When I was 21 years old, I was a year out from graduating college with what turned out to be a really useless degree — English, with an emphasis in creative writing. I wasn’t a 21-year-old who had the world by the horns. I didn’t have cool internships lined up. ...more +
6 years ago
Whenever I vow to “try hard” at work, I end up over-communicating. I reply to every request. I take on way too many projects. I cut people off and short-circuit in conversation. I appear to be very, very busy, but in a way that actually ends up being... unproductive. Drawn ...more +
6 years ago
When I moved back to Los Angeles after a four-year stint in New York City, I found myself at a friend’s apartment. The room was filled with unfamiliar faces and I found myself chatting with a woman and her boyfriend. “What do you do for a living?” I asked the ...more +
6 years ago
Haley stared at the woman who wasn’t quite smiling, at least not yet. Instead, she looked like a wave of happiness had just left her heart and was about to splash across her face and flood the train with joy. You could see it in her eyes, a glint of ...more +
6 years ago
You know the feeling. You’re excited about the project you’re working on. You spend days crafting the perfect prose or designing the most laudable logo, and proudly submit your masterpiece to your client or boss. Hours, days, or sometimes weeks later, they return their markup to you. Perhaps you welcome ...more +
6 years ago
Sometimes I think I may be the most qualified person to own an employment agency on the planet. If a good education and knowledge comes from the school of hard knocks, I should know a thing or two about work and working. To wit: I’ve been fired multiple times (including ...more +
6 years ago
I’ve been blessed with a lot of coworkers. Many were wonderful people who propelled me to be so much better at my job. Others dwelled in the middle ground, neither adding to my work life nor subtracting from it. We often made small talk together in the break room. And ...more +
6 years ago
A couple weeks back, I went to the Portland Creative Conference (aka Cre8Con), a full day of talks from creative luminaries. Film, television, advertising, shoe design, game design, music, and writing; all were represented. Cre8Con thoroughly impressed me with its lineup, first and foremost, but also with its organization – contained ...more +
6 years ago
