Welcome to The Friday Brief

Welcome to The Friday Brief by Girl Friday! This short episode is a great place to start if you're new here. 

Transcript

Welcome to The Friday Brief, a news podcast by Girl Friday. I’m Phoenix Ricks, the CEO of Girl Friday and your host. If you’re new here, this episode is the perfect place to start. 

I’m a native Washingtonian, living and breathing politics and policy. I started Girl Friday in 2020 at the request of friends who wanted to learn more about global affairs as we entered covid-era lockdowns. 

It was a surreal time to be indoors and in need of another outlet. I’d previously spent much of my career in public diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State, so I accepted the challenge and started a platform called Dear Girl Friday, with a weekly newsletter called The Friday Brief. The first issue was on landmines, a topic close to my heart because of my admiration for Princess Diana. 

As friends and colleagues signed up for the newsletter, I started getting questions about whether I’d consider consulting with companies to help them explain pressing policy issues in the same way I discussed complicated global events in The Friday Brief.

I was extremely flattered but happily working at PepsiCo on government affairs in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. At the time, I couldn’t imagine becoming an entrepreneur. But, flash forward four years, another graduate degree, and a few plot twists later, and Girl Friday became a full-fledged global affairs consultancy. 

The wonderful thing about consulting is that I can create my own company culture and standards for potential clients. I use my science and policy background along with diplomacy skills to help corporations connect the dots between P-I-E: policy, impact, and engagement. I call it corporate diplomacy with a slice of pie. 

My goal is to help clients use their outsized influence in government and society for the betterment of people and the planet. If you’re familiar with the movie An American President, I’m inching closer and closer to living my Sydney Ellen Wade dream. 

One thing I learned from my time in the private sector is that Fortune 500 company executives have access to a wealth of policy information and expert analyses that more people deserve to have. Thanks to their internal government teams and external lobbyists, they know the conditions that make war more likely to occur in one of their top markets. They know which sustainability laws will make a real impact versus the ones that are just for show. They understand tariff negotiations and know what costs will be passed onto consumers. They often know the real story behind the political noise. 

And that’s why I started this podcast to complement The Friday Brief newsletter. I know you’re busy, so I will keep each episode to around 15 minutes. I’ll give you international headlines that may not have made it to the top of the U.S. news cycle, and we’ll dive into critical topics and global events you want to learn more about. I’ll also recommend ways to get involved because Girl Friday’s motto is Awareness Impels Action. And our mission is For a World of Good. 

To stay up to date, follow Dear Girl Friday on Instagram and sign up for The Friday Brief newsletter on deargirlfriday.com. Until next week, I’m Phoenix Ricks signing off from Washington, D.C. Let’s work together for a world of good.