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Business Insider
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Your high school reunion doesn't need to be stressful. Here are 8 dos and don'ts from therapists to help you enjoy the night.
I had the chance to relive being a teenager when I attended my 20-year high school reunion. It was like traveling back in time to when I felt most awkward and insecure. The guy I used to obsess over walked up to me twice and said hello to someone behind me, almost elbowing me in the head to shake their hand. Then, all the blood drained from my face when another classmate said they remembered me because my sister was the "popular one" with all the friends. It might seem like the night was a complete disaster. But that would be my anxiety talking and drowning out the many positive interactions I had with new and familiar faces, especially the ones who set down their drinks to embrace me with both arms. If you're anxious about seeing your former classmates, you're not alone. I received advice from therapists on approaching your high school reunion, including managing your expectations and avoiding assumptions about your old friends and rivals. Here are the dos and don'ts of attending your high school reunion. Do: Acknowledge how you're feeling Reuniting with your classmates can bring up mixed emotions, from excitement and nostalgia to fear and dread. "It's completely normal and valid to have conflicting feelings about a reunion," Natalie Moore, a Los Angeles-based licensed marriage and family therapist, told Business Insider. You might associate high school with painful memories like being bullied or excluded from social gatherings. Taking time to notice your feelings can help build self-awareness, which in turn can lead to greater confidence and self-acceptance, she said. There's a lot of pressure to achieve milestones like getting married, having kids, owning a home, or having a fulfilling career. "As the reunion approaches, be mindful of the expectations and predictions that pop up in your mind," Moore said. Remember that everyone has their own path and timeline. "Even the person who appears to have it all together has their own quiet struggles that they're dealing with," she said. Do: Consider what makes you feel your best We tend to feel more confident when we plan ahead. Think about what makes you feel good so you can relax and be in the moment when you're at your reunion, Patrice Le Goy, a psychologist and licensed marriage and family therapist, told BI. "For some people, it will be important to have accomplishments to share, and for others, it will be having that perfect outfit picked out," she said. You don't want to sound rehearsed, but it might help to have a script or a few life updates in mind, especially if you tend to overshare or get nervous in social settings. Don't: Gossip about people or their appearance When a conversation stalls, it can be tempting to engage in gossip. "You may regret it if you use this time to speak badly about people you haven't seen in a long time, especially if it gets back to them," Le Goy said. As visual creatures, we tend to notice people's appearance, especially if they look different from how we remember them. "However, making comments about someone's body, even if you believe you're giving a compliment, can trigger people and make them feel self-conscious," Moore said. Do: Ask questions A crowded reunion may not be the best venue for deep conversations, but that shouldn't stop you from getting reacquainted. "It's much more fun to allow yourself to be surprised by how much your classmates have grown and changed over the years," Moore said. Consider your own evolution since high school. Your classmates have likely experienced similar transformations, and when you don't ask questions, you're more likely to judge people. Don't: Jump to conclusions If you haven't spoken to your classmates in a while, it's easy to make assumptions and create unfounded narratives about their lives. Perhaps you're speculating about why your prom date moved to another country or you're picturing yourself standing up to your high school bully at the reunion. "Social media only gives us a fraction of the full story," Le Goy said. "Try not to assume someone's marriage is on the rocks because of one cryptic post or, alternately, that someone's life is perfect because they seem so happy online or from stories that you hear from other people." Moore emphasized the importance of practicing curiosity rather than jumping to conclusions or reacting to past experiences. Try practicing the thought: I wonder if this individual will be there and how their personality has changed over the years. Do: Set an intention for the reunion Another way to boost your confidence is to think about your purpose in going to the reunion. "If you are measuring your level of enjoyment based on whether you are the most successful or the most attractive, you will probably be disappointed," Le Goy said. Her advice is to think about how you want to feel at the end of the night whether it's being happy that you reconnected with friends or feeling relieved that you've gotten over your high school crush. "These are more helpful expectations than just wanting to be better than everyone else," she said. Don't: Panic if you lose touch If you're enjoying reconnecting with someone, consider asking for their contact information and how they prefer to stay in touch, Moore said. "Some people love in-person hangouts while others find it more convenient to text or FaceTime," she added. Similar to asking someone on a date, the saying "no risk, no reward" applies here. "People's lives are so busy and even though the intention may be there to stay connected, often the follow-through is more difficult," Le Goy said. She suggests staying away from big declarations, like planning a trip together. "Stick with more accessible options like connecting on social media or starting a text chain which can build up to in person meet ups," she said. Whatever happens at your reunion, remember how far you've come since high school. Because of the way our brains are wired, our former classmates may loom large in our memories, but they don't define who we are today. Nandini Maharaj is a freelance writer covering health, wellness, identity, and relationships. She holds a master's degree in counseling and a doctorate in public health.
Business Insider
6 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Internal Microsoft memo lays out its new strategy for selling AI as the company cuts salespeople
Microsoft's sales chief, Judson Althoff, is revamping his unit to make it more AI-focused, according to an internal memo viewed by Business Insider. Althoff, the company's chief commercial officer, sent the memo to the sales unit, called Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions (MCAPS), a day before the company announced a significant round of layoffs. Those layoffs affected many salespeople in Althoff's organization, sources familiar with them said. The memo did not mention the layoffs, announced beginning July 2 in separate communications to employees. Althoff's memo called for "continued agility" and "reinventing Microsoft and MCAPS" to become "the Frontier AI Firm," and outlined the five priorities of the sales organization: Establish a Copilot on every device and across every role Strengthen our M365 and D365 execution and penetration across all segments Create meaningful AI design wins Grow our cloud platform business by migrating and modernizing workloads to Azure Build a cybersecurity foundation to enable secure AI Transformation Althoff in April unveiled plans to slash the number of the sales team's "solutions areas" by half during the next fiscal year, which started July 1. BI obtained copies of slides from Althoff's April presentation, showing the company planned to condense its six previous areas into three: AI Business Solutions, Cloud & AI Platforms, and Security, according to those slides. AI Business Solutions will focus on getting "Copilots on every device across every role" and on selling Microsoft 365's suite of business applications and Dynamics 365 customer relationship management service, according to the July 1 memo. Cloud & AI Platform will include the company's Azure business, its AI "agent factory" Foundry, and data analytics platform Fabric. That group will be focused on frontier AI solutions and migrating and modernizing cloud workloads to Azure. Security focuses on selling Microsoft's security tools. "We have spent a lot of time playing defense over the last year, and it is now time to compete more aggressively," Althoff said, referring to the security solutions area. The changes come as Microsoft faces increasing competition for enterprise customers in AI from companies like OpenAI and Google. Microsoft has an advantage in that many large companies already use its other tools, but many of those companies' employees want the more well-known ChatGPT.
Business Insider
8 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
How to stand out at your Big Four internship, according to KPMG partners
Summer internships: where ambition and imposter syndrome so often collide. At KPMG, the tiny fraction of applicants who landed a coveted place on its program are now working to secure a full-time job post-graduation. A summer internship at a Big Four professional services firm is as competitive as it is prestigious. For most interns, the two-month KPMG internship comes after more than 18 months of applications, networking, and building up their resumé. Just 2,200 of more than 42,000 applicants made the cut this year. Business Insider asked KPMG partners, including its head of talent, how they should impress in an office of busy people, new AI-enabled ways of working, and tight competition. Soft skills and good attitudes "You are in a job interview for the whole internship," Wendy Lewis, managing partner of KPMG's Richmond, Virginia office, told BI at the company's purpose-built Lakehouse in Florida, where around 225 interns gathered in June for four days of inductions and training. Interns often have a misconception that they only need to be technically impressive, but soft skills are equally important, Lewis said. She told BI she's interested in whether interns can communicate well, take initiative, and demonstrate their eagerness to learn. Leaders aren't expecting interns to conduct audits themselves, Lewis added — attitude makes them stand out. Jason LaRue, KPMG's national talent & culture lead, also emphasized the importance of attitude. LaRue told BI that an intern should be "a great learner." He said that requires transitioning from classroom learning to an environment where you learn on the job with colleagues. "You have to make that shift from one mindset to the other," he added. Please help BI improve our Business, Tech, and Innovation coverage by sharing a bit about your role — it will help us tailor content that matters most to people like you. What is your job title? (1 of 2) Entry level position Project manager Management Senior management Executive management Student Self-employed Retired Other Continue By providing this information, you agree that Business Insider may use this data to improve your site experience and for targeted advertising. By continuing you agree that you accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . KPMG interns start that transition at the firm's Lakehouse, where they attend training sessions and can unwind with mini-golf and karaoke alongside partners and their peers, before returning to work in KPMG offices around the country. Be a 'sponge' "The people who really stand out and are the ones who are sponges. They're looking to be able to build new skills all the time to give themselves that extra advantage," LaRue said. Becky Sproul, the talent and culture leader for KPMG's audit division, said interns should show curiosity,especially amid rapid change in the industry. The Big Four are restructuring as they try to recover from a recent slowdown in demand for consulting, while also trying to anticipate how AI will change the world of work and their business models. Sproul described the industry's rapid pace of change as "the new world order." In that kind of environment, continuous learning and agility are important traits, she said. Rema Serafi, KPMG's vice chair of tax, said interns should show curiosity about the firm's business model and take advantage of its tech tools. Show that you're "interested in what we do as a business," she said. She said some Gen Zers now entering the workforce arealready knowledgeable about generative AI and automation. "Ideas are welcome," Serafi said, adding that she wanted to know how interns thought KPMG could enhance its use of generative AI. Overcoming impostor syndrome BI spoke to two KPMG interns at the Lakehouse who said they were worried about impostor syndrome. "I've talked to interns about this too, not just at KPMG but also my friends interning at other companies, and impostor syndrome comes up a lot," said Andre Gaviola, a 21-year-old audit intern, adding it could feel intimidating to be around so many older, more experienced people. Evelyn Nunez-Alfaro, a 22-year-old tax intern, told BI that, though she loved stepping outside her comfort zone, she has wondered, "Am I really supposed to be here?" "Deep down, usually we all feel the same. We're a little nervous, we're a little scared, and don't want to ask the wrong question or seem like we don't know," Nunez-Alfaro said. LaRue told BI he advised interns to find support figures in their workplace who can coach them through moments of imposter syndrome and sponsor them as they progress in their careers. At a Q&A at the Lakehouse, one intern asked partners what advice they had for managing impostor syndrome. Lewis told the interns to build up their self-confidence and realize that they can be themselves and still be successful. Tell yourself, "I am confident. I can do this. I do belong here," she said.
Business Insider
9 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Language app Babbel has a new CEO. Here's what he's learned about leading from day one
Since joining Babbel as its new CEO last week, Tim Allen has made a point of avoiding a leadership mistake he said he made earlier in his career. Instead of barreling in with his ideas for the language-learning company, Allen (the executive, not the actor) said he's been going around the office asking employees for their insights on the business. "The biggest lesson I've learned is to give space to some of the emotional undercurrents that have to happen with change," Allen, who previously helmed U.S. companies Vimeo, and told Business Insider. "That is something that I think people who are new CEOs at times can miss." Incoming leaders who announce plans for upheaval at a company the moment they come on board can create unnecessary stress for workers, warned Allen. "What ends up happening is people just feel the whiplash of the change," he said. Like many other companies, though, privately held Babbel is undergoing a transition period due to the artificial-intelligence boom. It recently added its first AI tool to its platform, which lets users practice their conversational skills with bots in select languages. Previously, users had to sign up for classes with live instructors to practice those skills. Babbel has said it plans to deploy more AI tools later this year. In May, Luis von Ahn, the CEO of Babbel rival Duolingo, faced social-media blowback after he described in a LinkedIn post plans to make his company "AI-first" and said that it would "gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle." (He later walked back those remarks, saying in a follow-up post that he sees AI as a tool that can accelerate the work that Duolingo's employees do.) Allen told Business Insider that at Babbel, AI will complement the work of its human language instructors, not replace them. The technology will "accelerate the starting point of the humans who are experts in their field on creating course content," he said. Babbel was formed in 2007. Initially, its three founders set out to build a music platform but quickly pivoted after a casual conversation about learning Spanish sent them looking for an online solution that didn't seem to exist. In 2021, Babbel shelved plans to go public, citing unfavorable market conditions at the time. Allen said he isn't reconsidering an initial public offering. "We're growing and we don't need capital to execute our strategy," Allen said. Remaining private "gives us freedom to stay focused on all of the learner outcomes we want and not the short-term market noise of what we would've had to contend with." Today, Babbel is also cashflow positive and it's sold more than 25 million subscriptions to its platform, which range in price from $17.95 for one month to $107.40 for a year. Allen, 47, is taking over the reins at Babbel from co-founder Markus Witte, who is now executive chairman. He said he learned about the job when he received a call earlier this year from a recruiter with executive-search firm Egon Zehnder. Now living in Berlin after relocating with family from Texas, Allen said he can read German, but doesn't yet speak it fluently. He expects that to change over time because he's using Babbel's platform to help him level up. "I can count to 10, which I think is a big milestone," he joked. While Babbel's several hundred employees represent more than 80 nationalities, Allen said many of his new peers have already teased him about having the same name as the star of the American '90s sitcom "Home Improvement." "It's actually a really good icebreaker," said Allen. "They know that show."
Business Insider
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- Business Insider
Penske is using AI to get ahead of costly truck maintenance issues
When you own, operate, and lease hundreds of thousands of trucks across the country, keeping your fleet on the road and running smoothly is paramount to success. Traditionally, trucking companies have tackled fleet maintenance using two methods: Oil changes every 5,000 miles, based on odometer readings, or after performance failures happen. In both cases, maintenance can often happen too late and cost a company revenue or customers. This is where artificial intelligence can help. By using AI to collect and analyze data from different systems on board their trucks, companies can track performance in real time and gain insight into when a part or system might need repair, getting ahead of revenue-sucking disruptions. Penske Truck Leasing, which operates a fleet of roughly 433,000 for-lease vehicles, has found success with this AI-backed approach to maintenance. "The best option for us to handle maintenance is to do it on a preventive basis, before things become problems," Tim Haynes, the vice president of digital and customer data at Penske, told Business Insider. "This keeps trucks on the road, and that's our goal for everyone involved." Data-driven decisions Penske's truck-maintenance system is called Fleet Insight. It's powered by telematics devices, or iPhone-sized pieces of hardware that collect data and send it to Penske headquarters over cellular networks, and Penske's proprietary AI, called Catalyst, which analyzes real-time data on more than 200,000 trucks. Certain trucks, depending on their age and the typical terrain they encounter, come equipped with several telematics devices. Over the course of a route, the devices, which sit on a truck's wiring harnesses, can collect and record thousands of data points on engine performance and temperature, gas mileage, and braking incidents. Once this data is sent to Penske's headquarters, the AI engine sifts through it for anomalies that suggest a maintenance check is overdue. With this technology, Penske collects 300 million data points daily and is on track to collect more than 100 billion data points this year, Haynes said. The information is uploaded to Penske's servers, then their AI engine examines the data points, looking for patterns that suggest a major maintenance issue is imminent. The AI engine then alerts fleet managers, who alert other humans out in the field, Haynes said. Together, the group is expected to figure out a way to solve the potential problem. "The goal is to take a look before the maintenance issue becomes more serious," Haynes said. Helping leasing customers keep costs down Penske uses these devices to assist local trucking companies that lease their vehicles. For example, Haynes said Penske might call up a local trucking company and suggest maintenance for a specific truck based on the vehicle's proximity to the nearest Penske shop. One of Penske's clients, Darigold, a dairy cooperative in the Pacific Northwest, leases 111 tractors and 184 trailers from Penske and has used its Fleet Insight technology. Brian Harper, Darigold's leader of fleet operations, said that the cooperative uses Penske's system almost daily to check on preventative maintenance statuses — for things like tires and hoses — for its leased fleet. Once Darigold employees identify a troubled tractor, they can use Penske's AI to understand the cost of a tractor outage, including how its time on the sidelines could impact the overall fleet, Harper said. He added that Penske provides benchmarking data that has informed how Darigold manages fuel across its fleets. For example, if Darigold were to set a fuel utilization goal of 6.2 mpg and the Penske system indicates the industry comparison is 7 mpg, Darigold could investigate the reasons behind underperformance and identify a fix to improve fuel efficiency, Harper said. "It creates a new, dynamic way to benchmark fleet performance, unearths new ways to improve efficiency and arms you with insights to make more confident decisions," Harper told BI. "These tools have completely changed how we manage and monitor our fleets." Another Penske client, Honeyville, uses Penske's Catalyst AI to monitor maintenance issues for trucks it leases to transport bulk grains around the country. Marcasa Ahlstrom, the corporate transportation manager for Honeyville, said she previously manually sifted through performance and fuel efficiency data — a process that took so long that she often failed to catch issues before they caused delays or rendered trucks inoperable. "Since we started using Catalyst AI, our response time to issues has greatly improved, which in turn allows us to reach our efficiency goals faster," Ahlstrom wrote in a recent email to BI. "Catalyst AI allows us to dial down into our preventative fleet-maintenance routine, which helps us stay on top of fleet performance and identify potential issues before they become costly problems." Haynes said that the data points Penske provides with its AI technology represent a widespread shift in the industry to leverage data to make better decisions and plan for the future. "As vehicles change, as technology changes, we now have an ability to collect data in large quantities and apply our expertise to this and be able to make sure we're staying ahead of any problems that might arise," he said. "That's a powerful way of approaching maintenance issues down the road."
