01/18/2025
Anyone feeling snarky about “masculine energy”?
🙋🏻♀️ I am!
Even at the dawn of women’s equality being enshrined in the Constitution, we’ll need to wield our “female energy” to counter toxic “bro” regimes.
This takes me back to an early entrepreneurial lesson on “masculine energy.”
When I started All The Brilliants, I deeply researched subjects critical to my business, while learning how to DO business.
Here’s the story:
A man, let’s call him “masculine energy bro” (MEB), in my social circle asked me to create bespoke emerald jewelry for his wife - twice.
The first time?
A “collector-level” emerald cocktail ring that would “make her friends envious.”
The second?
Emerald earrings going for “ostentation over quality,” avoiding “the risk is that people…find out that (wife) is wearing cheap rocks.”
In the case of the ring, MEB questioned my pricing and ethics.
In the case of the earrings, he accused me of offering “cheap rocks” despite the options being within or slightly above his budget.
My response?
I exercised my “female energy” and wrote a response that left no room for misinterpretation.
Oh, and it gets better!
To “sincerely” apologize, he offered me $350 to evaluate $17,000 earrings from someone else because… (in his words) he’s “not equipped to figure out whether I am being ripped off. Please let me know if that’s acceptable.”
Spoiler: it was not.
Would MEB behave this way to a man?
Nope!
Do his law practice clients question his hourly rate, expertise, or integrity?
Nope!
Certainly not as a man exercising his “masculine energy” with a side of misogyny, mansplaining, and generally inappropriate humor.
The good news? I knew my value then, and I know it now.
AND I know the value of male allies.
I’m grateful for the many men who trust and value my expertise, to help them select meaningful jewelry gifts for their wives and partners year after year.
Thank you and I appreciate you more than ever!
P.S. As I post this, I wonder if MEB’s wife appreciates her cheap rocks...
