Laughter

They say that laughter is the best medicine. Whoever they are, they are right. There is nothing more cohesive, more inspiring, and more cherished that absolutely losing your mind in laughter. And it is such a strange experience. Think about it. Total lack of your physical body. It should be the most embarrassing thing on […]

Getting the Travel Jitters

It’s that time of year again. We are getting ready to go travel the world, as we are want to do. It’s something I would have never dreamed of in my youth. We were lucky to visit family a few hours away. Once, I even went with my class to Florida. But ever since marrying […]

The Copywriter’s Role

Clients often misinterpret the copywriter‘s role in branding and marketing. We are not there to write pretty words or to ‘send messages’. We don’t have magical abilities to entrance the population with our words. It is not our job to tell you what you should be saying. Our role is to learn, ask questions, gain […]

Real Communication

The quickest way to lose any group you are working with is to not engage in real communication. Real in that way that you are communicating from a place of honesty and directness. If you want to lead then you need those people that you are working with to want to follow. It’s difficult to […]

Always Beginning

The creative work we do is a journey. It’s hard to get started and even more difficult to maintain. And we are often working for that time when it can all be easier. We tend to forget that only happens when we are done, retirement or otherwise. In such an iterative trade, it is a […]

Leadership Culture

Leadership culture is the largest determining factor to a toxic work environment. The people around the leader give the rest of the workers the largest cues as to what kind of environment they are living in. Surrounded by sycophants? Then this workplace is not open to new ideas. Surrounded by bullies? Then the workplace values […]

Toxic Work Environments

The Problem We have all been there, toiling away in an office, uncomfortably trying to blend in. You don’t want to stand out. And you certainly don’t want to have a creative idea. The very idea is an insult to the imagined authority of management. The fear grips you and anxiety is your constant companion. […]

Stepping Sideways

Unless you are the owner of the company, or the chairperson of the board, we need to do away with the overwhelmingly negative implications of ‘moving up.’ Unless you are in charge, all moves within an organization need to be seen as lateral. Hierarchical structures lead to undue stress and manipulation. Changing roles in a […]

Replaceable

You are replaceable. In your professional career, no matter how important you think you are, if you were to leave tomorrow, they would have someone in your place before the end of day. This information isn’t meant to terrify you. It should be freeing. It’s a little like facing your own mortality. Once you know, […]