Blog

IMPROVING OUR WORLD THROUGH EDUCATION + ENTREPRENEURSHIP

To Find Your Voice

PUT IT INTO THE WORLD

I don’t know about you, but I grew up believing success meant getting things right. I listened to instructions, paid attention to what was expected of me, and followed the rules. Mistakes meant carelessness and were to be avoided at all costs.

But entrepreneurship has taught me otherwise. Today, I know perfectionism can be a liability in work and life, especially if you want to make an impact. I’ve learned that growing requires you to use your voice, even when it feels a little shaky. 

Five Calendar Strategies

FOR YOUR HIGHEST CONTRIBUTION

When your calendar’s packed and you yearn for space, how do you say no to some things? I’m all jazzed up, because my friend Angele and I just spent a Zoom call helping each other answer this question. 

She runs a consultancy for diversity, equity, and inclusion; and she and I’ve been connecting monthly ever since we met in an online group more than a year ago. We’ve never met face to face, but she’s become one of my favorite business confidants.

My Experiment with Location Independence

A MONTH IN NEW MEXICO (PART 3)

In Part 1 of this series, I revealed why I spent last February working remotely, in an AirBnb 1,300 miles from home. This experiment with location independence was part of my broader, career-driven effort to reclaim my most valuable assets: talent, time, energy, wellness, and money. 

The post addressed the question: Did this experiment help me reclaim my energy? In Part 2, I asked: Did it help me restore my sense of time? Here in Part 3, I tackle whether the trip increased my income.

Crossing the NM State line

My Experiment with Location Independence

A MONTH IN NEW MEXICO (PART 2)

In Part 1 of this three-post series, I introduced an experiment with work freedom. I shared how remarkable today’s creator economy feels to me as a Gen X woman. And I told why the village of Corrales, New Mexico, was my spot for a month away from winter in Minnesota. 

In the first post I asked: Did the experiment help reclaim my energy? Here in Part 2, I tackle whether the trip helped restore my sense of time.

Suzi on hiking trail

My Experiment with Location Independence

A MONTH IN NEW MEXICO (PART 1)

As a Gen X woman who started a business after hitting a glass ceiling in her 40s, I often say entrepreneurship is a journey of reclaiming things. 

Today, finding success looks entirely different than it did in the first two decades of my work life. If you’re a mid-career professional, you may know the feeling: You grew up in a conventional job market that asked you to follow the rules, in exchange for relative stability.

A selfie with the Sandia Mountains in the background.

Putting Yourself Out There Isn't the Goal

Imagine getting laid off, then discovering you’ve had the power to generate your own income all along. Imagine spending fewer hours on work that drains you, living in joy more of the time.

A photograph of colorful speech bubbles made of felt

Do Your Part. It's Enough.

There’s so much pain in the world. How can I possibly make a difference?  As a mission-driven business owner, these are the questions I ask myself daily. I’m sure you have your own version, no matter where you live or what you do. I’m wrestling with that very question right now. It’s Monday, and two peices of hard news came in just as I was settling in to the work day: another police killing of an unarmed Black man (this time in the suburbs of my hometown Minneapolis), and a weekend COVID death of the relative of someone I hold dear. Clearly, any shock I feel is tiny compared to those experiencing these tragedies. But collective trauma is real, and each of us has our own shared reaction to a horrific event in our community.

Deepa Iyer's infographic, Mapping Our Roles in a Social Change Ecosystem (2020)

Why Self Employment Is Part of My Destiny

I was a curriculum designer at a well-respected history museum, and it had become my identity. For more than a decade I got to tell people how much I adored my job. I was surrounded by curious collaborators, dear friends, groundbreaking technologies, and projects that cultivated critical thinkers. Walking away was so painful that it still backs up on me sometimes. But my leaving a single job isn’t what breaks my heart. Instead, I’ll tell you what does: Not the fact that I left, but the reason why I chose to do it.