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The Philadelphia Eagles shellacked the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX Sunday night, winning their second-ever Lombardi trophy and ending Kansas City’s threepeat dreams. And while it may not have been immediately obvious amid Superdome’s shower of midnight green confetti, the victory marked two important milestones for women, too.
The first comes by the way of Autumn Lockwood, the Eagles’ assistant sports performance coach who first joined the team in 2022 to work on players’ strength and conditioning. In 2023, she made history by becoming the first Black woman to coach in a Super Bowl—but on Sunday, Lockwood one-upped this accomplishment, becoming the first Black female coach to win a Super Bowl.
The second milestone comes via Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts: The Super Bowl MVP has a management team entirely composed of women, something that is unique within the NFL. (His agent, Nicole Lynn, was the force behind Hurts’ five-year, $255 million contract in 2023 and previously made history as the first Black woman to represent a starting QB in the Super Bowl.) “Having an all-female team has allowed me to see things from a different perspective,” Hurts said recently.
As ForbesWomen contributor Gemma Allen points out in her new piece, Hurts’ approach is especially notable in our current political moment. “We can embrace Hurts’ model of leadership—one that proves diversifying power structures doesn’t diminish but, rather, enhances potential—or cling to outdated hierarchies that serve only those who already stand in positions of power,” Allen writes. “The question isn’t just about football or politics; it’s about whether we’re ready to bet on talent wherever we find it, even if it means a change in who sits at the table.”
Cheers to that!
Maggie
P.S.: For more on the rising power of women in the NFL—and a sartorial reminder that you can take your trusty newsletter writer out of Philly but you can’t take the Philly out of your newsletter writer—check out this recent Know Your Value discussion!
Exclusive Forbes Profile: How Issa Rae Is Future-Proofing Her Career In Hollywood By Building An Empire
Underneath Issa Rae’s insecure comic persona lies the fearless heart of a serial entrepreneur. Rae has parlayed a film and television career into a jewelry collection, a haircare company, a Prosecco brand—and counting. A portrait of a modern renaissance woman.
ICYMI: News Of The Week
Baked by Melissa has sold over 400 million cupcakes and expanded into 14 brick-and-mortar locations since its opening in 2009. Though it remains privately-owned and is a self-described “multi-million-dollar business,” founder and CEO Melissa Ben-Ishay is focused on nationwide e-commerce operations—and is thinking beyond baked sweets.
Speaking of the Super Bowl, another point of progress for women came by the way of advertising: New analyses reveal that the night’s commercials received a representation score of 43 (up from 41 and 40 for the past two years) and saw a 26% increase in feminine-featured talent. To see a roundup of the best female-focused ads, check out this roundup from Forbes contributor Sonia Thompson.
In 2023, the Department of Justice charged Frank founder Charlie Javice with bank and wire fraud—and on February 18, Javice will stand trial in a New York federal court in a case that prosecutors estimate will last four weeks. She’s pleaded not guilty and denied any allegations of fraud.
Author and Forbes 50 Over 50 listee Kristin Hannah has sold more than 10 million copies of her hit book The Nightingale since it was first published in 2015. On the occasion of the book’s tenth anniversary, Hannah sat down with MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski and ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath to talk about how she pivoted her career from law to publishing and what she wants her books to teach the world about female strength and resilience.
Fidelity’s 2024 Women & Investing Study finds that women edged out men when it came to being more likely to weather market volatility and have a “conservative” investing approach. The ninth annual ranking of Forbes | SHOOK Top Women Wealth Advisors, which came out today, features 100 women with proven track records who manage cumulative assets of roughly $386 billion. Check out the full list here!
The Checklist
1. Spot the signs of digital burnout. Too much screen time can actually reshape our brain’s architecture. Here’s how to spot five neurological red flags—and what to do about them.
2. Calculate the price tag of staying or leaving the workforce. Deciding to leave or remain in the workforce after having children is a personal choice dependent on individual circumstances, but the long-term financial impact is undeniable. Here are the many factors to consider in the decision.
3. As Valentine’s Day approaches, understand your company’s approach to workplace romances. About 1 in 6 workers in the U.S. went on a date with a coworker last year, and over half of all workers have dated a coworker at some point in their careers. So, if you’re thinking about giving your coworker a Valentine, here are some tips on how to do it professionally.