Fun fact: I am the most unathletic person you will ever meet. If you don’t believe me, watch the video of me rollerblading—it’s on my Instagram (you have to scroll through 567 dog photos to find it). Ironically, or not ironically, I am ridiculously competitive, which directly challenges my athleticism, often with disastrous consequences. Case […]
The tattoo on my arm says, find comfort in the uncomfortable. It is my constant reminder that growth happens when you push yourself into the uncomfortable. You probably don’t need to run headfirst into it like I do, but you have to put yourself out there. Oh, and there is a REALLY good chance it’s […]
“Can a person live on iced, shaken espressos only?” I texted my best friend, Sue. “Yes,” she responded. That, right there, is why Sue is my best friend. The past two+ years have been the hardest of my life. I was diagnosed with ADHD (at 45). I faced a situation that tested everything I had […]
Imposter syndrome won this past weekend. I think I spent most of Sunday staring at a wall, contemplating all of my failures. What a great time. Highly recommend spending your day like this. I don’t typically sit around and feel sorry for myself, but these past two years have been absolutely brutal. It caught up […]
Perhaps by calling it Sharkie Poo, it was a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. All seven dogs have a nickname – Millie is Millie Vanilli, Noodle, Silly Millie…I’ll spare you the rest; you get the drift. It only felt fair and proper to give the Shark Robot a similar name; after all, he is now […]
I started writing this blog last year, and then Imposter Syndrome took over and I killed it. So now it’s more like 17 years but who the hell is counting anyways? I’m just happy to do what I love every day, even if it feels like a bad relationship at times. There is a lot […]
If I had a dime for every time someone referred to me as “too much,” I’d have a pretty decent chunk of change. Like…what does that even mean? Often-used words or phrases I’ve become intimately familiar with: Scary Acquired taste Abrasive Aggressive Loud A lot Intimidating I’d be lying if I didn’t admit these […]
I spoke to several female business owners/professionals in the past few weeks and they all have one thing in common, they’re exhausted. Just absolutely burned out. Their mental health is shit. Now is as good of time as any to remind you, you’re not invincible. Your physical and mental health is important, make it a […]
Dear Little Bode, We’ve been watching you the past several months as you’ve dealt with loss, grief, growth, conflict and so much more. You’re gonna be alright kid, you’re tough, stubborn and you’ve surrounded yourself with a damn good support system – they’re small and mighty. A lot of owning a business is about keeping […]
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 […]
Perhaps one of the most harmful things we can do as business owners is dwell on the past. It is hard to look forward and not backwards when we are making strategic decisions about our companies, however it is absolutely necessary. You know the saying, hindsight is 20/20, well that is true and the only […]
I would never discourage anyone from starting their own business and going out on their own, but I do think it is important to have all the facts before making the leap. Becoming an entrepreneur is easy, succeeding as an entrepreneur is really, really hard. Here are just a few things you can expect. Work/life […]
“Leadership that is not deeply rooted in a foundation of truth is leadership destined to fail.” – Mike Myatt of Innovation Excellence. As a leader, you are only as good as your word and how you live out that word. The most successful business leaders of our time have built their personal brand through honesty, […]
My top blogs of 2017 were incredibly personal and a bit painful to write. I narrowed last year’s blogs down to the top 5. In each of these my passion and commitment to small business is evident, as is the sacrifice and growth that comes along to it. So, take a gander and if you […]
At the end of every year, people lose their minds and make a bunch of resolutions they are never going to keep. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results – it’s time for a different approach. What if we all learned from the prior year, took […]
How do you stay motivated when faced with overwhelming loss? Whether it is a death, personal failure, business failure or other; motivation can seem unattainable – especially when all you want to do is curl up in the fetal position and cry. This past year, I lost two of my dogs and the pain felt […]
I failed today in setting an example, in leading, in following our core values. I let frustration and stress get the better of me. Want to know the great thing about it? I have another chance to get it right. Tomorrow is a new day. Owning and running a business is tough and you are […]
It is hard to fight perfection. We are taught that we should always pursue it, even if it isn’t attainable. Why is that? If it is a lesson in failure then ok, but most often it sets us up for low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacies and disappointment. As a business owner, we feel that we […]
I’m sure I have written on this before, but I don’t care. It’s my blog and I’ll write if I want to. My firm of 10 years just moved into a new office space, launched a new logo and is undergoing a restructure as it relates to how we operate. It is scary as shit. […]
Everyone wants to be a leader, until you are and then you most definitely don’t. There are a lot of misconceptions on leadership, like you will have minions to do everything for you. Listen, this isn’t the Devil Wears Prada and employees sure as hell won’t stick around if you treat them that way. They […]
It will be 10 years for 834 Design & Marketing this fall. Some of those years I would like to forget, there was a lot of failure, frustration and drinking ?. People keep telling me that 10 years is a milestone, quite honestly…I’m just happy I managed to retain most of my sanity. I was […]
This past weekend I got up in front of an auditorium of people and talked about failure. I talked about a time in my life when I thought everything was perfect and everything was falling into place. Then everything came crashing down – it was a shit show. I was in a really bad place and it […]
There is a lot in the works at 834 right now, it is exciting, thrilling, unknown and scary. But so what. Everything in life is terrifying if you think about it long enough. You can literally talk yourself out of anything. Stop it. What is life without risk? If we quit exploring new tools, strategies […]
