I got to attend "Monday Girl: The Conference" in New York City at the New York Times Center this past weekend, and wow, let me tell you, I was floored by how buttoned-up the event was, how cohesive everything felt, and the audience's enthusiasm for what they came to learn.
As an event producer myself, I'm always paying attention to the details, and the run of show was super smooth and the speaker lineup was phenomenal. I had the honor of watching my good friend Mary Seats speak on stage, and she had the entire audience captivated with her insights.
Speaking of events, I'm excited because one of my consulting clients is headed to Miami, so we're in the middle of preparing to be jolted by a 30-degree weather change. It's so cold here in New York, but spring is finally starting to show up in SoHo.
If you're in events, you already know that anything that can go wrong will go wrong at the last minute. What you learn is that resilience and planning go so much further. If you don't have the ability to foresee what could go wrong and plan for it, things get harder.
That applies to life too. You can plan as much as you want, but when it comes down to it, it's about being aware of who you want to be for yourself and for others, and being okay with pivoting. That's what life is about.
Did you “Start With Yourself” already?
Are you keeping up with Emma Grede and the tea around her new book? Girl, same. There's a lot to unpack and we’re creating a book club to do it freely.
Step one is reading it, you can get the book here. Step two is getting together to talk through all the feelings it stirred up. Join us on May 30 for an online discussion. Bring your favorite beverage, no 5 o'clock stamp necessary.
A lot of us are sitting with the same questions she raises in the book. Get off BookTok and come have some real talk. Come even if you didn't finish the book, we have all THE vibes.
THIS WEEK’S MOOD <3
♡ This Week's Mood ♡
In my “loving my life” era
Proud of the team and business that I am building
Obsessed with Emma Grede’s new book
Business & Marketing
Festival activations are the new billboard and SYRN knows that, so they brought the saloon to Stagecoach. They turned a country music festival into a full Western world, complete with bar, costumes, and shareable moments.
Now, on the movie everyone has been expecting for 20 years, The Devil Wears Prada 2 did their thing and designed a full fashion collection of brand partners. The sequel has built its merchandising into the storyline before the movie even opened, weaving real fashion houses into the script as a marketing masterclass!
The best PR is the kind that looks like an accident, Lancôme engineered a mistake into a mystery reveal. The brand "accidentally" sent PR packages to the wrong influencers, sparking confusion, speculation, and a wave of organic content before revealing the misfire was the campaign all along.
Culture & Lifestyle
You already know we are obsessed with Start With Yourself, so of course we caught this: Emma Grede says working from home is "career suicide". She argues remote work is stalling young women's careers by cutting them off from mentorship and visibility. Agree or not, it's the conversation we're bringing to the book club.
Another reminder that luxury is no longer about the product, Louis Vuitton turns luxury into experience once again with a hotel pop-up in London. It is about the world the brand invites you into.
In a global unemployment crisis, who gets trained now decides who gets to work later. MTN is investing in young women shaping Africa's digital future, funding programs that move them from digital skills straight into real jobs across the continent.
Tech & Leadership
Anthropic launches Claude Design that lets users generate full design assets, mockups, and visual content directly inside Claude. The race for AI to own the entire creative workflow just got a serious new contender. Have you tried it?
AI is no longer a future spend, it is a current line item on every enterprise budget and we are seeing it grow daily! Citigroup lifts AI market forecast to more than $4.2 trillion with a revision that came on the back of faster-than-expected enterprise adoption, especially in coding and automation.
Speaking circuits used to belong to academics and CEOs, but Matilda Djerf knows no limits on it and extends her founder brand into thought leadership at Harvard Law School. Founder-as-thought-leader is becoming a brand strategy in itself.
Kristin Juszczyk and Off Season team up with Formula 1 for the brand's first international partnership! The viral sport-fashion label is moving from NFL fan culture to global sports IP. F1 is having a cultural moment, and Off Season is attaching itself to whichever sport is generating the most heat right now.
The Bigger Pattern We're Watching
We knew that the traditional ad was dead and what is working now is the world a brand invites you to step inside, it is what you are letting people walk into.
All about turning luxury into a place you visit, and not a product you buy.
Hollywood and legacy IP are becoming marketing infrastructure.
The founder economy is graduating into thought leadership. Pretty much proving personal brands are now built to scale into permanent businesses.
ICYMTP (In Case you Missed the Pod)
Check out my chat with the woman who turned a Zillow layoff into the launchpad for everything, Deidre Henry.
Listen on how going viral comes from posting your real life in real time, not from polished content. Consistency is not a strategy, it is THE strategy. A layoff is a loss and you are allowed to grieve it before you figure out what is next and how the right people will believe in what you are building before you do.
If you have ever felt like your lowest moment might actually be your biggest opportunity, this one is for you. Resend this to any of your friends who might need it.
As always, thanks for being here and reading us. Have a topic you think we should cover?
Leave a comment below!
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P.S. If you’re thinking “I wish my brand had content like this” good news: we can make that happen.
