This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.
Most bookmark tools feel like cluttered digital filing cabinetsfull of folders, tags, and organizational overhead. mymind is a minimalist alternative.
Its a clean, simple online hub for saving anything you find online. Create a gorgeous private scrapbook of images, links, articles or anything else you want to save, without the hassle of labeling.
Its an opinionated tool thats not for everyonecaveats below include no sharing or importing. And Ive noted a bunch of strong alternatives. But mymind remains a superb example of a design-focused service thats a pleasure to use.
Since I last wrote about it, mymind has improved the way it shows visuals, Read on for an update of my previous post to learn what its most useful for and how to use it.
6 ways to use mymind
I like using mymind to save remarkable visuals, thought-provoking charts, amazing videos, beautiful poems, and memorable articles. I also use it to collect AI-related links to scan through.
Create an inspiration moodboard. Save stunning photographs, brilliant art, your favorite interior designs, cool clothing, yummy food, pictures of homes youd love to live in someday, or whatever else catches your eye. Then the next time youre staring at a blank page, open your moodboard for a spark.
Collect project ideas. Save links, quotes, or screenshots to inform a project. Highlight articles to save specific passages.
Curate quotes & graphics for presentations. Use the one-click save button whenever you stumble on notable material to add to a slide deck or handout.
Save articles and videos for later. The distraction-free mymind interface makes it a nice place to read long articles or watch YouTube videos.
Clip recipes. I was surprised by how helpfully mymind strips out the cruft in online recipes. It shows just the ingredients and instructions, though you can easily return to the original recipe page.
Organize shower thoughts. You can write text notes or to-do lists. Jot a few words or an essay outline.
mymind is clean and simple
No ads.
No data tracking.
No vanity metrics or likes.
No social sharing or collaboration.
Read myminds manifesto & promise for their philosophy.
No complex menus or manuals to read.
How to start using mymind
Go to mymind.com and create a free account with your Google or Apple ID.
Download a browser extension and/or the iOS, Android or Mac app.
Save a few interesting sites by pressing the browser button. See an image you want to save? Right-click it. Or highlight text in an article and right-click that text to save it as a quote. You can add a note if you want to. I often save a short phrase as a reminder of what caught my attention.
Return to mymind online or on your mobile device anytime you want to see what youve saved. Browse your collection. Try a search term (like book, pizza, video, or quote) to surface whatever youre looking for.
Collections: You can optionally create custom spacesbasically smart searchesif you like organizing your finds into sub-categories.
Serendipity mode lets you focus on one saved item at a time, enabling minimalistic deep thinking.
Pricing: Its free to save up to 100 items or cards. To collect more, pay $8/month ($79/year) for unlimited cards and some advanced features, or $13/month ($129/year) for the Mastermind plan with more advanced AI, reading mode, and article backups.
Videos from mymind are a useful easy way to learn more. And myminds newsletter is well-curated and gorgeously-designed.
AI-enhanced: mymind uses AI to classify everything you save. That makes it easy to find anything, even after you accumulate a large library.
Caveats
No sharing. mymind is designed for privacy, not sharing. I end up saving my most valuable finds in multiple places to give my future self options. mymind is great for visual exploration, but I need other services, like Raindrop, to share my collections. If you want to share your library, consider an alternative below.
Limited flexibility. myminds design, while gorgeous, isnt flexible. Its not meant for you to rearrange, though you can pin cards. If you want to manually resize items or drag things around on a canvas, consider Milanote or a whiteboard like Miro, Mural, Lucid or Figjam.
No import. You cant easily bring in items youve saved on other servicesheres why mymind discourages thisnor can you email things in or develop automations as you can with other clipping tools.
No Firefox bookmark button. If thats your browser, this might not be for you.
Limited free plan. To save more than 100 items, you have to pick a paid plan.
Alternatives
Sublime is a cool new service Im trying out for collecting online inspiration.
Unlike mymind, you can use Sublime to hare finds, see others related discoveries, and use its canvas to move from curation to creation.
Compare it w/ other tools like Notion, Apple Notes, Readwise & Raindrop.
Pricing is free for up to 50 cards, $75/year unlimited. $100/year for premium+ subscription to The Sublime on Substack.
Raindrop is my favorite bookmark-saving service. It replaced delicio.us and Google bookmarks for me. Why Raindrop is so useful.
Best for helping you save and organize links and share them publicly. Works on all platforms & integrates free with 2,600 other services.
Less ideal for calmly exploring your collection of visuals or quotes.
Pricing: Free for almost all features. $28/annually for full-text search, backups, AI tag suggestions & other extras. I pay to help preserve the robust free tier.
Readwise is excellent if youre mainly saving articles and videos to read and watch later. How and why I use Readwise.
Best for reading and highlighting saved articles and newsletters online or offline in great Web and mobile apps.
Less ideal for saving images or collecting links because its designed for reading and video viewing.
Pricing: Free for 30 days then $5.59 or $10/month for full access.
Eagle is useful as a tool for organizing all your screenshots and any files on your computer. Why I like Eagle so much.
Milanote is one of the few apps thats as elegantly designed as mymind. It lets you organize ideas and saved items on visual boards.
Best for creating your own visual collections with a variety of images, links, documents and annotations.
Less ideal for simply saving or storing images, quotes and material you encounter online. It works best for creating project-specific boards.
Pricing: Free for up to 100 notes, then $10/month billed annually for unliimited notes. A team version is $49/month.
This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.
Let’s be honest: Your phone is a jerk. A loud, demanding, little pocket-size jerk that never stops buzzing, dinging, and begging for your attention. It’s the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see at night. Enough!
Now, Im not talking about tossing your phone into a volcano. Im talking about swapping it out for something simpler.
And you don’t have to go full Luddite. Here are some unique options that scratch the itch of modern connectivity without all the noise.
Light Phone III
[Photo: the Light Phone]
The Light Phone is a name that’s become a philosophical statement, and the Light Phone III is the next evolution in simplicity. Make calls, set alarms, get directions, use the calendar, take notes, and . . . well, thats about it.
The E Ink screen from previous Light Phones is gone, replaced with a matte AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) display. It’s still black and white and utterly boring, but its more responsive. And its got a stripped-down, point-and-shoot camera along with other modern comforts like 5G connectivity, USB-C charging, NFC (near-field communication), and a fingerprint sensor.
The phone is available to preorder for $699 and is scheduled to ship in September. If you cant wait that long, check out its $299 predecessor or the similar Mudita Kompakt.
Unihertz Jelly Max
[Photo: Unihertz]
The Unihertz Jelly Max unapologetically answers a question no one asked: What if a phone had a 5-inch screen and were crammed into a rugged, chunky, see-through body?
This $340 phone runs a modern-ish version of Android, which means you can download all the apps you want. But the screen is a little too small for comfortable browsing. The phone itself is a brick. The form factor discourages a lot of casual, mindless use.
Its great for someone who needs the power of Android but wants to be reminded with every physical interaction that a phone is a tool, not a lifestyle.
The Minimal Phone
[Photo: the Minimal Co.]
The Minimal Phone knows you love typing, but it also understands that your iPhone is an endless black hole of distraction. The solution? A full QWERTY keyboard and a proper E Ink screen, just like a Kindle.
Available for preorder, this $400 to $500 phone isn’t for scrolling through Instagram stories or cruising TikTok all day. It runs a custom version of Android that has an app store with only the essentials.
The physical keyboard and the black-and-white screen are brilliant psychological deterrents. The only thing you’ll be tempted to do is write an email or a very long text message. It’s a phone designed for anything but mindless consumption.
Wisephone II
[Photo: Wisephone]
Now for a twist. The $400 Wisephone II looks like a smartphone with a big, bright screen and a familiar rectangular shape. Oh, and its got a Samsung logo on the back, just like . . . wait a minute: This is a Samsung phone.
Its actually more than that. It runs on a deeply modified version of Android: no social media, no explicit content, and no web browser.
Its purpose is to handle calls, texts, photos, and apps that arent built to monetize your attention. Basically, a modern device without the digital baggage that comes with it.
Aside from the $400 price tag for the phone, youll need a Wisephone service plan (from $25 to $70 per month), or you can use your own plan and pay just $15 per month for the customized operating system, a curated list of apps, and software support.
For centuries, work has been more than a paycheckit’s been a space where people collaborate, forge meaningful bonds, and find belonging. Yet, in recent years, a major shift has left many feeling isolated despite being surrounded by colleagues, as the deep camaraderie once common in workplaces is fading.
Gallups research underscores this concerning trend: today, only 20% of U.S. employees report having a best friend at work. More troubling, just one in five actively nurtures these relationships, despite clear evidence that workplace friendships elevate commitment, performance, and personal well-being. This erosion of connection is not merely a social lossits a business challenge. Employees without strong friendships often feel less fulfilled, collaborate less effectively, and are far more likely to leave.
The impact of lost workplace friendships is often underestimatedespecially in discussions about employee turnover. While its commonly believed that people mostly quit jobs in response to poor managers, Oxford professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve has found that workers quit not because of leadership alone, but because they lack a sense of belonging with their teams. This reframes the issue: workplace friendships arent just about socializingtheyre critical for retention and sustainable business success.
The Great Resignation, where millions quit their jobs, directly highlights the impact of weakened workplace ties. Physical separation during the COVID-19 pandemic left employees feeling detached from their teammates, eroding the sense of community that once grounded them. While not the sole driver, the decline in deep workplace friendships significantly contributed to employees’ decisions to leave, underscoring friendship’s role in fostering loyalty, job satisfaction, and team stability.
Why Workplace Friendships Are Waning
Friendships dont just happenthey develop through shared experiences, casual conversations, and repeated interactions over time. But todays workplace dynamics make forming these bonds increasingly difficult.
The technology we rely upon to make communication speedier and efficient carries the downside of making interactions more transactional. Instead of stopping by a coworkers desk for a meaningful chat, we send impersonal texts, emails and Slack messages. Remote and hybrid work schedules compound the problem by removing everyday experiences that once sparked relationships: coffee breaks, lunches, and catching up with people before and after important meetings. We’re so accustomed to working independently, we even take Zoom meetings alone in our officesfully aware the people were meeting with sit right outside our door.
Beyond technology, workplaces increasingly emphasize individual performance over team achievementanother disincentive for employees to cultivate meaningful relationships. Its no wonder many of us feel less concerned about having superficial connection with the people we work with.
Profound Consequences
Gallups research consistently highlights the importance of friendship in the workplace, showing that employees with close bonds are 43% more committed and 27% more satisfied with their jobs. Work friendships also provide an essential support systemsomeone to celebrate wins with, joke with, vent to after tough experiences, and collaborate with in a way that makes work more enjoyable. Without these relationships, workplaces risk becoming isolating, uninspiring, and even less innovative.
Having true friendships at work not only improves mental health, it also enhances well-beinga critical driver of employee performance. Psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, who oversees the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest-running well-being study in American history, states, The clearest message we get from this 75-year study is this: good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.
Additionally, University of California, Riverside positive psychology researcher, Sonja Lyubomirsky, has found that even small points of connection throughout the day can increase happiness more than people realize. Having conversations with people makes us happy, Lyubomirsky says, reinforcing how simple social interactions with colleagues can improve mood, commitment, and overall workplace satisfaction. Further backing this idea, renowned psychologist, Ed Dieners research on happiness discovered that the most fulfilled individuals arent just successful in their careersthey are deeply social.
One more critical piece of confirmation, Deloittes 2020 research, shows a sense of belongingfeeling valued and included by ones boss and colleaguesis the top driver of employee well-being. Its because belonging fosters psychological safety, resilience and self-esteem, each of which are anchors to human flourishing.
How Leaders Can Rebuild Workplace Connection
To reverse this decline, leaders must recognize that workplace friendships are not inevitablethey require active nurturing. Creating a more connected workplace surely demands intentional efforts, but the benefits of building a truly cohesive team far outweigh the time and energy investment.
Leaders should prioritize building social spaces within work environments, whether thats through dedicated team-building activities or informal check-ins that encourage employees to engage with each other beyond their day-to-day tasks. For remote and hybrid teams, fostering connection means going beyond creating opportunities for virtual coffee chats, and adding team Slack channels centered around interests. Bringing people together for regularly scheduled in-person connection days remains essential.
Encouraging collaborative projects can also unite employees in a way that feels natural rather than forced. When colleagues work toward a shared goal, friendships develop organically. Rotating people into different collaborative teams will also ensure closer relationships are built more widely.
Finally, leaders must acknowledge that workplace friendships arent distractions or nice-to-havestheyre assets. Creating a culture where connection is valued doesnt just improve employee moraleit strengthens retention, creativity, and performance. By fostering friendships, leaders dont just build better teams; they create desirable workplaces.
The lifeblood of thriving teams
Workplace friendships that weave resilience and joy into the fabric of our daily work are the lifeblood of thriving teams and organizations. Leaders who champion these bonds will naturally create environments where well-being flourishes, and their teams full potential can be unlocked.
Perhaps, fostering stronger relationships at work might also produce a ripple effect that extends empathy and unity ino society overall. As Nelson Mandela envisioned, A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.
Inc.com columnist Alison Green answers questions about workplace and management issueseverything from how to deal with a micromanaging boss to how to talk to someone on your team about body odor.
A reader asks:
I recently hired a new administrative employee. His job is to answer phones, greet guests, and complete various tasks I assign to him. His customer service skills are strong, but his attention to detail is very weak. I have given him a lot of feedback and training, but he continues to make basic mistakes and misses almost every deadline I give him.
But he is constantly telling me how great a job he’s doing. He routinely tells me things like, “You are going to be so happy when I show you what I’ve done for you!” or “You are going to love meI am making your life so much easier!” and then hands me a report that I have to spend a half-hour correcting. Yesterday, I told him to follow up with me when he completes tasks because I would rather he proactively inform me than wait for me to ask. His response: “As you know, I always complete tasks immediately [this is untrue] but I didn’t know you needed me to remind you of that. No problem at all!”
This behavior is really grating on me. His work product hasn’t improved and I’m starting to feel like he’s trying to manipulate me into not giving him corrections. I’m starting to struggle giving him feedback because I feel like he ignores me and I’m letting that affect my interactions with him.
Have I already arrived at the “this needs to improve or else” conversation? He started just two months ago. I want to give him time to learn and grow, but my patience is zapped.
Green responds:
Im sorry, I laughed out loud at “As you know, I always complete tasks immediately [this is untrue].
You do need to have the “this needs to improve or else conversation. Youve given him very basic feedback over and over, hes not improving, and he misses almost every deadline you give him.
His overhyping of his own work makes this more concerning. If you could see that he was taking your feedback seriously, he understood that his work isn’t where it needs to be, and he was working hard to incorporate your feedback, Id say sure, give him some time to work on mastering the job. But when hes ignoring your feedback and telling you his work is superb when youve clearly told him its not, thats a serious problem, and not the sort that time usually helps with.
However! Theres potentially some room for hope if you havent been completely clear with him. When youve given him feedback and talked about mistakes, have you been clear that the work isnt at the level you need and that the pattern of mistakes is serious? And when he misses deadlines, have you told him clearly that it cant keep happening? (For example: This was due yesterdaywhat happened? Followed by, Its really important that you turn in work by the agreed-upon deadline or tell me ahead of time if youre worried about your ability to do that.) If you havent done those things, its possible that this could turn this around.
A lot of managers in your situation think, But I shouldnt need to do that! He should know that missing a deadline is a big deal, and that he needs to take feedback seriously. And indeed, he should. But many employees miss the cues that managers think are obviousand when youre frustrated with someone, the first step is to make sure that youve been really clear about the expectations you need them to meet. (In fact, whenever you’re feeling frustrated with an employee, that’s a flag to check how clear you’ve been.)
If youve done those things and this is still happening, then yes, its time for a serious conversation where you explain you cant keep him in the job if you dont see significant improvement on these fronts quickly.
Interestingly, I think you can do all of this without directly addressing the Im amazing comments. By addressing the crux of the problemhis work is not what you need it to behell probably get the message that his self-hype isnt in line with the reality. If he doesnt, that’s not a great sign about how well he’s processing your message.
That said, if you want to address it, you can! You could say, I was surprised to hear you say you always complete tasks immediately when Ive shared my concern about a number of missed deadlines recently. Or you can take the hype as statements of his intentions rather than what hes actually done. For example, with his “I am making your life so much easier! comment, you could refer back to that later with something like, I know you want to make my life easier and I appreciate thatthats what I want from your role as well. When you give me a report with errors that I have to spend half an hour correcting, thats not happening. I need you to double-check your work before it comes to me so that youre spotting and correcting your own errors and I dont need to fix anything when it comes my way.
But I think if you keep the focus on the gap between the work hes producing and the work you needand just consider the self-hype a strange and even amusing eccentricityyoull figure out pretty quickly if he can succeed in the job or not, and thats what really matters.
Want to submit a question of your own? Send it to alison@askamanager.org.
By Alison Green
This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister site, Inc.
Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
Most people have goals to get ahead and even know, in principle, what steps to take to achieve them, but just keep not taking those steps. For instance, a successful designer does beautiful art on the side and wants to put it out there to see if he has something people will buy. Or a corporate leader has left her role to be an independent consultant and needs to communicate with more people about the value she brings. Both the artist-entrepreneur and the budding consultant know about the steps involved in marketing and sales, but they just keep not taking those steps, at least not enough of them. Something is holding them back.
In my experience coaching entrepreneurs and training leaders I find that very often they know what steps they should be taking. One more hack or pep talk isnt going to do much for them. There is, however, a counterintuitive processteach me how to failthat can make a huge difference regardless of their specific skill set, goal, or context.
Failure is an option
Typically, people tend to avoid thinking about failure. Failure is something many people fear. And research does support what most people would probably suspectthat fear of failure really can hold us back, even the entrepreneurial-minded. To avoid thinking about failure can be a way to try to avoid fear of failure. You knowStay positive.
However, research has long shown that it’s exposure to our fears, rather than avoiding them, that can help us move past them. And the more fully we can manage to safely revisit the contexts and emotions involved, the better. Findings reveal that when people expose themselves to the fear of failure, and let themselves explore that fear of failure mindfully, it can lead to breakthroughs in how they approach their task.
Failure as a strategy
Teach me how to fail is a powerful way to flip the script on failure and expose yourself in a safe and thoughtful way to the context and emotions connected with that failure. The process also reveals a wealth of actionable information quickly, that can precisely address what holds someone back. It points them toward what to do differently in their unique context.
With this process we view failure as a strategy, and moreover as a successful one. It is not successful at getting to the goal, but successful at meeting some other important need. That shift alone is often an eye-opener for people. Consider a situation of your own where you are not taking action that you think you should. Now reflect on this question: How is it serving you to not act? This is a way of reframing the meaning of failing-to-act in a more positive, often accurate, and adaptive light. Neuroscience shows that reframing the meaning of something in this way can change your emotional state and how strongly the brain may be triggering fight-or-flight mode.
In this process, moreover, we try to learn how to fail in the specific ways a person fails to act.
Case study
Lets consider Tim, the successful designer now looking to expand as an artist-entrepreneur, who took part in a group coaching series I co-facilitate. Trying to move himself to act, Tim said I just need to put my art out there and see what happens. When asked, how is it serving you to not put your art out there? Tim owned up to the fact that it allowed him to avoid finding out whether people would say no. That helped him keep hope alive that his art could find customers. With this we learned what his strategy was helping him succeed withto keep hope alive.
Then we explored further what someone would need to do if they wanted to fail to put their art out there exactly as Tim does. We knew one piece already, which was to value keeping hope alive. His strategy included certain behaviors, beliefs, emotional states, imagining particular reactions from other people, focusing attention on the wrong things, and so on. For instance: 1) we should justify waiting by telling ourselves the product was not ready. 2) We should imagine the letdown we would feel if there was no interest. 3) We should believe it would be bad to learn the answer was No, and that if no one purchased any pieces that means the art is not good enough to be commercial.
Difference makers
After we had learned how to fail-to-act in precisely the way Tim did, it was much easier to see what might make the difference for him. Here were some of the shifts he made:
His focus: Instead of putting energy into justifying waiting, he would put it into justifying not waiting
His feelings: Instead of imagining the letdown feeling, he would imagine the exhilaration of the process
His beliefs: Instead of worrying about hearing no, he would try to hear no. He would design every outreach so that people have to say yes or no to some step in his sales funnel. Then he would aim to find out why so he could make adjustments.
His good intentions: He then reflected on the question: How can I keep hope alive better by putting my art out there?
Psychology and neuroscience research highlights how each of these kinds of shiftsfocus, feelings, beliefs, serving your good intentionscan make a big difference in whether and how you act. In short, what is happening is that this paradoxical focus on failure as an adaptive strategy interrupts the pattern. It snaps you out of your stuck state of mind and puts you in a more resourceful state of mind. It also shines a light on the hidden assumptions, needs, and habits that have been getting in the way.
For Tim, these shifts did make the difference. He put his art out there and is excited about the response.
Teach me how to fail is a process I learned from NLP (neurolinguistic programming). It is one of many tools from NLP for quickly identifying the difference that will make the difference for someone to be able to make a desired change in a lasting way.
Pinky Cole, founder of the plant-based food chain Slutty Vegan, shares the details of a recent professional upheaval in which she lost control of her companyand then fought to win it back. She also opens up about surviving a harrowing driving incident, the business mistakes that nearly brought everything down, and the emotional and family toll of it all. Its a raw, unfiltered look at leadership under pressureand what it takes to rebuild when everything falls apart.
This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by Bob Safian, the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with todays top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode.
We last spoke on stage at the Masters of Scale Summit in October of 2024. And things seemed to be hummingyou had new stores, there were some high-profile collaborations, and we talked about investors, including Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer, a great mentor to have. And then everything turned a little bit. Take us back to last fall, how you were feeling about the business, and what unfolded as the year finished out.
I want to preface this conversation as a cautionary tale for founders. When I talk about my journey and the things that I’ve been through, I have seen a massive amount of success. I have gotten the title of every single magazine you could imagine. I’ve graced all the lists. I’ve gotten all of the things. But what I also realized is that it didn’t come without challenges. And just like all things go up, some things do go down.
And when I met with you, Bob, I was in the middle of one of the most powerful yet crunching seasons of my life. Here it is: I’m still making double-digit millions, doing very well as an organization by way of revenue, but operationally, I was not sound. And because I was not sound, the ship was sinking. It started off with a slow sink, and then eventually that ship went all the way under. And there’s no way to save a ship that’s got 10 holes in it. No matter how many buckets you try to get to push the water out, whatever effort that you try to do, there was no way to save it. I went from having challenges with cash flow. You know how it goes, Bob. If the cash flow doesn’t make sense, then the business can’t make sense. And all of these things happen really, really fast.
Some people think that it’s like a slow roll. No, it’s just like one day you’re good, and the next day you’re not. And after I did the taping with you, it got real. And real as in I had to file for an assignment for the benefit of creditors. And for the people who are listening to this: If you don’t know what that is, that is like bankruptcy’s fourth cousin far removed. It is an insolvency proceeding that happens outside of court when a company or organization, the revenue doesn’t speak to the debt that it has. My debt was above the revenue. Here I am, overall, I got about $20 million in debt. I’m burning $100,000 every single week. That is taxing on any entrepreneur, especially when you have a board that, at this point, they’re like: “Okay, how did we get here? What happened?”
And when I look back over everything, I wasn’t in the company day to day. I’m the mascot. I’m the thought leader. I’m doing all these things, putting people in position. We did a lot of great things collectively as an organization, but there were some learning curves there. And what I’ve learned from this experience is that talent is the root of all evil or is the foundation for your success. You want to have a really good organization? You’ve got to have really good talent. And I’m not just talking about people that look good on a résumé. I’m talking about people who can roll with the punches, who are great problem-solvers, who can look at an organization and identify ways in which to make it better. It’s not enough just to say that you worked at a company that was successful. No, you’ve got to come in this one and make sure that this one is successful. A lot of learning there, to say the least.
I want to ask you a couple of questions about that turn that happenedyou mentioned losing $100,000 a week. Now you could say, “Well, that’s the plan. We’re going to invest $5 million a year to build a brand.” That it’s part of what the strategy is. It doesn’t sound like that’s where the losses were coming from. Was there a single primary business problem, or was it like a group of things?
It was a group of things. The model has always been proven; we have a good business model. We have a cult following. People love the brand. That wasn’t what it was. What happened is, in the middle of the pandemic is when we got our rise. Could you imagine we raised $25 million and then inflation is through the roof? What would cost $600,000 to open up a Slutty Vegan cost almost $1 million to open up a Slutty Vegan. We opened up 14. We were very ambitious with our goals. On the surface, the business was very buttoned up, very organized. But the reality of it is, we were a bit above our britches. Our C-suite was super expensive. We were paying top dollar for construction and opening up locations. We had one location in particular where it took us four months beyond the completion date to get opened because of permittingobviously, that cost money. All of the things just came together, and it became a domino effect.
I had three babies in three years. I had a baby in ’21, I had a baby in ’22, and I had a baby in ’23. And I got married, and I’m doing all of these things. And when I started this company, I never coined myself as an operator. I’m not a restaurant operator. I’ll tell the truth. But this has always been a passion project for me, so what I do very well is, I market my business very well. I know how to connect the dots, and I can bring people together. So I brought in people who I thought can manage the operations. And did they do good work? Sure. I’m a professional, sure. But at the end of the day, the level of acumen that we need for the momentum that we have, I needed somebody else. But I want to say that I needed that to happen at the moment in time in which it happened, because it gave me the opportunity to, one, clear my cap table, two, clear the debt. And then it gave me an opportunity to buy my company back and rewrite my story.
The one thing about entrepreneurship is that nobody tells you that it has to be a straight line. You’re going to get some curves, there’s going to be some speed bumps, and you’re going to flip over a couple of times. But as long as you keep driving, that is where you get the juice. And I’ve been thirsty for this new juice of 2.0 in Slutty Vegan, and that’s bringing in a new president, bringing in a new accounting frm, bringing in a new HR team, even down to the damn assistanteverything new. And I wanted to be able to rewrite the story in a way where not only just I could feel good about myself aspirationally, but founders around the world can look at my story and know what to do, and know what not to do, because Pinky went through it.
Most things in the world are complicated, and identity more than most. Everyones sense of self and purpose is a combination of shifting internal and external ingredients, and it’s never permanent: Brain chemistry, physical environment, family structures, life experiences, material conditions, and many other things all mix and change as we move through different phases of life.
And while the factors that contribute to individual identity are unique to each person, the society we’ve built over the past century or so has resulted in some notable commonalities. Traditional support systems have changed, community activities have shifted toward individual ones, and even the quick fulfillment of consumerism has started to lose its appeal.
The result is that even as it’s arguably become easier to secure material well-being, work has become the main way many people form their sense of self. For them, work is a reason to get up in the morning, a substitute family, and the way we accomplish something meaningful with our lives; for many, answering “What do you do?” is often very similar to answering “Who are you?”
Integrating AI into the workforce adds new complexitiesbut also new opportunities
I’ve seen this in many of the organizations I work with, including the company I lead at the forefront of AI. By introducing a technology with such immense transformative potential into the workplace, we’re faced with a deeper matter than just rethinking the ways we work: AI also challenges our fundamental sense of self. We’re all reevaluating our purpose, our standing in society, and ultimately our value; what’s more, we’re doing so individually as well as collectively, and on a rapid time scale. There are no easy answers, which can result in a hugely polarized workforce.
Some employees react to the introduction of AI into their day-to-day processes with anxiety or outright resistance. But what business leaders can’t lose sight of is that the fears they hear aboutfor example, that AI could make roles obsolete, that human creativity and judgment will be lost, that long-term career prospects will become untenableare actually expressions of deeper concerns. The real resistance to AI originates from the uncertainty over rethinking who they are and who they will become, not just from ethical hostility to new technology. It’s an emotional reaction, not a logical one.
We’re also seeing an extreme opposite reaction, a huge movement of people welcoming the “identity crisis” AI is bringing with it. Plenty of employees are adopting AI with urgency, desperate to be given the go-ahead to embrace it fully and to do more with it. Some people are just more comfortable with reinvention, carving out new roles, and exploring ambitious new paths. These are some of the best allies the leader of an AI-implementing organization can have.
There are also plenty of angles in between these extremes, such as those who use AI but carry with them shame around admitting that theyve used the tech in a piece of work. However, as we’ve seen with other initiatives, incorporating a full range of identities and beliefs makes for a stronger organizationand that includes attitudes toward AI.
Make AI personal and purposeful
What those at the forefront of AI adoption really need to consider is how the people around us can come to feel that the technology can enhance their conception of themselves, not detract from it. It’s a question of framing and communication more than tools: As leaders we must foster the support, skills, and environment every employee needs to identify meaningful new goals and work toward them. It’s a tough switch, but one that’s perfectly possible if you approach it with genuine understanding and a commitment to transparency.
Leading by example and setting the bar high is an approach I’ve found to be particularly inspirational here: Putting things in historical perspective helps the mindset of ambitious, meaningful goals take hold. Just think about how the technology to automate food production allowed us, remarkably quickly, to turn humanity toward putting a person on the moon. What achievements that previously seemed impossible can we make a reality if we all adopt AI?
So addressing why some employees are actively resisting AI means addressing mindsetsand changing them with empathy, openness, and optimism. If successful, today’s business leaders can reframe AI as a way to accelerate how we conceive our own value, elevate the purposes we strive for, and unlock an even more fulfilling sense of self.
Check out eight of the sharpest, boldest business books shaping how we think, lead, and grow as professionals in 2025.
After the Idea: What It Really Takes to Create and Scale a Startup
By Julia Austin
Entrepreneurship expert Julia Austin shares battle-tested strategies to help founders and startup joiners build their venture from the ground up. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Julia Austin, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
Black Capitalists: A Blueprint for What Is Possible
By Rachel Laryea
A groundbreaking look at how Black visionariesfrom Wall Street to Lagos, Nigeria and beyondare reimagining capitalism to benefit the needs of Black people and, ultimately, everyone. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Rachel Laryea, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
Pioneers: 8 Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant Entrepreneurs
By Neri Karra Sillaman
Unlock the principles that drive the remarkable success stories of immigrant entrepreneurs from around the world. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Neri Karra Sillaman, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
Click: How to Make What People Want
By Jake Knapp with John Zeratsky
A guide for starting big projects the smart waybased on firsthand experience with more than 300 new products and businesses. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Jake Knapp, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication
By Andrew Brodsky
The essential guide for when (and how best) to use virtual communication tools, from video to instant messaging and everything in between. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Andrew Brodsky, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
Inner Entrepreneur: A Proven Path to Profit and Peace
By Grant Sabatier
A comprehensive blueprint detailing how to start, build, buy, scale, and sell a business that expands your life. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Grant Sabatier, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
The Insiders Guide to Innovation at Microsoft
By Dean Carignan & JoAnn Garbin
In this unique guide, youre not just reading about innovationyoure learning how to do it from the people behind some of the biggest breakthroughs of the last 50 years at one of the most influential and valuable companies in the world. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by authors Dean Carignan and JoAnn Garbin, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
Gambling Man: The Secret Story of the Worlds Greatest Disruptor, Masayoshi Son
By Lionel Barber
The first Western biography of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, financial disruptor and personification of the 21st centurys addiction to instant wealth. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Lionel Barber, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
From on-again-off-again tariffs, economic uncertainty, and layoffs, fresh graduates are in one of the toughest job markets in recent history. More than half do not have a job lined up by the time they graduate, and the unemployment rate for young degree holders is the highest it’s been in 12 years, not counting the pandemic.
Technological advancements are further making the situation harder, as artificial intelligence (AI) has wormed its way into the workforce, cannibalizing the number of entry-level jobs available. Whats a young grad to do?
I interviewed hiring managers, career advisers, and college students, and in this piece youll learn:
What out-of-work new grads need to be doing right now in their limbo
How to identify industries that are hiring you may never have thought of
The right approach to developing AI literacy to stand out
1. Use limbo productively
What several recent college grads refer to as limbo, the time period between graduation and employment, is often regarded as an excruciating phase of uncertainty. Experts recommend using this time as an opportunity for gaining experience outside of traditional corporate work.
Gig work and seasonal jobs like events and festivals can be a great opportunity to pick up some work experience, hone soft skills such as team work and attention to detail, and make some extra cash and contacts.
Adam Stafford, CEO of AI-powered recruitment platform Recuritics, says he is often impressed by young applicants who take on gig work while searching for jobs. I see somebody who comes into our organization says, I got out of college and I worked my tail off for three or four months while I was looking, that shows me that is somebody whos got hustle, Stafford says.
If its not possible to find gig work, volunteering is also a good way to gain experience. Volunteering can help provide actionable examples of leadership and teamwork to share during job interviews if you have little to no work experience, Lucrecia Borgonovo, chief talent and organizational effectiveness officer at Mastercard, points out.
Even though you’re not necessarily acquiring a job, volunteering is a really great way to gain a lot of experience, she says.
In addition, its important to keep applying to jobs, even if it feels like youre not getting anywhere. Having a routine can help. Cherena Walker, executive director of career and professional development at Stevens Institute of Technology, recommends treating job applications like a college course. For instance, applicants can learn from their own college schedule to determine what days and times they work best in, allotting that time for applying as if it were a class.
If you do that on a regular cadence, you’ll get a whole lot more done, Walker says. That’s a lot more focused, and you can have the rest of the time to yourself.
2. Be flexible and look at the big picture
As AI makes its way into the workforce, its impact will be greatly felt among entry-level jobs. Just a few months ago, Anthropics CEO Dario Amodei told Axios that AI could be responsible for wiping out about half of white collar entry-level jobs in the coming years. The best way to ride the wave? Be okay with going into fields you hadnt thought of and look ahead, experts tell Fast Company.
While the idea that it’s unlikely to land the perfect job straight out of college isnt exactly groundbreaking, I think we still spend too much time searching for the exact role or location that aligns perfectly with our experience, Jamie Shearer, an account executive at communications agency Pinkston who writes about postgrad experiences on LinkedIn, shared via email. This can leave new grads with a frustratingly narrow field of opportunities.
Stafford suggests grads look into industries that are hiring, where there might be a skill overlap. For instance, he notes theres a high demand for applicants in the healthcare, aerospace, and defense industries, which might be a great fit for applicants who were previously looking for tech jobs. Additionally, thinking about broader economic trends might better position young professionals in the workforce.
Step back and look at the global economic environment, Stafford advises. Where are governments investing? Where are big companies investing? Those all then start to flow into the private sector.
Stafford says Europes ongoing rearming efforts are making aerospace and defense industries a booming market for young talent. Regardless of how you think or feel about that whole movement, it is creating a lot of economic opportunity, he says.
Even for grads who are looking to stay in an industry, considering new specializations is vital. Angela Tran, a 2024 graduate and current account executive at Astrsk PR, struggled to find work after her internship in public relations for lifestyle and beauty ended. However, she was able to find a job after pivoting to tech PR.
I didn’t know that I was going to enjoy it, and I didn’t know I was going to be good at it, Tran says. It was an eye-opener for me, that I should try new things in different sectors.
3. Intentionally upskill yourself
It is no surprise AI literacy is the most coveted skill for young employees entering the workforce. This year, LinkedIn named it the top skill on the rise. According to research from Autodesk, 46% of employers say AI skills are a priority for hiring over the next three years.
These tools can include everything from LLMs like ChatGPT, or industry-specific tools like Adobes AI-powered features for the design field.
Yet it’s easy to forget that ChatGPT was released in 2022, during most recent graduates sophomore or junior year in college.
AI is table stakes, it’s no longer optional,” says Mary Hope McQuiston, VP of education experiences at Autodesk. “If you’re a young grad, make sure you are learning how to work with AI tools, don’t wait if your school isn’t preparing you.
AI literacy is not only about learning how to write prompts, but also looking into what specific AI tools are used in an applicant’s industry.
Do your homework and be really intentional about acquiring those skills, whether it is through formal learning like taking a course, or through projects, getting a mentor, like learning from a colleague, Borgonovo says.
For those who did not have access to AI resources in college, recent grads can sign up for free online courses, teach themselves how to write prompts for LLMs via trial and error, or even ask industry professionals what tools they use at work to get a head start.
And, as the technology quickly evolves, staying consistent and curious on technology is key to keep up. It’s kind of like a gym. You go to a gym, you try a bunch of different machines, you set up a practice, and you slowly build the muscle, McQuiston adds.
4. Lean into soft skills
The times are changing so quickly that when fresh graduates entered college they were told STEM degrees were a must. Now, it seems that humanities are making a comeback, as AI cant replace human skillsyet.
Honing in on human skills will give applicants an edge over traditionally hard-skill-based applicants. Conflict mitigation was second to AI literacy, on LinkedIns skills on the rise.
When I talk to our commercial customers, they are not just looking for technical skills, because those are going to constantly change. They’re looking for folks who are effective at problem solving, communication, collaboration, leadership, McQuiston says. AI raises the floor . . . but human ingenuity is going to raise the ceiling.
What is great about soft skills is they may come from everyday experiences, and applicants who learn how to leverage those during interviews can set themselves apart, experts say.
You have transferable skills from past experiences. Don’t be afraid to talk about how you think they can link to the job. It shows you’ve thought about the job seriously, says Robert Whitehouse, SVP of business partnership and talent acquisition for MiQ Digital across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and North America.
5. Network strategically
Both experts and recent graduates who have scored a job agree that one of the most powerful tools for entering the job market is networking. But, good networking looks different from the now-common mass messaging on LinkedIn. The key is to be targeted and intentional with relationship building.
Avalon Fenster, the founder of Internship Girl, an online community that offers advice for early-career women, emphasizes that applicants often rely on vertical networking like reaching out to executives from companies. Instead, Avalon suggests also prioritizing building strong relationships with peers.
Some of the most powerful networking is with people who are in the beginning level, who are in their first job, Fenster says. Those are the people who really know what it’s like to have broken through this glass floor and will be able to give the most current, relevant advice.
Arthur Brooks is the poster child for an interesting and accomplished life. He has made it a practice to upend his career every decade. He played the French horn for the Barcelona orchestra, is friends with the Dalai Lama, and is the author of 14 books (including one coauthored with Oprah Winfrey).
Hes also a happiness evangelist and a professor at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, where he teaches a popular course on leadership and happiness. In addition, he’s a columnist for The Atlantic, where he writes weekly about the tools for building a happier life. Yet even he struggles with his own happiness, which is why he studies it. Now hes gathered his most popular essays into a new book, The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life (Harvard Business Review Press), which goes on sale August 12.
Arthur Brooks [Photo: Jenny Sherman]
I connected with Brooks on August 4 for an in-depth conversation, in which youll learn:
Why worrying about whether you feel happy is the wrong way to assess whether you are happy
How you can stop doing the things you hate
Why ambition often works as a counterpoint to happiness
The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
I know youve been asked this question a million times, but lets establish a baseline definition. What is happiness?
I start by defining happiness by what it’s not, which is a feeling. People often say that I can’t define happiness, but I know when I feel it, or it’s how I feel when I’m with the people that I love.
That definition is the reason most people aren’t as happy as they want to be. They have the wrong definition of happiness. Feelings and emotions exist to give us signals about what’s going on around us.
Happiness is something that you actually can study and become more skillful at. Its similar to nutrition, where you have to get past the smell of the food, which is the feelings of happiness, and getting more toward the macronutrients, which are its component parts.
The macronutrients of happiness are enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning. To be happy, you need to understand what they are and change your habits to get more of them.
If happiness isnt a feeling, how do you know youre on the right track for achieving a happy life?
To begin with, this requires that you pay attention to something other than your feelings. Think about: How much are you enjoying your life? How much do you feel that your life does have meaning? How much satisfaction are you taking in your accomplishments?
Aristotle talked about eudaimonia, which is the good life, well lived, notwithstanding your feelings. It should come to the point where you’re so good at understanding and practicing happiness that you can say, I had a terrible, terrible day today, and I’m an incredibly happy person.
In The Happiness Files you write that we should stop doing things we hate. How do you balance that with understanding that some of what you hate doing is an investment into living a happy life?
Thats right. There are things that you do because they are necessary, but you dont like them. For example, no one wants to wake up at 2 o’clock in the morning to be with their crying child. That’s something that’s not enjoyable, but it is meaningful.
Thats why the three component parts of happiness are so important. If the things that you hate are not enjoyable, they’re not satisfying, and they’re not meaningful, those are the things that you should eliminate if you can.
You can’t eliminate all of them, because life is life. But the best life is one that doesn’t just look for more enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning. It’s one where you move away from the parts of your life that aren’t any of those things, but you were doing them just because you thought you were supposed to.
In many of your essays, you point out that some of our suffering is because we are trapped in systems that are preying upon our anxiety and fears. What do you tell people who are in these systems but can’t necessarily get out for one reason or another?
It depends on the system that we’re talking about. If we’re talking about a technological system where there’s an overuse of devices and social media, I treat it much the same way that I do with addictive substances and behaviors.
Its the same set of protocols for detoxing from the dopaminergic pathways where your learning system has been hijacked. You have to put together a series of habits in your life that will replace the things that you’re trying to avoid. There are lots and lots of ways to do this, but you have to recognize that these systems work the same way as any other addictive system.
What if these systems are built into our career progression? For example, you mentioned the news is an entire industry that preys upon people’s anxiety to keep them scrolling. However, for many people, its important to stay informed about what’s going on.
To stay informed is very, very different than constantly updating your information. News can be quite addictive, but only when it’s feeding fear, alarm, or anger. Those are amygdala-based responses, and the news media has gotten very good at feeding that and then using technology so you can maximize time in the app.
That’s actually predatory and unethical, but I can’t prohibit it, because I believe in a free society. The truth is nobody should be consuming more than half an hour a day of news.
You’re not going to stop reading news, but you have to set up protocols around it. For example, I read the news once in the morning, and I don’t update. I’m not going to learn anything. I’m just distracting myself, and the best thing to do with these distracting technologies is set up rules.
No more than half of your news reading should be politics. If you read more than 10 or 15 minutes a day of politics, youre hurting yourself.
Even if you work in politics?
[Laughs] You shouldnt work in politics. Thats another way to hurt yourself.
But someone has to do it!
I know. I mean it would be great if representing citizens was more of a positive thing to do. Local politics, which isn’t so contentious, is more about that, but theres this political entertainment establishment that’s really troubling at the national level.
I think we can see this playing out across many different industries beides politics, where the top level is really competitive and can be part of a sick system that exploits you. But what about people who do want to be in the top echelons? Is it possible to be happy at the top?
It’s hard. I wrestled with this my whole career. The truth is that people at the top like CEOs are rarely very happy people. Part of the reason is because their dreams came true, and it turned out they had the wrong dreams.
Look, I’m glad that we have good leaders, and I know some who do really well in spite of it. But nobody does really well in their happiness because of worldly success. They do really well in life along with their worldly success.
The truth is people who have big dreams to help other people, to run organizations, to be a great leader, they need to be very, very careful of other impulses and very careful of other goals. And their goals should not include money, power, pleasure, and fame. If they do, they’re going to wind up incredibly unhappy people.
Youve had an incredible career. How have you implemented these guardrails in your own life?
Poorly at times, and it’s one of the reasons that I studied this material because happiness has not come naturally to me. It’s not that I’m miserable, it’s that it’s been hard, and I’ve chased the lure of worldly success an awful lot, and I’ve had to understand what really matters to me along the way.
One of the reasons I dedicate my life to the love and happiness of others is because I want to understand these things. I want to teach these things. I want to bring more of these ideas to the world.
The result of it is that now when things go wrong, it doesn’t crush me, and when things go right, it doesn’t throw me so much. Now I’m able to focus more on what I really care about, which is to lift people up and bring them together in bonds of happiness and love, using science and ideas. And I focus on that. And that’s the kind of success that I actually want, transcending myself and bringing a better life to other people.
Then some days, I wake up and I’m like Darn it. Nobody read my article in The Atlantic today. And then my wife will say, Go read your research.
What has surprised you the most in your research about happiness?
The shocking truth is that we’re not built for happiness. Mother Nature doesn’t care if we’re happy. Mother Nature wants us to survive and pass on our genes and get calories. She also wires us with all of these impulses to make more money and acquire more stuff and use people and worship ourselves. It makes us miserable.
I thought that like food, or craving protein after I work out, if I really have a natural craving for something, it’s probably based on something really healthy. And it’s not necessarily true when it comes to happiness. It turns out Mother Nature lies to me, and I have to be at war with my impulses to become a happier person.
Philosophers have always said that there’s an animal component to the human prefrontal cortex and a transcendent component to our consciousness. The animal component is your physical impulses, and the divine component is your moral aspirations, and going from one to the other, that’s the life in life. That’s the magic of it all
What are the biggest unanswered questions about happiness?
Oh, there are so many. For one, why is it that happiness is so much harder for some people than it is for others? For example, my wife is just naturally so much happier than I am. Why? Is it just brain chemistry? Is there something supernatural about it? Is it a different way of living? I don’t know. I wish I knew. But if I can put the information that people have about their own selves in their hands, then at the very least they can have strategies for becoming happier.
