Little Women follows the lives of the four March sisters who, no matter the circumstance, find solace, creativity, chaos, and comfort in one another. More than 150 years later, Louisa May Alcott had it right: there’s just something about sisters. They are our confidantes, co-conspirators, rivals, cheerleaders, emergency contacts, and occasionally, our biggest headaches. One minute you’re fighting over bathroom time or the front seat and the next you’re sending each other “text me when you get home” messages.

Sibling relationships are often overlooked in favor of studying parent-child dynamics, but research shows sisters have a profound impact on our lives. A study published in the Journal of Family Psychology found that simply having a sister is linked to better mental health, stronger self-esteem, and lower rates of loneliness, guilt, and fear. Researchers followed nearly 400 families. The study’s author, Laura Padilla-Walker, examined the dynamic of families with two or more kids, with at least one child between the ages of 10-14 years old. When she checked back in with the families a year later, she made a discovery: “Just having a sister led to less depression.” She found that sisters make people talk about their feelings, whether they want to or not. In families with sisters, adolescents were protected from “feeling lonely, unloved, guilty, self-conscious and fearful,” with birth order or age difference having no bearing on a sister’s influence. 

This may come as a surprise to anyone whose childhood included slammed doors, screaming matches, and passive-aggressive “borrowing.” But even that has value. Researchers say sibling conflict teaches emotional regulation, communication, and compromise. In other words, arguing with your sister may have been preparing you for the workplace all along. Sisters are often the only people who can humble you and hype you up in the exact same phone call. 

Sisters tend to influence the entire family dynamic. Studies show that brothers with sisters often develop stronger communication skills and greater emotional awareness. And as siblings get older, the relationship usually shifts from competition to connection. One long-term study found that healthier sibling relationships at age 23 were directly tied to stronger mental health and emotional well-being by age 41. Perhaps that’s why sister duos continue to fascinate culture, from Venus and Serena to Mary-Kate and Ashley. After all, before the group chat, before the therapist, before the work bestie…there was probably your sister.

But for some, they experience a strained relationship with their siblings. Research on sibling estrangement shows that unresolved conflict can lead to long-term grief and stress. Unlike friendships that naturally drift, sibling relationships are tied to family history, identity, and shared memories, which can make distance feel especially painful. Experts say that when possible, addressing conflict directly and attempting repair can be meaningful, as sibling relationships are often among the longest and most influential connections in a person’s life.

Which is part of what makes sisters so important later on. In adulthood, sisters often become the glue holding families together. As parents age, it’s frequently sisters coordinating care, organizing holidays, keeping traditions alive, and making sure everyone still speaks to each other after Thanksgiving dinner. NPR’s Allison Aubrey points to research showing that adults with warm sibling relationships report greater happiness throughout life, “Even though people have lots of different relationships with friends over their lifetimes, those who have warm relationships with sisters and brothers report better well-being. And those who have unresolved rivalries or conflict tend to have more emotional angst. The research shows this holds up well into retirement age.”

That’s because siblings occupy a unique role in our lives. Friends come and go, careers change, and entire identities evolve, but your siblings remember every version of you,  awkward middle school phase included. As sociologist Catherine Coger put it, “To the outside world, we all grow up, but not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We share ‘in-jokes,’ family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time.” We are each other’s first friends and important teachers. So let’s hear it for the girls.

The legal profession has largely remained the same for the last several hundred years, but Logan Brown is changing that. She is the CEO and Founder of Soxton.AI, an AI-powered law firm helping startups. She’s been in the industry since age 12, when she landed an internship at her local district attorney’s office. Her interests soon grew to include coding and entrepreneurship. After graduating from Harvard Law School, she was an associate at a big law firm where she saw the profound effect that technology was having on the field. Now, with her company, she is ensuring that advances in tech make great legal services accessible to everyone.

What’s the worst career advice you’ve gotten?

Anytime someone told me that there is only one way to be or do something. When I was pitching Soxton.AI, someone gave me feedback that I seemed “too coachable.” In another meeting I was told that I seemed overconfident. People will always have their opinions, and there’s no winning in that kind of situation. You have to trust and stay true to yourself.

What’s the best piece of non-obvious career advice you’ve gotten?

Melanie Perkins, the Co-Founder and CEO of Canva, once said that when you're building a startup, there's so much advice that you receive. While you can take things from other companies, you should think of your startup as a house. If you’re using bricks from other companies to build it, it might not work or fit. I can’t try to emulate another company’s success. I know myself and my employees, and I want to create something that will work best for me and the people I’m surrounded by.

What was a heartbeat moment for you in your career?

When I left my job at a law firm. It was a difficult decision, as it was secure and had a clear path for advancement. And there I was, starting my own company and embarking on a new journey. In order to do that, you have to really believe in yourself and what you’re trying to accomplish. I'm very excited about my work, and I know it was the right choice. It’s so rewarding because a lot of my clients are founders and I get to witness them on their own journeys.

Who is one person you’d love to give flowers to from your career that influenced your journey? What advice or lesson did you learn from them?

I’d like to give flowers to Katie Jacobs Stanton, who is the Founder and General Partner of my lead investor, Moxxie Ventures. She's had an incredible career working at companies like Yahoo, Twitter, and Google. She introduced me to so many different people that she’s professionally connected with, and everyone says the same thing: she believes in people, gives them more responsibility than they might think they are ready for, and changes lives. She changed mine. I really admire the life she has built, but also how she treats people along the way. She inspires me to continue to pay it forward.

Where have you caused some good trouble in your career?

I’m changing the way that legal services are practiced, which is disruptive in the industry. I’ve had people tell me that it won't work, as people don’t want to move away from the old system. But that’s the kind of pushback that any new player or technology receives when it first arrives.

My goal is to have more people gain access to great legal services. A lot of times, it’s inaccessible due to cost. It hurts folks that might be able to create really big businesses, but are unaware of what they need to do in the early stages of their company. We’re able to create a standard for that, allowing for better investment, setting up for investment later on, and due diligence.

Want to nominate a “Troublemaker” you admire? You can do so here.

Sarah Williams of The Female Quotient weighs in:

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ”It's not the destination, it's the journey.” You’re being put in a tough spot where you’re expected to be at the destination without first embarking on the trip. This kind of tension is increasingly common, as teams today must constantly navigate change, shifting priorities, and heightened expectations from the top. But speed and progress are not the same thing. Moving quickly means very little if the work is unclear, rushed, or unsustainable.

This is where expectation-setting becomes critical. It’s about helping leadership understand what “getting it right” delivers that speed alone can’t: stronger adoption, better decision-making, and longer-lasting results. Keep them informed on progress so they can see momentum without demanding premature outcomes. And for your team, they need clarity. When everything feels urgent, nothing actually is. Clear priorities help people focus and execute better.

The role of a strong leader is to hold the line between urgency and intention, so that what moves forward is clear, aligned, and built to last. Because the goal isn’t just to move fast, it’s to build something that actually works once you get there.

P.S. Got a burning career question? Serve it up here to Dear FQ to score advice from a powerhouse leader in our network.

It’s the end of the workday, and you either close your laptop feeling accomplished…or wondering what you even did all day. For most employees, that sense of satisfaction comes from making progress, whether that’s crossing things off a to-do list or moving an important project forward.

There’s a reason lists work. Productivity expert Graham Allcott, the author of How to Be a Productivity Ninja, recommends writing down everything swirling around in your head. The act of getting it onto paper creates clarity, perspective, and a greater sense of control. Plus, crossing something off just feels good. (Be honest: we’ve all added something to a to-do list after doing it just for the satisfaction.)

But accomplishment is starting to look different. More people realize that the best workdays are the ones where something meaningful moves forward, like solving a problem, having an important conversation, or finally making progress on the thing you’ve been avoiding. The key is figuring out what actually makes you feel accomplished and building more of that into your day. Slams laptop shut 👩‍💻

Go ahead, forward this to your sister, or your bestie who's like a sister! 👯‍♀️

Xo,

The FQ

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