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In Melinda French Gates’s new book, The Next Day, she illuminates the importance of knowing the story that you are writing for yourself. After turning 60, leaving The Gates Foundation, and beginning a new chapter in her philanthropy, I was curious about the story that she is authoring. What are French Gatess new dreams? My new dreams are to lift women up generationally, she says. So, the world is different when my granddaughters enter the workforce. There are barriers that we need to break down, things about womens health that we should be exploring, and opportunities that are more limited for women. I would love for many of those things to be easier for my granddaughters than they were for me or even my daughters. A central premise of her book is that: During transitions, the real work starts the next day. Its one that French Gates has fully embodied since departing The Gates Foundation in 2024, which she cofounded and cochaired for over two decades. When she announced her departure in May, she committed an additional $1 billion to advance womens power and influence (totaling her commitment to $2 billion through her organization Pivotal). In October, they launched a $250 million global open call to fund organizations improving womens health. Two months later, came a $150 million commitment to remove barriers for women in the workplace. French Gates is just getting started. The Next Day is an intimate portrayal of the transitions that she has faced personally and professionally and a road map to navigate your own. Here, she discusses knowing which dreams to let go of, pausing in the liminal space, and releasing perfectionism. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. In your Stanford commencement speech, you said: Resist the idea that anything youve done here has already locked you into any one pathor any one kind of life or career . . . And be willing to let what you learn shift your thinking about what youre on this earth to do. What have you learned about the evolution of ones purpose? I’ve learned so much. I came out of college thinking I am going to be in tech. I was in tech for nine years. I loved my career. I had no idea that I would go into global health, global development, learning about the U.S. education system, and issues for women. What I’ve learned through that process is that you need to keep an ear open and listen to others along the way. What do they have to teach you? What are they bringing to you? Is there a theme to it? At the same time, you need to listen to your inner voice: What is it calling you to do, even if what it’s calling you to do is hard? I remember when I helped lead a family planning summit in London on behalf of women. I had dinner with a group of women afterwards, most of whom I didn’t know, and they said: There’s so much more to do. It wasn’t at all what I wanted to hear at the time. But, I still listened to what they were telling me. Then, to my own inner voice about: Well, how could I do it? How quickly or slowly should I go? During transitions, you encourage pausing in the liminal space to see what it has to reveal to you. How do you treat the unfamiliar as a teacher, instead of an enemy? Being willing to sit there when it’s uncertain or you’re anxious, those are the times that you’re growing. You have to remind yourself: Im going to learn something here. Our instinct is to rush to the next thing. I’ve seen so many people make that mistake when they’re leaving a career to start something new. They’ll rush to the next thing and pick the wrong thing. Then, they’ll have to change course two years later; Versus stay with it and figure out what you want to do, even when it’s uncomfortable. You write: Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself and the people around you is to have the wisdom to know which dreams to let go of, in order to make room for something new. What helps you navigate the difficulty of letting go? Naming it out loud: This is hard for me. I think I should let this go. Sometimes, the first thing I do when something bubbles up and Im like, Hmm, I’m not sure, is write it down. Then, I can’t run away from it. Ill maybe run away from it for a week or two. Then, youll come back and remember. Once I’ve written it down, that seed is there. Then, I let it grow and see where it goes. Do you go back and read what you wrote? Definitely and, in the book, I talk about my Monday walking group. We’ve been walking together for so long now. They’ll say: Remember when you said this? We plant pieces of ourselves in those we trust. It’s up to them and us (for people who plant those things in us) to remind ourselves of those things. Returning to the idea of letting go, has there been a time, like leaving The Gates Foundation, when your identity was tied up in what you were leaving? How did you reconcile who you were without it? I’ve wrestled with it many times, leaving the Foundation for sure. But, the biggest time was: I absolutely knew that I was going to leave my career at Microsoft to raise my children; That was my decision. I knew I would go back to work, but it wasnt until I actually left my job [that I felt it]. I had to leave three weeks early and was on bed rest unexpectedly. Then, I have this baby and I’m totally in love with her. But, all of a sudden it was like: Whoa, who am I without work? I’m a mother, which I always wanted to be and I love this. But, I’m not working. Am I a productive member of society? I used to view work as productive and being home as not productive, which is silly now when I think about it. But, in those times, at least for me, they would become almost a crisis. It was something that I needed to spend time with, work through, and recognize: This is a big shift. You’ll get through it. In writing about perfectionism, you express that you always wanted to do things the right way, which was almost always the hard way. How did you rewire that belief and how do you operate differently as a result? It took me a long time to realize: There is no perfect. But, what I do know is: If you’re true to yourself, it doesn’t have to be perfect. I had a speech on a big stage in Geneva. I tripped when I was walking out to the podium. I didn’t fall down all the way. But, I tripped pretty substantially, to the point where I heard people gasp. You look around and realize: There’s a hall of 1,500 people here. But, Im human. I think my wods will still be received. The more I could be vulnerable with and love myself, and the more I could then be vulnerable with other people, it allowed for more space for them and for meand the perfectionism drops. The last line of that chapter is to allow yourself to feel the ease of letting go. What is one step youd encourage taking to do so? When I’m trying to let go of something, I’ll remember the mistakes I’ve made and try to laugh about them. If I can laugh about some of the mistakes I’ve made over time, then I can let go of the thing that I am trying to hold onto so dearly. I also remember that if you let go of something, it makes space for something else. Sometimes, it’s moving people out of your life. You’re not serving them well or they’re not serving you well. SayingWell, maybe I don’t see them quite as muchmakes space for a new friend or to have time for yourself. You write about a shift in perspective where you no longer prepared for or entered meetings wondering whether you belonged there. How can you overcome imposter syndrome when youre the youngest person in the room? Reminding yourself: You deserve to be there. You don’t always know how you got there. But, don’t question that. You deserve to be there and you must have something to contribute; Maybe you have a different perspective because youre younger, your lived experience, or where you grew up. Remind yourself that there are other people at the table who are also feeling that. You feel it inside and think that no one else does. It turns out that most of them, who are honest, feel that way themselves. What was it like when you stopped feeling that way? Its a relief. It creates more space in your mind to focus on other things or in your life to let go and go: This is who I am. I’ve also learned that I can ask people for help. If you don’t expect yourself to be perfect, you can ask people for what you need or be willing to ask what looks like a dumb question; Sometimes, the question that you’re afraid to ask ends up opening a whole new conversation. I’ve had that happen to me so many times. Its like: Wow, that worked. So, Ill try to remember: The previous time you did that, it was an opening. Transitions are an opportunity to evolve yourself. How are you thinking about that as you enter this next chapter? I hope that I’m evolving all the time. I try to think about: At the end of 10 years, what will I be most proud of and glad that I did? If I can take that 10-year horizon, then it’s easier for me to parse how I spend my time. One of the things I’m often saying to myself now is: You are in a new phase of your career. Make sure you’re bringing in new people and hearing from new voices. It’s not always easy to meet new people or listen to people who have a different point of view. But, I remember when my mom got to this phase of life, she said to me (and she’s still this way): I want to learn from young people’s perspectives. Otherwise, if I only have friends who are my age, then I don’t know what’s coming up in society. So, I’ve been challenging myself in that regard, too: How do I make sure that I am in a setting with younger people? What questions come up? I try to ask a question and let them generate the conversation or topics. During destabilizing times, your voice is a source of stability. What helps you cultivate your sense of inner resource and embody that steadiness? My spiritual group and my quiet time in the morning. Those things help ground me, so that when I am ready to go out and do the work that I try to do in the world or use my voice, I’m hopefully in a centered place. But, you have to be very purposeful about it, because the world can tug on you. Then, you don’t show up at the spiritual group meeting or spend time in quiet in the morning. I encourage people to figure out what’s stilling for them, put away their phone, and get that quiet time.
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E-Commerce
Branded is a weekly column devoted to the intersection of marketing, business, design, and culture. Elon Musks biggest headache is no secret: Its Elon Musk. Long a controversial figure, Musk lately seems to have made polarization his central project, from his close alignment with Donald Trump and government wrecking-ball efforts to his wild posts on X and personal life. Hes increasingly unpopular. And it’s all done undeniable damage to his flagship consumer-facing enterprise, Tesla. With sales suffering and its cars and dealerships becoming protest targets, its now an open question as to whether the pioneering EV makers once-enviable brand can be restored. The extent of the damage will be quantified when Tesla reports its first-quarter results next week, but the outlines are clear enough. Sales of Teslas flagship vehicles have flagged in Europe and China, and the brand is facing stiffer competition from U.S. rivals; it has already disclosed a 13% plunge in global vehicle deliveries for the quarter. In EV-friendly California, Tesla registrations are down 15%even as EVs overall rose 7.3%. Tesla trade-ins have soared to a reported 250%, with car-shopper interest in buying a new Tesla at its lowest point in years. The much-hyped Cybertruck has missed sales targets, been subject to a string of recalls, and become a magnet for anti-Musk vandalism. (You know its bad when your brand gets attacked at Mardi Gras.) Tesla showrooms have become sites of nationwide Tesla Takedown protests that yoke the brand to Musks political activities. Its share price has plunged from a high of nearly $490 in December to less than $250 this week. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives recently summarized the upshot as a brand crisis: The more Musk is attached to the Trump administration and DOGE, the brand damage goes from containable to permanent, Ives recently told the Los Angeles Times. Tesla has become a political symbol around the world and thats not a good thing. In a March Yahoo News/YouGov poll, 67% of respondents ruled out owning or leasing a Tesla, with 37% specifically citing Musk as a reason. Its difficult to find a pure parallel to a past mass-market brand crisis that boils down to widespread contempt for a CEO. But given how singularly the Musk personal brand is intertwined with Teslas, the most obvious solution would be to get some daylight between the two. Allen Adamson, cofounder of marketing consultancy Metaforce, recently told NPR that it would probably be the best thing for the brand if Musk cashed out of Tesla and walked away. That’s the only easy fix, which is [Musk saying], ‘I’m selling it; I’m going to focus on other things I’m interested in.’ And the new ownership team is going to keep their eye on the ball. Thats highly unlikely. David J. Reibstein, a marketing professor at the Wharton School, suggested a similarly extreme strategy to Business Insider: Tesla could change its name and logo and essentially rebuild the brand to appeal to its original customer base, heavily made up of progressives concerned about climate change. As precedent, he pointed to ValuJet Airlines. After one of its planes crashed in Florida in 1996, killing 110 people, it acquired AirTran Airways and dropped the ValuJet name and brand. This also sounds implausible. But its worth noting that Musk-founded SpaceX has been notching accomplishments and avoiding pop culture punching-bag status. It is widely seen as the Musk property with the strongest non-Musk manager: president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell, who oversees daily operations. It does seem plausible that if Musk could find a similar figure for Tesla it would at least begin to put some distance between his caustic political views and Teslas original innovative and progressive brand. This might also begin to address investor concerns, which include not only the tarnished Tesla brand, but the sense that Musk simply isnt paying enough attention to it: If the self-proclaimed nano-manager has other priorities, it would be reassuring to have someone more focused in the drivers seat. Or, of course, Musk could simply knock off the political theatrics (he will supposedly leave DOGE in the next month or so) and put in the work to rebuild a connection between Teslas brand and the sizable chunk of his potential customer base that hes alienated. This would take time, and theres no guarantee it would work. Among other things, it would require really recognizing that the brand is at risk (which he might)and being transparent about efforts to set it back on course. Thats an almost universal step in the playbook for bouncing back from a brand crisis, as varied as Volkswagens 2015 dieselgate scandal, which involved manipulating emissions-test results, to H&M releasing a racially offensive ad in 2018. Admit the problem(s), demonstrate how youre solving them, focus on core values, and recognize that the process will take time. Of course those arent pure analogues, as the Musk/Tesla brand challenges are so distinct. Moreover, Musk has historically been skeptical of traditional brand communication, from advertising to press relations, relying on buzz and word of mouth from a zealous customer base. And that strategy has mostly served him well. (Even in their depleted state, Tesla shares are still priced for extreme growth, trading at more than 100 times forward earnings; a chunk of investor fans are no doubt bullish on the companys robotics and self-driving technology, which are less dependent on consumer brand reputation.) In ther words, any strategy that involves acknowledging the crisis, and Musks culpability for it, still seems like a long shot for now. To date, Musk has done only what the current political zeitgeist seems to default to lately when faced with undeniable problems: Deny them.
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E-Commerce
When outdoor accessories brand Yeti completed its first major acquisition last year, there were skeptics. After its January 2024 purchase of Bozeman, Montana-based cult bag brand Mystery Ranch, many of that brands acolytes feared it would disappear, swallowed by its larger new owner. And second, isnt this a coffee cup and cooler brand? Not exactly. Its been almost a decade since Yeti first dropped its first Panga duffel in 2017, and since then its branched out to include backpacks, luggage, and more. But the company sees the new Ranchero backpackthe first Yeti product to integrate Mystery Ranch designthat launched in March as a turning point for it to truly become a bags brand instead of just a cooler brand that makes bags. CEO Matt Reintjes says that if you look back at the last decade of Yeti images and films, chances are they include a lot of non-Yeti bags. Because of the brands presence across the outdoors, whether hunting, fishing, surfing or skiing, or in camping and BBQ, bags were just a natural presence. So its perfectly natural for the company to be expanding its portfolio of bags. This isn’t just about grabbing something, slapping our brand on it, draining the opportunity, and moving on, says Reintjes. We think there’s an incredible opportunity to take what Mystery Ranch has created in its brand, and what Yeti has created, with our brand and our capabilities, and have the best of both worlds. Yeti has long believed in a low-and-slow approach to expansion, that takes the company into areas that make sense and, more importantly, it has permission to be. It took the same approach to bags, gradually rolling them out over the past eight years. Now, with the Ranchero, the brand is ready to add some swagger. No more dabbling The original Yeti bags were a natural extension of their founding product, the indestructible cooler for outdoor adventure. The Panga duffel and backpack were fully submersible, waterproof packs. Yetis head of marketing Bill Neff says that even though the brand has a pretty big portfolio of bags, it’s always been seen as dabbling in the category. For the people that know we make these bags, they’ve been really successful for us, says Neff. We just have never taken it overly seriously. Now, with the Ranchero, we’re going to talk about bags like we do coolers and drinkware. This is the flag were planting in the ground. Its a flag in the ground, but the brand is still doing it the Yeti way. Dont expect a Super Bowl ad. Instead, its about showing up in places that add credibility along with exposure. In 2023, the brand signed a licensing deal with F1s Oracle Red Bull Racing, and now outfit the entire teams luggage and bags. Neff says theyre also taking bags to ambassador deals. We have ambassadors that personify who we are as a brand, but theyd be using North Face or Patagonia bags on-camera from other deals, says Neff. But a lot of them would use Pangas off camera. So we’re at a point now where our contracts include the bags category. Mystery Ranch Lives Often when a smaller brand is acquired by a larger one, its value is in the expertise and IP, but the brand name is eventually phased out. Even at Yeti, this has happened with its 2024 acquisition of cast-iron pan brand Butter Pat. Reintjes says that this is not the companys goal or intention with Mystery Ranch. While the new Ranchero backpack is the first Yeti product to utilize Mystery Ranch design IP, the Mystery Ranch brand is still alive and well. A Mystery Ranch Catalyst bag (left) and Yeti Ranchero (right). [Photos: Mystery Ranch, Yeti] Reintjes says that one of the things that attracted him to Mystery Ranch was its origin story. Founded by Dana Gleason and Renée Sippel-Baker in 2000, it quickly became known for its focus on pushing the edges of design and development for gear in extreme environments. The brand will still live on in creating specialty gear for military and firefighting. Mystery Ranch has really established itself in that world, and that’s that place we’re excited about where it can grow, says Reintjes. And on the broader, outdoor, everyday adventure travel side, the Yeti brand really fits in. So we think they’re really complimentary. Deposits and withdrawals Yeti has managed to maintain an incredibly strong brand connection to its roots, despite becoming a public company in 2018. But quarterly demands haven’t altered the brands commitment to growing at a natural pace and in areas it has already an established presence. We feel very fortunate that we have built a brand umbrella that’s much wider than the product portfolio that we have today, says Reintjes. So the privilege and permission to expand the product portfolio underneath the Yeti brand, that we work hard to earn from our consumers, puts us in a position where we have a lot of ideas on where we can go. An example of this approach is surfing. Yeti didnt just jump in and sponsor the World Surf League or pro surfers like John John Florence. Its connection began as surfers were using its products while fishing and cooking outdoors. It became a natural place to expand. The acquisition of Butter Pat, and subsequent launch of Yeti cast-iron pan, came from its BBQ and cooking ambassadors. From an acquisition perspective, we tend to think about it as, Are we making deposits on the brand or are we pulling out from it? says Reintjes. Sometimes you’re drawingon the brand to help establish it somewhere, but we’re almost always looking to add to it. I think what happens when you start cashing out a brand, it just gets more and more generic. It gets less and less loved. So were always asking, are we making it more rich, are we making it more deep and more connected?
Category:
E-Commerce
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