This is this week’s ForbesWomen newsletter, which every Thursday brings news about the world’s top female entrepreneurs, leaders and investors straight to your inbox. Click here to get on the newsletter list!
How is everyone feeling? If your neck is smarting from whiplash… I would not blame you. One week after President Trump announced sweeping tariffs that roiled global markets and pushed odds of a U.S. recession higher, he reversed course on Wednesday, saying he would institute a 90-day pause on most tariffs—though 10% levies do remain and the size of the tariff on Chinese products is increasing by the day.
Within this environment, consumers and entrepreneurs (and really, all people in general) are reeling. I spoke to one female founder who’s facing a doubling of her supply costs, because her primary supplier is in China. Going with an American manufacturer instead is not an option, she says, because these manufacturers would increase her supply costs by fourfold. And yet, she’s taking creative approaches to future-proofing her business, opening a crowdfunding campaign and partnering with other small businesses in her area to help cut costs.
Other entrepreneurs are looking to the recent past as proof that moments of economic disruption can also be moments of opportunity—let’s not forget that companies like Uber, Venmo, WhatsApp and Cloudflare were all started during or right after the 2008 financial crisis—and advise their fellow business owners to stay as “nimble” as possible.
Of course, staying calm and nimble in moments of economic uncertainty is much easier said than done. For those of you who are feeling extra levels of anxiety, we have a story on how to navigate tariff-fueled financial stress. The advice within reminds us to track our triggers, find time to breathe, and above all—this goes for entrepreneurs and investors alike—adapt your plans with intention, not panic.
Take care of yourselves,
Exclusive Forbes Investigation: Inside The Epic Battle Between Danone And Lifeway Foods—And Its Squabbling Founding Family
The publicly traded kefir company Lifeway is fighting a takeover by the French dairy giant, its partner of more than 25 years. But for CEO Julie Smolyansky, the Ukraine-born daughter of Lifeway’s founder, it’s personal—and her mom and brother are not on her side. “I come from a long line of survivors in the Soviet Union, a land of war, scarcity and famine,” says Smolyansky, noting that her grandmother lived through the 1941 Babyn Yar massacre in Kyiv. “All of my ancestors are with me and they’re helping me. I have an obligation to continue to fight and survive.”
ICYMI: News Of The Week
On Thursday, Forbes released its seventh annual AI 50 list, produced in partnership with Sequoia and Meritech Capital and spotlighting the most promising privately-held AI companies in the world. Among those companies is Writer, which was founded by May Habib and has raised some $320 million from top venture capitalists. Its November $200 million round valued the company at $1.9 billion; Habib retains an estimated 15% stake worth $285 million.
New York-based Jones just raised $10 million to expand its nicotine lozenge company in the stodgy, $3 billion smoking cessation market. The company, which was founded in 2023 by Hilary Dubin and Caroline Vasquez Huber, will use the capital to develop new nicotine products, hire more employees and market the company.
While Dick’s Sporting Goods stock has fallen amid Trump’s tariff wars, its strong five-year performance (up more than 850% in that time) has propelled the fortune of longtime Dick’s CEO Dick Stack’s ex-wife, Denise Prenosil. By holding onto some 4 million common shares of Dick’s stock after her divorce from Stack, Prenosil is now worth an estimated $1 billion and is one of the richest women in America.
Margaret Spellings, who served as Education Secretary under President George W. Bush, spoke to Forbes about her response to President Trump attempting to shut down the Department of Education. “I have a lot of questions about it,” she says.
Congress passed a bill this week that could make it harder for millions of American women to exercise their right to vote. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would require people registering to vote or updating their voter registration to show documents in person proving American citizenship. But the 69 million married women in America who have taken their spouse’s last name and don’t have a birth certificate matching their legal name could face hurdles when registering to vote or updating their voter registration.
The Checklist
1. Take an implicit association test. Studies show that women are subject to more negative stereotypes at work than their male counterparts. I discussed this with Mika Brzezinski and Huma Abedin today for a Know Your Value segment, and I’ll share here what I said on air: To combat stereotypes at work, we should all become aware of our implicit biases, and we can do that by taking ForbesWomen contributor Lindsay Kohler’s advice and doing an implicit association assessment.
2. Handle the responsibilities you never asked for. Whether by curse of competence (IYKYK) or sheer business emergency, you might find yourself managing tasks you never asked for. Here’s how to navigate the unwanted work.
3. Turn to the stars. A new survey of 2,000 Millennials and Gen-Z workers reveals that 63% believe astrology has positively impacted their careers (either through checking colleagues’ zodiac signs and consulting the stars over job offers). Will you align your career moves with the cosmic cycles?
The Quiz
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a deal to avert a TikTok ban in the U.S. is still “on the table,” in spite of an all-out trade war with China that has been escalating all week. At time of writing Thursday afternoon, where had the U.S. tariff rate on Chinese imports landed?
- 54%
- 104%
- 125%
- 145%