I recently heard the term "workcation" and right away knew what it meant. It isn't that vacation you take where you end up working, but an actual vacation where you plan for the fact that you will also be working--or in some cases a work trip you are taking that you turn into a part vacation. My upcoming column is going to be about other women who have taken workcations, and the benefits and challenges of such arrangements.... Continue Reading »

While prepping my next column--about the crises that can ensue when work and life collide--my work and life collided yet again. My 3-year-old daughter had to stay home from day-care because of a cough on a day that I was presenting a virtual training session to a client and staff. Working from home can have its fantastic advantages, but when the child is home sick and you don't have a baby sitter, everything descends quickly into chaos.I only had to mute about three times during my live presentation--and I had prepped the client and staff that my... Continue Reading »

As I was preparing my article about self-promotion, Paula Gregorowicz, a life and business coach for women, provided these thoughts on promoting oneself: Banish the Sleazy Salesperson and Be Authentic Tooting your own horn gets a bad rap, especially for women. You should be seen and not heard, right? Images of sleazy salespeople selling you what you don't want in an icky way spring to mind the minute we think of self-promotion. My... Continue Reading »

I am a firm believer that women should toot their own horns--that is, not shy away from self-promotion. Now hear this: There's nothing wrong with self-promotion. The guys do it, and they are called "capable," "credible" and "qualified." When women self-promote, people cringe. Why does it seem so grating and inappropriate for a woman to be vocal about her capabilities and accomplishments?Maybe it's history. Up until the last 40 years or so, girls were brought up "not to draw attention to themselves." It was considered unseemly for a woman to step into the spotlight unless she was in... Continue Reading »

In my column about changing banks for your company's well-being, "Do You Need to Divorce Your Bank?" I talked about why to make a switch and how to make that switch. Cher Przelomski of The Planning Factory, an events company, finally switched banks. Why are some women hesitant to switch banks? "Besides the agony of filling out paperwork and making the many adjustments involved with a new banking system, it's not easy to 'reveal' yourself and your company's... Continue Reading »

While working on my article You Can't Afford Not to Hire an Assistant, I received some great tips from a business coach via e-mail.Lindy DeKoven is the CEO and founder of Lindy DeKoven Coaching--a career-coaching service that specializes in entertainment, sports and politics. She has worked as a top-level executive in television, sports and politics, and is an expert at coaching others in taking the steps they need to to both succeed and to transition in their careers. When I put... Continue Reading »

I've been thinking a lot about e-mail management lately, mostly because my e-mail has been out of control for far too long, and it is finally beginning to hurt my productivity and communications. The fact that it took this long--three years--to hit the wall is probably nothing more than a testament to my perseverance in the face of adversity. But when I saw that my inbox read 10,388 e-mails, I knew something had to give. And that's not counting more than 3300 unread ones, many dating back to 2005. I've blogged about my e-mail dilemma before, most recently on... Continue Reading »

In my article You Can't Afford Not to Hire an Assistant, I spoke about the need to hire an assistant and why many women business owners don't do it when they should. I recounted my own story about missing several meetings in a single week, the catalyst for finally hiring a virtual assistant to help me with my schedule.I asked my virtual assistant, Stephanie Lee of Scratchpad Secretaries, to offer her advice to women business owners who... Continue Reading »

I recently interviewed women business owners about how their companies infringe on their personal relationships, particularly with their life partners. Katya Tsaioun of Apredica, a clinical research organization, struggles to maintain her commitments to her family over business.Tsaioun's husband, Doug, put their situation this way:"The personal relationship struggle is that there's no respite from the business. Home life is an extension of the office. And to top it off, this summer, like last summer, our 19-year-old daughter will be working in the business, too. ... Continue Reading »

So you've been reading the Women at Work column and wondering, "Who is this woman laying out the intimate details of her life and work?" Hi, it's me, and I'm a Woman at Work.I'm used to being self-confessional. And I'm used to doing it in public. I haven't always been this way. I was painfully shy in school, almost crippled with shyness. I took drama classes in high school hoping to break out of... Continue Reading »