Weekender #249

🫂 Why online therapy is hitting for women juggling everything.

🚶‍♀️ 10K steps are out, this viral Japanese walking plan is in.

🌿 Twenty-six low-lift hobby kits for a relaxed, screen-free weekend.

👔 Six office-outfit trends replacing the office-siren look this year.

If you’ve never considered picking up golf, I want to make the case, because this is one of those things where the women who do it have an advantage over the women who don’t.

A lot of deals get made on the golf course. Charity tournaments, client rounds,  even casual Fridays at the club; these are spaces where relationships get built, trust gets established, and business gets done.

They’re also still overwhelmingly male. The woman who can say “yeah, I’d love to golf” when a client or colleague asks gets the invite. She’s in the room where things happen.

The woman who says “oh, I don’t really know how” watches the boys on the team advance. I’ve seen it play out. Golf gives you access that is genuinely hard to replicate anywhere else: four unhurried hours outdoors with someone, no agenda, no screens. There’s no better networking scenario.

I picked up golf during COVID. My boyfriend at the time was a big golfer, my best friend and her husband play, and it became our thing during a period when there wasn’t much else to do. Then I moved onto a golf course in Idaho and got to play a lot more. And I’ll be honest, I love a male-dominated industry to infiltrate.

I remember getting out on a course for the first time and thinking: No wonder boys have been gatekeeping this. It’s awesome.

Golf is genuinely fun. You’re outside, driving a cart, music going, drink in hand, attempting this weirdly satisfying, kind of impossible thing of making contact with a ball and sending it exactly where you want it to go. Plus, the outfits are cute.

And there is nothing more satisfying than watching a guy’s face when you out-drive him 😉.

Golf 101 (it’s actually not that complicated)

1. You want the lowest score. Every swing or putt counts as a stroke. Fewer strokes = better.
2. There are 18 holes, each with a par (the target number of strokes per hole). Get under par? That’s a birdie. Go over? That’s a bogey. The names are fun.
3. The course has a layout. You hit from the tee box, aim down the fairway, and try to land on the green. Sand traps are placed near the green to make your life harder.
4. Different clubs for different distances. You’ll learn which is which as you go. Putters are for short strokes on the green.

That’s pretty much the jist.

How to get started

You don’t need to spend a lot to try it. Grab a starter set off Amazon or search Facebook Marketplace for a used set. Then head to your local course’s driving range — it’s basically a batting cage for golf, just you practicing hitting balls with no pressure or score.

Watch a few YouTube videos. See if anyone in your circle plays and would take you out for nine holes.

You’ll be bad at first. Everyone is. That’s half the fun.

Thania (TA Content Mgr)

You already know Excel can crunch numbers, but what if it could also save you hours every week?

Miss Excel (aka Kat Norton) is hosting a free live class to show you how to build dashboards that are clean, clickable, and (yes) kinda life-changing:

• See how much time you’re losing to emails
• Track “this could’ve been an email” meetings
• Turn your daily chaos into a sleek, smart visual

You’ll learn how to:

✅ Build interactive dashboards from scratch

✅ Automate the stuff you’re still doing manually

✅ Turn messy data into decision-ready visuals

Bonus: You’ll get her brand-new Dashboard Cheat Sheet just for signing up.

Whether you’re a spreadsheet newbie or a formula fanatic, this class will make Excel feel a lot more magical.

Can’t join live? No worries, register anyway and get the replay.

👉 Save your seat and unlock Excel’s full potential.

📚 Read: Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick

A clear-eyed field guide to actually working alongside AI instead of fearing it or hyping it. Mollick treats it like a coworker you have to learn to manage, and the practical framing sticks long after you close the book.

📺 Watch: Hacks (HBO Max)

A legendary Vegas comic and the prickly young writer who reluctantly saves her act, circling each other across a generational divide. The chemistry is sharp and the jokes land, but it’s the slow-build respect between them that keeps you watching.

🎧 Listen: Good Luck, Babe! by Chappell Roan

A synth-pop anthem about watching someone run from a love they can’t admit to. It’s catchy enough for the car and cutting enough that the lyrics stay with you after the chorus fades.

If your office snack drawer is still hiding a granola bar from 2020, your team has noticed. They just haven’t said anything.

Simpalo delivers better-for-you snacks and fresh fruit, hand-picked by people whose entire job is finding snacks that don’t taste like cardboard. Over 5,137 companies use it to treat their teams, and 500,000+ employees are on the receiving end.

Why teams stick with it:

• Better-for-you snack boxes and fresh fruit delivery
• Pre-curated, fully custom, or team-choice; pick how much control you actually want.
• Delivery on your schedule: one-time, monthly, or whatever cadence fits.
• A personal note in every box, the small detail people remember.

New customers also get an Amazon gift card worth up to $200 just for trying a box. Exact amount depends on the order.

👉 See the snacks, pricing, and gift card offer.

Upcoming Events

• Fri 7/31 @ 8:30AM PT: Watch Me Work: Vibe Code a Portfolio in Real Time with Joanna (SGS Only* | Join the waitlist)
• Thu 8/6 @ 9AM PT: Harnessing Change Workshop with NextArrow
• Thu 8/13 @ 10AM PT: Your Voice, Not Theirs: The public speaking class for leaders (SGS Only* | Join the waitlist)

* Smart Girl Society is our private community for women who want deeper conversations, accountability, and tools that actually make life easier. Join the waitlist to get in the next round.

Meet Pacer, a 12-year-old who beat parvo as a puppy and has been proving he has a very human soul ever since. He’s a master of leisurely walks, intense sniffing missions, and a single look that says ‘don’t even think about leaving without me.’ His human says it best: she’s just living in his world.

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