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Finding the perfect (and legal) image for your blog post, social media update, or presentation is about as fun as doing your own taxes. You want something high-quality, relevant, and most importantlyfree. Fear not, budget-conscious content creators. I’ve been using free images for years now, and Ive routinely leveraged three dynamite resources that specialize in stunning, royalty-free imagery. So, put away your wallets: Were going content hunting. Unsplash First stop: Unsplash. This site is a veritable goldmine of breathtaking, high-resolution photography, all generously contributed by a community of talented photographers. Whether youre looking for sweeping landscapes, intimate portraits, or artfully arranged still-life photos, chances are good that youll find it here. The search functionality is top-notch, and the sheer volume of images means you’re almost guaranteed to find something that perfectly fits your needs. Plus, their licensing is super straightforward: free to use for commercial and non-commercial purposes, no attribution required. Pexels Pexels is another heavy hitter in the free stock image space, and for good reason. Like Unsplash, it boasts a massive library of beautiful, high-quality photos and, as a bonus, the site offers free stock videos as well. The user interface is clean and intuitive, making it a breeze to browse and download. What sets Pexels apart for me is its excellent curated collections. Need images for a tech blog? They’ve got a collection for that. Looking for food photography? Yep, they’ve got you covered. It’s a great way to discover new and relevant visuals without having to dig through endless search results. Pixabay Rounding out our trifecta of free image collections is my personal favorite, Pixabay. This site is a true jack-of-all-trades, offering not just photos, but also illustrations, vector graphics, videos, music tracks, and even sound effects. The sheer variety here is impressive, making it a great go-to when you need a little more than just a standard photograph. Pixabay’s community of contributors is vast, resulting in a diverse range of styles and subjects. Their search filters are also quite robust, allowing you to narrow down your results by orientation, color, and even type of media.
Category:
E-Commerce
At the Exceptional Women Alliance (EWA), we bring together accomplished women who mentor, support, and challenge one another to grow as leaders, women, and as human beings. Each month we highlight one of these extraordinary voices and the insights that define her approach to leadership and life. This month I spoke with Mindy Mackenzie, former interim CEO of Beautycounter, longtime advisor to portfolio companies at The Carlyle Group, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Courage Solution: The Power of Truth Telling with Your Boss, Peers, and Team. Mindys leadership philosophy challenges the belief that progress requires constant motion. She believes the most important work begins in stillness, in the willingness to pause, listen, and lead from purpose and authenticity rather than pressure. Q: You say sitting still can feel like agony, and you highly recommend it. Why? Mindy Mackenzie: Most of us are addicted to motion. We fill every moment because slowing down forces us to face what is really happening inside. Sitting still, truly being with yourself, can feel unbearable at first. It is uncomfortable, but it is also where truth lives. If you can sit quietly, even for a few minutes, you will start to hear what is real instead of what you are performing. That is the beginning of clarity. Q: Why is this so hard for successful women leaders? Mackenzie: Because we have been conditioned to equate busyness with value. High-performing women often measure their worth by what they accomplish. The problem is that when you stop, you have to confront the question underneath it all: Who am I when I am not producing? I think a key concept is understanding who you are outside of your role. Many leaders do not know that answer, and that lack of separation between identity and achievement is what makes stillness so uncomfortable. Q: How can leaders start practicing stillness in a real way? Mackenzie: You do not need to go to a monastery or sit in 17 yoga retreats. It does not take five hours a day. Sit in your closet for five minutes. Set a timer. Just get in touch with yourself and allow whatever comes up. When I work with executives, I remind them that they are human choosers. Every day you have the choice to lead from pressure or from presence. I ask one question: What do you choose right now? It sounds simple, but it changes everything. Q: You draw a connection between leadership and parenting. How do the two overlap? Mackenzie: Parenting teaches humility, patience, and listening before responding. Those skills are exactly what leadership requires. At home, I often ask my family, on a scale of one to 10, how are you feeling about this? I use the same approach in business. The answers usually surprise me. You think you know where someone stands, but you do not until you ask. That question opens real dialogue. It moves a conversation from assumption to understanding. In leadership, that shift builds trust, and trust is the foundation of every strong culture. Q: How do you define authentic impact? Mackenzie: Real impact comes from genuine care. I even use the word love in business, which makes people squirm, but I genuinely love the people who work for me and they know it. I’ve paid attention to the bosses who have sucked the energy out of the room versus the bosses who have given energy. True, amazing impact that lasts on people’s lives comes from leaders who bring that conscious intention to how they show up. That’s the measure of leadershipthe energy you give, not the energy you take. Q: What do you want leaders to take away from this approach? Mackenzie: Telling yourself the truth about how you really feel is tremendously hard, and it is a radical act of courage. All of these concepts are so easy to say, and they are a lifetime’s work. We need to be reminded because we forget, we get caught up. What can you do? Just try to pause and go, what is happening here? What am I choosing right now? And then not judge it or beat yourself up with self-flagellation. The old way is saying I’m not good enough, I’m bad, I’m wrong. The new way is just acknowledging how you feel and letting it be okay. Larraine Segil is founder, chair, and CEO of The Exceptional Women Alliance.
Category:
E-Commerce
Ford Motor said on Monday it will take a $19.5 billion writedown and is killing several electric-vehicle models, in the most dramatic example yet of the auto industry’s retreat from battery-powered models in response to the Trump administration’s policies and weakening EV demand. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company said it will stop making the F-150 Lightning in its electric vehicle form, but will pivot to producing an extended-range electric model, a version of a hybrid vehicle called an EREV, which uses a gas-powered generator to recharge the battery. The company is also scrapping a next-generation electric truck, codenamed the T3, as well as planned electric commercial vans. Instead, Ford said it will pivot hard into gas and hybrid models, and eventually hire thousands of workers, even though there will be some layoffs at a jointly owned Kentucky battery plant in the near term. The company expects its global mix of hybrids, extended-range EVs and pure EVs to reach 50% by 2030, from 17% today. Ford will spread out the writedown, taken primarily in the fourth quarter and continuing through next year and into 2027, the company said. About $8.5 billion is related to cancelling planned EV models. Around $6 billion is tied to the dissolution of a battery joint venture with South Koreas SK On, and $5 billion on what Ford called program-related expenses. The automaker also raised its 2025 guidance for adjusted earnings before taxes and interest, to about $7 billion, up from a previous range of $6 billion to $6.5 billion. Fords shift reflects the auto industrys response to waning demand for battery-powered models, after car companies plowed hundreds of billions of dollars into EV investments early this decade. The outlook for electrics dimmed significantly this year as U.S. President Donald Trumps policies yanked federal support for EVs and eased tailpipe-emissions rules, which could encourage carmakers to sell more gas-powered cars. U.S. sales of electric vehicles fell about 40% in November, following the September 30 expiration of a $7,500 consumer tax credit, which had been in place for more than 15 years to stoke demand. The Trump administration also included in the massive tax and spending bill that passed in July a freeze on fines that automakers pay for violating fuel-economy regulations. Rather than spending billions more on large EVs that now have no path to profitability, we are allocating that money into higher-returning areas, said Andrew Frick, head of Fords gas and electric-vehicle operations. The F-150 Lightning rolled off assembly lines starting in 2022 with much fanfare comedian Jimmy Fallon wrote a song about the truck. Ford increased production of the model to meet an influx of 200,000 orders, but sales havent kept pace. The company sold 25,583 Lightnings through November of this year, a 10% decrease from the prior-year period. The successor to the F-150 Lightning, the T3 truck, was supposed to be built ground-up for production at a new complex in Tennessee, and be a core part of Fords second-generation EV lineup. Ford is now replacing production of the EV pickup with new gas-powered trucks starting in 2029 at the Tennessee factory. Ford effectively killed the entirety of its announced second-generation of EV models with Mondays announcement. For its future EV lineup, the company is shifting focus to more affordable EV models, conceived by a so-called skunkworks team in California. The first model from that team is slated to be priced at about $30,000 and go on sale in 2027. This midsize EV truck is being built at Fords Louisville plant. (Corrects the location of the battery plant to Kentucky, not Tennessee, in paragraph 3) Nora Eckert
Category:
E-Commerce
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