Career
Last week, I spoke to a group of nearly 100 university students and recent graduates about leadership. I started with a few points about how my degree in music education – though it isn’t my current profession – shaped the leader I am today. But what seemed to really resonate with the students was this idea of bold decision-making steering me to the most incredible opportunities. To open the session, each of the speakers introduced ourselves, giving a bit of background and a synopsis of our careers. And then we split up into groups, each group led by one…
Friday afternoon, I got the incredible news that my work has been recognized by our city’s Chamber of Commerce by being shortlisted in the Future Faces Awards for the Future Face of Sales, Marketing and Communications for the whole of the Greater Birmingham area. Holy smokes! I’m still in a bit of disbelief! The Future Faces Chamber of Commerce is a branch of the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce for 35-and-unders and focuses on professional development and networking for the area’s young professionals. Future Faces has been a huge part of my personal growth here…
Life can be chaotic for all of us. I think we’ve all been in that position where we feel like we’ve overcommitted, are completely unorganized, and feel like we’re hanging on by a thread. No, just me? I didn’t think so. When we moved to England, I made a commitment to myself to focus on the really important things to me. I had a huge advantage in that I was starting completely anew – new house, new job, new hobbies, new friendships. For me, it was definitely a process of rebuilding, rather than stripping back on what…
Last week was a great one, but so SO busy. I ended up getting pulled into a last-minute meeting in London on Thursday, which completely disrupted my work plan for both Thursday and Friday. But it was totally worth it – 1, because LONDON. And 2, because the meeting was really productive and completely worth the trip. We got to stop by Elan Cafe (where this photo is from), and it was everything an Instagrammer could dream of. I loved their “definition” of Elan – (n.) distinctive and stylish elegance; impulsive, confident ardour. I’ll be…
Today marks the second anniversary of the day we landed in the UK to start our new adventure living abroad. It’s like my own personal New Year’s. You may recall I summarized Year One with “Seven Lessons Learned in a Year Abroad,” so I thought I’d do something similar to mark Year Two. While this one isn’t titled by lessons – instead, I’m using events and occasions – there are hundreds of lessons that presented themselves this year. Let me tell you, I’m in agreement every other expat blog, living abroad changes your world – and your…
I thought I’d share a little something I found particularly interesting as of late, regarding the power of the energies we put out in the world. I’ve made an effort in the past 10 years to write down my goals. Some goals are much easier to write than others, because I find that when they’re written in pen, it’s so much more permanent. Then if I fail or get derailed, it’s so much harder to go back to that goal and cross it out or amend it. But I do…
What I love most about September is this feeling of new beginnings. It’s like a second round of New Year’s Resolutions. I’m sure it’s stemmed from all those “beginning of the school year” feelings, where you get to reinvent yourself each year for your new classmates. Moving to a different country has given me many of these same feelings – a new beginning, a fresh start, a slate wiped clean. And yes, I know I’ve been here for 7 months technically, but I suppose I feel like I’m at the point now where it’s…
It feels a lot like jealousy, but with a heap more anticipation. Maybe it’s the feeling of missing out? Or maybe it’s homesickness wrapped in a blanket of Hoosier pride. Whatever it is and whatever you call it, I miss the Indianapolis 500. It didn’t hit until just this weekend when the sun came out (as did the shorts and t-shirts, #sunsoutgunsout) and my friends near and far posted photos online of them at Carb Day, at the parade, at the Snakepit Ball, and any of the tens of other festivities throughout Indianapolis this weekend. But…
A new calendar year for me has always been the time to reflect on the year past and bring change to the year ahead. This past year, Martin and I were (finally!) married and adopted our new dog Tucker. We made 2016 a celebration of our new life as husband and wife; we married in America in January and had our wedding blessing in England in July. This year we spent a collective four months apart due to Martin’s racing career, and he has been making strong impressions in the sports car and coaching worlds. In 2017, Martin will…
