Reading · Ali on the Run Newsletter

I called Cousin Jackie on Wednesday night.

“What are you doing?” I asked, because I like knowing what she’s up to every minute of the day.

“I’m waiting for the space launch,” she told me as I whipped up grilled cheese sandwiches for Annie and me.

“Space launch?”

When I tell you I had no idea we were sending astronauts (real ones, not Katy Perry) to (or around???) the moon... NO IDEA. This did not make it into my algorithm.

If it’s not West x Amanda, I’m not aware of it.

Big week for Summer House fans. Huge! I am completely consumed by it! (My CPA — Uncle Joe — was all “Hey, still waiting on your tax documents,” and I was all, “Ummmm still waiting on an apology from Amanda and West.”)

Between that rockin’ scandal and the ongoing “Bates + the fueling company” conversation, and Boston Marathon weekend prep in full effect, I’ve been hunched over my screens to the max. I don’t love this for me! Too much hunching!

I was up far too late on Wednesday. After the grilled cheeses, after snuggling Annie until she fell asleep, after letting Ellie out, after editing next week’s podcast episode with Emily Sisson, I laid in bed while my brain went on a whole journey.

I do this a lot: My inner monologue starts writing.

And I wrote a whole newsletter about the Emma x UCAN of it all.

About the conversations I’ve had with parties on both “sides.” (Hate that there are sides, but here we are.) About my takeaways from watching this all unfold. About my own history with UCAN — the highs, and the lows, and the yays, and the oh nos.

In my head, I wrote a great, thoughtful newsletter, which I promptly completely forgot as soon as I woke up this morning. Obviously. (“I’ll remember this later / in the morning,” I tell myself daily. I never do.)

But I remember the key takeaway which, for what feels like the billionth time this year, is that we all need to take a beat.

The collective outrage last week was so intense. I’m not saying it wasn’t justified. I love the way we will band together to support a mom. Hell yeah.

And…

I will not be surprised if UCAN doesn’t recover from this very public fallout. They’re a small company that, yes, has made missteps, for sure. But I almost never want to see a business fail, especially what was once a family-run business with really well-intentioned roots, and that has supported me throughout my career.

Do I have my own grievances with UCAN? I do.

Do I think it’s really important to hear both sides of every story, and to still accept that there is always nuance, and rarely is one side entirely in the right and one entirely in the wrong? Yup.

Am I really bummed about how this played out for Emma? Yes.

Am I also bummed about how it played out for UCAN? Also yes.

None of this has been fun to watch. Some people have seemed to celebrate this meteoric downfall of UCAN, and that doesn’t feel good. I’d rather root for improvement than a demise.

From my understanding of it all, at this stage:

UCAN says they did not drop Emma, and that they made her a renewal offer before being made aware of her pregnancy.

Emma refutes those claims, saying her offer was reduced after the two parties had come to an agreement, and after the company learned of her pregnancy. She offered additional details about the situation on the Ali on the Run Show this week — a conversation I was keenly aware would have many eyes and ears on it, and that I appreciate Emma having with me.

As the conversation starts to taper — much like the Boston Marathoners — and we inevitably prepare for the next big drama to hit the running world, I wish everyone could just breathe.

Last week felt intense!

It’s all felt intense, for a while. Lotta rage. Lotta anger. Lotta nasty comments sections.

Now what?

I believe in giving people — and companies — a chance to grow, to learn, to improve.

How you spend your money is up to you. It’s a powerful thing! You can choose whether what you know about this situation is a deciding factor in whether or not to support UCAN. You can also say hey, these products work for me, and I’m going to keep using them. You can say, let’s see what UCAN does next, in the wake of this, and go from there. You can even say, this doesn’t affect me, so I’m going to move on with my day. All options!

I have my own opinions. Maybe I’ll share them at some point. There’s a part of me that really doesn’t want to be involved — and I’m not really, at least not directly, yet here I am, writing about it all — and there’s a part of me that wants to use my influence, and to use it for good.

I don’t want to bash UCAN. I’ve had positive experiences with the brand, and I’ve had some less great ones. (They have sponsored the Ali on the Run Show in various capacities since 2019. I genuinely love those Chocolate Almond Butter Bars.) I am eager to see what they do next, and how they move forward. Just because a brand has been a partner does not mean I’m not going to be critical and mindful of how they operate both on a personal and public level. In fact, I’m even more critical of the brands I work with, because it’s so important to me that we align.

To the moon!

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