A woman (we’ll call her Debbie) told me this story the other day. Debbie was meeting a new contact, the wife of a friend, for coffee. She cozied up in a chair with her latte. The sun leaned through the window, the espresso machine burbled and whirred. Then the other woman asked the most natural…

My mother and my sister Kim were arguing at the hair salon. Kim texted me: Mom swears that you went stag to your senior prom. I didn’t. I know. Tell her that. My mother had misremembered: My sister Lori went stag. I went with my boyfriend. He was my first boyfriend, and I was his…

A few years ago, one of the top advisors in the country approached me at a cocktail party. It was the eve of the big event where I was thrilled to be one of the event’s keynote speakers. He was a seasoned and congenial guy, and I believe genuinely interested in who I was, what…

My friend Dorie Clark recently shared a piece published in Forbes.com by Anne Sugar about How creative hobbies can fuel your business success. Dorie’s reputation as an author, expert, and entrepreneur precedes her. She’s written several books with another on the way (The Long Game is available on pre-order). Entrepreneurial You was named one of…

Story for you. When I was 24, I read a book about violent crime that scared the crap out of me called The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker. It pointed out just how vulnerable I was—and how two summers of Tae Kwon Do wasn’t going to cut it if I came face to…

Why is it harder to be heard on Zoom? Tons of reasons. Let’s start with the fact that your physical presence is reduced to the size of a postage stamp. That means it’s tougher to read the room. Research shows that the virtual environment exacerbates disparities that already exist in conversations where only a few…

Did you know I used to host a live, daily radio show on SiriusXM? True fact! I was an editor at Martha Stewart Omnimedia and hosted a show called “Whole Living” (named after the magazine where I worked). I’d never hosted a radio show before. I figured it out because I had to. Especially when…

There isn’t an advisor (or business owner, or consultant or anyone) I’ve worked with (and I’ve had the privilege of working with the best), who hasn’t given me a LIST of values like this: Excellence Service Empathy Commitment Integrity Authenticity …and told me that that’s who they are. And I have to break it to them that…