Reader, One of the highest-pressure creative environments in the world relies on laughter to produce results. Saturday Night Live. By Saturday at 11:30 p.m., an entire live show has to be ready — ideas pitched, sketches written, costumes built, sets designed, timing perfected. The pressure is relentless. The way they know they’re onto something: Laughter at the table read. Laughter isn’t separate from the work. Laughter produces, recognizes, and makes the work better. Most of us do the exact...
5 days ago • 2 min read
Reader, A client was leading the charge on a product his organization believed would launch a new revenue stream. His bosses were all-in. The energy was high. The roadmap was set. But months in, despite the investment and initial optimism, something in his gut said the payoff wasn't coming. He raised his doubts. Carefully at first, then more directly. And every time, he got the same response: You're being a naysayer. You're not a team player. Get on board. He wasn't resistant to innovation....
12 days ago • 2 min read
Reader, If you’re anything like me, you can go from that feeling of Let’s go! to absolute dread in the blink of an eye. You’re having a great day, and then an email or text comes through that hits like a brick. A trigger. And then suddenly, the anxiety hits and your day takes a turn. Here’s what I’ve learned to help me manage the swings that each day brings. Both optimism and anxiety ask us to do the same thing: To think about a future that hasn’t happened yet. This is so important that it’s...
19 days ago • 2 min read
Reader, There’s a version of success no one warns you about. It’s the one where you become the one. The default problem-solver. The decision-maker.The go-to-gal. Over-ownership. Over-responsibility. Over-functioning. On paper, it looks like leadership. In reality, it starts to feel like… weight. It doesn’t show up as burnout at first. It shows up as: Being the one everyone relies on A mind that never fully shuts off Carrying pressure you don’t talk about Performing “fine” because you have to...
26 days ago • 2 min read
Reader, It's finally Spring. Although this week in New Jersey, it dropped to 30 degrees. Twice. While driving earlier this week, I saw the Cherry Blossoms and the early buds from the Lilac trees - my favorite - and it make me think... Spring is the only season on the calendar where growth is non-negotiable. Nothing in nature debates it.Nothing waits to feel ready.Nothing holds onto what no longer works. Flowers bud.Trees bloom.Grass turns green. Growth even through the 30-degree day delays....
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Reader, I remember my boss of six years greeting me e.v.e.r.y. d.a.y. with… ☀️ Hello Sunshine! ☀️ Each day. In texts. At the top of an email. When she greeted me after a tough meeting with Martha. Here is why this is important. It wasn’t about being polite… it was neurological. Think about that smile someone gives you when you are checking out groceries or when you get your morning coffee. Our brains are wired to mirror emotion—so when you smile at someone or give them a warm hello, their...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Reader, Last week, I was walking through Newark Airport on my way to my gate. What I remember is the music. The soft echo of piano keys playing in the terminal. Not the usual boarding announcements. Not the rolling wheels of carry-ons. The music. As I got closer, I saw a traveler playing the piano. Backpack slung over one shoulder. Carry-on at his side. Sitting on a bench next to a full gate of people like he was playing in his own living room. A random traveler sees a piano bench as an open...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Reader, I was never the ‘best’. Not the best marketer.Not the best salesperson.Not the best manager, Publisher, or Chief Revenue Officer. I used to say that apologetically. Out loud to my bosses. I don’t anymore. I finally learned that the relationship I had with myself was shaping every other relationship in my life. I stopped apologizing for being too direct.For pushing for the 9th revision.For wanting to go above and beyond when others thought good was good enough. I know I bugged people....
2 months ago • 2 min read
Reader, Extraordinary things are for someone else. Have you had that thought? I know that secret belief. Leading my team at Martha Stewart Living through tech and media disruption, an IPO, public scrutiny, and annual layoffs, I kept my head just above water while I was given: More expectations. More responsibility. More pressure. To some, it looked like ambition, but on the inside it was toxic insecurity. I thought the goal was to survive the pressure — get to the other side of it. I tried...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Reader, I'm deep into launching a keynote speaking business while running my coaching business. I thought it would be a natural extension. I'm learning the hard way, again, that nothing is as natural as it looks from the outside. In the middle of all of it, I caught myself doing something I recognize in my clients. While scrambling doing all the "right" things, I joined webinars. Paid for summits. Committed to challenges. Consumed podcasts. Took notes I haven't looked at since. This is a...
3 months ago • 3 min read