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Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday. When Mary Beth Laughton became president and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) earlier this year, she inherited an organization with a rich heritage: REI was founded in 1938 by Lloyd and Mary Anderson, who joined some fellow outdoor enthusiast friends to buy ice axes that were only availabl…

AI poses an infuriating dilemma: On the one hand, it promises to reduce the grunt work present in every job. On the other hand, between the creation of AI slop, and employee fears around job loss, figuring out how to actually reap those benefits creates another job in and of itself. Companies are resorting to a variety of strategies to solve this problem. Amazon tracks how often employees use AI, Microsoft has an internal bootcamp where teams brainstorm how to redesign their workflows to include AI, and Boston Consulting Group has made AI use part of employee performance evaluations. Other companies are taking a different approach: paying employees to experiment…

Darin Fisher is a little older than the fresh-faced, newly minted PhD types you see roaming the well-appointed floors at OpenAI’s second location in San Francisco’s Mission Bay district. Before arriving at the AI super-startup, he spent 25 years working on some of the most important web browsers in the history of the web: He worked on Netscape Navigator, which helped define the early consumer internet. He worked on the popular Firefox browser at Mozilla, then went to Google, where he was a member of the Chrome team. After Google, he wanted to explore alternative browsers; he did so first at Neeva (which offered an ad-free experience), then at the Browser Company, whi…

Uniqlo, the Japanese retailer known for its monochromatic casual wear and accessories, is gearing up to significantly expand its U.S. physical footprint next year. The brand will open 11 new stores across seven cities in spring and summer 2026, Uniqlo told Fast Company. The expanded fleet will include four new stores in New York City: three in Manhattan and an additional location in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The new locations come two decades after Uniqlo opened its first U.S. store in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood in 2006. For fans of Uniqlo’s ultra-stretch jackets, Pufftech vests, and functional backpacks, it gets even better: The company is al…

Weight-loss giant Weight Watchers is relaunching itself for the Ozempic era. Six months after completing a Chapter 11 restructuring, the company is rolling out a revamped app and digital platform, a reimagined digital coaching experience, and a new brand identity. It’s even bringing back its old, two-word name, Weight Watchers. (The company had changed its name to WW in 2018 and later styled itself WeightWatchers.) Weight Watchers’ pitch: Any telehealth company can get you a GLP-1 prescription—including Weight Watchers itself—but Weight Watchers has unique programs to keep you healthy and on track. Those offerings include coaching, fitness classes, and a menopause…

Gorin explains Expedia’s three-part AI strategy, from improving travel products to giving employees “superpowers.” View the full article

In Shift: Managing Your Emotions—So They Don’t Manage You, Ethan Kross shares a comeback story about tennis champion Novak Djokovic. It was the Wimbledon quarterfinal and Djokovic, who was the No. 1 seed, was down two sets (5-7, 2-6) against 20-year-old Jannik Sinner. After the second set, he requested a break. Then he awed the crowd by triumphantly winning the next three sets (6-3, 6-2, 6-2). What shifted? Djokovic shared that he gave himself a pep talk in the locker room. He looked himself in the eyes and said: “You can do it. Believe in yourself. Now is the time, forget everything that has happened. New match starts now. Let’s go, champ.” Djokovic utiliz…

The mitochondria, perhaps better known as the powerhouses of cells, are emerging as a possible factor in the pains of aging. Some scientists are of the mind that poor mitochondrial health can lead to symptoms and diseases related to aging, like Alzheimer’s and cancer. “The mitochondria just give up earlier than other parts of the cell because of the wear and tear that they’re subjected to,” Pinchas Cohen, dean of USC’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, told The New York Times. “They’re the canary in the coal mine of cellular dysfunction.” It’s true that mitochondria produce energy from the food that we eat. But that’s actually not all that they do. How C…

Dieticians are warning that GLP-1 use can lead to extreme malnutrition, manifesting in diseases like scurvy, amid findings that the vast majority of studies fail to consider patients’ eating habits. While GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy have surged in popularity in recent years—and are now available through injections and in pill form—leading dieticians in Australia have discovered that existing research hasn’t considered what patients are eating, and how much. Nutritional Deficiencies While the drugs work by suppressing appetite, eating too little or making poor dietary choices can lead to further issues. “A reduction in body weight does not automatically …

You’ve landed. You leave the chaos of the airport behind and drop into the chaos of a new city. It’s big, loud, and full of opportunities . . . and tourists. If you want to experience this new city like someone who actually lives there, you need tools that help you skip the lines, ditch the tourist traps, and navigate the local landscape with insider confidence. Forget the default maps and review sites everyone uses. Here are three genuinely free, under-the-radar apps that will transform you from a wide-eyed visitor into a savvy urban explorer. Atlas Obscura The biggest mistake a traveler makes is sticking to the big red arrow on the generic tourist map…

What if extreme heat not only leaves you feeling exhausted but actually makes you age faster? Scientists already know that extreme heat increases the risk of heat stroke, cardiovascular disease, kidney dysfunction and even death. I see these effects often in my work as a researcher studying how environmental stressors influence the aging process. But until now, little research has explored how heat affects biological aging: the gradual deterioration of cells and tissues that increases the risk of age-related diseases. New research my team and I published in the journal Science Advances suggests that long-term exposure to extreme heat may speed up biological aging …

An “unprecedented,” potentially record-breaking heat wave is expected to hit much of the American southwest, from California to Colorado, this week—and experts are concerned about how temperatures will affect the region’s already-low snowpacks. Temperatures in the Los Angeles area will be 15 to 25 degrees above seasonal norms on Thursday, March 12, and Friday, March 13, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), reaching into the 90s along the coast and potentially above 100 degrees in some areas. “Given the unprecedented length and magnitude of this extreme heat wave, heat stress will be increasing each day, especially in areas that aren’t used to the heat…

If you’re a frequent eye drop user, now’s the time to check your medicine cabinet: The pharmaceutical lab BRS Analytical Service, LLC has issued a voluntary recall of five different ophthalmic solutions, including some eye drops and artificial tears, due to concerns that the products may be of “unacceptable quality.” Here’s what to know: What is the reason for the recall? According to a notice published by the distributor AvKare, the recall was initiated when a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) audit found “manufacturing cGMP deviations” in the production of the five eye products. CGMP, or Current Good Manufacturing Practice, refers to the required manufactur…

Flight reductions at 40 major U.S. airports will remain at 6% instead of rising to 10% by the end of the week because more air traffic controllers are coming to work, officials said Wednesday. The announcement was made as Congress took steps to end the longest government shutdown in history. Not long after, President Donald The President signed a government funding bill to end the closure. The flight cuts were implemented last week as more air traffic controllers were calling out of work, citing stress and the need to take on second jobs — leaving more control towers and facilities short-staffed. Air traffic controllers missed two paychecks during the impasse. The Depa…

The Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday that the helicopter tour company whose sightseeing chopper broke apart in flight and crashed in New York, killing the pilot and a family of five visitors from Spain, is shutting down operations immediately. The FAA, in a statement posted on X, also said it would launch an immediate review of New York Helicopter Tours’ operating license and safety record. The move came hours after New York Sen. Chuck Schumer had called on federal authorities to revoke the operating permits of New York Helicopter Tours. The company’s sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and plunged into the Hudson River Thursday, killing the tourist…

The Federal Aviation Administration reopened the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas on Wednesday morning, just hours after it announced a 10-day closure that would have grounded all flights to and from the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a social media post that it has lifted the temporary closure of the airspace over El Paso, saying there was no threat to commercial aviation and that all flights will resume. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X that the FAA and the Defense Department “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion. The threat has been neutralized and there is no danger to commercial travel …

The Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday said it was extending an order limiting operations at Newark Liberty International Airport through October 24, 2026. The order, which limits the rate of arrivals and departures, follows comments from the New Jersey airport’s operator and airlines on extending flight limits to help address congestion at one of three main airports serving New York City. Newark is a major hub for United Airlines. —Jasper Ward, Reuters View the full article