Blog
I launched my blog in 2009 when I was wrestling with a midlife crisis. Since then, the digital world has changed so much. I was new to both Facebook and Twitter when I started blogging, and I was still rocking the BlackBerry for email. Instagram hadn’t launched yet. Podcasting and short videos are what the cool kids do these days, blogging is considered old fashioned. But I still find it the best way to share my thoughts and to profile people who inspire me.
I hope you’ll find something here that inspires you, or at least sparks a conversation. Some of my favorite posts are pinned to the top, scroll down a bit more to find the most recent, or check out the categories in the sidebar.
Which sounds more like your reality? That’s the way we’ve always done it Let’s think outside the box A recent Slate article headlined, “Inside the Box: People don’t actually like creativity,” rang true for me. One of the mantras I heard in business school, and again in management workshops, is that most people don’t like change. And creativity and change go…
In the blocks around our Brooklyn apartment, there are several check-cashing places, which seem foreign to me. Why would you pay to cash a check when there are dozens of banks in the neighborhood? But many poor families don’t use banks, whether that’s because they can’t afford the fees or don’t trust them or live a cash-based life. That leads to…
Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, this past week predictably brought huge crowds to my local YMCA. Every cardiovascular machine was full, classes were packed, the hallways bustled. Also predictably, the people who were working out in November and December grumble about the New Year’s resolution throngs. For instance, a friend funnier than I am wrote on Facebook: Dear people…
We’re a little more than a week in — have you already abandoned your optimistic New Year’s resolutions? One of my favorite blogs, Zen Habits, recently had a post that spoke to the reasons we struggle to make change, even changes we might really want or need. The Child That Holds Us Back By Leo Babauta It took me a…
Christmas can be stressful for a lot of people. Maybe your mother nags you, your sibling gets on your last nerve, the kids are hopped up on sugar and new toys … maybe all of the above? But for this one day, can you step away from email, social media and Candy Crush to just be in the moment? If…
It’s not ready for prime time — but we’re all friends here, so this is a sneak peek at my new consulting website: As I’ve worked with my website guru to develop this new way to present my consulting services, here are a few thoughts about the process: Most of the consulting work I’ve gotten so far has been from…
Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday … remember when it used to be just plain ol’ Thanksgiving? It seems there’s been more buzz this year around Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, making this a long weekend devoted to conversations of shopping and discounts. Should your business participate? Obviously too late to join in for this year,…
When technology companies use their own products, it’s commonly called eating your own dog food. Why dog food? I don’t know. But pour me a big bowl of Gravy Train. A few days ago, I posted to my Newvine Growing Facebook page looking for people to help me beta test a new service: I am testing a new service offering…
I don’t remember much about the commencement address at my college graduation. We were all crowded into a loud fieldhouse, which as I recall had lousy acoustics, and mainly we were waiting for those few seconds when we’d get to walk across the stage to prove we were graduates. I hope the graduates who heard Chris Sacca‘s commencement speech were able to…
Not long ago I had a hands-on social media training session with some of my favorite clients. We covered how to send an @reply and a direct message on Twitter, how to link to other businesses and people in a Facebook status update and how to use HootSuite and Facebook to schedule posts in advance. We even got them started…
How do you plan your life? Not just the to-do list activities — pay bills, go to the grocery store, order Thanksgiving turkey — but the big stuff you value most? I’ve been in a variety of conversations lately about project management. For example: My husband, John, just finished a multi-month sprint to get about a dozen new pieces of…
Death has been close to me recently. Our neighbor died, my dad’s brother died, a business school classmate died. I am aware of our mortality but these various losses have brought that difficult truth front and center. In this already vulnerable state, I read Laurie Anderson’s farewell to Lou Reed in Rolling Stone. It seems every journalist and musician had…
This week we booked our next visit to New Orleans. We haven’t missed a Jazz Fest since Katrina, we’ve been for Halloween and Voodoo Fest and Fourth of July, but we’ve never experienced the one thing most people probably picture when they hear “New Orleans.” Since 2011, we’ve done three long stays in New Orleans and spent a month in…
My artist husband, John Tebeau, shows up as a guest star on my blog fairly often. But today, he’s the focus — specifically, an art show he has opening Thursday on a subject that’s near and dear to my heart. “You Want It, You Got It” focuses on the way your attitude and approach to life affects the quality of…
Last week I wrote about some of my strategies for making the most of conferences. But once you’re done thinking big thoughts like “Which conferences are the best fit for me?” and “What message do I want to convey?” there’s practical matter of executing well. A few pointers I’ve picked up over the years: 1. Keep your business cards in…
You know that saying about how when you assume, you make an ass out of “u” and me? I recently read an excellent blog post that drove that idea home — in language that’s pretty close to the cliché. (It’s also language more delicate readers might not enjoy. If that’s you, maybe skip this one? Perhaps you could look at some…
I’ve just come back from a conference where I had more good conversations than I could count, got good ideas and business leads, and came away reinvigorated. That wasn’t an accident. I’ve been to enough conferences that I’ve developed some strategies about how to make them work for me: 1. Choose conferences carefully — I’m not a highly sought after…