Career Interview: Q & A With Norine Dworkin-McDaniel

Today I am pleased to present my career interview with Norine Dworkin-McDaniel, the co-creator of Science of Parenthood, an illustrated humor blog for parents. Norine’s passion for writing shines though as she chronicles her career as a writer while sharing lessons she’s learned along the way:

How did you decide to become a writer?

I always knew I was going to be a writer. Writing is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. As a little girl, I was always writing stories. And I suppose I was a very early blogger, though back when I was in grade school in the ‘70s, we simply called it “journaling,” since there were no laptops back then, and the Internet didn’t exist. But, like bloggers, I’d write stories/essays about the things that happened in my daily life, then I’d staple the notebook paper pages together like a “book.” If only I’d had Create Space back then! Growing up, I was very influenced by the newspaper humorists Erma Bombeck and Dave Barry. That was my dream — to write funny essays in my hometown newspaper. Now newspapers are suffering and I write funny essays on my own blog.
 

You have an interesting background.  Can you describe your career history?

I think I’ve worked in all written media save for papyrus and parchment! I started as a newspaper writer in high school. I’d go to class in the mornings and then work for the  neighborhood newspaper in the afternoons. During summer breaks when I was in college, I worked in the features/entertainment sections at several large regional dailies, like the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Orange County Register. I started writing for alternative papers, like the Village Voice and the gay weeklies, when I was a grad student at New York University. After grad school, I made the leap to magazines, starting in the trade magazines as an assistant editor. Eventually, I worked my way up the masthead, landing bigger jobs at bigger magazines. My last staff job was as a senior editor at Vegetarian Times, a monthly magazine and managing editor for the sister publication Natural Remedies, a bimonthly.
 

But since I wanted to write more than I wanted to edit, I freelanced for other magazines as well. I pretty much spent every spare moment writing freelance articles. I got my big break in the late ‘90s doing a health feature for Good Housekeeping — on pet massage, of all things — and then I gradually segued into women’s health, children’s health, nutrition and relationships. I quit my job at Vegetarian Times to write freelance full-time in 1999. I’ve written for many of the magazines women read: Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, More, Fitness, Parents, American Baby, Redbook, Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Shape, Prevention, Readers Digest, Health, All You. I’ve written for websites as well: Lifescript, iVillage, Everyday Health, AOL.  

What kind of experience and preparation helped you the most?

I wrote for my college newspaper all four years I was in school and was the Arts & Entertainment editor for three. That’s where I started learning how to plan a section, how to work with and edit other writers, how to do page layout. I also interned at newspapers every summer. By the time I was finished with graduate school, I already had a sizable resume, with jobs at six newspapers — and I had great clips (writing samples) to show for it. I worked with some really wonderful editors, who helped me become a better writer. This on-the-job training, some of which was paid; some not, was invaluable.  

Would you recommend this same path to someone starting out today? Why or why not?

It’s different today because blogging has really opened up publishing to everyone. Anyone can jump on Blogger or Word Press and start writing, and if they’re doing interesting things on their blog, and promoting it well, they’ll find an audience. But what I would say, though, to anyone who wants to write well, and/or professionally, is to get some kind of training, whether that’s in high school or college or adult continuing education courses or through the many seminars/online classes/conferences/coaching offered by organizations like Writers Digest University, She Writes or Mediabistro. My friend Sarah Burns, who’s been my editor at four magazines over the years, is getting set to teach a Mediabistro course on Breaking Into Health & Fitness Reporting.
 

It’s easy to do a blog. Doing a well-written blog is harder. But if you’re hoping to use your blog to attract brands and earn money or to become a blogger for your favorite magazine/website, you’ll need a good grasp of grammar/punctuation basics and a sense for how stories are told. All too often, I’ll read what could be a funny or engaging story on a blog, but the blogger has approached the post like a diary entry, starting at the very beginning of her/his day (“Well, first I woke up ….”) then plodding through every tiny thing they did till the funny thing happened. The post would be much stronger if they’d just started with the funny bit, then perhaps filled in the backstory for context.  So, taking some writing courses to learn about how to structure a story, can be helpful. 

What do you like best about your work?

My work is fun. It makes me happy. And I make others happy by making them laugh. Or at least smile. When I was strictly a freelance magazine writer, I learned a lot about health conditions, preventive care, good nutrition, what makes for good parenting, good relationships, etc. And I felt like I was giving back or providing a needed service by communicating information that women needed about their personal health, their families’ health. But after 15 years of doing that, I started to get tired of just writing magazine articles. So I created Science of Parenthood and work became fun again. My day is all about making parents laugh about the craziness of raising kids. There’s “work” there too. My partner and I have a schedule for posting; we have deadlines; sometimes things don’t always go as planned; we’ve had some disappointments. But overall, I feel supremely fortunate that I created something that people enjoy; that I partnered with a friend who has complimentary talents and a similar sense of humor; and that I am excited about going to work every day. Although, to be honest the only “going to…” I do is from my bedroom, up the stairs to my office, so it’s not like I have a long commute.  

What is your biggest headache?

It’s not really a “headache” per se, but what my partner and I are focused on now is growing our audience. We’re constantly exploring new ways to get people’s attention because we know that people enjoy our cartoons. We’d like to have more people enjoy them.  

What are the important personal qualities or abilities necessary for a person to be a successful writer?

1. A love of reading.  You become a better writer by reading good writing. I love writing essays, so I’ll often flip to a magazine’s back page essay and read that first. I tear-sheet a lot of those essays, not only because they’re enjoyable to read and re-read, but because I can read them for structure to get a sense of how the writer told their story in 750 words. I also like to read essay collections. Two of my favorites are Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik, which is a collection of his New Yorker writings from when he was stationed in Paris; and I Wanna Be Sedated: 30 Writers on Parenting Teenagers, a collection of funny and poignant essays by well-known writers about the ups and downs of dealing with teenagers.
2.  Self-motivation and discipline. One of my favorite quotes on writing is from Nathaniel Hawthorne (The House of the Seven Gables, The Scarlet Letter): “Easy reading is damn hard writing.” And that is the honest to goodness truth. Writing is hard. You need to be able to motivate yourself to sit down to write even when you don’t feel like writing, even when you feel intimidated by the blank page/screen. And you need to have the discipline to edit and re-edit and polish what you write until it’s as perfect as you can get it. Some people are blessed with the ability to write perfect prose in 20 minutes. I am not one of those people. I am a very slow writer. I need a lot more time to really make my work sing. How do I know when one of my stories is finished? I know my writing voice. When I hear it as I’m reading, then I know I’m done.
3.  A thick skin. Part of writing is rejection. By editors. By readers. By Internet commenters. You need to be able to brush it off and keep going. Case in point, an agent approached my Science of Parenthood partner and I a few months after we’d started publishing with the idea of turning the blog into a book. We were incredibly excited at the thought. And we put together a book proposal and our agent sent it around to every conceivable publisher … and we got universally turned down. There were publishers I never even heard of who turned us down. But we didn’t let it deter us. We know we have a great book idea and we’ll simply produce it ourselves. The publishing industry’s loss is our gain. I’ve also had my share of Internet haters leave nasty comments about my work. It used to bother me. Now I just don’t read the comments.   

How many hours do you work each week?

It’s hard for me to keep track. It feels like I’m always working. But sometimes “working” means I’m writing and rewriting, or editing my partner’s work. Sometimes that’s reading and commenting on other blogs, looking for potential guest posters. Sometimes that’s doing social media to promote our content and other people’s content. Sometimes it’s networking or reading a book by an author I’m going to interview. Sometimes it’s brainstorming cartoon ideas with my partner … or ways to improve how we present our content to readers. Sometimes it’s being interviewed on the radio or webcasts or by other writers/bloggers, like Savvy Working Gal. And a few weeks ago, it was going camping in an RV with my family because a magazine wanted a first-person story on what its like to camp in an RV. So even though I was “on vacation” that weekend, I was still working, taking pictures, keeping notes, being hyper-aware of everything that happened so I’d be able to include it in the story later. I’m a workaholic. I am always working.  
 

As a blogger, I can spend hours reading and commenting on other blogs. How do you focus your time to get the best results?

This one is hard because social media is so seductive, you can get sucked into your feeds on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest and burn hours before you realize it. And I’m no more immune than the next blogger. Sometimes I’m more disciplined than others. But I find when I have deadlines to meet — and we have a set schedule for posting on Science of Parenthood — then I’m less apt to get lost in social media.
 

What do you wish you would have known before becoming a writer or blogger?

As a blogger, when I first started out — and I had two other blogs before I created Science of Parenthood — I did not realize just how social blogging is and how important it is to create community on your blog and encourage engagement and comment and share others’ work. Coming from Old Media (magazines and newspapers), it was very one sided — the writer to the reader. Sure people wrote letters to the editor, but the writer wasn’t expected to respond to every comment, only if it was something controversial or the writer had to address some accusation or point raised by a letter writer. With blogging, it’s very communal, readers want that engagement from the writer. It’s a two-way conversation, and it took me a while to get that. Now I really enjoy engaging with readers and hearing their stories.
 

Are there any books you suggest reading, training courses that would be beneficial or professional organizations aspiring writers or bloggers should consider joining?

I mentioned a few above — Writers Digest, She Writes (which is like Facebook for women writers of every stripe from poets to novelists, newbies to New York Times best-selling authors) and Mediabistro. Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style is a must-have for grammar. It’s important to know the difference between your and you’re; between its and it’s; to say you’re doing well when someone asks how you are, not good; to know that it’s people who…, not people that. These are common mistakes I see every day in blog posts and poor grammar really distracts from the writing.

As for the how-to’s of blogging, bloggers can get a lot of knowledge from joining Facebook groups and Google + communities where veterans are always happy to support newcomers and help them overcome blogging challenges.
 

How much can a writer or blogger expect to earn?

That really depends on the outlets you’re writing for. Print magazines still pay much better than websites, though articles are getting shorter, which is reducing payments. I used to be able to make $5,000 on a 2,500-word health story. Now that story is being assigned at 1,800 words, so the fee drops to $3,600. And with websites, they don’t pay even $1 a word, which is rock-bottom for a magazine. The most I’ve ever gotten for a web story is $750. Most are assigned at about $300 or less. It’s almost not worth doing the research … unless you’re in it for the “exposure,” which is what blog hubs like Huffington Post offer in lieu of payment.

I’ve written for “exposure” so that I could add certain kinds of blog credits to my author platform. I’m working on a couple of books and it’s expected that as a parenting/humor writer/blogger I would have been featured on sites like Scary Mommy, BlogHer, HuffPo Parents, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop. The payoff for me will come down the line in a book deal or books sold. But without that kind of future payoff promise, I doubt I’d blog simply for “exposure.” 
 

Are there any scams, pitfalls or phony opportunities to watch out for?

This may relate to brands, but I can’t comment because I don’t write sponsored posts.
 

I recently read the age of the big blog is over and that blogging is sweatshop labor.  What are your thoughts on this?  Do you see a future in blogging as a career? What about freelance writing?

Publications, magazines, websites will always need freelancers because they need more content than what their staff editors can possibly produce, so in that way, absolutely, freelancing is still a viable career. Though the freelancers who will be best prepared today are those with multiple skills — people who can write AND take photos AND produce and edit videos AND do podcasts AND understand SEO best practices AND work social media like a pro. Because publications are moving online, there’s going to come a time when simply providing words won’t be enough.  If you want to see an amazing example of this, check out the New York Times multimedia package Snowfall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek by John Branch.

Your statement about blogging being “sweatshop labor,” I take to mean that there are so many blogs now, bloggers have to work much harder to get noticed. But I firmly believe that good content always finds an audience. You may need to sharpen your social media skills to help people find you — and pick up some publicity skills too — but if you have a good blog and you consistently deliver quality content, people will read you.
 

Now, others may disagree with me, but I believe that having a tight focus or niche for your blog is helpful because then readers know what you’re about and what kind of content to expect from you.  At Science of Parenthood, we do one thing — parenting humor. That doesn’t mean we don’t cover crafts or food, but it’s always through a parenting lens. I find blogs that take the kitchen sink approach — crafting, cooking, recipes, coupons, beauty, social media, parenting, books, gardening — to be very confusing. If you have multiple interests, why not create multiple blogs? My friend Carissa Miller does this beautifully on her site Carissa Miller Do You Read Me? where she has separate blogs for mothering, crafting, cooking and gardening and everything else that doesn’t fit into those categories under one URL. This approach gives her great freedom to write on the topics she loves, but it makes it easy for her readers to find what they’re looking for. 

So, can you make a living blogging? I certainly hope so as this is my plan to send my kid to college. And many bloggers have figured out how to monetize their blogs by selling ad space on their sites or working with brands to write sponsored posts. For us at Science of Parenthood, blogging is what we do to introduce readers to our snarky, cheeky, quirky humor, and we’re hoping that eventually those readers will want to buy our fridge magnets, coffee mugs, postcards and coming soon, our books.
 

How do you stand out from the crowd?

The mommy blog/parenting blog niche is incredibly crowded. We stand out as Science of Parenthood by presenting parenting humor with a very unique spin — through a lens of faux math and snarky science. No one else couches the trials and tribulations of parenting in this way. Plus, we’ve got dynamic, colorful illustrations/memes that beg to be shared. The marriage of original content with eye-catching images makes us standout against the field of parenting blogs.

Is there anything else you would like readers to know about yourself or your career?

We’re always looking for reader-inspired content. If you or your readers come up with a “scientific” principle on parenting and we use it on the blog, we give a shout out to the person who came up with the idea and a printout of the cartoon they inspired.
 

Where can we find you?
Please stalk us — in a non-creepy way! — on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ Pinterest and of course, our blog!
 

Thank you so much for the interview, Savvy! This was delightful. 

Esthetician Interview - Q & A with The Esthetic Goddess

After reading Susie of The Esthetic Goddess's post What I Have Learned (So Far) As An Esthetician, I knew I had to interview her about her career.  In the following interview Susie provides an insider’s look into her career as an esthetician while offering advice and tips to help the consumer. Enjoy:  

I have been a licensed esthetician for over 10 years in a wonderful medical spa. When I go to work every day I get to do facials, chemical peels, micro current, skin tightening treatments, and micro dermabrasion. My job is not only fun but rewarding and I love sharing what I have learned in the esthetics field!

What is an esthetician?
An esthetician is someone who works on the skin. This can include facials, waxing, chemical peels, body wraps, make-up and lasers. Estheticians cannot diagnose or treat skin diseases. If I see something suspicious on a client I recommend them to my favorite dermatologist who I know will take good care of them.

What motivated you to become an esthetician?
I started getting chemical peels at the age of 28. I thought it was so cool that just by applying something to someone’s skin you could change their skin tone and texture for the better.

When I was 37 my 17 year marriage came to an end. I had always been a stay at home mom and need a career. I had such a love for esthetics that it was a meant to be for me! We have no esthetic schooling around me so I drove 180 miles a day for school. I was extremely determined to make it happen and it was extremely worth it in the end!

What kind of experience and preparation helped you the most?
I feel like I got an exceptionally education from my esthetics teacher. She was a tough teacher. At first she didn’t even like me. (Hello?! I’m really lovable!) She gave me the hardest clients to work on and I was determined (There’s that word again. It describes me well!) To not let her break me. By the time I graduated her heart softened. She’d seen me working hard and exceeding education wise. She adored me by the end and I her! I owe so much to her. I felt very well prepared when I graduated.

In Illinois where I live Estheticians are required to have 750 hours of schooling. Once you graduate you have to get a state license by passing a written exam. After passing you can go on to more advanced training since you only learn basics in school. Every two years you need to complete 10 hours of continuing educating. This is for Illinois. All states have different requirements for estheticians.

What do you like best about your work?
Helping clients gain confidence! When a client comes to me with sun damage, acne, wrinkles, or whatever the skin problem is. I not only will help treat their skin but teach them what they need to be doing at home to maintain their skin in between the time till I see them again for another treatment. My goal is to always get my client skin looking great without make up.

What is your biggest headache?
Clients who think everything can be corrected in one treatment. It took a long time for their skin to get to the condition it is so it will take time to get it in good shape. Sometimes it can take several months. If you want your complexion looking beautiful for a wedding, reunion, etc. then start working on it a year before the special day.

What are the important personal qualities or abilities necessary for a person to be a successful esthetician?
Patience is a biggie! Not just treatment wise but you must have patience with the client themselves. For many of them they have never been taught to use the proper skin care. Often times I will baby step them into using the correct skin care. Starting with a good cleanser and working from there. This way they will not be overwhelmed with a lot of products at once.

I also think you must always be professional. I have a ton of fun with my clients but I would never bad mouth my completion. Even if a client is telling me of a bad experience they had with them.

Always do your job with integrity. Don’t sell a client a product or treatment you know will not work for them.

For someone who is considering this field, what would be you advice?
Find what you love in this field and specialize in it and never ever stop learning!

What do you wish you would have known before entering this field?
I can honestly say I have no surprises when I enter this field of work. I went into it with my eyes wide open and have never regretted it for a second!

How much can an esthetician expect to earn?
As a licensed esthetician you can make anywhere from $20,000-$50,000. It will all depend on experience and were you are working as well as what field you’re in. Working in a medical spa will pay more than working in a in a hair salon. You can also work from your own home or become a make-up artist. Salary will also depend on geo graphics. Do you live in a small town or big city? There are so many different variables.

Are there any scams or pitfalls to watch out for (phony opportunities, uncomfortable or scary situations, etc.)?
Oh there’s a ton of skin care out there that doesn’t really work. That’s why I will try out products for 3 months when trying a new product line. You cannot expect skin care to change your skin in 2 weeks and if they advertise that I would be very leery of that company. You also have to be careful of salesman selling machines. Lasers, skin tightening, microderm machines or any machine really. They all have limitations but sales people will say anything sometimes to make a sale. Not all sales people of course but they better have clinical studies to back up what they are claiming.

You mention on your blog that this is an ever changing field, what is the biggest change you’ve seen over the years?
There are definitely more machines then ever out now. So many different types of lasers and you can treat everything from sun damage to sagging skin to wrinkles with them. This is why it’s so important to stay on your toes. You have to figure out what really works and how well it will work for your clients.

I am a 51-year old woman with extremely oily yet sensitive skin. I recently noticed fine lines on my forehead and in the corner of my eyes. I have a drawer full of free samples of over-the-counter anti-aging products which I never remember to use. When I do remember, I either end up with a rash or don’t see any noticeable difference. If I were to visit your salon what would you recommend for my skin?
First and foremost we would sit down and discuss everything you are using on your skin and figure out what you should be using. Many times client believe there skin to be sensitive when it truly is not. It may have to do with two products they are using that are interacting with each other or it is an anti-aging ingredient, like retinol or glycolic acid, which when you first start using causes your skin to get red, itchy, or flaky. When used correctly, your skin will get acclimated to the products and all that will stop. After that we would discuss some of the treatments I can do on you to help address these issues. Like a chemical peel to help with fine lines and your oily skin. You may also be a candidate for the Venus Freeze treatment which helps tighten the skin. However I think your best bet is Botox to erase those wrinkles. Botox is a muscle relaxer. It’s perfect for forehead lines and crow’s-feet. I have been getting Botox done for over 20 years and think its da bomb!!

Also, I know a woman who had a skin treatment to remove acne scars from her chin at a prestige skin-salon. She ended up with second degree burns on her face and a settlement of $3,000 to pay her medical expenses. I’m not sure what happened; if a mistake was made with the procedure or if she didn’t understand the potential side-effects. What questions should consumers ask or potential problems should we be aware of before choosing a skin-treatment product or procedure?     
This really is dependent on the type of treatment. I think the biggest thing for the client would be to know how often they are preforming this procedure. What kind of training was involved and what is the reputation of the facility they are planning on going to.

Is there anything else you would like readers to know about yourself, skin care or your career?
If anyone is think of going into esthetics it is an incredible rewarding field and I feel blessed every day to not only have a wonderful clientele but to work in a medical spa with the a fantastic group of people ever!

Where can we find you?
If anyone has any concern about their skin I am always happy to help. I can be found at http://www.estheticgoddess.com.

You Don’t Seem Happy Anymore

It was December 23^rd and I was exhausted from both work and holiday preparations when my husband asked if I’d like to have a glass of wine by the fire.  I half-heartedly said, “Sure” and grabbed the book I’ve been reading - Gretchen Rubin’s Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self-Control, and My Other Experiments in Everyday Life. I wanted to read (I am an introvert and need down time when confronted with a lot of social activity) while my husband was looking forward to a nostalgic conversation about the Christmas’s of our past.  His sister is moving to a new home this January and we would be celebrating the holidays in her old home for the last time. No one in the family was interested in having this conversation including myself.  After several failed conversation attempts he finally said:

"You don’t seem happy anymore.  You don’t laugh or joke or want to have fun.  All you do is work and when you are home you are either reading or working on the computer.  When you do engage in conversation you are usually negative. You never used to be this way.  When I met you, you were happy, laughed easily and had a carefree positive attitude. What can I do to help you change back to the person you used to be?"  

This was somewhat of a wake-up call. He is right and the reasons are numerous. Since my bunion surgery last summer, I’ve gained back all of the weight I lost two years ago and still am not back to my normal workout routine.  I feel lethargic and remain continuously behind both at work and at home and from time to time I feel mildly depressed. I don’t take enough time off – nine of my earned vacation days went unused in 2013 - the most vacation I’ve lost ever. In addition, I’m feeling old and trapped in my current life and job.  

My reading of Gretchen’s book Happier at Home suddenly took on new meaning, “How can I be happier at home in 2014.”  One thing I know for sure is my husband can’t do anything to change me.  If I want to change my life I have to do it myself. Here are my goals for 2014:

Interior Design:
I am re-committing to keeping a gratitude journal:
I’ve kept journals in the past and they’ve been helpful especially when going through a rough time.  This year, in addition to writing what I am grateful for, my focus is going to be on writing about the positive aspects of my day and if it includes working with someone who is difficult or annoying I need to write something positive about that person. Also as a way to know myself better, I am going to pay attention to what I envy and what I lie about.  I found it interesting that I was envious of a friend when others commented on how efficient she is. 

Control over possessions and time

Make to-do lists:
I’ve never been a big list maker.  I like to keep things in my head and only write down an important deadline or two on my calendar. Last fall I attended a seminar called “Getting Things Done” based on a book of the same title written by David Allen. At the seminar we were required to do a “Mind Sweep” a process where we were required to write everything we needed to get done both at work and at home on a piece of paper. The idea is to get these tasks out of our minds. I used this list during the month of December and it helped tremendously.  One of my biggest sources of unhappiness is missing appointments or remembering a deadline when it is too late.   

Implement a new filing system both at work and at home.
This was also covered in the “Getting Things Done” seminar. Lost and misplaced items are a huge source of unhappiness for me.  I’ve previously written about my messy desk at work and my files at home are currently packed so tight I couldn’t possibly place another piece of paper in them let alone find anything.  After having difficulty finding financial papers at the end of the year, I began implementing a new filing system both at home and at work.

Suffer for 15 minutes:
I’ve started taking a dreaded task from my above to-do list and spending 15 minutes a day on it.  This is so much better than tackling the entire list on a Saturday.  Setting up a credit-card payment or renewing our DOT fleet license at work are never fun tasks, but ones that can easily be accomplished in 15 minutes or less. It is also much better than waiting ‘til the due date and then frantically searching for passwords.

Teach and delegate:
When asked a question at work I need to teach others where to find the information or how to do the work themselves or delegate it. Taking on too much at work is one of my major sources of inefficiency.

Buy what I need and get rid of what I don’t:
I tend to be an under-buyer and a slight hoarder. This basically means I have a lot of stuff people have given me, I’ve gotten for free, are obsolete, I no longer need and not what I do need.  I find myself scrambling when I run out of printer ink or don’t have warm clothes that fit adequately when the temperatures go below zero. 

Body:
Stop eating sugar:
I am an abstainer. I’ve known this since reading Gretchen's previous book The Happiness Project. She describes an abstainer as someone who finds it easier to abstain from something than to indulge moderately.  Abstainers aren’t tempted by things that are off limits, but once started have trouble stopping.

Moderators, by contrast do better when they act with moderation, because they feel trapped and rebellious at the thought of never “getting” or doing something. Occasional indulgence heightens their pleasure and strengthens their resolve. (Pg. 122)  

I’ve given up sugar in the past and find that completely abstaining is the only way I can keep from binging. Effective immediately I am no longer going to eat any sugary treats.

Seek out a workout that works for me:
I’m still searching for a workout that I enjoy that isn’t too strenuous.   I plan to try a Barre class in the coming weeks and will continue to look for new workouts after my foot heals completely.  I would like to meet with a fitness consultant to help map a workout routine that is tailored to my fitness needs and abilities.

Finding my Calcutta:
One of my major sources of unhappiness comes from my life not “being” about anything.  I feel as if life is passing me by as I sit in my office fixing accounting entries all day. I had a conversation with another male co-worker who feels similar.  He is the manager of one of our company stores and feels he makes a difference in about 30 people’s lives, but that is it.  He thinks the items his store sells are no longer made well and are a huge headache to sell and service. After he retires in a few years he hopes to do something more meaningful with his life.

Lighten-up:
In 2014, I need to stop being so hard on myself.  Perhaps I too can wait until I retire and have more free time to make my life be about something.  I still have this blog which I am attempting to turn into a mentoring club for women.  I started The Savvy Reader Book Club last year and try to write regular posts that hopefully help women.  One of my friends suggests I work on this blog only when I have they time and not to feel guilty when I don't have time. Family and work come first.

Give gold stars:
For me, this means paying more attention to my husband.  Closing my book when he wants to have a conversation or moving away from the computer for a few minutes to actively listen when he tells me about his day.  Acknowledge and thank him for doing something that makes my life easier or better – for having an incredible meal ready when I get home from work on New Year’s Eve or helping with the cleaning when I have to work on Saturdays during January. Or just going outside and spending time with him and our dogs in the back yard instead of checking my twitter feed for the umpteenth time.  

Have you made any resolutions to be happier at home in 2014? 

This post was inspired by Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin where she runs a nine month experiment to create happier surroundings. Join From Left to Write on January 6 we discuss Happier at Home. You can also chat live with Gretchen Rubin on January 7 on Facebook! As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.

Please Note, I am an Amazon Affiliate

Should Everyone Graduate With a Liberal Arts Degree?

In October The Savvy Reader Book Club read Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus's book Higher Education?: How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids---and What We Can Do About It. An interesting albeit controversial statement the authors make in an interview about their book on NPR is:

If we had it our way, everybody would graduate with a liberal arts degree. Of the three million freshmen who arrive on campuses each September, over half of them - have already chosen vocational majors, like fashion merchandising or sports management. This is a real misuse of what could be four precious, rewarding years.

Take New Mexico’s State University for instance. You will find students majoring in hotel, motel and resort management. Classes for this major include Quantity Food Production, Gaming Operations and Beverage Management. Hacker and Dreifus write:

It isn’t education. It is training. At best, it should be a sequence in a community college or in a professional program at post graduate level. Nor is beverage management an exotic example. Most campuses now devote more resources to vocational concentrations, since their majors now outnumber those in liberal arts fields. In 2008, the most recent figures as we write, degrees in the “hospitality” sphere surpassed those awarded in philosophy. (Pg. 99)

Then there is the business major:
Business is currently the most popular of all undergraduate majors. Regardless of the author’s opinions about whether it rates as higher or even as education, it has gained a prominent place on our campuses, not least by displacing less practical majors. Hacker and Dreifus then looked at what is being taught and learned it its classes. Here is what they found:

On the one hand, half a million freshmen enroll in business programs each year, hoping that what they will learn will give them an extra edge in their subsequent careers. On the other hand, professors are needed if there are to be classes. But it was soon evident to us that it wasn’t completely clear to either professors or students exactly what the students should be learning. Curriculums are filled with lists and locations along with quasi-theories from their field’s academic journals. Professors ask students to play being senior management, and plan corporate strategy ranging from outsourcing sneakers to selling sunglasses.  (Pg. 104)

What should business programs be doing instead?

We’ll start by saying that what is presented in their classes has no relation to what they’ll be doing in their first job. Whether from Wharton or Gulf Coast, when undergraduates emerge with a degree, if the Bank of America hires them, it won’t seat them in boardrooms to plan global strategies. More likely, they will be sent to a Fresno suburb, where their job will be crunching numbers on mortgage applications. Then the newbie will listen while senior colleagues explain how and why they make their decisions. We’d like to think that liberal arts students can just as quickly pick up what will be expected in their first years on the job. (Pg. 104)

We wish we could persuade undergraduates contemplating business majors to choose the liberal arts route. But this won’t be easy so long as anxieties about the future infuse their decisions. A more effective step would be for colleges, whether freestanding or within universities, to simply state that they don’t and won’t offer vocational majors. (Pg. 105)

I’ve heard this statement before. In this report on higher education by Anya Kamenetz she writes:

She would abolish the major of “business,” the single most popular undergraduate major, but perhaps also the least rigorous, and which produces relatively poor-achieving students. Instead, she’d fold practical business classes into the economics major.

I find all of this very interesting, since my undergraduate major was general business. I choose this major thinking I would have more flexibility with my career upon graduation than if I majored in accounting. I didn’t want to end up sitting at a desk all day making journal entries. The funny thing is after I graduated I didn’t feel as if I knew how to do anything. To find a job I emphasized my high school bookkeeping classes and my typing skills until I talked myself into a job in an accounting department – where I would end up sitting in a desk all day making journal entries.

No one bothered to tell me what Sheryl Sandberg also points out in her book Lean-in that the majority of job skills needed are acquired on the job. I would soon learn many of my co-workers at the brokerage firm where I was newly employed had degrees entirely unrelated to their job. This firm wanted employees with a degree, but they didn’t care what that degree was.   

Would I have been better off with a liberal arts degree?
Personally, it would have been more rewarding. In the book the authors write:

We’ve met former business majors, now nearing middle age who say they regret not having studied philosophy while at college. We have yet to meet a philosophy major who felt he or she should have chosen business. (Pg. 108)

When the authors describe the two business lectures they attended I cringed at the memory of sitting through similar classes covering growth strategies, product life cycle, etc. I was bored or as Seth Godin in his book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us describes it - I was sleepwalking. I ultimately returned to college to take the accounting courses required for the CPA exam anyway. I do think I would have preferred and received a greater benefit from taking history courses than sitting through all those business management classes that seemed to cover the same material. 

If I could have a do-over would I major in liberal arts?
It is very unlikely. I needed a career path that would guarantee I could support myself. Knowing what I know now instead of a general business degree I would have pursued forensic accounting - a degree that probably didn't exist when I was in college.  Perhaps a double major of criminal justice and accounting would have sufficed. I would also try to incorporate more history, English and philosophy instead of just taking the required credits. Actually the current accounting major requires students do just that.

Should Everyone Graduate With a Liberal Arts Degree?
Should they? Maybe. Will they? No. I think most parents and many students feel the same way I did. They need to choose a major aligned with their interests and abilities that will also give them a decent standard of living and the ability to pay off their college loans. In many cases that will be some type of business degree.  I also think many parents push their children into a university degree when they would be off pursuing a trade or vocational degree from a technical college.   

I will continue to explore vocational degrees and college credit requirements in future posts.

What do you think? Should everyone graduate with a liberal arts degree? 

Gemologist Interview - Q & A with Gillian Griffiths, G.G.

Today begins my first post in a series of career interviews. My goal is to provide insight into a variety of careers from an insider's perspective. Today’s interview is with Gillian Griffiths, G.G.; Gillian is a gemologist and business owner. Her shop Goldadore.com can be found on Etsy. Gillian gives us an honest informative look into her career as a Gemologist.  Enjoy:

How did you get into gemology?
I’ve always loved jewelry, and I’ve always loved estate sales. One day I was at an estate sale looking at a ‘diamond’ ring and I remember turning it over in my hand wondering if it was a real diamond. At the time I was selling my small business and considering a new career, so it was really like a light bulb going off in my head! I decided to go back to school and become the person who could the difference between real and fake.

How long have you worked in this field?
I got my Graduate Gemology degree in 2002 and had been working in the business for about a year prior.

Why did you decide to start your own business?
When I first got into gemology, I knew that owning your own business was the way to go! It was always my goal. I just didn’t know how to make it successful. I spent years grading diamonds and directing the manufacture of many, many, many engagement rings. After having my daughter, I went back to work at my old job thinking everything would be the same as before my maternity leave. But it wasn’t. While I had been out, my assistant had been let go. Another employee had left. My workload had grown considerably. I constantly felt torn between work and home. I would be overworked at my job all day, and then would literally run to my car to get home for a few precious hours with my baby. It just wasn’t working anymore, so I left. Leaving my old job was just the push I needed to follow my dreams and start my own business.

Within six months, I started GoldAdore.com with Etsy. Really it was just very natural. I’m that same person standing at an estate sale with a diamond ring in my hand – but now I know exactly what it is, what it’s worth, and who would look fantastic wearing it!

What kind of experience and preparation helped you the most?
Obviously for a gemologist the Graduate Gemology degree is crucial. You can’t be a gemologist without the degree! But for starting my own company, the most invaluable lessons were the one’s I learned just working in the business for so many years. All that hands on experience with grading stones, jewelry, manufacturing, appraising, and dealing with customers, teaches you how to handle any situation.

What are your duties/functions/responsibilities? or What is a typical day like in your work?
My typical day is one big juggling act. With a two year old at home, my work schedule is dictated by playdates and nap times. I get up before dawn to get back to clients, check my shop, make sure all my shipping and orders are going out properly. In the mornings I take care of sizing’s, cleaning and repair new inventory, etc and going to the Post Office. Afternoon light is the best for grading (and how GIA sets their standards on grading), so in the afternoon I tend to do the bulk of the real gemological work – grading, photographing pieces, valuing, and listing. Then at night it’s more customer service – emailing clients, packing up the days orders. Oh, and I’m constantly buying. All day I’m looking to see what estate sales might be happening, talking with people who want to sell their jewelry for whatever reason, talking to other dealers about what they might have for me, scouting where there might be a jewelry auction, etc.

What do you like best about your work? I love to buy, and I love to sell.
And in between I love to appreciate the craftsmanship of the pieces I sell. There’s something really fantastic about finding a diamond ring no one’s worn in 50 years covered in 10 layers of dirt and bringing it back to life. I find it equally as rewarding to help someone find “the perfect ring” that they’ll wear for the next 50 years! Even if I don’t get the pleasure of wearing a lot of the fantastic items I see, it’s great to be able to be a part of such a happy occasion.

What is your biggest headache?
Problems. As good as you are, as honest as you can be, as high as you can hold your standards, some people just won’t be happy. I recently had client who purchased a band, and decided later she wanted the inside of the band inscribed. It was to be a wedding band for her son’s finance. When she got it back after the engraving, she claimed the inscription wasn’t readable. Well, the band was only 2mm wide, I made the engraving as big as possible, and I could read it just fine. It was exactly the same as the hundreds of other engravings I’ve done. But she was overly upset. I offered every remedy possible, from a full refund on the engraving, a refund on the ring and the engraving, I offered to pay ALL her costs associated with ring – shipping, gas, etc. She even took it to her local jeweler, who she admitted told her the engraving was just fine and total readable. But she refused to return the ring, and ended up taking a full refund on all her costs associated with the engraving, but she made it clear that nothing I did would make her happy. Which just makes me feel awful. I want all my clients to be ecstatic with the high quality of work I do. Luckily almost all do! At the same time, I think it’s important to remember that it’s just jewelry. The jewelry might be a symbol of love, marriage, a special event – but in the end it is just a symbol.

What are the important personal qualities or abilities necessary for a person to be a successful gemologist?
It really depends on what kind of gemologist you want to be. There are different career paths of this profession that will appeal to all. If you’re really outgoing, sales are perfect. If you’re more of an introvert, being a diamond grader would be a good choice. If you like travel and adventure, you can become a sourcer. Want to work with your hands? Become a bench jeweler. Creative? Jewelry designer. For me, the most important thing is to be a good multi-tasker, and to only accept the highest quality. At any time I have multiple orders/ clients/ rings / etc that I need execute perfectly. A small mistake to a jeweler, like sizing the ring to the wrong size, is really a huge mistake to the client – and just can’t happen. I’ve seen plenty of jewelers go out of business because they lacked that precision to detail.

How many hours do you work each week?
A lot. Every day. Seven days a week. Constantly pretty much. It’s a good thing I love it!

How do you stand out from other gemologists?
In the jewelry industry, just being a gemologist makes you stand out. Most people don’t realize that the vast majority of jewelers/ jewelry store employees in the US have no formal training whatsoever. So that lady standing behind the counter at Tiffany, telling a couple all about the four C’s and advising them on what diamond to buy, really has no qualifications to be giving such advice! I like to shop in other jewelry stores a lot - just to see what’s out there, what’s selling, what’s new and exciting. I almost never run into another gemologist. I also hold a few college degrees (go Hoo’s) and am rather un-corporate – so large employers like Zales or Robbin’s Bros. never would have been a good match for me!

For someone who is considering this field, what would be you advice?
Go for it! Especially for women. Even though almost all jewelry is produced for women, it’s still an industry run by men. There are fantastic career opportunities for women with a Graduate Gemology degree.

Are there any books you suggest reading, training courses that would be beneficial or professional organizations aspiring gemologists should consider joining?
The first thing would be to check out the Gemological Institute of America’s website (GIA.edu). They are THE institution in the US to get Graduate Gemology degree. You can even do some classes online these days!

How much can a gemologist expect to earn?
This really depends on where you live, and what career path you want to take. Intro level diamond graders make very little (25K) while intro level sales people in a big city can make quite a bit (50K-90K).

Are there any scams to watch out for (training, suppliers, customers)?
Yes, all the time! Constantly! We are dealing with diamonds, gold, platinum, etc. Everyone wants a little bit of everything – and there is a constant push and pull. You have to be a hard negotiator to be a buyer or salesperson. And while most people are honest, there are those who aren’t and it’s buyer beware. I think one of the reasons I have been so successful is that I am so honest! I give honest opinions on pieces of jewelry (wanted or not), I negotiate fair prices, and sell at equally fair prices. I stand behind each piece I sell, and try to make everything as transparent as possible.

How is the economy affecting your business?
Honestly, I don’t know. I only opened my shop in September with a few pieces, so the economy was already quite depressed. I can say that I’m very happy with my sales for far – I have over 60 items in inventory at any time, and this month have had over 40 sales. My revenue is up over 25% from February to March, which are traditionally pretty slow months in the jewelry industry. I can say that the smaller traditional jewelry stores are hurting. Without a change in business model, I think many won’t make it in the long run.

Is there anything else you would like readers to know about yourself or your business?
Success doesn’t happen overnight. For me, it took lots of education, years of experience, and the constant support of my husband, family, and friends. I’ve found that the most important thing is to do what you love, and never compromise your values. I never really feel like I’m “working” because I adore what I do. And if a ring (or repair, or sizing, or engraving) isn’t good enough for myself, it isn’t good enough for my clients. I hope everyone loves my shop as much as I do!

Where can we find you?
My shop is http://www.goldadore.com/. Please stop by and say hello

Getting Control Over Your Life

I hadn’t planned on reading Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.  I had previously read Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment by Tal-Ben Shahar and Eric Weiner’s book The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World and had thought two books about happiness were more than enough for me. Plus, there is Penelope Trunk's post where Penelope writes she wasn't a huge fan of the book and that:

Gretchen writes about her life and Gretchen's life is not all that interesting.

What changed my mind?
I read "The key to happiness is to know yourself" a post on Gretchen Rubin’s blog also called The Happiness Project. Since self-knowledge is one of my goals for 2012, I decided perhaps reading the book would offer suggestions on how to attain more self-knowledge.

What is The Happiness Project about?
One day while riding a city bus Gretchen, a married mother of two, realizes, "Time is passing, and she is not focusing on the things that really matter." Instead she is suffering from midlife malaise – a recurrent sense of discontent and almost a feeling of disbelief “Can this be me?” She also realizes she needs to work on happiness now while things are good because one day that phone call will come. Her husband suffers from Hepatitis C, a potentially fatal disease that attacks the liver. Eventually, he will develop cirrhosis and need a kidney transplant.

This moment evolved into The Happiness Project. Inspired by Ben Franklin's resolution chart Gretchen selects 12 different happiness resolutions, focusing on a different subject each month. The book chronicles this project; what she tried, what she learned, what worked and what didn’t.

My Thoughts:
Since I’ve been reading Gretchen's blog for some time, I felt the book didn't offer anything new especially in the area of self-knowledge. Plus Penelope was right; at times Gretchen’s story wasn’t very interesting. Then in the midst of reading, I received my own phone call bearing bad news. No longer able to concentrate on the book I had an epiphany. More happiness isn't what I needed, or even what I wanted. What I need to work on is confidence and strength, so when the next phone call arrives I can carry on without falling apart. On further review, I realized this was Gretchen's goal as well:

One of my main goals for my happiness project was to prepare myself for adversity, to develop the self-discipline and the habits to deal with a bad thing when it happened. (Pg. 136)

Gretchen's research revealed that change and novelty are key elements to happiness which are also the elements needed to attain self-confidence. Gretchen's husband offered his thoughts on the project:

I think this happiness project is all about trying to get more control over your life. (Pg. 289)

Was that true? Gretchen responds with:

Perhaps. The feeling of control is an essential element of happiness-a better predictor of happiness than, say, income.  Having a feeling of autonomy of being able to choose what happens in your life of how you spend your time is crucial.  Identifying and following my resolutions had made me feel far more in control of my time, my body, my actions, my surroundings, and even my thoughts.  Getting control of my life was definitely an aspect of my happiness project, and a greater feeling of control gave me a major boost in happiness. (Page 289.)

Bottom Line:
The book though not perfect isn't a complete waste of time.  If you are interested in getting more control over your life, reading the book could give you the incentive to start your own project.  If nothing else you may glean a couple of little nuggets like if you want more sleep it is best not to go to bed wearing socks and that the amount of time you smile during a conversation has a direct effect on how friendly you are perceived to be.

Is there a happiness project in my future?
Gretchen had her epiphany in April. She completed her resolution chart just in time for January 1st.  This is after spending months researching and reading about happiness.  "Happiness" is Gretchen's passion and her full-time job.  I had set a goal for myself to spend January researching and writing about self-knowledge, February's topic was to be communication. Here it is mid-February and I've accomplished almost nothing. So no there is not a happiness project in my immediate future. But I can spend the remaining months of the year researching self-discovery and what it will take to get control over my life.

Have you read the book? If so what were your thoughts?

If you enjoyed this post you may also like:
Does Happiness Have a Set Point?
Jane Pauley Gives Practical Inspiration

Changing the Way I Network

At the prompting of my manager, I attended an accounting conference last week. I was not excited to be going. I had attended this conference a couple of years ago and hadn’t been impressed. In my opinion, the majority of the presenters had been more interested in selling their products than giving a worthwhile presentation.

What was different this year?
The conference organizers had received feedback that the speaker lineup was weak and had made changes. This year there were fewer speakers who spoke more in depth on their topic. Instead of: Here is my service any questions. Next presentation.

It felt good to commiserate with others:
Recently someone stumbled upon my blog via the following search:

How to create passion for accounting

To be honest if you don’t have a passion for debits and credits that goes back to high school, a new found passion for accounting probably isn’t going to happen. If you did, and currently feel as though you are just going through the motions, an opportunity to commiserate with others may be what you need to re-energize. The conference opened with the host asking, “How many of you have spent the last year projecting sales for the next 20 years for your bank?” Everyone’s hand shot up. “If these projections are wrong whose fault will it be? Yours.” I knew I was in the right place.

I attended the after-hours social event:
Typically I skip these. Similar to the introverts who commented on this Ask a Manager post, after spending eight hours of the day “on” I like to spend the evenings in my room recharging. I met several people though out the day who strongly suggested I attend and I realized it would look bad for me and my company if I didn’t go. The social event ended up being quite enjoyable and well worth my time. I made contacts I would not have made if I had stayed in my room.

What will I do differently in the future?

Dress more professionally:
You don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. Because I hadn’t been excited about this event, I was nonchalant about what I packed.  I was more interested in the book I was taking (Rebecca Rasmussen's The Bird Sisters) than what I wore. All of the women were wearing jackets. I felt frumpy in my sweaters.

Have my business cards readily available:
I wasn’t planning on meeting anyone, so I hadn’t thought about business cards. Luckily I had several haphazardly placed in my purse. In the future I will be more prepared. You never know who you are going to meet.

Follow up with new contacts:
This is the most important thing I learned. I received an email shortly after returning from a new contact describing her horrific return flight and providing follow up information to an issue we had discussed. This was an Aha moment for me. How thoughtful. I have never followed up with a new contact. How many opportunities for a genuine connection have I missed over the years?

Other networking tips I’d like to share:

Go alone or if you go with others sit with people you don’t know:
You will never meet anyone new if you socialize only with your friends and co-workers.

When you meet someone new don’t talk about you, ask questions:
One of my favorite suggestions from Megan Hustad's book How to Be Useful: A Beginner's Guide to Not Hating Work is to ask, “What project are you working on?” Ask a technical question others can participate in. Ask about the job market or the economy.

What not to talk about (I have witnessed all of these):
How smart you are.
How smart, talented and gifted your children are.
A minute by minute playback of the European vacation your family took in the 80’s.
Also, don’t direct your conversation to one person, talk to the entire table. (He or she wants to hear what everyone is talking about not your problems.)
Don’t monopolize the conversation with talk of your workplace.
Don’t describe in detail the spreadsheet you can’t get to balance.
Don’t give more than one hard luck story (you will be perceived as a train-wreck)

Don’t drink too much:
At the social event, I stuck to my one glass of wine with dinner rule and went home early. The next morning one of the event organizers filled me in on what transpired after I left: Which guests drank too much and who amongst the conference staff had to baby-sit them. And that the 20-something train-wreck from above spilled her drink on a highly respected business owner. He was not pleased. Don’t be the talk of the conference. Limit how much you drink.

Don't spend the entire conference working on your smart phone:
I know you love twitter, but it is rude to spend the entire conference tweeting your followers about how lame the speakers are. (I've witnessed this.) If you need to email or text, do so discreetly by placing your phone under the table.

Change your (my) attitude:
Since your company is paying for you to attend this event and even if they are not, why not get as much out of it as you can.

And lastly, give constructive feedback:
If there is something about the conference that didn't work for you let the organizers know. Nothing will change if they don’t know there is a problem.

Did I miss anything?  Do you have any conference etiquette or networking tips to share?