Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Reese Witherspoon has sold her southern-inspired clothing line, more women are turning towards entrepreneurship post-COVID, and Fortune editor-at-large Michal Lev-Ram previews next month’s Most Powerful Women Summit. Have a terrific Thursday!
– Room full of women. Last night, I attended a dinner where I was one of just three women in a roomful of men. The event was fantastic, but it made me realize that it had been a while since I’d been in the company of so few women in a work environment—and how lucky I am for that.
Indeed, I’ve been fortunate to work for and with some very remarkable women over the years. This has always been the case for me at Fortune, but is never more apparent than at the annual Most Powerful Women Summit, when our powerhouse team (which also includes a few powerful men) gathers to help put on the three-day conference.
MPW started as a list back in 1998, and this year marks my tenth time at the Summit. The milestone got me thinking about some of my favorite moments over the years—getting to interview women like philanthropist Melinda French Gates, actress Eva Longoria, and glass ceiling-shattering CEOs including Ursula Burns, Ginni Rometty, and Mary Barra on our stage. I also have vivid memories of my very first MPW Summit, when legendary investor Warren Buffett and singer-songwriter Paul Anka took the stage to sing a special version of “My Way” to Carol Loomis, our former senior editor-at-large who was the longest-tenured employee at Time Inc., the former owner of Fortune.
While the Buffett-Anka duet was a one-time treat for the audience (and for Loomis, who retired after 60 years at Fortune), this year’s summit, which is coming up Oct. 9-11 in Laguna Niguel, Calif., promises to forge many new memories. Our confirmed speakers include Karen Lynch of CVS Health, Fidji Simo of Instacart, Linda Yaccarino of X (the company formerly known as Twitter), ABC News president Kim Godwin, actress Connie Britton, executive producer of Mattel Films Robbie Brenner, and many more. We’ll also have MPW cofounder Pattie Sellers on stage with us for the first time in a few years!
Speaking of Pattie: I’m forever grateful to her for asking me to get involved with MPW, all those years ago. And for Carol Loomis and the path she forged at Fortune. These women have left their mark for sure, but they managed to make it ordinary to work with extraordinary women—both on the annual MPW Summit and beyond.
For a deeper dive into the full agenda and list of speakers at MPW 2023, please see here. And if you’d like to apply to register, click here. (We’ll also have full coverage in the Broadsheet, starting on Oct. 9.)
Michal Lev-Ram
[email protected]
@mlevram
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
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- Big little buys. Reese Witherspoon has sold her southern-inspired clothing brand Draper James to Consortium Brand Partners, a private equity company looking to bring the brand into big box and department stores. The clothing line, which Witherspoon said “was inspired by a deep personal connection to my roots, my family, and the women who shaped me,” will change hands just two years after the actress sold Hello Sunshine, her media company, for more than $900 million. CNN Business
- Setting up shop. The number of women-led businesses has surged in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic as women have turned towards entrepreneurship to gain more control of their lives. According to new research, 40% of female entrepreneurs cite a better work-life balance as the biggest reason they started their own business; 30% said they wanted to choose where they worked. Fortune
- Ahead of the curve. Purva Gupta and Sowmiya Chocka Narayanan were way ahead of the A.I. boom when LilyAI, an A.I. model they developed to learn fashion-speak and connect users with specific pieces of clothing, broke onto the scene in 2019. Four years later, the founding duo, who both immigrated from India to the U.S. in their 20s, have partnered with retail giants like Bloomingdale's, the J. Crew Group, and Macy’s. New York Times
- Closing the gap. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that workforce participation rates for men and women are closer than they’ve ever been before. Flexible remote work and a shrinking pay gap have allowed female labor participation to increase to 57.7%, compared to men’s 68.2%, but return-to-office policies could threaten the positive trend. Axios
- Mexico's reverse Roe. A ruling from Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalized abortion across the country yesterday, ending a practice in which states decided the legality of the procedure themselves. Mexico City decriminalized the procedure 15 years ago, and 12 states followed suit prior to the ruling. AP
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Day One has hired Terri Burns as strategic advisor. Spendesk has appointed Sarah Whipp as chief marketing officer. Radial has announced Laura Ritchey as chief executive officer. Emergence Capital has tapped Camille Ricketts as operating partner. Aledade has named Julie Green Bataille as the senior vice president of communications. NBCUniversal Studio Group designated Liz Jenkins as chief business officer. Sernova Corp. added Cynthia Pussinen as chief executive officer and member of the board of directors.
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