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?

So blessed to have been invited to guest on a local radio show with my chamber of commerce!

Happy to announce that my first professional article has been published in Online Searcher magazine!!!   Seeing myself in print has been such an amazing experience.

You can find the article here for download at a small fee.