New Beginnings.

For those of you who felt like you were left hanging after Thursday's announcement about the end of time with APD, have no fear - you will not be left in the dark any longer.  For those of you who were feeling sheer panic that I might be relocating or something crazy - take a deep breath!  The Lord has continued to keep Tampa my home and for that I am extremely grateful.  In fact, I'm really not going anywhere.... I will just be changing from being a member, attender, and leader at my church to being full-time on staff!  Surprise!

As with any big life decision, this required prayer and thought but I am confident the Lord so clearly directed my path.  I'm hopeful that the Lord will develop my spiritual gifts and talents and allow me to serve and be a small part of the big things my church is doing for His kingdom!  Grace Fam has truly been a church family to me these past five years (in the geographical absence of my own) and coming on staff feels like coming home.

I'm touched, blessed, and encouraged by the warm welcome they have already given me and most of all by the people who have been 'praying me in' since before there was a position with my name on it (they know exactly who they are - and the next round of Wrights cake is on me!)

Oh, I forgot to tell you what I'm doing?  Well, that I'm still figuring out BUT I will share that I will be assisting with the Women's Ministry and with Leadership Development.  I will be working under two amazing leaders and towards their vision for two incredible areas of our churches ministry.  I'm thrilled about it.  As far as the day-to-day, well, that I guess I will be finding out starting Monday.

So, thanks for walking into a new season of my career with me here on the blog.  I'm every positive emotion right now - grateful for where I came from and excited for where I'm headed.  God has again shown his faithfulness to me in this time of transition and I feel pumped up to continue to do His work.

Love,
B

Work Life.

So thanks to my randomly appearing Marie Claire subscription I'm able to bring you a few interesting insights from the November issue.  This caught my eye because I'm the opposite of the title which reads, 'How Shy Girls Win at Work'.  So for those of you who are more ears, less mouth here are some ways that you can make your presence felt and not be overpowered by your louder, chattier coworkers.

- Perfect your vocal pitch.  Don't end your ideas or pitches in question format, a nature inclination for many shy ladies.  'So, I had an idea of next week's client presentation?' is no long accepted ladies.  Be firm, be aggressive.  If you need to, practice your delivery.

- Stick with numbers, not adjectives. To avoid the struggle of introverts and their adversity to bragging, numbers can help you shine!  Use numbers to help you promote yourself without having to sound braggy, just be honest about your success.  Own it.

Solicit feedback immediately.  As the article puts it, 'this approach puts the onus on your manager to help you succeed'.  Ask them what would have made your pitch better?  Plus, in my experience (and Marie Claire mentioned this as well) - bosses like this!

Invest in some bold accessories.  Yay!  I love when getting ahead at work is related to fashion and more specifically accessories.  Marie Claire writer Marina Khidekel puts it these words, 'your appearance speaks volumes before you even say a word, and you need for it to say that you mean business'.  She also suggests your 'rock one standout piece'.  Ie:  a chunky necklace, a bright pair of shoes, and patterned belt or headband.

While 'shy' has NEVER been used to describe me, especially in a work environment I do appreciate that all 20-something girls should be getting ahead in their careers by getting the credit they deserve. So I wanted to post these tips for any of you out there who may need them.  I have such wonderful, successful readers and I want to see each of you get ahead as I know you deserve too!  So get after it.

Love,

B

Never say never.

You have probably heard it said, 'never do for free what you can do for work'.  Or some version of that quote.  Normally, I'm inclined to agree.  I would hesitate to ever recommend that you 'volunteer' to do work in your given field.  However, with all the gifts we're given we have the opportunity to bless people and sometimes the 'payment' you receive from doing this for 'free' is worth far more than the monetary value of your service.

Don't go rush off and offer to work a day a week for free or anything crazy...but consider how your gifts and talents can be used to bless people.  You may find that the person most blessed by the experience is you.  Not the reason to do it of course but a nice little bonus.  Besides what goes around comes around.

When I was studying photography in college I had the opportunity to do a really nice project for a family that was close to mine.  I was able to count the project both for school and bless them with hand developed photos of their kids that would have been outrageous if they'd paid a professional.  Normally, I charged people for my work.  I made a good bit of money doing freelance work while still in school studying.  This particular family however, I just wanted to do something nice for them.  They did feed me a great lunch of pb&j during the shoot too. : ]

To this day (it's been 5 or so years now) one of those pictures is hanging in their living room.  The husband was able to have it matted, mounted, and framed as a gift to his wife that year.  I can't tell you how many times they thanked me for my work.  Not to mention how wide spread the word about my skills got as they told everyone I made it for them.  If I'm being completely honest here, I had a blast.  I love their family and enjoyed spending a day with them.  Developing pictures of their boys was fun!  But most of all I'd never had a client that was grateful!  I felt blessed.

Recently this came full circle and a long time family friend of ours did me an even greater 'favor'.  I was not expecting it (nor was the family I helped) but when she blessed me with serving me free of charge (in her given field) it brought tears to my eyes.  I would have gladly paid and she would have been worth every cent and more.  But for her to take her gift and use it to benefit me with no reward to her, blessed my heart for days (not to mention my budget for this month)!

So my lesson of the day is just that - blessings are worth your time and effort.  Bless someone with your talents and I hope that each of you will also be blessed by someone else's.  

Love,

B

Let's talk careers.

This recent post got quite the response! Seems that there are a few of us who are really trying to make careers, not just hold jobs. I'm completely fascinated by the work world and have been for years, taking my first job at 15 because I couldn't wait any longer. Most people say don't rush the 'real world' but honestly, I love it. I couldn't wait to be out of college and out on the grind (even though I worked full time most of my college years just because I wanted too). I've always loved to work. Don't hate.

I loved some tips from my girl Ebony Jewel who's grinding it out in the software sales biz. I can tell from her blog and our twitter chats that she gets after it. I asked her to take a peak at my entry and let me know if she had any great insights I might not have thought of. I LOVED her ideas. One being her 'little black book' and no this is not of the boy toy variety. She keeps a small notebook with to do lists and at the end of each day either checks them off, X's them as irrelevant, or CF and 'carries forward' the task until the next day. How brilliant. I love this. Especially as I start my new career (Monday!) and will need to be that much more detail oriented.

Her other tip made me CRAVE an iphone! She recommend Tripit.com to organized all of your travel details. For those of us working girls always on the go this sounds amazing. You forward all the info you get (with those pesky confirmation numbers) to Tripit and they keep track or anything for you, neatly in your phone so you can reference it as needed without whipping out folded pieces of paper (as I did just last week). I travel ALOT lately, with my family being everywhere but Florida. Soon I'll be traveling for work as well. So if Verizon would hurry up and get the iphone, I'd be IN on this. Until then, those of you with them should sign up and continue to make me jealous.

I was excited to see that all the commenters agreed with me about Thank You notes. We are a rare and possibly dying breed we thankful ones. Keep it up ladies, keep it up. Laura even said she knows of someone who hired the only person who sent her a thank you for the interview she gave (out of 30). See readers, I'm not steering you wrong! Five minutes to write a thank you note could tip the scale in your favor. If you're not willing to go the extra mile, there's someone else out there who will.

In response to the admission from all of us that personal phone calls don't get the prompt response that work phone calls get...well, there's something to work on. Friendships are important and as 20-somethings were in the phase now where we are (or should be) making the friends we'll have for life. Great relationships require effort on the part of both friends. If we can do it at work, we can do it at home. My problem is I return all my phone calls (personal that is) while driving. Bad habit. And yes, I've seen the bloody PSA that's circulating facebook.

Another great thing that came of said entry from earlier this week was that I added a new friend to the Coach Planner Cult. I live by my Coach planner and have been for almost 4 years now. One of my best buys ever. And that's saying something if you know my shopping habits. Welcome to the family, Ebony Jewel. : ] I recommended highly using a planner and while tweeting I specifically recommended the largest size Coach planner, as they're stylish and professional (and lets be honest, fashionable) - as well as functional and the inserts are reasonable. The planners themselves are a little steap (hint: hit the outlet malls for steals) but the inserts run about 14-16 dollars per year. My planner and I have been to heck and back - or wait, that was Hawaii.

One more piece of advice for this week when it comes to careers. Set your coworkers up for success. Your office shouldn't be a place of competition. You should want your company to succeed and look good, so make sure that you build up your coworkers along the way. No one likes the girl who takes all the glory and blames all the mishaps. Don't be 'that girl', ever. Let your work speak for itself, while you encourage the image of your company as a whole.

We'll talk more careers later loves.

B

Be a doer.

I have yet to meet a person who has a hard time coming up with things they'd like to do, be, own, master, learn, etc. However, we all know more than a handful of people who are constantly talking about these desires without taking any action to get them closer to those goals. Our world is not without wanters, it is without doers.

Growing up one of my least favorite conversations with my Dad would start with, 'who do you want to be'? He would proceed to drill me about the type of person I desire to be. My future career path. What does my life look like five years down the road? Ten? Twenty?

After all, my Dad's job is essentially to take incredibly talented, hardworking athletes and make them better. He pushes even the Marvin Harrisons and the Reggie Waynes of the athletic world to achieve. So, for a living he motivates, tweaks, and pushes. This is a skill he also used/uses in parenting the three of us girls.

He always finished this conversation however, with a concept I've come to appreciate. That is he would always follow the drills about who I want to be with this loaded question, 'Now what are you doing to get there'? Ah ha. This is where wanters move over to join the ranks of the doers. What are YOU doing to get where you want to be? This question places a great deal of the responsibility for your success on the rightful owner, you.

Now don't get me wrong, this is an incredibly frustrating line of questioning. Especially when I was 16 and I felt like I shouldn't be expected to know what I wanted my 40-year-old-life to look like. After all, wasn't high school enough to handle at one time? I dreaded those conversations like you wouldn't believe and have only recently since being out on my own, come to appreciate what those questions lead me to do. A. take responsibility and realize that ultimately - nothing is handed to you & B. if you're not thinking about your future than your present isn't purposeful.

There is much value in living in the present. However, don't let enjoying today keep you from seeing tomorrow. The work you are doing now should be propelling you towards the future that you desire. Are you with me?

I tell my friends and students who haven't entered the working world yet that when you consider your major in college, the internships you take, and your post-graduation job make sure that you're building a life, not just a career. If you want to get married and have lots of kids and be a stay-at-home-mom (as many of my girlfriends do) then pick a career that will allow you to contribute to your family should you need too, without working full time. If you want to travel the world than either pick a job that will take you around the world, or a career that will enable you financially, to do so on your own.

Often you see 20-somethings floundering about in the their careers thinking they 'just need a job' but the truth is you should interview your future employers as much or more than they interview you. You do not want to be the employee who's ever bouncing from job to job and the quality of your work will suffer if you take a job just for the money. My disclaimer to my previous statement though, is that you sometimes you do what you must to survive. For some, that will mean working just for the money at a given point in time. It happens. But as much as you can control it, always be working towards the future you want.

A close friend of mine recently made some life changes that may have seemed on the surface to be taking a step back career wise. Her goal is to make it to New York City as a writer however, and what could be perceived as a 'step back' was really a step towards where she wants to be long-term. She could have continued in the direction she was headed and worked her way up within the company she was currently with but it wasn't going to lead her where she wanted to go.

Your twenties are for bold moves. Going after you want whole heartedly and not being afraid to fall on your face a few times in the process. More than likely, you won't. If you do, use it as motivation. In the roughest patch of my life I kept my eye on the prize and used what I was unhappy with in my life to fuel my fire to achieve what I wanted. That is ultimately how I ended up in Tampa, back where I wanted to be.

Even when you get what you want, keep the attitude of forward thinking. When you land the job you desire or you make it to the city you want to live in, that doesn't mean you don't have to be considering your next move. Being content doesn't mean being stagnant!..

Who do you want to be? Now tell me, what are you doing to get there?

Love,
B

Also if you haven't already, please watch the video of my Daddy from my previous entry.