Work | Grit and Grace Life

6 Ways the Military Made Me Respectful in the Workplace

I’ve been in the military for nearly 11 years now. It’s offered me countless opportunities to travel the country and the world, meet individuals from all different walks of life, and helped me to create a rewarding career serving my country—a privilege not many get to experience. I joined at age 18, barely a month after graduating high school, and with my enlistment, I earned myself a crash course in respect. Although there are nuances the military enforces that other professions may not, over the years I’ve learned a handful of habits that I believe would benefit anyone, regardless of their line of work. Personal values and virtues will influence how you interact and treat others, but here are some tips that […]

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To the Working Mom: Stop Feeling Guilty – 034

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreWorking mom = a stellar juggling act, guilt every time a ball is dropped and the pressure from an audience who tells you how it should be done. Working moms, you’re not alone. Most mothers today work outside the home and all share the same challenges, disappointments and fears that strike without warning. But take heart! Darlene (who has walked this road and launched two adult daughters), and Julie, (who’s in the thick of it with you) share encouragement, honest struggles and how they deal, all while laughing at the journey we call working motherhood. Know this: we think you’re doing a kick-butt job, both at work

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6 Qualities that Make a Female Strong with Leadership Expert Jenni Catron – 030

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreHow can a woman lead in every area of her life? Do you feel like you make an impact? Is leadership only for the workplace? We know that all women have influence in every area of their life, so we brought in Author, Leadership Expert, and CEO Jenni Catron. From the day she got her first job (her boss was none other than your co-host Darlene Brock), Jenni has proven that she has the formula for leadership… Darlene and Julie interview her about the six characteristics you may not even know you have that make you strong. A must-listen episode for strong women, and those who want to be.

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To the Working Woman: A How-To Guide for the Workplace – 023

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreAre you looking to enter or re-enter the workplace, is it time for a change or are you looking to make the most of the job you have? With a 50% increase of women in the workplace in the last 10 years, there’s a good chance you are one of them, arriving every day with a woman’s unique blend of grit and grace. If you’re looking for tips on how to land that new job or get ahead at the job you already have, you will not want to miss this episode. Darlene shares insights from her years of employing many in the businesses she owned and while

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10 Ways to Be a Great Boss and How to Manage Your Team

By Teresa Christian / Work & Money

Congratulations! You finally made it! After all your hard work you have been awarded the opportunity to be a manager of other people, a boss. Now you can actually say “like a boss” and it’s genuine to who you are. Other men and women are going to look to you for answers, guidance, encouragement, and the occasional lecture on course correction. Whether it’s one or two people, or many people, you are their supervisor—they work for you. So what do you do now? Perhaps you’ve had great bosses in the past that have mentored you and now you feel confident that you can do the job. Maybe you had horrible bosses and want to do better than they did. But what does

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What You Need to Know About Sexual Harassment – 014

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | More Today’s headlines are filled with stories of sexual misconduct in the workplace. Whether it’s Hollywood, the news industry, politicians, or corporate executives, we are hearing about it from all fronts. What is sexual harassment and what do we do about it? Julie and Darlene take this episode to explore the current workplace climate between sexes and how to handle an unwanted advance. Viewing in an app? Full show notes here Quote of the episode: “Speak your mind even if your voice shakes.” Unknown Be sure to follow us on social media! Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest #gritandgracelife

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Do You Have to Like Your Job?

By Clare Marlow / Work & Money

So you have a job that you don’t like or don’t find fulfilling. Welcome to the club! Most of us have had more than one job that made us repeatedly lay our heads down on our desks and ask, “Why me?” It takes both grit and grace to endure circumstances like these! But after a series of jobs that occasionally had me question my worth, value, and purpose, I can look back and say with confidence that each one had merit. Each one led to something better. And yours will too, if you keep a positive attitude. It’s kind of like a pyramid, with the first not-so-great job at the top. It’s a small space up there and you might feel confined,

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The Truth in the Gender Pay Gap

By Darlene Brock / Work & Money

I’m not sure about you, but I’m getting fairly weary of the angry women. The ones who seem to have a multi-tiered platform they are fighting for. Amidst the placard-carrying, strident-marching, hat-wearing, mic-grabbing females is a long list of items that they deem need to be changed. It makes me want to walk the other way or turn the channel. But just because they are capable of becoming tiresome (at least to me), it’s not to say they have nothing to be frustrated about. (Click here to read about what I think a strong woman really looks and sounds like.) I think there is one item in particular that is deserving of a little more inspection: equal pay for equal work. A

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5 Tips on Dealing With Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

By Darlene Brock / Work & Money

In my various careers, spanning more years than I will share, I have worked with men. In fact, I have worked with far more men than women and, for the most part, have thoroughly enjoyed it. The majority of these guys have been great men who have treated me with the utmost respect, as I have them. Of course, there have been the others. As a fresh out of school 19-year-old I obtained the position of receptionist at a very influential law firm in the city I lived. Every attorney in that firm was a male, and they demonstrated every male attitude available. Some of the men treated me as their daughter or granddaughter, kindly, even excusing some of the rather creative

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2 Simple Secrets to Long-Term Success

By Jenni Catron / Life & Culture, Work & Money

Success is harder than it’s ever been and actually easier than it’s ever been. I’m not sure I’ve met a person who doesn’t want to succeed. We might want to succeed at different things but whatever your standard of success may be, you’re desperate to achieve it. And yet many of us live with a gnawing ache of feeling unfulfilled… angst just below our carefully crafted exterior that torments us with fear of not succeeding. This is compounded by social media’s wonderful ability (insert sarcasm) to point out the success of every other human. It’s for this reason that I think success may be more difficult to achieve than ever before. We cannot focus on our own priorities and purpose because we’re

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Do I Have to Act Like a Man to Be Successful at Work?

By Darlene Brock / Work & Money, Life & Culture

Do you ever wonder if you will make career strides in the workplace as a woman? Is it necessary to compete as your male counterparts do, adopting the nature they exhibit in order to succeed? Do you have to act like a man to succeed at work? According to McKinsey & Company, studies on the impact that diversity of employees has in corporate America have shown surprising results. Corporations have achieved significant financial and productive gains to their companies when they are diverse. With racial, ethnical, and gender diversity they have achieved 15 to 35 percent more success. This type of workforce brings with it a range of talents, natures, and life experience. If we, as women, disguise our nature to emulate that of our male counterparts,

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Skillet's Korey Cooper Talks About Marriage, Motherhood, and Rock 'n' Roll

Skillet’s Korey Cooper Talks Music, Faith and Family

By Darlene Brock / Faith

A multi-platinum record-selling, international touring rock band is hardly the first place one would look to discover the formula for a great marriage. Celebrities of any type are not generally known for their ability to begin, build, and maintain healthy relationships. However, the year I heard that one couple was celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary in the midst of headlining a major tour, I had to find out more. Success for a unique couple living in an unusual world. Enter John and Korey Cooper of the rock band, Skillet. In order to discover how they made it to this marriage landmark, I had the opportunity to speak to Korey. She gave me some insight into their unusual pairing, living in an unusual

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How to Get Your Dream Job

By Teresa Christian / Work & Money

Do you want to be taken seriously in your career as an up-and-coming professional? Maybe you’ve just graduated college or are entering the workforce after being home with the kiddos for several years. Perhaps other circumstances have landed you here at this point in your life, but regardless of why you’re here, you may be or should be asking, “How do I make the best impression?” First impressions are huge, especially in an interview or at your first meeting for a management position. Here are a few tips from a Human Resources professional that may answer your questions. 1. Dress appropriately! Leggings are not pants, crocs and flip flops are not professional footwear, short skirts/dresses need to be reserved for date night,

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Can You Deviate From the Corporate World and Be Successful?

By Jordan Hawkins / Work & Money

Do you ever feel like you’re caught up in the rat race? That since you graduated from college you have moved from one corporate job to another with no fulfillment and no real experience gained toward an end, all while fighting to simply live your life? You know, the kind of job where you have to ask the boss if you can take a weekend off for your honeymoon, or your child’s second birthday. You “work, work, work, work” (to the tune of Rihanna) and feel so little passion to get up every day and come into the office, or get on a plane, or leave your family for hours on end … and for what? I dare you to deviate for just

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Can Female Bosses Be Nice and Successful?

How to Be a Nice and Successful Girl Boss

By Darlene Brock / Work & Money

Young career ladies often commiserate that it is an impossible task, dealing with difficult issues, while being nice. Success comes through strength not weakness and nice is interpreted as weak. Often pining that when you try to offer words of instruction or reprimand in the same manner as your male counterpart you gain a new title… You know what it is. This does at times happen but I really don’t believe it has to be true. I know from real life experience you can have healthy relationships and be considered a caring human even if you are the boss. It may require a little more pre-planning as a lady, but it is completely worth the effort. Here are a few tips for all

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Can You Start A Career Later In Life, Absolutely

A Stay at Home Mom Shares How She Started a Career Later in Life

By Ashley Johnson / Purpose, Work & Money

Depending on whom you ask, being a stay at home mom can be: fulfilling, exhausting, joyful, mundane, and so on and so forth. Often times, it’s a mixture of all of that wrapped into one—or several—little bodies. Tack on the fact that every woman is different, with her own unique circumstances and feelings, and you’ll find a variety of perspectives. However, I will be so bold to say that many SAHM’s can feel a bit lost from time to time … like a piece of their identity is buried under the dishes, diapers, and discipline. Perhaps that’s where you find yourself today. If so, this story is for you. It’s a story about a woman who has lived through many seasons of life—one of them being a SAHM. Though

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Do You Travel for Work? 5 Ways to Be Safe as a Woman

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture, Work & Money

My career in the music business often required days out of town. Because I was the artists’ manager, I juggled a workload in the office as well as hitting the road with the bands. When I wasn’t on a tour bus, I usually traveled solo from airport to rental car to auditorium to hotel and back to the airport the following day to trek to the next destination. I not only traveled with my bands but also attended out of town meetings, working with other business partners to achieve our career goals. As a female traveling by myself, I took a few extra precautions. It’s not that I’m not adventuresome, nor am I unnecessarily paranoid. But I had two daughters and a

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