A Lesson on Escalating Dares with Ilana Ben-Ari Where does creativity come from? And how do creatives, especially women, tackle failure? Ilana Ben-Ari talks about how she turned her creative vision into a business, despite the stigma that women and creatives are limited to just coming up with ideas. Why stop at invention, when you […]

A Lesson on Money with Kim Kuhteubl Plenty of books offer left-brained suggestions about how you can save, invest and get out of debt but for a lot of people, the subject of money is emotional and intangible. If you’re a chronic under-earner or even if you earn good money, but have an income cap, […]

A Lesson on Patriarchy Stress Disorder with Dr. Valerie Rein In this episode, psychologist, DR. VALERIE REIN  talks about why some high-achieving women feel disconnected from their purpose and relationships. Using science, she redefines the definition of trauma and connects the dots to reveal an invisible lineage, a previously undefined trauma that has been passed […]

Happy International Women’s Day!

On this day that celebrates the working woman, I’d like to offer some blunt advice.

Don’t let people pick your brain.

Don’t barter in unequal measure.

Don’t work for free.

Having a newborn is a masterclass in change. Just when you think you’ve got baby and his behavior down, he changes it, and that demands that you roll with it. Babies are all about progress and practice. The world is one big curiosity and their growing awareness is a source of excitement, not fear.

I’ve been thinking a lot about influence and the currency it has in our culture.

As defined by Webster, influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself. Share of Influence is the social metric, a combination of who is doing the talking, about you, and in what way and then what the influencer can cause people to do. It’s not as clear cut as it sounds though, and most solo entrepreneurs don’t spend a ton of time trying to track the measurements. They just want the status.

Adults whose mothers showed “extravagant” or “caressing” affection were much less likely than the others to feel stressed and anxious and were happier and more resilient. They were also less likely to report hostility, distressing social interactions, and psychosomatic symptoms. How can you treat yourself with extravagant affection?

I’m reading all of these end-of-the-decade round-ups with interest but when I see exercises that ask me to write down my own milestones from the last decade, I feel the urge to dig in my heals.

The last decade was one of the most challenging–if transformative–decades of my life so far. I lost the two family members that made me feel loved in the world. I was spat out on the other end of a job I thought would solve my financial problems and released friendships where I found myself again in the role of chronic over-giver. The first few years felt as though the ground kept moving and would never stop and the thought of looking back brings to mind the biblical story of Lot’s wife who looked back at Sodom and turned to salt.

Lately, I’ve been finding the cultural obsession with “getting things on the cheap” beyond draining. Whether it’s some tchotchke, an experience, or more often the services of another creative person, for some, the only way to win, or spark joy, is to reduce the value of…READ MORE