• I loved Christmas when my children were young because they enjoyed all the magic.
• But it was also a hectic time that left me feeling very stressed.
• Now that they're teenagers, there's still magic, but we think of the holidays differently.

I loved celebrating the holidays with my kids when they were little.

We have four children, so we had a lot of very excited little people jumping on the bed at 6 a.m. on Christmas morning. They'd wait impatiently on the stairs while their dad turned on the tree and made an elaborate display of roasting coffee — groaning and demanding that he hurry up.

When he finally released them to grab their stockings and open gifts, they'd tear down the steps. We'd have an hour or so of frenzied present-opening, with wrapping paper and bows everywhere and delighted children checking out what Santa brought each of them.

As they grew older, I worried that the wonder and excitement of these mornings might fade when they're teenagers. Thankfully, I was wrong.

Holidays with small kids can be crazy

The events leading up to Christmas were special with little kids. They loved seeing houses and trees lit up with sparkling lights. They were excited to meet the mall Santa and chat with him; there are no photos of crying kids with Santa at our house!

There were lots of extra treats as we baked and decorated Christmas cookies. My heart melted when they had piano recitals and church performances, wearing their Christmas plaid and shiny shoes.

I will always treasure those adorable pictures and sweet moments from when my kids were little.

But I'm not going to sugar-coat it — holidays with small children can be chaotic and crazy-making. It was a month of dragging toddlers to older siblings' recitals and praying they didn't melt down. There were late hours that made them cranky. They had too much sugar. I stressed over teacher presents.

And on more than one Christmas Eve, my husband and I desperately tried to assemble toys, quietly hissing at each other, "I thought you were getting the batteries."

It wasn't all peace and silent nights around our house.

Some things have changed since the kids became teens

As the kids have grown into teenagers, some of those earlier special moments have stopped. Fancy Christmas clothes gave way to goofy Christmas sweaters. There are fewer recitals as some of our kids have graduated and moved on.

They no longer jump on our bed at 6 a.m. on Christmas morning. Sometimes, just for fun, my husband and I will drag them out of bed now (although we kindly give them until 7).

But this season of life is also much less draining. Everyone pitches in with cutting down our tree, holiday baking and cooking, and all of the decorating. I don't have to wait until everyone's asleep to stuff stockings. In fact, a lot of times the kids do it for me. What I see as a chore, they see as festive fun.

There's also less pressure. One year, we were assembling a toy for our 6-year-old on Christmas Eve when it flat-out broke. We managed to rig something up, but there was a good amount of panic before we found a solution. Now, everyone's old enough to understand if mistakes happen. They know we can return things, and they seem to appreciate that we're trying — even if we don't get their present quite right. Everyone is old enough to give each other grace.

The magic didn't disappear; it just changed shape

We no longer have a frenzied rush to tear open presents, but I actually love this time with my teens and young adults. I see them give each other presents, and I know how much trouble they took to make their siblings happy.

Their outlook has also shifted. It has matured from the excitement of a child seeing what they got to a deeper understanding of the holidays as they get older. The spiritual elements of Christmas become more important. As they grew, we talked about how you can find the magic of the season in sharing love, joy, and peace, rather than just presents.

We've traded unbridled energy and excited kids for cozy nights on the couch together watching cheesy Christmas movies and lazy Christmas mornings. It's a different kind of feeling, but it's one that's just as special.

• WPP CEO Cindy Rose marked 100 days in the role this week.
• Rose has received plaudits for owning some of WPP's past mistakes and signaling change ahead.
• She faces a make-or-break challenge as she prepares to roll out a revamped strategy.

When Cindy Rose took the helm at the advertising agency giant WPP in September, she inherited one of the most challenging jobs on Madison Avenue.

Battered by a period of big account losses, internal restructuring, and thousands of layoffs, morale had sunk. So was the share price. London-based WPP was trading at lows not seen since 2009, and the company had warned investors that the remainder of the year would continue to be rocky.

Insiders and shareholders were hopeful that Rose, a US-born executive most recently at Microsoft, could serve as a kind of Goldilocks porridge compared to her predecessors. She was widely seen as a happy medium between Martin Sorrell, the outspoken British business mogul who had built WPP from the ground up over 33 years, and Mark Read, the more introverted operator who took over in 2018.

Rose was described by one analyst as a "peacemaker," and her tech background and experience in maintaining client relationships were viewed as positive attributes that would help bring about much-needed change.

This week, Rose marked her 100th day in the role. Darren Woolley, CEO of the management consultancy Trinity P3, scored Rose a "7.8 out of 10" for her performance so far.

"She's saying all the right things and has sent some signals to the market. The big test will be what happens early next year, as she sets out her strategy," Woolley said. "Cindy will not last a year if they don't believe the strategy can be delivered."

Rose's wins during her first 100 days — some major new business, key hires, a big partnership with Google, and an oversubscribed bond sale — have been dampened by bad news.

On her first earnings call, in October, Rose described the company's performance as "unacceptable." Shortly after delivering its second profit warning of the year and downgrading its full-year growth forecast, its shares spiraled further downward, and WPP was demoted from the FTSE 100 index of the UK's largest publicly listed companies. Shares of the London-listed company have dropped by about 18% since Rose became chief executive.

Adding to Rose's overflowing in-tray, WPP was hit with a lawsuit from one of its former executives who said he was fired in July of this year — before Rose's arrival as CEO — after he raised concerns internally that the group's media investment division was allegedly running a kickback scheme. WPP said in November it would "vigorously" defend itself against the allegations made in the suit. The case is ongoing.

WPP has fallen behind the sector's star performer, Publicis Groupe, and it faces a new titan following the combo of Omnicom and IPG this year. Agencyland also faces a bigger, existential quandary: What is the role of a large advertising agency holding company amid the rise of tech and the emergence of AI solutions that claim to automate much of the work agencies charge top dollar for?

This account of Rose's tenure so far draws on interviews with more than a dozen current and former WPP staffers and clients, competitors, marketing consultants, and industry analysts. They said Rose deserves credit for delivering a positive narrative about WPP's opportunities while also owning its problems. Much of her fate will rest on a strategy plan that she has said she will outline fully next year. Insiders and analysts said her strategy will need to be bold and visionary, given the challenges ahead.

Rose told Business Insider in a statement that in her first 100 days, she has actively sought feedback from WPP's top clients to help create a blueprint for what the company needs to do differently in the future.

"I'm most proud of our WPP employees for their incredible resilience, client obsession, and passion to win, which is already making a difference, and you can see it in the business that we're winning: Mastercard, Reckitt, Henkel, and more to come," Rose said.

Rose has planted the seeds of her strategy

This past September, from the company's 3 World Trade Center campus in New York City, Rose laid out a three-pronged blueprint for what she called "a new WPP" at her first global town hall as CEO. Her first priority was "putting people first" by creating an environment for employees to thrive. She said WPP should be famous for "being completely client-obsessed" as part of her "winning for clients" principle. And she said WPP should be "harnessing our AI advantage," telling staffers to become "AI superusers."

Her opening address to employees was received well internally, insiders said.

"We were pleasantly surprised," one current senior WPP agency staffer said. They added that Rose is "so much better at the human stuff" than her predecessors and said she had kept the company regularly updated with videos talking up the agency's wins.

WPP has been heavily pitching WPP Open, an internal AI-powered platform that integrates with technology from companies such as OpenAI, Meta, and Salesforce. It connects signals from clients' own first-party data, partners, and WPP's data on the performance of thousands of campaigns to help plan and place ads, and measure the results.

In October, with Rose firmly in situ, WPP announced WPP Open Pro, a self-service version to give clients their own access to the platform. The aim was to grow WPP's client base by appealing to smaller advertisers or direct-to-consumer companies that tend to handle much of their marketing in-house. WPP told staffers internally that more than 400 brands had proactively contacted the company about Open Pro in the three weeks after it launched.

Douglas Hayward and Gerry Murray, analysts at the research company IDC, described the Open Pro launch in a report as "a smart move that shows that WPP is prepared to be bold and innovative and even to cannibalize its revenue in the short term."

However, some analysts questioned whether WPP would be able to invest enough in marketing Open Pro to appeal to this sort of audience, which is accustomed to using tools provided by tech giants like Meta and Google.

Nearly all of WPP's rivals are also leaning heavily into their tech investments and offerings as part of their pitches to clients and investors.

One former WPP agency executive, who left last year, said they felt Rose should be more proactive in emphasizing the company's creative prowess as something that sets it apart from other agency holding groups and the broader tech sector.

"Creativity is the only thing that human beings have got to make a difference," the exec said.

Agency relationships with tech platforms are an important part of the mix as they try to differentiate themselves from competitors. This fall, in Mountain View, Rose signed a key deal with Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, which sent a signal out to the market, clients, and its rivals about the strength of WPP's relationship with Google. The "expanded five-year partnership" was billed as going far beyond typical agency-Google setups. WPP said it would commit to spending $400 million on Google's tech as part of the partnership, which will give it "preferred" access to Google's latest AI models and data. Google is also WPP's largest client.

A low-profile start

Save for her welcome address to staffers, which was posted on YouTube, and her first earnings call, Rose has kept a fairly low public profile.

In November, she appeared at an AI conference in New York City, hosted by Microsoft and Luma Partners, an investment bank. Attendees — who included roughly 100 high-profile tech, advertising, and media executives — said she was whisked away by her handlers into the green room before her talk, a session with Google Americas President Sean Downey, and made a swift exit afterward.

Three attendees said they felt Rose missed an opportunity.

"Martin, in the old days, would have worked the room for one hour," one person said, referring to Sorrell, the former WPP CEO.

At the moment, WPP is a company that "needs more visible leadership for the market, for the staff, for the shareholders, for the clients," Trinity P3's Woolley said.

Operating in the shadow of Sadoun

Rose enters an advertising agency landscape that has fundamentally changed. For years, WPP was the top dog. WPP under Sorrell built a formidable empire, acquiring creative agencies and PR shops around the world, and building GroupM (now known as WPP Media) into a huge force, responsible for planning and buying billions of dollars in media across TV, print, out-of-home, and digital.

The market dynamics shifted, largely due to the emergence of tech giants like Google, Meta, and Amazon, which offer self-service tools that let advertisers bypass agencies. AI has only sped up the disruption. In recent years, clients have pressured agencies to produce more work at lower costs. Agencies have had to respond by retooling to offer marketers more services than just producing and placing ads.

Rival ad firm Publicis recognized these shifts early. It made first-party data and technology services its citadels and simplified its pitch around a "power of one" operating strategy. In 2024, the French company became the biggest holding company by revenue, and over the past 18 months has won a string of clients — including many from WPP.

Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun is described by many in the industry as a charismatic and omnipresent force of nature with clients, and a fierce competitor to Rose as she seeks to retain major accounts and acquire new ones.

During the pitch process this year for Mars' $1.7 billion media business — before Rose was in-post as WPP CEO — the confectionery giant summoned all the agencies involved to meet on a cold January morning at the M&M's Store in central London.

Sadoun turned up about an hour earlier than the scheduled time. The Mars clients hadn't arrived yet, and the doors to the store were locked shut. He waited outside on Leicester Square. Once Mars' marketing team arrived, Sadoun greeted them, and they duly invited him in for coffee — much to the chagrin of the competing agencies, who weren't able to take advantage of the opportunity to get extra face time with the clients. Mars this summer moved its media account from WPP to Publicis.

"There are two types of people in life: The ones who are five minutes early and the ones who are five minutes late. It's a personal choice, and Arthur has decided to use these rules for unfair advantage by arriving 10 minutes early," said Richard Robinson, executive director of Ingenuity+, an agency search consultancy that wasn't involved in the Mars pitch.

Three marketing consultants involved in client pitches said Rose is also visible and warm with clients, delivering passionate addresses and asking personal questions. They say Sadoun takes it to the next level.

Wins, hires, and the outcome of a strategic review

Focus now turns to 2026 after WPP's annus horribilis.

WPP has appointed the management consulting firm McKinsey to assist Rose in conducting a strategic review of the business. Rose said in October that she would detail the outcome in the new year.

Insiders and analysts predict further layoffs amid a shrinking agency landscape. Jay Pattisall, principal analyst and VP at the research company, forecasts a 15% reduction in agency jobs across the industry as automation and AI force agencies to "pivot from selling services to selling solutions."

The open question is whether WPP can be optimized to success, or whether it will have to sell some or all of its business in order to best position itself for the future. Or could WPP even pull an Omnicom and acquire a rival? Two people with direct knowledge of the matter said WPP had multiple conversations about a potential acquisition of the US-centric media buying company Horizon over the years, but that the talks never came close to a deal. A Horizon spokesperson said the company doesn't comment on speculation.

"They need to do some kind of jujitsu," a second former WPP executive said, referring to an unexpected M&A move to outmaneuver rivals.

As insiders await the outcome of the review, WPP is expected to soon start feeling the impact of some recent sizable new business wins. It secured more than $1.5 billion in billings in November alone, including the consumer goods company Reckitt appointing WPP as its media agency of record and Henkel awarding WPP the media duties for its European consumer brands. WPP was further buoyed this week after its Wavemaker media agency secured a four-year contract, worth up to $2.6 billion, to produce the UK government's ad campaigns — an account previously held by Omnicom.

Rose has also made some key leadership appointments and formed a new executive management team that could help rally the troops and boost momentum. In one notable hire — and a poke in the eye to rival Sadoun — she persuaded Laurent Ezekiel, who was formerly WPP's CMO, to reverse a planned move to Publicis and become CEO of the WPP agency Ogilvy instead.

Some investors appear optimistic that Rose can steer the company back on course. This month, investors ordered nearly €3 billion (about $3.5 billion) of WPP's 5.5-year bonds, even though the company only issued €1 billion (about $1.2 billion). The strong oversubscription suggests these institutional investors believe WPP will stay financially stable and meet its debt obligations.

Rose, in her statement, said that her vision for WPP is clear and that AI would usher in a "golden age of marketing."

Looking ahead to 2026, she said WPP's greatest opportunity is "to enable our clients to move boldly and confidently into the future and help them fully embrace AI innovation to reimagine growth and unleash their true potential."

• Google's YouTube TV will offer a cheaper sports-focused package in 2026.
• YouTube won the right to offer genre-specific bundles after tough negotiations with media companies.
• Other pay-TV providers have already created sports-focused bundles.

YouTube TV will unveil new prices soon. But this time, it will be good news for sports fans.

YouTube is launching a set of cheaper, slimmed-down versions of its popular live TV service in 2026, which it's calling "YouTube TV Plans," the video giant announced on Wednesday. One of the new plans will be a sports bundle that provides access to ESPN Unlimited, FS1, and NBC Sports Network.

While YouTube TV isn't yet revealing pricing for these 10 or so genre-specific packages, they'll cost less than the Google-owned service's typical rate, which is $83 a month.

"Our goal is to let you tailor your subscription with more options," said Christian Oestlien, YouTube's head of subscriptions, in a statement. "Whether you stick with our main YouTube TV plan with 100+ channels, focus on sports, combine sports and news, or select a plan centered on family or entertainment content, subscribers will be able to easily choose the plan that works best for them."

YouTube TV secured the rights to form these so-called "skinny bundles" after hard-fought negotiations with Disney, Comcast's NBC, and Fox. YouTube TV's battle with Disney was especially intense, as it left subscribers without ESPN and ABC for 15 days.

Justin Connolly, YouTube's global head of media and sports, said at a media event on Tuesday night that YouTube worked with its partners on "ingesting the entirety of the sports programming" in its service, so that YouTube TV can be a one-stop shop for sports fans. Besides aggregating live games, Connolly said YouTube is being fan-friendly by aiming to "meet the consumer where they are" on price.

YouTube TV's price has steadily increased since it launched in 2017 at $35, though it's also added more channels. Last December, YouTube TV's monthly price rose by $10.

Other TV providers have launched sports-focused skinny bundles, with some tradeoffs.

Fubo's $55.99 a month Sports + News bundle includes all of ESPN and Fox's channels, plus CBS and the NFL Network, but it doesn't have NBC or Warner Bros. Discovery's networks like TNT or TruTV. It also doesn't have the news networks CNN and MS Now (formerly MSNBC), though it has Fox News.

Sling TV's Orange & Blue bundle goes for $60.99 and has ESPN, Fox with cable sidekick FS1, WBD's channels like TNT and CNN, and the NFL Network. It also carries local channels like NBC and ABC in certain markets. But Sling doesn't have a deal with CBS, plus its main bundle doesn't include specialty sports networks like the SEC Network, the Big Ten Network, or NBA TV. Sling offers a Sports Extra add-on for $15 a month on its main plan, bringing the total to $76.

DirecTV's MySports package costs $69.99 but is more comprehensive, with the full suites of ESPN, Fox, and WBD, plus all four major local broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox (with possible exceptions in certain markets). It also carries the flagship networks for four major US sports: the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.

Sports fans could complement those skinny bundles by buying a digital antenna or by using streaming services like Peacock or Paramount+ that give access to NBC and CBS, respectively.

ESPN also offers a subscription to its entire suite for $29.99 a month, or a bundle with competing streamer Fox One for $39.99 a month.

YouTube said its new sports plan will have ESPN's full suite of programming plus sports channels from Fox and NBC, with the option to add on NFL Sunday Ticket and RedZone for more money. Otherwise, it's unclear exactly which channels this bundle will have.

As YouTube TV's sports bundle enters the market, sports fans have more choices than ever. The challenge for them now is finding the right plan.

• Netflix director Carl Rinsch took the witness stand in his criminal fraud trial.
• He cast his dispute with Netflix over his failed sci-fi show as one big misunderstanding.
• His account appeared to contradict an earlier deposition and the testimony of Netflix executives.

After a week of testimony about how Carl Rinsch spent millions of dollars on luxury mattresses, Uber Eats, Rolls-Royces, and stock and crypto trades — but not the sci-fi epic that Netflix ordered — the director got to tell his side of the story.

On the witness stand Tuesday, Rinsch cast his dispute with Netflix as one big misunderstanding.

In 2018, the streaming service had agreed to spend tens of millions of dollars on "White Horse," a sci-fi project that depicted a world where artificial, clone-like beings created their own society after a schism with humankind. The show had the endorsement of Keanu Reeves, who starred in Rinsch's movie "47 Ronin."

By November of 2019, Rinsch had spent more than the $44 million Netflix had agreed to pay for one season of the show.

With the project overbudget and unfinished, Rinsch and Netflix executives needed to determine what to do next. Would Rinsch agree to cede some creative control to Netflix, surrendering his prized "final cut" privilege? Would he reduce his ambitions and complete the single season Netflix initially ordered? Or would Netflix give him a bigger budget to deliver two seasons?

In Rinsch's eyes, he was ready to deliver Netflix a mega-franchise on par with "Star Wars" or "Game of Thrones," and was negotiating the terms for a sequel. He had already spent millions of dollars of his own money on the passion project, he testified, and wanted to go bigger.

"This was, in my eyes, a franchise," he testified Tuesday. "It wasn't just one movie."

In March 2020, Netflix sent Rinsch's production company an additional $11 million — the money at the center of his Manhattan federal court fraud trial. According to prosecutors, Rinsch used the funds for a personal spending spree. Rinsch, on Tuesday, testified that he completed all the production work Netflix expected — at a fraction of the price. The rest, he said, was his to keep.

The director ultimately never completed a single season of "White Horse."

Wearing a black three-piece suit with a dark purple tie and pocket square, Rinsch faced the jury as he spoke in a quiet and forceful tone. He kept a sober expression. In a courthouse elevator during the lunch break, he looked heavenward and uttered a short prayer.

The stakes are high. Rinsch — once a Hollywood rising star and protégé of Ridley Scott — has already lost his career and all of his money. If convicted on all charges, he could spend up to 90 years in prison.

'It's too much money'

A keystone of the criminal trial is a March 2020 email that Bryan Noon, then a Netflix executive, sent to Rinsch and his lawyer the day before the $11 million payment.

According to the email, the $11 million was meant to go toward production costs on "White Horse," which had stalled after wrapping up a shoot in Budapest the previous fall.

Noon said Rinsch was required to spend the funds in a five-week period for editing the existing footage and for the costs of storyboards, production design, costume design, location booking, securing talent, and building sets for future filming.

Rinsch testified Tuesday that he estimated all of that would cost only $500,000.

"It's too much money," Rinsch told jurors. "I would never spend $11 million in five weeks."

The other $10.5 million, Rinsch testified, was meant to reimburse him for costs he had paid out of his own pocket to continue filming "White Horse" while the production had gone over-budget.

"I had a crew of probably 100 people staying in a hotel — everybody's ordering room service, everybody's exposed," Rinsch said. "So the idea was I subsidize and pay for us all to be here while we negotiate what the sequel is going to be. That was my cost — and it was a very big cost."

Some jurors wore coats in the chilly courtroom on the 14th floor of the lower Manhattan courthouse, where temperatures outside dipped to 30 degrees. One juror nodded along as Rinsch said that Netflix, in his view, owed him money at the time.

The director contended that he had completed principal photography on the first season of "White Horse" by the end of November 2019, when he had shot scenes in Budapest. In his understanding, Netflix executives wanted him to conduct "soft pre-production" over five weeks and show them visual concepts that would help them decide whether to order a second season — before the first season even hit the streaming service.

In his testimony on Tuesday, Rinsch walked the jury through some of his spending in the weeks following the March 2020 deal that he said was for the production of "White Horse."

Rinsch hired Clayton Townsend, an experienced producer who had worked on several Judd Apatow and "Fast and Furious" movies, paying his production company $30,000. He also paid over $33,000 to secure a castle in Vienna as a shooting location.

He testified about the Rolls-Royces the government accused him of buying with Netflix's money. He explained that in the sci-fi world of "White Horse," he had wanted a "fleet of Rolls-Royces" carrying diplomats between the areas controlled by humans and those controlled by the "organic intelligent" beings.

Rinsch said he continued working on the show throughout 2020 and early 2021, including hiring a production designer to put together concept art. Netflix didn't formally tell him it was done with "White Horse" until March 2021, Rinsch said.

In a civil legal dispute with Netflix, Rinsch's side of the story didn't prevail. An arbitrator in May 2024 awarded the company $8.8 million and control over the "White Horse" footage. Rinsch was indicted by federal prosecutors nearly a year later.

The $11 million question

On cross-examination, Rinsch gave explanations that contradicted the accounts of other witnesses. And, at times, that appeared to contradict himself.

During cross-examination, a prosecutor showed Rinsch transcripts of his under-oath answers from a deposition and a hearing tied to his earlier legal dispute with Netflix.

While Rinsch said Tuesday that the bulk of the $11 million was for himself, he said in those earlier settings that he would use the funds for additional production work.

Rinsch said he completed filming principal photography for the first season of "White Horse," and that planned shoots in Kenya and Holland were meant for a second season. Former Netflix executives testified earlier in the trial, however, that the planned shoots were for scenes that were part of the script for the first season.

Under questioning on Tuesday, Rinsch didn't address testimony about him rushing to spend millions of dollars on luxury goods in 2021. Nor did Rinsch share his own account of meetings with former Netflix executive Peter Friedlander, where Friedlander testified that he flew to the set of "White Horse" in Budapest to try to resolve budget issues, but the director walked out of them without a resolution.

Ahead of the trial, Rinsch's lawyers said that his "mental state" could be an issue in the case. While the trial didn't feature any testimony about Rinsch's mental health, jurors saw outlandish text messages and emails he sent to Cindy Holland, the highest-ranking Netflix executive overseeing "White Horse."

In one document attached to an email, Rinsch laid out a scenario where President Donald Trump would "mobilize Chinese community and create a destabilization" of Chinese President Xi Jinping "by unifying the Chinese people to support the one thing they fear more than XJ… death."

He cited this scenario among his reasons for making risky options trades in the pharmaceutical company Gilead.

"I was hedging the market," Rinsch said during cross-examination. "In the instance that we had a total calamity where millions of people died, we would be able to continue working on this show."

Rinsch ultimately lost millions of dollars on his Gilead trades.

It was a long way from when Holland sat in Keanu Reeves' home and read the script for "White Horse," thinking it could be the next big thing.

"I thought it had incredible potential," Holland testified.

• "Real Housewives" star Jenn Shah was released from prison nearly four years early.
• Shah pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a telemarketing scheme targeting the elderly.
• She remains in federal custody under community confinement, a BOP spokesperson said.

"Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Jen Shah has been released from prison nearly four years early.

Shah, who turned herself in to a minimum security prison camp in Texas in February 2023, walked free from the facility on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons told Business Insider.

The Bravo TV alum, however, is still in federal custody, the spokesperson, Randilee Giamusso, said, adding that Shah had been moved to community confinement, meaning she is either in home confinement or a halfway house.

"For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not disclose an individual's specific location while in community confinement," Giamusso said.

Online prison records indicate that Shah's release date is August 30, 2026.

Representatives for Shah did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider.

The reality TV star was filming "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" when she was arrested in 2021 on federal charges.

Shah was sentenced to 6.5 years after pleading guilty to a wire fraud charge connected to a nationwide telemarketing scheme that targeted the elderly.

Prosecutors have called Shah the "integral leader" of a wide-ranging fraud scheme that victimized thousands of people.

As part of her plea deal, she agreed to forfeit $6.5 million and pay $9.5 million in restitution.

"My actions have hurt innocent people," Shah said at her 2023 sentencing hearing. "I want to apologize by saying I am doing all I can to earn the funds to pay restitution."

Shah's wire fraud charge carried a 30-year maximum sentence, but prosecutors sought a prison term of 11 to 14 years as part of her plea agreement.

For nearly three years, Shah spent her days at FPC Bryan, a prison camp in Texas that also houses Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and Ghislaine Maxwell.

The prison camp has been known as "Club Fed" due to its cushy digs.

It resembles a community college or a small office park, Justin Paperny, a prison consultant who has advised Shah has previously told Business Insider.

• A Strava report found that Asics Novablasts were more popular than similar Nike or Hoka models.
• Novablasts are very cushioned and bouncy training shoes, which may help runners move faster.
• They're great for beginners, but many still prefer less-springy options.

While Nike and Hoka have been some of the buzziest running brands in recent years, a new shoe reigned supreme this year: the Asics Novablast.

A recent Strava report, which tracked which optional "gear" users selected on their uploaded runs, found that Asics' $150 sneakers beat out Nike Pegasus and Hoka Clifton models, both of which can retail for slightly more (depending on the exact model).

"After run number one, my feet were feeling happy," Keltie O'Connor, a runner and YouTuber, said in her 2024 TikTok review. She raved about how soft they were, without feeling like a memory foam mattress.

Michael Mazzara, the CEO of Half Marathon Guide and Rogue Expeditions, a running tour company, said the data made sense; both complete beginners and more experienced runners gravitate toward the shoes' extreme cushioning.

They also make it easier to run faster — so much so that some formal races, like the Ironman, ban them for giving runners too much of an advantage.

"It's become a lot more common that people want really, really springy shoes to feel like they're going faster or to reduce the impact on their joints," Mazzara said. "They created a really accessible shoe to feel like you felt pretty invincible, even if you just got out there."

While wearing bouncier shoes can feel great, even exhilarating, there are some long-term drawbacks. When it comes to long-distance running and extensive training, extreme comfort can be too much of a good thing, masking injuries around the corner.

A more forgiving shoe

Because of its high stack height, Mazzara said the shoe can feel very forgiving, especially for beginners. "You feel like you just have to think a little bit less about your cadence and your stride because the shoe's doing a lot of the work for you."

It's also very fun to run in, he said, even though it's not technically a race shoe. Novablasts are made for daily training and long runs, unlike carbon-plated race shoes such as Nike Alphaflys, which are designed to increase speed and shouldn't be worn as frequently.

Even so, Novablasts feel like race shoes. "They're really springy, and you feel like you're running very fast," he said. "It's something that people haven't really felt before about a daily trainer."

Running shoes are getting bouncier

In general, running brands like Asics, Nike, Hoka, and Brooks have been investing in foamier, bouncier shoes.

Aylin Woodward of The Wall Street Journal reported that "super shoes" — sneakers with both carbon-plating and high stack heights — have blown up in the past decade after professional marathoners shaved minutes off their finish times with them.

Ultra-bouncy shoes like Novablasts can also feel like a solution to both new and burned-out runners alike, Mazzara said. If you're a total beginner, new aches and pains can feel concerning — even discouraging. "Then, all of a sudden, you try on a shoe that feels like a Moon Boot to run in." You're immediately faster than ever, with no immediate downsides.

For long-term runners who've been running in the same, less-cushioned trainers for years, the sudden switch can be a much-needed mental refresh. Feeling automatically faster "reinvigorates the excitement of daily training and racing," he said.

Too much pep in your step?

There are some downsides to the shoe-cushioning arms race.

Dr. Courtney Conley, chiropractic physician specializing in foot and gait mechanics, said in a Diary of a CEO interview that tall, bouncy shoes like Nike Alphaflys can weaken muscles in the foot.

"If you train in them all the time, and you never let your foot get stronger, it's just a matter of time," she said, before you start feeling hamstring issues.

In his own experience wearing Novablasts, Mazzara said he felt like he didn't have to think about his running form as much. That eventually caught up with him: "I got injured disproportionately more than using a more conventional, less springy shoe," he said.

Asics did not respond to Business Insider's request to comment.

Mazzara and runners he knows, especially longtime ones in their 40s to 60s, prefer shoes like the Nike Pegasus or Hoka Clifton because they offer ample support without as much bounciness, Mazzara said. The shoes feel stabler in the long run, even if they're a little less exciting.

For running beginners who don't know where to start, Mazzara recommended going to a running store to find the perfect fit for your foot shape and stride.

The best principle to follow is also the simplest, he said: "When it comes to running, find something that you love to run in until you love running."

• Returning to work after an 18-year break, I discovered new skills through my experience as a parent.
• Supporting my son's ballet journey motivated me to seek employment for his expenses.
• Parenting taught me confidence and adaptability, which now benefit my university office role.

I watched my 7-year-old son observing his younger sister taking her first dance class. She skipped across the floor, jumping over a taped marking. His eyes were glued to each move. "Mom, can I take this class?" he asked. We'd spent the last week discussing swimming lessons, but dance could fill its place, so he joined.

In the following months, I observed that ballet gave my son problem-solving skills in the form of choreography. At 14, he played Pinocchio. By the end of the performance, I'd felt his character's entire journey. This was when I knew ballet was more than an activity. He wanted to become a professional.

Which then led me to question — could we afford it?

I homeschool our kids

My husband and I spoke to his teachers, looked at dance blogs, and learned as much about the ballet world as possible. He could try many options, such as summer intensives, competitions, attending an academy associated with a company, or applying to a college with a dance major. Most of these options meant sending away a kid much younger than 18 years old — something that scared me.

When my son received a scholarship to a dance academy at 17, I struggled to imagine how we could afford living expenses. I began to wonder if I could work part-time and still be a homeschool mom of 10. It was a plus that my husband worked from home, and that I'd spent years creating a morning school schedule for the kids. Some of them already helped me cook dinner on nights I had to drive other kids to activities. I'd miss being home full-time, but thankfully, my husband could help.

I applied for a job

My previous employment included a few hours at a college campus day care, working as an assistant for a small-business owner, and clerical duties in an X-ray department at our local hospital. A company that takes pride in matching employees with employers thought my best lead would be to look at the three colleges in town and see if they had any openings.

"There's a job at my alma mater," my husband said a few days after I'd mentioned that going back to work could be a way to pay for our son's living expenses at the ballet academy. The post was for an Assistant to the Office of Belonging. Writing a cover letter for this was feasible. I was empathetic toward students of color as a Bangladeshi British American adoptee. One of the college classes I took introduced me to bell hooks, Patricia Williams, and W.E.B. DuBois. When it came to office work, I knew how to use Microsoft Office, and picking up new skills wouldn't have been too difficult.

My husband went on to say, "I bet my professor would write you a recommendation." We'd stayed in touch with him and his wife. Only, I found out that this job would be working for him. I hoped my application was good enough.

I went to two interviews. Within a few weeks, or friend said, "I'd like to hire you."

I took a breath and accepted.

Being a mom helped me at work

The first day, I put my 2-year-old son down for a nap, organized dinner with the older kids, and walked into my office. I jumped into planning events, meeting with student groups, and creating a newsletter. I noticed patterns of tasks that reminded me of the early days as a new mother.

When I didn't know what to do with a baby, I'd created a schedule for my sanity. I hoped it would help him, too. At work, I studied the calendar of events. Blank days filled up quickly. When my boss assigned me more projects, I was already accustomed to figuring out how to integrate a new agenda item into my day. When homeschooling my older kids, my attention was divided between them and the ones who were much younger.

One area where I surprised myself the most was feeling confident in meeting a lot of new people to form collaborations. In my previous jobs, I'd been timid when it came to talking to clients at the hospital or the parents of the kids I watched at day care. My boss instructed me to smile at clients. As a parent, I pushed myself to talk to other new moms at the library and in the park to form a community. In the workplace, I utilized these skills to identify opportunities for interdepartmental collaboration and establish myself as a valuable resource for others.

Eighteen years ago, I would have felt lost in my current job. Working on a university campus has become a source of inspiration. Although I'm not a student, I find myself setting new life goals. I never expected my son's desired career to also uncover my unknown dreams.

• MrBeast plans to shift some focus from spectacle-based videos to more impactful storytelling.
• The YouTube star is turning to longer videos and new formats like animation.
• He's also looking to diversify his company away from his image and expand the MrBeast brand.

MrBeast became YouTube's top star by making videos featuring stunts like burying himself alive or lavish cash giveaways. But could that format be reaching its limit?

MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, recently posted that he wasn't satisfied with the quality of his videos and promised to go into "ultra grind mode and make the greatest content of my life in 2026."

Elaborating in an interview this month, he said he's focusing on stories that are impactful or get people to "feel things."

"We spent millions of dollars a video and we do these big spectacles," he said, speaking at The New York Times' DealBook Summit. "After a while, you do get a little numb to money being given away or numb to spectacles, but hearing a great story is something that you never get numb to."

His comments came as MrBeast has been trying to bring costs under control at his company's media arm, which lost money on its extravagant videos in 2024. Under Jeffrey Housenbold, who became CEO of the holding company Beast Industries in 2024, MrBeast is looking for sponsors to offset the cost of those elaborate videos. Donaldson has spoken about losing millions of dollars on season one of his Amazon show, "Beast Games," and said at DealBook that seasons two and three would be "more efficient."

Beyond videos, MrBeast is also trying to branch out to new areas like a mobile phone business and financial services as he tries to grow the company into a wide-ranging conglomerate.

In the interview, Donaldson touched on other ways he's shifting his video strategy besides a focus on story. He's looking to longer videos, encouraged by their surging popularity on YouTube, which people are increasingly watching on TV screens. Donaldson said MrBeast videos have doubled in length and now run close to 25 minutes.

Other formats are in the works. MrBeast just started producing animation and has mulled micro dramas, the made-for-mobile scripted format that was popularized in China and has grown rapidly in the US.

Like many creators, MrBeast is aware of the limitations of being too dependent on his own image. Donaldson said he's working to change the mix so his videos don't rely too much on him being in them. He also wants to use his videos to showcase his mission-driven interests, like sourcing ethical ingredients for his chocolate bars.

"Whether it's me in the videos or not, I hope people like me, but it's not fundamentally why we get 200 million views for every video," he said. "A lot of times it's because we do these crazy concepts and all these other things that are more replicable. So that's why we're working on building out other channels and other IP."

When asked about the harms of social media, he swiped at TikTok, calling its videos "crack cocaine" and "brain rot" while saying YouTube has more educational content. Donaldson, who is one of TikTok's top creators, said he couldn't afford to ignore the platform because of its importance in reaching certain groups of users.

"We try very hard on TikTok, we try very hard on Instagram, because, obviously, Instagram, a lot of women use that that might not use TikTok or, use YouTube," he said. "In their world, if you're not on that platform, you just don't exist. So they're all important."

• I'm a dietitian and mom who relies on Costco staples to make healthy meals for my family of four.
• Taylor Farms salad kits and raw veggies help me prep dinner in under 30 minutes.
• I also use Amylu meatballs and proteins from Kevin's Natural Foods to make easy weeknight meals.

Even though I'm a registered dietitian, the question "What's for dinner?" always weighs heavily on my mind.

Getting a decent dinner on the table quickly can be a challenge, particularly when I factor in late work meetings and my two kids' after-school activities.

No matter how busy I get, though, I always try to prepare a balanced, nutritious dinner with a high-quality protein and at least one vegetable for my family.

Here are seven products I get at Costco to prep flavorful weeknight dinners I feel good about serving my kids.

I rely on Amylu chicken meatballs for quick meals.

Amylu chicken meatballs are a versatile option for a weeknight meal, packing about 3 ½ grams of protein per meatball.

I can prepare them on their own or pair them with sides like brown rice and veggies. I've also served them over pasta, zoodles, or crusty bread for a filling weeknight dinner.

These meatballs reheat well and don't require any time-intensive chopping or prep. They're also great for nights when my kids need something quick and satiating before rushing out the door.

I keep at least one pack in the freezer for backup dinners. They're reliable, kid-friendly, and take all the pressure off when I need something quick.

Rao's Homemade marinara sauce is a staple in my house.

A good jar of marinara sauce can actually taste homemade, and Rao's version is proof. I can't beat its quality for the price, so I stock up on it whenever I see it at Costco.

I like that it has no added sugar (unlike many jarred marinara sauces). The flavor is also rich enough that I can use it without adding any spices or seasonings.

I often pair this marinara with the Amylu chicken meatballs and spaghetti, but I can also use it in my baked chicken recipe or as a quick pizza sauce.

It's one of the few items in my pantry that consistently saves me time while still tasting fresh and flavorful.

Heat-and-serve entrées, like Kevin's Natural Foods' roasted-garlic chicken, require barely any effort.

Costco offers a wide range of heat-and-serve protein options. Kevin's Natural Foods' roasted-garlic chicken is always a staple in our fridge, serving up 21 grams of protein per 5-ounce serving.

I find that each package lasts a long time, so I always keep one on hand for a quick weeknight meal. It's easy to pair with my veggies and other sides of choice.

Cuisine Solutions' sliced grass-fed beef sirloin makes steak nights a breeze.

My husband loves beef, but I sometimes have trouble preparing it just the way he likes.

Thankfully, Cuisine Solutions' sliced grass-fed beef sirloin comes fully cooked and feels impossible to mess up.

It has 19 grams of protein per 3-ounce serving, and is versatile enough to add to dishes like tacos, salads, or soups.

Getting my greens in is easy thanks to Taylor Farms salad kits.

To get a quick meal on the table, I throw a protein over a Taylor Farms salad kit, which comes with everything I need to make a tasty salad in less than five minutes.

The Costco near me carries a wide variety of kits in the produce section, so I get different ones each week to mix up the flavors and ingredients.

Raw vegetables, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, come together to make delicious side salads.

My kids prefer their vegetables raw rather than cooked, so a cucumber and tomato salad is a staple side dish on weeknights. Every time I put a batch on the table, my family finishes it.

A three-pack of cucumbers from Costco lasts me the whole week, and I feel good about serving them to my family since they're a source of fiber and vitamin K, which supports bone health.

The store also tends to sell a wide variety of tomatoes, which I use to add a dose of immunity-boosting vitamin C to the salad.

My tomato and cucumber salad is so easy to throw together. Just chop some cucumbers and halve the tomatoes. Then, mix them with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and vinegar.

I heat up Kirkland Signature's chicken-tortilla soup on the busiest nights.

If the week is especially busy, everyone is ravenous, and I have to get dinner on the table in less than 10 minutes, I have premade soups, like the Kirkland Signature chicken-tortilla soup, on standby.

Admittedly, some soups have more sodium than I prefer, but at least the Kirkland Signature chicken-tortilla soup also contains tomatoes, corn, and peppers — and 12 grams of protein per cup.

It's a nourishing, cozy meal that keeps everyone's bellies full.

• Navy Secretary John Phelan says he is now overseeing design changes to the new Marine Corps landing ship.
• Phelan said he's reserving Fridays at 5 p.m. for change orders on the vessel.
• It's an unusual approach aimed at avoiding further failures.

The US Navy secretary says he is going to be personally stepping into the shipbuilding process, setting up Friday office hours for any design changes to a new landing ship project.

The oversight is an attempt to avoid repeating mistakes that led to program-crippling cost overruns and delays for the Navy's Constellation-class frigate, which was recently canceled with only two vessels under construction.

John Phelan, the sea service secretary, announced his plan last week at a Reagan National Defense Forum event when asked how the Navy plans to avoid missteps that led to the end of the Constellation program as the service builds the new LSM Landing Ship.

"We have settled on a design, it's a well known ship. The requirements are going to be put in and done before we start building the first one," Phelan said, adding that "when we start building the first one, any change order will have to be put through me," the secretary added, and "I've reserved Friday at 5 p.m. for my change order meeting schedule."

The Navy announced the selection of Dutch-designed vessel, the LST 100 landing ship, as the pick for the new medium landing ship program last week.

"By leveraging a mature, non-developmental design and strategic engineering," Naval Sea Systems Command said, "we are shortening acquisition timelines and ensuring our forces have the littoral mobility they need when they need it."

Marine Corps Commandant Eric Smith said that the Dutch shipbuilder Damen's LST 100, which displaces about 4,000 tons and can carry cargo and helicopters, is "an excellent choice" for the Marines.

"The Medium Landing Ships will enable our Marines to be more agile and flexible in austere environments where there are no ports, providing the joint force the needed operational mobility within the adversary's weapons engagement zone," he added.

Like the Constellation, which was based on Italian navy frigates, the LSM comes with a preconceived design. But the Navy decided to build the first Constellation vessel before the design was set, leading to cost and delivery problems. Now, the service is only building two of them; it originally awarded Wisconsin-based Fincantieri Marinette Marine $22 billion for 20.

Phelan posted about the plan for the new landing ship on social media, writing that "any change order comes through me."

He said "we are going to take our warfighters' requirements, translate them into stable, producible designs, and stick with them once they're set," adding that "if anyone wants to tinker with them, I've reserved Fridays at 5pm in my office for change order decisions — no drift, no delay."

The secretary's oversight plan puts him more directly in control of the LSM's design.

The Navy secretary's role is broad and policy-driven, centered on budgets, procurement, and shipbuilding programs. The specifics of fleet strategy and ship configuration typically fall to the chief of naval operations and NAVSEA, though the secretary still influences the fleet through major acquisition and funding decisions.

Phelan, who comes from a background in business, has previously stressed the need for more oversight of shipbuilding projects. Now he's taking that on himself.

"Secretary Phelan's decision to personally engage in the change order process is a necessary first step," Thomas Modly, a former Navy secretary during the first Trump administration, told Business Insider. "That being said, that decision is not an institutional change, just a personal one."

"The Navy itself needs to demonstrate that it can adopt its thinking to accept the concept of minimally altered foreign ship designs, and the programs need long-tenured program managers who believe in it," he said. "That's a harder problem."

Phelan's plan needs to establish successful oversight into the Navy's future as well. "Any fixes in this regard must outlive Secretary Phelan's tenure, or we will be looking at the same issues again in the future," Modly added. "Also, I hope the secretary is prepared to say 'no' a lot more than he says 'yes.'"

Under the second Trump administration, senior leadership, like Phelan, has made tackling key long-standing shipbuilding problems a priority, focusing on clearer designs and requirements as well as staying on budget and on schedule. Many of these issues stretch back decades and have been compounded by a shrinking workforce, stagnant wages, and aging shipyards that rely on outdated technology and practices.

When Phelan recently announced the cancellation of the Frigate on X, he said the vessel no longer offered strategic value to the fleet.

Although the acquisition of this vessel was important to the service's vision of a 355-ship fleet, the secretary said ending the program would help meet "the need to grow the fleet faster to meet tomorrow's threats" as the service prioritizes other classes of ships for faster shipbuilding timelines.

Other lines of effort for the Navy include uncrewed autonomous vessels, and there are reports of a "Golden Fleet" plan that seemingly concerns the development of hypersonic missile carriers. Where such projects fit into fleet design planning remains to be seen.

Phelan, like other service secretaries, has been keen on doing business with new partners alongside traditional defense companies.

"The Navy's going to be a better customer," the secretary said at the recent security forum, "But it's going to become a smarter customer," he added. "I think we are going to try to become a better partner with industry and new players as well."