Wes Kao's Newsletter Holiday Gift Guide 2024
Gift ideas for the operators, leaders, and builders in your life (including yourself)
👋 Hey, it’s Wes. Welcome to my weekly newsletter on managing up, executive communication, and standing out as a high performer.
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Read time: 11 minutes
This week, I have a special edition of my newsletter to share my top holiday gift ideas.
Before we dive in: If you want my normal posts where I share frameworks for becoming a sharper operator and leader, check out these articles:
For everyone else, onward…
Since my last gift guide, I’ve heard from many of you that my sandals, hiking hat, Swiss toothbrush, and other recommendations were amazing, and have since become your favorites.
I was looking at my 2023 holiday gift guide, and still use all those items myself. I might actually run out of things to recommend in future years because I kind of wanted to recommend all the same things this year lol.
As usual, there are no affiliate links and I’m not an investor in any of these companies. These are simply products I personally use and believe are worth sharing.
For each recommendation, I include my thought process and the “why” behind it. Here’s the criteria for most of my purchases:
Quality. I’d rather have fewer yet higher-quality items.
Value. It’s an excellent value for how much utility it gives me.
Form and function. It has to work well and be aesthetically pleasing.
Delightful to use. It needs to be something I will reach for and love reaching for.
This post is too long for email because there are lots of images, so if it gets cut off, you can see the full post at newsletter.weskao.com.
1. Bombas gripper socks
Bombas are my favorite socks, and I feel very strongly about this. These are pretty much the only socks I wear.
The socks are high quality, comfortable, and come in super cool patterns and colors. I actually think right now (and for the past year) their color palettes have been too muted. I’ve been waiting for them to have cool colors again.
The sock above isn’t available right now, but I had to choose an image that captured the spirit of Bombas. There’s so much texture and dynamism captured in this sock.
Also, their customer service is amazing and they do philanthropy. For every pair of socks you purchase, Bombas also donates another pair to someone in need.
My favorites are the performance socks because they have a performance fabric that “holds in” my feet well. They don’t get stretched out or loose like some socks do.
But my absolute favorites are the gripper socks.
I would wear Bombas gripper socks every day if I could. I fly down my stairs with unshakable confidence because of these grippers.
2. Pottery Barn faux sheepskin rug
You can find a real sheepskin rug for $35 at IKEA, but it’s surprisingly hard to find a high-quality, realistic faux sheepskin. I like sheepskin, but feel sad because the shape of a sheepskin rug is literally that of a lamb’s back. So I went on a search for faux sheepskin, and am very happy with my PB ones.
The fur is silky, has a natural sheen, and has realistic coloring, so it isn’t one-dimensional like most faux sheepskin I’ve seen on the market. I have the mushroom and ivory colors, in both the regular and double length sizes.
The regular size can be draped on a chair to add some winter hygge vibes. The double-length hide looks nice in front of the fireplace or at the foot of your bed. It feels luxurious to wake up in the morning and plant my feet on this rug.
3. Uni Jetstream Sport ballpoint pen, 0.7 mm
I dislike gel pens because they smear and lack a tactile feel. I am on Team Ballpoint Pens. The Uni Jetstream Sport is a ballpoint pen that writes like a gel pen. It has super black, vibrant, low-viscosity ink that writes incredibly smoothly and quickly.
I do a lot of writing by hand because it gets my ideas flowing differently than when I go straight to using my computer. This is the pen I reach for.
I highly recommend the 0.7 mm version because while I like 0.5 mm pencils, I realized a 0.5 mm pen feels too delicate. I recently ordered some 1.0 mm Jetstream pens and am excited to try those.
If you’re into ballpoint pens, I also like Pilot Acroball Ballpoint Pen (0.7 mm). My previous favorite was the Zebra Surari ballpoint pen (0.7 mm), but I find it doesn’t write as dark or consistently as the Uni Jetstream.
I’ve purchased from JetPens for the past few years and have had a great experience. I try to support small businesses especially if their pricing and selection is similar or better than Amazon. They seem like pen nerds, have useful resources, and I like that their website shows writing samples using the pens so you can see how it looks.
4. LL Bean flannel sheets and flannel duvet cover
One of my favorite parts about the weather getting colder is changing my bedding from linen to flannel. I have the Ultrasoft Comfort flannel sheet set and duvet cover, which I first discovered through Wirecutter. This will make your bed extremely cozy. I got the duvet cover for my sister last year and she loves it too.
The light grey is a nice grey. I’m picky with greys because they can look too cool or too warm, but this grey is perfect.
I have the Heritage Chamois Flannel Sheets too, which are heavier and also lovely. I’ve thought about getting flannel from other brands, but have had such a good experience with LL Bean, that I’ll probably continue getting flannel from here. I’ve washed the sheets/duvet many times and they still look new.
5. Night guard wash pod
Do you know anyone in their thirties who doesn’t grind their teeth? I don’t either. I’ve been wearing a night guard for years.
Dentist: “You chew through these every 8 months.”
Me: “What can I do?”
Dentist: “Reduce the stress in your work.”
Me: LOL
If you have a night guard, I recommend a dental pod. It’s convenient to pop your night guard into the device so it’s working in lockstep as you brush and floss.
I got my dental pod because I finally succumbed to Instagram ads retargeting me. I didn’t do much research (very unlike me), and while I like mine, I realized after the fact that there are dozens of brands that might be more affordable and just as good.
Search “dental pod” and you’ll see a bunch pop up.
6. Adjustable phone stand
If the Rain laptop stand were a phone stand, it would look like this. I like that it’s minimalist and looks nice left out on our kitchen island. My husband uses it to watch the All In podcast when he’s cooking dinner. I use it for calls with my family. I got one for my parents too.
7. Lemon juicer with an attached container
My husband saw this in the aisles of Walmart.
He said, “Ooh I really want to get this.”
I said, “No, we already have two manual juicers. Also, why is this like $11 when other juicers are $3?”
He said, “But this one has an attached container with a lid.”
I gave in.
We got it, and I’m here to report, it’s been game-changing. It’s really nice that the juice goes straight into the little container, which works as a serving container too.
And if you have extra juice, you can pop it in the refrigerator without needing to transfer it into a different container.
8. Heating pad
As a Californian who now lives on the East Coast, I’m always excited about ways to stay warm. This is called an XL heating pad, so I was expecting it to be bigger. It’s more like the size of a hand towel, but maybe heating pads are all weirdly small so this one is considered large.
I use this almost every night in the winter to warm up my feet, which helps me fall asleep. There are six settings, so sometimes I’ll drape it over my abdomen on a lower setting. This was Wirecutter’s top pick.
9. Williams-Sonoma dish cloths
I love these dishcloths. These are not to be confused with Williams-Sonoma’s more popular kitchen towels, which are twice the size and more rectangular. I like that these dishcloths are smaller because it feels less unwieldy and less wasteful to change these out every few days.
I got a pack of fall color-themed cloths, and red ones for Christmas. Because I live in a cold climate now, I spend a lot of time indoors. I’ve found small purchases like this are a nice way to add a pop of delight when I wipe my hands in the kitchen.
10. Listerine stretchy floss
If you thought there was no true innovation in the category of floss… you would be wrong. I’m going to go so far as to say this floss is straight up fun to use. It’s super stretchy. I didn’t know I needed my floss to be stretchy until I tried this. It’s weirdly hard to find sometimes, so when I see it, I buy like 12 at a time.
Bonus: My husband Zak’s holiday list
Hi folks, this is Wes’ husband. 👋
In addition to sourcing, vetting, and testing a variety of products for herself, Wes somehow has time every year to find items that greatly improve my quality of life.
For my debut guest post in Wes’ legendary newsletter, here are four Zak-approved gift recommendations.
11. Lululemon ABC trouser (FKA Commission pant)
Like many folks in my generation, I spent the first decade of my career wearing dark jeans with my daily work attire. I was afraid more formal pants would be too uncomfortable, and I was intimidated by the range of styles/cuts/brands.
A few years ago, Wes suggested I try pants from Lululemon to upgrade my work wardrobe. I was shocked to find that not only were Lululemon’s ABC trousers more comfortable than other work trousers—they were far more comfortable than my trusted dark jeans. Not to mention more stylish and grown up.
Now I wear these pants every day. They are so comfortable and versatile that I also wear them on the weekend. They look equally good paired with a dress shirt as with my new favorite oversized t-shirt from Uniqlo.
12. CeraVe lotions for daytime and nighttime
When Wes recommended I start a skincare routine, I had one criterion: It has to be simple. It couldn’t be simpler than CeraVe’s Facial Moisturizing Lotion. There is a daytime product with SPF 30 sun protection for the morning and a nighttime product for the evening.
If you research these products, you’ll find that dermatologists love them for their comfort and effectiveness. I hate the feeling of sunscreen—you don’t feel this at all with the CeraVe AM product. It feels like a very light lotion but adds SPF to protect your precious skin.
Plus, if it’s good enough for Michael Cera, it’s good enough for me.
13. Rain Design mStand for laptops
A lesson I’ve learned from Wes is how carefully selecting everyday objects can elevate your life. Whether that’s by making daily experiences more premium, or simply eliminating the frustration of a product that doesn’t work well.
At the beginning of the pandemic (yes, a million years ago), Wes found the Rain Design mStand for both of our work-from-home setups. I still use the same stand daily at my new office nearly five years later. If you’ve been looking for a laptop stand, stop looking—this is the one.
14. YouTube Premium
“It sounds like Wes has really helped upgrade your life, Zak,” I hear you thinking, “But do you ever come up with ideas yourself?”
Yes, yes I do—and this recommendation is all me. I watch a lot of YouTube. That’s why I unapologetically tell all of my friends to upgrade to YouTube Premium. It removes all of YouTube’s ads and comes with other quality-of-life improvements.
In particular, I use the “background play” feature for podcasts. This lets you continue playing content audio-only without keeping the YouTube app open. Offline videos are also cool for airplane rides—you can enable auto-downloads to always have a few videos in your feed queued up.
You’ll recover years of your life spent watching and/or skipping YouTube ads.
It’s Wes again. My husband had a bit too much fun taking over that last part of this post lol.
To recap, here’s the holiday gift list:
Bombas gripper socks
Pottery Barn faux sheepskin rug
Uni Jetstream Sport ballpoint pen, 0.7 mm
LL Bean flannel sheets and flannel duvet cover
Night guard wash pod
Adjustable phone stand
Lemon juicer with an attached container
Heating pad
Williams-Sonoma dish cloths
Listerine stretchy floss
Lululemon ABC trouser (FKA Commission pant)
CeraVe lotions for daytime and nighttime
Rain Design mStand for laptops
YouTube Premium
What’s calling out to you from this list? Hit reply because I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for being here, and I’ll see you next Wednesday at 8am ET.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Wes
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