What Do You Think Is Cool?

There were 60 of us in the room.

Agencies.

Consultants.

Strategists.

We’d already been hired. We were technically in.

Then the new CEO walked in...fresh off a reputation, zero context, full power suit—and asked just one question:

“What do you think is cool?”

And I panicked.

Not outwardly. I smiled. Nodded. Pretended I might be next to speak. But inside? Full meltdown. Like someone had just called on me to read aloud in 7th grade and I’d forgotten how to pronounce “colonialism.”

Because the truth is: We all want to be the cool girl. The one who says the right thing without trying. The one whose ideas sound fresh. The one people follow without hesitation.

But most of the time? The cool girl is panicking too. She had just learned how to appear poised.

This morning, I dropped my daughters, Jaxon and Cati, off for their first day of 7th and 8th grade. Oof. Junior High.

They’re nothing like me at their age. They don’t love bold makeup. They hate anything that screams for attention. They’re thoughtful, grounded, observant. And yet, they are the two coolest human beings I’ve ever met.

Because cool doesn’t mean what it meant in 1986. It’s not mall bangs and Bonnie Bell lip gloss anymore. It’s not who talks the most in the meeting. And it sure as hell isn’t who gets invited to the stakeholder golf trip.

Cool is evolving. And maybe we should be, too.

So what is actually cool now?

🖤 Cool is telling the truth.

Even when it's awkward. Even when it's unpopular. Even when your board would rather you didn’t.

🖤 Cool is not trying so hard to be liked.

You don’t need another advisory committee to validate your gut. You need courage. And maybe a snack.

🖤 Cool is carrying your own weight, and setting it down when it’s killing you.

Burnout isn’t a badge. Neither is being the only one who knows how to fix it.

🖤 Cool is not chasing the cool table.

It’s building your own and making it so damn magnetic they start asking for a seat.

You know what’s not cool anymore?

👎Campaigns that perform diversity but don’t practice it.

👎 Workplaces where the social media intern cries in the bathroom every Thursday.

👎 Leadership that says “we’re a family” but acts like a sorority during budget season.

👎 Acting like talent is replaceable when what you’re really losing is trust.

So here’s your awkward, strategic, mascara-smudged field guide to what’s actually cool:

✅ Eat lunch.

✅ Tell the truth.

✅ Don’t fake your own relevance.

✅ Let go of the version of you that needed to be picked.

✅ And stop making marketing decisions based on who you’re afraid will unfollow you.

Because the real answer to that CEO’s question?

Cool isn’t knowing what’s trending. Cool is knowing who you are.

Even if your voice shakes. Even if your slides aren’t sexy. Even if you’re still figuring it out.