Almost two years ago I reached a milestone - a viral post.

200 comments.
999 likes.
786 shares.

But it isn't for the reason you think.

Nor is it a reason for which you would ever want to have a viral post.

This was the post announcing that our new home had been invaded just 3 days after moving in.

A man busted down our door at 1 am, bounded up the stairs and into our bedroom waving a gun.

My husband didn't hesitate - he grabbed his gun, which he had just unpacked that afternoon, and fired.

He didn't even realize that he'd been shot until after he had chased that guy and his companion out of the house with bullets.

We waited 20 minutes for the cops to come.  The ambulance took him away to get checked.  I was left to sit in the car in the cold weather as my son slept in his carseat while I waited for the cops to interview me and process the crime scene.

I remember the night with stark clarity even though I didn't sleep a wink.  I also remember how I felt when I realized that a hail of bullets was standing between me and my son and making sure he was safe.

Thankfully, he slept through the invasion.  My husband wasn't seriously hurt.  And all four men involved were caught within 24 hours thanks to the excellent work by the PA State Police.

Why am I telling you this?  

Because THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE.  I'm living proof of that.  I'm white and I live in about as nice of a neighborhood as you can get in rural America.  

And because I want you to be prepared.  Preparation is what saved our lives that night.  (Because, no, they weren't just going to say "Oops, wrong people.  Sorry." and walk away.)

Whether or not you choose to have a firearm in your home is your business.  I'm not advocating either way.  But what I am advocating for is preparedness.

Sit down with your family tonight and make an emergency plan.  Figure out how you would handle a home invasion, fire or other disaster. 

Because it could literally save your life.

Do you have an emergency plan in place?
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When you work in corporate, creating work-life boundaries is a must. You don't take your work home with you, nor do you take your home life to work. You share what you choose to share when you need to share it and you can't always react to situations the way you normally would in a home setting because, well, you can get FIRED (which is not a good thing). You may share more of yourself with your close co-workers, but the line is drawn in different places in the sand based on who the person is and what role he or she plays in your "work life".

A close female co-worker, was one of the first people to find out I was pregnant. However, a discussion about cord blood storage with my male boss and a male co-worker, both whose wives had recently had babies, was beyond uncomfortable because what was "chump change" to them was a fortune for me on my not-too-great salary.

While I was pretty guilty of bringing work home with me (stress, anger, frustration, etc.), I very rarely brought my home life to work - unless I had to. Like when I had to announce my dad's cancer diagnosis or my pregnancy in order to get my FMLA leave. And, I rarely ever swore at work, nor did I talk back without first considering the consequences to my job if I did.

Transitioning from this corporate mindset has without a doubt been the most difficult thing for me during this journey into entrepreneurship. Those boundaries I built in the name of professionalism became walls that now box me in as an entrepreneur.

As a result, I always overthink every communication I make in my brave new world. I hold a lot back in an effort to be "professional". What I've realized is that doing so has been causing me to be at a disadvantage in connecting authentically and creating new, healthy boundaries for MY business.

Do you face this situation as you work to build your business? How do you share more of yourself? If you haven't been, what's one thing you can do today to chip away at that wall?
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I believe that we all should have access to the strategy, relationships, and resources we need to succeed in both business and life.  I believe that we shouldn't lose out on time, money, or opportunity because we "didn't know any better" and that we should make decisions based on quality, relevant information and what it means for us in our particular situation.  And, lastly, I believe that we can take that information and soar by applying it in a way that helps us make the impact we desire.

I leverage my MBA, as well as nearly a decade of research and data analysis experience at an AMLaw 200 law firm and its affiliated investment bank to make working ON your business as much of a priority as working for it with easy-to-implement systems and strategy that empowers you to build a solid network of potential clients, referral sources and collaborators who see you as the expert at what you do and can help you to grow your business on-line or in person.

My F.O.C.U.S. Framework enables you to find and seize opportunities to reach your networking and visibility goals with ease.  And, my innovative virtual networking and professional development events plus my simple networking prompts keep you accountable for executing on your business development goals consistently.  (When networking is this easy and convenient as I make it, the "I don't have time" excuse doesn't fly!)

In this information age, there are more choices than ever at our fingertips for any service or product we need. We can't just expect to hang a shingle out front and have people banging down our door to work with us.  "Build it and they will come," may work for a field of dreams, but not your business.  Together, we can find targeted opportunities for you to get in front of your ideal clients and the people who can refer your ideal clients so that you can get off the revenue roller coaster for good.  Wouldn't that feel amazing?

Tell me, what is the #1 thing that stops you from networking and getting visible on a consistent basis?
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Super excited to have given my very first workshop at the annual conference of the Association of Independent Information Professionals.  Look for a virtual version this summer!

I have a confession:  I hate The Wizard of Oz.  With a passion.
I don't even know why.  It just doesn't resonate with me.
So that was why I hesitated to go see Wicked when it was on tour a few years ago.
But my friends asked me and I'd never been to the theater (unless you count high school musicals), so I agreed.
And you know what...
I LOVED IT.
Everything about the story in Wicked captivated me.
It made me see The Wizard of Oz in a whole new light.
Turned the whole plot upside down for me.
(I still hate it, but I appreciate it in a different way now.)
Elphaba tried so hard to fit in even though she was different.
It was only when she embraced that what made her different made her uniquely special that she began to fly.
She wasn't "wicked", she was just sick of playing by the rules of someone else's game.
When you try to conform to what society expects of you, you lose yourself in the process.
You're uncomfortable in your skin, green or not.
Why wear boring conservative pantsuits when you can rock a v-neck tee, skinny leg dress pants and a Chico's jacket and be taken just as seriously?
Why continue to do what you've always done even when it no longer resonates with you when you can take those skills and apply them in a way that brings you joy?
Why hide out by the food table at that networking event when you really want to be mingling?
We all deserve a chance to fly.  Even if we're afraid of being up so high.  
Flying into the unknown is scary, but it can offer us a freedom we've never dreamed existed.
So go.  And don't let anyone bring you down.

Since I moved into the on-line space, the one thing I have heard from just about every coach I've spoken with was, "Just be yourself and you will attract your ideal clients to you." But, how can you be yourself when you don't know who that is?

I worked in corporate America for 15 years. If you've worked in corporate you know that creating work-life boundaries is a must. You don't take your work home with you, nor do you take your home life to work. You share what you choose to share when you need to share it and you can't always react to situations the way you normally would in a home setting because, well, you can get FIRED (which is not a good thing). You may share more of yourself with your close co-workers, but the line is drawn in different places in the sand based on who the person is and what role he or she plays in your "work life".

For example, a close female co-worker was one of the first people to find out I was pregnant. However, a discussion about cord blood storage with my male boss and a male co-worker, both whose wives had recently had babies, was beyond uncomfortable.

While I was pretty guilty of bringing work home with me (stress, anger, frustration, etc.), I very rarely brought my home life to work - unless I had to. Like when I had to announce my dad's cancer diagnosis or my pregnancy in order to get my FMLA leave. And, I pretty much never swore at work, nor did I talk back without first considering the consequences to my job if I did.

Transitioning from this corporate mindset has without a doubt been the most difficult thing for me during this journey into entrepreneurship. Those boundaries I built in the name of professionalism became walls that now box me in as an entrepreneur.

As a result, I always overthink every communication I make in my brave new world. I hold a lot back in an effort to be "professional". What I've realized is that doing so has been causing me to be at a disadvantage in connecting authentically and creating new, healthy boundaries for MY business.
​
Do you face this situation as you work to build your business? How do you share more of yourself? If you haven't been, what's one thing you can do today to chip away at that wall?

I came across my dad's eulogy today.  It still brings me tears to read.

Thank you everyone for coming today in honor of my father.  About thirteen years ago, I was in this very room with him for my mother’s service.  Both my father and I were in shock and in a great deal of pain from her sudden loss.  Many people told us that everything happens for a reason; but, to be honest, I was angry and had a hard time believing that anything good could have come from something so awful.  Now, however, with time and distance, I can look back on it and realize that in taking my mom so early, God was giving me the two greatest gifts in my life:  the chance to meet my husband and the opportunity to build a close relationship with my father.  While there were numerous challenges during the past decade, I was also blessed with many wonderful memories that I will cherish forever, most notably my father walking me down the aisle at my wedding and our father-daughter dance.  However, it was the simple moments together for which I am most grateful, like how we would always stop at Chocolate World when he had an appointment in Hershey and then get lunch or dinner together; spend Christmases with our second family, the Bubbenmoyer’s; eat lunches at Old Country Buffet with my grandmother, Catherine; playing 500 Rummy; or just sit together watching TV. 
 
When he was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, we knew there was a possibility he wouldn’t beat the odds.  However, because of his relatively good prognosis, I never allowed myself to think about losing him.  It was only recently, when he was in the ICU and the doctors told me “weeks to months” that I began to grasp the severity of the situation.  Even then, I still thought of “weeks to months” in abstract terms, as if his death was sometime down the road and not imminent because my brain wouldn’t accept that I was going to lose my dad, who still had so much left to contribute to the lives he touched.
 
My dad was the bravest person I will ever have known.  Until February 7th, he overcame every single obstacle that was ever thrown at him while maintaining his unique, yet positive, outlook on life.  He fought, I think, in part so that he could have more time here with me, even astounding the doctors with his recovery in the ICU when they thought for certain he wouldn’t make it through the night.  I believe in my heart that we were given that miracle so that we would the chance to spend more time together and say everything we wanted to say to each other and I will forever be grateful for that.  My dad left this earth and went home to my mom knowing that I loved him and he was the best daddy to me in the whole wide world.
 
I will forever love him and miss him.  He was truly one-of-a-kind and he gave me a wonderful parting gift: a new outlook on my own life.  I don’t know what is in store for me in the future, but I am certain that my dad will be looking down on and protecting me just as my mom has done every single day since her death.  How fortunate am I to get not one, but two guardian angels?
 
I just want to thank every single one of you here today for the support you have shown us.  It means more than I can ever express to you. 

Happy to have shared some of my story in Wholehearted Woman magazine!