Friday, January 30, 2026

Elevated Threats Are Ahead Yet CEOs Continue to Reinvent Their Companies

©iStock/bernardbodo
CEOs are reinventing their companies with technology (AI) and seeking growth opportunities in new sectors, even as they see elevated threats ahead.

In the year ahead, CEOs see a world beset by challenges. They’ve grown significantly less confident about the short-term growth outlook for their companies and more worried about a range of threats, including macroeconomic volatility, cyber risk, and geopolitical conflict.

PwC’s Global Chairman Mohamed Kande discusses key findings from this year’s CEO Survey, featuring insights on AI adoption and innovating in the face of uncertainty.

Read the findings and listen to Mohamed's insights here.

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Building Ms. Jetsetter Beyond the Idea (wegginar® 2/4/26)

©2026 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.
You don't want to miss this wegginar® – February 4th at 11 AM CT – LIVE with Tracey McGhee, Founder & CEO, Ms. Jetsetter when she will talk about "From Idea to Market:  Building Ms. Jetsetter Beyond the Idea."

To learn more and to register (free of charge thanks to Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global's generous sponsors as shown in the graphic), visit: https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/2026/01/07/from-idea-to-market-building-ms-jetsetter-beyond-the-idea-stage/.  

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Feeling Assaulted by the Federal Government

©iStock/Sean Pavone
"Feeling assaulted by the federal government." That's how Thomas L. Friedman describes what is happening in his hometown, Minneapolis.

Read the interview here.  America is at a boiling point.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

A Three-Pronged Approach to Avoid, Lessen, and Recover from Tariff Increases On Imported Goods

©iStock/SHansche
In the midst of today's fluid situation, Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg offers a three-pronged approach to avoid, lessen, and recover from tariff increases on imported goods.

[More than 776,000 readers thus far this month.  Thank you all!]

Monday, January 26, 2026

Today in Global Small Business: The USA Winter Storm Edition

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

Saturday, January 24, 2026

Everything in Moderation

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
"Everything in moderation.  Except avocado." – Unknown

Friday, January 23, 2026

So Who Are the Owners of the New American TikTok?

©iStock/hapabapa
Several big companies and investment firms are part of the new American TikTok. Many have ties to one another and President Trump.

Thursday, January 22, 2026

A Cultural Mirror Worth Considering: McAtlas

©iStock/Nikolay Chekalin
Photographer and writer Gary He, visited McDonald's in more than 55 countries.

Gary didn't set out to write a book about McDonald's. And, even now, the James Beard Award-winning photographer still says that "McAtlas" — his book about McDonald's — is not a book about McDonald's.

Rather, it's "a visual social anthropology of the world's largest restaurant chain," says Gary, a native New Yorker who spent years traveling to hundreds of outlets of the world's biggest fast-food chain.

"'McAtlas' is the result of my travels across six continents, 55-plus countries, photographing the menu items, the local restaurants, and just watching how locals use those spaces and what they like to eat in those McDonald's," he says. 

On Gary's website:

Internationally, there’s no restaurant where people are eating more often than McDonald’s. It's not just Big Macs and McNuggets, either: McDonald’s menus around the world have long integrated the flavors and dishes of their home countries. Localized menu items now account for about 30% of McDonald’s systemwide sales, not chump change when that total is north of $120 billion.  If we are what we eat, then McDonald's global menu is a cultural mirror worth serious consideration.

As an amateur photographer myself [Laurel Delaney] and I love anything with a global mindset – this book is right up my alley.

Links to learn more:

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

As a Business Leader, I Stand Up Against Abuses, Do You?

©iStock/ChrisGorgio
Robert E. Rubin, a senior counselor at Centerview Partners, served as U.S. Treasury secretary, 1995-1999, writes an Opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, "Why Have Business Leaders Gone Silent?"

He writes:

Perhaps most important, all business leaders—and leaders in all sectors—should ask themselves three questions. First, do Mr. Trump’s actions regarding the economy, the law, and use of the federal government cross a red line? Second, if not, what would? Third, what will I do differently if and when such a line is crossed?

He goes on to say, "The challenges of opposing authoritarianism can be great. But the ever greater consequences, if authoritarianism is left to continue, can be many times more severe."

Read Mr. Rubin's commentary.  I stand up against abuses, do you?

Oh, and you might also read the Opinion by The New York Times, "For Trump, Justice Means Vengeance."  As this piece reminds us, "that we are a country ruled by laws,  not by one man."

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

What If Supreme Court Says Trump's Tariffs Are Illegal?

©iStock/fongfong2
Lower courts have already ruled that Trump exceeded his authority by invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify his sweeping “reciprocal” duties targeting America’s trading partners, as well as separate levies aimed at China, Canada and Mexico. The IEEPA-based tariffs have remained in effect as the legal proceedings continue. 

US President Donald Trump could find out later in January whether the Supreme Court will strike down a key portion of his tariffs campaign. The court is considering whether Trump can use an emergency law that had previously never been wielded to impose import taxes.

If the Supreme Court rules that IEEPA can’t be used to impose tariffs, there’s alternative legislation Trump can lean on.  Find out what it is here.

[Hat tip to Coni Lefferts for sharing this article with us.]

Monday, January 19, 2026

Today in Global Small Business: "Preserve Our Democracy" Says Martin Luther King's Son to the Supreme Court

©iStock/Coast-to-Coast
What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

  • Martin Luther King's son to the Supreme Court:  Preserve Our Democracy (for The New York Times Opinion section).
  • Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Northeastern University.
  • Quote of the week:  "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." – Martin Luther King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963
  • Remember the dream:  A Day Honoring Dr. King – Smithsonian 
  • Honoring the life and legacy of the slain civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Northeast Wisconsin
  • Ways to honor Dr. King across DC on Monday, January 19, 2026. – DC News

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Kindness Is Free

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.
"Kindness is free.  Let's pass it on." – Unknown