to be as essential to a working girl as a handbag. And I want them to look nice. So this is our launch edition, which is real suede. But this is not just a normal agenda. I've designed components

• 56:38Speaker 02

  that make it like a handbag. For example, I've got a little pouch here. Now, this is the first sample, okay? But it's still good.

• 56:45Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Yeah.

• 56:46Speaker 02

  So I've got a little pouch in here, which has got my comb in, some cables, a hairbrush. And then I'll come on to the actual paper bit in a second. This is my favorite feature. It's a whiteboard.

• 56:59Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Is this your notes for HSR?

• 57:01Speaker 02

  Yeah, this is like my key topics I wanted to include.

• 57:03Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Obsessed.

• 57:04Speaker 02

  And then I've got my packing list for Saint-Tropez on the back. And then in here's a mirror because, you know, why not?

• 57:11Maggie Sellers Reum?

  You have to.

• 57:12Speaker 02

  So it's just, I wanted to create little elements in it that made it feel like, you know, I can actually walk around with this and it's useful. I've got my cards in here. There's room for a passport. And then what really sets it apart from, I mean, there isn't really a competitor, to be honest. I haven't found one. But I, I have ADHD and I get very overwhelmed with a lot of the planners I buy, they've got all these dates in and then I miss a page and I've wasted it. And then there's all these little writing everywhere and all these little things and it just makes me feel overwhelmed and it's too busy. So all of it, again, these, these are the ones that I first made and I printed out myself. So they are gonna look much better than this.

• 57:55Speaker 02

  But it's just like, just a to-do list. There's no crap around it. There's no date. There's nothing. You just write down what you need to do and you fucking do it and you take it. That's it. This is my favorite page. Daily manifesting and affirmations. So today I wrote out three times, and you have to write it three times. My voice is valuable and people want to hear it.

• 58:14Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Yes.

• 58:16Speaker 02

  Basically, I wanted to put a big emphasis on something you can use that's actually gonna help you. So not just something you fill out, but like a resource. So it's more of a resource than just a piece of paper. But really, I, I've made the daily inserts so simple to use. And this is like my brain. It's the 20th of July. These are my priorities. These are some things I've got on in the week. Don't forget, and my goal for the week, which this week was to approach everything in a calm manner and take a deep breath because I've got a lot on, which was helpful. And my don't forget was send new phone to mum.

• 58:51Maggie Sellers Reum?

  That is so cute.

• 58:52Speaker 02

  It's supposed to be a tool that makes you feel hot smart and rich, help you get rich. And it looks good. This is a special edition. I think it's £160.

• 59:03Maggie Sellers Reum?

  For the whole thing?

• 59:04Speaker 02

  No, just for the planner. And then all of these things that you add on separately. So if you want a pouch, if you want the whiteboard, they're all add-ons in the basket. And the idea is it's supposed to be fun. Like you order all your bits, you customize it. Like I can imagine girls doing like restocking my gender video. Like, I got this new call-in set. This is how I use it. This is how I use it to be a better person. And that's why I've designed those specific ones as like a tool. Because you can only charge so much for line paper, but if I'm putting my ethos and my

• 59:34Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Methodology.

• 59:35Speaker 02

  Methodology down on a page, that's worth more money than a to-do list. You know, you can, you can cut a piece of paper in half and stick it in yourself if you want. But the focus really is on those elaborate inserts and the repurchasing of the paper. This is what I'm starting with. I've got other leather accessories I wanna do, but it's really like the only, only thing I can imagine bringing value to my audience at this point is something like this. I'm not ready to launch a beauty brand and take on all the beauty contracts I have. Whereas this actually doesn't step on any toes of any of my contracts. And I still love my influencing work and I wanna do influencing until I'm 30.

• 1:00:15Maggie Sellers Reum?

  And then you're stopping.

• 1:00:16Speaker 02

  Well, I've put like, I don't really wanna be doing it when I have kids. I've decided like

• 1:00:22Maggie Sellers Reum?

  You're just gonna go dark on the internet?

• 1:00:23Speaker 02

  I don't know. Like, do people do that? Do they just quit?

• 1:00:25Maggie Sellers Reum?

  You know who did that? Amber, the founder of Day Hair.

• 1:00:29Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 1:00:29Maggie Sellers Reum?

  She was a huge influencer.

• 1:00:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:00:33Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Huge. I forget her last name. See, it's been a while since she's been online. She had these, she has the most gorgeous family you will ever meet. She has an amazing, fast-growing beauty brand at Sephora called Day, D-A-E.

• 1:00:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 1:00:44Maggie Sellers Reum?

  You know it? Completely off the internet.

• 1:00:47Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 1:00:48Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:49Speaker 02

  See, I think it just comes a point where like, you know, I'm launching this business, which I'm hoping is gonna be successful. I should say I know it's gonna be successful because that's not good, leaving it an open end. You know, I've, I'm working on this beauty brand with, with Hanushka and I feel like I'm in it. I, I'm happy with the place I'm in now. And I always say, I try not to run before I can walk. I've always said that. And I feel like I've done that quite well up until now. Like, it's doing all these different things at once. A good idea, probably a bit too much on my plate, but it keeps things interesting. It keeps me motivated. And yeah, I just, I couldn't, it was like, I, it's like what we were saying about all those, they're not, they weren't failed business ideas because they were bringing me to a different conclusion.

• 1:01:34Speaker 02

  And I don't really know where this is gonna go, but I just wanna start and then we can see where it goes from there.

• 1:01:41Maggie Sellers Reum?

  One of the last things I wanted to ask you is like, it's so incredible because so many influencers are born into a luxury life. And so it's so easy for them to create luxury content. You have worked so hard to get into the rooms that you're now in. What is one piece of advice that every single person can benefit from of like a secret code of success? Or something that you've seen people do that you might overlook? That if they apply that to their life, they can actually get into the rooms that they wanna get into?

• 1:02:10Speaker 02

  I would say off the bat, just do it and worry about it later. Like, do the thing, buy the thing, buy the handbag. And then worry about the consequence of that after. If you think that doing something like buying a luxury bag in turn is gonna bring you in a million pound of brand deals, why the fuck would you not buy it? Like, you have to view it as an investment and not see it as, you know, a loss.

• 1:02:35Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Unless you're a shopaholic and then please talk to your therapist.

• 1:02:39Speaker 02

  I think that, you know, I, I try and be cautious about saying things like that, but honestly and truly, like when I, I, I waited until I could move to London. And I rented an apartment in Battersea Power Station, which is like a very nice area to live in London, brand new apartments. And it was £2,000 a month. I could not afford it. I could barely pay for it. I think I had like two clients at the time. One of them was £1,200, the other one was like £850. So I had like 50 quid spare. But in my head, I was like, I know if I live there, I'll have the motivation to work harder and get more clients. I was happy to spend all my money on rent and eat vegetable soup every night of the week.

• 1:03:21Speaker 02

  I was so happy because I was living there and I felt motivated and it made me hungry, as you do feel when you're 21. And that's what I've kind of done with every big purchase I've made is like, I've used it as like ammo to make me get to the next thing, which I don't know if is a good or a bad trait, but it's worked for me. But you know, I still say, don't waste your money on stupid shit. Like, make sure you have a purpose and a reason to why you're buying something.

• 1:03:47Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I love it. Okay. Isobel, Lorna, let's do some rapid fire. Are you ready?

• 1:03:51Speaker 02

  Oh, God. Okay, I'm ready.

• 1:03:52Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Okay, what is the last thing you put on your credit card?

• 1:03:55Speaker 02

  Oh, I would say my parking, but it wouldn't let me use Amex. So I text my boyfriend a picture and say, can you pay for it, please? And made him do it on his app.

• 1:04:06Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Okay, what is the last most expensive thing?

• 1:04:08Speaker 02

  I bought like a really fun beaded YSL bag. And now I've got a lot of like standard, you know, base bags. I call them base bags. Like a Birkin, I've got a Chanel classic flap. I'm kind of trying to get some more fun pieces I can keep forever. So if I see something fun, I try and get that over like something that I've maybe already got, something a bit unique.

• 1:04:29Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Love that. Paris or London? You can only be in one for the rest of your life.

• 1:04:33Speaker 02

  London.

• 1:04:34Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Love that. What's something you'll always save money on?

• 1:04:38Speaker 02

  Coffee.

• 1:04:40Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Underrated content creation tool.

• 1:04:44Speaker 02

  A pen and paper.

• 1:04:46Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Love that. Okay, you will have one for the rest of your life. A broken nail or hair that needs a cut.

• 1:04:55Speaker 02

  My god, that is really hard for me. I think I would say hair because there's so many amazing products now. You can kind of cover anything up.

• 1:05:04Maggie Sellers Reum?

  But you cannot cover up a nail.

• 1:05:05Speaker 02

  But you can't cover up a nail.

• 1:05:07Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Okay, you can only do one for the rest of your life. Wimbledon or F1?

• 1:05:11Speaker 02

  F1.

• 1:05:13Speaker 02

  I just love, I love fast cars. It like really gives me a thrill. I'm saving up for, here you go, saving up for something. I want to get a Porsche GT3 with like a big wing. And I want to wrap it in burgundy. I just think it will look sick and I'll just zoom around in it.

• 1:05:28Maggie Sellers Reum?

  I love that. Okay, you can only wear one for the rest of your life. Hermès or Chanel?

• 1:05:33Speaker 02

  Hermès.

• 1:05:35Maggie Sellers Reum?

  What is your biggest ick in friends?

• 1:05:37Speaker 02

  Um, when people complain that you're, you don't reply or you haven't hung out with them. Like I'm really good on like low maintenance friendships. If you need me, call me and I'll help you. But I don't need to talk to you every second of every day. We don't need to talk about how your day was, what you had for dinner. But if you call me and you need me, I'll either be there or I'll help you in, in some other form.

• 1:05:58Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Okay, you know what this is. I think you're the first guest I've never had to explain this to. What is the HSR love note you would tell yourself for the rest of your life?

• 1:06:07Speaker 02

  You deserve to be in every room you're in.

• 1:06:09Maggie Sellers Reum?

  If you could title the season of your life, what would it be called?

• 1:06:12Speaker 02

  Lock in.

• 1:06:14Maggie Sellers Reum?

  That's why you loved my post yesterday, lock the fuck in London.

• 1:06:16Speaker 02

  Lock the fuck in.

• 1:06:18Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Okay, Isobel Lorna, where can people find you and how can HSR help you?

• 1:06:23Speaker 02

  So you can find me on Instagram and TikTok. It's Isobel Lorna underscore. My name is actually spelt with an O, so it's I S O B E L, not Abell with a double L E. And how can you help me? Um, sign up to my newsletter, look at my brown when it launches and give me some useful feedback of how I can develop the next products and what you want to see in the space.

• 1:06:44Maggie Sellers Reum?

  Actually, HSR, I think this is such a good time to show the power of the community like you did with me in the solo episode. On this episode, write a piece of feedback for Isobel. We have so many incredible founders, investors, creators, entrepreneurs, marketing wizards that listen to this show that if you can leave a comment on something that can help her. It might be the, like the stupidest, smallest thing when you are launching a business, but this is her first product company. It is a big deal, so leave a comment, help her and let's build this with her as HSR. I love you all and thank you Isabel Lorna.

• 1:07:17Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 1:07:29Maggie Sellers Reum?

  If you're starting a business, there are certain things that are so fun to think about. Y'all know I love a mood board, so everything that relates to the creative, the name, the brand, the website, the vision board. But then there are the things that make you pause and ask, am I even doing this correctly? Or do I even want to be doing this? Like forming your business, getting the right documents, keeping your personal information private. This is where our sponsor Northwest Registered Agent is so helpful. They're a one stop shop for founders who want to launch and legitimize their business without turning it into a giant admin spiral. They help you form an LLC or a corporation, act as your registered agent and give you tools like a business address, operating agreement, website, phone number, professional email and free guides.

• 1:08:13Maggie Sellers Reum?

  They also have real corporate guides who know your local laws. Visit northwestregisteredagent.com/hsrfree and start using free resources to build something amazing. Get more with Northwest Registered Agent at northwestregisteredagent.com/hsrfree.

• 1:08:33Speaker 05

  When fall comes back around, there's a sense of a reset. And new pieces from Lululemon's fall drop are an inspiration to push your goals and elevate your routines. As your calendar fills, easy to layer styles meet the demands of your day. And as you challenge yourself to try even more, versatile sets transition with you. The Lululemon fall lineup brings new levels of comfort and confidence. Whether you're starting something fresh or starting something over. Check out the latest arrivals in store and on lululemon.com now.