Before I get too far into today’s post, I want to let you know that I am extremely aware of the catastrophically terrible financial impact 99% of us have experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as billionaires have increased their profits by trillions of dollars, many of us are facing evictions and bare cupboards. When you’re experiencing the bottoming-out of the market, you have an opportunity to build back. Use this time to plan for the rebound,…..
The picture above is of me at approximately 29 years old. Two of my daughters are with me outside the daily newspaper where I worked—my oldest daughter is probably inside the building, chatting up the reporters in the newsroom. My youngest daughter recently posted it on her Instagram (she’s the baby in the picture). She is currently 29; her older sisters 30 and 34, respectively. What follows is a bit of introspection and work-in-progress exposition for my next book. I…..
Earlier today, in honor of Giving Tuesday, I sent out a tweet promoting the Jane Addams Resources Corporation (JARC), a nonprofit that teaches welding to people in order to help them not only get well-paying jobs but also to develop capacity-building skills. This was the first organization that gave me a chance when I first moved to Chicago in order to scale the nonprofit I established. A brief timeline: Within two weeks of moving to Chicago in 2103, the job…..
One of the founders stories I share within my book, Circuit Train Your Brain, is how I faced eviction not once, but twice within the first five years of my moving to Chicago in pursuit of scaling the nonprofit I had established. Part of my next book is unpacking how those experiences happened. Under-earning was one reason; my lack of focus was another. There are many other reasons, and I’m still sifting them out. During a particularly perilous time in…..
Pillow talk: this throw pillow cost $38. I know what you’re thinking: big whoop-dee-doo. You may have dropped thirty-eight bucks on a good port at dinner today. But when I was eking by on absolutely nothing as a nonprofit founder, my scarcity mindset thought that spending $38 for a silly pillow was a stupid and a frivolous expense. So I returned to Crate and Barrel multiple times, checking to see if it was still available, thinking to myself, “If it’s…..
A common mistake that creators make is to set their asking price for their services or skill at what they think the market will bear (usually asking too little). The paradox is that when you set your value, the market meets you. As a writer and artist, I’ve been conditioned to donate my gifts or discount my rates for as long as I can remember. • Part of it is because I can tap into the well of creativity and…..
Clarity about money attracts wealth. One of the central skills essential to having an abundant life is financial literacy. There are many practical reasons for this: investing, budgeting and managing a household or business rely on understanding how to allocate money for different costs. However, wealth is at once beyond and related to everyday expenses. I include this post because it’s common for many creators (artists, writers, consultants or other expertise-based types) to under-represent their skills and to ask too…..
Today is National Pumpkin Seed Day! In honor of this autumn treat, I thought I’d share a story and recipe about my days as a nonprofit founder. When I moved to Chicago, one of the first things I did was to alter my diet to a more plant-based variety. There were many reasons for my decision: • Vegetables and grains were less expensive than meat. As a founder who didn’t receive a salary for the nonprofit I established, cost was…..
So many of us have been taught that it’s immodest to “toot our own horn” or that talking about our own accomplishments is bad. When promoting yourself on social media, it’s common to see the phrase “humble brag” associated with anything remotely connected to publicizing achievement or rolling out an offering (e.g. a new book, webinar, speaking engagement or job promotion). October is National Self-Promotion Month, so today we’re going to focus on a few ways that you can begin…..