Personal Development

January has a way of inviting performance. New goals. Clean slates. Confident declarations about what’s coming next.

Hanukkah has always meant something different to me than it did to most kids I grew up with. I was raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and in my elementary school, there were exactly two Jewish kids.

I’ll never forget the day a nonprofit leader in D.C. smiled at me and my colleague, patted us on the shoulders, and said, “Best to you, ladies”…like we were little girls playing at leadership. That moment lit a fire in me.

If you lost your job tomorrow, would your self-worth go with it? There’s a story so many of us have believed: Do the work. Get the title. Protect your seat. And you’ll be safe.

Let me tell you about the time I felt like a baby seal being skewered during a job interview. I was living in Colorado, interviewing for a job in the energy sector.

Ever noticed how a great story can stop you mid-scroll, keep you glued to your seat, or leave you replaying it in your mind for days? Now imagine if your leadership had that kind of power. Here’s the thing: it can.

I have a serious question for you. If the way you showed up as a leader were like a dog, what kind of dog would you be?

May is mental health awareness month, and we must talk about it. I’ve learned this the hard way. In this month’s blog post, I’m here to advocate for a different and better way forward. A way that encourages us to de-stigmatize talking about mental health and to advocate for ourselves and others.

Spoiler alert– I’m writing another book! It won’t be like any other…kind of like my oh-so-brilliant audience. (Hint: that’s you– the inspirational female leader in STEM.)

In last month’s blog post, I encouraged you to make this new year a banner year for your leadership. To toss aside the rulebooks you never wrote and the playbooks that weren’t ever really yours. This year is about stepping into your next level of leadership, not defined by anyone else but you.

You’re already thinking about how to make 2023 your most kick-ass year yet, right? You’re thinking about all the ways you can empower your team, build trust, and collaborate to achieve your goals. You’ve got a million ideas, and the only question is: which one should go first?