What Replika's CEO learned from her avatar creations

What Replika's CEO learned from her avatar creations | Chita Rivera's stage success has much to teach leaders | How Inspira Logistics CEO thrived as a woman in trucking Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( February 1, 2024 CONNECT WITH NEXTUP  [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( [X]( €‰€‰[Tik tok]( [NEW SmartBrief]( Gender equity news from NextUp, Advancing All Women in Business [SIGN UP]( â‹… [SHARE]( [] Top of the week [] [What Replika's CEO learned from her avatar creations]( [What Replika's CEO learned from her avatar creations]( Kuyda (San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers Via Getty Images/Getty Images) CEO Eugenia Kuyda founded Replika to create AI-generated virtual avatar companions to help combat loneliness and found that cultivating a community is an essential and powerful tool for understanding users' needs and offering support. Other lessons Kuyda has learned in establishing Replika include finding strength in differences and personal experiences, keeping users top of mind in product development and getting ahead of the technology curve. Full Story: [Forbes (tiered subscription model)]( (1/29) [LinkedIn]( [X]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Today's leadership [] [Chita Rivera's stage success has much to teach leaders]( [Chita Rivera's stage success has much to teach leaders]( Rivera (Paul Natkin/Getty Images) Tony-award-winning Broadway star Chita Rivera passed this week at 91, and leaders can learn a lot from the tireless dancer, singer and actor, including a belief that you can continually improve yourself and get ahead through collaboration instead of competition, writes actor Shannon Cudd. "In 2005, she told the New York Times that she still considered herself 'a chorus dancer who went through the whole race,' which gave her the foundation to be able to tackle any role that came her way," Cudd writes. Full Story: [Fast Company (tiered subscription model)]( (1/31) [LinkedIn]( [X]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [How Inspira Logistics CEO thrived as a woman in trucking]( CEO Kateryna Roi founded trucking company Inspira Logistics with a single rented truck, overcoming challenges as an immigrant from Ukraine and a woman entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry. Roi says a combination of resilience, determination and innovation has helped her grow her company into a fleet of 12 trucks across 48 states and create a custom customer relationship management platform. Full Story: [Tech Times]( (1/29) [LinkedIn]( [X]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [5 reasons you may not want to lead like Tesla's Musk]( [5 reasons you may not want to lead like Tesla's Musk]( (Pixabay) Tesla CEO Elon Musk has ignored some standard leadership rules for successful companies, including responding quickly to a change in industry challenges, resisting price or production changes in the face of demand and admitting mistakes, writes Peter Cohan, founder of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. "Business leaders must take risks. However, if it later becomes clear the bet will not pay off, they should cut their losses and allocate the resources to higher payoff opportunities," Cohan writes. Full Story: [Inc. (tiered subscription model)]( (1/29) [LinkedIn]( [X]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Strategies to transform working groups into teams]( Your team is a "group" if they only feel accountable to you but not to each other, writes CEO coach Sabina Nawaz, who recommends leading with curiosity to learn about their experiences without judgment and repeating what you've heard them say to check your understanding. "With a newfound understanding of our collective and individual frustrations, we can empathize with each other, learn to work better together, and shift from being a group to a team invested in a shared outcome rather than individual agendas," Nawaz writes. Full Story: [Harvard Business Review (tiered subscription model)]( (1/29) [LinkedIn]( [X]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Read the latest from SmartBrief [] - [Tips to navigate the fallout from a layoff]( SmartBrief/Leadership (1/31) [] - [Be transparent to quell your team's high AI anxiety]( SmartBrief/Leadership (1/30) [] - [3 ways to make yourself, and your team, more efficient]( SmartBrief/Leadership (1/29) Free eBooks and Resources Free eBooks and resources brought to you by our sponsors - [How Technology Can help You Get a Good Night's Sleep]( - [Digital Minimalism: Tricks to Simplify Your Digital Life]( - [Ten Traits Of Successful People]( - [Inc.'s Productivity Super Book: A Definitive Consolidation of 25 Perspectives to Guide Your Future Success]( - [The Future of AI in Technology]( [] Diversity & Inclusion Trends [] [Survey of women in STEM reveals persistent gaps]( A survey found that most women in STEM fields believe gender equality has improved, but unconscious bias, unwelcoming workplace culture, and leadership and pay gaps persist. The survey also found that promotions are more frequent among women with female mentors, 55% of respondents had been assigned more responsibilities without a change in pay or title, and 39% have been subjected to "mansplaining." Full Story: [The Business Journals (tiered subscription model)/Bizwomen]( (1/25) [LinkedIn]( [X]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [L.A. Times to regroup under first woman executive editor]( Terry Tang became the first woman executive editor on an interim basis for the Los Angeles Times amid layoffs that affected young minority staff, resignations of multiple top editors and a strike. Tang says the paper will continue to make strides in reporting on minority communities, reorganizing staff and making do with current resources, saying journalists of color should not "lose heart because, when I started in this industry, it didn't seem easy either." Full Story: [NBC News]( (1/26) [LinkedIn]( [X]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Opinion: Skills gap is an opportunity to increase DEI]( Opinion: Skills gap is an opportunity to increase DEI (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) David Lee, founder and CEO of The Identity Jedi, looks at the current skills gap in the cybersecurity sector and recommends organizations reach out to racially inclusive candidates. Reviewing recruitment processes for diversity, inclusion and equity issues; offering anti-bias training; and investing in mentorships and other retention strategies can be a win-win for the industry, Lee writes. Full Story: [Dark Reading]( (1/30) [LinkedIn]( [X]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Exec: If you exceed requirements, no one can say no]( Michael Bonner, managing director of Aviate and pilot strategy at United Airlines, talks about how he handles racial microaggressions (by not allowing them to "take up any space in my brain") and how his father's advice to work hard and meet, and exceed, the requirements needed for a job helped him succeed as both a leader and a Navy F-14 fighter pilot. "Because if you do that and you go knocking on doors with your resume or your qualifications, they can't say no," Bonner says. Full Story: [LinkedIn]( (1/30) [LinkedIn]( [X]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [] Once I'd put my foot in the door, I was determined to keep it there. [Leontyne Price](, soprano February is Black History Month [LinkedIn]( [X]( [Facebook]( [Email]( LEARN MORE ABOUT NEXTUPâ„¢: [About Us]( | [Events]( | [Regions]( | [Partners]( | [Learning]( SmartBrief publishes more than 200 free industry newsletters - [Browse our portfolio]( [Sign Up]( | [Update Profile]( | [Advertise with SmartBrief]( [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy policy]( CONTACT US: [FEEDBACK](mailto:nextup@smartbrief.com) | [ADVERTISE](mailto:cwarne@smartbrief.com) [SmartBrief Future]( Copyright © 2024 SmartBrief. All Rights Reserved. A division of Future US LLC Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036.