5SR - September 8, 2023

Today’s curator is the founder of #5SmartReads, Hitha Palepu. She’s a consummate multihyphenate - CEO of Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals, author of WE’RE SPEAKING: The Life Lessons of Kamala Harris and How to Pack: Travel Smart for Any Trip, and professional speaker. Hitha is an unabashed fan of Taco Bell, Philadelphia sports teams & F1, romance novels, and is a mediocre crafter. She lives in NYC with her husband and two sons.

September 6, 2023 (Letters from an American)

The “where is Vice President Harris? What is she actually doing?” narrative is really tired and lazy, especially at this point. Most recently, she represented our nation at the US-ASEAN and the East Asian Summit - an increasingly important partnership as tensions escalate with China.

There are two really important things to shine a light on from this trip:

• There were advancements on the limited free trade agreement between Indonesia and the United States for nickel, cobalt, and other minerals used in EV batteries to receive tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. This has been under negotiations for over a year (and still faces hurdles in Congress and with sustainability advocates), but the meeting advanced the conversation as well as elevated ties between the nations to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” (the highest relationship the US can have with a non-treaty ally).

• When Patsy Widakuswara, the pool reporter covering the summit on September 5th, was physically blocked from entering the summit room by Indonesian officials (after asking questions to both Indonesian president Joko Widodo and VP Harris) and told she was banned from attending other events, the Vice President refused to enter the room until she and the entire press pool were inside.

The Vice President is busy doing her job - this week, it was defending a free press and advancing important global relationships. And it’s a shame that this important work is ignored by our biggest media outlets - and make no mistake, it’s very much by design (which I wrote about here).

Exclusive: Inside Luminary's Bid to Acquire Peer-Coaching Company the Cru (Inc.)

Headlines about company acquisitions are fairly common in the business press. But what does an acquisition actually look like?

I love the way Inc. reported on Luminary’s acquisition of The Cru, two companies I admire tremendously. I’m also in awe of the grace and respect that Cate and Tiffany extended to each other and their teams during this whole process, which can be brutal.

To go from NDA to signed purchase agreement in less than 2 months is incredible, but it’s a testament to Tiffany and her team’s relentless preparation and professionalism from both sides during the due diligence process, which is grueling.

I’m thrilled that this story received the detailed coverage and celebration that it deserves. If you’re a founder who wants more insight on what a company exit looks like, soak up every letter of this piece. It’s a fantastic playbook.

The Summer of the Black Woman (The 19th*)

There was a palpable energy to this summer that I couldn’t put my finger on. This piece gave the energy makers their flowers, and I’m here for more of this for the rest of this year and every year afterwards.

There’s not much I can say other than to read Errin Haines’ excellent piece. It’s one of my favorites that I’ve shared in the 5 years I’ve been sharing #5SmartReads.

From Spain to the U.S. to Haiti, sexual abuses plague women's soccer (WLRN)

content warning - sexual assault & abuse

During my flights last month, I watched the Angel City docuseries in full - twice. It’s excellent, but it also raised my consciousness to the evil that so many women soccer players face.

Soccer’s women players have elevated its consciousness in the United States tremendously, but that they - and women players around the world - achieve such greatness IN SPITE OF widespread sexual abuse and mistreatment is horrifying and shockingly normalized in the sport.

Most of us are aware of what’s happening in Spain and Luis Rubiales’ unwanted kiss to Jenni Hermoso, who had just won the World Cup alongside her team.

In Haiti, the situation is even worse. Yves Jean-Bart - the former president of Haiti’s national soccer federation, has been accused of sexual harassment and rape of multiple soccer players for over a decade.

The NWSL right here has had its fair share of harassment and abuse by male coaches, with almost 75% of players in the league reporting that they experienced discrimination or sexual harassment.

Behavior like this will continue for as long as we look away or are simply not aware of this - and we need to be and stay aware.

80% Of Sportswriters Are Men. At The Gist, None Are. (Bustle)

Sports has largely been a male-dominated industry, especially in senior leadership. Men - and largely white men - run the leagues, the teams, the governing bodies, and the media properties that report on them.

As a devoted sports fan, I’ve never really found my people or my digital home to talk about my favorite teams and sports with until recently. I have my fellow NFC East ladies (the trash talk is good natured and the friendships remain strong, even when our teams play each other). I’ve been welcomed into the female F1 crew (I see you Lily, Abby, and Kate & Nicole). And I especially love The Gist’s newsletter and their perfect Instagram account.

I really loved learning about the start of this media company and how they’ve grown and what’s next, and I encourage everyone to read this piece (whether you’re a sports fan or simply curious about how media companies start and grow).

And if you love smart sports reporting (or have a fantasy football-obsessed partner and want to know what’s going on), I highly encourage you to sign up for their newsletter - it’s fantastic and one of my favorites.