Tips For Handling Fear And Change | Former Alex And Ani Billionaire Carolyn Rafaelian’s Fall | Women Are Getting Out The Vote | And More

Plus: how to get a second passport and live abroad

This past summer, we marked the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote (but which functionally only helped white women until the Voting Rights Act of 1965). In just five days, women’s votes—our votes—will be crucial in the 2020 presidential election.

Throughout Forbes.com we have information on how to vote safely, why it’s now a better idea to use a ballot drop box than the mail for absentee ballots, and how voting can be an antidote to the helplessness so many of us have felt during this pandemic. We also have some terrific profiles and interviews with women who have been at the center of get-out-the-vote efforts, like Meena Harris, children’s book author and the founder of the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, and I Am A Voter founder Mandana Dayani. 

“I don’t think our system is perfect, but it’s the system that we have, and we need to work within the system that we have so we can continue to improve it,” Dayani told ForbesWomen contributor Gabby Shacknai about her nonpartisan voting organization. “Decisions will be made by those who show up.”

Cheers to that—and cheers to voting!

Maggie

P.S.: My favorite advice on the site this week comes from tennis champion Venus Williams: “It’s okay to be afraid, but it’s not okay to let it ruin your decision-making process,” she says. It’s advice she has specifically for small business owners, but I think it’s something we all could do with hearing!

ICYMI: Stories From The Week

Gail Miller, the billionaire businesswoman who oversees the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies (LHM Group), agreed Wednesday to sell a majority stake in her NBA team, the Utah Jazz, $1.66 billion.

Nasdaq appointed controller and Chief Accounting Officer Ann Dennison as its new CFO, effective March 1, 202--at which point Nasdaq will become just the fifth S&P 500 company to have women helming the CFO and CEO roles. 

With VC funding for female founders at a three-year low, Female Founders Fund founding partner Anu Duggal talks about what it’s like to source deals during the age of Covid.

A new study found that self-employed women are at higher risk of mental illness due to gender obstacles and isolation; it also found that gender-based barriers not only affected female entrepreneurs' mental health but added pressure to their work and impeded their success.

Under 30 alum Jasmine Jones just raised $1.2 million for her company, Cherry Blossom Intimates, which sells custom 3-D-printed silicone prosthetics and bras for breast cancer survivors in more than 200 sizes and lingerie. 

Amy Coney Barrett was approved to be an associate justice on the Supreme Court in a 52-48 vote that ended Monday evening. With pro-choice advocates saying Barrett is a serious threat to abortion access, Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill Johnson spoke to Forbes contributor Jo Yurcaba about what would happen if Roe v. Wade is gutted.

Check List

#1: Give up on inbox zero. If you spend more time organizing your inbox than working on more pressing matters, you’re engaging in a fancy form of procrastination. Limiting inbox maintenance to once-a-week can help you maximize your productivity in other areas.

#2: Plant a garden. If you’re looking to get a better handle on your fear and anxiety, channel your energy into sources of constancy that can be controlled--specifically, things or activities. that do not rely on anyone else.

#3: Avoid lifestyle creep. Lifestyle creep is when you increase your spending on stuff as your income increases, rather than investing that extra income. Here’s how to prioritize your savings.

Across Forbes