My Top 3 Reads of 2023 & What They Taught Me

On my 2023 Bingo Board was to read more. And this year’s theme was quality, not quantity. I wanted to pick up some books that I could think about, and I accomplished that with a few fillers in between. If I had to pick my favorite three books that were new to me (as I’ll…

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Gamifying Goals: Checking in on My 2023 Bingo Board

“Winning isn’t everything,” is great but winning something sure feels good and that’s why I gamify my goals. After surviving 2019 and 2020 even the little wins we create for ourselves feel good. In January, I decided to randomly put resolutions on a Bingo Card, thanks to good ‘ol Canva. Occasionally I check in on…

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Hybrid Work is the New Micromanagement

The work day is 8 hours. It takes approximately an hour and four minutes round trip to get to and from work by bus which I understand to be lucky as I utilize public transit to my advantage. That public transit costs $90 a month and on average my eco-friendly Fiesta is about $50 a…

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Byte-Sized Brilliance: Let AI Sprinkle Magic on Your Business Plan

For small business owners writing a business plan is overwhelming and time-consuming. People usually think of a million other things that they would rather be doing but business plans are crucial to businesses in the beginning and even in the middle of their entrepreneurship journey. Business plans are essential as they help businesses acquire funding…

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Dear College Freshmen,

Dear first-year college student,Congrats you made it to campus. Roll your sleeves up after you’re done using your sleeves to wipe your tears after saying that first goodbye to your parents. There’s so much work to be done and you will cry every time you’re dropped off to campus every year. The realization that you’re…

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Build Community Don’t Just Gather People

Volunteering/helping has always been my passion and on that same street, I’ve always been knowledge hungry about housing, specifically affordable housing. After reading “How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood,” I fed some of that hunger for knowledge and learned to no one’s surprise that gentrification isn’t just an…

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In Good Company: Juneteenth Should be Paid Day Off

As published in the next issue of The Valley Mirror… I know that Juneteenth wasn’t signed into a federal holiday until last year but some companies are completely missing the point when it comes to celebrating and creating an inclusive work culture. So many companies could have stepped up and created an inclusive culture by…

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Don’t Be Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf: How Fear Can Motivate You

Most people back away from things because of fear but after a little reflection I’ve learned that I might be motivated by fear and I have no idea when it happened. Back in 2012 (the first time I got laid off) when I lost my job after college most people would’ve panicked. Instead, I took…

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A is for Accountability

Growing up I’ve learned I’ll make mistakes. Growing up most of the time I was around my four brothers they resolved their conflicts by fighting and getting over it and occasionally they would not get over it right away but they got over it. Attending an all-girls university was a new ball game. Women play…

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Chief Chaos Coordinating: Are You Happy?

“Fact, the only thing I really figured outIs that I’ll never have it all figured out,” – Big Sean; All Figured Out Recently for the second time in my 34 years of life, I was laid off. That took a minute to digest but it wasn’t in a bad way. It had been seven years,…

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