I don’t talk about my faith. I shouldn’t be ashamed, but I am. I’m a progressive Christian, something that apparently goes against everything organized religion stands for and I openly condemn the current presidency. It is not a popular opinion among family and I’m very much the black sheep. The church can’t seem to reconcile […]
For a recent event I was involved in, I was asked to facilitate a roundtable on communicating across generations – Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z. For transparency reasons, 8THIRTYFOUR employs Millennials and Generation Z, I am the only Gen X’er in the company. Yay me. I did some in-depth research (ok I […]
I have been thinking about leadership quite a bit this week, probably because I am in the middle of the woods with 6 dogs and a shitty wifi connection. I’ve been reading a lot on Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG), so I am going to use her as my inspiration. People, myself included, get leadership and […]
Change is inevitable; we have all heard it before – but many of us seldom do anything about it. I had the opportunity to hear Josh Linkner speak last week at the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM) Leadership Council Summit and it was a great reminder that business owners need to focus on reinvention […]
I have struggled with how to share this news, I have avoided it in part because I don’t want to admit to myself that he is gone. You see, Jimmy, was more than my best friend, he was an important part of 8THIRTYFOUR culture and, dare I say, community. Jimbo came into our lives 6 […]
I had a great conversation this past week with good friend of mine, who is in an influential and important role in Grand Rapids. She was looking to amplify her brand, meaning raise her profile in the community. Although she is very involved in the community, which is a huge part of her job, not […]
Back in September the news out of D.C. was the reversal of the pay gap rule put in place by the Obama administration. After reading about it, I started thinking about women in the workforce and what it means to be a female leader in this day and age. As much as I would like […]
Small Biz Saturday is coming in hot on November 25th. The ‘holiday’ was created by American Express and shines a much-needed light on small businesses. Michigan small businesses employed 1.8 million people, or 50.2% of the private workforce in 2013, according to the 2016 Small Business Profile released by the Small Business Administration. In September The National Small […]
I have a Mac, an iPhone, an Apple TV, an iPad and all the accessories; suffice to say I am an avid Apple product user…however I cannot possibly fathom paying $999 for a PHONE. Writing this is blasphemy to all other Apple consumers but it’s time to stop the madness (said in a very dramatic […]
You’ve heard the saying “evolve or die”, well it couldn’t be more true. If you are a business you can’t continue to do things the same way year after year because you’ve always done it that way. No one cares what you want or what makes you comfortable, if you don’t put your customers front […]
It’s the most hectic time of the year, so how can you even think about 2017? Since most business owners can be procrastinators it is a pretty safe bet to assume you haven’t mapped out your goals and strategies for 2017. I know, I know, all you want to do is drink eggnog, sip champagne and […]
