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House Democrats release new communications from late paedophileView the full article

A think tank's analysis of the system that provides banks with financing backed by an implied guarantee arrives amid broader federal efficiency reviews. View the full article

The longest government shutdown in history could conclude as soon as Wednesday, Day 43, with almost no one happy with the final result. Democrats didn’t get the heath insurance provisions they demanded added to the spending deal. And Republicans, who control the levers of power in Washington, didn’t escape blame, according to polls and some state and local elections that went poorly for them. The fallout of the shutdown landed on millions of Americans, including federal workers who went without paychecks and airline passengers who had their trips delayed or canceled. An interruption in nutrition assistance programs contributed to long lines at food banks and added emotional distress going into the holiday season. The agreement includes bipartisan bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of government — food aid, veterans programs and the legislative branch, among other things. All other funding would be extended until the end of January, giving lawmakers more than two months to finish additional spending bills. Here’s a look at how the shutdown started and is likely to end: What led to the shutdown Democrats made several demands to win their support for a short-term funding bill, but the central one was an extension of an enhanced tax credit that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. The tax credit was boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic response, again through President Joe Biden’s big energy and health care bill, and it’s set to expire at the end of December. Without it, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans. More than 2 million people would lose health insurance coverage altogether next year, the Congressional Budget Office projected. “Never have American families faced a situation where their health care costs are set to double — double in the blink of an eye,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. While Democrats called for negotiations on the matter, Republicans said a funding bill would need to be passed first. “Republicans are ready to sit down with Democrats just as soon as they stop holding the government hostage to their partisan demands,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said. Thune eventually promised Democrats a December vote on the tax credit extension to help resolve the standoff, but many Democrats demanded a guaranteed fix, not just a vote that is likely to fail. Thune’s position was much the same as the one Schumer took back in October 2013, when Republicans unsuccessfully sought to roll back parts of the Affordable Care Act in exchange for funding the government. “Open up all of the government, and then we can have a fruitful discussion,” Schumer said then. Democratic leaders under pressure The first year of President Donald The President’s second term has seen more than 200,000 federal workers leave their job through firings, forced relocations or the Republican administration’s deferred resignation program, according to the Partnership for Public Service. Whole agencies that don’t align with the administration’s priorities have been dismantled. And billions of dollars previously approved by Congress have been frozen or canceled. Democrats have had to rely on the courts to block some of The President’s efforts, but they have been unable to do it through legislation. They were also powerless to stop The President’s big tax cut and immigration crackdown bill that Republicans helped pay for by cutting future spending on safety net programs such as Medicaid and SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. The Democrats’ struggles to blunt the The President administration’s priorities has prompted calls for the party’s congressional leadership to take a more forceful response. Schumer experienced that firsthand after announcing in March that he would support moving ahead with a funding bill for the 2025 budget year. There was a protest at his office, calls from progressives that he be primaried in 2028 and suggestions that the Democratic Party would soon be looking for new leaders. This time around, Schumer demanded that Republicans negotiate with Democrats to get their votes on a spending bill. The Senate rules, he noted, requires bipartisan support to meet the 60-vote threshold necessary to advance a spending bill. But those negotiations did not occur, at least not with Schumer. Republicans instead worked with a small group of eight Democrats to tee up a short-term bill to fund the government generally at current levels and accused Schumer of catering to the party’s left flank when he refused to go along. “The Senate Democrats are afraid that the radicals in their party will say that they caved,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at one of his many daily press conferences. The blame game The political stakes in the shutdown are huge, which is why leaders in both parties have held nearly daily press briefings to shape public opinion. Roughly 6 in 10 Americans say The President and Republicans in Congress have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of responsibility for the shutdown, while 54% say the same about Democrats in Congress, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. At least three-quarters of Americans believe each deserves at least a “moderate” share of blame, underscoring that no one was successfully evading responsibility. Both parties looked to the Nov. 4 elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere for signs of how the shutdown was influencing public opinion. Democrats took comfort in their overwhelming successes. The President called it a “big factor, negative” for Republicans. But it did not change the GOP’s stance on negotiating. Instead, The President ramped up calls for Republicans to end the filibuster in the Senate, which would pretty much eliminate the need for the majority party to ever negotiate with the minority. Damage of the shutdown The Congressional Budget Office says that the negative impact on the economy will be mostly recovered once the shutdown ends, but not entirely. It estimated the permanent economic loss at about $11 billion for a six-week shutdown. Beyond the numbers, though, the shutdown created a cascade of troubles for many Americans. Federal workers missed paychecks, causing financial and emotional stress. Travelers had their flights delayed and at times canceled. People who rely on safety net programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program saw their benefits stopped, and Americans throughout the country lined up for meals at food banks. “This dysfunction is damaging enough to our constituents and economy here at home, but it also sends a dangerous message to the watching world,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan. “It demonstrates to our allies that we are an unreliable partner, and it signals to our adversaries that we can’t work together to meet even the most fundamental responsibilities of Congress.” Follow the AP’s coverage of the federal government shutdown at https://apnews.com/hub/government-shutdown. —Kevin Freking, Associated Press View the full article

President Donald The President boasts that his tariffs protect American industries, lure factories to the United States, raise money for the federal government, and give him diplomatic leverage. Now, he’s claiming they can finance a windfall for American families, too: He’s promising a generous tariff dividend. The president proposed the idea on his Truth Social media platform Sunday, five days after his Republican Party lost elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and elsewhere largely because of voter discontent with his economic stewardship—specifically, the high cost of living. The tariffs are bringing in so much money, the president posted, that “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.” Budget experts scoffed at the idea, which conjured memories of the The President administration’s short-lived plan for DOGE dividend checks financed by billionaire Elon Musk’s federal budget cuts. “The numbers just don’t check out,” said Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Details are scarce, including what the income limits would be and whether payments would go to children. Even The President’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, sounded a bit blindsided by the audacious dividend plan. Appearing Sunday on ABC’s This Week, Bessent said he hadn’t discussed the dividend with the president and suggested that it might not mean that Americans would get a check from the government. Instead, Bessent said, the rebate might take the form of tax cuts. The tariffs are certainly raising money—$195 billion in the budget year that ended September 30, up 153% from $77 billion in fiscal 2024. But they still account for less than 4% of federal revenue and have done little to dent the federal budget deficit—a staggering $1.8 trillion in fiscal 2025. Budget wonks say The President’s dividend math doesn’t work. John Ricco, an analyst with the Budget Lab at Yale University, reckons that The President’s tariffs will bring in $200 billion to $300 billion a year in revenue. But a $2,000 dividend—if it went to all Americans, including children—would cost $600 billion. “It’s clear that the revenue coming in would not be adequate,” he said. Ricco also noted that The President couldn’t just pay the dividends on his own. They would require legislation from Congress. Moreover, the centerpiece of The President’s protectionist trade policies—double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country in the world—may not survive a legal challenge that has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In a hearing last week, the justices sounded skeptical about the The President administration’s assertion of sweeping power to declare national emergencies to justify the tariffs. The President has bypassed Congress, which has authority under the Constitution to levy taxes, including tariffs. If the court strikes down the tariffs, the The President administration may be refunding money to the importers who paid them, not sending dividend checks to American families. (The President could find other ways to impose tariffs, even if he loses at the Supreme Court; but it could be cumbersome and time-consuming.) Mainstream economists and budget analysts note that tariffs are paid by U.S. importers who then generally try to pass along the cost to their customers through higher prices. The dividend plan “misses the mark,” the Tax Foundation’s York said. “If the goal is relief for Americans, just get rid of the tariffs.” —Paul Wiseman, AP Economics Writer View the full article

Identifying the owners, or shareholders, of a corporation is essential for comprehending its governance and structure. You can start by examining the stock ledger, which records all issued shares and their holders. For publicly traded companies, annual reports and proxy statements filed with the SEC reveal significant shareholders, typically those owning over 5% of shares. These documents not just show ownership distribution but additionally highlight voting rights and corporate governance. So, how do these elements connect to shareholder rights? Key Takeaways Review the corporation’s stock ledger to see a record of all issued shares and their respective owners. Check the company’s annual reports and proxy statements for details on shareholder identities and voting rights. Analyze regulatory filings like Form 13D or Form 13G for disclosures from significant shareholders owning over 5% of shares. Look for institutional investors’ reports that periodically disclose their holdings and ownership stakes in the corporation. Access the corporation’s articles of incorporation, which may include information on ownership structure and shareholder rights. Understanding Shareholders Shareholders play a crucial role in the functioning of a corporation, as they’re the individuals or entities that own shares and, as a result, a portion of the company. So, who are the owners of a corporation? The owners of a corporation are called shareholders. They can be classified mainly into two groups: common shareholders, who typically have voting rights, and preferred shareholders, who usually receive fixed dividends but lack voting rights. Majority shareholders own more than 50% of the shares, granting them significant influence over corporate decisions, whereas minority shareholders own less than 50% and have limited authority. Furthermore, shareholders enjoy limited liability, meaning they aren’t personally responsible for the corporation’s debts beyond their investment in shares. Types of Shareholders Let’s explore the different types of shareholders you might encounter in a corporation. You’ll find individual shareholders, who own shares directly, and institutional shareholders, like mutual funds, that hold significant stakes and influence corporate decisions. Moreover, comprehending the distinction between majority shareholders, who control over 50% of the shares, and minority shareholders, who own less, is vital for grasping their varying levels of influence within the company. Individual Shareholders Overview When you invest in a corporation by purchasing shares, you’re considered an individual shareholder, and your ownership rights depend on the number of shares you hold. Individual shareholders can be categorized into different types, each with unique rights and privileges: Common shareholders: Typically possess voting rights, allowing them to influence corporate decisions. Preferred shareholders: Receive fixed dividends but lack voting rights, prioritizing income over control. Acquisition methods: You can obtain shares through IPOs, direct purchases, or employee stock options. Limited liability: Your financial risk is confined to your investment, protecting personal assets from corporate debts. Understanding these distinctions is essential, especially since a disadvantage of forming a partnership is that owners face unlimited liability, unlike a business owned by one person or a corporation. Institutional Shareholders Explained Though individual shareholders play a crucial role in a corporation’s ownership structure, institutional shareholders represent a significant force in the investment environment. These organizations, such as mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, and hedge funds, invest large sums in companies by purchasing shares, often holding substantial equity. With their considerable ownership stakes, they wield significant voting influence, impacting corporate governance and strategic decisions. Institutional investors are categorized based on their strategies; active investors aim to outperform the market, whereas passive investors track market indices. Approximately 70% of publicly traded company shares in the U.S. are held by these investors, underscoring their vital role in capital markets. They participate in shareholder meetings and may engage in activism for corporate policy changes. Majority vs. Minority Shareholders How do majority and minority shareholders influence a corporation’s direction? Majority shareholders, who own over 50% of the outstanding shares, wield significant control over corporate decisions, including board elections and policy-making. Conversely, minority shareholders, holding less than 50%, have limited influence but retain important rights. Here’s how they differ: Majority shareholders often include founders or their heirs, whereas minority shareholders can be individual investors or institutions. In corporate liquidation, majority shareholders usually have priority for remaining assets. Both groups can inspect company records and initiate legal action against misdeeds. Minority shareholders still have rights, like voting on key issues and receiving dividends, albeit with less authority to instigate change. Understanding these dynamics can clarify the corporate governance environment. Shareholder Rights As a shareholder, you have important rights that play a vital role in corporate governance. You can vote on key issues, like electing board directors and approving major transactions, at the same time being entitled to dividends if the board declares them. Comprehending these rights, including your ability to inspect company records and hold management accountable, is fundamental for protecting your investment. Voting Rights Explained Voting rights are a fundamental aspect of shareholder ownership, enabling you to have a say in key corporate decisions. Typically, your voting authority corresponds to the number of shares you own. Here’s what you should know: Common shareholders vote at annual meetings, whereas preferred shareholders usually don’t. Voting methods include majority voting, used by about 90% of companies, and plurality voting, where the candidate with the most votes wins. You can vote in person or by proxy, allowing you to delegate your voting rights if you can’t attend. Exercising your voting rights is essential for holding directors accountable and influencing the company’s strategic direction. Understanding these rights enables you to participate actively in corporate governance. Dividend Entitlements Overview Dividends represent a significant aspect of shareholder rights, as they provide a way for you to receive a portion of a corporation’s profits. Typically declared by the board of directors, dividends come in two forms: cash or additional shares of stock. If you’re a common shareholder, your dividend amount depends on the number of shares you own. Preferred shareholders, on the other hand, usually enjoy fixed dividends that take precedence over the common ones. To qualify for dividend payments, you must hold shares before the ex-dividend date; buying shares afterward means you won’t receive that dividend. Keep in mind that dividends are taxable income, so you’ll need to report them on your personal income tax returns. Comprehending these aspects is crucial for maximizing your investment. Corporate Structure and Governance Corporate structure and governance play crucial roles in how a corporation operates, ensuring that ownership and management functions are clearly defined. In this framework, shareholders own the company through shares of stock whereas directors and officers manage day-to-day operations. Comprehending the structure helps clarify shareholder rights, including: Voting on major corporate matters Receiving dividends based on ownership type Inspecting company records as allowed Overseeing management through the board of directors The articles of incorporation outline the ownership structure, detailing the number of shares authorized for issuance. This structure greatly impacts the dynamics of corporate governance and shareholder rights, distinguishing between common and preferred shareholders, each with specific privileges and responsibilities. How Shareholders Acquire Ownership Comprehending how shareholders acquire ownership is fundamental for anyone interested in investing or participating in a corporation. One primary method is through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), where you can purchase shares when a company first goes public. You can also make direct purchases on stock exchanges or through private transactions, buying existing shares from current owners. Employees might gain shares through stock options or grants, which link their compensation to the company’s success. Furthermore, you can acquire shares via inheritance or gifts, passing ownership down family lines or to friends. Finally, during mergers and acquisitions, shareholders of one company might receive shares in the newly formed entity, broadening their ownership in the process. Role of the Stock Ledger The stock ledger plays a vital role in the governance of a corporation by carefully recording all shares issued, along with important details like shareholder names, the number of shares owned, and acquisition dates. This official record allows you to verify the identity of shareholders and manage their rights effectively. Key functions of the stock ledger include: Ensuring compliance with legal requirements Facilitating communication regarding dividend distributions Documenting changes in ownership, such as transfers or sales Providing shareholders with access for inspection, promoting transparency Public Filings and Disclosure Comprehending who holds shares in a corporation is not just about maintaining a stock ledger; it moreover involves public filings and disclosures that provide essential information to investors and regulators. Public corporations must file annual reports, like Form 10-K, with the SEC, detailing shareholder ownership. Companies disclose beneficial owners, typically those holding over 5% of stock, in proxy statements filed before annual meetings. In addition, state laws may require corporations to include shareholder information in their articles of incorporation. Institutional investors likewise report holdings periodically, enhancing transparency. Filing Type Required By Key Information Form 10-K SEC Shareholder stakes Proxy Statements SEC Beneficial owners State Filings State Laws Voting rights Importance of Annual Reports and Proxy Statements Even though you might think of annual reports and proxy statements as just routine documents, they actually play a crucial role in grasping a corporation’s ownership structure and governance. Comprehending these documents can clarify who the shareholders are and how decisions are made. Key insights you can gather include: Financial performance: Annual reports provide an overview of the corporation’s financial health and outstanding shares. Voting information: Proxy statements reveal details about shareholder voting and significant shareholder identities. Directors and officers: Both documents list key individuals, helping you assess potential conflicts of interest. Shareholder equity: Annual reports detail the distribution of shares, shedding light on ownership structures. Identifying Significant Shareholders Comprehending who the significant shareholders are can provide valuable insights into a corporation’s influence and decision-making processes. Typically, significant shareholders own more than 5% of a corporation’s outstanding shares, granting them substantial sway in corporate governance and decisions. To identify these shareholders, check the annual proxy statement, which reveals top investors and their shareholdings. Regulatory filings, such as Form 13D or Form 13G with the SEC, require reporting from those holding significant stakes, ensuring transparency. Furthermore, shareholder registers maintained by the corporation list all registered shareholders and their respective holdings. Corporate bylaws may likewise define thresholds for determining significant shareholders, often influencing voting rights and privileges, which can further aid in recognizing key stakeholders. Frequently Asked Questions Are the Owners of a Corporation Called Shareholders? Yes, the owners of a corporation are certainly called shareholders. They hold shares, which represent their ownership interest in the company. Shareholders can be individuals or institutions, and they possess rights such as voting on key issues, including board elections. Depending on the number of shares owned, they may be classified as majority or minority shareholders, influencing their control over corporate decisions. Significantly, shareholders’ liability is limited to their investment in the corporation. How Do I Know Who Are the Shareholders of a Company? To know who the shareholders of a company are, you can start by checking the shareholder register or stock ledger, which lists all owners of shares. For publicly traded companies, look at their annual reports and proxy statements for major shareholders. If it’s a private corporation, review the articles of incorporation or bylaws. Financial databases and investment platforms can likewise provide valuable insights into both direct and beneficial owners of shares. Are the Names of Shareholders Public Information? Yes, in the United States, the names of shareholders in publicly traded companies are commonly public information. You can find this data in company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as Form 10-K and proxy statements. Nevertheless, private companies don’t have to disclose their shareholder information publicly, making it harder to identify their owners. Some states do maintain shareholder registers, but access may be limited based on specific regulations. Can You Look up Who Owns Shares in a Company? Yes, you can look up who owns shares in a company. For publicly traded companies, check the shareholder register, which lists all shareholders and their ownership percentages. You can furthermore explore SEC filings via platforms like EDGAR. Financial data providers, such as Bloomberg or Yahoo Finance, offer detailed ownership breakdowns. For private companies, review incorporation documents or shareholder agreements, but access may be limited compared to public records. Conclusion In summary, identifying shareholders of a corporation involves examining various resources, such as stock ledgers and public filings like annual reports and proxy statements. These documents not only reveal ownership structures but likewise clarify shareholder rights and corporate governance. By comprehending these elements, you can gain a clearer picture of who holds significant stakes in a company and how that influences decision-making. This knowledge is crucial for anyone looking to navigate the intricacies of corporate ownership. Image via Google Gemini This article, "How to Identify the Owners Called Shareholders of a Corporation" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Identifying the owners, or shareholders, of a corporation is essential for comprehending its governance and structure. You can start by examining the stock ledger, which records all issued shares and their holders. For publicly traded companies, annual reports and proxy statements filed with the SEC reveal significant shareholders, typically those owning over 5% of shares. These documents not just show ownership distribution but additionally highlight voting rights and corporate governance. So, how do these elements connect to shareholder rights? Key Takeaways Review the corporation’s stock ledger to see a record of all issued shares and their respective owners. Check the company’s annual reports and proxy statements for details on shareholder identities and voting rights. Analyze regulatory filings like Form 13D or Form 13G for disclosures from significant shareholders owning over 5% of shares. Look for institutional investors’ reports that periodically disclose their holdings and ownership stakes in the corporation. Access the corporation’s articles of incorporation, which may include information on ownership structure and shareholder rights. Understanding Shareholders Shareholders play a crucial role in the functioning of a corporation, as they’re the individuals or entities that own shares and, as a result, a portion of the company. So, who are the owners of a corporation? The owners of a corporation are called shareholders. They can be classified mainly into two groups: common shareholders, who typically have voting rights, and preferred shareholders, who usually receive fixed dividends but lack voting rights. Majority shareholders own more than 50% of the shares, granting them significant influence over corporate decisions, whereas minority shareholders own less than 50% and have limited authority. Furthermore, shareholders enjoy limited liability, meaning they aren’t personally responsible for the corporation’s debts beyond their investment in shares. Types of Shareholders Let’s explore the different types of shareholders you might encounter in a corporation. You’ll find individual shareholders, who own shares directly, and institutional shareholders, like mutual funds, that hold significant stakes and influence corporate decisions. Moreover, comprehending the distinction between majority shareholders, who control over 50% of the shares, and minority shareholders, who own less, is vital for grasping their varying levels of influence within the company. Individual Shareholders Overview When you invest in a corporation by purchasing shares, you’re considered an individual shareholder, and your ownership rights depend on the number of shares you hold. Individual shareholders can be categorized into different types, each with unique rights and privileges: Common shareholders: Typically possess voting rights, allowing them to influence corporate decisions. Preferred shareholders: Receive fixed dividends but lack voting rights, prioritizing income over control. Acquisition methods: You can obtain shares through IPOs, direct purchases, or employee stock options. Limited liability: Your financial risk is confined to your investment, protecting personal assets from corporate debts. Understanding these distinctions is essential, especially since a disadvantage of forming a partnership is that owners face unlimited liability, unlike a business owned by one person or a corporation. Institutional Shareholders Explained Though individual shareholders play a crucial role in a corporation’s ownership structure, institutional shareholders represent a significant force in the investment environment. These organizations, such as mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, and hedge funds, invest large sums in companies by purchasing shares, often holding substantial equity. With their considerable ownership stakes, they wield significant voting influence, impacting corporate governance and strategic decisions. Institutional investors are categorized based on their strategies; active investors aim to outperform the market, whereas passive investors track market indices. Approximately 70% of publicly traded company shares in the U.S. are held by these investors, underscoring their vital role in capital markets. They participate in shareholder meetings and may engage in activism for corporate policy changes. Majority vs. Minority Shareholders How do majority and minority shareholders influence a corporation’s direction? Majority shareholders, who own over 50% of the outstanding shares, wield significant control over corporate decisions, including board elections and policy-making. Conversely, minority shareholders, holding less than 50%, have limited influence but retain important rights. Here’s how they differ: Majority shareholders often include founders or their heirs, whereas minority shareholders can be individual investors or institutions. In corporate liquidation, majority shareholders usually have priority for remaining assets. Both groups can inspect company records and initiate legal action against misdeeds. Minority shareholders still have rights, like voting on key issues and receiving dividends, albeit with less authority to instigate change. Understanding these dynamics can clarify the corporate governance environment. Shareholder Rights As a shareholder, you have important rights that play a vital role in corporate governance. You can vote on key issues, like electing board directors and approving major transactions, at the same time being entitled to dividends if the board declares them. Comprehending these rights, including your ability to inspect company records and hold management accountable, is fundamental for protecting your investment. Voting Rights Explained Voting rights are a fundamental aspect of shareholder ownership, enabling you to have a say in key corporate decisions. Typically, your voting authority corresponds to the number of shares you own. Here’s what you should know: Common shareholders vote at annual meetings, whereas preferred shareholders usually don’t. Voting methods include majority voting, used by about 90% of companies, and plurality voting, where the candidate with the most votes wins. You can vote in person or by proxy, allowing you to delegate your voting rights if you can’t attend. Exercising your voting rights is essential for holding directors accountable and influencing the company’s strategic direction. Understanding these rights enables you to participate actively in corporate governance. Dividend Entitlements Overview Dividends represent a significant aspect of shareholder rights, as they provide a way for you to receive a portion of a corporation’s profits. Typically declared by the board of directors, dividends come in two forms: cash or additional shares of stock. If you’re a common shareholder, your dividend amount depends on the number of shares you own. Preferred shareholders, on the other hand, usually enjoy fixed dividends that take precedence over the common ones. To qualify for dividend payments, you must hold shares before the ex-dividend date; buying shares afterward means you won’t receive that dividend. Keep in mind that dividends are taxable income, so you’ll need to report them on your personal income tax returns. Comprehending these aspects is crucial for maximizing your investment. Corporate Structure and Governance Corporate structure and governance play crucial roles in how a corporation operates, ensuring that ownership and management functions are clearly defined. In this framework, shareholders own the company through shares of stock whereas directors and officers manage day-to-day operations. Comprehending the structure helps clarify shareholder rights, including: Voting on major corporate matters Receiving dividends based on ownership type Inspecting company records as allowed Overseeing management through the board of directors The articles of incorporation outline the ownership structure, detailing the number of shares authorized for issuance. This structure greatly impacts the dynamics of corporate governance and shareholder rights, distinguishing between common and preferred shareholders, each with specific privileges and responsibilities. How Shareholders Acquire Ownership Comprehending how shareholders acquire ownership is fundamental for anyone interested in investing or participating in a corporation. One primary method is through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), where you can purchase shares when a company first goes public. You can also make direct purchases on stock exchanges or through private transactions, buying existing shares from current owners. Employees might gain shares through stock options or grants, which link their compensation to the company’s success. Furthermore, you can acquire shares via inheritance or gifts, passing ownership down family lines or to friends. Finally, during mergers and acquisitions, shareholders of one company might receive shares in the newly formed entity, broadening their ownership in the process. Role of the Stock Ledger The stock ledger plays a vital role in the governance of a corporation by carefully recording all shares issued, along with important details like shareholder names, the number of shares owned, and acquisition dates. This official record allows you to verify the identity of shareholders and manage their rights effectively. Key functions of the stock ledger include: Ensuring compliance with legal requirements Facilitating communication regarding dividend distributions Documenting changes in ownership, such as transfers or sales Providing shareholders with access for inspection, promoting transparency Public Filings and Disclosure Comprehending who holds shares in a corporation is not just about maintaining a stock ledger; it moreover involves public filings and disclosures that provide essential information to investors and regulators. Public corporations must file annual reports, like Form 10-K, with the SEC, detailing shareholder ownership. Companies disclose beneficial owners, typically those holding over 5% of stock, in proxy statements filed before annual meetings. In addition, state laws may require corporations to include shareholder information in their articles of incorporation. Institutional investors likewise report holdings periodically, enhancing transparency. Filing Type Required By Key Information Form 10-K SEC Shareholder stakes Proxy Statements SEC Beneficial owners State Filings State Laws Voting rights Importance of Annual Reports and Proxy Statements Even though you might think of annual reports and proxy statements as just routine documents, they actually play a crucial role in grasping a corporation’s ownership structure and governance. Comprehending these documents can clarify who the shareholders are and how decisions are made. Key insights you can gather include: Financial performance: Annual reports provide an overview of the corporation’s financial health and outstanding shares. Voting information: Proxy statements reveal details about shareholder voting and significant shareholder identities. Directors and officers: Both documents list key individuals, helping you assess potential conflicts of interest. Shareholder equity: Annual reports detail the distribution of shares, shedding light on ownership structures. Identifying Significant Shareholders Comprehending who the significant shareholders are can provide valuable insights into a corporation’s influence and decision-making processes. Typically, significant shareholders own more than 5% of a corporation’s outstanding shares, granting them substantial sway in corporate governance and decisions. To identify these shareholders, check the annual proxy statement, which reveals top investors and their shareholdings. Regulatory filings, such as Form 13D or Form 13G with the SEC, require reporting from those holding significant stakes, ensuring transparency. Furthermore, shareholder registers maintained by the corporation list all registered shareholders and their respective holdings. Corporate bylaws may likewise define thresholds for determining significant shareholders, often influencing voting rights and privileges, which can further aid in recognizing key stakeholders. Frequently Asked Questions Are the Owners of a Corporation Called Shareholders? Yes, the owners of a corporation are certainly called shareholders. They hold shares, which represent their ownership interest in the company. Shareholders can be individuals or institutions, and they possess rights such as voting on key issues, including board elections. Depending on the number of shares owned, they may be classified as majority or minority shareholders, influencing their control over corporate decisions. Significantly, shareholders’ liability is limited to their investment in the corporation. How Do I Know Who Are the Shareholders of a Company? To know who the shareholders of a company are, you can start by checking the shareholder register or stock ledger, which lists all owners of shares. For publicly traded companies, look at their annual reports and proxy statements for major shareholders. If it’s a private corporation, review the articles of incorporation or bylaws. Financial databases and investment platforms can likewise provide valuable insights into both direct and beneficial owners of shares. Are the Names of Shareholders Public Information? Yes, in the United States, the names of shareholders in publicly traded companies are commonly public information. You can find this data in company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as Form 10-K and proxy statements. Nevertheless, private companies don’t have to disclose their shareholder information publicly, making it harder to identify their owners. Some states do maintain shareholder registers, but access may be limited based on specific regulations. Can You Look up Who Owns Shares in a Company? Yes, you can look up who owns shares in a company. For publicly traded companies, check the shareholder register, which lists all shareholders and their ownership percentages. You can furthermore explore SEC filings via platforms like EDGAR. Financial data providers, such as Bloomberg or Yahoo Finance, offer detailed ownership breakdowns. For private companies, review incorporation documents or shareholder agreements, but access may be limited compared to public records. Conclusion In summary, identifying shareholders of a corporation involves examining various resources, such as stock ledgers and public filings like annual reports and proxy statements. These documents not only reveal ownership structures but likewise clarify shareholder rights and corporate governance. By comprehending these elements, you can gain a clearer picture of who holds significant stakes in a company and how that influences decision-making. This knowledge is crucial for anyone looking to navigate the intricacies of corporate ownership. Image via Google Gemini This article, "How to Identify the Owners Called Shareholders of a Corporation" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Ninite has long been a godsend for anyone setting up a new computer. With it, you can install a number of applications in just a couple of clicks, as opposed to downloading a bunch of individual installers. Ninite is well known for simplicity, too. There's no package manager to learn or commands to type; just visit the website and pick the apps you want to install, then download and run the installer. Installations all run in the background, with no prompts. It's magical, and I've long wondered why Microsoft hasn't built anything similar—something powerful, yet easy to use. Well, it seems like someone at the company finally got around to it. A new Microsoft site called App Pack is exactly this. It allows you to visit a page on the Microsoft Store website, check from a selection of applications, and then install those applications by downloading and running a single installer. That's exactly how Ninite works, though there are a few differences between these two options. Credit: Justin Pot The main difference is that Microsoft's App Pack uses the Microsoft Store to install the applications, and the installer you download instructs the store to make the downloads. This means updates will also be handled by the store, which is a real benefit, but it also means the supported applications are limited to those offered in the store. That's part of why Ninite offers a lot more software. App Pack offers 32 applications in four categories; Ninite offers over 90 distinct applications in all sorts of categories. But there's also the Microsoft of it all. You cannot use App Pack to install Chrome, which isn't in the Microsoft Store. But you also can't use it to install Firefox, which is. Given that one of the first things many Windows users do is replace Edge, that's a real shortcoming; given that Microsoft seems to really want Windows users not to replace Edge, it's not surprising. Meanwhile, Ninite lets you install Chrome and Firefox, as well as other browsers like Opera, Brave, and, ironically, Edge. But it's not as though App Pack only offers Microsoft software. Zoom is offered, as are several apps from Apple (iCloud, Music, and TV). There are desktop apps for all the big social media networks (TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Discord, and LinkedIn). And there are a few customization tools, including TranslucentTB for customizing the taskbar and F.lux for adjusting the color temperature of your display. There are also multiple apps for working in media, including Photoshop, Audacity, and OBS Studio. It's just that Ninite offers more, including power user staples like VLC, WinDirStat, 7-Zip, and Handbrake. If you don't need these additional apps, however, App Pack is a diverse set of tools, and I could imagine the one-click install saving a lot of time for many Windows users. You can find it here or by clicking the "Multi-app install" button in the top-right corner of the web version of the Microsoft Store. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. This Lenovo ThinkCentre M90q Mini PC (2021) is on sale for $455.99 on StackSocial right now, offering business-grade performance in a compact form factor small enough to hide behind a monitor. Inside its 7-inch frame sits a 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor with six cores, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. That’s enough muscle for multitasking, large spreadsheets, or running several browser tabs at once without slowdown. It’s not built for heavy graphics work or gaming, but for office productivity or remote setups, it’s more than capable of keeping up. And with Windows 11 Pro preinstalled, it’s ready for modern workflows right out of the box. Where this PC really stands out is in its flexibility. You can mount it behind a screen, tuck it under a desk, or leave it visible as a minimal addition to your setup. The design is simple—matte black, compact, and focused entirely on function. It supports up to three monitors via HDMI and DisplayPort, making it a good fit for anyone managing multiple windows or dashboards. The front-facing USB-C port is convenient for fast charging and quick file transfers, while Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 ensure a seamless connection without the need for a tangle of cables. It also includes thoughtful business features, such as Smart Power On and expansion slots for upgrades, which are useful if you want to add storage later. The M90q Mini also features TPM 2.0 encryption, BIOS-level protection, password controls, and a chassis intrusion switch that alerts you if someone attempts to open the case. It’s also built to military-grade durability standards (MIL-STD-810H), ensuring it can withstand years of use without issue. There’s no included warranty, which might give some buyers pause, but for those looking for a compact, strong performer for work or as a small home office machine, this sale is a great option. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods 4 Wireless Earbuds — $84.99 (List Price $129.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $324.99 (List Price $349.00) Shark AV2501AE AI XL Hepa- Safe Self-Emptying Base Robot Vacuum — $297.99 (List Price $649.99) Apple Watch Series 10 — $309.99 (List Price $429.00) Google Pixel 9 128GB Unlocked 6.9" OLED Smartphone (Obsidian) — $544.98 (List Price $799.00) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) — $69.99 (List Price $139.99) Sony WH-1000XM5 — $328.00 (List Price $399.99) Blink Outdoor 4 1080p Wireless Security Camera (5-Pack) — $159.99 (List Price $399.99) Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus 1080p Security Camera (White) — $99.99 (List Price $179.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Government seeks to bear down on long wait times to qualify in EnglandView the full article

There are many ways to set a schedule, from using a pen and paper planner to getting out some dry erase markers and scribbling on your clock. They range from tedious to totally archaic, but there's a technique for everyone. One method I have come to enjoy aims to work by giving you more insight into how you spend your time—and helping you manage your day down to the minute. It’s called time blocking. What is time blocking?Time blocking is the act of arranging your schedule so every activity you need to do in a day is accounted for visually. Ideally, you’ll do this using a digital calendar tool like Google Calendar or iCal, but it's possible with a planner and some highlighters. Even if you’re writing it all down by hand on a piece of paper, consider the way a Google Calendar looks before you start. Each day is represented by a column split up into 15-minute increments, from midnight until 11:59 p.m. When you add a meeting or appointment into the calendar, a box appears and fills up the space representing how much time the event will take out of your day. With time blocking, your goal is to fill the entire column with boxes, leaving no blank space. Even your rest periods should be marked as such (and yes, you need rest periods to be your most productive, so don't skip those). No activity—from having breakfast to running errands to calling your mom—is too small to add to the list. Then, you get to classify everything with a pretty color (when it comes to time management, you have to find your own fun). How to create a time blocking scheduleStart by making a list of everything you’re going to do tomorrow. For instance, you might wake up, check the news, shower, make coffee, commute to work, grab breakfast, answer emails, attend a meeting, get lunch with an old friend, work on a project, commute home, take the kids to a baseball game, pick up dinner, eat that dinner, watch your favorite show, get ready for bed, lie awake thinking about climate change, and actually sleep. Get granular here. At first blush, you might think your to-do list on a given day is just something like "hit deadlines at work" and "make a doctor's appointment," but think of everything else in there, like packing your lunch, driving to the locations, stopping for gas, etc. Once you’ve written out the exhaustive list of your day’s tasks, mark down how long each might (or should) take. This part will take practice because we tend to give ourselves too much time for tasks—and that's bad for multiple reasons. First, you need a bit of urgency and stress (but not too much) to make you productive, so you need a limited amount of time. Second, the longer you give yourself to work, the more you'll drag out that work—and the less you'll get done. Give yourself a few weeks to get in the swing of cutting down the amount of time you estimate each task will take, but commit yourself to eventually shrinking those windows. Then, grab the paper (or open the software) you’re using to time block and enter every single event and responsibility in, according to the time you’ve allotted for it. If you want to see how you are splitting up your day, choose different colors to classify tasks, like blue for grooming/bathing, yellow for work, and green for meals. Be strategic about which tasks make the cut on a given day, though. Use a prioritization technique like the Eisenhower Matrix to determine which of your tasks are actually pressing and which can be bumped to another day. Then, use a to-do list organizing method like 1-2-3 to divvy up your daily time correctly. Remember, your time in a day is finite, so you can't do everything all at once. With 1-2-3, you select one major task, two medium-sized ones, and three smaller ones to do in a day. The smaller ones can be building blocks for the big one or can be simple maintenance activities like answering emails or picking up the dry cleaning. The trick after that is to treat each box the same way you’d treat a meeting: Don’t reschedule it. Don’t mess with it too much. Honor the time commitment it represents, commit to doing the task at the specified time, and do your best to get it done in the time you set aside to do it. This is called time boxing, a similar but slightly different concept that involves giving yourself a set amount of time to do something, only focusing on that task during that time, and stopping your work when the time is up. I've written more extensively on the similarities and differences between time boxing and time blocking, but all you need to know right now is that during the time you set aside to do something on your calendar, you should engage completely in deep work, avoid distractions, and turn all your energy toward the responsibility at hand. As with any pre-planned meeting or event, things will come up that disrupt the schedule, but in the absence of a major upheaval (the kind of thing you’d move a work meeting for), vow to stick with your time blocks. It's smart here to also implement some kind of time tracking, whether that involves writing down how long your tasks actually take you or using a software to monitor your work, so you can make adjustments to your time blocks as you get better at following the system. During the first week or two, you'll likely be guessing at how long each task will take you when you're building the schedule, but after a while, you should be able to identify if something takes a longer or shorter amount of time than you've been allotting, then adjust the schedule to match those needs going forward. The reason time blocking worksTime blocking is beloved by its adherents. As the Harvard Business Review points out, a regular to-do list gives you way too many choices and not enough structure. Adding in the time element helps you stay on task. Making a visual, color-coded representation of that time keeps you focused and helps you ensure you always know exactly what you're supposed to be doing. There is no more indecision paralysis. You look at your Google Calendar and simply know what to do and how long you have to do it. Plus, if you use a shared calendar with colleagues or your family, everyone else will also know when you're available and what you're doing. It also helps you meet deadlines and stay within your guidelines. If you know a certain project or task will take a combined 50 hours, time blocking helps you space those out and make room for them in your schedule, enabling you to get things done on a set timetable without having to guess whether you really have time for it. If you finish something ahead of schedule, great! Go ahead and add in a little block of time off. A final note on time blockingTime blocking is often confused with time boxing and a lot of productivity blogs and hacks will say "time boxing" when they mean time blocking. That Harvard Business Review article above does it, for instance. It's an easy mistake to make and, in fact, in a previous version of this post, I called time blocking time boxing. As long as you're sticking to the plan and making a detailed calendar, it doesn't matter what you're calling it, but this could cause some confusion while you read up on other guides, so just be warned. A complete rundown of the differences between the two can be found here. View the full article

A few years ago, when I was working at a traditional law firm, the partners gathered with us with barely any excitement. “Rejoice,” they announced, unveiling our new AI assistant that would make legal work faster, easier, and better. An expert was brought in to train us on dashboards and automation. Within months, her enthusiasm had curdled into frustration as lawyers either ignored the expensive tool or, worse, followed its recommendations blindly. That’s when I realized: we weren’t learning to use AI. AI was learning to use us. Many traditional law firms have rushed to adopt AI decision support tools for client selection, case assessment, and strategy development. The pitch is irresistible: AI reduces costs, saves time, and promises better decisions through pure logic, untainted by human bias or emotion. These systems appear precise: When AI was used in cases, evidence gets rated “strong,” “medium,” or “weak.” Case outcomes receive probability scores. Legal strategies are color-coded by risk level. But this crisp certainty masks a messy reality: most of these AI assessments rely on simple scoring rules that check whether information matches predefined characteristics. It’s sophisticated pattern-matching, not wisdom, and it falls apart spectacularly with borderline cases that don’t fit the template. And here’s the kicker: AI systems often replicate the very biases they’re supposed to eliminate. Research is finding that algorithmic recommendations in legal tech can reflect and even amplify human prejudices baked into training data. Your “objective” AI tool might carry the same blind spots as a biased partner, it’s just faster and more confident about it. And yet: None of this means abandoning AI tools. It means building and demanding better ones. The Default Trap “So what?” you might think. “AI tools are just that, tools. Can’t we use their speed and efficiency while critically reviewing their suggestions?” In theory, yes. In practice, we’re terrible at it. Behavioral economists have documented a phenomenon called status quo bias: our powerful preference for defaults. When an AI system presents a recommendation, that recommendation becomes the path of least resistance. Questioning it requires time, cognitive effort, and the social awkwardness of overriding what feels like expert consensus. I watched this happen repeatedly at the firm. An associate would run case details through the AI, which would spit out a legal strategy. Rather than treating it as one input among many, it became the starting point that shaped every subsequent discussion. The AI’s guess became our default, and defaults are sticky. This wouldn’t matter if we at least recognized what was happening. But something more insidious occurs: our ability to think independently atrophies. Writer Nicholas Carr has long warned about the cognitive costs of outsourcing thinking to machines, and mounting evidence supports his concerns. Each time we defer to AI without questioning it, we get a little worse at making those judgments ourselves. I’ve watched junior associates lose the ability to evaluate cases on their own. They’ve become skilled at operating the AI interface but struggle when asked to analyze a legal problem from scratch. The tool was supposed to make them more efficient; instead, it’s made them dependent. Speed Without Wisdom The real danger isn’t that AI makes mistakes. It’s that AI makes mistakes quickly, confidently, and at scale. An attorney accepts a case evaluation without noticing the system misunderstood a crucial precedent. A partner relies on AI-generated strategy recommendations that miss a creative legal argument a human would have spotted. A firm uses AI for client intake and systematically screens out cases that don’t match historical patterns, even when those cases have merit. Each decision feels rational in the moment, backed by technology and data. But poor inputs and flawed models produce poor outputs, just faster than before. The Better Path Forward The problems I witnessed stemmed from how these legacy systems were designed: as replacement tools rather than enhancement tools. They positioned AI as the decision-maker with humans merely reviewing outputs, rather than keeping human judgment at the center. Better AI legal tools exist, and they take a fundamentally different approach. They’re built with judgment-first design, treating lawyers as the primary decision-makers and AI as a support system that enhances rather than replaces expertise. These systems make their reasoning transparent, showing how they arrived at recommendations rather than presenting black-box outputs. They include regular capability assessments to ensure lawyers maintain independent analytical skills even while using AI assistance. And they’re designed to flag edge cases and uncertainties rather than presenting false confidence. The difference is philosophical: are you building tools that make lawyers faster at being lawyers, or tools that try to replace lawyering itself? I see this different approach playing out in immigration services, where the stakes of poor decisions are particularly high. Consider a case where an applicant’s employment history doesn’t neatly match historical approval patterns, perhaps they’ve had gaps, career shifts, or worked in emerging fields. A traditional AI tool would flag this as “non-standard,” lowering approval probability and becoming the default recommendation. A judgment-first system does something entirely different: it surfaces the exact factors that make the case atypical, explains why precedent might or might not apply, and explicitly asks the immigration officer, “What do you see here that the algorithm misses?” The officer remains the decision-maker, armed with both AI efficiency and the cognitive space to apply nuanced expertise. The tool didn’t replace judgment; it enhanced it. That’s the difference between AI that makes professionals dependent and AI that makes them sharper. Taking Back Control None of this means abandoning AI tools. It means using them deliberately: Treat AI recommendations as drafts, not answers. Before accepting any AI suggestion, ask: “What would I recommend if the system weren’t here?” If you can’t answer, you’re not ready to evaluate the AI’s output. Build in friction. Create a rule that important decisions require at least one alternative to the AI’s recommendation. Force yourself to articulate why the AI is right, rather than assuming it is. Test regularly. Periodically work through problems without AI assistance to maintain your independent judgment. Think of it like a pilot practicing manual landings despite having autopilot. Demand transparency. Push vendors to explain how their systems reach conclusions. If they can’t or won’t, that’s a red flag. You’re entitled to understand what’s shaping your decisions. Stay skeptical of certainty. When AI outputs seem suspiciously confident or precise, dig deeper. Real-world problems are messy; if the answer looks too clean, something’s probably being oversimplified. The legal professionals who thrive with AI aren’t those who defer to it blindly or reject it entirely. They’re the ones who leverage its efficiencies while maintaining sharp human judgment, and who insist on tools designed to enhance their capabilities rather than circumvent them. Left unchecked, poorly designed AI assistants will train you to make terrible decisions. But that outcome isn’t inevitable. The future belongs to legal professionals who demand tools that genuinely enhance their expertise rather than erode it. After all, speed and convenience lose much of their appeal if they compromise the quality of justice itself. View the full article

Growing up, WNBA star Paige Bueckers says she was “huge” on sports memorabilia. She collected items across a range of sports from her favorite players, including their posters, autographs, and jerseys. Today, she’s having a full circle moment: Bueckers just announced an exclusive, multi-year deal with Fanatics, which will make the sports apparel juggernaut the sole provider of her memorabilia and collectibles. The Paige Bueckers Fanatics collection pulls from both her collegiate career with the UConn Huskies (which she led to four Big East Tournament wins, four Final Four appearances, and a National Championship title) and her current professional career as a guard on the Dallas Wings, and includes autographed and inscribed basketballs, jerseys, photos, shoes, and select game-used equipment. The collection is currently live across Fanatics’ network of sites, including Fanatics.com and WNBAStore.com. Bueckers, who graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2024, was one of the first college athletes to benefit from the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling allowing amateurs to profit off of their own name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights. She became a trailblazer in using strategic NIL deals to expertly market her own brand, racking up an estimated $1.5 million net worth by her final 2024–2025 NCAA season. Now, with this Fanatics partnership, she’s bringing that honed business savvy into her pro career—and using her own visibility to uplift her fellow athletes. Paige Bueckers Inside the new Paige Bueckers Fanatics collection Prior to this deal, Bueckers’s likeness was already a sales hit for Fanatics. After being selected first overall in the 2025 WNBA draft by the Wings, Bueckers became this year’s Rookie of the Year and an All-Star player. According to a Fanatics press release, “Her jersey and other merchandise was an immediate hit and flew off the shelves all season long, with sales on draft night becoming the second best by a WNBA player in league history.” For Fanatics, this partnership is part of a larger plan to become “the Amazon of sports,” as Fast Company put it in a 2023 feature. The brand is currently the single biggest manufacturer and distributor of sports fan apparel in the U.S., sitting at a valuation of an estimated $31 billion as of 2022. Still, it’s set its sights on growing even further by expanding into—and eventually dominating—the collectibles market. Bueckers says Fanatics’s “incredible reach” will also help her connect with as many young fans as possible, echoing her own early memories of collecting memorabilia of her favorite athletes. Beyond that, the Fanatics deal is a recent example of how Bueckers leverages brand partnerships to give back to young athletes. Dominating on the court and in the brand world Bueckers is no stranger to brand deals. In fact, she’s something of a leader in a new era of financial empowerment for emerging athletes. In 2021, Bueckers became the first college athlete to sign with Gatorade mere months after the implementation of NIL. During the remainder of her college career, she penned deals with major names including Bose, Intuit, Verizon, Madison Reed, Google Chrome, and Epic Games. Just before her pro debut, she joined DoorDash as its first-ever athlete creative director. And, this June, she partnered with Nike and Levi’s on a sporty, denim-centric apparel collection. In short, Bueckers has expertly curated a portfolio of some of the most recognizable brand partners in the sports world, despite entering college with what she’s described as very limited experience managing her own finances. Still, she says, the most important lesson that she learned after being cast into the deep end of sports sponsorships during college was to only work with brands that align with her values. “Having a team that understands that and negotiates that in every single one of my deals was really important,” Bueckers says. “Continuing to give back was the most important thing of all, because you can easily make NIL about yourself only.” Dealmaking for a more inclusive sport Bueckers has historically been outspoken on a number of issues impacting women’s sports, and basketball in particular—especially as the WNBA has recently hit record viewership and attendance benchmarks, drawing new attention to the league. In a June interview with Time magazine, she highlighted racial discrepancies in player brand deals, citing the need to uplift her Black teammates: “I do think there’s more opportunities for me,” she said. “I feel like even just marketability, people tend to favor white people, white males, white women.” Recently, she demonstrated her support for the WNBA’s players union, which is currently negotiating with WNBA leadership to secure better compensation for players. At a July All-Star game, Bueckers joined her fellow players in donning a black T-shirt that read “Pay Us What You Owe Us” during warm-ups. She’s also invested in and recently joined Unrivaled, a three-on-three women’s basketball league that plays in the winter and features WNBA stars. The league was cofounded by Napheesa Collier, vice president of the players union, and offers competitive salaries to players. Off the court, Bueckers runs an eponymous foundation dedicated to promoting social justice in youth sports and providing support to low-income children and families. When selecting brand partners, she says her college career taught her to prioritize companies that will contribute to her foundation and others, as well as include her teammates. If those goals aren’t shared, it probably won’t be a good fit. “I want my deals to be very inclusive and not just a one-off,” Bueckers says. The Fanatics deal is a demonstration of those values in action. According to the press release, Fanatics will make a “significant annual donation to the Paige Bueckers foundation” as part of the partnership. Fanatics declined to share specifics on the terms of the deal or its annual donation with Fast Company. “I think there are great, creative ways that I can connect with the people that support me and provide people with a special collection of memorabilia,” Bueckers says. “Along with that, the values are aligned with them supporting my foundation and donating so I can continue to use basketball and my platform for good.” View the full article

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that an AI-powered tool called “Oz” is heading out of, or near, the Emerald City. On November 12, Microsoft and Land O’Lakes announced that the two companies have co-developed an AI-powered agricultural science tool called “Oz,” designed to help farmers and agricultural operations. Specifically, farmers are facing some very serious problems: labor shortages and lower yields associated with changing climates. Further, costs for fuel, fertilizer, equipment, and tools, not to mention international trade issues, have put agricultural operations in an even tighter vise. Oz was built to help agronomists and farmers do more with what they have, tapping into Land O’Lakes’s vast reams of agricultural data and insights, previously available only in a bound, 800-page book. Oz itself is an AI application that is accessed and used on a mobile device, tapping into Land O’Lakes’s intellectual property to offer guidance and information on the fly. “We’re putting 20 years of data into [farmers’] hands,” says Leah Anderson, who serves as SVP of Land O’Lakes and president of its crop inputs and insights business, WinField United. “Oz is designed to be put into the hands of an agronomist,” or an agricultural scientist, she says, who can then offer the farmer on the ground insight and guidance about what to plant, where to plant it, and when—along with myriad other things, such as weather insights, pest and pesticide information, and more. “What we’re doing with AI . . . is using the structured, high-quality, standardized data from over the past 20 years and feeding it into Oz. That cuts out the noise,” Anderson says, noting that it also helps farmers trust that “the data source was correct.” In other words, using Oz as an AI assistant or tool to ask questions about a given farming operation should be more trustworthy and less prone to hallucination than a broader AI tool, such as ChatGPT, which is trained on the entire internet. Oz, instead, generates insights from only one source, which is known and trusted by farmers. Oz is currently in beta testing and is in the hands of numerous retailers across the country, with plans for further expansion this year. It’s also been in the works for a while—the product of a now five-year-long partnership between Land O’Lakes and Microsoft. Lorraine Bardeen, corporate vice president of AI transformation at Microsoft, says she has worked at the tech giant for more than two decades in numerous departments, from finance to the Xbox team. But she decided to work on the project with Land O’Lakes because it was a chance to get AI tech into the field—literally. “The first major waves of our partnership were about digitally transforming American agriculture, bringing a lot of workloads and capabilities to the cloud,” she says. “Over the last five years, Land O’Lakes has really established itself as an innovator in American agriculture.” Farming on the brink The timing is critical, too, because the agriculture industry is in crisis. A June 2025 study published in Nature finds that even if farmers adapt to a changing climate, staple crops will be 24% lower by the end of the century than they are today. This year, farmers are facing an estimated $44 billion in crop losses due to rising costs, low crop prices, and international trade issues. Farmers are also struggling to find workers, a problem exacerbated by the The President administration’s immigration raids. Unchecked, these issues could compound, leading to less food production, higher prices, and even shortages. While a tech tool can’t help on the trade war front, it may be useful when deciding how much or little to water certain crops, when weather patterns are expected, what types of fertilizer may be the most effective given specific soil compositions, and more. In all, it could help replace lost manpower and make better decisions with materials on hand in order to reduce waste and costs. Again, all the suggestions and insights that Oz generates draw on data that Land O’Lakes has compiled over many years. “Land O’Lakes has created this really rich set of intellectual property,” Bardeen says. “But it’s historically been brought to bear in an 800-page tome. It brings incredible value, information, and insights to farmers. Oz shifts everything from a literal, static book to a dynamic, AI-powered coach.” Anderson adds that farmers have more to look forward to from the Land O’Lakes-Microsoft partnership. “American farmers are under incredible pressure—we see the stress on their faces,” she says. For those farmers, “it’s about reducing uncertainty, and nobody knows more about that than we do. What we’re doing with Oz is really the tip of the iceberg as to what we’re going to be able to do with AI.” View the full article

Jonathan Haidt, author of ‘The Anxious Generation,’ breaks down the psychology behind Gen Z’s social media addiction and what digital dependance actually does to a young person’s brain. View the full article

While Rocket increased 15 points, it slipped to 11th overall as other mortgage lenders had higher customer service score growth, J.D, Power said. View the full article

Something is going on with Marjorie Taylor Greene that’s making Americans furrow their brows and say, “What in the MAGA universe is going on?” The thing is, the Republican representative from Georgia, known as “MTG,” is a suddenly making more sense—even to her detractors. In recent months, the conservative The President devotee, from whom Americans have come to expect off-the-cuff and often crude commentary, has been undeniably good natured, coming across as astoundingly reasonable during a number of appearances on CNN, Tucker Carlson Tonight, and elsewhere. But if that weren’t enough to cast aside doubts about a major pivot with the congresswoman (who once harassed a school shooting survivor and chased a fellow member of Congress down a hallway), then a November 4 appearance on The View definitely did the trick. On the ABC daytime talk show, Greene was perhaps the most respectful version of herself that we’ve seen. She was calm, poised, and even kind, more upstanding politician than insulting-slinging firebrand. Cohost Sunny Hostin thanked MTG for showing up ready to converse, rather than fight. In response, Greene took the opportunity to do something we’ve rarely (if ever) heard her do before: say she didn’t want to fight. “No, I didn’t want to do that today, because I believe that people with powerful voices, like myself and like you, and especially women to women, we need to pave a new path,” Greene told the cohosts. “This country, our beautiful country, our red, white, and blue flag, is just being ripped to shreds. And I think it takes women to have maturity to sew it back together.” In a comment that felt like an early 2028 presidential campaign slogan, Greene added, “I’m with women, so I feel very comfortable saying this. I’m really tired of the pissing contest in Washington, D.C., between the men.” The View cohosts were clearly floored. In addition to her more focused and practical demeanor, MTG’s positions have seemed more centrist than ever, too. As of late, she has been critical of President The President on domestic policy, and on the government shutdown, calling it “an embarrassment.” Greene also criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson, who she said she had words with over his “complete and utter failure” in regard to the shutdown. Not to mention, Greene has been consistently fighting, alongside Democrats, for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking client list. She even had kind things to say about Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker and a longtime foil to congressional Republicans, who recently announced her retirement from Congress. It’s all a bit mind-blowing. But perhaps one of Greene’s most compassionate and unexpected positions (especially given her previous Islamaphobic rhetoric) is her stance on Palestine. MTG has been an outspoken voice for the people of Palestine, especially children who are the victims of Israel’s ongoing siege, making her one of the only congressional Republicans to speak out against the slaughter. “It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that October 7 in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” Greene wrote in a July 2025 social media post. Critical of party leadership and policies It’s been hard to miss MTG’s pivot, and The President certainly hasn’t. He told reporters Monday that the congresswoman is “now catering to the other side” and that he’s “surprised at her.” Still, Greene herself has seemed to dismiss the idea that she’s rebranding. In a July 16 post on social media, Greene wrote, “My blind loyalty and faith is ONLY in God and Jesus Christ my savior. That is what will guide my decisions, actions, and votes.” And last week, she told the ladies of The View that she is her own person—that she’s always criticized both sides of the aisle. “Here’s something you may not know about me. I think a lot of people on the left are learning that when I ran for Congress in 2020, I ran criticizing Republicans and democrats. Equally.” It’s hard to know what exactly is going on with MTG. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York (aka AOC) has speculated on social media that Greene is on a “revenge tour” against The President. Still, it seems like something bigger is at play, most logically, perhaps, a 2028 bid for the presidency. Fast Company reached out to Greene’s team but did not hear back by the time of publication. Organic or carefully curated? Experts say that it would not be unusual for politicians to change their positions or reign themselves in when gearing up for a campaign. Kevin Mercuri, who teaches public relations at Emerson College and is the CEO of Propheta Communications, says it’s “apparent” that MTG is working with professionals to “soften her persona in preparation for a presidential run.” It’s notable, Mercuri says, that she has been distancing herself from The President in an effort to show she’s a “more moderate Republican,” in addition to opposing other Republican stances. However, when it comes to MTG, Mercuri says the congresswoman has her work cut out for her. “The question is, can MTG’s past outrageous behavior be easily discarded? Her claims of ‘Jewish space lasers,’ QAnon beliefs, and painful reframing of 9/11 as a ‘false flag’ event will be hard for voters to forget.” (Greene has said that she regrets some of the things “she was allowed to believe,” including conspiracy theories.) Either way, we’ve seen political rebrands happen hundreds of times before. Candidates gearing up for big elections work to distance themselves from previous statements they’ve made or show that they’ve grown. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of California has seemingly been attempting a brand pivot of his own. Still, with MTG, given just how brazen she’s been in the past, the shift is anything but subtle. Even if she’s suddenly making sense, rather than screaming into the void about gay pride or trans people, it still feels more like whiplash. From that lens, Mercuri questions whether winning the presidency is even the true goal: “At this point, I see her future candidacy not as a true quest for the White House, but a tried-and-true method to boost her brand and cash in on the notoriety a presidential run can yield.” Still, it’s 2025 and, as far as politics go, stranger things have happened than MTG’s rebranding, or even her being the tiniest bit likable to her staunchest political opponents. View the full article

Glassdoor Economic Research has released its Worklife Trends report for 2026. A key theme highlighted throughout is the growing disconnect between workers and their leaders. A notable contributing factor is that smaller, regular layoffs—which the report dubs as “forever layoffs”—are becoming more common than less frequent mass layoffs. Rolling layoffs are among several reasons why many employees feel anxious and less secure in the workplace. Let’s review the report findings. ‘Forever layoffs’ are becoming the norm Layoffs are back to pre-pandemic levels. And smaller, more frequent job cuts are now common. Glassdoor refers to these mini, rolling layoffs as “forever layoffs.” Glassdoor reviewed Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data from 2015 to August 2025. After a layoff spike in spring 2020 and historically low layoff levels in 2021 and 2022, the number of full-time workers laid off each month has crept back up to pre-pandemic levels: The average number of workers that were laid off or discharged each month from 2015 to 2019 was around 1.8 million. Meanwhile, around 1.7 million workers were laid off or discharged in August 2025. Glassdoor also examined Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act layoff notifications (excluding notices for company closings) for further insight. The WARN Act is a federal law that requires most employers with 100 or more workers to provide advance notice before a plant closing or mass layoff. Layoffs affecting fewer than 50 people accounted for 38% of WARN notices in 2015. 51% of layoffs affected fewer than 50 people in 2025. It’s worth noting, however, that the WARN Act doesn’t require filings for layoffs of fewer than 50 workers. Filings may not give a complete picture of the number of smaller layoffs. Glassdoor reviews give insight into how workers feel Company layoffs impact employee morale and job satisfaction. Many workers are feeling less secure in their jobs. “Rolling layoffs may give companies a way to reduce headcount without making headlines, but they create cultures of anxiety, insecurity, and resentment at companies,” the report says. Glassdoor examined 3.3 million Glassdoor reviews from current employees working remote and hybrid roles. The following related terms have surged in Glassdoor reviews in the last year: Misaligned (149%) Miscommunication (25%) Hypocrisy (18%) Distrust (26%) Industries with a noticeable decline in trust in leadership include management and consulting, media and telecommunication, and technology. Remote workers feel dissatisfied as confidence in leadership declines Overall ratings are falling for employees who use the words “remote” or “hybrid” when listing workplace pros. Here are some key findings: Remote employees are seeing fewer career opportunities. The average career opportunity ratings on Glassdoor have fallen from 4.1 in 2020 to 3.5 in 2025. Confidence in senior leadership is weakening. Ratings of senior leadership are now well below pandemic levels. For reviews that mention senior leadership or management, the share of reviews mentioning “disconnect” increased by 24% from 2024 to 2025. Many workers still give high ratings for work-life balance. Work-life balance ratings are still higher for workers who list hybrid or remote work as a pro, but ratings have declined since 2020. More workers are feeling more pressure to RTO Return-to-office (RTO) mandates have pushed workers back into the office. But that’s not the only reason more employees are likely to return to in-person work in 2026. Fewer opportunities for career growth also contribute to job dissatisfaction. Many employers are prioritizing in-person workers for promotions and career opportunities. Some remote and hybrid workers may feel pressure to trade in flexibility for more access to career advancement opportunities. Workers feeling the need to take whatever job offer comes their way, and AI adoption are other factors that contribute to the disconnect between employees and leaders. Average early-career earnings are rising Here’s one positive trend highlighted by the report: Early-career workers are on track to surpass pre-pandemic earnings levels in 2026. Real wage growth was down 4.1% for early-career workers from 2020 to 2022. But earnings started recovering in 2023 and are expected to surpass 2020 levels next year. View the full article

It is not the story that the chancellor would like to tell youView the full article

When it comes to agentic artificial intelligence, the fear of missing out factor is clear. Organizations are plopping down agents, in part, because that’s what everyone else seems to be doing. But FOMO is not a business strategy. To make agentic AI work, business leaders need to ignore the hype and concentrate on establishing exactly what agents can do for them, how, and at what cost. Our own work has proved that AI agents, which independently plan and execute complex multistep tasks, can deliver substantial value by accelerating timelines and reducing costs. And that is just the start. The ever-improving ability of AI agents to work with people to plan, communicate, and learn, could evolve into a genuine paradigm shift in how business is done. Unclear business value But enthusiasm does not always translate into impact, something that many businesses are beginning to recognize. According to one study, 40% of agentic AI projects could be canceled by the end of 2027 due to unclear business value and escalating costs. In recent research, McKinsey studied dozens of agentic AI initiatives, including 50 in which we were directly involved. With the wisdom of hindsight, we’ve identified three critical factors in agentic AI success. 1. Start with workflows, not agents Agentic transformations are more likely to succeed when they focus on integrating agents into reimagined workflows, rather than tacking agents onto processes designed for another technological era. And the corollary is also true: even the most powerful AI agent will underperform if it is tethered to faulty and inefficient workflows. Already, agents are being successfully deployed in multi-step, dynamic workflows like IT help desks, software development, and customer service. The boldest leaders are also successfully deploying agents to frontier use cases. For example, an alternative legal services provider found substantial efficiency gains when it carefully modernized its contract review process. Every time a lawyer made a change in the document editor, it was logged, categorized, and fed back into the agent’s logic and knowledge base. In designing the agentic workflow, the team identified where, when, and how to integrate human input. Agents highlighted edge cases and anomalies for people to review. Over time, the agents were able to codify new expertise and provide more sophisticated legal reasoning, but it was up to the lawyers to sign off on critical decisions. 2. Stop the slop Many enthusiastic early adopters built agents whose outputs have become known as “slop”—that is, work that may be done quickly but then requires considerable effort to correct. This is annoying. Worse, it breeds distrust in the agents and in the idea of transformation more generally. To do better, companies should invest in agents just as systematically as they do in people, with managers, job descriptions, training, monitoring, and continuous development goals. 3. To support AI agents, engage the workforce It should be humans who onboard, train, and evaluate agents on an ongoing basis: “launch and leave” is not good enough. As agents begin to accomplish more, roles will shift. Leaders will need to train employees in a new human-agent hybrid operating model, including skills such as building and deploying agents effectively, training them, setting tasks for them, tracking and correcting their work, and stringing them together to perform more complex tasks. The essential principle is that agentic AI needs to work with, not against, time-honored business priorities like productivity and teamwork. The question, then, is not whether to deploy agents, as with any other technology, it is when can they help to solve real-world problems and create value? And the answer is: not always. For tasks related to parsing lengthy documents, generative AI applications such as chatbots are probably the better option. For highly structured or automated tasks like data entry, rules-based approaches—if x, then y—can be more efficient. And high-stakes decisions with little room for error are the domain of leaders and managers. Yes, agentic AI could be a once-in-a-generation opportunity—thus the FOMO effect. Success will come not from enthusiasm, however, but from a hard-headed analysis of how this tool can be used wisely—for the right task, at the right time. View the full article

America is in an overstock and returns crisis. Every year 8.4 billion pounds of products are returned to online sellers, according to the National Retail Federation. The typical solution from retailers is to send the roughly 17% of their inventory made up of returns to a landfill, regardless of the condition of the products. It’s a problem that sellers have little incentive to solve. Since dumping product can be written off as the cost of doing business in profit and loss statements, companies don’t invest in a complex reverse supply chain or inspect items for potential resale value. But recommerce site Rebel just raised a $25 million series B round to fuel its work building a resale network for retailers—and the software to power it. The funding round was led by Jay-Z’s MarcyPen Capital Partners, which, alongside Serena Williams’s Serena Ventures was part of Rebel’s $18 million Series A raise in 2024. Discount-retail veteran Emily Hosie—whose résumé includes time at Saks Off Fifth and TJ Maxx—says she launched the Toronto- and New York-based company to solve two problems while selling written-off products at a 40% to 70% discount. “The majority of returns are ending up in landfills and no retailers or brands want to talk about it because it’s not something to be proud about,” she says. How does Rebel work? At Rebel’s 300,000-square-foot warehouse in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the company processes more than 70,000 unique products a week—enough inventory that its website adds new deals every 15 minutes. To process that volume of returns, Hosie built a new technology and logistics stack. Using AI, Rebel can detect, log, and tag the condition of each return, and determine the most efficient way to receive it from retailers and ship it to consumers. “Every return is a snowflake,” Hosie says, noting that all products require inspection to determine their condition. “[An e-commerce company] processing a return versus processing inventory in general is asking a heart surgeon to do brain surgery. It’s a totally different infrastructure needed, and for a lot of companies that’s just mission drift.” Rebel, which is B Corp certified, aims to expand its physical presence on the West Coast in 2026. The company developed an AI-powered smart-pricing algorithm that auto-adjusts item prices based on demand, condition, and inventory more than 10 times a day. On top of that, Rebel’s consumer-facing tool lets buyers check the real-time resale value of an item when they’re deciding whether to purchase it. Rebel’s business, which started processing items in the baby category with Newell Brands, Evenflo, Dorel, and others, has grown 2,640% in just three years. The site now also sells travel products and home goods (including mattresses), and is expanding to outdoor/sporting gear and eventually consumer electronics. Getting retail’s attention As complex as Rebel’s logistics are, for Hosie the biggest obstacle was getting retailers to buy into the product—in part because in meetings with retail leaders, they balked at the premise of Rebel’s service. “We would get meetings with the most senior people on leadership teams at global iconic brands and mass retailers,” Hosie says. “They would look at us and say, ‘Congratulations on what you built, but we don’t have a returns problem.’” The company had a breakthrough early on when a large mass retailer going bankrupt decided to use Rebel to sell off its inventory. “That gave us the business case to go back to other retailers,” Hosie says. Unlike other retailers struggling with their supply chain as tariffs take hold, Rebel is immune because the products it deals with are already sold in the States. Rebel is also appealing to price-sensitive shoppers ahead of the holidays, at a time of layoffs and economic uncertainty. “We’re the only company with the tech to be able to process these returns at scale,” Hosie says. “Why not be that one-stop destination for those who love deal hunting and buying open-box, never-used returns?” View the full article

The early darkness in most of the U.S. means that fall has set in. That also means it’s officially holiday shopping season. With the economic impact of President The President’s ever-fluctuating tariffs an open question, there’s an opportunity for shoppers to make their spending meaningful, which opens up a lane for companies that are offering something other than the e-commerce onslaught of nearly identical products that populate sites like Amazon and Walmart. What the Amazons and even Etsys of the world are currently missing is the sense of curation that defines Uncommon Goods, an online shop stocked with exclusive, offbeat items sourced from independent artisans. It’s a cheat code for gift givers—mostly signals, very little noise. Each click is a potential epiphany, connecting me to, say, smartphone-controlled paper airplanes for my nephew, or wooden wall art shaped like a soundwave from my wife’s favorite song. In the age of the Everything Store, it’s a Just the Right Thing Store. The remarkability of Uncommon Goods’s inventory has helped grow the shop’s revenue at an average annual rate of 25% from 2000 to 2020; it has received more than a million orders per year for the past five years. That je ne sais quoi has often caught the attention of Wirecutter, the New York Times’s product recommendation vertical, which has highlighted many of its wares. “As gift experts, we spend most of our time scouring the internet, visiting brick-and-mortar shops, and attending trade shows in search of gifts that sit right at the edge of practical and whimsical, with standout quality and value,” says Hannah Morrill, Wirecutter’s gifts editor. “We’ve noticed that Uncommon Goods tends to prioritize unique products from small makers that we haven’t seen before—that’s pretty rare from a large-scale online retailer.” Of course, as relatively effortless as Uncommon Goods might make holiday shopping, its leadership says that the site’s ever-changing, reliably surprising inventory is the culmination of a tremendous amount of work. An Uncommon Origin With shopping, a little lore can go a long way—making some goods seem even better. When an Uncommon Goods artisan has an interesting backstory, those details often make their way into the site’s marketing copy. Shoppers are less likely to encounter the site’s own origin story. Dave Bolotsky Founder and CEO Dave Bolotsky started his career in the mid-’80s as an analyst at investment bank First Boston. By 1999, he’d become a managing director at Goldman Sachs, where he was due to receive $10 million in stock when the bank went public. Instead, he walked away from the job, leaving that entire imminent windfall on the table. It was just what he felt he had to do. “I was not bored once in my 14 years on Wall Street, but it felt soulless,” Bolotsky tells Fast Company. “I felt like I was helping the wheels of capitalism spin faster, but not necessarily in a better direction.” Bolotsky says he got the idea for Uncommon Goods after visiting a Smithsonian Institution craft show. Walking along rows of vendors hawking handcrafted items, he observed how shoppers responded to the personal artisan touch. It raised their eyebrows and spirits as much as it did their inclination to spend money. The only problem was the rarity of such opportunities. Back then, makers had to act as traveling salespeople, schlepping from one regional show to another. It was all too easy to miss them. The insight Bolotsky had was that if he could take a craft show product, put it online, and sell it 24/7, it might be a huge evolutionary leap forward for retailing, and for artisans in particular. The challenge? Online shoppers proved stubbornly hesitant. It was the internet’s Wild West era, and trusting one’s credit card details to an online retailer was still considered fraught. When Bolotsky and his team would scout makers at trade shows, it took a lot just to persuade them that the internet was not inherently evil. He refused to buckle, though, and kept the ship afloat through several rocky, profit-free years. The outlook brightened only after Amazon terraformed the space, Bolotsky admits grudgingly. “As much as I don’t like them as a competitor, I do admire what they’ve done,” he says. “Amazon Prime was huge in driving online shopping. And to an extent, we ride their coattails.” One glaring difference between the two, though, is that Amazon has an estimated 300 million to 600 million items for sale at any given moment, while Uncommon Goods hovers around 5,000. What uncommon goodness actually looks like The Uncommon Goods site procures roughly 80% of its products through its buying team, while an in-house product development team fills in the remaining 20%, largely through partnerships with a roster of product makers it has worked with before. Although Uncommon Goods doesn’t chase trends, it often plays in the same sandbox as whatever is popping off in pop culture. When BookTok first exploded, for instance, the product development team rolled out a piece of functional nightstand decor dubbed the Book Nook reading valet, while the buying team sought repurposed book tulips—paper flowers in a paper vase, both created with upcycled books. John Berweiler, head of the site’s buying team, says there are a few criteria for what makes a product ready for the site. True to form, it has to be uncommon (ideally something that can join the 40% of the site’s exclusive inventory) and it has to be useful, beautiful, or handmade, but preferably all three. As for the other variables, well, as a SCOTUS justice once famously said of pornography: You know it when you see it. “Our customers want to win the gift competition,” Berweiler says. “For them, it’s the ‘why’ behind the product. Does it make them smile? Does it make them reminisce about a moment or spark a feeling? That wow factor sets us apart from a frame they might buy at Pottery Barn.” From idea to hit product Whenever a member of the buying team comes across a promising item they request a sample. Every Tuesday afternoon, the team gathers for a sample meeting that serves as an America’s Got Talent-like revue, in which each item competes for potential inclusion in the shop. If there’s a winner, or multiple winners, a gauntlet of other considerations follows, spanning from price to exclusivity, and whether the maker has a backstory worth featuring on the site. Some products developed in-house come out of brainstorming sessions. Bolotsky himself is responsible for more than a few, including a line of interactive mugs with QR codes on them. Other Uncommon Goods items are collaborations between the buyers, product development, and various makers. Last year, for instance, the buying team was looking for new ideas for dining and drinking items, right as limoncello surged back into fashion, and landed on making dedicated limoncello glasses. The team reached out to potter Maggy Ames, who ended up producing an adorable set of ceramic tumblers with grippy thumb divots and elegant hand-painted lemons. Though the artist was initially skeptical, the limoncello cups blew up. They sold so well that she couldn’t keep up with demand. That’s when the product development team stepped in to scale production on the cups, working closely with the original maker to ensure she was comfortable with how the new product turned out. Through a manufacturer in Thailand, the cups are now made on a larger scale, but can still be hand-painted—keeping their artisan aura alive. It’s a microcosm of how the company expanded from Bolotsky’s apartment to an operation with 144 year-round employees, all while elevating makers and maintaining the core promise. Gift-giving in the time of tariffs Although the buying team is already strategizing for Christmas 2026, first the company will have to get through this year’s holidays, which promise to be more challenging than usual. The president’s chaotic and aggressive approach to tariffs throughout 2025 has kept American retailers who work in the global marketplace in a bind. Bolotsky isn’t especially worried, though. About half of the products Uncommon Goods sells are made domestically, he says, and the rest are spread throughout 10 countries, keeping the company less dependent on Chinese-made products than many of its competitors. For the imported products, Uncommon Goods has been negotiating with vendors to meet at least halfway on the pricing or margin hit the company is poised to take. In some cases, Uncommon Goods ended up sourcing products elsewhere; in others, it has taken selected price hikes. “My biggest concern is actually that, because we sell discretionary products, and because there will likely be greater inflation across the board this holiday season, people may have less discretionary money to spend on gifts that we sell,” Bolotsky says. If people do end up having less money to spend on gifts this year, they may indeed have to be more discerning about what they buy. Perhaps enough of them will gravitate toward a shop that’s more discerning about what it sells. View the full article

Believing that digital transformation is about changing technology is like thinking firefighting is about riding in a fire truck. Firefighting is about putting out fires to save lives and property. Digital transformation is about changing how your organization functions and creates value using data, systems, skills, and processes. That might mean building dashboards that give executives real-time visibility across thousands of staff, training hundreds in new ways of working like Agile or DevOps, or automating back-office processes to free up time for higher-value work. The common thread is that technology becomes a catalyst for organisational change in strategy, people, and operations—not just new software bolted onto old habits. If you’re replacing systems without changing how people work or what value you create, you’re running an IT project, not a transformation. That’s not bad, but the distinction matters because it determines whether change is sustainable. With failure rates between 26% and 88%, the odds are that your digital transformation is already failing. You might not know it yet, but the warning signs are there. Based on my work with dozens of organizations and research into what drives success, six reasons appear most often. 1. Your Digital Vision Could Mean Anything Visions for digital transformations are overrated. You need a clear vision for digital change, but for teams doing the work, that isn’t enough. A specific definition of done bridges the gap between the vision you want and the actions they need to take. As a consultant, I saw many digital visions that boiled down to “cloud-first,” “mobile-first,” “data-driven,” and now, “AI-first.” But what does AI-first actually mean? It could mean building internal AI tools before anything else, buying platforms that use AI, or designing customer journeys where an AI bot is the first point of contact. The definition of done comes from software development, where developers ask how someone will know when a feature is complete. If you think of baking a cake, the vision tells you what you want the cake to look like; the definition of done tells you that when it’s golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, it’s ready. 2. Your Documented Process Isn’t the Real One Most transformation plans are based on documented processes, even though those processes rarely match reality. Real work involves quick calls, side emails, copy-pasting, and workarounds, usually born from underinvestment in systems or skills. Over time, these informal processes become essential, creating manual rework that keeps the organisation running. People cling to them because they work and fear that transformation will only add more bureaucracy. Even when you know the real process, transformation itself never runs sequentially. It’s two steps forward, one to the side, two backward. Yet transformation programmes are still sold as linear, with milestones and timelines that look neat on PowerPoint. Those promises set unrealistic expectations and make failure more likely. 3. You’re Confusing Involvement with Engagement McKinsey research shows that 68% of successful transformations actively involve employees, yet only 35% seek feedback or new ideas. The difference lies in confusing participation with engagement, and compliance with commitment. Many transformation leaders prioritise participation because it’s easier to measure. You can track town hall attendance, survey completion, or training numbers. But engagement, real ownership and belief, is harder to quantify. Theatrics like “bringing people on the journey” are common, but what you actually need are employees with high buy-in who can advocate for change. They’re the ones who make transformation stick. 4. Your Leaders Think Cascading Messages Work Employees want to hear about major changes from two people: their direct manager and a senior leader. Unless managers can personally justify and role-model change, employees will stick with the status quo. Leaders often believe they can scale these conversations by having comms teams and line managers “cascade” messages through the organisation. But that assumes group dynamics stay the same as conversations scale. They don’t. You can have a genuine dialogue with five people, not 5,000. At scale, communication becomes about power and influence, not connection or understanding. 5. You’re Running Out of Political Capital The world’s largest leadership survey from DDI found we’re in a global leadership credibility crisis. Trust in immediate managers dropped from 46% to 29% in two years. For transformation leaders, that’s devastating. Our job is to create conditions for people to test and learn quickly, but that requires trust. In environments with competing priorities and scarce resources, politics fills the vacuum. Projects get defunded when sponsors lose confidence. Sponsors get replaced when they burn through credibility. Teams miss targets when they stop listening to leaders. Without credibility, there’s no trust. Without trust, there’s no confidence or political capital. And without political capital, you lose influence. You can’t change behavior if you don’t have the authority to persuade. 6. You Might Be Cost Cutting Your Way to Bankruptcy Most digital transformations include some cost cutting or downsizing, but the evidence on how that plays out is bleak. A study of 4,710 U.S. firms found that those that downsized were twice as likely to declare bankruptcy within five years as those that didn’t. I’ve seen it firsthand. Companies slash headcounts for quick savings, often starting with support teams labelled as “cost centres.” IT teams are replaced by smaller “agile squads” where titles change but workloads don’t. Nine to eighteen months later, they’re rehiring to fill the capability gaps they created. The most responsible companies cut differently. They remove toxic leadership, outdated systems, and redundant processes while protecting institutional memory. Transformations that build on existing strengths, rather than strip them away, are far more resilient than those driven by short-term savings. ‘Best practice’ transformation often becomes a one-size-fits-all comfort blanket. In reality, meaningful change requires leaders to be awkward, unpopular, and willing to call out uncomfortable truths. The six warning signs above are easy to spot but hard to confront. Doing so early and often may make you unpopular, but it also keeps your organisation out of the 70% of transformations that fail. View the full article

As small business owners, we often wear more hats than we can count — designer, marketer, accountant, customer service rep, and everything in between. Balancing creativity with the demands of running a business can feel like walking a tightrope without a net. I know that feeling firsthand, and it’s one reason I was drawn to my recent conversation with Amanda Stewart, the founder of Mochi Kids. Amanda has built her brand from a handful of handmade T-shirts into a beloved children’s clothing company known for its minimalist design and inclusive themes — all while managing operations, production, and marketing largely on her own. During our discussion at Adobe MAX 2025, Amanda opened up about how she evolved from selling on Etsy to running a brick-and-mortar store and how tools like Adobe Acrobat and AI-powered assistants are helping her manage the less glamorous side of entrepreneurship — contracts, timelines, and content calendars — with the same creativity she brings to her designs. What stood out to me most was how she’s using technology not just to streamline her work, but to expand her capacity to create. For any small business owner trying to balance artistic vision with operational reality, Amanda’s story is both inspiring and instructive. Below is our full conversation, where she shares how creativity and productivity intersect in her business — and how technology is quietly helping her do it all. Leland McFarland: Amanda, for those who may not be familiar, can you start by telling a little about, uh, Mochi Kids and what inspired you to stay, start the brand? Amanda Stewart: So Mochi Kids is, it started as a children’s clothing brand almost 10 years ago. And we’ve evolved to include a brick-and-mortar store. I started my business super organically. I needed um, an a creative outlet and I wanted to create some tees for my son that matched his interests. He’s always been interested in things like science and space, but I couldn’t find though t-shirts with those designs at an aesthetic that I also liked, and so I used my design skills and started creating my own t-shirts. Um, and I sold them to friends and family, eventually strangers on Instagram started asking for them, and I opened an Etsy shop, and then a regular website, and then, um, a brick-and-mortar store. So. Leland McFarland: Great. Um, how has design and creativity shaped the way that Mochi Kids connects with customers and builds its community? Amanda Stewart: I would say design is like central to what I do. We have a very distinct aesthetic and, uh, a lot of people are are attracted to like our minimalist, um, cute designs. And our community is, um, very inclusive and we try to reflect that in our designs that we do. So we will, um, design based on themes that, um, make people feel included and represented. We have a lot of Asian-American themed designs and then designs that are a little more like on the nose promoting diversity and, um, things like that. Leland McFarland: That’s great. So you’re here at Adobe MAX. Uh, what does this event mean to you as a creative entrepreneur? Amanda Stewart: Yeah, this is my very first year at MAX and I’ve already… today’s the first day, right? We’re like halfway through the day and I’m already just kind of blown away by all the things that I’ve learned here. Um, I came to this conference with one goal in mind, which was how I can learn more about the AI tools that there are to increase the productivity in my business because I’m, you know, as a small business owner, I’m sure you are aware, we’re just often like one-woman shows and we don’t have full teams of, um, copywriters and marketing professionals and, um, production managers. It’s all kind of me. I’m wearing all the hats and so. Um, I’ve been learning a lot more about Adobe Acrobat this year and I knew that coming here I’d be able to find more tools to use to increase my productivity. So that… I like to just have one goal when I come in somewhere, something that feels attainable. And that was it for me is trying to figure out how to increase my productivity as like a one-woman show. Leland McFarland: So how do you use, uh, Adobe Acrobat in, you know, your day-to-day? Amanda Stewart: I use it a few different ways, uh, and I’m sure there are other ways to use it too. That’s one cool thing about coming here is I get to see other people speak about how they’re implementing it into their workflows. But for me, I love to use it as a place to keep all of my contracts. So our brand, um, we not only sell our own products, but we often will license our artworks to other, um, companies who want to use our designs. And that involves like a contract and deliverables and timelines and all of that is a lot to keep track of for one person when that’s just one of the many responsibilities that I have. So, um, I love Adobe Acrobat, um, PDF spaces, which is the new feature that they have, because I can upload all of my contracts there. I can also upload my email transcripts there and just any correspondence or anything I have regarding to the project. And then I can ask the AI assistant there like, “Please create a timeline of deliverables for this project,” and it will give that to me. So that’s one, one way I use it is like as a place to keep all of my contracts and to be able to communicate with those and get quick answers for what I’m looking for, as opposed to having to go back and scroll through my emails and be like, “I know they said something about this here sometime.” Um, and then kind of like the next step that I use it for is like, let’s say I want, I now have a timeline of my deliverables. I can ask it to create like a content calendar around it. And because it’s like an, uh, chat-based like AI assistant, I can really ask it whatever I want. Um, it will even give you like content ideas. So sometimes it’ll come up with like, okay, here’s a content calendar and then I’ll say, “Can you write me like a script for the first one?” and I’ll go in like greater detail to get exactly what I want from it. So, um, using it for content planning is great. And then another thing that I use it for is my production management. So I can go and say, like, you know, my spring launch, I know it’s going to be a certain day. And then I know how long the turnarounds are for each thing. Sorry, this is like so specific. Leland McFarland: Go for it. Go for it. Amanda Stewart: And I can just write exactly what I want, like, you know, “Please make a, um, production calendar for our spring launch.” Like, I, I know like production is two weeks, um, I have to order my materials like three weeks before that and just map out the whole year of like deadlines. Okay, I need to order my fabric for spring this day. I need to have items in hand by this day for my photo shoot this day. And, um, you know, throughout the year. So it’s a lot to manage as one person. Like how do you, how would I be on top of that? And before what I did is I had a paper calendar on my wall and then I would, once a year, fill out the whole calendar. And then I get behind, then my whole paper calendar system is messed up. Right? But this, I can very easily be like, “Okay, we got to move everything by two weeks. Move all the spring launch dates, everything.” So. Leland McFarland: So it’s kind of become sort of a secretary, you know, like assistant, uh, overall. Amanda Stewart: That’s like what the AI assistant is, I think is like, you can ask it to do things like that, like administrative, like planning kind of things and it does it for you. So. And I’m still, you know, learning how to implement all of this into my workflow, but it already it’s been changing my productivity and helping me to feel like more efficient and more organized. Leland McFarland: Were there any kind of growing pains when it came to implementing this and and learning how to use it or was it fairly smooth? Amanda Stewart: So, I would say, I think Adobe puts a lot of time into like the user experience and trying to make these intuitive. So I feel like on that front, it was really good. For me, personally, I’m not like a tech-savvy person, right off the bat, but um, I, I don’t think it was, like it was much easier than I was expecting it to be. Leland McFarland: That’s good to hear. Yeah, it is not. Leland McFarland: How does Adobe, uh, fit into the broader, um, creative toolkit, uh, alongside or Acrobat. How does Acrobat fit into the broader, uh, creative toolkits along with other Adobe apps like Illustrator or Photoshop? Do you use those as well? Amanda Stewart: Yeah, so I use Illustrator and Photoshop all the time, like on a daily basis. And when they asked me to be an Acrobat ambassador, I was like, “Oh, I guess I use Acrobat too,” but I I wasn’t as familiar with the software and all of the capabilities. So, but I was a little surprised. I was like, “Oh, wouldn’t like Illustrator be a better fit for me?” But, um, yeah, I use Adobe Illustrator, um, Adobe Express, Photoshop, and, um, now Adobe Acrobat all the time. I would say like as a creative person, I, I had this reaction that I told you about that I was like, “Oh, you want me to be an Acrobat ambassador? Okay.” But as a small business owner, it makes so much sense. I wasn’t seeing it from like a productivity and like workflow standpoint. I just kind of seeing it as like a design creative standpoint, but every like creative person that I know struggles with the keeping deadlines, planning, managing contracts, managing files. So they really do go hand in hand, like as far as creatives also need this tool to administratively be able to keep on top of things. Leland McFarland: I see. Good answer on that. Leland McFarland: Do you use, uh, the, uh, features in Acrobat such as e-signatures, commenting, um, reviewing PDFs together with, uh, teams or customers or anything like that? Amanda Stewart: I definitely use e-signature all the time. Um, before I started using that, I would like paint my signature on using Photoshop. But now it’s like much more legit and I can send it securely and I can ask for someone’s signature in a way more like official manner than just like, “Okay, here’s the JPEG, like sign it and send me a photo back.” But this way, you know, it has an electronic signature and they can’t the document can’t be altered after it’s been signed. So yeah, I’ve been loving that tool. Um, I don’t use as much like team collaboration because like I mentioned, it’s mostly me doing all of the work, but, um, hopefully someday I will get to that point. Leland McFarland: I’ve ran into that too. Uh, I used to have a salesperson who would send an Excel file, not a PDF or anything like that, an a raw Excel file, and one time it came back differently. So, I, yeah, and someone had modified the contract in their favor and… Amanda Stewart: Ooh. Leland McFarland: Yeah, so I I get it. You know, I I love the age of these digital signatures and you know, glad that Adobe has that as well. Amanda Stewart: And one nice thing about PDF spaces is you could upload both of those contracts and you could say, “Please find me any differences between these contracts” in case someone does, like through their revision process, sneak a change in. Leland McFarland: Yes, that that would be nice. Leland McFarland: Um, many, uh, creative entrepreneurs struggle to balance, uh, artistry and uh, business paperwork. Um, how has Acrobat helped you bridge that gap? Amanda Stewart: For sure, that is definitely a struggle. Um, I love like the PDF spaces like I mentioned to keep all my contracts organized. And I also think the Creative Cloud is a great tool. Um, so I can access, you know, designs that I’ve been working on on my desktop on my phone if I need to. And, um, yeah, I I’m almost prefer that to my Google Drive, which is what I I’ve been using before because it’s like, um, it’s just easier to find things, I feel like. Like the searchability is better and I can see like the image preview of whatever I’m working on, because sometimes in Google Drive, it’s just like, you know, a file looks like a file folder and like, sometimes it’ll show the image preview, but not all the time. So then I just have to like click on the photo image till I get to the one that I’m looking for. So. Leland McFarland: Um, do you find, do you find that, Acrobat makes administrative tasks like invoicing, legal forms, or proposals, uh, feel a bit more manageable, uh, even creative? Amanda Stewart: Yes. Um, so I do have Acrobat on my phone and I love that I can edit PDFs from my phone. I didn’t know I could do that until this year. So what I was doing before is like, sometimes I’d even like take a JPEG and then I would like Photoshop like a box over it to clear out whatever was there and then a new text box, which was like such a, it’s such a clunky way to do it. But yeah, I do love like on my phone, I’ll edit PDFs and send invoices that way, or I I have to send purchase orders as well, like when I buy um fabric or whatever we’re making. And I love doing that on my phone. A lot of old school people will like require you to have a purchase order from your brand with your header, with the all of your company info before they’ll sell you something. So. Leland McFarland: Yeah. Well, it helps, make those of, those official orders a little bit easier, right? Amanda Stewart: Yeah. Mhm. I can just, I just have the it in my creative cloud and I can just edit it real quick to what I want on it to say. Leland McFarland: Nice. Leland McFarland: Um, what advice would you give other small business owners about, uh, bringing the same creativity they put into design into their business documents? Amanda Stewart: Okay, let me ask you that again. Leland McFarland: Okay. Please. Sorry. What advice would you give other small business owners about bringing the same creativity they put into their designs into their business documents? Amanda Stewart: I feel like a lot of, um, creative small business owners that I know, we have, like I said, the similar struggle of like staying organized and being on top of the administrative things. And a lot of the times these things are like, for me, it’s like a weight on my shoulders a little bit and it’s like a thing on the back of my mind that is like a nagging that I need to like do or fix. And I feel like just starting a new system of like keeping things organized and, um, it’s like really freeing and can help you in your creative practice to feel like you have more like mental space for that and you’re not as like concerned as much. Yeah, I would say that’s definitely been true in my life. Like the tasks that I don’t like to do as a creative are now feel like a little more attainable. Leland McFarland: It’s easier to be creative when you’ve cleaned your room first, right? Amanda Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Leland McFarland: A little more order, organized. You don’t have that hanging in the back of your head going, “Oh my gosh, that sock over there. It’s bugging me.” Amanda Stewart: Yeah, I am someone who has to clean like my entire house before I can get any work done. So, I can relate. Leland McFarland: I’m I’m the exact opposite. I’m more of the I’ll do the administrative, I’ll do the paperwork. Creativity is not necessarily my forte, so. Amanda Stewart: Oh, yeah. Leland McFarland: So, I I can make processes, I can do paperwork. My wife though, she’ll she’ll handle the creative part. Amanda Stewart: It’s funny, everyone has like their strengths and struggles and yeah. Leland McFarland: All right. What are some of your takeaways from what you’ve seen so far from Adobe MAX, uh, this year? Um, have have you gotten into like the Adobe MAX or uh, the Acrobat uh, demonstration? Have you, is there anything there that you’ve uh, seen that has piqued your interest? Amanda Stewart: Um, I will say I did not know anything about Firefly until today. And, um, as someone who has a clothing brand, I think it’ll be super helpful for me to like mock up my designs, um, with Firefly, because I, I use Photoshop, you know, to often like move my design from Illustrator onto like a piece of clothing. And I’ll do it manually, Photoshopping it over, and with Firefly, I can just like “eye drop that, eye drop that” and then it puts it together for me. So it’s going to be way easier to make mockups and do any kind of Photoshopping. So, that was a big takeaway for me. Um, yeah, I think I’m going to save a lot of time Photoshopping things. And then, I, I, I used Premiere like maybe a couple times, but I’m not like super versed in it. And, um, the Premiere app looks like it’s going to be awesome, too. Did you go to the keynote this morning? Leland McFarland: I did. Amanda Stewart: Yeah. So that… there’s just so many things. I’m like… Leland McFarland: I was impressed. Is that how it is every year? There’s just like, oh man. Brian Domingo: So, yeah, peek behind the curtain. Uh, you know, being PR, we work on these announcements, you know, obviously collaboration with our product teams and engineers for months. So like, just kind of the keynote is a, it’s very celebratory for us PR people because it’s like, we brought it to life with with the product engineers and with the product marketers, and we put their innovations to words and announced it to the world. So, yeah, it’s it’s like that every year. We have like a lot of announcements and it’s just so the labor of love over the course of a lot of time. Leland McFarland: Is it Is it hard to sit on these awesome new features? Brian Domingo: Not for me because I get to play with it internally before you guys. But, um, you know, like, I have friends who are also entrepreneurs and small business owners and creatives and they tell me about the stuff they’re working on. I’m like, “Wow, I wish I could tell you about this, or wish I could get you on the limited beta for this,” but, you know, that’s that’s kind of the fun part of it, too. Leland McFarland: All right. How do you see tools like Acrobat evolving to support creative small businesses in the next few years? I mean, what would you like to see? Amanda Stewart: I feel like Adobe Acrobat is on the right track as far as, um, like I mentioned, making it easier for us creative people to stay organized and the AI assistant. Um, I’ve been telling so many of my friends about the PDF spaces. Um, yeah, I have a friend who runs a nonprofit in Uganda and she has like a case file on every child in her, um, school that she runs over there. And it’s like a paper, it’s a paper case file. And so I’m like, “You got to get, you know, on this so that when you are emailed stuff about this kid, you can just file it in there.” So I would say just more tools for like productivity behind the scenes, kind of contracts. I think that’s what Acrobat is kind of known for is, um, doing like a paper trail, but electronically. So all that kind of like file management. I mean, if I knew the answer to this, I could probably be rich because I would come up with an incredible software. But yeah, I would love to see just more tools to help with that. Leland McFarland: All right, final question. What’s next for Mochi Kids and how does technology, especially tools like Acrobat, play in your future plans? Amanda Stewart: Hm, that’s a good question because I always said that opening a store is like my old lady job. So when I get like burnt out of doing my clothing brand, I can be like a shopkeeper and work in my store. And that still sounds very appealing, um, to kind of, you know, retire but like still own a business and work. Um, but I think I want to get back into doing more apparel. Um, it’s been, like we’ve been kind of going up and down with creating our own custom styles versus buying like blank sweatshirts and t-shirts that are already made. And, uh, yeah, we we are developing some new clothing styles right now. We just developed a new t-shirt pattern that’s really cute. And we have sweatshirts that are being made right now in LA. And then we have pajamas on order. And then we have like a cute woven like unisex kid pant that hopefully next year will come out. So, just getting more into doing more clothing styles. I think, um, a lot of my competitors have gone out of business, which is very sad, in the last few years or stopped making clothing because it’s a challenge. And a lot of the manufacturing in the US in apparel has gone overseas. And, um, and now overseas manufacturers, like with the tariffs, it’s so much more money to create things. So I’ve seen a lot of my fellow clothing brand people close, other fellow clothing brands. So I I do see like a gap in the market for, um, made in the US clothing for children. Leland McFarland: Well, here’s here’s hoping, you know, you can get into that market and continue to grow. Amanda Stewart: Thank you. Leland McFarland: Well, that’s all the questions I had for you. Amanda Stewart: Awesome. Thank… Listening to Amanda Stewart talk about her journey with Mochi Kids reminded me how much small business success depends on both passion and adaptability. It’s one thing to have a great idea; it’s another to sustain it over a decade while evolving with technology, market shifts, and creative demands. Amanda’s ability to keep her brand fresh — from developing new apparel lines to integrating digital tools like Adobe Acrobat and Firefly — is a testament to her resilience and willingness to learn. What resonated most was her practical perspective on using AI and Acrobat as part of her creative workflow. She isn’t replacing her artistry with automation — she’s augmenting it. For small business owners, that’s the real takeaway. Tools that once seemed designed for big enterprises are now becoming indispensable companions for one-person operations. They can help us reclaim time, reduce mental clutter, and refocus on what we love most — whether that’s design, storytelling, or building community. Amanda’s insight that organization fuels creativity struck a chord: when your digital workspace is clear, your mind is free to explore new ideas. It’s a principle many entrepreneurs overlook until they experience the difference. For me, this conversation underscored something simple but powerful — technology isn’t just changing how small businesses run; it’s changing how we think, create, and thrive. And as Amanda’s journey shows, the best creativity often grows from a foundation of order and innovation. This article, "Interview with Amanda Stewart – Founder of Mochi Kids" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

As small business owners, we often wear more hats than we can count — designer, marketer, accountant, customer service rep, and everything in between. Balancing creativity with the demands of running a business can feel like walking a tightrope without a net. I know that feeling firsthand, and it’s one reason I was drawn to my recent conversation with Amanda Stewart, the founder of Mochi Kids. Amanda has built her brand from a handful of handmade T-shirts into a beloved children’s clothing company known for its minimalist design and inclusive themes — all while managing operations, production, and marketing largely on her own. During our discussion at Adobe MAX 2025, Amanda opened up about how she evolved from selling on Etsy to running a brick-and-mortar store and how tools like Adobe Acrobat and AI-powered assistants are helping her manage the less glamorous side of entrepreneurship — contracts, timelines, and content calendars — with the same creativity she brings to her designs. What stood out to me most was how she’s using technology not just to streamline her work, but to expand her capacity to create. For any small business owner trying to balance artistic vision with operational reality, Amanda’s story is both inspiring and instructive. Below is our full conversation, where she shares how creativity and productivity intersect in her business — and how technology is quietly helping her do it all. Leland McFarland: Amanda, for those who may not be familiar, can you start by telling a little about, uh, Mochi Kids and what inspired you to stay, start the brand? Amanda Stewart: So Mochi Kids is, it started as a children’s clothing brand almost 10 years ago. And we’ve evolved to include a brick-and-mortar store. I started my business super organically. I needed um, an a creative outlet and I wanted to create some tees for my son that matched his interests. He’s always been interested in things like science and space, but I couldn’t find though t-shirts with those designs at an aesthetic that I also liked, and so I used my design skills and started creating my own t-shirts. Um, and I sold them to friends and family, eventually strangers on Instagram started asking for them, and I opened an Etsy shop, and then a regular website, and then, um, a brick-and-mortar store. So. Leland McFarland: Great. Um, how has design and creativity shaped the way that Mochi Kids connects with customers and builds its community? Amanda Stewart: I would say design is like central to what I do. We have a very distinct aesthetic and, uh, a lot of people are are attracted to like our minimalist, um, cute designs. And our community is, um, very inclusive and we try to reflect that in our designs that we do. So we will, um, design based on themes that, um, make people feel included and represented. We have a lot of Asian-American themed designs and then designs that are a little more like on the nose promoting diversity and, um, things like that. Leland McFarland: That’s great. So you’re here at Adobe MAX. Uh, what does this event mean to you as a creative entrepreneur? Amanda Stewart: Yeah, this is my very first year at MAX and I’ve already… today’s the first day, right? We’re like halfway through the day and I’m already just kind of blown away by all the things that I’ve learned here. Um, I came to this conference with one goal in mind, which was how I can learn more about the AI tools that there are to increase the productivity in my business because I’m, you know, as a small business owner, I’m sure you are aware, we’re just often like one-woman shows and we don’t have full teams of, um, copywriters and marketing professionals and, um, production managers. It’s all kind of me. I’m wearing all the hats and so. Um, I’ve been learning a lot more about Adobe Acrobat this year and I knew that coming here I’d be able to find more tools to use to increase my productivity. So that… I like to just have one goal when I come in somewhere, something that feels attainable. And that was it for me is trying to figure out how to increase my productivity as like a one-woman show. Leland McFarland: So how do you use, uh, Adobe Acrobat in, you know, your day-to-day? Amanda Stewart: I use it a few different ways, uh, and I’m sure there are other ways to use it too. That’s one cool thing about coming here is I get to see other people speak about how they’re implementing it into their workflows. But for me, I love to use it as a place to keep all of my contracts. So our brand, um, we not only sell our own products, but we often will license our artworks to other, um, companies who want to use our designs. And that involves like a contract and deliverables and timelines and all of that is a lot to keep track of for one person when that’s just one of the many responsibilities that I have. So, um, I love Adobe Acrobat, um, PDF spaces, which is the new feature that they have, because I can upload all of my contracts there. I can also upload my email transcripts there and just any correspondence or anything I have regarding to the project. And then I can ask the AI assistant there like, “Please create a timeline of deliverables for this project,” and it will give that to me. So that’s one, one way I use it is like as a place to keep all of my contracts and to be able to communicate with those and get quick answers for what I’m looking for, as opposed to having to go back and scroll through my emails and be like, “I know they said something about this here sometime.” Um, and then kind of like the next step that I use it for is like, let’s say I want, I now have a timeline of my deliverables. I can ask it to create like a content calendar around it. And because it’s like an, uh, chat-based like AI assistant, I can really ask it whatever I want. Um, it will even give you like content ideas. So sometimes it’ll come up with like, okay, here’s a content calendar and then I’ll say, “Can you write me like a script for the first one?” and I’ll go in like greater detail to get exactly what I want from it. So, um, using it for content planning is great. And then another thing that I use it for is my production management. So I can go and say, like, you know, my spring launch, I know it’s going to be a certain day. And then I know how long the turnarounds are for each thing. Sorry, this is like so specific. Leland McFarland: Go for it. Go for it. Amanda Stewart: And I can just write exactly what I want, like, you know, “Please make a, um, production calendar for our spring launch.” Like, I, I know like production is two weeks, um, I have to order my materials like three weeks before that and just map out the whole year of like deadlines. Okay, I need to order my fabric for spring this day. I need to have items in hand by this day for my photo shoot this day. And, um, you know, throughout the year. So it’s a lot to manage as one person. Like how do you, how would I be on top of that? And before what I did is I had a paper calendar on my wall and then I would, once a year, fill out the whole calendar. And then I get behind, then my whole paper calendar system is messed up. Right? But this, I can very easily be like, “Okay, we got to move everything by two weeks. Move all the spring launch dates, everything.” So. Leland McFarland: So it’s kind of become sort of a secretary, you know, like assistant, uh, overall. Amanda Stewart: That’s like what the AI assistant is, I think is like, you can ask it to do things like that, like administrative, like planning kind of things and it does it for you. So. And I’m still, you know, learning how to implement all of this into my workflow, but it already it’s been changing my productivity and helping me to feel like more efficient and more organized. Leland McFarland: Were there any kind of growing pains when it came to implementing this and and learning how to use it or was it fairly smooth? Amanda Stewart: So, I would say, I think Adobe puts a lot of time into like the user experience and trying to make these intuitive. So I feel like on that front, it was really good. For me, personally, I’m not like a tech-savvy person, right off the bat, but um, I, I don’t think it was, like it was much easier than I was expecting it to be. Leland McFarland: That’s good to hear. Yeah, it is not. Leland McFarland: How does Adobe, uh, fit into the broader, um, creative toolkit, uh, alongside or Acrobat. How does Acrobat fit into the broader, uh, creative toolkits along with other Adobe apps like Illustrator or Photoshop? Do you use those as well? Amanda Stewart: Yeah, so I use Illustrator and Photoshop all the time, like on a daily basis. And when they asked me to be an Acrobat ambassador, I was like, “Oh, I guess I use Acrobat too,” but I I wasn’t as familiar with the software and all of the capabilities. So, but I was a little surprised. I was like, “Oh, wouldn’t like Illustrator be a better fit for me?” But, um, yeah, I use Adobe Illustrator, um, Adobe Express, Photoshop, and, um, now Adobe Acrobat all the time. I would say like as a creative person, I, I had this reaction that I told you about that I was like, “Oh, you want me to be an Acrobat ambassador? Okay.” But as a small business owner, it makes so much sense. I wasn’t seeing it from like a productivity and like workflow standpoint. I just kind of seeing it as like a design creative standpoint, but every like creative person that I know struggles with the keeping deadlines, planning, managing contracts, managing files. So they really do go hand in hand, like as far as creatives also need this tool to administratively be able to keep on top of things. Leland McFarland: I see. Good answer on that. Leland McFarland: Do you use, uh, the, uh, features in Acrobat such as e-signatures, commenting, um, reviewing PDFs together with, uh, teams or customers or anything like that? Amanda Stewart: I definitely use e-signature all the time. Um, before I started using that, I would like paint my signature on using Photoshop. But now it’s like much more legit and I can send it securely and I can ask for someone’s signature in a way more like official manner than just like, “Okay, here’s the JPEG, like sign it and send me a photo back.” But this way, you know, it has an electronic signature and they can’t the document can’t be altered after it’s been signed. So yeah, I’ve been loving that tool. Um, I don’t use as much like team collaboration because like I mentioned, it’s mostly me doing all of the work, but, um, hopefully someday I will get to that point. Leland McFarland: I’ve ran into that too. Uh, I used to have a salesperson who would send an Excel file, not a PDF or anything like that, an a raw Excel file, and one time it came back differently. So, I, yeah, and someone had modified the contract in their favor and… Amanda Stewart: Ooh. Leland McFarland: Yeah, so I I get it. You know, I I love the age of these digital signatures and you know, glad that Adobe has that as well. Amanda Stewart: And one nice thing about PDF spaces is you could upload both of those contracts and you could say, “Please find me any differences between these contracts” in case someone does, like through their revision process, sneak a change in. Leland McFarland: Yes, that that would be nice. Leland McFarland: Um, many, uh, creative entrepreneurs struggle to balance, uh, artistry and uh, business paperwork. Um, how has Acrobat helped you bridge that gap? Amanda Stewart: For sure, that is definitely a struggle. Um, I love like the PDF spaces like I mentioned to keep all my contracts organized. And I also think the Creative Cloud is a great tool. Um, so I can access, you know, designs that I’ve been working on on my desktop on my phone if I need to. And, um, yeah, I I’m almost prefer that to my Google Drive, which is what I I’ve been using before because it’s like, um, it’s just easier to find things, I feel like. Like the searchability is better and I can see like the image preview of whatever I’m working on, because sometimes in Google Drive, it’s just like, you know, a file looks like a file folder and like, sometimes it’ll show the image preview, but not all the time. So then I just have to like click on the photo image till I get to the one that I’m looking for. So. Leland McFarland: Um, do you find, do you find that, Acrobat makes administrative tasks like invoicing, legal forms, or proposals, uh, feel a bit more manageable, uh, even creative? Amanda Stewart: Yes. Um, so I do have Acrobat on my phone and I love that I can edit PDFs from my phone. I didn’t know I could do that until this year. So what I was doing before is like, sometimes I’d even like take a JPEG and then I would like Photoshop like a box over it to clear out whatever was there and then a new text box, which was like such a, it’s such a clunky way to do it. But yeah, I do love like on my phone, I’ll edit PDFs and send invoices that way, or I I have to send purchase orders as well, like when I buy um fabric or whatever we’re making. And I love doing that on my phone. A lot of old school people will like require you to have a purchase order from your brand with your header, with the all of your company info before they’ll sell you something. So. Leland McFarland: Yeah. Well, it helps, make those of, those official orders a little bit easier, right? Amanda Stewart: Yeah. Mhm. I can just, I just have the it in my creative cloud and I can just edit it real quick to what I want on it to say. Leland McFarland: Nice. Leland McFarland: Um, what advice would you give other small business owners about, uh, bringing the same creativity they put into design into their business documents? Amanda Stewart: Okay, let me ask you that again. Leland McFarland: Okay. Please. Sorry. What advice would you give other small business owners about bringing the same creativity they put into their designs into their business documents? Amanda Stewart: I feel like a lot of, um, creative small business owners that I know, we have, like I said, the similar struggle of like staying organized and being on top of the administrative things. And a lot of the times these things are like, for me, it’s like a weight on my shoulders a little bit and it’s like a thing on the back of my mind that is like a nagging that I need to like do or fix. And I feel like just starting a new system of like keeping things organized and, um, it’s like really freeing and can help you in your creative practice to feel like you have more like mental space for that and you’re not as like concerned as much. Yeah, I would say that’s definitely been true in my life. Like the tasks that I don’t like to do as a creative are now feel like a little more attainable. Leland McFarland: It’s easier to be creative when you’ve cleaned your room first, right? Amanda Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Leland McFarland: A little more order, organized. You don’t have that hanging in the back of your head going, “Oh my gosh, that sock over there. It’s bugging me.” Amanda Stewart: Yeah, I am someone who has to clean like my entire house before I can get any work done. So, I can relate. Leland McFarland: I’m I’m the exact opposite. I’m more of the I’ll do the administrative, I’ll do the paperwork. Creativity is not necessarily my forte, so. Amanda Stewart: Oh, yeah. Leland McFarland: So, I I can make processes, I can do paperwork. My wife though, she’ll she’ll handle the creative part. Amanda Stewart: It’s funny, everyone has like their strengths and struggles and yeah. Leland McFarland: All right. What are some of your takeaways from what you’ve seen so far from Adobe MAX, uh, this year? Um, have have you gotten into like the Adobe MAX or uh, the Acrobat uh, demonstration? Have you, is there anything there that you’ve uh, seen that has piqued your interest? Amanda Stewart: Um, I will say I did not know anything about Firefly until today. And, um, as someone who has a clothing brand, I think it’ll be super helpful for me to like mock up my designs, um, with Firefly, because I, I use Photoshop, you know, to often like move my design from Illustrator onto like a piece of clothing. And I’ll do it manually, Photoshopping it over, and with Firefly, I can just like “eye drop that, eye drop that” and then it puts it together for me. So it’s going to be way easier to make mockups and do any kind of Photoshopping. So, that was a big takeaway for me. Um, yeah, I think I’m going to save a lot of time Photoshopping things. And then, I, I, I used Premiere like maybe a couple times, but I’m not like super versed in it. And, um, the Premiere app looks like it’s going to be awesome, too. Did you go to the keynote this morning? Leland McFarland: I did. Amanda Stewart: Yeah. So that… there’s just so many things. I’m like… Leland McFarland: I was impressed. Is that how it is every year? There’s just like, oh man. Brian Domingo: So, yeah, peek behind the curtain. Uh, you know, being PR, we work on these announcements, you know, obviously collaboration with our product teams and engineers for months. So like, just kind of the keynote is a, it’s very celebratory for us PR people because it’s like, we brought it to life with with the product engineers and with the product marketers, and we put their innovations to words and announced it to the world. So, yeah, it’s it’s like that every year. We have like a lot of announcements and it’s just so the labor of love over the course of a lot of time. Leland McFarland: Is it Is it hard to sit on these awesome new features? Brian Domingo: Not for me because I get to play with it internally before you guys. But, um, you know, like, I have friends who are also entrepreneurs and small business owners and creatives and they tell me about the stuff they’re working on. I’m like, “Wow, I wish I could tell you about this, or wish I could get you on the limited beta for this,” but, you know, that’s that’s kind of the fun part of it, too. Leland McFarland: All right. How do you see tools like Acrobat evolving to support creative small businesses in the next few years? I mean, what would you like to see? Amanda Stewart: I feel like Adobe Acrobat is on the right track as far as, um, like I mentioned, making it easier for us creative people to stay organized and the AI assistant. Um, I’ve been telling so many of my friends about the PDF spaces. Um, yeah, I have a friend who runs a nonprofit in Uganda and she has like a case file on every child in her, um, school that she runs over there. And it’s like a paper, it’s a paper case file. And so I’m like, “You got to get, you know, on this so that when you are emailed stuff about this kid, you can just file it in there.” So I would say just more tools for like productivity behind the scenes, kind of contracts. I think that’s what Acrobat is kind of known for is, um, doing like a paper trail, but electronically. So all that kind of like file management. I mean, if I knew the answer to this, I could probably be rich because I would come up with an incredible software. But yeah, I would love to see just more tools to help with that. Leland McFarland: All right, final question. What’s next for Mochi Kids and how does technology, especially tools like Acrobat, play in your future plans? Amanda Stewart: Hm, that’s a good question because I always said that opening a store is like my old lady job. So when I get like burnt out of doing my clothing brand, I can be like a shopkeeper and work in my store. And that still sounds very appealing, um, to kind of, you know, retire but like still own a business and work. Um, but I think I want to get back into doing more apparel. Um, it’s been, like we’ve been kind of going up and down with creating our own custom styles versus buying like blank sweatshirts and t-shirts that are already made. And, uh, yeah, we we are developing some new clothing styles right now. We just developed a new t-shirt pattern that’s really cute. And we have sweatshirts that are being made right now in LA. And then we have pajamas on order. And then we have like a cute woven like unisex kid pant that hopefully next year will come out. So, just getting more into doing more clothing styles. I think, um, a lot of my competitors have gone out of business, which is very sad, in the last few years or stopped making clothing because it’s a challenge. And a lot of the manufacturing in the US in apparel has gone overseas. And, um, and now overseas manufacturers, like with the tariffs, it’s so much more money to create things. So I’ve seen a lot of my fellow clothing brand people close, other fellow clothing brands. So I I do see like a gap in the market for, um, made in the US clothing for children. Leland McFarland: Well, here’s here’s hoping, you know, you can get into that market and continue to grow. Amanda Stewart: Thank you. Leland McFarland: Well, that’s all the questions I had for you. Amanda Stewart: Awesome. Thank… Listening to Amanda Stewart talk about her journey with Mochi Kids reminded me how much small business success depends on both passion and adaptability. It’s one thing to have a great idea; it’s another to sustain it over a decade while evolving with technology, market shifts, and creative demands. Amanda’s ability to keep her brand fresh — from developing new apparel lines to integrating digital tools like Adobe Acrobat and Firefly — is a testament to her resilience and willingness to learn. What resonated most was her practical perspective on using AI and Acrobat as part of her creative workflow. She isn’t replacing her artistry with automation — she’s augmenting it. For small business owners, that’s the real takeaway. Tools that once seemed designed for big enterprises are now becoming indispensable companions for one-person operations. They can help us reclaim time, reduce mental clutter, and refocus on what we love most — whether that’s design, storytelling, or building community. Amanda’s insight that organization fuels creativity struck a chord: when your digital workspace is clear, your mind is free to explore new ideas. It’s a principle many entrepreneurs overlook until they experience the difference. For me, this conversation underscored something simple but powerful — technology isn’t just changing how small businesses run; it’s changing how we think, create, and thrive. And as Amanda’s journey shows, the best creativity often grows from a foundation of order and innovation. This article, "Interview with Amanda Stewart – Founder of Mochi Kids" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. AI assistants are now more than simple answer machines. ChatGPT’s new Study Mode, Claude’s Learning Mode, and Gemini’s Guided Learning represent a significant shift. Instead of just providing answers, these free tools act as adaptive, 24/7 personal tutors. Guidde | Create how-to guides with AI Tired of explaining the same thing over and over again to your colleagues? Guidde is an AI-powered tool that helps you explain the most complex tasks in seconds with AI-generated documentation. Turn boring documentation into stunning visual guides Save valuable time by creating video documentation 11x faster Share or embed your guide anywhere Just click capture on the browser extension. The app will automatically generate step-by-step video guides complete with visuals, voiceover and call to action. The best part? The extension is 100% free. Try it Free New Tools for Studying and Learning ChatGPT Study Mode Get Started: Select Study Mode from the plus menu when starting a new chat. [Screenshot]. Start with context. Tell ChatGPT what you want to learn, why, and what you already know. The model excels at adapting to your level and guiding you step by step. My take: I’ve been experimenting with AI learning modes to understand the intricacies of venture capital investing. ChatGPT initially overwhelmed me with info [screenshot], then seemed to notice I was drowning and adjusted its pace. It must have seen my confused frown. Note: You can use “Study and learn” mode on mobile and with ChatGPT in a browser, but you can’t yet access it in the desktop app or within a ChatGPT Project. Below is a quick example of a dialogue in Study Mode Gemini Guided Learning Get Started: Visit g.co/gemini/guidedlearning My take: Gemini has been an excellent tutor. It replies concisely to my questions about venture capital. For example, so far it has: Quizzed me (try a basic example) Created a helpful infographic Generated an audio overview, in the style of NotebookLM Made me a custom Web page Shared simple digital flashcards The tangible artifacts help me visualize concepts and test my own understanding. The model takes a minute or so to produce infographics and a little longer to create audio overviews. I’m repeatedly returning to these materials to review what still feels fuzzy — arcane details of valuation, cap tables, dilution, and convertible notes. Below is an example of a scientific infographic: Other Google Learning Tools Illuminate turns academic papers and research into audio summaries Learn About responds thoroughly and helpfully to any inquiry Learning Coach Gem is an assistant you can chat with. Little Language Lessons offers quick takeaways. LearnLM is Google’s family of language models for learning, grounded in educational research. Claude Learning Mode Get Started: Select “Learning” from the style menu. This step initially confused me because the other options in that menu are writing styles. My take: Claude’s scenario-based questions —like these— push me to think through real-world situations to practice applying what I’m learning. Tips: As you learn, ask Claude to create artifacts—little interactive apps— that help you practice what you’re learning. Also request occasional challenges, case studies, or quizzes. Advantage: Unlike ChatGPT, you can use Learning Mode within Claude Projects. That allows you to benefit from personalized learning alongside your uploaded documents and context. So you can upload a slew of files, reports, and research resources and let Claude tutor you on those materials. Learn Mode vs. Answer Mode Turn on the learning features for any of these AI assistants and you’ll quickly notice the difference. Learning modes use Socratic questioning — asking rather than telling. They adapt to your level of understanding. They nudge you to make your own observations. They help you test your understanding with informal quizzes. They guide you step-by-step through complex topics rather than rushing to throw answers at you. In learning mode, these assistants feel like tutors; in standard mode they’re more like interactive encyclopedias. The difference is significant. On previous occasions when I wanted to analyze data, I’d ask for quick insights. In study mode I’ve learned, among other things, how to use pivot tables more effectively so I can analyze data more thoroughly myself. Rather than getting fish handed to me, I’m learning to fish. Topics to try in learn mode “How do tariffs impact supply chains?” or “How does cryptocurrency work?” “Guide me through the basics of [science/math concept]” “In what ways might Shakespeare have influenced Montaigne’s essays?” “How do private equity firms operate? Help me understand the nuances.” 4 Ways to Learn with AI 1. Understand a complex concept or skill What it’s for: Work or school topics you need to grasp thoroughly, or just topics you’re curious about My experience: I’m using AI study modes to review probabilities for dice, tile and card picking for tabletop games like Qwixx, Splendor, Azul, Point Salad, and backgammon. The AI helps me move forward step-by-step, checking my progress and slowing down when I get confused. I like being able to ask dumb questions without embarrassment. 2. Indulge your intellectual curiosity What it’s for: Topics you find fascinating. Learning for its own sake. My experience: After reading Hernán Díaz’s Trust recently, I went down a rabbit hole learning about metafiction (stories within stories) and polyphony (stories from multiple vantage points) and discovering new connections between various authors. This pure intellectual exploration feels different from work-focused learning. It’s driven by curiosity rather than necessity. I like that I can leap from tangent to tangent whenever I feel like it. I can also stop suddenly and return to a thread days later. The assistant loses no momentum and continues as if we never paused. 3. Deepen your expertise What it’s for: Expand your understanding of something you’ve already studied. My experience: I’m using AI learning modes to explore connections between classical composers whose music I’ve spent my life listening to and playing. I’m also sharpening the way I use spreadsheets for data analysis. The AI builds on what I already know, rather than starting from scratch. 4. Learn how to learn What it’s for: Discover how you learn best. Learn about learning and how to sharpen your brain. My experience: I’m experimenting with AI learning approaches to see what works best for me, and getting to know more about learning science. Most valuable so far: Gemini’s quizzes and infographics, Claude’s short answer questions, and practicing summarizing and expanding on ChatGPT’s explanations. The most useful learning mode features Short quizzes with instant feedback that force me to apply what I’m learning Scenarios I have to analyze that force me to make nuanced distinctions Realistic case studies that require me to summarize new concepts Asking as many dumb questions as I wantRequesting tangible learning artifacts, like infographics, audio overviews, flashcards, and tables In my own teaching (at CUNY’s Newmark Graduate School of Journalism) I’m planning to incorporate more formative micro-assessments — brief in-class ungraded quizzes using tools like Slido and Socrative to help me check what students understand and to give them more tiny opportunities to practice what we’re learning. This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. View the full article