How To Balance A Challenging Career With Your Personal Life
This week’s discussion is about how to balance the competing interests of a challenging career and personal life. Our feelings of happiness come from being successful in both, yet the stress from trying to manage the expectations and responsibilities can often be overwhelming.
Featured Guest
My guest this week is Susan Smith Blakely. Susan knows what it takes to succeed in the practice of law. During her 25 years of experience she has viewed the legal profession from many perspectives—as a law firm associate, counsel and partner, and as a chief of staff to an elected official in the public sector. As the wife of a fellow litigator and the parent of two children, Ms. Blakely has first- hand knowledge of the difficult decisions women lawyers must make in terms of work and family life.
Ms. Blakely’s first book Best Friends at the Bar: What Women Need to Know about a Career in the Law, is the first true guide book for young women contemplating law school, young women law students and young women in their first years of law practice.
Her second book, Best Friends at the Bar: The New Balance for Today’s Woman Lawyer, digs deeper into the issues of work-life struggle and balance and proposes a new balance of work/self/home and family to attain the happiness and satisfaction that will keep young women in the law profession
More information about her book and her speaking appearances can be found on her web site at www.bestfriendsatthebar.com and her You Tube channel “Susan Smith Blakely” at www.youtube.com
Listen to the April 24th show at 12 noon ET or download the podcast.
Superwoman Hits A Wall: Having It All Comes With A Price
I finally hit a wall. I thought I was superwoman. I foolishly believed I had some kind of super power that would shield me from this flu bug that knocked everyone off their feet. But after weeks of traveling, speaking, a heightened workload, and moving, that nasty bug finally caught up with me and I’m flat out.
It made me think that I’ve always had this “superwoman” identity my whole career; thinking that there was nothing I couldn’t conquer if I set my intention to doing it. I was a single mom building a career with two young children trying to break through the glass ceiling in companies run and sometimes owned by men. Determined and passionate, I always had the energy to power through any obstacle…that is, until I periodically dropped of exhaustion.
I believe many of us suffer from this superwoman demon. We think we can do it all and we drive ourselves forward with great determination until we run out of fuel. Our bodies remind us time and time again that we are mere mortals and because of that, we need to take the time to take off our cape and take it easy. Why don’t we ever see the wall up ahead that we are certain to hit forcefully if we don’t put on the brakes?
I’m one of those people who believe that there is nothing that can’t be conquered with intention and passion. What happens in the process, however, is burn out.
Sticking to a good routine of a healthy diet, regular exercise, meditation and reflection (in my case journaling) helps all of us superwomen to avoid collisions with big brick walls.
Right now, I need to make some more tea and honey and nurse my wicked cold. It will take a few days before I can put my cape back on and conquer the world.
Can you relate to any of this? Do you qualify as a superwoman? Building a career? Raising children?
Millennial Women in the Workplace
What are millennial women up to in the work place today? How are they faring in this competitive marketplace? What are their challenges and opportunities?
Featured Guest
Joining me to discuss this is Jenna Goudreau. Jenna is a staff reporter for Forbes Magazine and Forbes.com. She writes business, leadership and lifestyle stories for Forbes and Forbes.com, attracting an average 2 million monthly page views and a total of 28 million PVs in 2012. She contributes annually to four major magazine packages (Celebrity 100, World’s Billionaires, Forbes 400 and World’s 100 Most Powerful Women) and writes feature profiles about powerful people and celebrities year-round. Jenna also is a regular guest on news programs on CBS, MSNBC, CNBC and FOX. She helped launch and grow the ForbesWoman.com brand.
Listen to the February 13th show or download the podcast.
The Importance of Resilience in Our Lives and Careers
Today we are going to talk about resilience and how important it is for us to be flexible and adapt to the changes we are presented in our personal and professional lives. Though we can be strategic about our careers, life always throws us some unexpected obstacles. Despite our best intentions and well thought out planning, we are often challenged to change direction and adopt a new course to move our careers and personal lives forward. How we face these unforeseen obstacles and how well we adapt will affect our success going forward.
Featured Guest
Joining me is Susan Adams. Susan Adams combines her career passions for teaching, research, and consulting in her current position as Senior Director of Bentley University’s Center for Women and Business and Professor of Management. The Center is dedicated to supporting, retaining and promoting women in business by sharing solutions for advancing women’s careers. Susan publishes regularly in leading academic and practitioner outlets, focusing on professional advancement and organizational effectiveness. Her academic insights, shared in and out of classrooms of undergraduates, MBAs, PhDs and executives, are enhanced by her consulting work with over 100 corporate and executive clients. Susan has served on and chaired boards of companies and non-profit organizations. She is a former Chair of the Management Consulting and Careers Divisions of the Academy of Management and a member of the American Psychological Association and the Society of Human Resource Managers. She earned her PhD in management from Georgia Institute of Technology, MEd in mathematics from Georgia State University and BSEd in mathematics from the University of Georgia after attending the University of Hawaii. Susan is the proud mother of three and grandmother of two.
Listen to the Wednesday, December 5th show at 12 noon EDT or download the podcast.
Career Do-Over: Women Finding Fulfillment in Midlife
Today’s show is focused on midlife women who have been successful in their careers but are yearning for more fulfillment in their lives and their work. My guest today, Evelyn Kalinosky, is an expert in helping midlife women find what she calls their inner affluence.
Featured Guest
After 20 successful years in the corporate and non-profit world, my guest, Evelyn Kalinosky experienced her own turning point and today she mentors women through their unique turning points and helps them cultivate extraordinary lives of passion and purpose in midlife and beyond. Evelyn is a certified coach and author of more than two dozen books and audio programs including the book From Breakdown to Breakthrough: Seven Women Executives Share Their Turning Points, and she is currently writing a book on career women navigating through midlife. She was named “1 of 101 Women Bloggers to Watch in 2011″ by WE Magazine for Women, a “Fabulous 50 Top Blogger” by Boomer Diva Nation, and winner of “Best Coaching Blogs 2011″ by School of Coaching Mastery.
Listen to the Wednesday, November 14th show at 12 noon EDT or download the podcast.
Should I Get An MBA?
Should I get an MBA? Will it help me advance my career? Will it help me earn more money? When is the best time to pursue an MBA? Today, well answer all these questions and more and joining me for this discussion are Cheryl Stevens, an executive and career development coach from the MBA program at University of North Carolina and Candice Brown, who is currently enrolled as a student in the online MBA program at UNC.
Featured Guests
Cheryl Stevens has been a leader in the field of leadership development and career strategy for 20 years. Her combined experience as an executive overseeing operations and leadership development for a large team, coaching MBA students, and working one-on-one with over 200 leaders from multiple industries gives her a rich and diverse background in facilitating the success of others. In her executive coaching practice, Cheryl collaborates with her clients to create development plans that get at the core of who they are and whats important to them and their organizations. Her personalized approach and ability to get to the heart of an issue creates an environment where clients find renewed energy, focus and commitment to their goals and how to achieve them. Cheryl is a former Vice President/Corporate Officer of Career Services & Alumni Relations for Education Management Corporation (EDMC), a leading provider of private post-secondary education. In this capacity, she provided leadership and strategic vision to a team of more than 400 employees across multiple locations, and developed a portfolio of leadership development programs that resulted in record low turnover rates and increased internal promotions. On-boarding and on-going talent management programs led her team to consistently exceed operational goals. Cheryl was also Director of Career Management at UNCs Kenan-Flagler, and Assistant Director at Dukes Fuqua School of Business. In addition to her private clients, Cheryl coaches leaders in the Weekend, Evening and Global Executive MBA programs at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, and in several of Executive Developments custom programs.
Candice Wooten Brown is the Senior Director, HR Strategic Partner with RAI Services Company a subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. In this role, Ms. Brown provides advice and guidance to functional leadership on a variety of strategic workforce planning and development initiatives, from cross functional sourcing, employee developmental opportunities, pipeline and succession planning efforts, and organizational structure. Ms. Brown is also responsible for Reynolds Americans strategic diversity initiatives, including overall organizational awareness programs, strategic functional diversity plans and initiatives, and partnering with functional leadership to achieve successful outcomes Prior to assuming this role, Ms. Brown served as an Employment Law Partner for both R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Reynolds American Inc. In that role, Ms. Brown was responsible for providing legal advice and counsel on various labor and employment law issues impacting the organization. Ms. Brown serves as an adjunct professor in the School of Business and Economics at Winston-Salem State University, and has also served as an instructor at the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University. Ms. Brown is also a Certified Mediator.
Listen to the Wednesday, August 8th show at 12 noon EDT or download the podcast.
Every Mom Deserves A Break
As women enter the workforce in increasing numbers, we face the challenge of trying to balance a family and career. Motherhood places new demands on our time, our energy, our mindset. Often we feel we are shortchanging either our career or our family and its an ongoing concern especially for new moms. Its easy to lose ourselves in this process. Everyone else comes first; the demands of our job, our spouse or partner and of course, our children. Where do we fit in and how do we make the time to enjoy our life?
Featured Guest
Today, my guest is Lyss Stern. Once Lyss became a mother, she realized that taking care of herself and keeping herself happy would benefit her family as well as herself. She looked for resources that would cater to the needs of new mothers unwilling to give up their high heels and make-up for motherhood. She combined her creative skills, chic sense of style, networking abilities, love of children, and dual masters degree in communications and early education to create Divalysscious Moms.
Lyss is the founder and president of Divalysscious Moms, the luxury lifestyle company which caters to New Yorks well- heeled and trendsetting moms. In eight short years, Lysss company started with 6 followers, and now boasts 380,000, escalating her influence and followers to becoming the most coveted database in not only New York, but worldwide. Lyss is also the co-author of IF YOU GIVE A MOM A MARTINI.100 ways to find 10 Blissful Minutes for Yourself (Clarkson Potter) which was recently optioned to be made into a feature film, and is the co-creator of the new NICK MOM shortform series STORYTIME FOR MOMS.
She has appeared as a guest on NBCs Today show, CBS This Morning, CNBC, BRAVO, MSNBC, CNN and a variety of others.
Listen to the July 13th show at 12 noon EDT or download the podcast.
The Future of Women in the Workplace
Today were going to discuss what the future of work looks like and what that means for women with my guest, Alison Maitland. Alison is a business author, journalist and speaker who specializes in leadership, gender, and the changing world of work.
Featured Guest
Alison Maitland, former Financial Times journalist, is co-author of the critically acclaimed book Future Work, published in November, and of the prize-winning Why Women Mean Business. She regularly writes articles and columns for the Financial Times, The Conference Board Review and other media. Alison also directs The Conference Board’s Council for Diversity in Business in Europe and is a Senior Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Management at Cass Business School, London. She speaks and moderates at many public conferences and corporate events. Based in the UK, her recent speaking engagements have taken her all over Europe and to North America. She has been widely interviewed by national and international media on gender and on the new world of work. Her websites are: www.alisonmaitland.com and www.whywomenmeanbusiness.com and www.futureworkbook.com
Listen to the June 20th show, 12 noon EDT, or download the podcast.
Are You on Your Holiday List? 6 Gifts to Give Yourself this Holiday Season
Im a list maker. Are you? I get tremendous satisfaction creating my to-do list and crossing off items as they are accomplished. In fact, I start every day with a new list that has everything I want to do for my business as well as some personal tasks. (Go to the bank, write a new blog, follow up with a coaching client, run to Trader Joes, pick up dry cleaning, etc.)
Now this time of year the list gets very complicated for not only does it all have of the above details, it also has holiday gifts for family and friends as well as a calendar full of social events. Trying to keep up with all the holiday madness on top of normal business is a challenge. I get stressed just thinking about it.
It dawned on me this morning as I was putting my list together for today that nowhere on my list is ME! And perhaps the greatest gift we can give ourselves this holiday season is to take care of ourselves as well as our loved ones. Have you even thought about this? What will you do for yourself this holiday season?
Here are some simple suggestions to maintain your sanity and well-being:
1. Learn to say “no”.
As many events begin to fill in your calendar, focus on your energy and make good decisions about which events to attend and which to decline.
2. Avoid the what can I bring? offer.
If youre like me and love to bake and cook, you probably make this generous offer a lot. How can I turn down someone asking for my special chocolate cake? Refer to tip number one and offer to pick up something instead.
3. Outsource when appropriate.
It can be a great gift to yourself to hire someone to clean your house or do the dishes if you are having a large party. Think about ways to reserve your time and energy.
4. Keep up your exercise routine.
When we are consume more calories at one meal than we might in one month, we need to burn those calories! Plus exercise boosts are serotonin levels and helps us to maintain our energy.
5. Schedule some quiet time for yourself.
Whether or not you are into meditation, just being alone for a few minutes a day can be extremely relaxing. It helps us clarify our thoughts and focus on whats important. Holidays can bring lots of stress as well as joy.
6. Focus on gratitude.
Its a time to be with family and friends and a wonderful time to be grateful for all the wonderful people in our lives.
For more tips on how to keep your life in balance, listen to my conversation with Marilyn Tam on How to Live the Life of Your Dreams on GPS Your Career Radio, Monday, December 12th.
Do You Dare to Dream?
Heres the question: If you had all the resources and freedom to do whatever you wanted, what would you do? How would you live your life?
My coach asked me this question as we started our initial work together this week and quite honestly, I was overwhelmed. I realized then that it has been a long time since I have allowed myself the personal freedom to dream of my future.
I seem to be stuck in practicality these days, focused on making a living and replenishing my savings and investments. In fact, I am chasing my financial goals with such intensity, that I have lost sight of where Im headed.
The instability of our country’s financial status and the volatile swings on Wall Street all contribute to my sense of urgency to focus on my financial viability above all else. But the personal cost to me has been to lose that necessary time to dream and let my imagination carry me to perhaps new approaches and innovations in my business and life.
Because answering the above question was so difficult for me, I was wondering if Im the only one who has lost touch with their dreams. Can you relate?
Last year I did some dreaming. My goal was to be a “Woman of Influence”; to do more public speaking and workshops to help women reach their career and leadership goals; to do more writing as well. I generated some fabulous ideas on how to reach this goal. Somewhere along the way, I got lost and lost my focus. I now realize how important it is to allow yourself to dream and dream big every so often.
Take some time this week and ask yourself the above question. Let yourself dream and brainstorm and have fun with your freedom of thought.
Let me know how it goes. What are your dreams?
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