Swiss food giant Nestlé said Monday it dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate.The maker of Nescafé drinks and Purina pet food said in a statement the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found the undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate violated Nestlé’s code of conduct.Freixe, who had been CEO for a year, will be replaced by Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive.“This was a necessary decision,” said Chairman Paul Bulcke. “Nestlé’s values and governance are strong foundations of our company.”The company didn’t give any other details about the investigation.Freixe had been with Nestlé since 1986, holding roles around the world. When Nestlé revamped its geographic structure in January 2022, Freixe became CEO of Zone Latin America. In August 2024, he was tapped to replace then-CEO Mark Schneider in the top role, and started Sept. 1, 2024.Navratil started his career with Nestlé in 2001 as an internal auditor and served in a variety of roles in Central America. In 2020, he joined Nestlé’s Coffee Strategic Business Unit, and in 2024, he became CEO of Nestlé’s Nespresso division.It’s the latest in a string of personnel changes for the company. In June, Bulcke, a former CEO who has been chairman of the board since 2017, said he wouldn’t stand for reelection in 2026. And in April, Steve Presley, an executive vice president and CEO of Zone Americas, said he was retiring after almost 30 years of service.Based in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé has been facing headwinds like other food makers, including rising commodity costs and the negative impact of tariffs. It said in July it offset higher coffee and cocoa-related costs with price increases.
Associated Press
Klarna Group, the Swedish fintech startup known for its popular buy now, pay later services, has reveled the target share price for its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).
In a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company said it plans to offer roughly 34.3 million ordinary shares at a price ranging between $35 and $37, raising as much as $1.27 billion in an offering led by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley.
The IPO has been a long time coming. Klarna had been one of big winners of the early pandemic era’s online shopping boom, reportedly reaching a peak valuation of $45.6 billion in 2021, only to see that figure significantly reduced after stay-at-home restrictions were lifted and the world opened back up again.
At its current target price, the company would have a valuation of roughly $14 billion, Reuters reports.
Klarna intends to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol KLAR. No listing date was mentioned in the filing. A spokesperson for Klarna declined to comment.
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High-profile tech IPOs are a thing this year
Earlier this year, Klarna reportedly put its IPO on hold in the wake of economic uncertainty brought on by President Trump’s tariff regime.
But since then, a number of well-known tech companies have gone public with marked success, including stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group, design software startup Figma, and crypto exchange Bullish.
Despite those and other listings making headlines over the last few months, the global tech IPO market has remained muted. Proceeds from tech IPOs generated $6.3 billion in the second quarter of 2025, compared to $34.9 billion for the same period in 2021, according to data from CB Insights.
Founded in 2005, Klarna said it generated revenue of $2.8 billion last year, eking out a net profit of $21 million. That’s compared to revenue of $2.3 billion and a net loss of $244 million the year before.
This story is developing…
A new startup called Ridley wants to make it cheaper to sell a home by challenging the traditional real estate commission model.
Founder and CEO Mike Chambers says he started Ridley after trying to sell his house earlier this year in a desirable Boulder, Colorado, neighborhood. Frustrated by the lack of agents offering what he considered fair rates, he documented the process of marketing the home himself in a series of viral Instagram videos under the handle @realtorshateme, regularly taking shots at the industry.
“The story was picked up by the press,” he says. “We really had tapped into what I would argue is this sort of underlying sentiment that a lot of consumers are feeling right now, that this process of buying and selling homes is antiquated and somewhat broken.”
Once the house was under contract, Chambers began promoting the business idea that became Ridley. Launched in July, the platform lets sellers pay a flat fee for access to an AI-guided checklist of steps and paperwork, pricing guidance, a listing page, yard sign, and distribution to Zillow.
[Image: Ridley]
Through a partnership with Thumbtack, sellers can also book stagers or photographers, and Ridley connects users with lawyers, either at a $1,200 package rate or hourly. “We’re trying to unbundle this commission modelthis sort of traditional modeland give people the freedom and the choice to choose which aspects of the process they want help with,” says Chambers.
Traditionally, U.S. real estate commissions have ranged from 5% to 6%, typically paid by the seller and split between agents. While a recent court settlement has nominally introduced more flexibility, buyers and sellers havent yet seen dramatic shifts in practice.
So far, Ridley has logged more than $150 million in listings, growing by several million dollars daily, Chambers says. Closed sales have saved users an average of $25,000 in commissions, with one seller saving as much as $135,000. Most users, he adds, have sold at least one home before.
Pricing and plan details vary from state to state, based in part on differing regulations. In its home state of Colorado, for example, the company offers a $2,999 plan that includes the assistance of a licensed real estate brokerincluding listing via the multiple listing service (MLS) database accessible to buyers’ agents. Despite Chambers’ public comments on the real estate industry, he says the company has a waitlist of more than 1,000 Colorado agents looking to work with Ridley clients, thanks in part to frustrations many have with traditional industry practices.
Ambierre Rediger, a Denver-area agent who has begun working with Ridley users, says they tend to be slightly more informed about prices and market conditions, but the core of her job is the same. “I’m offering them a similar sort of agent relationship that they would have with anybody,” she says.
In other states, Ridley offers an “essentials plan” for $999 without an agent. Its AI collects property details to generate pricing analyses Chambers says are more accurate than generic online estimates. “Our model is able to provide you with a detailed pricing analysis that gives you a step-by-step breakdown on a bunch of different pricing scenarios and how you might want to go to market,” he says. The AI can also guide users through sale stages and explain industry terms.
Entrepreneur Bradd Fisher used Ridley to sell a home in Yorba Linda, California, after finding Chambers videos. He says Ridleys price estimate was closer to the final sale price than one provided by a human appraiser, and he was satisfied with the attorney he hired through the platform. Fisher handled other tasks himself, like shooting a property video, working with his photographer son, and hosting his own open house.
“We closed in 30 days, and I can say legit, with not one single hiccup, no problems at all,” Fisher says.
Chambers says Ridley plans to add buyer services in the future. The company already offers “Buyer Alerts,” which notify buyers of new or off-market listings. But focusing on sellers, who traditionally pay both commissions, was the logical place to start, he says.
The company, which is in the process of raising a seed round, is likely to add additional options to work with human real estate brokers in more states, even as its AI may gain more abilities to automate parts of the process like pricing or vendor selection. “We’re trying to make this really complicated process as simple and easy to navigate as possible for sellers,” Chambers says. “And I think that’s a really critical component here.”
For more than a decade, social platforms have faced criticism for embedding algorithms that fuel compulsive behaviors, encourage doomscrolling, and measure success by time spent glued to screens. Pinterest, long positioned as a calmer alternative, is now attempting something bolder: reimagining personalization through AI.
Chief technology officer Matt Madrigal calls this shift moving from addictive to additive, using algorithms as tools to help people design the digital worlds they want.
Unlike other platforms, Pinterests algorithms arent designed to keep users hooked, which can lead to feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and distracted, he tells Fast Company. Our taste graph serves as the foundation of our AI systems and enables our recommendations to deliver highly personalized experiences. It maps hundreds of billions of unique interactions that connect interests, goals, and behaviors to help users cut through the noise.
Madrigal, who once led Google Shoppings merchant products, now guides Pinterests foundation AI models with a philosophy that values respect as much as relevance. AI is at its best when it serves real human needs rather than just optimizing for clicks or transactions, he says. During my time at Google, I also saw how frictionless commerce could empower shoppers and brands. At Pinterest, our AI strategy isnt just about personalization for relevance, its also about serendipity.
Pinterests multimodal discovery system powers visual search that Madrigal says is 30% more effective than leading off-the-shelf models. Its Inclusive AI features allow beauty and fashion searches to be refined by hair pattern, skin tone, and body type.
The philosophy shows up in product choices, too. Pinterest has added AI-generated content labels, a show fewer AI Pins toggle, and an option to opt out of having activity used to train models. We reject the false dilemma that maximizing AI innovation means sacrificing responsible development, says Madrigal.
While rivals face scrutiny for algorithmic harms, Pinterest is betting that transparency and user control can be a competitive edge.
[Photo: Pinterest]
The Responsible Approach in the AI Arms Race
Meta is embedding AI deeper into Instagram and Facebook; TikTok is sharpening recommendations and expanding commerce; YouTube relies on AI to drive stickier engagement. Pinterests 2025 rollout takes a different tack, emphasizing responsibility as much as personalization.
New tools include Personalized Background Generation, which transforms plain product images into lifestyle-ready visuals tailored to a users aesthetic, and Performance+, an automation suite that reduces friction for marketers by optimizing ads with fewer inputs.
Madrigal points to Pradas leather goods campaign as an example: a 64% decrease in cost per action and a 30% conversion rate lift. He says these ad tools have helped fuel a 19% year-over-year revenue increase to more than $3 billion.
The most visible change is the AI-generated content label. Pins created or edited with generative AI now carry clear tags, embodying what Madrigal calls AI with guardrails.
There is a demand from users and creators for more transparency and control over the generative AI content they see, he explains. AI is instrumental in enhancing both user engagement and monetization. Ultimately, embedding positivity within our business model has proven successful.
[Photo: Pinterest]
Can AI Balance Engagement and Responsibility?
Pinterests latest earnings highlight both traction and tension. In Q2 2025, revenue hit $998 million and monthly active users rose to 578 million, driven largely by international growth and Gen Z adoption. Yet Wall Street shruggedshares fell more than 12%, slipping into the $35$36 range, even as revenue topped expectations. Since November 2024, the company has also repurchased nearly 10 million shares.
Commercial pressure, experts warn, often favors stickiness over restraint.
History has shown that publicly traded companies often are forced to optimize for shareholder value, and for shareholder value, they need to make the most revenue and the most profits. This directly correlates to engagement, so they do create loops that get the most engagement, Ajit Varma, VP of product for Firefox at Mozilla, tells Fast Company. But as there are choices and people are preferring those choices, there will always be a future where AI is serving humanity versus serving the profit interests of companies.
That tension exposes the limits of an advertising-first playbook. Varma argues that users should be able to vote with their choicesopting for systems that reflect their values, whether open-source, transparent, or safety-first. Ultimately, its up to users to demonstrate that they value these alternatives by choosing and using products built on different models.
Pinterests challenge isnt only delivering on that vision; its proving to users and investors that additive AI can rival addictive AI. If its 2025 playbook succeeds, it could set a precedent that real power lies in generative systems that enhance creativity while respecting boundaries.
I envision a platfom that deeply understands not only what users search for, but the context behind their interests, aspirations and moods. AI will be the engine, but inspiration and positivity will remain our North Star, says Madrigal. Across various teams, were working on creating new AI solutions that power the entire end-to-end user experience and were bringing in top talent to help make it happen.
The New York Times made $455 million in profit last year. Unfortunately, that was not quite enough to save its award-winning kids section. On Sunday, the New York Times for Kids released its final monthly insertits last issue after eight years and nearly 100 issues of publishing.
Its staff, which had been quietly reduced from roughly a dozen people to half that over the years, have received new positions inside the company. An insider says the shift is a way of investing more resources into New York Times Magazine (which Kids fell under), as the publication plans to have a more significant digital presence.
We have new priorities now that force us to make some tough decisions about where to commit resources,” says New York Times Magazine editor-in-chief Jake Silverstein.
But the decision to kill a rare, analog piece of publishingin an era when parents are looking for resources for their children to unplugseems remarkably short-sighted.
August 2025. Illustration by Zohar Lazar. [Image: courtesy The New York Times]
Building The New York Times for Kids
In 2016, Caitlin Roper found herself in the newsroom face-to-face with a tough critic. Hed just listened to her lineup for the Times new Kids section she was planning. It wouldnt talk down to children, she explained. It would have international news, how-tos, and stories about style. But it would also be delightful, with rich magazine illustrations blown up to the poster-scale of a newspaper broadsheet.
Her critic wasnt some grizzled editor with red ink-stained fingers. It was the 13-year-old son of a colleague. Upon hearing the full lineup of inaugural stories, he said, solemnly, You should have a story about slime.
May 2017. Illustration by Kelsey Dake. [Image: courtesy The New York Times]
Roper knew he was right. Slime would get really big. And the young man scored his first writing assignment.
That wasn’t the point of a kids sectionto create a place in the Times to publish childrenbut [it was a goal to] have kids voices in every issue and story, says Roper. For a story about flooding, wed interview young people affected by the flood.
Its just one example of how Roperwho co-founded the section alongside illustrator Deborah Bishopand her team were solving some of the biggest shortcomings of children’s publishing.
April 2023. Illustration by Super Frank. [Image: courtesy The New York Times]
Creative leeway
Roper came from Wired. Bishop had done a stint at Martha Stewart Magazine, and Martha Stewart Kids. They knew that quality childrens publications were few and far between. These magazines are often designed less for kids than they are for adults. In some cases, that means they become superficial art projects that lack any substance. In others, they are insultingly pedantic.
Feb 2023. Illustration by Armando Veve. [Image: courtesy The New York Times]
People who don’t understand design dont get that, but you can talk down visuallyand frankly thats what I hated about kids magazines, says Roper, describing a tropeish language of photos and starburst graphics. Heres a naked mole rat! It has 763 wrinkles! And thats the whole story.
Roper and Bishop were given significant latitude from Silverstein. His brief to me wasits not a magazine. And its not a newspaper. Youre somewhere right in the middle, recalls Bishop. It was a great idea because, right off the mark, we were innovatingand much less siloed than the newspaper.
March 2025. Illustration by Armando Veve. [Image: courtesy The New York Times]
As Bishop explains, the canvas of the full newspaper offered her incredible scalethe front page was an illustration the size of a poster. (And in the case of the body issue, the edition featured a full panel eight fold out, so kids could place a huge anatomical model on their wall.) The penchant for illustration was creative, but also respectful of budgets. Illustrators tend to be cheaper to hire than photographers.
Up top, each cover set the tone by heading the papers classic logo. Sometimes the logo might be presented stoically, other times, covered in popcorn or dripping with goo. In all cases, designers added a cheeky for kids (this add-on might be held by an octopus), as part of an implied irreverence meant to channel hints of MAD Magazine and old monster cards.
March 2024. Illustration by Jimi Biscuits. [Image: courtesy The New York Times]
I think thats exactly what it needed for smart kids, says Bishop. Then inside, the story selection matched its amusing but intellectual ambitions.
In one editioncelebrating the battle of cats vs dogsit featured a cat cover and cat stories. But flip the paper over, and it featured a dog cover and dog stories. Stories of scientific research essentially met in a fight in the middle. Even though the style was joyous, and often animal-filled (kids love animals), the Timess own journalists still penned stories for children on topics like blockchain and January 6. It featured an interview with two children who survived a school shooting.
Theres so much visual delight in the section but also not a fear of engaging with real stories, says Roper.
Oct 2021. Artwork by Mark Ryden. [Image: courtesy The New York Times]
The strategy
New York Times for Kids first launched as a one-off issue, a gift for subscribers to the print edition of the Times. After a lauded reception, it became a monthly product.
Part of the idea was, could we do more innovation in print? Roper recalls. It followed a string of experiments from the Times like a cardboard AR headset made with Google, and other one-off projects like a quiz-filled Puzzlemania. But while excellent as a value-add for print subscribers, theres no doubt that in 2016, publishing more stuff in analog form didnt exactly feel like the future in a world trending toward video and social media.
Oct 2024. Illustration by Travis Louie. [Image: courtesy The New York Times]
Over the years, the Times explored how its Kids section might scale. Could it sell subscriptions directly to schools? It also worked on its own digitization. The section built a successful Instagram page, and it also spent around two years creating a full New York for Times for Kids app, similar to how it built standalone apps for Cooking and Games.
June 2019. Illustration by Alëna Skarina. [Image: courtesy The New York Times]
The paper at large has remained ahead of the curve in part through its deep investments into digital platformsit just launched a fully overhauled app last year. The Kids app envisioned how-tos and weekly activities for families, but the project was shut down as the Times prioritized other projects.
The Kids staff was alerted just last month that the section would fold, and the general response has been a feeling of abandonment from the greater Times machine. A team of journalists created a beloved product that was never fully promoted by the Times to fulfill an expanded reach or monetization.
April 2024. Illustratio by Katharina Kulenkampff [Image: courtesy The New York Times]
A new era
Its no secret that journalism is struggling. The last 20 years has represented a mass extinction event for publishers as the tech industry has stolen the publics attention and gamified engagement at the expense of truth. Since 2002, 75% of local journalists have been wiped out in this transition.
But the big have still gotten bigger in this environment. Companies like the NYT are among the only remaining power brokers in legacy mediathose with the growing subscription revenue that can weather the storms of fickle algorithms and afford to publish culturally valuable projects, even if individually some of them may appear to operate at a loss.
[Image: courtesy The New York Times]
The company claims that it will pursue “other opportunities to serve younger audiences in the future.” But the New York Times for Kids was a love letter to the craft of analog publishing. It was a gateway to getting children interested in the greater world. And it was, quite simply, quality media for a demographic thats already losing PBS and will otherwise learn about the world through social feeds.
There was and is a market for the New York Times for KidsI say as a parent with two kids Im working to keep interested in a world beyond screens. It just seems that pursuing this market wasnt worth the trouble of a highly profitable publicly traded corporation.
The current slogan of the NYT is, “It’s your world to understand.” For children, perhaps I might suggest the modifier, “on your own.”
This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.
AI assistants are surprisingly conservative by default. Push them to be unconventional, and youll get dramatically different results. This updated guide shares my favorite techniques for getting fresh, useful responses instead of predictable pablum.
The prompts below push ChatGPT, Claude, or whatever other AI tool you prefer to break its conventional patterns, progressing from bland to provocative. The payoff: your AI assistant becomes a creative crane, helping you reach in new directions. Rather than serving as a generic answer machine, your queries can point you toward unexpected angles and radical insights.
A strange, playful AI assistant pushing me to be odder and more creative. Image imagined by me. [Photo: Jeremy Caplan/ChatGPTs Sketchy GPT]
5 ways to push AI to be bold
Add weird constraints. Force creative breakthroughs by setting up artificial limitations.
Example: Help me explain [X] using words a 12-year-old would understand, but make it engaging enough for experts in the field.
Channel historical problem-solvers. How might figures who made their mark on the past manage my little strategic query.
Example: If Maya Angelou were mediating this team conflict, what questions would she ask that no one else is considering?
Insist on strange cross-pollination. Require the borrowing of concepts, frameworks, or terminology from vastly different domains.
Example: Analyze my [business / creative project] through the lens of marine biology. What patterns or ecosystem principles could apply here?
Apply disaster movie logic. Push an AI assistant to consider a workplace problem with the urgency of a crisis scenario to explore unconventional ways to quickly address a slow-moving issue.
Example: This team project has 48 hours before catastrophic failure. What unconventional resources could we deploy? What rules would we break to succeed?
Embrace absurd analogies. Challenge the AI to reply in terms that may seem silly at first, but may yield unexpected clarity.
Example: To help me simplify the most confusing aspect of my presentation, explain my fundraising strategy [X] as if it were a board game instruction manual.
I prompted Googles Veo 3 to convert ChatGPTs static image into a video, then converted it into a Gif. [Gif: Jeremy Caplan]
Give me strange and surprising feedback
When Im in a creative rut, I paste in a section of writing and prompt AI to be bold and unconventional:
Point out blindspots. Spotlight what others with radically different perspectives might find problematic if they were to read this with a critical eye. Offer a list of unconventional suggestions for addressing these issues.
Offer 5 surprising, bold suggestions for specific ways to improve the following piece of writing. Along with each suggestion, include a detailed, creative explanation with your rationale.
Act as an unpredictable, brilliant writing coach who offers strange, quirky, creative suggestions. Provide specific, granular input.
Detail novel topic ideas or peculiarly provocative questions I could answer to help me disrupt the conventionality or predictability of the following outline I’ve begun.
10 odd AI prompts to get radically new results
What are 3 quirky, unusual analogies to explain [your phenomenon of interest]. See my ChatGPT example prompt and result.
Propose 5 questions a reader would be surprised to find answered on [your topic X]. See my ChatGPT example.
Who are 7 surprising, odd historical figures to cite as examples of [X]. For each individual include a detailed explanation. See my Perplexity example.
[Photo: Jeremy Caplan]
What rarely discussed, counterintuitive insights on the subject of [X] might startle readers accustomed to bland observations? See my Gemini example.
Give me 5 lively, colorful, unusual words to use in a description of [X]? See my Microsoft Copilot example.
Provide 3 extreme, surprising examples of [X] or silly, ridiculous instances.
Share 5 counterintuitive ways to address situation [X]. See my Grok example
Imagine I shocked people with a one sentence answer to the following question: [X]. Give me 10 versions of that one-sentence reply. See my Jan AI example.
I have [X challenge] in [Y situation]. Assume I want to surprise people with a wildly creative solution. Describe three solutions that would stun people while addressing the root of the issue.
For a syllabus Im creating on [X], imagine seven radically different people teaching the same course. Provide three bullet points representing each teacher, explaining the surprising and distinct learning outcomes each would aim for in their version of the class.
How to get started with provocative prompts
Step 1: Pick an AI chat tool to experiment with: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Microsoft Copilot.
Step 2: Initiate a new chat by typing in a role for the AI to adopt for the prompt youre going to give it. For example: Act as a bold, experienced, expert who provides distinctive, unusual perspectives to push my thinking in creative new directions.
Step 3: Adapt one of the unusual AI prompt templates above to fit your context.
Step 4: Follow-up. After the initial response, iterate. Steer the dialogue in a direction of interest. Ask for even more radical suggestions. AI assistants excel at generating lots and lots of ideas, out of which its easier to find one good one.
Step 5. Set up a project (Optional). To create an ongoing space where you get bold, unconventional responses, set up a Claude Project or ChatGPT Project with instructions, and prior examples. Note: both require paid plans. A free alternative: train a bold bot on Poe.
Asking for imaginative, radical responses rather than simple summaries, answers, or email drafts can turn AI assistants into sources of valuable creative sparks. [Photo: Jeremy Caplan/ChatGPT 5]
Create a bold, unexpected image
Push AI image generators beyond generic visuals by setting aside conventional prompt formulas. Experiment instead with abstractions, and by using terms like unexpected, shocking, bizarre, remarkable, and unique.
Challenge spatial reality. Push AI to create images that wouldnt exist in our ordinary surroundings by mixing up impossible perspectives, defying physics, or blending incompatible scales.
Tip: Prompt for wide images. Those work better than square images in newsletters, blog posts and other wide-format pages. In Ideogram, you can specify a 16×9, 2×1 or 3×1 (my preference) dimension.
Asking for a strange, bold, surprising image gets you unusual results. [Photo: Jeremy Caplan/ChatGPTs Sketchy GPT]
p>This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.
Black Business Month just passed and if Im being honest, it feels much different from previous yearsand not in a good way. I noticed fewer in-person celebrations, fewer marketing campaigns and social media posts championing the impact that Black businesses have had on America, and utter silence from those who once rallied unrelenting support behind BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and underrepresented founders.
These changes felt like they happened almost overnight when President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), claiming that it fosters illegal preferences and discrimination. Once this happened, DEI officially became a slur and weaponized, which caused thousands of companies to walk back on the commitments that were made.
Rolling back DEI
So how have Black-owned businesses fared in 2025 because of these swift policy changes? Not great. One of the main issues that we just cant seem to shake is that when most people think of DEI, they automatically associate it with being Black or having to do solely with race. They may not even recognize that theyre doing this, but they are. This limited viewpoint and lack of understanding around what DEI is and isnt, caused many companies to react in fear and pull back investments and other resources that Black businesses relied on to operate and scale. From Google to Target weve seen brands publicly declare that they are rolling back any and all DEI initiatives. As this is all going on, much (if not all) of the Black community has been devastated by whats happening. There have been prominent Black-owned businesses shutting down that we never saw coming, and Black founders sharing their challenges amidst DEI rollbacks. Not to mention its recently been reported from last months dismal jobs report that unemployment amongst Black Americans is at an all-time high.
Multiple challenges
The many challenges that prevent Black-owned businesses from reaching their full potential are no secret. As Black founders, we are often left out of the equation. We face unfair roadblocks in landing new clients, we are overlooked and hardly celebrated for our achievements, and the process for securing VC funding to help make our dreams a reality is atrocious. According to Crunchbase data, venture capital for Black entrepreneurs dropped a staggering 71% compared to last year, amounting to less than 1% of the overall dollars invested.
Black entrepreneurs were already on the chopping block, and now with the current climate, its becoming even more difficult to scale or make a lasting impact. Many of us and other groups of people feel under attack as those in the federal government are trying their hardest to erase our legacies. This has made my work more crucial than ever before. Since I started my PR agency, my mission has always been to get Black and BIPOC founders the awareness, press, and attention they deserve. In 2025 it has only intensified.
Keeping a Legacy Alive
As a descendant of Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Month who gave Black voices a platform when no one else did, my business continues to keep that legacy alive. Brennan Nevada to this day is the only New York-based Black, female-owned PR agency for tech companies, startups, and VCs. Over 90% of my clients are Black businesses, and despite DEI backlash, Ive experienced rapid growth and expansion representing some of the largest Black and minority-owned businesses and founders in the world. Ive had the privilege of speaking to, listening to, and working with dozens of Black founders this year throughout their hardship and one thing is clear: They are eager to tell their truths and leverage PR and earned media to do so.
The power of stories
Why this sudden surge in interest? Storytelling gives Black businesses the opportunity to be the author of their brand and control the narrative. Its empowering. Owning your voice is crucial for long-term success, and as a Black founder you can use storytelling to navigate and fight stereotypes or misinformation against you by sharing your unique viewpoints. Unleashing the power of storytelling gives others a chance to step into your shoes, while closing gaps and misunderstandings which many Black founders face in todays divisive culture.
Malcolm X once said, The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses. I stand by this and am determined to use my decades of PR and medi relations experience to get Black businesses as much positive press coverage in as many news headlines as I possibly can.
In 2025, Black businesses are becoming incredibly aware that they need to tap into the power of storytelling and integrate it into their entire go-to-market strategies. Especially, if they want to build a business that will stand the test of timeno matter who is in the White House.
The cylinder reminds me of an internet router. And when I press the button on the back, a gentle whir of a fan begins, while a soft blue glow emits from the top. But its not sending out Wi-Fi waves. The Airea is launching microscopic drops into the air that should bind to and eliminate viruses, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and molds for up to 800 square feet. All without swapping a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. In fact, Airea can run for two years straight, and all you need to do is change a light bulb.
Airea, which is on the market now for $350, was created and funded in-house by the design firm MNML. Developed by Scott Wilsonthe former global creative director at Nike, who has built everything from smart watches to Theraguns and CBD inhalershe was first inspired through his work with Marriott.
[Image: courtesy MNML]
The hotel chain was interested in pursuing a pillow chocolate that might help someone sleep, but along the way, someone on the team showed Wilson a giant machine that could sterilize roomseliminating cigar smoke and SARS alike. It pumped H202 molecules (also known as hydrogen peroxide) into the air, which trapped particles and also sterilized surfaces.
[Image: courtesy MNML]
I was like, why is this not in the consumer segment? recalls Wilson.
A month later, COVID-19 would reshape the world. And Wilson became obsessed with how H202 technology might be translated from expensive, large industrial machinery to a more practical domestic gadget.
Hydrogen peroxide is what many of us know as a strong bleaching agent, used in everything from sanitizers to teeth whitening strips. Pumping that into the air is an inherently unsettling idea. But as Wilson learned, our body naturally produces some H202 as part of our immune process, and given its ability to neutralize viruses, its been researched for use in the development in vaccines.
In significant amounts, H202 is unhealthy, but it’s still used today in places like food factories to sterilize machinery. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards regulate that air should not have more than 1 part per billion of H202. What Wilson developed over the following four years with Airea operates at levels 60 times lower than that, saturating the air with H202 levels at 15 parts per billion to 20 parts per billion. And while its not yet Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved, independent lab testing has demonstrated that Airea should eliminate more than 99% of viruses in the air.
[Image: courtesy MNML]
Building a quieter, no fuss air purifier
When Wilsons team began working on Airea, he put a significant restraint on the design. He wanted the product to be so simple that it could be manufactured in the U.S. rather than China. (And he got close. Aireas major components are molded in the U.S., with its final assembly in the Dominican Republic.)
He still cant say exactly what drove the impulse, which now seems prophetic given global supply chain issues and tariffs. Our job is to predict things. Part of it was, [the world] seemed unpredictable, says Wilson. And honestly, I didnt want it to get knocked off.
The ensuing architecture of Airea is quite simple. Its essentially an extruded aluminum base, a computer fan, and a light bulb. The real ingenuity behind the design is that the aluminum is treated with a special coating so that when the light hits it, the surface generates H202 molecules. (Wilson has patents on the geometries of these aluminum fins, which maximize the surface area for light to hit and generate H202.)
People might be able to reverse-engineer the coating, but there are only so many ways to create that much surface area in a small footprint, says Wilson.
[Image: courtesy MNML]
As for the design itselfwith its router-like aestheticits not exactly an object o extreme beauty, but its also relatively innocuous. With a footprint somewhere between a tallboy and a small table lamp, it can be stuck just about anywhere to make a rooms air that much safer to breathe, and its surfaces that much more sterile to touch.
For now, just 5,000 units have been produced in Aireas first run, as Wilson plans FDA testing and talks to partners who might expand their reach into various industries like healthcare.
In my own experience living with Airea, I did find the understated operation strange. At first, my mind oscillated between, Is this even working? and, What am I breathing? Its substantially quieter than my HEPA unit that sits nearby, and you dont really feel any breeze kicking out unless you hold your hand close. Aireas protection is almost completely imperceptible, and I found myself craving some sort of extra proof of function before allowing myself to appreciate its minimal operation.
In this quasi-post-COVID-19 world, its easy to forget the amount of comfort air filters provided just a few years agoand that clean air is something we should still be prioritizing in buildings today. When my wife walked into the kitchen one recent morning with a cough, it was an excellent reminder: I subtly turned the Airea back on and breathed a bit easier.
To run a successful business, we bring together a diverse group of people with different skill sets to cover all areas of the business. This results in people who might have very different values and beliefs spending a large amount of time in close proximity, which can create potentially stressful environments.
Add to the mix that were encouraging people to “have a voice,” “speak up and be heard,” “bring your whole self to work,” and “be vulnerable.” These are all incredible things and fantastic for growth in our workplaces. However, the more “voices” and “whole selves” we have present, the more differences in values, beliefs, and neural pathways, which leads to potential conflict.
Our IQ is the “what we know and what we can do.” Its the part of our brain where logic prevails. Our EQ and emotional intelligence, on the other hand, is the “how and why we do it,” and where emotions run the show.
Information and skills without emotion just exist. It has little bearing on whether two people get along. However, how we communicate, how we interact with people, why we believe in something, our opinions, and the values that are driving us tend to be the common factors in most workplace conflicts.
Its all about our wiring
Our emotions drive these factors, and every individual is different in how they respond to them, thanks to our unique brain wiring. Thats due to the experiences, values, habits, and memories that weve created and developed over our lives. We call this the neural pathways. These pathways drive how and why we do what we do.
We personally believe our pathways to be true and the best way to be, I mean, why else would we do things the way we do them? In our mind, theyre not only the best but, sometimes, the only way we think is right. When someone else questions or challenges it, our emotions respond with the “fight or flight” mechanism.
This is why many experts are saying that emotional intelligence is the top skill for workplaces: having the ability to own who we are, and how well we face and manage our emotions. Its about understanding how the people around us are feeling, how well we communicate with them, and the effectiveness of our personal drive.
Emotional intelligence isnt a personality type or something we are born with. Its a skill that we develop, and, in every situation, we have a choice to either respond with emotional intelligence or without. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we dont. Like any skill, when we focus on building and applying, we see the benefits.
3 tips to decrease workplace conflict
Own and face the reality that every human being is different with varying values, beliefs, and opinions. And that is okay. Note every situation needs to have a “winner and a loser” or “a right and a wrong.” Take a deep breath and count to three. And remember that the only thing in this world you can control is how you choose to respond.
Get out of your own head and understand how the other person is feeling. Ask questions and be curious. Perhaps we can learn something from them or maybe just appreciate our differences.
Work together to drive forward. Its unlikely that either of you will leave the workplace, so find a way to work together rather than against each other. How do we fix this, together? Work smarter, not harder, and focus on the end result rather than the differences that are triggering our emotions.
We dont have the power to change anyone but ourselves. We do, however, have the power to choose how we interact, the influence, and the impact that it has on the people around us.
Workplace conflict is the outcome of poor choices and a lack of emotional intelligence. And it becomes a conflict when there are two or more people involved. Remember, you can always choose how you respond. And often, this is the way that people notice and remember you, not the event that caused the emotional trigger in the first place.
Next time you find yourself in an emotionally charged situation, ask yourselfwhat role are you playing in workplace conflict, and how emotionally intelligent have you been today?
In the fragmented home renovation business, where small subcontractors handle many of the most common door fixes, window replacements, and bathroom facelifts, one company is using AI to scale its operations across the country to the tune of nearly $1 billion in annual revenue.
West Shore Home was founded in 2006 in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and has grown from a single location to operating in 40 U.S. markets with more than 3,000 employees. Over the past few years, the company has tapped into artificial intelligence and a growing number of technological tools to greatly accelerate the process, scheduling, pricing, and even design of the most common home renovation projects. Its an example of how a workaday segment of the home design industry is being reinvented.
West Shore Home founder B.J. Werzyn says home renovation was ripe for disruption. The norm in the industry is to outsource the actual renovation work, using subcontractors who deal with the material sourcing and the labor. Technology has enabled Werzyn’s company to streamline project scoping, planning, design, and construction, and doing it all in-house.
Despite the seemingly bespoke nature of each customer’s home renovation quirk, the most common types of renovation jobs are actually pretty similar, Werzyn says, making them possible to systematize. “If you were comparing us to a restaurant, we’re more like a fast-casual restaurant. A Chick-fil-A or a Chipotle. Very consistent, very repeatable,” he says.
[Image: courtesy West Shore Home]
West Shore Home follows a project from beginning to end with its own employees, tracking every step and decision along the way. That means the company knows how long it took to do a given project, how many installers were involved, what skilled trades were required, what permits had to be pulled, what the job cost analysis was, and how the job actually turned out compared to what was originally planned.
For a project like a bathroom renovationof which West Shore Home has done more than 300,000experience creates the potential for systematization. “The data is invaluable,” Werzyn says.
The data from all those jobs has become the training material for AI systems the company has created. Since all West Shore Home technicians are employees, they do every job by the book, collecting data on each project using iPads and sending it all back to a big company database. They also have recently begun using a proprietary Lidar-based scanning tool to capture the minute details of every customer’s project space, even those who only have the company out for a consultation.
The company also has its own visualization software, allowing customers to design their project using the detailed scan, giving them a sense of what the future state of their project space can look like within minutes. Werzyn expects some of these tools to become consumer-accessible, taking away the need for a technician to physically visit a job site before the work begins.
AI tools are used to process all this information rapidly. Instead of a technician taking the scan and the customer’s wishes back to the office for pricing, sourcing, and scheduling, West Shore Home’s AI tools do it all on the spot.
“The moment that the customer decides exactly what they want, within 30 seconds we have processed all of that information. We know what the permitting requirements are, we know when we’re going to have inventory in hand, we know when we’re going to have the right installer with the right skill capability,” says Eppie Vojt, the company’s chief data and AI officer. “Artificial intelligence is doing all the heavy lifting to get us to the point of creating a vastly differentiated experience for that customer.”
Werzyn sees his company’s use of AI and the automation of the renovation process turning into an Amazon-like digital marketplace for home services, from bathroom renovations to countertop installations to cabinetry to roofing. “Instead of selling products, we will allow a consumer, if they want to on their own, to scan, design, schedule, and take a home remodeling project, put it in a shopping cart, and check out,” he says.
AI is enabling this new approach to renovation work that’s often handled by small operators. Werzyn says the key to his company’s success may connect back to one of the first things he did when starting to expand West Shore Home beyond its original location back in 2010.
Instead of relying on subcontractors in new markets, Werzyn insisted on making everyone an employee, making it possible, in the age of AI, to be collecting the data the company is using to inform its machine learning. “That decision was more around controlling the quality of the install, giving a better customer experience, Werzyn says. “But, thinking back on it now, that decision that I made 15 years ago was kind of the beginning of our AI strategy, to really own the process from end to end.”
