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The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. This year, I launched my first direct-to-consumer product: Scribbly, an AI-powered childrens book company that puts your kid right into the story. Until now, Ive mostly built apps for businesses, and collecting user feedback for those projects has been straightforward and structured. The D2C world is different. Read the Google reviews of any hotel or restaurant, and youll get a feel for how random feedback can be. As a creator or founder, even the slightest critique can feel like a knife when aimed at something youve labored over so intensely. Taking the right perspective on feedback is half the battle. Here are a few golden rules to keep in mind. 1. All feedback is a gift. As an app developer, I conduct plenty of user testing during the design phase of our products. But its never quite the same as your product fully being out in the wild, playing a part in your users lives. Think about how often youre asked for feedback. You go to a restaurant, then you get a text asking how the service was. You get your bike repaired, the store owner asks you to rate them on Google. You buy a new laptop, and an email hits your inbox asking how youre liking it. Organizations go to great lengths to get a sense of how their customers feel and what they think about the product or service. Any time you can hear straight from the source, its a gifta gift that helps you ask questions that matter in the next iteration of your business. An example: In the first iteration of Scribblys ordering user experience, I generated a preview of the customers book cover. A prospective customer sent me a note that she wasnt sure the illustrated likeness of her niece was good enough. This was someone I knew, and she sent me a text about it. I was grateful; some people wont tell you stuff like this, especially if theyre your friend and want to be supportive. I sent her a preview of the full book with its other illustrations of her niece expressively moving through the jungle adventure. Seeing all of it together, she changed her mind. What I learned is that the cover wasnt enough. I needed to show the whole book. This is an expensive thing to do for every prospect, but I knew then that it needed to be done. I changed the ordering process because of this, and conversion skyrocketed. 2. Maybe its them. Maybe its you. Its probably still valuable. My children never knew their grandfather, my dad, who occupied such a huge place in my life and childhood. So I had the idea of creating a Scribbly book about him and his life that I could share with my kids. I wanted to tell them about how he grew up on a farm with nine siblings, a lot of sweet corn, and a legendary pickle picker; how funny he always was, and how talented, too. All of this in a vibrantly illustrated bedtime story, hardbound with sewn binding and a premium, soft-touch matte cover. I would write the story and use AI for the imagery, since thats what Scribbly does. One family member took great offense to the entire idea. They suggested that making something with AI bearing the image and life of someone who has passed amounted to, more or less, sacrilege. Getting harsh feedback from someone so close to me, it stung. Still, I held it up to the light. Should I be doing this? Is there a better way to do it that addresses these concerns? I ended up keeping my concept, but changing its structure, integrating more real photos alongside the illustrations. I like it a lot better now. 3. Dont be precious. I can use honest feedback. I couldve used more of it my whole life. Nice people wont always tell us the truth, so it often comes from someoneless nice. But you cant let the messenger get in the way of the learning. Theres usually something theresomething real, something useful, something you wouldnt have seen on your own. Over time, Ive learned to take feedback objectively, not personally. As a young professional, that wasnt easy. I wasnt confident enough, so I was tender. Precious. Everything stung, because I feared it might be true. Deflecting was how I coped with how exposed I felt. If you feel that way too, consider another way. Ask yourself: Is there something here for me? What signal is this giving me that could help me improve? I think about how much energy we spend defending ourselves. Arguing. Posturing. Pretending. And for what? If you think youre perfect, youll never grow. For me, I want to keep making thingsand making them better. That means staying open. Staying curious. Staying humble, even when its uncomfortable. Feedback isnt always easy. But its how we get sharper. Smarter. Stronger. Its not a threat to who we are. Its a path to who we could be. Lindsey Witmer Collins is the founder of WLCM App Studio.
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E-Commerce
If this is your first time being poor, Im Kiki, and Im trying to make it affordable to eat by using depression, recession, and wartime recipes, says TikTok creator Kiki Rough in a video posted last month. @kikirough Trying to crank out as MUCH affordable cooking content as possible! Im going to pin this video as a reference. Please remember to eat and also I love you! #cooking #series #recession #money #save #saving #savemoney #cash #cheap #affordable #affordablecooking #cooking #bake #baking #cookbook #recipe #recipes #learn #learning #howto #history #antique #flour #sugar #egg #eggs #tips #tricks #learntocook #familyrecipes #family #apron #red #hair #heart #glasses #fy #fyp #foryou # # #groceries #grocery Tea for Two (piano)(1131389) – Miwako Izumikawa While most people wouldnt turn to the 1940s for dinner inspiration, Roughs video has since racked up over 4 million views. ‘We are so back’ as says my 104-year-old grandparents,” one comment reads. The economy must be cooked if this is trending, added another. Roughs video dropped just days after President Trumps global tariff announcements in April, which sent the stock market tumbling and triggered headlines warning of a looming recession. While the ripple effects are expected to hit many industries, prices for grocery staples like seafood, coffee, wine, nuts, and cheese are all projected to rise due to the tariffs. Though not a professional chef, Rough says shes armed with hard-earned life experience, having learned to cook on food stamps. Her recipes often omit eggswhich have hit record-high prices due to avian fluand draw inspiration from vintage 1950s cookbooks known for their budget-friendly ideas. Rough isnt the only one sharing recession-era cooking tips. Eating like a medieval peasant until all my credit cards are paid off, another TikToker posted last month. Others are documenting grocery hauls from Dollar Tree or offering guidance on being old poor. Between March 23 and April 22, TikTok reported a 20% surge in posts using the hashtag #budgetmealsmany of which have garnered millions of views. @dollartreedinners $20 Budget Easter Dinner Shopping List fr 2025 I gave myself a $20 budget to make an Easter dinner for 4 using only ingredients from Dollar Tree. Here’s what I picked up, why I chose it, and how I made it work. Full dinner, dessert included — for under $20! Shopping List: Garlic Herb Biscuit Mix (Red Lobster biscuit dupe) Cheddar cheese Margarine or butter Idahoan Foods scalloped potatoes 2 cans of green beans 1 can of cream of mushroom soup Panko bread crumbs or French fried onions Deluxe macaroni and cheese 2 packs of deli ham 1 carton of milk 2 bags of sugar cookie mix 1 can of cherry pie filling 1 can of pineapple slices Total cost: $19.25! Check back tomorrow to see how it all came together! #dollartree #dollartreeeaster #budgetmeals #budgetfriendly #easterdinner #easteronabudget #cheapmeals #dollartreefinds #dollartreecooking #groceryhaul #easydinners #frugalmeals original sound – Dollar Tree Dinners Although a recession hasnt officially been declared in the U.S., economic uncertainty has many people looking for signs. Hairdressers report clients are abandoning bleach in favor of darker, natural shadesa trend dubbed recession brunette. Frozen pizza sales are also climbing, another classic indicator that wallets are tightening. An April survey from the University of Michigan found consumer confidence even lower than it was during the Great Recession (2007 to 2009). It might be time to shelve your Ottolenghi recipes and dust off The Canned Foods Cookbook from World War II.
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E-Commerce
Two papal tailors and no conclave orders. The conclave that begins next Wednesday to elect a successor for Pope Francis is the first in 46 years for which the Vatican hasn’t ordered a set of cassocks for the new head of the Catholic Churchat least from the two best-known papal tailors. That isnt stopping Ranieri Mancinelli, who opened his ecclesiastical tailoring shop near the Vatican in the 1960s, from making three simple white cassocks just in case: the traditional small, medium, and large sizes to cover all possible heights and girths. “I’m doing this on my own to be able to present these cassocks for the next pope, without knowing who he will be, Mancinelli said. Gammarelli, another family-run ecclesiastical tailor near the Pantheon in the historic center, has a paper trail showing it has received cassock orders for every conclave since the beginning of the 20th centuryand probably far earlier. Gammarelli has been making garments for priests, bishops, and cardinals since 1798. The last time no pre-conclave order came in to the Vatican’s tailor of choice, Gammarelli, was October 1978, when cardinal electors voted a successor to Pope John Paul I, who died after 33 days as pontiff, said Lorenzo Gammarelli, representing the sixth generation of the family business. Gammarelli won’t speculate why no order was made this year, but Italian media suggests the Vatican has enough unworn cassocks on hand, and is honoring Pope Franciss message of environmental and economic sustainability. Obviously, we’re a little sorry, because in the sadness caused by the death of the Holy Father, we still would have the beautiful thing of having to make the trousseau for the new one. Not this time,” Gammarelli said. The Vatican declined to comment on what is being viewed as the great papal cassock race. I dont think I need to speak on behalf of businesses, said Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. Not every curiosity needs to be answered. The papal trousseau For a popes first encounter with the flock, the basic garment is the hand-stitched white wool cassock with cape and wide silk sleeves. The cassock is fastened by silk buttons and worn with a silk brocade sash with gold fringe. All popes, until Francis, had this sash later embroidered with his papal seal. Francis also eschewed the classic burgundy red mozzetta, a short elbow-length cape worn for formal occasions, and a gold embroidered stole, not only the night of his election but throughout his papacy. The papal garb is finished with a white zucchetto, or skullcap that is also worn by cardinals in red and bishops in purple. When they are called on to provide a conclave order, Gammarelli also provides shoes in an array of sizes so the new pope will be comfortable when presented to his flock. After that, Gammarelli said, shoes are a very personal matter.” Francis favored plain black shoes and was buried in a pair with the scuff marks showing. In keeping with the secrecy of the conclave, Gammarelli never reveals papal prices. Sizing up the next pope While the world speculates on who will be the next pope, Gammarelli’s job is more practical. The family has a system to best outfit the unknown successor, using data from their cardinal clients and sizing up cardinal candidates who are not. “We consider who, in our opinion, could be elected,” Gammarelli said. “We pull out their measurements, and we make three cassocks that would more or less fit all of them. Balcony mishaps Their best guesses are sometimes off. Gammarelli said they never imagined that Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla would become pope in October 1978. They had considered Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio a candidate in 2005 (when Benedict XVI was elected) but not in 2013, when Bergoglio became the churchs first Latin American pope. Back in 1958, the portly John XXIII appeared on the balcony of St. Peters Basilica with safety pins holding together the back of his cassock, after a too-small size was mistakenly grabbed, forcing aides to open the back. Gammarelli said that throughout Francis’s 12-year papacy, he tried to persuade the pope to wear white pants under his cassock. But Francis stuck with the black trousers of a priest, a reminder to himself and everyone that he was a pastor at heart. Franciss unadorned style Mancinelli, at his shop just steps from the Vatican, has made cassocks for the last three popes: St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis. He got to know Benedict when he was a cardinal, living near Mancinellis shop. Francis later invited him to his apartment in the Santa Marta residence, marking the beginning of a very pleasant encounter period. While Gammarelli won’t make the cassocks on speculation, Mancinelli is making three to give to the Vatican, in Franciss simple, unadorned style, all in white. Compared with the other two, Francis preferred much simpler and much more practical things,” he said, also taking costs into account. Only after the words Habemus Papam! are announced from the balcony of St. Peters Basilica will it be clear whether the Catholic Churchs 267th pontiff will follow Franciss unembellished example or will bring back traditional papal trappings, like flashes of red. Colleen Barry, Associated Press Associated Press video journalist Silvia Stellacci contributed to this report.
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E-Commerce
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