Good morning, my chronically employed friend. This week in the make work suck less group chat...

👏 One good thing. Women should lead everywhere. Here's looking at Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum for signing universal healthcare into law for their 120 million citizens. And to Virginia Governor, Abigail Spanberger, who in just over 100 days in office, has signed over 1,500 laws including: raising minimum wage to $15, making it illegal for employers to access wage history, wage theft protections, and passing paid family medical leave.

📮State of the business. Y'all asked for my best career advice this week, so here it is.

🏁Treat every interaction at work like it will be used against you in a performance review. Think twice before you get snarky with someone, gossip in Slack, or hit send on that scorched earth email. Double check the AI notetaker is off. Sing and dance like no one is watching. Do everything else like HR will read your words back to you in a closed-door meeting.

✏️ On a related note, document everything. Good, bad and ugly. Keep a running list of your wins, forward yourself all kudos notes and performance reviews. And the moment Karen gets squirrelly with you, keep a dated record of everything. Screenshots, recordings, and written notes with time/date. Make sure you have access to them outside of work systems.

🎁 Give credit where due. Your work doesn't speak for itself. Share your wins with everyone up the food chain. And if someone else contributed or you built off their idea, share their name too. Champion yourself and others.

❓Before you ask, try to figure it out yourself. Along the way of trying to find a policy, SOP or new tool, you'll likely learn something. About how things fit together in a bigger picture. A new skill. Some historical context. And, your team will thank you for not borrowing their brain. Someone who is self-sufficient and curious is an asset.

🚗 Drive your own career. Use their professional development dollars to get a new certification, join a group, or attend a conference. Figure out how the leveling and how advancement works at your company. Schedule development conversations with your manager. Rewrite your job description. And be realistic when it's time to look elsewhere to get the title/pay/benefits you want.

💵 Stay close to the money and decisions. Today especially, you need to do work that is valued by your company to be more layoff-resistant. Choose roles that manage strategy or budget, or that drive stable profit.

⚖️ Do what you say you'll do. Quickest way to earn trust with your team and leaders is to follow through with a high say > do ratio.

♥️ If no one is dead or dying, go home. You are not your job. And they don't pay you enough to give every ounce of your time and energy just to increase shareholder value.

💬 Coffee break gossip. Some news to share at the water cooler this week:

1. The accusation against an JP Morgan exec for drugging and assaulting her male employee turned may be... entirely made up. If you've read what's in the lawsuit (that has since been pulled by the accuser) you'd understand. It reads like a 13 YO boy's fantasy.
2. Women now hold the majority of payroll jobs for the first time since the Great Recession. The 200k more women are driven by increases in healthcare, education, and service roles.
3. WNBA first round draft pick salaries jumped from $75k in 2025 to $347k in 2026 due to a collective bargaining agreement. Advocate for what you're worth, ladies.

Until next Saturday, you got this.
Cassandra

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