tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350006082008-05-15T11:52:24.089-07:00The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-18617447578465699412008-05-02T07:34:00.000-07:002008-05-02T07:36:53.543-07:00

May Day and Winter Solstice are two of my favorite days. I love May Day because I loved delivering flowers when I was a little kid. I remember being almost as thrilled about the prospect of driving across town to my grandparents’ house only to turn back around and come home – we didn’t stay and visit or anything! – as I was about being allowed to ring a door bell and run away. What a rush for an

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-86392951229072005872008-04-11T10:39:00.000-07:002008-04-11T10:44:03.307-07:00

There were several blog posts that I booked marked with the note “read+often”; the ones about getting that call from your agent. THE call. The call that takes your dream of writing a book to a reality. My call arrived on February 8. I had been in a strategic planning session all day and the group had just gone on break. Everyone had left the room except for my best work friend, SherrySteckly.

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-34589544835462674592008-04-02T05:36:00.001-07:002008-04-03T06:18:33.618-07:00

Last week I got a parking ticket. I parked in the CEOs parking spot and I was ticketed an hour later. Let me give you some background. Our CEO is the only person with a designated spot. The rest of us have a cutthroat battle every morning for the remaining spots. Last week my boss (the CEO) was on jury duty. He has no problem with others parking in his spot when he gone. In fact, he

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-14621176263177869422008-02-29T06:54:00.000-08:002008-02-29T07:01:29.028-08:00

Getting my three kids into their pajamas is a pain in the arse. Every night. A Pain. We’ve got the sticker chart. I read the books. I watch the Nanny shows. I know these little stars beside “puts pajamas on” are supposed to motivate everyone to be good and get ready for bed. Sometimes it really works. And sometimes it doesn’t. Several nights ago, Dave stumbled upon something brilliant – the “

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-82554558839787289322008-02-25T07:09:00.000-08:002008-02-25T07:15:42.503-08:00

It’s funny how things come ‘round. When I first had the idea to write my book, I started my research with Guy Kawasaki. He had just posted a list of mommyblogger sites. I promptly bought one of his books. 18 months later, he twittered that he was building a new venture called Alltop (all the top blogs, I think it stands for). He gave a call out for mommy bloggers. I, of course, responded. I

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-3447675602994196202008-02-22T07:35:00.000-08:002008-02-22T07:38:30.748-08:00

Yesterday I got mad at my husband. We were on our way out the door. Coats were on. The potty-trained one had gone to the bathroom. The baby was strapped in the car seat. Diaper bag was packed. All shoes were on the proper feet. Doors were locked. Lights, stove, television, radios were all turned off. Then Dave went upstairs to grab something. On his way out of the room, he glanced at his

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-44812184037589973122008-02-13T05:09:00.000-08:002008-02-13T05:10:08.681-08:00

Last night I listened to my husband as he talked through the night’s agenda with our four and two year old. They share a room and going to sleep is one of their least favorite activities. “Two books, one song and lights out” he reminded them. I wonder how many times he has said that phrase in the past two years. Parents know that, in order to get the family to do most things, you have to

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-10790827878853377322008-01-29T06:48:00.000-08:002008-01-29T06:49:10.983-08:00

Suzy Welch recently cited “trying to be the Good Mother” as common mistake women in management make. She defines “Good Mother” as the boss who tries to be everyone’s friend. While I agree that getting too cozy with your staff is a dangerous move, Welch has the definition of Good Mother wrong. I remember in high school the friend whose mom wanted to know all the details of her personal life.

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-61984678017713014152008-01-20T06:11:00.000-08:002008-01-20T06:36:33.675-08:00

Working Girl, my newest friend and inspiration, had a funny post yesterday. I tried it and rather liked the dictionary definition of my name. What is yours? shari storm -- [noun]: A master of storytelling 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-61122448180639059652008-01-14T06:36:00.000-08:002008-01-15T06:14:36.487-08:00

I just finished an interesting article by Suzy Welch. (I’m embarrassingly behind on my reading, but that is a story for another day). It was an interesting read, considering what I just posted. In the article, she says that playing the part of the “Good Mother” boss mismanages emotional distances (I’ll take issue with that in a later post). But one point struck home: “There is nothing

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-80565779619255794622008-01-08T05:15:00.000-08:002008-01-09T09:02:44.223-08:00

If you have ever been in a well-run, large daycare, you understand the talent and genius of the women in charge of the place. I have noticed my daughter’s four-year-old class has a series of mantras the teacher will use. Gosh I’d like to use some of them at work sometime (but I know I can’t). For example: When I walk by the group of guys talking about last night’s game (or looking at the

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-6087272433597863702007-12-21T15:43:00.000-08:002007-12-21T15:47:57.657-08:00

I dread 5 pm to 6 pm Monday through Friday. Our household has some serious arsenic hour issues. When the girls get home from daycare, they are cranky. They whine, cry, fight, and complain. I’ve been giving serious thought to how I can make our family life more bearable during this transition. Afterall... If change is to be, it must start with me. I did some reflecting and realized that every

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-56050720100603419992007-12-14T13:42:00.000-08:002007-12-14T13:51:11.175-08:00

The first time I left my baby in a day care, I spent my morning commute sobbing. The second day I dropped my baby off at day care, I spent my morning commute sobbing and my lunch hour searching the internet for strategies on coping with one of the hardest things working mothers face – leaving your child in the care of another person. A great piece of advice I found made the suggestion that your

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-63900143798957185662007-12-06T06:22:00.000-08:002007-12-06T06:24:09.419-08:00

I fancy myself a highly educated, hardworking, professional, executive mommy. My monthly reading list includes The Economist, Working Mother Magazine, The Puget Sound Business Journal, Fast Company and Parenting. Except when I’m at the grocery store. Then, I devour People Magazine. I always find the longest line at the check out so I can read as much of my People as possible. It never alerts

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-42353003559756928422007-11-12T06:08:00.001-08:002007-11-12T06:11:19.126-08:00

Last week I had brunch with Teresa Jones, director at Costco, Anne Kirk, executive for the American Heart Association and Nancy Baker, author and entrepreneur. They were gracious enough to let me practice my interviewing techniques on them. They gave me some very good stories for the book. As conversations do, this one meandered a bit. At one point, we talked about daycare and marveling at how

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-31928967577877978472007-11-02T14:03:00.000-07:002007-11-02T14:04:45.643-07:00

A credit union attorney podccast series seem like the least likely place for me to have my first in-person interview on my topic, but that is what ended up happening. I met Rob and Guy when we were all speaking in Indianapolis a few weeks ago and they invited me to be on their show. I rolled the dice and asked them if they would be open to discussing a somewhat unrelated to credit unions topic.

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-57312034589101545342007-10-25T15:50:00.000-07:002007-10-26T06:15:51.792-07:00

All the parenting books will tell you that kids don’t understand irony until they are five or six years old. You know how it goes. You come home from the store and tell your husband, “Oh, boy. Getting groceries at five pm with all three kids is soooo much fun” as you flop down on the couch, exhausted. Your four year old starts grilling you, “Why is it fun mommy? Why did you yell at us if it

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-85051913853448988262007-10-19T20:55:00.000-07:002007-10-26T06:17:28.613-07:00

Recently, University of Washington created quite a hubabaloo with a study they published in which they concluded that kids who watch TV had 6-8 fewer vocabulary words than other kids. The study had several problems – its methodology for one and its lumping together of all television programs. Disney refuted the fact that the study called out Baby Einstein yet it didn’t test for that particular

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-70978925182933042172007-10-15T14:31:00.001-07:002007-10-15T14:31:50.616-07:00

A colleague was recently telling me about her experience potty training her young son. “I can’t believe I actually told my husband he needs to start keeping the door open when he goes to the bathroom! We are both modest people, so we naturally keep the door shut when we are in there. It dawned on me the other day that my son probably has no idea what the toilet is for!” While I can’t

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-42731597039260831642007-10-13T17:08:00.000-07:002007-10-14T09:55:22.789-07:00

I had the opportunity to go see Jane Porter read from her latest novel Odd Mom Out. She was great. She was funny, interesting, poised and gracious. I look forward to reading her book and possibly meeting her again. She and I both blog for Working Mother Magazine. She is very interested in encouraging women to think of themselves from a position of strength. Since she is local and so dynamic,

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-86308624651667056512007-09-03T16:37:00.001-07:002007-09-05T08:17:31.035-07:00

When the thought hit me that I wanted to publish a book, I researched the process and came up with these six simple steps: Step one: think of an idea Step two: write a proposal and send query letters to lots of agents Step three: get an agent Step four: get a publishing contract Step five: write a book Step six: promote the hell out of it Step one was completed last fall. I’ve been doing step

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-83194444689728748552007-08-29T16:01:00.000-07:002007-09-19T21:06:20.974-07:00

Right now, most people ask me how Jo is doing. But every once in awhile, someone will venture to ask “how’s the book coming?”. I thought I’d give a public update. Still no agent. It feels like I have sent hundreds of query letters and received thousands of rejections, but I counted today. I have sent 12 query letters, had three agents ask for more information and have had ten declines.

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-37338984514699556092007-08-21T10:04:00.000-07:002007-09-02T11:19:10.642-07:00

Last night, I was reading Pat the Bunny to my two year old. When it came to the page with the mirror, she looked into it and gleefully cried, “Lekki!” (her name). When she handed it to me, I looked into it and said, “Mommy!”. This disturbed her. “No, mommy. Lekki”, she said to me with furrowed brow. I laughed. “Honey, it’s a mirror. When you look into it, you see Lexie. When I look into

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-32080795999460608042007-07-17T05:58:00.000-07:002007-07-17T06:00:30.800-07:00

The glossy magazine was sitting in my in-box yesterday morning. My interview was on page seven. Here is the on-line version of it. Cheers.

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35000608.post-35084085777887509012007-06-24T09:22:00.000-07:002007-06-25T05:49:19.865-07:00

On Memorial Day, my three year old asked me several times throughout the day “what day is this?” When I gave her graham crackers after dinner, she burst into tears. “But you said it was Oreo Day!” she sobbed. When I told someone that story, they responded, “just goes to show, people hear what they want to hear” I chewed on that for several weeks. I searched for proof of it at my office and

The New MBAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01727618317829354745noreply@blogger.com