Earlier this year, Hot Smart Rich launched — Maggie & Katie Sellers’ podcast that hit #37 overall and #4 in business in the US. Alongside it came a WhatsApp listener chat.
Early one morning I typed: “any Aussies here?”
Six women replied. We had dinner. Dumplings, pinot, and the beginnings of something that felt important.
Six months later
Fast forward six meetups and countless late-night voice notes, and last week 50+ women gathered at Bar Tilda in Sydney.
At 8am sharp, flat whites in one hand, croissants in the other, the room buzzed. Founders, corporates, creatives - women scaling startups, climbing ladders, or leaping off them entirely.
There was no networking script. Just real talk. Wins and struggles spilled across the table. Intros turned into collaborations. Plans got made on the spot.
Emily Jean captured it perfectly: “a space that feels like a hug and a power move at the same time.”
And then Madeleine Kinchington floored me: “We couldn’t have done it without Brooke — the ultimate girl’s girl.”
That’s the best compliment I’ve ever had. Maggie built the podcast; I’m scaling the connections locally. I didn’t grow up with a space like this, so I’m making sure it exists for others.
Why it felt different
❤️ No “what do you do?” small talk - just “what are you building and how can I help?”
❤️ Every detail mattered - from the coffee cups to the setting, it felt curated, not corporate.
❤️ Generosity met ambition - zero gatekeeping, just women backing women.
From six at dinner to fifty at breakfast. Seven events. Three cities. Over a hundred women now connected.
This is how community scales.
What’s next
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide are next - then LA + New York.
The numbers are wild: 1000+ women in the global chat, 150+ in the Aussie one. But the magic isn’t in the stats. It’s in the feeling when you walk into the room: oh, these are my people.
There’s endless opportunities for brands to get onboard and work alongside these types of communities, but above all my mission is clear - fiercely protect the integrity of the community. We’re by the angels, for the angels.
A personal note
If I could have a yap to 24-year-old me, crying in the office bathroom and wondering if she belonged, I’d tell her: one day you’ll walk into a room of fifty women hyping each other up over croissants.
Back then, I thought success meant doing it alone. Now I know better.
You don’t need to go it alone. You need your girlies - the ones who’ll drop a supplier contact in your inbox, DM you an investor intro, or sit next to you at breakfast and whisper: you’ve got this.
That’s the real flex.
👉 Come sit with us. Join the chat here.
This week’s hot recs
Buying: Went straight from Sydney airport to the Intersection Paddington for a quick shop. Picked up another Maiken tank from Henne in black, IYKYK and a pair of relatively skinny jeans which was a surprise to you and me both. I also haven’t stopped thinking about this brown/blue stripped college jersey from One Mile.
Listening to: The Debrief by Business of Fashion on why Gen Z isn’t buying Luxury’s story. With luxury shares tanking, I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of luxury brands. No answers yet but it’s top of mind.
Reading: She’s Always Hungry by Eliza Clark. This is a series of 11 or so short stories, on food, sex, gender and power - each story stranger than the next. The format is great for attention poor girlies. One weird little bed time story each night. I also loved her first novel Boy Parts.
Beauty fave: Acupuncture. For me (hormones/sleep), and my mini dachshund (spinal injury). Health is wealth. Beauty from the inside out, etc etc! Chinese medicine has CHANGED MY LIFE.
Manifesting: Expansive opportunities on my LA trip later in October. Currently seeking all must do LA activities please!
I feel like I need a better content production system so that I can keep myself accountable across all channels, particularly on here. If you have any tips for this please DM me. There has to be a better way!
Toodles,
Brooke x