Author: Laura Gassner Otting

  • Live a Life of Consequence

    Do you sometimes feel like your life has no consequence? We want our lives to matter.  We want our love to matter. And, we want our work to matter. But, how can we feel confident that it does? It starts by first figuring out your consonance. So, what is consonance? It’s best explained by one…

  • This is My Freak Flag

    I have a freak flag. I’m damned proud of it, too. And, that makes me unapologetic. That wasn’t always the case. I worked hard to fit in, to be like everyone else, to wear the right clothes, get the right jobs, say the right things. And, I was good at it, and it sucked. You…

  • Overcome the Fear We all Face

    I think what makes me different as a speaker is that I have this attitude, this fearless attitude. I know that everybody who’s sitting in the audience is just as afraid of screwing up as I am. Everyone that’s in the audience listening has the same fears the rest of us do. We all fear…

  • Bring A Bold Confidence to the Table

    Seven years ago, Katherine E. Jacobs and I ate slices of the best dive NYC pizza. Immediately after, we proudly marched ourselves into the chief executive suites at the ACLU to announce it would be a capital idea to put our little search-firm-that-could on retainer. You see, we knew the demographics of all their state affiliate offices…

  • Parenting vs Career – The Guilt Inducing Choice

    No one said parenting was easy. No one said having a career was either. Being both a parent and a professional creates a constant battle between your head and heart leaving your emotions as the unintended victim. I recently read a friend’s Facebook confession of how they were feeling guilty for being away from their…

  • Top 20 Tips for Awesome Networking

    (Disclaimer:  Using these networking tips may result in an enormous Rolodex,  through which you might change the world.) 1. You will say something inane, at some point, to someone.  Someone will reject you, look for someone more interesting, or only be half listening.  Get over it. Keep going. No one really cares. 2. Get yourself…

  • The One Meeting You Need to Add to Your Calendar

    We hold a Family Meeting every week. It’s the most important meeting in our home, and if you’re not holding your own Family Meeting, it’s the most important meeting you aren’t attending each week. Let’s face it: it’s hard to be a perfect parent. We try to do everything, know everything, be everything. We juggle…

  • Leading with Confidence is the New “Fake It ‘Til Ya Make It”

    Men lead with confidence. Women lead with competence. In fact, studies show that men vie for promotions, initiate salary negotiations (and ask for bigger increases when they do), and run for office with far less prompting, if any, than women. And why is that? If you ask a woman whether or not she is ready…

  • Being a Boss Bitch

    At the 2018 Academy Awards, Frances McDormand closed a traditional Best Actress blah-blah-blah-I’d-like-to-thank-the-Academy acceptance speech with this: “I have two words to leave with you tonight, ladies and gentlemen: inclusion rider!” It was said so seriously, so oddly out of cadence with the rest of the personal, heartfelt vibe of her remarks.  It was industry…

  • I’m Not as Confident as You Think

    There is a funny thing about confidence: sometimes the people who look like they have the most actually have the least. For me, it’s not confidence that has fueled my success, but optimism, romanticism, idealism.  What most people see as confidence is just those things disguised as forward motion, action, and determination. You see, I’m…