I'm not sure whether I should feel guilty for not telling Jessica about the ulterior motives for my palm-reading visit. On the one hand, I probably should have said I was testing it out for a story. On the other hand, she's a psychic, so she should have intuited it.

She didn't, which meant that on a warm June afternoon I found myself seated across from her in a sweaty little basement space in lower Manhattan. For $25, which wound up being $30 because she didn't have change, Jessica told me my fortune. She said that I'm a kind person (true, I hope), that I'm standoffish (also true, unfortunately), and that I'm about to change jobs and move (no and no). She also said I'm afraid to express my creative side through activities like writing, which … well. Toward the end of the reading, Jessica saw something darker, a negative energy holding me back. She suggested I consider a cleansing. The cost: $500.

Many of you are likely rolling your eyes, but plenty of people are open to the idea of the paranormal. In a 2017 survey of American adults by the Pew Research Center, 41% of respondents said they believed in psychics, 42% said they thought spiritual energy could be located in physical things, and 29% said they believed in astrology. In a 2019 IPSOS survey, nearly half of respondents said they believed in ghosts. There's a line between believing in psychics and paying for them, but plenty of people do indeed pay, and even some big businesses are willing to shell out for a consultation. According to IBISWorld, the psychic-services industry in the US is worth $2.3 billion.

I took Jessica's card and told her I'd think about her proposition. I'm inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt that she trusts in her abilities, but even people I know who are into the psychic thing said this didn't sound legitimate, not like the "real" psychics they go to.

In her defense, Jessica (whose name I changed here because I didn't want to screw up her business) had her prices listed outside her shop, and upselling isn't a new phenomenon. It's a little mind-bending to think about how psychics go about setting prices — how they gauge fair costs for their services, decipher what customers will agree to, and use the opacity of the market to their advantage. It's not like there's some tarot price index or many materials that go into the work besides their supposed magical abilities. But for the most part, psychics rely on good old supply and demand, sprinkling in some extra tactics — mystical and not — to bring in profits. The $500 Jessica was asking for might seem worth it to a true believer. Had she gone lower, I might have said yes and paid $50 to get the devil off my back, just in case.

Psychic prices are all over the place. On Sanctuary, an app where you can find astrologists and mediums, many readings start at $5 for five minutes, but then some people charge $3 (or even $13 or $20) per additional minute. The shops you see in major cities may advertise a price of $10 or $25, but that's often just to get people in the door. Psychics and mediums haven't been immune to inflation either. Data provided to me by the online ticketing service Eventbrite indicates the average ticket price for psychic-related events in the US rose to $44 in 2023 from $39 in 2019.

I reached out to a couple of psychics to get a sense of how they approached pricing, and you may not be surprised to learn that the answer wasn't straightforward. Some of it is basic business principles, but a lot of it is pretty woo-woo.

This is a luxury service at the end of the day.

"Many of us live eccentric lifestyles to be permitted to exist the way that we do safely with one foot on either side of the veil," said Blue June, a tarot reader based in New York, adding that they had to keep "regimented and sometimes unusual routines" to be accurate.

June said some of the parameters that determine price are quite mundane: experience and expertise, what nearby competitors charge, customer reviews, and overhead. But there are also some more mystic pieces to her pricing. She charges $55.55 to $155.55 for her services — a dream interpretation is her cheapest offer, while spellwork is the most expensive. (In numerology, 555 is an "angel number" that symbolizes change and transformation.)

"Clients should not approach the inquiry of service prices with a gifted psychic in the same way they approach their grocery bill," June said. "This is a luxury service at the end of the day, and it cannot be defined in the same way as any other shopping can."

Lisa Stardust, a New York-based astrologer, said she sometimes gives free readings to people if they're in pain or have a quick question — but like anyone, she has her limits. "The thing about being so empathetic and having all of this sensitivity to the world is a lot of people can take advantage of that," she said.

She charges $50 for one tarot question answered via email and $200 for a full astrological reading, though she says there's some wiggle room if people can't pay the full amount. She wants people to feel that they got their money's worth, she abides by a code of ethics, and this isn't her only stream of income. "I'm not pushing services on people that they don't deserve or need," she said.

There wouldn't be a supply of psychics out there charging money if there wasn't demand. Value ultimately comes down to how much someone is willing to pay. So why are people willing to pay for what's essentially a guess by a stranger?

If people have got a bereavement and they go to a psychic, having some sort of contact, whether it's genuine or not, with somebody who's passed over actually is reassuring to people.

Neil Dagnall and Ken Drinkwater, a pair of cognitive and parapsychological researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University, have spent years researching people's paranormal beliefs. They said one reason people engage with the paranormal is that they're searching for meaning. They want to resolve life's uncertainties, reaffirm their own beliefs, or gain a sense of closure.

"If people have got a bereavement and they go to a psychic, having some sort of contact, whether it's genuine or not, with somebody who's passed over actually is reassuring to people," Dagnall said.

"Maybe I'm skeptical, but I'm not a debunker, by the way," Drinkwater said. "I end up being compassionate about people's experiences and think that they're real to them."

Some psychics are able to charge what may seem like exorbitant prices because people make inferences about quality based on price. Whatever our motivations for going for a psychic — we think they'll get us in touch with the dead, or we're just doing it for kicks — we don't want the low-budget version. There are limits here, because once you get to $300, chances are you think it's real. But given a choice between a $1 reading or a $20 reading, a lot of people will spring for the $20 one because they figure it's better.

"If it's too cheap, people might assume that it's not good, that it actually isn't effective," said Jane Risen, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business who has studied why people might want magical products even if they don't entirely think they work. "In some ways, putting the price on it, making people pay for it, can be part of why people think that it could work."

If you really believe what the psychic will tell you, of course you're going to pay for it. But not everyone who goes to a psychic buys into it. For those in the latter camp, it may come down to emotional management, Risen said. You're pretty sure the psychic won't predict the future or solve your problems, but she might make you feel less worried. Risen's research suggests that while getting a psychic's services doesn't make the bad thing less likely (obviously), it does make us less afraid of it.

"You could imagine purchasing partially for the emotional management of it and partially because you feel like, 'Well, I might as well be better safe than sorry,'" she said. It isn't that different from knocking on wood or drinking that shot of apple cider vinegar in the morning, even though you can't remember what sort of ailment it's supposed to be alleviating.

It should go without saying here that going to a psychic is often fun. Many people derive joy from having their fortunes told and toying with the possibility that what's said might be right. There's often a social element, too — people get their palms read with a group of friends. It's like when the lottery jackpot gets really high and everyone's buying tickets and fantasizing about what they'll do with their riches, even though they know they're not going to win.

There are countless stories about psychic hoaxes. In the early 2000s, the Federal Trade Commission dinged the TV psychic Miss Cleo, accusing her of engaging in deceptive advertising and billing practices. The faith healer Peter Popoff would send his wife and staffers to chat with audience members before his sessions and then pass the intel on to him. But something doesn't have to be a scam to be harmful or predatory.

Psychics have a lot of tools at their disposal to get more money out of people. They may inject a sense of urgency or scarcity, use a bait and switch, or hook you with a cheap service before upselling you. It's not that different from how a lot of businesses work, from car dealerships to e-commerce websites. On the one hand, if something feels good to someone, who is anyone to say it's bad? On the other hand, these practices can become detrimental when people allow them to dictate their important life decisions. "My psychic said" isn't a good reason to buy a stock or to end your marriage.

"If a person's buying into everything that person's telling them," Drinkwater said, "that's problematic."

He and Dagnall told me that most of the psychics they'd interviewed really believed they had abilities and only a handful admitted they didn't. Many are skeptical of other psychics; they don't want the fakes out there giving them a bad name.

Openness is generally a positive quality, but some people are a little too open, to the point they get taken advantage of, said Ralph Lewis, an associate professor in the psychiatry department at the University of Toronto who has an extracurricular interest in "weird" beliefs. "Some people are very open, and some people are not very open, but too much openness equals gullibility, credulity, suggestibility, and so on," he said. "You go too far, then as the skeptics like to say, don't be so open-minded that your brain falls out."

There are all sorts of biases that make people believe in psychics when they shouldn't. There's hindsight bias, where we see past events as more predictable than they were. There's also our tendency to conflate correlation and causation: I give Jessica $500 for the cleansing, I get a promotion at work, and there I am a month later handing over another $500 even though the cleansing had nothing to do with it.

"People are free to spend their money any way they choose, and we're never going to stop them from wasting money on implausible products," Lewis said. "But I do, on the other hand, think that it's not just benign to let people have their magical beliefs and lead them unchallenged."

Dagnall told me — while telling his coresearcher not to laugh — that at one point he started seeing a series of ones all over the place. He looked it up online, and supposedly it was his guardian angel telling him things were going to be fortuitous.

"Now, I know it's not true, but it's just interesting that I was noticing that number, and I wanted to sort of then say, OK, well, if I was into the paranormal, what significance would it have?" he said. "The paranormal is quite seductive in that way, in that it can offer explanations for odd, anomalous things."

His coresearcher did, indeed, laugh.

If it's not obvious by now, I am a psychic skeptic. I've spent a few hundred dollars on mystical stuff over the years at the behest of friends — a psychic fair here, a crystal there — and have almost always felt disappointed. So while reporting for this story, I talked to a friend of a friend named Katy who's really into all of this to try to understand her motivations.

Katy sees her shaman every month for $80. "I literally run my life through her," she told me. She does monthly therapy through a psychic for $105 a session. That psychic is also a pet psychic, which is not Katy's jam. For her horoscope, Katy has a favorite YouTuber who works on tips. She sometimes stops for tarot readings at her local farmer's market. She sees it all as self-care.

"For me, it's a part of my wellness routine," Katy said. "It just happens to be on my checklist."

In a consumerist society, of course some people are willing to pay to commune with the afterlife.

Once, after an accident on her block in Chicago, Katy used a psychic to ensure the person had crossed over. Another time, she bought a bunch of bath oils in New York after a psychic told her she was cursed. She felt that only the latter episode was sketchy; I thought both were.

What's worth it, financially, for Katy would not be worth it for a lot of people. Once you get past necessities, that's true of a lot of things, whether it be a Birkin bag or Taylor Swift tickets or someone who says they can help you talk to your dead dad. We spend money on silly stuff all the time — just ask the NFT people. In a consumerist society, of course some people are willing to pay to commune with the afterlife. And in a capitalist society, of course some people are willing to take their money.

Despite my qualms, the day after I met with Jessica, I texted her to ask what the cleansing entailed. She told me it was "research meditation" to look into my past, present, and future in order to heal my mind, body, and soul. I asked if there were options if I didn't have the $500 she wanted, and she didn't budge. Apparently, Jessica drives a hard bargain.

Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.

• Rhaenyra Targaryen is one of two candidates fighting for the throne in "House of the Dragon" season two.
• "Game of Thrones" season three made a small nod to Rhaenyra's fate after her bid for the throne.
• Here's how Rhaenyra dies in "Fire and Blood," the show's source material, and potentially the series.

Warning: Major spoilers for the book "Fire and Blood," the first two episodes of "House of the Dragon" season two, and potential spoilers for future episodes of the show.

Rhaenyra Targaryen seems like the better choice to rule Westeros in "House of the Dragon" season two to most viewers, but her story may be going down a dark path if the series strictly follows its source material.

Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) was the named heir to the Iron Throne in "House of the Dragon" season one, but the Hightower family usurped the throne to prop up the former king's eldest son, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney).

In season two, the Hightowers in King's Landing, and Rhaenyra and her allies in Dragonstone, gather resources and support to prepare for civil war as neither party is willing to give up their claim to the throne.

Rhaenyra seems to be the more emotionally mature and competent leader of the two possible rulers and is the better candidate for the throne.

But "Game of Thrones" fans are likely well aware of Rhaenyra's cruel fate already.

In season three, episode four, Joffrey Lannister gives his bride-to-be Margaery Tyrell a tour of King's Landing's Red Keep when he mentions Rhaenyra's death.

"Rhaenyra Targaryen was murdered by her brother, or rather, his dragon," Joffrey recalls. "It ate her while her son watched. What's left of her is buried in the crypts right down there."

"House of the Dragon" is the second time HBO has turned one of George R. R. Martin's fantasy novels into a TV show juggernaut. The prequel series is based on Martin's "Fire and Blood" novel, a history book for the original "A Song of Ice and Fire" series that "Game of Thrones" is based on.

Here's how Rhaenyra Targaryen dies in "Fire and Blood."

In the book, Rhaenyra takes over King's Landing, but both the throne and the people reject her

At one point during the civil war recounted in "Fire and Blood," Rhaenyra and her army take over the capital, King's Landing, and Aegon II and his allies flee.

Rhaenyra finally gets to sit on the Iron Throne and rules for six months, but things quickly take a turn for the worse.

Firstly, Rhaenyra gets wounded by the throne on multiple occasions, which is an omen that means that the throne has rejected her. Rhaenyra then angers the people by raising taxes and executing people she thought helped Aegon II escape the capital.

After Helaena Targaryen, Aegon II's sister-wife and the people's favorite, dies by suicide, the people riot, ousting Rhaenyra and killing one of her sons, Joffrey Valeryon.

Rhaenyra uses the last of her resources to escape with her family and head to Dragonstone, her former base.

When Rhaenyra reaches Dragonstone, Aegon II is already there and has slain all her followers.

Sealing his victory, Aegon II feeds Rhaenyra to his dragon Sunfyre in front of her last remaining child, Aegon III.

Since "House of the Dragon" is a prequel to "Game of Thrones," it is likely that Rhaenyra will face the same ultimate fate as she does in the book. But the path to this death may be changed.

"House of the Dragon" season two airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and is streaming on Max.

• Starbucks' biggest store is its 35,000-square-foot Reserve Roastery on Chicago's Magnificent Mile.
• There are four floors, each with a coffee bar with slightly different offerings, as well as a roof terrace.
• You can get exclusive drinks and merchandise only available at its Reserve Roasteries.

The world's biggest Starbucks store is spread over four floors, has a roof terrace, roasts its own coffee, serves luxury coffees and cocktails, and sells a range of exclusive merchandise that you can't find elsewhere.

Starbucks' biggest store isn't in Seattle, where the coffee giant is based. Nor is it in New York City, where bleary-eyed office workers and enthusiastic tourists alike sip on its cold brews.

Instead, it's in Chicago, nestled partway down the Windy City's Magnificent Mile, a busy hub of shops, bars, and restaurants.

Source: Starbucks

It's not just a massive regular Starbucks store, though. The Chicago location is actually a Starbucks Reserve Roastery, one of just six in the world. They sell upscale coffees and cocktails as well as an extensive selection of Starbucks merchandise.

The store is spread over four main floors, each with a café or coffee bar, plus a roof terrace. It totals 35,000 square feet.

Source: Starbucks

The ground floor is stocked with merchandise specific to the store, including mugs, water bottles, and candles. You could also get a Chicago crewneck sweater for $80. Many of the items are exclusive to the Chicago Reserve Roastery and can't be bought online.

Some of the items were beautifully decorated, like these $35 bottles and packs of coffee beans.

There was even a Starbucks Reserve Roastery jigsaw puzzle and coloring book.

Of course, there's also a coffee bar on the ground floor, where you can get a range of coffees, teas, pastries, and desserts. Like the other coffee bars in the building, you can choose the type of coffee beans in your drink and also get exclusive Starbucks Reserve beverages not available elsewhere.

Starbucks uses the same color scheme — copper with teal ceilings — throughout the store. The result was a very sleek and upscale appearance.

Heading to the second floor, you'll find the Princi café and bakery. This is the main place to get food in the Reserve Roastery.

There's a selection of pizza flavors, including some seasonal ones, like zucchini and burrata and sausage and grilled pepper. They cost $9.50 per slice.

You can also get focaccia sandwiches, avocado on toast with a range of toppings, and croissants with prosciutto and fontina cheese.

They're all priced at around $9, but for $2 extra, you can drizzle hot honey on top.

Hot honey is EVERYWHERE right now.

There's a huge selection of desserts, too, with most selling for around $10.

The desserts vary seasonally, too. A member of staff told me that the most popular dessert is the tiramisu, followed by the cheesecake.

When I visited, there was a small menu by the counter listing the seasonal food and beverages, but other than that there was no full menu available without scanning the QR code.

On the third floor is the "Experiential Coffee Bar" where Starbucks says you can "immerse yourself in the art, science and theater of coffee." Options include a malted milkshake made with cold brew aged in a whiskey barrel and a range of coffee flights.

There are some hot honey cocktails on the menu, too. The affogato costs $10.50 and the espresso martini costs $18.

And on the fourth floor, Starbucks has its Arriviamo Bar. As well as wine, beer, and traditional cocktails, you can also choose from an extensive range of coffee cocktails, plus some featuring green, rooibos, and matcha tea.

There's also more Reserve-branded merchandise on this floor, like these Chemex coffeemakers.

The building is dominated by a 56-foot steel cask — the building's tallest — that spans all four floors. It's where coffee beans rest and de-gas after being roasted.

Source: Starbucks

Throughout the building you can spot artwork inspired by coffee or by the brand …

… as well as informational displays, like this sign explaining how coffee cards are designed.

As well as large windows looking down onto Michigan Avenue, the building has skylights which make the spirit bottles at the top-floor bar twinkle.

Finally, on the top floor of the building is the pièce de résistance — the rooftop terrace with views of part of the Magnificent Mile. You have to buy your food and drinks on another floor and take them up via the stairs or elevator.

This was the view when I visited on a sunny day with a clear sky. The black building in the background is the Hancock Tower, one of the city's tallest buildings.

If you want to learn more about coffee making and tasting, or you'd like to recreate the Reserve Roastery's coffees and cocktails at home, you can sign up for one of its four sessions, which range from $45 to $95 per person.

Chicago has some fantastic restaurants, and I wouldn't advise anyone to miss out on sampling some of its iconic dishes like deep-dish pizza, Polish hot dogs, and jibaritos just to try Starbucks pizza. There are lots of great bars and coffee shops throughout the city, too.

But with its menu of coffee, cocktails, and pastries exclusive to Starbucks Reserve locations, as well as its extensive array of merchandise, I can see why true aficionados of the Siren would have the world's biggest Starbucks on their bucket lists.

• BI spoke to three late starters in the financial independence movement.
• They started to save and invest in their 40s and 50s and set themselves up for early retirement.
• Their strategies range from safe investments to living minimally to tight budgeting.

Gina Murillo was about to turn 50 and had almost $40,000 in consumer debt, with only $69,000 in her retirement savings. Now almost 57, Murillo, who lives in the Chicago area, has a net worth of over $1.1 million and is on pace to reach financial independence within three years.

Murillo had her kids in her early 20s, working various jobs to support her family. For much of her adult life, she was a single parent receiving no child support. She graduated from law school in her early 40s after working as a paralegal, but she didn't love being an attorney for a large firm. At 49, she got a job that nearly doubled her income.

She got interested in the financial independence movement after reading blogs like Mr. Money Mustache. She took a $35,000 pay cut to join a boutique law firm, but it ignited her journey toward financial stability.

"I realized that if these people could achieve FI in less than 10 years during their 20s and 30s, there was no reason I couldn't do the same in my 50s," Murillo said. "What I lost in pay, I gained in work-life balance."

She developed a plan to pay off her debt, saving roughly 40-50% of her net income of between $120,000 and $140,000. She tracked every dollar she spent, cut unnecessary spending, and put a portion of her earnings into investments. She paid off her debt within 18 months, then improved her investment strategies to get higher returns. After a few years, she loosened restrictions on her spending habits to include things she valued, though she kept spending low.

"When I started this journey, I thought I'd never be able to retire," Murillo said. "Now, I'm just a few years away from that."

Murillo is one of many Americans who started their financial independence journeys later in life but are on pace to meet their early retirement goals. While much attention in the community is devoted to those retiring well before 65 or starting their journeys young, Gen Xers told Business Insider they're working to draw attention to "late bloomers" who dug themselves out of years of debt or only started budgeting midcareer.

Late starters told BI they could still achieve many of their financial goals despite years of financial instability. All said it took years of hard work to get back on track, though they agreed their strategies aren't out of reach for many Americans.

Embarking on financial independence

Bill Yount, 57, grew up middle class and enrolled in a state medical school, becoming an emergency physician by his early 30s. When he came out of his residency, he was $30,000 in credit card debt with "a smattering" of student loans.

Because of his employment success, he said he experienced lifestyle creep. He got married, bought a big house in a nice neighborhood, had two kids, and purchased a new car — which sent him into debt.

"We got caught up in what I call the 20-year funnel of life: raising kids, dual income family, relatively higher income because of being physicians, but living a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle, inflating our lifestyle as our pay went up," Yount said.

During the Great Recession, he and his wife sold much of their equities fearing an even greater downturn, which cost them long-term. All this time, they hadn't prioritized retirement savings.

By the time he turned 50, he and his wife had a net worth of almost a million. Still, he realized he needed to change things up, aiming to have a couple million saved up by retirement.

Yount read dozens of books and listened to hundreds of podcasts relating to personal finance. He began tracking his expenses, especially after his wife went back to work full-time. He adopted a more simplistic investment approach, such as Vanguard total market funds and intermediate and short-term treasuries. He also got into real estate investing, though it wasn't as fruitful as he anticipated.

His savings increased to about 40% of gross income, and he lowered his cost of living by moving to Tennessee and downsizing his home by half. He exercised what he called "backwards budgeting," or saving a high percentage of income and then basing spending around what's left.

In under a decade, he and his wife grew their net worth to over $5 million. He's used his success to help other late-starts on his podcast and website Catching up to FI.

"As a late starter, you feel isolated, you feel ashamed, you don't want to tell anybody you're not good at talking about money," Yount said, adding: "Late Starters don't feel spoken to in the financial independence movement, and that's when they discover us. They all universally say, I found my tribe."

Strategies for late starters

Jackie Cummings Koski, 54, grew up "very poor" in South Carolina, raised as one of six kids by a single dad. To fund her college education, she worked 50 hours a week to cover her expenses while attending classes.

Her first job was at Walmart in corporate communications before becoming a store manager in Ohio. She got married a year after college, had a kid shortly after, and put a downpayment on a new home after selling Walmart stock.

She faced a divorce in the mid-2000s, and she realized her ex-husband saved much more than her. She had just $20,000 in her 401(k), while her ex-husband had $120,000 and more successful investments.

As a single mother, she took time to regroup in her late 30s and started learning more about finances while an account manager at data analytics company LexisNexis. Through the organization Better Investing, she took part in a model investment club, learning the ins and outs of investment strategies. She began maxing out her 401(k) and health savings account, then made it her goal to achieve FIRE.

She started investing in 2008, which meant high returns on many of her investments as she was able to buy at relatively low prices in the wake of the financial crisis. She invested in growth index funds through Vanguard, which was less risky than individual stocks.

She said much of her financial growth in her 40s stemmed from people explaining financial topics simply. She previously feared never having enough for retirement, but she mapped out what it would take to get to savings 25 times her expenses after listening to advice from podcasts. She didn't want to lock up her money until she turned 65, so she learned ways to get money out of her retirement accounts earlier.

She acknowledged her journey wasn't perfect — she said she could've put more in a brokerage account, sold her backup vehicle, or cut back on certain things. But she said she got to a point where she didn't need to budget every penny and could still spend on vacations.

By 47, she reached a million in net worth, which was about 25 times her expenses. She was still not mentally ready to retire, as she never made six figures in any role, so she worked for two more years and retired at $1.3 million.

From there, she got a master's degree in financial therapy and personal finance planning, then got her Certified Financial Planner and Accredited Financial Counselor certifications. Over the last few years, she became an advisor board member for various financial institutions, provided consulting services to organizations, became a financial educator for startups, and is a co-host on Catching up to FI. She also wrote the book "F.I.R.E. For Dummies."

"Anybody could google something, anybody could read a book, but you don't know what you don't know," she said. "I'm a firm believer that the messenger matters."

Are you part of the FIRE movement or living by some of its principles? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.

• Hailey Myers is a 40-year-old mum to four who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• For her 40th birthday, she asked her sisters and mom to dress up in wedding dresses for dinner.
• They all enjoyed doing it, and are planning to repeat it sometime soon. 

When it's your 40th birthday, people can't say no to what you want to do. They just have to go along with whatever you want to do to celebrate. At least, that's what I think.

For my 40th, I wanted my sisters and mom — who only live a short distance from me — to dress up as the same thing and go out to dinner. I'd seen people go out as a group of grandmas, for instance, but I wanted something unique and different.

Leading up to my birthday, I asked my mom if she still had all our wedding dresses in the house.

"Yep, you want to take yours?" she asked. "They're all still hanging up there."

I told her no, but I would like us all to wear them to celebrate my birthday.

There was no shame about not fitting in them

Most of my sisters were excited about the idea. A couple of us knew we wouldn't fit into our dresses, but we planned to use safety pins on either side of the zip, with ribbon crisscrossing, as a makeshift corset — there was no shame about the fact we couldn't fit into our dresses. I told my mom she could just wear her favorite mother-of-the-bride dress.

On the night we had scheduled, all but one of my sisters and mom drove their minivans to my house with their wedding dresses stuffed into the driver's seat.

One of my sisters had stopped off at Trader Joe's to grab a ton of flowers to make bouquets, and we sat at the dining room table, assembling them before dinner. We had love songs blaring on Alexa while laughing about our impending stunt.

Before it got dark, we started the 10-minute walk from my house in Midtown Tulsa, a historic neighborhood, into the bustling center of town. The thought of walking alongside the road was mortifying, but it was really fun.

People stopped to take our photos

Every car that drove past us slowed down to honk or wave. Several people offered to take pictures of us. I had expected at least some negative responses from people thinking we looked stupid, but there was nothing like that. It made everyone smile.

While we walked, our trains dropped and zips loosened, so it took a bit longer than usual to get into town. We loved looking at how unintentionally similar our dresses were.

Stepping into the newly opened, full-to-the-brim restaurant, everyone dining stopped and turned to watch as we paraded in. The place went silent.

Once we arrived at the dinner table, we talked about all our wedding memories. It was such a reminiscent time — recalling what we remembered from each wedding. We laughed and cried, thinking back to how precious each one was.

Although our weddings and this "wedding dress dinner" were particularly memorable days together, my mom, sisters, and I make memories every week.

I'm close to my family

Every Tuesday, we have a weekly hangout. It's a non-negotiable for all of us. We might float in a pool together or just sit around a table, talking about how we're all doing. We talk about all the hard things we're going through. Sometimes, we don't agree with each other, but because we value each other, we listen to and respect one another. We don't leave things under the rug because those things will fester and turn into more if not talked about.

We work on our relationships with each other, and it has paid off repeatedly over the years.

This tight-knit bond started when we were kids. My mom always told us that friends would come and go, but sisters last forever. She instilled a commitment to family in her girls, and it has lasted into adulthood.

Dressing up in our wedding dresses, remembering the best days of our lives, was especially sweet for my mom. She had paid for the most expensive pieces of clothing we'd ever wear, and now she could see them again while reflecting with us about the days we'd worn them.

The whole evening was one we'd love to do again.

• Business Insider spoke to Gen Z workers and millennial managers about how they approach work.
• The Gen Z workers challenged the 9-to-5 work hours, hustle culture, and strict dress codes.
• Two millennial managers are learning from Gen Z's focus on work-life balance and self-expression.

Gen Z, a generation born between 1997 and 2012, continues to challenge the workplace status quo and rewrite the narrative of professionalism.

"Hustle culture" is being replaced with work-life balance, emotions are edging their way into corporate conversations, and business casual is a distant memory. But sometimes, the transition is not without strife from older generations who intend to reinforce the standard.

For example, some millennials who manage Gen Zers face the unique challenge of weighing their corporate conditioning against more progressive ideals. As a result, they're modifying their leadership strategies and their relationship to work.

Business Insider spoke with three disruptive Gen Zers in the workforce and two millennial managers who are navigating how to lead them.

The Gen Zers shared that they prioritize rest, mental health, and self-expression. The millennial managers shared that they struggle to manage their Gen Z employees' emotions and sensitivity, but they've learned from the younger generation's work-life balance.

Piper Hansen said her 9-5 job was depressing

A few months into her first full-time job, at 23, Piper Hansen was shocked at the all-consuming nature of her 9-5 schedule. She told BI that her job working at a YMCA office was personally fulfilling but left her with only enough time and energy to prepare for the next day of work. The lack of flexibility left her with questions.

"How can I make sure I'm eating well and seeing my friends and taking time for my hobbies? How am I supposed to fit my whole life into a 9-to-5 work schedule?" Hansen said.

Other Gen Zers who've shared similar complaints online have received a largely unsympathetic response from older folks who view Gen Z's sensitivity as a symptom of laziness.

But, Hansen told BI that she believes a rich life outside work is possible. Although she doesn't know what her career trajectory looks like, Hansen said she's proud to be a part of a generation that believes in the possibility of something greater.

Kim Schewitz said Gen Z just wants rest and relaxation

After the pandemic forced people to stay indoors, Gen Zer, Kim Schewitz expressed, in an article for BI, that she was delighted to see her Gen Z peers adopt her affinity for "wholesome" activities like knitting, naps, and nights in.

Her generation's emphasis on self-care and rest outlived the pandemic and transferred into the workplace. Schewitz wrote that she was relieved to see Gen Z replacing hustle culture and 'toxic' productivity with 'quiet quitting' and work-life balance — especially considering Gen Z is one of the first generations projected to make less money than their parents.

"What's the point of 'living to work' if you'll never get to reap the rewards?" Schewitz said. "Gen Z appears to be less focused on the future and more on living enjoyable lives now."

Prioritizing a slower, cozier life may pose benefits for anyone, but Schewitz said it's especially important for a generation that's struggling with mental health more than ever.

Maya Penn says her bold outfits and natural Afro are professional

Some people say that Gen Z's eclectic style is unprofessional, but 24-year-old Maya Penn said Gen Z is simply embracing authenticity.

"It's always been important for me to stand out, and I've always had my own style," Penn told BI. "I've never felt the need to adhere to specific trends."

As an environmental activist, entrepreneur, and CEO of a fashion company, Penn said her goal is to promote inclusivity, sustainability, and self-expression. She's part of a generation that's swapping fast fashion and size-exclusive brands for thrift clothes, hand-me-downs, and upholstery.

Penn uses her eclectic finds to rebel from the corporate standard and embody her personal style — namely through bold colors and jewelry from the African and Indigenous diaspora. She even wears her natural Afro, a choice that she said has garnered negative comments since childhood.

"When asked about it, I respond that 'yes,' it's my natural hair, and I wear it this way because it's beautiful, elegant, and professional."

Penn uses her position as CEO to show her employees that professionalism is proven through action, not through adherence to aged ideals.

This millennial manager says Gen Z's emotions are inappropriate for the workplace

Many Gen Zers started their careers in a remote environment during the pandemic and missed the opportunity to observe the unwritten rules of workplace etiquette. A millennial manager, who chose to be anonymous to protect her career, told BI she noticed her Gen Z employees crossing professional boundaries — like dumping all of their feelings about work onto her.

"They're unsure of how to cope with everyday challenges — competing deadlines, interpersonal issues, and receiving feedback — and they want to express that," the millennial manager said.

She also mentioned that she's learned some valuable tools to help deal with Gen Z workers, such as discerning when to provide solutions and when to just listen. One anxious employee spun with indecision until the millennial manager provided a solution, while another just needed a space to vent.

Another tool she's implemented is adopting a softer approach to giving feedback after she noticed her Gen Z employees were interpreting her initial approach as criticism.

Despite the challenges of leading Gen Z, this manager said the younger generation has taught her to prioritize her personal life.

Hannah Tooker says her Gen Z employees helped her grow

Hannah Tooker started managing Gen Z employees three years ago and said that although they have a different approach to work than millennials, they're fearless and creative.

As the senior vice president at a marketing agency, Tooker told BI she enjoys teaching her Gen Z employees just as much as learning from them.

They've taught her to prioritize the emotional needs of her team, communicate with more clarity, and use social media as a tool. She said they even helped her confront her "hustle-culture" mentality and reevaluate her work-life balance.

"Burnout was a badge of honor for the first half of my career," Tooker said. "Since entering the workforce, Gen Z has said, 'That's not for me.'"

However, not everyone is as receptive to Gen Z's approach to work.

"Some people complain that they're hard to work with, but having high expectations and wanting work-life balance and an employer who cares isn't a bad thing," Tooker told BI.

Are you a Gen Zer or millennial with a unique story about your experience in the workforce? Email Tess Martinelli at tmartinelli@businessinsider.com

• AI "slop" images all over Facebook. They're surreal and sometimes grotesque. Pure engagement bait.
• There's even a Twitter/X account dedicated to posting the most ridiculous stuff.
• So why isn't Facebook cracking down?

Jesus's head on a fried chicken. A woman bicycling with a basket full of babies and burritos.

This is all "AI slop," the new term describing the sudden flood of garbage AI-generated content, from ebooks to viral photos. Slop is everywhere on the internet, but its most pure version exists on Facebook.

This is the Shrimp Jesus kind of slop: bizarre, obviously fake, and sometimes vaguely unsettling in a trypophobia-triggering way. Common themes involve old people holding a birthday cake asking you to wish them a happy birthday; babies doing things babies shouldn't do; snakes eating buses, bikes, or other vehicles overloaded with hundreds of babies or some other cargo; soldiers with prosthetic legs; women with missing limbs and huge busts; and Jesus. The images are often sort of eerily exploitative.

These tend to be posted on Facebook pages with generic-sounding names and captions that don't necessarily reflect the photo, like "why don't photos like this ever trend," or "beautiful cabin crew," and "Scarlett Johansson" for an image of Jesus built into the hood of a car.

Why slop? The best explanation is that the Facebook pages posting these are making bait for potential scam targets, helping scammers identify gullible people in the comments who they can potentially extract money from.

Another possibility is that posting these images is a good tactic to build up a large page audience, which can be lucrative.

The vague similarities among the pages suggest that the AI slop is being posted by a network of shady actors based in countries outside the US. It's spam-adjacent stuff — if not outright spam.

This slop is sloppy enough that it can sometimes be very funny — and there's even an X account, Insane Facebook AI Slop, dedicated to cataloging it.

It's embarrassing to Facebook that people on Twitter/X — X!!! a place full of bad things!!! — are laughing at Meta's poor content moderation.

This has been going on for quite a few months now. 404 Media, which has been diligently covering this, described how these images are part of a larger AI-fuelled "zombie internet" full of bots talking to bots. Not too long ago, I speculated about why Meta hasn't cracked down, but considering nothing has seemed to change, I find myself wondering yet again …

Why doesn't Facebook just ban this slop?

Here are a few of my theories:

• These images don't technically violate any rules — no nudity or other forbidden imagery.
• Facebook did make a warning label to note an image might be made with AI when its systems detect it.
• Users actually enjoy this content — you see plenty of people in the comments who are probably duped and think it's a real image, or maybe just an interesting artistic rendition. Why mess with content people like?
• Facebook does ban this stuff, but only at an account level when the account posting it engages in obvious spam tactics. But not all of the accounts are spamming.
• Slop is often scam-adjacent, but the accounts posting it may not be directly always the ones doing the scams, so they don't get banned.
• Facebook worries that banning this kind of AI content will set a bad precedent because it wants to encourage people to make stuff with its own Llama 3 tools.
• Facebook doesn't like the AI slop but has bigger things to worry about.
• Facebook has stopped trying. This is what Jason Koebler from 404 Media speculates. Meta's previous commitments to working with researchers and academics have fizzled away, and the scrutiny over content moderation (helped by Elon Musk lowering the bar to the basement) has shifted. Meta is penny-pinching and focusing on the newest shiny thing (AI tools, Instagram, the Metaverse) and cares less and less about Facebook, this theory goes. Basically, they don't give a shit anymore.

I imagine that some combination of all of these might be true to some degree. A representative for Meta didn't reply to questions about why they don't simply ban AI slop. (I had recently also asked a VP of product at Meta about why they don't just ban this slop and he sort of changed the subject; it seemed like maybe he wasn't sure what I was talking about.)

Facebook has gone through so many different flavors of spammy/scammy engagementbait, from Minions memes to videos from magicians, to actually dangerous fake news and extremist groups. If the AI slop isn't suggesting you get together in real life and overthrow the government, hey, Facebook has seen way worse.

• A slew of new tank designs are emerging from European drawing boards.
• Many are alternatives to the pan-European tank envisioned by France and Germany.
• It faces domestic pressure to favor national projects that benefit a nation's workforce.

For years, the European tank market was fairly stable. Germany's Leopard 2 was the most common model in European armies, with Britain, France, and Italy producing a small number of indigenous models for their own armies.

But a slew of new tank designs are emerging from European drawing boards. This is partly spurred by the Ukraine war, which has seen the most intense armored warfare in Europe since 1945. But it may also reflect a lack of faith in the Main Ground Combat System, a joint project between France and Germany to develop a main battle tank by 2040.

"It seems that every industrial partner is working on its own alternative to MGCS," Léo Péria-Peigné, a French defense expert, told Business Insider.

It was inevitable that a new generation of tanks would emerge to replace the late Cold War designs that still dominate Western armies, such as the Leopard 2, M1 Abrams, and Britain's Challenger. Even the US Army is aiming for a next-generation version of the M1 Abrams that would slim down the 70-ton behemoth to less than 60 tons.

MCGS is meant to replace the Leopard 2 and France's Leclerc as the primary tanks in the German and French armies. Both nations recently signed an agreement to begin development and manufacturing of a prototype. But at the same time, MGCS seemed like it might also replace the Leopard 2 as a sort of pan-European tank. MGCS is supposed to be a modular design with advanced features such as a 140-mm gun, hybrid propulsion, advanced sensors, and the ability to team up unmanned ground vehicles. A conceptual model displayed in 2018 used a Leopard 2 hull and a Leclerc turret.

However, there are indications that Germany wants a fallback design, based on the latest Leopard 2A8 model, in case MCGS fizzles out. "The Leopard 2AX, an improved version of the Leopard 2A8 battle tank, is being developed by the German defense industry at the express request of the Bundeswehr," according to Army Recognition, a defense news site.

"This development also serves as a Plan B for Germany in case of failure of the Franco-German program, or even as a lever in future negotiations, thus confronting France with a fait accompli regarding the crucial decisions that remain to be made," Army Recognition said.

Meanwhile, two new designs are being offered by KNDS, a joint venture between German defense firm Krauss-Maffei Wegmann — manufacturer of the Leopard 2 — and France's Nexter, which produces the Leclerc.

The Leopard 2 A-RC 3.0 is a modular design with an unmanned turret with the crew nestled in the hull, similar to Russia's T-14 Armata. It can fire guided missiles and heavy cannon rounds, plus it has a 30-mm cannon and improved armor buttressed by an active protection system to stop anti-tank rockets. Existing Leopard 2 models can also be fitted with these features.

Significantly, KNDS "assesses the Leopard 2 A-RC 3.0 not only as a bridge solution until introduction of the next-generation land combat system MGCS, but also as a decisive technological precursor to MGCS," according to a company press release.

KNDS is also touting the Leclerc Evolution, which is fitted with the company's Ascalon turret and gun. The company describes Ascalon as "a main gun for battle tanks that is more powerful than all comparable barrel weapons. It can fire compact and programmable ammunition beyond the line of sight with minimal wear. Due to its scalability, Ascalon can be fitted with any barrel from 120 to 140 mm."

As if the procurement picture wasn't complicated enough, four companies — KNDS Germany, KNDS France, Germany's Rheinmetall and France's Thales — have also just announced a joint venture to develop the MGCS. Yet Rheinmetall is also marketing its KF51 Panther tank, armed with a new 130-mm cannon. Hungary has signed a development contract for the Panther, which Rheinmetall has also offered to Ukraine.

Political turmoil in France has also cast a shadow over MGCS, with far-right parties favored to win the upcoming parliamentary election. "It seems that even the German government believes the MGCS project could be abandoned if the right takes power," Péria-Peigné said.

"Things will get clearer over time, but it is obvious that both partners are keeping alternative solutions up their sleeves. Germany did for a long time. The new surprise is that even KNDS France seems to have done the same."

European defense budgets are already being strained by the need to replenish depleted stockpiles, sending a constant flow of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, and building up the manufacturing capacity to produce all these arms. This raises the question of whether there is enough money for all these various tank designs.

But the woes of MGCS also illustrate the problem that has always bedeviled joint European defense projects: the tension between saving money through joint development, versus domestic pressure to favor national projects that benefit a nation's manufacturers and workforce. If MGCS were to be abandoned, it would be a bad omen for the Future Combat Air System, a Franco-German-Spanish project to develop a sixth-generation fighter as well as air combat drones.

"Abandoning MGCS would be more of a burden for France than for Germany, as Germany does not need France to build a new tank," Péria-Peigné said. "Unlike in the FCAS, where France can do it alone technically but lacks the money to develop it alone."

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

• Jensen Huang is becoming more of a household name as Nvidia's value skyrockets amid the AI boom.
• The CEO has some unusual management practices, including having 50 direct reports and no 1-on-1s.
• Here are some of Huang's most notable tips when it comes to business leadership and management.

Nvidia overtook Apple and Microsoft separately earlier this month to briefly become the world's most valuable company.

With the AI chip company's stock skyrocketing, Huang has also seen his fame — and fortune — grow, and there are plenty of eyes on him to see how he runs one of the world's biggest companies.

Here is some of Huang's most notable advice for leading teams and managing a business.

Manage a lot of people

Huang believes a CEO should have more direct reports than anyone else in an organization. He, in fact, has more than 50 direct reports, considered an unusually high number for any manager.

"The more direct reports the CEO has, the less layers are in the company," Huang said in an interview at The New York Times DealBook Summit in 2023. "It allows us to keep information fluid, allows us to make sure that everyone is empowered by information."

Management exists "in service of all the other people that work at the company," he said in a separate interview with Stanford's Graduate School of Business earlier this year.

"I don't believe in a culture, in an environment, where the information you possess is the reason why you have power," he said.

Skip the 1:1 meetings

Huang has said he doesn't have one-on-one meetings with his many direct reports.

"Almost everything that I say, I say to everybody all at the same time," he said at Stripe Sessions 2024. "I don't really believe there's any information that I operate on that somehow only one or two people should hear about."

Give feedback publicly

In the same vein, Huang also believes in giving someone feedback in front of their peers.

"The problem I have with one-on-ones and taking feedback aside is you deprive a whole bunch of people that same learning," he said at Stripe Sessions. "Feedback is learning. For what reason are you the only person who should learn this?"

He added the learning from other people's mistakes is "the best way to learn.

"Why learn from your own mistakes? Why learn from your own embarrassment? You've got to learn from other people's embarrassment," he said.

Communicate briefly and often

Nvidia employees can expect to receive a lot of emails from their chief executive. Huang sends his staff hundreds of emails a day, many of which are only a few words long, The New Yorker reported last year.

He expects employees to keep their email communications just as concise.

One former Nvidia worker told Business Insider's Jyoti Mann that "you'd get in trouble for sending a super-long email to him."

"The idea was to nail down what you have to say, send it, and if he, or others, need more information, then it's a conversation, not another email," the former Nvidian said.

Show your work

Huang believes showing others how you reason through a problem is "empowering."

"I show people how to reason through things all the time — strategy things, how to forecast something, how to break a problem down, and you're just empowering people all over the place," he said in the Stanford Graduate School of Business interview.

He continued: "If you send me something and you want my input on it and I can be of service to you and in my review of it, share with you how I reasoned through it, I've made a contribution to you. I've made it possible to see how I reason through something."

That can lead to a lightbulb moment.

"You go, 'Oh my gosh. That's how you reason through something like this. It's not as complicated as it seems.'"

• An economist has said, "AI won't take your job, it's somebody using AI that will take your job."
• AI seems to be a positive for many workers, but some roles are more at risk of replacement.
• Experts advise skilling up and leaning into soft human skills as AI becomes embedded in work life.

You may have heard a version of the phrase, "AI won't take your job, it's somebody using AI that will take your job."

Economist Richard Baldwin said the phrase at the 2023 World Economic Forum's Growth Summit, and variations of it have been mentioned since as people discuss the potential impacts of AI.

Baldwin told BI he wasn't sure if he coined the phrase, but the message is that AI won't replace humans, but it will give those who embrace it an advantage in the workforce.

In the 12 months since Baldwin shared his perspective, interest in artificial intelligence has only increased. A recent survey by consulting firm Bain & Company found that 85% of the companies surveyed said adopting AI was a top-five priority.

As companies ramp up their AI offerings and begin restructuring their workforce, many are revisiting the question of whether AI will be a job killer or an enhancer.

While it's still the early days of AI, we asked experts to weigh in. Should you be more worried about losing your job to a human using AI or to the AI itself?

Workers already see the benefit of AI at this stage

Baldwin said that AI is like a lawn mower or a power drill — it makes your job easier but it doesn't replace the human behind it. Other experts seemed to share a similar mindset that it's not advanced enough to function without direction, and for the most part, it helps people do better at their jobs.

Jasmine Escalera, a career coach at LiveCareer said incorporating AI can help automate repetitive tasks and "free up time to focus on upskilling."

Matt Betts, a research and development lead at leadership consulting firm RHR International, says it helps create efficiency so that consultants can focus on more impactful work, like interacting with the client.

Data has shown a similar trend that AI has helped many workers produce high-quality work in a shorter amount of time.

One study by MIT and Stanford from 2023 found that access to AI increased productivity by 14% on average, with a 34% impact on new or lower-skilled workers. A Morgan Stanley report indicated that workers with multiple income streams who used generative AI to increase their productivity made 21% more on average than those who didn't.

AI may also be helping people land jobs. Career service LiveCareer surveyed 1,150 US workers in March and found that 85% of job seekers save time using AI for writing applications and 40% think AI improves their grammar, writing, and vocabulary.

The loss of some jobs is inevitable

AI has already redefined a number of roles and even if it doesn't take all jobs, it's bound to replace some.

IBM used to have 800 people working in HR and now has 60 because it was able to automate repetitive tasks, according to the company's marketing chief.

Klarna seems to be following a similar trajectory. The company said in a blog post in February that its AI assistant was doing the work of "700 full-time agents" after pumping the brakes on hiring.

OpenAI CTO Mira Murati also weighed in on the topic at a Dartmouth event on June 8 and turned heads when she said some creative jobs may disappear, but those that could be replaced by AI "shouldn't have been there in the first place."

Carl Benedikt Frey, a director of future and work at Oxford University, said that transportation and logistics are most likely to see outright automation moving forward. He also said warehousing, manufacturing, receptionists, cashiers, and translators are also roles that are moving toward automation or semi-automation.

It's a good idea to skill up

A March Goldman Sachs report found over 300 million jobs around the world could be impacted by AI. But it's impossible to predict how exactly they will change.

Career coach Escalera said the best path forward is to lean into human soft skills while skilling up and "adopting a mindset of continuous learning." For some who are hiring, AI is becoming a prerequisite.

Tripadvisor cofounder Steve Kaufer said on "The Logan Bartlett Show" that he asked candidates during interviews if they tried out new AI chatbots. He said software engineers who didn't experiment with AI tools usually didn't get the job.

"I just don't understand it," Kaufer said. "And I probably don't want to work with that individual."

CEO of global event company Empire Entertainment, J.B. Miller, said it's an "essential new skill set," especially in an industry that involves improvising. He said it cuts down time and helps with generating ideas for set designs and talent sourcing. He asks all new hires what AI tools they use.

"There's no world where I could employ somebody who's like, I don't know how to use Excel or I don't know how to navigate the internet or do an internet search or something online like that," Miller said.

"I think that the same is true of some of these basic, AI tools," he added.