Working Girl’s Guide #50: Recessiontok, protein popcorn, and pantsuit restock

Millennials are sharing their recession experience, Khloe Kardashian is out with protein-infused popcorn, and people are backing out of home purchases. Let’s get into it.

For recession advice, turn to those who’ve lived through one.

Whether you’re Gen Z or just… not really sure what this potential recession is all about, you can learn all about it from the millennials on TikTok who are sharing what it was like to experience the Great Recession as fresh college graduates 18ish years back. Creators like Sasha Whitney are giving great advice: delete Klarna, live within your means, DON’T compare yourself to people on social media (millennials in 2008 didn’t really have to worry about that one).

Protein on…popcorn?

As if we haven’t had enough delicious foods ruined for us, Khloe Kardashian is out with a new line of protein popcorn, which is called (what else?!) Khloud. Protein-infused everything is huge right now, partially because of the rise of GLP-1 drug usage, which can cause muscle loss, and has led more people to pursue high-protein diets. Doctors say most people get plenty of protein already, but according to a study by Big Yogurt, 85% of Americans want to increase their protein intake even further.

Home buying is down, thanks to tariffs and stock market volatility

Layoffs, volatility, recession fear — there are a bunch of factors causing homebuyers to change their minds. Between March 17 and April 13, more than 14% of home purchase agreements in the US were completely cancelled, with many buyers citing uncertainty about the future as their main cause. Homebuying was already at a near standstill before Trump’s tariff announcements, but things are now getting even worse.

Unless you had your phone in a drawer all weekend long, you’re probably already well aware that I WAS AT A BACHELORETTE this past weekend celebrating my dear friend Aubrey. Fun fact: Aubrey, Vic and I all went to high school together and all became content creators. Which naturally meant that it was a very lowkey shy weekend in which none of us did handstands at the bar for attention! We live for a theme (kudos to Vic who planned everything); every night was phenom, but I’m currently reliving Love Island Bombshells night, as pictured here.

After it sold out incredibly quickly, 12th Tribe and I restocked the collab! Matching sets that take you from day to night as was promised to all of us in Seventeen magazine back in 2012? Check! A top that both has a cute little slit but also doesn’t show any skin because we know Office Siren is actually NOT a good idea in practice? Also check! This set comes as one (slay) but you can pick a different size in the top and bottom (double slay), which is obviously exactly how it should be.

Is it just me or does literally everyone who knows Excel seem like they have their life together? If you can type “=SUM( )” and your computer magically spits out answers, you probably also wake up at 5am and drink 64 ounces of water a day. Fun fact about me is that I was an IT Management major at Notre Dame, and my Excel skills helped me land my first job at Deloitte. Not that I’m necessarily saying you should be a consultant, but Excel can serve you!!!

Enter: today’s Lazy Girl Hack—a gift from me to your overwhelmed, Ctrl+Z-ing self. I’ve been following Miss Excel on IG for a while now, and recently stumbled upon her free 60-minute Excel training, where you can learn how to build a dashboard that slashes hours off your workweek. Visualization, optimization, organization, YOU’RE WELCOME!

One hour of training for a lifetime of pretending you always knew what a pivot table was? Worth it. Register at the link here!

Can brutal honesty actually get you a raise? We’ve got a corporate confession that will leave you speechless.

This week on the pod, we’re celebrating Ross’s impending fatherhood (still cannot believe this man is qualified to raise another person), then diving into the internet archives to cringe at Ross’s hilariously resurfaced Vines and hopefully get them deleted before his future offspring can track them down. We also play a chaotic round of “Promoted or Demoted?” featuring made-up job titles and uncomfortable airplane scenarios, then we tackle a listener’s tough career choice: go for the soul-crushing commute, or take a smaller paycheck?

Thanks for reading!