Coping With Ambition

Ambition used to mean climbing that corporate ladder. Then it meant girlbossing. Then it meant quitting your job to find yourself. Now? It’s… complicated.

This week, we’re tracing the messy, contradictory legacy of female ambition. And with ambition discourse everywhere – Emma Grede interviews, Diary of a CEO soundbites, cinematic Vogue rebrands – we’re asking what "success" looks like if you’re no longer willing to sacrifice your entire life for it.

Alice Griffin and Jannah Anderson share their own shifting ambitions within this context: the craving for purpose, the fear of being consumed by work, and the cultural noise that tells us to both lean in and log off forever. 

And because the wellness zeitgeist never sleeps, we’re also talking: the Japanese headspa experience that (unfortunately) will change your life, and the journal worth flying to Paris for (disclaimer: cost of flights not included in purchase). 

⁠I'm Rooting for Female Founders' Comebacks - And The End of Branding Women⁠, by ⁠Leslie Feinzaig⁠, Fortune

My Job Was My Life⁠. Then I Got Fired⁠ by Samhita Mukhopadhyay, The Cut

⁠What Comes After Ambition? by Ann Friedman⁠, Elle

Watch: ⁠Girlboss⁠, Netflix

⁠Who Is The Girlboss Now?⁠ by ⁠Michelle Santiago Cortés⁠, The Cut

⁠The Big, Controversial Business of The Wing, Explained⁠, by Anna North and Chavie Lieber, Vox

⁠The Girlboss Didn't Die...She Can't Afford To⁠ by Charlotte Mair, The Digress 

Listen: ⁠Emma Grede on Style-ish podcast⁠

⁠Hailey Bieber Is Writing Her Own Story With Rhode⁠ by Lucy Feldman, TIME

⁠The Foremost Expert on Happiness Thinks Ambition Is Making You Miserable⁠ by Shalene Gupta, Fast Company

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Plus, you can follow along with us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Find out more about what we're up to (and how you can get involved) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copinginc.com⁠⁠.