Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Reese Witherspoon has sold her Southern-inspired clothing line; more women are turning toward entrepreneurship post-COVID; and Fortune editor-at-large Michal Lev-Ram previews next month’s Most Powerful Women Summit. Have a terrific Thursday!
- Room full of women. Last night, I attended a dinner where I was one of just three women in a roomful of men. The event was fantastic, but it made me realize that it had been a while since I’d been in the company of so few women in a work environment—and how lucky I am for that.
Indeed, I’ve been fortunate to work for and with some very remarkable women over the years. This has always been the case for me at Fortune, but is never more apparent than at the annual Most Powerful Women Summit, when our powerhouse team (which also includes a few powerful men) gathers to help put on the three-day conference.
MPW started as a list back in 1998, and this year marks my 10th time at the summit. The milestone got me thinking about some of my favorite moments over the years—getting to interview women like philanthropist Melinda French Gates, actress Eva Longoria, and glass ceiling–shattering CEOs including Ursula Burns, Ginni Rometty, and Mary Barra on our stage. I also have vivid memories of my very first MPW Summit, when legendary investor Warren Buffett and singer-songwriter Paul Anka took the stage to sing a special version of “My Way” to Carol Loomis, our former senior editor-at-large and the longest-tenured employee at Time Inc., the former owner of Fortune.
While the Buffett-Anka duet was a one-time treat for the audience (and for Loomis, who retired after 60 years at Fortune), this year’s summit, which is coming up Oct. 9–11 in Laguna Niguel, Calif., promises to forge many new memories. Our confirmed speakers include Karen Lynch of CVS Health, Fidji Simo of Instacart, Linda Yaccarino of X (the company formerly known as Twitter), ABC News president Kim Godwin, actress Connie Britton, executive producer of Mattel Films Robbie Brenner, and many more. We’ll also have MPW cofounder Pattie Sellers onstage with us for the first time in a few years!
Speaking of Pattie: I’m forever grateful to her for asking me to get involved with MPW, all those years ago. And for Carol Loomis and the path she forged at Fortune. These women have left their mark for sure, but they managed to make it ordinary to work with extraordinary women—both on the annual MPW Summit and beyond.
For a deeper dive into the full agenda and list of speakers at MPW 2023, please see here. And if you’d like to apply to register, click here. (We’ll also have full coverage in the Broadsheet, starting on Oct. 9.)
Michal Lev-Ram
michal.levram@fortune.com
@mlevram
The Broadsheet is Fortune's newsletter for and about the world's most powerful women. Today's edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
