It’s not only self-help or entrepreneurship products that are sold as tools for “empowerment” today. It’s just about everything: makeup, clothing, workout equipment, vitamins, office supplies… Whole brands are built around the promise that a purchase won’t just solve your problem, it’ll make you a better, more fulfilled person. But empowerment isn’t for sale—only the status quo.In this episode, I talk with writer and coach Kelly Diels about empowerment marketing and what she calls the “female lifestyle empowerment brand.” You’ll also hear from independent beauty writer Jessica DeFino about how empowerment is leveraged by the beauty industry.Footnotes:
Learn more about Kelly Diels
Learn more about Jessica DeFino

Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino

Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom

How to be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment by Skye Cleary
Helen Gurley Brown as quoted in Self-Help, INC by Micki McGee
“The Rhetoric of the Image” by Roland Barthes
Radically rethink how you set goals: pre-order Tara's new book, What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal-Setting. Find it anywhere books are sold or at explorewhatworks.com/book.

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