Office Etiquette: Is It Ever Okay to Poop at Work?

/
Office Etiquette: Is It Ever Okay to Poop at Work?

Of all the things to worry about at the outset of your career - building strong peer relationships, managing your reputation, doing impeccable work - bathroom issues should be at the bottom of the list.  But this is one subject that is especially fraught.  Some say that this is the last remaining taboo for women.  I don't pass time in office men's rooms so I can't definitively disagree with that.  

What I do know is that I've personally had this conversation plenty of times.  So, finally, to answer the lingering question - is it ever okay to poop at work?

Read More

On CP Time and How to Handle Being So Late to Work It's Just Triflin

/
On CP Time and How to Handle Being So Late to Work It's Just Triflin

Can we talk about CP time?  

It's a thing.  And if you come from a cultural or family background where starting times are more of a suggestion than a mandate, it can be a real challenge.  

Whether you believe this to be rooted in our cultural differences or a pernicious and offensive stereotype, the truth is many of your new coworkers may be primed to expect you to be late to work just because of your skin tone.  When you are, they will be quick to be resentful, assuming you think you can flout the rules everyone else must follow.  

If you're Punctual Pam and believe "to be early is to be on time and to be on time is to be late," this may not be a problem for you.  But, if you're like me, where being within 15-30 minutes of the discussed start time is considered on time, if not early, this may be something you have to adjust for in your career.  

Read More

Side Hustling for Beginners: How to Make Money on the side & Keep Your Day Job

/
Side Hustling for Beginners: How to Make Money on the side & Keep Your Day Job

If you're here, you have some part of a hustler's spirit.  You work hard.  You see opportunities and you seize them.  

And in this good year of our Lord Two Thousand and Sixteen, you also know that neither tomorrow nor jobs are promised.  You may be killin it at work today and let go in an unfortunate round of layoffs tomorrow.  

So you might have a side hustle.  Or you've thought about one.  Maybe you see your side hustle as your on ramp to a life of freedom and answering to no one.  Maybe you just need some extra cash to float you month to month.  Either way, as long as your side hustle is extra money, not your main source of income, you need to balance its demands and protect your main job.  

Read More

The Two Most Important Questions to Ask in ANY JOB

/
The Two Most Important Questions to Ask in ANY JOB

A good friend of mine was recently preparing for a big time speech in front of a big time audience.  To prep, she asked a group of us for our best career advice.  Since I've been in CH-mode, jotting down all the nuggets that I've learned along the way and wished someone had just told me when I started working, I had a bunch of things swirling in my mind.  After a little thought, I narrowed it down to the two most important questions anyone can ask in any job, no matter what their role, industry, or organization.

(No they are not how much do I get paid? and when will the direct deposit hit my account?)

Wanna hear em, here they go.

Read More

Hustle Harder AND Smarter

/
Hustle Harder AND Smarter

Work smarter not harder.  

One of those things people say all the time but never explain what it means.  And, another career term I generally don't like.  Mainly because it tends to discount the value in persistent effort.  Persistent effort is generally what it takes to truly learn something for yourself and get better at what you do.

In my world, I prefer to hustle smart and hard.  

Read More