We’ve been taught that adulthood doesn’t really begin for women until we’ve found a husband and had a baby. Jessica Cruel is here to push back on that — and she has the research to back it up.

This week, Aisha sits down with Jessica Cruel, Editor-in-Chief of Allure magazine and the author of the forthcoming book Single Happy Female, for an honest, layered conversation about what it actually looks like to build a full life without waiting on partnership to start living it.

Jessica is clear: she still wants partnership. So do 48 of the 50 women she interviewed for her book. But the difference is that she’s no longer treating singleness as a holding pattern. She’s traveling, throwing herself promotion parties, picking out the white dress for her 40th in Greece — and writing the book she wishes she’d had ten years ago.

They get into the loneliness of being the boss (and what nobody tells you about reaching the top of your industry), Jessica’s openness about therapy and Lexapro after years of watching her mother navigate bipolar disorder, the “twirlers vs. toilers” framework Jessica uses to describe how women rise in their careers, the unspoken hardship hierarchy among friend groups, and the radical act of throwing the damn party for yourself even when there’s no wedding or baby shower to attend.

If you’ve been quietly waiting on a milestone to start living the life you want, this conversation is for you.

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Meanwhile, She is a space for conversations on womanhood, identity, ambition, and the moments that define us.