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Good morning! There\u2019s an early voting gender gap, Female Founders Fund returned its first fund, and Savannah James built self-confidence while founding a new community for women. <\/em><\/p>\n \u2013 Confidence in community.<\/strong> Over the two decades that her husband LeBron James has played in the NBA, Savannah James, for a long time, stayed out of the public eye. She was focused on her private life and their three kids\u2014so much so that when she launched a podcast<\/a> earlier this year, some people\u2019s reactions were, \u201c\u2018Wow, I didn\u2019t even know she spoke,’\u201d the 38-year-old recalls. \u201cI\u2019m like, duh\u2014just because I don\u2019t want to talk to y\u2019all,\u201d she jokes. <\/p>\n But James\u2019 slow entry into the public eye\u2014especially in contrast to the world of professional sports<\/a>, with its endless commentary and reality shows\u2014was influenced by her own internal struggle to build self-confidence. A pivotal moment came three years ago when her now 10-year-old daughter told James that she wanted to be like her when she grew up\u2014but mostly said she wanted to emulate her mom\u2019s appearance. The comment got James thinking about the example she was setting for her daughter and about who she was on a deeper level. \u201cI wasn\u2019t super confident in who I was at the time, because I felt like I hadn\u2019t accomplished much,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, James connected with friends including April McDaniel, founder of the agency Crown + Conquer, who had worked on projects with LeBron James for many years. Living in southern California, where LeBron James has played for the Los Angeles Lakers since 2018, there was no shortage of wellness retreats and personal development workshops. McDaniel had participated in the Hoffman Process<\/a>, an intense personal development retreat. She was also connected to the world of women\u2019s networks\u2014but those groups, from Chief<\/a> to Lean In, often focused on networking and climbing the corporate ladder. James was interested in connecting with groups of women for personal development, but those types of organizations didn\u2019t resonate. \u201cI kind of felt like because I didn\u2019t have a title, I\u2019m not welcome in these rooms,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n Courtesy of Let it Break<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Together, the pair came up with the idea for a group that\u2019s somewhat of a happy medium between those two styles. They founded Let It Break<\/a>, an organization they describe as a personal development platform and community for women. In 2023, they raised an undisclosed sum from investors and named Porsha Ellis, who had worked with McDaniel at her agency, as Let It Break\u2019s CEO. They launched the organization in June of this year with 100 members between their mid-20s and mid-70s, who pay $250 a month. They\u2019re focused on in-person programming in Los Angeles and New York, with plans to expand in 2025, and classes like \u201cliving a conscious life,\u201d coaching, breathwork, and manifestation. <\/p>\n Let It Break is part of a new generation of businesses that promise to create community around personal development. The founders of Soulcycle, for example, teamed up last year to launch Peoplehood<\/a>, a place for people to work on their relationships. <\/p>\n Let It Break\u2019s programming intentionally leaves titles at the door\u2014James says she doesn\u2019t want to make anyone else feel the way she did\u2014but McDaniel expects that women will be able to apply these personal development lessons to their professional lives. \u201cThese are tools you can use when your kid is acting crazy and having a temper tantrum in the supermarket, or when an employee is having a breakdown,\u201d McDaniel says. <\/p>\n For James, the process of building a community like Let It Break, which she acknowledges is her first project \u201cof this magnitude,\u201d has helped to build her own self-confidence. \u201cBuilding this business has been very different for myself and my family,\u201d James says. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely been stretching myself in ways that I hadn\u2019t before. It\u2019s an adjustment for all of us, but I took that time, selfishly, to grow, and I\u2019m super happy with my decision.\u201d <\/p>\n Most of that work has been internal\u2014and now she thinks about her daughter\u2019s comment differently. \u201cI realized that it was a really huge accomplishment for a young girl to say, \u2018I want to be like you,’\u201d she says. While now James has the title of \u201ccofounder\u201d for the first time, she mostly learned that \u201ceverything was fine before.\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re just building on the tools you really already had.\u201d<\/p>\n Emma Hinchliffe<\/em> \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0You\u2019re invited.<\/strong>\u00a0Network with the world\u2019s top business and policy leaders in New York City Nov. 11-12 at the\u00a0Fortune Global Forum<\/a>. Confirmed attendees include CEOs of PayPal, Dow, Nasdaq, Siemens USA, Indeed, Yum China, and AT&T, along with seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Wynton Marsalis. Request your invite\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is<\/em> Fortune\u2019s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today\u2019s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n – Out there early.<\/strong> More women are voting early than men, with a 10% gender gap in a few battleground states so far, including Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Of course, this data does not reveal which presidential candidate women are voting for and how their early turnout will impact the election. <\/span>Politico<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n – Share sale.<\/strong> Canva, cofounded and led by Melanie Perkins, shared that its valuation increased almost 20%, or $6 billion, to $32 billion following a share sale. The graphic design platform is Australia\u2019s largest privately owned technology company and a bellwether for Australian startups. <\/span>Financial Review<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n – In context.<\/strong> Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, addressed the <\/span>New York Times <\/span><\/i>article<\/span><\/a> that accused her of having \u201ca pattern of lavish spending\u201d that may have broken IRS rules. Ellis said the story lacked necessary context about GLAAD’s work, a claim that the <\/span>Times<\/span><\/i> rebuked. <\/span>Variety<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n – First fund.<\/strong> Female Founders Fund returned its first fund of $5.85 million, a milestone that not all new venture capital firms reach. It reached that milestone thanks to a secondary sale in the women’s health startup Maven. Now, the rest of the fund\u2019s investments and exits will generate pure profit for its limited partners. <\/span>Fortune<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n Jack Cooper Transport, a vehicle logistics and transport provider, named <\/span>Sarah Amico<\/b> chairman and CEO. She was previously executive chairperson of the board.<\/span><\/p>\n Blue Shield of California, a health care plan provider, appointed <\/span>Deneen Vojta<\/b> executive vice president for health solutions. Vojta previously served as president of the Arctos Foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n Camco, an RV technology developer, appointed <\/span>Lisa Schoder<\/b> as chief marketing officer and <\/span>Danielle Conner <\/b>as chief operating officer. Schoder was previously VP, integrated media and partnerships at Lowe\u2019s. Conner previously served as COO and SVP, operations at Spinrite.<\/span><\/p>\n Myrobalan Therapeutics, an oral neurorestorative therapies biotech, named <\/span>Robin Kleiman<\/b> chief scientific officer. Most recently, she was VP of CNS biology at Alkermes.<\/span><\/p>\n Tavus, a generative AI video research company, added <\/span>Effie Goenawan<\/b> as head of product and <\/span>Julia Szatar<\/b> as head of marketing. Most recently, Goenawan was principal product manager at Roblox. Szatar was head of product marketing and lifecycle marketing at Loom.<\/span><\/p>\n Wolverine World Wide, a footwear company, appointed <\/span>Susie Kuhn<\/b> as president of the company\u2019s active group. Kuhn was most recently Foot Locker\u2019s president of Europe, Middle East, and Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n The group chat that secretly runs Congress<\/b> Elle<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n The most powerful fashion designer you don\u2019t know about<\/b> Washington Post<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n At 50, Hello Kitty is as \u2018kawaii\u2019 and lucrative as ever <\/b>AP<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com<\/em><\/p>\nALSO IN THE HEADLINES<\/h3>\n
MOVERS AND SHAKERS<\/h3>\n
ON MY RADAR<\/h3>\n
PARTING WORDS<\/h3>\n