February 2017 Tasks
Message from Elaine Do you feel the love yet? Are you surrounded by pink and red hearts, terrible candy, and poorly executed pre-fix dinner menus? It’s almost enough to make you want to do your taxes instead. You […]
2016 Year-in-Review
As much as I love January for its forward-looking nature and its optimism, for me it also represents a chance to look back and reflect. Admittedly, that’s easier when there is snow on the ground and “looking back” involves pondering […]
When Talking Helps
An article from the National Endowment for Financial Education came across my desk today. It was titled, “How People Need to Rethink Emergency-Savings Funds,” and I was thrilled. Of course we need to re-think emergency reserve funds. And of course […]
January 2017 Tasks
Message from Elaine Happy New Year! I love that I’m not seeing a lot of “resolutions” floating around social media or in conversations for 2017. Not that there’s anything wrong with resolutions. But they tend to be aspirational […]
Creative Ways of Saying No
For some, saying “no” is a challenge unlike any other. Here are a few of our preferred approaches for saying “no” nicely and professionally. Feel free to adopt the vocabulary and make it your own. Practicing in the mirror (or […]
December 2016 Tasks
Message from Elaine As 2016 crawls to a close, we wanted to focus on protecting creative, personal, and professional boundaries, particularly with the holiday season in mind. As desperately as we all crave community and support from those who value […]
A Process for Hiring Help
Occasionally, artists will ask me about a process for finding support. Usually, this comes up in the context of a solo-preneur wanting to hire his or her first employee (a sort of general assistant/marketing person), but the same process can […]
Niceworking. It Isn’t Awful.
One of the best headlines I’ve seen this year was in Inc. magazine. It said, “The Most Creative Types are Introverts. And Extroverts.” I absolutely love the absurdist contradiction contained – and in fact emphasized – in that headline. […]
Advisors & Experts: What You Need to Know
Last week we talked about building a core community of support – your own “dream team” of mentors, advocates, and technical experts who support your creativity. In the not-for-profit world, such support often exists for free in the form […]
Building A Dream Team
Remember the 1992 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball team? The team was called in increasingly grandiose terms “the greatest collection of basketball talent on the planet” (Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame) and “the greatest sports team ever assembled” (Bob Costas). It […]
