Morning Brew - ☀️ Hello Sunshine

Hiya, Sidekick readers. It’s not quite the weekend (sorry to remind you...you’re close), but to get you in the right mindset, here’s a sneak peek at ours: juicy beach reads, frozen tropical cocktails, and a Rummikub showdown. Hit reply, and let us know what you’ll be up to.

— Rachel Cantor, Maliah West 

Reese Witherspoon has come a long way from Harvard Law’s lecture halls. Founded on the mission of amplifying women’s voices, her media company, Hello Sunshine, is cashing in on a $900 million valuation by selling a majority stake to a new arm of the private equity megatron Blackstone. The to-be-named media venture is run by former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Fun fact: Mayer was the CEO of TikTok for a hot sec. 

In a CNBC interview about the deal, Witherspoon said: “We’re just doubling down on our mission. Now we’re going to have the ability to tell more stories, to hire more female filmmakers, to promote and lift up even more authors.” As Reese stans, we’re excited for this new chapter and to see women in Hollywood be taken more seriously, but there’s still a little voice in the back of our minds wondering…is she selling out?

CNBC reports that Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden will continue to oversee day-to-day operations. But if Hello Sunshine’s mission is to put women at the center of its stories, will the sale to a firm with a majority-male senior leadership team truly build on that mission?

We hope the deal isn’t just about money, and legitimately enables Reese & Co. to produce more female-led stories, hire more women, and represent more diverse voices. But it sucks that it's a Faustian bargain, in that Hello Sunshine will no longer be female-owned along the way. 

• We’re putting Goodreads on the bookshelf. The StoryGraph keeps spot-on book recs flowing using AI that analyzes the moods and themes of books you read. The app can also import all your Goodreads data, making the switch even easier. 
• August is National Black Business Month. Celebrate accordingly by supporting the brands in The Strategist’s or Beyoncé's directories of Black-owned businesses. We’re eyeing vintage finds from Blk Mkt Vintage and body butters from Hanahana Beauty.
• Another reason to love Fridays: mixologist @drezzyyy’s weekly drink recipe drop. We’ve been loving her pomegranate martini recipe this summer, and no, we don’t care that pomegranates aren’t in season.
• Ethel’s Club founder Naj Austin gave Apartment Therapy a peek into her cozy brownstone apartment, and it didn’t disappoint. A Versailles-sized 1,000 square feet (well, by NYC standards), the apartment’s antique wood and bright decor are #goals.
• American shoppers (not you) are kinda awful, even before Covid. Sadly, this in-depth look by The Atlantic shows that the poor treatment of service workers has only increased due to stress and labor shortages caused by the pandemic.

There’s a difference between being a “people person” and a relationship builder. While the former is a cliché phrase we all use in job interviews, the latter is a skill gained with time, practice, and embarrassing college pics used as blackmail (jkjk!). In a recent Founder’s Journal episode, Morning Brew Executive Chairman Alex Lieberman shared his playbook for building deeper, more meaningful relationships. 

His seven principles are less of a checklist and more of a guidepost to keep in the back of your mind. Two of his standout tips: 1) Don’t always come with an agenda, because it inhibits serendipity. And 2) the best way to accelerate relationships is to do the unexpected. Alex “uses the internet as surface area” for reaching out to people in a spontaneous way. Any time he reads something stellar online, he shares it with someone who will appreciate it. Smart, right? 

For more pages out of his playbook, tune into the pod. 

Beat the Beer Bloat 

We’ve been there, you’ve been there: rolling out of bed the morning after you downed a few brews, feeling like you turned into a spiky puffer fish overnight. Beer bloat is no joke—so try JuneShine for a refreshing alternative. 

JuneShine is a better-for-you alcohol that gives you a lighter, brighter buzz, so you don’t feel like a helium balloon after five bowls of mac and cheese. 

JuneShine is made only from clean, organic ingredients, and has just three grams of sugar. Plus, it’s low-carb, gluten-free, and full of probiotics. So it’s better for you than some other beverages...we won’t say which, but it rhymes with “lard leltzers.”

JuneShine goes down nice and smooth, making it an ideal bev for outdoor concerts, picnics...or just enjoying the A/C.

Close out summer deliciously with JuneShine. 

Three products for the perfect work from home day:

• August usually isn’t the best time to start a new planner, but it’s just fine to dive into an undated Productivity Planner. It limits your daily to-dos to just five tasks, making it easier to focus on what’s important.
• Work from the couch in the morning, the kitchen for lunch, and your bed ’til 5 (we won’t tell) with this wheeled laptop desk cart. It’s a must-have for giving your coworkers a Zoom house tour.
• Sharpie S-Gel Pens will bring your pen game to the next level with writing that feels as smooth as butter.