Good morning! New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will talk with Trump, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has a new podcast, and Amy Griffin found the power in vulnerability. Have a restful weekend.
– Telling her story. About five years ago, Amy Griffin started remembering. Through a combination of journaling and MDMA therapy, a long-buried trauma—repressed memories of childhood sexual assault—finally came to the surface. It’s a story that Griffin shares in her new book The Tell, which was just named the latest Oprah’s Book Club pick.
In the memoir, Griffin recalls the picture-perfect version of her life growing up in Texas, before shattering that image with these memories—then retreading that narrative and reevaluating everything. During the time period that Griffin recounts experiencing an endless onslaught of memories, she was only a few years into running her firm, G9 Ventures. G9 has backed female-founded brands like Bumble, Saie, Bobbie, and Midi.
Yet as she remembered this experience herself, and then began telling others about it, she found that doing so strengthened her relationships in all areas of her life—including the burgeoning relationships in her professional life. (Before founding G9, Griffin says she had “been in the background by choice,” raising her four kids with her husband, the hedge fund founder John Griffin.) “I realized that once I was first honest with myself, I was able to go and be honest with other people—the women in my life, my children, my family, my husband,” she says. “Everything was better in my life when I was vulnerable. There’s a power in vulnerability and it changed my relationships for the better.”
During those most intense months, Griffin remembers “days when I could barely get up off the floor, when I was trying to go on Zooms for work and put on a face to say, ‘Yes, I’m helping others, I’m taking this call to build businesses and create value for women,’ and yet I could barely get dressed.”
Once she stopped trying to hide what was going on from others or from herself, it changed how she built relationships with the founders in her portfolio. She can show up as her “full self” to help them, now that she knows who that self is. She isn’t scared by what once seemed like big problems. And she’s not afraid to have the hard conversations anymore. “I have a confidence now in the idea that it’s all going to work out,” she says. “When someone’s panicked about funding or they’re not growing at the rate they should be, we just have really honest conversations and we figure it out.”
She found unlikely connections between her work as an investor—where she is most passionate about brand and creative—and telling such a personal story. “Brand-building is what I love to do—this wasn’t a brand, but there’s the idea that I would tell my story and be honest about my truth,” she says.
Griffin says she looks for “humility” in founders. And many of those founders and friends have shown up to support her, through her process of remembering, writing, and now publishing her story, from Spanx’s Sara Blakely to Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd to Kitsch’s Cassandra Thurswell, to Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Her biggest takeaway, though, applies beyond her close-knit circle. “You never know what’s going on in someone’s life,” she says she’s learned. “Always give someone the most generous belief in what they’re going through.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.Hinchliffe@coins2day.com
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Coins2Day’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Trump talks. This morning, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is meeting with President Donald Trump to talk about his plans for an energy pipeline, which he said could save families in New England and New York City $5,000 in energy costs. They may also discuss New York City’s congestion pricing plan, which Trump has pushed to cancel. Bloomberg
- Luxe assignment. New assignments within the Arnault family add new twists to succession rumors at LVMH. Delphine Arnualt, a prime contender to take over the luxury giant from her father Bernard Arnault, is still in her post as Dior chief, while her brothers have new roles at Loro Piana and Moët Hennessy. Coins2Day
- Menopause friendly. CVS Health (No. 6 on the Coins2Day 500) became the first company in the U.S. Named a “menopause friendly” workplace by MiDOViA. The group launched its “Menopause Friendly Accreditation” program in 2021 in the U.K. And 2024 in the U.S. Coins2Day
- Listen up. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is launching Confessions of Female Founder, a podcast with Lemonada Media premiering April 8. Meghan is the founder of the forthcoming lifestyle brand As Ever, and she shared that she was “so proud” of the conversations she had with female founders to “unpack the twists and turns of building a business.” Hollywood Reporter
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Donatella Versace is stepping down as Versace’s chief creative officer after 28 years in the role. She will become chief brand ambassador for her family’s fashion house.
APTURA Group, which provides building security solutions, appointed Karen Clark as president. She has served as the group’s CFO and sat on the board of directors since 2016.
Vercel, a web development company, named Jeanne DeWitt Grosser COO. Previously, she was chief business officer at Stripe.
Allstate (No. 73) appointed Andréa Carter to Executive Vice President and CHRO, effective May 12, a role previously held by Robert Toohey until September 2024. Carter will step down from her current role as CHRO of Global Payments (No. 410) on March 31. Global Payments has not yet outlined a succession plan. Every Friday morning, the weekly Coins2Day 500 Power Moves column tracks Coins2Day 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
Brightly, a provider of asset management solutions, named Wendy Frazier CTO. She most recently served as CTO at The Weather Company.
Financial wellness app Acorns named Kasia Leyden CMO. Previously, she was chief marketing and strategy officer at ApplyBoard.
PayPal added Joy Chik to its board of directors. Chik is president of identity and network access at Microsoft.
ON MY RADAR
The loyal opposition inside the SEC New York Times
Hope Walz never planned for TikTok fame. Now her platform inspires change Rewire News Group
Michelle Zauner’s success nearly destroyed her Vulture
PARTING WORDS
“I won’t complain about anything that I haven’t tried to change.”
— Actor Salma Hayek Pinault on fighting for a better Hollywood
