The World’s Greatest

Today I’m going to tell you a little bit about Jennifer Gormley. She’s an amazing lady who I am so happy to be married to.

Today I’m going to tell you a little bit about Jennifer Gormley. She’s an amazing lady who I am so happy to be married to.

I first met her about 16 years ago. I was living in Los Angeles and I was traveling to New York every month or so to help Eric Breitbard pitch business for the company that we all worked for.

I remember hearing that we’d hired some kind of mythic super-heroine to run design. The management described her as though she were the product of a secret billion-dollar program that was going to fundamentally change everything forever. And they weren’t wrong!

I climbed out of a cab in Midtown Manhattan one morning and met Eric and Jennifer on a blustery sidewalk beside the glass tower of some media company. For about 10 minutes we talked over our strategy before riding the elevator up to the lobby.

As we waited, Eric and I stood and Jennifer was seated in a reception chair. I thought about our few minutes of conversation on the sidewalk. I leaned over and said to Eric something like “Well, I guess you won’t need me to come to New York anymore.” She was still new at the company, but it already felt like she was in charge.

Jennifer inspires instant trust and confidence in everybody she meets. You can watch it wash over their face. It takes ten seconds, and you are just overcome by belief in this person. I have a vivid memory of the calm and serenity that came over me in that meeting. I just shut my my mouth, for once, and listened to her work.

I went back to LA. I’d see her there, or sometimes in New York. We became frequent and very effective collaborators. She started building her empire at the company, growing her team around the globe and building relationships with clients.

I think a lot about why she’s been so successful. I wish I had more of her even keel. She’s a calm and very organized thinker. I like to bring a little more razmatazz to the podium, and maybe some sparkles and confetti. But watching Jennifer’s steady pace is inspiring.

She is so well organized in her thinking and her work and — if we are being honest — her collection of handbags. Her love language is “To Do List.” She takes copious perfect notes on everything, in her perfect architect handwriting, in her countless Moleskine notebooks.

Back to New York: During a visit, I asked Jennifer for help with a slide for a talk I was giving at a conference. She suggested we talk about it over dinner. The dinner happened. The talk, sadly, was a disaster. But everything else has turned out really well!

Jennifer is an extraordinary person. She’s an amazing mom and a fierce advocate for the changes we need made to the world so that our children can live in it. As I have worked to become a better feminist, she has mentored me patiently.

More and more, I measure myself against her. The longer we’re together, the more I want to be like her.

Jennifer is how I’ve done everything I’ve done. And together, we can do anything! Jennifer: You’re the greatest!