Just finished having a very impromptu lunch with a friend and colleague. I was leaving a client meeting and thought I’d touch base with her. She was leaving a speaking engagement. We both hadn’t had lunch. We headed to a great local cafe with wifi. I arrived first and had an iced coffee while I went online to get some work done before she showed up.

We talked over lunch about a variety of topics including:

1. the status projects we are working on together;
2. new projects coming down the road;
3. our kids and daycare, discipline and mommy guilt;
4. local politics and gossip;
5. more ways we can work together. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m on the road for two weeks with family - not a business trip but not totally a vacation - and am having a tough time getting into a groove so I can actually get some work done - including blogging here. The time zones are mixing me up, I’m forgetting what day it is, I’m having a heck of a time finding a consistent Internet connection, and all my organizational tactics seem useless when I’m not sitting at my home office.

Because I’ll be traveling for another week and a half, I’m trying to find solutions to my work-from-the-road challenge. If I were traveling on business, I’d have everything I needed to stay organized including a constant wifi connection because any hotel that hosts conferences is wired and a set schedule of meetings or events that I could use to know what day it is and estimate time to keep track of when I can do my own work. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m in the age-old quandry many business owners face at some point: Should I let my business grow? Maybe that sounds like a strange question because perhaps this is a more “female business owner” question. Maybe I’m being sexist, but I think most men start businesses to make money so business growth is a given.

Most (many?) women start a business for different reasons such as having more flexibility to be with their kids (a misnomer, by the way); to make a difference in their life, their community, their world; to make enough money to pay the bills with some to spare. I haven’t met many women in my immediate sphere who have started a business to become a millionaire. They are driven by a myriad of other motivations.
Read the rest of this entry »

We all know the luxury of working in our bunny slippers. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the way I present myself to clients and colleagues, that is, the way I portray myself as a professional in professional settings. Have the bunny slippers gone to my head?

I thought about this especially as I walked into a meeting with one of my top clients and considered my attire:

Hair tied back in a ponytail, a tan ribbed cotton turtleneck, brown velour sweat pants and brown Merrills. Without socks. Oh, but I did have a smidge of lipstick on.

Is this wrong, I asked myself. Instead of feeling embarrassed that I was not in more professional attire, however, I had an entirely different take on the matter starting with:

1. I am the mother of a toddler. If you want me to dress like you dress, please stop by my house and take care of my child while I get ready. I can’t take care of a toddler AND spend time on my hair, makeup and clothing. Read the rest of this entry »

It is nighttime, but in Alaska, it is still light. I’m exhausted. Then suddenly, I remember that I forgot to post to this blog today. Where did the day go? And how did I run out of time?

If you are like me, working from home has its pros and cons. I still firmly believe that the positives greatly outweigh the negatives, however, if I look back at my day today, there were several times that working out of the home would have helped me get my work done.

By default, being in an office - especially with other people around - creates a different sense of urgency to your work, a need to adhere to the timelines of others, a strong sense of responsibility that others are depending on you and they are right there in the same office with you. Read the rest of this entry »

How much weight do you give to opinions that your friends and family share about your business? How much weight SHOULD you? I love bouncing ideas off of friends and family, but I have to remember that because of my longstanding relationships with them on a personal level, bringing them into the business part of my life can be fraught with pitfalls.

The age old adage of keeping business and personal lives separate applies to everything from who you hire to who you choose as advisors to most importantly, who you turn to for money for your company. While friends and family usually mean well, their contributions to your company will undoubtedly come with strings that might not be clear until you are entangled in a Web of emotions and ego. Okay, this could just be my opinion, and you can take it with a grain of salt, but in case you’re thinking of committing (or currently embroiled in) a business/personal life blur, here are some of my quick tips for avoiding - or extricating yourself - out of the mess. Read the rest of this entry »

I have a lot on my plate. I currently have 4 hours a day to get everything done that I need to do. As of next week, baby will be in daycare, and suddenly I will have 8 hour days again. I’m sure this will make all the difference in the world.

I have 3 running checklists on paper of things I need to do. I put little boxes to the left side of each item and long for the moment I can put a check in each box. And I’m using online To-Do lists in my Basecamp accounts to track tasks for each client. Here is just a small sampling of my current To-Do lists.

Does yours look anything like this? Read the rest of this entry »

It is 2:00 a.m. as I write this post. I’m not really a night owl anymore or late-hour worker anymore. Having a baby changed all that. I used to work on the computer at any hour of the day or night. When I got the urge to work, I’d plug in and log on and easily spend hours immersed in my writing.

These days, I cherish my 6-8 hours of partially interrupted sleep every night, interruptions being baby crying out for a diaper change or bottle. I try to eek out just a few minutes more sleep each morning as my husband gets ready for work and before I head to the kitchen to join him for breakfast. Just one more minute, please… Read the rest of this entry »