I’ve been writing and speaking and tweeting and screwing around for many years. The first few years were great because I was doing it under the cover of anonymity. I had a full-time job, and blogging was fun. The next few years were different but also fun. I left human resources behind and went waist-deep…
When I was twenty-four years old, my boyfriend (now husband) and I faced an important moment in our relationship. We worked together, and he was being relocated from St. Louis to Chicago. We weren’t married, but the company offered domestic partner relocation benefits. (Pretty nice, right?) Before we made any decisions, we had a whole…
All winter long, I ran with a group of runners on a team called “Lord of the Rings,” which was ridiculous because maybe five people had read the books or seen the movies. Most of us were largely clueless about major plot points and characters, but every week we had to chant something from the…
You guys know me. I try to tell myself that I do what I want, when I want. For the most part, that is true. But I still answer to clients, HR ladies, my audience and my cats. I hate that, which is why I need to maximize my earning potential in my early 40s and peace-the-hell-out by the time I…
HR doesn’t care about your work/life balance. Well, that’s harsh. They care, but they have problems of their own. Human resources departments have undergone a transformation. They are agile, data-driven, and aligned with the executive agenda. Employee advocacy, when it happens, happens because it benefits the company’s bottom line. Your work/life balance bottom line is your own…
Hate your job? Love that the economy is improving? You want to be your own boss and open a consulting firm? The way to run a boutique consultancy based around a lifestyle is pretty simple. Get great clients. Charge what you’re worth. Keep your overhead low. Unfortunately, when you’re starting out, it’s tough to get great…
One of the most important things I’ve ever read in my life is a short essay called “The Busy Trap” by Tim Kreider. (Have you read it? Read it right now.) Kreider is a writer who finds himself too busy to write. He forces himself into a state of solitude and contemplation and reaffirms a crucial…
Last week, I tried to take some time off work. I planned to see my friends in Seattle, attend a conference in Las Vegas and finish painting my master closet. I also wanted to take a few pilates classes and run with my local crew. Well, life had different plans for me. I did see my…
Every year, right around Easter, the weather gets nice down here in North Carolina. Really nice. That’s when I break out my warm-weather running clothes from last season and think—Whoa, what the eff? Were these pants always this tight? Ugh! This madness must end! I feel this way every. single. year. Winter kicks my ass, but so what…
It’s Good Friday 1986. I am in sixth grade at St. Wenceslaus, a weird and quirky Catholic school on the northwest side of Chicago. My classmates are working-class descendants of Polish, German, Mexican and Filipino immigrants. There’s a first-generation Peruvian American in my class, too. We are the model UN of Catholic schools, and our…
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