So I was jogging the other day thinking further on the trainwreck ending of the Barbie movie.
For those of you that missed it, Barbie essentially decides she no longer wants to be a paradigm that little girls can count on and look up to. Instead she selfishly chooses to become a regular old human and leaves Barbieland destroyed in her wake.
Since Barbie is apparently (and expressly) no longer interested in being a role model, who are little girls (and I suppose some boys) to admire and concoct vivid and wonderful fantasy worlds about? Absolutely critical they have a paradigm of beauty, strength, intelligence, and drive, and wisdom to model their play around as they explore and express their will through fantastic archetypes.
And then it dawned on me.
Puja Amin–Queenie–is literally the archetype the world needs now.
Yes she is a world-class attorney. Incredibly powerful. Incredibly sought after–she is busy as they come right now. And she handles all clients with grace and thoughtfulness. But there are plenty of those these days–and we want to keep it that way.
And yes she’s a corner office exec–with her name on the door and an equity stake–and has a long list of admiring clients nobody handed her but that she generated herself. But equity stakes held by women in major law firms–although rare– are hardly newsworthy.
But these accomplishments are truly just a sliver of what makes Puja… Puja.
Her exploits as an ultramarathoner are well known by now. Her adventures travelling the world scuba diving, less so. If you take all the female equity partners on the planet I suspect none have Puja’s physical endurance track record as an elite athlete and the endless competitive drive that fuels somebody through a 16 hour race.
But even if one or two may, it seems certain none could match her fashion sense. She is, of course, impeccably dressed at all times. Always runway ready. She NEVER shies away from dressing precisely the way SHE wants to dress.
Plus, she’s a LEADER. Highly respected. Capable of taking the reigns and seeing initiatives through. Her name is a brand now. It carries tremendous weight. Because people know if Puja is on it, it must be right.
Throw into that her new convertible Aston Martin with the custom pink interior…. and what do you have?
Its shameless in a sense. And I suppose that’s entirely the idea.
Puja is so unabashedly Puja at all times and in all places.
An incredible paradigm of both power and femininity. You just never see that anymore in society.
That was the nice thing about the original version of Babrieland. The ladies could be ladies, and unabashedly so. There was no crushing self awareness of societal norms to worry about. The whole “its impossible to be a woman” whine arises out of the “real world’s” refusal to allow a woman to be well… exactly what Queenie is.
And thats the most incredible thing. Queenie just keeps on Queenieing. And people keep right on praising and supporting her. Because its real. Its who she is.
That girl who had a fantasy of becoming a powerful sophisticated stylish woman who would never quit and never compromise and was willing to work AS HARD AS NECESSARY to make it all a reality…
AND.
SHE.
DID.
IT.
Because here she is….
proof that it is literally NOT impossible to be a woman, after all.
And I think she deserves a round of applause.
More than that. I think she deserves to be seen as the role model she is.
And yes, there are certainly a bunch of powerful lawyers at Troutman Amin, LLP that look up to her and learn from her and to a greater or lesser extent idolize her (and they should.) But I think we can do better still–and since Barbie is no longer interested in being the stuff of legends, I humbly submit Queenie to take her place.
Dear Hasbro– make a doll of this woman. And give an entire generation of little girls somebody they can really look up to and believe in. Well… her and Lilit. 😉
And for those of you that want to get to know Queenie a bit better, you can check out a LIVE interview between Mike Ferree–of Lead Generation World–and Puja herself. The event is Wednesday August 16, 2023 at 10 am pacific.
Register here.
https://www.linkedin.com/events/lgwlivew-pujaaminoftroutmanamin7095821998391504896/theater/
Have a good night TCPAWorld.