Today, May 15, 2023, would be my grandma’s 95th birthday. She’s been gone since May 25, 2008 - just shy of 15 years now.
Grandma’s goals towards the end of her life were to live to her 80th birthday and to make it to my college graduation. I still have a crystal clear memory of her talking about the cake we would eat together, a sparkle in her eyes as she imagined the moment the first person in her family graduated from a four-year college.
Grandma lived one week past my graduation and ten days beyond her 80th birthday, profoundly illustrating the uncanny agency of human spirit.
As I considered the launch date for Consumerealm, I was leaning towards the Tuesday after my Columbia graduation (5/16/23). But when I realized that Monday was the 15th and that it would have been grandma’s 95th birthday, I decided to move the date up by one day to honor a woman I love and miss with unimaginable depth. I really wish that grandma and I were eating cake today. We’d have a lot to celebrate together: her birthday, my business school graduation, and the beginning of a new chapter in my career.
I’m stepping in another new direction today. Exactly 593 days ago, a trusted psychic asked me if I had ever considered writing. He had a vision of me at a podium and interpreted it to mean that I would ultimately develop an audience, but didn’t think that I would be doing it “the traditional way.”
The observation struck me as legitimate since many people had told me that I’m a talented writer. Writing is how I sit with and structure my thoughts into cohesive and powerful communication.
It was partially this psychic impulse that last year led me to equity research, covering large American retailers including Walmart, Target, Costco, Home Depot, Kroger and the like. But I wasn’t meant to grind through earnings calls on Wall Street. Ralphie hated New York City, and I couldn’t really blame him. It’s not the warmest or most welcoming place.
So I’m starting out on my own terms. I’ve spent fifteen years in the most rarified of circles. I’ve been a venture-backed startup founder and CEO. I’ve been an investment analyst at a multi-sector investment fund. I’ve gone to top schools. I’ve been on the front page of the NYTimes. I even briefly worked with Hilary Swank, serving as the General Manager of her fashion line.
I sense that consumer and retail news coverage hasn’t historically received the rigor of journalistic excellence that are de rigueur in male-dominated fields like finance, politics, and tech. I plan to put my very expensive MBA to use examining overlooked and niche segments of the market that I find interesting. I also plan to let deep analysis and beautiful storytelling sit alongside my personal passions and unfiltered disclosures. It may feel like an unintuitive juxtaposition. I am open to refining the recipe over time.
For now, know that Consumerealm is the culmination of everything I’ve grown to know, care about, and love. Expect to find eight initial types of content:
I’ll be aiming to publish a few new pieces each week. Most will be text and image formats, some will be video, and when I’m able, I’ll try to introduce audio narration so you can listen like a podcast.
Please subscribe and leave comments. I’ll be looking forward to our conversations!
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