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I confess, I’ve never been all that into Crocs—I am more of a Converse devotee—but this week, I devoured a profile of the company’s chief marketing officer written by my colleague Marty Swant as part of the inaugural Forbes Entrepreneurial CMO list.

As Marty writes, Heidi Cooley remembers her very first Crocs quite well: they were a bright yellow pair that she purchased in 2007. She also remembers how people reacted nearly a decade later, when in 2016 she started announcing plans to join Croc’s marketing department. “I got a lot of phone calls from colleagues and mentors and friends that were like, ‘Heidi, this is career suicide. Do not think you can transform this brand,’” she says. 

Six years later, Cooley’s friends are singing a different tune—and in large part to work that Cooley herself has spearheaded. I won’t give everything away here, but will say that one of the ways Cooley has helped take Crocs from “has-been” to something closer to “hype” is by embracing the weird (think: partnerships with food brands like Hidden Valley Ranch and Peeps). I happen to love this strategy, and think it’s a good reminder for all of us, whether we work in marketing or not. To me, embracing the weird means embracing creativity. And isn’t life more fun when we can be creative? 

Cheers!
Maggie

P.S.: The other story I devoured this week looks at the declining fertility rates in so many countries and what needs to happen to reverse the trends we’re seeing now. Forbes contributor Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is blunt in her assessment: “If countries want babies, they’ll need to get far more serious about building more gender-balanced economies, democracies—and couples.”

ICYMI: Stories From The Week

The inaugural Forbes list of the most entrepreneurial figures in marketing has some pretty powerful women in the mix, including Deborah Yeh from Sephora, Melissa Grady Dias from Cadillac and the NBA’s Kate Jhaveri. Check out the full list here! 

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Joe Biden’s appointment of Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard as the central bank's vice chair, elevating one of the Fed’s most outspoken climate change critics to a post overseeing bank regulation and monetary policy amid the highest inflation rate in 40 years.

At the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Botswana this week, comedian Elsa Majimbo dished on how she went from an anonymous Nairobi teenager to a social media sensation with millions of followers. “Growing up, I always knew I would be iconic,” she told the Under 30 crowd.

Delta Air Lines said this week it will start paying flight attendants during boarding, becoming the first—yes, that’s right, first—U.S. carrier to do so. (With close to 75% of all flight attendant positions held by women, it’d be nice to see more carriers follow suit.)

The Black Girl Freedom Fund announced its second round of grants this week: more than $4 million has been deployed across 68 organizations whose work promotes and expands the leadership and organizing power of Black girls, femmes and gender-expansive youth in the U.S. 

This spring, Spotify launched its first-ever hub dedicated to U.S. Latinx podcast creators. At the helm of the initiative is Barbara Gonzalez, who recently sat down to give ForbesWomen a peek at what’s to come for the project.

Check List

#1: Get more money. Wondering how to best ask for a raise in this very inflationary environment? Here’s everything you need to know.

#2: Get out of town... by yourself. Solo traveling as a woman can be one of the most rewarding types of travel, but it can require a good bit of planning and preparation. Here are the 9 best places for solo female travelers.

#3: Get less busy. Is hustle culture preventing you from making real progress in your leadership role? Read on for ways to break the pattern of being busy just for the sake of being busy.