When I was about eight or nine years old, dressed up for Halloween in a cute little clown costume my mother handmade for me — or maybe it was the year I chose to go as a “car accident” and wrapped bandages all over myself and sprayed ketchup to look like blood? I don’t know, … Read more
Before becoming your favorite author and speaker—come on, now!—I ran an executive search firm. We had 35 staff living all around the globe, from Seattle all the way to Siberia (literally). And yes, I know Seattle is not far from Siberia if you take the short way, but going the other way around, we had … Read more
I ran into Robin Roberts in the hallway last week before my latest Good Morning America appearance. (Okay, look, I know that sentence is ridiculous. I recognize that. It makes me uncomfortable even to say it. But, we’re going to have to get through this together, because there is just no other way for me … Read more
Did you know that one in four people apologize for something outside of their control every day? I’m not saying we should never apologize. Genuine apologies have their place and are crucial for maintaining healthy relationships and owning up to our mistakes. But there’s a big difference between apologizing for something that genuinely requires an apology … Read more
I have a favorite Christmas cookie. Imagine that you are a nice Jewish Girl from Miami going home for your very first Christmas at the childhood home of a nice Catholic Boy from Cincinnati. Greeting you is your future mother-in-law, and she’s carrying the most delicious cookies you’ve ever tasted: the thumbprint cookies. They are … Read more
Who’s in your framily? I found out a few weeks ago that some guy I know in my small corner of the world was talking shit about me. Over the weekend I learned that someone else from my small corner of the world has held a years long grudge against me. Just yesterday someone sent … Read more
Have you ever need to find the courage to step so far outside of your comfort zone that you found a different version of yourself? That happened to me this past weekend. I got on stage in front of 5,000 people, my biggest audience of my career, and the crowd was wild. The DJ was … Read more
Asking for advice… It seemed like a good idea at the time, right? But are you getting too much advice? You had a problem, an issue, a confusion, and you said, “You know what? I’ll get some advice. I bet Jane can help.” And so you asked Jane. But while you were playing phone tag … Read more
The year was 1994, and I was 23 years old and worth my weight in anxiety and 80s power suits inherited from my mother (the suits, not the anxiety). I was working in the White House after having Wizard of Oz’ed my way into the campaign, the transition team, and eventually a staffing role helping … Read more
When the millenium turned from 1999 to 2000, my husband and I were at a party in Greenwich, Connecticut. Don’t get it twisted. We weren’t “of” Greenwich. We were just “in” Greenwich. To be honest, It was probably the fanciest party we’d ever attended. It was thrown by peers who were friends of friends. These … Read more