Working Girl's Guide #8: I'm learning the lute and swimmers are falling in love with football players

Happy hump day! Can you believe I’ve made it to newsletter #8 without opening with that yet? Me either, you’re welcome! I’m back from Cabo, it’s a million degrees out, and Spotify is now $12.

Let’s get into it.

New in WFH

A new study by Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom suggests that employees experience a boost in performance and are less likely to quit their jobs when they can work at least two days a week from home. The paper is coming out in Nature Journal soon, which is cool because that’s a super legit publication that no one can ignore, and also weird because since when are our WFH setups the new great outdoors? Kind of dystopian, but if it gets more people better flexibility, I’m fine with it I guess?

Swimming at Lucas Oil Stadium

Here’s a good fact for you to throw out in a meeting: a temporary pool built at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the Olympic Trials took 13 hours to fill up with 2 million gallons of water. The pool was set up on top of the football arena, which sounds like the plot of a romcom in which a football player and a swimmer fall in love. Any writers here? Put me in the credits!

Make music affordable again

Spotify is raising subscription prices AGAIN (two times in one year!!). $11.99 for one person? In this economy? IDK, I might just make Annie sing to me. Or maybe I should learn to play the flute? This is getting out of hand.

I spent this past weekend in Cabo for a bach weekend celebrating Mackenzie, the beautiful bride to be!! There’s nothing like spending 4 days straight with friends you rarely get to see (we did opt for a bunk room even though we had the option of big girl beds, because why not??). We were giggling like middle schoolers the entire time, and it’s possible I brought a little too much chaotic energy… but I’ll reflect on that another day.

Yes, the red bikini is half this newsletter because it’s THAT GOOD! Highly recommend pairing it with champagne or similar. I’m wearing my normal size in the bottom, but sized up on top, which may or may not be helpful if you decide to go for this one! Matching red sunglasses optional!

I don’t know about you, but my personal inbox is a war zone right now, and I have a thousands tasks I need to get to that are feeling way less urgent (and appealing) than bachelorette parties, summer travel, and online shopping for cute sets. I really cannot bring myself to spend my Saturday tackling personal to-dos when there are so many better things to do!! My plan: schedule drinks with a friends (a lot of breweries are open for coworking during the afternoon) and dive into the personal tasks together. It will feel way less like wasting a weekend afternoon when you’re with a friend enjoying a summer shandy, and plus, you’ll get in some good social time!!! And obviously after you finish, you are entitled to a round of celebration drinks!

In this week’s episode of Demoted, Corp and I talk about feedback: constructive feedback, destructive feedback, and the time I learned (the hard way) that icons in consulting decks are actually not a free-for-all, and your boss prefers that you use them strategically and not just however you want that day. We get into feedback we’ve received, feedback we’ve given, and some tips and tricks Ross has learned from his big fancy executive coach. Listen here.

Thanks for reading!