Day: August 16, 2025

Mila had been dating her boyfriend for a year when she got pregnant. They had been keen to have a child together, but shifting into “nesting mode” gave Mila fresh eyes.

Her boyfriend would constantly dodge basic tasks like grocery shopping, she said, telling her he didn’t know “how to do it,” even if she gave him an itemized list. She said she shouldered the cooking and cleaning, even as intense pregnancy symptoms left her sick and depressed.

“You know everything, inside and out, about your favorite car. All the things that you truly care about, you know all the details,” Mila recalled thinking about him. “But when it comes to basic necessities like getting groceries, buying stuff for our child, remembering things about us, you act as if you’re incompetent.”

Mila’s ex-boyfriend didn’t return a request for comment from Business Insider. Her surname has been withheld to protect her family’s privacy.

Already feeling like a single mom, Mila left her boyfriend when she was about three months pregnant. About one year after welcoming her daughter, while scrolling on her phone, she came across the term “weaponized incompetence,” and the unsettled feeling in her gut crystallized.

“I’m like, that’s what I’ve been dealing with for so long,” she said. “It was so nice to put a name to it.”

The term “weaponized incompetence” emerged in the mid-2000s. Two decades later, it reenters viral discourse every few months. Stories like Mila’s are littered across Reddit and TikTok, usually pertaining to heteronormative relationships. People — mostly women — vent about the people in their lives — mostly men — who seem to excel at the office, at school, or in their fantasy football draft, but regularly drop the ball at home.

Despite measurable advances in gender equality, the workload is not shifting at home, the Pew Research Center found in a 2023 report.

Dennis Vetrano, a divorce and family attorney in New York, said he’s been hearing a familiar complaint from female clients increasingly over the past five years, “and that is the failure of their husband to be a true partner in their relationship.”

“In fact,” Vetrano added of weaponized incompetence, “that’s become one of the core issues or one of the leading reasons for divorce these days.”

Matt Lundquist, psychotherapist and founder of Tribeca Therapy, echoed Vetrano’s observation and timeline.

“I see this in my work with female patients, I see this in my work with straight couples,” he said, noting that the pandemic reignited tension over the division of housework. The widespread lockdowns, which confined many working couples to their homes, raised questions of whose paid work is “more valuable” and deserving of undivided attention — such that a whining toddler or the chimes of a dryer in its final cycle will go unheard, or worse, ignored.

“The sum of all of this was, for many couples, regressive. The default party responsible for domestic labor again became women,” Lundquist said. Even now, with return-to-office mandates in full swing, the psychological ripples remain. “It feels like we’ve gone backward a couple of steps.”

Incompetence becomes ‘weaponized’ when ‘I don’t know’ really means ‘I don’t want to’

Feminists have been studying weaponized incompetence for decades. In her 1989 book, “The Second Shift,” Arlie Hochschild describes how women tend to assume the unpaid labor of cooking, cleaning, caregiving, and emotional maintenance, even after returning home from their paid jobs.

The concept went mainstream in the aughts, when The Wall Street Journal’s Jared Sandberg coined the phrase “strategic incompetence,” as a useful way to “deflect work one doesn’t want to do — without ever having to admit it.”

I see men offering counterpoints in the comment sections of women’s viral TikTok videos, arguing that women are simply observing genuine, harmless ineptitude. When I polled a group of my straight, male friends about this buzzword, the majority said they’d never heard of it. One said he hadn’t considered how it plays out in the dating world; he added that between mothers and sons, it’s “100% a thing.”

Only one friend could define the term in his own words: “It’s like intentionally playing dumb, right?” He sometimes tells his fiancée that he doesn’t “know how to make a salad,” he said, because he knows she’ll do it anyway — but he also insisted that she makes salad more delicious than he ever could.

It’s true that some people are not natural cooks or don’t know how to change a diaper, and find it difficult to learn the right technique. For a man, it’s possible that he was raised not to know these things and struggles to break out of that mindset. This incompetence becomes weaponized when he doesn’t take the time to learn, improve, or understand how his role as a partner can broaden beyond the patriarchal archetype of “breadwinner” or “provider.”

“It’s the continuous presentation as if, ‘I don’t know how, this is hard for me,’ when in terms of your capacity and capability, you are actually equipped to learn and do it,” Bukky Kolawole, a couples therapist and founder of Relationship HQ, told Business Insider.

Jordan, who asked for her surname to be withheld for privacy, said that preparing to coparent with her ex-boyfriend illuminated a labor divide that already existed in their relationship.

“I was like, I know you know how to clean a bathroom. I know you know how to flush a toilet. I know you know where the laundry goes, or what the bed looks like in the morning,” Jordan said. “It was like I was already hanging out with an infant.”

Colette Nataf, a 35-year-old marketing executive, said she filed for divorce three years ago because she was fed up with “managing another adult” on top of her own life, job, and kids.

Her ex-husband declined a request for comment from Business Insider.

Nataf said she was married for years before she came to grips with the dirty plates stacked next to the empty dishwasher, or the fruitless pleas to share chores because, paraphrasing her ex-husband, “it’s too hard to remember everything.”

Some men have been coming to terms with the ubiquity of this dynamic. In a 2023 essay for GQ, Sammi Gale described his slow, somewhat agonized epiphany after seeing the hashtag #weaponizedincompetence take off online: “For all my feminist talk, pub probity and pussy hat marches, I realize now I’m not so different to the men getting called out on TikTok.”

Women are tired of working two jobs without help

In her current work as a divorce coach, Nataf said she hears the same from female clients all the time: They aren’t reeling from betrayal, falling out of love, or yearning to pursue someone new. They’re just tired.

“You don’t need your husband to financially support you anymore. You’re still doing all of the household labor. So now you just have basically an additional child you’re taking care of, and that is exhausting,” she said.

Data shows the average woman is outpacing the average man. As single women continue to gain power and prominence in society — earning more bachelor’s degrees, buying more homes, dominating healthy sectors of the workforce, and even living longer than their married counterparts — pushback has manifested in the form of “trad wives” and “manosphere” influencers, most of whom label themselves as anti-feminists and boast about their return to “traditional” gender roles.

This kind of content romanticizes and fortifies the conservative ideals that a woman’s domain is the home, while men are responsible for bringing home the bacon. Poll after poll shows that Gen Z men are particularly receptive to these ideals, while women of the same age are increasingly resistant, overwhelmingly expressing support for female leaders in politics, preference for female bosses in the workplace, and interest in advancing social causes. As the ideological gap widens between men and women, expectations for the division of relationship admin fall further out of alignment.

“Feminism brought women into the workforce, but men haven’t had the same social movement into the home,” Audrey Schoen, a licensed marriage and family therapist, told Business Insider.

Vetrano has seen this mismatch bring couples into his office. “My dad was the primary wage earner. My mom took care of everything in the household. Now, what you’re finding is women are more often doctors, lawyers, CEOs running their own companies — high-powered professions that take 40, 50, 60 hours a week, and in addition, they’re doing everything else just like my mom did when I grew up,” he said.

“They’re paying the bills, or even the bulk of the bills, and they’re doing everything else,” Vetrano added of his female clients. “They’re getting frustrated and they’re getting burned out.”

This frustration has trickled into the herd mentality of social media. Earlier this summer, a TikTok went viral when a woman showed the disastrous results of asking her boyfriend to help paint a room in their home: visible streaks, stained baseboards, and splatters on the floor. The video has over 10 million views, and a quick scroll through the comments reveals a chorus of disgust: “This is weaponized incompetence omg,” “Dump him,” “That’s not a boyfriend, that’s a sworn enemy.”

The original creator shared a follow-up video with the caption, “We broke up.” The top comment? “A HAPPY END FINALLY.”

So, what can straight couples do?

Therapists I spoke with said it’s important to remember that it’s not always helpful to accuse your partner of “weaponized incompetence.”

The term implies malicious intent. Yes, there may be a premeditated or even vindictive element to this — if your partner performs a task poorly on purpose, for example, because he’s angry you asked him to do it — but that’s a tough place to start a conversation.

“Most people who are accused of weaponized incompetence often feel criticized because that’s not their intention,” Schoen explained. “Their thought process stops at, ‘I don’t want to have to do that.’ They don’t see the next part.”

It’s more important, Schoen said, to focus on the “practical impact,” which is real and tangible regardless of intent.

“Often,” she continued, “I find that when I’m able to bring the partners into view of the totality and the gravity of the impact, it shifts their position.”

Approach the topic with generosity, Lundquist advised: “If somebody’s trying to raise this issue with a partner or a coworker, I think to come in too hot — unfortunately, as much as I think the frustration is justifiable — is a sort of missed opportunity for development and for reorganizing how things work in a culture.”

For men, that opportunity starts with getting proactive instead of defensive. Take the time to understand where the discrepancy is coming from, then make an effort to bridge the gap, without waiting for your partner to give you a blueprint.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Allow for a learning curve or suggest redistributing tasks — evenly! — to suit different strengths. However, Lundquist said, if your generosity isn’t reciprocated and no changes are made over time, it’s OK to decide when you’ve had enough — especially if you have the economic means to go it alone.

“Increasingly in relationships, women’s expectations are matched by women’s earning capacity,” Lundquist said. “I think men are going to have to figure out how to catch up with that.”

Ghent – A 56-year-old OCMW worker was killed during a home visit in Nieuw Gent on August 13, 2025. The city of Ghent has suspended all related services indefinitely until further notice, following this violent incident, reports 24brussels.

In response to the tragedy, the Public Centre for Social Welfare (OCMW) in Ghent has closed its services, including welfare centres and service desks, until Monday, August 18, 2025. This closure aims to prioritize staff safety and emotional support in the wake of the attack on a dedicated employee.

A memorial service is scheduled for Monday afternoon to honor the victim, who was known for her long-standing commitment to the community. Alderman Astrid De Brucker reiterated the city’s commitment to ensuring the safety of its workers, highlighting the significance of the incident on employee morale.

“A commemoration will take place at that time,”

De Brucker stated during an appearance on Radio 1’s De Ochtend program, further emphasizing that services will resume following the memorial.

???After that, we will resume services.”

Future Steps for OCMW Home Visits Following the Incident

In light of the tragedy, Alderman De Brucker indicated that a reassessment of home visit protocols will occur in consultation with affected staff members. In stark contrast to a recent case in Grimbergen, where social workers were advised to halt home visits, no such directive has been issued in Ghent yet.

However, De Brucker acknowledged that the recent violence might affect employees’ willingness to conduct home visits alone. He assured the workforce that their concerns would be respected and that collective discussions with trade unions would address the future organization of these visits.

The alderman stated that it is crucial for the city to protect its social workers while still maintaining accessibility for vulnerable citizens in need of assistance. Ghent is contemplating additional safety measures, including pair visitation and more rigorous risk assessments to safeguard employees and restore their confidence in the field.

“Some people may also want to postpone their home visits for a while,”

De Brucker explained, committing to consider all concerns voiced by social workers.

“We will take all these questions and concerns into account.”

The victim, a veteran social worker dedicated to her community, was fatally attacked during her duty. The suspect, a 38-year-old man with known mental health issues, was apprehended shortly after the incident. Following the murder, the Welfare Office in Nieuw Gent was promptly closed on Thursday, August 14, 2025.

• Steve Prokopiou navigated redundancy by leveraging his network for a new job opportunity.
• He used negotiation strategies to exit graciously and get the severance agreement he wanted.
• He emphasizes self-care, strategic networking, and asking key questions during job interviews.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Steve Prokopiou, a 58-year-old head of data literacy and enablement, based in London. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I had been at my previous company for around three years. In January, when I logged into a meeting with my boss and an HR business partner, I knew what was going to happen within two seconds: my role was up for redundancy.

In my over 35-year career in data and analytics, I’ve experienced the redundancy process multiple times and have also had to make people redundant.

A few weeks after I got the news, while I was still with my old job, I contacted my now-boss, who was in my network. I asked him if we could grab a coffee because I was looking for a new role. My previous job ended in February, and I started my new one in the middle of March.

Based on my personal experience being on both sides of a redundancy process, I created a list of five lessons I used to help me transition and land my next role quickly.

1. Look after yourself and take the time to pause and reflect

When I have been in this situation before, I’ve tried to carry on as normal and show the company that it has made a mistake. But this time around, I realized the decision had been made, and I needed to accept that.

I deleted all noncritical meetings, answered only essential emails, and delegated appropriately. This gave me the headspace and brain capacity to deal with what is never a nice situation.

I’m in my fifties, so I wondered about what I wanted to do next. What’s important to me? I wanted to make sure I gave myself the space and the time to think about that.

You have to accept that this has happened to you rather than because of you. It’s the role that’s been made redundant, not you.

2. Take a balanced view when negotiating your exit

I did my job well and made lots of strong relationships, so I felt I earned the right to have a sensible conversation about what an elegant exit looks like.

Go through your contract line by line, make a list, and use that as a starting point for a negotiation. The company is typically obliged to make certain payments due under that contract. If you’ve got a notice period and they want you to leave sooner, ask for the money. If you’ve got an outstanding holiday or a bonus that you feel is due, you might put those on your list.

Don’t be afraid to ask, but take a balanced view; don’t bang your fists on the table. Ultimately, you should seek an outcome that allows you to exit graciously and professionally.

3. Seek support while you work out what’s next for you

I’m lucky that I’ve met and kept in contact with a lot of people over the years, who I trust, who have been in similar situations. I went out for coffee and lunch with them to talk about my situation. It was great to have that support network while figuring out my next steps.

I went old school, got a pen and paper, and asked myself, “What does my next job need to have? “What would give me joy? What are the must-haves and must-not-haves? What have I already achieved that is transferable to a role that I want next? “

4. Reach out to people who can help you get to where you want to be

I’ve gotten most of my career roles through my network. There are job boards and LinkedIn, but because the application process is so simple now, standing out from the crowd feels impossible.

Look at your network and work out who can help you get there based on the criteria you’ve defined. I would send messages like, “I’m looking for a new role. I thought you might be able to help. Can we arrange a coffee or a Teams call? If you can help, great. If you can’t help, that’s also OK.”

I created three columns of people to reach out to: now, next, and later. I put everybody that I thought of somewhere on that list. I started with the now column and then deviated into the next, and I even reached out to some people on the later list.

5. Ask essential questions in interviews when looking for new roles

You should have fundamental cultural and organizational questions written down that will help you understand the right next job for you, and how the role you’re pursuing came about. Is it a new role? Is it a replacement for somebody who has already left? Why did they leave?

I think about why people join the organization. Why do they leave? What’s the working environment? How do things get done? What are the blockers for getting things done? What are the key initiatives over the next 12 months? What would be the No. 1 thing that they’d want me to deal with in my first six months?

I used these five lessons to get my new job

The role I have now almost feels custom-made for me.

Each time I’ve had to transition out of roles, it’s been an emotional roller coaster, but I found that other doors opened that I wouldn’t have necessarily considered if I weren’t in this situation. After a layoff, it’s definitely possible to be in a better place than you would’ve been otherwise.

Do you have a career story to share? Contact this reporter at aapplegate@businessinsider.com.

• Giovanna Gonzalez, 35, regretted never studying abroad in Spain as a college student.
• In April, Gonzalez made her dreams a reality by moving to Valencia with her husband.
• Though she said it’s harder to be an entrepreneur in Spain, she feels more relaxed and at home there.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Giovanna Gonzalez, a 35-year-old who moved from Chicago to Valencia, Spain, in April 2025. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

In college, I wanted to study abroad in Italy or Spain, but I didn’t have the means. I was a low-income, first-generation Mexican American student, going to school entirely on student loans.

Studying abroad would have meant borrowing an additional $5,000 to $10,000, and since I was already graduating with debt, I felt it would have been reckless to take on more.

Still, over time, I came to regret that decision.

In 2019, I returned to my former hometown, El Centro, California — a small agricultural border town — for a high school career day.

I’m a financial educator and influencer who offers career tips to first-generation professionals. At the school, I spoke with Algebra 2 students about my path since leaving college and my career.

We discussed how to navigate college, and I encouraged everyone to study abroad if they had the opportunity. I shared how the people I know who did still light up when they talk about their experience — being young, free of major responsibilities, and surrounded by other young people in a new culture.

After career day, I had a moment of self-reflection. Was my current life really for me? Would I ever get to experience life abroad?

I knew it was time to make a change.

Moving to Spain was a fast but expensive process

My husband and I would have left the US around 2022, but the world was still in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, and things hadn’t returned to normal. We decided to wait a few more years, while continuing to live in Chicago.

When 2024 came around, we had a conversation about the presidential election and decided that, regardless of the outcome, we were going to move to Spain. It felt like a now-or-never moment.

My husband and I researched how to get a Spanish visa. The easiest option was for me to apply for a digital nomad visa and add him as my dependent.

That’s because by then, I had left my desk-bound corporate job and had been running my own business for four years. While my husband’s employer was open to transferring him to their Spanish branch, they weren’t willing to sponsor his visa.

To help us through the process, we worked with an immigration attorney who guided us every step of the way.

I’m a dual citizen of Mexico and the US, so I used my Mexican passport when applying for the digital nomad visa. Because Mexico was once a Spanish colony, Mexican citizens can apply for Spanish citizenship after just two years of legal residency, compared to 10 years for US citizens.

We flew to Spain to apply, which qualified us for a three-year visa instead of one. We were approved in about two and a half weeks.

The process was fast but expensive. Flights alone cost us around $3,590, and the Airbnb we stayed in while applying for the Visa was about another $652. We also paid roughly $4,000 in legal fees and spent more money on things like apostilles, certified translations, and other required documents.

Valencia was the perfect city for us

I wanted to live in a big city so I could easily travel to other parts of Europe. Madrid came to mind, but housing is very scarce and competitive there. The same thing is true in Barcelona, if not worse. I found that the next biggest city that we liked was Valencia.

Valencia is right on the beach. It has a Mediterranean climate, and is sunny almost every day — a big change coming from Chicago. The city has a lot of beautiful architecture and a rich history.

It’s walkable, has great public transportation, and is clean and safe.

We lived in a nice neighborhood in Chicago, but even there, I had to constantly check my shoulder when it was dark. Here, I’ve been able to go for a walk in the park at 10 p.m. and have never felt unsafe. I’m very thankful for that.

We live in a multi-unit building next to the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, and we have a beautiful view of it from our terrace. We live on the top floor in a two-story condo, which costs €1,900 ($2,226) a month.

In Chicago, we were bougie and lived downtown in a high-rise building with a doorman and amenities in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment.

Although our rent in Valencia is significantly cheaper than what we paid in the US, our utilities are not. Summers in Spain are extremely hot, and since homes here aren’t as well-insulated as in the US, you have to run the air conditioning almost constantly. Our electricity bill alone has been over €500 ($586) for each of the past two months.

It’s more difficult to be an entrepreneur in Spain

Living in Spain has had some challenges. My husband doesn’t speak Spanish fluently, so it’s been an adjustment for him to make doctor’s appointments or reservations at restaurants in Spanish. I speak Spanish, so it’s been much easier for me to integrate.

I’ve made a friend in Valencia who was introduced to me by another friend. We’ve met twice for coffee and to go for a walk in the park. But honestly, I haven’t put too much effort into making more friends yet because I’m so focused on the immigration process.

I still need to get my residency card, and once that happens, I’ll feel like I truly have the free time to put myself out there, go to meetups, and meet more people.

I’ve recently learned that Spain isn’t as entrepreneur-friendly as the US, especially when it comes to taxes. Many expenses I used to deduct without issue are either not allowed here or have stricter requirements.

For example, during a recent work trip, I submitted an Uber receipt to my Spanish accountant, only to be told I needed a formal invoice, something that’s not typically required in the US. And meals during travel can only be written off if you’re dining with a client.

In the US, there’s a bit more grace when you’re starting a business. That first year, you’re not typically required to pay quarterly taxes, since you’re just getting started.

Usually, you file your full-year return first, then begin making quarterly estimated payments in the following years. I expected something similar in Spain, but at the end of the second quarter of this year, my accountant informed me that I needed to pay my taxes right away.

I don’t plan on moving back to the US

Given the political climate in the US and my Mexican background, my long-term goal is to stay in Spain. There’s a lot to love here. The weather is great, and we’ve been very welcomed by the locals. It’s been pretty easy to integrate so far.

I would definitely say that living abroad is quite different from what my experience would have been studying abroad, but I’m really grateful for that.

I have a lot of friends who studied abroad in their 20s, and I know their time was filled with wild nights, partying, meeting new people, and traveling. I’m going to be turning 36 this week, and I’m married and a homebody who enjoys relaxing and watching TV at home.

I’ve definitely learned the art of slowing down. Chicago was a fast-paced, big-city life where you were power-walking everywhere — that’s just not a thing here.

With the slightly lower cost of living in Spain, I’m working part-time. Instead of working 30 to 40 hours a week like I did in the US, I now work 15 to 20 hours and am still maintaining a great life.

• No matter the industries they work in, successful men like to start their days with workouts.
• While exercising, many of them opt for Nike clothes and accessories, as they told Business Insider.
• Some also use technology like ChatGPT and Whoop wristbands to enhance their regimens.

Mark Wahlberg works out in gym sneakers that he designed. Lenny Kravitz opts for leather pants while lifting.

The rest of us stick with Nike shoes and Lululemon shorts.

That includes successful men across tech, finance, and other industries, who told Business Insider that they can’t start their days without exercise.

Here’s a look at their gym essentials, from popular clothes to expensive tech.

Antonio White, 38, uses technology to his advantage while exercising.

White is the founder of 480 Advisors, an executive brand development agency. He previously worked as a deputy assistant secretary of community engagement at the US Treasury Department.

Most days, he wakes up around 5 a.m. and makes time for a morning workout. With the help of ChatGPT, he combines strength training, walking, and yoga.

“People may laugh at it, but it gives me an opportunity to track my progress,” White told Business Insider. “Instead of using a notebook like most people who go to the gym, I log it right into ChatGPT. I look at it as a virtual personal trainer.”

He pays $20 a month for a subscription to the app and said he mainly uses it at the gym. He also uses YouTube for free workout videos.

“I finish my workouts with a core exercise,” he said. “I usually find an influencer on YouTube who has a 10-minute video, and I’ll put it on my phone and prop it up on a stand in the corner of the gym.”

While working out, he wears a mix of Converse and Nike pieces.

White said he typically pairs an old concert T-shirt with $55 mesh Nike shorts to exercise.

“It’s so basic, but I love Nike. It’s my absolute favorite,” he said. “The message of victory really appeals to me.”

He also wears various Nike sneakers for some exercises, but swaps them out during strength training. He prefers Converse’s $110 Run Star Hike platform sneakers.

“The shoes have made a big difference in my strength development,” he said.

White uses Nike’s $70 Elite Pro Basketball backpack to carry his sneaker options and other gear.

Bobby Mollins, 35, is loyal to Lululemon.

Mollins, a former Business Insider rising star in equity research, is the director of internet research at Gordon Haskett.

He exercises six days a week with routines that include stretching, cycling, strength training, and running.

No matter the exercise, though, he sports $78 Lululemon Metal Vent Tech T-shirts. He said they’re more comfortable than any he’s tried from competitors like Adidas and Ten Thousand.

For shorts, he alternates between two Lululemon options: the $78 lined Pace Breaker shorts for the gym and cycling, and the $68 unlined Pace Breaker shorts for running.

“I like the fit and various length options,” Mollins said of the bottoms. “The lined shorts have a phone pocket, which keeps my phone from bouncing around, and it’s also useful when walking my dog at night.”

His exercise accessories include sunglasses, sneakers, and a running vest.

Mollins recently relocated to Miami, which led to some changes in his exercise gear. Namely, he added the $145 Salomon vest.

“I never had to use a hydration vest while living in New York City or Boston,” he said. “But with the heat and humidity in Miami, the vest makes marathon training a little bit easier — especially on 20-mile days.”

His $210 SR-1x glasses from Roka have become another staple. He said the shades are ideal for running and cycling, as they don’t need much adjusting while on the move. He also appreciates the brand’s customization options on its website.

Mollins uses a Peloton bike and a Garmin watch to guide and track his exercise.

Mollins often cycles on his $4,499 SuperSix EVO 3 bike. However, he prefers not to use it when it’s icy in New York or on sandy roads in Miami.

That’s where his $1,445 Peloton bike comes in. The device allows him to cycle indoors, while the companion app provides guided workouts.

“I use it all the time,” he said of the latter, noting that he has a 129-week streak. “I frequently take stretching and yoga classes, and have done a lot of the meditations offered.”

Additionally, Mollins likes to wear Garmin’s $599 Forerunner 965 watch during all exercises. He uses it to track his workouts, heart rate, sleep, and more.

Samuel Garcia, 31, said he hasn’t looked back after trying Hoka sneakers.

Samuel Garcia was named a Business Insider rising star of venture capital last year for his work as a partner at Amplo.

The first thing he prioritizes each morning is aerobic exercise, like biking, swimming, using an elliptical, or running. If doing the latter, he always wears a $30 Nike Dri-Fit top.

“I’m typically running five or six miles, and normal cotton shirts feel like they sometimes rub my skin raw,” he said. “My Nike shirts have been pretty gentle on the skin, so I’ve appreciated that.”

Another exercise essential he swears by is the $155 Clifton 10 Hoka sneaker. A doctor recommended the shoes to Garcia after he broke a toe, and he’s been “extremely loyal” to the brand ever since.

“It was the first time I’d had a doctor recommend me any type of shoe, and I haven’t had any issues since,” he said. “I tried walking in other shoes and it was decently painful. But when I put the Hokas on, I felt little to no pain. So now I’ve been wearing them for years, kind of religiously.”

Brannon Jones, 31, pairs his Lululemon athletic clothes with wearable tech.

Brannon Jones, another Business Insider rising star of venture capital, works at AlleyCorp. He usually wakes up around 5:15 a.m. and hits the gym by 6:30 a.m.

While there, he opts for high-intensity training that he’s modified from his college football days — or he takes a CrossFit class.

“Even though I lift a lot, I like to wear a lot of running gear. I find that it’s very light and I feel super mobile,” he said, adding that Lululemon makes his favorite shorts and tank tops.

He also brings his Hydro Flask water bottle (with a $13 Wide Mouth Flex Chug Cap) to each workout, and wears his Whoop wristband and Apple Watch.

“The Apple Watch is so functional for workouts,” he said. “You can time yourself, see your heart rate, all of that. The Whoop goes a little bit deeper in terms of helping me understand my longer-term strain and recovery.”

Chase Dwyer, 28, prefers to keep his gym outfits simple.

Chase Dwyer founded Carbon Ridge, a company that develops carbon capture technology for the maritime shipping industry.

Speaking with Business Insider, he said fitness is a core part of his morning routine. Whether cycling, running, or visiting the gym, he often wears a $58 Tuvalu tee from Vuori with $75 Nike Dri-Fit shorts.

“It’s simple,” he said of his gym wardrobe. “Generally, when it comes to what I wear these days, I’ve reverted to things that take as little time as possible to think about, but still match my style and look good.”

He also said he’s “run through a number” of $220 4T2 weekdays sneakers, and carries any extra supplies — like his black Owala water bottle — in his $219 Db Journey backpack.

Modi Oyewole, 38, swears by Nike.

Modi Oyewole has spent his career working for athletic brands and record labels. Now, though, he’s the founder of the golf community Swang.

He works out multiple times each week, spending three days with a trainer and using ClassPass options in between.

He told Business Insider that he wears a lot of Lululemon while exercising, but is an even bigger fan of Nike. He uses an oversize tote from the brand to carry his protein shake, water, and Crocs, and he wears Nike Metcons, which range between $155 and $175 per pair.

• Laura Greve is a psychologist for C-suite executives, politicians, and other high-achievers.
• She warned that relying too much on AI at work could weaken people’s communication skills over time.
• Human relationships “are engines of personal growth,” said Greve.

Using AI nonstop on the job? The habit might be making you less social — a shift that could quietly dent your career.

While proponents hail AI tools like ChatGPT as major productivity boosters, heavy usage could weaken a worker’s communication skills over time, psychologist Laura Greve told Business Insider.

That would be a big problem, she said, since success in the workplace typically requires building a positive reputation and the ability to influence others, or what’s known as social currency.

“Human relationships, for all their messiness, are engines of personal growth,” said Greve, who’s based in Boston and works with high-achievers such as C-suite executives and politicians. “Other people challenge us, surprise us, disappoint us, and inspire us in ways that force us to expand beyond our comfort zones.”

To be sure, connecting with people can be tough. “To build intimacy, you have to show up and risk saying something the other person may disagree with or reveal something about you that is very personal,” said Greve. “You don’t always get a win.”

This may explain why some workers are now turning to AI agents instead of colleagues for a helping hand. Whereas human coworkers can be snotty, moody or busy, chatbots are typically safe. They don’t judge or embarrass users.

“AI, by design, tends to accommodate our existing preferences rather than challenge them,” said Greve.

Greve likens AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude to junk food. They’re efficient and satisfying in the short term, but extensive usage can lead to “relational diabetes,” she said.

Long periods of frictionless interaction can stunt emotional growth and erode courage, added Greve. There’s no need for problem-solving or reasoning with AI at your fingertips.

“If AI tools make us less skilled at understanding and connecting with people who think differently, we lose our capacity for the kind of dialogue that healthy societies require,” she said.

Greve is particularly concerned about how AI will impact young people just entering the workforce. She hopes they’ll still make an effort to build relationships with real teammates, even if they’re expected to use chatbots to do their jobs.

“Think about the person you want to be at 40, 50, 60,” Greve said. “In a world where everyone has access to the same AI tools, your ability to build genuine human connections, inspire trust, and work collaboratively will become your most significant professional asset.”