Hello! We’ve made it through January! There are so many new faces around here, I thought it might be worth taking a minute to reintroduce myself. I’m Lindsey, a writer, editor, wife, mom, daughter, friend, and entrepreneur. I’m pretty comfortable with those first six job titles, and I’m trying to get used to the seventh. I launched The Purse in June 2023 after I left my fancy job at a legacy media brand.
I live in Brooklyn with my husband, Ken, who copy edits this newsletter, and our son, who goes by the pseudonym “Freddy” in the pages of The Purse. He’s little, and I think he deserves a bit of privacy, but he’s also such an important part of my life that it would seem weird not to include him here. (You can read an essay I wrote about motherhood here.)
Somehow, this is my 100th newsletter! How should I mark the occasion?1
The Purse also hosts events, and I’m thrilled to announce our next Money Talks evening! Join us on Thursday, February 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This time, we’re going to be talking about shopping, fashion, clothing, sustainability, and style! And I’m so excited that Erika Veurink and Shelcy Joseph will be joining us as cohosts! Tickets for the event are $40 (and that includes small bites and drinks), but I’m giving away 15 tickets to paid subscribers! (Scroll down—the code for the freebie tickets is below the paywall.) Space for the event is limited, so don’t miss your chance to join us!
I love writing this monthly wrap-up because it gives me a moment to pause and look back at all we’ve accomplished in just 30ish days. Building a media company from the ground up can be punishingly slow at times—especially when you’re a busy mom who is also juggling (ahem) paying gigs—but these recaps always blow me away. January might have been fraught with illnesses, school closures (why does my kid never go to school, absent nannies, and many other big and small challenges, but we still got so much done!
January 2025 at The Purse
I hit the ground running with a few days away from home for my annual Purse retreat. And then Erika and I spent a day in Brooklyn doing some intense 2025 strategizing. I am beyond excited about everything we’ve got planned for this year!
I laid out some of those plans in my first newsletter of the new year. We also announced our reader survey and our fanciest sweepstakes to date, a care package filled with some of our favorite things. The survey and the sweepstakes close tonight (January 31, 2025) at 11:59 p.m. ET. Don’t miss your last chance to win! Paid subscribers get an extra five entries, plus they can feel good about supporting a women-run small business.
The first Home Economics of 2025 featured a breadwinning mom in the Bay Area who feels a lot of stress about her financial responsibilities. I especially love the comment section on this one!
For the paid edition of Home Ec, we came back to the East Coast and got the financial story of a young woman earning over $100k but wrestling with a bit of disappointment over the fact her six-figure salary isn’t enough to fund her dream life in NYC.
I kicked off two new series this month! The first one is Group Chat, where I’m reaching out to my amazing network to answer all kinds of questions. We started with a hard one: What should we be doing with our money during the new presidential administration? Michelle Teheux, Dana Miranda, Paco DeLeon, and Aja Evans all shared stellar advice, and I loved that community and supporting each other was at the core of all of their answers. We are stronger together, and we cannot forget that!
The second new series is Extra Credit. I like to think of this as The Purse’s graduate school program. I’m tapping contributors to dig deep on a whole range of topics, and we kicked things off with Ally Jane Ayers, who wrote about the mistakes people make when working with a financial advisor.
To wrap up the month, we celebrated one year of Division of Labor with our first overseas edition, which also featured our first stay-at-home mom. Vanessa shared one of my all-time favorite pieces of advice: “Instead of thinking, ‘What do I need for my baby?’ we should ask, ‘Who do I need for my baby?’ No baby needs an electric nail file, but every parent and child needs a strong social network.”
Beyond the newsletter
I love talking about women and money, but I also love to talk about the state of the media industry. It was so fun to sit down with Francis Zierer for his podcast, Creator Spotlight. We talked about my experience building The Purse and bringing Erika in as a cofounder, as well as why I think newsrooms do journalists a disservice when they don’t encourage them to be more entrepreneurial.
The lovely Keris Fox asked me to answer a money questionnaire for her newsletter, and as usual I was maybe a little too forthcoming in sharing my answers. When asked what question Keris should ask future guests, I suggested: If money and health insurance were not an issue, how would you spend your time? It’s a question I think about all the time.
January was frigid in New York, but Erika and I were joined by some wonderful Purse readers for a lovely morning hangout at ByClio, the sweetest little cake shop in Gowanus.
In a month with so much bad news, I’m more grateful than ever for The Purse community. Some days, everything feels untenable, but you readers help me feel like I have a purpose. Thank you for helping us build something special!
What’s coming up in February
Oh so many fun things!
Inspired by our next Money Talks event, I’m writing about shopping! I’m curious how you feel about buying clothes! Do you set a budget? Do you buy secondhand? Do you order a million things online so you can try them on in the comfort of your own home? Drop a comment or send me a note by replying to this email!
We have a really great Extra Credit by all about DISNEY WORLD and how to travel to the Magic Kingdom without losing your mind.
In February’s Group Chat, I’m asking some of my favorite food writers: What are we having for dinner?!
And I’m so thrilled about the upcoming Division of Labor. I’m not even going to give you a hint, except to say it’s a dream collaboration for me!!
Behind the scenes, January was all about priorities
(I’m continuing to put the business/money stuff behind the paywall. Upgrade if you want to read about the best thing I spent money on in January.)
