
✅ Today’s Checklist:
- Reproductive health resources you should know
- Joanna shares why hiring people with no experience can be a win
- Recipe of the week: Turkish Pasta
🤔 Trivia: In 2020, what country became the first to make environmental protection a constitutional right? Find out.
QUICK LINKS
🦸🏻♀️ Advice for female leaders finding their way.
💔 19 people share the red flags they ignored in bad relationships.
💖 Self-compassion advice to improve your mental health and self-esteem.
🛠️ Explore these team productivity tools to maximize collaboration.
HEALTH
Reproductive Health Resources You Should Know
Last month, the White House took down reproductivehealth.gov, leaving many women concerned about their access to reproductive healthcare and information. In response, TheSkimm stepped up, recreating the information and hosting it on www.reproductiverightsdotgov.com.
If you’ve been feeling anxious about the future of your reproductive healthcare or wondering if you need to stockpile resources like birth control or Plan B, here’s what you need to know—and where you can turn for support.
Emergency Contraception and Plan B
Plan B remains legal in all 50 states and is still available over the counter, but barriers to access exist. These include availability in rural areas, pharmacy refusals, and cost. For a full breakdown of emergency contraception access by state, check out Guttmacher’s guide.
Abortion Access and Support
The Center for Reproductive Rights offers a wealth of information and advocacy tools. You can learn more about their work and the current state of abortion rights in the U.S. here.
If you’re seeking abortion services or support, these apps and websites can provide safe and reliable guidance:
- Euki: A period tracker and reproductive health app that provides private and accurate information.
- Reproaction.org: Focuses on abortion access, advocacy, and reproductive justice.
- Abortionpillinfo.org: Provides information about abortion pills and self-managed abortion options.
- PlanCPill.org: Helps users find abortion pills online and navigate the process safely.
- Aidaccess.org: How to use abortion pills if you have no access to an abortion clinic in the USA, provides abortion and miscarriage care via telehealth.
Comprehensive Reproductive Health Resources
For a broader understanding of reproductive healthcare options, here’s a roundup of trusted resources:
General Health and Contraception
- Planned Parenthood: Offers everything from contraception to STI testing and cancer screenings.
- Bedsider: A great resource for contraceptive education and reminders.
- Nurx: A telemedicine service offering access to birth control, emergency contraception, and STI testing.
Fertility and Family Planning
- FertilityIQ: Reviews fertility clinics and provides in-depth resources on family planning.
- Resolve: Offers support for individuals navigating infertility.
- Modern Fertility: Provides at-home fertility tests and reproductive health insights.
Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
- Every Mother Counts: Improves access to maternity care and safe childbirth resources.
- Postpartum Support International: Offers support for postpartum mood disorders and connects users with therapists.
Menstrual and Hormonal Health
- Clue App: Tracks your menstrual cycle and provides insights into hormonal health.
- Kindra: Offers resources and products for managing menopause symptoms.
LGBTQ+ Reproductive Health
- GLMA: Connects users with LGBTQ-friendly healthcare providers.
- Inclusive Therapists: A directory of therapists specializing in LGBTQ+ reproductive health and wellness.
Advocacy and Policy Organizations
- Guttmacher Institute: A trusted source for research and policy analysis on reproductive health and rights.
- National Network of Abortion Funds: Helps individuals cover the financial and logistical costs of abortion access.
- Center for Reproductive Rights: Advocates for reproductive rights globally and offers tools to stay informed.
While the recent removal of reproductivehealth.gov is unsettling, the good news is that there are plenty of reliable resources available to help women navigate their reproductive health needs. From contraception to abortion care to fertility support, the organizations and tools listed above are here to provide accurate information, compassionate care, and essential services.
Bookmark these resources, share them with friends, and stay informed. Access to reproductive healthcare is a right—and knowledge is power. 💛
BETTER MEETINGS START HERE
The AI Meeting Assistant You’ll Actually Use
Typing notes, tracking action items, and searching for past conversations is a waste of time. Fellow does it all—automatically.
Fellow connects to Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams to:
- Capture and organize notes automatically so you can focus on the conversation.
- Summarize key takeaways and decisions in one place.
- Track action items so nothing falls through the cracks.
- Search past meetings instantly—no more digging through recordings.
Pro Tips for Getting Started:
- Add Fellow to your calendar to auto-join calls and take notes for you.
- Use AI search to find key moments from any past meeting.
- Share meeting recaps instantly with your team—no extra work required.
- Customize templates for agenda-setting and structured meeting notes.
HIRING
Building a Team with No-Experience Hires
I recently got this reply from a reader named Angie: “Biggest challenge? Hiring and having productive employees who actually work.”
If you’ve ever struggled with finding (or keeping) the right people, you’re not alone.
At TA, we built our team with several zero-experience hires—and it worked for us.
Why? Because we focused on systems, training, and culture, not just résumés.
👋 Meet The Team
- Cameron (Newsletter Ops Mgr) – Came to us through a referral, fresh out of college (my fave Gen Z’er). We weren’t even hiring at the time, but after meeting her, we brought her on for social media. Four promotions later, she’s my right hand.
- Thania (Content Mgr) – We’ve been best friends since I was 4 years old. She’s never had a role like this before, but who could channel my vibe better than the person who’s known me forever?
- Kristel (Marketing Assistant) – Once a teacher in Lebanon, now she keeps The Assist running smoothly behind the scenes. She supports Cam and me on news ops and content projects—turns out, wrangling marketing tasks isn’t all that different from managing a classroom.
- Carri (Copywriter) – Spent years as a Quality Engineer in manufacturing before deciding to finally pursue her passion for writing. Now, she helps shape The Assist’s voice.
- Ivette (Admin Assistant) – We originally brought Ivette on to help upload content across our media properties, but she quickly proved she was so much more. She picks up new tools and processes fast and now handles all things admin.
The point? Experience isn’t everything.
🤔 What I Look for in Teammates
When I hire, I’m not scanning for the perfect résumé—I’m looking for:
- Problem-solvers – People who figure things out, even when they don’t have all the answers. They don’t stop at “I don’t know”—they take initiative, get resourceful, and come back with solutions.
- A willingness to learn – Give me someone coachable over someone “qualified” any day. Skills can be taught, but curiosity, adaptability, and a get-it-done attitude? That’s what makes someone invaluable.
- Great communication – Remote work requires people who overcommunicate, not under. Clarity beats assumptions every time—whether it’s asking the right questions, looping in the right people, or proactively updating the team before anyone has to ask.
📚 How We Train No-Experience Hires
Bringing on someone without direct experience means you have to set them up for success. Here’s what’s worked for us:
- Clear onboarding = smoother ramp-up – Arm new hires with a 30-60-90 day plan with clear priorities and expectations. A “figure it out” approach leads to overwhelm.
- Show, don’t just tell – We document key tasks using Loom videos and Notion guides, so people can reference them instead of feeling stuck.
- “I do, we do, you do” method – First, we show them how to do something. Then, we do it together. Finally, they do it solo with feedback. This builds confidence fast.
- Early ownership builds confidence – Even if it’s a small project, giving new hires ownership over something early on helps them develop independence. (Cameron started by scheduling social posts—now she manages entire campaigns.)
- Frequent check-ins > micromanagement – We don’t hover, but we do set up weekly or biweekly touch points to keep communication open.
⏳ Why This Works (Even If It Takes Longer Upfront)
Training no-experience hires takes more effort in the beginning, but the long-term payoff is worth it.
People who start without experience often:
- Are more adaptable (they don’t have bad habits to unlearn)
- Tend to be more loyal (because someone gave them a shot)
- Bring fresh ideas (without the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality)
The key is hiring for mindset, training for skill. If you’re hiring (or thinking about it), don’t just look at what’s on paper—look for potential. It’s worked for us, and it can work for you too.
Joanna (TA Co-Founder)
TEAM SUCCESS
🛠️ The Hiring & Onboarding Tools That Make It Easier
Hiring the right people is step one—but getting them up to speed quickly? That’s where great onboarding tools come in.
📌 Finding the Right People
- Greenhouse – Joanna’s HR bestie swears by this for tracking candidates, managing interviews, and streamlining hiring decisions.
- Workable – A flexible, AI-powered hiring platform that helps small teams move fast while keeping things organized.
- Upwork – Need contract or freelance support? Upwork’s talent pool is a solid option for flexible hiring.
📢 Onboarding, Payroll & HR
- Rippling – Automates payroll, benefits, and even device management. Bonus: They’re giving $100 to anyone who learns more. Get your $100 here →
- BambooHR – Simplifies onboarding with automated checklists, e-signatures, and self-service employee portals.
- Paychex – A solid payroll and HR solution for small to mid-sized businesses, handling everything from direct deposits to tax compliance.
📚 Setting Up New Hires for Success
Once you find the right people, the next challenge? Making sure they thrive. Here’s what helps us:
- Notion – Our go-to for internal documentation, SOPs, and knowledge-sharing.
- Loom – We record quick explainer videos for repeatable tasks, so no one has to re-explain them 100 times.
🔄 Scaling & Streamlining Team Operations
As your team grows, so does the complexity of keeping everything running smoothly. These tools help:
- Fellow – Keeps meeting notes structured and actionable, so every discussion leads to clear next steps.
- monday.com – Manages our team workflows, from content planning to task tracking.
- Smartsheet – Keeps key reports, workflows, and team metrics organized.
- GoHighLevel – All-in-one CRM and automation tool to simplify client and customer interactions.
- HubSpot – Our CRM and marketing automation hub for managing relationships and outreach.
💬 Keeping Communication Clear (Without More Meetings)
Remote work = less face time, so clear communication is everything.
- Slack – Our go-to for real-time messaging, team channels, and quick check-ins (without inbox overload).
- Google Chat & Microsoft Teams – Great alternatives if your team already works in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
Hiring the right people is just the start—setting them up for success is what actually makes a team pop off. The right systems, tools, and a culture of support can turn zero-experience hires into MVPs.
STAFF PICKS
Stuff We’re Loving This Week
✈️ The only travel adapter you’ll ever need.
👁️ Effortless cat-eye vibes? These lashes understood the assignment.
📚 Joanna’s current read: Illuminae—a sci-fi thriller where hacked files, rogue AI, and an intergalactic war make survival anything but simple.
💰 FreshBooks makes getting paid way easier with automated invoices, expense tracking, and hassle-free client payments.
SPILL THE TEA
Take Our Poll
Have more feedback? 💌 Reply to this email and tell us.
🚨 Open Jobs: Visit our job board here.
✨ P.S. Want more inspiration and positivity to kick off your week? Sign up for our Motivational Monday texts (U.S. only).
👀 Want to see if your company is a good fit for our 100k+ ambitious readers? Join our Sponsor Waitlist here.