Here, we talk to ex-Nike employees Vida Delrahim and Ronit Menashe, who forged a remarkably close and supportive relationship as each other’s work wives for nearly 20 years. Together, they navigated some of life’s biggest milestones—with serendipitous synced marriages and firstborns—and leaned on each other during more complex challenges, including trying to conceive. After both experienced miscarriages in their late 30s and early 40s—dismissed by doctors with comments like “You’re lucky you even got pregnant”—they set out to find better guidance, ultimately leaving Nike to launch WeNatal, a California-based prenatal supplement.

Marie Claire: How did you land in the wellness space after your marketing careers?

Vida Delrahim: When Ronit and I met in Nike’s corporate marketing department 20 years ago, we instantly became best friends. We always assumed we might team up professionally one day, likely in events or marketing. But life had different plans. In early 2020, we both had miscarriages within a week of each other—my second and her first—and our doctors were surprisingly dismissive, saying, "It just happens.” Separately, we were both given little optimism or practical guidance—basically told there was nothing we could do. The doctors' offices were very matter-of-fact, which just happened quite a bit with "geriatric pregnancies." Since this wasn’t my first miscarriage, I took it at face value and assumed it was my fault.

Ronit Menashe: I’ve always wanted to work in the wellness space. When I got my MBA at USC, all my classmates interviewed for every job under the sun—places like Taco Bell, Kellogg’s, or General Mills. Those are considered prestigious positions from business school because they pay well, but there was a disconnect for me. I wanted my career to make a real impact.

While at business school, I had just one interview at Nike, which I got. I thought, “Wow, this will be the best thing ever. I’m going to make an impact at a huge company.” But after eight years at Nike, I realized I still didn’t feel like I was truly changing lives in the health and wellness space, so I decided to pursue functional medicine.

After Nike, I got a job with Dr. Mark Hyman, who I worked with for four years. He's a leading functional medicine doctor. When I had a miscarriage at that time, I knew that what my conventional doctor was telling me was a little bit of gaslighting and just a little bit of lack of information on her end. Researching on my own, I learned there are many root causes of miscarriage; women can do a lot to improve egg quality at any age, and men account for half the fertility equation.

VD: I was still working at Nike and remember getting a call from Ronit where she revealed what felt like a groundbreaking discovery—that men contribute just as much to fertility as women, yet nobody discussed men’s prenatal. We realized there was not only a nutritional gap but also an emotional gap: women often shoulder the entire fertility burden. Given our own experience with pregnancy loss, we knew something had to change. We wanted to educate, shift gender paradigms, and spark a broader conversation. It was the start of the brand.

MC: How did your experience at Nike shape the way you developed WeNatal?

VD: Nike is at the top of their game, and being a premium brand was ingrained in both of us when we started working on the start of our own company.

RM: We learned the importance of a strong visual identity and brand experience there. They excel at integrated storytelling across all platforms and that premium experience from customer service to how you check out, how you open the box, and the messaging. That mindset has been rooted in everything we do.

It's why we initially contacted Brightland's brand designers but received quotes in the hundred-thousand-dollar range—way beyond our budget. That led us to work with Kati Forner, who had recently left a design agency. She’s an incredible designer who helped us establish our brand’s foundation and brought our vision to life, creating the elevated experience we learned to value at Nike.

MC: What was it like getting a small brand off the ground?

VD: We kept telling ourselves, “We’ll launch next month,” only to discover we needed to do something else. We were meticulous about our formula, continually updating it as new research emerged and double-checking every detail. Our background taught us that we’d only have one chance to make consumers fall in love with WeNatal, so we invested heavily in the brand experience—from the website design to the packaging—ensuring every touchpoint would be memorable, innovative, and unlike anything else on the market. Otherwise, what’s the point of launching another prenatal product? That commitment to getting it right explains why it took two years, but it also shaped a truly holistic offering that addresses real needs in prenatal care.

MC: Vida, you still worked at Nike at the time. How did that go?

VD: I was open about the project from day one, sharing updates on social media because it truly was a labor of love—and a healing journey after my two miscarriages. It felt good to help other women facing similar struggles and to let them know they’re not alone. Since we bootstrapped the entire venture, I couldn’t afford to quit my job. I even mentioned it in Nike meetings, explaining that this was my second passion, but it had nothing to do with athletic apparel or footwear—I never wanted to compete with Nike. Since it was so different from Nike’s day-to-day work, it didn’t conflict with my role. I squeezed in work on nights and weekends. Ronit and I would get together, and while our kids played, we’d be busy cranking out work.

MC: How did your co-workers react?

VD: My boss had an idea, and honestly, so did everyone else. Every now and then, people would say, “I heard you started WeNatal!” Everyone who knew was incredibly supportive. Even now that I’ve fully left Nike, it’s rewarding to hear former colleagues—sometimes even current employees—saying they loved hearing me on a podcast or seeing what I’m doing with the brand. Friends from our Nike years have been an enormous source of support, and we’re all still cheering each other on as our careers evolve.

MC: What did you learn about work culture?

VD: My time at Nike taught me that people are at the heart of a brand; they’re the ones who truly bring it to life. We’ve been fortunate to hire people we love, respect, and admire—those who genuinely believe in our mission. The work will get done, but it’s crucial to surround yourself with a community that cares as much as you do. For instance, one of our newest hires had been taking WeNatal for two years before reaching out because she wanted to be part of what we’re building. That kind of passion is a blessing. We treat our team like family, and that’s something I learned there: when you invest in people above all else, the brand becomes real.

MC: Would you have done anything differently?

RM: The biggest learning I think we've both had is to trust our gut. When we saw red flags, we knew we should not proceed, but we didn't have the expertise to negotiate out of a contract or say the money is sunk—let's get out now and move on.

VD: Sometimes, as a first-time entrepreneur, you second-guess yourself. And I think the reality is we've been around the block long enough to trust our intuition.

Now we go back to that, and we're like, "Nope, let's stick with it. We know what we need for this brand." And trusting our gut as a female founder, I think, is a very important skill set you need to reinforce.

And so, we asked 50 women—from founders and creatives to changemakers and CEOs—to share the one thing they rely on to give them an edge. Their answers offer a glimpse at the essentials that fuel their success. For some, it’s insightful tech that maximizes their time awake; for others, it’s a grounding daily ritual that helps them carve out some calm amid chaos.

What the items all have in common is that they reveal that true mogul status isn't just about what you achieve, but also about how and what you use to recharge, refresh, and redefine what's possible. They’re also a reminder that getting to the top isn’t about constantly adding more to your plate—it's about choosing what truly works for you and letting go of the rest.

Artemis Patrick, President & CEO, Sephora North America

Power Pick: Oura Ring

"Sleep is incredibly important to both our physical and mental health, and I don’t get a lot of sleep time, so I was a little nervous about seeing my results, but [according to my Oura Ring] it turns out that my deep and R.E.M. sleep is good. Once the Ring has some of your history, it gives great tips and tricks on how to maximize the efficiency of your sleep, as well as how to manage your daytime stress and activity levels."

Charlotte Cruze, Co-Founder and COO, Alice

Power Pick: Playfield The Bailey Kit

"My first recommendation is a dog because nothing helps you ground yourself or remember to go outside and take a break more than a pup. And once you do that, get this fanny pack that fits everything you need, allows you to go hands-free, and actually disconnect for however long your walk is."

Lindsay Goodstein, Founder and CEO, Alice

Power Pick: Superhuman Email App

"I wouldn’t be anywhere near as productive or efficient as I am today without my Superhuman email app. My business partner introduced it to me in the early Alice days, and life has never been the same. Once I made the switch, I never looked back. It’s my ride or die."

Sade Lythcott, CEO, National Black Theatre

Power Pick: Olympia Gayot’s Picks at J.Crew

"From the boardroom to weekend brunches, my cheatsheet for feeling confident and chic is to shop Olympia Gayot’s picks at J.Crew regularly. From power suits made of beautiful Italian wool to playful cashmere in every style and color, I look and feel like a million bucks without breaking the bank! Oh, and P.S., they also monogram almost anything for $10. What’s more mogul than that?"

Kat Cole, CEO, AG1

Power Pick: Clearlight Infrared Sauna 3

"Alongside drinking AG1 each morning, I sauna at home almost every day as part of my daily health routine. While I sauna at various gyms and spas when I travel, having one at home helps to keep the routine consistent. This has become a daily family habit in our home."

Laura Modi, Founder, Bobbie

Power Pick: The Skylight Calendar

"We are a household of two founder-CEOs and four young kids. It’s total chaos, but good calendar management keeps our chaos controlled. The Skylight calendar sits on our kitchen counter, and we manage it remotely. It’s traffic control for our life."

Clare de Boer, James Beard-nominated Chef, Writer, and Restaurateur

Power Pick: 'An Everlasting Meal' by Tamar Adler

"Tamar Adler's An Everlasting Meal is an everlasting favorite book of mine. Tamar captures what cooking—and eating—is all about, with grace, humility, and recipes that are as wide open as they are precise. Get a copy and read it every time you're uninspired."

Banu Guler, Founder, Co-Star

Power Pick: American Spirits Yellow Box Cigarettes

"A box of cigarettes (American Spirits yellows) is an expensive reminder that free will exists. Not an everyday habit, just when it counts."

Karla Welch,CEO and Founder, The Period Company

Power Pick: 'Emergent Strategy' by Adrienne Maree

"This book is my closest version to my bible. It’s a guide to remind me of our greater connection to each other and to all the systems of the natural world. I consider this essential reading for everyone."

Keia Clarke, CEO, New York Liberty

Power Pick: reMarkable Digital Notebook

"As CEO of the New York Liberty, every given day is different. My reMarkable digital notebook helps me optimize my workflow and stay organized."

Missy Tannen, Founder, Boll and Branch

Power Pick: Monica Rich Kosann 18k Yellow Gold Round Locket Necklace

"I have a gold locket that I wear, which was a gift from my daughter Brooke a few holidays ago. Inside are two pictures, one of Brooke and me, and another with all three of my daughters. This locket is a constant reminder of the love we share and the importance of being a strong role model for my girls."

Nell Diamond, Founder, Hill House Home

Power Pick: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner

“I’m obsessed with a great cat eye. I rotate between a few different pens and pencils; my favorite is Stila’s Stay All Day liquid liner in black. I’ve been using this product for years, and it never fails me—it even stayed put while giving birth to twins in 2020. A cat eye has been my signature look that has evolved with me throughout my career. It makes me feel confident as a leader—from board meetings to pre-school drop-off and beyond, it helps me feel my best!”

Aishwarya Iyer, CEO, Brightland

Power Pick: Digital Membership with Open

"I use Open nearly every day to re-ground, re-center, and give myself five to ten minutes to reset. The meditations, breathwork, and movement exercises give me so much fuel for the day."

Tina Craig, Founder and Entrepreneur, U Beauty Founder and Entrepreneur

Power Pick: U Beauty Resurfacing Flash Peel

"U Beauty’s Resurfacing Flash Peel is my ultimate timesaving, skin-saving hero. It gives me smooth, bright, glowing skin in just five minutes."

Anna Glass, Chief Executive Officer, Dance Theatre of Harlem

Power Pick: Betrayal of a Belief Baldwin Journal

"The Betrayal of a Belief Baldwin Journal is my respite—a space to connect with my voice while reflecting on James Baldwin's legacy and Harlem’s inspiring community."

Gucci Westman, Makeup Artist; Founder, Westman Atelier

Power Pick: Gucci Westman Skin Activator Serum

"It's a very difficult task to choose only one product because I genuinely feel the same about all our products. I have an unrelenting trust and appreciation for knowing that our products are transformative for my skin and perform consistently. There is no comparison in my mind, but if I had to pick just one, I would choose our beloved Skin Activator."

Gina Duncan, President, BAM President

Power Pick: Seven Sacred Oils by Sparkle Tafao

"These luxurious smelling oils set the tone for the day, boost my mental well-being, and channel positive energy; helping me focus on my personal and professional goals."

Tory Burch, Founder, Tory Burch

Power Pick: Pierced Pump

"“Our Pierced Pump. They give everything a sharper edge."

Joey Wölffer, Chief Brand Officer and Co-Owner, Wölffer Estate Vineyard

Power Pick: Theragun Prime Plus

"With all the tension in work and life, nothing is more therapeutic and healing than heat and massages. I tend to hold all my angst in my neck, and this is my dream gift.”

Ashley Longshore, Artist, Entrepreneur, Author

Power Pick: Broadway Theatre Tickets

"Theatre tickets! Broadway baby! The stage affirms human existence; stories about love and resilience. Whether laughing hysterically or having tears streaming down my cheeks, my response to the theatrical experience always leaves me refreshed and optimistic. I moved my company to New York City to have limitless access to the stage."

Yola Jimenez, Founder, Yola Mezcal

Power Pick: The Dorothy Parker Audio Collection and The Fran Lebowitz Reader on Audible

"I’ve been trying to bring humor into my life with wonderful results for the past year. It provides a break to my worries, improves my mood, gives me perspective, and has made me more productive. My business partner and I used to laugh constantly when we started the company a decade ago, but we stopped once the work intensified. So we decided to say something funny to each other once a day, and we are closer than ever. Listening to Dorothy Parker and Fran Lebowitz for just five minutes a day is a key part of this."

Vivian Tu, Founder and CEO, Your Rich BFF

Power Pick: L'Agence Kenzie Blazer

"I’ve been focusing on investing in really high-quality pieces that are versatile enough for both work and play. The L'Agence Kenzie Blazer has saved me on countless occasions, tying together professional outfits while still feeling stylish for drinks with girlfriends."

Shruti Ganguly, Filmmaker and Producer

Power Pick: Tiger Balm Extra Strength

"This may sound basic, but I swear by Tiger Balm. The smell is nostalgic for me—I’ve known and used it my whole life. I apply it to my temples or neck, especially when I’m in the midst of production or on flights. These little self-care routines or checking in with how my head or body feels are crucial for me to power through."

Suneera Madhani, Founder and CEO, Worth; Host, CEO School

Power Pick: Invisawear Smart Jewelry

"I love Invisawear to keep myself, my mom, my children, and my family safe!"

Aerin Lauder, Founder and Creative Director, AERIN; Style and Design Director, Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv

Power Pick: Smythson Portobello Notebook in Panama

"I was taught at a young age to always write things down. To this day, I still go to meetings with an old-fashioned pen and paper to take notes, which helps me stay organized and prioritize my tasks for the day. I always carry my Smythson notebook, no matter where I go."

Jennifer Fisher, Founder and Chief Brand Officer, Jennifer Fisher

Power Pick: 'Ketotarian' by Dr. Will Cole

"I discovered Will Cole's Ketotarian in 2020, during lockdown, and it was a complete game-changer for me. The book transformed the way I think about food, helping me embrace a more anti-inflammatory lifestyle. Being home gave me the time and space to experiment even more in the kitchen, and I began sharing my journey and new recipes on @jenniferfisherkitchen. The tools I learned from Will Cole’s book improved my personal well-being and enhanced my productivity and overall quality of life."

Asima Ahmad, Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer, Carrot Fertility

Power Pick: The Sculpt Society

"I started using The Sculpt Society app on a friend’s recommendation during the pandemic and loved the blend of cardio, Pilates, and barre! It’s helpful to have options for longer sessions (less than 45 minutes) or shorter ones (less than 10 minutes), including special postpartum workouts, which I used after having my fourth child. I continue to use it since it also has workouts I can do from my hotel room while traveling.”

Rina Yang, Cinematographer

Power Pick: Porter Yoshida Tanker 3-Way Document Bag

"This has been the best work bag I have ever owned. I love its separate compartments, pockets, and different handle and strap options."

Barbara Sturm, Founder, Dr. Barbara Sturm Molecular Cosmetics

Power Pick: Dr. Barbara Sturm Super Anti-Aging Dual Serum

"My Super Anti-Aging Dual Serum is a real power product, delivering intensive hydration, visible anti-aging results, and skin longevity in one single step. I love it because it's the perfect serum for when time is of the essence—but achieving a renewed and restored complexion is non-negotiable and the best way to elevate your skincare routine. I can't be without it."

Eliza Bank, Founder, The Sill

Power Pick: Trailing Plant Collection

"My trailing plant collection helps me achieve my goals by reminding me that, like each plant, we’re all growing at our own pace. In my office, they clean the air, elevate my focus, and inspire me to stay resilient every day."

Alison Roman, Author and Chef

Power Pick: Bottega Veneta Hop Bag

"I’ve had my eye on the Bottega Hop bag for a while, and this is the year I buy it—a little gift to myself for hitting some very nice career (and personal) goals and milestones. I’m justifying the purchase since I haven’t bought much in the way of clothing, accessories, or anything 'superfluous' in a while, and, well, I want it and maybe even deserve it. I’m extremely fixated on the 'usability' of items, especially expensive things, which means I may go classic black versus the Rosewood Red, the color I really want."

Melody Lee, CMO, Mercedes-Benz USA

Power Pick: Nike Air Force 1s

"At five-foot, I used to feel a certain insecurity in a professional world where height is prized, so I was always in heels. As women have advanced, style norms have shifted, and my own experience has grown my confidence. My Nike Air Force 1s represent my own power and progress, whether they’re paired with a suit, dress, or jeans—or running for a flight."

Pritika Swarup, Model; Founder and CEO, Prakti Beauty

Power Pick: Papier Wonder Wellness Journal

"The Papier Wellness Journal is my daily anchor. It helps me reflect, set meaningful intentions, track my goals, and prioritize my mental and physical well-being, keeping me balanced and focused even during the most hectic days."

Wendy Ong, Global Co-President and CMO, Tap Music

Power Pick: HigherDOSE Infrared PEMF Mat

"I truly thought this was hocus-pocus, but now I find myself using it when I meditate in the mornings and wind down in the evening. It’s helped me fall asleep faster, grounded me when I felt overwhelmed, and helped me focus when distracted. My cat Levon loves it too and always sleeps on it, so he can attest to how great it is."

Molly Baz, Founder of Ayoh; Recipe Developer; Cookbook Author

Power Pick: Mannkitchen Pepper Cannon

“This pepper grinder makes me feel like the Hulk, which you could argue isn’t the most desirable feeling, but it's everything when you love black pepper as much as I do. Take out your rage and season the hell out of that steak every single time.”

Melanie Masarin, Founder and CEO, Ghia

Pick: Ghia

"Not drinking is my superpower; it allows me to live a much fuller life. I can work long days, still go to the party, and be fresh in the morning. I love a crisp drink to transition from work into play, and I made Ghia for me—it's just a bit fruity with a sharp dry ending that has nothing to envy to a glass of wine."

Amber Lewis, Interior Designer

Power Pick: A farm

"This may be a strange pick, but an item that fuels me, and will fuel me for the next couple of years, is—a farm! It's a new project I recently purchased and I'm beyond excited about it. It motivates and inspires me both personally and professionally. Not only do I love a project and the endless design possibilities, but I'm also thinking about making memories here with my daughter and hosting all the family gatherings in years to come."

Marta Mae, Founder of Air Milkshake; Co-Founder, Angel Therapy and Dieux

Power Pick: Agent Nateur Calm Spermidine & Taurine Daily Supplement

"I have been prioritizing sleep for the first time in my life, and for months I have looked forward to taking this before bed. It really chills me out, and it's an accessible moment of self-care."

Danessa Myrick, Makeup Artist; Founder, Danessa Myricks Beauty

Power Pick: Sensate

"The Sensate has been a game-changer in helping me relax and reduce stress as I navigate life as a busy entrepreneur. The infrasonic sounds it provides does an amazing job of keeping me calm and helps give me the clarity I need to make intentional choices that fuel my creativity and energy. It’s a critical part of my success, and I can't live without it."

Sarah O'Leary, CEO, Willow Innovations, Inc.

Power Pick: Epiphone Limited Edition Hummingbird Performer PRO Acoustic-Electric Guitar

"I was hungry for a creative outlet that wasn’t tied to my career or children, so I started taking guitar lessons. It's been a very humbling and inspiring experience, but Epiphone's Hummingbird guitar will make you feel like you're a pro. It's a 'just right' splurge for a beginner guitar player; it's beautiful in appearance, sound, and tone. The guitar reminds me how soul-fulfilling it can be to learn something completely new.”

Lauren Ratner, President and Chief Brand Officer, Rhode

Power Pick: Miu Miu Fabric-Covered Agenda

"With a fast-growing company like Rhode, where everything moves a mile a minute, I have to stay organized to keep track of things. I don’t know what I'd do without my notebook to write everything down in real time and help me remember it all. Any notebook works, but I love this one I got as a gift."

Tracy Anderson, Founder, Tracy Anderson Method

Power Pick: HeartStone

"My Heartstones are my ultimate power pick—they combine weighted energy training, meditation, grounding, and sound healing to give my spine and nervous system a spa-like reset. The unity they create between my brain and body transforms how I feel and amplifies my creativity and performance in every area of my life."

Gabby Bernstein, Spiritual Teacher and Author

Power Pick: Weighted Vest

"I turned forty-five this year and am dedicated to maintaining optimal health. Whether I'm working out, walking through the city, or cooking at home, you'll find me in my weighted vest. This piece symbolizes my daily commitment to fortify my bones, enhance my strength, and ensure my longevity.”

Beth Ferreira, General Partner, Serena Ventures

Power Pick: Manta Silk Sleep Mask

"A great night's sleep is super important for just about everything, from healthy brain function to physical health. This mask transformed my sleep. I fall asleep faster, and my overall sleep quality has improved."

Shiza Shahid, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Our Place

Power Pick: 'Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved' by Kate Bowler

"My friend Kate Bowler's beautiful book inspires me to find meaning and beauty in the good and bad days. I'm building my business, Our Place, from a place of love and an urgent desire to impact the world positively—reading heroic philosophers like Kate grounds me in the purpose of it all.”

Kelly Sawyer Patricof, Co-CEO, Baby2Baby

Power Pick: Moon Juice Magnesi-Om Powder

"Sleep is my super fuel, so I take my Moon Juice Magnesi-Om powder every night to make sure I get all eight hours. I'm also an avid sleep tracker because getting a good night's sleep helps me feel ready to take on anything at Baby2Baby to ensure children across the country have access to the basic essentials they deserve."

Norah Weinstein, Co-CEO, Baby2Baby

Power Pick: Waze App

"I have the worst sense of direction on the planet. It’s like a missing chip in my brain that I inherited from my dad. As a kid at a restaurant, I couldn’t get from the bathroom to the table and had to leave a trail. Waze changed my life! I would not be able to run a company, much less get to a meeting across the city and balance kids and a career without it—I would literally be lost."

Bobbi Brown, Makeup Artist, Founder, and Chief Creative Officer, Jones Road Beauty

Power Pick: iPad

"I use my iPad instead of a computer. I use it for everything—I do Zooms with it, respond to emails, scroll Instagram, and shop for everything I need. It's been a game-changer not to have to carry a laptop."

Vanessa Torrivilla Ariel, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Gold Belly

Power Pick: The Eight Sleep Smart Mattress

"The Eight Sleep smart mattress is absolutely, 100-percent life-changing and something I'll never be able to live without. As a mom and a founder, I'm obsessed with my sleep routine to optimize my all day performance. It tracks not just the length of sleep but the quality of my sleep and automatically adjusts itself to my body based on factors like temperature and heart rate to ensure I get the best night's sleep possible every night."

Chriselle Lim, Founder, Bumo

Power Pick: Peloton Treadmill

"I use my Peloton Treadmill almost every day right after I drop off the kids at school. Cardio has been a big part of getting me in the best mental state possible. I feel super focused, in control, and strong after doing a 20-minute session."

While this has improved in recent years (though statistics regarding on-screen representation remain dismal), now more than ever, women in Hollywood are taking matters into their own hands and shaping the conversation around aging with their own art. And it’s paying off. Several films that see women wrestle with their age have garnered acclaim this awards season: the Demi Moore-led feminist horror film The Substance, the Gia Coppola-directed indie The Last Showgirl, which marks Pamela Anderson’s first movie in 34 years, the Amy Adams-led adaptation of Rachel Yodder’s novel Nightbitch (and, in some ways, the Nicole Kidman-starring erotic drama Babygirl). Though each film tackles the subject matter uniquely—whether following a celebrity fitness instructor deemed “past her prime,” a Las Vegas dancer facing an unknown path, or a stay-at-home mom who’s convinced she’s turning into a dog—what unites them is how their complex characters face both the internal and external. Their poignancy and power lie not just in these characters’ reckonings with their self-worth, but in realizing just how frustrated they’ve become with the glass ceilings that exist to make them feel the way they do.

These feminist movies have become frontrunners for Oscar nominations and will continue to resonate in cinema going forward. With the arrival of The Last Showgirl in theaters nationwide on January 10, Marie Claire asked The Substance writer/director Coralie Fargeat, Nightbitch co-writer/director Marielle Heller, and The Last Showgirl writer Kate Gersten about their projects and Hollywood finally embracing of stories that examine the complexities of aging.

Here, they share what they found most liberating in the writing process, the hurdles they’ve had to overcome, and where they hope the industry goes next.

Marie Claire: There’s a trend in movies that sees aging women as they come to terms with how society casts them aside. Why do you think we’re having these conversations now?

The Last Showgirl writer Kate Gersten: It's taken bravery—from writers, directors and actors but also from producers and distributors. We've actually been writing these stories for years, but they're finally coming to light because the ones putting forth the money for these projects are finally seeing how worthy, relevant, and necessary to female audiences they truly are.

The Substance writer/director Coralie Fargeat: Because women directors finally have more room to express themselves! These voices have always existed, but society didn't really allow them to be heard. That's why it's so important to have diverse voices and points of view in the cultural space.

Nightbitch writer/director Marielle Heller: It’s a good question. I don’t know why this is happening now, but I know, for me, it’s happening from a personal place of watching myself and my friends’ age and grappling with what that means as a woman.

MC: Did you have any surprising, refreshing, or even frustrating conversations while developing your project about wanting to depict aging through a female POV?

CF: There were many frustrating moments. I was hearing that movies with ‘a female lead don't sell as much as with a male lead’...which is unfortunately probably true because society has been shaped that way for so long. That's why we need all the more to support the new female voices that emerge. That means financing their films and trusting their visions even if they can be surprising and unconventional.

MH: I’ve had more frustration with some responses to the finished film. Amy [Adams] was asked by a male audience member if we’d ever considered telling the story from the husband‘s point of view, a man who goes out and feels the responsibility of making a living for his family. I wish I had been there. I would have said, ‘We’ve seen that story for decades. It’s called Death of a Salesman, American Beauty, or countless others.’ I guess I’m sort of shocked by how people are up in arms that the story is really from a woman’s perspective.

MC: What did you find to be most liberating about telling this story in such a nuanced way?

KG: I love writing female characters who don't have to be perfect. The cliches that society and Hollywood suffocate women with don't cross my mind while I'm in my writing process, because I'm basically just having conversations with the women/characters in my head. Especially with something like this, where I wasn't discussing it with anyone—no producers, no director, or actors—while I was writing it. It was just me and my imagination and my women.

CF: Being able to tell it in such a not nuanced way! Oh gosh, that was so liberating! As women, we are always asked to be delicate, polite, smiling, and it was so cool to do the exact opposite with The Substance. That is exactly what the film is about: to break free from the typical representations and constraints that have corseted women for so long.

MH: I truly was not worrying what men would think of this movie—for the first time in my life. I felt like Get Out gave me that permission. From my perspective, that movie wasn’t worrying what white people would feel about it, and I found that inspiring.

MC: Was there anything too unconventional in the script that you chose not to include or that you had to fight to include?

CF: I had to fight for literally everything. The whole movie is so unconventional and doesn’t convey the image people are used to seeing with female portrayal. This is what I wanted to fight against. I didn’t want to have my voice shaped by someone else. I wanted to be able to tell my way of experiencing the world, with its excess, its grossness, its specificity.

MH: I fought to show a woman and her aging body in a natural light. Amy was thankfully really game for this challenge and my collaborators all really understood the assignment, but I think it’s undoing some habits in Hollywood to not light, dress, stage a woman as a sex object.

MC: These films come from female filmmakers and screenwriters. What added perspectives do you think that brought to these stories?

KG: Oh, the whole damn thing. Women need to tell complex women's stories, it's that simple. Women's stories by men largely focus on sex or competition. That's the male lens. Depictions of groups of women by men are often all about conflict without care. Female characters can and should disagree and spar, but I think male filmmakers forget that we can do that with love, and that at the end of the day, most of us have each others' backs.

MH: I don’t really know how else to tell a story. My lived life informs every choice I make—which is why the more diverse voices making movies, the more diverse storytelling we get. It benefits everyone.

MC: Though these films vary in genre and tone (horror to comedy to drama) there’s a somber element at their crux. Why might that be the throughline?

KG: Because being a woman is complicated as hell. But actually, I reject the word ‘somber.’ It's just that what all of us have done here is we've been truthful. Being a woman can be wonderful and it can be miserable. We have to hold contradictions all the time, especially as we age. Being a mother is so hard, yet so fulfilling. Feeling beautiful but ignored is a real mindfuck. A truthful movie about themes like these isn't a ‘somber’ thing, it's reflecting how women feel and, to me, that is beautiful and uplifting.

CF: Well, just listen to the news. What’s happening to women everywhere is still such a fucking disaster. In the real world, we often don't have a choice but to silence ourselves to be able to make our way, so when we can really speak loud through our films, I guess it's the dark part that we can finally express.

MH: Because life is hard, man. Life is suffering. And it’s beautiful and magical. And also hard. Maybe it’s the national mood.

MC: What depictions of women aging on screen have stuck with you in the past, either positively or perhaps have shown how far we’ve come?

KG: One of my very favorite characters ever is Celeste Talbert in Soapdish, played by Sally Field. She's a soap opera star who feels obsolete at 45. She's paranoid and vengeful and completely insane, but I loved every second of it. It's a satire.

CF: One depiction that has stuck strongly with me is the old woman in the bathroom of The Shining. It’s how you represent a normal process like aging into a nightmare. This is the depiction that has unfortunately existed since the beginning of humanity and cultural representations, like the old witch, the old evil stepmother in the fairy tales, etc.

MH: I can’t think of many good ones, but I remember when I was making Can You Ever Forgive Me? [the 2018 drama about Lee Isreal] and I had this realization that Lee could only truly get away with her crimes because nobody really noticed her. As a woman of a certain age, she was fairly invisible. That was a lightbulb realization for me.

MC: What progress would you like to see from Hollywood with these kinds of stories being told? And more opportunities for older women on screen?

KG: Just let us tell more of our own stories. Female filmmakers and writers shouldn't be hard to find. P.S. Give us more money to make our films.

CF: Don’t dump these movies, support them! I want to see a real commitment to support new female voices.

MH: I just want people to watch these awesome movies. I want them to be taken as seriously as the wonderful movies about men and not be considered fringe. I want the money to reflect the reality of the world.

Whitfield shares what she's learned since opening up to having her life documented on screen in this week's episode of the Marie Claire podcast "Nice Talk." While the marketing and communications consultant has thoroughly enjoyed starring on RHONY, now in its second season, she also revealed what moments of being on a reality show can make her feel "powerless."

The TV personality explained that it can be challenging to watch moments when you may have been in the wrong, or realize later on how someone else perceived you. "You feel powerless when you had a conversation with someone, you know your intentions, you know what said, you know the hundred other conversations that you had with that person prior. And then you see their confessional and it's a 180," she says. "It's like, 'That's not how that went. That wasn't my intention. That wasn't what happened.' But somehow that was your reality. So that's hard. And that feels very powerless."

Whitfield adds, "Especially if it's about a serious topic, that's really close to your own heart, that's hard. That's really, really difficult to watch back."

She explains that she's learned to cope with those kinds of interactions by feeling "seven phases of grief," while wrestling with how to respond or deciding to save any confrontation for the season's reunion. "You go through many different things. You talk to your family and friends around you who know you, who can remind you who you are. And then you just try to keep calm and make a decision about what to do and how to handle it," says Whitfield.

The reality star also shares on "Nice Talk" what advice she's gotten from Housewives alum, including the beloved Luann de Lesseps, a.k.a. Countess Luann, from the original run of RHONY.

"[Luann] told me last week when I saw her, she was like, 'You're very real and that will get you very far,'" Whitfield says on the podcast. "She said, 'Keep being real because people can tell.'"

Whitfield also notes how much being on RHONY for only two seasons has made her admire Luann and other longtime franchise stars. "I've done this now for two seasons and, it's funny, as a viewer, you sit there and watch and you say, 'That's so easy. You get your dinners paid for. How hard is it?' When I now see people like Kyle [Richards] and Luann, I'm like, 'You women are made of steel.' They are badasses. It's not easy to do."

She adds, "Even when it's easy, it's not easy. It's a lot. And the calendar of the filming and the thing and then press and then the show airing and then starting the circle all over again. It's not for the faint of heart. They're just iron women, truly. It's a lot to do this and to navigate it as well as they have."

Whitfield opens up more about her decision to join reality TV, her style evolution, financial security, and more on this week's installment of "Nice Talk." The episode is out now wherever you listen to podcasts.

On this week's episode of the Maire Claire podcast "Nice Talk," Nicholas spoke about how pay transparency is just as important to her business, the popular astrological app CHANI, as horoscopes.

She explained that meeting her wife Sonya Passi—who founded the organization Freefrom, which works to financially empower survivors of domestic violence—helped inform her perception of how important it is to speak openly about money. "Economic abuse becomes one of the main levers for humans to control each other, for men to control women. If I'm just gonna be super flat about it," she says. "Obviously, there's a lot of nuance, but that's how it works, and that's how it's always works because that's how patriarchy works. But we don't talk about it."

At CHANI, Nicholas says, they're as upfront as they can be about money. "We [at CHANI] post our salarie," the co-founder shares on the podcast. "But we should all be exceptionally transparent with what we pay, what we earn."

"You need to know what somebody else is making—otherwise it will be used against you because the dynamic is the same," she continues. "If it's in a marriage, if it's in a parent-child, if it's in a boss-employee, if it's in a president-citizens, it's all the same abusive dynamic because we're still so steeped in white-supremacist-het-cis patriarchy, and so extraction is the name of the game wherever we go, and the only way to start to chip away at that is to be explicit about what it is."

Nicholas reasoned that speaking more openly about money should be the norm and can only help get you where you want to be. "Taboos are just there as an invisible jail, and all you have to do is bust through it," the astrologer/activist says. "Just ask people, 'How did you make your first whatever?' Like, whatever it is you want to do, go ask people about money. Some people won't answer you. It's fine. Move on. Someone will have a conversation with you about money, and it is going to help clarify so much for you."

On "Nice Talk," Nicholas also shares her insight into the upcoming Mars and Venus retrogrades, which begin on December 6 and March 1, respectively.

She points out that Mars can represent masculine energy, equating the upcoming transit as potentially affecting how men voted for Donald Trump after feeling "left behind" in society. However, Venus, with its feminine and queer energy, could have its own impact.

"Mars will station direct a week before Venus stations retrograde. But there's a connection there between what's happening along the gender scale," the CHANI co-founder says.

Mentioning how Venus retrograde happens in the same place in the sky every eight years, Nicholas explains, "Venus is the planet of women and queer folks and style and beauty and all things that we love. But what happened eight years ago at the end of January? Okay, so we are going through the same Venus retrograde and the same inauguration."

"And just to put a little spin on it: What happened in 2017 was the Women's March, Time's Up, #MeToo, 'Nevertheless, she persisted,'" she continues. "So we had a coalescing of activism. It was imperfect, it was messy, it wasn't all effective...but that is what happened. And we are having the same exact one now."

Nicholas opens up more about when she realized to monetize her work as an astrologer, running a self-funded business, and more in this week's installment of "Nice Talk." The episode is out now wherever you listen to podcasts.

Saujani, who just launched the "My So-Called Midlife" podcast with Lemonada Media, opens up on the Marie Claire podcast "Nice Talk" about what she's learned from failing—and how women can apply that to their own lives.

She points to her background in tech and how she lost the 2010 New York Democratic House primary as having influenced her view of failure. "In that race, I learned how to be a great communicator, a great fundraiser. I learned how to build strong teams. But had I not lost that race, I wouldn't have been able to actually do that because then I had to go dissect it after I lost," Saujani shares on the pod.

The founder describes the skill of reflecting on what worked and what didn't as her "hack on failure."

"Women are so afraid of failure because they think it will break them—that they will think about it, think about it, think about it, think about it, think about it, and they'll never be able to do anything over again," she says. "For me, I'm like, I give myself 30 days to think about it, to analyze it, and then I move the fuck on. I do not sit in it."

"That's my hack," she continues. "And so I think that I have learned that failure is a privilege."

She adds that every person who has successfully launched a brand has made mistakes, and emphasizes how important it is to talk about that so others don't shy away from their own ambitions. "I want to go through the journey and the steps and the stumbles and the challenges and the mistakes and the failures because that's living," Saujani adds.

The best-selling author also opens up on "Nice Talk" about imposter syndrome, which she describes as "a normal response to inhabiting a space that was intentionally built to exclude you."

"Imposter syndrome, though we expect women to feel it, you get dinged when you have it," she says. "The best thing that we can do in many ways to combat imposter syndrome is to reject the premise entirely."

By doing so, Saujani explains, women may not feel held back in their careers, so they can aim even higher—even if they fail along the way.

Saujani opens up more about career transitions, embracing middle age, advocating for yourself in the workplace, and more on this week's installment of "Nice Talk." The episode is out now wherever you listen to podcasts.

After the harrowing experience of losing her baby, a girl she named Willow, and nearly losing her own life, Zurawski also learned that she may never be able to get pregnant again. If she had been able to receive an abortion earlier, her fertility might not have been compromised.

In March 2023, Zurawski joined forces with the Center for Reproductive Rights and four other plaintiffs to sue the state of Texas and urge the state to clarify the conditions in which an abortion can be provided legally. Zurawski v. Texas was the first case brought on behalf of women denied abortions since the fall of Roe.

Since they filed the case, the plaintiffs now total 22, 20 of whom were denied abortion care. Among them are Samantha Casiano, who was forced to carry a fetus who had no chance of survival, and Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB/GYN who learned her fetus had no chance of survival and left the state to terminate the pregnancy when her doctors said they could not perform an abortion due to the state’s laws.

Zurawski has told her story dozens of times since they first filed the lawsuit—on the stage at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, to newspapers and magazines, and in advertisements for pro-choice candidates. Now, she, Casiano, and Dennard are at the center of the urgent documentary Zurawski v. Texas, which chronicles the case led by the indefatigable lawyer Molly Duane.

Directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and executive produced by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, as well as Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, with support from Bumble Inc., Zurawski v. Texas tells the story of what really happens when draconian post-Dobbs anti-abortion laws are enacted.

Ahead, Zurawski, now 37, and Chelsea Clinton share what they hope the film—which is available to stream for free through the election— teaches people about abortion care, the type of resilience and camaraderie that can be found in the darkest of times, and what’s at stake when abortion is on the ballot.

Marie Claire: Amanda, how did this documentary come about? What was your first reaction to Maisie and Abbie saying, "We want to film this time in your life?"

Amanda Zurawski: The filmmakers actually worked with The Center for Reproductive Rights in 2016 on a movie called Jackson. I had already been working with the Center for several months preparing for filing the lawsuit, and then days before we filed, my team said, "Hey, there are these filmmakers that are interested in making a documentary.” They explained to me how much trust they had in them and the partnership that they had built before. I had built such a partnership and a relationship with the Center at that point that when they said, "We trust that this will be a compassionate, and compelling, and educational project," it did not take much convincing for me.

I then had a Zoom call with Maisie and Abbie just to get to know them and understand what they wanted to do. Right away, we were like, "Yes, this is a partnership that we trust, and they're clearly coming at it from the right perspective." It was a big of a leap of faith, but I think it was the right decision.

MC: Chelsea, what about this specific case made you and your mother want to get involved as producers?

Chelsea Clinton: When the draft of the Dobbs decision leaked—which was not surprising and yet still wrenching—in early May, my mom and I immediately started a conversation. Well, we didn't really start. We continued a conversation that we've been having for years: What can we do, in this moment, to use our platform to support every part of the ecosystem that we need now?

We wanted to support patients, providers, the patients and the providers who will become the plaintiffs, and the lawyers. And also we wanted to engage narratively to help more people understand that the picture of abortion in this country, that is often not only articulated but shouted by those who oppose abortion rights, actually has no remote semblance of what abortion looks like in this country.

We spoke to our partners at Hidden Light, our production team, to say, "We want to talk to anyone and everyone who is working on stories that will inform Americans about the catastrophic consequences that we know these bans will bring to real women's lives, to families' lives, to communities' lives."

Amanda's the first lead plaintiff in more than 50 years [to sue for abortion access]. We thought that her story and the story of her fellow plaintiffs was just so powerful, urgent, and necessary, and we have been honored to be part of this project.

MC: There were so many moments of camaraderie among the plaintiffs in this film. Amanda, there's a moment where you meet Samantha in her car, and you're just so warm. You can tell that that meant so much to her. There's another moment where Molly is telling you about Kate Cox [a woman who filed a temporary restraining order to receive an emergency abortion in the state of Texas and was denied]. The first thing you said was, "Give her my number." I'm curious what the experience was like of meeting all of these other women who had been through something similar to what you had been through. What kind of community have you built?

AZ: We are unfortunately part of this unique club that none of us want to be a part of. But once you're part of it, you realize that the folks in it are very special. That's anyone who's been through loss and denial of care, and then you add the additional layer of filing this lawsuit together.

At first, I will be honest, I think we all kind of kept our distance, because we were quite nervous. Being plaintiffs, we knew text messages can be subpoenaed, emails can be subpoenaed. We were just a little nervous on how and when and whether we could communicate. We also were, and still are, on very different paths in our family-building journeys. Some were and still have experienced additional loss, some have had babies, some have, in Samantha's case, gotten their reproductive organs removed. We are just in all of these different places, and so we didn't know in the beginning how to really build a bridge.

Fast-forward a year and a half, and I've got text threads, email threads, we're all getting together next Friday. We have Halloween parties, we have Christmas parties, so we have really built this very special and unique bond. Having that support system really is huge in the healing piece of all of this, because knowing that you're not alone, and knowing that there are others who see you, they understand you, they're there for you, it really goes a long way.

MC: You do so many interviews, you've been to the State of the Union, you were on the DNC stage, your name and your story are out there. So many of your plaintiffs have similar situations where they're telling their stories publicly. How are you dealing with having to continually put yourself out there?

AZ: I don't think there were any of us that had any sort of aspirations to live this loud, political life. Now, many of us are leaning in because we feel like we don't have a choice but to fight back. If this is the way that we can fight back, we're going to take the opportunity.

For me, it's been quite healing and quite empowering to be able to use this horrible thing that happened to me—this sadness and this grief—and turn it into action.

If nothing else, we have already seen the tides turn. We have seen positivity, just in the fact that people across the country are talking about this and they're talking about it differently. People are using the word abortion. We're talking about IVF. That to me is very encouraging.

Also, on a very personal level, the more you talk about the thing that happened to you, the less control it has over you. Now, would I have chosen to process this grief on a national stage? Probably not, but that's the hand that life dealt me. I feel very empowered to tell my story, which is really the story of so many folks in this country, and hopefully give the confidence to others to speak up and share their stories as well.

MC: Chelsea, what do you think a documentary like this has the power to do?

CC: One of the things that has been incredibly powerful for me to hear from Amanda, Samantha, and Austin—the three women who, as I always say, are American heroes who we never should have been asked to be heroes—is that every time they speak out, whether at a panel after the film, or in interviews, or certainly when Amanda spoke at the DNC, they always hear from at least one other patient who has said, "Thank you for giving me the courage to now talk to my family, to talk to my community."

On a public level, we certainly hope to change hearts and minds through just informing people around what abortion is, and that it is healthcare. And that it's not ethically or morally an entanglement for anyone to think that what happened to Amanda is just unconscionable and unacceptable and should be illegal. If anything, we need to invert the argument. We've seen in places where people have been able to vote directly on abortion since the fall of Roe and the Dobbs decision—in historically blue, red, and purple states—people have voted fairly overwhelmingly in favor of enabling women to access the healthcare that we need; enabling us to have the freedom of choice over our bodies, and our reproductive lives, and how we choose to expand our families.

Sometimes people in conversations like this think, "Well, we just have to change people's hearts, because everyone knows what abortion is in our country. Everyone knows that the vast majority of abortions happen in the first 10 weeks, and the overwhelming majority of those that happen between 10 and 20 weeks are medically necessary.”

But what we found through this film is that everyone doesn't know that. A lot of people who've had miscarriages and received care for their miscarriage management didn't realize that what they then had was an abortion.

We are educating people that abortion is healthcare and the medical reasons why some women would choose to terminate a pregnancy.

MC: There are some strong male allies in the story, like Amanda, your husband Josh. Abortion affects their lives too. What is your message to men and non-birthing people about why abortion access affects them?

AZ: The male voice is crucial in this work. For a while, we didn't see a lot of men standing up, because they felt that this was not their business. This was a woman's decision, a woman's issue, and it really seems like they needed some sort of permission structure to start speaking out regardless of how they felt.

Men are seeing other men speak up. When you talk to them, they're seeing how this impacts men. It impacts their wives, their sisters, their moms, their aunts, and they care very deeply about that. Then they take a step back and they realize, Okay, when it impacts my family, that impacts me. Now, suddenly, this isn't a women's issue, this is a family issue. This is a basic human rights issue.

I say this all the time: I have yet to have someone say to me, "Oh, yeah, what's going on in Texas, what happened to you is perfectly reasonable. This should be happening." It's just connecting the dots for them. And then with men, specifically, giving them that permission structure to speak out and to be not just an ally but an advocate. I think especially as we get closer and closer to the election, and we see more men standing up, it's this domino effect.

Some of the toughest work, but also the most important work, is happening where we don't see it. It's happening in people's living rooms during Sunday night football. It's happening at the gym, it's happening on the basketball court. Men are having these conversations. They might be doing it in their own community where we don't hear about it on a national stage, but I think that's the most important conversation you can be having. Because when you hear it from someone you know directly, that's really going to start moving the needle.

MC: We even see it within your own family. Your mom says, "This is now a single issue election for me." What is your message to people who aren't already paying attention to the fight for abortion access?

AZ: These are basic human rights that are being taken away from us. In my lifetime, I have never seen a right that I have be taken away. Certainly, I've seen the fight to gain rights, but I haven't seen something that was already guaranteed to me stripped away. If you think they're going to stop with reproductive care, you need to wake up.

As long as we are allowing people to be in a position of political power who are willing to take our fundamental freedoms away from us, we are not free as a country. We are not a democracy. If you care about your freedoms, and if you care about this country, you need to take action and you need to vote accordingly.

CC: Think about Amanda's call to all of us when you're voting, not just for the presidential election, but in every election, and in this election at every stage of the ballot. Abortion's on the ballot in 10 states. Three of the judges that you see in the documentary, who show no compassion or empathy for Amanda, nor, I would argue, a fundamental understanding of the US Constitution, or our other founding documents… they're up for reelection in just a handful of days. [Ed note: Constituents in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Montana, South Dakota, Nevada, Colorado, Maryland, and New York will have the ability to vote on proposals and propositions regarding abortion access this year. The Texas judges who sided with the state in Zurawski v. Texas and are up for reelection are Justice Jimmy Blacklock, Justice Jane Bland, Justice John Devine.]

MC: On Tuesday, if Trump wins the presidency, many fear he will enact a federal abortion ban [though he has said he would veto a ban and supports states’ right to set laws on abortion access]. How can people who care about these issues keep fighting and working against an oppositional federal government?

AZ: I think that's a really important question, because I think a lot of people don't realize that regardless of what happens Tuesday at the top of the ticket, with all of these ballot measures, there will still be a fight. I'm very hopeful that [this] week, we'll have a day of celebration, but then we also must remain vigilant.

The way that they're trying to take away our rights is terrifying, and they're taking all of these back roads to do it. That's how we got here in the first place. We know that the anti-choice movement is calculated, they are smart, and they're organized, and they're relentless, and we need to be all of those things, but more so.

CC: That's Amanda's reality right now in Texas. How could I choose to be anything but urgently engaged and optimistic that we can have a different future for all of us, and especially [for] the more than one-third of American women who are reproductive age, living under very strict abortion bans?

Amanda's getting up every day and doing what she can do. How could any of the rest of us feel anything but an obligation to do the same? There still will be so much work to do for women and families on Wednesday.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

On October 2, the Girls Who Code and Moms First founder announced she's launching an all-new podcast, "My So-Called Midlife," about embracing middle age. The Lemonada Media project, set to premiere on October 16, will feature Saujani in conversation with successful women from different professional fields as they attempt to "answer the question: Is this it?"

The first two episodes will feature Emmy-winning actress/comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus and economist/author Emily Oster. Additional episodes will drop weekly, with the activist/author/founder joined by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, author Cheryl Strayed, among others.

In a press release, Saujani stated, "Over the past decade, I’ve found myself wondering: Is this a midlife crisis, or something more? 'My So-Called Midlife' is the podcast I wish I’d had as I entered this stage of life."

She continued, "Women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s are enigmas in the zeitgeist right now—we’ve accomplished so much, yet we’re still figuring out what the rest of our lives look like. I’m excited to bring this conversation to life with Lemonada Media. I hope this show gives the millions of women who are experiencing midlife alongside me permission to rethink what’s possible and join me in exposing the con we’ve been sold about middle age."

In an audio trailer for the podcast, the host teases what kind of conversations she'll be facilitating. "Isn't this the point in our lives where it should feel good? I mean, we've accomplished big goals, we've done everything we thought we wanted, but you're so bored and unsatisfied. I don't know. It's like every day just feels like Groundhog's Day," she says. "Guess what? You're not alone. Welcome to 'My So-Called Midlife,' a weekly podcast hosted by me, Reshma Saujani. I'm the founder of Girls Who Code and Moms First, I got a guy I love, two incredible kids, a really cute dog, I've written bestselling books, and I wake up each day wondering, 'Are my best years over?' On this show, we're going to figure out how to just get through it and actually start living it."

The trailer also features snippets of forthcoming guests as they discuss how they coped with a divorce, found new creative outlets, and made career pivots in their middle age. Saujani adds, "Join me each week as I talk to people we know and admire—experts, authors, actors, public figures. Together, we're going to validate our fears, explain our exhaustion, and give tips and tricks on the mundane. This is the new group chat."

"My So-Called Midlife" will be available wherever you listen to podcasts.

The acne spot treatment brand Starface may be a favorite skin care product among Gen Z, but when founder Julie Schott set out to launch the company, she didn't know where to start with its finances. She simply trusted her instincts—and advises other aspiring entrepreneurs to do the same.

Schott, who became an entrepreneur after working as a beauty editor for years, opened up on the Marie Claire podcast "Nice Talk" about how she learned to accept that it's "okay" to have blind spots and seek assistance when starting a business.

"I knew that I did not know how to finance a company, and I knew that it wasn't going to be me and how my brain works," Schott recalls.

"So it was about finding that better half—that partner who I could really trust and really believe I don't need to check their homework," continues Schott, who's since expanded into founding Julie, an emergency contraceptive brand, the skincare line Futurewise, and Blip nicotine gum and sticks.

The entrepreneur says she "did find that partner" in her co-founder Brian Bordainick. "We've been working together on everything because I trust him and I don't need to check and he trusts me the same way," she adds.

Ultimately, Schott explains that understanding her strengths and knowing where to take a step back as a CEO can only help a business. "Yes, I'm aware, and, yes, I'm in the rooms, but, no, I'm not making a financial model. And it's okay to say that, right? Like, you don't have to be everything," she says. "I actually think it's important to recognize that because I'm never going to be the best at doing that thing. It wouldn't have been beneficial to the business if I had insisted upon it."

Schott also reflects on "Nice Talk" about how she didn't anticipate how beloved Starface would become by Gen Z. What she did know, she explains, is recognizing the importance of "trusting your gut" when it comes to pursuing something you're passionate about.

"I don't think [the reception] was something that we thought, 'Oh, this is going to happen,' because you can't really. You don't really know. The customer tells you how the thing affects them, or they show you through how they talk about it online, or how they talk about it offline," she shares. "But it's really meaningful."

After years of struggling with and openly talking about adult acne herself, Schott says the best part of working on Starface has been being able to help others and see how useful the product has been for them. "There are so many other challenges that young people are already going to face," Schott says, noting how frustrating it can feel to not want to go to work or school because of a breakout. "So if you can just make some of these [challenges] that are actually easy to solve better, I think that's probably one of the best parts [of running Starface].

Schott opens up more about her experience leaving fashion media to start her own business, stepping into a CEO role, and what it was like venturing into the emergency contraceptive space on this week's "Nice Talk." The episode is available now everywhere you listen to podcasts.

And I have a message for Kamala Harris: Don’t fall for it.

After the far-right started up their chorus of sexist and racist attacks on Harris—calling her, among other insults, a “DEI vice president”—party leaders rushed to shut it down. At a closed-door meeting with lawmakers this week, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson warned his membership to steer clear of comments about the vice president’s identity.

That’s because the GOP knows that, if this becomes a campaign about identity, they’re going to lose.

Like it or not, they’ve made this race a referendum on female power. Not only have Republicans gleefully stripped away women’s reproductive freedoms, but they’ve made toxic masculinity a centerpiece of their political strategy. (Just think about Hulk Hogan ripping off his shirt at the Republican National Convention.) Now they’re desperate to avoid talking about the policy issues, the women’s issues, that Harris is strongest on—with the biggest potential to galvanize Democratic voters.

And that’s why Kamala Harris absolutely should be talking about her gender and her race—loudly and proudly.

Women voters know what’s really at stake here. The Dobbs decision left young people with fewer reproductive freedoms than their mothers and grandmothers had at their age. It set off a ripple effect, too, putting access to birth control and IVF in danger. And it emboldened the far-right to reach for even more ambitious goals, like outlawing no-fault divorce—which could prevent women from fleeing domestic violence.

That’s not to mention how hard life already is for women and moms in America: the only industrialized nation without paid leave, where child care costs more than housing in every state. It wasn’t that long ago that women were struggling to re-enter the workforce after the pandemic. Now they’re struggling to make ends meet for their families, with inflation hitting parents especially hard.

Yet these very real issues are often cast as second-tier, relegated to the end of the to-do list behind jobs and health care and public safety. (Though you may notice that these “women’s issues” are, in fact, about jobs and health care and public safety.) Women are tired of seeing them brushed to the side.

And that’s why we’re seeing such a surge of excitement for the Harris campaign—44,000 people joined a Win With Black Women organizing call for her this past weekend and raised $1 million in three hours. In Harris, they see someone who is not qualified for our nation’s highest office in spite of her identity, but because of her identity.

If you look back at Harris’s long, impressive career, women’s issues have always been at the center. In high school, when Harris learned her best friend was being sexually abused by her stepfather, the Harris family took her in—an experience that later inspired her to become a prosecutor. As a senator, she fearlessly took on Brett Kavanaugh —questioning him about the allegations of sexual assault and his stance on abortion. During her 2020 campaign for president, she proposed one of the strongest paid family leave policies of all the candidates in the primary.

And as Vice President, she has been one of the most important advocates for reducing Black maternal mortality in our nation’s history. She has been an ardent champion of abortion rights and outspoken about the need to cap child care costs for American families.

For Harris, fighting for women’s rights has been her greatest strength—and positioned her to lead the country today. She should run on those women’s issues now, putting her identity as a Black, South Asian woman front and center in her campaign.

I understand why that could feel like a risky move. Women candidates have been taught, explicitly and implicitly, that leaning into their identity can be a liability.

But the alternative is risky, too—because playing it safe could mean losing this election. Donald Trump’s Vice Presidential pick is just another proof point that the next four years will be hellish for women. JD Vance has intimated support for a nationwide abortion ban, and said that the Democrats—citing Harris specifically—are “miserable” and “childless cat ladies.” With the two of them in power, you can all but guarantee that women’s rights—along with LGBTQ rights, the safety of Black Americans, and more—will be in danger.

Yes, we need to be sounding the alarm on abortion, IVF, and child care. But we need to do something bigger than that, too: challenge the entrenched systems of male power at the heart of Donald Trump’s campaign.

It’s a tall order—but Harris can lead us there. This week, we saw just a taste of what it looks like for women to step into their own power. Now let’s fully unleash it.

A'ja Wilson and her fellow WNBA teammates have long spoken out about the gender pay gap in professional basketball, and she thinks it's time for allies to stand up for them.

The Team USA and Las Vegas Aces player shares on the latest episode of the Marie Claire podcast "Nice Talk" how she thinks the issue of pay disparity between men's and women's sports can be best addressed, noting just how important it is for others in positions of power to advocate for the women on the courts.

"I can scream at the top of my lungs, 'I want my money in my bank account,' but who are the people who are on foot that can get the job done?" Wilson says. "That's where I lean to. That's where I tap into the most: making sure that those people who are in those spaces understand, 'No, this is something that you really want to invest in.'"

The star athlete explains on "Nice Talk" how she thinks it's essential that allies who can represent individual players and teams "speak highly" of them, and fight for fair deals and partnership opportunities—all the while emphasizing that money can be made by working with the WNBA, too. She explains, "I think the biggest thing is always showing up and being present and letting people know that, 'This is why you need to invest in us.' Because I feel like people sometimes got to see the product for real to really understand, 'Do I want to invest in this?'"

Wilson adds, "I may not be there to have that seat, but you do, and if you're really about it, this is how you can start addressing it at the table."

Thus far, the Olympian has partnered with multiple brands, including Nike, who named her one of the brand's signature athletes and she launched a collection with. "This is huge that a Black woman can sit here and say, 'That's my shoe. That's my collection that people are wearing,'" Wilson says of the collaboration. "I don't take a moment [like that] for granted."

While the Las Vegas Aces player notes that the fight toward pay equity isn't easy, she emphasizes that it's essential for the future of the WNBA. "Sometimes those conversations aren't the easiest, because people may not want to hear that, or they're like, 'This, isn't it.' But when you get those people that want to know more—that want to actually do the work—that's the people that I love to stay close with, because long term, not just now, you're planting seeds, so now the next generation can then flourish," Wilson says.

"Change doesn't happen overnight," she continues. "We're just now starting to see this huge growth of WNBA, and it's been 28 years. So understanding that when you can plant those seeds with those allies, we're going to start reaping the benefits sooner or later."

"I think the tides are slowly starting to turn because people are starting to invest and people are starting to see, 'Oh, no, these women get it done, both on and off the court,'" adds Wilson.

The basketball star, who will soon play in this summer's Olympic Games, opens up more about adjusting to becoming a celebrity athlete within the past few years, how she shies from setting high goals, and more on this week's episode of "Nice Talk." The podcast is available now wherever you listen to podcasts.

Setting aside the inherent issue of its patronizing, infantilizing name, many are increasingly realizing that, rather than signifying a win for feminism, the idea of the girlboss only perpetuates the racist, classist, and, yes, sexist structures of late-stage capitalism. Now, it's just with a glittery, hot pink overlay to make it seem like something revolutionary and new. (It’s not.) The vast majority of those held up as the ultimate girlbosses throughout the 2000s and 2010s were overwhelmingly young, white, and cisgender, suggesting that there was only one way to be a high-achieving woman. Beyond that, girlboss toxicity is further entrenched in its celebration of an all-out sprint to the top of the corporate ladder—of “leaning in” to office policies that all but destroy the idea of work-life balance—which have proven to have major consequences on both physical and mental health.

Of course, the issue isn’t confined only to women: People of all genders, races, and ages are left overworked, exhausted, and unfulfilled by the demands of a society built around a form of capitalism that venerates the unsustainable ideal of relentless progress at all costs.

So, enter the rise of a new approach to work-life balance weighted distinctly more toward life than work and eschews hustle culture in favor of good mental and physical health habits. A decade after Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In took the world by storm, bestseller lists and round-ups of the best books of the year now contain much more nuanced takes on corporate culture. There's especially a focus on strategies for and stories of women in the workforce. Below, we're highlighting 12 must-read memoirs and nonfiction titles about ambition and in critique of hustle culture from women writers for anyone interested in breaking away from the girlboss facade once and for all.

Rather, it’s clear that Maxine Minx will go to extreme lengths of self-preservation while investigating the murderer on her trail so she can step into the spotlight as she sees fit. In doing so, the new A24 horror film—Goth’s and writer/director Ti West third and final entry in their collaborative X trilogy—takes heavy inspiration from the Italian subgenre Giallo. (It marks the third time in the series that West has paid homage to a bygone era of filmmaking; 2022’s X took direct influence from classic horror slashers and Pearl was a nightmarish take on Technicolor.) But here, MaXXXine flips the script on Giallo.

The ‘60s-’80s Italian horror era is categorized as a noir-slasher hybrid, featuring signature splashy, graphic imagery (look to the filmographies of Dario Argento, Mario Bava, among others). And considering that the third X movie is set in 1985 L.A. when cocaine was abundant, the Satanic Panic and Night Stalker were terrorizing the city, and sleaze ruled the heyday of the porn and B-movie industries, the film very much lives in that same ostentatious, bloodred world. The homage runs so deep that the film’s killer even wears black leather gloves and a trench coat like many Giallo villains do. But as Maxine tries to thwart her stalker when she lands her first non-adult-film role as the lead in the horror sequel The Puritan II, MaXXXine forgoes one defining quality of Giallo: its sexploitation and brutal depictions of violence at the expense of women.

Many of the grisly depictions of violence and death in Maxxxine are wielded by the aspiring starlet herself in acts of self-defense. Instead of showing copious terrified, scantily clad women meeting their demise at the hands of greedy, vengeful men or caricatures of mentally unstable women as the Giallo titles Blood and Black Lace, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The New York Ripper, Torso, and more have done, it’s the men who wrong Maxine who end up being on the other side of the most gory attacks.

The film makes this clear early on in a scene in which Maxine gives the performance of a lifetime to an audience of one. Walking home from work after her colleague Tabby (Halsey) advises against it because of the looming threat of the Night Stalker, she winds up in an alley with a man intent on harming her. She surprises him by pulling out a gun, which she’s held onto since being the sole survivor of the infamous farmhouse massacre in the events of X. Instantly, she holds the power and makes both her attacker and the audience squirm by demanding he sucks on the barrel of her gun and lie down “ass up.” Even when she appears satisfied, she’s not done with him and steps on his testicles with her stilettos as she walks away—making for one of the most unsettling, squeamish moments in horror this year. (But, hey, how many topless women have died by a phallic weapon in horror movies in the past?)

Later, when Maxine’s had enough with the private investigator (Kevin Bacon) hired to keep an eye on her, she lets him know. After he follows her onto the Universal Studios lot where The Puritan II is being filmed one too many times, she gets out of her convertible to key, not his vehicle, but his face. And when he still won’t leave her alone, she asks a handful of her associates for their help in getting rid of him—by crushing him to death while in the car he’s been hiding behind in a junkyard, no less. She stares on, unphased, as bright red blood pours out in a steady stream.

Yes, there are many instances in Giallo’s history, including Argento’s significant film Deep Red, where the murderer ends up being a woman—but the reveal is often entrenched in misogyny surrounding how “crazy” a woman may become if she doesn’t adhere to societal standards. MaXXXine instead applies the X trilogy’s longrunning and signature feminist horror lens, as time and time again, the burgeoning star of the silver screen goes to lengths to protect herself so no one has the opportunity to interfere with the path she’s worked tirelessly for. With Goth having her first production credit on the trilogy with the new release, after previously co-writing series stand-out Pearl, you can’t help but feel her stamp on the franchise—especially as she’s spoken out previously about being fascinated with “female rage” in her career.

Meanwhile West—in all three X movies but in MaXXXine most starkly—appears to be interested in societal discomfort surrounding sex. For instance, Maxine is the new lead in a franchise about Puritanism and is cast in part because the director (Elizabeth Debicki) liked the idea of stirring controversy by hiring a sex worker. And as they’re filming, devout protestors picket their production outside of the studio lot. The (albeit unsurprising) reveal of the killer’s identity continues to play into this, especially the expectation that girls grow up to be women who are tame, chaste, and pure—all of which, Maxine Minx is not. But even still, in a movie so fascinated with the way we think about sex and sleaze, West only goes full sexploitation when a man tries to attack Goth’s character, and she stomps, literally, on his masculinity.

In the finale, as Maxine goes head-to-head with the perpetrator, and police try to interfere and tell her that backup is on the way, she declares, “So am I.” Classic Giallo would have seen the character wailing in fear while bloodied to a pulp, but yet again, the X final girl refuses the role of the victim, taking nothing less than the top billing.

The musician’s look was gaudy and bodacious—completely and utterly camp. Roan's reference flew over some of her audience’s heads, but that was actually part of her point. The singer, who identifies as a queer woman, wanted to teach a history lesson to the younger generation in the audience—albeit one covered in rhinestones and set to a backtrack about dancing at the "Pink Pony Club," a break-away hit from her 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. “When we were talking about what we could do for Pride, we wanted a legendary homage to [queer] culture,” Roan’s fashion stylist, Genesis Webb, says on a video call.

What performance attendees may not have known either was the political undercurrent beneath Roan's bright red tulle dress and teased-up hair. In 2023, the Kentucky Senate passed Senate Bill 150, a law that bans gender-affirming medical care for trans minors, prohibits public school education on "human sexuality," and requires students to use bathrooms aligning with their assigned gender at birth.

So, the pop sensation pushed back against the state's anti-LGBTQ+ legislature the best way she and Webb knew how: by embodying Divine, the infamous drag icon whose most quoted line from Waters's filmography is "Filth is my politics! Filth is my life!" It was Roan’s reminder to her fans, both in Kentucky and worldwide, to be themselves, especially if that means straying from the status quo. "We like the ugly, thought-provoking, and confusing, and we admire [Divine’s] worldview to just be yourself and make things beautiful in your own way," Webb says. "I hope what we're doing shows that you can do whatever and be whoever you want."

Born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz in the small town of Willard, Missouri, Roan's drag-inspired persona is currently the name to know in music. As of now, three of her songs are on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: TikTok's favorite "Good Luck, Babe!", the punchy ballad "Red Wine Supernova," and "Hot to Go!", a catchy anthem that comes with a YMCA-style arm dance. Her music festival sets need last-minute stage upgrades to accommodate mammoth crowds, with some attendees camping out as early as 3:30 a.m. to ensure they get a good spot. The singer calls herself "Your favorite artist's favorite artist" in reference to the season 15 winner of RuPaul's Drag Race, Sasha Colby, who uses the same tagline but swaps "artist" for "drag queen."

Roan's playful catchphrase isn’t far off: Sir Elton John is one of the singer’s most fervent fans, alongside a rapidly growing fanbase of millennials and Gen Z listeners.

“We went from here to here within just a few months,” says Webb, positioning her hand under her chest and then rocketing it off-screen and out of view. Some relate Roan’s star power and showmanship to that of Lady Gaga, a comparison Webb finds cosmic since she met Roan while assisting Gaga’s stylist and creative partner-in-crime, Nicola Formichetti, for a 2022 V magazine photoshoot. Both hailing from the Midwest, the two 26-year-olds had an immediate bond and have worked together ever since. “It was this strange moment of serendipity,” Webb recalls. “When people say Chappell is the next Lady Gaga, it feels like a very interesting reality where everything has been shaped specifically for this moment and for us to work together.”

Since their fate meeting two years ago, the duo has arrived at a level of fashion artistry that can only be achieved when a star and their stylist develop their own aesthetic language. Each outfit gets its own mood board of references and inspiration points, including deep-cut horror movies, Paris Hilton's early-2000s fashion moments, and Roan's own lyrics. “She's always had themes based on her songs for [each outfit], which I think is why her looks are so impactful and a true experience,” says Webb. The singer encourages her fans to follow her style concepts too, often posting on Instagram with a call to dress accordingly—like in your "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl" best to a performance.

Webb defines Roan's on-stage style as an amalgamation of their angsty teenage years, with looks that range from ‘80s frou-frou prom queen to a bedazzled cowgirl. “Chappell comes from a drag background, and I was a punk in high school. That's exactly where we are with her style: it's a fun mix of drag on a large spectrum with an eighties punk glam aspect," the fashion stylist shares.

She references what Roan wore for her day-one Coachella performance: a latex bodysuit emblazoned with “Eat Me,” a dominatrix-style leather harness, and a silver-studded choker borrowed from Drag Race champions and bonafide fashion icons, Violet Chachki and Gottmik. "We want to give the proper dues [to the queer community] as well. So, to have all these elements christened by our favorite drag queens felt like everything was going in the right direction," the stylist says. "You could sense that performance was a pivotal moment."

Her politics is the other throughline in Roan's concert outfits. “She's always been very vocal and considers it important to give back to the communities that have done so much for her," Webb says. "My job is to make it as easy as possible for her to provide the message she wants to give."

During her set at New York City’s Governors Ball Music Festival, Roan dressed as the Statue of Liberty in patina-green body paint, a latex dress, and a seven-pointed crown. The singer described herself as dressed “in drag of the biggest queen of all” and recited the Emma Lazarus poem inscribed on the statue’s pedestal. “That [poem] means freedom and trans rights, that means freedom and women’s rights, … and it especially means freedom for all oppressed people in occupied territories,” Roan said.

Roan's Gov Ball performance made headlines across various news sites, ranging from Vogue to The Hill, and Webb considers it an accurate representation of who Roan is as both an artist and person. "She means what she said [at Gov Ball]. When you have as big a platform as [Roan] has, it makes sense to use it," the stylist says.

Some may see Roan’s performance style as driven by shock value—strutting around as the Lady Liberty in a latex dress with butt cutouts can come as a surprise. But there’s intentionality in what Webb and Roan put together. "Yes, she could wear a tight little leotard and just be hot all the time, but her style is about so much more than that. I don't try to sell sex, and Chappell doesn't either," says Webb. “Our main thing is that people scroll all day long, so we’re trying to give someone a reason to stop. Even if they're like, ‘Ew,’ and laugh or gawk at our outfits, at least they're stopping and questioning what they're looking at. Those moments of exposure are so important in art and culture."

The duo are trying to make you think and feel something—anything.

As Webb winds down the conversation, she hints that Roan’s outfit for her performance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon (that aired June 20th) would be sensational. The day after Webb’s interview with Marie Claire, Roan appeared on the NBC talk show in her interpretation of Princess Odette from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake"—specifically Mattel's 2003 animated adaption, Barbie of Swan Lake: a mini dress made of icy-white feathers and pearls designed by Gunnar Deatherage and a winged headpiece that looked ready to take flight.

The symbolism of Roan nodding to the 1877 ballet about forbidden love but with a campy, childlike, and Barbie-esque twist during LGBTQ+ Pride Month was not lost amongst her feathers and vocal flipping. Clutching the mic through fingernails shaped like talons, she belted “Good Luck, Babe!” at the top of her lungs and as free as a bird.

"Many of our homages are to celebrate moments that aren't in the mainstream anymore and to bring them [back] into 2024 for her younger audience," says Webb. Roan is not only making music or history, but she's preserving it as well.

When the tape leaked, the private conflict between Stiviano and Donald’s wife Shelly Sterling became the nation’s monocultural scandal. It also led to a racial reckoning within the NBA revolving around players’ right to protest and what owners (now dubbed “governors”) can get away with regarding their teams.

A decade later, Coleman brings Stiviano to life in FX’s Clipped, which presents her as more than the stereotypical “other woman.” “There are so many perspectives the show could have taken,” Coleman tells Marie Claire. “The fact that we were wanting to delve into her psychology at all was really exciting to me because there could be a version of this show where you [only showed] the surface-level, tabloid version of her.”

So instead of portraying her as a caricature, Coleman portrays Stiviano as a layered, ambitious woman determined to reinvent herself, possibly to her detriment. “I felt like I was playing a character based on the myth of V,” she says. “There's this idea of her with the visor and the roller skates and the white suit and the Barbara Walters and the Silly Rabbit and all of that. But then there's this human being underneath all of it.”

Now that Clipped is airing weekly on Hulu, following its June 4 premiere, Coleman chats with Marie Claire about performing scenes with Jacki Weaver and Ed O’Neill, the difference between seeking fame in 2014 and 2024, and how growing up feeling like an outsider eventually helped her Hollywood career.

Marie Claire: When you first heard about the Sterling tape scandal, what were your first impressions of everything?

Cleopatra Coleman: I had just moved to L.A. [in 2014], so I was in the States when it happened. I remember everyone was talking about it. It was such a scandalous, bizarre, upsetting combination of things. I remember V. I remember the way people were talking about V at the time. I knew what everyone else knew, which was this surface-level version of her and what we were seeing in the tabloids. So it has been really cool to unpack her further.

MC: She's a fascinating person in this saga because she's still essentially a cipher. There’s only an interview of her with Barbara Walters that’s available, and she’s so hard to read. How do you prepare to play a character like that?

CC: I was really grateful to [showrunner] Gina Welch and her exciting, nuanced, thoughtful perspective on V. In terms of getting into the character, a lot of it is the writing. I couldn't have done the performance I did without the infrastructure that Gina laid out, in just being interested in how V feels and what her experience was.

I've never played a real person before. I did approach her like I'd approach any fictional character, except that I did have that interview and a couple of other things to look at. Other than that, I really tried to treat her like any character I would approach, and that's through compassion and empathy always—just genuinely being interested in her, where she was coming from, what her motivations were, and who she was as a human being.

MC: Looking through your previous credits with Neighbours, Infinity Pool, and The Last Man on Earth, you have a history of playing characters in wild situations, whether that's soap opera or absurd horror. V can be quite melodramatic. Did you feel like you played her as going through this experience in an emotionally heightened way?

CC: She's interesting because there are elements that are quite heightened, and then she'll adopt two children, which I think is a very down-to-earth human thing. I locked into the tone of the show and the way she was written—and it is heightened because it was a heightened scandal. Harnessing that energy in the show was really important.

There's a definite heightened idea because this show is based on a true story. It's not a documentary. It is fiction, but there are factual elements. I had so much fun playing with the heightened versions, and then the moment that you think, 'Oh, this person's not a human,' like reminding you, 'No, she absolutely is.' That was really fun as an actor.

MC: V essentially was myth-making at the moment. There’s just not much foresight or thinking ahead to what comes on the other side of that fame.

CC: It was just a different time. It was kind of a seminal, viral situation. I've been thinking about this idea of like, 'If this had happened now, would it have made as much of a lasting impact,' because there are so many scandals going on all the time that we're noticing because of social media. I don't think they're happening more; I think we're just more aware of them. Perhaps if this happened now, two days later, there'd be something else.

MC: It also makes me think of some of the imagery that comes up in the show with Kim Kardashian and Omarosa. It is very much of that time and makes you think about how the nature of influencing has changed so much since then.

CC: Absolutely. The way we treat these kinds of female figures is different too. People in L.A. who have had run-ins with V love to tell me she's this or she's that. A lot of the time it's negative, and it's very interesting to me that they don't say, 'Oh, that Donald Sterling.' But then you ask other people and they're like, 'She's an icon. She's iconic.' Had this happened today, I think she would've been seen more in that light and we would've had more space to see her humanity more. But I will also agree that there's not much to gather from what we saw at the time [from] that myth-making and the images we saw. It was a very limited idea of her.

MC: Speaking of heightened absurdity, was there a scene in which you had the most fun playing opposite the Sterlings? Like, was it fun to call Shelly Sterling a witch?

CC: A lot of actors love to play the quote-unquote 'baddie.' In that moment, V was the baddie. Also though, I love Jacki [Weaver] so much. She's so sweet, and a fellow Australian. There was part of me that was dreading it. I hated being mean to her, but she also made it fun.

There's one take [from episode 1] that's not in the show, but we were trying different things, and when I blew in her face, 'You're dust,' she blew right back. And I was like, [gasp]. It was just so playful and so fun. It helps to have an actor to work opposite like Jacki Weaver, who's just an undeniable presence, and you feel that sense of trust that you can go there and we're enjoying it.

MC: Did you also have a playful mood with Ed O'Neill, even as he's playing such a horrible person?

CC: Yes, I did. Ed is such a legend, and he and I do really have this familial bond. It was shocking to me how quickly he and I were thick as thieves. He's so caring and wonderful and I felt really safe with him. It was similar to Jackie. These are pros, and so we knew what we were doing, and I felt safe to play with that very, very complicated dynamic that V and Donald have with Ed.

MC: Clipped offers some insight into V’s thinking by including scenes with Deja, her friend who she discussed everything with, but who also pushed back. What was it like playing those scenes?

CC: Really great. I did that with Yvonna Pearson, who was so excellent. She's so good in the show. Gina gave her these amazing lines about the world, feminism, and the patriarchy. All we had to do was say the words, because they meant so much, and we could bounce off each other.

It was really interesting to play with the power balance and how that shifts in their relationship. There's a time when V's really looking to her, and Deja's in a powerful position, and then there's a time when V becomes more powerful. Even in the middle of a conversation, V will switch positions. There's a lingerie scene where V's trying on the corset to go talk to Donald and Deja's schooling her on how it works. And then halfway through the conversation, V starts schooling Deja. I had so much fun with those scenes; they are really a highlight.

MC: The show portrays the different natures of fame. In the big confrontation between V and Deja, when V becomes a paparazzi star, Deja says that V is now the bad kind and famous, and V says, "There's no such thing." How did the show make you think about whether the nature of fame is a plus or a detriment?

CC: It depends on the person. There are a lot of people who are happy to be famous. They don't care what it's for. I don't really relate to that. In my realm, that success opens doors and allows me to play more characters and make more art. It's always art-focused. But I do understand that there are people who have different priorities, and we are living in a world where you can make that happen from your living room. If your goal is to make money, you really can these days. But for me, that's never been a focus or a goal. It's always just been about what I can create, and how exciting it feels to embody characters that excite me or work with people like Gina, collaborators who push me to a new place as an artist.

MC: Every role you’ve played is so versatile and chameleonic. Why did you decide to do a bit of everything in your career rather than focusing on a certain genre?

CC: It's just about the character. I'm very, very lucky that I've been able to have such a versatile career. I used to feel self-conscious about it and that I needed to choose a lane, and then I realized, that was my lane. to be as different as possible in every role, just really throw myself in, be as immersive as possible, disappear as much as I could, and be of service to the story.

I'm very interested in counterculture and people who are outliers, either because they're defiant, or because they're vulnerable, or because they're just different. That's something that I relate to; maybe that's why I end up doing jobs like that.

MC: Growing up mixed-race in Australia, did you feel a bit different, and then maybe like a fish out of water once you moved to the United States?

CC: Absolutely. Growing up in Australia, I never saw anyone that looked like me in the media. I think for a lot of us at that time, it wasn't the way that it is now, but especially in Australia, it really was not diverse. I'm also very grateful for that time because it taught me the skills that I have. It taught me my work ethic, and this idea that you have to be undeniable. You have to make it so they can't say no. To come from a space where there was no space for me, there was no lane—I still to this day have not done an Australian film—I'm also really grateful to have been able to come to America and to be able to find my place. It's not something that would've been possible in Australia.

Ultimately as an artist, I'm so, so grateful for my experience. I feel like an anthropologist when I look at other people, and that all stems from being different, being on the outside, being so interested in their psychology, and thinking, 'What's it like to be normal? What's it like to grow up with a white picket fence and like all of that?' My childhood was incredible, but it wasn't like anyone else's. It was completely creative and wild and in nature and I was just like, 'What's it like to be a normal girl?' I just found that so interesting. It's definitely been a gift as far as being an artist and having a perspective.

MC: You do have a history of writing and producing your own projects. Have you like, felt any pull to get behind the camera, as you're now 20 years on in your career?

CC: It's definitely something that interests me. I have directed a couple of short films. The one I most recently directed hasn't been released, because I'm keeping it for myself for now, but I am developing it into a feature.

My dad was a script editor for a long time, and he's a writer, as well, and it's a very unstable business. The first lead role I ever had in a feature film, I wrote myself. I learned that being an outsider in Australia, you just develop more skills. I see it as a positive. If you can rise to the challenge, it grows you. So writing was always something I knew I was going to do. I thought I'd have an acting career first and then I would write. But what I've realized is that it's better to be able to create your own opportunities.

MC: You're currently working with Jason Bateman on his next Netflix series, Black Rabbit. Clipped is already major, but once you hit Netflix, there are so many eyes on you that it's another level. As you're getting close to another level of fame and recognition, how do you like to stay true to yourself and your self-image?

CC: We'll have to see. I don't feel at risk of losing myself at all. I don't know if that's naive, but my career has been like a slow build. There haven't been a lot of huge jumps where my world has completely changed. It has slowly changed, and I've been able to acclimatize along the way, which has been really healthy, psychologically and emotionally. I've watched it happen the other way for people, where they change and they can't get a grasp of the ground. I think because I don't really prioritize fame, if anything, I welcome the idea of having access to more characters to play. It's always about that. I've been doing this for so long, and I'm so clear that this is my calling and I get so much from it, therefore I'm very protective over my relationship to my art. I always put that first.

I'm just a low-key small-town, beach-, rainforest-dwelling person. I have amazing people around me that keep me grounded, but also know how to celebrate me when it's time to do that. I have the same friends I've had since I was 15 years old. They've seen me act my whole life. Although it's like bigger stuff than the things I did in Australia, it's essentially the same thing where they're like, 'Oh, we saw your new thing,' or they'll all get together to watch whatever the new thing is. It's pretty much the same as when I was 15. Nothing's really changed. It's just that more people are seeing it. But it all depends on your perspective, and my focus really isn't on anything apart from my art form and how much I enjoy doing it.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Not every 17-year-old negotiates business deals, but when Maitreyi Ramakrishnan went from a typical high schooler in Ontario, Canada to the star of Netflix's Never Have I Ever, that's exactly what she had to consider—on top of her overnight fame.

On the latest episode of Marie Claire's podcast, "Nice Talk," the actress opens up about how she learned to navigate financial negotiations while still a teenager, starring on the hit teen show from 2020 to its fourth and final season in 2023.

"At a very young age I had to learn that money is power and to ask for more does not mean that you're greedy, but actually respecting yourself," Ramakrishnan revealed on "Nice Talk."

The star, who landed the lead role of Devi on Never Have I Ever through a self-tape open call on Twitter, said, "I remember having to learn that sometimes you've got to ask for more because others are asking for more and people are gonna cheap you out if they can. They will walk over you. And it's not that you need X amount of dollars to live the life that you live, it's just that dollar value is the sign of respect."

The star, now 22 and a human rights and equality studies student at York University in Toronto, shared that her internal dialogue about her self-worth as it relates to money, and in general, has shifted over time. She explained, "I'd treat myself like a make-a-wish kid. Like, 'Congrats. You won this little raffle on Twitter. You actually didn't send a tape. It was actually just a random giveaway. They were giving away the lead role on a Netflix show and you won. Congrats!' I adopted that mentality for myself, which is very bad because it's not true."

"I definitely was in the right place at the right time. There is 100 percent an element of luck, especially in this biz," she continued. "But I do give myself credit for the fact that talent is what kept me there."

Ramakrishnan also credits her mother with helping her to pull those feelings out of herself. She said, "I went about learning how to advocate for myself [by] just growing some courage, understanding my self-worth, and where I want to be and how I want to be respected and how I want to be treated."

With that in mind, as she takes on more roles and brand deals, and tackles video game streaming on Twitch, Ramakrishnan shares her team has had to advise her on what passion projects may be worth doing for free, and getting paid what she's owed for others. "There's a reason why they call it the movie-making business. Not the movie-making passion. It's the movie-making business first, which sucks," she said.

"There are times where in this lovely capitalist society they will take advantage of you when they can," the Netflix star added. "It's not always about being greedy, but sometimes it's actually just about respecting yourself in an industry where my services as an individual that entails my likeness and my name, my person, it has its spot in a marketplace."

"That was kind of weird to wrap around at 17," she shared. "You are part of a marketplace. Your entity as a being, you yourself as a person, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is now a business. Where do you fit in the marketplace?"

Ramakrishnan also acknowledged that she's still working on being confident in her career and herself. "I like to say I am 5 years old in the industry. That's it. Just a 5-year-old," she shared. "There's so much left to do to not prove to others, but just prove to myself—to add more ammunition for my own overthinking thoughts, for that one annoying voice in my brain that keeps saying I'm a make-a-wish kid."

Ramakrishnan opens up more about navigating her whirlwind success while still a teenager, her decision to pursue a college degree outside of acting, and more on the latest episode of "Nice Talk," which is available now wherever you listen to podcasts.

The British hyperpop phenom is more brash and confrontational than ever on her sixth studio album Brat (which dropped on June 7 via Atlantic Records). She laments how she’s everybody’s “favorite reference” and questions why she’s not more famous (“360”), while still feeling nostalgic for the days when she didn’t value fame quite as much (“Rewind”). She forgoes niceties to analyze the complexities of female relationships (“Girl, so confusing”) and criticizes expectations placed on women ("Mean girls," “Sympathy is a knife”). Most importantly, she confronts herself and the role of the messy girl she’s both played and has been prescribed to her (“I might say something stupid”). She’s the life of the party at a rave under club lights, and in the quiet car ride home, she can’t help but have an attitude over either the world’s or her own perception of who she is and her desires. So, she’ll be a brat, embrace it all, and do it unlike anybody else in her league or beyond it.

The narrative surrounding Charli XCX’s career has long been that she’s never quite broken into the mainstream—but only because she’s always 10 steps ahead of it. Her fans have found her more interesting for it, and she has always seemed to like creating experimental music catered toward her queer and indiehead fanbase known as the Angels, rather than making pop anthems for the masses. Now, with Brat—which comes at the height of her career, over a decade after she debuted with 2013’s True Romance—it’s as if she’s leaning into a bad-girl attitude because she’s over the wider music landscape not getting her, so she might as well have fun playing with an often misunderstood pop persona.

Charli XCX occupies a bad-girl space in pop that hasn’t been filled in some time. For as long as bubblegum has been a leader on the charts, so have boundary-pushers. Madonna built her career on controversy, sex positivity, and elevating the LGBTQ+ community. Y2K pop princesses like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera flirted with dirtiness as much as they did cuteness. Miley Cyrus came in like a wrecking ball with her hedonistic Bangerz era. In the mainstream landscape nowadays, Olivia Rodrigo is a proponent of youthful rebellion and pushing against expectations that women be “good” and polite, but in an approachable way. Lana Del Rey may be the closest, having debuted as the self-described “gangster Nancy Sinatra” and playing with counterculture American iconography throughout her work. But the bad girl now mostly pervades hip-hop, with fierce women (like Cardi B, Sexyy Red, Doja Cat, and others) leading the genre. As of late, pop itself has largely been dominated by the concept of relatability and safeness.

God forbid some of us crave for the purveyors of culture to be untouchably and effortlessly cool, though—and that’s exactly what Charli, a chic, bratty club kid through and through, is. Throughout the Brat album cycle, the singer (whose real name is Charlotte Aitchison) has playfully emphasized what an it girl she is. She released a music video for the single “360,” dubbed “the cool girl summit” with its cast of her famous friends like Gabbriette, Julia Fox, and Rachel Sennott. She’s also done copious IYKYK pop-up events at scene-y electronic music spaces like The Lot Radio and Boiler Room in Brooklyn, which thousands of fans showed up to or RSVP-ed to with just hours’ notice.

While many stars could have that pull in hosting last-minute events, few meet their fans in the spaces they occupy and also create a sense of exclusivity. Even as Charli XCX has reached a new level of fame, setting out on her first co-headlining stadium tour with Troye Sivan later this year, she’s stayed true to the underground nightlife world she came up in, and continues to love to be a part of. She’s on the dance floor with her fans, signing their poppers canisters while grinding to the beat, and making sure those on the list are the fans who’ve been with her since the beginning.

The entire Brat era began with Charli XCX launching a private Instagram (@360_brat) where she posted track teases and had frank Q&As with fans in which she offered blunt opinions on other artists and their albums, the music industry, and her personal life. For a period, she briefly only accepted requests from several thousands of fans at a time and it felt like a bold, no-f---s-given move in an age when celebrity social media is highly curated. The page now has over 150K followers, but she uses it to post tips about her pop-ups before announcing them publicly (and by then, the list is often closed).

The candidness of the @360_brat AMAs translates to Charli XCX's album in many forms, including her ability to be unafraid to explore the dynamics of female friendships, frenemies, or acquaintances you may envy or may envy you. For a long time, pop has been a proponent of uplifting female friendships and empowerment—a worthy and necessary cause—although that often feels as though it becomes warped when fandoms assume that critiques of the artist they stan is a misogynistic attack. But on Brat, Charli XCX is direct in her feelings of inferiority when faced by certain women—despite herself possessing an undeniable it girl factor—and she ponders whether it’s unhealthy and unrealistic that we all be “girls' girls,” a concept that itself ends up putting other women down. It may be controversial, but it feels more nuanced and real than some pop branded as relatable. Perhaps airing out her complicated feelings this way will be an entry point for the current phase of feminism in pop culture to feel more comfortable discussing the intricacies of women's relationships and insecurities.

Sonically, Brat (which features Charli XCX’s longtime collaborator A.G. Cook as lead producer) calls back to the London techno scene she came up in when she was a teenager releasing tracks on MySpace. Aside from a few punchy singles (“Von Dutch,” “360”), few of these songs have radio appeal, with their bumping drum beats and electroclash synths. Even the album cover resembles lo-fi rave flyers of yesteryear. It was a concept that some criticized, and while many image-conscious stars wouldn’t comment on the matter, Charli defended it with sass and confidence. She responded both on social media and in interviews about the public’s overzealous demand to see and commercialize women’s bodies. Now, the cover is a meme, and any spot of green IRL looks like guerilla Brat promo; as always, she trusted her taste, coolness, and badness, and was right.

Now more than ever, it's as though Charli XCX is harkening to the scene that raised her because if the mainstream won’t accept her in real-time, she’ll lean in harder to who she’s always been—fully knowing others are carbon copying her style and attempting to replicate her sound (“Von dutch,” “The 360 remix with robyn and yung lean”). Still, she’s bigger than ever (reaching her biggest streaming debut on Spotify with Brat), and it’s a thrill to have someone so braggadocious and a fearless trendsetter inching toward the top—and creating something truly defining—in years. Leave it to Charli to say it best on her lead single: She’s just living that life, a cult classic but she still pops.

“If you'd asked me at the start of my journey when I first started typing out the character Queenie sitting in the stirrups, where I would be in nine years, I wouldn't have said this at all,” the author tells Marie Claire. Despite her lack of expectations, Disney’s Onyx Collective, which produces projects from creators of color, helped her to helm the story into an eight-episode Hulu original.

Queenie marks Carty-Williams’ second stint as a showrunner and creator after her BBC musical-drama Champion premiered to rave reviews last year and later landed on Netflix. Even with just two shows under her belt, it’s clear that Carty-Williams is dedicated to bringing authentic characters and underrepresented themes to the screen while paving the way for more POC creatives. “Across all arts, all news outlets, everything really, I think that we still need greater representation of everybody in these spaces,” she says. “Fingers crossed that will happen at some point.”

Below, Carty-Williams chats with Marie Claire about finding the perfect Queenie in actress Dionne Brown, the biggest change from the book to the television series, and how she incorporates music as an emotional force in her projects.

Marie Claire: When did you know that Dionne Brown was the perfect person to play Queenie?

CCW: I had come across Dionne in the audition process for my other show Champion. She was auditioning to be this really feisty, fiery, behind-the-scenes songwriter. She was asking so many questions and I was like, 'She's a Queenie. She's in her head constantly. She's doing the right thing, she's trying to work out what the answers are, she's trying to do her best.' So I kind of parked her in my head and I was like, 'If she's Queenie, the universe will send her back 'round to me.' Then when I saw her name on the page when the new Queenies came around, I was like, 'And there she is.'

MC: You've previously been open about how hard it was to stay true to the authenticity of Queenie while creating a TV show. Were there any aspects that you really had to fight for going from page to screen?

CCW: I think it was just making sure that Queenie existed in the way that I intended her to. When you are writing a novel, it's you and your editor, and your editor wants your world to be your world. They want to just help you reframe it and make sure everything makes sense. But in TV, you have different stakes. There are different budgets; there are different ways of seeing characters. You want to make sure that people are always tuning in. So I guess the main conversations were around me protecting Queenie and the way that she was, and the decisions that she made in some ways—just making sure that she stayed authentic to the Queenie of the book, but also the Queenie of my politics. That was really important to me.

MC: There are some changes from the book to the show, especially with Kyazike’s cousin Frank becoming a regular character and his romantic interest in Queenie. I love the character and his very natural chemistry with Queenie, but what made you decide to add that romantic element to their friendship?

CCW: Everyone loves Frank. It's not just you. Get in line, get in line. Frank kind of appears in the novel. He’s Queenie’s best friend Kyazike’s cousin. He asks Queenie to dance, and Queenie essentially has a stomachache, because it's very stressful to have someone be very kind to her and feel seen by someone. I wanted to explore that properly. I guess I'd seen so much stuff about Black love on TV by this point, especially coming from America—Insecure does it constantly—and I was like, 'I want to do that too. Let's see what it looks like.'

In the writing of Frank, he felt really easy. He is made up of a lot of men that I've known and that I know now, but he's not one particular person. He represents this sort of modern Black man who is from Britain. He's a hustler, right? He has this van, and he will do anything. But also, he does see Queenie. He is caring, but he's not perfect and that was important, too. I wanted to explore that for both of them. I wanted to see a character I hadn't seen on TV for Black men, and that was really important to me. I've been in the privileged position of bringing to screen people that I want to see and I want to explore, and Frank really represented that. Samuel Adewunmi did the most incredible job. I think his performance is pretty flawless, and I could not have asked him for anything more.

MC: What was the process like for selecting the music in Queenie?

CCW: I would write songs into the script so when you were reading it, [so] you could understand the tone. You were encouraged to go and have a listen, and see what Queenie was listening to. What Queenie was feeling, we should be feeling too through the music, because music says everything to me. We'd play some of the songs on set, but it was really in the edit where some of that music came to life, and we'd change things and chop things around.

Most importantly, I worked with a producer called Swindle on the score on both Queenie and Champion. We had the most incredible relationship. We both basically spoke in musical terms all the time, and we were both up in the middle of the night sending each other references, and being like, 'Okay, what do you think of this?' He was able to bring this really beautiful, cohesive sound to the entire show that takes us from the beginning and graduates and moves with Queenie. In the last three episodes, we have one sonic theme. Every time I think about it, I get chills or I'm in tears. What we do with music and emotion [on Queenie], I don't think I could have done with words, I don't think anyone could have done with acting. I think music is its own thing and for as long as I work, I will always make sure that music is one of the most important things to me.

MC: Champion is an original series you created that wasn't adapted from a novel. When it comes to your stories, how do you decide which would work better as books, such as your 2022 novel People Person, and which are better as visual media?

CCW: I think that everything can be moved and changed around. I think that as long as I'm writing, I could make People Person a film, I could make it a TV show. It just depends on what I want to do at this point. I would say Queenie felt like it would be a TV show because there's so much. I thought it would be really difficult to squeeze it into 90 or 100 minutes.

Champion, for me, felt like a quick passion project, like a fever dream. I was doing it while I was working on Queenie, and then I moved immediately onto Queenie as soon as Champion was done. I think one day I'll look back and be like, 'Oh yeah, you created like a whole 'nother TV show and a soundtrack.' It was super difficult but also super rewarding. I was happy to put it to bed because it wasn't in my plans. It wasn't in my kind of world, or the things I wanted to say and do, but I was really glad that I got to say and say and do what I did in Champion. I'm really happy.

MC: Especially Champion’s storyline about rapper Bosco's mental health was extremely important to put on TV.

CCW: Thank you. Obviously, it ends in a way where things are not settled at all for Bosco. Things are actually quite the opposite. The difference between Bosco and someone like Queenie is that we see that Queenie starts trying to do the work, but Bosco is just in a different place. For Black men, mental health is a very different thing. There are very different support systems, and maybe sometimes they're non-existent. It was important for me to talk about it, but the thing that I was saying with that is that there's still a long way to go in our community and looking after people in that way.

MC: Queenie the novel has been so important for so many women who have gone through similar mental health struggles. Now that the show is introducing the story to a whole new audience of non-book readers, what do you hope that new viewers will take away from the story?

CCW: I never set out to tell anyone what to think, but I do set out to move people. I hope people are moved by Queenie's story. I hope people are moved by the love that people have for her. She's someone who doesn't feel loved, isn't always loved in the right way, and didn't come from love necessarily, but she has made her way to finding love around her. I want people to see that, and to see what happens when Queenie says that she's happy, and all of her friends share a look. I want people to see where Queenie has come from, and to understand that she came from something that should have been love, but that was taken away.

Also this idea of the "strong Black woman," I want people who watch it to understand what it means to be living to that expectation and constantly be trying to strive for perfection—because, ultimately, it's impossible and not something that I think that we need to do. If there is one thing to take from it, it's that we don't have to be strong. We can only do what we can do. It was really important to me that Queenie as a character was always kind. She wasn't mean; she wasn't nasty. She doesn't call up Kyazike to bitch about someone. She has a lot of stuff happen to her and isn't necessarily looked after by the people who are meant to care about her, but she still finds a way to do her best and be kind. I think we could all do with a bit more of that.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

"Seeing myself in those spheres was always missing," Lockhart tells Marie Claire. The brands she aspired to shop didn't reflect her identity back at her in advertising or required extra tailoring to be wearable. Adaptive fashion, or items designed specifically for people with disabilities, didn't offer a viable solution for someone who says she prioritizes aesthetics over function. "I never shopped adaptive, because style always came first, and if we’re honest, adaptive style has consistently fallen flat," she says.

Bri Scalesse, a model who's used a wheelchair since she was six years old, similarly found that adaptive pieces rarely catered to her sense of style—to the degree that she didn't wear them growing up. While she could find ways to shop strategically and make her favorite brands "work" for her, "what was always missing was the visual representation and voices of disabled people throughout the fashion industry and process," she says. "I longed to see a disabled body like mine in ads and magazines."

Both women are now making what they've always wanted to see available to other shoppers through an inclusivity-minded expansion at Anthropologie. Along with models and creators Maya Moore and Allison Lang, the pair are both faces of the retailer's first adaptive pieces, available online today.

Anthropologie is entering the adaptive fashion chat with eight pieces created through a year-long process of research and product development. From the $48 button-up Andie T-shirt to the $148 Bettina dress, each item takes a pre-existing Anthropologie bestseller and modifies it with proportions, closures, and details enhancing its comfort-factor for people with disabilities. The overall look is the exact same as Anthro's standard boho-chic fare; the increased accessibility is a notable innovation.

Adaptive designs sold at major retailers are a welcome addition to a large, and largely overlooked, style cohort. While some studies valued the total market for adult adaptive clothing in the United States at $238 million last year, the category isn't nearly as commonly produced as plus, petite, or tall sizes. Few retailers have pieces catered to all abilities that also take major trends and personal style into consideration. (A cursory Google search of "adaptive clothing" will mostly surface scrub-like matching sets, for example.)

The expansion, like Anthropologie's 2019 move into plus-sizes, was informed primarily by underrepresented shoppers who requested it, according to Anthropologie Women's chief merchandising officer Holly Thrasher. To "thoughtfully" turn feedback into a more inclusive repertoire, the brand looked inside (to URBN Adapt ERG, an in-house resource group promoting accessibility and inclusivity) and outside (to experts like Lucy Jones, the founder and CEO of adaptive label FFORA) for insight. "The most common request was for a line that seamlessly integrates style and functionality, prioritizing comfort and ease of wear," Thrasher says.

Richa Srivastava, chief creative officer of women's concept and design, explains that the adaptive modifications improved the experience of taking each Anthro staple on and off, as well as wearing it all day long. Take the Colette pant for example. Just like the standard design, the adaptive version has a high-rise waist and a cropped flare hem. But to make the pants more comfortable for wheelchair users, Anthropologie took a three-fold approach. "We adjusted the rise to better suit someone seated, eliminated back pockets to reduce bulkiness when sitting, and incorporated features like magnetic snap closures, zipper openings along pant inseams, as well as tabs and snaps for customizable length adjustments," Srivastava explains.

One piece of design feedback from the disability community became the team's design North Star, according to Srivastava. Shoppers who use a wheelchair or a prosthetic limb don't necessarily want styles exclusive to them; they want to be included in brands' versatile, cool lineups from the beginning.

"What often doesn’t feel right about adaptive wear is that it is its own separate line with styles that are not comparable to the non-adaptive lines," Scalesse says. "I cannot express how much I love that Anthropologie took some of its best-selling pieces and made them adaptive."

Lockhart agrees that the designs strike a balance she hasn't found in fashion before. They're "extra comfortable and a lot easier to put on compared to other pieces I own, but [they] made me feel put together, powerful, me."

Anthropologie is also displaying its pieces with "adaptive features" right next to its other size categories, not hiding them somewhere else on the site. "For that to be seen by everyone shopping Anthro is pretty major for the disabled community," Lockhart says. "It doesn’t exclude us to a separate collection page, it’s not creating new product that they 'think' disabled people might want—this is truly inclusive."

What this launch isn't is a one-and-done release. Eight pieces alone can't cover every need of every individual or fully compare to the hundreds of options available in standard sizing on the rest of Anthropologie's website. Still, it's a start. "[T]hey’ve committed to this just being step one," Lockhart says. "It doesn’t have to be perfect to be progress."

Thrasher, the Anthropologie executive, hopes that the line can be a "positive example" to other brands. An inclusivity blueprint can manifest both in the products made and in the people wearing them, Scalesse notes. "I don’t think every brand has to make one-time adaptive lines, but instead should include disabled people in the process in front of and behind the camera, always."

"My dream would be that other brands take note and start to think of ways to simply make the clothes they’re already making more universal," Lockhart says. "The disabled community loves fashion just like the rest of the fashion world. They don’t want separate collections, they just want to buy the clothes they normally buy from the retailers they love." Fashion girlies come in all shapes, sizes, and abilities. They all deserve the same options when they're getting dressed.

Shop Anthropologie's First Adaptive Clothing

Davis has a relatable reason for wanting to skip the step-and-repeat at times. "Here's the thing: I'm introverted, which people don't know. I'm extremely introverted," she explains.

However, when showing up and showing out are job requirements, the Academy Award winner has a few secret weapons to overcome her introversion: the makeup in her beauty kit.

Working with longtime makeup artist Autumn Moultrie and hairstylist Jamika Wilson, Davis says she's found beauty looks that can help tap into her more extroverted side. Her confidence-boosting look for her first day at Cannes this year started with glowy skin and glittery eyes, and ended with a red lip, channeling the '70s TV detective Christie Love played by Teresa Graves.

"There's a part of me that although I'm shy and I'm introverted, I am a Leo," Davis adds. "I like walking in the room and people seeing me [...] and I love eyes because I feel like that is an asset of mine."

Acknowledging and accepting the sides of herself that aren't compatible with celebrity life is all part of Davis's current personal goal: to fall even more in love with who she is this year. The star says her self-love ritual takes many forms in her beauty and wellness routine, too. "It looks like Epsom salt baths, it looks like having a real great cleanser and putting oil on my face before I go to bed. It's about laughing with my 13-year-old daughter. It's about being okay with being still," she says.

In moments when life gets busy—like, say, preparing for one of the world's biggest film festivals—Davis is also learning to cherish every second for what it is. "I can be a chronic overthink and go, 'Oh, I wish this were different. I wish that was different.' I stopped doing that, and I have to say that it's working."

When Davis walks the official Cannes red carpet later today, she says she'll give herself permission to soak up every bit of glamour it brings. "Embracing my acceptance in this environment, it's sort of like embracing my worth," she adds. "What really carries me through this entire experience is feeling like I'm a part of it instead of disconnecting from it." The slippers at home can wait.

Shop Viola Davis's Cannes Beauty Go-Tos

Best-selling author and longtime Florida resident Lauren Groff couldn’t sit by idly as book bans became increasingly commonplace in her state over the past two years. So she and her husband, Clay Kallman, decided to open a bookshop in Gainesville to create a haven for all readers and uplift frequently challenged works. Named after the Florida native big cat, The Lynx, their slogan puts it best: “Watch Us Bite Back.”

Owning a bookstore had long been a dream for the couple, but when Governor Ron DeSantis passed legislation in 2022 that made it easier for individual books to be contested in public schools, they knew they needed to open up shop. Two years later, after renovating an old hair salon in downtown Gainesville into a store—fit with an event space, cafe, and children’s reading nook—The Lynx finally welcomed guests through its doors in late April.

The Lynx highlights historically banned books, as well as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC authors, whose work have largely become the focus of scrutiny in Florida—which has seen the highest number of book-banning cases in the past two years. Groff, who is a three-time National Book Award finalist, helped curate the store’s collection of 7,000 titles and hopes to turn the space into an integral part of the community with inclusive programming.

In the days before the store's opening, Groff emailed with Marie Claire about what this chapter of her life as a business owner has been like.

My husband Clay Kallman and I have dreamed about opening a bookstore in Gainesville since we first moved here in 2006. Clay is originally from Gainesville, and his family opened a bookstore called The Florida Bookstore in the 1930s, which they sold in the late '90s. Clay was raised in bookselling: his first job was teaching the point-of-sale system to new employees.

That said, our dream wouldn't have come to much had the state not started cracking down on freedom of expression, and had groups like (the oxymoronically named) Moms for Liberty not pressed forward on their campaign to ban books all over the state. We saw this happening and felt so deeply for the people whose voices and identities were being squelched by a loud and intolerant minority. We dreamed of a general-interest store that would have a special emphasis on banned books; that would celebrate and promote books by LGBTQI+ writers and writers of color; that would fill in the blanks that the Florida educational system is intentionally leaving in our students' education. We decided to meet the authoritarians on their own playground: private business.

The purpose of this store is to act as a lighthouse. To radiate warmth and brightness out to the people who feel as though the state of Florida is currently invalidating their lives and their history. To let them know that there are people here who love and accept them, who want for them to live happily as they are, and who will be fighting for them into the future.

We want to resist the simple story that has been told of what Florida is, to make the story more complex and interesting, to show how book bans are, in fact, deeply unpopular with nearly everyone in the state, and that, through book banning, only a tiny minority of people are trying to impose their political beliefs on the vast majority of Floridians.

We will be engaging in programming to encourage the dissemination of ideas that may be uncomfortable to those who are in power. We will encourage reading widely and well and make literature accessible to populations for whom books may currently be a luxury. We want this store to be a source of pride for Gainesville and for Florida, and for it to become a national beacon. If booksellers are the next in line to be attacked by the state government, we are prepared for this eventuality and have a very large microphone. A group of Lynxes is a watch; we want the bad actors to know that we're watching.

The majority of the startup money has come from the books I have written (thank you to everyone who has ever bought one!). We did want to invite all who wanted to be a part of the store to help us out with the Indiegogo, for which my beautiful writer friends have donated so much: from superstar agent Bill Clegg donating two manuscript critiques to people like Hernan Diaz, Kaveh Akbar, and Cheryl Strayed giving Zooms to book clubs. The public responded with great gusto. We made 116 percent of our goal! And will be fulfilling the perks and blessing the generosity of people from all over the world for a few months to come, as well.

Nothing is really a sacrifice if it's done out of love, I think. I haven't read nearly as many books since November as I normally would have—from this, it's apparent that I have so little time at the moment, and when I do have time to wind down, I usually just fall asleep! But beauty can be found in these things. My children are stepping up and taking responsibility for themselves admirably. Maybe taking a break from reading is all right at the moment, because I'll be reading between 400 and 600 books in the next six months in my role as judge for this year's National Book Awards. Everything can be an opportunity if you look at it from a different perspective.

It's extraordinarily difficult to learn a brand new set of skills in one's mid-40s, and I have never started up a business, done all of the necessary paperwork, hired people, managed the money, figured out point-of-sale systems, or dealt with contractors before. It's all hard! I haven't been able to see some of my favorite people in months, because I'm working such long hours trying to get this airship off the ground.

When I emailed Ann Patchett to tell her I was starting up a bookstore, and she emailed back, "You fool. I'm so proud of you."

Everything is worth it. I am so moved every day to see the goodwill that people are extending in our direction, as well as the hard work of our contractors and landlord and our two spectacular managers. Jackie and Gina are among the best people on the planet, and it's a joy to get to spend time with them. I also discovered how deep and powerful the love of books is in my adoptive hometown, and how hungry people have been for a more diverse slate of literary events. Also, to be honest, there are things that I have pretended to not be able to do in my home life because my husband both likes doing them, and because I wanted to protect my time and didn't want to be yoked into doing them (taxes, insurance, general household operations), and it's a little bittersweet to watch my husband begin to understand that I'm pretty competent in these things, actually.

A friend of mine owns a local bakery, Vine, and she told me not to sweat the delays that are inevitable when building out a store. "In five years, you won't even remember the date you opened," she said. She helped me see reason when I was being unreasonably strict about our timeline.

Prepared though she was, McAlister was not expecting Princess Beatrice, Andrew’s eldest daughter, then 31, to walk in the room.

“It’s very hard to imagine what it’s like going to Buckingham Palace to speak to a prince about his association with a renowned sexual predator...without the knowledge that his young daughter is going to be there,” McAlister tells Marie Claire. “Then she arrives, and you have 30 seconds to get your head around that.”

The moment is brought to life in a pivotal scene in Netflix's Scoop, which stars Billie Piper as McAlister and details the run-up to an interview that brought down Prince Andrew's career, reputation, and life as he knew it. Sitting in Buckingham Palace with the prince, his team, and his daughter, McAlister knew that Beatrice held the keys to the proverbial castle. "In my view, she was the rainmaker,” McAlister says.

In other words: Without Beatrice's approval, there would be no interview.

A question asked over and over in the years since: Why? Why did Andrew ultimately choose to sit down for the interview, a car-crash piece of television that made international headlines and cost him his royal career, privileges, and reputation, when he could have remained silent? Well, it kind of boiled down to Beatrice, actually.

Two months earlier, in September of 2019, Beatrice, Andrew's eldest daughter, had announced her engagement to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. McAlister says now that two things mattered to Andrew when he said yes to the intervew heard 'round the world: Walking Beatrice down the aisle at her wedding; and celebrating his upcoming 60th birthday. Unless Andrew "really worked at changing the view of him during that period,” McAlister says, both events would carry the stain of his association with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"That was always in my mind," McAlister reflects.

In the end, Beatrice green-lit the interview, as did, shockingly, Andrew's mother Queen Elizabeth. Three days later, Andrew sat down for the Newsnight interview that would change his life—and the monarchy—forever.

McAlister’s impossible-to-get booking of Andrew on the show is detailed in the quick but thorough 93-minute film Scoop, which landed on Netflix on April 5. Though many may watch for the recreation of the notorious interview, the movie isn't about Andrew. It's about McAlister, a single mom, a former lawyer, perpetually clad in a black wardrobe, a relentless and resilient producer who doesn’t balk at the word “no”. A woman whose dogged determination landed the BBC the “scoop of the decade” from an institution known for never complaining and never explaining.

"You have to keep believing in yourself and what you’re doing," she says now. "I felt that the journalism we did mattered, and so I kept that in my heart through relentless rejection, and I kept trying over and over again.”

Based on McAlister’s 2022 book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews, the film places three women front and center: McAlister, the interview's producer and booker; Emily Maitlis, the presenter; and Esme Wren, the editor. “This is a story of women,” reiterates McAlister.

Andrew, played by Rufus Sewell in the movie, “is the one with the seventh most lines,” McAlister notes. “Five percent is that iconic moment with Prince Andrew in the interview." The rest, she notes, hones in on "the women on the Newsnight team and the other members of the team working tirelessly on their journalism."

In other words, the woman who got behind Palace walls—literally—to demand answers of the Duke of York. What they pulled off was unprecedented: Members of the royal family do not sit for interviews, especially not after Princess Diana's own BBC interview (hers with Martin Bashir of Panorama in 1995). Diana's interview, after all, was a cultural moment so damning that it led Her late Majesty to push forward a history-making divorce between the then Prince and Princess of Wales.

Even after three separate meetings at Buckingham Palace, "I never thought [Andrew] was going to say yes," McAlister says.

On the day of the interview, McAlister arrived early, as she always does. She was there as the cameras were set up: the sound, the lighting, all of the paraphernalia that comes with a television interview. Maitlis—played by Gillian Anderson in Scoop—didn’t arrive, as is customary, until just before the interview. That morning, the Newsnight team had received a message from the BBC’s director general: how incredible this was (an interview in Buckingham Palace with a senior royal!), and how, in no uncertain terms, they had better not mess it up.

“The pressure was palpable,” McAlister says.

The interview itself lasted less than an hour. It has been described as a national joke (CNN), a car crash (The Washington Post), and the worst debacle for the royal family since Diana's death in 1997 (The New York Times). Andrew feebly denied ever meeting Virginia Guiffre, the woman who had accused him of sexual assault, despite Maitlis showing him a photo of them together. (Andrew settled out of court with Guiffre for £12 million in early 2022.) He showed no empathy for Epstein's victims and described Epstein's behavior as "a manner unbecoming." In a now-famous response, Maitlis hit back: "Unbecoming? He was a sex offender."

"I knew what we had," McAlister says of the moments after the interview. “I knew how profoundly important it was. I knew how disastrous it was for him."

And yet: "Palpably, [Andrew] thought it had gone well," she recalls. "The difference in the room between the journalists—and remember, I’m an ex-lawyer, so I know how this is for him potentially legally—the difference between Emily, who looks like we’ve shot her dog, and Prince Andrew, who looks like he’s done a good job, really did encapsulate the space between his capability and his perception of his capability.”

Four days after the interview aired, Andrew resigned from his royal duties. The late Queen ultimately stripped her reported favorite son of all of his royal patronages, privileges, and military titles.

Inexplicably, even after landing one of the biggest scoops in the BBC's almost century-long history, McAlister was neither promoted nor given a pay raise. “I’m not a bitter ex-girlfriend,” McAlister says now. “I never want to say anything negative about the BBC, but that didn’t happen." She confirmed that she'd asked for a pay rise and a promotion, but was told that, "unfortunately, there wasn’t capacity to give me either.”

But McAlister wanted to write a book about the scoop of the decade—and, she says, "I wasn’t going to be able to write the book while still at the BBC." So, she bet on herself. “I threw the dice, and throwing the dice as a single parent on a part-time salary is a really big dice to throw,” McAlister said. "It could’ve ended differently, and, of course, it ended joyously. I’m the luckiest woman alive.”

As a pivotal moment in her life plays out onscreen, the power of female collaboration has translated from onscreen to offscreen for McAlister. Nobody prepares you for meeting the woman who will play you in a movie, but McAlister and actress Billie Piper have become friends, bonding over gin martinis (McAlister, a longtime aficionado, introduced Piper to her favorite drink).

Both women consider Scoop to be a feminist project, in part because—with the exception of Sewell—the biggest roles are all played by women. (In addition to Piper as McAlister and Anderson as Maitlis, Romola Garai plays Esme Wren; Keeley Hawes portrays Amanda Thirsk, Andrew's private secretary.) The film not only magnifies what can happen when women work together, McAlister says, but emphasizes the importance of "making sure that you hold powerful people to account."

For both McAlister and Andrew, the interview forever changed their lives. If their paths crossed a second time—say, on a street, or in a restaurant—what would she say to Andrew? “I would say hello,” she says, in her typically buoyant way. “I’m not awkward with people. We gave him an opportunity, and it was his responsibility to give good answers, and he didn’t. So I would smile at him and wish him a good day."

She adds, "I can’t speak for what he would say to me.”

In conversations with innovators like Tina Knowles, Diana Flores, and Nia Batts, power took the shape of pursuing one's own goals with abandon while creating equal opportunities for others whenever possible. In quieter moments between events, women from all industries swapped stories where power was a manifestation of confidence, grit, and an acceptance of change. Dorsey founder Meg Strachan thought of power as acting authentically in every situation; Mary Pryor, co-founder of Cannaclusive, equated power with inner peace. No two women found the same meaning in the word—and many noted that power has its downsides, too. Everyone agreed it's more deeply personal than the dictionary lets on.

Ahead, entrepreneurs, actresses, and creatives explain what power means to them. Forget stale definitions: Their takes are much more inspiring.

Tina Knowles, vice chairwoman of Cécred: "Power means fuel for me. It means that I am self sufficient and I feel strong and that I can put out good energy."

Mary Pryor, co-founder of Cannaclusive: "Peace. Too many people chase after things that kind of cause you to forget that you need peace to be powerful."

Jesse Draper, founding partner at Halogen Ventures: "Power is the confidence to use your voice, smarts, and energy unapologetically."

Richa Moorjani, actress: “Power to me is uplifting others.”

Courteney Cox, actress, director, and founder of Homecourt: "Power means confidence to me. It means that you feel good about yourself and feel that you could do anything."

Nia Batts, investor and activist: "Power to me means opportunity. I think people try to hoard it, and I think it's interesting when those who have it make sure others do as well. When we have conversations regarding equity, power also comes into play. And for me [there is] an opportunity for us to understand, as women, as business leaders, how we can take the privilege that we have [...] and figure out how to make the world more equitable."

Meg Strachan, founder of Dorsey: “To me, power is operating from a place that feels authentically you through thick and thin.”

Irene Liu, CEO and co-founder of Chiyo: "I think power is understanding how the system works to know where you're going to play."

Kathleen Griffith, author and founder of Build Like a Woman: "Power means to claim and then unapologetically go after what you want. This comes from designing an authentic, integrated life that is true to you and you alone."

Ingrid Murra, founder of Two Front: "Power is unlocking the ability to make change. Making change is real power."

Rupi Kaur, poet: “Power means being able to use my voice and have my voice be heard. It’s stepping into my light and knowing my worth while acknowledging others' light as well. We shine brighter when we shine together.”

Denise Vasi, founder of Maed Beauty: "To me, true power lies in confidently embracing your identity, standing firm in your beliefs, sparking positive change through your actions, and lending support to encourage other women to step into their power."

Taye Hansberry, founder and creator of By Taye: "There is power in doing exactly what you want to do and creating a life in which you allow yourself the space to do just that."

Kristen Kish: Chef, Author, Television Host

How do you define power?

Power means finding comfort within myself to just be me...It's about finding patience for myself and empowering others. When I was younger, I thought power meant having things, having ego, not asking for help. Now, power means being able to clearly define my weaknesses more so than my strengths.

You've been a contestant, guest judge, and now you are the host of Top Chef. What have all those roles taught you about power?

That it can come in all different forms. When I was a contestant, I did not trust myself at all. I was second-guessing myself as a person, not feeling worthy. As much as I am confident now in my role as host, I came to this incredibly insecure. But my insecurities are always going to be a part of me. What I can control is how I parlay them into being something helpful. Therein lies the power. The first five minutes of filming in Milwaukee [Wisconsin], I was incredibly nervous. There was an external pressure of replacing [former host Padma Lakshmi]. But she was her and I am me. There is also another definition of power in saying, 'I'm not meant to be anybody other than me.'

As the host of Top Chef you're more visible within the franchise. Have you thought about how that might change your actions because you have more power?

Power is, in a lot of ways, not changing at all. No matter what my job is, who I am remains the same. There is power in knowing I am a queer Asian woman, a Korean adoptee. That doesn't change. I don't need to tell myself, Now when this airs, you're going to do this. That's not how I think about it.

Michelle Obama: Former First Lady; Author; Cofounder of Plezi Nutrition

When I think about power, I don't just think about who has it, but who will have it—who should have it. That's why for most of my professional life, I've been working to lift up the next generation that will soon be leading the way in boardrooms, courtrooms, classrooms, and everywhere else.

But before young people can do any of that, they've got to have a sturdy foundation. Their bodies have to be healthy so that their minds and spirits can soar. That's what my Let's Move! initiative was all about when I was First Lady. And it's why, earlier this year, I cofounded a children's nutrition company called PLEZi Nutrition to push our food industry to produce better options for our kids. I'm out to prove good business can truly change the game when it comes to our kids' health.

And if we do that—if we make sure that every child is healthy enough to reach their fullest potential—we'll see a generation that's better equipped to rise up to whatever challenges come along. That's how we'll give them power—and I'm confident we'll see them use it in remarkable ways.

Susie Wolff: Former Professional Race Car Driver; Managing Director of F1 Academy

On finding power in a world that is traditionally male-dominated:
I don't worry that I am very different to those sitting around me. I don't get intimidated and I don't try to act like a man. Authenticity is key. You need to be authentic, because it's when you're not, you get called out very quickly.

Advice for the next generation about finding power:

I joined Formula E team as a principal and at my first media round table I was asked, "Did your husband get you this job? You've just had a baby, how are you going to manage travel?" That was the moment where I realized how much work there was to do, but also that the biggest way to change perceptions is to be successful, focus on the performance. I tell the younger generation, let the noise around your gender fade away because the minute you perform, everything else fades away. If you are really good at what you do, that naturally gives you power.

Jane Fonda: Actor; Activist

Lauren Chan: Fashion Model; Entrepreneur

If power is the ability to implement your will, you have to know what you want. And to know what you really want, you must know yourself. Do you? Forgive the invasive question; I only ask because I so did not.

To make a long story short: I realized I was gay in my 30s, then came out to the world in this year's Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. In hindsight, I believe I didn't fully know myself because it required extreme vulnerability—something I wasn't able to access until recently. (Shout out to my therapist!)

Here's my crash course in knowing your deepest self:

Don't assume that you do. We are made up of trauma responses, act reactively to those around us, and are shaped by societal norms. How much of what you think, do, or feel is influenced by forces outside of you?

Take time to be in your own mind. What was the last time you were zero percent distracted? To get in tune with yourself, try meditating, journaling, taking baths, getting massages—any activity where you can do nothing but think.

Do not judge or cut off your thoughts. Nothing bad will happen from thinking something privately in your own mind. This is where you'll find any buried feelings, which you'll then be able to reconcile.

Here's the kicker: When you're able to know yourself, you're able to be yourself, and your world will change to reflect you. Some people call this the law of attraction, others say manifesting, it's even considered quantum physics—in the simplest terms, it's harnessing your power. And trust me when I tell you that once you feel this alignment, every move you make will feel like a power move.

Selma Blair: Actor; Author; Advocate

Don't underestimate a woman who has gained clarity of strength. The great discoveries in my evolution have all come at the heavy price of chronic breakdown of spirit, mind, and body.

The first discovery was the breakthrough of my own knowing: the only true abandonment, I realized, was the one I had done to myself. It was the threatening whispers of my own fear and shame, overwhelmed by disease and alcoholism that silenced my self-loathing. It took a plummet to rise up past a crisis of faith, which had grown steadily in my aloneness.

To stop drinking, to share my story of sexual assault and finally the diagnosis of a long undetected life with multiple sclerosis, these unburdenings allowed grace. For years, I had been under attack: The nervous system, the brain, the spine, the emotional control, all that blur of hurt came into focus. I could feel a calm settle in as my own self-worth stretched exponentially. With the knowledge of the diagnosis, the potential for healing, the acceptance that my body and brain were in a real crisis was a gift. I gained a tribe of supporters and community to uplift me as I reflect this gratitude and love out to you.

Our disabilities shine light on disparity. My character has grown through essential love and support. The traumatized hold so much gratitude, love, and a hope to be free if given a map. I pray to be a map of character.

My superpower is what I found in support, community, faith, and tools of awareness. I gladly give it all right back to you all.

Kris Jenner: Media Personality; Producer; Entrepreneur

Power is: The ability to shape and control my life, enabling me to achieve both personal and professional goals.

Power over my image means: We believe in the power of storytelling and the power of our fans. There is very little that we do not share and there is power in that. It has become clear that our fans value that in us. Over the years, we've learned to tell each of our narratives together and separately while still maintaining our own values, aspirations, and the messages we want to convey. For us, our show and social media have allowed us to remain authentic and make sure our narrative reflects who we truly are, rather than leaving it solely to external sources.

The lessons on power I share with my family: I encourage my children to be self-reliant and confident—and we empower each other on a daily basis. We love and are supportive of each other no matter what and that is one of the most important lessons.

How my view of power changed: I recognize the influence that we have as a family, not only to each other but for others, and we do not take that lightly. Remaining true to myself has become more important as I've moved through my career.

The best piece of advice on power I've received: Never take no for an answer and dream big.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: United States Representative for New Yorks' 14th Congressional District

Sade Lythcott: CEO of National Black Theatre

So much of my perception of power is rooted in the sacred. I was raised by a village of witchy Black women that conjured a future from shards of the broken pieces of life they were handed, spinning them into something worth living for, something so sacred that each breath felt like a prayer.

They raised me to believe that power is not a singular, oppressive force but a dynamic, transformative energy that resides within each of us and the communities we build. That power is ignited and activated in the remembering and not the acquiring. Remembering that I am the embodiment of possibility, born out of impossible circumstances. Remembering the ancestral wisdom that we are always the altar and not the sacrifice. For me, power emerges when we come together, recognizing our interconnectedness and interdependence. It's not about hierarchy, but about synergy, and that is the most clear in the work I do.

As a theater maker and community organizer, I marvel at the power of storytelling. Storytelling is a portal to change, rooted in the ability to reclaim narratives that have long been silenced or distorted. Because of this, I believe it is the most powerful medium on Earth, recognizing that its true power lies in our willingness to be open, authentic, empathetic, and vulnerable. Who tells our stories and how we tell them helps heal and harmonize our communities; fostering a greater sense of belonging and well-being, creating collective experiences and narratives that become the catalyst for changing lives, social practice and ultimately a more humane world. What is more powerful than that?

Sophia Amoruso: General Partner at Trust Fund; Founder and CEO at Business Class; Founder of Nasty Gal

When I think of power in the post-Girlboss era, and what it means to me, I know the needle has moved [in that women have more power in the workplace], but that the needle hasn't moved enough. I coined a word that became part of the zeitgeist—and still is, whatever it means to you.

As a woman new to the venture capital industry, I've found myself in rooms mostly made up of balding white dudes. While the conversations around power, as it relates to gender, race, sexuality, ability, class, and age, have been updated, it's quite visible that the statistics are far from good.

To me, the most important power I can possess is unseen—power is integrity, honesty, boundaries, discipline, kindness, and wielding influence like a genuine human being, not a "boss."

The most surprising thing I've learned about power is its ability to affect change. I didn't know what would eventually happen when I stood akimbo on the cover of a pink book about shoplifting and working hard, but the 500,000 copies that sold prompted thousands of women to quit their jobs and take a bet on themselves—and if that's not powerful, I don't know what is.

Stacey Abrams: Chair for Race and Black Politics at Howard University; Senior Counsel for Rewiring America

Where do you find power when it feels like it's been taken away?

I grew up with a very clear understanding that power was not in the realm of possibility for me. If you have no expectation of power, you also have no limitation, which has allowed me to respond to defeats or challenges not by feeling vanquished, but by recognizing that if I wasn't supposed to have it in the first place, I might just have to find another way to get there.

You've had many different career paths as not only an attorney and a politician, but also as a romance and thriller novelist. How does doing things outside your "lane" give you power?

I am driven by concerns of poverty and disadvantage, and who doesn't have access. That core driver has never wavered but I have always been fascinated by the different ways I could tackle it. What, to other people, looks like me getting out of my lane is more the fact that I've always existed on a multi-lane freeway. I'm always traveling in the same direction. Part of writing is narrative building, telling stories, shaping vision. That's the responsibility of the writer but also an effective leader. Whether it's starting a company or writing a book or running for office or fighting for democracy, it all comes back to my core mission that we serve those who are disadvantaged and marginalized.

The old adage is that too much power is a bad thing. But you also need power to do good in the world and enact change. How do you find the balance between those two ideas?

If all you're doing is hoarding power, that is a problem. I see the acquisition of power as a shared opportunity. What I get, I should be able to then multiply by spreading to more people. In almost every facet of my life I begin my work by thinking about who else I can bring to the table. I worry less about hoarding power and more about sharing power.

Sheryl Lee Ralph: Actor; Producer

As an artist and a public figure, it's not just a privilege but a responsibility to use my platform to shed light on issues that matter to me and the world. Speaking up about important issues, even when it's not the popular narrative, is a testament to one's commitment to social justice and the well-being of communities worldwide.

In 1981, I had just made my big break starring in the original production of Dreamgirls on Broadway. Simultaneously, AIDS was growing into an epidemic. My friends would be sick one day and dead the next. Even when people told me to shut up, I risked my career for a cause that was impacting the communities that meant so much to me. I spoke out by creating The Diva Foundation to fight stigma and bring awareness to transmission prevention of HIV/AIDS.

For me, channeling power comes from a deep sense of conviction and genuine desire for positive change. It's about amplifying voices that often go unheard and being a catalyst for meaningful conversations and action. So, in a way, I find strength in knowing that my single voice can make a difference. I encourage others to use their voices to speak up for themselves and their community because when you speak your truth, and stand up for what you believe in, you not only empower yourself but also inspire others to do the same.

Kim Petras: Singer-songwriter

Power to me is being on stage. These songs really pick me up before I perform every night. They make me feel like I am strong enough to face anything.

Go Off, Doja Cat

Not Fair, Lily Allen

Alien Superstar, Beyoncé

Bad Girls, M.I.A.

Who Do You Think You Are, Spice Girls

I'm The Best, Nicki Minaj

Bitch Better Have My Money, Rihanna

Strong Enough, Cher

brrr, Kim Petras

Faith, George Michael

Eva Longoria: Director; Actor; Activist

You've been producing your own work for years. How did moving behind the camera give you power over your own career?

As an actor, I would go into work, stand on my marks, say my lines, and go home. I want to not only have more control over the final products but also to create my own opportunities. I don't want to sit back and wait for the universe to deliver an opportunity to me. Having control to create opportunities for other people, other women, people of color, Latinos, that was important to me.

I like to think of power as when you have the ability to influence culture, people, and events. If I can influence the media or how women or Latinos are portrayed, that's powerful.

What did being in the director's chair for the major film Flamin' Hot teach you about power?

There is no greater position of power than giving opportunities to department heads and executing your vision. That position of hiring is sacred to me. I used that moment to hire from a different talent pool to build a pipeline of talent who can get that next job because I gave them their first job.

You're incredibly active in politics. Where do you find power in that space?

The biggest myth is that politicians hold power. They don't. Citizens hold power. I don't speak for women or the Latino community. I encourage them to speak for themselves, to speak up, to pay attention, to look at what's going on, research their candidates, and get educated. I want others to feel empowered on their own.

Michelle Buteau: Comedian; Actor

As you gain more fame and attract more attention, how has your relationship with power changed?

Being powerful isn't about what restaurant you can get into. It's knowing that you have a platform and people are listening. Be mindful. How are you using it for good? For me, it's in the form of allyship—having a voice for people who don't have one.

Your brand of comedy often goes hand in hand with kindness and open-heartedness. How does that type of humor translate to power?

You hear phrases like "killing with kindness" and that's what it is. I can still kill it but not be an asshole or disparage a whole community. It's lazy when comedians say, "We can't say anything anymore." You can still say lots of things but the world is different, and thank God.

Noor Tagouri: Journalist; Producer; Founder of At Your Service Media

Power to me is being fully present in my body, being fully here right now, feeling all of my feelings all the way through every time, and alchemizing those feelings into art and love and service. Power for me is being aware of the choices that I get to make in life and my ability to rethink those choices. Power is using my body and my spirit and my heart to protect another person's space so that they can go on their own life journey and step into their power. Power is giving myself the space to be and also giving other people space to be.

In my head the image of power feels like an Amazonian woman, a really strong, grounded being that is tied to and connected to the earth, that is connected to themselves, and that is connected to the oneness of everyone.

I truly believe that real power, true power, is understanding that there is no separation, that we are all one, that my story is interconnected with your story. That's why we need to know ourselves, and we need to know each other, because until we have investigated ourselves and understand who we are, and why we are, we can never fully be in our power.

Emma Grede: Cofounder and CEO of Good American; Founding Partner of Skims; Chairwoman of the Fifteen Percent Pledge

Power is the courage to challenge norms and embrace the unknown. This rings true in everything I do throughout my businesses, investments, and in my non-profit work as a board member of Baby2Baby and chairwoman of the Fifteen Percent Pledge. Since day one, I've had the mindset of pushing boundaries and challenging perceived societal norms. Good American is a great example of a business that was built on these principles, redefining how clothes are made and marketed. Inclusivity has never just been a buzzword for me, it is at the core of everything I do and build.

I look at the power and ability to achieve purpose and affect meaningful change. There is unique power that comes from working alongside talented and diverse individuals who share a vision and are willing to take risks to achieve it. The synergy of diverse talents, working and thinking together, makes the difference and improves the way you do business and, more importantly, the results. If I can influence others to think about inclusivity, representation, and diversity as valuable principles to what we're creating in all areas of business and beyond—that, to me, is power in action.

Bethann Hardison: Luxury Brand Consultant; Fashion Advocate

I've felt most powerful when: I wrote letters to each council of fashion from New York to London to Milan to Paris saying that if you continue to use one or two or no models of color consistently season through season, no matter the intention, the result is racist. That took a lot of consciousness.

My power move: When you feel powerful is when you're feeling your most joy because the freedom of that is so wonderful. I'm most joyful when I'm dancing. When I was coming up as a model, I would go to [now defunct NYC dance club] Palladium to hear salsa. You'd get this feeling that lends to your spirit.

The biggest lie about power: That everybody has it. That's not true. You can't just meditate or say the right words and have power. It's a rare commodity and it doesn't happen to many. They tell kids that everybody's a winner, there are no losers here. But that's not true and it's not helping. It creates an illusion.

Whitney Cummings: Comedian

My power playlist:

Still D.R.E., Dr Dre featuring Snoop Dogg

This song never fails to trick me into thinking I'm way more confident than I am.

Supermarine, Hans Zimmer

It's very corny and embarrassing to admit, but triumphant anthems help inspire me to pretend I'm a superhero that needs to save the day, and by save the day, I mean I return the email.

Circle of Life, The Lion King soundtrack

The nostalgic innocence takes me back to a time when I was more hopeful. It reminds me why I started.

My Chick Bad, Ludacris featuring Nicki Minaj

I play this song when I'm feeling insecure—it's very good if you need a delusional amount of confidence.

Crystallize, Lindsey Stirling

Lindsey's music taps into some ancestral wisdom and energy.

Free Your Mind, En Vogue

This song is a legit bop but also has a profound message. It taught me that you can make something mainstream but also say something real.

Take Me or Leave Me, Idina Menzel and Fredi Walker

Look, I'm a Rent head. This song always puts me in a playtime mode, every since I couldn't afford to pay my own rent.

Ready or Not, Fugees

Duh.

Dancing On My Own, Robyn

This always makes me feel clear, inspired, and not ashamed to do things alone.

Jessica Knoll; Author: Screenwriter; Producer

All too often, victims and survivors don't get justice. At the end of the day, all you have that's within your control is the story of what happened. In my case, that story had been hijacked from me. It was easier for [my high-school classmates] to go along with a story that a girl got really drunk at a party and hooked up with three guys than a girl got really drunk at a party and was gang raped by three guys.

[In writing Bright Young Women, a novel that centers fictionalized versions of the victims of Ted Bundy], I felt that if I could just strip him of the unearned qualities that we remembered him having—his intelligence, his charm, his good looks—then what we were left with was a woman's story. The things she hoped for, the things she wanted for herself.

The power in storytelling is not just the realization that my voice matters, but that it's valuable to people, that my input and creative instincts are valuable. The more I'm in the adaptation world the more I learn that so much of it boils down to trusting people.

I trust other people because I respect their instincts and choices. Feeling that the respect is reciprocated makes me realize I can stand in my own power and call the shots.

Aminatou Sow: Writer; Interviewer

We do not all have the same degree of power but I believe that power, however you define it for yourself, is available to everyone. I keep this note in my phone for when I feel defeated. It's a reminder that even in the most challenging of circumstances, there are still choices to be made:

Power is knowing: "There is difference and there is power; and who holds the power decides the meaning of the difference." —June Jordan

Understanding that: "Generosity is more than just 'giving up.' Generosity generates its power from the gesture of letting go. Being able to give to others shows us our ability to let go of attachments that otherwise can limit our beliefs and our experiences." —Sharon Salzberg

When: "We can join together to effect a future the world has not yet conceived, let alone seen." —Audre Lorde

Being fully self-expressed: I am disciplined in my language, mindful of the words I speak and the words I read or listen to. Words hold so much power. Their meaning crystallizes perceptions that shape our beliefs, drive our behaviors, and ultimately, create our world.

Courage: A lot of courage. This is not time to be feckless.

Remembering that: If you are lucky enough life is a long game and your power is forever expanding.

Hunter Harris: Journalist; Screenwriter

You often write about celebrities and notable figures. What has the experience taught you about power?

A lot of people conflate being famous with having power and that has never felt the same to me. A lot of famous people are really vulnerable and insecure, and a lot of regular people are extremely powerful and secure. That sort of disconnect between being visible and actually being empowered is the public friction that I think readers of my newsletter really like.

In what instances do you feel like you have power?

When I'm angry. Rage is a very powerful emotion for me. It's clarifying. I feel powerful when I'm writing; not because I'm writing from a mountaintop, but just sitting at my desk and feeling in control of myself, like I know exactly what I'm thinking.

What's the best piece of advice you ever received on power?

I interviewed Usher and he said, "If you live by the applause, you'll die by the boos." I've always felt that. There's pressure to be very visible showing your accomplishments online. I'm working all the time on things people can't necessarily see and there's power in that. The most powerful people I know are the ones who disappear for a while and come back with something astonishing and thrilling.

Bethenny Frankel: Entrepreneur; Philanthropist; Host of the Podcast Just B

As someone who has been in the public eye in many different contexts and roles, how do you view the connection between power and criticism?

If using your voice to do the right thing was easy, everyone would be doing it. You have to have a certain level of courage to walk a tightrope with no safety net.

What's the biggest misconception about power?

That is lacks vulnerability and is impenetrable. To use your power effectively you have to be malleable and open to change and evolution.

How are you trying to redistribute power with your reality TV union effort?

I don't think I am redistributing power, necessarily. I am, however, guiding people towards a media world where they can control their own story and content, versus the archaic world of a network deciding how your intellectual property is distributed and digested. This new world order is very scary to the dinosaurs who are on the verge of extinction.

Allyson Felix: Seven-time Olympic Gold Medalist; Cofounder and President of Saysh

These quotes reassure me of the many different ways power looks and feels. I find myself glancing at these in moments of adversity.

"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up." —Babe Ruth

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." —Arthur Ashe

"You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated." —Maya Angelou

"It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent." —Madeleine Albright

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." —Nelson Mandela

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." —Winston Churchill

Alix Earle: Content Creator; Host of the Podcast Hot Mess

Ziwe: Comedian; Author of Black Friend: Essays

Power means nothing if you are not able to use your access to help other people. For some that means using your voice to boost the voiceless, but it is just as important to open doors for those who otherwise wouldn't get opportunities.

When I think of all of the people I look up to, I realize they are kingmakers. They are the geniuses credited with discovering some of the world's best talent. They are less interested in helping themselves and more interested in serving community.

I hope that every day I am on this Earth I can crack open a door or a window or a chimney shoot for someone to squeeze in behind me. That's what power means to me.

Megan Fox: Author; Actor

Laphonza Butler: United States Senator from California

MLK is quoted as saying, "Power at its best is love implementing justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love."

Twenty-first century power must be a power that includes the hopes and the fears of everyone hurt by the power of the past. Urban and rural, varied economic backgrounds, people and communities who never got the love of being seen, supported or encouraged to thrive.

I've lived that experience being raised by working-class parents in a small town in Mississippi. As a U.S. Senator from California who is only the third Black woman to serve in the chamber and who has been to all 58 counties in our beautiful state, I have heard many of these hopes and fears. I carry these stories in my heart and am determined to be power at its best on their behalf.

Amanda Nguyen: Civil Rights Activist

Power is about agency, the freedom to be. The freedom to choose the life you want to live. If we examine our daily lives, how many of our choices are directed by conditions?

Let's take an example, a quaint one, of walking down the street. Ask a woman late at night if she is doing the calculations of how to be safe. Is she thinking about keys in her hands? Is she thinking about who to have on speed dial? Is this mundane task that millions of women go through every day free from those conditions? The answer is no. It is my wish that all women have power. The power to be safe. To not only survive but thrive.

The most powerful thing that we all have is our voice, and so I used mine to stand in my authenticity and truth. I think each of us was born with power beyond our imagination. It is our life's purpose to recognize the light that is already within us. No one is powerless when we come together, no one is invisible when we demand to be seen.

Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, fashion historian and author of Skirts Fashioning Modern Femininity in the 20th Century, explains the '80s skirt set, coined a “power suit,” was intentionally machismo and overtly eye-catching with oversized shoulder pads and neon color combos. "Just the idea of having a uniform is a compelling and influential concept in itself," she says, "and the skirt set became a symbol of power in the workplace at a pivotal time when women challenged men for equality."

While the power suit is synonymous with the decade that also brought us Reaganomics and scrunchies, skirt suits were not just an '80s phenomenon. As far back as the 17th century, women began wearing the first version of a skirt suit during male-dominated leisure activities like horseback riding and hunting—both for comfort and as a tactic to command authority. In the 18th century, Marie Antoinette and the ladies of the French aristocracy wore men’s coats paired alongside skirted bottoms to ride side-saddle and eventually during travel.

In the 20th century, French designer Christian Dior put the modern idea of a skirt suit on the sartorial map. His New Look collection featured a novel pairing of a bar jacket with rounded shoulders and a pinched waist, matched with a skirt both voluminous and appropriate for everyday wear. In the early '60s, Coco Chanel debuted her interpretation of the duo, taking it from a historically structured ensemble to a loose-fitting but well-constructed set that was smart, comfortable, and versatile.

"The fact of the matter is the convenience of a skirt will never waver," Chrisman-Campbell explains. Fashion leaders agree. After several seasons of workleisure and all day loungewear, a new guard of skirted suits re-emerged on the fall 2022 runways—but this time, without a narrow borrowed-from-the-boys approach. The latest iterations are strong but feminine in bold colors and eye-catching silhouettes that you can mix and match or wear as one-and-done sets.

While you no longer have to wear a skirt suit to command authority or snag the corner office, "there's a reason that we keep coming back to them," says Chrisman-Campbell. They’re an insurance policy for looking and feeling great. Still, one thing's for sure: Women never needed the power suit to smash the glass ceiling. We did that on our own.

This story appears in Marie Claire's 2022 Power Issue, on newsstands November 22.

Photographer: Allie Holloway | Stylist: Sara Holzman |Model: Essence at Q | Hair and Makeup: Magdalena Major at See | Photo Assistant:  Emma Devereaux

But if a bold, floral print dress or a smartly tailored suit à la a famous politician doesn't help you meet the day head on—look elsewhere. Commanding authority via fashion is less about the piece itself than it is about the feelings they bring out. "The more we wear a piece, the more value it holds," Bell explains. "In turn, these pieces take on a life of their own.” They can herald mood-boosting powers or help navigate tricky social situations.

As you head out into the world, armor yourself with pieces that embolden you—like a workhorse winter boot or an invest-in-yourself watch—but it’s important to remember that the power really lies in you.

The Bar Jacket

Known for its rounded hourglass silhouette, Dior's Bar jacket turns 74 this year. “The shape of your clothes can change a person's perspective,” explains Bell. “Women who wear tailored clothing are perceived as more intelligent. In turn, women wearing form-fitting jackets will feel more confident,” she says.

The Skirt Suit

Turn the patriarchy on its head with a high-slit skirt suit. "Suits often have a masculine connotation, but don't settle for a man's suit," says Bell. " A skirt suit exudes a feminine power that the wearer will draw strength from.

The Knit Dress

Embracing comfort may actually help you power through your day. “Not having the distraction of uncomfortable pieces can increase your cognition so that you’re actually able to perform better,” Bell says. “Pieces that are elevated, yet cozy, embrace the excitement of novelty with all of the positive benefits of comfort.”

The It Bag

There’s no better way to flex your purchasing power than with Telfar’s vegan leather tote.

“Of-the-moment bags help people belong to the cultural zeitgeist,” says Bell. Not only does it feed an internal desire to belong, but your buying decisions can also lend support to powerful purposes.

The Winter Boot

Put your best foot forward with a heavy-tread winter boot that will ground you. “Virtual life means we haven’t seen each other’s shoes in a long time, but they’re the first thing we see in real life,” explains Bell. “As we continue to socialize, now is the time to use an incredibly strong shoe to make your mark.”

The Low-Rise Trouser

A trouser with a natural waistline can have supernatural powers. "Women are taking ownership of their bodies, tapping into the power of their own skin," explains Bell. "Don't conform to ideals on how much you should or shouldn't show."

The Gold Choker

Front and center, a radiant necklace will speak for itself. “Jewelry enables people to inject their creativity into an outfit,” says Bell. "A special piece will help you differentiate yourself in a meaningful way.”

The Investment Watch

Isn’t it about time you did something nice for yourself? “People embody power and carry their heads higher when they’re sporting luxury pieces,” says Bell. “They may even interact differently with other people.”

The Tuxedo

Swap your little black dress for a less expected tuxedo suit. “Playing dress-up can be used as an escape. It’s a mood-elevator that can help us break out of our shells—separating ourselves from our usual day-to-day routines,” Bell explains.

Everything from her record as California's attorney general, to information about her father, Donald Harris, to even learning more about her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, potential voters are looking to learn more about Harris, who could very well become the first woman, Black woman, and South Asian woman to become president of the United States.

That includes voters wanting to learn more about Vice President Kamala Harris' net worth. Back in 2019, when she ended her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris said she had to back out of the crowded Democratic primary race "simply doesn't have the financial resources we need to continue."

"I'm not a billionaire. I can't fund my own campaign," she explained at the time. "And as the campaign has gone on, it's become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete."

At the time, according to Fortune, Harris was worth an estimated $6.3 million. Since then, her net worth has increased.

Currently, Harris' net worth stands at an estimated $8 million, according to Forbes. As vice president, Harris earns $218,000 per year. The reason for her net worth's increase, according to Forbes, is largely thanks to a multimillion-dollar home Harris shares with her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.

According to the same Forbes report, the home increased in value, from $1 million in 2021 to $4.4 million in 2024. Harris has also more than $500,000 from various book advances she received before entering the White House.

It goes without saying, but the nation's first female VP, first Black VP, and first VP of South Asian descent has worked hard for her money—so here's a breakdown of where Harris's significant wealth comes from.

How much money has Kamala Harris earned from her political career?

Kamala was elected as district attorney of San Francisco in 2003. According to Forbes, she made more than $140,000 that year, with her wages steadily increasing throughout her six years in the position, peaking at $202,000 in 2010. The job made her eligible for a pension worth at least $250,000 today, per Women's Health.

When Harris became California's attorney general in 2010, according to her tax returns previously obtained by The New York Times, she took a significant drop in pay from her previous job, earning just under $160,000 a year. Seven years later, when she took office as a U.S. Senator representing California, her pay increased by a slight amount, up to the $174,000 annual salary that's been paid to every Senator since their last pay raise in 2009.

When Harris was sworn in as vice president in January 2021, she started to receive a federally mandated salary of $235,100—quite the pay bump from her past political gigs. In addition, Harris is allowed to write off up to $100,000 for VP-related expenses, along with being housed for free at Number One Observatory Circle, the official vice presidential residence.

How much money has Kamala Harris earned from her books?

As a three-time author, Harris has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in book advances.

Harris published Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer in 2009 and a children's picture book called Superheroes Are Everywhere in 2019. That same year, she released her memoir, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey. According to her 2018 tax returns, she earned $320,125 from writing and publishing her memoir.

In 2019, Harris reported earning $277,763 from various book advances. Since then, her three books garnished more than $359,000 in 2020 and $456,000 in 2021 in royalties.

Harris has not written or released a new book since taking office, however, so her book-related revenue stream decreased to $80,000 in 2022 and $8,488 in 2023, according to her latest filing and as reported by Forbes.

If Harris does become the first woman president of the United States, more books are likely to come.

What are Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff's joint assets?

Harris married lawyer Douglas Emhoff in 2014. During their time together and before Harris became vice president of the United States, the couple were estimated to have earned a combined $8.2 million in total, with annual earnings remaining steady around the $2 million mark throughout their six years of joint filings.

Most of their income came from Emhoff’s work at law firms Venable and DLA Piper, according to Forbes. In 2018 alone, according to the tax return Harris released for that fiscal year, she and Emhoff reported a total of $1.9 million in adjusted gross income; they paid a tax rate of about 37% on their earnings that year, which was, interestingly, the highest tax rate paid by any of the 2020 Democratic candidates that year, per The New York Times.

But when Harris resumed the vice presidency in 2021, her husband announced he would leave his law firm (and his substantial salary) behind.

Instead, he became a member of Georgetown University's law school faculty, earning $200,000 a year. The move "significantly dropped" the couple's income, ABC News reports, from more than $3 million in 2019 to around $450,000 in 2023.

If you're in the mood to indulge in some on-screen feminism, there are plenty of movies about women, for women, created by women. The films on this list put women in the spotlight, whether it be in front of the camera or behind. From historical dramas to rom-coms to gripping psychological thrillers to action movies with strong women calling the shots, these must-watch films celebrate women in all of their glory with their stories at the front and center. Expect to see recent hits that expose and admonish toxic culture to early feminist classics that paved the way for female-fronted flicks. Get ready to feel motivated and inspired with this movie marathon of the best feminist films of all time that nobody can afford to miss.

'Alien' (1979)

Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic Alien was groundbreaking for many reasons, but in large part because of its portrayal of a female action hero. Sigourney Weaver leads the cast as Ripley, a crew member aboard the spaceship Nostromo, which comes across a foreign life form. The gruesome body horror depictions—many of which are phallic or involve pregnancy—are utterly terrifying, but it stands no chance to Ripley once she takes control of the mission.

WATCH IT

'Atomic Blonde' (2017)

Atomic Blonde is anything but your typical spy drama. Charlize Theron spends pretty much the entire time kicking butt and taking names, and the movie doesn't fall into the trap of giving her an emotion-filled backstory. To quote Theron herself: "[Usually] we need a reason to become a warrior. And I have a problem with that because we really are warriors, and it’s time for us to be shown that way. We don’t need to lose a child or a husband or have some kind of revenge story to become a warrior. We don’t need that today."

WATCH IT

'Barbie' (2023)

Greta Gerwig was given the mighty task of adapting the iconic Mattel property into a film, and, girl, did she ever! The filmmaker and her husband/co-writer Noah Baumbach managed to tackle every perception of the doll—from her empowering messaging to the unrealistic beauty standards she set to the corporate greed of the company that makes her—and inherently how she reflects upon women. And Gerwig did it all with stellar production design and costuming, hysterical jokes, and an A+ ensemble.

WATCH IT

'Battle of the Sexes' (2017)

This sports biopic pits women against men in the so-called tennis match "Battle of the Sexes." The film follows the story of top women's player Billie Gene King (Emma Stone) who comes out on top of societal stereotypes to beat former No. 1 ranked men’s player Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell).

WATCH IT

'Belle' (2013)

Belle tells the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the "illegitimate" half-Black daughter of an admiral, dealing with the systemic racism of the high society she's grown up in. Belle is a beautiful and unusual film about marginalization (it's also incredibly romantic), and Gugu Mbatha-Raw is lovely in it.

WATCH IT

'Bend It Like Beckham' (2002)

Bend It Like Beckham is a coming-of-age movie about an aspiring soccer player (Parminder Nagra) whose family refuses to let her participate in the sport because she's a girl. Naturally, she proves everyone wrong, falls in love, and subverts expectations. Also, please note that this movie was written, directed, and produced by a woman of color, Gurinder Chadha.

WATCH IT

'Bombshell' (2019)

In this ripped-from-the-headlines drama, Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman, playing Fox News anchors Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, work together to expose FOX CEO Roger Ailes of sexual harassment. Exceptionally good facial prosthetics aside, Theron, Kidman, and Margot Robbie (who plays a fictional character) give a, ahem, bombshell performance.

WATCH IT

'Booksmart' (2019)

We owe it to Olivia Wilde for bringing us one of the funniest teen comedies of the last decade, and one with two female leads, no less! Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever star as two best friends who spent their high school years studying hard, only to graduate realizing they never went to a party. To make up for it, they try to cram four years' worth of fun into one night, resulting in laugh-out-loud shenanigans.

WATCH IT

'Boston Strangler' (2023)

Based on real-life badass female journalists, this murder mystery dives into the story of the 1960s serial killer dubbed the Boston Strangler. Reporter Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) was the first to break the story and she teams up with colleague Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) to report on the killings, but of course, they have to deal with sexism along the way.

WATCH IT

'The Color Purple' (1982)

Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel materialized on-screen in 1985 and became an iconic feminist film that withstands the tests of time. Whoopi Goldberg plays Celie, a Black southern woman who has suffered (and survived) years of abuse and finds strength within herself and her female friends.

WATCH IT

'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' (2000)

Not only does Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon have gorgeous visuals, but the story centers on a young woman (Zhang Ziyi) who rejects her arranged marriage and instead follows her path to become a legendary martial artist. It's a beautiful, complicated movie, with beautiful, complicated women.

WATCH IT

'Daughters of the Dust' (1991)

Julie Dash’s indie drama Daughters of the Dust made history, as it’s the first feature film from an African-American woman to be theatrically released in the U.S. Beyond breaking a major glass ceiling, it’s also a compelling, visually breathtaking film about one family of former enslaved people’s contentious decision to move from a Gullah community off the coast of South Carolina to the mainland.

WATCH IT

'Erin Brockovich' (2000)

When you need to feel inspired that anyone can foster real change, leave it to the plucky, self-made Erin Brockovich. In an Oscar-winning performance, Julia Roberts plays the real-life paralegal and environmental activist who helped bring a lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Company for contaminating water in her community. Steven Soderbergh helps transform the captivating story into a gripping legal drama, while Roberts portrays the heroine as a shining example of what happens when women stand up for what they believe in.

WATCH IT

'Hidden Figures' (2016)

"An inspiring story" may be cliched, but it's hard to think of a more apt way to describe Hidden Figures, a biographical drama about three Black mathematicians at NASA. The fact that many people had never heard this story before the film's release is a true testament to how often women—and especially women of color—are sidelined in our history books.

WATCH IT

'How to Have Sex' (2023)

Molly Manning Walker’s directorial debut documents a right of passage for many British teens as they set off on a vacation, free of their parents, following their exams. When Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce) feels pressure from her more experienced friends to lose her virginity, she finds herself grappling with a range of complicated feelings and an uncomfortable, dangerous circumstance. Manning Walker deftly tackles difficult topics, ranging from assault to peer pressure and shame, with poignancy and even humor, as Tara seeks solace from her friends.

WATCH IT

'Hustlers' (2019)

Based on a true story, four dancers band together to con money out of sleazy finance bros. Sure, what they do is illegal, but in a way, they are taking the power back from the men who completely objectify them. Also, Jennifer Lopez was robbed of an Oscar nom for her killer performance as the girl gang's leader.

WATCH IT

'Jennifer's Body' (2009)

Diablo Cody’s feminist horror movie, directed by Karyn Kusama, sinks its demonic teeth in you. Megan Fox stars as Jennifer, a high school girl who becomes the host to an evil spirit after she’s sexually assaulted by a rock band trying to perform a Satanic ritual. So, she feeds on boys to keep the demon (and her rage) at bay—leading to an enticing game of cat-and-mouse as her quiet friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) tries to stop her).

WATCH IT

'Kill Bill: Volume 1 and 2' (2003–2004)

The entire plot of Kill Bill centers on a woman seeking vengeance on the man who ruined her life. Uma Thurman delivers an iconic feminist performance that never gets old. (But it must be noted that Quentin Tarantino's treatment of her during this Weinstein-produced movie was truly reprehensible).

WATCH IT

'A League of Their Own' (1992)

One of the OG feminist flicks, A League of Their Own is a fictionalized tale of the very real, very first female professional baseball league, who go up to bat against the patriarchy. If that didn't convince you enough to give it a watch, Madonna also makes an appearance, so there's that!

WATCH IT

'Legally Blonde' (2001)

Anyone who doesn't think Legally Blonde is a feminist movie isn't paying attention. This film takes the ditzy blonde stereotype and turns it on its head by having protagonist Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon, bow down) get into Harvard like it's no biggie, and then solve the major legal case of her year.

WATCH IT

'Little Women' (2019)

The feminism of Louisa May Alcott's original Little Women novel and its many TV and film adaptations has been the subject of much debate and discourse over the years, but the Greta Gerwig adaptation lands on this list for its more modern approach to the book's message of feminism (plus, the more ambiguous ending). Though the definitions of womanhood differ among the four March sisters, we love watching them all find and wield their power in different ways.

WATCH IT

'Mad Max: Fury Road' (2015)

If you went into Mad Max: Fury Road expecting a testosterone-fueled action movie, you're not alone. But the film ended up being one of the most feminist pop cultural moments of 2015—starring Charlize Theron as a lieutenant who risks her life to save a group of women enslaved by abusive men in power.

WATCH IT

'Miss Congeniality' (2000)

It's a '00s classic we should enjoy with a dose of critique, too: There were some problematic moments in Miss Congeniality (like making instances of sexual harassment a punchline and the classic "ugly duckling" storyline, one too often subscribed to women in film). But it also helped to shatter sexist stereotypes and is still cited as a feminist flick today.

WATCH IT

'Moana' (2016)

Brave heroine? Check. Adventure? Check. Hilarious sidekick? Also check. Lin-Manuel Miranda soundtrack? You bet. Moana is the modern Disney hero we need, one who is tough and empowered. Bonus points that there is no pointless love interest in this movie! We don't care if this one is for kids, we will be watching (and rewatching) for years.

WATCH IT

'Mulan' (1998)

Considering how regressive Disney princess movies can be, Mulan deserves praise for its portrayal of a woman determined to escape the stereotypes of her gender. Yes, Mulan has some problems (Disney in 1998 wasn't known for political correctness), but the movie showed countless children that women are just as brave and capable as men—it's society that's just too sexist to realize.

WATCH IT

'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' (2020)

Eliza Hittman’s muted drama focuses on a teenage girl (Sidney Flanigan) seeking an abortion. The film follows her as she travels with her cousin (Talia Ryder) from a small town in Pennsylvania to N.Y.C. to seek the medical assistance she needs, and the extraordinary bravery it takes the two girls to support one another amid their journey. It’s a humble film, but full of emotion and brings to light the challenges women in need of health care too often face.

WATCH IT

'Now and Then' (1995)

This coming-of-age '90s movie about four young girls on the cusp of adolescence is a true gem, packed with ahead-of-its-time girl power moments—including a scene where Christina Ricci's character punches a boy who dares to say that girls can't play softball.

WATCH IT

'On The Basis of Sex'

There truly can never be enough Ruth Bader Ginsburg movies. In this fictionalized take, Felicity Jones plays RBG in her fight for gender equality. Consider a double-header with the 2018 documentary RGB.

WATCH IT

'The Piano' (1993)

Jane Campion’s The Piano is one of the steamiest movies of all time—and it’s all centered around the female gaze. The classic romance is set in the late 1800s and sees pianist Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), who is mute, and her daughter (Anna Paquin) move from Scotland to rural New Zealand as she’s married off to a wealthy frontiersman (Sam Neill). Feeling confined by her marriage, she turns to her piano and gives lessons to her neighbor (Harvey Keitel), a sailor who has taken up Māori customs, which evolves into an affair. Exploring how one finds their voice amid shifting power dynamics and sexual autonomy, Champion’s masterpiece is like music to our ears.

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'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' (2019)

Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire became an instant sapphic classic when it was released in 2019. The LGBTQ+ film tells the 1770s-set love story of an artist (Noémie Merlant) and the bride-to-be (Adèle Haenel) whose portrait she’s sent to paint. Its examinations of women exploring boundaries, romance, and sexuality on their own terms are nothing short of stunning—but be sure to brace yourself for a heartbreaking conclusion, as the film also documents the reality of the patriarchy at the time.

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'Promising Young Woman' (2020)

Director Emerald Fennell and actress Carey Mulligan confront rape culture, toxic masculinity, and trauma in Promising Young Woman. Mulligan plays a barista-vigilante out for vengeance for the college campus rape of her best friend. The film will enrage you, but it is incredibly empowering and cathartic.

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'Radium Girls' (2018)

A heartbreaking true story and one you may have never even heard of, Radium Girls dives into the radium poisoning of a group of factory workers in the 1920s. After plenty of the girls get sick, they band together to advocate for safer work conditions. It's just one of the many important stories that make up the women's rights movement.

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'Real Women Have Curves' (2002)

Real Women Have Curves is directed, produced, and written by women—and it's all the better for it. The movie is just as much a coming-of-age story as a reflection on what it means when young women take control of their destinies—and um, it also happens to have inspired Lady Bird.

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'She Said' (2022)

She Said follows the true story behind New York Times journalists Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) as they expose Harvey Weinstein and his history of sexual abuse against women. Their article ignited the #MeToo movement and opened the floodgates for women to tell their stories across Hollywood and other industries. The movie not only shows the courage of all of the women involved, but it's also a testament to the power of women when they come together.

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The Original 'Star Wars' Trilogy (1977–1983)

Princess Leia wasn't always given the most empowering material to work with on Star Wars, but Carrie Fisher made the character a feminist hero worthy of applause. In fact, it's through Fisher's criticism of the franchise (the gold bikini was not her choice, she was asked to lose weight) that the character evolved into the icon she is today.

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'Suffragette' (2015)

The fight for women's suffrage wasn't just an American one. Suffragette follows the movement in London through the eyes of a young working mother (Carey Mulligan), who joins a radical political movement in the fight for women's voting rights. Meryl Streep and Helena Bonham Carter also star in this moving historical drama.

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'Thelma & Louise' (1991)

There's no greater movie about sisterhood than Thelma & Louise—a landmark feminist film about two women (Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis) on a road trip. Watch it with your friends for fun, then analyze it with your friends for even more fun.

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'Wild' (2014)

Wild is the book-to-movie adaptation that inspired women everywhere to pack up their belongings and hike 1,100 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail, solo style. The film based on Cheryl Strayed's memoir of the same name stars Reese Witherspoon and will inspire you to create change in your life. What's more empowering than that?

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'Waiting to Exhale' (1995)

If you ever feel wronged by a man, watch Angela Bassett get the ultimate revenge by burning down her ex-husband’s car. Waiting to Exhale is a moving film about the power of female friendship, as it follows four women who stand by each other through their tumultuous love lives and career trials. The star power is immense, with Bassett, Whitney Houston, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon, leading the cast; you’ll wish they were your besties, but also see the female relationships you know and love reflected on screen.

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'Wonder Woman' (2017)

What more can be said about Wonder Woman that hasn't been said before? It flipped a male-dominated genre on its head, broke all the sexist tropes that come with female superheroes, slayed at the box office, and excited millions of young girls in need of on-screen representation. It couldn't have come at a better time.

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'Zero Dark Thirty' (2012)

We love a film with a female lead that doesn't revolve around her finding a love interest. This one sees Jessica Chastain, as Maya, inspired by the real-life woman who headed the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Rather than focusing on the men involved in the hunt, director Kathryn Bigelow duly gives credit to a woman in a male-dominated field.

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(If you're searching for more inspiration from badass women, we've gathered a list of female Black history heroes that have gone unsung, and for movie lovers, a list of the best feminist movies of all time.)

Over the years, history has seen countless incredible women. We're talking about the kind of inspirational, powerful heroes who shook up the world as we know it. From women's rights activists and pioneers of racial equality to inventors, scientists, and world leaders, there are plenty of women throughout history who did the damn thing. So, even though we're still often faced with blatant discrimination on the basis of sex, real progress has been made. For inspiration that'll drive you to make your own mark on the world, find inspiration in just some of the many women who shifted our culture in meaningful ways.

(If you're searching for more inspiration from badass women, we've gathered a list of female Black history heroes that have gone unsung, and for movie lovers, a list of the best feminist movies of all time.)

You can thank Jane Austen for basically creating those romance books you love to read. In her teenage years during the early 1810s, she started writing her most famous novels, like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. She didn't even get credit for her novels until after her death when her brother Henry publicly announced she was the author. Even today, the themes of her works and literary devices still hold up.

Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha of the Kamehameha Dynasty became the first and only reigning queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1891. After she was arrested and overthrown in an 1893 pro-American coup d'etat, she continued to advocate for the Hawaiian people and their nation’s sovereignty until her death in 1917. She was also an author and songwriter who composed more than 150 songs, including one of Hawaii’s most well-known songs, “Aloha Oe.”

Nellie Bly basically set the standard for investigative journalism. At a time when women writers were confined to the society pages, Bly tackled more serious topics like mental health, poverty, and corruption in politics. She's most famous for going undercover at the insane asylum on Blackwell’s (now Roosevelt) Island. Her exposé on the horrific conditions brought about much-needed changes to patient care. She also set the world record for circumnavigating the world. She completed the feat in just 72 days.

Marie Curie did not leave science to the men. Instead, the Polish scientist's work led to the discovery of two new elements, polonium and radium, and championed the use of radiation in medicine. She became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in 1903, then she won again in 1911 in Chemistry.

When her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, Eleanor didn't just stand by—she dramatically changed the role of the first lady, advocating for human rights, women's rights, and children's causes. She went on to become chair of the U.N.'s Human Rights Commission in 1945.

In 1928, Earhart was the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. She was also the 16th woman to be issued a pilot's license. She mysteriously disappeared during a flight in 1937, and was pronounced legally dead two years later.

Hollywood has historically been a tough industry for actors of color, but Wong found box-office success as a Chinese-American actress in the 1930s. Her decades-long career survived the transition from black-and-white silent films to talkies and technicolor. In 2022, she became the first Asian American featured on U.S. currency.

A force in the art world, Kahlo became known in Mexico and around the world for creating thought-provoking works grounded in magical realism. Her 1938 self-portrait, titled "The Frame," was the first work by a 20th-century Mexican artist to be featured in the Louvre.

The beloved sitcom I Love Lucy made its television debut in 1951. Ball became known as one of America’s top comedians for her iconic role on the show, which had storylines about marital issues and women in the workforce.

The "Golden Age" actress was credited for helping to co-invent a radio signaling device, a.k.a a “Secret Communications System.” The system changed radio frequencies to confuse and hinder enemies during World War II, and it's a crucial part of how we communicate wirelessly today.

In 1966, Gandhi became the third prime minister of India, and is one of few examples of women rising to power in the country. She continued in her role for more than 20 years until she was assassinated in 1984.

Johnson, a mathematician, was one of the brains behind the complex calculations that helped us fly into space. In 1969, she helped successfully send the first man to the moon. Her work is highlighted in the film Hidden Figures, about the pioneering African American women at NASA.

Frank was a young Jewish girl who died in a concentration camp in 1945. Her father, Otto Frank, escaped and published his daughter's now-famous diaries in 1947, which chronicled her experiences during the Holocaust. Her writing has helped historians (and readers) better understand the time.

After the death of her father King George VI, Elizabeth became Queen on February 6, 1952, but her official coronation wasn’t until June 2, 1953. She was Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, and she made numerous changes to the monarchy during her rule.

Back in the '50s, the rule in Montgomery, Alabama, was that if a bus became full, the seats at the front would be given to white passengers. Parks, a leader in the local NAACP and the civil rights movement, iconically refused to give up her seat. Her willingness to disobey the rule helped to spark the Montgomery boycott and other efforts to end segregation in America.

She was already a widely-known American jazz singer when, in 1958, she made history, becoming the first African American woman to win a Grammy. She collected two that year: best individual jazz performance and best female vocal performance.

We can thank British scientist Rosalind Franklin for much of what we know of DNA today. Using X-ray diffraction methods, she discovered DNA's density and, more importantly, its molecular structure. This gave way to James Watson and Francis Crick's discovery that DNA is shaped in a double helix. Her discovery changed how scientists view genetics and how genes are passed down in families.

Friedan is best known for writing the book The Feminine Mystique, which encourages women to seek more opportunities for themselves outside traditional home-based roles. She went on to co-found and become president of the National Organization for Women.

In 1968, Chisholm made history when she became the first Black woman to be elected into Congress. The Brooklyn-born activist and political leader later entered the 1975 Democratic presidential race—the first woman and the first Black American to do so.

When she joined forces with the popular band Sonora Matancera in 1950, Cruz had no idea that she would become the voice of a nation; throughout the '60s, the "Queen of Salsa" became one of the most prolific musicians in Latin America. At the same time, Cruz championed the cause of her fellow Cubans during the regime of Fidel Castro, speaking out against the violence of his government.

Maya Angelou was a poet, singer, and civil rights activist whose 1969 autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman. During her life, she wrote over 36 books, including several collections of poetry, and recited one of her poems at President Bill Clinton's 1993 inaugural ceremony.

Serena Williams might be the most famous tennis player on Earth, but she might not have gotten her start if not for the persistence of Althea Gibson. In 1951, Gibson made her historic debut as the first African American woman to play at Wimbledon.

In 1981, O'Connor became the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. O'Connor was nominated by President Ronald Reagan, and the senate vote to appoint her was unanimous. She was a key swing vote in upholding big cases like Roe v. Wade at various points.

Writer and professor Toni Morrison shot into the national spotlight after the release of her first novel The Bluest Eye in 1970. From then on, Morrison was committed to telling stories about Black lives through poetic and intimate prose, winning the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1977 for Song of Solomon and the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved in 1988. After the third novel in the Beloved trilogy was published, she became the first Black woman to win the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature.

After starring in the 1961 film adaptation of West Side Story, Moreno rocketed into superstardom, going on to work in Hollywood and on Broadway in numerous roles. Today, she is still the only Latino to earn the coveted EGOT (which means she's won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony).

The actress—formerly known for her scandalous love affairs—started the Elizabeth Taylor HIV/AIDS Foundation in 1991 after her close friend, Rock Hudson, died from the disease. The foundation lends support to those who are sick and funds research for more advanced treatments. Taylor was a pioneer at a time when many celebrities and most politicians were not talking about the AIDS crisis.

Nicknamed "Mama Africa," Makeba is renowned throughout South Africa and the rest of the continent for her endless activism. She used her global platform as a singer-songwriter to speak against apartheid in the '70s and '80s, calling attention to the plight of black South Africans through her music.

As the second woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a pioneer for women's rights and gender equality. During her time serving in the highest court of the country, she made many landmark decisions, including 1996's United States v. Virginia, which held the Virginia Military Institute could not refuse to admit women.

Goodall began studying chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream National Park of Tanzania in 1960, and her extensive research (which has spanned almost 60 years) has provided some of the most groundbreaking insight into the minds and social lives of our closest relatives, chimpanzees. The primatologist and anthropologist went on to found the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, as well as the Roots and Shoots program in 1991, as an effort to encourage wildlife conservation efforts.

Gloria Steinem may be one of the world's most outspoken activists in the women's liberation movement. Over the years, she's led marches, spoken at rallies, written several books, and helped to form both New York and Ms. magazines. Today, she's still a fierce defender of social justice and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her efforts in 2013.

Albright became the first female secretary of state when, in 1996, President Clinton, selected her to represent the United States in foreign affairs. An advocate for human rights, she fought to prevent the expansion of nuclear weapons and broker peace in the Middle East.

Through her Green Belt Movement, environmentalist and human’s rights activist Wangari Maathai assisted women’s groups in planting more than 20 million trees in her native Kenya. She was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. In 2004, she became the first Black African woman to win a Nobel Prize for her “contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”

Memphis-born and Detroit-raised, Franklin was destined to be a legend. She got her start singing gospel music but made her name in soul with songs like "Chain of Fools," "Rock Steady," and the iconic anthem "Respect." In 1987, she was the first woman ever to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Known for her progressive politics and work to abolish prisons, scholar and activist Angela Davis has been at the forefront of leftist causes–including the feminist movement, the Black Panther Party, and the anti-war effort–for over half a century. In 1970, the state of California prosecuted and wrongfully imprisoned Davis for three capital felonies, including conspiracy to murder, after an armed standoff occurred in a Marin County courtroom. She was released over a year later, in 1972. Undaunted, she continues to advocate for civil rights, gender equity, and prison abolition.

You may know Dolly Parton as the glamorous, quick-whited country singer, but she's also a huge philanthropist. In 1955, she created the Imagination Library, a program that gifts free books to kids under 5 to foster a love of reading at a young age. She's also donated $1 million toward the research behind Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine and another $1 million to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital in honor of her niece, who was treated for leukemia at that hospital.

After her tenure as First Lady, Hillary Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. She went on to serve as Secretary of State under Barack Obama and, in 2016, became the first woman in U.S. history to be the presidential nominee of a major political party.

As a best-selling science-fiction author, Butler pioneered the Afrofuturism movement and made several predictions for the near future that have since come to life. (There’s a reason her Parable series became a must-read in the late 2010s.) She received several accolades during her career, including a MacArthur “Genius Grant” and multiple Hugo and Nebula awards for her works, including Bloodchild and Parable of the Talents.

Streep has now broken her own record for most acting Oscar nominations—21 to be exact. Her first nomination was for 1978's The Deer Hunter, but she didn't end up winning an Oscar until 1980 for her performance in Kramer vs. Kramer.

Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director for her film The Hurt Locker, which also won Best Picture in 2009, making it the first film by a woman director to win that honor.

Ride became the first American woman to travel to space on the shuttle Challenger in 1983. The astrophysicist and Stanford-grad beat out at least 1,000 other applicants for a spot in the NASA astronaut program.

Tan is the author of The Joy Luck Club, which “explored the relationship between Chinese women and their Chinese-American daughters.” It was the longest-running title on The New York Times Best Seller list in 1989. The novel has been translated into 25 different languages since it was first published.

Bhutto became the first woman prime minister of Pakistan in 1988. After a military coup overthrew her father's government, she inherited leadership of the Pakistan People's Party . She pushed for open elections, and won, just three months after giving birth.

Winfrey started out as a Nashville reporter in the '70s before she was offered her own 30-minute talk show on a Chicago station. The Oprah Winfrey Show went national in 1986. By 2003 she'd earned the title of first female African American billionaire.

Justice Sotomayer was appointed to the United States Supreme Court in 2009 by President Barack Obama, making her the first ever Hispanic woman to serve on the highest court in the land.

Jemison was the first African American woman to be accepted into NASA’s astronaut program. She went on to become the first African American woman to fly into space in 1992 aboard the Endeavour.

Best known as “the people’s princess,” the Princess of Wales was a style icon and dedicated philanthropist who advocated for charities helping children, the unhoused, and the elderly. She also used her public platform to raise international awareness for humanitarian causes, including landmines and the HIV/AIDS crisis.

On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris became the first woman and the first African American and South Asian person to become the Vice President of the United States. But she's pretty used to breaking glass ceilings; after her successful bid for California Attorney General, she became the first woman and person of color to hold the position.

In 2017, Duckworth became the first Thai-American woman and the first female amputee to be elected to Congress. Just one year into her term, Duckworth fought for a resolution allowing infants into the chamber room, ensuring that new parents in the Senate wouldn't have to miss out on any votes because of their newborns.

Often referred to as the "female Michael Jordan," Swoopes is a certified basketball legend. As one of the first women to be signed into the WNBA, Swoopes paved the way for the greats that would follow her, but she made sure to set the bar high—throughout her career, Swoopes has won three Olympic gold medals, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and tops every WNBA player list that has ever existed.

In 2014, actress and activist Laverne Cox became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy in an acting category for her role in the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. She took home a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Series for her film Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word in 2015, making history as the first openly transgender woman to win the award. When she's not acting, she's advocating on behalf of transgender rights and equality.

DuVernay was the first female African American director to earn a Golden Globe nomination and have a film nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, both for Selma. She also directed the hit Netflix miniseries When They See Us, the story of the wrongfully convicted Central Park Five, among other projects.

The Kenyan long-distance runner became the first African American woman to win the N.Y.C. Marathon in 1994. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Since Loroupe's victory, Kenyan women have won five of the intervening New York marathons and now own six world records in distance running." She has her own peace and humanitarian foundation called the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation.

In one of the most competitive eras of figure skating, Kwan's star shone brightly among the likes of Tara Lipinski and Sasha Cohen. From the time that she first took up skating at age 8 to her final run on the ice, Kwan has always been on top; to this day, she is the most decorated figure skater in American history, with two Olympic medals and five World championship titles.

Yousafzai survived a gunshot wound to the face by the Taliban and has since become a spokesperson for human rights, education, and women’s rights. In 2014, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Since stepping into the limelight at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a member of the "Fab Five," Biles has been shattering gymnastics records day by day. In addition to being a six-time World All-Around Champion, she already has two gymnastics skills named after her (the Biles on floor and the Biles on vault).