Author: openjargon

• Rachel Maeng Brown is a former NCAA rower who now works with student-athletes at her firm Gen Agency.
• The agency has provided NIL education and consulting to college athletes, collectives, and schools.
• Brown shared a presentation with five strategies to help athletes price and negotiate brand deals.

Knowing your worth is a struggle many college athletes face now that they can make money from their name, image, and likeness, known as NIL.

To help athletes understand their value, influencer-marketing-and-production company Gen Agency has been educating and consulting college athletes on NIL.

"Our big focus is creating a sustainable NIL marketplace at each university," Rachel Maeng Brown, the founder and CEO of Gen agency, told Business Insider.

Brown, a former NCAA rower, said the NIL side of Gen Agency educates universities to help them build curriculums. The agency also offers athletes on-site and virtual workshops about NIL marketing.

In April, Gen Agency hosted its first NIL-educational summit for University of Michigan influencers in partnership with Reach, a student-driven organization helping content creators grow their platforms and connect with brands. The presentation, which was shared with BI, covered how athletes can understand their audience, price sponsored content, post properly on social media, and protect themselves with a contract.

The summit also featured a panel of guest speakers, including former NFL player Isaiah Johnson. Johnson told BI that social-media followers and engagement are more important to brands who work with athletes than on-field performance.

"Followers, everyone wants to know how many people are following you and then two, just how genuine you are," he said. "If you are genuinely using a product, this could be a wonderful fit."

Johnson said athletes with the best media presence are natural and real with their followers. He said sports fans love behind-the-scenes footage they can not get from somewhere else, like athletes' day-in-the-life videos.

Here are five key slides from Gen Agency's NIL presentation on how athletes can brand themselves and negotiate fair pay:

Learn about your audience

Brown said knowing your target audience is key to working with brands. It helps companies understand who they can reach by recruiting you. 

During the summit, Brown showed athletes where to find key stats on their Instagram audiences, including follower count and growth, location, age, and gender.

A formula athletes can use to estimate the price of a brand deal

The presentation offered a formula student-athletes can use to calculate how much to charge brands for a sponsored post. It's based on a $10 CPM, which refers to the cost per every 1,000 impressions, though CPMs can vary.

To calculate what to charge per post, take the average number of views over the last 30 days and divide it by 1,000. Then take that figure and multiply it by the CPM.

Using that math, an athlete with 600,000 average views over the last days would charge $6,000 per post, based on a $10 CPM, per the presentation's example.

Know your copyright rules

Athletes, like other influencers, need to comply with brand, platform, and regulatory guidelines for social-media posts and ads, such as copyright rules and what kind of content is permitted on a platform.

Student-athletes also need to abide by NCAA rules because posting inappropriate content can result in losing scholarships, eligibility, and future career opportunities, according to the NCAA.

Brown said college athletes should also exercise caution and not include other brands or anything illegal in a sponsored post. She advised double-checking the spelling before posting, too.

Dos and don'ts for sponsored posts

The agency also emphasized the importance of double-checking disclosures for paid ads, partnerships, and more so athletes do not have to delete or redo sponsored videos.

"This is really important to student-athletes as well as smaller influencers because a lot of brands will try to bully them," said Brown, "to say, 'You don't need to put hashtag. You don't need to disclose that we're sponsored.' But it's actually illegal across social media."

She said failing to disclose a sponsored post could result in an athlete's account being banned or messing up their average views and algorithm.

Things to know about payment

Brown also talked about contracts and W-9s, which are tax forms for independent contractors. The presentation emphasized in capital letters that athletes need a contract to make sure they get paid for their work.

They should also be mindful of terms such as "usage" and "ownership" because it could mean their videos could be posted on any social-media channel or site.

Brown said brands are not going to protect the athletes, so they need to look out for themselves.

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren led a group of Democrats in pushing for increased Federal Student Aid funding.
• They said that key student-debt relief programs, like SAVE, are at risk without more resources.
• Congress has failed to boost funding for the agency over the past couple of years.

A group of Democratic lawmakers is pointing to one key thing that will help student-loan borrowers and families navigate financial aid: more funding.

On Wednesday, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren led 24 of her Democratic colleagues in calling on Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Shelley Moore Capito — chair and ranking member of the Senate education committee, respectively — to grant President Joe Biden's $2.7 billion budget request for the Office of Federal Student Aid in fiscal year 2025.

Over the past couple of years, Biden has requested that Congress provide increased funding to FSA to help it facilitate the return to student-loan repayment, the rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form, and a host of new repayment and debt relief programs.

However, Republicans have opted to flat-fund the agency, and this year, they proposed funding cuts. The Democrats wrote in their letter, first viewed by Business Insider, that the lack of funding is "severely undermining FSA's ability to implement critical programs."

"FSA's responsibilities have increased to protect students and borrowers, but its federal funding has remained stagnant," they wrote. "The lack of adequate resources creates more barriers for students to start and continue their education."

Since federal student-loan payments resumed in October, many borrowers have faced a list of challenges, including hours-long hold times with their servicer, payment inaccuracies, and delayed or missing billing statements.

On top of that, the Education Department has been working to carry out a series of reforms to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, it implemented the new SAVE income-driven repayment plan, and it's in the process of overhauling the student-loan servicing system.

Each of those efforts requires more resources to implement effectively — something servicers themselves have previously acknowledged when explaining their own challenges in assisting borrowers.

When it comes to the FAFSA, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been highly critical of the way the Education Department has facilitated the rollout. While the department intended to create a simplified form for families and students, technical glitches delayed the form by months, and aid calculation errors followed, forcing many schools to push back their commitment deadlines.

Just one day before the Democrats' letter, a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona requesting that the department ensure the FAFSA form is ready, without errors, for students to access as they apply for aid for the next school year. The Democrats wrote in their Wednesday letter that FSA needs more funding to live up to that commitment.

Cardona also expressed the need for Congress to boost the Education Department's funding in written testimony for a Tuesday hearing before the House. He wrote that Biden's $2.7 billion request for FSA will allow the agency to "support students and student loan borrowers as they navigate these modernized financial aid application and student loan repayment processes."

The Education Department is also in the process of crafting its broader student-debt relief plan, which is currently in the public comment period. The department plans to begin implementation of the new debt relief this fall, but the presidential election — and likely legal challenges — present uncertainty to that timeline.

• Footage shared by a Ukrainian battalion appears to show exploding drones striking Russian 'cope cages.'
• Both Russia and Ukraine have used the cages as makeshift missile defenses on vehicles.
• However, experts have told BI that the primary benefit of the cages is psychological.

Video released by a Ukrainian battalion appears to show drones getting through increasingly complex "cope cages" installed on Russian armored fighting vehicles, to devastating effect.

In a video posted on Monday by the 8th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion — part of the famed "Edelweiss" brigade — heavily protected Russian vehicles are seen to be targeted and, it appears, destroyed by Ukrainian drones.

In the video, a drone approaches a Russian armored fighting vehicle topped with a tangled cage-like structure.

The drone hovers for a beat, before backing up to make what appears to be its suicidal — and devastating — last approach.

A similar scene plays out for a second time in the video, on a different vehicle, before a zoomed-out view reveals three smoking wrecks.

The battalion did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for more information, but the vehicles were stationary, suggesting they may have already been hit.

Russia and Ukraine have both been documented using what are somewhat sarcastically known as "cope cages" — makeshift frames or screens aimed at limiting the impact of missiles.

Versions of the defensive apparatus have also shown up in Israel's military following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks, Popular Mechanics reported.

As well as the complex, heavy structures seen in the latest video posted by Ukraine's military, other 'cope cages' have taken the form of box-like screen cages, seemingly aimed at stopping drones.

However, early versions were largely useless against the Javelins and NLAW anti-tank missiles that proved so decisive early in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, experts told BI's Alia Shoaib.

RAND historian and former tank commander Gian Gentile told BI's Jake Epstein last year that cages might offer more protection against some loitering munitions, like drones.

But as the recent video appears to demonstrate, this is by no means a given.

And any protection they offer is largely psychological, Gentile said. "It is a psychological thing that soldiers do in combat when they want to live," he said.

Meanwhile, having to operate a fighting vehicle with a cage is likely a "huge inconvenience," Gentile said, noting that they impede mobility and visibility.

• The adult industry is increasingly embracing AI for tasks like chatting and image generation.
• Some startups even create chatbots and "digital twins" based on existing influencers.
• Creators are experimenting with AI, but some worry it may erode trust and alienate audiences.

The adult industry has long been an early adopter of new technologies, from as early as the printing press in the 1400s to DVDs and the internet.

In 2024, the adult industry is experimenting with and sometimes embracing AI. Superstars in the space like Riley Reid have already created AI versions of themselves; subscription platforms like Fanvue have made AI-generated characters a centerpiece of their missions; and a crop of new startups promises to help adult-content creators generate their "digital twins."

"We sincerely believe that the adult industry always drives all the technology," said Ana Levy, CMO of My.Club, one of the platforms that recently began offering users the possibility of creating an "AI twin." "This is the most responsive industry, the one that drives all the changes."

With experimentation have come excitement and fear. AI could ease the burden on creators that comes with the constant need for fresh content and fan interaction, and many have been curious about the possibility of turning themselves into digital characters. But as fan relationships have become central in adult content in the era of OnlyFans, some worry that relying on AI too much may alienate their audiences.

"I'm seeing so many of my fans get riled up and upset if they have the slightest little thought of 'Am I not talking to you for real?'" OnlyFans creator Isla Moon said. "I'm slightly nervous about that."

And for others, the idea that AI may eventually replace creators entirely is not too far-fetched.

"I think the people who spend the most on fan pages are the most lonely people and seek validation," OnlyFans creator Jada Sparks said. "And if they can get it from an AI, it's validation nonetheless."

Business Insider spoke with industry insiders about the state of AI in the adult-content world and what the future may hold.

AI for chatting and voice

Exchanging messages and chatting with fans has become one of the fundamentals of the new style of adult content that's gained ground on OnlyFans and similar platforms.

Some credit it with helping lonely fans build relationships that go beyond the sexual, while others warn that it may turn into a dangerous game, and further isolate people from the real world and real relationships.

For the creators, it's certainly one of the most lucrative ways to monetize their online presence. But the volume of messages they receive can quickly get overwhelming, and many have long outsourced chatting to their own employees or external agencies. Now, AI can become an addition to this arsenal of chatting tools.

Companies like ChatPersona and FlirtFlow have developed chatbots that can be used on OnlyFans to chat on behalf of creators. OnlyFans has taken a staunch anti-AI stance, though, so a human still has to press "send" on the messages (even if they don't write them).

Creators could use these AI tools to replace existing "chatters," who have often been low-wage workers in countries like the Philippines, India, and Pakistan, Fortune reported.

Other companies, like MySentient.ai or Riley Reid's Clona, have developed the capabilities to create chatbots that can exchange messages with fans on behalf of the creators, using their style of conversation. Unlike ChatPersona or FlirtFlow, these chatbots live on separate platforms from their human counterparts and are clearly labeled as being generated with artificial intelligence.

Riley Reid told BI that she hoped her AI version would be a way to "immortalize herself" and continue to monetize the fan base she'd created with her adult content even as she moves away from it. To chat with AI Riley, fans need to pay a subscription that costs $30 a month.

MySentient has been investing in creating "sentient" AI chatbots based on people that range from adult creators like Amouranth to Jesus.

Reese Leysen, the company's CEO, said MySentient approaches AI with a clear goal of trying to make the interactions positive and putting guardrails in place for its use from the get-go. He said users had been able to form positive connections with chatbots like Amouranth's.

"I know there's many concerns around this, but we have so far not seen one person say in our community, 'This is bad for me,'" Leysen said. "We've actually only seen the opposite, where people say, 'This has made me so much more secure. It has made me feel like I am perfectly capable of forging these kinds of relationships.'"

While chatting with a creator — whether real or AI — can have a positive impact, some experts previously told BI that the type of relief chatting offers can be a temporary Band-Aid to real-life problems, and can become a kind of addiction.

"They don't know how to be intimate. They don't know how to grow. They literally didn't learn that," Robert Weiss, a certified sex-addiction specialist who focuses on digital intimacy, said of some of his clients.

Fanvue, an OnlyFans competitor that has taken an AI-first approach, has developed a variety of AI tools to help its creators. These range from AI message drafting and voice notes to a "creator coach," an AI chatbot that helps users understand their performance on the platform better and gives advice and support.

Creators have also been experimenting with AI tools that can replicate their voices. One of the most well-known and utilized tools is ElevenLabs, an AI darling that's recently achieved unicorn status for its text-to-speech and dubbing capabilities.

Isla Moon said she'd seen some fellow creators clone their voices and then task their employees with sending voice notes to subscribers, pretending they're genuine. She and a number of other creators BI spoke with said they worried about how the use of AI could impact their credibility and undermine audiences' trust in them.

"That's the part that stresses me out a lot," she said. "At what point are [the fans] going to not trust what I'm saying?"

Level up: AI 'digital twins'

Some startups are going a step further from just offering chatbots or voice clones, and promise to create full-on "digital twins" — also referred to as "duplicates" or "döppelgangers" — for existing influencers, which also generate pictures.

Some companies — like Eva AI, Foxy.ai, and My.Club — are fully leaning into the adult world. Eva and My.Club even had booths at AVN, the world's biggest adult entertainment expo, where they were inviting adult stars to duplicate themselves.

Jessica Moore, a creator who generated her digital twin using My.Club, said the idea of making a digital twin excited her not only for money-making potential but also for the creative possibilities and the interactions her AI version could have with other AI-generated characters.

"You're able to interact with your friends, digital versions of them," she said. "I think that's probably where we will see the twin going. For me, I live in a small town in Canada. I don't have access to every creator. Having the ability to do that, I think, is going to be really cool."

Some creators are also experimenting individually with different AI image generators like MidJourney or Stable Diffusion to create depictions of themselves in different settings.

Elaina St James, for example, has started Twitter and Instagram accounts dedicated to AI art of herself — primarily simple portraits of her in revealing outfits in a variety of settings.

"I can be really creative," St James said in a recent podcast episode she hosted. "I can make myself, or I can make a younger, blonde, super curvy version of me. Or I can make somebody older than me … This can all be part of the Elaina-verse."

The next frontier: AI-generated influencers

There's been quite some buzz in the news about AI-generated characters, like Spanish Aitana, who besides being popular on Instagram makes money from adult content.

In recent months, crops of AI-generated influencers in racy outfits and curves that defy the laws of physics have emerged, and some of them have amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. Some of the creators behind these characters previously told BI they chose to lean into adult content because of its higher monetization potential.

To create these characters, they use a variety of AI tools, including Unstable Diffusion, an AI image generator that focuses on NSFW content. Many of them publish this content behind a paywall on Fanvue.

Some creators have gone as far as using deepfake technology to superimpose AI-generated faces to the bodies of real influencers or celebrities like Dua Lipa and Margot Robbie, a 404 Media investigation recently found.

A popular app that enables this kind of deepfakes is HelloFace. Three AI creators BI previously spoke to mentioned they had seen the app being used in their community, both in legitimate and unauthorized ways.

A spokesperson for HelloFace told BI the company is working actively to limit these unauthorized uses of third-party videos, but the practice still appears to be running rampant.

Some creators are still skeptical — and worry about deceiving their audiences

Like with many technological advancements, the excitement and interest are balanced with a healthy level of skepticism.

Sophie Annaston, who's built a presence on social media primarily with "try-on" videos, said she'd been avoiding AI entirely out of respect for her audience and concern for the potential outcomes.

"If this AI model is directly associated with me, I can't do that," she said. "My account is very much me. It's been managed by me, it sounds like me. I could never have anything being said on my behalf that I don't see and send myself."

Others see the power of AI but also the issues it could create for the adult industry as a whole. Similarly to those in other media sectors, many are embracing AI to speed up processes and for efficiency, but not to replace the creative and human sides. But the pressure to constantly produce new work has led many to at least contemplate how AI could fit into their output.

"In order to ride the algorithm wave, anybody needs a certain amount of content," said Charles Lyle, who co-owns adult production company Blush Erotica with his wife. "We would use AI to replace what we have not shot ourselves. Just to fill the space of how much content we need to feed the beast. That's how we would use AI."

• Shopify stunned investors after reporting a surprise loss for the first three months of the year.
• The e-commerce platform posted a $273 million loss for the first quarter.
• It marks new low following its boom years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shopify shares plunged almost 20% in premarket trading after the e-commerce giant sunk into the red for the first three months of the year.

The Canadian platform for online merchants posted a $273 million net loss in the first quarter, marking a sharp decline from the $68 million profit for the same period a year ago.

The loss came despite revenue jumping 23% year-on-year to $1.9 billion. Shopify also said it expected gross margins to fall by 50 basis points in the second quarter following the sale of its logistics business to supply chain firm Flexport in 2023.

The losses mark a surprise fall for Shopify after last year reclaiming some of the gains it made during the pandemic online shopping after hitting a low around October 2022.

The company has also undergone a number of rounds of layoffs, with a significant 20% cut made to its workforce in May last year.

Harvey Finkelstein, president of Shopify, told investors on Wednesday that they're "seeing the strongest version of Shopify" in its history while claiming that the goal is to build a "100-year company."

"Our outstanding Q1 performance is clear proof of our dedication to the new shape of Shopify, our commitment to operating with a consistent team size, and our focus on building for the long-term to deliver both growth and profitability," he said.

• Tim Cook might have helped Apple avert a wider crisis in China.
• iPhone sales rose 12% in China in March after months of decline.
• The reversal hasn't come easy though: Apple has been forced to slash prices of its top models.

It looks like Tim Cook can breathe a small sigh of relief about Apple's prospects in China — for now.

After months of freefallling iPhone sales there, signs are emerging of a rebound in what is arguably Apple's most important international market.

Official government data, first reported by Bloomberg, suggests iPhone sales rose 12% in China in March, with overall shipments of non-Chinese smartphones jumping to 3.75 million units.

Though the Apple CEO made a brief remark about the company's iPhone unit growing "on a reported basis" in China during an earnings call this month, it's clear that the reversal hasn't come easily.

Apple has been pushed to take aggressive measures, such as rare price cuts, to rescue iPhone sales in the face of increasingly fierce competition in China.

Local competitor Huawei, for instance, has released two 5G smartphones since August 2023 — the Mate 60 Pro and Pura 70 Ultra — that have managed to gain significant traction with domestic consumers at Apple's expense.

Figures from Counterpoint Research published earlier this year highlighted just how much damage was being dealt to Apple in China, with iPhone sales there sliding 24% year-on-year in the first six weeks of 2024 alone.

Although China's overall smartphone market declined by 7% in that period, Huawei's smartphone sales jumped 64% over the same six weeks. According to Counterpoint estimates, iPhone sales fell 19% in the first three months of this year, leaving Apple trailing Chinese rivals such as Vivo and Honor.

Given Apple generated net sales of almost $72.6 billion from the Greater China region in its last financial year, it's clear that the market is one that the company thinks it must protect.

It's why in the face of waning interest in iPhones — compounded by Beijing banning iPhones for government employees — Apple and its resellers introduced steep discounts on its top models earlier this year.

During the Lunar New Year in January, Apple introduced promotions that cut iPhone 15 prices by up to $70. By the end of February, some resellers were slashing prices on the iPhone 15 by as much as $180, according to one report.

It's worth noting just how unusual this is, with Apple almost never offering discounts on its top models just a few months after their release. But without them, it's possible that Apple's China crisis could have been even worse.

In its second quarter earnings report last week, Apple said net sales in the Greater China region came in at just under $16.4 billion, down from the $17.8 billion the previous year.

For Cook, who made a trip to China as recently as March to open a new Apple store in Shanghai, the bounceback will be welcomed. Sustaining it will be his next big test.

• TikTok users are reveling in how a Stop & Shop self-checkout pronounces "organic bananas."
• The video has racked up 7.3 million views, and people are trying to figure out what makes it so funny.
• It's drawn more positive attention to self-checkouts, which have typically been subject to scrutiny.

The robotic voice of a Stop & Shop self-checkout has the internet cracking up in how it pronounces "organic bananas."

A video posted to TikTok by user Everett showed a man putting the "organic bananas" through the self-checkout and laughing at the intonation of the machine's pronunciation.

"That's my favorite thing in this whole store," the person who appears to be filming the video says.

The TikTok racked up 7.3 million views in just 10 days, and the comment section is bursting with people trying to understand what makes it so funny.

"She says it like she's trying not to laugh at our little inside joke about organic bananas," one comment with nearly 200,000 likes says.

"It's like she tilts her head down, looking over her glasses, and smirks when she says bananas," said another.

The company even commented on the video, saying: "We just feel really passionately about ~organic bananas~."

In a statement to Business Insider, a spokesperson for the chain said that it is "finding it b-a-n-a-n-a-s that this TikTok is getting so much traction!

"It's not every day our self-checkout machines become a viral sensation, but we're here for it," they added.

The comments on the organic bananas video spurred the user to post more TikToks of the self-checkout pronouncing different products.

Yams were next. "Okay, the self-checkout voice saying 'yams' is kinda aggressive," he wrote on text overlay on the video, which has 2.4 million views. The next video showed the checkout trying to pronounce "bok choy."

Some users were surprised that the checkout named the items out loud. "Imagine buying personal items, and it just announces it to the world," one comment on the bok choy video said.

Self-checkouts have faced a lot of scrutiny in recent years.

They've been blamed for alienating shoppers, and increasing cases of shoplifting.

California's Senate is even considering a proposal to restrict retailers from using self-checkouts unless they meet specific conditions.

"Organic bananas" has, at least, provided some respite from self-checkout security and given social media users a laugh.

• Long queues formed at major UK airports after a nationwide outage affected electronic passport gates.
• Many were stuck for more than an hour in hot corridors with no water and little information.
• "It's absolute chaos. They're telling us nothing," one passenger told BI's reporter, who was also caught up in the delays.

Border control at many of the UK's biggest airports was disrupted for multiple hours on Tuesday evening after electronic passport gates suffered a nationwide outage.

Thousands of passengers landed at London Gatwick — Europe's eighth busiest airport — late on Tuesday to face massive delays in entering the country.

This reporter was among those to face the huge lines, spending almost two hours queuing to get through passport control — longer than the flight from France I'd taken.

Similar issues were reported at major airports nationwide, including hubs like Europe's busiest airport, London Heathrow, as well as Manchester, Birmingham, and Edinburgh.

"Only the manual desks are being manned and it's going to take a while to get through," one airport staff member shouted to passengers who had just disembarked a flight only to see crowds filling the hallways.

"All airports in the UK are impacted," she added.

The crowd was left waiting in the increasingly hot corridor, slowly edging forwards with no idea how long the delay would last. Many made calls to relatives, telling them not to wait up.

There was mostly no access to toilets or water, and buggies carrying disabled and elderly passengers could not pass through the crowds.

"It's absolute chaos. They're telling us nothing," complained one passenger, who had just flown back from holiday in Benidorm, Spain, with his family.

A group of upbeat young men cracked jokes, drawing a few laughs from tired passengers.

"Oh… and it's another long corridor boys," they joked as the crowd slowly moved around yet another corner in the airport. "Every ten feet we have to cheer."

"Let's light a cigarette and set off the fire alarm. That would get us all out of here quickly," said another.

As the temperature in the packed hallways began to rise, others became more frustrated.

"We have no idea what is happening. These are crazy queues in Gatwick airport," Gedi, a Lithuanian national returning to his home in the UK, told BI. "I'm feeling very sweaty and very hot."

After around 50 minutes, BI's reporter entered the main border control hall, where more staff were on hand, trying their best to calm the crowds and handing out bottles of water.

"It's a national outage of the e-gates," one airport official confirmed to BI. "The Home Office will know more, but it's across all the airports nationwide. It's unplanned."

A massive wave of arrivals had recently arrived at Gatwick's north terminal, making the delays particularly bad, she said.

The official, who started her shift at 6 p.m., told BI at around half past midnight that the issue had been ongoing for about six hours.

However, the British Home Office told BI that "a wider system network issue" had been detected by engineers at 7.44 p.m.

"A large-scale contingency response was activated within 6 minutes," the Home Office said. "eGates at UK airports came back online shortly after midnight."

They have ruled out an intentional cyber attack.

"At no point was border security compromised and there is no indication of malicious cyber activity," a spokesperson told BI.

By around 1 a.m., travelers were passing through the e-gates at Gatwick's north terminal, and the queues had begun to dissipate.

But once through border control, the chaos continued as passengers searched through baggage that had arrived long before its owners.

Onward travel at Gatwick was also affected by train strikes on Tuesday, leading to more queues stretching outside the airport for taxis.

"This is some people's first experience of England," noted one man in the queue, shaking his head.

"We apologise to travellers caught up in disruption and thank our partners, including airlines for their co-operation and support," the Home Office told BI.

E-gates in the UK were also affected by an IT issue in May 2023, creating similar scenes at airports.

In August 2023, the UK's National Air Traffic control service was disrupted by a "technical issue" in the flight-planning system.

• After failing to replicate the routine of Apple CEO Tim Cook, I was ready to try something new.
• I tried following the morning routine of Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel.
• I'm starting to see the appeal of waking up early, but 5 a.m. is still unrealistic.

I'm a recent college graduate, and many of the stereotypes about my age group involve partying, excessive drinking, and hanging out with friends. The reality, though, is a bit bleak: Gen Z is lonely, drinking less, and splurging more on their groceries than nights out.

However, after years of watching my favorite content creators share what it's like to "get their lives together" in their late 20s and early 30s, I'm inclined to think Gen Z might be onto something.

Call us overachievers or flat-out boring, but maybe we don't want to wait until we're 30 to build consistent, healthy routines we're happy with — I know I don't.

So, earlier this year, I made it my personal mission to curate an effective morning routine and started researching the special group of humans who seem innately more prepared to start their days than the rest of us: CEOs.

After some mixed results copying Apple CEO Tim Cook's morning routine for a week, I was determined to try something new.

Enter Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel.

Spiegel wakes up at 5 a.m. to check Snap, read his emails, and drink a double espresso before working out or meditating.

Ideally, my morning routine would consist of a workout, breakfast, reading, and ample time for getting dressed and doing my hair and makeup. Luckily, I found that Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel likes the same things as me (minus the hair and makeup).

At 33, Spiegel is one of the youngest billionaires in the world with a net worth of $3.9 billion, per Forbes. He wakes up at 5 a.m. to check his app, read emails, and work out or meditate. Then, he showers, gets ready, and reads the news before having breakfast with his wife, Miranda Kerr, and their children at their mansion in Brentwood, California.

His routine aligns with what I'm looking for, and thanks to my previous experience with Cook's routine — which involved waking up at 4:45 a.m., strength training, and coffee — I knew what it would take to prepare for such an early start to the day.

Here's how it went.

I exceeded my expectations and was wide awake by 5:30 a.m. on Monday.

OK, technically, it was 5:32 a.m., but give a girl some credit.

In 2018, Spiegel said in an interview that appeared in the Entrepreneurship Handbook that he likes to wake up early to give himself some alone time.

"I get up really early, because that's the only time that's 'Evan Time' for me, when people aren't really awake yet. I get a couple hours between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. to do whatever I wanna do," he said.

So, to prepare, I went to bed at 10:30 p.m. and even agreed to sacrifice my side of the bed for the week so I could more easily get to the alarm I share with my boyfriend.

I woke up right on time at 5 a.m. and redownloaded the Snap app since I haven't used it in years (sorry, Evan), but I accidentally "blinked" and woke up again at 5:32 a.m., this time wide awake.

Once I was out of bed, it was time to make coffee and work out.

I said a small thank you to the earlier version of me who had picked workout clothes the night before. I got dressed, put in my contacts, and made a cup of coffee.

Snap told BI that Spiegel likes to check the app and his email and drink a double espresso when he wakes up. Then, he'll exercise at the gym for 45 minutes or meditate.

I'm still a "coffee with my creamer" kind of girl, so I sipped my usual cup of coffee and checked my email and the updated Snap interface before scrolling through YouTube for a workout video.

I followed a Chloe Ting video that focused on arms, and afterward, I realized it felt really good to finish a workout so early in the morning.

I was pleasantly surprised by Spiegel's skincare must-have.

Then, it was time to shower and try the part of Spiegel's routine I was most excited about: his face wash. Spiegel has been married to Kerr, a model and the founder of Kora Organics, since 2017, and he uses the brand's turmeric brightening and exfoliating mask.

"He doesn't use it as an actual mask; he keeps it in the shower and uses it as an exfoliant," Kerr told New Beauty in 2019.

"What he loves about it is that it has peppermint oil in it, so it's so invigorating. He says he can't be without it because it's his little boost of aromatherapy in the morning! It gives him energy!" she added.

According to Snap, he still uses it, so I wanted to see if it was worth the hype. I bought a 1-ounce tube, which cost $20.

First impressions: Wow, they weren't kidding — the peppermint is strong.

I loved the feel of the exfoliating particles and how smooth my skin felt afterward. The best way to describe the experience was as if the sensation of using mouthwash was on my face, which doesn't sound pleasant, but I found it to be very enjoyable and, yes, "invigorating."

My only issue with Spiegel's routine thus far was that he reportedly allots a mere 15 minutes to get ready after his shower.

I, meanwhile, am more of a "Vogue's Beauty Secrets" six-step skincare routine, try on a bunch of outfits, perform a mini concert while doing my hair, and listen to a podcast while doing my makeup kind of gal. So, 15 minutes? Couldn't be me.

But with ample time to spare after such an early start, I realized I didn't have to rush to complete all those steps immediately; I could sit, have breakfast, and even knock out some chores before going back to hair and makeup.

Waking up so early gave me time to finish my self-care routine, get ahead on chores, and read before work.

I don't know if it was the bright sun shining through my windows or the earlier dose of caffeine, but after I ate my breakfast, I went on a superwoman cleaning spree around my apartment, washing dishes, starting a couple of loads of laundry, and wiping down my glass coffee table.

And I still had time to finish getting ready and read a Wall Street Journal article before clocking into work at 9 a.m.

A 10/10 morning.

On Tuesday, I maintained my momentum and didn't feel rushed at all, even though I had to commute.

Day two also started strong.

I woke up at 5 a.m. and was out of bed by 5:30 a.m. to get dressed and head to my living room for another workout.

I made myself a cup of coffee and took a picture of the early moments of the sunrise over New York City before doing a Pilates workout and repeating one of the same Chloe Ting arm workouts from Monday. After that, I finished my coffee while watching a vlog before moving on to the rest of my routine.

Thanks to my early start, I had enough time to try on a few outfits, make my lunch, pack my work bag, and toast a bagel for breakfast without rushing, which is simply unheard of in my life.

I was out of my apartment by 8 a.m. and clocked in at 8:45 a.m., feeling incredibly satisfied. My one shortcoming of the morning was forgetting to read, but a win is a win.

On Wednesday, I tried Kriya meditation for the first time. Spiegel has called it "life-changing."

Wednesday was the first time I struggled to wake up on time. Despite taking my daily Snap at 5:11 a.m., I didn't get out of bed until 5:45 a.m. Given how sore I felt from working out the past two days, I decided Wednesday would be the perfect day to try Spiegel's other morning activity: Kriya meditation.

Spiegel told Vogue Australia in 2022 that his wife got him "hooked on Kriya meditation."

"On a good day, I can get 45 minutes in the morning to meditate, which is life-changing," he added.

In 2020, BI reported on the extensive benefits of meditation including better focus and concentration, reduced stress levels, and improved self-esteem and self-awareness.

On YouTube, I found a video entitled "Isha Kriya: A Guided Meditation For Health And Wellbeing | 15-Minutes" by the channel Sadhguru.

"Daily practice of Isha Kriya will bring health, dynamism, prosperity, and wellbeing. It is a powerful tool to cope with the hectic pace of modern life and empowers people to experience their lives to the fullest potential," the video displayed on the screen.

From my understanding after watching the video, one of the main features of Isha Kriya meditation is the practice of breathing while thinking, "I am not the body," and exhaling with the thought, "I am not even my mind."

I don't know if it's possible to be "bad" at meditating, but that's certainly what it felt like to me — a first-timer and chronic over-thinker.

While trying to focus on the space between my eyebrows and to think only of how "I am not my body," I was instead thinking about all the things I had planned for the day, how I would write about the experience, and how long it'd been since I started.

Although I wouldn't call this initial attempt at meditation successful, I think trying it was useful in helping me identify a weakness that makes it challenging to stay in the present.

I finished the meditation and proceeded with the rest of the routine, arriving at my office in time to grab a coffee and snack and read a bit of a WSJ article.

I started Thursday slow but still made time for a quick workout and breakfast.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel well when I woke up, so I pushed off working out until around 7 a.m. I used the Kora Organics again in the shower before getting dressed to work from home. Rather than my usual hair and makeup routine, I skipped both, favoring a bun and a fresh face since I had no intention of leaving my apartment.

I had a bagel and coffee for breakfast and read some of Business Insider's latest stories before clocking in at 9 a.m.

The morning was a much more condensed attempt at Spiegel's routine, but I could truly feel the difference an adjusted sleep schedule makes. All week, I'd been going to sleep by 10:30 p.m. not by sheer force, but because I was naturally feeling tired.

Friday was the least productive day, but Spiegel's definitely onto something with "Evan Time."

On Friday, I wasn't feeling well again, so I got up around 7 a.m. and tried to do a quick five minutes of meditation.

Although this wasn't the routine I aimed for, I could still appreciate the impact of the little shifts I'd made in my mentality. Before this, I would've stayed in bed till 8-8:30 a.m. and just rolled from my bed to my laptop for work at 9 a.m., but with my improved sleep schedule and more disciplined mindset, I was able to get up an hour earlier and take some time for myself before jumping into the demands of the day, which felt like a huge win.

So, while the only Spiegel-related highlight of my morning was the face wash, I was optimistic about my ability to sustain these efforts going forward.

After a week of living like Evan Spiegel, I finally understand the appeal of waking up early.

In the weeks since I attempted to copy Spiegel's routine, I've continued using the face wash, sleeping by 10:30 p.m. and waking up by 7 a.m. at the latest, and I'm happy with my progress.

It's a stark contrast to how exhausted I felt after finishing Tim Cook's routine, which surprised me since both men wake up incredibly early.

Looking back, it's easy to see how important timing was in the outcome of both routines. When I completed Cook's routine, daylight-saving time had just started, causing me to lose an hour of sleep; my body never had a chance to adjust properly before being thrown into a completely new routine. By comparison, trying Spiegel's routine in mid-April allowed me to adjust and wake up shortly before sunrise.

Waking up at 5 a.m. is still unnecessary for my lifestyle, but I think the best part of trying a routine like this again has been learning how to be more disciplined. Of course, it would be easy to lay in bed for an extra 15 minutes — and trust me, sometimes I do — but if I know that getting out of bed will make me less rushed and stressed, what's the point in continuing to self-sabotage?

I've by no means mastered my mornings, but I think I've gotten one step closer to figuring out the puzzle, and that's good enough for now.

• I quit after working at Disney World for three months through the Disney College Program.
• I didn't have a say in where I worked and was tossed around between parks.
• After a few years away, I'm ready to go back as a guest, but not an employee.

It was always my dream to work at Disney World, and in 2019, it came true when I was hired through the Disney College Program.

That summer, I counted down the seconds until my start date. I moved to Florida in August, a month before my 20th birthday, and I was officially the farthest I'd ever lived from my hometown in Michigan.

But three months later, I quit.

I initially loved my job, but then the company made me switch parks

I was originally hired to work at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival, taking orders and giving guests their food and beverages at the booths around the World Showcase.

My responsibilities were different each day, which kept my job interesting. I genuinely enjoyed it. But my program continued until January 2020, over a month after Food and Wine ended.

Most of the College Program employees were reallocated to other parts of the Disney property, even though Epcot's next festival was starting soon.

I had no say in where I'd work next, and I ended up at Magic Kingdom.

I always loved visiting Magic Kingdom for the parades, fireworks, and rides. But I knew working in the busiest park — especially around the holidays — would be a shift from my chiller assignment at Epcot.

A few days into my new position, I knew I had to leave

With my new location assignment, I had to undergo training all over again. And by the time I was trained, I'd only be there for a couple of weeks.

Even though I only had about a month left in my College Program, I quit after a couple of days of training at Magic Kingdom. My feelings toward the job just weren't the same anymore.

It's no surprise that Disney is expensive, but while working there, I realized how true that was for every aspect of the vacation — from park tickets to bottled water.

This left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, especially since I was only paid around $10 an hour for grueling shifts in the Florida heat.

Additionally, because of the timing of my program (August to January), I was set to work my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.

I was initially excited to be at Disney for the holiday season. But being so far away from home and having to be "on" all the time at work (even when I was tired or out of it) proved extremely difficult.

It's taken me some time to neutralize my feelings toward Disney

I don't regret my time at Disney, and I'm glad I got the opportunity. But it took me a few years to return after I quit.

It was difficult to transition back to the magical guest perspective after being a frustrated employee.

I don't think I can ever work at the theme parks again. But now that I've gotten some necessary distance, I'm finally ready to continue visiting as a guest.