Oprah, Madonna, Hillary Clinton. These female icons carry immeasurable marketing weight. The voices of these women are written in stone, as their personal brands have permeated the Internet and beyond. Even as they have evolved, these brands have been concretized in the consciousness of society in general, let alone their contributions to the historic implications of the feminine brand – and the power of the female voice.

The web is the vehicle, but the portals and organizations working toward boosting the feminine brand and voice are exponentially growing. For example, The Women’s Media Center which is working toward making women more visible and powerful in the media. It’s backed by Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda and Carol Jenkins – solid brands. Certainly the Huffington Post, while offering up a mixture of male and female voices has put some heavy hitting female brands on the map. BlogHer.com was one of the first out of the gate making such contributions. Now look to Slate’s new venture The XX Factor: What Women Really Think to do the same.

The theme of personal branding has been a consistent thread of discussion here at WorkLife Nation. In a time when many are struggling to keep their jobs, are looking for one, or are starting their own businesses, some career experts are touting the benefit of boosting one’s personal brand to stay competitive. 

Personal branding is not a new concept, but the Internet has changed the landscape. For women in particular, perhaps the web and social media in general have leveled the playing field.  That’s why I was happy to write the following article for Personal Branding Magazine. You can learn more about the on-line magazine by clicking here.

The Evolution of the Feminine Brand

Legendary gossip columnist Liz Smith fell victim to the budgetary ax at The New York Post in February. The 86-year old continues to write her nationally syndicated column and has a substantial web presence.  Smith has lent her name or “personal brand”  to  Women on the Web  (WoW) as one of its founders. The popular site tackles everything from fashion to politics through the female lens.

Smith is practically an institution. At WoW, she is joined by the likes (and brands) of Lesley Stahl, Whoopi Goldberg (also of ABC’s The View) and Miss Manners – Judith Martin. Their voices are respected and ideals transparent. There’s a page on the site entitled, Change the World. And that, says branding expert Elsie Maio, is just one illustration of how the power of the feminine brand has evolved through the Internet.

“The feminization of business is upon us. I don’t mean womanization, but the ascendance of values that our culture has associated with the Feminine,” says the Founder and President of Maio & Company, a business strategy and branding company which coined the term, “soulbranding.” “The Feminine’s natural impulse is to nurture, care for and include the collective,” says Maio, adding that women are no longer afraid to publically embrace those values, talk about them and associate them with their brand.  “Compartmentalizing our humanity is what got us into trouble, integration is the key and you see it in women’s branding trends.”

Eileen Tanne of WomensEducationCenter.com agrees that the strategic branding of women is evolving. Tanne has marketed to women for more than 16 years and has worked with Ms. Magazine and Gloria Steinem. “Generations ago, professional women had a very tough time branding themselves partly because they were uncomfortable with self-promotion,” Tanne says, adding that the male dominated media venues made it difficult to have a strong voice; not so any longer. “The internet offers women the opportunity  to control how we want to be perceived and how our voices are heard.”    

The female brand in particular, is getting a jolt from the increase in women owned businesses, says Barbara Litrell, former publisher of Working Mother magazine. “Women have been running businesses in great numbers since the 1970’s,  but they are branding themselves more confidently now, as they support one another in partnerships,  thus enhancing their own brands.”

Ultimately, branding is now about presence, platform and personality, says Kim Weiss, the Communications Director for book publisher Health Communications Inc. “Women tend to be personality driven and appeal to the personal part of their audience,” says Weiss who says women are taking their personal stories to the internet generating  more interaction. 

Case in point, the use of strategic social media fueled by a dynamic heart wrenching story lead to the successful branding of  HCI author Laurie Perri, who blogs at the highly popular CrazyAuntPurl.com. “Everyone is hanging their shingle out, but no ones going to click on you unless you give them a good reason to,” says Weiss.

While scrambling for a job, in the hectic chaos of that search often we forget to look in our own backyard for resources. There, one can find not only a contact or two, but perhaps some inspiration in the work life challenges that come along with the job search.

In a recent conversation with career transition expert Bob Simmons, CEO of Career Transitions Associates, he shared a story of a boomer who after many attempts sending her resume into the black hole of the typical job search, attended a career support club or salon. The results were not immediate, but instead organic.

One relationship lead to another, and another. Within weeks, word of her skills virally spread throughout this support network to an appropriate employer who was magically searching for someone with her profile. Since she was heading back to work due to her 401-K being demolished in the market tumble, her disposition wasn’t exactly peachy. Being able to vent weekly at her Job Guide Club, she received guidance and along with kind words of support.

Bob Simmons runs the Job Guide Club in Plainview, Long Island.  It’s now up to 31 members who meet every other week and support one another during the highs and lows of the job search. I asked him a few questions about the job hunting  process in general. 

JUDY: What are the greatest vehicles to network in the current climate-in order of importance?

BOB: Face to face networking followed by phone networking followed by social networking on the web followed by e-mail networking.

JUDY: What happens at a job salon or club?

BOB: The clubs I have been running for a number of years provide the following advantages:

1. Gain complete proficiency with “Tell Me About Yourself,” exercises. Can you tell a person why you will be a good employee if hired? 
2. Discussion of  job search concerns and issues ranging from “I lost my job last last week” to advise on negotiating a new salary offer.
3. Discussion around difficult subject matters:  ”How do you handle two DWI convictions and some jail time over the past five years when you are looking for a new job?”
4. Support from present club members along with a network support list of over 1500 names, the majority of whom, have landed jobs.
5. Networking Socials: Periodic social networking parties which bring together a number of other job clubs to mingle and further network.
6. Recently we established a CTA Job Club Member Yahoo Group which now has over 75 members and is growing. This promotes further job search and network communication between club members.

JUDY: How important is it to dive into the social media landscape to network for a job?

BOB: Very important. The more eyes and ears of people who know I am looking for
a job, the better the chance for success. This is a concept I repeat over and over again.

JUDY: What are the three most important things you should be able to communicate to a prospective employer within minutes?

BOB:  Career focus, followed by your applicable business strengths and examples –  along with your education if appropriate.

JUDY: What are the best exercises for the brain and morale that one can engage in while job hunting? 

1. Stay in today, meaning don’t project the future and possible negative ramifications. ie: “What will happen if I don’t have a job six months from now?”
2. Create a daily “To Do” List to keep your job search focused and ongoing.
3. Surround yourself with positive, uplifting people. Avoid those who live life with a moan and groan attitude.
4. Pay attention to the little events in your job search, such as a recruiter calling you to discuss your resume which may lead to no further activity, or someone willing to walk your resume into a company –  both of which may require follow-up.

Changing jobs or looking for a new one does not have to be a lonely journey. Building a community around your search through networking can bare fruit in career and support in your work life transition. Career coach & resume writer Bob Simmons can be reached at 516-501-0717.

When the camera turns toward Madonna, Oprah or Arianna Huffington there’s no mistaking who they are. These female icons are walking talking brands. While generally associated with the  ”Type A” personality, personal branding is less about “Type A” and more about “Type It”. It’s about your unique voice, purpose, and skills as a professional – and creating a persona that can be found across the vast field of recruiting sites permeating the web.

Branding yourself through the use of social media is becoming widely acceptable because instead of throwing resumes to the wind, you’re establishing your camp and network on-line so your next boss or career opportunity can find you. 

That’s the running theme in Dan Schawbel’s new book, Me 2.0 : Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. The Gen-Yer wrote the book for the millennial generation, but the material is simple to follow and well suited for Gen X and Boomers looking to make a career transition.

Me 2.0 breaks the mold on the personal branding “Type A” myth. No matter the position you hold in your current job, or the career you are heading into, there’s that “something special” that you’re good at. It might be crunching the numbers, being the person who handles clients with that extraordinary tone which catches their ear – or the calming soul in the office who keeps thing together when crisis occurs. Your brand exists, it’s inside of you just waiting to be birthed, and then beamed to the rest of the planet.

Me 2.0 suggests an entirely different approach to pounding the pavement – surfing the web and taking up enough space, making enough noise, and establishing your skill set in public to stand out above the rest. Schawbel, who also heads-up social media at global technology firm, EMC, says his book explores social media tools to help boost “personal empowerment, confidence building and professional networking” capabilities.

Schawbel uses current research and taps the minds of some of the best branding thought leaders of our time to illustrate his four step process: 

1. Discover your brand
2. Create your brand
3. Communicate your brand
4. Maintain your brand

You’ll have to read the book for the details. Keep a yellow marker handy as there’s some great information that you’ll go back to – over and over again. 

As I wrote recently in my post Personal Branding in a Tough Job Market,  personal branding will help to differentiate yourself in a tightening job market even if you’re only a superstar in your mother’s eyes.  Finally, finding your unique voice is key to articulating your personal brand. You’ll find more on that in my post: Personal Branding: Aligning Your Talking Points with Your Passion.

Having recently come into the scholarly work of CV Harquail Ph.D, (@cvharquail) a leading voice on Organizational Leadership  at AuthenticOrganizations.com, I’ve been watching, reading and stretching my mind on many fronts – including the topic of women-at-work. A few days ago she pointed me to Fem 2.0 where a “blog carnival” is taking place posing the question, “what is considered gainful employment” in the 21st century. 

Thoughts flooded my brain when I considered what constitutes gainful employment for women. First thought best thought. It is the individual’s business to discern what constitutes work or what I prefer to term – vocation – in our 24/7 world for anyone; male or female. 

To me, gainful employment means right livelihood; working with purpose, passion and profit on a meaningful career trajectory guided by ones own unique skills, desires and voice. It’s not an easy task in a time when career expansion can fall victim to the reality of having to stay in a job you hate – to pay the bills. Thus, more than ever, there is a desperate need for the woman’s voice now, to tackle work life concerns and traditional stereotypes of the 9-5 job structure, if only to make it more bearable.

I’m not going to make a blanket statement saying that our voices have been irrevocably quelled by fear in this lousy economy – but some have. With soaring unemployment, the largest percentage of layoffs impacting men, and the tightening job market – keeping a job seems to have become paramount for women – depending on which news article you’re reading.

Work/Life flexibility is embraced by progressive companies which understand that their current labor pool is dwindling (both male and female) and that they need to attract more female workers who now make up 46 % of the workforce. But a flexible working model is not always seen as the Great White Knight, which with its sword, can tear down walls of gender bias toward better attraction and retention of skilled employees. Flexibility is instead feared by some as a killer of face time, a signal of less interest in ones work or the threatening anti-christ to the almighty dollar. 

Thrust into the work life balance debate, women forge ahead on-line and in the media pushing for more flexible working arrangements, better maternity leave, and changes in the Family Leave Act. But when we walk through the doors of big business  (and again, not everywhere) there’s the perception that a voice that dares speak up might fall on deaf ears – or worse – end up with a pink slip. This perception needs to be slayed, but it will take both sexes to open up the conversation in the workplace.

Just a few days ago I wrote about the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce in my post, Work Life Gender Gap Narrows. The study found that the work/life conflict men were experiencing had increased more so, over a period of time, then for the women surveyed (women were already feeling a high level of conflict). The results were not surprising given the fact that men are taking on more of the household and childcare duties than in past years, in dual-earner couples.

Perhaps the equalizing of work life conflict will level the playing field for men and women striving for better work life integration. Perhaps, the deaf ear will be more receptive to a woman’s voice demanding to be heard, as it might have had to listen to a crying child the night before.

Arguably, the Serve America Act is one of the most comprehensive reforms expanding national service programs in more than 15 years. The Senate gave the nod yesterday, and now the bill heads to the House for some amending. It’s slated to be signed by President Obama some time next week. 

The New York Times’ article on the measure, Senate Moves to Expand National Service Programs, gives the details of what occurred on the floor Thursday during the approval process. The SAA expands the rank and file of Americorps and creates fellowships to funnel skilled talent to four other service corps, addressing areas such as education, healthcare, and the environment.

One of the new conceptual models in the act, is the Encore Fellowship. It will be of particular interest to boomers who are entering retirement, have been laid off or are rewiring their careers. “Experienced workers are needed in the non-profit world,” said Terry Nagel, managing editor of Encore.org - a network, information and news site helping individuals find meaningful work in the second half of their boomer life. Here’s what Nagel said about the significance of those ready for, what she describes as Encore Careers.

“Government managers are retiring in large numbers, and we need more experienced teachers, people in health care and workers and managers to jumpstart the green economy. But it’s difficult for older Americans to find work in a new sector by themselves. Programs like the Serve America Act will help experienced workers transition to these opportunities and held rebuild America.”  Terry Nagel – Encore.org

Here’s what the Serve America Act includes for Encore Careerists:

1. Encore Fellowships will be established for Americans age 55 or older in one-year management or leadership positions in nonprofit organizations. 
2. There will be a maximum of 10 per state. 
3. They will be funded by an $11,000 federal grant, plus matching funds from the organizations that host the fellows.

Ultimately the Encore Fellowships are ”a pathway to public service for those who have finished their midlife careers.” You can read more about the SAA and Encore Careers by clicking here.

The concept of Encore Careers has been picking up steam over the last 2 years as boomers enter into retirement. By definition, it’s a career that embodies personal meaning and social impact while providing continued income. It was born of CivicVentures.org, which has been leading the call to engage the skill set of boomers to address national concerns.

The glass ceiling hasn’t been broken on the pay scale, but ambition to potentially shatter it has picked up momentum, and Millennials, (under the age of 29) are in the drivers seat. 

It’s one of the more striking and surprising findings in 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce says Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder of the Families and Work Institute. For three decades the Institute has been tracking family concerns within the changing landscape of the workforce and workplace.

“There are many firsts in this study – the first time that younger men and women feel the same about job advancement, and the first time that there is no statistically significant different between men and women in their views of proper gender roles,” said Galinsky. For example, men and women are both less likely to embrace “traditional” gender roles. Even if the man earns more cash in his career, he might still be making dinner and doing housework.  

Women in the Workforce

Among the men and women under 29 years old, women are just as likely to want jobs with greater responsibility. For the first time, that attitude was neck and neck among women with and without children. According to the figures, the fruits of that drive might already be manifesting behind the scenes. Women in dual-earner couples contributed an average of 44% to the annual family income in 2008, compared to 39% back in 1997. 

The model of the working mother picked up positive steam in this report. More men and women agreed that employed women can be good mothers. 

Men in the Workforce

Perhaps one of the more startling findings is the increased level of work life conflict experienced by men. It increased from 34% in 1977, to 45% in 2008. The report once again, attributes that to changing gender roles.

Employed fathers are spending more time with their children than their age counterparts did three decades ago and men are taking more overall responsibility for the care of their children. In 1992, 21% of women said their spouses were taking as much or more responsibility, but that number jumped to 31% in 2008.

Seismic Shift in Attitude

It’s worth it to note that the data was collected in 2008, during what some economists would call the beginning of the recession. (some say more specifically December 2007) There has been a marked increase of women in the workforce due to layoffs, economic pressures and the high numbers of women entering into small businesses. So it stands to reason that the gender gap might have narrowed even further in just a year. 

The report is telling according to Ron Glover, Vice President of Diversity and Workforce Programs, at IBM (which funded the report) “Work/Life difficulty is no longer a women’s issue – it’s a people issue.” 

The report’s data collection was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation which keeps its philanthropic finger on the pulse of American society, the sciences and the economy. The non-profit is known for its support of numerous work life research programs which you can read about here.

The merging of the working and living experience goes well beyond our WorkLife Nation. A quick review of the global economy reveals that the quest for work life balance is a slamming debate no matter the continent. many fear burnout is on the horizon. So I took a quick journey to bring you a glance of what’s happening. Here’s Judy Martin’s Work Life Global Watch this Wednesday, March 25.

Singapore

Of all the places calling to shore up emotional resilience, Singapore would not have topped my list . Yet the country, where the U.S. Department of State warns jaywalking, littering and spitting gum can land you in the can or with a hefty fine, is concerned about its citizens’ stress levels. The country’s health minister is behind a new educational campaign called Optimism for Mental Resilience. The message – “bad times don’t last forever.”

Health Minister, Khaw Boon Wan wrote in a statement yesterday that, ““Promoting an emotionally-resilient society is one of our priorities whether in good times or bad.”  The country is upping its mental health education program “to help working adults manage day-to-day stress, and to recognize signs of depression and anxiety.” Hmmm – I don’t think chewing gum is an encouraged stress reducer here.

Canada

Canada’s Financial Post just named the Top 100 Employers. The key criteria included: “ physical workplace; work atmosphere as a social setting; pay and benefits; vacation and provisions for time off; communication to employees; performance management; training and skills development and community involvement.”

Among the employee benefits at many of these companies is extended maternity leave. One firm offered top-up benefits – up to 93% and 52 weeks for new dads and moms. (Practically unheard of) Other work life initiatives included phased-in retirement, relaxation rooms and flexible working arrangements which allow employees to leave for just a few hours to do personal errands. The one perk that stood out; one company ended every week with a beer cart pushed through the office. Hmmmm – not sure that will catch on the U-S workplace.

United Kingdom

Stress levels are soaring in the U-K, according to an article on the Institute of Leadership and Management website:

“Research by the Work Life Balance Centre and Coventry University revealed that four of the five health-related stress indicators it monitors rose in the last year. This means that there was a rise in the number of people reporting chronic fatigue, sleeplessness, irritability and headaches, while at the same time the fifth, lack of concentration, fell by less than one per cent.”

The commentary in the article from experts warned that higher stress can impact career goals and an employers bottom line –  inevitably leading to more absenteeism, lower productivity and more mistakes made by employees.

New Zealand

An article in The Nelson Mail on Work-Life Balance, brings to light union concerns about the countries Holidays Act which mandates 4 weeks vacation time. There is a brewing debate caused by suggestions that employees might prefer to cash in on that fourth week, instead of taking the time. The fear is that employers which have suffered layoffs with other employees fearing job losses, might be pushing workers to put in more time which would impact work life balance.

Australia

In a site called SmallBusiness, Josh Gordon and Annie Lawson write that the economic woes might trigger more discussion about flexible working arrangements. In their article, Can a downturn give you better work life balance,?  - they suggest that many companies are reducing worker hours and encouraging employees to use up their holiday leave – instead of sacking their skilled workers.

The writers say that the trend is driven by two items – which for some reason is not generating the same response in the U-S.

1. Altruism: Companies trying to look out for employees with families and mortgages.
2. Optimism: When the economy turns around, these employees will be grateful, more engaged and loyal.

Thomas Clifford, aka Director Tom,  was just laid off from his job as a corporate video director. Having worked with this brilliant soul, I didn’t Tweet or e-mail to check on his fine being. Instead, I picked up the phone and called him. An “G, R U doin’ ok,” didn’t seem appropriate. 

Human contact is rapidly becoming a novelty in our digital age. But for job seekers like Tom, the human face-to-face networking and social media route is the one-two punch crucial on the path to employment or a new career.

Director Tom (who is totally cool with me gabbing about his dilemma, here’s his Hire Tom website) has been an avid social media wizard for some time. He cautions to “develop your on-line and off-line network now, so if the net gets yanked out from under you, you’ve got a good start.”

The yanking wasn’t immediately apparent to Tom, he told me. Nevertheless, he’d been building his on-line network for well over 3 years for marketing and branding purposes. Tom lost his job last Thursday. He shared his three-day step-by-step play, into his job hunt:

1.    Tom created a “Hire Tom” web page associated with his blog. “I wanted one place for people to go and within a few minutes, to decide, ‘Hey, I think we should talk to this guy.”

2.   Tom contacted close friends and associates via e-mail to alert them he was looking for work, and that the Hire Tom page was activated.

3.   LinkedIn was the next stop.

       a.    Tom changed his update status to, “seeking employment.”

       b.    He made the commitment to refresh his status update on a regular basis, to keep current.

       c.    He e-mailed his primary connections on LinkedIn, to let them know he was looking for work.

       d.    Next up, he changed his main URL to the Hire Tom page.

       e.    Finally, in bunches, he has begun to forward his “updated profile” to connections who might be able to                        spread word of Tom’s employment interests. (There is a button that says ‘forward your profile to a                                  connection’) “Instead of blasting everyone at once, I’m splitting it up so I can respond in a timely way.”

4.   Twitter is the next stop for Tom. “I intend to build momentum with LinkedIn then implement my Twitter strategy,” said Tom. He has about 2000 followers and is very active on Twitter. He’ll send DM’s or Direct Messages to the people he feels will help him best spread the word on his skills as a corporate film maker – to the right audience. Tom has already linked his Twitter feed –  to his Friend Feed (social media aggregator) account so it updates automatically.

The overnight strategy that Tom came up with was quite successful. He received wonderfully supportive responses. “It was actually interesting, one person sent links to networking events and industry events that related to my profession. It wasn’t just a blanket response – but specific action items.” All his work in just a few days lead to seven meetings  already scheduled for this week. Also in the pipeline, networking events and job fairs.

“You network within your individual industry all the time, the techniques might be different but the intention is the same whether you’re on-line or in person,” he said adding, “The intention is to meet, grow and connect with interesting people, creating new opportunities.”

Finding a job on-line requires an enormous amount of discipline, commitment and a bit o’ luck. Slate’s Farhod Manjoo deconstructs the process in his article, How to Find a Job: Forget Monster, Try Facebook. For more information on job hunting on-line  - head to SecretsoftheJobHunt.com and Jason Alba’s JibberJobber.com where you’ll find a link to a webinar designed to help job seekers use LinkedIn. It’s called, appropriately, LinkedIn For Job Seekers.

Catherine’s Creative Job Transition

Catherine Wright is the membership director for the National Association of Mothers’ Centers. She, along with the rest of the planet is in great transition. It’s a similar challenge working for non-profits in our chaotic economy. It requires a certain amount of faith and commitment,  especially as non-profits are fledgling under slashed philanthropic generosity. That result, courtesy the recession and Bernie Madoff – not necessarily in the order.

“We rely a lot on individual and private foundation monies,” said Wright in a phone conversation this morning. “No ones investment has been safe, so everyone is re-evaluating how much they can give and where they will give, so we have to find alternatives to cash flow and cutting costs.”

The challenges that NAMC is battling mirror Wright’s personal experience. She went on to tell me that her job wasn’t safe either. She had to re-evaluate how she was spending her time and figure out a way to bring revenue into the organization to keep her job.  But in all the chaos, she says had an edge.

“Because I was so passionate about the mission of the organization, I became even more committed to make it work,” said Wright who realized that it was time to look for new opportunities for NAMC where she had never looked before, which included examining completely new partnerships in uncharted waters.

“I was seeing that the doors were closing, but I was not buying it. Instead I made a new commitment to the organization and somehow that faith started opening new doors,” said Wright who by chance had a sudden opportunity to take a workshop on building business partnerships. She said it lead to something right away, a new perspective on the way she would approach prospective strategic partnerships. Armed with new knowledge, “We came into new negotiations at a higher level than where we started in the past, at a faster pace,” said Wright. 

Catherine Wright took a leap of faith financially to take the course on her own and  jumped on a plane to California from New York. From the chaos of the economy, emerged insight and a new vision not only of how to bring in more business to the non-profit, but how she would manage her career and hang onto that paycheck – at least for now. 

The Career Chaos Economy

In this sudden Career Chaos Economy, being laid off or in fear of it occurring,  seems to be sparking creative and innovative approaches to reinventing ones career and/or heading into entrepreneurship. 

Last week a New York Times’ article, Weary of looking for work, some create their own, explained the venture into sudden career transition and personal job creation. Here’s a telling excerpt:

“Economists say that when the economy takes a dive, it is common for people to turn to their inner entrepreneur to try to make their own work. But they say that it takes months for that mentality to sink in, and that this is about the time in the economic cycle when it really starts to happen — when the formerly employed realize that traditional job searches are not working, and that they are running out of time and money.

Mark V. Cannice, executive director of the entrepreneurship program at the University of San Francisco, calls the phenomenon “forced entrepreneurship.”

Call it what you will, it’s upon us. This time is calling upon people to dive a little deeper into what makes them tick, and to take a surgical knife to the inner workings of personal passion and joy. Some are digging out the real passionate enterprising gusto that may exist below the surface fear of the current stagnation. For others, it’s getting back to the basics of whatever brings joy from past experiences or our own personal narrative.

Still, this self-contemplative mode promises no guarantees except the building of personal courage to weather the storm. It’s that accumulated inner gutsy strength that can either build mountains, or lead to yet another lesson in life. Either way, if you’re unemployed can you really lose by doing an inventory of what drives you and makes you happy?

Here are two recent posts that might provide some inspiration along these lines:

5 Tips to Organically Discover your Passion, While Rewiring your Career

Successfully Aligning your Passion with your Personal Brand

Awaking this morning to yet another deadline, I wondered what the outcome would be on a chapter I’m contributing to, for a colleague’s book. That made me wonder about my own book and the constant toggle between my working and living experience; my daily attempt to balance my career as a broadcaster with my love for being a work life trend tracker and writer.

I sat gazing at my computer last night till three am. Reams were written, but there was this underlying wonder about what the final product would be. Is it relevant, good enough, in the right voice to be heard? Even as a writer for a bazillion years, working in radio and television – I couldn’t seem to start the final draft.

After many hours of thought, mixing and matching, and creative chaotic pairing of phrases and ideas; it occurred to me that, “It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.” Don’t get me wrong. I’m all about the journey being more important than the destination (no matter the job at hand), but you do have to START the process to get to the journey and eventually the finish line.  

By the miracle of Twitter, a new friend, Carrie Wilkerson, known as The Barefoot Executive, (@barefoot_exec) posted this video from a Muppet episode. Not only did I get a great visual, but also an interesting message when I headed to Carrie’s site. Carrie’s most recent post Do just one thing to get your book done, is relevant to my personal journey these days. 

SO.. three, two, one – hit the play button folks….I promise you there is not a better way to start a day or a weekend. As you head into the creative tunnel on your downtime this will bring you a smile. Enjoy!