Archive for June, 2009

They advertise on tee-shirts, too!

As I was drinking my first cup of coffee of the day and settling in to read some emails, I heard voices in front of my house. No one ever comes to my front door; I live on a busy street that doesn’t get much foot traffic, and everyone who knows me, knows I use the back door.

There was knocking.

I answered the door to find an older man in a newsboy cap and a younger man, both in ties and pressed slacks. They were Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I talked to them for 20 minutes figuring I would learn something about our exchange. It didn’t hit me right away, but when it did, I found some parallels that I wanted to share with you.

Here are the top 5 ways Jehovah’s Witnesses can help you get a job: Read the rest of this entry »

Things I love:
A note left on my pillow that I find at the end of a busy day.

Thoughtful gifts that are not expensive but from the heart – like the four leaf clover I could never find as a ki.

Unexpected foot massages (they’re my favorite).

Dinner served with my favorite fork (without asking for it).

The things I named above are things I love and they are all things that my boyfriend, Glenn does for me on a daily basis. He listens, he knows what I like. He spends the extra 5 or 10 minutes or $5 or $10 dollars to make me happy. It doesn’t take a lot, it’s the little things that matter most to me. Read the rest of this entry »

I come across a lot of people who are nervous to do anything different from the conventional job seeking strategies. They find comfort in the following scenario:

Find posted jobs, submit resume, wait for phone to ring.
Are you tired of that strategy? I am.

The brave ones are the ones who are willing to stand out and do something different to get noticed by the company they want to work for. Read the rest of this entry »

One lobster in this tank is showing her true colors. You go, girl!

Such a cliché phrase, yet so misunderstood. In business, I’ve been taught to not keep it real, but do what everyone else is doing, or hide the fact that you don’t know something, or act like you don’t have problems outside of work.

My goal is to keep it real. I’m a real person, and I have bad days. I care deeply about what I do, but sometimes I just want to throw my computer out the window and vacuum cars for the rest of my life. Then I remember that this is my passion, and sometimes passion is expressed in different ways. Passion doesn’t always come out in a positive way, sometimes it comes out in tears…or comes across as frustration. What it really is is an intense sense of caring that can get torn off course easily if we hit a roadblock.

I hit roadblocks every day. The strange part is that I’m usually the one who put them there. I do it intentionally to see what I’ll do when I get there. I always get past them – it’s just a matter of whether I go over them, around them, or break through them. It’s always a learning experience and it makes me who I am.
I don’t pretend to know everything. Do you know people who act this way? Do you like them? I have a hard time with people who come across as perfect, are closed minded to anything radical, or afraid to explore possibilities. I like to work with real people who have bad days, have fears, but also have passion for what they do and want to express it. I say let’s face our fears together and admit when we’re scared. Let’s also show our excitement and not be afraid to be ourselves.

In essence, keep it real.