For decades, conventional wisdom went something like this: Work is work. Personal life is personal. Mental and emotional wellbeing are personal issues, and therefore have nothing to do with work. (This line of thinking takes me back to logic problems from my high school math classes. If p, then q…

I’m not much of a sports person, but I do know that what make a truly great team is more than just a handful of big-name star players. What Makes a Team a GREAT Team Sure, a great team may have a few high-profile stars, but those stars need to be backed up by skilled and consistent…

If there is one common theme connecting all the terrifying, life-altering, and tragic events of 2020 thus far, it might be the prevalence of bad systems. All around us, we are seeing that the institutions and structures that surround us and shape every aspect of our lives are insufficient (at…

If you are anything like me, you’re probably having a hard time wrapping your head around the myriad ways covid-19 is affecting our lives. I know I’m struggling to figure out what the new (hopefully very temporary) “normal” will be, as we all try to balance family, health and safety…

Ugh, February. While I’m naturally a very optimistic and curious person who prefers to seek out activity and experiences, in these colder, darker months I have a tendency to adopt hibernation-like behaviors. This means lots of time hanging out at home focusing inward, and less time engaging with the people…

In my monthly newsletter for December, I encouraged readers to set aside some time during the craziness of the holidays and do two things to help with their business and professional goals: 1) Reflect back on 2019, celebrating your accomplishments and acknowledging how and where they could have done better. …

“My, how you’ve grown!” Remember when you were a kid, and one day you’d go to put on your favorite pair of jeans, only to find that they were suddenly 5 inches too short? You didn’t even notice you were growing. One week the pants fit, and the next week…

By Alexandra Suchman and Alison Mendoza-Walters Part 2: Can You Measure Fulfillment? Can You Measure Fulfillment? For many mission-driven small businesses, the ultimate goal of the business owner is to feel personally fulfilled by providing a service or product that genuinely helps people, being able to work on her own terms, and/or doing what she loves…

By Alexandra Suchman and Alison Mendoza-Walters Part 1: What does a successful business look like? What does a successful business look like? Most people would probably answer this question with something about revenue exceeding expenses, generating high profits, or maximizing efficiencies. In our society, the concepts of business and profits are so inextricably linked that we often assume that the primary goal of every business is…