Strands of Genius: Taylor Swift's Impact on the NFL, The Power of Pets, Glow In The Dark Roads
Guest curated by Hannah Orlin, PR, Marketing and Communications Professional
Each year we aim to highlight 50 creative thinkers that have inspired us by giving them the opportunity to guest curate this newsletter, Strands of Genius. This edition is guest curated by Hannah Orlin, PR, Marketing and Communications Professional.
:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, HANNAH ORLIN ::
LOCATION: Atlanta, GA
I was lucky enough to meet Rosie and Faris back in 2020, through our mutual friend Ashley Derrington. Ashley and I were at the tail end of a cross country road trip from Los Angeles to Atlanta and were going to be driving through Tennessee. We had the best overnight stop with them - full of food and fun and new friends. We were driving through several National Parks on that trip, trying to find some outdoor adventures during a pretty isolating time, so this stop with Rosie and Faris was a real highlight after more than a week of driving!
Apparently though, I don’t mind long drives, because I just recently did the same cross-country trip (different route) as I moved back home to Atlanta from Los Angeles. It was a bittersweet move after 10 years of working at Universal Pictures, and just generally creating a life there. But I'm very grateful to now be settling back into life in Atlanta with my (new!) fiancé and our dog and currently enjoying the spring weather and blooming flowers - less so the blanket of pollen that we cannot escape at the moment!
Editor’s Note (Genius Steals): We loved being able to meet up with Hannah when she was traveling with our former teammate (*tear*) Ashley back in 2020. We got to hear stories stories about their roadtrip adventures and it’s been great to be reconnected through the newsletter. Chelsea shares Hannah’s love for Taylor Swift, and has since about 2009! Thank you Hannah for sharing these awesome links and street art (we have a HUGE thing for street art and love love love that cat art)!
:: THE LINKS ::
TAYLOR SWIFT’S IMPACT ON THE NFL
Proud Swiftie, here! From seeing The Eras Tour live at SoFi Stadium in LA to seeing The Eras Tour in theaters, to seeing The Eras Tour at home via rental, to FINALLY getting to view The Eras Tour for “free” on Disney+ just last week…you can probably tell, I’m a fan.
The obsession is real, and in my opinion, for good reason. This woman writes so much incredible music that it’s hard to keep up. Before she has even finished The Eras Tour, where she goes through 17 years of her music and 10 studio albums, she is now releasing a brand-new album on April 19, The Tortured Poet’s Department which she surprise announced during her Grammys acceptance speech for Best Album for her last album – Midnights. She led up to this announcement with easter eggs and cryptic messaging throughout that day allowing us all to be a part of the journey, a seemingly effortless connection she has created between her work and her fans. She writes in a way that is personal to her but also to her fans by writing and singing about universally relatable experiences.
Now, with her new (ish) relationship with Travis Kelce very much in the spotlight, we also got to see her throughout last season at Chiefs games. While it is reported that Taylor’s presence and association has added the equivalent of around $330 million in brand value to the Chiefs and the league, along with a completely new viewership demographic, I know there are football fans who are tired of seeing her for a few seconds during the games. I think it is amazing what she has organically done for the economy, for the NFL and as a Superbowl Ad for Cetaphil showcased, even potentially some father-daughter relationships. I personally hope we get to see more of Taylor cheering on Travis next season.
I also wanted to share her Time Magazine ‘Person of the Year’ feature as well if you want a deeper dive into Taylor’s world. (CBS / Time)
THE POWER OF PETS
Animals having a positive effect on our wellbeing isn’t new, but it has been very relevant for me lately, so I love to talk about it. Although I grew up with dogs my whole life, since adopting my own dog a year ago it is a sentiment that really resonates with me. Minnie, affectionally known as Miniature and several other nicknames that don’t make any sense, is a small Golden Retriever at just under 50 pounds. She was surrendered to an animal shelter because her owners were moving, and my fiancé and I were the lucky ones who got to become her new family! She is the sweetest, cuddliest dog and we can’t imagine life without her now. The unconditional love and sense of purpose a pet gives you is incomparable, if only they also paid rent. (Forbes)
GLOW IN THE DARK ROADS
This is the first time I’ve heard of this idea, but it was tested back in May 2023 in Australia. The idea is implementing eco-friendly glow in the dark line markings on roadways to improve safety for nighttime driving when there is less visibility. The strips are applied to the streets and utilize photoluminescence, using light absorbed from the sun during the day to illuminate the roads at night. There have been different iterations of this going back to 2013 when the Netherlands experimented with a similar project but ran into complications with the materials used for illumination, and even experimenting here in the US with cool pavement for heatwaves and permeable pavement for flooding. It sounds like a big investment, but I really love the idea of finding a natural, eco-friendly solution to help contribute safer driving conditions. (The Cooldown)
Looking for more from Hannah? Coming Friday, look for an interview from her in your inbox!
:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::
:: Game :: Not yet my favorite, but I'm very late to the game with Catan and still figuring it out but I enjoy it more every time I play.
:: City :: Because I just left and I spent the most amazing and formative 10 years there, Los Angeles will always hold a special place in my heart.
:: Book :: I recently finished Britney Spears’ book The Woman in Me and it was…a wild ride.
:: Podcast :: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
:: Song :: I'm currently loving Too Sweet by Hozier. And of course, anything Taylor Swift and obviously counting down the days until her new album.
:: STREET ART ::
It's cool to be kind,
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
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