5SR - July 10, 2023

Today’s curator is Olivia Howell, the co-founder and CEO of Fresh Starts Registry, the first and only platform for everything you need to begin again, including divorce or breakup, moving, career changes, stepping into your truth, or starting again after grief. After her own divorce in 2019, Olivia had an 'aha moment' when she realized that we celebrate weddings and babies with a registry, but in the moments we really need to restock our life, like divorce, job loss, or any brave decision and major life change, we need the support, both in the form of support items for your home and the experts who become our hype team. From there, Fresh Starts Registry was born, the first Support Registry and Divorce Registry - and the only platform which aggregates support experts for all life changes and supports the Fresh Starts Experts in their marketing, business, and public relations. Olivia is also the co-host of the top rated podcast, A Fresh Story, and the co-author of Simple Scripts to Support Your People: What to Say When You Don't Know What to Say.

The $300 Monthly Child Tax Credit Is Back On The Negotiation Table (Baby Chick)

I literally gasped when I saw the headline to this piece by my friend Lauren. It's not a secret that we, as a culture, don't discuss money in an honest way, but I don't think we even broach the topic of the fact that so many people are struggling to make ends meet - and I'm not talking about the people you'd think.

I have countless friends with "good jobs," and they're well known in their community, but they can barely pay the bills every month - something as basic as a medical bill would drain their savings. And, it's not that they're spending money on vacations or for fun, they're paying for daycare, and mortgages and insurance...so, yeah, I gasped when I saw this headline, because $300 would help a lot of people.

Let's hope these negotiations keep up because many families really need the support right now.

What Disabled People Are Losing With The Slow Death Of Twitter (Granite And Sunlight)

I'm a huge fan of Twitter. I love my Twitter friends, I have found clients on Twitter, I've worked with celebs because of my Twitter connections. I'm The Digital Yenta because I truly love social media - Twitter included.

So, recently, while more and more issues are occuring to the platform, it's breaking my heart - and it's taking away so much from so many people, including the disability community. As this piece says, "Twitter fills a specific niche for so many of us which makes it the place we organise, support each other, develop theory and practice, and have social lives."

I know social media can often have a bad rap, but it's a lifeline for so, so many people. This piece delves into why Twitter is unique for the disability community and how it's helped so many people - a really important perspective.

‘Post-Marriage I Was A Teenager Again’: How I Turned The Page After Getting Divorced In My 30s (The Guardian)

When I read this piece about divorce, I loved it for MANY reasons. One reason is that Joanna Biggs mentions divorce registries - yay, they're being normalized because of Fresh Starts!

But, this piece was about something I've felt in my bones for a long time: when we go through a divorce, we often find ourselves gravitating towards the music, art, and books we loved at 15-16 years old as a way to help us remember who we were, before we were ever wives. I did the same thing after my divorce, and when I have a friend going through a divorce, I always tell them to make a playlist of their favorite songs from high school. It is so healing.

As she writes in this piece, "Post‑marriage, I was a teenager again." I just love that other people write so eloquently about this feeling - as I think it is a very powerful way to heal, by finding our way back to who we were...before.

Daniel Kaluuya Barney Movie Is A ‘A24- Type’ Film That’s ‘Surrealistic’ And For Adults, Says Mattel Exec: Not That It’s R-Rated (Variety)

I don't know what else to say, except that I had to share this article about a new Barney movie for adults coming out. Alright, I do have something to say on this: I will be seeing it.

Back to the topic though: let's talk about nostalgia for a moment. I've been in the marketing world for 20 years, and I can say, with authority and confidence, that nothing sells better than nostalgia. For whatever generation you're marketing to - whatever it is, if you sell to their inner child, you will be massively successful. Because, when it comes down to it, we all have inner children who remember childhood by a stream of things, items, jingles, toys, books, movies, etc.

So, when we can appeal to these nostalgic threads in our lives, and now living as adults, who can make decisions about where to spend our money, it's pure gold for marketing! Okay, would you see this Barney movie with Daniel Kaluuya?

How To Prepare For All The Parenting ‘Big Talks’ (Life Hacker)

I'm obviously a fan of using scripts to handle life situations - scripts can be really empowering and help you feel ready to have difficult convos. I loved this LifeHacker piece by Meghan Walbert about talking to your kids about all of the big things in life, including online safety, porn, divorce, school shootings, and more.

This piece is about setting yourself up for success before having the conversations, and it links to a ton of information about specific topics! I am bookmarking this one to save for myself. And remember, doing research about how to talk to your kids doesn't make you a "less-than" parent, it makes you an amazing, informed, well-researched parent who wants the best, safest, most wonderful world for your family.5SR -