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Happy Thursday! While CEOs continue to extol the “spontaneous idea generation” they believe comes from working in an office, some RTO holdouts have discovered they don’t mind going in…as long as no one else is there. A recent WSJ article profiled employees who head to their offices on Mondays and Fridays when most of their coworkers are remote. We get it. An empty office is distraction-free and comes with longer lunches, yoga breaks, and maybe the occasional nap.
Today’s affirmation: “I’m the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy.”—Sergeant Dignam in The Departed
In today’s edition:
- Doing it all with Alexis Barber
- I’m worried, darling
- The future of Gen Z
—Maliah West, Sabrina Sanchez
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optimize
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Time-saving tools and products we’re really into rn.
Relish the feeling of pen on paper and digitize your notes with this smart reusable notebook. It syncs with cloud services, which comes in clutch when you forget the hard copy at home.
Connect with fellow booklovers on Bookclubs, an app that helps you organize virtual reading groups. You can post prompts and discussion guides, form chat rooms, and schedule meetings all in one place—then finally delete that endless Gmail thread.
Want a new job outside your field? Brush up on your soft skills. Adaptability, emotional intelligence, and effective communication are—believe it or not—as important as Excel wizardry.
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routine
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“I used to be in a really toxic mindset, which was that everything felt very permanent to me. And once I realized that I can [meet] my goals and then find new ones, that really changed the game for me.”
Alexis Barber is a 23-year-old content creator, podcast host, and full-time content strategist at YouTube. On her TikTok, you’ll find bicoastal living inspo, self-care advice, and a peek into the daily life of a Googler. Barber recently added entrepreneur to her résumé and started a business called Too Cozy, which sells comfortable robes.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Kickoff: “I’m a morning person, so I typically wake up between 5am and 5:30am. And that is simply because I can’t get everything done before work [if I wake up later]…I am lucky enough to have a pretty flexible job that [involves] a lot of creative work. So typically, I have one full day a week where I’m doing the creative work for my job. Outside of that, I have three or four days that are more meetings and emails. So I’m not using my creative energy elsewhere, which is nice.”
Her content journey: “I started my TikTok when I moved to New York in January 2021, and that was really fun for me because it was a new platform. Learning how to do short-form video was scary, but I just jumped in and figured it out. [I made] content about living in New York and became sort of a New York City influencer. [Then I started talking about] my job at Google and what it was like when we returned to the office, and how getting a career in big tech has influenced my life. Each of these niches has been basically just, like, what’s happening in my life. And so now, I’m moving into sharing more about the behind-the-scenes of starting a product line.”
Balancing three jobs: “I think a lot of Black women feel they have to do everything alone. I was doing that for a long time, where I was like, ‘I don't need help—I can do it myself.’ Eventually, after reading lots of books about successful people, [I recognized] they have help. And that actually helps them be more successful. So I started with outsourcing…I have a video editor for my YouTube videos, I have a manager for my brand deals, I have a social media assistant for my podcast, and I also have a podcast editor.”
In her toolkit: “A huge productivity hack is the second you realize you need to get something done, you have to write it down, or you’re not going to remember it. And that’s from someone with ADHD…I use my brain for thinking not for storage. And that’s what’s helped the most for that. So sitting down and assigning myself times to do things is important, starting with the non-negotiables, like working out and [doing] my morning routine. And additional things like, ‘Oh, I have to answer my trademark lawyer today,’ or ‘I need to finish this deck.’”
Starting a business: “I wanted to start [my business] because, as much as I love being a content creator and building a community, I know it does not have the longevity of a career that I think a lot of people want it to have. Since I work with creators at YouTube, I sort of see the life cycle, [and] if you’re lucky, it’s going to last 10 years. It’s more important to me to build something that outlives my personal relevance or interests.”
Building a personal brand: “I come from a very low-income background and a really chaotic upbringing. So getting to a place where I could go to a college like Northwestern University, I sort of put all of my self-worth and fulfillment in titles, prestige, and success. I realized at the end of college that I was deeply insecure, and I had no real self-confidence. I wasn’t happy even though I had it all…so it was important for me to build something that was mine outside of work—so I could feel a sense of fulfillment that I created on my own and that wasn’t attached to the name or the prestige of something.”—MW
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Creators, meet your perfect platform.
You’ve got a lot of knowledge and a lot of content. So it’s time to turn that know-how into scalable revenue with Teachable, the leading platform for creating, building, managing, and owning online courses.
Teachable is hosting a FREE virtual summit September 20–22, 2022, where you can learn how to create your best course from entrepreneurial experts across a variety of industries and get actionable intel about the happy mistakes and tough lessons that led them to success.
And the best part? The summit will be recorded. So if you can’t attend live, you can still get the videos sent to your inbox, but only if you register. Sign up today.
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off hours
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Alexanderlipko/Getty Images
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Your punch list for when you punch out.
Read: As Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling nears its highly anticipated premiere, the press tour has brought drama, drama, drama. For a full rundown of the movie’s messy rollout—from leaked texts to a possible spitting incident—give this dishy article a read.
Watch: Celebrate the life of Hollywood legend Sidney Poitier with this heartwarming documentary that features interviews with family, friends, and colleagues who knew him best. The Oprah-produced film hits Apple TV+ on September 23.
Drink: Espresso martinis are so last year, ya? This dirty chai martini is the perfect cocktail to transition from summer to fall, and it’ll definitely spice up your drink menu.
Street value: President Biden is canceling $10,000 of student debt, and there are a lot of opinions floating around about the impact student loan forgiveness will have. We took to the streets to find out what people are saying about it: tune in here.
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hot topic
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Andy Andrews/Getty Images
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Burning questions of our time.
The Gen Z way:
Gen Z babies (born from 1997 onward) are all grown up, and they’ve made quite a splash, huh? Things Gen Z employees like: remote working, “quiet quitting,” and mental health benefits in the workplace. Their expectations from employers include six-figure salaries, extensive PTO, and easy opportunities for upward mobility.
But some business leaders (like Whole Foods CEO John Mackey) think Gen Z needs to sit down and wait their turn. He recently said that 20-somethings need to earn the privilege of “meaningful work,” which means starting off working low-salary, low-impact jobs. But if we’re looking at Gen Z to lead in the near future, do employers have a responsibility to give them the tools we know contribute to success? Does Gen Z deserve higher salaries and better benefits right out of the gate, or do they need a reality check? Let us know your thoughts in the Inbox!—SS
And now, your thoughts on salary transparency:
“C-Suite employees should most definitely disclose their salaries. Their positions are no different than others. It will reveal if the person behind the role is really worthy of that salary, or if the role warrants it based on the responsibilities. And it gives other employees a target to strive for within their own careers. Money isn’t everything, while it is quite nice. But I wouldn’t want to be working 18-hour days and never have a moment’s peace for whatever salary is currently paid.”—Michele
“I think people should be *allowed* to share their compensation if they want to. [But] when you get to an extremely specialized job that belongs to only one person at a time—and those people can vary wildly from C-person to C-person (in terms of education, experience, ability, accomplishments)—there is little to be gained from forcing them to reveal their pay. That said, publicly traded companies are required to reveal that information in their annual reports, so if someone really wanted to know, they could find out.”—Natalie
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share sidekick
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