Patience wins out — The room was dark. I sat on the floor of my dining room with the iPhone flashlight on. Quiet. My back against the wall. I was going to get her, no matter how long it took me. I didn’t care. I was going to smash her. The thought of revenge…

Dumb luck in the desert — I’ve driven through the desert countless times. This time was different. This time it was to score tickets to an exclusive Beastie Boys concert in a small venue in Las Vegas. I had the audacity to think I could win tickets. Turns out, it was dumb luck that would get…

Besides my laptop — Seven months ago, I left my retail career behind. I worked so hard to get to, essentially, the middle of the retail game. I ran the largest, busiest store my company had to offer. …

Why did I work so hard for so long? — “I want you to feel inspired to do more. I want you to be creative in your approach to this job.” — The boss. Um, yeah, nope. Nopedy, nope nope. That’s not actionable feedback, and I won’t be tricked into thinking I need to give more of myself to this…

Hang up the phone and get out to the field. — Being in charge of a frontline team is a fantastically difficult job. Every day you head to work, read through various memos, and try to implement whatever your corporate office has directed you to do. Someone, somewhere, has decided to add some task to your department. You have to figure…

Not watching the news is a luxury I will not allow myself. — “Don’t pay attention to the news or politics; it will only destroy your mental state.” This sort of sentiment has been making the rounds on social media lately. I’ve seen it on Twitter and LinkedIn from various writers and content creators. I’m not sure they thought this through. While the…

A little goes a long way for me — I have a confession. I don’t have a huge desire to make a living writing about writing as a side hustle. There, I said it. It’s probably a stupid move considering how many people write about writing as a side hustle; I see how much engagement those pieces get. …

A cool culture equals less pay. What happens when a pandemic wipes out your culture? — About a decade ago, work culture was king. People clamored to work at tech giants like Google and Apple because they provided sleek offices, free-coffee cafes, and manicured landscapes. Employees could work all day and seldom have to leave. This was, in fact, a dream job. They wanted to keep…