I was scrolling IG the other night, feeling inadequate in all areas of life, when I came across a video that stopped me in my tracks.
Her name is Cristel Crawford is she is very cool: snappy bob, woven through with threads of grey; she talks about access bars and consciousness and money energy. She lives in South America and she knows how to do a real good smokey eye, which I do not.
I’m a fan.
She was just making coffee, but it was the voiceover that got me.
“Today is a new day, and I trust me.”
She talked about how it’s us who have made all the choices that brought us to the current moment. And that gives us the sturdy ground on which to make the choices that will move us forward.
“If we can do all of this,” she said, “we can do anything.”
I’d already been emailing back and forth with Alisa Kennedy Jones, founder of The Empress platform (and doer of a whole bunch of other impressive things, which I’ll get to in a moment) when she responded to an IG video I made – something about wisdom – and suggested we collaborate on a T-shirt.
Channeling Cristel Crawford, I tuned out all my inner objections (whatifit failswhatifitsdumbwhatifitstoomuchworkwhatifIlookdumbwhatif) and said yes.
With the help of my friend and Hotflash inc super supporter, Astrid Schwartz, designer, trainer and founder of Braver Trading, we are thrilled to kick off the WiseAF campaign. This was done with Astrid in South Africa, Alisa in the US and me in the UAE – a true global effort.
Alisa came up with Wise AF, and then Astrid came up with our tagline and it made Alisa and I LOL. I couldn’t have wished for a cooler project, or more interesting “yes, and…” people to work on it with. Or better words to sum up how I’m finally starting to feel about myself. And how I really want all of you to feel about yourselves, too.
Lord knows we have earned it.
JUST TO MAKE IT CLEAR YOU CAN ORDER HERE.
We are donating $5 from every T-shirt to I support the girls. I’ve worked with this organization before. We donated proceeds from last year’s Menopause Shift Summit; funds will go towards their Flash Kits, which provide much-needed personal care kits to unhoused women in peri/menopause. If you want to learn more, and please do, check out Hotflash inc podcast episode #29 with founder Dana Marlowe.
From Alisa (because I couldn’t say it better):
So… you can wear this WiseAF T-shirt to Trader Joe's, and I guarantee you, people will read your boobs and blurt out, "Oh my God, where did you get that?" And you will answer, “From these crazy ladies online who are trying to change the world for midlife women,” and everyone will go, “Holy moly, I want to feel that way too! I need one of those for myself and my girlfriends and, come to think of it, for everyone I know!” And suddenly, you will be part of a whole WiseAF movement that helps the most vulnerable women on the planet.”
A little more about Alisa, who is amazing (by the way, I LOVED Crip Camp):
Bespoke brand consultant and bestselling author Alisa Kennedy Jones is recognized as one of today’s most insightful and original voices on brand intelligence. Fluent in five languages, her celebrated TEDx talk on epilepsy changed the way we think about creativity, electricity, and the brain, and her debut bestseller GOTHAM GIRL, INTERRUPTED became a global phenomenon in the field of narrative medicine and is currently being adapted for television by the producers of HBO’s Angels in America.
As a noted memoirist, blogger, and screenwriter, Jones has ghosted four bestselling books across a variety of genres, and her words have been featured widely across a number of national media outlets such as NPR, TED, Hallmark, Netflix, and as part of the Academy Award-nominated documentary CRIP CAMP, Executive Produced by Michelle & Barack Obama. An advocate for disability, neurodiversity, mental health, and epilepsy, her collection of comedic essays GOTHAM GIRL, INTERRUPTED was a #1 new release on Amazon and is available everywhere books are sold. When not currently writing articles, developing branded merchandise, programming, curriculum, and product partnerships for the peri/menopause and midlife empowerment platform, THE EMPRESS, she is also a featured contributor covering the perimenopause beat for scarymommy.com for over 13 million monthly readers in the demo. In addition, she pens the popular comedic newsletter gotham girl and is scribbling away at her next rom-com novel, ELLERY ALLBRIGHT GOES DARK.
I really hope you like Wise AF.
Editor’s note
Due to my remote location, my own T-shirt has not yet arrived, but I’ll be showing it off when it does. And I’ll be doing a giveaway as well :)
You just never know what’s going to happen when you connect with other human beings.
You just never know.
This is so damn exciting! And it's what I sort of hoped for. I'm going to get them for my oldest friend group. Send pics pls amcqueen@hotflashinc.com
Get yours here:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-empress/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
My two tank t's arrived today!! Love them. Can hardly wait to give the one to my friend that is currently sailing to Australia. I told her she's going to be receiving one of these because I think she's wise AF and a goddamn delight!!