Essays & Articles About Business, Leadership, and Culture
Entrepreneurship For Humans
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EP 378: How much time do you work? with Anne Ditmeyer (Time & Money 7)
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The Eggbeater Effect: How Time-Saving Technology Just Makes For More Work
Before there were egg beaters, there were women with whisks and spoons beating eggs. As a woman who bakes and also owns a KitchenAid Pro stand...
Emotional Labor, Entrepreneurship, and My Breakdown
My mom was a seamstress while I was growing up. She started working at her sewing machine in the wee hours of the morning, paused to help my brother...
The Latest
EP 383: Extra Context: Rugged Individualism
“Rugged individualism” is the very language we speak in America. It shapes the way we approach work, family, and society. And rugged individualism has a direct impact on the decisions we make about our businesses and careers. In this short Extra Context bonus, I unpack where rugged individualism comes from and highlight a different way forward.
Refund Policies: What’s Fair and What’s Not For Online Businesses
“If you don’t see results, you didn’t want it bad enough.” That’s become the prevailing narrative of the online business refund policy. Of course, it’s nearly impossible to guarantee results. And there are reasons to remind customers and clients that, no matter what...
EP 382: Context Clues: What makes for a fair refund policy?
No one likes being asked for a refund. In fact, I find the thought of it stomach churning. And when what’s being refunded is the product of your time, experience, and expertise… it’s tempting to put every obstacle you can think of between a customer and a refund. In this episode, I’ll take you on a journey from the 17th century all the way through the modern era of online business refund policies to answer the question: What make for a fair refund policy?
Why I Took A 4-Month Break From Business—And What I’m Doing Next
I've run iteration or another of the same business since 2009. The business model shifted, the team changed, and the focus evolved—but one iteration flowed right into the next. But by the end of 2021, I needed to break the cycle. I realized I had built...
EP 381: What happens when you take a 4-month break from business as usual?
At the end of 2021, I stepped away from my business: left our community, off-boarded my employee to another company, and focused on my mental health. Over the next 4 months, I wrote a book and thought about what might be next for me and my work. In this episode, I share what I’ve been up to in that time and what I might do in the months to come.
Why Cultivating Inclusive Audience Awareness Is Essential
When was the last time you felt like an outsider in a group? For all I know, it could have been today. Or maybe it was last week. Or last month. Being an outsider doesn’t have to be a bad experience. Sometimes, it can be quite fun! But other times, you start to get...
The Valuable Business of Maintenance Work
Let me guess: you're feeling a bit stretched, fried, or tired? You had high hopes after your last reset. You took time away from the pile of projects, tactics, and commitments—only to fall back into the same trap when you got back to work. Why does this happen again...
Overdelivering Doesn’t Help Anyone (And Is Probably Causing Harm)
Photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash “Underpromise and overdeliver.” I'm sure you've heard that maxim before. But most of the time I spend money, I don't expect anyone to overdeliver. I expect to get what I paid for. That's really all I ever want. Sure, a little...
EP 380: When does overdelivering become overcompensating? with Allison Davis
I’m sure you’ve heard it before: underpromise and overdeliver. But is that really the best way to do business? Or does it just give us a permission slip for self-exploitation? When does overdelivering become overcompensating? And when does being generous just morph into entrepreneurial martyrdom? I sat down with sales coach Allison Davis to talk about overdelivering, generosity, and when it all gets to be too much. We talk pricing and scope of work—but we also talk about familiar relationship patterns and how they play out in our expectations for ourselves or others.