enRICHed: Volume 43
Brave not Perfect
As the oldest daughter and a Capricorn, I can admit to being a tiiiiiny bit of a psychotic perfectionist. So when I was listening to Networth and Chill this week, my jaw dropped on the floor. Vivian interviewed the founder of Girls Who Code, and within 10 minutes a stat was dropped about how instead of showing coding progress to their teachers, girls often show a blank page. They would rather show nothing if what they had was not perfect. WOW. Let that sink in and then applaud Reshma for helping change that type of mentality in young girls.
It’s funny, because I wrote today’s newsletter before I wrote the intro, and we were already gearing towards Girl Power, so I figured it should just be the theme. If we empower women, financially, emotionally, physically, educationally, we all win. That’s the take away. But you should see for yourself, it’s a great listen for anyone who is or has a mother, sister, aunt, neighbor, niece, or daughter. If you know a girl, you should know how to support them in trying, failing, and trying again.
Netflixonomics
In an article this week on Puck, Julia Alexander examines the phenomenon happening on Netflix right now, as Suits had recorded more than 3 billion minutes streamed in 4 weeks.
Figuring out a show’s success is difficult with streaming, because while 3B minutes sounds like a lot, Suits launched all 8 seasons, with 120 episodes to binge in total. The article dives in here as well.
Alexander questions how this success happened, as Suits has been around for years, and is even available on Peacock - but it’s just now having its second moment in the sun thanks to Netflix.
Netflix’s algorithm pushes different shows and movies to its home screen as they become more popular. Maid had a comeback months after its’ release because after screens went viral on TikTok, Netflix pushed it to the home page for everyone - a pop culture domino effect.
HYCU; Alexander’s article begs the question of why Netflix doesn’t make its own long-running series, and her answer is that they don’t really need to. Netflix is the only profitable streaming service, which allows them to acquire programming that they don’t want to create themselves. They also aren’t looking to license their content to anyone else, because the unique series they provide viewers is what makes them competitive. They’re in a good place, and the Suits dichotomy proves that they’re getting even better.
Barbie hits 1B
I live one block from the movie theater, and almost a month after Barbie’s release, I still see people walking in and out wearing pink. So it’s no surprise that Barbie just broke through $1B in sales at the box office.
Only 50 movies in history have made +$1B in the box office, and this breakthrough number also makes Greta Gerwig the first solo female director with a billion-dollar movie.
Barbie has been having global success too, performing extremely well in China (the world’s second largest market), as well as in the UK, Australia and Mexico. It’s proof that the Barbie name had the expected appeal, even outside of the US where Barbie is most popular.
HYCU; the movie has prompted huge conversations about gender roles and female empowerment, and its success indicates the potential for more of these types of movies, with strong female leads geared toward more female-centric storylines, to be made going forward. Axios put together a deep-dive on the sociocultural impact of Barbie if you’d like to read further.
Let’s Talk Women’s Sports
Last Sunday, the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) was knocked out of the World Cup the earliest in the history of their tournament appearances. It was a long drawn out heartbreaker, that in the end was decided by millimeters. The Daily podcast discussed the impact of the USWNT over the past years, not only on the US but on women’s sports in general.
An insane stat that I was unaware of: women were not allowed to play professional soccer until 1970, which is really not that long ago.
This year’s World Cup had broken many records from ticket sales to viewership numbers. But soccer isn’t the only women’s sport making headlines this year. The Iowa LSU NCAA championship game drew record viewers, the WNBA had its most-watched season in 20 years, and gymnast Olivia Dunne has risen to be one of the highest-paid college athletes under the new NCAA rules.
HYCU; what these numbers show is that people want to watch women’s sports, and they want to watch women’s success. A recent Forbes article details how accessibility will be key moving forward, and if media brands invest, advertisers should be there on the other side. Where there are eyeballs, there is money to be made!
Climate Change Hits Food
It was the hottest July on record, and I didn’t need a scientist to tell me that - I felt like I was melting into the sidewalk anytime I walked outside of my apartment. But the consequences go beyond my AC and dry cleaning bills.
The global heat wave, as well as the wildfires that came with it, have impacted some of the globe’s most-consumed crops: corn, wheat and rice (which make up ~42% of the world’s calories). In the future, as temperatures continue to rise, yield will continue to decrease.
Yield has been impacted across sub-Saharan Africa, South America, the Caribbean, southern Asia and western and southern Europe, per Carbon Brief.
HYCU; a basic lesson on supply and demand will teach you that less crops = higher prices. So as climate change impacts global farming, we will feel it in not only a lack of products we are used to seeing, but also in an increase in what we pay for those products.
Bonus: The NYT did some research into how the heat is affecting productivity in our economy. Such an interesting read.
Rich Tip of the Week: 5 Things You Need to Know about Student Loans (video link w/ sound)
The median age for first-time homebuyers climbs to 36 years old… ugh
I am working with a dermatologist for my wedding (in 27 days like what is life?!) and have become literally obsessed with Skin Food. I’m using the light version, but you better believe come winter I will be slathering the original cream on daily.
