As we are all becoming more aware of identity politics, uncovering systems that do not suit us or get us near equality any time soon, I could not help but wonder. Is the Tall Poppy a syndrome or a manipulation?

I recently caught myself in a tall poppy moment, and I am not proud of it. I was in a networking room. Someone asked if anyone could help with a particular piece of software. I knew exactly how to answer. I said nothing. Because I did not want to seem like I was showing off.

That moment sent me down a rabbit hole. Where did tall poppy syndrome actually come from? Who benefits when we stay quiet in rooms where we have something to offer? And what does any of this have to do with why women are the least likely to be learning the AI tools that are coming for their jobs?

The data is damning. The history is darker than you think. And the connection between tall poppy culture and AI avoidance is the conversation nobody is having yet.

We are having it today.

Not sure where to start with marketing your business? Go to socialglobalgrind.com and hit the Find Your Path button. It will show you exactly where you are and what to do next.

Everything else is at linkin.bio/francescahustles

Emma Grede is a British entrepreneur, philanthropist, and one of the most polarising business voices of 2026. She is the co-founder and CEO of Good American, the founding partner of SKIMS, and the author of the instant New York Times bestseller Start With Yourself. The internet had very loud opinions about her this April. Most of those opinions came from people who had not read a single page.

This episode is for the ones willing to sit with discomfort instead of scrolling past it.

I have read this book three times. Not because I agree with everything in it, but because it keeps showing me something I have not finished learning yet. We go through the controversy, the three-hour mom comment, the work-from-home take, the work-life balance position, and the parts the internet completely missed. Including why a working-class girl from East London who dropped out of high school and became one of America's richest self-made women has more in common with how some of us were raised than the critics are willing to admit.

You do not have to agree with Emma Grede to learn from her. But you do have to read the book first.

The audiobook is narrated by Emma herself. It feels like a straight-talking conversation, not a performance. Get it on Audible here: audible.com/pd/Start-With-Yourself-Audiobook/B0FW2VSXFK

Not sure where to start with marketing your business? Go to socialglobalgrind.com and hit the Find Your Path button. It will show you exactly where you are and what to do next.

Everything else is at linkin.bio/francescahustles

Carrie Bradshaw had a column, a cigarette, and time to think. Ciara Miller has 986,000 Instagram followers and absolutely no intention of slowing down.

In three weeks, Ciara attended the Met Gala, landed a Love Island USA hosting announcement, corrected TMZ herself on Threads without a publicist in sight, and kept posting her breakfast and her cat Jasper in between. Not because she is reckless. Because she understands something most people building a public profile do not. Visibility is protection. Silence leaves your story to someone else.

Ciara Miller is 30 years old and solidly Millennial. But she is operating on social media with a precision and a lack of self-consciousness that most of her generation abandoned around 2019, when everyone got too polished and forgot that realness was the whole point.

This episode breaks down her real-time posting regimen, when to be messy, when to drop the tea, and what people building a public profile can take from the most sophisticated personal-brand play of 2026. None of which she is doing on purpose. Which is exactly the point.

Not sure where to start with your own visibility strategy? Go to socialglobalgrind.com and hit the Find Your Path button. It will show you exactly where you are and what to do next.

Everything else is at linkin.bio/francescahustles

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is here and Miranda Priestly is back. And the moment I watched it I could not stop thinking about one question. What if she were your client?

Not a fictional one. Your actual client. The one who sends emails at midnight with no subject line. The one who changes the brief after you have delivered the work. The one who never says thank you but notices immediately when something is off. The one who makes you better at your job simply because the standard of mediocrity is not an option in the room.

This episode is about what the Miranda Priestly archetype teaches us about working with high-standard clients, protecting your creative integrity under pressure, and what it actually means to perform at the level that the most demanding rooms require. We also talk about what the sequel got right about reinvention, relevance, and what happens when a legacy brand has to decide whether to evolve or disappear.

If you have ever worked with a client who pushed you further than you were comfortable going and been quietly grateful for it afterwards, this one is for you.

Listen to the full episode and find everything you need at linkin.bio/francescahustles

Today I am handing the mic to someone who has earned every bit of what she has built.

Maria Abercrombie of My Vibes Co is one of those rare people who combine genuine warmth with a seriously sharp business mind. She moved to New Zealand from Brazil in her twenties with a vision, built a career from the ground up, created a life that is genuinely beautiful, and is now helping small business owners do the same through smart systems, digital tools, and the kind of coaching that actually meets people where they are.

In this episode, we talk about what it really takes to automate and scale a small business without losing the human element that made people choose you in the first place. Maria brings the kind of practical intelligence that cuts through the noise and the kind of energy that makes you feel like you can actually do this.

She is a community leader, a business builder, a mother, and someone I am genuinely proud to call a friend.

Go follow her work and go listen to everything she is putting out into the world. It is worth your time.

Follow Maria on Instagram: instagram.com/me.vibes.co

Listen to her podcast on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/65zlFF9iruorXiAQ1eEX5L

There is a cost to going quiet. Not a dramatic, scandal-level cost. Just a slow, steady erosion of relevance that happens when a brand stops showing up, and the world moves on without it.

This episode is about the Gap, but it is really about every business that has ever convinced itself that staying off social media is a neutral decision. It is not neutral. It has a number, and that number is 8.2 million people who stopped actively thinking about a brand in a single six-month window because the brand was not in the room.

I worked at the Gap in the 90s. I folded the denim wall on Sunday mornings before the store opened. I loved that brand. And watching it quietly lose cultural ground over the years, not through scandal or failure but through withdrawal, has been one of the most instructive brand stories I have followed.

We talk about what silence actually costs, what the comeback required, and what any business, whether you are selling denim or design services or professional expertise, can take from this story. We also get into the brands doing it right right now, the social media data that still gets ignored in boardrooms, and why the first step is always just starting.

If you are in a meeting this week trying to convince someone that social media is a legitimate business development tool and not a vanity exercise, this episode gives you the numbers to back that conversation.

My name is Francesca Alexander. I am the founder of Social Global Grind and the Hustle and Glow Network. You can reach me at francesca@socialglobalgrind.com.

For all other links check out: https://linkin.bio/francescahustles

Brand Reputation: Amanda Batula of Summer House

What happens to your brand when you stay silent while the story keeps moving?

In this episode, I unpack what the recent narrative surrounding Amanda Batula on Summer House reveals about reputation, visibility, and the real cost of saying nothing when attention turns toward you.

This is not a celebrity story. It is a visibility lesson.

When founders go quiet during uncertainty, audiences do not pause and wait for clarity. They interpret signals. They fill gaps. And those interpretations begin shaping trust long before you realise it is happening.

Inside this episode:

• why silence rarely protects reputation
• how audiences build narratives without permission
• what vagueposting teaches us about brand sentiment
• why consistency signals leadership in uncertain moments
• how visibility shapes opportunities before you walk into the room

Because reputation is built not only on what you say.

It is built through what people experience when you are not speaking.

If this episode resonates, the next step is learning how to stay visible in a way that feels natural, strategic, and sustainable.

Start here:
https://linkin.bio/francescahustles/

— Francesca Alexander
Founder, Social Global Grind
Hustle and Glow Network

#BrandReputation #FounderVisibility #PersonalBrandStrategy #DigitalMarketingNZ #WomenInBusiness #SocialMediaStrategy #LeadershipPresence #HustleAndGlow #SocialGlobalGrind

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HUSTLE AND GLOW PODCAST Episode One: State of Play - Catching Up on Digital Marketing in 2026

Most small businesses in New Zealand are still running a 2015 marketing strategy in a 2026 world. And it's costing them, in visibility, in revenue, and in relevance.

This is the episode I wish someone had made three years ago. Not a lecture. Not a jargon-heavy breakdown that leaves you more confused than when you started. Just a straight, honest conversation about where digital marketing actually stands right now, what's changed, what still matters, and what you can start doing today without a big agency budget or a full time marketing team.

We talk about why New Zealand SMEs are behind the curve and what that gap is actually costing businesses that don't know they're leaving money on the table. We look at the shift from traditional to digital-first strategy, what that means practically, and why the businesses getting it right aren't necessarily the biggest ones in the room. I share real examples, walk you through the fundamentals you need to understand before you touch an ad account or post another piece of content, and give you things you can actually activate yourself before this episode is over.

And if you're wondering whether there's a community of women doing this work alongside you, I'll tell you about that too.

This is episode one of Hustle and Glow. Welcome to the room.

In this episode:

• What digital marketing actually means in 2026 and why the old definition is holding you back
• Why New Zealand SMEs are behind globally and the real cost of staying there
• The shift from traditional to digital-first marketing strategy
• Real brand examples doing it right without massive budgets
• Practical digital marketing activation steps you can take today
• How the Hustle and Glow Network supports women in business at every stage

Keywords: digital marketing 2026, digital marketing strategy, small business marketing New Zealand, SME marketing, social media strategy, digital marketing for beginners, content marketing, personal branding, women in business, business growth strategy, marketing tips, online marketing, digital authority, AI marketing, marketing for entrepreneurs, New Zealand business, hustle and glow, Francesca Alexander, Auckland business, marketing podcast

Join the Hustle and Glow community: Events: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/o/hustle-and-glow-network-120728162580

Everything else:
https://linkin.bio/francescahustles/