Hello hola! It's been a minute since I've been back on a plane, and here I am on my way to Buenos Aires for work. Ten hours in a metal tube gives you a lot of time to think, which is probably why I keep coming back to the same question: when did we all agree that the loudest thing in the room deserves the most attention?
This week gave us a masterclass in contradictions. Kim Kardashian's show debuted with zero stars from critics and became Hulu's most-viewed scripted debut in three years. Autonomous cars are learning to navigate London's streets but still hesitate like nervous driver's ed students. Meanwhile, we have decades of research proving female leaders boost employee satisfaction by double digits, yet they're still stuck at 29% of C-suite roles.
What’s the pattern in all of my thought spew as I sit on this plane cramped by a woman who does not listen to attendant announcements? We're not learning from our mistakes. Brands are still going for virality over substance. Speed over trust. Performance over actual results.
Makes me want to stub my toe on the foot of my bed again. Trust me, you don’t want that to happen, these NYC pedi prices are not joke. So why are we still doing the same thing expecting different results??!
What I’ve been thinking about lately
The manchild isn't a phase, he's a lifestyle choice - Emotional unavailability gets treated like depth. Bare minimum effort gets framed as romance. The guy who can't remember his dry cleaning but has opinions about your career. You cannot love someone into emotional maturity, and watching him try while you shrink yourself isn't a partnership, it's babysitting.
Some sentences rewire how you think about everything - "Many of your limits weren't real, you just believed them long enough that they became rules." "Letting go isn't weakness, it's the decision to stop waiting for the past to be different." These aren't motivational poster nonsense, they're permission to change course, to let go, to stop performing.
Dating apps aren't designed to help you find love - The algorithm matches you with the opposite of what you want because if you actually found someone, you'd stop being a customer. We're paying monthly fees for profiles 40 miles away whose conversation starters make you question basic human interaction. Dating is now a subscription service with terrible UX.
Business & Marketing News
Ami Colé's Founder Just Became Skims' Secret Weapon: Diarrha N'Diaye shut down Ami Colé in July citing climbing costs, and now she's back as EVP at Skims Beauty. Kim Kardashian tried beauty twice before and failed, but when the pierced-nipple bra brand teams up with TikTok's viral lip oil creator, expect chaos that actually sells.
L'Oréal Dropped €3 Billion to Keep Buying Up Beauty: L'Oréal is financing Kering Beauté with a massive bond sale that pulled €8.4 billion in investor demand. This follows Aēsop, Dr. G, and Medik8 acquisitions. The beauty giant isn't slowing down, they're consolidating the entire industry while smaller brands struggle to survive.
Shay Mitchell Made Skincare for Toddlers and the Internet Is Big Mad: Rini launched with K-beauty sheet masks for kids ages three and up at $6 each. Mitchell says it's about safe self-care rituals, critics say it's teaching consumption and beauty standards before they can tie their shoes. The Sephora kids phenomenon just got a toddler extension pack.
Culture & Lifestyle
Miranda Priestly Is Back and Print Journalism Is Dying: The first teaser for Devil Wears Prada 2 shows Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway reuniting 20 years later. This time Miranda's fighting for Runway's survival against Emily Charlton, now a luxury exec with the advertising dollars Miranda desperately needs. The entire original cast is back and we're collectively girding our loins.
Did the Kardashians Scrub Harry and Meghan from Birthday Posts?: Photos of the royal couple disappeared from Kris Jenner's 70th birthday roundups days after the event at Jeff Bezos's house. Tabloids called it a snub, critics said attending was tacky, and honestly there's no winning for them either way. The discourse writes itself.
All's Fair Has 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and Is Somehow Hulu's Biggest Hit: Ryan Murphy's legal drama starring Kim Kardashian debuted with zero stars and critics calling it "existentially terrible." It still pulled 3.2 million views in opening days. Kim's reposting fans who are "obsessed" with the "awful" acting, proving once again that negative attention monetizes just fine when you know how to play the algorithm.
Tech & Leadership
Meta Built a $50 Billion Business on Free Creator Content: Mark Zuckerberg announced Reels hit $50 billion annually, built almost entirely on unpaid creator labor with occasional program bonuses. YouTube shares half its revenue with creators, Meta's deal is simpler: give us your stuff for free, we'll sell ads, you figure out monetization elsewhere.
Wayve's Robotaxi Just Handled London's Chaos With Learner-Driver Energy: Wayve's autonomous car successfully navigated north London using AI that learns like humans instead of Waymo's mapped routes. It handled jaywalkers and blind pedestrians but drove with cautious hesitation that stands out against London's aggressive traffic culture. Uber partnerships launch in 2026 in a city literally designed for horses.
Mira Murati's AI Startup Wants a $50 Billion Valuation Four Months After Raising at $12 Billion: Thinking Machines Lab is in early funding talks at roughly $50 billion after being valued at $12 billion in July. The startup launched one product in October and already lost its co-founder to Meta. Nothing says stable like a 4x valuation jump in four months while bleeding talent.
Priscilla Quezada is the founder of PAQ: Powerful Authentic Queen, an organization empowering survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence to reclaim their power. Her work is deeply personal, rooted in navigating the NYC foster care system and witnessing abuse in her family. She turned pain into purpose.
Key takeaways:
The meaning behind Powerful Authentic Queen and how she lives it daily
Practical advice for those experiencing abuse and survivors of trauma
Her vision for PAQ's future: mentorship programs and retreats
Listen to the full episode: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
ICYMI: Women-Led Companies Have Better Culture And the Data Isn't Subtle About It
Employee "feel valued" scores jump from 61% to 72% when their manager is a woman. Organizations with at least 30% women leaders score 8% higher on employee satisfaction. The research has been screaming this at us for years, yet women still make up only 29% of C-suite positions. We have definitive proof that women leaders create better cultures and lower turnover, so why are we still promoting the same people who make everyone feel worse?
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