10 Things I #LOVED This Week

(November 6 Edition)

As we head into a tumultuous week with the Election, I wanted to share 10 things I came across this past week that made me smile, think, and reflect. Hope you find some inspiration below! Let me know if you've seen anything awesome that I missed!

10. A Salute to Menlo Park's Most "Halloweeny" House - I had the pleasure of working with Brandee Barker at Facebook, so this truly made me smile. We've all been through house renovations and know how painful they can be. Well, Brandee turned this into an opportunity to bring joy to all the families in her neighborhood. How awesome is that?!

9. It's Jessica Matthews' world, we all just live in it - I host a weekly business talk radio show on SiriusXM and this week, I got to interview an entrepreneur who was so amazing and impressive, I was almost at a loss for words. Jessica is the founder of Uncharted Play, a company that builds toys such as soccer balls and jump ropes with tiny generators inside, so that children in the developing world can power their homes, just by playing soccer. A Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree, Jessica described herself to me as "a cross between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Beyonce."

8. The Primo Cubetto. Parents often ask me for their recommendations on ways to introduce young children to technology. As a mom and a techie, I love toys that introduce children to tech concepts at a young age...but I'm not a huge fan of children being glued to screens. That's why I was so excited to support the Cubetto when it launched on Kickstarter, and why I'm even more thrilled that they are ready to ship! A toy that builds an early love for engineering, building, and coding - especially for girls - is a huge win in my book.

7. What WE Need - During this election process, it can sometimes feel like there is absolutely nothing we agree on as a country. However, there is one thing that unites most of us...and that is a desire to support and help female entrepreneurs succeed. Earlier this week, Elizabeth Gore, Dell's Entrepreneur in Residence, released a letter to the next president, detailing what women entrepreneurs need to be successful. Signed by more than 80 leading business and technology entrepreneurs, the letter provides some policy recommendations and drops some staggering statistics, such as the fact that reaching gender parity in entrepreneurship would increase our GDP by $30 BILLION!

6. The Scale Collective by Virago. A brand new sisterhood-meets-boardroom-badasses organization, started by Stephanie Agresta and Jory Des Jardin to help female entrepreneurs network, find support, and get funded. I had the pleasure of attending and kicking off their first ever conference, and it was wonderful to meet so many awesome female entrepreneurs (and men supporting them!)

5. A song that will bring you to tears. Seriously. Sometimes we all need a beautiful song. Or a good cry. Or both. This beautiful song, written by Sara Bareilles and performed by Leslie Odom, Tony-Award winning actor from Broadway's Hamilton, takes a guess at what President Obama must be thinking...right about now.

4. If you have a techie young girl in your life...hopefully they will love the show Dot. on NBC's Sprout. (disclaimer: I am an executive producer on the show) This week's new episode featured Dot and her best friend Hal starting a lemonade stand. But they would never start just any old lemonade stand! Nope. Theirs delivers via drone! Why go to the lemonade when it can come to you? Dot is all about introducing kids to technology in a way that feels fun, fresh, exciting, and entertaining. Previous episodes feature: robots, augmented reality, and more!

3. Ever attended a secret dinner? Earlier this week, I was invited to Florida International University to speak. I arrived on campus and was ushered into a room where 30 students were eating dinner and knew that they were going to have a speaker that was relevant to their coursework in marketing and social media...but they had no idea who the speaker was going to be! Seconds before I arrived, they got to open an envelope next to their plate...containing my bio! It definitely motivated me to think about throwing a secret dinner party of my own!

2. Daylight Savings. Sort of. Love the extra hour of sleep, but whoever invented daylight savings definitely did NOT have young children. Anyone else's kids wake up at 5am today? #sleepymama

1.Vote Missy for President! Sorry for the shameless plug, but I am so excited to have released my new book this week, Missy President, about a fourth grade girl whose homework assignment goes viral...and she wakes up on Election Day to find that millions of Americans have put her name down as a ballot write-in, making her the lead contender to be President of the United States. A fun early-reader chapter book for 6-10 year olds, I wanted this book to entertain, while also teaching valuable lessons about politics, elections, and what it means to be a good digital citizen. Maybe electing a nine-year-old wouldn't be such a bad idea in real life too? #wink #vote4Missy