S2E1: On why it’s normal to have friendship strife - Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow
Both Ann and Aminatou have had moments of charming bliss and deep frustration in their decade-long friendship. From meeting at a Gossip Girl viewing party to starting a podcast and business together and doing “couples” therapy in order to save their friendship.
About this episode
First off, welcome to Season 2!
It’s been amazing to see the show come to life again and I could not be more proud and excited about our season headliners. We have in this episode, Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow of the hit podcast Call Your Girlfriend.
The topic of Big Friendship, which is also the title of their book, is so important right now in the time of social distancing. Even more so for us women who are starting a business together with a best friend.
I walked away from our conversation realising that like every relationship, a friendship takes a lot of work. We like to think friendships are supposed to be easy or that there shouldn’t be any tension, but that’s a one-way ticket to taking each other for granted.
What you'll learn
- Understanding what kind of activities (or non-activities) that help friendships thrive.
- How friends can start intimate collaborations as fun side-projects.
- Why learning ways we are different, not just similarities, is a great way to collaborate and work together with friends.
- How we grow and get better by having that professional insight on each other's magic.
- Why you shouldn’t start a business with someone you can’t get along with because starting a business shows you the good and bad sides of people
- How the pervasive scarcity of opportunities for women are making it hard for us to make meaningful friendships with each other
- How there’s not a lot of social support when things aren’t going so well with friends (spoiler alert: Ann & Aminatou went for couples therapy in order to get through a kink in their relationship)
- How you should listen to that icky feeling inside of you. That’s your gut communicating to you. Honour it!
- How having hard conversations with friends is not something to run away from and it’s normal to experience friendship strife.
- How protecting boundaries and having strict working hours to protect the weekends help with burnout.
- Self-awareness is a superpower in order to fully take advantage of your strengths and weaknesses
- Take a vacation!
Episode resources
- You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument (Article)
- Luster by Raven Leilani (Book)
- Get their book Big Friendship right here
- Listen to their podcast Call Your Girlfriend
Connect with Ann and Amina!
Ann Friedman
Aminatou Sow
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