tea you cannot miss🍵 all things I loved in july.
my monthly recs to read/watch/be
happy new month y’all ✨
i think writing a newsletter is very similar to writing a long complex search query to find similar people.
i am more convinced about this than ever as I write to you from a cute little cafe in East village, New York waiting for a friend I met on Instagram.
how did we find each other? by sharing what we love online.
it is actually quite incredible when you think about it. you put out what you like, and then basically do nothing. then one fine day, an old school friend or an ex-colleague or a friend of a friend or a complete stranger feels so heard and seen by what you shared, that they drop you a message.
all you have to do is share what’s made you feel seen and heard.
so here’s my search query for this month. sharing what I have been consuming and thinking and mulling over last month..
🏓 only athletes and pop-stars should be allowed to be thought leaders
I discovered Trevor Noah through his podcast and then found out he hosted the Daily Show. I like this pipeline better because I feel like I got to know him in his unhurried mostly-unscripted version - like in his 🎙️ podcast episode with Roger Federer on his life after tennis.
One of my fav bits was when Roger talks about getting flak for not being aggressive enough on court - and how he tried doing that but since it goes against his core personality, it ends up being more energy consuming.
That made me watch his documentary 📺 Last Twelve Days. I listened to half the podcast, and then watched the movie and then finished the podcast on my next day’s lunch walk. It helped me connect so many dots in my head. May I suggest you try the same?
🏝️ olympic village villa storylines
Someone on my feed pointed out how easily I embraced love island and olympics and it just goes to show how my brain loves some televised drama.
I have never really been into Olympics (or sports in general!) - but thanks to my TikTok FYP and NBC being the only channel in my New York hotel room, I am into it!
My fav storylines in the villa so far
- IIona Maher with all her clapbacks and tiktoks
- Rhysand-ification of this Italian swimmer Thomas Ceccon (ACOTAR girlies?)
- and ofc the comeback of Simon Biles! 🐐
I also loved her Call me daddy episode - she takes you through right from how she was adopted to how she found her husband on Raya (that app works?) + how narratives around “mental injury” are so much harder to deal with.
😅 genZfication of politics
just adjacent to my follow Olympics campaign, I have also been closely following Kamala Harris’s campaign - the brat-ification of Kamala needs it own marketing case study, but I would encourage you to continue to keep up with policies and agendas both parties stand for.
if you are new to this like me, and really don’t wanna know where to start, may I suggest
’s newsletter. I also subscribed to The New York Times and been making my way through a lot of opinion pieces out there!
🖼️ the art of curation
if I was a trust fund baby, I bet I would be doing something along the lines of curating spaces or people.
i loved watching 📺 Becoming Karl Lagerfield - it scratched my itch to use a physical pen and paper and have pictures and sketches tacked on the walls and stare at them to find my next newsletter idea.
i was lucky enough to be able to go this year MET Gala’s exhibition Sleeping Beauties. the entire exhibition was one beautiful story told in a physical space - with sounds, smells, pictures and ofc clothes!
all I could think about was the countless mood boards, the arrangements and re-arrangements, the mix and match the people behind would have done. and it just left me wanting to do something similar - something beyond my digital pinterest boards!
💁♀️ gotta be a better listener
one of the reflections I’ve had as a manager recently is that I wanna be a better listener. It’s not like I am bad, I want to be more intentionally good at it.
so I like to believe
’s recently wrote for me when she shared a few tactics you can use to open up communication. My favorite being, tell me more.if you have suggestions for me, please send them over.
✨ being
july ended on a bit of a chaotic note for me personally - broken phone, flight fiascos, missed routines. 🙃
but then it was only really nice because I feel like I am also getting better at leaning into the chaos and making my way through it - rather than panicking.
I am hoping August brings in a little more self-trust and a lot more self-compassion.
I hope you enjoyed this slightly different longer format this week. I feel my writing is evolving and I wanna give it space to do so.
writing this brought me a lot of joy. do not hesitate to send me some of your July favorites!🫶
talk next week,
chhavi x