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We're excited to celebrate the end of
Season 1 of The Gen She Podcast with a special LIVE event…

Join me and Lillie, this December 28th at 12 pm PT/ 3pm ET as we chat all things Breezi-ing through your 20's with new updates from Lillie on building her startup, finding love, and chasing her purpose! 😉

We’ll wrap up the session with a transformative Goal-Setting Workshop made for those who want to push their limits and pursue their biggest ambitions in 2024.

Limited spots available.
RSVP is FREE but on a first-come, first-serve basis.

How to hang out with people smarter than you…

Everyone says, “Your network is your net worth.” But networking is so 2020 and frankly overdone. The ones who get referrals to unadvertised jobs or secure investment in one phone call are those who are good friends with influential people. These friendships are often formed in rooms you can’t pay for or apply to be a part of. So, how do we stand a chance at entering these circles and forging these friendships?

After 3 years in corporate and a decade in startups, I think I have finally figured it out…

Turns out, it’s just a two-step process. The key to success here is doing BOTH steps simultaneously AND consistently.

1. Cold DM these people within your five-year age range, whom you wouldn't organically run into for a “coffee chat.” Make this a daily routine. I do 2 of these every day in bed before I even wake up. I have a ready-made template in my notes app that I tweak slightly to personalize before sending it over. This takes me less than five minutes.

2. Start building your personal brand. This step requires more effort but is crucial. Without a compelling personal brand, your messages will be ignored. However, by consistently appearing in their feeds, you'll eventually capture their interest, and they will respond. Now, you have your first opportunity to build a relationship with an “inner-circle friend.” 😉 

For context, I’m not rich, successful, or on-paper “smart,” but I recognize the power of being in these circles to advance my career goals. This daily habit isn't just about accumulating "smart friends;" it's about opening doors to life-changing opportunities that would otherwise remain closed.

If you're curious about how this approach has recently impacted my life, check out the story at the end of my latest TikTok!

🛠️ Build Gen She With Me

I doubled my net worth in < 1 year so I could quit my job

Building Gen She was a dream of mine since college. Attending a very wealthy college, I quickly realized something crucial: in a world where everyone seems to have ample financial resources, the necessity of having a substantial financial runway for business success was rarely mentioned. This insight struck me hard. It wasn't just about having a great business idea; it was also about having enough money to make it happen.

This understanding became a guiding principle throughout my corporate career. The dream of building Gen She was always at the forefront of my mind. I was laser-focused on one goal: to amass sufficient financial resources. I knew this was the key to leaving my job and pursuing my entrepreneurial aspirations without the stress of financial constraints.

Here is step-by-step how I did that:

1. Strategic Company Choice: I opted for a lesser-known company in my first job because its stock showed promising growth potential.

2. Smart Investment: I monitored the stock price and liquidated it when it was worth 3x what I got it for.

3. Secure Savings: I invested the proceeds in a Certificate of Deposit (CD), prioritizing high yield and low risk. This was crucial as I needed the funds accessible for my business venture soon, making the volatile stock market an unsuitable option.

4. Career Advancement: I spent 30 seconds at the end of every work day to screenshot my daily accomplishments and drop them in a folder. This helped me secure a promotion with a 30% salary increase.

5. Radical Cost-Cutting: I lived out of a literal closet-sized room in SF for <$1K/year and had no other expenses. (I showered, worked out, and ate at the office itself.) I could never do this again, but this was my biggest hack to saving. It’s important to keep in mind that your financial needs get greater as you get older, so the lower you start when you graduate, the easier it will be to save later on and the more money you will have to leverage.

6. Leveraging Sabbatical Benefits: Before officially quitting, I proposed taking a three-month sabbatical, to strategically tap into additional salary and stock benefits. Prepared to leave if my proposal was rejected, I was pleasantly surprised when it was accepted. The lesson: ALWAYS ask for more, but only if you're fully prepared to walk away if things don't pan out.

Comment on this TikTok with a 💰️ emoji if you want more financial content like this, or comment with a 💫 emoji if you prefer more mindset content. By commenting, you’ll automatically be entered in my holiday giveaway ($60+ of beauty and wellness products)!

🎙️ Episodes Now Live

Delia Lazarescu: On the Importance of Big Tech Clout, Especially as a Woman in Tech
Listen Now on Spotify

_{WHAT YOU WILL LEARN}

💻️ How to break into engineering and work at Google

🤖 AI and the job takeover

⌛️ When is the right time to explore startups & entrepreneurship

Aprilynne Alter: From Wall Street to YouTuber - Failing Twice on the Way to Building a Life You Love
Listen Now on Spotify

_{WHAT YOU WILL LEARN}

💫 How to navigate an existential crisis and find your own path

💫 When is the right time to quit

💫 Pro tips for aspiring YouTubers

Don’t miss these 👀

^CAREER

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Random things my Silicon Valley parents did for me that changed my life and career trajectory

🤢 The responses from the men in the comments section of my viral video on the female founder experience are truly disgusting. It was meant to be primarily comedic, and they did not take it well. This just further validates the prevalent nature of gender inequity in tech & entrepreneurship and how much work is still left to be done. I don’t regret making the video as this is honestly the reality of our experience, and it’s about time people start to acknowledge these deep, core problems in our industry.

🏙️ Here is Sam Parr’s version of how he bootstrapped his network back in the day and why living in a big city was crucial to executing his strategy. Lots in here for us to learn and apply in our lives.

💫 This is why 99% of people don’t achieve their dreams…

💪 Check out the 29 women who made Marie Claire’s 2023 Power List!

^WELLNESS

🥹 If you’ve ever suffered from burnout, this video is for you. Sam Altman talks about the true cause of burnout and how we can efficiently tackle it.

💇‍♀️ I started using this hair oil weekly (got influenced by TikTok obviously), and it has completely changed the texture, growth, and shininess of my hair. I’m already on my second bottle!

🥣 Flax seed botox is all the rage right now for us poor girlies. Here’s a tutorial of an at-home recipe if you want to explore it!

Invest Like the Greats

What do Thomas Jefferson, LeBron James, and the British royal family have in common? They all invest in wine and whiskey.

And with good reason. According to Knight Frank, wine and whiskey have been two of the best-performing alternative assets of the last decade.

There’s just one catch. For hundreds of years, you needed serious cash and connections just for a seat at the table. Plus you had to build fancy cellars and attend exclusive auctions while sporting an encyclopedic knowledge of wine and whiskey. Not happening - right?

Vinovest is changing that. With its easy-to-use platform, you can build a world-class portfolio of wine and whiskey in no time. Our portfolio managers work with you to find the right assets for your unique goals and horizons.

Here’s how Vinovest makes that possible:

- Analysis of 1+ billion data points to find advantageous opportunities

- World-class storage across Europe, Asia, and North America

- Guaranteed authentication and comprehensive insurance

Wine and whiskey are your answer to high yield, low risk investing and there’s nothing (not even LeBron) can do to stop you. Get started with 3 months free with this exclusive link.

What’s new on our job board 🔥

1️⃣ Engineering Fellow, New Grad @ Kleiner Perkins

2️⃣ Design Fellow, New Grad @ Kleiner Perkins

3️⃣ Copywriter Marketing Intern @ Duolingo

4️⃣ Junior Digital Designer @ Topicals RX

5️⃣ Product Fellow, New Grad @ Kleiner Perkins

6️⃣ Editorial Intern @ Hot Smart Rich by Maggie Sellers

… and more! 😉

❤️ Avni, Founder @ Generation She // Sponsor this newsletter