Five days a week, SiriusXM listeners can tune into the Radio Andy channel and be greeted by a cacophony of belly laughs and unadulterated joy—you know, the kind you only get from being around the people that know you best.
That’s the experience that is the Smith women.’
Rachel, Lauren, and Mariah Smith host The Smith Sisters Live show on the satellite radio platform every weekday dissecting pop culture topics in their signature surgical style. Listeners clearly feel as if they’re a part of the family because the show was quickly went from being broadcast once a week to everyday in less than a year.
It only takes an instant to understand the appeal of the show, as the hosts’ bubbly personalities immediately draw you in. But what keeps you listening to all 51 minutes of every episode is their near-obsessive attention to detail as they offer insight on everything from the latest reality show to the realities (and humor) of big sister trauma.
“It’s really embedded in us,” Lauren, the oldest of the trio told ESSENCE.
Growing up in St. Louis, MO to hardworking parents, the value of work ethic was something they’d had early exposure to, and are grateful for.
“Our dad had a rule that we could watch most things, only under the condition of being able to have succinct discussions about it later,” Mariah, the youngest sister, shared. “I think that kind of whet our palette for deep dive conversation, conducting research and really knowing what we’re talking about,” she explained also pointing out that they all participated in their schools’ debate teams as kids.
Those skills burgeoned over time and showed up in all of their chosen career paths, which seem to consistently intersect.
Lauren was the first to leave the nest for New York City to pursue a career in entertainment. After graduating from college, she landed an internship at Vh1 where she worked her way up and was able to produce shows like Best Week Ever. Never too far away, Mariah eventually joined her sister to work at the network as well, then again at The Rundown with Robin Thede and Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live.
“I’m one of the original nepo babies,” Mariah said jokingly in reference to Lauren blazing a trail for entertainment writing and production.
Rachel, too, wasn’t far behind, charting a successful path in PR working with Sesame Street among other shows. She has since built a career in higher education and ultimately pivoted away from entertainment completely. But then her sisters came a-knocking.
“We really love working together so when the opportunity for the radio organically came together, it just made sense,” Rachel told ESSENCE. “I literally get to talk to my sisters about the things we would talk about anyway, as a job, and it’s really amazing.”
The show’s instant success was a surprise to the Smiths, but it makes perfect sense.
“Our dad used to have a saying that’s a baseline for everything we even until to this day,” Mariah began explaining about their beloved patriarch who passed away in 2021. “What was it?” Lauren chimes in: “Be good, do well, study hard.”
Words to live by.
