Chicago winters. Not a problem for us natives. We have cold weather gear. And then we have another set for even colder weather. We save our parking spots with folding chairs, brooms or whatever is handy.

The coldest day in Chicago history? We can handle this. We changed our air filters, set our thermostats up higher and dripped our faucets. We layered up, wore sunglasses, ski goggles and went about business. Granted most of us kept indoors! We are smart too.

We are prepared. We are resilient...

A dear friend of mine, Jenny, died in 2018 unexpectedly. She would have celebrated her birthday on Christmas Day. As I reflect on 2018 I can’t help but think of her and how I can #livelikejenny.

My friend had a zest for life and she made a conscious choice to actively participate in it. She sought out opportunities to connect, engage and have fun. One such time was when I volunteered at the Chicago Marathon with her and my sister. We volunteered as part of the Expedia team even though none...

The importance in using emotion in building brands and communicating with customers and prospects cannot be undervalued. Emotions can be used to tell compelling stories that connect with prospects and help reach goals. People want to connect – to connect with something or someone.

At one point in my career, the University I worked with changed their brand away from using emotions. Bad idea. Do you think adults who are committing the time to go back to school and taking on debt to complete...

Typical interview questions can include the ubiquitous, “Tell me about yourself” or “How would you describe yourself?” I understand why they ask and I often counter with tell me about the culture, your leadership style and characteristics of successful colleagues.

What I talk about is also related to what I want to hear and that is that the manager, team and organization support continuous learning. I want to know that the organization emphasizes growth, innovation and new ideas.

I push...

Duality can be defined as "an instance of opposition or contrast between two concepts or two aspects of something; a dualism" (Oxford University Press).

I find myself often answering the question of “What are my strengths?” while speaking with prospects, new clients and colleagues. This is also a standard question during a job interview. Variations of this question come up in other conversations too. You’ve likely heard a few of them:

• “What do you bring to the table?”
• “Why should we...