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We ate at Tommy Bahama's Manhattan restaurant, which has become a hot spot for a business lunch.Jordan Hart/Business InsiderWe had lunch at Tommy Bahama in Midtown Manhattan, which has become a go-to for the Wall Street crowd.We spent $145 and were sufficiently underwhelmed by the food, including the famous coconut shrimp.Even so, we get the airy Floridian draw and why it's an ideal spot for a business lunch.Above an oasis of floppy sun hats, chinos, and pastel polos on most weekday afternoons, you will find one of Manhattan's most formidable cohorts: the power lunchers.We visited the Midtown location of Tommy Bahama, a clothing store that also includes a chain of restaurants, on a recent Tuesday. The interior design was straight out of a beachfront vacation home, but the environment was more work than play.The business lunch is what brought us to the restaurant in the first place, after Grubstreet reported that it's become a go-to spot for financiers' midday meal.Since the January article, our server said the location has only gotten more popular, with employees looking for a break from the skyscrapers that tower over the second-floor restaurant. She said the restaurant also often hosts parties for banks.So, we sat down for our own power lunch of sorts to see how the finance bros dine during the day. We picked out a mix of popular items and whatever sounded appetizing. Unlike some of the diners around us, we skipped the cocktails.The restaurant is in the heart of MidtownTommy Bahama is in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.Jordan Hart/Business InsiderThe Tommy Bahama on 45th Street and 5th Avenue bills itself on its website as "an oasis in the big city," a "refuge" that's "ideal for business lunches." Geographically, it makes total sense — on foot, Tommy Bahama is six minutes from JPMorgan's new tower, nine minutes from Bank of America Tower, five minutes from a PWC building, and 12 minutes from the main Morgan Stanley office.We'll spare you the full list of adjacent corporate headquarters.The interior had the beach vibes we expectedAlice Tecotzky/Business InsiderAfter ascending a spiral staircase from the quiet bar area, we found the dining area packed with collared shirts, quarter-zip pullovers, and not-so-subtle watches.The wooden shutters and palm plants evoked a beach house in Naples, Florida, more than cold and windy Midtown Manhattan, but the outerwear adorning most everyone's chairs reminded us that, yes, we were still in New York. Of the 29 Tommy Bahama restaurants and bars nationwide, 11 are in Florida, according to the store's website.The staff were friendly and laid-back, and quickly offered to switch us from our high-top to a better table as soon as one became available. Some of our fellow diners enjoyed what looked like Aperol or Hugo spritzes — very summer-y. Many of the tables had bottles of blue Saratoga spring water bottles, unlike the basic tap water we ordered.During our Tuesday visit, we observed more men than women in the crowded restaurant, and our waitress said it used to skew even more male. She also said Mondays and Fridays are typically the slowest lunch times, when some people work remotely.Orders piled up in the kitchenAlice Tecotzky/Business InsiderWe had a 12:30 p.m. reservation, and the restaurant kept filling up throughout our meal. Diners eventually sat at the bar, and when I, Alice, went to the bathroom around 1:20 p.m., a gaggle of waiters was congregating by the kitchen, discussing table numbers over a window crammed with burgers and salads.Apart from the kitchen, though, the crowded restaurant didn't feel cramped. Tables were far enough apart that we couldn't hear others' conversations, yet the background din of conversation made the room feel lively. The only deal talk we overheard came from a woman on her way out, who mentioned her interest in bringing ESRT, the company that owns the Empire State…

Dr. Darshan Shah said doing the small things consistently had the biggest impact on his personal health journey.Madeline Tolle for BIThis as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Dr. Darshan Shah, the 53-year-old founder and CEO of longevity clinic Next Health, who's based in Malibu, California. It's been edited for length and clarity.I've been a physician for 30 years. For the first three quarters of my career, I did all sorts of surgeries, from trauma and emergency surgery, to general and reconstructive cancer surgery.I loved surgery, and I still miss being in the operating room, but I was totally burnt out. I was not happy. I did not want to go to work, and I thought, who wants to live this way?I switched into longevity medicine about 10 years ago. I made the transition because I was 50 pounds overweight, had high blood pressure, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and an autoimmune disease.Business Insider's Power Hours series gives readers an inside look at how powerful leaders in business structure their workday. See more stories from the series here, or reach out to editor Lauryn Haas to share your daily routine.I learned the science of nutrition, exercise, sleep, and functional medicine, brought all of that to my life, and got off all my medications and diagnoses of chronic diseases.The experience made me realize that reversing chronic diseases is the kind of medicine that I want to practice. I started health optimization and longevity clinics to help people improve their lifestyle, optimize their hormones, and get them to think about how to prevent and reverse chronic disease.I always say the most important thing is to have a really good daily routine. It doesn't need to be any medications, injections, or anything fancy. I saw the biggest movement in my own personal health journey when I did the small things consistently.Dr. Shah said he goes outside first thing in the morning.Madeline TolleI wake up at 5 a.m.I start off my routine first thing in the morning because the whole world is asleep, and it's the only time I really have for myself.The critical thing is what I don't do when I wake up. I don't wake up with my phone anywhere near me. I charge my cell phone by the coffee machine when I sleep, which is at the opposite end of the house.That's a critical piece of my routine, because the phone deteriorates our mornings and stresses us out the minute we wake up. I don't look at my phone until 15 minutes after I've woken up.I go outsideI'm lucky to have a little puppy now, but even before I had a puppy, I would go outside. I think it's extremely important to go outside first thing in the morning. If the sun isn't up yet, I go back outside when it's up because sunlight exposure is so important.The physical act of taking your body outside is something that has been ingrained in our biology since caveman days. Going outside sets your circadian rhythm, decreases your stress levels, and improves your heart rate variability.I do a quick workoutMy morning routine is my sacred time. It goes until about 6:15 a.m.The physical piece of my morning routine involves a quick 10- to 15-minute workout that includes stretching and lifting weights. Even if I don't get to the gym for the rest of the day, at least I got my workout in first thing.Dr. Shah said he drinks a vitamin mix called IM8.Madeline Tolle for BIIt's so important to get quick wins. You can even start off with two minutes or five minutes a day. It doesn't matter. Once you get that quick win, it will build upon itself.After I do the workout, I grab a cup of coffee and take all my supplements. I put creatine in my coffee and drink a vitamin mix called IM8. I also take a couple of other supplements, including True Nitrogen, Urolithin A by Timeline, and a probiotic.I read for 20 minutesThe second part of my routine is learning something new. I read for 20 minutes. I'm usually reading two different…

Aman GoyalAman GoyalAfter being laid off last year, Aman Goyal faced pressure during his job search due to his visa status.Within two months of searching, he landed his dream role as an associate product manager at T-Mobile.He shared the key networking and interview prep strategies that helped him bounce back.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Aman Goyal, a 26-year-old associate product manager at T-Mobile. His words have been edited for length and clarity.I was laid off in September, just six months into my role as an AI product manager at an ad tech company. Because I'm from India and was on an F-1 optional practical training (OPT) visa, the layoff triggered an immediate 90-day deadline to either find a new job or leave the US.During my last job search in 2024, while finishing a master's degree in management information systems at Carnegie Mellon University, I submitted hundreds of applications before landing an offer.This time, the tech job market felt even tougher — marked by widespread layoffs, uncertainty around the Trump administration's proposed $100K H-1B salary rule, and intensifying competition for AI-related roles.Despite these challenges, I landed my dream role within 60 days as an agentic AI product manager at T-Mobile. These three things helped me get the job.1. Hunting down the hiring manager's email helped when a referral didn'tAfter learning I'd been laid off, I took a few days to process the news before diving into my job search. It was a big surprise, as I had recently received a positive performance review.With my visa deadline looming, I knew I couldn't afford to wait long before starting to look. I applied for roles at several top tech companies and a few startups, but the startups that responded weren't willing to sponsor visas.I came across three roles at T-Mobile and applied to all of them. A friend referred me for two of the roles, but I accidentally left his name off the third application. Interestingly, the only role I heard back from was the one I wasn't referred for.The job description was closely aligned with my past experience, and the lack of a referral didn't hurt me. I think referrals have become highly overrated, especially since it seems like almost everyone has one.My referral contact was helpful in another way, though. I asked if he knew who the hiring manager was for the role, and he shared the hiring manager's name. I used the email-finding tool Hunter.io, which offers a free plan with a monthly search limit, to look up the hiring manager's email and sent a short message expressing my interest in the role.I could've asked my referral contact for the hiring manager's email, but not everyone feels comfortable sharing someone else's contact information, so it's helpful to have tools that let you find it yourself.Fortunately, I found the right contact — and shortly after, the hiring manager connected me with the recruiter to schedule interviews.Business Insider is speaking with workers who've found themselves at a corporate crossroads — whether due to a layoff, resignation, job search, or shifting workplace expectations.Share your story by filling out this form, contacting this reporter via email at jzinkula@businessinsider.com, or via Signal at jzinkula.29.2. Buying a book gave me access to a community of job seekersLanding an interview was only half the battle, and I knew I had to be fully prepared to make the most of the opportunity, so I spent about $50 on "Decode and Conquer," a product management interview preparation guide by Lewis Lin.By emailing the author with my receipt as proof of purchase, I gained access to a Slack community with more than 20,000 members, including aspiring product managers, current PMs, and professionals between jobs like myself.What I found most valuable about the community after I joined was how easily I could schedule mock interviews with…

Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI"There's two things that I care about the most: the gym and my work," says Mahir Laul.The 18-year-old took a leave of absence from New York University this past fall to work full-time on his HR tech startup, Velric. While his classmates are taking shots and hooking up, Laul is coding and lifting. That means almost no time for romance."I am obsessed with work," he tells me. "My love life is in the gutters."His young founder friends are a similar story, he says. The few who are dating found their partners before they started their companies, while the rest are "locked in" on building — and locking themselves out of the dating pool.Silicon Valley has long been the land where mixing work with play was seen as crucial to its growth. While Google and Facebook were being built, their staff were also tripping on ayahuasca and canoodling in "cuddle puddles." Now, amid the white-collar job apocalypse and the cutthroat AI race, tech has gone hardcore. Ramp has seen a spike in corporate card purchases on Saturdays in the Bay Area. Foot traffic at San Francisco office buildings was up 21.6% year over year in July, per Placer.ai, the highest uptick among major cities. And as I found in conversations with more than two dozen young tech professionals, the industry's upstarts are pounding through hourslong coding sprints, working 996 schedules (9 a.m. to 6 p.m., six days a week), and proudly telling their investors and X followers how they've gone "monk mode" in service of scaling their startups.For many in Silicon Valley's young hustle class, "it's time to build" means there's no time to bone. They're on one type of grind, and it's not on the dance floor, which shuts down early in San Francisco anyway. Tech's dating scene, never particularly hot, has frozen over.Hackathons, pitch decks, scrambling for investors — the life of a startup founder has never been amenable to a rich dating life. Lauren Kay, a former dating app founder who now runs a literary business, tells me that when she was a member of the 2014 Y Combinator class, she had to ask her cofounder for permission to go on a first date at 10 p.m. on a Saturday. Still, she did meet her husband in that YC class. Douglas Feigelson, a member of that same class, says "there was opportunity to drink and date when I was in YC."The opportunity cost is really high. Every night you spent out is time you could have spent building your startupAnnie Liao, 24, founder of the AI learning startup Build ClubA decade later, many founders feel like they can't afford to make the time.A good relationship is like a good startup, says Daivik Goel, the 27-year-old founder of the payroll platform Shor. "It takes a lot of time to nurture at the beginning if you want to do them right." For now, he only has the bandwidth to nurture one. Like many of his founder friends, he says, he's not on any dating apps, and he doesn't seek out hookups at bars. "I haven't had the time to really invest yet."Several founders I spoke to described dating in founder terms. "The opportunity cost is really high," says Annie Liao, the 24-year-old founder of AI learning startup Build Club. "Every night you spent out is time you could have spent building your startup." She adds, "Most founders wait until the startup is more stable, like Series B."Liao says her founder roommates aren't dating either. They hook up sometimes for fun — so long as they don't get "emotionally attached." For those working seven days a week on their startup, opening Hinge is "a big, big distraction," she says.Some blame the dating recession on tech workers treating dating like an extension of their work. Liao says her male friends often give women ratings, "like KPIs." These ratings are out of 10, and offer a "numerical…