This isn’t the first time I’ve written about working remotely. I did so after my first three months and then again last year. While I love it, I wouldn’t feel right only talking about the “epic stuff.” The highs and lows are so much more extreme and intense. That was something that caught me off guard. I got into remote work because I was drawn to the FREEDOM and uncharted...
Getting real about feeling like an imposter
Does so and so really think I can do this?” What have I gotten myself into? “Omg- all of these people are going to find out I have no clue what I’m doing.” There isn’t a day that goes by where I haven’t had at least one or two of these passing thoughts. I’ve started and stopped writing a version or two of this post more times than I can count...
The Myth of Work-Life Balance and Why Chasing It is Making You Miserable
I have a tendency to think through and play around with big concepts. I can also be a rebel at times, as I like to turn common ideas that most people hold dear upside. The common belief I’ve been thinking more about lately is the nature of work and life. And, the single most played-out and written about concept – the elusive work/life balance. This idea that we all should strive for...
Breaking “the glass ceiling” in the community industry
Is there a glass ceiling in the community industry? That’s a loaded question that gets asked a lot in community manager forums, Facebook groups – like the CMX group (highly recommend joining btw) and podcasts like this Community Signal podcast episode with Patrick O’Keefe and Alexandra Dao, of Vimeo. If you look at our industry, there’s a growing number of director, VP and...
Studying philosophy made me a better community builder
To put it mildly, I used to avoid philosophy like it was the plague. In fact, the one and only time I willingly learned about philosophy until very recently was one class I took my senior year in college. The only reason why I took it at all was I needed one more general education credit to graduate on time. I was hoping it would be a “cupcake class” that I could you know skip a lot and...
My Theme for 2017 – Choosing Honey over Vinegar (And Why 2016 Was Actually A Pretty Great Year)
Scrolling through my Facebook news feed over the last week, I saw a ton of people complaining about how crappy this year was. Every single one of them cite the crazy political environment and all the celebrity deaths. Everything points back to news articles and blog posts. The great irony is some of these posts they are linking to aren’t even real. #FakeNewsProbs. But, all of them are...
What I’ve Been Reading: My 11 Favorite Blog Posts From 2016
For the past few years, I wrote a post about my favorite things I’ve read over the last year. This is something I do leading up to my personal review of everything that happened over the last year. The good, the bad and the things that I want to change for the year ahead. It sums up everything – personal, professional, relationships, travel, health, etc, and helps me set my theme and...
It’s never as simple as “us v. them”
This last week has been eye-opening, challenging and depressing. Like many others, I’ve been trying to process and make sense of what happened. I never realized how much I took for granted freedom in general . . . let alone freedom of speech, religion and the press until I started traveling overseas. Visiting countries where you can’t talk about news and certain topics without fear...
Why is change so scary
If you talk to any startup founder, entrepreneur or Silicon Valley entrepreneur, it is very hard to go more than an hour without hearing the words, “change,” “disruption” or “pivot.” It is kind of a rite of passage to pivot your business to go to a new untapped niche. In many cases, that’s pretty smart. Change is widely accepted in startup culture. Startups are supposed to...
Why It Took Me 26 Years Before I Started Traveling
Travel plays a major role in my life, but it hasn’t always been this way. I suppressed my desire to travel and experience new places for 26 years. So, what changed? Today, I optimize my life and make a fair amount of sacrifices (think – living fairly minimally and not partying every weekend) so that I can experience new places on a regular basis. It has been the single biggest driver...