Strands of Genius: The Right Words, Listening with Masks, 20 Years of X-Men
plus: our thoughts on women in sports and still celebrating the fact that it's summer despite the pandemic
WRITING FROM | Los Angeles, CA (Ashley)
WORKING ON | http://schoolofstolengeni.us
LOOKING AHEAD
July 15: School of Stolen Genius >> Integrative Brand Worksheet
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
Ashley here, writing to you from Los Angeles where we are in the thick of June Gloom!
Somehow we’re already at the end of June. With summer activity norms not in the picture, it can be challenging to realize we’re already half-way through the summer! Still, we trek on and do our best to make some things summer-ish. For me, we have a blow up kiddie pool in our side yard where we can sit with our fruit infused water or Whiteclaw and soak up rays from the comfort of our own home.
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
‘The Bold Type’, my latest binge-watching tv show on Hulu. It’s about a lot of things but the core of it is women supporting women and the power of female friendship; Deb (my mom) who is riding this clean eating train with me and up for whatever recipe I concoct; socially distant beach/sunset hangs with a friend, and all of you, of course!
:: THE LINKS ::
THE RIGHT WORDS
Throughout much of human history, leaders have relied on their words to spark action. And many economists and CEOs today swear that words are the most important tool in a world where “command and control” leadership has given way to power by persuasion. Finding the right words in a crisis can be a daunting task, and it’s a task many of us are navigating right now. So how do we do it? It’s suggested we… Replace long words with short ones. Find analogies. Personalize the crisis. And observe the rule of three. (Harvard Business Review)
THE STRUGGLE OF LISTENING WITH MASKS
In addition to finding the right words, it’s learning to communicate behind those masks. We are all struggling to understand one another with the masks and a plexiglass divider between us when we’re out grocery shopping. For many of us who are deaf and rely on lip-reading, this is becoming another barrier of limited accessibility, but there are some ways in which we can better communicate with one another through the masks. And these tips can be useful regardless of hearing loss! (HearingLikeMe)
20 YEARS OF X-MEN + GLOBAL CITIZEN
This is for you comic and pop culture peeps… can you believe it’s been 20 years since the first X-Men film was released!? In a sketch for Global Citizen that took place over Zoom (where else!), the cast of X-Men had a mini reunion. If you know the ongoing “feud” between Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, it’s only natural that Deadpool made a special appearance in this entertaining bit for a good cause! (BuzzFeed)
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:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT: WOMEN IN SPORTS ::
As is obvious, many parts of our daily routines have been put on pause due to COVID. One of those daily/weekend routines that has been lost is sports, whether playing or watching.
I’ve played sports all my life, so I may be biased, but I truly believe sports have the power to change the world. Wars have been fought over soccer; Every 4 years (well, almost every 4 years) people from various countries all over the world come together to compete in the Olympics; Nike, one of the more outspoken brands, centers around athletics; Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem as a way of protesting police brutality against African Americans and other minorities.
Not many sports are back, but this weekend we welcomed back a part of LIVE women’s sports with the NWSL Challenge Cup. That’s women’s professional soccer in the USA, for clarification. The ladies of the tournament sported Black Lives Matter t-shirts while kneeling during the National Anthem, and it had me thinking about the platform of sports and how women are using it.
Professional female athletes go so far beyond being incredibly good at the sports they play. They’re shaping our futures. They’re speaking out about equal pay. They’re showing you can be good at more than one thing. Joy Fawcett played and won multiple international tournaments and mothered 3 children at the same time. Lisa Leslie, a winner of multiple WNBA Championships, is one of the first females to coach a men’s professional basketball team. Serena Williams has launched a fashion line while taking home numerous grand slam titles. You catch my drift.
It’s no wonder that in their annual Sports Industry Outlook report, Deloitte shared what they predict will be the biggest trends that will dominate and disrupt the sports industry — the rise of women’s sports! Sure this was published before the Olympics were cancelled, but it’s still relevant precisely because even during a pandemic women in sports are changing the narrative!
:: CHANGING THE NARRATIVE ::
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rock ON,
ashley & faris & rosei | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
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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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