Good morning! There’s a gender gap in early voting, the Female Founders Fund returned its first fund, and Savannah James built confidence while founding a new community for women.
– Faith in the community. During the two decades that her husband, LeBron James, played in the NBA, Savannah James, for a long time, kept out of the public eye. She’s focused on her private life and their three children – so much so that when she launched one podcasts earlier this year, some people’s reaction was, “Wow, I didn’t even know she talked,” the 38-year-old recalled. “I was like, duh—just because I don’t want to talk to all of you,” she joked.
But James’s emergence in the public eye has been slow—especially in contrast world of professional sportswith countless commentary tracks and reality shows—influenced by her own internal struggle to build self-confidence. A pivotal moment happened three years ago when her 10-year-old daughter told James she wanted to be like her mother when she grew up but mostly said she wanted to imitate her mother’s appearance. The comment made James think about the example she was setting for her daughter and about who she was on a deeper level. “At that time I wasn’t really confident in who I was because I felt like I hadn’t accomplished much,” she said.
Meanwhile, James connected with friends including April McDaniel, founder of the company Crown + Conquer, who has worked on projects with LeBron James for years. Living in southern California, where LeBron James has played for the Los Angeles Lakers since 2018, there’s no shortage of wellness retreats and personal development workshops. McDaniel was involved Hoffman Processan intense personal development retreat. She is also connected to the world of women’s networks—but those groups, from chief to Lean In, often focusing on networking and advancing within the company. James was interested in connecting with women’s groups for personal development, but those types of organizations didn’t resonate. “I felt like because I didn’t have a title, I wasn’t welcome in these rooms,” she said.
Courtesy of Let It Break
Together, the pair came up with the idea of a group that was somewhat of a harmonious combination of those two styles. They established Let it breakan organization they describe as a personal development platform and community for women. In 2023, they raised an undisclosed sum from investors and appointed Porsha Ellis, who worked with McDaniel at her company, as CEO of Let It Break. They founded the organization in June this year with 100 members ranging in age from mid-20s to mid-70s, who pay $250 per month. They focus on live programming in Los Angeles and New York, with plans to expand in 2025 and classes like “living a conscious life,” coaching, breathing, and manifestation.
Let It Break is part of a new generation of businesses that promise to create community around personal growth. For example, the founders of Soulcycle teamed up last year to launch the Peoplea place for people to develop their relationships.
Let It Break’s show intentionally ignores the headlines—James says she doesn’t want to make anyone else feel the way she does—but McDaniel hopes that women will be able to apply the personal development lessons this into their professional lives. “These are tools you can use when your child is acting crazy and throwing a tantrum in the supermarket or when an employee is having a problem,” McDaniel says.
For James, the process of building a community like Let It Break, which she admits is her first project “of this magnitude,” has helped her build her own confidence. “Building this business has been very different for me and my family,” James said. “I definitely had to stretch myself in ways I hadn’t before. It was an adjustment for all of us, but I selfishly took that time to grow and I am extremely happy with my decision.”
Most of that work was internal—and now she thinks differently about her daughter’s comments. “I realized that for a young girl to say, ‘I want to be like you,’ is a really huge accomplishment,” she said. Even though James now has the title “co-founder” for the first time, she mostly knows that “everything was fine before.” “You’re just building on the tools that you actually already have.”
Emma Hinchliffe
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ALSO IN THE TITLE
– Get there early. So far, more women than men have voted early, with a gender gap of 10% in several battleground states, including Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Of course, this data does not reveal which presidential candidates women are voting for and how their early voting will affect the election. politics
– Sell shares. Canva, co-founded and led by Melanie Perkins, shared that the company’s value increased nearly 20%, or $6 billion, to $32 billion after selling shares. This graphic design platform is Australia’s largest private technology company and a mainstay for Australian startups. Financial assessment
– In context. Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, spoke New York Times article accused her of having “lavish spending patterns” that may have violated IRS rules. Ellis said the story lacked necessary context about GLAAD’s work, asserting that time reprimand. Diversity
– First fund. Female Founders Fund has returned its first fund of $5.85 million, a milestone that not all new venture capital firms achieve. It reached that milestone thanks to a secondary sale by women’s health startup Maven. Now, the remaining investments and exits of the fund will generate pure returns for the fund’s limited partners. Luck
MOVING MACHINERY AND SHAKING MACHINE
Jack Cooper Transport, a provider of vehicle transportation and logistics services, is named Sarah Amico president and CEO. She was previously executive chair of the board of directors.
Blue Shield of California, a health plan provider, is designated Deneen Vojta executive vice president of healthcare solutions. Vojta previously served as president of the Arctos Foundation.
Camco, developer of RV technology, is appointed Lisa Schoder as director of marketing and Danielle Conner as chief executive officer. Schoder was previously Vice President of Integrated Communications and Partnerships at Lowe’s. Conner previously served as COO and SVP, operations at Spinrite.
Myrobalan Therapeutics, an oral neurorehabilitation therapy biotechnology, is named Robin Kleiman scientific director. Most recently, she was Vice President of CNS Biology at Alkermes.
Tavus, a general AI video research company, added Effie Goenawan as head of product and Julia Szatar head of marketing department. Most recently, Goenawan was principal product manager at Roblox. Szatar is head of product marketing and lifecycle marketing at Loom.
Wolverine World Wide, a footwear company, was appointed Susie Kuhn as president of the company’s operations group. Kuhn most recently served as Foot Locker’s president of Europe, Middle East and Africa.
ON MY RADAR
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FAREWELL WORDS
“It was a 100% male team, not even wearing fashionable clothes. Like, come on. This is what you have to offer?”
—Chanel CEO Leena Nair on causing ChatGPT to show off images of Chanel senior leaders visiting Microsoft
