This Labor Day, I’m thinking about the labor we don’t see. When people picture work, they think of visible outcomes like projects finished, deadlines met, and services delivered. What often goes unnoticed is the invisible effort behind it. The late nights spent teaching yourself new systems, the quiet
Why Details and Deadlines Beat Grand Plans I once spent three weeks planning the perfect home office. I had vision boards. Pinterest folders. A mood palette with names like “Sea Mist” and “Morning Fog.” I told myself I was creating a space that would unlock deep focus and life changing
You cannot preach boundaries if you do not have them. It is 4:45 on a Wednesday. The meeting could easily spill over, but you close your laptop instead. “Let’s stop here and pick it up tomorrow,” you say, smiling. A few heads tilt in surprise. You stand, grab
Sometimes the thing you are trying to solve is not actually about the thing at all. It is about something that looks nothing like it. I once watched a product team struggle for weeks to improve their onboarding flow. They had the data, the usability studies, the heatmaps, but the
This article is about risk management, but in a relatable way. No corporate jargon, I promise. Risk management is really about navigating uncertainty and making thoughtful choices, something we all do more often than we realize. Finding the “Risk” in Everyday Decisions When people hear “risk,” they picture boardrooms, spreadsheets,
The room was too quiet. Six of us sat around a conference table, each with a pen poised above a blank notepad. We were here to “think big” about new program ideas for teens. But the air felt heavy… like we were all holding our breath. Someone tapped their pen.
When I first clipped on the Plaud AI Pin, I wasn’t even sure what to expect. I’m intrigued by AI and all the promises that come with it. But I’m also skeptical. Could this little gadget do all it claims? I wanted to know how well it
Project management is a lot like making fajitas. You have one skillet. That skillet is your team’s capacity: time, energy, budget, focus. PMI calls this resource management. And just like in the kitchen, you cannot dump every ingredient in at once and expect it to turn out well. If
Nonprofits often run on a hidden curriculum. The official mission statements will talk about impact, education, or community. But the real lessons happen behind the scenes. You learn how to make decisions with incomplete information, how to do more with less, how to lead people who are not there for
Recently, a friend told me about a new hire at her company. Mid-level role, no direct reports. The kind of position that doesn’t usually come with much recognition or buzz. But within a few months, things started to shift. Meetings ran smoother. Feedback became more candid. People started thanking
I spend a lot of time mentoring other professionals, most of them younger than me, but not all. When we sit down together for a chat, they usually have a question or two. Something about work, project management, leadership, learning, making changes, or just navigating this unpredictable thing called life.
When people talk about resilience, they often mean “how I survived that awful thing.” The layoff. The breakup. The health scare. That time your cat knocked over your laptop during a Zoom interview. But here’s the thing: the ability to stay grounded when life gets chaotic isn’t built