things i did before 9am today: 6am workout class, coffee, showered, hit send on client work, called my parents, started a load of laundry, made this newsletter.
things i did before 9am six months ago: cry, probably.

if you're closer to today-me, hi. if you're closer to six-months-ago-me, also hi. growth is real <3 and also if you cried this morning that's still a productive use of the hour imo.

we are soooo back on schedule 🤲 nature is healing. this week i've been thinking about why it is that we stop scrolling.

everybody scrolls. even if you're not chronically online, you still pick up your phone — between meetings, in line, in bed. and the interesting part (to me at least) is the specific posts that make us stop. the ones that physically stop the thumb. (not-so-creatively, these are called thumbstoppers.)

i keep a folder of them so every time something stops me i screenshot it and come back later to figure out why. a pattern showed up that’s worth talking about: in the era of short-form video supremacy, statics are doing way more work than they get credit for. they're not new. they're just suddenly the most efficient pattern interruptor on the feed, and the lo-fi ones especially are landing.

i also generated my own static for teague media this week using ai (a helicopter dropping a teague media bucket over downtown LA, obvi) and the full prompt is in what i'm loving rn 🚁

in today's edition:

🎨 the static ad renaissance + 4 thumbstoppers from this week
💸 quick word from savvie (+ latest post)
🧠 a trend, the helicopter prompt, comedic relief
🪞 LAST CALL on intern apps for summer 26!!

let's go ↓

for the past 2 years the move has been the same recipe: talking head, 3-second hook, b-roll, CTA. and it works! but it's also everywhere. when every other ad is a talking head, the format itself stops registering. your brain pattern-matches "person talking to camera" and skips the ad before you've consciously decided to.

which is exactly why statics are doing disproportionate work right now. they're not louder than reels. they're quieter. so in a feed engineered for noise, quiet is the interruption.

the catch: the statics actually winning aren't polished agency campaigns. they're lo-fi, weird, almost-no-copy.

4 from this week's folder + what's working:

1. the inside-the-cup pov

no copy, no script. just "wait, what the heck am i looking at??" your brain spends 3 seconds figuring it out — 3 seconds you didn't scroll. boom. hooked.

takeaway: if the viewer has to decode the image, you've already won their attention.

2. matcha vs iced coffee girl

this one is a personality test disguised as an ad. people share because it's social signaling. i'm a matcha girlie, i'm a coffee girlie… the brand isn't even selling a product, it's handing the viewer an identity to claim.

takeaway: the most shareable ads aren't about the product, they're about the viewer.

3. rhode's bedhead-to-bathroom

two photos stacked: "good morning glam" eye masks on, half-asleep, raw front cam… then the sink with the products arranged like a still shot.

takeaway: lo-fi shots earn trust and styled shots do the selling.

4. lingerie on the rocks

pure surrealism. lace lingerie posed in coupe glasses like champagne with "2026 is going to be empowering" tucked into the negative space. they're not selling loungewear with a model, they're selling it with a vibe.

takeaway: sometimes the product is better implied than shown.

if your talking-head reels have felt flat lately, this is your sign to mix in a static. let an image carry the idea + let the viewer's brain do half the work 🤍

our friends at wispr flow + percent keeping us free this week 👇

Wispr Flow runs on Mac, Windows, and iPhone. Speak your follow-ups, action items, and replies on the go. Get clean, formatted text in any app. 4x faster than typing with your thumbs. Start flowing free.

In Q1 2026, the non-traded BDC market hit $20.8B in redemption requests — most investors received roughly half of what they asked for. Moody's revised the U.S. BDC sector outlook to Negative. Investors who thought they owned liquid private credit found out their fund manager decided whether they could get out.

On Percent's marketplace that same quarter: new issuances, scheduled payments, and a 0.44% lifetime net loss rate on asset-based deals that's held since inception.†

The difference is structural. BDCs often own concentrated corporate loans with quarterly redemption windows that close at the manager's discretion. Percent finances specialty lenders against pools of performing receivables — diversified, overcollateralized, short duration.

Track record through 3/31/26:†

See what private credit built for individual investors looks like.

^{Alternative investments are speculative. No assurance can be given that investors will receive a return of their capital. Secondary market transactions are subject to availability and issuer approval; liquidity is not guaranteed. †Past performance is not indicative of future results. Terms apply.}

🌐 savvie.org is open for biz! shop at savvie.org/shop or donate at savvie.org/give 🤲

📓 the latest from @withsavvie 👇

the shame everyone carries about being “bad with money” is mostly a curriculum problem dressed up as a personal failing so friendly reminder you weren’t behind, you were just never handed the syllabus.

(if money content is more your thing than this teague talk chaos, the savvie scoop sends every other wednesday 🤍)

tool: the helicopter prompt. i made a helicopter creative this week only using ai and the prompt did nearly all of the lifting.

the takeaway isn't "use ai more." it's that a clear visual idea + specific language is the entire game. the tool does the rendering + you're doing the directing!

totally random: the miley stewart to hannah montana pipeline was the most successful rebrand of the 21st century and it’s rly a marketing case study if u will

read: motion's case study on jones road beauty: bobbi brown's $100M brand found that static ads and UGC were two of their biggest untapped growth levers. they'd been underweighting them the whole time. the underlying lesson here: even billion-dollar beauty brands are leaving money on the table because they assumed video was the answer. statics are doing more than the dashboards make it look. (told you 🤝)

comedic relief: you can read all the reports in the world but sometimes the best creative strategy is just vibes and a strong gut feeling lol

🩷 ⚠️ LAST CALL on intern apps 🗣️ close on monday 5/25!! aka 3 DAYS. everything you need to apply is at teague.media/careers. forward to anyone who'd crush this! we’re looking for peeps who write well, think strategically, and aren't scared of canva.

🎨 summer '26 creative partner spots are open at teague media + we have a couple slots left. book a free 20-min intro call.

🌐 savvie.org/shop is live with digital products + savvie.org/give to help keep the resources free.

⛪️ steadfast sundays is SO BACK last weekend's drop landed and we're on a roll. coming to inboxes every sunday from here on 🤍

thanks for reading 💌

the static comeback is more than a trend. talking head videos aren’t going anywhere, but the feed has gotten so saturated that the thing interrupting your scroll now is silence.

memorial day weekend ahead. take it slow. the inbox can wait… the bbq will not. unless ur like me and work with global brands, in which case… see y’all bright n early on monday mornin 🫡

xo,
callie 🤍