Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes is a weekly feature. Here we will dish on tidbits, news, and important things we thinking Working Girls should know. So scroll down to hear what we think you should glean from this work week.

• A former Vogue intern swiped a rare issue of the magazine and is now trying to sell it on Ebay. Why so rare? It boasts a masthead with famous author Lauren Weisberger's name listed as "assistant" to Anna Wintour. Yes, she wrote The Devil Wears Prada. It seems that interns at Vogue are pretty ballsy - stealing and writing tell-all memoirs wowza! [Fashionista]
• A recent survey from Mumpoll.com revealed that 8 out of 10 women are waiting to have children when they are older because they lack the money. 9 out of 10 women polled said they would struggle financially if they had children and two thirds feared their careers wouldn't be the same if they had a child. [Daily Mail]
• A female employee announced she will be filing a discrimination complaint against her employer Disneyland because she was sent home by her boss for wearing her hijab to work during Ramadan. [Jezebel]

Mom's Influence

I've been thinking a lot lately about motherhood and being a Working Girl ... especially because it's all hitting home for me right now. Yes, ladies, I'm expecting my first baby, a girl, in February!

So this whole idea, well, I guess reality now, of being a mom has made me wonder about my expectations for myself as a Working Girl and for my new little one. I guess let's start with my own mom.

My mom was not much of a Working Girl. I don't think she liked the idea much. She graduated from college with a degree in Zoology. What the heck are you supposed to do with that?? Then she decided to go into Nursing and dropped out within a year. Next she got a Teaching license and taught elementary school for a couple years. Then she just quit working altogether and decided to be a homemaker. She hasn't stepped into the working world since, let's see, it's been about 20 years??

So growing up, I didn't really have big dreams of becoming a career girl. It just didn't occur to me. I thought I'd just go to college because it was what good kids did and then who knows what after that. Luckily, I took that Intro to Advertising class and found my passion in the Communication field and now I am very, very happy with my career as a PR Working Girl. I think it really surprises my mom that I work. When I told her we were expecting a baby, I think I saw her breathe a huge sigh of relief because she thought I'd never have kids and work forever. Of course I wanted children, but I wanted to establish a career first!

Since I started my own business (PR and editorial) in March and work from home, I think this gives me the ideal environment for still continuing to keep my foot in the working world while also caring for my new family. At least that's the plan. While I wish my mom gave me more of an example of ambition as far as career and working goes, I do admire her for staying home and always being there when my three younger sisters or I needed her. We had a home cooked family dinner around the kitchen table every night, lovingly packed lunches, lots of baked goods on the counter to snack on, a clean house, etc.

But what about for my little girl? (omg, I'm going to be a MOM! It's still sinking in.) Will I push her to be a Working Girl, or not? What will she take from my example? Do I want her to be a Working Girl?

I question that last one because I recently read an interesting article on Forbes Blogs, "Twenty-Something Men Want Housewives to Cheat On." I know, strong title. The gist is that young men these days apparently don't want to marry a Working Girl. They want to marry women like my mom who want to stay home and be housewives and homemakers. But why? The article suggests that it's possibly because they were raised by the generation of moms who felt like they needed to be superwomen, balancing demanding careers and a family and that these young men maybe feel like they didn't have good moms because they were so stressed all the time or just weren't there for them, or maybe they saw the relationship between their mom and dad and felt the relationship was always strained? That perhaps "having it all" had a negative effect on the kids. And then, the cheating part comes in because these young men also don't like the idea of monogamy too much, either. Great.

I don't really know yet if I'm staying a Working Girl because of me, because it's what I love to do and it's such a big part of me, or staying a Working Girl for my daughter to set a good example. And by good example, I hope that means she sees I am happy doing what I love, not necessarily trying to achieve superwoman status. Hm. So much to think about. Sorry this post is kind of a jumble of thoughts. Would love to hear yours.

Never Forget

Looks like I'm holding down the Working Girl fort this week! Ah, summer. Love you. Why can't I be traveling right now?

So I'll make this short and sweet.

Today is a special day. Not only is it the anniversary of the fall of NY's Twin Towers, which we should always remember along with those brave friends, family members and heroes involved, but I think it's also important to remember that moving on and living with a purpose and resolution to live fuller and as better citizens can be our new focus.

Today, one of my best friends gave birth to her third beautiful baby (9 lb+ even!). Today is another dear friend's 31's birthday. And today I am having the best day so far this week. Let's never forget the tragedy, but let's also learn from it and honor those who died by being happy, less stressed, treat someone nicely, do a good deed, be the best we can be.

Say Yes to Saying No

I've always described myself as a "people pleaser," just generally, you know? I like it when people around me are happy. Not just happy, but happy with me. And if someone were to ask me how I'd describe my work ethic, I would also say, "Well, I'm a people pleaser of course!" I can't help it. Well, supposedly, this is a negative thing.

According to a post on Ms. Career Girl, "A Remedy for the 'Pleasing Disease'," there's a lot of us working girls who have this problem, er, "disease." We say yes to too many things. We commit to too many things. We think we can accomplish too many things in too little time. We think we can please everyone with our superhuman girl powers. We think the phrase, "Don't worry, it'll aaalllll work out in the end" applies to everything. But what happens when it doesn't all work out in the end? It's a hard slap in the face. Embarrassment. Guilt. Disaster.

My people pleasing disease got the better of me recently. It was a long time coming, though. For about four years, I helped a friend with her start-up business. I said yes to everything she asked me to do, even offering up my time to take on even more work. All pro bono. I kept telling myself it was for a good cause. That I was learning a lot and that all the hard work was really good experience and great for my resume.

Except, after a while my stress was getting out of control. I felt like I was always running low on time. And when I'd try and sit down to evaluate things, what stood out was this pro bono stuff was sure taking a lot out of me, and for what? What was I gaining professionally? After a certain amount of time, not much. There's the slap.

I think one of the hardest things for us working girls is to cut things out of our lives that are doing more taking than giving. Whether it's that professional club you volunteer too many hours to or that pet project at work you continue to lead vs. delegate that has dragged on and on and on ... or whether it's just saying no, or at least, as Ms. Career Girl suggests, saying, "Let me get back to you," so we can really think about what we're getting ourselves into when opportunites to work and keep (a little too) busy come our way.

Giving my friend an official "no" to more work and literally severing our prior arrangement was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was worse than quitting a job. Of course I felt it was very personal, and of course I felt bad and reconsidered several times before actually taking the plunge, and of course I wanted to say, "haha, just kidding!" But after it was all said and done, MAN! It felt so good. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. In a way, I felt free again.

I really like what Ms. Career Girl says here (emphasis added):

"I could’ve shifted away from over-committal or doing things I didn’t truly want to do. It’s so easy to get sucked in to the excitement of the moment or the positive energy of the person in front of you."

I can't tell you how many times I've felt this same exact way. Now that I know better, I think I'll be able to better recognize when I'm approached by something potentially time-sucking. It's all about balance and there's a time and place for everything. In my case, there was a time for the pro bono work, and I'll always be glad for that experience, but I shouldn't have let it get out of hand and let it control me, I need to be the one in control of my time.

Summer Isn't Over Yet!

Ciao Bellas! I am writing this post as I pack for my 2 week Italian Adventure that leaves tomorrow. I apologize for being M.I.A., I was away at camp in the wilderness (aka no internet!) and have been busy with family events, searching for jobs, and trying to figure out my life!

I should be writing this recipe-post about some wonderful Italian delicassy, but to tell yout he truth, when I come home from work in the summer, I don't really feel like peeling garlic and dicing tomatoes. So try this easy recipe that I created which I make on Sundays in the summer so that it can rest for at least 24 hours and I can enjoy it Monday evening after work when the last thing I feel like doing is turning on the stove..

Orzo Summer Fiesta Salad

(serves 6 as an entree, 8-10 as a side) Feel free to cut the recipe in half or in quarters to make if you are the only one eating it that week.

Salad:

*1 box orzo (found in the pasta aisle)

*1 zuchinni, diced

*1 yellow squash, diced

*1 bunch of scallions, finely chopped

*1 orange bell pepper, diced

*1 red bell pepper, diced

*1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles (optional)

*1/2 pound cocktail shrimp, diced (optional)

Dressing:

*Combine olive oil and any type of vinegar you have in the house with salt and pepper, dress to your liking, OR

*Use any store bought dressing.

Directions:

*Cook orzo in boiling water until al dente. Combine all ingredients. Dress to your liking. Refrigerate over night. Toss the next day and enjoy!

The Twenties are the New Teens?

The folks over at Lemondrop published the findings of an exclusive survey that reveals some interesting trends related to "twenty-somethings" and introduces the new phase, "emerging adult." I call it AdulthoodLite.

Fewer and fewer women in their twenties are getting married, starting families and buying homes. These pivotal events are being delayed more and more to make room for extended education, living with a significant other or moving back home with the parents. We're taking longer to reach these milestones than any generation before us. Thus, our twenties is the decade where we spend most of our time trying to figure out what we want out of life and thereby "emerging" in our thirties as the carefully crafted adults we want to be.

This makes so much sense in a world where technology has evolved more rapidly than society itself. We hesitate to move decisively in one direction or another because things are changing so rapidly. We want to wait, watch and then choose, based on our desires and hopes rather than out of necessity or tradition.

On the other side of the coin, this "failure to launch" is fueled instead by angst and fear:

"Being in my mid-20s feels bizarre," says Christina, 25. "It feels like I'm doing everything right and everything wrong at the same time. I'm single, I live with my parents, I don't have a permanent job (although I do have a very impressive internship). But at the same time, I'm in grad school, fairly successful at my program, and have a healthy social life, generally all the things I need to build a successful future."

And speaking of a successful future, apparently, by the time we hit 30, we've already had six jobs! Gone are the days of working 20 and 30 years with the same company. We are truly a new breed. Check out the article for a complete rundown of "emerging adults" and what you find just might surprise you!

Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes is a weekly feature. Here we will dish on tidbits, news, and important things we thinking Working Girls should know. So scroll down to hear what we think you should glean from this work week.

• A former Prada Japan employee, Rina Bovrisee, recently sued the company for firing her after an executive of the company called her "ugly" and told her she didn't have "the Prada look". Turns out Prada is now countersuing Bovrisse for $390,000 for harming their image. [NY Mag]
• According to studies conducted by instituions UCLA and Univ. of Wisconsin, women are more likely to get married when they are well-educated, and couples in which each party achieved at their jobs have more satisifying sex. So it seems that data proves that smart ladies with great careers aren't doomed to be lonely cat ladies. Yay! [Tango]
• In the September issue of Glamour, a poll revealed that a majority of their readers who prefer to have Liz Lemon of 30 Rock as their boss over Dr. Miranda Bailey from Grey's Anatomy. Pam from The Office was chosen as the TV character most people would want to share their cubicle with. [Save the Assistants]

Working the Network

I'm currently transitioning into what could very well be my dream role with my current company but, just prior to that, I was actually hunting around for another job entirely! Having been off the market for almost seven years, the whole of my search efforts consisted of signing up for daily alerts from a well known job site tailored to match a listing of requirements that I entered upon registration. I also posted a resume but decided to take it down a few days later after being seized by a sudden fear that someone from my current company might find it. Good thing I didn't actually NEED a job since I already had one because I didn't stand a chance!



Apparently, the job search game has changed and for good reason! In 2008, there were 1.2 million job losses, unemployment is currently at 6.5%, and the largest companies are shedding as much as 10% of their workforces. There will be 1.5 million college graduates this year, yet the job growth rate is at a six year low, at 1.3%! The amount of jobs posted online is decreasing at over 13%, which has all led to the ratio of 3.3 job seekers per each job. With those staggering percentages, it's becoming imperative to utilize non-traditional methods to not only find a job opening, but to connect with key members of the companies and stand out from the pack.



Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. These are all relatively new avenues for job seekers that can open up possibilities that would never have existed in the pre-social networking era. I dug up an article that reveals the seven secrets to getting your next job using these tools and while some of these "secrets" seems totally doable, like conducting a people search instead of a job search and subscribing to blogs that have job listings, some seem kinda out there, even for me. I really cannot see myself creating a video resume and uploading it to YouTube!



I think, hands down, LinkedIn is one of the most useful job search vehicles of the social networking buffet and that's simply because the whole premise of the site is to connect to past and current colleagues, clients, classmates etc. in a very professional format with the entire framework being to network from a career focus. Unlike Facebook, which mashes vacation photos, Farmville updates and a career profile all together, LinkedIn is purely professional and offers all sorts of great ways to connect with people, research companies and put yourself squarely on the market.



What's the wildest job hunt you've heard involving social media? Did one tool work better than the other for your search? What are some absolute NO-NOs when it comes to using social media to look for a job?

Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes is a weekly feature. Here we will dish on tidbits, news, and important things we thinking Working Girls should know. So scroll down to hear what we think you should glean from this work week.

• Don't know what to do with your life now that you've hit your quarter-life crisis? Enter a website apporpriately called "What the Fuck Should I Do With My Life?" is a site that randomly picks a profession and then gives you the opportunity to learn more about the job/industry. Warning: the jobs are all pretty unconventional. [Doobybrain.com]



• A recent study revealed that it's easier to find out when your CEO is lying to you than you think. The study was conducted at Stanford by going through old company transcripts, found that CEO's who didn't refer to themselves in the first person and replaced thes terms with words like "team" and "company" were more deceitful. Executives who used gushing adjectives were also more likely to be lying. Accuracy rate of finding lies this way is about 50% but it's still an interesting tibit. [An MBA is Forever]
  
• Jessica Franqui, a clerk from Staten Island, is suing her boss for stepping on her boob. Her boss, Marcus Bolton, is the CEO of the Wall Street division of British company Tullett Prebon. Franqui is accusing Bolton of drunkenly coming up to her and inviting her to drinks. When she refused, he attempted to dance with her at which point he dropped her on her back on the floor. He then stepped on her breast and when she complained, he allegedly said, "Oh, come on now, it's alright. They are big and you probably didn't even feel it." [Jezebel]
  

The long and short of it: shorts in the workplace

Yesterday morning, I had one of those I-have-no-clue-what-to-wear-to-work days. You know, the ones where you stand in front of your closet for a good 10 minutes, mentally dressing yourself in every single outfit you own, and then mentally throwing them in a heap on the floor when you realize you don’t want to wear any of them. I hate those mornings.

In the midst of my mental dressing session, I actually did pluck a pair of cute white Bermuda shorts from a hanger and try them on. As I was pondering which shirt would work best with them, I stopped. Wait. Could I even wear shorts to work? And if so, how the heck could I make it look like I wasn’t about to stroll down to the beach to spend the day in the sun? (I wish…)

Hm. Lately my company has been cracking down on the dress code policy, and numerous emails have been flying around regarding appropriate summer wear. I recalled something about shorts and length above the knee, but I wasn’t about to kneel on the ground with a tape measure to make sure they weren’t too scandalous. After my crazy homeroom advisor made us do that all the time in high school with our uniform skirts, the thought makes me shudder.

So I deferred to this post on TheWorkingWardrobe.com about how to incorporate shorts into your working wardrobe. It includes some good rules of thumb and even includes a cute example of wear-to-work Bermuda-short style. The key? Closed-toed flats, a tailored top and cute accessories to elevate the look of the shorts. (Be sure to check out the rest of the site while you're at it—it's so helpful!)

To throw in my two cents on the matter, I personally like to live by the good old Balance Rule. As in, if you’re showing off some leg, then maybe show a little less arm. A tank top paired with Bermuda shorts might be a bit too beachy, but a ¾-length top would be the perfect complement to some bright Bermudas.

Luckily for me, I didn’t have to decide. My shorts were a bit too wrinkled and stretched out to wear to the office. No saggy bottom for me, thankyouverymuch.

So what do you Working Girls think? Are shorts appropriate for the workplace? And do you have any good rules of thumb for wearing them? Or any general wardrobe rules you like to follow? Let’s hear them!

Cancer Schmancer!

(I have to give Fran Drescher props for the name of this post..)

I am writing this post a little early because by the time my posting day (Monday) comes along I will be in the Pocono mountains where I am a counselor at a week long sleep-away camp for children who have or have had cancer. Coincidentally cancer was going to be the topic of my post this week. Not in a morbid sense, but in a more informational and inspirational sense.

While many of you may think I am at camp in the woods with hundreds of bald children (yes, some of them are bald..and SO darn cute) who sit around all day and be depressed together, I am actually having the time of my life, and so are they! I feel honored to be able to spend a week with these children. They really seem to have life figured out. Sure they go through the usual "he's not sharing" and "I like him but he doesn't like me" and "why wont she stop copying me", they are children and young adults after all, but I am overwhelmed by their sense of living for the day and living each of those days to the fullest. I have seem so many amazing things at camp: a blind boy lasso a horse, a girl with one leg climb a rock wall, and so much more. I try to keep my complaining about dirt, bugs, gross showers, and awful cafeteria food to a minimum at camp since these children have gone through more in like than I probably ever will.

Cancer is (sadly) something I grew up knowing way too much about. My mother's best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer and spent 10 years battling the disease until she eventually lost. I can remember the day she showed us her bald head and also remember the times I was at her house after her chemo treatments and watched her get sick and be in pain.

I know the C-word is difficult for a lot of people to discuss but considering the past few weeks I've had I just have to get it out!

Last week a dear friend of the family (literally, I call her my sister) was diagnosed with breast cancer. This friend is the daughter of the woman I was speaking about above in this post. I think she, along with her family and friends, have experienced every emotion possible that comes with The Big C in the past week and a half. Although she is not a child anymore, but rather a woman in her late 20s, she has big decisions to make that will affect the rest of her life. How will this affect her relationships? How will she feel about herself and her body after this? Will she be treated differently by coworkers?

She hasn't been able to go to work for the past two weeks due to various appointments and testing schedules she has to attend all over the tri state area. She has had numerous conference calls with the hr department in her office and although they offer her 6 weeks paid disability (or whatever the actual deal is) it still doesn't help the way her coworkers and managers will treat her. I was googling stuff about cancer in the workplace and came upon this website that's sole purpose is to teach managers how to deal with their employees who have been diagnosed. There was also an interesting post on the CancerCare website about a employer looking to have educational workshops about cancer since many of his employees were recently diagnosed.

The more friends and family I told about my friend's recent diagnosis the more people told me "oh, so and so was just diagnosed" or "she should talk to so and so, she just went through treatment for breast cancer". I always knew cancer was everywhere, but not until it hit home did I really see how many people so close to me are affected.

Truth is, we can exercise, eat right, quit smoking, and drink less but we really never know what cancer is capable of. All we can do is the best we can and get regular check ups and tests to maintain our health. So I'd like to offer my best thoughts, wishes, and prayers for all of the working girls out there who have been affected, or who know someone who has been affected by cancer. And my condolences and sympathies to those who know someone who has lost the difficult and strenuous battle.

If you or someone close to you has been affected with breast cancer, or any type of that cancer for that matter, and you want to share a story please feel free to do so..

Good Ol' Networking Tips

Building strong working relationships is key to success in any job. But what happens when you leave a job, is it just as important to maintain those relationships? Most definitely.

Sometimes, though, it's easy to say good-bye and good riddance to old co-workers, bosses, etc. and move on to greener pastures without any intention or desire of looking back. "So long, witch-boss, I hope I never have to see your face again!" Hah. Other times, maybe you wish you could keep in touch, but don't really know how to go about doing it in a way that is friendly, yet still professional. Yes, now that's better.

While LinkedIn is generally a good start, you've really gotta go the extra mile and send out a personalized "Hello, what's new my friend?" to make a true investment in maintaining what could be, what most likely is, a valuable relationship. LinkedIn has options to send messages directly to your contacts, making it easy if you didn't happen to grab an email address on your way out. A personal note will show that 1) you're still alive, 2) you're actively moving up and on in your career (assuming you're keeping your LinkedIn profile updated, always a good move), and 3) you care about maintaining the relationship. That last bit makes people feel special. You never know, an old contact may be the door to new opportunities, and your note's warm fuzzy effect could inspire a positive refferral.

In other words, this is what you call good old networking! Another way to keep in touch professionally is to set up a lunch or coffee chat if you and your former co-worker/boss still happen to work in the same city. This is not only a great way to casually keep in touch, but oftentimes can lead to building an actual friendship. And offer to pay for the meal/drink, it shows you value the other person's time and insight. Remember, good karma goes a long way in networking.

(OK, can I just vent for a sec? I love the lunch thing. Except why is it so dang hard to schedule a lunch with more than two people at a time?? I always end up being the "planner" who plans all the lunch outings and get-togethers with old co-workers. When we finally meet up after the world's longest email chain, everyone's always like, "Oh, this was so great, we should do this more often. Why don't we do this more often?" I KNOW, right?? So why don't you plan something one of these days then? OK, thanks guys, I feel better now.)

Facebook is a little trickier. I typically don't friend anyone I work with unless we're really close or until after one of us doesn't work at the same company anymore. And my rule of thumb for friending your boss? Don't do it. If your boss friends you, then that's OK -- but only if you're comfortable. Otherwise, keep Facebook a strictly non-work environment. It's good to keep certain things separate ... work and personal life, definitely one of those things. If you do have a mix, Facebook has some great new privacy settings where you can tailor what your work peeps see (like your basic info and work/education info, no wall and no photo albums, for example) vs. what your friends see (everything).

I still keep in touch with co-workers and bosses from my very first job out of college. I'm not saying I'm awesome at it, I most certainly could do better. But it's something I try to keep up at because work relationships are like friends, but with possible career benefits down the road, be it new job opportunities or simply a sounding board of advice/mentorship.

I'm going to end this post with a challenge. Shoot a note to one of your old co-workers or bosses this week. See what happens. I promise, only good things can come out of this, and at the very least your thoughtfulness will make someone's day :)

Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes is a weekly feature. Here we will dish on tidbits, news, and important things we thinking Working Girls should know. So scroll down to hear what we think you should glean from this work week.

• This is an unfortunate story, but is worth reading. A Massachusetts court just recently ruled that women who take more than eight weeks of maternity leave can be fired by their employers if they wish to do so. [Jezebel]


• Yesterday, The Chive posted photos that they had received from an employee who sent photos of herself quitting her job via dry erase board to all her employees. It has since been confirmed it was a hoax. But click through anyway - the photos are hilarious (and I wish they were true haha). [The Chive]



• UKJobs.net has just released a survey where they asked men and women which gender they prefer in a boss. 63% of women and 75% of men prefer male bosses saying women are "loose cannons" and their hormones are all over the place. [Daily Mail]

Call me Dr. Mom

Ok, some might call me a little old school since I look forward to the day when I can stop working and stay at home with the kids. Although, in today's society, especially in this financial climate, my early 'retirement' is probably not reality. Growing up my best friend's mom was a teacher at our elementary school so it was very convenient for her to keep tabs on the kids during the day while also making a living. In younger grades this is very common. Young mothers as teachers. As the grades progress, however, women become less scarce in the education field.

Here is an article about a college professor who was grateful for her flexible 'teacher' schedule, but couldn't figure out why only 14% of doctoral-granting universities are headed by women. This hard working academic professional and mother of three wanted to look deeper into why her colleagues were mostly men.

According to her article, she wasn't surprised by her findings. Most women who were on their way to becoming tenure (the gate to academic leadership, awarded after 7 years, aka job security) but the demands of having children (pregnancy, nursing, care taking, etc) required too much energy and time to continue working.

Maternity leaves left these professionals in the dust and behind in the latest and greatest technologies and teaching methods. These women interviewed did not blame the workplace or their children, they simply admitted that both jobs require too much energy to give 100% to each.

Lesson to be learned ladies? Yes teaching can be a good career choice for the wanna-be stay at home mom. The schedule works and like everyone says, summers off don't hurt either! However, having children and raising a family requires a lot of work. compromises need to be made, no matter the career, so make sure you are willing to sacrifice and multi-task like you've never multi-tasked before!

Sometimes Goodbye . . . is a Second Chance

"I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance"
- Shinedown

I was listening to this song today and thinking about how close I almost came to actually saying goodbye to my current employer, the relationships I'd forged there, and the years of hard won respect and how, out of nowhere, a second chance (so to speak) presents itself. In an instant, my life has shifted gears and I'm moving in a whole new direction. New boss. New office. New set of responsibilities. Funny how, one minute, I'm feeling like running out of there like that commercial where are the adults are running out of their offices like it's the last day of school, except with a grimace instead of a smile, and the next minute, my entire outlook on the company, my job and even my coworkers jumps from one end of the spectrum to the next. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Has that every happened to you?

Regardless, I'm enjoying this new sense of relevance in my professional life. The interview process for an assistant to fill the role I'm vacating has been an awesome experience. Seven years ago, I was just like these optimistic women, laying my credentials and my ego on the line in hopes that a new job with better pay would catapult me into the next phase of my life. The resumes are polished and their power suits are crisp. Such enthusiasm is rarely seen in an office like mine and its like a breath of fresh air! Hopefully, they'll decide on a new me fairly quickly so that I can transition out of there and on to the future and the new challenges it holds.

Since this is technically a promotion after all, I'm somewhat concerned about how everyone, my fellow assistants and even the hire-ups, will respond once I make the move 100%. I'm interested to hear about your inter-office staffing changes. Was it a seamless shift met with fanfare and support. Were your team mates eye-rolling and whispering about you in the break room? What should I expect?

Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes is a weekly feature. Here we will dish on tidbits, news, and important things we thinking Working Girls should know. So scroll down to hear what we think you should glean from this work week.

• We all know that men still make more than their female counterparts in most fields, but according to stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics June 2010 report there are 4 careers where women make more than men and those include: teacher assistants, bakers, cafeteria workers, and life, physical, and social technicians. [San Francisco Chronicle]
• A prop worker who was dismissed from his job on the set of the medical drama "House" has sued his former employer with claims that he was fired because he wouldn't participate in unsuitable conduct with his bosses. This conduct includes going to strip clubs, getting drunk and high, as well as engaged in sexual conduct in trailers. [Female First]
• International non-profit, Dress for Success Worldwide, plans to open a central headquarters in Chicago in November. Dress for Success is an organization that outfits unemployed women with clothes and career skills to help them land jobs. Wal-Mart has donated $100,000 to get the office up and running. [Chicago Tribune]

Sex and the City & My Career

This post is a little behind in the times since the Sex and the City 2 movie came out...what 3 months ago? But I think I was still reeling from the horror that I witnessed in the movie theaters and up until now have been too scarred to speak about it. I think you can guess that I hated the sequel, and while I would love to tell you all the reasons I think that movie should be banned from ever being released on DVD, that isn't what my post is intended to be about.


So let's pretend that SATC 2 was never made and go back to the good old days of SATC where everyone sat around with their girlfriends playing the game of, "Are you a Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, or a Charlotte?"

I recently came upon this blog post on Forbes Woman that analyzed each character and their working personalities and then gave some key takeaways that all business women can learn from their different business personalities.

Let me break down the blog post real quick for you:

Carrie is neurotic and self-involved (read: crazy into herself). She stresses out frequently, but uses her humor and her girlfriends to keep her grounded.

Samantha, while promiscious, has an open mind and a take-the-bull-by-the-horns outlook on life which lends itself well to her ballsy PR job. Samantha shows us to have fun while still having a go-getter attitude about our professional lives.

Miranda is the workaholic. She is smart and ambitious, but feels that to be successful in her career as a lawyer she has to act more masculine.

Charlotte has a tendency to be more traditional and conservative in her mind-set (fun sidenote: after Samantha, she had the most sexual partners on the show!). And while she quits her job to take on motherhood, we have to remember that Charlotte is someone who goes above and beyond for anything - a good takeaway for our professional lives.

To get the full gist, I suggest reading the blog post. The author makes some good points and some that I don't fully agree with.

So here comes the million dollar question: am I a Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte or Miranda? Based on the above, I would hope that I was Samantha with a twinge of Miranda. But my friends might say I have a few splashes of Carrie's self-involvement in me (don't judge!).

Are you a Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte or Miranda in your professional life?

Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes is a weekly feature. Here we will dish on tidbits, news, and important things we thinking Working Girls should know. So scroll down to hear what we think you should glean from this work week.

• ForbesWoman recently published a list of the best/worst places for a working mother to live and raise their children in the U.S. Minneapolis came in at #1 with Washington DC coming up at #2. Rounding up the worst cities were Las Vegas, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Miami. [ForbesWoman]
• Rachel Zoe's old assistant, Taylor Jacobson, left Rachel Zoe's company about eight months ago and has now opened her own business. To read more about her life after BravoTV, read here. [NY Mag]
• Researcher Laurence Shatkin recently analyzed Bureau of Labor stats to see which are the fastest-growing jobs for women during this height of unemployment. #1 on the list was a home health aide, #5 dental hygentist, and #11 pharmacy technician. Looks like medical fields are the place to be. [Forbes]

Taste of Summer

Here is a simple salad when cooking for one in the summer heat. I personally come home from work famished and this salad is sweet, crispy, and filling when you add chicken (try shredding a rotisserie or even pre-made Short Cuts by Purdue)

*Lettuce (from a bag obvi, I LOVE Butter Lettuce)

*Green Grapes (cut in half)

*Walnuts (or any other nut you prefer, try the candied nuts you can buy from Emerald in your local grocery store, or make them yourself using a recipe such as this one)

*Craisins

*Chicken

*Strawberry Vinaigrette (or any fruity dressing)

*Splash of Balsamic Vinegar

The mixture of the salty nuts, sweet grapes, crispy lettuce, and tangy craisins simply tastes like summer, not to mention the bright colors which studies say help you enjoy a meal more and make you feel more satisfied when finished!

This may be an out of the ordinary statement ... but guess what?

I had a GREAT work week! Yup, you heard right. I mean, who says that?

It started off a little sketchy. One of my clients had some pretty bold news that he wanted to go out first thing Monday morning. I wasn't sure how the press would take it, but let's just say that this super influential journalist in my client's industry who has 1,300,000+ followers on Twitter actually read my email pitch and decided it was worthy enough to tweet about. A tweet? May sound minuscule to some of you, but lemme tell you, this guy's influence and credibility is NUTS. As soon as that tweet went out, views on our press release jumped from 700 (which I was already pretty happy about given our other press releases usually averaged 300 views) to 11,000 views in less than 24 hours. WOA. Amazing!! Needless to say, this translated into a ton of online sales, and not to mention crazy exposure, for my client who was just peachy pleased as could be. Yes!!

Lesson learned: I almost didn't reach out to this industry expert guy. In my mind, sending an email to him was like sending an email to some other worldy being like Dr. McDreamy or whoever. Unlikely that it would even get opened, right? But I went for it, and look what happened! This can apply to any of us. When an idea may sound too far-fetched or if you have low confidence in your abilities, don't listen or give in to those negative thoughts. Go for it, and be bold. You never know when it will pay off.

Second cool thing that happened. PR people often have to deal with spending hours and hours writing a press release with perfectly worded sentences and strategically placed paragraphs that go through layers and layers of approval, tailoring creative quotable quotes from company execs that get tweaked a bazillion times, and then when all is done and finalized, at the very last minute, guess what? More changes! It's probably the worst process in the world. Anyway, the point is to get the finished product, this immaculate document, into the hands of a journalist who will use the info to write an article. Ha, "use" is a loose term here. Journalists often twist things around, misquote, and get the info all wrong anyway. Well, not "wrong" per se, but just not what you or your client intended the article to say ... yeah. Over time, I've learned not to write a press release for your client, write it for your journalist. Write it in his/her language and tone and with his/her audience in mind. Anyway, so imagine my surprise and utter glee when I see my own headline from the press release I wrote copied word for word as the title of one journalist's article. Yeah!! In fact, the first sentence of the article stated, "I hate to steal headlines, but this one from [client's name] was just too good." O. M. G. Nicest work compliment ever.

Lesson learned: Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in "rules." A lot of the time, those rules are old and don't make sense anymore. Such as, writing a press release that's completely stuffy and reads like a computer manual. Don't be afraid to question the rules. Have you guys seen, How To Train Your Dragon yet? (Such a cute movie.) There's a lot to learn from that Hiccup kid.

And finally, the third great thing that happened to me this week: I landed a new client! Whoopie!! This new client is an amazing artist, and while I've never done PR for an artist before, I'm way, way excited to take on this new challenge.

Sigh. I wish every week was a fantastic week. These are far and few between, that's for sure, but when it does happen, don't hesitate to celebrate. I know it may feel weird, it's more natural to complain about work than to rave about it. But, that's why we're working girls, right? To kick butt! Now have a great weekend everyone, and look forward to Monday with vigor!!!

Be Careful What You Wish For

This post comes to you this week from the intersection of excitement and apprehension thanks to a phone call from my CEO. Apparently, his assistant resigned and as he scanned the vast pool of internal talent, his eye fell upon my dim cubicle! He's asked me to consider taking the position as his assistant. As I mentioned here, I've practically had one foot out the door for months. With absolutely no hits on the freshly polished resume floating out in cyberspace, I had been thinking of some creative ways to sorta "reinvent" myself in my current company but this was definitely not on my radar. I was looking for a challenge, some new responsibilities but this is . . . EPIC.

The CEO. The big leagues. We're talking a complete lifestyle change. For a "career" assistant with no higher aspirations in her working life than to be that indispensable support to a high powered executive, this is the dream opportunity. But, this role has also left in its wake a long line of assistants that, while initially energetic and full of promise, all succumbed to the vicious press of the enormous volume of emails, phone calls, scheduling, meetings, after hours work and all the other tasks that come along with supporting a busy CEO. Thus, my apprehension.

I meet with him tomorrow to give my final decision. While the responsibilities and expectations will be exponentially greater, the opportunity is the holy grail for a career assistant like myself. I feel like a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire down to the million dollar question with no life lines left.

I can stay in my current role or take this huge leap. What's that saying . . . be careful what you wish for?

Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes is a weekly feature. Here we will dish on tidbits, news, and important things we thinking Working Girls should know. So scroll down to hear what we think you should glean from this work week.

• Want to earn more over your lifetime than other people in the US? Then move to NYC. A recent study conducted by NYC's comptroller's office estimated that a female college graduate will earn more than $184,000 than their peers in the rest of the country. [New York Times]
• Abercrombie & Fitch employees are annoyed by a new policy that requires them to work six hours instead of five before getting a half-hour break. For someone who worked holiday hours at The Gap - let me tell you, this new policy sucks. [NY Mag]
• New census data from 2002-2007 showed that women-owned businesses had the "largest numerical increase...up 1.3 million, to a total of 7.8 million." By 2007, women owned almost one in three businesses in the US. [Jezebel]

Tattle Tales

You’ll have to forgive my lack of personal posts lately. You see, work has been ridiculously stressful for the past couple of months. After running around like a mad woman all day, the last thing I want to do when I get home is sit down and write about work. I’d rather not relive the last 10 hours of madness, thankyouverymuch. My coworker once told me that summer is the craziest time of the year. She wasn’t kidding.

On top of all the craziness, we had our quarterly reviews last week. It was a time in which we got to “informally” sit down with our boss and have an open conversation about strengths, opportunities for growth (AKA weaknesses), etc. I spent a good chunk of time preparing for it so I could be on my toes in front of my boss, and I came to the meeting with a clear picture of what I felt my strengths were and what I could definitely work on.

So imagine my surprise when my boss chimed in about my weaknesses, not only agreeing with the ones I had, but adding to them and citing specific examples I didn’t even know she knew about. As in, things I had talked to my coworkers about. And small little hiccups I has encountered during my first 6 months on the job. And things that were overheard one afternoon. And a reaction I had in a meeting two months ago. And a flustered tone of voice I used once. I mean, really?!

I’ll be honest, I was a bit hurt because I could pinpoint exactly who said what. It was like they told on me. Who does that?! One example was when I vented a small frustration to my closest coworker. It blew over 10 seconds later, but somehow my boss knew about it and questioned me on it. Really?!

As the list of seemingly insignificant incidences continued to grow, I became more and more discouraged. I thought I was getting along great with my coworkers, but now it seems like they take everything I say and do and tattle on me. I understand that my boss might ask them how they think I’m doing, but it seems a bit excessive to be that detailed. Maybe I’m the crazy one here, but when I get time to sit down with my boss, I would never think to talk about my coworkers, especially in a negative sense. No way. One-on-one time is precious, so I use it to talk about my work, my goals, upcoming projects, etc. Silly me.

I understand that it was a review and was meant to provide me with opportunities to improve my performance. I get that. But honestly, it left a bad taste in my mouth. Now I feel like I have to watch everything I say and do with everyone I work with. I feel like I can’t vent or swap war stories anymore because I’m sure they’ll just turn around and tell on me. I have a complete lack of trust in my coworkers now, and it’s making me feel tense every time I’m with them. It’s like walking on eggshells all day long.

So, Working Girls, what do you think? Have you ever been in this situation? Should I talk to my coworkers about it? Or should I just try to keep my distance from now on?

Are You A Daddy's Girl?

I am! But not just in the 'cry until I get what I want' kind of way. (Just kidding Dad-I know you're reading this at work!) This article from the NY Times talks about how much of an influence father's have on their daughter's careers. Studies were conducted to compare number of sons who follow in their father's line of business to the number of daughters.

The article states that more daughters are following in their father's career footsteps now than they were a decade ago. Perhaps it is due to increasing communication between dad's and their little girls and the passing down of career skills, values, and lessons father's have learned in the business.

I also think the increase in 'keeping it in the family' business is due to the fact that more women are becoming more confident in their abilities and are more career-driven than ever before. And who better to go to for advice than the most influential man in every girl's life.

My dad has worked in the media business in NYC since he was 18. When my sister graduated with her business degree from a "practically ivy league" university as she so humbly refers to it she immediately went to work in the city, in the same company, where my father was working at the time. Was he the reason she got the job? It sure didn't help. She has moved up in the business and continues to even though he has changed companies. I do have to admit I do get a little jealous when they talk about the latest media scandals and who fired who and what client just sued for $5,000,000,000. (Can you tell I don't work with adults?)

I am incredibly lucky to have such a supportive father. I tried Communications when I was in college, figured I would land a job before graduation (I did have an offer from the radio industry I interned for, not to boast!) then I decided to go back to school to get my teaching certificate. Something my dad had no experience, advice, or connections to. He did, however, tell me to go for it, which was probably the best advice I've ever gotten. He said he wanted me to wake up in the morning and enjoy going to work and if a classroom, instead of a corporate office, was where I wanted to spend my working days then I should do it. "Why no?" he'd always say when I began to doubt if I was doing the right thing with my life. He said there is no right and wrong when it comes to job experience, that's the whole point!

My mother was a teacher, a high school typing teacher mind you, but she only worked for a few years before she met my dad, got married, got pregnant, and never had to work again (can you sense my jealousy?!) She definitely can relate to me when I complain about my feet hurting and my head pounding and losing my voice calling kids on the playground. But times have changed. She never had to deal with disrespectful toddlers (you think I'm kidding?) and their accusatory parents ("My child had a nightmare last night, what did you do to him?" - true story) so it's hard when I want advice or sympathy or some helpful hints on how to move up on the teaching ladder and don't have a family member to relate to, but I do have a hard working father who, although he doesn't have to change diapers at the office, he definitely deals with some people who act like children throughout the day!

So although I'm not in the same industry as my father, I was definitely inspired by his working attitude and his values when it comes to complications, confrontations, and other issues in the work place. So what about you other girls? Are you inspired by your father? Maybe you work for the family business, hoping to take it over some day? Or maybe you do something completely unrelated to anyone in the family! Share your experience with us!

Let's Go Shopping!

While I sit here melting at my computer ... ugh, what is up with the weather lately?! ... I'm excited today to help answer a Working Girl reader question! It goes something like this:

"Hey Working Girl! I just got my first job and I need to know where to buy clothes. I've found that Express has some great pants, but I'm having the hardest time with tops. Is it so bad that I want something more classic vs. all the cutesy, frilly, ruffle-y stuff that's out there?"

I'm a big believer that it's not about where you shop, but knowing what you're looking for. As a newbie in the working world, the first thing you want to do is shop for some "business basics" before you go shopping for those fun tops. Check out the short clip below about how to dress professionally on a budget with tips from the Editor-in-Chief of ELIZA Magazine:


How to Dress Professionally on a Budget -- powered by eHow.com

So once you've got the basics down, you can shop for items that will allow you to easily mix and match to get the most out of your wardrobe. Purchasing a variety of fun tops is a great place to begin. Get creative. Choose unique patterns, be a little more bold in color. Below are three of my favorite looks:

Comfortable, yet dressy: I love tops like these because while the loose and airy cut will ensure comfort, the shiny fabric makes it dressy and professional. While you may think fitted tops are attractive, oftentimes they are most uncomfortable and all that tugging and pulling every time you stand or sit down is unattractive. A top like this obviously looks great paired with a pencil skirt (part of your business basics), but will also look fabulous under a blazer or over your Express pants sinched at the waist with a belt or even a wide black ribbon.

A top with pop: Dressing professional can be fun, don't limit yourself to stuffy button-down shirts. For example, look for tops with a little extra flair to it like this button detail with a pleated bib. Again, a top like this will look great under a blazer, a cardigan or a shrug, and then if you get warm, you can take off that extra layer and still look chic. You don't have to succumb to over-the-top ruffles to make a statement, but at least look for something that's different than what you already have in your closet and that makes a subtle statement.



Go sailing: Lastly, one trend that I am loving is the nautical-inspired look. Bold navy blue, black or red striped tops paired wih metallic accessories and/or a dark blazer is a timeless look that can make any working girl's wardrobe exciting and classy.

(Mostly I'm thinking the left or far right image applied to your working girl wardrobe, the middle one not so much.)

What are some of your favorite office looks?