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More children are cashing in their Make-A-Wish requests to meet their favorite content creators, with creator wishes more than doubling in the past decade. Make-A-Wish Foundation has been granting life-changing wishes for children with a critical illness since 1980. Now, alongside A-Listers and sports stars, YouTubers and TikTokers are also flooding requests, Axios reported. Requests to meet content creators make up 32% of the wishes granted within the entertainment industry, per Axios, the second largest source of requests behind the music industry. Several of the creators say they’ve been granting wishes for years and more than 50 creators and influencers became first-time wish-granters in the last year to keep up with demand. As parents and children realize meeting their favorite streamer, TikToker, or YouTuber is an option, it’s becoming more and more common. In October, Make-A-Wish, Disney, and MrBeast hosted YouTube and some of the world’s top creators, at Disneyland Resort to grant wishes for 40 children. This shift is unsurprising given the growing influence of content creators. It used to be that if you asked a classroom of kids what they want to be when they grow up, you’d get answers like “pop star” and “football player.” A 2024 survey of 910 U.S. Gen Alpha kids (ages 12 to 15) by social commerce platform Whop found that nearly a third want to be YouTubers, while one in five aspire to become TikTok creators. Given the chance, they also want to meet their heroes. “Digital creators have built strong, loyal communities based on authenticity and common interests,” Jared Perry, chief revenue officer at Make-A-Wish America previously shared in a statement. “When this connection is used to rally behind a cause like Make-A-Wish, it can generate significant donations and lead to long-term relationships with an entirely new audience.” Content creators also leverage their own platforms to engage followers in charitable causes. MrBeast, for example, is well-known for his philanthropy through his 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Beast Philanthropy. Through his Beast Philanthropy channel, he has, in just the past year, given away $1 million of toys, donated $1 million worth of brand‑new teeth, and funded a gym for adaptive athletes. The organization donates 100% of the revenue from its content and merchandise. Make-A-Wish relies on fundraisers, donors, and partners to make sick children’s wishes come true. “By becoming ambassadors of Make-A-Wish, and featuring our mission regularly in their content, creators can inspire sustained support and make a meaningful difference,” Perry continued. View the full article

Uncooperative neighbors, vicious pets and threats of violence are some of the dangers mortgage field employees run into when on assignments. View the full article

New private-label bonds collateralized by loans made outside the qualified mortgage definition hit highs for the month, quarter and year, CreditFlow data shows. View the full article

Luxury home prices rose 5.5% year over year in October to a median $1.28 million, far outgaining the 1.8% increase of nonluxury homes. View the full article

As I uploaded a 1940s photo of my grandpa Max and hit a few buttons in Google’s Veo 3 video generator, I saw a familiar family photo transform from black and white to color. Then, my grandpa stepped out of the photo and walked confidently toward the camera, his army uniform perfectly pressed as his arms swung at the sides of his lanky frame. This is the kind of thing AI lets you do now—virtually bring back the dead. As a hilarious Saturday Night Live sketch this weekend highlighted, though, just because we can reanimate our departed loved ones, that doesn’t necessarily mean we should. Grilling the dog The sketch, which The Atlantic has already called SNL’s “Black Mirror Moment”, features Ashley Padilla as an aging grandmother in a nursing home. Her family members—played by Sarah Sherman and Marcello Hernández—visit her on Thanksgiving, and use an AI photo app to bring her old family photos to life as short videos. At first, things go well. Padilla’s character marvels over a black and white image of her father waving as he stands in front of a spinning ferris wheel. But then, things go hilariously, predictably wrong. A photo of family members at a barbecue turns into a horror scene when the fictional AI app has Padilla’s father (played by host Glen Powell) roast the family dog, which happens to have no head. As other photos come to life, Padilla’s father pays a bowling buddy to perform a lewd act, and in a baby photo, her mother’s torso splits from her body and floats around the frame as a nuclear bomb explodes in the background. The sketch is hilarious because it’s so relatable. Anyone who has played with AI video generators knows that they can make delightfully wonky assumptions about the laws of physics—often with spectacular results. In my testing of AI video generator RunwayML, for example, I asked the model to create a video of a playful kitten at sunset. Things start out cute enough, until the kitten splits in two, with its front half attempting to exit stage right as its back half continues adorably cavorting around. Show me the movements Video generators make these errors because of the way they’re trained. Whereas a text-based AI model can learn by reading essentially every book, website, and other piece of textual data ever published, the amount of training-ready video content is far more limited. Most AI video generators train on videos from social media platforms like YouTube. That means they’re great at creating the kinds of videos that often appear on those platforms. As I’ve demonstrated before, if you want people knocking over wedding cakes or having heated arguments with their roommates, video generators like Veo and Sora excel at making them. For less commonly posted scenes, though, the available training data is far more limited. Most online videos, for example, show interesting things happening. People rarely post hour-long clips of themselves casually walking around (or to SNL’s example, holding a baby or grilling a hot dog) on YouTube or Instagram. Those videos would be so terminally boring that no person would want to watch them. Yet copious amounts of video of these kinds of boring, everyday activities are exactly what AI companies need to properly train their video generators. This has created a fascinating market for such clips. Companies like Waffle Video are popping up to serve the need, paying creators to film themselves doing things like chopping vegetables or writing specific words on pieces of paper for AI training. Until AI companies can get their hands on more videos of these kinds of mundane actions, though, AI video generators will struggle to mimic them. Ironically, video generators are currently great at showing fanciful, dramatic actions. Ask them to make the kinds of everyday scenes you might find in an old black and white family photo, though, and you get Fido on the barbie. Reanimate grandma? All that brings us to the question: should you use today’s AI tools to reanimate your dead loved ones? My best advice: Wait a bit. AI video tech is advancing incredibly quickly. The first tools that added movement to family photos—like Deep Nostalgia from My Heritage, which launched in 2021—used machine learning to perform their wizardry. The tech felt revolutionary at the time. Today, it looks primitive compared to the full motion scenes like the one of my Veo-animated grandpa. And even with those advances, Veo and its ilk are still in their avocado chair moment. Image generators have improved tremendously as their creators have gotten better at training them. Video generators will see similarly vast improvements—especially as AI companies invest millions in buying bespoke training data of everyday movements. Personally, I brought a photo of my grandpa to life because I thought the real Grandpa Max would find it amusing. I’ve resisted reanimating photos of more recently departed loved ones, though, for many of the reasons implicit in SNL’s sketch. Family photos are intimate things. It’s nice to see your late loved one smile and wave at you. Seeing them split in two or explode in a nuclear fireball, though, would be disturbing—and something you couldn’t unsee once you’ve conjured it up from the depths of Sora or Veo’s silicon brain. Until AI models can be trusted to avoid these kinds of distributing, random visual detours, we shouldn’t trust them with our most prized memories. A splitting kitten is amusing. A splitting grandma, less so. View the full article

In late October, Tucker Carlson invited Nick Fuentes, a 27-year-old white-nationalist streamer, onto his popular podcast and Youtube show for a friendly interview. Fuentes has amassed a loyal following with hundreds of thousands of viewers who tune into the racist, misogynist, and antisemitic sentiments he voices in lucid monologues on his nightly show, America First. A talented broadcaster with a biting sense of humor and a combative persona, he’s tailor-made for the no-holds-barred environment of big-tech platforms—so long as he manages to stay on them. In 2021, he was booted from essentially every tech platform for hate speech, forcing him to start his own streaming service to host his show. Where did Fuentes come from? Why are old-guard conservative institutions and media stalwarts alike catering to him—or even cowering before him? The answer lies in how Fuentes has mastered the right-wing online swamps of the The President era, and the increasingly porous boundaries between the extremely online right and the Republican establishment, explains Ben Lorber, an analyst at Political Research Associates, a group that monitors and studies the far right. “You can’t tell the story of Fuentes’s rise without telling the story of alternative tech platforms and transformations of large tech platforms,” Lorber says. As the Fuentes interview rippled across social media, conservative sites and prominent figures on the right including Senator Ted Cruz and Jewish commentator Ben Shapiro, asked: What, exactly, had Carlson been thinking by platforming a figure like Fuentes? Three days after the Carlson appearance, Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, the storied conservative think tank that produced the Project 2025 roadmap for the The President administration, weighed in. “I disagree with, and even abhor, things Nick Fuentes says. But cancelling him is not the answer, either,” Roberts said in a video on X, in which he also defended the right of conservatives to criticize Israel as well as Carlson’s decision to host Fuentes. Carlson’s critics, Roberts added, were “globalists” and part of a “venomous coalition,” language that many decried as trafficking in antisemitic tropes. Within the halls of Heritage, Roberts’s video provoked an insurrection, forcing him to issue a lengthy apology condemning Fuentes. In a speech, Roberts explained that he’d wanted only to reach the disaffected young men that comprise Fuentes’s audience, many of whom identify as “Groypers.” But the damage has been done. Heritage staff lambasted him at a town hall-style discussion. Numerous employees and a member of the board of trustees have resigned. The cochairs of their antisemitism task force, the creator of Project Esther, a campaign targeting pro-Palestine protestors, also announced they would be severing ties with Heritage. Last Thursday, Democratic Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer announced he would introduce a resolution condemning Fuentes, and he called on his Republican colleagues to join him. ‘They have to engage’ Once, figures like Fuentes were relegated to the far-right fringes of the internet. Cassie Miller, an analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center, explains that an older generation of conservative activists “learned to speak in dog whistles” to code racist appeals to voters. This model was pioneered by people like Lee Atwater, an advisor to Ronald Reagan and George H.W Bush, whose “southern strategy” infamously deployed euphemisms like “states rights” in place of explicit appeals to racism. But acolytes of Fuentes grew up in an entirely different media and technology environment, one where the far right saw the rise of Donald The President and his MAGA movement as a vehicle to seed their ideas into mainstream politics. “There are a lot of younger people, even within the institutionalized right, who are far more comfortable with the kind of overtly racist, transgressive language of someone like Fuentes,” Miller says. Fuentes has built his profile through a command of the incentive structures of large tech platforms. “He forces people to contend with his views and feel like they have to respond to him. They have to engage in some sort of discourse with him, and it ends up platforming him and legitimizing what he’s saying,” says Miller. “That’s what he did here with Tucker Carlson.” Short-form video has also proven to be a powerful weapon for Fuentes. His followers take bite-sized clips from his broadcasts and pump them out on X and other platforms. “You might not have context when you come into contact with it, and you might think that, well, he has some legitimate points,” Miller adds. There’s also Fuentes’s ugly blend of fair critiques of Israel’s wanton slaughter of Palestinians with outright antisemitism, a rhetorical strategy since adopted by figures like Candace Owens and Carlson. “Carlson, Owens, and Fuentes, and others are all competing for the same kind of market on the anti-Zionist right,” Lorber says. “They’ve identified that almost as a growth market.” Staying power Fuentes’s proficiency across online platforms, and the way those platforms have changed in recent years, have allowed him to stage his comeback. After Elon Musk purchased Twitter and renamed it X, he reinstated Fuentes’s account, where he now has over 1 million followers. His show went on to find a home on Rumble—a conservative competitor to Youtube with financial backing from Silicon Valley billionaire and Republican donor Peter Thiel, among others—where it is broadcast to thousands nightly. All this has coincided with the slow death of once good faith efforts at hate-speech moderation by large tech platforms, Miller says. “A lot of his career, he’s been pushed to the margins of online spaces. But what we’ve seen is that he’s had really incredible staying power,” she adds. That staying power in the online world may have already spilled over into the real world. Fuentes and others on the far-right like the pseudonymous author Bronze Age Pervert have advised their followers to “hide their power level” and infiltrate so-called “normie” conservative institutions. Recently, right-wing writer Rod Dreher wrote of the remarkable prevalence of Groypers among the Republican party’s professional ranks in Washington, including, he alleged, in the The President administration. Reports from Politico have revealed text threads of young Republicans and one The President appointee sympathizing with Nazism, showing the embrace of Groyper-like ideology. But trying to pinpoint the exact percentage of closeted Groypers might be missing the point. “There’s very little difference between whether someone is a dedicated Groyper, or whether they just agree with Fuentes’s politics independently of being one of his followers,” Lorber says. It might be better, Lorber says, to think of Fuentes “as a stand in for a worldview and a brand of politics—like an ambassador of the Gen Z radical right.” On the rise There is no reason to think that the recent controversy will slow Fuentes’s ascendancy within the GOP. The President has long since made common cause with the extreme right. The President infamously claimed there were “very fine people, on both sides” of the 2017 United the Right rally in Charlottesville, where men marched with tiki torches chanting “Jews will not replace us.” (An 18-year-old Fuentes was in attendance). In 2022, Fuentes himself attended a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with The President and the artist formerly known as Kanye West. Examples, in other words, are not hard to find. “Great Replacement ideology is now mainstream. Christian Nationalism is now mainstream, and antisemitism is rapidly becoming mainstream too,” Lorber says. “So for people like Nick Fuentes, the movement has caught up with him.” As for Heritage, the fine print of Project 2025 reveals an extremist vision in its own right, one that seeks to transform the country into a Christian Nationalist autocracy. A softening stance towards Fuentes, in other words, doesn’t seem so odd. Drawing the line at outright Nazism is certainly preferable to welcoming it. But the time for condemnation may be long since past. Fuentes, meanwhile, will keep posting and streaming, and likely continuing to bend the party to his will in the process. “He has a really clear understanding of the way the media environment works,” Miller says. “For Fuentes, it’s a huge victory just to have people say his name.” View the full article

As it faces a growing number of lawsuits alleging it helps facilitate child sexual exploitation, online gaming platform Roblox has unveiled a new age verification system. That system, however, could open it up a different sort of criticism. The popular app, which has roughly 151 million users, announced last week that it plans to require a facial age check for all users who utilize the Roblox chat system. User verification can be accomplished by either submitting a government ID or by submitting a selfie, which AI will examine to estimate the age of the user. The verification will begin rolling out in early December in select markets (which do not include the U.S.) and expand globally in January 2026. “This initiative is designed to provide even more age-appropriate experiences for all users, which we believe will improve interactions for users of all ages on Roblox,” Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said in a statement. “Enforcing age checks allows us to implement age-based chat, which helps users better understand who they’re communicating with and limits chat between minors and adults.” Roblox is facing at least 35 lawsuits that allege users met and abused children on the platform. (More than one third of the platform’s users are under the age of 13.) Attorneys general in Kentucky and Louisiana filed separate lawsuits accusing the company of harming children earlier this year. And a California judge, earlier this month, denied Roblox’s attempt to force one father’s dispute into a private resolution. Roblox already has parental controls and blocks photo sharing and the exchange of personal information. It also uses a mix of human and AI to moderate text and voice interactions. Under the new system, though, users who verify their age will only be allowed to chat with others in a similar age range (unless they are classified a “Trusted Connection” with people they know). Those age groups will be broken into six categories: Under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, or 21+. (Chat will not be offered to users under nine years old, unless a parent provides consent after an age check.) Because families have kids of all ages, Roblox says it will soon roll out solutions for direct chat between parents and children younger than 13 or between siblings in different age groups. Submitting age verification is still optional, but will be required for any user who wishes to utilize the system’s chat feature, which is a popular component with users. Roblox says submitted selfies will be completed through the app using a smartphone’s camera. It also tried to get ahead of possible security concerns, saying “images and video for age checks completed through Facial Age Estimation are processed by our vendor, Persona, and deleted immediately after processing.” Still, some parents could be wary of letting their young children submit photos to the company, given the number of lawsuits and the polarizing nature of facial recognition. In 2021, Facebook abandoned its facial recognition program, which suggested name tags for people in pictures, following privacy watchdog warnings and European Union regulators cracking down on the practice. (The company brought back facial recognition tools last year to assist with reclaiming compromised accounts.) Even Senate Republicans have expressed wariness over facial recognition software, proposing a limit on that technology in U.S. airports (though the bill has not found momentum so far). “Folks don’t want a national surveillance state, but that’s exactly what the TSA’s unchecked expansion of facial recognition technology is leading us to,” said Oregon’s Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, a co-sponsor, in May. Roblox says its age checks won’t stop with the current program. Early next year it will require age checks to access social media links on user profiles, communities and experience details pages. View the full article

When entrepreneurs list their principal reasons for launching a company, small business owners often cite being their own boss, flexibility in setting their working hours, and turning a commercial concept into reality as their main motivations. Now, new data identifies another incentive that may convince future entrepreneurs to take the plunge. According to a recent analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, the average self-employed person earns significantly more income during their career than people who work for someone else. However, the report’s findings also note the widely varying levels of income among small business owners, and the length of time usually required before stronger earnings start flowing in. Those details may lead some less enterprising prospective entrepreneurs to stick with punching a clock after all. The analysis by the Minneapolis Fed differs from most research on small business owners, which often relies heavily on survey responses. The shifting makeup of participants in those inquiries often produces widely contrasting results, creating what Minneapolis Fed authors likened to the parable of the blind men and an elephant: Each poll was essentially “touching only one part of the body,” and led to researchers drawing different and incomplete conclusions. To establish a more complete picture of the nation’s entrepreneurs, the Minneapolis Fed used U.S. tax and Social Security Administration data from 2000 to 2015. That allowed it to determine the income those small business owners collectively generated for themselves, and identify why they stuck it out with companies that were often slow to reach profitability. And that wasn’t due to setting their own hours. “(W)e find that self-employed individuals have significantly higher income and steeper income growth profiles than paid-employed peers with similar characteristics,” the report said, while also refuting frequent survey results that suggest many entrepreneurs stay in business for the perks of not having to answer to a boss. “Contrary to earlier studies based on surveys plagued by underrepresentation in the right tail of the income distribution, we find that non-pecuniary benefits of self-employment are not substantial when considering the source of most business income,” it said. What that means, in non-economist-speak, is that many entrepreneurs earn up to 70% more than people working for other employers over their careers, with their income increasing considerably faster than paid workers’. That winds up vastly outweighing the advantages surveys often identify of founders setting their own work schedules or getting to ask employees to fetch their coffee. The study found that during the 15-year period, a 25-year-old entrepreneur earned on average about $27,000 per year in 2012 dollars, while an employee of the same age made $29,000. About five years later, that income disparity had typically reversed, and then continued growing larger in small-business owners’ favor. “By age 55, our estimate is an average (entrepreneur) income of $134,000 in 2012 dollars—much higher than the estimate of $79,000 for the paid employed,” the study said. It added that gap was probably even larger before government agencies adjusted small-business income declarations by 14% to 46% to account for presumed underreporting. “These differences in profiles for the self- and paid-employed would be even more striking if we were to (re)adjust reported incomes to account for business income underreporting.” Not every small-business owner winds up earning as much as people working for salaries, however—or as much as their more successful peers. The study said about 80% of the total income of entrepreneurs it identified was generated by people earning $100,000 annually or more. That means a lot of small-business owners fared less well than the more affluent minority at the top. As a result, the authors said in wonky terms, a minority of self-employed people made even less than workers working for someone else. “IRS data shows that many of the primarily self-employed earned less over the sample years than paid-employed peers with similar characteristics, but in the aggregate this subgroup has a much lower share of the total income than those that earned more than their peers,” it noted. The Minneapolis Fed noted some other interesting observations in its findings. One was that many entrepreneurs continued working salaried jobs, or had other income coming in as they supported their still unprofitable new ventures. Those supporting funds improved the cohort’s overall positive revenue figures, even during early lean years. “In other words, when starting a new business, owners rely on other sources of labor earnings, through either paid employment or other business enterprises,” it said. “Thus, even though most businesses have losses, few owners have negative individual incomes.” Another significant detail was what the authors said was their use of official data to create a more precise collective financial portrait of entrepreneurs—contrasting the results of many surveys that may simplify the motives and activities of limited samples of small-company owners. “(T)he literature on entrepreneurship has an array of narratives, describing the typical business owner in many possible ways: as a gig worker seeking flexible arrangements, a misfit avoiding unemployment spells, an inventor seeking venture capital, a tax dodger misreporting income,” it said, before noting its own use of official income statistics collected from millions of entrepreneurs. “This data provides new insights into the central questions of the entrepreneurship literature and will hopefully prove useful for researchers interested in calibrating models of self-employment and business formation.” —Bruce Crumley This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy. View the full article

There’s a scene in Office Space where Peter sits across from two consultants during a company downsizing. They ask him, “What would you say you do here?” He hesitates, smirks, and admits he only works about 15 minutes a week. The rest of the time, he’s pretending. It was comedy in 1999. It’s confession now. That question has come back to us. For years, we filled our calendars, stayed visible, and kept the machine moving. Our worth was measured in hours, output, and presence. It had to be. Humans were the system, and the system required us to keep it running. We didn’t question it because that was how things got done. AI has changed that. It can now do many of the things we once did to keep things moving: the summaries, the reports, the follow-ups, the updates, the spreadsheets. It can organize, calculate, write, and execute at a pace we can’t match. That realization feels strange at first, but it’s also freeing. Now we get to hand that part over. We can give the robotic work to the robots and return to the human work. The work of thinking, deciding, designing, and connecting. So what does that look like? For one, it means our conversations are changing. When the noise quiets, the meetings sound different. There’s more space to ask better questions. We can finally talk about what matters: What is the business really trying to accomplish? What’s next? What do we need to build the product, craft the strategy, organize the team, and align around purpose? It’s fantastic, really. Because when people stop being buried in repetitive work, they start showing up differently. They bring curiosity. They tell the truth. They collaborate in new ways. I’m hearing it everywhere — in companies that are deep into their AI transformation and in those that are just starting. The tone is changing. The conversations are more human. We’re still in the waiting room of this transition. Some are pacing the floor, some are seated patiently, some are already being called in. Wherever a company sits on that curve, the shift has begun. Deloitte’s 2024 Global Human Capital Trends report describes this moment as a “readiness gap.” Most leaders recognize that AI and technology will transform their organizations in the coming years, yet few say they feel prepared to lead their people through that change. The tools are ready. The humans are still catching up. For leaders, this is the moment to adjust the focus. The work still needs watching, but the focus of that attention is different. It’s no longer about overseeing tasks; it’s about overseeing direction. How we design. How we execute. How we build and with whom. Leadership now is about being intentional and accountable for how work is created, not just how it is completed. Many leaders are rebuilding, or at least redesigning, how they lead. The language is changing. The tone is shifting. It’s not a different language, but it has a new accent. And those who thrive in this era will be the ones who can translate it. They’ll know how to take complexity and turn it into clarity. They’ll bring forward a sharper vision, a stronger purpose, and a deeper ability to communicate the “why.” They’ll be what I call “full-stack leaders”: people who can support the front, the back, and the middle layer. They understand product, people, and process, and they move fluidly across them all. AI has taken the repetitive pieces off our plates and has given us back the chance to think, create, and build with intention. It gave us room to lead. View the full article

Washington’s mixed signals and shifting proposals unsettle allies as negotiations near a critical phaseView the full article

When an X user recently pointed out the eye-popping increase in billionaires’ wealth since 2015, entrepreneur Mark Cuban, a billionaire himself, responded with his opinion on why, but he urged followers to consider a different question: “Why are we not giving incentives to companies to require them to give shares in their companies to all employees, at the same percentage of cash earnings as the CEO?” Cuban said. It is the right question to be asking. Because while the debate over wealth inequality continues, the solution has been hiding in plain sight for decades. The top 10% of U.S. households now control 67% of all wealth, while the bottom half holds just 2.5%. The typical American worker approaches retirement with about $4,000 in savings, which is less than the cost of one month in an assisted living facility. That imbalance is not sustainable, economically or socially. The fix does not require new legislation or another corporate responsibility pledge. It lies in a proven model that has been quietly transforming companies and communities for 50 years: employee ownership. From Silicon Valley to Main Street Silicon Valley figured this out long ago. Equity compensation has been the foundation of the tech sector’s innovation economy since the 1970s. Stock options allowed startups to attract world-class talent without paying top-tier salaries, align employee incentives with company performance, and build wealth for workers who might otherwise never own an asset. Yet outside of tech, broad-based ownership remains rare. Fewer than 7,000 U.S. companies—mostly in traditional sectors like manufacturing, construction, and distribution—operate under an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The results, however, mirror the Valley’s success. Employee-owned firms grow more than 2% faster per year than their peers and are half as likely to go bankrupt. During the 2008 financial crisis, they laid off workers at only one-third the rate of conventional firms. For employees, the impact is just as powerful. ESOP participants hold 92% higher median household wealth, twice the retirement savings, and 33% higher median income than comparable workers. This is not philanthropy. It is a durable, market-tested strategy that drives growth, resilience, and equity at the same time. The Timing Could Not Be Better Today, several powerful trends make this the perfect moment to bring ownership to scale. A massive generational handoff is underway. Ten thousand baby boomers retire each day, many of them owners of successful small and midsize businesses with no succession plan. Transferring ownership to employees keeps those businesses rooted in their communities, preserves good jobs, and rewards founders with fair market value. The retirement crisis demands new solutions. With average savings at historic lows, workers need wealth-building tools that go beyond 401(k) plans. Ownership creates an asset base that compounds over time, restoring what traditional pensions once offered. Labor shortages are reshaping industries. As skilled workers grow scarce, companies that offer ownership will win the competition for talent, not only by paying well but by giving people a reason to stay. Economic volatility favors resilience. Employee-owned companies outperform during downturns because people at every level have a stake in the outcome. Ownership builds both financial and cultural strength. Beyond Good Intentions America has no shortage of programs designed to help workers. What it lacks is awareness and adoption of the ownership mechanisms that allow employees to share in the value they create. As long as labor and ownership remain separated, inequality will continue to deepen. When employees have an equity stake, their focus shifts from completing tasks to building lasting value. They think like owners because they are owners, and that mindset fuels innovation, strengthens loyalty, and creates a powerful cycle of trust and accountability. The impact case is clear, and the business case is even stronger. Broad-based ownership builds companies that last. It keeps wealth circulating within communities instead of extracting it, and it turns employees into long-term investors in the enterprise they help build. The Moment to Act We are standing on the edge of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine capitalism for shared prosperity. Employee ownership will not fix every inequity in our economy, but it addresses one of the most fundamental: who benefits from the value a company creates. Cuban’s challenge should not disappear into the social media ether. It should become a call to action for policymakers, investors, and business leaders to make employee ownership the standard, not the exception. America does not need another wealth redistribution debate. It needs a wealth participation strategy. Employee ownership represents capitalism at its best: fair, inclusive, and fiercely competitive. It aligns profit with purpose and ensures that the people who build our companies share in their success. If we scale it now, we can turn today’s inequality into tomorrow’s shared prosperity. View the full article

You’ve heard the gospel: AI is going to change everything. Good, great, grand. But when you’re staring down a deadline and 80 unread emails, you don’t need philosophy, you need a cheat sheet. The fastest way to master AI isn’t by watching lectures, it’s by finding a way to replace an hour of your grind with a 10-second prompt. Here are five specific, repeatable ways to automate your most time-consuming professional tasks. Grab your chatbot of choice (Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot—whatever floats your boat) and let’s get to work. Writing Staring at a blank page. Tedious, formulaic first drafts. Enough. You are a professional. You shouldn’t be spending an hour drafting a boilerplate email to a client or writing the first three paragraphs of a report. That’s grunt work. Instead, master “constraint-based prompting.” This is where you tell the AI exactly what to write and how to write it, forcing it to follow your specific, professional rules. Here’s a prompt example: “You are a [job title]. Draft a [document type (memo, email, etc.)] to [target audience]. The tone must be [tone]. The three key takeaways are [list three specific bullet points]. The final memo should be around [length in words] and include a subject line.” Post-meeting action items Sifting through long transcripts and meeting notes for action items? You’re doing it wrong. Let the AI do the heavy lifting of synthesis. It’s time to leverage “deliverable-based prompting.” Instead of asking for a summary, ask the AI to produce specific, structured outputs from a large body of text, such as a meeting transcript or a dense PDF. For example: “Analyze the following [meeting transcript/document]. Do not summarize the entire text. Instead, produce three distinct outputs: 1) A table listing all action items, the person responsible, and the deadline mentioned. 2) A list of three open questions that were not resolved. 3) A short, two-sentence email subject line for the follow-up.” In less than a minute, you can transform raw data into a clean, actionable task list. Research To turn generative AI into a true, trusted research assistant that can search and cross-reference information scattered across multiple work files requires using tools that let you upload your own content, such as Google’s NotebookLM or similar features in other platforms. This is called “contextual grounding,” and it involves uploading a handful of annual reports, project documents, or extensive research files. Check with your organization first to see if there are any rules against this. Here’s a prompt you can use: “Based only on the uploaded documents, what is the biggest discrepancy between the Q4 2024 revenue projection [from Document A] and the actual Q1 2025 marketing spend [from Document C]? Explain the gap in three bullet points, referencing the specific document where the information was found.” This lets you stop relying on the AI’s general knowledge and start using it as a hyperefficient analyst for your own private data, generating insights that would take hours to gin up on your own. Brainstorming Thanks to AI, hitting a creative wall or falling victim to groupthink during brainstorming is nothing like it used to be. While your brain thinks linearly, AI can think exponentially—but you have to force it to show its work. Employ “critical reasoning prompting,” also called “chain-of-thought.” This forces the AI to debate, critique, and explore alternatives before settling on an answer. A sample prompt formula: “I have an idea for a new product feature: [describe the feature]. Before you propose a name for it, I need you to first: 1) Act as a skeptical customer and list three reasons why this feature is useless. 2) Act as a competitor and list three ways they could easily copy and neutralize the feature. 3) Only after those two steps, propose three distinct, benefit-driven names for the feature.” This forces the AI to act as a constructive adversary, getting you to a better, more robust idea much faster. View the full article

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Happy Hanukkah to all of our small business friends! As the holiday season approaches, Hanukkah reminds us to celebrate perseverance and hope. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of Hanukkah messages for small businesses to use in their holiday marketing efforts. Let’s get started! Hannukah: The Festival of Lights Explained Hanukkah, also known as the Jewish Festival of Lights, is a holiday that celebrates the victory of the Jewish people over their oppressors in ancient times. The happy holiday greeting “Hanukkah Sameach,” meaning “Happy Hanukkah,” is commonly exchanged among friends and family during this time. During Hanukkah, a menorah with nine candle holders is lit each night for eight nights, with one candle lit on the first night, two on the second, and so on. In addition to lighting Hanukkah candles and giving gifts, traditional foods such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) are eaten. With its rich traditions and symbolism, Hanukkah offers a chance for reflection and celebration for those who observe it. The holiday also emphasizes spending time with loved ones, reflecting on the triumphs and struggles of the past year, and ridding yourself of all your worries. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, often falls within or near Hannukah, making it a particularly joyous time in the Jewish community. READ MORE: 60 Passover Greeting Messages for Small Businesses What is the Difference Between Hanukkah and Chanukah? At first glance, the terms “Hanukkah” and “Chanukah” may seem to refer to two distinct celebrations, but in reality, they represent the same holiday, just spelled differently. Hanukkah, a term commonly used in English-speaking areas, is easily pronounced by those who are not familiar with Hebrew phonetics. On the other hand, “Chanukah,” the traditional Hebrew spelling, captures the richness of the language, hinting at its ancient roots. Both names refer to the Festival of Lights, a poignant celebration remembering the unexpected endurance of a tiny quantity of oil, which miraculously illuminated the Jewish temple for eight continuous nights. Yet, it’s worth noting the subtle differences in connotations. “Hanukkah” is often associated with the broader festive elements, while “Chanukah” dives deeper, resonating with the profound religious sentiments deeply cherished by devotees of Judaism. When is Hanukkah Celebrated? As the year’s end approaches and winter starts to cast its spell, a special moment arises for the Jewish community. Hanukkah, the luminescent celebration of hope and perseverance, finds its date on the 25th day of Kislev—a month in the Hebrew calendar. This positioning means that on the Gregorian calendar, which most of the world follows, the festival usually alights between the closing days of November and December. More than simply a season of joy and light, Hanukkah serves as a powerful reminder of a significant moment in history. It honors the courageous triumph of a minority group—the Maccabees, who were Jewish warriors—over their formidable enemies, as well as the later rededication of the sacred temple in Jerusalem, which stands as a symbol of their faith. What are Menorah Candles? Amidst the wintry nights, when darkness envelops the world a little earlier, the menorah emerges as a symbol of defiant luminance during Hanukkah. Over a span of eight days and nights, each evening witnesses the kindling of a new candle on the menorah, with the glow gradually expanding until all eight candles radiate their brilliance. This progression isn’t merely ceremonial. It encapsulates a story, a narrative of relentless faith and tenacity. The Menorah, with its candles, becomes more than just a candelabrum; it is a vivid representation of the Jewish spirit’s unwavering perseverance, their enduring faith against overwhelming odds, and the belief in miracles. Who You Can Send Your Hanukah Messages To As the days of Hanukkah unfold, bringing with them an atmosphere filled with gratitude and reflection, it presents an opportune moment for businesses and individuals alike. This season is perfect for sending out Hanukkah messages and cards, adorned with warm greetings, to a diverse group of recipients. Whether it’s the clients who’ve placed their trust in a business, the hardworking employees who form the backbone of an organization, or the steadfast partners who’ve been allies in numerous ventures—each deserves a special note of appreciation. Moreover, amidst the festivities, it’s an ideal time for businesses to express their gratitude to customers, acknowledging their loyalty and contribution to the year’s successes. Meaningful Hanukkah Messages to Give Others If you’re looking to send Hanukkah greetings to others, want to wish a wonderful holiday season, or simply say “Chag Sameach,” then we have you covered. Here’s our list of 47 Hanukkah messages for small businesses… Warm Wishes Want to send business associates warm wishes on Hanukkah? Fill your cup with your favorite drink and browse through these messages for inspiration… Wishing you a joyful and bright Hanukkah filled with love and light! May the miracles of Hanukkah bring peace, happiness, and warmth to your home. Happy Hanukkah! May the Festival of Lights illuminate your life with blessings. Sending you eight days of joy, laughter, and love this Hanukkah! May your menorah shine bright, and your heart be full of happiness. Wishing you a wonderful Hanukkah full of light, love, and family. Happy Hanukkah! May this special season bring you peace and prosperity. May your holiday be filled with blessings, light, and all things sweet! Wishing you warmth, happiness, and the glow of the menorah. Have a wonderful Hanukkah with love, laughter, and light shining bright! Chag Sameach! May your Hanukkah be filled with miracles and joy. Sending you blessings of health, happiness, and light this Hanukkah. May your days be as bright as the candles on your menorah. Wishing you peace, love, and the sweetness of the season. Chag Sameach! May your home be filled with warmth and light. May your heart be as full as your plate of latkes! Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with joy, miracles, and everything you love. Happy Hanukkah to you and your family! May your lives be filled with light. May the light of the menorah bring peace to your heart and your home. Wishing you a season of joy, family, and sweet memories. Chag Sameach! May this Hanukkah be a time of miracles for you. May your Hanukkah be as sweet as sufganiyot and as warm as your heart. Happy Hanukkah! May your holiday be full of light, love, and joy. Sending you warmth and joy as the menorah lights shine bright. Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with laughter, love, and latkes! Happy Hanukkah Wishes Here are some Hanukkah messages you can use to send joyous wishes: Happy Hanukkah! May your days be filled with light, love, and joy! Wishing you a bright and happy Hanukkah! May your home be filled with warmth. Happy Hanukkah to you and your family! May your hearts shine as brightly as the menorah. May the Festival of Lights bring joy, peace, and blessings into your life! Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with laughter, love, and latkes! Happy Hanukkah! May your holiday season be as sweet as sufganiyot. Chag Sameach! Wishing you eight nights of happiness and love. Happy Hanukkah! May the light of the menorah fill your life with peace and joy. Wishing you a warm and wonderful Hanukkah surrounded by family and love. May your Hanukkah be filled with miracles and sweet memories. Chag Sameach! May your heart be filled with joy and your home with light. Wishing you eight nights of peace, happiness, and lots of blessings! Happy Hanukkah! May this season bring you good health and endless happiness. Wishing you a joyful Hanukkah with love, light, and laughter. Happy Hanukkah! May your days shine as bright as the candles on the menorah. May your Hanukkah be full of blessings, joy, and warmth. Chag Sameach! Wishing you a Hanukkah full of laughter and sweet treats! Happy Hanukkah! May your days be merry, bright, and filled with love. Wishing you a Hanukkah full of light, love, and sweet moments. May the miracles of Hanukkah fill your heart with hope and joy. Happy Hanukkah! May the glow of the menorah brighten your life. Chag Sameach! Wishing you a Hanukkah of peace, love, and happiness. Happy Hanukkah! May each night bring joy, light, and love into your home. Wishing you a bright Hanukkah full of happiness and unforgettable moments. Happy Hanukkah Quotes and Sayings Here are some quotes and sayings you can use to convey Happy Hanukkah messages and foster joyful moments during this blessed season: “To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle, every cubic inch of space is a miracle.” – Walt Whitman “Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame. Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart.” – Hannah Senesh “The darkness of the whole world cannot swallow the glowing of a candle.” – Robert Altinger “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” – Anne Frank “But I also say this: that light is an invitation to happiness, and that happiness, when it’s done right, is a kind of holiness, palpable and redemptive.” – Mary Oliver “Is not Hanukkah a symbol of Israel, and its light a symbol of his immortality?” – Leo Jung “The proper response, as Hanukkah teaches, is not to curse the darkness but to light a candle.” – Irving Greenberg. “Hanukkah is about the spark of the divine in all of us made in God’s image.” – Suzanne Fields Chanukah Messages That Give Thanks Wishing others a Happy Chanukah is a precious reminder to give thanks for what we have been given. Here are some messages you can use to express your gratitude this holiday season: Thank you for being a light in my life this Chanukah. Wishing you all the warmth and blessings of the season! Grateful for the love and light you bring into my life this Chanukah. Chag Sameach! Thank you for filling my heart with joy and my home with light this Chanukah! Wishing you a Chanukah filled with gratitude, peace, and all things beautiful! Thank you for the blessing of your presence. May your Chanukah be as bright as your spirit! I’m thankful for the light you bring into my life, today and always. Happy Chanukah! This Chanukah, I’m grateful for the love of family, the light of the menorah, and the joy of the season. Thank you for sharing your warmth and light with me. Wishing you a blessed Chanukah! May this Chanukah bring blessings and happiness to you and your family. Thank you for being a part of my life! I’m so thankful for the gift of your friendship. Wishing you a beautiful and joyous Chanukah! Grateful for the memories we’ve made, and for the light you bring to my life this Chanukah! Thank you for your kindness and generosity. Wishing you a Chanukah filled with light and love! This Chanukah, I thank you for your unwavering support and endless love. Grateful to celebrate Chanukah with you. May this season bring blessings and joy to your heart! Thank you for being my guiding light through thick and thin. Wishing you a joyous Chanukah! This season, I’m thankful for the miracles, blessings, and the light that surrounds us. Happy Chanukah! Thank you for the gift of your love and friendship this Chanukah. May you be blessed with peace and joy! Wishing you a Chanukah filled with gratitude, joy, and warmth. Thank you for everything! I’m so grateful for your presence in my life. May your Chanukah shine as brightly as your kindness! Thank you for being a source of light in my life. Wishing you a peaceful and joyous Chanukah! Thank you for the love, laughter, and light you bring to my life. Wishing you a wonderful Chanukah! May the miracles of Chanukah bring you joy and light. Thank you for all the blessings you bring to my life! This Chanukah, I’m grateful for the love and light you share. Wishing you a season filled with joy! Thank you for always being there with love and light. Wishing you a blessed Chanukah! I’m thankful for the joy and warmth you bring into my life. May your Chanukah be as bright as your heart! Lovely Hanukkah Menorah and Candle Greetings Here are some messages inspired by the beautiful, bright Hanukkah lights: May the light of the menorah fill your home with love and joy this Hanukkah! Wishing you a bright and beautiful Hanukkah, with the candles of the menorah shining brightly! As the menorah lights shine, may your heart be filled with peace and happiness. Happy Hanukkah! May each candle of the menorah bring you warmth, love, and light! May the lights of the menorah brighten your life and guide you to happiness! Let the menorah’s glow fill your home with warmth, peace, and blessings this Hanukkah. Wishing you a Hanukkah full of light, love, and miracles, just like the candles on the menorah! May the menorah’s light shine bright and bring you peace this holiday season. As the menorah lights up, may your heart be filled with joy, hope, and love. Let the beauty of the menorah’s candles bring warmth and happiness to your Hanukkah! May the glow of the menorah bring light to your days and warmth to your heart. Each light of the menorah symbolizes hope and love. Wishing you both this Hanukkah season! May the menorah shine brightly in your home and bring light to your heart! Wishing you eight days of joy, peace, and the warm glow of the menorah! May the light of the menorah bring you blessings, love, and happiness. The menorah’s lights are a symbol of hope. May they guide your way through this beautiful season. Sending you the light of the menorah and the warmth of its candles. Happy Hanukkah! May the menorah’s flames fill your life with peace, joy, and countless blessings! As you light the menorah, may your heart be filled with joy and light. Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with love, laughter, and the glowing lights of the menorah! The menorah shines bright, filling the world with light and love. Wishing you both this Hanukkah! May the menorah’s candles bring you hope, peace, and happiness this Hanukkah! Happy Hanukkah! May the light of the menorah shine brightly in your life! May the menorah illuminate your path with joy and blessings this Hanukkah! Wishing you eight nights of light, love, and the glow of the menorah’s candles! Fun Hanukkah Messages Here are some fun messages to spread joy during the happy holidays: Wishing you a menorah-ific Hanukkah! May your holiday be as sweet as sufganiyot! I hope your Chanukah is lit… literally and figuratively! May your latkes be crispy and your dreidel skills unbeatable! Here’s to eight nights of eating fried food and pretending we’re not stuffed! May your holiday be filled with family, fun, and plenty of guilt-free chocolate gelt! Wishing you a Hanukkah as bright as the candles on the menorah (and as sweet as the sufganiyot)! Let’s be real: Hanukkah is just a great excuse to eat more potato pancakes. Happy Hanukkah! Remember, calories don’t count when you’re eating latkes. Here’s to eight nights of partying, eating, and spinning that dreidel like a pro! I hope your Hanukkah is as sweet as the chocolate gelt and as bright as the menorah candles! Wishing you a menorah-rific time full of laughter, light, and latkes! If your latkes are crispy and your dreidel game is strong, then you’re winning this Hanukkah! Hope your Hanukkah is so sweet, even the sufganiyot are jealous! Keep calm and light the menorah! It’s time for candles, latkes, and dreidels! Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with light, love, and lots of fried food! Just remember, Hanukkah is like Christmas, but with more food and less stress! May your Hanukkah be filled with as much joy as the amount of oil used in your latkes! Wishing you eight nights of fun, food, and family (and hopefully no dreidel fights)! Hanukkah: The festival of lights, latkes, and avoiding awkward family questions! Here’s to eight nights of fun and spinning, both the dreidel and your waistline! May your candles burn bright and your latkes never get soggy! Let’s be honest, the best part of Hanukkah is the fried food. Wishing you a Hanukkah so fun, you’ll forget about all those menorah-related accidents! Happy Hanukkah! May your dreidel always land on “Gimel” (and your latkes always be crispy)! Hanukkah: The only time it’s acceptable to eat fried potatoes for eight nights in a row! Hanukkah Blessings Share these Hanukkah blessings during the eight nights of this joyous festival: May the lights of the menorah bring peace, joy, and blessings to your home. Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with love, laughter, and light! May each candle of the menorah fill your heart with warmth and your home with light. May your Hanukkah be filled with miracles, joy, and the warmth of family. Blessings of light, love, and happiness this Hanukkah! May it be a time of peace and celebration. May the light of the menorah shine brightly in your life, bringing hope and blessings! Wishing you a season filled with love, peace, and the glow of Hanukkah’s lights. May the Festival of Lights bring new blessings into your life and fill your heart with joy. May your Hanukkah be bright, beautiful, and filled with all the blessings of the season. Blessings for a joyful Hanukkah filled with light, love, and good health. May the miracles of Hanukkah bring peace and happiness to your heart. Wishing you a bright and blessed Hanukkah full of light, love, and laughter! May the spirit of Hanukkah bring you peace, love, and countless blessings. Blessings of light, laughter, and love this Hanukkah. May your holiday shine bright! May the flames of the menorah fill your home with warmth and blessings. Wishing you the warmth of family, the joy of the season, and the light of the menorah. May the miracles of Hanukkah fill your life with joy and your home with peace. Wishing you a Hanukkah full of blessings, happiness, and cherished moments. May the lights of the menorah guide your way to happiness and success. May the holiday season bring you light, love, and all of your heart’s desires. Blessings for a joyous Hanukkah, filled with family, friends, and sweet memories. May the Festival of Lights bring you peace, happiness, and endless blessings. Wishing you a Hanukkah full of love, laughter, and lots of latkes! May the joy of Hanukkah fill your heart and your home with warmth and love. Blessings of light and love this Hanukkah! May it be a season of miracles. READ MORE: 30 Printing Services for Your Small Business Needs Best Hanukkah Greetings Last, but not least on our list, are the best Hanukkah greetings you can use: Happy Hanukkah wishes to you and your family. May your holiday season be filled with joy! Wishing you all the happiness your holiday can hold. Happy Hanukkah! On this special festival of lights, may your life be filled with happiness and blessings. Chag Chanukah Sameach! May the glow of the Menorah candles fill your heart and home with happiness. Sending you and your family happy Hanukkah wishes! May your home be filled with the lights of Hanukkah. Wishing you and your family a joyful and Happy Hanukkah! Below, we’ve drawn parallels between the cherished traditions of Hanukkah and the enduring values of small businesses in a comparative table for clearer insights: Hanukkah Tradition/AspectRelevance to Small Business Festival of LightsLighting the path for customers, illuminating products/services. Miracle of the OilMaking the most of limited resources, maximizing potential. Victory Over OppressorsOvercoming challenges and obstacles in the business world. MenorahGrowing step by step; just as one lights one candle more each night, businesses grow steadily. Traditional Foods (Latkes & Sufganiyot)Offering special deals or products during holiday seasons. Spending Time with Loved OnesValuing customers, employees, and partners – treating them like family. Reflection on Triumphs and StrugglesYear-end reviews, learning from challenges and celebrating successes. Hanukkah GreetingsConnecting with the community, showing appreciation, and building relationships. Image: Envato Elements This article, "Heartfelt Hanukkah Messages to Brighten the Season" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Happy Hanukkah to all of our small business friends! As the holiday season approaches, Hanukkah reminds us to celebrate perseverance and hope. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of Hanukkah messages for small businesses to use in their holiday marketing efforts. Let’s get started! Hannukah: The Festival of Lights Explained Hanukkah, also known as the Jewish Festival of Lights, is a holiday that celebrates the victory of the Jewish people over their oppressors in ancient times. The happy holiday greeting “Hanukkah Sameach,” meaning “Happy Hanukkah,” is commonly exchanged among friends and family during this time. During Hanukkah, a menorah with nine candle holders is lit each night for eight nights, with one candle lit on the first night, two on the second, and so on. In addition to lighting Hanukkah candles and giving gifts, traditional foods such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) are eaten. With its rich traditions and symbolism, Hanukkah offers a chance for reflection and celebration for those who observe it. The holiday also emphasizes spending time with loved ones, reflecting on the triumphs and struggles of the past year, and ridding yourself of all your worries. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, often falls within or near Hannukah, making it a particularly joyous time in the Jewish community. READ MORE: 60 Passover Greeting Messages for Small Businesses What is the Difference Between Hanukkah and Chanukah? At first glance, the terms “Hanukkah” and “Chanukah” may seem to refer to two distinct celebrations, but in reality, they represent the same holiday, just spelled differently. Hanukkah, a term commonly used in English-speaking areas, is easily pronounced by those who are not familiar with Hebrew phonetics. On the other hand, “Chanukah,” the traditional Hebrew spelling, captures the richness of the language, hinting at its ancient roots. Both names refer to the Festival of Lights, a poignant celebration remembering the unexpected endurance of a tiny quantity of oil, which miraculously illuminated the Jewish temple for eight continuous nights. Yet, it’s worth noting the subtle differences in connotations. “Hanukkah” is often associated with the broader festive elements, while “Chanukah” dives deeper, resonating with the profound religious sentiments deeply cherished by devotees of Judaism. When is Hanukkah Celebrated? As the year’s end approaches and winter starts to cast its spell, a special moment arises for the Jewish community. Hanukkah, the luminescent celebration of hope and perseverance, finds its date on the 25th day of Kislev—a month in the Hebrew calendar. This positioning means that on the Gregorian calendar, which most of the world follows, the festival usually alights between the closing days of November and December. More than simply a season of joy and light, Hanukkah serves as a powerful reminder of a significant moment in history. It honors the courageous triumph of a minority group—the Maccabees, who were Jewish warriors—over their formidable enemies, as well as the later rededication of the sacred temple in Jerusalem, which stands as a symbol of their faith. What are Menorah Candles? Amidst the wintry nights, when darkness envelops the world a little earlier, the menorah emerges as a symbol of defiant luminance during Hanukkah. Over a span of eight days and nights, each evening witnesses the kindling of a new candle on the menorah, with the glow gradually expanding until all eight candles radiate their brilliance. This progression isn’t merely ceremonial. It encapsulates a story, a narrative of relentless faith and tenacity. The Menorah, with its candles, becomes more than just a candelabrum; it is a vivid representation of the Jewish spirit’s unwavering perseverance, their enduring faith against overwhelming odds, and the belief in miracles. Who You Can Send Your Hanukah Messages To As the days of Hanukkah unfold, bringing with them an atmosphere filled with gratitude and reflection, it presents an opportune moment for businesses and individuals alike. This season is perfect for sending out Hanukkah messages and cards, adorned with warm greetings, to a diverse group of recipients. Whether it’s the clients who’ve placed their trust in a business, the hardworking employees who form the backbone of an organization, or the steadfast partners who’ve been allies in numerous ventures—each deserves a special note of appreciation. Moreover, amidst the festivities, it’s an ideal time for businesses to express their gratitude to customers, acknowledging their loyalty and contribution to the year’s successes. Meaningful Hanukkah Messages to Give Others If you’re looking to send Hanukkah greetings to others, want to wish a wonderful holiday season, or simply say “Chag Sameach,” then we have you covered. Here’s our list of 47 Hanukkah messages for small businesses… Warm Wishes Want to send business associates warm wishes on Hanukkah? Fill your cup with your favorite drink and browse through these messages for inspiration… Wishing you a joyful and bright Hanukkah filled with love and light! May the miracles of Hanukkah bring peace, happiness, and warmth to your home. Happy Hanukkah! May the Festival of Lights illuminate your life with blessings. Sending you eight days of joy, laughter, and love this Hanukkah! May your menorah shine bright, and your heart be full of happiness. Wishing you a wonderful Hanukkah full of light, love, and family. Happy Hanukkah! May this special season bring you peace and prosperity. May your holiday be filled with blessings, light, and all things sweet! Wishing you warmth, happiness, and the glow of the menorah. Have a wonderful Hanukkah with love, laughter, and light shining bright! Chag Sameach! May your Hanukkah be filled with miracles and joy. Sending you blessings of health, happiness, and light this Hanukkah. May your days be as bright as the candles on your menorah. Wishing you peace, love, and the sweetness of the season. Chag Sameach! May your home be filled with warmth and light. May your heart be as full as your plate of latkes! Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with joy, miracles, and everything you love. Happy Hanukkah to you and your family! May your lives be filled with light. May the light of the menorah bring peace to your heart and your home. Wishing you a season of joy, family, and sweet memories. Chag Sameach! May this Hanukkah be a time of miracles for you. May your Hanukkah be as sweet as sufganiyot and as warm as your heart. Happy Hanukkah! May your holiday be full of light, love, and joy. Sending you warmth and joy as the menorah lights shine bright. Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with laughter, love, and latkes! Happy Hanukkah Wishes Here are some Hanukkah messages you can use to send joyous wishes: Happy Hanukkah! May your days be filled with light, love, and joy! Wishing you a bright and happy Hanukkah! May your home be filled with warmth. Happy Hanukkah to you and your family! May your hearts shine as brightly as the menorah. May the Festival of Lights bring joy, peace, and blessings into your life! Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with laughter, love, and latkes! Happy Hanukkah! May your holiday season be as sweet as sufganiyot. Chag Sameach! Wishing you eight nights of happiness and love. Happy Hanukkah! May the light of the menorah fill your life with peace and joy. Wishing you a warm and wonderful Hanukkah surrounded by family and love. May your Hanukkah be filled with miracles and sweet memories. Chag Sameach! May your heart be filled with joy and your home with light. Wishing you eight nights of peace, happiness, and lots of blessings! Happy Hanukkah! May this season bring you good health and endless happiness. Wishing you a joyful Hanukkah with love, light, and laughter. Happy Hanukkah! May your days shine as bright as the candles on the menorah. May your Hanukkah be full of blessings, joy, and warmth. Chag Sameach! Wishing you a Hanukkah full of laughter and sweet treats! Happy Hanukkah! May your days be merry, bright, and filled with love. Wishing you a Hanukkah full of light, love, and sweet moments. May the miracles of Hanukkah fill your heart with hope and joy. Happy Hanukkah! May the glow of the menorah brighten your life. Chag Sameach! Wishing you a Hanukkah of peace, love, and happiness. Happy Hanukkah! May each night bring joy, light, and love into your home. Wishing you a bright Hanukkah full of happiness and unforgettable moments. Happy Hanukkah Quotes and Sayings Here are some quotes and sayings you can use to convey Happy Hanukkah messages and foster joyful moments during this blessed season: “To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle, every cubic inch of space is a miracle.” – Walt Whitman “Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame. Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart.” – Hannah Senesh “The darkness of the whole world cannot swallow the glowing of a candle.” – Robert Altinger “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” – Anne Frank “But I also say this: that light is an invitation to happiness, and that happiness, when it’s done right, is a kind of holiness, palpable and redemptive.” – Mary Oliver “Is not Hanukkah a symbol of Israel, and its light a symbol of his immortality?” – Leo Jung “The proper response, as Hanukkah teaches, is not to curse the darkness but to light a candle.” – Irving Greenberg. “Hanukkah is about the spark of the divine in all of us made in God’s image.” – Suzanne Fields Chanukah Messages That Give Thanks Wishing others a Happy Chanukah is a precious reminder to give thanks for what we have been given. Here are some messages you can use to express your gratitude this holiday season: Thank you for being a light in my life this Chanukah. Wishing you all the warmth and blessings of the season! Grateful for the love and light you bring into my life this Chanukah. Chag Sameach! Thank you for filling my heart with joy and my home with light this Chanukah! Wishing you a Chanukah filled with gratitude, peace, and all things beautiful! Thank you for the blessing of your presence. May your Chanukah be as bright as your spirit! I’m thankful for the light you bring into my life, today and always. Happy Chanukah! This Chanukah, I’m grateful for the love of family, the light of the menorah, and the joy of the season. Thank you for sharing your warmth and light with me. Wishing you a blessed Chanukah! May this Chanukah bring blessings and happiness to you and your family. Thank you for being a part of my life! I’m so thankful for the gift of your friendship. Wishing you a beautiful and joyous Chanukah! Grateful for the memories we’ve made, and for the light you bring to my life this Chanukah! Thank you for your kindness and generosity. Wishing you a Chanukah filled with light and love! This Chanukah, I thank you for your unwavering support and endless love. Grateful to celebrate Chanukah with you. May this season bring blessings and joy to your heart! Thank you for being my guiding light through thick and thin. Wishing you a joyous Chanukah! This season, I’m thankful for the miracles, blessings, and the light that surrounds us. Happy Chanukah! Thank you for the gift of your love and friendship this Chanukah. May you be blessed with peace and joy! Wishing you a Chanukah filled with gratitude, joy, and warmth. Thank you for everything! I’m so grateful for your presence in my life. May your Chanukah shine as brightly as your kindness! Thank you for being a source of light in my life. Wishing you a peaceful and joyous Chanukah! Thank you for the love, laughter, and light you bring to my life. Wishing you a wonderful Chanukah! May the miracles of Chanukah bring you joy and light. Thank you for all the blessings you bring to my life! This Chanukah, I’m grateful for the love and light you share. Wishing you a season filled with joy! Thank you for always being there with love and light. Wishing you a blessed Chanukah! I’m thankful for the joy and warmth you bring into my life. May your Chanukah be as bright as your heart! Lovely Hanukkah Menorah and Candle Greetings Here are some messages inspired by the beautiful, bright Hanukkah lights: May the light of the menorah fill your home with love and joy this Hanukkah! Wishing you a bright and beautiful Hanukkah, with the candles of the menorah shining brightly! As the menorah lights shine, may your heart be filled with peace and happiness. Happy Hanukkah! May each candle of the menorah bring you warmth, love, and light! May the lights of the menorah brighten your life and guide you to happiness! Let the menorah’s glow fill your home with warmth, peace, and blessings this Hanukkah. Wishing you a Hanukkah full of light, love, and miracles, just like the candles on the menorah! May the menorah’s light shine bright and bring you peace this holiday season. As the menorah lights up, may your heart be filled with joy, hope, and love. Let the beauty of the menorah’s candles bring warmth and happiness to your Hanukkah! May the glow of the menorah bring light to your days and warmth to your heart. Each light of the menorah symbolizes hope and love. Wishing you both this Hanukkah season! May the menorah shine brightly in your home and bring light to your heart! Wishing you eight days of joy, peace, and the warm glow of the menorah! May the light of the menorah bring you blessings, love, and happiness. The menorah’s lights are a symbol of hope. May they guide your way through this beautiful season. Sending you the light of the menorah and the warmth of its candles. Happy Hanukkah! May the menorah’s flames fill your life with peace, joy, and countless blessings! As you light the menorah, may your heart be filled with joy and light. Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with love, laughter, and the glowing lights of the menorah! The menorah shines bright, filling the world with light and love. Wishing you both this Hanukkah! May the menorah’s candles bring you hope, peace, and happiness this Hanukkah! Happy Hanukkah! May the light of the menorah shine brightly in your life! May the menorah illuminate your path with joy and blessings this Hanukkah! Wishing you eight nights of light, love, and the glow of the menorah’s candles! Fun Hanukkah Messages Here are some fun messages to spread joy during the happy holidays: Wishing you a menorah-ific Hanukkah! May your holiday be as sweet as sufganiyot! I hope your Chanukah is lit… literally and figuratively! May your latkes be crispy and your dreidel skills unbeatable! Here’s to eight nights of eating fried food and pretending we’re not stuffed! May your holiday be filled with family, fun, and plenty of guilt-free chocolate gelt! Wishing you a Hanukkah as bright as the candles on the menorah (and as sweet as the sufganiyot)! Let’s be real: Hanukkah is just a great excuse to eat more potato pancakes. Happy Hanukkah! Remember, calories don’t count when you’re eating latkes. Here’s to eight nights of partying, eating, and spinning that dreidel like a pro! I hope your Hanukkah is as sweet as the chocolate gelt and as bright as the menorah candles! Wishing you a menorah-rific time full of laughter, light, and latkes! If your latkes are crispy and your dreidel game is strong, then you’re winning this Hanukkah! Hope your Hanukkah is so sweet, even the sufganiyot are jealous! Keep calm and light the menorah! It’s time for candles, latkes, and dreidels! Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with light, love, and lots of fried food! Just remember, Hanukkah is like Christmas, but with more food and less stress! May your Hanukkah be filled with as much joy as the amount of oil used in your latkes! Wishing you eight nights of fun, food, and family (and hopefully no dreidel fights)! Hanukkah: The festival of lights, latkes, and avoiding awkward family questions! Here’s to eight nights of fun and spinning, both the dreidel and your waistline! May your candles burn bright and your latkes never get soggy! Let’s be honest, the best part of Hanukkah is the fried food. Wishing you a Hanukkah so fun, you’ll forget about all those menorah-related accidents! Happy Hanukkah! May your dreidel always land on “Gimel” (and your latkes always be crispy)! Hanukkah: The only time it’s acceptable to eat fried potatoes for eight nights in a row! Hanukkah Blessings Share these Hanukkah blessings during the eight nights of this joyous festival: May the lights of the menorah bring peace, joy, and blessings to your home. Wishing you a Hanukkah filled with love, laughter, and light! May each candle of the menorah fill your heart with warmth and your home with light. May your Hanukkah be filled with miracles, joy, and the warmth of family. Blessings of light, love, and happiness this Hanukkah! May it be a time of peace and celebration. May the light of the menorah shine brightly in your life, bringing hope and blessings! Wishing you a season filled with love, peace, and the glow of Hanukkah’s lights. May the Festival of Lights bring new blessings into your life and fill your heart with joy. May your Hanukkah be bright, beautiful, and filled with all the blessings of the season. Blessings for a joyful Hanukkah filled with light, love, and good health. May the miracles of Hanukkah bring peace and happiness to your heart. Wishing you a bright and blessed Hanukkah full of light, love, and laughter! May the spirit of Hanukkah bring you peace, love, and countless blessings. Blessings of light, laughter, and love this Hanukkah. May your holiday shine bright! May the flames of the menorah fill your home with warmth and blessings. Wishing you the warmth of family, the joy of the season, and the light of the menorah. May the miracles of Hanukkah fill your life with joy and your home with peace. Wishing you a Hanukkah full of blessings, happiness, and cherished moments. May the lights of the menorah guide your way to happiness and success. May the holiday season bring you light, love, and all of your heart’s desires. Blessings for a joyous Hanukkah, filled with family, friends, and sweet memories. May the Festival of Lights bring you peace, happiness, and endless blessings. Wishing you a Hanukkah full of love, laughter, and lots of latkes! May the joy of Hanukkah fill your heart and your home with warmth and love. Blessings of light and love this Hanukkah! May it be a season of miracles. READ MORE: 30 Printing Services for Your Small Business Needs Best Hanukkah Greetings Last, but not least on our list, are the best Hanukkah greetings you can use: Happy Hanukkah wishes to you and your family. May your holiday season be filled with joy! Wishing you all the happiness your holiday can hold. Happy Hanukkah! On this special festival of lights, may your life be filled with happiness and blessings. Chag Chanukah Sameach! May the glow of the Menorah candles fill your heart and home with happiness. Sending you and your family happy Hanukkah wishes! May your home be filled with the lights of Hanukkah. Wishing you and your family a joyful and Happy Hanukkah! Below, we’ve drawn parallels between the cherished traditions of Hanukkah and the enduring values of small businesses in a comparative table for clearer insights: Hanukkah Tradition/AspectRelevance to Small Business Festival of LightsLighting the path for customers, illuminating products/services. Miracle of the OilMaking the most of limited resources, maximizing potential. Victory Over OppressorsOvercoming challenges and obstacles in the business world. MenorahGrowing step by step; just as one lights one candle more each night, businesses grow steadily. Traditional Foods (Latkes & Sufganiyot)Offering special deals or products during holiday seasons. Spending Time with Loved OnesValuing customers, employees, and partners – treating them like family. Reflection on Triumphs and StrugglesYear-end reviews, learning from challenges and celebrating successes. Hanukkah GreetingsConnecting with the community, showing appreciation, and building relationships. Image: Envato Elements This article, "Heartfelt Hanukkah Messages to Brighten the Season" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Thursday's wild selloffs, and further losses Friday, were a reminder that the fervor of retail traders — whipped up in part by Federal Housing Finance Agency head Pulte — can quickly turn sour. View the full article

In an era where sustainability is not just a trend but a lifestyle, eBay’s recent release of its fifth annual Recommerce Report highlights how the market for pre-loved goods is gaining significant traction. The findings reveal that 89% of consumers worldwide expect to maintain or increase their spending on second-hand items in 2025, signaling a major shift that small business owners should heed. The report, which surveyed over 27,000 participants, underscores a transformation in consumer behavior. It shows that recommerce—once viewed as a niche alternative—is now a mainstream choice driven by personal values and financial empowerment. As CEO Jamie Iannone puts it, “Recommerce is redefining how people shop — led by a new generation that values connection, purpose, and sustainability.” Younger generations are at the forefront of this movement. The report indicates that 59% of Gen Z and 56% of Millennials plan to increase spending on pre-loved goods. This shift is quickly becoming ingrained in consumer habits, with more than one-third of respondents purchasing second-hand items monthly. For small business owners, this trend toward recommerce provides a treasure trove of opportunities. By sourcing inventory from second-hand items or offering platforms for resale, entrepreneurs can tap into a burgeoning market that prioritizes sustainability and cost efficiency. Notably, 81% of consumers choose pre-loved goods primarily for financial reasons, while 45% cite sustainability as a driving factor. In addition to affordability, many buyers are looking for unique or specific items that might be unavailable new, presenting an avenue for businesses to cater to niche markets. Moreover, the emotional benefits of participation in the recommerce community are significant. About 63% of consumers feel a connection to this community, with engagement even higher among younger audiences. Sellers in enthusiast categories like collectibles, trading cards, and antiques report that passion drives their sales. This creates vibrant communities where knowledge sharing and connection flourish, ultimately benefiting both sellers and buyers. However, small business owners should also be aware of the challenges that come with the increasing popularity of recommerce. While the financial benefits are apparent, establishing a reliable sourcing method for second-hand goods is vital to ensure product quality. Moreover, businesses will need to navigate customer expectations around sustainability and authenticity, which could require additional investment in processes and marketing. The growing emphasis on sustainability implies that businesses must consider their operational impact. Consumers are increasingly motivated by environmental consciousness, and small business owners who fail to adopt sustainable practices might find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. The choice to participate in the recommerce economy is not just about finding great deals but demonstrating a commitment to ecological mindfulness. With the trend gaining momentum, eBay is well-positioned to be a leader in this market. The report highlights the potential for economic empowerment as well; a notable 81% of consumers feel satisfied knowing they saved money on second-hand purchases. Additionally, 86% of eBay sellers source inventory from their personal belongings, showcasing how individuals can monetize items no longer in use. As the trend of conscious consumerism continues to rise, small businesses that adopt recommence strategies will be catering to a growing segment of values-driven shoppers. This shift isn’t just beneficial for the environment; it also opens additional revenue streams and aligns with market demands indicating that the recommerce movement is here to stay. For small business owners looking to thrive in this evolving landscape, aligning with consumer values and sustainability will be crucial for long-term success. By embracing the principles of recommerce, entrepreneurs have the potential to not only increase their profitability but also contribute positively to the communities they serve. To explore the full findings of the study, the complete report is available here. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Recommerce Grows Mainstream as Consumers Embrace Sustainable Shopping" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article