• My eldest had a severe food reaction that sent us to the ER when she was 5 months old.
• I wanted to avoid repeating that traumatic experience so I took control of all aspects of our lives.
• I thought if I could keep my child safe then I was a good mother. My helicopter parenting backfired.

I've been a parent for almost 12 years. If there's one thing I've learned, parenting is the ultimate reminder that you cannot control much in life. I learned this lesson the hard way.

After a traumatic birth and emergency C-section, my first child was born with a severe food allergy to dairy. Of course, I didn't know this right away.

It became clear one night after a frantic trip to the Emergency Room with a 5-month-old baby. I spent months after that ER visit trying to control every aspect of our lives to protect us from experiencing another reaction.

Surprisingly, my attempts worked. We did not have another reaction for many years. Ergo, I reasoned that if I could control all aspects of our lives as well, then we would be safe.

I had an ingrained belief that if I could keep my child safe, then I was a good mother. I really wanted to be a good mother.

Controlling our lives wasn't a winning strategy

I never wanted my child to feel like she wasn't normal or wasn't enough. So, I inadvertently became a helicopter parent.

I swayed her friend choices to people who would respect our limitations. I swayed our outings to places where I felt comfortable and knew we would be protected, not necessarily the places where we would have new experiences or grow.

I was so afraid of what my life would be like if something really bad happened that I kept us from living a full life. This translated to my other child, who became completely dependent on me.

At some point, I knew they would need to be able to exist independently; I just wasn't sure how to let go. I didn't know how to hold the uncertainty of their independence, so I avoided allowing it.

I eventually ended up divorced, out of touch with myself as a person and as a parent, and with two very small children depending on me to keep them safe and show them the way.

Emotionally exhausted, post-divorce, I just couldn't do it anymore. So, I did what parents often do. I committed to figuring it out.

I can't control much, but I can still be a good mother

I did a lot of deep reflection during the COVID-19 pandemic and learned to tune back into myself.

I sought therapy to challenge why I was so afraid and learned ways to overcome those fears.

I practiced being alone, going to new places, and trying new things like hiking and paddleboarding. Then, I shared those experiences with my kids.

After I learned to love and be myself again, I started to see my children for who they were instead of what I thought they should be.

I believe them when they tell me what they think, want, and dislike. I don't try to dissuade them anymore.

I've spent most of the last five years facing and working to overcome my fears. It's been worth it to watch my kids blossom. They have friends, social lives, and favorite places to eat, and we've also traveled a bit.

Watching my eldest on the beach in Hawaii with a smile as big as the ocean is a moment I'll always cherish.

Of course, over the years, my eldest has had more food allergy reactions. Each one is terrifying at the moment, but we've learned to grow from these experiences, like understanding to recognize which foods are safe and how to branch outside her comfort zone.

I cannot control much about life, at all, but I can figure out how to live and parent in a supportive way.

• BP is cutting thousands of jobs, the oil giant announced on Thursday.
• The cuts will affect 4,700 staff positions and 3,000 contractor roles.
• BP said it was part of a program to "simplify and focus" the oil giant.

Oil giant BP is cutting thousands of jobs, the company announced on Thursday.

Some 4,700 positions will be eliminated, while the number of contractors will be reduced by 3,000, it said in a statement sent to Business Insider.

The cuts are part of a program to "simplify and focus" BP that began last year.

"We are strengthening our competitiveness and building in resilience as we lower our costs, drive performance improvement and play to our distinctive capabilities," the statement added.

"As our transformation continues our priority will — of course — be safe and reliable operations and continuing to support our teams."

Bloomberg first reported the job cuts.

"I understand and recognize the uncertainty this brings for everyone whose job may be at risk, and also the effect it can have on colleagues and teams," CEO Murray Auchincloss told staff in an email seen by the outlet.

BP shares rose 1.7% in morning trading in London.

This is a developing story.

• Starbucks will host its first manager conference since the COVID-19 pandemic this year.
• The last conference was hosted in Chicago in 2019 and had over 12,000 attendees.
• New CEO Brian Niccol wants to stamp his mark and enhance in-person experiences at the chain.

Starbucks is bringing back a major conference for its store managers and senior staff for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic as it refocuses on in-person experiences.

Starbucks confirmed to Business Insider that thousands of store managers and other senior staff will be invited to the gathering this year. It will include training, development, and networking opportunities, the company said.

"As we get back to Starbucks, we must refocus on what has always set us apart — a welcoming coffeehouse where people gather, and where we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by our skilled baristas," the chain said in a letter sent to invited staff.

"We know the power of in-person connection. We haven't met as a group since 2019, and we're excited to bring our North America retail leaders together again in 2025 to help us get 'back to Starbucks,'" it continued.

Starbucks declined to share details of the event's location and dates, though users on a Subreddit for Starbucks staff said they had been told it would be hosted in Las Vegas.

The last similar conference for senior retail staff was hosted in Chicago toward the beginning of September 2019, just a few months before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1987, the Windy City was the location of the first US Starbucks store away from its headquarters in Seattle.

2019's three-day event consisted of learning and speaker sessions at McCormick Place Convention Center in the South side of Chicago. Over 10,000 store managers from the US and Canada were in attendance, along with 2,000 regional leaders, the senior leadership team, and staff.

New CEO Niccol looks to make his mark

News of the conference comes as the coffee giant's new CEO, Brian Niccol, looks to make his mark.

Since joining the coffee giant in September, Niccol has said he envisions Starbucks stores becoming places where people want to hang out again, focusing on the value of in-person experiences.

"Our stores will be inviting places to linger, with comfortable seating, thoughtful design and a clear distinction between 'to-go' and 'for-here' service," he said in an open letter.

Earlier this week, the firm said it would expand its free refills policy to all customers at participating cafés as part of its new code of conduct, effective January 27. Starbucks rewards members were previously the only ones who could get a free top-up of their order.

The coffee company also announced it would be reversing its open-door policy, which lets non-paying guests use store facilities, like bathrooms, indoor communal areas, and patios.

As a former boss of the Mexican grill chain Chipotle, Niccol attended the California-headquartered fast food chain's all-manager conference in March in Las Vegas.

Attendees included restaurant general managers, executives, and employees with more than 20 years of experience. Chipotle held a similar conference in 2022.

• Rebecca Douglass, a surgeon, chose to keep her maiden name when she married her husband.
• She maintained her name to preserve her legacy professionally and simplify administration.
• Her husband supports her decision, and they manage family roles with her as the primary earner.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Rebecca Douglass, a 36-year-old general surgeon in Emporia, Kansas. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, and earned a chemistry degree from the University of Kentucky in 2012. I then went to the University of Pikeville for medical school and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for my surgical residency in 2016.

I met my husband on Hinge in 2019 during my residency. We got engaged after three months and married eight months later. It was quick, but we knew we wanted to be together.

I kept my last name once we married and never considered taking his.

When we were making wedding arrangements, I was adamant that I wanted to keep my last name

My decision was mainly because I worked so hard to earn my degrees. When someone asks me why I kept my maiden name, I inform them that my husband didn't go to medical school — I did.

It became important to me to keep my name professionally. If one day something happens, like we get divorced, I want to keep my legacy for my entire life.

It was also just easier to keep for administration purposes

When I met my husband, I was already well established in my residency and applying for attending surgeon positions.

It would be quite difficult to change my last name when I had already completed multiple research studies, obtained my license, and finished additional professional work that would then not be able to be searched easily and verified from my résumé.

My husband had no issues with me keeping my maiden name and even offered to take it. He didn't in the end because we realized it wasn't important to us. I socially go by his last name, but nothing legally has changed.

Keeping my name hasn't caused any issues

Proving who I am in relation to my husband hasn't been problematic, especially in this advanced age of technology.

I also have two young children who share my husband's name, and we haven't had any issues thus far. We agreed to this from the start.

My husband became a part-time stay-at-home dad during the pandemic

My husband had been previously married, and we looked after his son from his first marriage for half of the week during the pandemic. Now, we have my stepson for all his school breaks greater than three days.

I was pregnant during the pandemic, and because pregnant women were at higher risk, we decided that my husband would at least go to part time work when we had my stepson. My husband is an audio engineer, and much of his work is remote, but he had to decrease his hours significantly. We wouldn't have been able to do that without my salary as a surgeon, though.

Once we had our son together and I finished my maternity leave, he became completely stay-at-home. Now, he does a little consulting work but is otherwise a full-time stay-at-home parent to our one- and three-year-olds.

He would prefer to be working but is making the sacrifice for me

He misses work but understands I've worked my whole life to become a physician. It matters regarding my identity, but it also makes more sense financially because I earn more.

He plans to increase his hours when the kids are both in school. He'll still be the responsible parent to take them to and from school and after-school activities, so he won't be able to go full time.

It's only usually people over 65 who ask questions about our decisions

I've not faced any significant criticism, but sometimes people comment on the fact that I've not changed my name or that my husband stays at home. Younger people are fine with it. Not even my grandparents said anything, and my dad was actually happy that I was keeping the family name.

Everyone in my life has always known me to be a strong-headed woman, so if I say something is going to happen, they don't question it.

If women want to keep their name, they should feel empowered to do that. Marriage is a commitment between two people — changing a name is just something on paper.

• In November, Miss Universe CEO Anne Jakrajutatip praised the new Miss Universe's blond hair and blue eyes.
• She said Miss Universe didn't need to evolve because "we already got the best here."
• New Miss America Abbie Stockard told BI that Jakrajutatip's remarks were "so frustrating to hear."

Miss Universe CEO Anne Jakrajutatip shocked the pageant community when she praised Miss Universe winner Victoria Kjær Theilvig's blond hair and blue eyes, calling them "the best."

"We have blond and blue eyes, so we're coming to the ultimate evolution already," Jakrajutatip said during a November press conference when a reporter asked her if the Miss Universe pageant still needed to evolve. "We don't need any more evolution here. We already got the best here."

Jakrajutatip's remarks angered some pageant queens and left others unbothered, like Miss Universe first runner-up Chidimma Adetshina.

In a recent interview with Business Insider, the new Miss America Abbie Stockard said she took issue with Jakrajutatip's words.

"That's just so frustrating to hear because I know I fall into that category, and it just seems like it takes away from all the hard work I put into it," Stockard said. "I think people have to know that."

Representatives for Miss Universe and Jakrajutatip did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

Stockard grew up watching Miss America on television every year but only began competing during her first year at Auburn University, where she's currently a nursing student.

"My mom was working four jobs at the time, and I was looking for a way to relieve some of that financial burden on my family," said Stockard, adding that she has acquired over $89,000 in scholarship money from the organization, $50,000 of which came from winning the Miss America title on January 5.

"I fell in love with this organization and everything that it stands for," Stockard added. "And what I learned was that it doesn't matter if you have any previous pageant experience or not; you can win no matter how many years you've been doing it. And I'm excited to use this story of mine to inspire other young women."

Both Miss America and Miss USA — the latter of which is part of the Miss Universe Organization and now overseen by Jakrajutatip — have undergone big changes over the past few years amid their own controversies.

Sam Haskell ran the Miss America Organization for 12 years before he stepped down in 2017 after his vulgar internal emails about past Miss America winners were leaked to the press. He was replaced by former Fox News host and Miss America 1989 Gretchen Carlson, who removed the swimsuit round from the competition. She resigned in June 2019 after Cara Mund, who was Miss America at the time, spoke out against her leadership.

Miss USA made headlines in October 2022 when then-president Crystle Stewart was suspended after contestants said that year's pageant had been rigged. Jakrajutatip took over the Miss Universe Organization that same month.

"We seek not only to continue its legacy of providing a platform to passionate individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and traditions but also to evolve the brand for the next generation," she said in a statement sent to BI at the time.

In August 2023, it was announced that Jakrajutatip had sold the Miss USA license to Laylah Rose. In May 2024, Miss USA Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava both resigned within days of each other. It was the first time in the pageant's 72-year history that a woman had given up her title.

Their mothers, Jackeline Voigt and Barbara Srivastava, told BI in an interview at the time that their daughters experienced "eight months of torture and abuse" while working with Rose. Miss USA and Rose did not respond to BI's previous requests for comment on the mothers' statements.

These ongoing controversies have helped diminish the luster of pageant competitions in America, where they once had prime-time slots on major networks and were watched by millions of people.

Stockard told BI she thinks Miss America is "going to continue evolving." She hopes to show the world there's far more to the title than physical appearance.

"Miss America is not just a pretty face; she's a force to be reckoned with," Stockard said. "The young women in this organization, they are mentors, they are role models, they are the leaders of tomorrow."

• Insight Partners has raised $12.5 billion for new software investments as the tech market heats up.
• The new funds mark the largest raise by a VC firm in over two years, per PitchBook data.
• Insight investors say they expect a higher caliber of startups to show up for funding this year.

As more startups go to fundraise to top off their bank accounts, Insight Partners is leaning into the opportunity with billions in new cash for its software investments.

Insight has closed on $12.5 billion for its newest set of funds, Business Insider has learned. The sum is little more than half the size of its previous fundraise of $20 billion in 2022 — a big step down that Insight managing director Ryan Hinkle says is indicative of a "great reset" in tech investing over the last several years.

The firm will allocate the new funds across several different categories: its 13th flagship fund, buyout investments, and an opportunities fund, which provides later-stage companies with financing that combines debt and equity features. Insight declined to share the exact financial breakdown of funds.

Insight had initially set out to raise $20 billion for this set of funds, The Financial Times reported last year. The firm lowered its target as investors in venture capital funds broadly backed off the asset class, spooked by plunging tech stock prices, geopolitical chaos, and recession fears. Household names like Tiger Global and TCV have also switched up strategies and closed funds below their targets in recent years.

Insight's $12.5 billion haul is still an impressive get in a market that's limping back to normalcy. According to PitchBook data, the new funds mark the largest sum raised by a venture capital firm in over two years. In 2024, General Catalyst raked in $8 billion in fresh capital, while Andreessen Howoritz's newest fundraise topped $7.2 billion.

Insight invests in companies from the seed round to the IPO and focuses on categories powered by software, such as healthcare, cybersecurity, data, and the future of work. The firm employs about 485 people, including a hundred investment professionals — a massive dragnet for sourcing and closing deals. Early investments include Twitter, Alibaba, Shopify, and, more recently, buzzy AI startups like Jasper, Wiz, and Writer.

Insight returned over $8 billion to the firm's own investors last year out of profits from exits in the portfolio, according to the firm. Among them, Salesforce bought Own, a data management provider, for $1.9 billion, and Mastercard purchased the threat intelligence company Recorded Future from Insight for over $2 billion.

Insight has gassed up the tank as investors widely expect funding for startups to rebound. In late 2022, many founders saw the writing on the wall and cut spending to stretch their cash reserves further. Fewer founders went out to fundraise in an investor-friendly market. Two and a half years later, some of those same founders are now electing to raise money again in order to lean into risk and spend to grow. Hinkle said Insight is eagerly awaiting those firms.

"The better the income statement and performance of these companies, the less likely they have been raising capital the past two and a half years," said Hinkle, noting he was generalizing.

"This is my expectation, at least, that the batch of companies that hasn't raised since 2021, they're either thinking about an exit, which is good because we can buy those companies, or they're thinking about raising capital again, which is good because we can provide the capital," Hinkle said. Either way, he said, Insight has a product for them.

Praveen Akkiraju, a managing director at Insight, had another reason to feel optimistic. Software spending cooled off in the downturn, but more businesses are planning to increase their tech budgets to capture the efficiencies that artificial intelligence can provide. Recent leaps in the field, such as the application of "agents" and the shrinking cost of computing, have also amplified their interest. This is good news for software companies that sell into the enterprise market.

"Every company cares about AI. It doesn't matter if you're legacy software, hardware, transportation, construction, or you're an electrician," Akkiraju said. "That's what's unique about this. It's enabling tech that's going to fundamentally lift the entire ecosystem."

Hinkle also offered a caveat to his funding outlook. He doesn't expect startups to come to market for funding in the same numbers as they did in 2021. Dealmaking will remain subdued, he said. Hinkle put it this way: After weeks of freezing temperatures in New York, 42 degrees and sun can feel downright tropical. But it's still frigid. And the tech winter hasn't thawed yet.

• TSMC reported net income of $11.6 billion in its fourth-quarter earnings Thursday.
• The company, which makes chips for Nvidia and Apple, is riding the AI boom.
• TSMC's CFO said its results were "supported by strong demand" for its advanced chips.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has reported record earnings, indicating that demand for AI chips remains strong.

TSMC, the world's largest contract semiconductor manufacturer, reported Thursday that its net income increased 57% year-over-year to NT$374.68 billion, or $11.6 billion.

Revenue between October and December increased by 37% from the year-ago period to $26.88 billion. It was up 14.4% from the previous quarter.

The Taiwanese firm manufacturers chips for companies including Nvidia, Apple, and AMD.

Almost three-quarters of TSMC revenue from its wafer category — products using a thin slice of semiconductor material — came from what the company defines as its "advanced technologies" — all chips measuring 7 nanometers or smaller.

Nvidia's new flagship AI chip, Blackwell, uses 4-nanometer chips manufactured by TSMC.

In an earnings statement, Wendell Huang, senior VP and chief financial officer at TSMC, said that its results were "supported by strong demand" for its most advanced chips — those measuring 3 nanometers and 5 nanometers.

"Moving into first quarter 2025, we expect our business to be impacted by smartphone seasonality, partially offset by continued growth in AI-related demand," Huang said.

In 2024, 35% of TSMC's revenue came from smartphones, while 51% came from high-performance computing.

TSMC shares were up by nearly 1% after the publication of its earnings and were up more than 90% over the last 12 months.

• Tesla is offering discounts on Cybertrucks as it looks to juice sales.
• Buyers can get $1,600 off a new Cybertruck, with used demo trucks advertised at a $2,600 discount.
• It comes after Tesla reported its first-ever drop in annual sales.

Tesla has started offering discounts on the Cybertruck as it battles to recover from a decline in sales.

The automaker is now advertising up to $1,600 off new Cybertrucks on its website, with buyers also able to pick up demo versions of the futuristic pickup with just a few hundred miles on the clock at a $2,600 discount.

It comes after Tesla moved some of its workers off its Cybertruck production line at its Austin factory, three employees at the facility previously told Business Insider.

The workers were moved to the production line for Tesla's best-selling Model Y sedan, a move which two of them said was unusual.

Sales of the Cybertruck, which launched in 2023 and was Tesla's first new passenger vehicle since the Model Y was released in 2020, have faced scrutiny in recent months.

The company does not make Cybertruck sales figures public, but it said it sold 85,000 "other vehicles," including Cybertrucks, Model X, and Model S vehicles, in 2024.

Tesla amassed two million reservations for the Cybertruck prior to the vehicle's release, according to an online tracker published by Electrek.

The automaker has said the unorthodox off-roader is now turning a profit, and industry data shows it is still outselling rivals like the Ford F-150 Lightning.

However, that hasn't been enough to stop Tesla from recording its first-ever annual sales decline in 2024, despite piling on incentives toward the end of the year.

The carmaker is now pushing to meet Elon Musk's ambitious target of 20-30% sales growth this year, unveiling a revamped version of the Model Y in Asia last week.

The Cybertruck also faced multiple recalls in 2024, ranging from problems with its enormous windshield wiper to a fault that risked the truck's accelerator pedal getting jammed at full throttle.

The discounts, first reported by CNBC, may help alleviate one of the biggest barriers for Tesla fans eyeing the trapezoid truck: the price.

When Elon Musk unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019, he said the angular EV would start at $39,900, with the most expensive version selling for about $70,000.

However, initial versions of the Cybertruck were priced at over $100,000, and Tesla only rolled out a cheaper all-wheel-drive version for $80,000 in October.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment, sent outside normal working hours.