Earn better. This month, I walked away from what seemed like a dream collaboration with a talented designer. The project? A deck of cards for quieting negative self-talk. The outcome? A masterclass in negotiation red flags that I’m still unpacking. I’m sharing this story (with all identifying details changed) because sometimes the most valuable lessons come from deals that don’t close. Let’s dissect it in five parts: Part One It started with me trying to create urgency. My opening email…

Earn better. “What do you do when your ‘guaranteed’ promotion suddenly becomes a question mark?” I was furious on behalf of my client. Despite the verbal confirmation that she was getting a promotion/raise, her manager was avoiding meeting requests and saying things like, “Well, I need to review your work flow.” Plus, the timing of the promotion cycle coincided with my client’s return from maternity leave and to make things even more complicated, her replacement had apparently done so well,…

A digestible deep dive into a better work-life Really Good Work Advice Hey friend, Happy Monday 🤗 As a reminder, I’ve moved this newsletter over to Substack (and renamed it!) but in order for you to have full-access, you’ll need to take the following steps: Subscribe to Substack (it’s less expensive) Email me a copy of your receipt I’ll cancel your subscription to Really Good Work Advice By September, if I still haven’t heard from you, I’ll assume you don’t want to receive any emails at all…

Earn better. “How do I negotiate when the budget is small?” To celebrate the launch of my Substack and spotlight the effort it takes to build a better work-life, I’m live coaching on Instagram and LinkedIn every Wednesday at noon PT through August. Yesterday’s kick-off session featured two brave callers: ☎️ Danielle: Struggling to articulate her value as a freelance marketer with a “nonlinear winding” career path ☎️ Jen: Gearing up for a salary negotiation in a suffering industry, and…

A digestible deep dive into a better work-life Really Good Work Advice Hey friend, After months of experimentation and soul searching, I’ve decided to take everything I’ve done (and learned!) doing Really Good Work Advice and fully focus on my newly launched Substack, Work in Progress. You should’ve received an announcement email yesterday but you may have noticed I didn’t mention RGWA. I wanted to address you personally with important next steps. Here’s what’s changing and what’s not: It…

Earn better. “Stop asking ‘what’s my passion?’ and start solving problems.” The job market feels different right now, doesn’t it? You’re not imagining it. We’re in what I call a “recalibration” — not the post-pandemic hiring frenzy, but definitely not a recession either. Here’s what’s actually happening: unemployment sits at 4.1% (still very low), there are 7.8 million job openings (more than one per job seeker), but employers are being way more selective. Translation? Your job search might…

A digestible deep dive into a better work-life Really Good Work Advice Hey friend, “Lydia” came to our coaching session with a problem that sounded like success from the outside. She’d built a thriving events business, had consistent revenue, and stayed busy with a packed calendar of activities. But she was miserable. “I realize I’m spending probably far too much time alone in front of a computer screen, which is exactly what I hated about working in corporate,” she told me. “And it feels…

Earn better. “Is AI going to take my job?” However you feel about AI – enthusiastic adopter or serious skeptic (or in my case, both), – the worst thing you can do is ignore it. Because AI is not ignoring you. And your job? It might be coming for it. But before you spiral, let’s zoom out. Some roles will (and have already been) replaced. Many will be restructured. The good news is, the World Economic Forum predicts that while 92 million jobs may be displaced because of AI, there will be a net…

A digestible deep dive into a better work-life Really Good Work Advice Hey friend, “A” came to our coaching session exhausted. At 43, she’d recently been let go from her latest job, but that wasn’t the real problem. The real problem was how much mental energy she was spending on the “mini witch” and “big witch” who had made her life hell: “I would have a nervous breakdown – if I had time for one.” As “A” recounted every detail of her toxic workplace—remembering exact dates, specific…

Work, worth and wellbeing. Happy almost Friday 🎉 This week I learned a profound – and probably obvious – lesson. Releasing expectations is the key to releasing suffering (of all kinds.) Disappointment, frustration, anger…so much of it is connected to wishing things or people were one way, rather than accepting the reality that is another way. We create elaborate stories about how life should unfold, then suffer when reality has the audacity to write its own script. The gap between expectation…