Working Women, Women and Money, Women Financial Advice

10 Ways to Be a Successful Young Professional

By Audrey Hood / Work & Money, Life & Culture

Each spring college graduations launch a whole new freshly-minted batch of newbies to enter the professional world. With all the bad press young generations get, being a young professional isn’t easy, especially if you’re a woman. Becoming a successful young professional can be a daunting task. Trust me—with a lot of hard work and a little “it’s who you know” luck, in my mid-twenties I landed an incredible position as the director of a non-profit organization. I’ve also been an educator, having taught elementary, middle, and high school students as well as adult learners. Fast forward a few years and now I’m a “write-at-home-mom,” living another dream I had tucked away in my heart. Whether you’re fresh out of college, early in […]

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Working Mom Guilt, When You Love Your Work

By Carey Melton / Work & Money, Motherhood

I have to start this off with a confession. I sat down to write this article four different times but couldn’t put it all into words. None of it made sense. I am simply dealing with working mom guilt who loves her work. The words sounded so silly, confusing, and insignificant. But, as I sit here at the start of the school day, literally with tears in my eyes because I’ve just dropped off a five-year-old to kindergarten, a three-year-old to preschool, and I am in my classroom awaiting the flood of students, I can honestly say that everyone is right where they are supposed to be, and it all makes sense now. I’m stepping back into the classroom after over three

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The 6 Qualities That Make a Female Leader Strong

By Jenni Catron / Work & Money, Life & Culture

It is no surprise that “strong” is a word we use to describe women who have risen to positions of leadership. Males and females alike recognize that women in positions of power must be strong in order to survive the pressure cooker, which results in only 6.4% of women in Fortune 500 CEO positions.1 A stat, by the way, is up over 50% from 2016 and has tripled since 2008. The number of women holding these upper-echelon positions of power is troubling, considering that nearly 40% of MBA students are female.2 We start strong, but where do we get squeezed out? I won’t begin to explain (or try to understand) all the reasons why the numbers thin so dramatically the closer we get

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35 Inner Thoughts of the Working Woman NEW

35 Thoughts of a Working Woman

By Catie Welvaert / Work & Money, Life & Culture

Ladies, we work hard. How we pour ourselves out to provide for ourselves and/or contribute to our families varies in form and schedule. We 9 to 5-ers become some sort of steady-yet-intricate balancing acts as we up-keep many aspects of life. In our always changing day to day, I bet we working women share many of the same utterances in our minds: 35 Thoughts of a Working Woman: “There is nothing better than feeling rested after a good sleep—sure wish I could get one.” “I’m just going to snooze a little bit longer and shower without washing my hair. What’s another day of dry shampoo?” Hearing a steamy trickle from down the hall…holding back the urge to yell, “Thank you!” to whoever

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5 Steps for Setting Goals, Changing Dreams into Done

By Jenni Catron / Purpose, Work & Money

I absolutely love the start of each new year! A fresh start… a clean slate… wide open horizons… Pick your choice metaphor and embrace the new year’s energy with me for a minute. Fast forward to late January, and my motivation is waning. My guess is the same thing happens to you. In fact, statistics tell us that only 8% of us actually achieve the New Year resolutions we set! Our resolutions break down because we fail to create a plan to achieve them. In fact, rather than creating resolutions, I create goals that are important to me for the coming year. Goals vs. Resolutions It might seem like semantics to set goals versus resolutions, but here is the subtle difference between

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5 Quotes That Will Encourage You, Working (Super) Mom

By Ashley Johnson / Work & Money, Motherhood

Working moms do it all—but it’s hard! The struggle to find work and life balance is real, but in the end, what really matters is that you tried your best. At least, that’s what I’ve been told from the women who’ve seen it through. One thing I know that all of us working moms could use is a little encouragement. Just a quick note that says, “Hey, I see you. I see all of the obstacles you overcome every day. It’s not always flawless, but you put your heart and soul into it. You are a strong woman, and you’re a good mom.” So, working mom, these 5 quotes that will encourage you: “I think every working mom probably feels the same thing:

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3 Keys to Successful Leadership in the Midst of Chaos

By Jenni Catron / Work & Money, Life & Culture

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where the answer just wasn’t clear? Maybe it was a decision to take a new job in a different city. Maybe it was a really confusing or inconsistent relationship. Maybe it was taking a risk that didn’t seem to have a clear reward. We face tough decisions every single day. And as a woman, you’re not only facing your own decisions but also navigating the decision making for your family, your team at work, and for some of you, your entire organization. Living Within the Tension Leaders live in a constant state of tension. We live between what is and what could be. We straddle the known and the unknown. We wrestle the probable

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The Thief I Let In: A Day in the Life of a Working Mom

By Carolyn Gordon / Work & Money, Best Of, Motherhood

It was a typical morning. The alarm went off at 6:40 a.m. Snooze was hit once. There was a sleepy, teething baby girl that took over the spot of my husband, who had left for work. Our son was already up, sitting on the couch and watching cartoons. His pleading for pre-packaged blueberry muffins woke up his sister. Ready or not, it was time to kick it into high gear and get ready for school and work. Sounds of the blender, breast pump, and electric toothbrushes filled the house. A computer charger, matching sock, and school folder couldn’t be found. Then, the realization that I didn’t have a sitter for my daughter for that afternoon’s work meeting, the lab stealing the last

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5 Job Interview Tips to Help You Land the Position

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture, Work & Money

Through the years I have hired (and fired) a lot of different people for a bunch of different positions. I’ve hired accountants, truck drivers, radio promoters, executive assistants, and even band members. The good news is the firing part didn’t happen often because I quickly learned the qualities I wanted in any employee. Something I frequently noticed while interviewing for a position was the majority of people were not very good at this process. They didn’t interview well! But those that almost always rose to the top had a few of the same job interview approaches. They possessed many of the same character traits. They got my attention and inevitably landed on the top of the pile to pick from. If you’re

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3 Keys to Successful Leadership in the Midst of Chaos

By Jenni Catron / Life & Culture, Work & Money

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This Grit and Grace Life Podcast Preview – Episode 143 with Deb Meyer on Family Wealth

By Our Grit and Grace Life Videos / Life & Culture, Work & Money

Every family wants to accumulate enough money to feel secure and enjoy a few things here and there. They also want to be rich in love, comfort and happiness, but those are different types of wealth, right? Deb Meyer, author and owner of financial planning and investment advisory firm, WorthyNest, would have to disagree. Deb joins Darlene and Julie in this episode to explain how families can attain their dreams and build lasting financial wealth by identifying their priorities. And she lists them out here for you, so you can get started immediately.

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This Grit & Grace Life Podcast Preview – Episode 153 with Rachel Cruze

By Our Grit and Grace Life Videos / Life & Culture, Work & Money

Whether you’re a spender or a saver, it never hurts to have a discussion on finances. In podcast episode 153, New York Times bestselling author and finance specialist Rachel Cruze discusses how our childhood dreams, fears, and goals impacts our current spending habits—and how to curb the bad ones.

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Episode 30 Six qualities that make a leader strong

This Grit and Grace Life Podcast Preview – Episode 30 Six Qualities that Make a Female Strong with Leadership Expert Jenni Catron

By Our Grit and Grace Life Videos / Purpose, Work & Money

Do you desire to climb the corporate ladder? Or do you prefer to be influential among your peers and at the helm of your household? Regardless of where you are or where you aim to be, you have undeniable impact as a woman. Jenni Catron, leadership expert and CEO of The 4Sight Group, joins Darlene and Julie to talk about the six characteristics of a strong female leader, and how you can channel these traits in every area of your life.

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Grit and Grace for the Working Woman

By Bethany Gilliland / Work & Money

Can women be moms, wives, sisters, friends, and successful business people? Can we seemingly do it all? Whether you work from home, are growing a side biz, or commute to work in the corporate world every day, our resounding answer is Y-E-S. Will it take balance? Well, of course. But that doesn’t mean you can’t chase your dreams or provide for your family. Find encouragement for the journey in these articles written for working women, by working women. The 6 Qualities That Make a Female Leader Strong To the Mom Who Feels Guilty for Loving Her Work 5 Steps When You Want to Turn Your Hobby Into a Business 4 Tips for Working in a Man’s World Do I Have to Act

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5 Steps to Turn Your Hobby Into a Business

By Christy Wright / Work & Money

One thing I love about the culture we live in is that it’s never been easier to make extra money on the side, or work from home entirely! Over the past decade I’ve coached thousands of women who run their own successful businesses, and as a result, they don’t have to sacrifice their dreams and passions to make money for their families. We live in a side-gig economy where over thirty million Americans are working as freelancers or contract workers. In the last decade alone, women-owned businesses have grown more than 60%—and that number is growing fast. With the growing popularity of websites like Etsy and Pinterest, women are turning their passions into profits now more than ever before. Maybe you’ve been enduring

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What Going Back to School After 40 Taught Me

By Saffron Trust / Purpose, Work & Money

At 48 years old, I was earnestly trying to put myself through school. Keyword: trying. My initial gung-ho spirit was suddenly cut short during my third semester when my English professor returned one of my writing assignments. The piece was smeared in red ink and included a note at the very end which read, “You should not be pursuing your undergraduate degree until you learn how to read and write.” I sat, sobbing, as I read and reread the comments and examined my hard work in utter disbelief. The old fears that I had hoped to extinguish years ago came back to haunt me again. An all-too-familiar voice resumed its daunting post within my heart, battling my conscience over whether or not I

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How to Make Your Coworkers Like You in 60 Seconds

By Teresa Christian / Work & Money

Most of us work outside the home and interact with our co-workers often times more than with our own family members. Whether it’s people we supervise, those who supervise us, lateral colleagues, or those on a lower pay scale, it’s important to have a cordial, if not friendly, relationship with them. Enjoying your co-workers adds to your overall satisfaction at work, which helps you to be more productive, creates stronger teamwork, and reduces stress. Perhaps you’re an extrovert and have no difficulty making friends or at least being friendly with your colleagues. Maybe, like me, you’re more introverted and cautious in approaching people and perhaps even shy about befriending others. Regardless of which personality type you are, you may find yourself in

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