#50: On BS, hidden brand stories, wolves, pressure, and emojis…
Let’s celebrate a milestone, together.
This is newsletter #50, huzzah, and you’re one of hundreds of people who have joined since June of 2016, when I started this chapter of my professional life. Welcome, thank you for being here, for sending me your links, and confessing that you read this over a cup of coffee in bed on Saturday mornings (in your underwear.)
This has become not only a way of sharing what I'm up to, but the chance to elevate important stories that matter to me.
Buckle up, because the next 50 will adhere to the following mantra:
In special edition #50 of the World's Best Newsletter:
1. Put your money where your emoji is
2. Boston Content Career Night
3. When you can't throw all men into the sea...
4. The power of calling bullshit
5. The hidden counterstories that undermine your brand
6. When stakes are high, who is your money on?
7. Quote of the week: The wolves are never as vicious...
Veterans Day: The original intent of Veterans Day, established in the wake of World War I, was to celebrate world peace. Then the wars never ended, so Veterans Day changed. Thank you veterans.
1. Put your money where your emoji is
See a Facebook post that filled you with sadness or outrage? Of course you did, it's 2017.
Some thoughtful advertising friends in NYC made a new Chrome extension that lets you donate to a nonprofit directly helping the problem. The Emoji Reaction Project, is soo much better than emojis and "thoughts and prayers."
Kudos, Rachel and co!
2. Boston Content Career Night
I have the best volunteer leadership team at Boston Content. Really amazing people, including my fearless co-exec director Katelyn.
As you plan your career for the new year, consider joining us November 28th for Boston Content Career Night!
We'll have professional development resources (like certifications + other skills) as well as companies hiring marketing and content talent. Tickets here (ping me for a discount code, or to grab a table if you're hiring.)
3. When you can't throw all men into the sea...
Wow, this article shared by Laura Fitton (H/T) is poignant.
Gender is learned, and taught, and therefore malleable.
"We have to face up to the fact that from the moment we get that sonogram and a doctor points to an imperceptible squiggly thing and says that it’s a penis, we start indoctrinating our assigned male children with massive amounts of toxic masculinity. We hand them toy guns and tell them not to cry and define their success through life by how well they can dominate others. We make countless movies where their only “romantic” goal is to find a way to get a woman who does not want them to sleep with them anyway. We show them image after image of men in nice suits, cigar in hand, a dead-eyed beauty draped on each arm and say, “This is what you should strive for. This is victory."
4. The power of calling bullshit
I am a bullshit artist. I get it from my father. I wield the powers sparingly, with respect to the art, and consciously. (Or maybe this is just BS too and we are stuck in a loop of BS inception.)
What I know is that the golden rule of being a bullshit artist, is that you can't bullshit a bullshit artist.
Just don't do it. Don't even try.
That's like trying to convince a Michelin star chef that your soup-in-a-can is homemade.
(Right, Sara?)
It's one reason I loved this FastCo piece "What Happened When I Spent A Week Calling People Out On Their B.S." BS plays a role in our lives - but when you can break the cycle we see every day, you take back its power, and the world is a slightly more authentic place, if only for a minute.
5. The hidden counterstories that undermine your brand
This is a great piece by Jasmine Bina about brand strategy. Some gems:
"Defining yourself as 'not the other' will always tie you to whatever that 'other' is."
"Better is actually worse. Different is what matters."
"People don’t want to know you can fix their problem. They want to know who they can become with your product."
"Create the story that you actually mean to tell."
6. When stakes are high, who is your money on?
The answer should be: HER.
"In analyzing more than 8,200 games from Grand Slam tennis matches, Alex Krumer of the University of St. Gallen and his colleagues found that the male players’ performance showed a larger drop in high-stakes games (relative to low-stakes games) than the female players’ performance did. Their conclusion: Women respond better than men to competitive pressure."
Bahahaha. Enough said.
Source: Harvard Business Review, Women Respond Better Than Men to Competitive Pressure
7. Quote of the week: The wolves are never as vicious...
As I reflect a bit on the past year and a half freelancing, I'm reminded of the first post I ever shared that went viral on LinkedIn for honestly describing the feeling of leaving a "real job" to freelance. Since then I've discovered a variety of inspiring voices to help make sense of this professional life, one of which is undoubtedly Ash Ambirge.
If you're someone who's toying with the idea of going solo, starting something, or taking any kind of real risk, please read her recent post:
"Stop waiting to “be ready.” Or “have your ducks in a row.” Or until the baby is born, or the house is built, or the kids go to college, or until you “have more time.” More time is a myth. Good intentions are an illusion. Your actions are the only truth you’ve got.
Don’t overthink it.
You’ll figure it out as you go.
You always do.
The wolves are never as vicious once you discover they’re actually Golden Retrievers."
Here's the first gif I sent 50 newsletters ago, and here's to the next 50!
Best,
Katie
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xoxo to those of you who continue to grow awareness of this weekly inbox party. I see you.