Hot Smart Rich with Maggie Sellers Reum - I’M MARRIED: Storytime and Your Sign Not To Settle (Courtney Reum & Maggie Sellers Reum)

Episode Date: October 8, 2025

Spotify Description SURPRISE, WE’RE MARRIED! Courtney Reum (co-founder of M13, bestselling author, entrepreneur, investor - and my husband!) sits down with me for the first time as husband and wife to share the real story behind our marriage. From a psychic choosing our exact wedding date, to navigating LA fires, to rewriting every tradition about engagement and weddings, this is an intimate conversation about love, risk, and why marriage is the biggest business - and emotional - decision you’ll ever make. What you’ll learn in this episode: Why a psychic predicting our wedding date changed everything The truth about getting married before the ring How we planned a wedding, bought a house, and built a marriage in 4 months Why we see marriage as the ultimate “business decision” and partnership The untold story of Courtney’s proposal at the French Open in Paris The lessons Maggie learned from calling off a past engagement - and why this time felt different How to balance ambition, building a business, and building a family at the same time Why tradition doesn’t matter if you know what works for you This isn’t just a wedding recap. It’s about redefining love, building a marriage that works, and choosing each other every single day. ⸻ 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 ⸻ Become an HSR Angel in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Global HSR WhatsApp⁠⁠⁠⁠ channel⁠! ⸻ Follow Maggie: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tiktok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Locker⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ShopMy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon Storefront⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⸻ Follow Courtney: Instagram LinkedIn https://www.m13.co/ ⸻ More from Hot Smart Rich: ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Hot Smart Rich Money Mindset⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⸻ This episode is produced by HSR Media, a division of Creative MES LLC, with support from Ana Sessions and Coldea Productions. ⸻ Hot Smart Rich is your place to hear unfiltered conversations wit... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you missed it, you're allowed to be hot, smart, and rich. So let's get into it. Courtney James Ream, are you ready to get hot, smart rich? So ready. So let's get into it. Wait, I wanted to say it. Do it again. We can do it again. You start again. I'll finish. Courtney James Ream, are you ready to get hot smart rich?

Totally. So let's get into it. Is that your favorite thing that I say? Yeah, as you know, I say that most mornings when we wake up after our mandatory five-minute cuddle. So let's get into it. So I'm probably more nervous for this episode than our actual wedding day. My heart is beating so fast. And I think I figured out why. Because I have my shoes off and you don't want my toes to get caught on camera.

But yes. Because our entire relationship, you have put me into my feminine. And like, you do lead our family. And this morning, you just said lead me. And it's such a weird position to be in because I feel like for the first time in my life, so safe and so happy. And because I know no matter what risk I'm taking, you're there to catch me.

And so with this episode, it's like, I'm leading. And that's a very different dynamic for our relationship. But let's just start here. How does it feel to be married? Feels very good. Do you like wearing a ring? I do. I've gotten used to it very quickly.

And it feels great. I mean, it feels amazing. I guess you never know what it feels like until you're in it. But for me, it's felt so blissful, so great. But also like just so easy and comfortable. and not like, oh my gosh, now we're married. It's like we've just like stepped into and kept going. Yeah, it's like truly the best feeling in the world.

I don't know if it feels like that for you, but for me it does feel different. And I hear a lot of the time people are like, it doesn't really change anything. We already lived together. We already acted like we were married. But I think for me, just the actual process of getting married made it so real. And so for me, it does feel different. Does it feel different for you? Yeah.

I mean, you know, your dad said it. like when we kind of talked to him to get his permission, he was like, it'll change you. And I think like anything, I'm not sure if I even know exactly how it's changed me, but the act, the ritual, making the vows in front of all of our close family, closest family. Like, yeah, I think you have to feel differently. So the last time. But do you feel differently day to day? Yes and no.

Like on a day to day basis, it does feel different for me. But I think it's because it's been so recent. Maybe that will wear off. But at least right now, it feels different day to day. The most different thing for me is people will be out. I'll be like, my girlfriend. I mean, sorry, fiance. I'm like, wife.

And they're like, wait, which is it? There's a big difference. I was like, sorry, it's new. But yes, we hadn't really told people she was my fiance. So we've just jumped to wife. But other than that, I think that feels the most different. Okay, I think that's the way where we differ because I just love saying my husband. I never once.

I'm like, even though I've caught you since we've been married calling me your boyfriend and fiancee, but you're better at it than I'm. I do it only occasionally. but I'm still like, my wife, you know. My wife. And then we feel like we do the Borat impersonation. And then even remember, I tried to say it normally, like, my wife. And then when they did it, someone else like did the Borat impersonation.

Do I just sound like Borat saying my wife? My wife, Maggie Sellers Rene. Do you like my new name? I love it. It flows. It flows really nice. It's nice to have a two syllable. Your parents were smart in that when you go by Maggie, I always liked two syllables,

first name with a one syllable last name. Ooh, I like that. Okay, so we need to take people back to the beginning because all people saw was you were on my podcast last, that's my boyfriend at the beginning of this year. That feels like so long ago. So long ago. Is that like your third, your third episode? Well, so this is your third episode that you're coming on. But didn't I come on your third episode?

We try and do everything in three. Yeah, I think so. Everything in threes. So I think people were a little confused. We just put out a vlog of the 30 days leading up to the wedding. But we had been planning the wedding for a long time before that. I don't know if I'd say a long time, but for a time. In normal wedding standards, definitely not a long time.

Yeah, according to the wedding industry as you tried to find a dress and all the other details, despite the fact that it was on a Thursday. Yeah, it wasn't a long time for them. But okay, it's been our minds for a while. Our mind for a while, but we need to take people way back. So was there a moment that you realized before we got engaged, before we decided to actually get married, was there a moment for you where you were like, Maggie is not just my girlfriend. I want to make her my fiancee to be my wife.

Specifically, fiancé? Well, going all the way back to when you became my girlfriend, what did I tell you? I said, hold on. I need a second to make you my girlfriend because I have a sneaking suspicion if you're my girlfriend, you'll be my fiance. And if you're my fiance, you'll be my wife because I've never had a fiance. So I think going back to then, whichever, whatever that was, mid-August, 2024 is probably about the time that I had a strong intuition. So let's talk about August 2024. We're at my parents' cottage in Muscoca. It's my parents' wedding anniversary, August 28th.

We were actually there for the... Oh, yeah, we were. Yeah. Because we were flying back, and you just dropped on me. Like, my parents' wedding anniversary is August 28th as well. If we are still dating next year, we should just get married. Were you serious about that, or that was just like an offhanded comment? As you know, since you know, they're family members of mine, like some of us, like

my brother are like just prone to say the darndest things. I swear I must have kind of blacked out, but I also recollect that. And it wasn't a throwaway, but I don't like, as we've talked about you, I took it as like not not meaning it, but I was like, who knows? Like that felt like such a long ways away. And you took it as. I was like, I hope that we didn't just get engaged, but I don't know. Right. You right, did I just get proposed to? And, uh, yeah, no, I, you can go to like a Tony Robin seminar, which I've been to a couple. He can tell you the exact same thing, but a year later, it lands totally differently, you know? And I didn't say it and not mean it, but like everything with you has landed differently over, over time.

I feel like for me, I knew that you weren't completely serious because we hadn't yet lived together. You had just become my boyfriend. That was a big thing. I was like, you're not coming to meet my family unless you're my boyfriend. And the way you... Although you were very sweet because you were willing to bend it, not break it, but we made it official. We made it official. you actually got down on one knee to ask me to be your girlfriend weeks before we went to

Muscoca, a week before we went to Muscoca. Solid week. So. Yeah, there's a woman in Traverse City, Michigan, where my mom's side of the family is from that has a picture of me getting on one knee. August, 2024. On August, 2024. And ran over. It was like, oh my God, you guys just got engaged.

I love engagement. I was like, one, if we were really getting engaged, could you give us like five to ten seconds to enjoy it privately since we don't know each other? And then two, it was just kind of my joking way of saying. like let's make it like official official okay for all the reasons I said I kind of I knew you were special you knew I was special from August 24 before that a Cellicamp can't how much have you talked about being a Cialicant on this podcast not really yeah we'll talk about that later okay as long as you come back to it so August 2024 happens you drop this comment I'm like we don't even live

together yet but I was really you know sure I knew and then let's talk about when we actually started to plan the wedding versus the proposal because very untraditionally like we've done a lot of things they were different and i think that's a huge shock to a lot of people we actually decided to get married august 2025 in january when we were at yellowstone club in montana yes we did not officially get engaged with a ring on my finger until june 25 so take us back to january where everything changed for us to start at least like although i didn't start wedding planning like wedding planning. We were in LA for the fires, which were crazy and tragic, and we were affected by it in some ways, not nearly as badly as a lot of people. So my heart goes out to those people who, you know,

had kids and had to figure out where to go to school on two days later and everything else. But it's still kind of hit hard, right, in the sense that like we ended up leaving L.A. once we thought of it was okay. There were a couple of harrowing moments. I think, you know, I actually remember we were like kind of having a passionate disagreement about like, timing and when we should evacuate and what we should do. And even though it was like a disagreement, it also kind of made me, to me, it brought us closer. And I think then you start just, you know, your life flashes before your eyes, even though it wasn't like we were ever in like total peril, but it just makes you go, okay, who do you want to go through these moments with? What happens if

the fire gets closer and we can get away, but we can't get my mom in a car and she can't get away fast enough like all those things. So I think that along with other things just kind of made me go tomorrow is not guaranteed and who do I want to spend tomorrow with. And as soon as we got out of LA and kind of had some time to process, I think it started to be, there wasn't one moment, but like over those couple weeks of being together, it started to be like a feeling for me of very clearly, like you're the one I want to debate when we should evacuate with. Should we have to do that again? Well, I also feel like it was the first time that because we had basically slept together every night at your place, but we didn't technically live together. Like not all my stuff. Just to clarify for

people. We don't have sex every night. Like we endeavor. We endeavor. too, but we do not sleep together every night. We're busy working people, but like, it's on the table. So she's great and that she's always open to the idea. Oh my God. So. Do we have to edit that? No, we don't.

I like it. I like this version of you. We always are like, we, we've made the vow that we have to do five minutes of cuddling in the morning and five minutes in the evening and, you know, you do enough five minutes of cuddling and you kind of do that thing where you kind of back up, rub up. And then it's like, yeah, that could work. Let's get into it. Let's get into it.

I still don't feel like my opening. let's get into it was as good so I might throw it one or two more without overdoing it. Okay. So we're living together for the first time. We're at Yellowstone Club in Montana at your house. We're there for almost a month. It's like full living together vibes. And up until that point, I had packed a bag every single night to go to your house,

gone back to work for my apartment that morning, the next morning after I'd step with you. But it still wasn't like my place. And I had a rule that I was like, I don't want to officially move into your house. That's your space. That's where you've built a life with. out me and I don't want to feel like I'm adding into it. So this was the first time, like, I hadn't been there before as it being like yours. It kind of felt like we could rewrite the rules a little bit. And so I think it was the first taste of us, like really living together,

full time, working, skiing, eating, drinking, sleeping, everything together. Like just having a rhythm. A rhythm. Which you're so funny because like, you live 10 minutes away from my old house. Okay, 30 minutes in traffic, but yeah. I would love to see your navigation. 10 and one time it took me like 15. But you would think we were like dating cross country. So I'm going cross country. I was like, it doesn't seem that taxing. But okay. Tell that to a girl that's packing up like every single thing for the night, the day after. It's a lot. Anyways. So we are in Yellowstone Club and it just felt so right. Like I felt that. I think you felt that. So you decided to have a call with our psychic. It was it was my regularly quarterly call on the cadence, which fell at a good time.

Right. As it always does. As it always does. You go upstairs and have this private conversation. And I always get a little nervous when you talk to her a psychic because the first time you talk to her, she was like, Maggie's not for you. So my heart was beating up. She said you were doing to work. That's the main reason. And now we found out we can do stuff like this where you pull me into your work. But okay, so it works. So you walk downstairs and you have this big smile on your face and you're like, can you sit down? We need to talk. And you look at me and you're like, Carissa just told me that we. Curses the psychic. Curses is the psychic that we should get married on August 28th of all the days.

How does that make you feel? And I remember being just like, how would she ever know August 28th? Like there's no recollection of our parents getting married online. Like unless you told her, which I know you wouldn't because that's our whole thing, is like seeing what she knows. The fact that she chose that day was such a sign to me that it was like, oh my God, I hope that. I want that.

Like I'm so happy. And just to clarify, I didn't say, should we get married on August 28th? it was like should we get married and we're kind of progressing and I'm like okay I'll just indulge this woman and say if we were to get married what day should we get married and she said well there's only one date that makes sense okay let's hear it she said August 28th of course what did you feel in that moment like some of the details are fuzzy because I almost had like an out of body experience which I don't have because I think sometimes with signs it can be like you know as humans we're programmed sometimes you see signs and sometimes you look for signs and backslough

this is one of those ones where like there's no way you could not believe you could not believe period full stop because she said something that was so improbable both in terms of knowing and the odds that both of our parents had August 28th as her wedding anniversary which according to my vows by straight math is like one in 130,000 yeah so I remember just feeling like so excited we were kissing we were like okay I think we're going to do this we obviously hadn't made it official yet but my parents were coming that weekend so You decided to basically use that as an opportunity to really bring this up with my parents. Yeah, I think obviously we had like talked about it, but, and this is new to me, this is the first time. But I felt like I really wanted to respect your parents, Edward and Linda, Mr. and Mrs. Sellers.

So I don't know. It was somewhere between. I wasn't, I don't think I was trying to tell him and I don't think I was trying to ask him. It was somewhere in between. Well, I think the best part was that I ended up taking a gondola ride again. I hadn't been alone with them in the whole first day. We ended up taking a gondola ride together with just the three of us. So I got to talk to both of your parents together, which was really special because, let's see,

they've been married 43 years now, so maybe 42 years at the time. And so it was amazing to talk to them both together because it just felt like a conversation and they were so warm and so excited and so supportive. So it was amazing. Did you cry? I think we all kind of welled up a little for sure. You know, your dad, I remember, was kept saying that he was so happy that your mom was here for the part of the conversation. That was really important to him.

I could see your mom tearing up a little. And I was just like, yeah, we're sure. Feels so right. I think that's where things just get so untraditional because right after that, you came home, you tell me, you're like, I just asked slash told your parents that were getting married. And that night we were going out for the last dinner before they were leaving the next day. And so it was my sister, her husband, their child, both my parents, you and I. And we kind of had this like little mini celebration, which I don't feel like people do after they typically ask for permission or get a blessing or whatever you want to call it.

So I feel like from that moment on, we were kind of like all on the same page. We had all kind of celebrated. And then that week we went home and told your family, which just furthered this excitement around it. And so I would say that's when I really knew. and I feel like for the first time, I didn't need a ring. I didn't need the things that I felt like you hear in society, you need things to be. And I think maybe that's partly because, yes, I had obviously gone through a proposal before.

But because it was about you and I and it was about marriage, not a wedding, it wasn't about the ring. It wasn't about what people thought. And I think it was just about you and I. So like, obviously there's some people we told who were close to us who were, of course, I'd like to think nobody wasn't happy for us, but some people just felt a little confused because some people's first question. but wait, you're not engaged. And I was like, and just be happy for us. Like, we'll figure that part out and they were like, but, uh,

I'm like, don't get caught up in the logistics, get caught up in the feelings. Like, we want to do this. And as we've said to so many people, like, we didn't choose the date. The date chose us. So that happens to almost no one that I know of. So we had the date and then we just had to back solve for a few, a few of the, you know, kind of, uh, details along the way. Yeah.

And I think for me to be totally honest, especially as a woman, you want things done a certain way at a certain time in your life and a certain ring and a certain that and it's really about the show. And I think that answers a question that we're going to do in a totally different episode. But like I had felt before with previous relationships, it was more about ticking a box and doing things the way that you're told you should do it. And with you and I, I really just didn't care how it happened. I didn't care the process or... I'm surprised you used to feel that way because if there's anyone I would have thought who wouldn't have it be told, traditional or exactly following the path, it would be you, my little CELocamp.

I know, but I think. Can we mention the CELA? It's out of order. But I think it's like, when you just stop and think about all these things, it's like, who says? Who cares or who says? Who set that? Yes.

Who are you doing that for? If I hadn't put in the work previous to meeting you for that six month period where I called off my engagement, really sat with myself, like, went back into deep childhood trauma and was like, why am I like this with men? Why is this happening? Like, what did I do wrong? I don't think that we would have. have been together. Like that is the work that I had to do to get to the point where you're like,

I can't even picture that version of yourself because the previous version of myself was very focused on like perception and check marks and timelines and doing things the right way. And like, those things don't matter to me now, but they did. And I would be lying if I said that they didn't two years ago. Yeah, that's for me like just one of the ways I just knew I was ready and then I knew you were my person is that I just didn't. I wanted to just do what we're. for us and not worry about anyone else. And I think, I think too many people like lose sight of that because you're trying to appease everyone, then you appease no one, including yourself. And I'm sure we're going to get into talking about the wedding day itself. But I think we were so good about just doing

what works for us. And, and, you know, when people see that you're happy, you're doing it your way, ultimately will make them happy. And more people should do that because I think it is a little bit of the, you know, idea that, like, you can't help other people if you don't help yourself first. So if they see you're happy, you're radiating from the inside, which you do. This is going to be something I was going to say for later, but I got a lot of questions and like, what's the wedding prep that you did? Because you hear these brides, they go into bridal boot camp. They're like fixing their skin, fixing their hair, going and like working out like crazy. And I will say, I thought I looked like the most beautiful version of myself on my wedding day.

And I did none of that. Like I didn't do skincare routines. I didn't go on a diet. I was traveling Europe, eating whatever. I actually had a fitting where I didn't fit into my dress. And like, my mentality throughout the whole thing was so even keeled. about that aspect of it. But I look at those pictures and I'm like, I am the most beautiful version of myself on this day because it was about you and it was about me. And I know I'm skipping ahead,

but it's important to say being a very naturally anxious person, all I felt that day was presence, joy, and calmness. And it's because we did it our way. So we didn't have a traditional engagement. I actually didn't even think that we were going to have an engagement. But that's January. we kind of like move forward with planning some stuff very loosely. I knew exactly the wedding planner that I wanted to use.

I had a call with her in April. I think the other big thing that happened before we get into late spring and maybe the proposal is that we got this amazing new house together. Yeah. I don't think we have to go into details on it, but to me it was a really important step both for me because I had been in my previous house about eight years, which is a good amount of time,

but also the new house to me was we weren't really looking. sure weren't looking but to me it was important it was the third house that we saw the house that we saw it was it was so important to me that you knew i was committed to like finding a place that could be our home and where we raised kids and our place not just like my place that you moved into that was really important to me we don't have to dwell on it but yes so that's january february february we see the house i have a call with our psychic that basically tells us that this is where we're going to get married described it to a tea she has no idea yet again and that's thing where you just can't make it up.

Yes. You went into the call, I talk about like babies, I think, and this was post-fire. And the first thing she said to you, as I recall, but you can fill in the blanks

was she said, I think that you just saw your new house and we're like, we're not really looking. And then she said, I think I saw the house where you're going to get married. And she just,

it's a little north of your current house, which this house is north of our current house. She described. Under the olive trees. And the most prominent feature of our new house is these beautiful olive trees that our friend Will craned in. Thank you, Will. Okay.

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was like, there's no proposal and I'm so cool with that. Like, I didn't need that. And if anything, because I wanted to keep this part of my life private until it was permanent, I actually didn't really want to deal with like having to wear a ring and being in content. And so I had zero idea that you were planning an actual proposal, which happened in June. So did you didn't think, you didn't think I was going to propose at all? No. I thought we had had like a conversation to him passing. Like, hey, at some point I should give you a ring just so that you have one and it's official, but I thought it was literally going to be like super low key.

But I thought you knew I was going to do it at some point. So that makes it even more surprises. Yeah. So I knew that we were getting a ring obviously, but I thought it was something we were going to get on the wedding day. Like I had no idea that you wanted to do a traditional proposal. So that's why I wouldn't happen. Still one called traditional. But I was like, I was like, we know we're getting married August 28th.

I know that I want to propose. And the best part is I was like all that I have left because we did actually do the ring together. I wanted to make sure you're getting what you wanted. Because it wasn't a surprise we were getting married, we wanted to make sure we got the ring with some great friends of ours. But I was like, the only thing I kind of have left that is a little bit of surprise is how I can propose. So might as well get creative and get crafty. So how did you propose? So I was like, okay, she knows we picked out a ring.

Maybe you thought I was going to give it to you right before the way. wedding and I was like, okay, I was thinking that you knew that I was going to propose when in Europe at some point. But I was like, she's going to think I'm going to propose in the most romantic place or just the two of us or whatever else. So I have to do a little misdirection. I have to do it in a more public place with a group. So we went. My worst nightmare. Well, Paris is a very special place to us because we went there last year right around your birthday and spent time there. And it was kind of one of the places I think we started to fall for each other. had a great time at Roland Garros and in Paris. So I was like, okay, Paris would make sense.

And then I was like, I wonder if she's thinking Paris. So that feels too obvious. Okay, you weren't, but I thought you might be. So I was like, what will really fool her is we had some friends, good friends of mine, Dan and Gina from Australia, who came to hang out with us for a few days. So I was like, that's when she won't expect it because we're with a group. Now I wasn't going to just do it like at a restaurant with dinner with Dan and Gina, who you hadn't met before, but are amazing people. Shout out to Jaden. my godson, they're son. And so I was like, okay, I have to do something unique here.

So I said, we loved going to French Open. We love going to Roland Garros. I'm going to figure out how to do it there. So that was my thought. Then I was like, how am I going to actually execute this? So I started calling some people I know in tennis, a couple former players, the people that did the broadcast last year, a couple agents to current players. And I keep getting the same thing where they were like, yeah, I want to have.

help. I'm asking people, but as you can imagine, the French Federation isn't being too helpful for like an American person who they don't know. So it was looking a little bleak. And we were really lucky because the broadcast changed this year to TNT and happened to have a connection to the family who owns TNT, which owns Warner Media, the Zazluffs. And they were so generous, put us in touch with their team. We're trying to figure out up until the end what to do, but to cut to the chase. the year before when we went, we got a backstage tour from Tennis Channel. And so I was like,

she won't think it's too weird if we get a backstage tour again. So we were going to the French Open Final. And I was like, we have to go early because we're going to get this backstage tour. Made total sense. Dan and Gina were coming with us. And you didn't say like make sure your nails are really nice

or you're wearing white. So I wore the ugliest outfit. It's not Wimbledon, so no white, but yes. I couldn't throw you off the sale at this point. I'd put too much into it. I could never post this engagement video because I hate my outfits so much. I'm wearing like tight skinny jeans, a suede jacket, like a scarf around my neck. I had zero idea that I was getting proposed to.

I mean, it wasn't a French Open final. It's not like you couldn't have done it up a little bit, but I thought you looked amazing. Still, you always, with that smile, you always just radiate from the inside. So, um, so anyways, we went in there, got there on time, which was a challenge. And basically the final was at 3 o'clock, but then we found out that the women's double final was 11 a.m. So we had to get there by 10. So we got a little backstage tour. Then we went up to the top of Philippe Chautrie, which is center court at Roland Garros at the French Open final. Where no one could see us.

We're no one could see us. It's an empty stadium. There's camera crew around because we had just taken this backstage tour and it's T&T, so you thought nothing of it. And then as your, I hope your post this at some point so people can see it. But as you're looking over the empty stadium, we played a song that we love that is meaningful to us, higher love. And I had you so surprised that you literally turned around and me and said, are they playing our song over the loud?

Like thinking it was nothing, an empty stadium of all the songs, they play higher love. Dan and Gina are right there. And then when you turned around, I dropped to one knee. And the funniest thing for me is like, I didn't block out.

You didn't have a huge thing that you said. All you said was like, I want you to be the witness to my life and I want to be your life partner until we're no longer here. And will you marry me? And it wasn't this like moment where I felt like my world stops. It just felt so right that I was like, I had no words. I went from laughing being like, is this actually happening to crying to just smiling? And then finally you're like, so are you saying yes? And I was like, of course I'm saying yes.

And conversely, I don't know, sometimes you think you'll be nervous and you get all the nerves on. You're not nervous so on as you think you'll cry and then you've already got the tears out. I wanted it to go well because I am just like that. And I wanted to be meaningful for both of us and something we look back on. But, you know, if I slipped on a banana peel and fell, that would be part of the story too. But I wanted to go well from that point of view. But I wasn't as nervous as I thought because I just knew it felt so right. So I have the most gorgeous ring in the world.

We did design it together, although I didn't know you were going to give it to me. on that day. But I feel like this is a really big tip because this is something that you're going to wear for the rest of your life for women. And you were like, I don't want to design this by myself. Like, I don't know what you like. Up until I started wearing fake rings, I thought I wanted a gold band. Like I was convinced I wanted Haley Bieber's ring. Like I wanted an oval shape with a gold skinny band. My best friend Amanda started making me these cubic zirconia rings to just test out what I liked. So for a few months, I was wearing every different shape. every different style of band. And after a while, I was like, wait, I really love silver. I really

love an emerald. Like, it means something to me. And so I feel like, especially when you're making these big decisions, and I think that's part of our story is doing things so untraditionally. We've been able to rewrite the rules of like an engagement, designing a ring and showing people that it's like, it doesn't have to be the way that it's always been done. It's just about what makes sense for you. And I think like how, I mean, I respect the traditions, but also how many men, despite their best efforts, have gotten it wrong because they were just trying to do what they thought the woman would like and dint. And this is something that then either you have to do something really awkward, like totally redo the ring. And you have to wear this rest of your life. And then a lot of women might not want to say something or hurt their feelings. So some of these are, I think it was so great we did it together. And it was actually a fun little project to do together. Big project to do together. Was there anything throughout the wedding planning process that you would do differently? I think we could have started a little more like in February versus something closer to April, but we were getting to the point where I knew if we didn't bring on a wedding planner soon,

you needed a thought partner and you needed an outlet. And I didn't realize how far in advance, even when you do the type of wedding we were going to do, you need to start planning things. So let me actually take it back from here because so we knew we wanted to do. wanted to get married on August 28th. We knew we wanted to get married at our house. It was impossible in this period of time to plan a hundred person wedding like we would want. There were a bunch of factors like your cousin already getting married a few weeks after that we were like, we need to figure out a different solution. And so our wedding planning process did feel a little clunky because

there was just so many factors where some of the decisions that are really hard for people like one and where were made for us. Other decisions of like how it was actually going to go felt really unclear. And so I have some questions from the community that I think is just good to ask because I think it will just do a good job of explaining how we did it. Someone asked who we used as soon as we started really imagining what this day could look like and the type of wedding that we wanted, even though it was going to be intimate and small, I knew we needed a wedding planner and I knew I wanted it to be Ashley Piggin. And in retrospect, wouldn't you have done the wedding planner in like February if you for sure, for sure. Because Ashley's been so great, but we could have gotten her on board sooner.

Totally. One of my favorite questions from the community was what was the best part of planning and my least favorite part. Ooh, we haven't done a post-mortem, so I don't even know what you're going to say here. My favorite part of planning was I saw the vision from the very beginning. I saw you and I standing under the olive trees. I truthfully felt like it wasn't about anything but you and I. And I think that was my favorite part. yes, I'm an anxious person. Yes, I was getting stressed out like every bride does. But with my little HSR love notes at the end or the beginning of the day, I would always remind myself, like, it is about being under those olive trees and getting married. And it was more about our marriage than it was about the wedding. And you did such a good job of leading us with that vision because, like,

I wouldn't say I didn't see it, but guys are different. And maybe I had a picture in the same way, but you graphically described to me so many times that I started a picture. And I'm not usually a big visualization person. And I think that leads into my least favorite part, which details have never been my thing. I am a visionary. I am a maker. I am not a manager. And that is where I started to feel sometimes although my femininity was being threatened because

I didn't know the names of certain flowers. I didn't know the paperweight of invitations. I don't know how you address people properly in the most formal way. And so I think it was like I like to be the best. And so being bad at anything really threatens my identity. And I have never prioritized those aspects of my development. And I think it was actually a hard lesson to learn where it's like I can be an expert in a lot of things. But there's also a lot I still don't know.

And that should be a beautiful thing. And I think I've totally reframed my mind. But I wouldn't lie in that it was hard to not stress about the things that I just had no clue about. And I think that's where had we started wedding planning earlier and really leverage the expertise to where I think we could have from Ashley and Birch design, who was incredible. I think we would have gotten to the same solution a lot faster, probably with a little bit less anxiety. For sure. And I felt a little helpless of points because I wanted to support you, much less partner, much less be your thought partner. But I was like, if you don't know the kind of forks that we want, I certainly don't know.

And I don't think you want my opinion on that. So I think those are the things where it did at points. I saw you, sometimes your stress showed up as like, almost like feeling like angry as you didn't know it. Or I think you said almost like a little shameful that you didn't know it. But who cares? Because you knew the vision and the important parts. Well, and I think also one of my favorite questions is like people asking me, how did I

balance being a founder and wedding planning? And obviously my career has had a hockey stick growth as I'm planning this wedding and moving into a house. And I would say we did two of the most stressful things. a time where my career has really taken off. We bought a house and moved in. We planned a wedding and got married all in the same year. All in the same half year. Right. All in the same four months. Right. And people plan their wedding a year ahead and we did all that in four months and worked from Europe for a little while. And I think that's why for me doing this without the opinions of a ton of

people and I love these things that I get to share with the community now. And it's actually something so beautiful that it's such a good learning because I see these videos of brides being like all the dresses that I tried on didn't get but loved. And I'm like, that's beautiful, but you also get all of the opinions from all of these people on the internet that influence your decision. And I think for me maintaining my sanity as I'm building a career, moving into a house, becoming a wife, planning a wedding was like really compartmentalizing things and trying to just make sure that I did things for me. vision. And I think you're very empathetic and at times have been historically a people pleaser. So it was important not to let that infiltrate and influence wedding things when it is about you and about

us. All my advice to people that are planning a wedding, trying to build a business, be a good friend, remember also that there are seasons of your life. And I think that I haven't been the best friend of 2025. Like I actually don't. I haven't. The best friend to your other friends. Right. I haven't been able to follow up. I haven't been able to dedicate the time. I haven't been as thoughtful. I haven't made the calls. And I think my best friends know that this has been the best and the most intense part of my life. And it won't always be that way. And maybe next year, because I'm not doing X, Y, and Z, I'll be able to be a better this or a better that. But I think just maintaining that clarity when you know, like, you can't be everything at once, what are you going to have to sacrifice?

But I think one thing people always talk about is, I want to be in balance. I want to be in balance. And I used to feel like that. And now I feel like to do extraordinary things, whether it's plan a wedding or grow your business or whatever, usually have to be out of balance for a while to come back into balance. So at some point, you have to spend more time on your work or spend more time on the wedding and realizing it's for a season and a reason. But you're probably going to get better results by being out of balance and then eventually

kind of coming back in a homeal stasis. Totally. Back to the wedding. Okay. This brings us to the wedding day where we have. some really interesting questions. I love the community. They ask great questions.

I know. It's kind of like they're like leading us. H-S-R is the best. What was the most unique element we had at our wedding? I think the first thing that comes to my mind is just the first look of how he came down the stairs. I think that picture, which is what I made my screensaver, and it's very special to me for a lot of reasons.

As anyone who's a friend of mine knows, I've had my late father's my screensaver for eight years and change it to that picture because I, one, wanted to make the wedding that you know my screensaver but also just that photo is like kind of captures it all sorry I'm getting a little choke wait I was like we've never talked about that but actually I never thought you would ever change your screensaver because it was always of your late father so I was like I never expected him to change it and so when you did I was like it's so special yeah I guess we haven't even talked about I kind of just did it quietly but you know I also think story for another time but like my dad would want to be a screensaver my whole life you know he'd want me to be happy and

move for in this next chapter. I think that was also like something so special about this day was like we got to be so selfish and like just with our immediate family and we did think so differently. But one of the things that I think we did was keep our family so front and center. So one of my most special and my favorite photo of us actually is when we are holding hands in front of the pictures of both of our parents' wedding days. And then we actually, we actually, moved the photo frames last minute to the area where we were eating at so everyone could just like enjoy that and it was so thoughtful that people who help us in our lives in different ways actually thought at least on my side to like send some of my parents wedding photos from now almost 60 years

ago so we had them by our side that was beautiful yeah and then we got some of your parents my favorite memory of the day which someone asked one I think just for me like how common I felt, I don't feel that very often. I'm either really anxious, really excited, really everything. I'm a lot, you know. And so for me to just feel... But I love all of you a lot, but you are a lot. For me to just feel so calm and so present,

doesn't happen to me a lot. And when I was alone, because I asked to be alone a lot throughout the day, I didn't go on my phone. I wasn't filming videos every single second, although it looks like I did a really good job with content because I was very prepared. But I had a lot of time where I was just sitting by myself, just soaking in what was happening to me.

And that was my favorite part. Our vows were some of my favorite parts. And then I think truly taking it back to your dad, like it breaks my heart. I will never meet him. But I felt him so much that day. And when your brother finished his toast and said, our dad would have loved you,

that was for me like such a special moment. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it meant a lot that we, you know, said a little thing about my dad, but also other people in our family who weren't there and lit some candles, which I think is nice. Do you have a favorite memory of the day? To me, the day is just almost like one big memory. I just think I couldn't have wanted anything more. I think just looking at you and we were standing up there with our officiant Sylvia was probably my favorite moment just standing there because we had this moment that maybe you'll share some pictures of it. some point, but we were looking at Sylvia and then looking at each other. And I was, I couldn't

really see all the family sitting down. And then all of a sudden, some of our little nieces and nephews actually came up to the stage. They're all between three and seven. And they just came up to the stage. And I look over and they're all sitting there just looking at you and awe. And it was one of my favorite moments, one, because it's just like, I think, you know, you just see the awe and the joy and the wonder from kids, but also that they could be a foot away from us off stage and I didn't even notice they were there because I was so focused on how beautiful you looked and looking into those eyes and the way you look at me, which is what I said in my baths. That was my favorite line of your vows.

Yeah. Should I repeat it? I don't have it verbatim, but I think it was something to the effect of like I just knew when I saw the way you looked at me and that I don't want anyone else to look at me that way ever again. Because it's true. I've been lucky that I've had a lot of people love me, I think, and all different friendships, family otherwise, but I don't think anyone's ever loved me like you have. And that to me is like

kind of how I knew. How could I ask for anything or anyone more than that? Hmm, love you. My little Sierra Can. I think that's one of the most special things about doing it at our house because, you know, we hosted a dinner last night. We sat under the exact spot. We set our vows. I got ready in our bedroom, in our bathroom, where I get ready every single day. We had our dinner in a place where we're going to host so many of our loved ones. And I think the wedding industry has become so ballooned and so about what it is and, you know, who covers it. And so for me to just bring it back to the basics of like that and being able to relive those moments over and over again feels like the biggest treasure truly that I just want to like package and just hold so dear. But technically, our wedding

isn't over. So this is the first time that we are announcing this. roll please we're getting married again i'm just kidding we are having a celebration of our marriage celebration of marriage so like the word people done this like celebration of life no i'm a brander i'm a marketer so i was like okay we didn't get to celebrate with all of our friends and family who have gotten us to this point that is also what marriage is about and a wedding is about but I didn't want to walk down the aisle again and do the same thing. I want to give people an experience. And so like funerals have evolved some of them to celebrations of life.

I figure that we would evolve a second wedding to a celebration of our marriage. It is so much more than a party, which is it's not just a party. There are going to be a lot of traditional wedding elements, but also a lot of different things. Are you going to like name one or is it a secret until? It's a secret. Okay, secret. But we're doing a celebration of our marriage in early 2026. I'm so excited because the pressure's off.

We can now take people along on the journey, have some fun, throw some amazing events over a weekend, and do a lot of the things that we didn't do. Like, I can dip you for a first dance. Exactly. Exactly. Yes. Might have felt a little weird to do a first dance with just 15 people. Not to mention we didn't have a dance floor, but...

Or a DJ. But I think it's... I even break it down into two different things for me, and maybe it's different. But it's like, we got to make the 28th all about us. And now it's not that March won't be about us, but it really also is about all of our family and friends and people who have supported us and making sure they feel like this is meaningful to us too. But like, even, for example, as we've learned, so many people struggle with entertaining

everyone and saying hi to everyone and getting great photos. And we got to almost bifurcate the two. We got amazing photos. Shout out to Kristen Marie Parker, who's an incredible photographer. Best decision ever. Her team, and they worked so hard. They didn't even take a five-minute break that I saw. Logan.

So now we got to, yes, Logan was great. And so now we got all the pictures we could ever want, and not that we won't get them in March, but now it's not like, oh, we didn't get enough pictures because people do that or I didn't talk to enough people. We got to almost break it into two. And so I'm so excited because I do feel like the pressure's off. will just be extra joyous in our celebration of marriage trademarked. Yeah, exactly.

I'm like, Hotsmer Ridge came up with celebration of marriage versus wedding. We will be trademarking between the time we record this and first use right here. Okay. Business trademarking. I know you hate to think about marriage as a business, but I really do think that the most important financial decision that you will make in your entire life is who you decide to marry. They are the person that are going to be there to support you, to love you, to love you,

to believe in your dreams, to pick you up off the floor, which you do every single day to me. And I think for anyone listening to this, that it's not a fuck yes, it is a fuck no. Because even though we disagree and there are things that we would do differently and there are ways we want each other to evolve, like it is always you. It is always a fuck yes with you. And there was never, ever, ever, ever a doubt in my mind. And I'm so grateful that you were my husband. you are the best decision I've ever made in my entire life, and I will always choose you every single day.

And I love you. I love you, too. I don't even know how to follow that up. I'll make a joke and then say something serious. My joke is, since we've been married, have I actually literally picked you up off the floor? Multiple times. Well, you fainted one time, so literally. Literally have picked you up off the floor, which was a scary experience for another time.

For me, like, I love my life, and I hope everyone listening to this does or gets to the point where they do because we all only have one shot at this. but I feel like I had prioritized other things in life for a long time. And it was the last big decision for me that if I get it wrong, life can be very different. And I already love my life, so it's a risk. And if I get it right, what feels like an already good life, albeit missing a few things, gets even better. And I feel very sure that that's what's going to be there for us.

I love you. I love you, too. Thank you. We're married. Mary. Sorry, ladies. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for HSR. They have been there for me through heartbreak, self-discovery, self-improvement,

betting on myself, believing in myself, knowing my worth, and helping me identify my worth. So I wanted to end the episode with a huge thank you to everyone listening at HSR for getting me to this point. And including you in this now and being able to share all this with you is part of the enjoyment, which is why I'm like going to cry now too as I'm talking about this. But seeing all the comments, seeing all of the celebrations for me, like has really been part of the joy. And I think I talk about this a lot. But like I've developed parasycial relationships with HSR as much as they have with me because

I truly wouldn't be in this position without them. So thank you so much for being a part of this journey, for being a part of our marriage moving forward for being a part of March and getting to take you guys along. I feel like HsR is like a bridesmaid of yours. It's like as a collective pejorative bridesmaid. But I think it's just important like, you know, your life is made up of so many different relationships and one of them is the community that I've built that has been there for me through this period. So I wanted to end this episode with a huge thank you to HSR for getting me to this point. And a big welcome on the next phase, which is as Maggie Sellers reign, planning a celebration of marriage in March.

and many more chapters after that. So thank you and I'll see you next time.