Most people are exactly the same inside: good.
That antiquated notion is so easy to scoff at these days, isn’t it?
But I am here to tell you what a gorgeous revelation it is when the world tells you it’s true.
I spent last week in the United Arab Emirates. Did you miss me? I missed you! But there was important Becoming You work to be done 7,000 miles away. I lectured to students at the Stern School of Business at NYU Abu Dhabi, gave a speech at one of the country’s biggest companies, and met hundreds of NYU alumni in Dubai. TL;DR, I spoke to seven different groups in three days about values, purpose, work, and life. Perhaps you will not be surprised to learn that the topic of my little Dachshund named Pierre also came up. |
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Everywhere I went I experienced Arabic hospitality, which is surreal, and reminds you of, well, how not hospitable some of us can be to visitors. After my speech at ADQ, for instance, the COO took an hour to chat with me and personally introduced me to the experience of oud, as you can see. Witnesses claim that there were 30 seconds there where I full-on relaxed, a lifetime first! Did I mention ADQ manages $225 billion in assets? But there I was, getting…fragranced in its cafeteria.
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But the biggest rewiring to my brain occurred on my last day, when I spoke about Becoming You with 35 women, all Emirati citizens who work at NYU Abu Dhabi. They entered the room in their flowing abayas. I stood before them at the lectern in my trim Oscar dress and kitten heels. How different we looked.
How different we weren’t. As I told the story of Becoming You’s origins, I felt embraced by the tenderness of their faces, and so instead of skipping over the hard parts, I slowed down and opened up. Look, I was truly lost after my husband died in 2020. I did not know a way to the next safe harbor, or even if there was one. Becoming You, and all the people who built it with me and all the people who embraced it as a concept and a methodology, became that lifeline. |
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As I spoke, I suddenly started to cry, out of memory. Out of gratitude, out of joy, out of hope.
The women in the room cried with me. I had not expected that. But maybe I should have.
We can feel such despair sometimes about the state of the world; there is no need to explain why. |
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But every day, every hour, in places we see and do not see, people are together, being good to each other. Vulnerable and real and kind. We cannot dismiss this reality as the exception. It is the rule we must fight to remember, and replicate, over and over again. |
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A close friend had a health scare this week, and by “health scare,” I mean the dreaded word: a lump. I went with her for the big medical appointment, and thanks be to God, it was good news.
But as we were walking out of the office, we passed a woman who had obviously not had the same outcome. She was with her husband, and they both looked shellshocked. Of course they did.
Whoever you are, chazak v'ematz. Be brave and have courage. People you don’t know are praying for you.
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A wonderful friend took 30 of us to a magic show last night for the heck of it. We all need an Eliza in our lives.
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I could go on and on about the craziness of this very New York spectacle, but let me just reflect on how much I felt myself struggling with not knowing how all the tricks worked. Every time a magician finished his act, I was like, “Yeah, but how’d that happen?” Another friend in the group finally stopped me and said, “Suzy, just enjoy the wonder.”
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Enjoy the wonder! That is exactly what I had done with 35 women in Abu Dhabi.
I want to do it more. How about you?
With love, |
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What's coming?
→ May 2026 Three-Day Becoming You Intensive here
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Career Confidential: What the Heck is Happening with Careers?
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If you’ve read even one headline about careers lately – who hasn’t – you may be feeling a familiar cocktail of emotions: fear, dread… and total confusion. Mass layoffs. AI everywhere. Ageism creeping younger and younger. Trade jobs suddenly looking more secure than white-collar work. Remote work still the most controversial topic in modern professional life. In this special installment of Career Confidential, we break down five of the biggest career headlines shaping the world of work right now.
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