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<ul class="summary-list"><li>This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.</li></ul>Good morning! Are you a fan of the "John Wick" franchise? If so, you owe a big thank you to Eva Longoria. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eva-longoria-producer-john-wick-2024-10">She provided $6 million in gap financing</a> when the first movie ran out of money and was at risk of shutting down.Our sale on a Business Insider subscription also kicks off today. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/limited-offer">Check out the details here</a>.In today's big story, Boeing's new CEO has big plans for the company's turnaround, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-corporate-culture-fix-executives-factory-floor-2024-10">including executives rolling up their sleeves</a>.What's on deck:<ul><li>Markets: Breaking down some theories about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-election-odds-polymarket-bets-polls-kamala-harris-2024-10">what's motivating the Trump "whale"</a> in the betting markets.</li><li>Tech: Tesla trounced Wall Street's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-stock-tsla-earnings-call-report-live-updates-2024-10">Q3 earnings expectations</a>.</li><li>Business: McDonald's E. coli outbreak has a key difference <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-ecoli-outbreak-investigation-update-compared-chipotle-2024-10">from the one that plagued Chipotle in 2015</a>.</li></ul>But first, let's get this flight back on track.If this was forwarded to you, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/insider-today">sign up here.</a><h3 id="7fa5f018-5b05-4a37-a8dc-d3f89138bcb3">The big story</h3><h2 id="5fd547b9-ec52-41fc-8e08-4f4b27dd8097">Boeing's comeback pitch</h2><div type="image" title="Collage of Boeing's Ceo and Airplane factory imagery" height="1500" width="2000" msid="114551156" hostid="261" sizebytes="127052"></div>Boeing's new CEO is looking to navigate a turnaround that includes rethinking the aerospace giant's culture.Boeing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-q3-results-earnings-loss-ceo-vows-iconic-again-2024-10">reported a $6.1 billion loss in the third quarter</a>, the latest knock for a company that's faced constant setbacks this year, writes Business Insider's Pete Syme.But new CEO Kelly Ortberg has some ideas for how to fix Boeing's "festering of issues." In a memo to employees, he <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-ceo-turnaround-plan-employee-memo-earnings-2024-10">detailed a four-part plan</a> for how Boeing can regain its place as an "iconic company and aerospace leader," BI's Benjamin Zhang reports.You might think a nearly $100 billion company that builds airplanes needs a specific solution. But at its core, Ortberg's plan is something any business can appreciate: focus on the culture and the work being done.For Boeing that means <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-corporate-culture-fix-executives-factory-floor-2024-10">putting executives on factory floors</a> with the hope it will address safety, communication, and employee trust issues, writes BI's Taylor Rains.Whether you're making sandwiches or 737s, having a front-row seat to how the work is being done often provides a better view of a company's inefficiencies than any boardroom can.Of course, Boeing's problem's are slightly more complicated than perfecting a BLT.Just a few days into 2024, a Boeing 737 Max suffered a blowout incident that tanked the company's stock and drew the attention of Congress. Since then, it has also been dealing with a costly strike and a struggling space program.Plenty of business turnarounds include talking to those in the thick of it.Starbucks' new CEO Brian Niccol, who is trying to stop the coffee chain's sales slide, is looking to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-new-ceo-looking-to-baristas-as-part-of-turnaround-2024-10">baristas</a> for help.He mentioned fixing some of the biggest problems Starbucks' "green-apron partners" have flagged to executives, like devising a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-workers-requested-store-changes-new-ceo-2024-10">better way to manage mobile orders</a>.The effort to get direct feedback from the people doing the work is evident in Big Tech, too. The "year of efficiency" has become more of an era as tech giants like Meta and Amazon continue to flatten their organizations.Those efforts have downsides, though. Tech giants' focus on the work has meant a steady stream of layoffs as they keep removing layers. The end result could have an impact on morale.<h3 id="77f31a4c-8462-4e3d-a71f-838cb79493fb">News brief</h3><h2 id="1fcd294b-3f53-425f-9f20-4093e8623b59">Top headlines</h2><ul><li>Boeing workers <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://l.businessinsider.com/a/click?_t=c8e10479a20f45bba5aad6c5f6fbb009&amp;_m=a8298a7e576b433ea0f7196984a4f62c&amp;_e=qqkmy_Hf1u4jsRXi5OF3USks99Ou68JR3jOdssDRPlgguwdPNY2mS8X3mZIZw5GpyEphrA7hNkNpMdudvCZFnc_DtbV52OwvzBXeV10FXS-rxriu37KsrNumkYx7GpyEL1iG8t4vugjKZjOLrdXxM0CLgNk9LteWKrsthcJe1z7crzeVNAWdlut7kM1xMAFW5nhrkL8jtNAFWa5fh-iebr33_1psA8fQsEpdp7triLcB1FjnwsV78sZDwxxmmw1tdJmeVvncdG_G00EAqIrzFJRQkTXy1w4CEM8KJDPIIt1XJ0NmntpKWVIyCUUPrxhgqeT7UQrc4hvIwxnpN313tZo_nAofCQsG-52PFa0tX9de7r9-SdjyK_wXwt3kFcJF29p-vBs1U8wKNWIJEq-HVWpER8grZe3IsBD4n208Jx2yKS09TlaDyP-fZhUv9lBvwPBigN0PlUJ-VNy7tIq-Lg%3D%3D">reject the company's latest proposal</a>, which included a 35% wage hike.</li><li>WPP's former dealmaker is joining investment bank Canaccord Genuity — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/canaccord-genuity-hiring-former-wpp-dealmaker-lance-maerov-2024-10">a sign advertising M&amp;A could heat up</a>.</li><li>This staid software company is kicking butt in AI. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/servicenow-ceo-bill-mcdermott-ai-software-2024-10">The CEO explains how</a>.</li><li>The US is facing a drugstore graveyard as stores close. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pharmacies-drugstores-closing-leaves-empty-locations-real-estate-challenge-2024-10">Filling the leftover spaces</a> is the next challenge.</li><li>The CEO of Perplexity said the AI-powered search engine <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/perplexity-ceo-lawsuits-tensions-dow-jones-2024-10">isn't trying to replace the news</a>.</li><li>Americans are quitting their jobs at the lowest rate in years. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/raises-promotions-harder-get-low-quit-rates-interest-rates-2024-10">It's making it harder to get raises and promotions</a>.</li><li>Life after Intel: After rounds of layoffs and buyouts, some Intel insiders are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-buyouts-new-ventures-philanthropy-wedding-planning-2024-10">abandoning the corporate grind altogether</a>.</li></ul><h2 id="8120060b-ae66-48dc-b149-f0489a30ffa2">3 things in markets</h2><div type="image" title="Donald Trump in front of a green upward-trending line" height="900" width="1200" msid="114551160" hostid="261" sizebytes="69384"></div><ol><li>What's going on with the "whale" betting on a Trump win? Here are some theories. Someone has bet roughly $46 million on former President Donald Trump reclaiming the White House on Polymarket. Political and betting-market commentators have speculated it's either an influence campaign, a pump-and-dump scheme, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-election-odds-polymarket-bets-polls-kamala-harris-2024-10">or simply a bullish view on Trump's prospects next month</a>.2. Whether it's Trump or Harris, Steve Schwarzman isn't worried about a post-election recession. The billionaire Blackstone CEO has publicly backed the former president, but he doesn't see Vice President Kamala Harris winning as a recession risk. "The economy is pretty strong and both of the candidates <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-economy-recession-outlook-schwarzman-blackstone-trump-harris-election-inflation-2024-10">keep mentioning a lot of stimulative policies</a>," Schwarzman said.3. Apple stock dips on reports of dimming demand for the new iPhone. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/apple-stock-price-tumbles-analyst-says-iphone-16-orders-slashed-2024-10">Apple stock dropped as much as 3% on Wednesday</a> after analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities said Tim Cook's company cut orders by 10 million units. Kuo also saw "no evidence" AI features were boosting demand. Meanwhile, the production of the Vision Pro <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-vision-pro-production-weak-demand-2024-10">is reportedly in flux</a>.</li></ol><h2 id="f4b54806-7f81-450c-ba32-92560d4fae9b">3 things in tech</h2><div type="image" title="Gif of various floating shapes in blue, green and orange" height="540" width="1080" msid="114551164" hostid="261" sizebytes="39602"></div><ol><li>Introducing AI's power players. Now in its second year, Business Insider's 2024 AI Power list maps out who wields real power in artificial intelligence and machine learning. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-power-list-2024">This year's list honors people</a> hoping to effect change and solve problems across the industry, from Groq CEO Jonathan Ross to Google DeepMind COO Lila Ibrahim.2. Tesla did better than expected in Q3. The electric carmaker reported earnings per share of $0.62 — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-stock-tsla-earnings-call-report-live-updates-2024-10">a big beat over analysts expectations</a> of $0.51. It also announced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-cybertruck-profit-2024-10">the Cybertruck turned a profit</a>, marking a major win for Elon Musk as he enters the electric pickup market. Analysts saw the latest numbers as a clear sign that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-earnings-analyst-reactions-basics-selling-electric-vehicles-robotaxi-2024-10">Tesla shouldn't neglect its roots</a>.3. A ban on celebrity jet-tracking isn't a bad idea. But Meta still has some explaining to do. This week, the company suspended Threads accounts that shared flight data of figures like Taylor Swift and Donald Trump, citing safety concerns. That seems reasonable, but it doesn't explain why <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-ban-celebrity-flight-tracker-private-jet-elon-musk-threads-2024-10">Meta chose to wait until now</a> to apply the three-year-old recommendation.</li></ol><h2 id="9260fa45-d397-4b3c-b4f8-4bb193976216">3 things in business</h2><div type="image" title="Photo illustration of person having anxiety dreams about burning money" height="1000" width="2000" msid="114551161" hostid="261" sizebytes="197872"></div><ol><li>Millennials are making a massive financial mistake. If you came of age against a backdrop of two major crises, you might be left a little more risk-averse in your investments. But sitting on your cash <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-big-money-mistake-holding-cash-not-buying-stocks-investing-2024-10">will come back to bite you</a> in the long run.</li><li>McDonald's doesn't think its E. coli outbreak will be like Chipotle's in 2015. Execs said Chipotle's cases involved the handling and preparation of food while <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-ecoli-outbreak-investigation-update-compared-chipotle-2024-10">McDonald's outbreak was related to potentially contaminated ingredients</a> from a supplier. But that hasn't stopped victims of the recent outbreak <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-e-coli-outbreak-lawyers-lawsuits-quarter-pounder-2024-10">from getting ready to sue the Golden Arches</a>.</li><li>Hollywood's star is fading. Los Angeles is losing ground as the center of the film industry, as the high cost of living and labor drives entertainment jobs to other locales. New York isn't doing too well either — the country's No. 2 entertainment job market also saw its share of jobs dip. The industry's center of gravity <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hollywood-losing-dominance-tv-movies-employment-chart-2024-10">appears to be shifting south</a>.</li></ol><h2 id="9f5d80ac-3466-429f-a50a-2ffbb70c65ff">What's happening today</h2><ul><li>Southwest Airlines, Barclays, Capital One, and other companies report earnings.</li><li>G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet.</li></ul>The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Milan Sehmbi, fellow, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.

Boeing's turnaround plan is something any business can relate to: focus on the culture and the work

<keyword id="22215344" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="German-businesses" source="keywords">German businesses</keyword> see <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword> as a very "stable place" to <keyword id="19954634" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="invest" source="keywords">invest</keyword>, said the country's Ambassador <keyword id="20424857" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="philipp-ackermann" source="keywords">Philipp Ackermann</keyword> on Friday, while anticipating increased German <keyword id="19895437" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investment" source="keywords">investment</keyword> in India after the India-EU Free <keyword id="19900989" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="trade" source="keywords">Trade</keyword> Agreement resolves tax and tariff "impediments". In an interview with ANI, Ackermann also informed about the possible visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in October this year, during which <keyword id="20766370" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-relations" source="keywords">business relations</keyword> and trade relations would be on the agenda. Ackerman noted that migration will also be a key item for discussion. Speaking on the sidelines of the release of the German India Business Outlook 2024 survey, Ackerman said, "The survey has given us an impression that <keyword id="22215345" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="german-business-in-india" source="Orion">German business in India</keyword> is extremely bullish on India. The surveys found that almost 80% of German businesses want to expand their businesses, want to reinvest, build up more factories, and invest more in India." "The German businesses see enormous potential in the Indian market. It sees the very impressive growth rates of India. That makes them very happy. After elections again, they find it a very stable place to invest," the ambassador expressed. Philipp Ackermann termed the long-pending India-EU Free Trade Agreement a "game changer". He mentioned that no specific deadline has been set for signing the Free Trade Agreement, stating that "it will take some time." "There is no deadline because the <keyword id="20000557" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FTA" source="keywords">FTA</keyword> relationship is very complicated and it has to take time. We have now seen the ninth round, if I'm not mistaken, which just finished a day or two ago. We are in the process of negotiating the German government is very much behind this," he said "We feel that the FTA is very important for our business; it will be even more so if it is a game changer. So I'm very hopeful that at some stage we come to a conclusion, but don't ask me about the timeline. I think it will take some time," he added. When asked what impact the FTA will have on the Indo-German trade relationship, the envoy said that tariffs and taxes are one of the reasons German companies say might impede investment, and with an FTA, the tariff side will be solved. "For many German companies, an FTA will bring a clear solution and regulation on tariffs and trade and it would be a great gift for their business," he added. The proposed trade deal with the EU is one of the most complex FTAs being negotiated by India. There has been no breakthrough despite several rounds of talks. On June 17, 2022, the European Union relaunched negotiations with India for a Free Trade Agreement, and launched separate negotiations for an Investment Protection Agreement and an Agreement on Geographical Indications (GIs). The mandator also gave details about the possible visit of German chancellor Olaf Scholz, saying the chancellor will travel to Delhi and parts of his cabinet, including the German ministers, will accompany him and sit down with their Indian counterparts to develop coming programmes and projects and the roadmap. "So we expect that to happen in the second half of October sometime. The dates have not been finalised yet. But it is a very, very good moment to sit down, compare notes, and say, Where is this apprenticeship going?" he added. "We will try to develop the future of this partnership during these consultations. Other items on the agenda are certainly business relations and trade relations, but also migration, which is a very interesting issue within and certainly does politics as usual," he said.

German businesses see India as a stable place to invest, says German ambassador Philipp Ackermann

<ul class="summary-list"><li>North Korea fighting alongside Russia would be a serious escalation to the Ukraine war.</li><li>NATO and Western allies are facing pressure to respond — but have historically been hesitant.</li></ul>Western allies have options to react to the threat of North Korean troops in Russia, but are hamstrung by fears of escalation, military experts told Business Insider. On Monday, the Pentagon<a target="_blank" href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/article/3948100/pentagon-deputy-press-secretary-sabrina-singh-holds-an-off-camera-on-the-record/"> said</a> that 10,000 North Korean troops had been shipped to Russia for training and were likely to join Russian forces"over the next several weeks." NATO chief Mark Rutte said that some troops are already in Kursk, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_230105.htm">calling</a> the move "a significant escalation." He added that it is "yet another" contravention of UN Security Council resolutions. He said the bloc is "actively consulting" on what to do next. Despite these statements — and a similar chorus of condemnation from Western governments — few commitments have been made. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed frustration, saying that his allies' response was "not so loud as it has to be" in reaction to the North Korean threat,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.eu/article/volodymyr-zelenskyy-war-in-ukraine-russia-north-korean-troops-western-allies-response/"> Politico reported</a>. "Till now, we heard some reactions, but it is not strong enough," he added. <h2>A watershed moment?</h2>In itself, 10,000 more troops in Russia's war in Ukraine is not a game changer, Patrick Bury, a military analyst at the UK's University of Bath, told BI. The troops, many with no experience in real war situations, could also be of limited help. There is reason, however, to imagine the numbers could rise. North Korea has steadily ramped up its cooperation with Russia, reportedly supplying<a target="_blank" href="https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-ukraine-war/article/north-korea-supplies-half-of-the-shells-used-by-russia-in-ukraine-d3fkhppjs"> half of all artillery shells</a> used in Ukraine in the last year. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has the fourth-largest standing army in the world, so there is no shortage of troops. Crucially, experts consider his regime to be receiving<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-military-officials-helping-russia-ukraine-win-for-kim-2024-10"> an economic and technological lifeline</a> in exchange. Edward Hunter Christie, a former NATO official and a research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, described the dangers of the partnership as "a much more serious test of resolve for the West than most people currently realize." He added: "There's a reluctance to act." This at least means there will be no rash decisions, he said. Christie, along with other experts BI spoke to, described a hesitancy and fear of escalation among Ukraine's biggest Western partners that amounts to alack of overall strategy. <h2>The West has some options — and a history of slapping them down</h2>When it comes to options for the US and Europe, "the tools are the same tools that have been there all along," Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com./news/articles/2024-10-28/ukraine-allies-face-limited-options-as-north-korea-troops-arrive?embedded-checkout=true"> told Bloomberg.</a> That includes the ad-hoc trickling through of aid packages like one<a target="_blank" href="https://kyivindependent.com/norways-pm-announces-new-500-million-euro-aid-package-for-ukraine/"> recently announced by Norway</a>. It also includes things that have long been ruled out, like allowing Ukraine to make long-range strikes in Russia with Western-supplied missiles. A bipartisan group in Congress has called on Biden to allow Poland to intercept Russian missiles in Ukrainian airspace, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4960374-biden-poland-air-defense-ukraine/">The Hill reported</a>. It's a move that NATO's former chief Jens Stoltenberg had earlier ruled out, saying it would risk the alliance "becoming part of the conflict," the outlet reported. South Korea, too, has said it is considering sending military aid directly to Ukraine. It's an unprecedented move that could prove highly beneficial, but which the state is hesitant to make,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/south-korea-ukraine-weapons-big-difference-russia-north-korea-2024-10"> experts told BI</a>. Lithuania's foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, has also revived a suggestion made in February by France's President Emmanuel Macron of not ruling out the deployment of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/french-president-wont-rule-out-sending-troops-ukraine-2024-2">NATO troops in Ukraine</a>, in support roles. "We are still on the back foot, reacting to escalation instead of reversing it,"<a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/GLandsbergis/status/1848006509013225679"> Landsbergis wrote on X</a>. "Macron's ideas should now be revisited." That idea was earlier<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everyone-angry-germany-series-screw-ups-leaks-scholz-macron-ukraine-2024-3"> publicly slapped down</a> by Germany's Chancellor, Olaf Scholz. Such a move "would free up a lot of resources for Ukraine," said Ann Marie Dailey, a geopolitical strategist at RAND. It would also send an important signal to Russia, she said: "That they don't have dominance on the escalation ladder." <h2>The escalation trap</h2>President Joe Biden's administration — along with much of Western Europe — has largely avoided actions that could be seen as escalating the conflict. The fact that now a serious escalation looks possible thanks to North Korea is an indication of the failure of that policy, Christie told BI. The US presidential election and the impending change of administration also puts a chilling effect on any dramatic changes in policy for the coming months, he said. "We live in an age of US-led hesitancy within the Western world, which just keeps on failing us, which just keeps on increasing the level of danger to the security of the collective West," he said. The bind for the Biden administration is not only in dealing with two nuclear states, but also that North Korea's belligerence could cause the conflict to spill over toward its southern neighbor and<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-muted-response-russia-north-korea-alliance-costly-ukraine-economy-2024-10">damage relations with China.</a> Western states are likely to have been quietly hoping that China might step in diplomatically and dissuade North Korea, Christie said. At some point, the West has to react decisively, he argued. Dailey told BI: "The problem with having a strategy of de-escalation is that if that is your stated strategy, you've already ceded every step on the escalation ladder to the enemy." In Bury's view, the West's problem is that it cannot even agree on its broader strategy, let alone decide how to implement it. "The broader point here is: the West, we're not doing the strategy," he said. "We're muddling through."

What can the West do about North Korea giving troops to Russia? Not much it hasn't already flinched from.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The chief AI officer is a developing C-suite position that leads a company's AI strategy.</li><li>The AI chief at Golin, a PR agency, said his role was created to help the company integrate AI.</li></ul>Companies worldwide are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/technology-executives-on-artificial-intelligence-applications-role-of-cto-cio-2024-9">using AI to enhance their efficiency and creativity</a>. Golin, a global public-relations agency, is embracing this transition with the ambitious goal of becoming the world's first fully AI-integrated PR agency by 2026.Jeff Beringer, Golin's newly appointed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chief-artificial-intelligence-officer-job-skills-required-2024-5">chief AI officer</a>, said he hoped to weave AI into every facet of the company's operations. He told Business Insider that the company was in the "phase of enablement" as it rolls out AI-powered tools to employees and strategizes how to use AI with clients. Golin partners with companies such as Adobe to access their AI services and also develops more niche solutions in-house.Beringer, who's worked at Golin for over 20 years, stressed that public relations would always require a human touch. He said Golin wasn't looking to use AI for automation but for "intelligence augmentation."The following has been edited for clarity and length.The role of chief AI officer is new for Golin, and you're the first to have the title. Why did the company see the need for a CAIO?Our journey with AI began over two years ago when we started an incubator to explore how <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-artificial-intelligence-customer-experience-business-applications-2024-5">new technologies could enhance our work </a>for clients. We realized that the changes in AI are happening much faster than anticipated.Our executive leadership team asked ourselves, if we were starting this 70-year-old agency from scratch today, would it look the same? The answer was probably not.So we made a transformation plan to become the first fully AI-integrated global PR agency by the start of 2026. By fully integrated, we mean that every employee, regardless of role, specialty, or seniority, will benefit from AI's assistance.That's a lot of change in a short time, and my role spun out of that ambition. As the chief AI officer, my job is to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-the-ai-revolution-means-for-business-2024-5">orchestrate that change</a> by working with other leaders at Golin and with our clients.What specific steps has Golin made toward achieving the goal of becoming fully AI-integrated by 2026?We've mapped out a detailed plan that unfolds in phases, almost quarterly. The first step was setting the right ambition and making sure everyone in the organization understands it, and we've done that.Currently we're in the phase of enablement. We've identified the right tools for core jobs across our organization and are building or licensing the best technology to support them.We're also working with client partners to test these tools. For example, with Grubhub, we're <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://golin.com/2024/11/04/ai-in-pr-lessons-from-golin-and-grubhubs-special-delivery-campaign/">exploring how AI can improve our work</a>, from research and insights to creative content production.Can you share details about the specific AI tools, software, and services Golin is using?Our philosophy is to remain flexible and not get boxed in with specific providers. That said, we have partnerships with companies like Adobe. Adobe's Firefly technology, for example, is transformative for creative work.Besides partnering, we develop products internally. We've created a solution for influencer vetting. Using AI, we can analyze up to 10 years' worth of an influencer's online presence to identify potential risks. Before, that was both time-consuming and less thorough.We also use <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-surveillance-detects-emotion-at-work-gets-you-fired-2023-11">AI for emotive content testing</a>. Traditionally, content testing involved expensive and time-consuming focus groups. Now we use AI and facial-recognition technology to gauge real-time emotional reactions to content that hasn't been published yet.Does Golin have an engineering team on staff to develop these solutions?We have developers, but we're not a technology company. Our strategy is to work with the best partners out there.However, we're adding depth in areas like data science and data architecture because there's immense opportunity in leveraging the data we generate daily. We're hiring in these areas to better synthesize data and make more informed decisions with AI assistance.Importantly, we're not trying to replace people with server farms. Instead of AI and automation for everything, we're at intelligence augmentation. What our clients really want is a great human partner.There's a lot of interest in AI, but also a lot of criticism. How does Golin balance excitement with caution, especially with clients more wary of AI?It's evolving, and it reminds me of the early days of digital or social media. Some clients are eager to move fast, while others take a wait-and-see approach.What's different with AI is the speed at which clients have moved from being inspired to focusing on application. They want to see results, not promises.Each client is different in their appetite for AI, but many realize that if they don't embrace it, they <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-ai-extended-reality-disrupting-changing-technology-industry-2023-8">risk being left behind</a>.From a business perspective, where are you looking to see the return on investment with AI?We are focused on efficacy more than efficiency.With clients, our primary metrics are improved outcomes. We want to see that our clients are satisfied.Internally, we're looking at employee engagement and happiness. If AI helps our people spend more time on thoughtful, strategic tasks rather than routine ones, that's a win.These are the most important goals. Is our work getting better? Are our people happier in their roles? If we get those two things right, everything else will follow.

Golin's first chief AI officer shares the company's strategy for using AI to transform public relations

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Home Depot cofounder and billionaire Arthur Blank joins business leaders supporting Harris.</li><li>Blank's fellow cofounder is a prominent Trump donor, reflecting the private sector's partisan split.</li></ul>A group of prominent business leaders supporting Vice President Kamala Harris is expanding its ranks to include Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-business-leaders-for-kamala-harris-2024-10">"Business Leaders for Harris"</a> launched earlier this month and already includes private sector titans like billionaire investor <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-donald-trump-tariffs-christmas-presents-china-prices-harris-2024-10">Mark Cuban</a>, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings.Blank's participation is not surprising — he's a longtime Democratic donor who has donated to various congressional and presidential campaigns. Yet Blank's political participation puts him at odds with his former business partner and other Home Depot cofounder, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-marcus-billionaire-founder-home-depot-trump-donor-2019-7">Bernie Marcus</a>, who is among former President Donald Trump's top donors.Marcus has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/which-billionaires-support-donald-trump-campaign#bernard-marcus-7">donated millions to the GOP</a> and was an early MAGA supporter. He and his wife have given $2.7 million to the former president's 2024 campaign, after giving $10 million in 2020 and $5 million in 2016 to Trump-related super PACS.Blank and Marcus are valued at $9.3 billion and $11.1 billion, respectively. The two founded Home Depot in 1978. Blank <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/home-depot-cofounder-arthur-blank-on-politics-supporting-biden-2020-11">told Business Insider in 2020</a> that their political differences didn't interfere with their partnership or friendship.This election season, the larger corporate and tech worlds have undergone a similar public splintering. While some vocal figures like venture capitalist Marc Andreesen, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, and<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-donald-trump-support-reflects-business-approach-tesla-2024-10"> Elon Musk</a> are vocal Trump supporters, Harris has worked hard to appeal to business leaders. She's scored endorsements from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/murdoch-cuban-corporate-executives-silicon-valley-wall-street-endorse-harris-2024-9">nearly 90 top Wall Street and tech executives</a>, as well as a group of almost <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-billionaires-investors-kamala-harris-mark-cuban-reid-hoffman-2024-8">900 venture capitalists</a>.In a statement about joining Business Leaders for Harris, Blank celebrated Harris' commitment to his core value of inclusion."Kamala Harris is a leader who understands this; will collaborate with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harris-sec-ftc-khan-gensler-crypto-regulation-biden-warren-2024-9">other leaders</a> and front-line workers to get the best ideas; and she will earnestly strive to be a unifier who drives policies that lift people and communities from all walks of life," he said in the statement.In addition to Blank, Fulbright Bank chairman and former Democratic congressman John Delaney joined Business Leaders for Harris. The group also announced that it launched its first paid ad campaign, which will run on YouTube in the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-donald-trump-15-days-swing-states-polling-2024-10">Blue Wall states</a> of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The six-figure ad campaign features a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/small-business-entrepreneur-kamala-harris-tax-deduction-2024-10">small business owner</a> and former Trump supporter who explains why she's voting for Harris.

Arthur Blank joins 'Business Leaders for Harris' as his former business partner funnels money to Trump

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A millennial with a doctoral degree and over $250,000 in <keyword id="419611" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="student-loan" source="Orion">student loan</keyword> <keyword id="44647" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="debt" source="Orion">debt</keyword> said she can't find a job.</li><li>She's looking for business jobs while working in a healthcare role to help pay the bills.</li></ul>Over the last decade, A. <keyword id="23550886" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rasberry" source="keywords">Rasberry</keyword> has placed a great deal of value on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loans/is-college-worth-it">higher education</a>. She's now come to regret it. Rasberry earned a bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degree in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ibm-accenture-dell-companies-no-longer-require-college-degrees-2023-3">business management</a> from <keyword id="23550889" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saint-leo-university" source="keywords">Saint Leo University</keyword> in Florida. However, she said she's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/job-market-unemployment-rate-interest-rates-fed-cuts-outlook-economy-2024-9">struggled to find a job</a> in her field of study over the last four years. Additionally, she has over $250,000 in student loan debt, according to a document viewed by <keyword id="19935969" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-insider" source="keywords">Business Insider</keyword>. "I graduated with my doctoral degree in 2020 and can't find a job to save my life," the Virginia-based 38-year-old told Business Insider via email. She asked for partial anonymity, only using the first initial of her first name and her last name, due to privacy concerns. Since earning her doctoral degree, Rasberry has applied for various business management roles but had little success. She said she's been forced to expand her job search and explore a new career in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-nurse-earning-187k-salary-degree-works-9-months-2023-4">nursing</a> to help her make ends meet. "I thought <keyword id="6355445" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="education" source="Orion">education</keyword> was the road to financial freedom," she said. "But I was wrong." Rasberry is among the Americans who are having a tough time <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-looking-job-cant-get-hired-college-degress-entry-level-2024-7">finding work</a>. In part, it's because businesses across the US have significantly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-recent-college-grads-hiring-slowdown-unemployment-higher-than-population-2024-9">scaled back on hiring</a> over the past two years. The ratio of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cant-find-job-masters-degree-running-out-savings-gen-x-2024-9">job openings</a> to unemployed people — an indicator of job availability — has declined considerably. While the <a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE">unemployment rate</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSLDR">layoff rate</a> remain low compared to historical levels, the hiring slowdown means that many job seekers are having a considerably harder time than they were a few years ago. Rasberry shared why she thinks her job search has been so challenging, how she made her career pivot, and her top piece of advice for people pursuing higher education. <h2>"Most organizations prefer experience over education"</h2>After receiving her doctorate degree, Rasberry's initial goal was to land an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/college-adjunct-professor-salary-not-enough-live-student-loan-debt-2024-6">adjunct professor</a> position. However, after speaking with people in the education field, she decided to change course. "I've learned how difficult it is to get started in the field," she said. "Essentially, after earning a doctoral degree, I would have to go back to school to take more courses to support a teaching career." She said she was told she'd specifically need more education-related credits. As a result, Rasberry said she decided to give up on teaching and focus on finding other roles in her area of study: business management. But her job search has been challenging. Rasberry said she hasn't landed many interviews, and that when she does — and gets turned down — she's had a hard time figuring out what went wrong. She said she's expanded her job search to non-managerial bookkeeping, accounting, tutoring, and human resources roles, but that she hasn't had much luck with these either. Rasberry said she thinks the biggest obstacle in her job search is her lack of work experience. While pursuing her degrees, she said she gained some entry-level work experience in banking, human resources, and bookkeeping roles. However, she thinks this experience might be insufficient in the eyes of employers. "I am over qualified for most entry-level positions but I am under qualified for management or leadership positions," she said. "Ultimately, my degree has been both a blessing and a curse." Rasberry said her top piece of advice for people who pursue higher education is to do your homework. Before she pursued her degrees, she said she wished she had spent more time evaluating her school's job placement programs, internship partnerships, and the employment rates of recent graduates across different fields. Additionally, she recommended taking time to think about the value of a college degree and the best ways to use it to land a job. "I learned most organizations prefer experience over education," she said. "Had I known that I would not have spent so many years in college." <h2>A healthcare job is helping to pay the bills during her job search</h2>In recent years, Rasberry said she's worked various part-time jobs to pay the bills. "It feels next to impossible to work a single job and earn enough money to cover essentials like rent, fuel, electricity, etc. in the state of Virginia," she said. One analysis found Virginia was the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-least-expensive-states-household-bills-hawaii-california-west-virginia-2024-6">13th-most expensive</a> state when it comes to overall cost-of-living. At the same time, she's also exploring another field: healthcare. Rasberry said that for roughly the past year, she'd been working as much as 80 hours a week as a direct care liaison. She said this involves reviewing the healthcare needs of patients and detailing the support they need. "I am new to nursing, but I find it rewarding and I like the shift flexibility," she said. Rasberry said she found a nursing role that provided free training and certification. However, she said the downside was that this certification wouldn't carry over to any other employers — limiting her opportunities in the industry. This is among the reasons she hasn't stopped applying for business-related jobs. Another reason is that she doesn't think she was paid particularly well in her direct care liaison role — she said she was earning $21.50 an hour. Despite the long hours, she said the low pay is why she didn't view it as a full-time job. "It doesn't come with full time pay," she said. In recent months, Rasberry said she began focusing more on looking for remote roles like the <keyword id="23550888" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="turbotax" source="keywords">TurboTax</keyword> opportunity. She said working remotely would make it easier to keep herhealthcare job, reduce her commuting costs, and care for her dog. Over the last month, Rasberry finally had some luck in the job market. She said she landed a remote plan consultant position in the nursing field that pays about $70,000 a year — equivalent to an hourly <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/jobs/70000-a-year-is-how-much-an-hour/">rate</a> of over $30 an hour. While she views this as a positive development, she said she will "absolutely" continue searching for higher-paying roles in her field of study. "When I'm not working, I'm online, putting in applications for employment," she said. Correction: October 9, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the type of degree Rasberry earned and her title. She earned a doctorate in business administration, not a Ph.D., and she's a care plan consultant, not a nurse.

A millennial with a doctoral degree and over $250k in student loan debt says she's been looking for a job for 4 years. She wishes she prioritized work experience over education.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Celebrities are getting into the soda industry and launching their own beverages.</li><li><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-loves-expensive-groceries-snacks-erewhon-whole-foods-2024-10">Healthy soda options</a> are in demand, with brands like La Croix seeing record sales.</li></ul>From <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michelle-obama-background-kamala-harris-campaign-2024-10">former first lady Michelle Obama</a> to supermodel Bella Hadid, celebrities are piling into the soda business.The stage has been set for beverages to become the next big thing for famous people to sell for a while now, experts told Business Insider.While Coca-Cola and Pepsi still dominate the soft drinks market, smaller brands have seen a big rise in popularity over the last four years in the US, according to data collected by Citi from marketing research firm NielsenIQ.One major driving force behind the growth in the sector: a push into healthier beverages. Sodas have become associated with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aspartame-is-a-possible-carcinogen-but-still-safe-to-ingest-2023-7">unhealthy choices</a>, Emily Contois, a researcher of food and media at Tulsa University, told BI. As the wellness industry boomed, Contois said alternatives have emerged to fill the void for health-conscious consumers."This idea about sodas as indulgent and fun is also colliding with these newer ideas where sodas are configured as healthy," she said.Poppi and Olipop, two of the most popular prebiotic soda brands, have exploded in popularity since 2020. Olipop's annual sales were around $3.7 million in 2020; 2024 sales have already topped $325 million as of October 5. Poppi has had a similar trajectory. It's grown from less than $1 million in sales for 2020 to nearly $260 million in 2024. Both have grown their market share in the US.While some brands have partnered with influencers to push their "healthy" sodas, celebrities are using their star power to launch new beverages.Filippo Falorni, an equity research director at Citi, compares the celebrity-owned beverage industry's trajectory to that of the beauty industry — which took off in the 2010s when<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/manny-mua-youtube-instagram-drama-popularity-controvery-dramageddon-beauty-youtubers-2021-9"> beauty gurus dominated YouTube</a>. Just as social media helped celebrity makeup lines sell, Falorni said their drink brands have the same potential."The influence of social media on consumption behavior obviously has been up dramatically over the last five, 10 years," Falorni said.Celebrities with millions of fans already have a head start when it comes to selling. Actor Blake Lively, who has 45.6 million followers on Instagram, promotes her Betty Buzz brand on the platform. Singer Katy Perry (205 million Instagram followers) launched De Soi, a line of sparkling drinks made with adaptogens from mushrooms, in 2022.PLEZi Nutrition, a company cofounded by Obama in 2023, launched its soda alternative, PLEZi Fizz, in March. The drink is aimed at kids; Obama had previously said, "We know how much concern parents and pediatricians have about sugary drinks." PLEZi Fizz has 70% less sugar than the leading carbonated soft drinks, according to its website.Contois also said that beverage brands are a convincing way to sell consumers a lifestyle. When it comes to celebrity beauty and wellness brands, Contois said people usually hope there's a "magical elixir" that will elevate their own life.It could be a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bella-hadid-kin-euphorics-adaptogen-benefits-side-effects-2021-9">Kin Euphorics</a> drink to look more like Hadid or a PLEZi Fizz to feel more like an Obama — sharing a favorite drink with a public figure brings a brief sense of closeness, Contois said.Still, Citi's Falorni said distribution giants like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo don't have to worry about healthy seltzers stealing away business because soda sellers who make it big will eventually need them to help with distribution.Famous booze-free beverage founders could also follow the well-trodden path of celebs creating alcoholic drink brands and then selling them for a lot of cash. Diageo acquired actor <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/george-clooney-tequila-brand-casamigos-started-by-accident-2017-6">George Clooney's Casamigos</a> tequila for about $1 billion in 2017, and the same alcohol company bought <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ryan-reynolds-apologizes-george-clooney-email-sells-aviation-gin-610-million-2020-8">Ryan Reynolds' gin brand</a> in 2020 for $610 million.A-listers may feel more comfortable promoting sodas as guilt-free indulgences on their massive platforms compared to alcohol. The relatively low price points — a four-pack of Betty Buzz is less than $10 — also mean consumers can share a celebrity's taste for a few dollars."It's an aspirational investment that people are willing to make," Contois said.

From Michelle Obama to Bella Hadid, celebrities are piling into the soda business 

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="20475039" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tyson-Foods" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Tyson Foods" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Tyson Foods">Tyson Foods</keyword>' former CFO <keyword id="23150648" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="John-Randal-Tyson" source="keywords">John Randal Tyson</keyword> will not return to his position after a DWI charge.</li><li>Tyson who is an heir to the founder, was suspended following a DWI charge in June.</li></ul>Tyson Foods' chief financial officer is out of his job — but not out of the company. John Randal Tyson, an heir of founder John W. Tyson, was suspended from the company after being arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated in June. That marked <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tyson-foods-cfo-embarrassed-sorry-after-arrest-wrong-home-bed-2022-11">his second alcohol-related arrest since his CFO appointment in 2022</a>. On Thursday, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/child-labor-tyson-foods-perdue-farms-chicken-investigation-2023-9" target="_blank">the meat juggernaut</a> announced that its longtime staffer Curt Calaway, who was the interim CFO, would take over. Tyson will stay on as an employee but will be on <keyword id="23150653" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-related-leave" source="keywords">health-related leave</keyword>, the food company said in a release. Tyson was appointed to the role in 2022 at age 32, making <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tyson-foods-cfo-embarrassed-sorry-after-arrest-wrong-home-bed-2022-11">him the youngest CFO of any Fortune 500 company</a> at the time. The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-owns-tyson-foods-history-2023-5">fourth-generation Tyson family member </a>became CFO three years after he joined the company. He previously worked in <keyword id="19939232" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investment-banking" source="keywords">investment banking</keyword> at <keyword id="19967624" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="JPMorgan" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="JPMorgan" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="JPMorgan">JPMorgan</keyword> and graduated from Harvard and Stanford. Tyson Foods did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours. The company, known for its Hillshire and Sara Lee brands, is worth $23 billion, and the Tysons are worth $3.1 billion, per Forbes. <h2>Two arrests in recent years</h2>During the first incident in 2022, Tyson was found intoxicated and asleep in a stranger's bed around 2am, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tyson-foods-cfo-embarrassed-sorry-after-arrest-wrong-home-bed-2022-11">Business Insider previously reported.</a> The home where Tyson was found belonged to a woman who said she thought Tyson came through her unlocked front door. He was released later that evening after being charged with public intoxication and criminal trespass. In June, Tyson was charged with driving while intoxicated and careless driving after he misjudged a turn and rode up onto a curb. The scion's run-ins with the law are not the company's only <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/child-labor-tyson-foods-perdue-farms-chicken-investigation-2023-9">controversy in recent months</a>. In September 2023, The New York Times Magazine <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/18/magazine/child-labor-dangerous-jobs.html">published an investigation</a> that showed children as young as 14 were knowingly employed as overnight cleaning staff at plants run by companies including Tyson Foods. Some were gravely injured on jobs that federal law prohibits children from doing. Tyson Foods did not respond to a request for comment from BI at the time. The Department of Labor subsequently investigated child labor at Tyson and Perdue Farms as part of a broader probe. No charges have been filed. In November, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tyson-recalls-frozen-chicken-nuggets-customers-find-metal-pieces-2023-11">Tyson Foods recalled</a> almost 30,000 pounds of its frozen dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets after complaints that the nuggets contained small metal pieces, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/tyson-foods-inc--recalls-chicken-patty-product-due-possible-foreign-matter">said</a>. Correction: August 30, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of Tyson Foods' new CFO. It's Curt Calaway, not <keyword id="23150652" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Curt-Callaway" source="keywords">Curt Callaway</keyword>.

Tyson's finance chief is out of the job. The Tyson heir got the gig at 32, making him the youngest Fortune 500 CFO.

When George Coulam decided to retire, he had a problem. He owned the Texas Renaissance Festival — which bills itself as the largest such gathering in America, drawing over 500,000 annual visitors — and he needed to find a successor. Several longtime associates were eager to take over, but Coulam had run the fair for decades; he wanted his pride and joy to land in the right hands. Suitor after suitor put in bids to buy the business, but none felt like the right fit.Across the US, older business owners are arriving at the same juncture. Over half of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-outlook-small-business-owner-economy-interest-rate-cuts-2024-9">small businesses</a> — those with a single owner and fewer than 500 employees — are owned by people over 50. The wealth-management firm NewEdge Wealth has estimated that boomer-owned businesses in the US are worth about $10 trillion. Those boomers can't retire and enjoy their sunset years until they figure out <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/entrepreneurs-small-business-owners-share-challenges-of-starting-company-2023-10">what to do with their businesses</a>. Can a relative or longtime employee take over? Should they shut down? Or can they sell?For millennials with the entrepreneurial bug, this <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boomers-not-enough-retirement-savings-gen-z-millennials-eldercare-2024-1">boomer retirement bomb</a> could be a boon. As they enter their prime wealth-building years, many are anxious about how they'll <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-millennials-need-for-retirement-savings-strategies-401k-ira-2024-5">save up for retirement</a>; in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/home-sellers-summer-disappointment-mortgage-rates-house-prices-real-estate-2024-5">turbulent housing market</a>, buying an existing business offers a tantalizing opportunity. The market-research firm Forrester found in a survey it conducted last year that 64% of people buying businesses were millennials or younger. Sure, many small businesses aren't glamorous — think dental practices or accounting firms — and they involve long hours and unpredictable market forces. But they might just be a better pathway to retirement than building a business from scratch.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/more-startups-get-bought-up-by-private-equity-vc-2024-8">Private-equity firms</a> have long seen the wisdom in acquiring small businesses. Why should they be the only ones reaping the fruits of boomer labor?In the late 1990s, Nancy Forster-Holt, an accountant at Ernst &amp; Young, was transferred from Sacramento, California, to Maine. She fell in love with the state and her now-husband, Steve Holt. They decided to buy a business together. Since she had experience as a chief financial officer and he was an engineer, they focused on manufacturing companies. They soon found Shaw &amp; Tenney, a century-and-a-half-old manufacturer of wooden paddles and oars in Orono. Before the Holts bought it in 2003, Shaw &amp; Tenney had had only two other owners: the Tenney family, which operated it until 1978, and Paul and Helen Reagan.When they decided to retire two years ago, the Holts thought their children might want to take over. But no one showed any interest. "They all grew up in it and worked in it," Forster-Holt, who's also a clinical associate professor at the University of Rhode Island's business school, told me. "Our last one graduated in 2022, and he's a food scientist, and we're a manufacturer of oars and paddles." The couple realized they had to sell, and they started marketing the company while planning the graduation party.That's when Jennifer and Neil Gutekunst came along. When they acquired Shaw &amp; Tenney in 2023, they had two other small businesses under their belt. They took what the Holts built — a recognized brand, equipment, a highly skilled workforce, and customer relationships — and ran with it."The businesses we purchased all had cash day one," Neil Gutekunst said. Neither of the Gutekunsts had a sales background, but the three companies they purchased had strong customer bases and solid reputations. All they had to do was keep things running.The US Small Business Administration said in July that there were nearly 35 million small businesses in the US. The vast majority of those, 82%, had no employees other than the owner, meaning they probably wouldn't make sense to sell. But each year, about 65,000 of the remaining chunk of businesses are listed on BizBuySell, an online listing service of businesses for sale.Edie Ellis, who runs a consulting firm in Chicago and has advised industrial companies on acquisitions, said the peak of small-business sales began when baby boomers started to turn 60, in about 2006. Many owners found that their children didn't want to take over, so they looked for buyers. The kids of small-business owners "run the opposite direction, because they saw the lifestyle," Ellis said. "They saw that mom and dad worked 24/7, they didn't have a weekend off, you know? They don't want to do that."Data from BizBuySell indicates that sales of small businesses have been lower since the 2006 peak and dipped during the pandemic, but quarterly transaction volume has largely recovered from 2020 and has held steady. In the second quarter of this year, BizBuySell had listings for over 35,000 businesses with a median asking price of $395,000 and a median revenue of over $700,000 — meanwhile, in the housing market, the median home price recently hit $412,000. Demand for these businesses is growing, pushing the median sales price up 25% over last year. While not all of these companies will be a good investment, the right venture could offer an edge over more traditional wealth-building routes.The upside of buying an existing small business, besides inheriting foundational elements — a brand, suppliers, systems, and customers — is that financing an acquisition is often easier than financing a brand-new business. You don't need to have hundreds of thousands in cash on hand to take advantage. In some cases, sellers are willing to assist in financing because they want the business out of their hands. Some will accept deferred compensation or a share of future earnings as a way to lessen the up-front cost. Buyers with good credit can also borrow money through the Small Business Administration.Existing companies often have assets that can help make financing easier. If the business owns land, buildings, or equipment, that can serve as collateral for a bank loan. Plus, with revenue already coming in the door, lenders know they won't have to wait to receive payment. Of course, there are some logistical challenges in finding the right business — fewer than a quarter of the businesses listed on BizBuySell sell in a given year. For one thing, great small businesses aren't always in places where people want to move. Dave Specht, the director of the Drucker School Global Family Business Institute at Claremont Graduate University, told me that the situation is compounded when people in small towns don't want to talk to their neighbors about their plans for their businesses. "There's great secrecy around the timing of transitions and things like that," Specht, who lives in a small town in Washington, said. Often, potential buyers end up looking elsewhere. "They go to a larger town or a larger city because they just don't know."Some businesses need a buyer with a combination of skills that isn't easy to find. Some have real estate that's worth more than the rest of the assets. And some are "lifestyle companies," such as bookstores, yarn stores, and other Main Street businesses, that don't generate much profit beyond the owner's small salary.Other businesses might have hidden problems, Ellis told me. "Have they been paying their bills? Have they been paying the IRS? You don't know what you don't know," she said.The challenges don't stop once you've made the purchase. Fewer than two-thirds of small businesses in the US in 2022 were profitable, and over a million businesses of all sizes close each year. "You get people that come up from Wall Street and they want to buy a bed-and-breakfast in Maine because they've always loved Maine," Forster-Holt said. "But guess what? They're working 24/7, 365, helping other people enjoy Maine."She's noticed that people with experience working in corporations sometimes struggle with the flat hierarchy and ever-changing priorities of a small business. "You come to work and you've got your to-do list, and a truck has hit your building, and now your day is something completely different," she said. "Do you have the temperament for that?"The Holts found that they did. "I loved working there," Forster-Holt told me. And those who can roll with a little bit of upheaval can reap the financial upsides.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-deals-private-equity-acquihires-ai-tech-vc-2024-8">Private-equity firms</a> are certainly familiar with those upsides. The American Investment Council reported that 85% of private-equity investments in 2022 were small businesses. Citing the data provider Preqin, PwC recently reported that, as of the end of May, private equity firms had $1 trillion in liquid assets that were looking for investments. These companies are interested in small businesses that operate similarly in many markets and can be rolled up together, such as plumbing or HVAC companies."Private equity is smart in targeting family businesses," Specht told me. "Many of them are great businesses." Fortunately for millennial buyers, many family owners would prefer not to deal with Wall Street.In 2022, Dinkel's Bakery, a beloved Chicago institution, closed after a century in business. Norm Dinkel, the third-generation owner, wanted to retire, and he <a target="_blank" href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/04/05/dinkels-bakery-is-closing-after-100-years-on-the-north-side/?fbclid=IwAR0BZXSbl9TRiwoiT-brphpBBhEbM9RU9LgMygGULYZg0kNZpESJxBYUxyU">couldn't find a buyer</a> who also wanted to operate the business. Anyone fortunate enough to have had a Dinkel's chocolate doughnut or fresh strawberry paczki knows the loss.Traditionally, small businesses were family businesses, and the eldest male child was expected to take it over when the patriarch was ready to step down. That got Dinkel's through a hundred years of operation. Many small-business owners want to keep the company in the family, said Brian Brogan, who works as a wealth advisor to family-business owners and teaches in the family-business program at Saint Joseph's University in Pennsylvania. If that isn't an option, they look for someone they can trust to carry on the business. Coulam, the owner of the Texas Renaissance Festival, is slightly older than the average boomer business owner — he's entering his late 80s. But even he hasn't found a suitable buyer. His succession search, which was documented in the recent HBO series "Ren Faire," highlights the difficulty of passing along a business someone spent their whole life building. With small businesses especially, it's not just about the numbers — it's a very personal decision.Still, for buyers able to find the right match, snatching up an existing business could be a smart move. For the Gutekunsts, one acquisition intended as a lifestyle change has turned into a collection of businesses built around southern Maine's deep tradition of woodcrafting. "It's fun," Jennifer Gutekunst tells me. It also beats not having a satisfying retirement plan.Last year I wrote about the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boomer-wealth-transfer-myth-dont-count-on-inheritance-estate-planning-2023-10">myth of the "Great Boomer Wealth Transfer</a>" — about how most boomers don't have many assets to pass along, and those that do are likely to get eaten up by the high cost of elder care. But even if you can't plan on receiving an inheritance, you can create one for yourself (and your own children). Buying up small businesses allows people without wealthy boomer parents to cash in on the trillions of dollars of wealth the generation is sitting on.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/ann-c-logue">Ann C. Logue</a> is a writer specializing in business and finance. She lives in Chicago.

Boomers are selling off their businesses. Millennials are swooping in. 

New Delhi: The merger of media assets of Reliance Industries and the India business of global media house the Walt Disney is expected to be complete by the end of the third quarter of this fiscal, according to a regulatory filing by billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led group. The fair trade regulator CCI has already approved the merger of Viacom 18 and <keyword id="19976122" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Star-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Star India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Star India">Star India</keyword> and NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) has sanctioned the scheme regarding it. "The companies are in the process of obtaining other requisite approvals for the completion of the transaction and transaction closer is expected in 3Q FY 25," informed Reliance Industries on Monday in its quarter earning statement. The merger of Reliance group-controlled media assets - TV18 Broadcast and E18 - with Network18 Media &amp; Investments has already been sanctioned by the NCLT and was made effective on October 3, it said. Earlier on September 27, the government approved the transfer of licenses relating to Non News &amp; Current Affairs TV channels held by media entities of Reliance Industries to Star India. "The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, vide its order dated September 27, has granted its approval for transfer of Licenses relating to Non News &amp; Current Affairs TV channels held by <keyword id="19976121" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Viacom18" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Viacom18" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Viacom18">Viacom18</keyword> Media Private Limited in favour of Star India," it had said. Viacom18 is the holding company that owns the media and entertainment business of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and Bodhi Tree Systems. Both sides are in the final stages of the merger, making some adjustments in the business as per the Competition Commission of India (CCI) directions. On August 30, the NCLT had approved the scheme of merger of Viacom18 Media and Digital 18 Media, holding media and entertainment assets of Reliance Industries with Star India. The scheme had proposed the transfer and vesting of Media Operations Undertaking from Viacom 18 and Jio Cinema into Digital18, which is a subsidiary of Viacom 18. This would be followed by "demerger, transfer and vesting of V18 Undertaking from Digital 18 into Star India". The merger of the media assets of Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Co.'s India business will create the country's largest media empire worth over Rs 70,000 crore. Earlier, the CCI had said it has cleared the "proposed combination involving Reliance Industries Ltd, Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd, Digital18 Media Ltd, Star India Pvt Ltd and Star Television Productions Ltd, subject to the compliance of voluntary modifications". Viacom18 is part of the RIL group, and Star India is wholly owned by The <keyword id="19986269" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Walt-Disney-Company" source="keywords">Walt Disney Company</keyword>. Star Television Productions, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, is owned indirectly by Walt Disney. The CCI, however, did not disclose voluntary modifications in the original deal made by the two parties. As per the deal, Mukesh Ambani-led RIL and its affiliates will hold 63.16 per cent of the combined entity that will house two streaming services and 120 television channels. Walt Disney will hold the remaining 36.84 per cent stake in the combined entity, which will also be India's largest media house. Reliance Industries has also agreed to invest close to Rs 11,500 crore into the joint venture to give it the muscle to fight rivals like Japan's Sony and Netflix. Nita Ambani, wife of billionaire and RIL Chairman <keyword id="19916798" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani" source="keywords">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>, will head the joint venture, while Uday Shankar will be the vice-chairperson.

Reliance expects to complete merger with Disney's India business in Q3

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In Rob Sheffield's new book about Taylor Swift, he recounts a story about her meeting LeAnn Rimes.</li><li>When Swift was 8, she went to a concert where Rimes recognized her from the fan mail she'd sent.</li></ul>Throughout her career, Taylor Swift has credited many fellow musicians as vital influences, from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-red-taylors-version">Joni Mitchell</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-easter-eggs-lyrics-explained-2024-4">Stevie Nicks</a> to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-kenny-chesney-money-gift-friendship-2023-12">Kenny Chesney</a> and, of course, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkD20ajVxnY">Tim McGraw.</a> But perched quietly atop that star-studded list is LeAnn Rimes.In "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/heartbreak-is-the-national-anthem-rob-sheffield?variant=42266859077666">Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music</a>," the new book from Rolling Stone's longtime music critic Rob Sheffield, the author recounts a formative experience from Swift's childhood that, in retrospect, informs how the megastar interacts with her fans today.Long before she built a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-net-worth-spending-2018-8">billion-dollar empire</a> as an acclaimed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-solo-written-songs-2023-7">songwriter</a> and pop star — and even before her family had moved to Tennessee in 2004 to help Swift pursue a recording contract — Swift was a precocious Rimes superfan who lived in West Reading, Pennsylvania.Swift has said that Rimes, particularly her 1996 cover of the Bill Mack classic "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GozdIQx1Wow">Blue</a>," was the initial spark in her love affair with country music. "She was young," Swift told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/t-magazine/womens-fashion/06well-swift.html">The New York Times</a> of Rimes in 2009, "and she was doing these things that I could only dream about doing. There was something just so motivating about that."Swift was 8 years old when she first saw Rimes perform live. It was her first concert, and what happened there would have a ripple effect through the rest of her career.In the book, Sheffield quotes a radio interview that Swift gave as a teenager, around the time that her self-titled debut album was released, in which Swift recalls that night."I was holding up this huge banner in the front row. It's like, 'I love you, LeAnn,' like a stalker, and I had sent her all these letters and this package of drawings and pictures of me and stuff to her hotel room the night before.""She recognized me in the audience and had actually taken time to read my letters and stuff," Swift continued. "When she was going around shaking hands with people in the audience, she looked down and I was like, 'LeAnn, did you get my letters?' And she goes, 'I sure did, Taylor.'"<div type="image" title="LeAnn Rimes performs at G-A-Y on August 6, 2016 in London, England." height="1991" width="3000" msid="115221986" hostid="261" sizebytes="946536"></div>Even some of Swift's most ardent fans might not know this story; I didn't until I read Sheffield's book, and I've been listening to Swift's music since <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-albums-ranked-by-quality-best-worst-2023-3">her aforementioned debut dropped in 2006</a>.But for anyone taking notes from Swift's unstoppable, decadeslong reign in the music industry, it's a story worth knowing.Among her many musical gifts, Swift has proven herself exceedingly skilled at leveraging fandom for maximum profit — the artist's version of a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-starbucks-costco-fast-food-retail-loyalty-programs-2024-10">customer loyalty program</a>. It's translated directly to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-selling-albums-all-time-one-week-2021-10">millions of album sales</a>, billions of streams, and 149 packed stadium shows during the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/streaming/how-to-buy-taylor-swift-tour-tickets-concert-prices-compared">Eras Tour</a> alone.There are plenty of reasons someone might become devoted to Swift's music. She has written 18 years' worth of entry points and fan origin stories, from "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://youtu.be/Jb2stN7kH28?si=rtPkm_5M4F_fDSMG">Our Song</a>" to "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://youtu.be/iY6Qhlua8Zw?si=GPJ--82-cw37oHZO">The Manuscript</a>." (It's often said in the Swiftie community that someone who "doesn't get why she's so popular" just hasn't heard the right song yet.) But it's Swift's ability to hold our attention and allegiance, through <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-eras-tour-guide-to-every-album-era-2022-12">eras</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-feuds-then-now-enemies-haters-2023-8">feuds</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-grammys-midnights-didnt-deserve-aoty-over-sza-sos-2024-2">broken records</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-kamala-harris-endorsement-criticism-explained-2024-9">backlash</a>, that puts her in a league of her own.Or, as Sheffield puts it, "LeAnn Rimes created a goddamn monster.""She warped this child into being the best to ever do what LeAnn did," Sheffield writes. "For Taylor, that was the primal scene of instruction. 'That was it,' she recalled. 'That was the moment where literally it all just clicked for me.'"<div type="image" title="Taylor Swift with a fan at the Eras Tour." height="3333" width="5000" msid="115221983" hostid="261" sizebytes="551128"></div><h2 id="9cfe5296-2102-490c-b903-0a87472157b9">Swift has built her career on cultivating a sense of intimacy with her fans</h2>Sheffield makes the point that so-called "fangirls" are essential to pop stardom because, in the words of Smokey Robinson, "Men contribute to the thing, but women actually make show business happen."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-barbie-movie-summer-girlhood-2023-7">Swift has always taken that bond seriously</a>. As a teenage phenom, she understood how sacred it could feel to be a fan of someone, because she was so recently on the other side of the stage. Now, as an adult and a shrewd businesswoman, she also understands how lucrative that bond can be.There are so many examples of Swift dedicating her time, energy, and resources to nurturing this dynamic that it would be impossible to list them all.At the very dawn of her career, Swift promoted her music by befriending future fans on MySpace. In 2014, she performed the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-all-too-well-10-minute-version-explained-reactions-2021-11">then-unknown deep cut "All Too Well"</a> at the Grammys, rather than a popular single, because hardcore fans begged her to. Nine years later, she released <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-all-too-well-video-details-easter-eggs-2021-11">the original 10-minute version of the song</a> because, in her words, "My fans would not let it go." She has a reputation for weaving <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-vmas-dress-ufo-down-bad-easter-egg-2024-9">Easter eggs into her clothes</a>, leaving <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-easter-eggs-lyrics-explained-2024-4">clues in her lyrics</a>, and lurking in fan communities online. She has, in fact, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/tswifterastour/status/1802493158271635705">recognized a familiar face or two</a>.Perhaps the most famous example is Swift's tradition of "secret sessions," which involved inviting a group of fans to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-house-real-estate-portfolio-nashville-new-york-california-2023-3">one of her many homes</a> so they could listen to a new album before its release. According to those who've attended, these intimate evenings typically included <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/taylor-swift-rolling-stone-interview-880794/">freshly baked cookies</a>, insights into her creative process, and lots of selfies.As Swift's fame has surged to Beatlemania levels, she has taken a step back from these hyper-intimate exchanges. She stopped doing secret sessions after "Lover" in 2019 and turned off Instagram comments around the same time.Her most recent album, "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-album-review-tracklist-breakdown-2024-4">The Tortured Poets Department</a>," bore the unmistakable stains of exhaustion and frustration, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-album-lyrics-criticizing-fans-swifties-2024-4">particularly with the way some fans felt entitled to her private life</a>. In the meta-pop song "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://youtu.be/i8_w_m6HLJ0?si=C7t3-xtr8abNychW">I Can Do It With a Broken Heart</a>," Swift shatters the illusion of her own tour, revealing the grimace behind her onstage mask: "They said, 'Babe, you gotta fake it 'til you make it' and I did / Lights, camera, bitch, smile / Even when you wanna die."But even after the album's release, did Swift cancel the tour, postpone a few shows, or take a break from the spotlight? Of course not. Instead, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-eras-tour-set-list-in-order-2024-5">she folded the song into her setlist</a>, creating yet another covenant with her crowd.If anything, "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" served as proof of Swift's dedication to her audience and, once again, deepened her bond with fans. She seemed to say, "Look how much I've sacrificed to be here with you." With every confession, even the pointed ones, she pulls us in closer.Fittingly, the Eras Tour is what <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-billionaire-downplay-net-worth-brand-2023-11">finally lifted Swift into the realm of billionaires</a>, making her "the first musician to hit ten-figure status solely based on her songs and performances," according to Forbes.That qualifier is crucial. Although Swift has grown her fortune with standard celebrity fare like hawking fragrances and expanding her real-estate portfolio, her greatest asset is still her emotional connection to her fans, who will <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/concert-tickets-price-taylor-swift-economics-2023-7">shell out thousands of dollars</a> or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-spending-thousands-taylor-swift-tickets-europe-paris-milan-2023-8">cross an ocean</a> to see her live, and will stream and buy <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-too-many-songs-tortured-poets-department-opinion-2024-4">every edition of her albums</a>.If Swift's stock is in her relationship with her fans, that investment is on display whenever she takes the stage, whether she's breaking character <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@molliemoore__/video/7393107457121324320?_r=1&amp;_t=8rCmb3jwt1a">to share a conspiratorial wink</a>, interrupting her performance <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-fan-thanked-her-stopping-concert-security-guard-philadelphia-2023-5">to scold an aggressive security </a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-fan-thanked-her-stopping-concert-security-guard-philadelphia-2023-5">guard</a>, or dedicating a portion of each show <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-kobe-bryant-daughter-bianka-hug-eras-tour-2023-8">to give a lucky kid the hat off her own head</a>.Swift does not squander their commitment or take it for granted. Mere days after a foiled terrorist plot forced her to cancel three shows in Vienna, she was back onstage in London, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-biggest-fear-terrorist-attack-during-concert-eras-tour-2024-8">broken heart be damned</a>.Unlike many of her wealthy peers, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/beyonce-renaissance-concert-movie-review-2023-12">Swift's persona and brand is not aspirational</a> — it's relatable, and it's paying off.She may not know the name of every person in the crowd, but nearly three decades after that fateful first LeAnn Rimes concert, she gives them all the same feeling: Taylor, did you get my letters? She sure did.

Taylor Swift's fans-first business strategy all goes back to a childhood interaction with LeAnn Rimes

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rucking workouts are replacing traditional meetings for networking and business deals.</li><li>The exercise can enhance the camaraderie of a group while helping people multitask and build fitness.</li></ul>Forget about a working lunch, grabbing a coffee, or hitting up a happy hour. These days, executives are throwing on a weighted backpack and trekking a few miles with colleagues and new contacts.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://businessinsider.com/how-wearing-backpack-rucking-working-out-build-muscle-2023-7">Rucking</a> — walking while carrying weight, typically in a wearable pack — has skyrocketed in popularity in the fitness world as a way to enhance longevity, build muscle, and burn fat.Now, the workout is replacing Zoom calls and desksides as the face-to-face activity of choice for sharing ideas, developing relationships, and creating career opportunities. Welcome to the era of the rucking meeting.Former NFL player turned entrepreneur <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-rucking-workout-save-time-boost-performance-busy-schedule-2024-10">Jeff Byers</a> told Business Insider he rucks on a treadmill desk during meetings and invites guests to join him in the exercise during one-on-ones.Lee Heisman, an Atlanta-based entrepreneur and CEO of several businesses, including Exit Stage Left Advisors, has been rucking for years. For Heisman, the unique features of rucking make it an ideal activity for anyone willing to break a sweat, regardless of fitness level. As a networking tool, it can enhance connections while also fitting a workout into a buy schedule, he said."I don't really have that much time or interest in sitting in front of someone at a desk or an office meeting and not doing something while we're doing it," Heisman said. "We're going to have our meeting and we're going to walk away feeling so invigorated. And it really helps your negotiation power when you're working with someone, and they're in a great mood."<h2 id="73e469fd-1993-49ac-b842-37626a53fa37">Health-conscious execs are redefining the work social</h2>Wellness has already been seeping into the workplace.Founders, investors, and venture capitalists are openly sharing the lifestyle tweaks they are making to be at the top of their game in business, from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intermittent-fasting-benefits-and-risks-for-longevity-weight-loss-cancer-2024-4">intermittent fasting</a> to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-founders-vcs-startups-sober-no-alcohol-2023-4">getting sober.</a>Casey Strunk, the president of Strunk Insurance Group in Phoenix, said he started taking his fitness and nutrition more seriously over the past few years, and conventional socials like boozy cocktail hours and rich restaurant meals weren't always a good fit for his goals."I was still craving that sense of community with people that I enjoyed, that were leaders that helped level me up," he told Business Insider.He first learned about rucking about a year and a half ago at an entrepreneur conference featuring Michael Easter, a journalist whose books have driven a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rucking-startup-founders-investors-look-for-ways-optimize-workouts-2023-10">rucking renaissance</a>.Strunk heard a friend had begun a rucking network event and last fall, he launched his own local version called Rise &amp; Ruck Phoenix.Once a month, a hand-selected group is invited to meet up in a local park at 7 a.m. on a Friday for an hourlong ruck, followed by 30 minutes of coffee and conversation.You need an inside connection to get an invite, and discussions often involve hot topics in the community across various fields from business to economics to medicine."We've been highly intentional. While it's invite-only, we're not exclusive. We're inclusive of anybody that knows somebody who's high performing in one aspect of their life" Strunk said.<div type="image" title="A group of people in workout gear and weighted backs or vests pose for a photo in front of mountainous Arizona terrain" height="3024" width="4032" msid="114623013" hostid="261" sizebytes="919840"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rucking-longevity-burn-fat-build-muscle-no-gym-2023-11">Rucking</a> is a natural fit for the ambitious multitasker, since it helps improve cardiovascular health, improves strength and stability, and burns fat all at once."For me, rucking was really about optimization," Strunk said.<h2 id="32458bf5-7151-42e5-a481-7baa65ac6bb4">The networking appeal of rucking</h2>Exercising at work isn't only a convenient way to multitask on a busy schedule. It's also strategic."When you have those endorphins kicking, how can it go wrong when you're doing that type of exercise together?" Heisman said.It can be humbling; getting in and out of the rucksack can feel like being a beetle stuck on its back, according to Heisman, and you risk looking out of breath if you go hard.But rucking is fundamentally a scaleable exercise, making it relatively accessible. It can be adjusted for varying fitness levels by changing factors like the weight of the ruck, movement speed, and terrain.Since everyone's equipment is a backpack, it's not about keeping up appearances; no one can compare weights the way you might visually do on a barbell."The beauty of the ruck is that there's no egregious feeling of 'You're doing less than me or I'm doing more than you.' It is so much more about 'We're doing this together'" Heisman said.Heisman, a fan of ruck meetings for years said he puts a lot of thought into each meeting, often starting his guests out with lighter weight, offering them an option to add on the way back, and even planning the route so it ends on a hill. The overall effect is a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie that's hard to replicate in an office.For Strunk, the meditative monotony of rucking is what makes it so productive for a meeting. He and his associates have time to communicate and contemplate."I sure wouldn't want to be in an F45 or Orange Theory group with other people where we were trying to communicate and network. But from a barrier-to-entry perspective, most people can walk for 60 minutes," said Strunk.Strunk's group rucks end with the accoutrements of a good social, but he packs coffee with protein bars, shakes, and bananas to enjoy in a scenic park instead of pastries or donuts in a conference room.Still, a bit of a challenge is part of what sets the ruck meeting apart. Getting your heart rate up prompts you to save your breath, cutting through the fluff: there's no such thing as a ruck meeting that could have been an email."I think it lends itself for people to contribute in more meaningful ways when they have something to say rather than talking to talk," Strunk said.

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