Career Strong

We all have that friend or coworker that claims to be a perfectionist. Or maybe you're the one touting this attribute.  You may think a perfectionist is someone who is detail oriented,  a type A, go-getter. Let's be honest, it is the best answer when asked in an interview, "What's your biggest weakness?"  A way of humbly saying "Being perfect is my only flaw." All joking aside I do believe there are dark sides to this personality type that need to be explored for a few reasons. If you're hiring a perfectionist you need to understand the dynamic you're getting into and if you are one you need to realize what you are actually showing the world. Poor Time Management Have you ever met a perfectionist who was on time? I never have. Because of their perfectionist ways they tend to be late for nearly everything. Perfectionists get completely engrossed in a task and think they only need a few more seconds to "solve the puzzle....

My neighborhood publishes a cookbook from time to time and this recipe is from my amazing neighbor Olivia Ott. She is now my favorite neighbor because of this simple recipe. 4 boneless chicken breasts (I love the thin sliced chicken breasts because they cook faster) 1 Zuchinni, chopped 1 Summer Squash, chopped 1 Medium Onion, chopped 1 cup hummus, your choice 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 lemons 1 teaspoon paprika Salt and Pepper to taste Preheat oven to 450 degrees Prepare one large baking dish with cooking spray Pat chicken dry* and season with salt and pepper to taste Toss zuchinni, squash and onion in olive oil, salt and pepper and place in the bottom of the baking dish evenly. Lay the chicken breasts evenly on top then cover each chicken breast with the hummus so that the entire breast is coated. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the chicken and vegetables. Then sprinkle the pan with smoked paprika. Thinly slice the remaining lemon and skatter the slices...

After finishing my MBA at 28, reaching my career and income goals and marrying my husband at 29 I decided to start a family.  What I soon learned was something that shocked me. Parenting has taught me 6 lessons that have made me a better leader, teacher, mentor and person. If you're childless you can stand to read this too. You may even see yourself in these stories. The Importance of Time Management Looking back on my life before kids I have no idea what I did all of the time. I'm assuming it involved binge watching TV and sleeping but it's a far off distant memory now that deserves no special place in history. Bottom line, I wasted a lot of time. After children, my time is time blocked, every last second. This may seem like overkill to the childless person who also works in a corporate job where projects are handed out like candy and downtime is for Game of Thrones. But to the career driven entrepreneur parent this is the only way things get accomplished. I c...

This recipe was made while I was running out the door to a meeting. I made it in 15 minutes and my husband took it out of the oven to feed the family. Yes, it's that easy! Ingredients 2 tsp. olive oil 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar  2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice  2 cloves garlic, chopped Salt and Pepper to taste 1 lb. green beans, ends removed  2 medium zucchini, sliced 2 medium summer squash, sliced 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes 1 medium green bell pepper, sliced  1 medium red onion, sliced 4 cooked chicken sausages, sliced  Instructions 1. To make marinade, combine oil, vinegar, lime juice, and garlic in a medium bowl; whisk to blend. 2. Season with salt and pepper, if desired; whisk to blend. Set aside. 3. Place green beans, zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, bell pepper, and onion in a re-sealable plastic bag.  Add marinade; shake to blend. 4. Preheat broiler to high. 5. Place veggie mixture on large sheet pan. Add sausages; mix ...

Growing up I was never a morning person. Working slightly changed this but my full transition to morning person truly occurred after my first child was born. I gained quite a bit of weight with my pregnancy (55lbs to be exact) and knew I needed to workout but when was that going to happen? When I got home from work I was mentally and physically exhausted and I have always been a sweater so lunchtime workouts weren't for me. This left early mornings. 5 years later I wake up even earlier to not only workout but to set the intention for my day,read, meditate and even whip up breakfast before my kids get up. I want to share how I started each habit and why I can't go a day without them. Workout This one seems obvious right? I wanted to lose the 55 lbs I gained, but it became so much more. It's important to note that I enlisted a friend to workout with me. We promised to email each other when our workouts for the day were complete. Knowing she was somewhere,...

There's nothing more that I love than beef on a stick. Kidding. What I really love is a one pan meal, or in this instance an entire meal on a stick. These kabobs are simple and fun if you have kids that like to make bead necklaces but are old enough to handle sharp sticks. Without further ado, Rosemary Beef Kabobs. This is right before they went on the grill Ingredients 1lb Sirloin steak cubed 1/4 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced Salt and pepper to taste 1 red onion, cut into wedges 1 pint of cherry tomatoes 2 green peppers (any color) chopped into thick chunks Directions Combine the olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a bowl.  Marinate the cubed sirloin steak at least 30 minutes, up to overnight. Drain and reserve the marinade for basting.  Prepare the barbecue grill.  Skewer the meat and vegetables Cook about 6 minutes for medium, basting the skewer while it cooks.  Off the skewer with easy oven...

Working from home, the holy grail of work environments. We believe if we could simply take out our commute we would be 10 times more productive at home and at work. This can be true but for the vast majority I'm going to say it's not. Here are a list of work from home pitfalls and how to work through them to become the productivity ninja you were born to be! Pitfall #1: I'll throw in a load of laundry! Pitfall number 1 hits close to home for me. I thought if I threw in a load of laundry when I woke up at 5AM and tossed it into the dryer when I was getting the kids up a couple of hours later, it would feel like I was never doing laundry.  Too bad I forgot about the folding and putting away piece of the puzzle. Each day I was forced to stop what I was doing and fold laundry for at least 30 minutes. In a week that was a loss of 2.5 hours of productivity! But it's actually more than that. By stopping and starting again it would typically take me at least 30 minut...