this is a page for

Category: empathy & accountability

on #nationalsiblingsday, let’s honor our chosen families too

Earlier today I caught wind of the social media trend du jour: It’s National Siblings Day. And I took pause. This pause feels familiar (no pun intended), because it’s something I’ve felt often. Like a vague shortness of breath, a faint fear of speaking up because I’m afraid my truth will ruffle feathers or hurt people unnecessarily. It’s a feeling that gets caught in my throat, and as I lean in to this, I realize . . . I can’t be the only one who experiences this.  It’s probably just that…

i’m back, baby!

I’m so excited to be back on the blog! I’ve been invited to speak at a local women’s networking Meetup in the coming months on this very topic, blogging, and I realized I actually have no real right to be teaching this if I’m not actually doing it (duh). My friend and mentor Kris Britton posted this quote image to Facebook the other day, and I made it the homescreen on my iPhone. To be fair, I am an active blogger for two different businesses (not mine), however, I think I need to place a higher…

[rant] did i express a need or a desire?

I’ve been eager to address this issue on my blog for a while . . . With travel in July and then an absolutely transformative extended weekend “spirit staycation” in Schaumburg at Tony Robbins’s legendary Unleash the Power Within seminar that then set dynamite to so much of my life, it’s taken me this long to truly get settled back into the everyday of normal life. (I tend to take the time I need to reset.) Anyway, I’m back, baby! Today I’d like to talk about the concept of creating needs in prospective clients. As businesspeople (or salespeople…

acts of service

I admit it: I can be a finicky customer. Not the demanding, unreasonable kind that causes scenes or unnecessary drama, but one that expects companies to deliver excellent customer service, because that’s what’ll keep me coming back. Since I’ve spent a lot of time living in Europe (Italy especially), and service standards there are very different, I think the experience has made me even more aware of the issue when I’m back home. In American society where clients are also expected to respond to service professions with monetary reward (i.e., tips and future business), we…

the holiday spirit

Christmas Eve covers a whole variety of sins, doesn’t it? Those of us guilty of sloth despite the uninhibited and shameless insanity of Black Friday brace ourselves for possible attacks by others as culpable of the same crime. Viscous traffic that clogs the commercial streets is ubiquitous. There is a tension in the crowds everywhere that might affect even the most Zen of citizens. As I ran errands this morning, I nearly ran over probably four small children by accident — they’re like little gnomes that sneak up behind you as you obliviously slide into your car and begin…