For the first ~12 years of being a parent, I was spread too thin. working full time, doing my best to raise 3 kids, pretending to make healthy meals, trying to keep my house orderly, attempting to stay on top of scheduling the appropriate classes to properly engage my children, trying to be a good spouse, squeezing in time to see friends, etc. During those years, I identified with being a healthy person, but barely […]
Hiding inside an effective project manager is a verb that is often not discussed… calendaring. In my first year working with Gretchen of Hartke Designs, I noticed that she takes her schedule very seriously. As a vendor partner, managing and satisfying multiple clients and projects at a given time, her time must be shared effectively. We were discussing a client deadline approaching in three months. She requested for us to open our calendars to secure […]
Some learnings are like a quick slap in the face. They sting for a brief moment and are strong enough to remember for a while. I was home from college for a holiday weekend. We were at a family friend’s house and I was telling a story to Marie. The story is irrelevant but it included “my boyfriend”. Whoa! Marie interrupted to say “He does not belong to you. Never refer to people with ‘MY’, […]
It’s embarrassing how obvious it is but… Early in my career, I was staffed on a project to organize 500 people to move from a downtown office to a suburban office. Hold on… I was a programmer and a database administrator, and now I was asked to get everyone organized. It sounded so simple and beneath me. So ok, I can do it. I was told to inventory the details of all firm-owned electronics that […]
In the house across the street lived two delightful people… about 50 years older than me. Hopefully you are lucky enough to know older people like this… you know the ones, that prepare themselves for the outside world. They put on a full outfit often accompanied by a nice hat. Dr. Kavka was a well-respected and well-published doctor. From a resume perspective, he was top notch! Around this time I had been searching for higher […]
Katy and I were pregnant with our first children at the same time. While at her baby shower, her older sister, Carolyn Lumia, shared “Having a baby is like a bomb blows up in your house for 3 months.” The older women laughed and passionately agreed. Katy and I laughed. You know that nervous laugh when you think you understand the joke but others are laughing harder so you aren’t really sure you fully understand […]
Early in my marriage, our social circle was based on my husband’s friends. That was new to me as I was used to being with my friends. After a few years I got up the courage to do dinner with the wives. We lovingly called this our support group. At one of our mom support group dinners, Maria uncomfortably shared a story about her son who often pretended to be a cat. She asked if […]
The first time I traveled with Kevin for work, we went to Dallas to facilitate a half-day learning solution to 200 people. We flew early morning the day before to prepare the room, verify technology and practice our facilitation. The point is we had tons of work to do. When we arrived at the hotel, I was ready to jump into gear. Kevin said to get settled in my room and we would meet in […]
While onboarding to The Regis Company, I was shadowing my boss to meet existing clients. Entering the first client building, Kevin asked Dave, the security guard, about his golf game. At the second client, the front desk receptionist greeted him by name. He approached the desk and asked Megan about her family. He talked with Megan before filling out the registration paperwork. In each of these instances, it only took about ~45 seconds. During this time, […]
One year we spent a month in Israel allowing the kids to be immersed in the culture rather than just visiting family. Menash’s best friends Chagiet and Gil invited us to stay in their soon-to-be-finished home. Chagiet found each kid an age-appropriate camp. Before we arrived, Chagiet and Gil decided to get divorced. Our timing to be house guests was horrible (from my American point of view) but Menash assured me that it was ok. […]