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Jennifer Clinchy worked at the White House for nine years.Courtesy of Jennifer ClinchyJennifer Clinchy is a federal attorney who worked at the White House for 9 years.She started a résumé writing side business after reviewing cabinet appointee applications.She makes about $70,000 annually writing resumes and uses the money to restore her historic home.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jennifer Clinchy, owner of Clinchy Career Consulting. It has been edited for length and clarity.I was a White House attorney for nine years, spanning three different presidents (Obama, Trump, and Biden). Six years ago, I started working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but I still get teary-eyed when I think about my time in the White House. As the daughter of immigrants, I never dreamed I'd be reporting to work on Pennsylvania Avenue each day.I loved that some of the brightest people in the country were my colleagues. I hold a dual degree in law and policy, and one of my responsibilities at the White House was to prepare presidential appointees for their Senate confirmation hearings.In that role, I reviewed hundreds of résumés and cover letters. I helped people stand out in what's essentially a very high-stakes job interview. Working with these incredible candidates who applied for powerful and influential positions led me down an unexpected career path: résumé writing.I became a federal attorney for the purpose and securityMy parents raised me to be self-sufficient. They were both hardworking. My dad taught me that education is particularly valuable because it can never be taken away from you; No matter what happens, you'll always have your education.Jennifer Clinchy charges $2,000 for a résumé and cover letter.Courtesy of Jennifer ClinchyI attended law school in Washington, D.C., where the federal government is omnipresent. I was drawn to federal jobs not only because of the perceived security, but because I felt they mattered. With this work, I could help people, defend justice, and protect the environment. After about 14 years as a federal attorney, my salary is about $186,000.I charge $2,000 to write a résumé and cover letterI'd been reviewing résumés for friends, colleagues, and mentees for years. Then, in early 2020, one of my friends said, "You're really good at this. Have you ever considered it as a career path?"His question made me realize I had this latent talent that I'd never really considered harnessing. Soon after, the pandemic hit. I was used to traveling about twice a month for work, and when that stopped, I had time to spare.I signed up for Fiverr and started writing résumés. Initially, I set my prices low, but I soon realized I wanted to emphasize quality over quantity. Today, I charge $2,000 for a résumé and cover letter. I spend many hours reviewing each client's history and experience to determine the best way to present them in the most favorable light.The résumé income helps me repair my historic homeOver the past five years, I've earned more than $260,000 on Fiverr. I also work directly with clients, so my average annual income from résumés over those years has been about $70,000.Jennifer Clinchy is using her extra money to maintain her home.Courtesy of Jennifer ClinchyI now live in Seattle, where the cost of homes is very high. I worried I wouldn't be able to afford a home on just my federal salary alone. The résumé business has enabled me to purchase a historic home and complete the costly renovations it requires, including new flooring, a new roof, and an earthquake-resistant system.Essentially, the bulk of my résumé income goes toward maintenance and repairs on my home. My federal job pays the mortgage and other essentials.During the recent federal shutdown, I was furloughed, and résumé writing became especially important. I generated about $18,000 in résumé writing over those six weeks.My clients keep me doing the workAs an…

Brian Chesky said no one was weight lifting when he came to Silicon Valley in the 2000s.Myunggu Han/Getty Images for AirbnbAirbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he's been surprised to see the tech community embrace fitness.When he got to Silicon Valley in the 2000s, he said he was worried about being considered a "meathead."Chesky also shared his arm routine in an interview with "TBPN."Longevity and biohacking have become synonymous with the tech world, but an obsession with physical fitness wasn't always the norm in Silicon Valley, according to one CEO.Brian Chesky, the 44-year-old cofounder and CEO of Airbnb, said he felt like his interest in bodybuilding made him stand out when he first arrived in the late 2000s, and not in a good way.When asked about the latest peptide craze during a "TBPN" livestream on Wednesday, Chesky said he'd been slightly surprised to see the way the tech community has embraced fitness."When I came to Silicon Valley, I was slightly self-conscious about wearing long-sleeve shirts because I thought if I wear a short-sleeve shirt, people will think I'm a meathead and therefore an idiot," he told the "TBPN" hosts. "People just didn't really lift weights in 2007, 2008."Before starting Airbnb, Chesky played hockey in college and was a competitive bodybuilder, an interest he said got sparked after an injury sent him to physical therapy.He told the podcast hosts he was excited to see more people embracing fitness and following the science on nutrition and weightlifting. He also said that many of the things he learned through bodybuilding, he brought with him to Silicon Valley."You don't get in shape in one workout. It's 1% a day," he said. Likewise, in Silicon Valley, "It's not about one idea. It's about grinding every single day year-over-year with consistency," he said. "Overnight successes take thousands of days, actually, typically."Chesky also discussed Airbnb's announcement on Wednesday that Ahmad Al-Dahle, formerly head of generative AI at Meta, was joining the company as CTO. Chesky has previously shared his plan for Airbnb to become an AI-first app.Brian Chesky shares his arm routineOn the "TBPN" livestream, the topic of fitness initially came up after co-host John Coogan said, "The chat is begging us to ask you for an arm routine."Chesky, wearing a black, fitted, short-sleeve shirt, delivered."Genetically, I have better arms than shoulders or chests," the CEO said, adding he doesn't have a dedicated arm day and instead does arms with shoulders.Chesky said he usually does two bicep exercises and two tricep exercises, "typically a compound free weight movement and a machine movement." For example, he said his bicep workout might include a dumbbell curl followed by a Hammer Strength cable exercise with a rope or V bar, while his tricep workout includes a cable pushdown and maybe a skull crusher.When asked if he's using AI in the gym, Chesky said he has a personal trainer — a former Mr. Universe — for his workouts, but that he is using AI for nutrition and supplements.He said he got bloodwork done and then uploaded the PDF to an AI chatbot to analyze it. He realized he was short on Vitamin D, so he started supplementing it.Far from being out of place these days, the marriage of tech and fitness only appears to be growing, with major AI companies expanding into healthcare and tech billionaires going all in on longevity.Read the original article on Business Insider

Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch says its edge over Silicon Valley isn't smarter models, but being a European alternative built for control, sovereignty, and trust.LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesArthur Mensch, CEO and cofounder of Mistral, said being non-American is a competitive edge its home market.He said European governments and regulated firms want AI that they can control without US providers.AI power will be multipolar, favoring regional players over Silicon Valley giants, he said.As the race to dominate AI accelerates, Europe's most prominent AI startup is betting that geography — not just technology — can be a competitive advantage in its home market. Arthur Mensch, the CEO and cofounder of French AI company Mistral, said the company's edge in Europe over Silicon Valley rivals like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic isn't about having dramatically smarter models.Instead, he said that many European governments and regulated enterprises are seeking AI systems they can control, customize, and operate independently, rather than relying on a small number of external providers. "European governments are coming to us because they want to build the technology and they want to serve their citizens," Mensch said on the "Big Technology Podcast" on Wednesday.When models converge, control becomes the moatMistral, founded in 2023 and now valued at roughly $14 billion, develops large language models that rival those of leading US systems.But Mensch said that frontier AI models are rapidly converging in performance as research spreads and training techniques become widely available.As a result, the real battleground is shifting away from raw intelligence and toward deployment, control, and trust — a shift that plays directly into Mistral's pitch in Europe.Mensch said governments, banks, and heavily regulated industries want AI systems they can customize, deploy locally, and operate independently — without fear that a single vendor could change the rules or shut off access.The approach has already paid off. France's military recently selected Mistral for an AI deal that keeps sensitive systems running on French-controlled infrastructure.AI sovereignty beats regulatory arbitrageMensch pushed back on the idea that the company benefits merely from EU regulation or protectionism.Instead, he framed the demand as geopolitical and operational.European governments, he said, want AI that they can govern themselves and use to serve citizens without depending on foreign platforms.The same logic applies to regulated enterprises that need tighter control over data, compliance, and security.Mistral's embrace of open-source models is central to that strategy.Open source allows customers to run AI on their own infrastructure, build redundancy, and avoid vendor lock-in — a sharp contrast to the closed, centralized platforms favored by many US firms.A multi-polar AI futureThe appeal isn't limited to Europe. Mensch said Mistral also works with US and Asian customers who want to reduce dependence on a small group of American providers and retain more autonomy over how AI is used inside their organizations.That approach is already extending beyond the West. Mistral recently deepened a partnership with Morocco's government to co-build locally tailored AI models and launch a joint research and development lab aimed at strengthening the country's technological autonomy.Long term, Mensch said he doesn't believe AI will be dominated by a single winner or country. Instead, he expects multiple regional centers of expertise shaped by local needs, industries, and political realities.In that future, he suggested, Mistral's biggest advantage may not be the models it builds — but where, and how, it builds them.Do you work for Mistral and have a tip or story to share? Contact this reporter via email at tspirlet@businessinsider.com or Signal at thibaultspirlet.40. Use a…

Kelly Jones said AI and machine learning roles are hard to fill.CiscoCisco's Kelly Jones says AI and machine-learning operations roles are the hardest to fill at the company.Jones, Cisco's chief people officer, said high demand and specialization drive competition for AI talent.She said the company's chief product officer will call especially in-demand candidates.Specialized AI talent can be hard to come by — and companies are jockeying to scoop them up.In the midst of an ongoing battle for elite talent, Cisco's chief people officer says that AI and machine-learning operations positions are "really hard" to fill at the company."The qualified pool is so small, and the demand is so high," Jones said.Part of that is because "everyone" is currently hiring for those positions right now. She said that every forward-thinking organization needs AI in its products and also in its internal IT teams.Those jobs also require a "slightly different level of specialization," she said. AI and ML Ops roles typically involve automating and streamlining IT operations, the company said. The strongest candidates are those with experience working in AI, ML, and operations, and those who have a track record of developing successful products."We're looking for people who have done this, who have been there, and have a good story to tell," Jones said, adding that she wants to know about what they built.Getting execs on the phoneAs the AI talent wars continue, Jones said that one factor that makes a "really big difference" is having leaders at the company talk directly to talent. She said that shouldn't reflect negatively on recruiters, but in the current landscape, there's "a lot of AI washing going on," which makes it hard to differentiate the real wins."Companies are talking about all these things they're doing and how they're slapping AI on everything," Jones said. "But they're actually not doing interesting things with work or with products."She said mobilizing executives like Cisco's president and chief product officer, Jeetu Patel, has helped score some of those top candidates. She said when the company has a strong AI candidate, he'll pick up the phone and give them a call."If there's someone that we are really strategically trying to hire, we will get him involved," Jones said.Patel, whom the company poached from Box in 2020, understands the connection between having the best people design products and the success of those products, Jones said.Cisco isn't the only company to use this technique. Citadel CTO Umesh Subramanian recently told Business Insider that he personally calls top entry-level candidates during the hiring process to talk through their decision-making.OpenAI's Sam Altman has also reportedly called candidates to convince them to join the AI company, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously appeared in email chains to recruit talent and has also reportedly hosted top candidates at his home for meals.Finding the right talentWhat qualifies a candidate to get a phone call from Cisco's Patel?Aside from "top-tier" technical skills and experience, Jones assesses for behavior and potential when evaluating top talent. She said, "It's not just about skills," because those can be learned, but also about the leadership characteristics an applicant has."We want to know, not only have you done these things, but are you intellectually curious? Are you intellectually and emotionally agile? Are you someone who brings your team along with you?" Jones said.Jones said that the company also has to put its efforts toward "naturally" attracting talent both online and in person by creating a presence in the tech community. She said that includes having senior leaders connect with talent at industry events and building community through channels like its Tech Pulse…