After a big or challenging project, I like to step back and take time to think about the experience, to reflect on any lessons learned. In a previous job, we’d bring the team together in a meeting called a postmortem. What went well? What was disastrous? How can we improve processes? I often find myself [...]
Packing my son’s lunch and snacks this morning, I stared down. Ugh, it was the same, old stuff. Several meals a week, he gets the same thing — some variation on chicken and rice, which gets paired with one of handful of veggie choices. We’ve fallen into this rut because he won’t try new [...]
Pearl Harbor. (Photo by Thinkstock) On this date in 1941, Japanese fighter planes attacked the naval base at Pearl Harbor. News coverage of the event was scattered as news media had only bits and pieces of the information. Far different from the 24/7 coverage we have today — for better and for worse. [...]
Where do you find your inspiration? (Photo by Thinkstock.) When I started Active Voice Communications in 2009, I — like most independents, freelancers and small business owners, worked my tail off. I was constantly striving to find the right balance of time — balancing my clients’ needs with my need to run [...]
Turkey. Stuffing. Football. Pumpkin pie. Wine. (Oh, the wine.) For many of us, these are the things we think about when we think of Thanksgiving. But while we’re stuffing our faces and over-imbibing tomorrow, let’s not forget the opportunity this holiday provides. Let’s pause and reflect on what we have to be grateful for in [...]
A few weeks ago, I attended a dear friend’s wedding. During a beautiful toast at the reception, the bride’s father asked what I thought was a truly great question. Instead of asking what makes you happy, he said, pause and reflect on who makes you happy. My husband and I will celebrate six years of [...]
In sports, in games, in life ... You want the win. But there are few things worse than having the lead — than being so close you can taste it — and choking. In honor of tonight's World Series Game 7 (we're Cleveland fans in this house, by the way), we're thinking about blown saves. [...]
In July, I had the opportunity to speak at MORE: the retreat. My session was a primer on content marketing, but it was just one small part of the weekend. I also listened to industry experts talk about social media and healthy relationships and parenting and goal setting and business strategy. It was a jam-packed [...]
You’ve hired a writer. You gave her a topic (and it was a good one, darn it). Then, when the content came in, you were beyond disappointed. How was she so off the mark? If this is a familiar scenario — as in, this happens to you a lot — there are a few possibilities. [...]
Sometimes we get too comfortable. Complacent. Stuck in a rut. Bored. We let this happen for a number of reasons. Change can be scary. Change can require us to think harder. Change can take time. It's easier to cook the same handful of meals we know how to cook than to seek out and learn [...]
