What's the best that could happen?

The tariffs are gone. Lessons have been learned. Here are my thoughts.

I started 2025 with my mind on one thing: my upcoming cookbook release. What I didn’t know was that exactly one month after it hit shelves, I’d find myself as the sole plaintiff in the first civil complaint filed against the president challenging the constitutionality of his sweeping tariffs — and at the epicenter of a media frenzy.

I was stepping off a plane in Orlando when the news broke. The moment I reconnected to cell service, everything flooded in — emails, voicemails, interview requests from the NYT, BBC, CNN. All at once.

By some grace, my friend and longtime publicist Beth Gebhard was already meeting me at the conference I was there to speak at. We DoorDashed dinner to the hotel room, propped her laptop on my suitcase (I hadn’t brought mine — I was only supposed to speak and leave), and went live with MSNBC.

@emilyley

Emily Ley on Instagram: "Bringing small business energy to the …

From there, things moved quickly. I flew to Washington, sat for an interview with CNBC, took very serious looking headshots (where I was not supposed to smile with my teeth… the horror) for the front page of the Washington Post, fielded interviews at all hours across every time zone, and met repeatedly with the remarkable team at NCLA. Then came the hardest part: waiting. Two similar cases reached the Supreme Court before ours.

When the Supreme Court ruling came down today, I felt something unexpected — relief, and deep gratitude. We made it. It required serious financial maneuvering and tightening things up at Simplified in ways I didn’t anticipate, but we got through it. Now we wait for our case in the Court of International Trade — this ruling will guide the outcome of ours — and we celebrate.

My friend Amy sent me a text today that gave me a special kind of pause:

“There are a handful of times in our lives where we are given the chance to capture moments of goodness, glory, and gratitude. And to know in our hearts that we were courageous and brave enough, strong enough, to forge the path for their happening. This is one of the good ones. Capture it.”

I’ve been sitting with that. This season taught me things I didn’t expect to learn. I found my voice in rooms I never imagined being in. I learned what it actually feels like — not just in theory, but in your bones — to stand up for what’s true and right, even when the outcome is uncertain and the stakes are real. Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s moving forward anyway, in the name of what is right.

The larger story — maybe the quieter one I haven’t shared — is this (and I hold this dear): my kids watched all of it unfold. They peeked through the glass doors of my office while I was on camera after dinner or early in the morning. They asked questions when they heard of new developments. They were watching all along. And I can only hope they carry those memories, and whatever small lessons they quietly absorbed, forward with them.

I’m proud of what we fought for. I’m proud of how we fought. And I’m grateful — for the NCLA, for Beth, for our friends.

I also want to say thank you. There is always a cost when you speak up about something that matters. I lost followers and customers, I’m sure — and gained some too. But this was not without risk, and I’m grateful for your support, your kindness, and your grace, no matter how you cast your votes. This was never about party. It was always about policy.

Amy was right. Today is one of the good ones. My mom’s lasagna and champagne are on the menu for dinner tonight. ❤️

xo,

Emily