I’m lucky enough to call Kristine a friend, mentor, and colleague. Only a few years my senior, Kristine has achieved so much in her career and is still very much on an upward trajectory. As a working mom, she somehow manages to be present in a high-stress, high-visibility career as well as in her three children’s busy lives. Read on for some seriously useful advice on managing parenting and a career.
Business planning optimizes success by requiring you to analyze the potential successes of and obstacles to your business goals. A business plan is typically used at the start-up of a business and to apply for loans, but it is also very useful when running a business to organize for growth and development. As the Small Business Administration notes, business plans should be a “work in progress.”
You will use your business plan when you apply for a loan at a bank or approach a potential investor. You may also circulate it to other interested parties, but you should control who sees the business plan and update the plan as needed.
When I was younger, I wanted to sell my parents on the idea of buying me a new car. I created a PowerPoint presentation, complete with financial details (cost of existing car vs. the one I wanted), vehicle comparisons (safety features, gas mileage) and an analysis of what’s in it for them (lower payments due to leasing new car and a commitment to taking over car payments after one year). Much to their dismay, I successfully convinced them and got the car I wanted. This is my MO, so after spending a few years in the real estate industry, which, like the legal field, is fraught with women at the entry level and mostly devoid of them at the top, I got to work on my pitch to start a women’s initiative within our company–PowerPoint presentation and all.
I was fortunate to meet Ria about ten years ago through family. I had an immediate girl crush on her. She’s bright, spunky, energetic, has a heart of gold, and seems to really know her way around this whole parenting thing. In a world, and particularly in a county, where we see more and more entitlement, selfishness, and meanness, she and her husband somehow are raising the most incredible, driven, gentle, loving, and respectful children. She’s a working mom with a career in a unique industry and she has a few additional years of parenting experience over me, so I was excited to pick her brain. Here’s what she had to say:
Plenty of people start businesses that aren’t right for institutional investment but require additional funding to get to the next level. Angel investors are a great resource in that scenario. An angel investor, by definition, is a person who invests his or her own money into an entrepreneurial company. The term “angel” was originally used to describe investors in Broadway shows, but has since been expanded to general business. Unlike institutional investors like venture capitalists who invest other people’s money, angel investors are generally involved in the very early stages of a company and because they invest their own personal money, a typical angel invests less than $1 million. Below are some considerations when preparing to approach angel investors.
I’m an old Millenial, but I’m a Millenial nonetheless, so please spare me the eye roll when I talk about passion at work. As a rule, logic dominates my thought processes, so I never expected to find a day job that was a “dream job.” (Those expectations died with my dreams, in chronological order, of being an Olympic gymnast, an actress, and a sports broadcaster.) Still, as I’ve moved forward, backward, and sideways in my career, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that despite my general contentment in my work these days, I’m not “feeding my soul,” as one colleague put it. Determined not to be stuck in a rut, I’ve used these tactics to find passion at work even if I’m not living the dream:
Katherine (Kat) and I have been friends since the beginning of high school. This girl is gregarious, generous, kind-hearted, funny, and has an insane work ethic. A few years ago, she and her husband made the decision for him to stay home with their beautiful daughter, Riley, while she continued to work. Not only does this woman have fantastic advice as an ambitious and successful professional, but her husband, Greg, is just the coolest dad with tons of interesting experience to share, so I decided to do a joint interview to get the best of both worlds.
Meet one of my best friends, Julie. I met her the day after I moved to Sacramento for law school. We were on our way to an overnight whitewater rafting “bonding” trip with all the new students, and she looked nice enough, so I asked her if I could sit in the empty seat on the bus next to her. We rafted, shared a tent, and got to know each other. And we basically never left each other’s side through the rest of law school. She’s brilliant, hard-working, and she’s one of those moms who always lends a nonjudgmental ear and provides just the right balance of experience-based advice. So as you can imagine, I was thrilled when she agreed to let me kick off my new series of working mom interviews with her. Read on for some of that excellent experience-based advice.
Have you ever come across your dream job on LinkedIn or been chatting with an acquaintance who offers to connect you with an executive at a company you’d kill to work for only to realize you haven’t updated your resume in about five years? Trying to update a resume in a short time is a recipe for disaster. The likelihood that it will be sloppy and include typos is high, and you’re sure to forget major projects or milestones when you’re under the gun. Don’t get caught empty-handed when an opportunity arises. You should spend at least 30 minutes once per quarter updating your resume. Spend a little time on these areas to ensure you’re not missing any important pieces when the time comes to send your resume for a potential opportunity.
You know what feels like a crazy idea? Moving into a non-legal career after spending five years as a lawyer and almost $200,000 on law school. But I did just that. It was scary, exciting, and filled with the thing I hate the most–the unknown–but I came out the other side with a job I love and a new career track that felt right for me. 30 might seem young to some, but after seven years in higher education, it felt like a huge step backward in my career. In hindsight, it was more of a side step, but it was the best move I could have made. Below is a rundown of the dirty details of my career change.
Hi there! I'm Keren. Full-time commercial property manager, part-time lawyer, wife, and professional toddler and baby wrangler. Read More…
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