Whether you’ve listened to Charli XCX’s new album, seen Kamala HQ anywhere on social media, watched Jake Tapper aspire to be it, or simply found yourself seeing a lot more chartreuse-filtered content on your Instagram feed, chances are you’ve come across the attitude pervading summer 2024: brat.
What is brat and why are news outlets talking about it?
The term brat in this context originated with the release of underground-turned-mainstream pop artist Charli XCX’s most recent album of the same name in June. The album, which has found huge success among chronically-online twentysomethings, literally promotes a sense of being someone who is “messy, likes to party, and says dumb things sometimes” (CBC News). Since its release, though, it has evolved to embody someone who owns their humanity, and cares more about being authentic than about perfection.
With this comes an apparent rejection of the shiny, artificially put-together aesthetic that has been promoted to young professionals in recent years, contributing to the skyscraping success seen by the album. This ethos, along with Charli XCX’s tweet that “kamala IS brat” has captivated the hearts of young voters in the US, and catapulted brat summer into the stratosphere. One clip often used to assert Kamala Harris’ “bratitude” shows her laughing through a quote from her mother about falling out of a coconut tree, effectively conveying a serious point while acknowledging its ridiculousness at face value.
So how can you, as a business owner or employee, bring this authenticity and “bratitude” into your professional life?
1. Your Employees are Real Humans
With the explosion of AI this year making it seem at first glance like anyone can generate a half-decent piece of writing in under a minute, it’s important to remember that your employees have spent years cultivating the skills that they use every day to produce high-quality work, which takes time to create. On top of that, people are not robots: they have other things going on in their lives besides work!
While these may seem like obvious statements, it means nothing if you know that, but means EVERYTHING if your employees know that you know that. Making your employees feel appreciated for the time and effort they put into their work, along with making it clear that perfection is not expected on the first try, goes a long way in creating a work environment in which your team can grow and evolve without burning out.
2. Making Mistakes is Part of Learning
Seeing all of your connections promoting the best parts of themselves on LinkedIn at all times can make it feel like everyone is more successful, more resilient to change, or just plain more talented than you are. However, everyone on LinkedIn is doing the same thing as you: learning! Making mistakes, whether when trying out a new skill or implementing a new process, is an essential part of self-betterment.
Next time a work task doesn’t turn out as well as you had hoped, try your best to learn what you can from the experience to apply for next time and leave the rest behind. There’s no point in beating yourself up for things you cannot change!
3. Find Your Unique Voice
In the age of every company and brand cultivating a healthy social media presence, it can seem that there is a certain homogeneity that comes along with being a brand or creating for one: that there is only one “right” way to approach consumer-facing tasks. This is not the case! Just the same as there is no right way to run for President, there is no one right way to communicate with your customers. If something feels right, even if it's new or a little unusual, try it out! You can’t find out what your voice is until you find out what it's not.
As brat summer comes to a close, we’ve seen so many different embodiments of “bratitude" in popular culture, all of which are very different, but convey the same sense of authenticity. As we transition into a new season – and into whatever the next social media trend will be – the lessons of brat summer can serve as a reminder to embrace our authenticity.. After all, if Kamala Harris can be brat while trying to get one of the most important jobs in the world, then so can you!
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