I'm keeping the note short this week as I'm currently attending an off-site with my Tory Burch Fellowship cohort. The fellowship started last year and we've been meeting virtually for months as the women in the cohort are located all across the country. So I'm super excited to meet everyone in person this week! I'll share some photos and more info. about the fellowship below. If anyone's interested in applying to the fellowship, please feel free to reply here and I'd be happy to set up some time to share about my experience. (I believe the next fellowship application opens Fall 2024.)
I am not a morning person and contrary to what most people think, I am deeply introverted, so yesterday's full day of programming really took a toll by the time we ended for a much needed break before dinner! But all that said, it was so nice to finally chat 1:1 with all the lovely women in this year's cohort. We started the morning by hearing from Tory Burch herself, who just this week, was named one of Time's most influential women in 2024, as well as from Tiffany Dufu, who was recently named President of the Tory Burch Foundation.
This week's offsite reinforced something that I always share with aspiring founders and entrepreneurs - the importance of surrounding yourself with like-minded women founders who are on similar journeys. Being a founder is incredibly lonely and only fellow founders can truly empathize with the non-linear path, sacrifices, and the emotional rollercoaster that is founder life.
Transparently, I was hesitant to take on another accelerator program as I'm a big believer that organizations simply need to “cut the check” to women founders vs. putting them through a grueling program, covering topics that most founders have already tackled firsthand. But I think the key differentiator in this program is how tailored and invested the Foundation staff are around the success of you and your business. The team has truly gone above and beyond to ensure our needs and concerns have been addressed and are always readily available to provide advice and guidance.
If you're looking to apply for next year's fellowship, I'd be more than happy to chat about my experience, so just hit reply to this email and we can set up some time to chat!
Extremely grateful for this incredible community. ✨
A long read that follows the story of Jane Willenbring, a geomorphologist and professor of geology, who exposes a geologist for sexual assault and harassment, nearly two decades after the incidents, mainly inspired by the #MeToo movement. Soon after, many other woman have come forward with similar stories of harassment during research stints in Antartica.
For those of us who have worked in male-dominated spaces and industries, we know all to well, the extent in which our stories are suppressed and hidden from public view and knowledge. While Willenbring's stories took place nearly twenty years ago, I was astounded to read the following quote from the article:
At the end of 2023, a leaked survey of women in the Australian Antarctic program showed that nearly one-third of survey respondents reported seeing or experiencing bullying or harassment in the previous two months but felt afraid to speak up about it. “The reason why women don’t want to talk,” Nash says, “is because they’ve been gaslit this whole time, where everyone’s saying, ‘It didn’t happen. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t believe you.’”
The founder, Tracey Hicks-Kearse, is a chemical engineer and formulated her products with the microbiome in mind. I bought a bottle a few months ago and have been religiously using it. It includes Kalahari Melon oil which is known for clearing skin congestion and keeping your skin glowing. My fave! 🔑
Y'all. This is a wild, dark comedic series based on the true story of Richard Gadd, who created and stars as the lead actor. The series follows the story of Donny, a bartender and comedian, who is dealing with the impact of sexual abuse and subsequent trauma.
His life is turned upside down when a woman walks into the bar where he works and begins to stalk to him for a period of five years. Some more background on Richard Gadd and the series in this profile by Vanity Fair. Has anyone watched the series? Let me know what you think! 👀
