Few dilemmas have ensnared the modern labor market quite like finding the right work-life balance. The widespread transition to remote work in 2020 only served to further muddy the difference between working and non-working hours. After all, how can you avoid “bringing work home” if your workplace is your home? 

While it certainly has many perks (hello, sweatpants), remote work can make it challenging to establish boundaries between familial and professional responsibilities. And according to a December 2022 study published in Personnel Psychology, these blurred boundaries are hitting dual-earner families particularly hard. 

As it turns out, there might be more perks to being a working-from-home husband than a WFH wife. If you currently identify as the latter, there’s a good chance you already know why—but it’s nice to have science to validate us now and then.

How Does WFH Affect The H?

Researchers from Ohio State University conducted two separate experiments based out of China and South Korea. The participants in the first study included 165 married dual-earner couples with at least one child, while the second study focused on 57 dual-earner couples with and without children. 

Researchers asked participants to complete two surveys each day for 14 consecutive workdays. Participants used these surveys to report their WFH status and the amount of work and family tasks they completed. 

The surveys also included emotional and mental metrics, like how much guilt the participants felt regarding their families or employers and how psychologically withdrawn they felt from either. Researchers measured the participants’ perceived family-work and work-family conflicts based on these responses.

WFH’s Effect On Intra/Interrole Conflict

Across both studies, husbands and wives were able to complete more familial tasks while working from home versus having to work in an office. However, this also resulted in greater intra- and interrole conflict, psychological withdrawal, and guilt. 

Interrole conflict occurs when an individual has multiple roles and the obligations and expectations of one role mismatch those of the other. For example, a wife working from home on the weekends might miss out on spending time with the family—this is a work-family conflict (WFC).

Intrarole conflict, on the other hand, occurs when one’s internal beliefs about the obligations of a specific role don’t align with the role’s actual responsibilities. This could look like a husband’s inability to determine which is the better way to support his family—spending more time in the office or picking up slack around the house. This would be considered a family-work conflict (FWC). 

When the office and dining room are suddenly merged into the same space, it can be difficult to delineate the lines between work and home life. Consequently, the roles of the dual-earner household become unclear, which can raise tensions.

An Unbalanced WFH Household

It’s not super surprising that participants could complete more familial tasks at home than in the office. Switching out laundry or loading the dishwasher on your lunch break is far easier when your living spaces are mere steps away from your “office.”

However, what is surprising is that when the wives in the study worked from home, husbands reported completing fewer familial tasks than when their wives were working in the office. The same could not be said for the reverse. Even when husbands were working remotely, women reported completing more familial tasks than their husbands. 

Moreover, both studies found that working wives felt more guilt about failing to accomplish housework or spending time with family when working in the office than at home. This type of emotional response from the husbands was only reported in one of the two studies.

What Does This Mean For Your Home Office?

In summary, wives in dual-income households seem to bear the brunt of familial responsibilities on top of their professional duties. Husbands appear to get the better end of this WFH deal because, either way, wives are typically taking on more household tasks and chores.

Between weaponized incompetence and statistics that say women do 1.26 more hours of household chores per day than men, this disparity is nothing we haven’t seen before. In fact, there’s a good chance many women already knew why they were getting the fuzzy end of the WFH lollipop before they even read the study. 

And, of course, this study might not reflect your reality. This study was relatively small and focused on a particular family and relationship dynamic. However, for many wives, this serves as scientific validation that 1) they’re not crazy, 2) they are overworked, and 3) something needs to change. 

Learning how to manage individual responsibilities within a household can be a challenging, ongoing process. Hopefully, your partner is one who’s willing to pick up the slack where it’s needed, but if not, family therapist Dr. Jenn Mann has some helpful advice for communicating with “man-child” husbands.

Finding the right work-life balance for you is difficult enough as it is, and your partner should be helping, not hurting, the process.

Jennifer Chatman, a tenured professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, noticed something weird happening with her student after she turned 40. Despite feeling like she was at the top of her teaching career with more expertise than ever, her student class evaluations were getting worse.

“If anything, my teaching was getting even better, but students were harder on me,” she told Mirage News.

When she brought it up to her middle-aged female colleagues, they described the same experiences—but her male colleagues did not.

Intrigued, she wanted to gather more than just anecdotal evidence, so she designed a three-part study, which was published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes in November 2022.

Empirical Evidence Of A Niceness Bias

Chatman and her co-authors concluded that both men and women are perceived as capable as they age. But women are seen as “less warm” when they get older, resulting in them being judged more harshly in the workplace.

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How did she come to this conclusion? In her first study, participants were given headshots of hypothetical supervisors at a tech company and given identical information about each one. Then, they were asked to rate “Steve” and “Sue”  on various adjectives like “forceful” and “gentle” in middle age, compared to when they were younger.

Both were rated higher on characteristics of “agency” as they aged, but Sue was rated lower on characteristics related to “warmth.”

“It’s just stunning,” Chatman told Mirage News. “These stereotypes are so hard-wired and deeply entrenched that they come out even when absolutely identical information is provided about a man and a woman.”

For Chatman’s second study her team asked 500 executives in leadership roles to have their real-life colleagues perform an assessment that measured different attributes, including assertiveness and agreeableness

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The results showed that women’s warmth was perceived consistently as they aged, but men were considered to be warmer as they got older. These results were less dramatic, but they could put women at a disadvantage when directly compared to men in their same age group.

The third study analyzed a large dataset of university professor evaluations over time. While the male professors’ evaluations remained consistent, evaluations of female professors peaked in their 30s then quickly declined, bottoming out at around age 47.

Surprisingly, after that, the evaluations became more favorable again, and by their early 60s, their reviews were similar to their male colleagues. That seems to indicate that midlife, in particular, is a time when women experience discrimination.

What Does This Mean For Working Women?

The research shows that even as a woman gains experience and capability on the job, a lack of perceived “niceness” can hold her back. Clearly, the solution is not for women to try to be nicer in midlife.

Rather, the authors concluded that awareness and education about these stereotypes could help remove some of the boundaries that prevent women from reaching their full professional potential.

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If you’re currently in the job market, what’s the lowest pay you’re willing to accept for a new job? It’s a question that Federal Reserve Bank of New York researchers ask workers in their Survey of Consumer Expectations three times every year. They’re studying the so-called “reservation wage,” and the data has changed significantly over time.

The latest numbers show the overall average wage workers will accept has increased since the pandemic. From July 2021 to July 2022, the reservation wage rose from $68,954 to $72,873.

But looking at the responses from men versus women reveals a large divide. For men, the reservation wage increased to $86,259, while for women the number decreased significantly to $59,543.

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Women Expect Lower Salaries Than Men—Or Do They?

We’ve heard all of our lives about the “gender pay gap“—the most recent numbers showing that women earn 82 cents to every dollar earned by men. But when you adjust for industry, job type, hours worked, and experience, the numbers even out, and women actually make 99 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Reservation wages follow a similar pattern.

“Women educated in mathematics, IT, and physics are found to report higher reservation wages than other women and there is no difference in pay expectations between them and men,” according to research by Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska, an Economic Sciences professor at the University of Warsaw.

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In other words, women study and enter into careers that generally pay lower salaries, which, in part, causes a reservation wage gap. But, when women opt for STEM fields, that gap disappears. 

The takeaway, Cukrowska-Torzewska writes, is that we need “a higher presence of women in STEM fields as a way of achieving greater gender equality in the labor markets.”

The Pandemic Effect

The lowered reservation wage for women might also be exaggerated because non-working women are often excluded from studies.

It’s well documented that women left the workforce in droves when the pandemic began. And even though the “shecession” shows signs of recovering, women still stay home with children more than men.

And with the pandemic as a backdrop, women might actually have a higher reservation wage because they value time away from work more than ever, and are therefore less likely to take a lower wage.

Why Are Reservation Wages Important?

Ultimately, reservation wages have real-world consequences in the form of actual wages. A German study found that the gender wage gap disappears when controlling for reservation wages.

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The older we get, the scarier career change becomes. But if you’re unhappy with your current job, waiting out retirement could be even more frightening.

Luckily, plenty of women have lived through a midlife job change and lived to tell the tale.

The Reddit group AskWomenOver50 featured a thread about finding employment in midlife. The original poster was worried about making a big change, and plenty of other women job seekers over 50 could relate.

“Have any of you found a new job after 50?”, she asked. “If so, how long did it take? Did you find a better job or a worse one? I am not happy with where I am and I’d like to switch jobs. I have heard a lot of horror stories about job searches taking a long time for women over 50.”

She went on to explain that she has a chronic illness and worried that her current employer would ask her to return to the office after working from home during the pandemic. She also noted she was a former teacher and published writer who was currently doing clerical work.

“Is it better to suck it up and put in the time until retirement, or is change possible?” she wondered.

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Women who had been in her shoes responded with surprising optimism, saying that while ageism is an issue in the workplace, she shouldn’t underestimate her skills.

“I was told ‘ageism is real’ and that ‘at 53 finding a job will be really hard,'” one person commented. “Well, my current company gave me one interview, didn’t accept me for the position I applied for, but actually created a position for me that was more in line with my skill set. I was out of work for three weeks. Don’t underestimate your experience. You have a lot to offer. I do agree that you should probably stay put with your current job until you find something better, but look with confidence. You’ll find something. Good luck!”

Another shared that a midlife job seeker may need to be patient and/or flexible. She wrote that it took her a little over a year to find something comparable to the job she was laid off from at the age of 55. But she made it happen by revamping her resume—including omitting her university graduation dates so she “wouldn’t look like a total dinosaur on paper.”

“Bottom line, definitely look for something better if you’re unhappy with your current job because you have a while to go before retiring and life is too short to suck it up if you don’t have to,” the commenter wrote.

Workplace Ageism Is Real

The job-hunting landscape has certainly improved for older women of all ages in the past few decades. CNBC reported in July that many companies are “increasingly looking to attract mature workers.”

Plus the labor market is tight, with two open jobs for every worker in the U.S., and employers are struggling to recruit and retain talent. Research suggests that older workers are more likely to be engaged, look forward to work, and connect with their employers. They are also less likely to consider quitting. 

“I’m 65 and I just found a new job,” another Reddit commenter wrote. “… Employers know we have a better work ethic than most millennials.”

But despite the optimism, the reality is that ageism is alive and well in the U.S. AARP found that workplace age discrimination is currently higher than it’s been since 2003. A 2020 survey found that 78% of workers said they had seen or experienced ageism—a significant jump from 61% in 2018.

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Finding Non-Discriminatory Employers

To identify an age-friendly employer, check out the AARP Employer Pledge program—which is a list of more than 1,000 companies that have signed a public pledge to level the playing field in the job market for older workers.

To be eligible for this list, which includes Microsoft, Marriott International, Humana, and McDonald’s, a company can’t have any discrimination lawsuits within the past five years, and they must agree to recruit across all age groups and consider applications equally. AARP also has a jobs board, and they certify companies who are considered “best in class” for workers 50+. 

When job hunting in your 50s and beyond, watch for language that specifically states there is no age discrimination, or visit the company’s website and research the culture. If you see terms like “digital native” in a job description—or there is a cap on the required years of experience—those are red flags. 

Also, check to see if older workers are featured on the company website or in promotional materials. If everyone appears to be in their 20s and 30s, that could be a sign that they’re more interested in young employees. And if a job application asks how old you are, when you graduated, or tries to gauge your age in any other way, keep searching.

Now 55, the original Reddit poster updated the thread in June, saying she decided to stick with her current job.

“We are still working from home and have been told this will be indefinite,” she wrote. “… right now things are ok. I am taking care of some personal issues and paying bills.”

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You’ve likely heard the term ‘glass ceiling,’ but do you know where it came from? More specifically, who?

Marilyn Loden was an activist and author who was credited with inventing the phrase now commonly used to describe gender disparities within the workplace. 44 years after Loden first noted the streaky smudges across this invisible barrier, women and minority groups are still pounding on those stubborn panes. After a decades-long career of fighting for gender equality, Loden passed away last month (August 6, 2022) after a battle with lung cancer. 

Though she first coined the term in the 1970s, Loden would later tell the Washington Post in 2018 that she thought the phenomenon would have been over in her lifetime. But years later, we still have a long way to go.

The Spontaneous ‘Glass Ceiling’ Discovery

While working in AT&T’s HR department in 1978, Loden appeared on a panel at the Women’s Action Alliance Conference in New York City. Gloria Steinem, Brenda Feigen Fasteau, and Dorothy Pitman-Hughes founded the Women’s Action Alliance (WAA) in 1971. The feminist organization was active until 1997.

The panel at this particular conference discussed women’s roles in their career stagnation, which Loden struggled to sit through silently. So, she didn’t. Off the cuff, Loden argued that “the ‘invisible glass ceiling,’ the barriers to advancement that were cultural, not personal, were doing the bulk of the damage,” Loden wrote in a 2017 BBC article. 

Loden would later expand on these thoughts in her 1985 book, Feminine Leadership, or How to Succeed in Business Without Being One of the Boys. The book encouraged women to draw on their strengths rather than changing themselves to fit into a male-centric landscape.

As Loden continued her career in gender advocacy, she continued to pen books promoting diversity in the workplace. In 1990, she published Workforce America!: Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource, which outlined how to recognize and rectify problems that inhibit the full participation of a diverse workforce.

Then, in August 1995, Loden releasedImplementing Diversity, which dove further into how, exactly, to implement these organizational tactics. Major corporations, including Citibank, NASA, Proctor & Gamble, and Shell Oil, hired Loden to help diversify and train their workforce with the techniques outlined in her books. 

In addition to her partnerships with major corporations, Loden worked with US Navy to increase gender equality in its policies and practice. Her efforts increased leader accountability for sexual harassment and lifted the ban prohibiting women sailors from submarine service. The US Navy awarded Loden the civilian Superior Service Medal in 2016 for her work.

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We’ve Made Some Progress (But Not Enough)

Loden’s legacy made it to Capitol Hill in 1991 when Congress created the Glass Ceiling Commission. The commission studied the “barriers of attitudinal or organizational bias that prevent qualified individuals from advancing upward in their organization into management-level positions.” 

These studies took place from 1991 to 1996 and included racial disparities in the labor market. Nearly 30 years later, the improvements are marginal at best. Women CEOS in America reported that “while the numbers for women in leadership are moving in the right direction, 8.2% in the Fortune 500 up from 6.6% in 2019, progress is still too slow and not reflective of the nation.”

According to the Pew Research Center, women earned 84% of what men earned in 2020. “Based on this estimate,” the center wrote, “it would take an extra 42 days of work for women to earn what men did in 2020.” The gender pay gap amounting to over a month of extra work is shocking—but it’s nothing compared to the racial pay gap. 

Women CEOs included in their study, “women of color hold just one percent overall of [Fortune 500 leadership] positions.” The US Bureau of Labor Statistics also found that in 2020, the typical full-time Black worker earned 20% less than a typical full-time white worker. 

Specifically, the Bureau found that the median earnings for Black men in 2019 amounted to only 56 cents for every dollar earned by white men. That’s a wider pay gap than in 1970, a mere six years after the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

What Loden’s Past Insight Reveals About Today

Loden’s obituary wrote that she “was saddened to know [the glass ceiling] would outlive her,” similar to the sentiments she echoed in her 2018 interview with the Washington Post.” Indeed, the fight against the glass ceiling was nowhere near finished that year—or in the years following it. 

The divide between genders and races only deepened in Loden’s final years as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened these disparities further. Still, Loden didn’t let this stop her. Even in her final months, she worked with employees of her hometown hospital, St. Helena Hospital, to help them form a union. 

While the glass ceiling might not have been shattered completely in Loden’s lifetime, she did some serious damage to its finish. It’s our turn to take up Loden’s cause—and metaphorical hammer—and start smashing away at this invisible barrier ourselves. 

Loden told the Post, “I’m hoping if [the glass ceiling] outlives me, it will become an antiquated phrase. People will say, ‘there was a time when there was a glass ceiling.’” And with enough perseverance and determination, hopefully, we can reach that point of antiquity sooner rather than later.

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Do you feel appropriately compensated at your job? If not, you’re not alone. An overwhelming majority of the American workforce feels underpaid. Paired with external factors like inflation, the average worker feels the pinch now more than ever. 

The US inflation rate hit 9.1% in August 2022, and the Consumer Price Index shows a hike across all costs of living, from energy to groceries and everything in between. Despite this, wages remain largely unchanged. 

Americans have to pay more without getting paid more, which poses an important question: Can you use inflation to negotiate a raise? We reached out to financial experts to see what they had to say.

Can I Use Inflation As Leverage At Work?

The overwhelming consensus of the financial experts we spoke to was yes, you can—but there are some caveats. Generally speaking, “in the professional ranks, asking for a cost of living (COL) adjustment has not been standard workplace behavior, explains Joe Mullings, chairman and CEO of Mullings Group. 

“With that said, the standard has gone out the door since February of 2020,” he continues. The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a wildfire of rent hikes, supply chain issues, and job shake-ups. Kathryn Snapka, finance head and founding partner at Snapka Law Firm, says you can use this to your advantage. 

“Workers now have more negotiating power as the labor market experiences record-high churn and new hires. Many Americans are quite concerned about inflation. Many businesses are focusing on retention in order to prevent employees from quitting.”

RELATED: ‘Quiet Quitting’ Is Popular Among Gen Z, But Will Older Generations Follow Suit?

Great, So I Could—Now, How Can I?

Despite this negotiating power, most of us find asking for a raise to be at least a little awkward. Employ’s 2022 Job Seeker Report found that while 67% of workers feel they deserve higher compensation, only 29% are comfortable negotiating pay raises. That discrepancy reveals a large pool of unhappy employees. 

So, how does one get out of this cycle of burnout and resentment without quitting altogether? These financial experts have a few ideas.

1. Crunch The Numbers Yourself

Bringing data to the table considerably strengthens salary negotiations. First, “arm yourself with knowledge about your industry,” says Gareth Hoyle, managing director at Marketing Signals. “You can research the average salary of your particular job title across different job sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn.”

When doing so, be sure to adjust the filters to factor in bits such as location, company size, and years of experience.

Make sure you also bring in the numbers on inflation. “Consult the Consumer Price Index to figure out the inflation rate from the past year,” advises Alex Williams, certified financial planner and CEO of FindThisBest. “Take that number in decimal form, add one, and multiply the sum by your existing salary to understand how much of a pay raise you deserve.”

2. Don’t Be Afraid To Brag

“The focus of your negotiations should be on your accomplishments, even while inflation is a topic of conversation,” Snapka says. “The value you give to the firm is something you should always emphasize.”

Snapka suggests saying something like, “I’d love to explore what else I can do in this capacity, but my current income is not keeping up with the levels of inflation. As a result of the X% increase in my living expenses, I would want to see my pay increase in line with this trend so that I may keep developing and achieving new objectives with our company.”

“This is your time to shine,” Hoyle adds. “You will want to provide evidence of all that you’ve accomplished since your time at the company. Here is where you take your boss through the goals you’ve made along with examples of what you’ve done to accomplish them so far.”

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3. Practice And Preparation Makes Perfect

Asking for a raise can be nerve-wracking, and there’s no shame in a little practice. “Making a script is beneficial,” Snapka says. “Not reading it word-for-word is the objective. Instead, you should focus on memorizing the important ideas.”

“The discussion might easily veer off topic due to its emotive nature. Knowing and practicing your words will help you control your emotions,” she continues. “You’ll feel as though you’ve already had the chat by the time you arrive at the actual meeting, which will boost your confidence a lot. It may be the most effective negotiation tactic that people ignore.”

4. Consider Other Perks Besides Pay

Part of planning for your negotiation involves coming up with specific numbers—multiple numbers, if possible—and potential solutions outside of money. “Have specific numbers in your head that would be your ‘stretch’ goal, your ‘I’ll take it!’ number, and your ‘ok, it’s a start’ increase,” says Amy Feind Reeves, career coach and author.

Also, you might consider “accepting something other than increased pay as a reward for your performance,” Reeves continues. “Such as work-from-home privileges or extra vacation days. Your manager’s hands could be tied when it comes to the budget.”

5. Keep It Positive

“Approaching your boss with a collaborative mindset is preferable to giving an ultimatum like, ‘pay me 15% more or I’m leaving.’ Be respectful and etiquette-compliant,” Snapka advises. “Recall that individuals, not businesses, engage in negotiations.”

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“Your employer and you are speaking. Having your boss speak up for you is your main objective,” Snapka continues. “Understand the rationale behind your boss’ use of internal political resources to increase your pay. Don’t forget that the business is not after you. Your ultimate objective is the same.”

Similarly, “don’t compare yourself to others in the organization, at competitors, or elsewhere in the field,” Reeves adds. “Base your arguments on your own merits. And don’t bring other issues into the discussion (e.g. outside disputes, disgruntlement, slights) as they are all a distraction from the issue at hand.”

6. Most Importantly, Ask

Unfortunately (and probably, fortunately, too), employers can’t read your mind. If you want a pay raise, then you’ll have to ask for one. Most employers won’t go out of their way to pay you more if they feel they don’t have to.

Williams suggests sending an e-mail along these lines to get the ball rolling: “Can we find a day to discuss my current salary? After an abundance of research and analyzing how inflation has impacted my cost of living, I believe an increase in salary is in order. I enjoy this role and see myself long-term at this company. So, finding a solution is important for me. What days and times would work best for you?”

With a little planning and a bit of courage, you could join the lucky few of the American workforce who feel fairly compensated for their work.

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Gen Z has only been in the labor force for a few short years, but they’ve already made major waves. The oldest among them have just hit 25, and are still relatively new to full-time work. Yet many are pushing for the end of the 40-hour work week and putting an emphasis on mental health over their jobs—and they are extremely vocal about it on social media.

Now, a new labor trend is starting to emerge among Gen Z—quiet quitting. This might sound strange at first, and seem like it’s just Gen Z being lazy. But upon closer inspection, is it really? Could this young generation lead the way toward healthier work-life boundaries?

What, Exactly, Is Quiet Quitting?

Quiet quitting is a work trend that’s taken over TikTok, with videos about the topic racking up millions of views in recent weeks. No, people aren’t stealthily submitting their two weeks’ notice like the name suggests. Instead, this term is what Gen Z is using to describe the simple act of doing their job. 

Quiet quitting is setting clear work-life boundaries to reduce your stress. You only do the job that you are paid to do. You don’t bend over backward for your boss, and you don’t go above and beyond. 

“You’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond,” explains TikTok user @zkchillin. “You’re still performing your duties, but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle-culture mentality that work has to be your life; the reality is it’s not, and your worth as a person is not defined by your labor.” 

TikTok videos with the hashtag #quietquitting give examples of this practice, like closing your computer the moment the clock strikes five o’clock and heading out the door. Another example is not doing the jobs of two to three people or refusing a work request because it’s not in your contract.

Why Are More People Starting To Quiet Quit?

Gen Z is talking about quiet quitting the most on social media, but the attitude is not exclusive to the younger generation. A spring 2022 Gallup poll found that American workers of all ages were in an “engagement slump” when it came to their work. 

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“Engaged employees are involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace,” the polling data explains. “Actively disengaged employees are disgruntled and disloyal because most of their workplace needs are unmet.”

The percentage of American workers now engaged at work is just 32 percent compared to 36 percent two years ago. And this is the case among Gen Z, older millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers.

The poll also found that those who worked in the office or on-site at their job had the lowest engagement levels, 29 percent. While remote workers and employees with hybrid schedules had higher levels of engagement, 37 percent. 

All of this data means that Americans’ attitudes towards their jobs and the workplace are changing, and it’s happening quickly. More than half of unemployed US workers are not looking for a new job. Many workers are choosing not to return to pre-pandemic jobs, while some are requesting to work from home. 

What’s more, since the mid-1990s, the average retirement age has risen for both men and women. This means people are working later into their 60s and beyond. So, it’s especially important to have a proper work/life balance.

What Are The Potential Downfalls?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with knowing your worth at work. And there is definitely no need to bend over backward for an employer that doesn’t value your contribution—especially if you’re not properly compensated. Always going above and beyond at the expense of time with your family, engaging in your favorite hobbies, and your mental health is no way to live your life. 

Doing your job the way it’s supposed to be done with a healthy boundary between work and family/leisure time—which, again, is just simply “working” and doing your job properly—is great for work/life balance. And, it’s an idea that is obviously resonating.

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But, phoning it in and always doing the bare minimum could result in shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to overall career goals and happiness at work. Supervisors could perceive it as a sign you’re already checked out and looking for a new job or are not going to be able to handle the responsibilities associated with a promotion.

There’s also the possibility that quiet quitting could lead to quiet firing. 

“A lot of talk about ‘quiet quitting’ but very little talk about ‘quiet firing,’ which is when you don’t give someone a raise in 5 years even though they keep doing everything you ask them to,” Randy Miller, a software developer, tweeted in a reply to a tweet about quiet quitting.

Are You Ready To Quiet Quit?

Simply doing the job you are paid to do—and not living the hustle culture 24/7—can be a great career/life strategy. Goals don’t have to always be about making the most money and working your way up the corporate hierarchy. But, always doing the minimum might not work for everyone.

If you are disengaged from your job, consider talking with your supervisors so you can plan a better path for yourself in the company. Or, actually quit your job and find something more satisfying. 

Quiet quitting can only be defined as “being lazy” if you let it. 

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Erin Hupp has been creating beautiful ceramics for more than 20 years. But it wasn’t until she was knee-deep in a successful career in law that she made ceramics her main gig.

Erin and I bonded at an event to celebrate her work at San Francisco restaurant Hilda and Jesse. As a lawyer, she worked with foster children, and having been a foster parent myself, we had a lot to talk about both at the restaurant and while we recorded the podcast!

After earning her law degree, the San Francisco-based artist practiced land-use and child-welfare law. But the call of her art was always making lots of noise at the back of her mind, and after giving birth to her third child, she decided to make an enormous change: she would pursue her art, but not just as a hobby—as a full time business.

Her focused approach—she marks every ceramics-related task on the family calendar—has paid off.

Erin is now a professional artist known for her texturally-rich tableware. She partners with restaurants and interior designers to create site-specific pieces, all by hand on her potter’s wheel. You’ll find her work at restaurants including Hilda and Jesse, Californios, Nightbird, Sorrel and Pasta Bar.

Listen to our conversation to find out how she made the seemingly unlikely transition from lawyer to potter a very successful one.

Links: 

Erin Hupp Ceramics

Erin on Instagram

Advokids

Californios

Hilda and Jesse

Windy Chien

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Noz Nozawa

Erin Hupp + Hilda and Jesse article at Forbes

The Upgrade by Louann Brizendine

The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine

Video and audio editing by Sofija Jovanov.

Video and audio editing by Sofija Jovanov.

Today’s episode features Nina Lorez Collins, chief creative officer for Revel, an events and community platform for women over 40. She’s also the founder of The Woolfer, which Revel acquired earlier this year.

In 2015 she started a closed Facebook group called What Would Virginia Woolf Do?, which eventually became The Woolfer. That led to a book with the same name, plus the subtitle: As I Attempt to Age Without Apology.

As we discuss in the podcast, the idea of aging without apology resonates for me because as I  get older, I feel like I should be sorry for getting old—like I’m letting people down somehow.

But things are changing: Revel was founded (with VC funding)  by two women in their thirties who saw the value in women in our 40s and 50s.

Nina is a graduate of Barnard college and has a master’s degree from Columbia narrative medicine. She has a long professional background in book publishing both as a literary scout and an agent. She serves as a trustee of the Brooklyn Public Library, and board member of the publishing house Spiegel and Grau.

Nina also manages the literary estate of her late mother, the filmmaker and writer Kathleen Collins.

Links:

Kathleen Collins

Nina Lorez Collins

Nina Lorez Collins on Instagram

Revel

Revel on Instagram

The Woolfer on Facebook

What Would Virginia Woolf Do? And Other Questions I Ask Myself As I Try To Age Without Apology

Womaness

Kindra

No. 6
Beklina

Weight Watchers

The Fuck It Diet

Tabu

When the COVID lockdowns started nearly two years ago, we were forced to find new ways to work and be productive from home. With offices and other public workspaces quickly shuttered in an unprecedented way, the way we communicated with colleagues and clients immediately changed.

The transition to remote work meant no in-person meetings or brainstorming sessions, no water cooler conversations, no client lunches, no office banter, and no after-work happy hours. For many of us, a regular day at the office was replaced with zoom calls in front of a laptop and working while wearing sweatpants.

At first, remote work may have felt like a much-welcomed opportunity. A bit of a stay-cation, if you will. But for many, the isolation at home, the lack of structure and organization, and the absence of co-workers wasn’t a positive change.

Recapturing That Feeling Of Working In-Person

Working in an office and collaborating with a group of people—with breaks to socialize–can be a catalyst for productivity. That human connection can feed creativity. So when COVID took that away, Los Angeles video director and visual effects artist Cache Bunny came up with a solution.

At first, she started streaming her editing work on Twitch. But streaming for five to eight hours each day was unsustainable. She quickly jumped to Zoom, started a call, and turned it into a never-ending coworking and social community.

The Never-Ending Zoom Call

In the spring of 2020, Cache Bunny started a call on Zoom titled Edit.Party—free for anyone to join—with the idea of it being a “virtual WeWork” spot. The goal was to provide the social element of an office to remote workers who spend most of their day alone, staring at a screen.

“I realized I don’t want to be showing my work necessarily. I don’t want to be talking at all. I really just want to be alongside people while they’re also focused,” Cache Bunny told Insider. “So then that’s where I kind of came up with the idea for the format.”

She said that within an hour of posting, people from all over the world started to join. It was immediately clear to her that everyone on the call was “cool and had similar creative goals.”

Members can log on at any time day or night, and feel less alone while they work because someone is always online.

On average, around 50 people are part of the call at any given time. And, it NEVER ends. The continuous call has been going on for 20 months and counting, and there’s no sign of it ending anytime soon.

How It Works

When you enter Edit.Party, it will look like any other Zoom call. In grid mode, you’ll be able to see the faces of everyone who has joined along with their names and social handles—but they aren’t from a specific company. The call hosts users from 72 countries around the globe.

People from a variety of professional backgrounds—musicians, coders, analysts, video editors, writers—are working while on the call and everyone has their mics silenced. To minimize distractions, a mix of EDM, Lo-Fi, and indie tracks play in the background.

If you want to communicate with others on the call, you simply join the ongoing chat located on the sidebar. That chat box is filled with people sharing different things about themselves and their work.

“It felt so nice to be able to come into a 24/7 open space full of amazing creators and just have people to edit with or hang out,” video content creator Jacob Rodier told Insider. “We even had a meetup recently where I met some of them in real life.”

The Edit.Party Culture

The call has evolved over the past few months and developed its own workplace culture. There are things like “Focused Sprint” sessions, where users can completely mute their computers to concentrate on a project for a specific amount of time.

Users claim that exercises like these help to hold themselves accountable for the time they were spending on work. And, at the same time, have the support of others who were doing the same thing.

Throughout the workday, users on the call will see others doing everything from eating lunch to wrangling their pets to chatting with roommates. But mostly, everyone is there to do their work.

“I have all my friends with me and they’re also being productive,” Cache Bunny said. “So it just sort of turns something that was once the least social activity in the world into this fully social activity.”

If you are easily distracted while working—or don’t like the idea of a webcam capturing the inside of your home for hours every day—Edit.Party might not be the remote work option for you.

But if you are still stuck working at home by yourself and have a desire to interact with “co-workers”, Edit.Party might just be the stimulating work experience you’ve been looking for. And, you can still wear sweatpants.

American work culture has been a hot ticket topic lately. According to a survey conducted by HR Drive in 2021, nearly half of US workers were earning less money than they thought they deserved. Moreover, benefit packages and work expectations can widely vary from employer to employer.

The pandemic appeared to put a lot into perspective for many, leading to headline after headline of employers struggling to find desperately needed help. While some businesses are trying incentives such as hiring bonuses, others have turned to a more inventive approach.

This senior manager, who shared their proposal on Reddit’s Antiwork thread, attests their new approach has been highly effective, despite raising a lot of eyebrows.

Less Is More

“During COVID, our revenue skyrocketed as we were all able to work from home in a high demand industry,” the manager wrote. “My boss, the business owner, asked for my input in how we reward the team.”

The manager’s boss suggested a team activity or Christmas bonus as potential rewards. I speak for all introverts when I say a “team activity” sounds more like a punishment than a perk. And a Christmas bonus? Well, I’d spend that by December 31st. 

Luckily for this small firm’s employees, their manager agreed. The manager began questioning “why we spend so much of our life working just to get by.”

“So, I put together a proposal,” the manager continued. “Let’s work less and give everyone more space in their personal life.” 

The company’s boss accepted the proposal four months before the manager shared their story on Reddit. “All I can say is, wow,” they wrote. “What a difference it’s made to the team happiness—with no decline in revenue.” 

Optional Mondays? Yes, Please

The manager outlined their proposal in three parts. The first reward was a permanent pay increase of 10% to all staff.

Additionally, each employee got an extra five days off per year. “I come from a country where four weeks is standard,” the manager added. “So, this increased to five weeks total.” 

Finally—and perhaps the best perk yet—the firm made Monday an optional workday. “Finish all your work from last week? Great, don’t come in,” the manager continued.

“The week officially begins on Tuesday, and that’s when we meet together. Feeling a little behind? Your Monday is for you to catch up from home. And you don’t have to meet or work with anyone else.”

A Cure For Turnover

The manager explains that before this proposal, the small firm wasn’t doing too hot. With less than 30 staff members, the firm was more of a start-up than an established company.

“This company had a terrible turnover,” the manager said. But after implementing the new perks, employees were happier. They stuck around and worked hard. It was an obvious win for the employees, but the boss gained something, too. 

“I believe this experience taught [the boss to have] respect for your workers,” they wrote. “[They] allowed me to pitch an idea to spend money on the team.” 

By doing so, the firm could “save stress and potential money loss in the future.” 

Of the thousands of commenters on this now-viral post, many found this well overdue.

Reddit Responds

“Hopefully, this is the outcome of this ongoing labor revolution,” one user commented about the manager’s proposal. 

“The companies that realize they need to pay a fair wage and treat employees like human beings will thrive. And the rest will be slowly choked out of the market by lack of labor,” they continued. 

Others added that this is a no-brainer. “We’re only alive for a limited time. And if we are lucky, we’ll spend a third of our waking hours in the prime of our life at work.”

“Companies will literally save money in the long run if they just pay a little more to keep people happy,” another user commented. “It doesn’t even have to come from the profits. Just take that pizza party money, and put it to better use.” 

It sounds like at least one small firm has finally turned hip to this way of thinking. Now, it’s time to start pushing for this to be the new norm—not the exception.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home was reserved for the sick, elite, or self-employed. Fast forward to 2021 and WFH has become the new norm. And with new norms come new hacks for making our work lives easier. One TikTok user shared her hack for keeping pestering supervisors off her back while working from home. 

While some fellow WFH-ers were appreciative of the trick, others were concerned that it was even necessary. As one user commented, “say you live in America without saying you live in America.”

Going To The Bathroom Free From Paranoia

One reoccurring theme with employers quickly setting up WFH policies concerns tracking how productive employees really are from the privacy of their own homes. While some take extreme measures like installing surveillance software, others simply rely on that ‘active’ status indicating someone is online. Yet the latter can present its own unique set of issues, one for which TikTok user Leah Ova has developed a solution to address.

“If you carry your laptop around with you because you’re so paranoid that [in] the 30 minutes you spend away from your desk, your computer will go to ‘away,’ and you will be fired because no one will think you’re doing any work, I have something to recommend,” Ova said. 

She then pans the camera down to reveal a small, sleek gadget she called a “mouse-mover.” Her Apple mouse sits on top of the gadget, swerving left to right. 

“It’s called a mouse mover, and it moves your mouse while you’re away,” Ova explained. “So, you can go to the bathroom free from paranoia. Yes, I need help.” But other users quickly pointed out it isn’t help she needs—it’s something else entirely.

The American Workplace Experience

Most users didn’t think Ova needed help. Rather, they thought she needed a new job, therapy, boundaries, or all three. 

“What kind of company are you working for to be afraid [of being] fired because of 30 minutes?” One TikTok user commented. “If people are micromanaging you like that, then you need a new job,” another user added. 

However, hundreds appreciated the advice and said that they planned on buying a mouse mover, too. Hundreds more offered DIY alternatives to a new gadget. 

Some WFH hacks included technical tricks, like Caffeine, or adjusting your computer’s sleep settings. Other tricks were more creative. “The nail polish bottle on the shift key has worked wonders for me,” one user wrote. 

The online response to Ova proves that while this is a common issue, that doesn’t make it any less troubling. “Tell me you have no labor laws without telling me you have no labor laws,” one user commented. Another added, “is America ok?”

WFH Rights Are Slim To None

Unfortunately, the answer is no, America isn’t okay. When it comes to monitoring, American workers have little to no say in the matter. As the Washington Post reported in August 2021, employers are more equipped than ever to spy on their workers. 

Among other things, US employers can access how often you type, your webcam, which sites you visit, and your emails. What was once a novelty is now the norm. 

When the pandemic first began, “30 percent of large employers adopted employee-tracking software for the first time,” chief of HR for Gartner, Brian Kropp, told the Washington Post. “Now, 60 percent use it in general.” 

Common software includes Teramind, Hubstaff, ActivTrak, TimeCamp, and Interguard. There are minor differences between software, but some of the most common capabilities are also the most concerning. 

For example, Teramind can collect data from your computer’s microphone and speakers. This includes ambient noise from your home office and whoever is at home with you.

That same software can browse employee emails for profanity or other red flags. It can also search social media for negative posts and track visits to job search sites. 

If you’re wondering about employee privacy rights, don’t worry—there aren’t many. “In general, you have very, very, very light protections, if any, for employee privacy,” Emory Roane, privacy counsel at Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, explained to the Washington Post. 

So, what can you do if you don’t want to be monitored? Quit. “You can say no to the job,” Roane said. “But you probably can’t say no to that [data] collection.”

Another Way To Burn Out

To the business execs using these strategies, their monitoring is justified. When the pandemic forced businesses to go remote, many worried about a drop in productivity. 

This drop, however, was more of a hypothetical fear than a harsh reality. In fact, Mercer surveyed nearly 800 employers in August 2020. The survey found that 94 percent of employers said productivity remained the same or improved since WFH began. 

Productivity might not have dropped, but morale certainly has. Forbes reported in December that employer monitoring only intensifies feelings of isolation in remote workers. 

Moreover, an ExpressVPN study found that 56% of remote workers felt stress and anxiety due to constant monitoring. 41% spent their entire workday wondering if their employer was watching them. 

Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t create a very pleasant work environment. America is already experiencing a wave of worker dissatisfaction in the form of The Great Resignation. Monitoring will only make the problem worse before it gets better. 

Motivated and happy employees don’t require constant watching to do their work. Only overworked, underpaid, and mistreated ones do. And we’re going to need a little bit more than a mouse-mover to solve that problem.

When job quality goes down, picket signs go up. Our country has a long history of labor strikes stretching back to the 1800s. Over 200 years later, the strikes have continued. 

Now, as we near the end of 2021, we’re witnessing yet another historical shift. On the heels of a global pandemic, the working class is rallying together to fight the corporate elite. 

It’s worked before. But will it work again?

The Great Resignation

In April 2021 alone, four million Americans quit their jobs. The following month, Texas A&M professor Dr. Anthony Klotz coined the term “the Great Resignation.” 

And as the year continued, that resignation kept getting greater and greater. By August, total non-farm quits reached 2.9 percent—an all-time high. 

Harvard Business Review found that mid-career employees, between 30 and 45 percent, were most likely to quit their job. Moreover, resignation rates were the highest among the tech, healthcare, and hospitality industries. 

Normally, workers quitting in large numbers signals a healthy economy. It indicates a thriving job market with ample options for workers. However, if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that we’re not in normal times. 

It’s no coincidence that this mass exodus took place immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Toppling Workload

Before the pandemic, the labor market was a simmering pressure cooker. Rampant wage, gender, and race inequality bubbled just below the surface. The COVID-19 pandemic upped the temperature by a couple of degrees. And that’s all it took to turn a slow simmer into a violent boil, bubbling over the sides of our metaphorical melting pot. 

One of the most pressing issues is wage discrepancy. Hundreds of thousands of workers rely on minimum wage jobs to survive. But as the cost of living increases, the minimum wage has stayed the same. Now, the minimum wage is no longer considered a “living wage.” 

When adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage in 2020 was 33% lower than in 1970. This year, it’s even lower. Additionally, benefits like PTO and health insurance are unavailable to over half of the labor market. 

Then, there’s the issue of how to work. The rise of remote work caused a “Great Reshuffling,” in which workers had more time to reassess their priorities and preferences. 

Unsurprisingly, many workers preferred the freedom of working from home. Others require it, thanks to skyrocketing childcare costs. 

But the labor market isn’t made of worker bees alone. The higher-ups are feeling it, too.

The View From Behind The Desk

Employers have also had their fair share of woes. “No one wants to work” became a rallying war cry of the corporate elite as the Great Resignation started. And now, employers claim that applicants keep ghosting them. 

“I’m in the medical field, and this has been happening to us for the past year,” one employer told Slate reporter Alison Green. “Being ghosted for interviews, people not responding. We’ve even hired people who didn’t show up on the first day or return for the second. It’s unreal.” 

Fast food restaurants, gas stations, and other non-medical businesses are also experiencing staff shortages. “Short-staffed” notices have gone viral. Businesses are cutting hours. 

Indeed, no matter which side you’re on, there’s a problem in the labor market. Still, only one side has the greater leverage. 

“What’s unique about this moment,” Joseph McCartin told NPR, “is there is a labor shortage that many employers are complaining about. But it’s a labor shortage that is largely worker-driven.”

“Workers have been withdrawing from the labor market in dissatisfaction with the jobs they currently have,” McCartin continues. 

So, what are workers doing with their newfound leverage? What they’ve always done, of course: they strike.

The Result: Striketober

October 2021 ushered in “Striketober,” one of the largest increases of organized labor in the 21st century. In October alone, more than 100,000 workers participated in or prepared for national labor strikes. 

The last time America saw such a widespread strike, Ronald Reagan was president. During the PATCO strike of 1981, nearly 13,000 air-traffic controllers went on strike. Reagan fired over 11,000 of them. Thus, a fear of striking washed over the country. 

Now, under a pro-union administration, Striketober seems like the next logical step. “Workers have just come through a pandemic. The economy is just beginning to improve,” McCartin told NPR. 

“Usually, after a big crisis and when things begin to improve, workers can become more militant,” he continues. McCartin says similar strike surges happened after both World Wars and the Great Depression.

The month of October saw strikes among employees of Nabisco, Kellogg’s, John Deere, and McDonald’s, to name a few. Healthcare, higher education, and tech institutions also had workers on strike. 

But all this striking begs the question: will it work?

Strikes Beget Strikes

McCartin seems to think so, and he’s not alone. “Strikes tend to breed strikes,” he told NPR. “If workers see that strikes are being effective, then they’re more likely to use the strike weapon.” 

“Strikes can be contagious for unions and workers,” Kate Bronfenbrenner told NBC News. “Workers are looking at each other and getting inspired.” 

That inspiration doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, either. Experts predict labor strikes will continue well into 2022’s midterm elections. 

Most importantly, we’ve seen successful labor strikes before. It’s not unfathomable to think we will see similar labor shifts in the 21st century. In fact, it’s happening before our very eyes right now.

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Internet scammers have been an issue ever since the World Wide Web came into our lives back in the ’90s and they continue to get more and more creative with their techniques.

Amid what’s been dubbed “the great resignation“—a trend that saw more Americans quit their job in August 2021 than any other month in recorded history—internet scammers are posting thousands of fake job ads to steal personal info.

The Scam

According to ProPublica, ads for job postings are popping up on sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Facebook that promise well-paying jobs. But only if the applicant provides their social security number and a copy of their driver’s license, front and back, to “initiate” the interview process.

“These fraudsters, they’re like a virus. They continue to mutate,” said Haywood Talcove, chief executive of the government division of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a contractor that helps state and federal agencies combat identity theft.

How It Happens

An example of the scam comes from Alexandra Mateus Vásquez, who thought she was applying for a graphic designer job with Steak ‘n Shake in December 2020 via an ad on Indeed. When contacted by who she thought was a company representative (through a Gmail account), Vásquez participated in an email interview questionnaire, which she thought was odd.

However, she continued the process and answered the questions. A few hours later she received an email offering her the position at $30 an hour. The email also asked her to share her address and phone number so they could send her a formal offer.

When that offer letter arrived, it asked for her social security number. Vásquez provided that info before she was invited to a background check via online chat with who she thought was a hiring manager.

Vásquez provided copies of her personal records and documents to verify her identity, including her state ID and green card. They also asked for a credit card number, which caused her to hesitate. That’s when she got a call from Id.me, an identity verification vendor that multiple states use to guard their unemployment insurance programs.

As it turns out, the scammer was using Vásquez’s personal info to file a fraudulent unemployment insurance claim in her name. This, says fraud experts, is the new twist to the scam.

What To Look For

These fraudulent job postings are appearing on sites all over the internet–no matter how big or small. One common posting is for an airport shuttle driver, offering $2,000 per week for a 35 hour work week.

Job seekers should also be aware that fraudsters are recreating company hiring websites that are almost impossible to distinguish from the real thing. The only difference is that the phony site will ask applicants to upload copies of their social security card and driver’s license along with their resume.

Pay Attention

According to Blake Hall, chief executive of ID.me, the company is doing its best to inform users when their identities are being used to apply for unemployment insurance benefits. But ultimately, it’s up to users to look for the scam.

“We will do as much as we can to make it clear that they’ve been scammed,” he said, “but ultimately protecting somebody from themself is a really tall order.”

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The tug of war between employer and employee has been going on for centuries. Sometimes, the fight seems fairly equal. Others, it’s clearly one-sided. 

These days, the job market is still reeling from the COVID-19 shutdowns of early 2020. Employers claim no one wants to work. Employees claim no one wants to pay fairly.

And now, there’s a new problem for employers to face: applicants keep ghosting them. Not only does no one want to work, but they also don’t even show up. 

But depending on which side of the rope you’re standing, this is just karmic justice at work.

How The Tables Have Turned

Author, blogger, and long-time manager Alison Green reported the new ghosting phenomenon to Slate’s “Direct Report” column. In Green’s report, she quotes several employers and employees alike. 

“I’m in the medical field, and this has been happening to us for the past year,” one employer told Green. “Being ghosted for interviews, people not responding. We’ve even hired people who didn’t show up on the first day or return for the second. It’s unreal.” 

“I’ve never had so many people just not respond or not show up. Is this the new normal? I’m at a loss and feeling really discouraged,” wrote another hiring manager. 

Whether on Tinder or at a start-up, no one likes to be ghosted. Employers say this behavior is unprofessional. Surely, we have to do something about it, right?

A Lot Of The Workforce Isn’t Buying It

According to the average worker, no, we don’t. Many Job seekers are used to not hearing from potential employers. Similarly, they’re used to unprofessional and unfair treatment. Their needs have often not been met. 

So, some in the workforce are thinking, what’s the big fuss about it now? Green heard from several job seekers who weren’t ready to sympathize just yet. 

“Honestly, I LOVE seeing potential employees treating employers the way employers have been treating their candidates for years!” One worker wrote. “I really hope that employers learn a lesson from this.” 

“It seems perfectly rational to conclude that since [employers] have been ghosting applicants for years, ghosting is normal and acceptable,” wrote another.

“Given how many jobs I took the time and resources to apply to, research and show up for an interview who then never bothered to thank me for my time or let me know they filled the position, I can’t even summon up a little bit of empathy for this,” one quote read.

Some Employers Aren’t Competitive Enough

Are they bitter? Maybe a little. Are they wrong? Not necessarily. 

There are plenty of employers that are asking for competitive applicants while offering little to nothing in return. When adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage in 2020 was 33% lower than in 1970. In 2021, it’s even lower. 

Benefits like PTO are available to less than half of leisure and hospitality employees. This sector alone employs one in 11 US workers. So, for hundreds of thousands of people, they either show up to work or lose money. 

Forcing workers to come in no matter what leads to the spread of disease (hi, COVID). It disaffects mental health and is all-around unreasonable. 

Moreover, many workers earned more off of COVID-related unemployment insurance than their actual jobs. For example, my husband made more from UI than working hard, manual labor 70 hours a week. In what world does that make sense? Because I haven’t found one yet.

All of these could be reason enough for applicants’ behavior, but there could be more.

Other Reasons To Ghost

Namely, the pandemic is still happening. Some people are hesitant to expose themselves or their families to disease. Others can’t afford childcare, so they have to stay home. 

And speaking of the pandemic, it gave us a lot of free time last year. Many workers took that time to reassess what they wanted out of their careers and lives in general. They discovered new labor markets that could better cater to their lifestyles. 

This reassessment led to something Business Insider’s Aki Ito calls “The Great Reshuffle.” The reshuffle is “an unprecedented labor market, coupled with a rethinking of what workers want out of both work and life.”

It has “led many to exit their positions or to seek out new ones. The market out there for workers is competitive. Many are finding higher salaries or better positions as they depart their old roles.”

A Taste Of Their Own Medicine

As an average worker bee myself, I would argue there is no true dilemma. The tug of war rope hasn’t dropped in the mud yet; it’s only inched closer to the workers’ side. 

Since time immemorial, the employer has held dominance over the employee. Save for a one-off revolution and a few union uprisings here and there, that’s been the American way. 

The COVID-19 pandemic shone a massive, glaring spotlight on who really keeps the country going. (Hint: it’s not the people complaining about getting ghosted right now.) 

It’s my opinion that we didn’t even utilize this shift to our full advantage. Workers once dubbed ‘essential’ are still earning an unlivable wage. Basic benefits like health care are still a faraway pipe dream for most of us.

So, no, job seekers aren’t ghosting employers. Applicants are turning them down. If anything, this proves that the power has always resided in the people—period. 

And if they want more people to work, then they’re going to have to make it worth our while. 

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Life coach Karen Randall helps women at midlife explore the questions that not many on social media are talking about. As we look at our changing faces in the mirror, many of us ask: What’s next for me? What path do I take when it feels like my best years are behind me? I have so many ideas, how do I pick the right one when time feels so short?

Video and audio editing by Sofija Jovanov.

While it’s wonderful that we’re seeing more midlife women on social media, and that we’re all encouraging each other to embrace our age with empowering mantras, (Own it! Do you! Don’t give an F what anyone thinks!), for many of us, it’s so much easier said than done.

In this episode, Karen discusses how you can explore those questions to actually get to that chill-AF-about-aging state of mind. It was really fun digging into all of this with Karen, I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!

Find out more about Karen’s work at her website!

Since the pandemic first shuttered US businesses in March 2020, the job market has been on everyone’s mind. Who is eligible for unemployment? Will the economy ever recover? When do we reopen? 

Blissfully ignoring these questions are time millionaires. Wealthy in minutes, not necessarily money, these people have found ways to adapt to the changing times. 

Because it’s true, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the American workforce forever. And time millionaires have a new idea of the American worker’s most valuable commodity.

What Is A Time Millionaire?

Nilanjana Roy first coined the term “time millionaire” in a 2016 Financial Times column. Time millionaires “measure their worth not in terms of financial capital, but according to the seconds, minutes, and hours they claw back from employment for leisure and recreation.” 

The Guardian spoke with several self-proclaimed time millionaires, people like Gavin, a software engineer, who works hard at not working. 

“I work to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head,” he told The Guardian. “I don’t see any value or purpose in work. Zero. None whatsoever.” 

Gavin explained that he always sought ways to work less. While employed at a call center, he would mute his phone. Another position as a civil servant was largely spent eating, as he would regularly take an hour for breakfast and two hours for lunch.

Now as a software engineer working from home, Gavin begins his day bright and early at 8:30am, only to wrap up around 11am. To make it appear he’s still online and “working,” Gavin plays a 10-hour long YouTube video of a black screen.

And apparently, his boss is none the wiser. “My boss is happy with the work I’m doing,” he told The Guardian. “Or more accurately, the work he thinks I’m doing.”

Instead, Gavin is enjoying the short time he has on this earth, doing what he wants to do. This is what a time millionaire is all about. And Gavin isn’t alone.

COVID-19 Put A Lot Into Perspective 

While many people might not have been as brazen or extreme as Gavin when it came to their work mentality, the pandemic put a lot in perspective. That included mistreatment at work, poor wages, insane hours, burnout, or even seeing that many previous rules (like working in-office) weren’t necessary at all.

“The pandemic was this massive controlled experiment in forcing people to embrace a different way of working. What we saw was the opposite of what executives had been telling employees for decades,” author Charlie Warzel told The Guardian. 

“Productivity and profits rose. Now, people are wondering what else employers were wrong about. What other ways of working have gotten out of sync?” Warzel continued.

Swapping Money For Minutes

Nilanjan Roy wrote in FT that “wealth can bring comfort and security in its wake. But I wish we were taught to place as high a value on our time as we do on our bank accounts. Because how you spend your hours and your days is how you spend your life.” 

And in today’s world of remote working, it can be far too easy to blend work and home time. Jenny Odell, the author of How to Do Nothing, says this has turned time into a commodity. 

“In a situation where every waking moment has become the time in which we make our living, time becomes an economic resource that we can no longer justify spending on ‘nothing,’” Odell says. 

“We even submit our leisure for numerical evaluation via likes on Facebook. [Doing nothing] provides no return on investment. It is simply too expensive,” she continues. 

Time millionaires are challenging this exact idea. It might be time for the rest of the workforce to follow suit.

What The Future Workforce Might Look Like

“If society was truly progressive,” Roy argues, “it would not work people to the bone in the first place.” Nor would it assume “that leisure, time to rest, and time to be with your family is only for the wealthy.” 

A society in which work isn’t prioritized might seem über-progressive for American standards. But most of us are already on board. 

Roughly 56% of unemployed US workers are not looking for a new job. Many workers are choosing not to return to pre-pandemic jobs. Some are requesting to work from home. 

Gen-Z wants to end the 40-hour workweek, too. Younger workers want to emphasize mental health. They prioritize the quality of life, not work. 

We’ve known that working less actually increases productivity. Studies in Iceland and Japan prove this theory with scientifically backed data.  

The American worker has lost their power in the last few decades. In a world where the dollar’s value is fleeting and gold reserves are dwindling, time might be the last real commodity we have to use to our advantage.

This is a super-long one, but I just could not bring myself to make it shorter because I loved every minute of this conversation.

To make it easier to navigate, I have broken it down for you below. Listen to it beginning to end (which, you know, I totally recommend because it’s good), or pick and choose the topics that interest you most.

I highly recommend not missing the Vivienne Westwood section, as well as the yoga and trends parts, oh, and the part about what Andrea loves about this phase of our lives.

And if you’d like to watch to the video, please click here (or above).

Please let me know what you think!

Video and audio editing by Sofija Jovanov.

Jump to Key Topics

3:22: Girl in Transition + Timbuk2 9:30 A designer’s business sense and entrepreneurship

16:44 Chicago origins (she wasn’t always a fashion girl)

26:10 First fashion gig with the legendary Vivienne Westwood (and how she got it with a the craziest resume)

32:57 Being open and spontaneous and also a responsible adult

35:42 AGING and being an overgrown teenager and planning to live until 139 and dating younger men

46:45 Mentee and mentorship over the years

51:46 YOGA

1:00:33 TRENDS! Loved and hated

1:09:09 “Genderless fashion is the NOW of fashion”

1:16:28 What she loves about this phase of our lives (don’t miss this one!)

Key quotes

“I’ve never moved for a job.”

“Genderless fashion is the now of fashion.”

“Sometimes I look like a grown up woman, sometimes I look like a teenager, sometimes I look like a hight school skater boy.”

“The time has gone by when only certain people are allowed to have certain experiences.”

Links

As Timbuk2 turns 30, its female executives are building a lifestyle powerhouse

Anti-aging ads are out

Podcast with Wini Linguvic my yoga instructor

The Spring/Summer 1993 Vivienne Westwood show with the last-minute dyed dress as the finale

Pharrell on the cover of Vanity Fair, November 2019

Many of us have transitioned to working from home during the pandemic. And it looks like this is just the beginning of a historic shift in the job market.

According to a survey from Enterprise Technology Research (ETR), the percentage of workers permanently working from home is expected to double this year. And by 2025, an estimated 70% of the workforce will be working remotely at least five days a month.

What used to be a job perk is becoming the norm. But this new trend is also bringing new problems and concerns.

The Guardian reports that bosses have started turning to “tattleware” to “keep tabs on employees working from home.” And this practice is poised to become a standard feature of remote work. But isn’t this practice a huge invasion of privacy?

The Rise Of Surveillance Software

Surveillance software programs known as “tattleware” or “bossware” have seen a major boom during the pandemic. It was a niche market in a pre-COVID world. But everything changed in March 2020, when employers were forced to put together work-from-home policies on the fly.

In April 2020, Google searches for “remote monitoring” were up 212% over the previous year. In April of this year, those searches had surged another 243%.

The surveillance software market is made up of companies like ActivTrak, Sneek, Time Doctor, Teramind, and Hubstaff. And each one of those companies is reporting similar growth from prospective customers that Google has seen with searches for these types of products.

The sales pitch for this type of software is that it allows teams of workers who are good friends to stay connected while working from home. It also allows managers to supervise workflow. Basically, the software is bringing your workplace to your home office. But the reality is that tattleware allows supervisors to monitor their workers’ every move.

How Does Tattleware Work?

Tattleware gives bosses a variety of options for monitoring the online activity of their workers and assessing their productivity when working from home. These surveillance software programs give employers the power to do things like log webcam screenshots, keystrokes, and an employee’s browsing history.

In the growing bossware market, each platform also attempts to offer special features. FlexiSpy offers call-tapping, Spytech gives access to mobile devices, and NetVizor has a remote takeover feature.

One worker named David told The Guardian that in his first week working from home, his employer added the digital surveillance platform Sneek.

David says that every minute, the program would capture a live photo of him and his co-workers via their company laptop webcams. The constantly changing headshots were all part of a digital conference waiting room wall that everyone on his team could see.

If he clicked on a colleague’s face, it would unilaterally pull David and his co-worker into a video call. If anyone on David’s team caught someone goofing off on company time, they could send a screenshot of the image to a team chat through Sneek’s integration with the Slack messaging platform.

Sneek ended up being a dealbreaker for David, and he quit less than three weeks later. “I signed up to manage their digital marketing,” he says. “Not to livestream my living room.”

The Remote Monitoring Trend Isn’t Slowing Down

Tattleware isn’t the only tool that employers can use to keep an eye on their workers. There’s been a noticeable increase in the number of bosses who are using their in-house IT departments to monitor emails and flag phrases.

If certain employees discuss their “salary” or a “recruiter,” the boss will get an alert that lets them know someone could be looking for a new job.

Then there’s companies like Zoom, who briefly had an “attention tracking” setting, which alerted a call host if someone in the meeting wasn’t paying attention for more than 30 seconds. Zoom quickly backtracked and got rid of it.

But Microsoft kept its “productivity score” feature in its 365 suite, despite backlash from tech experts. This controversial feature rates individuals on different criteria, like network connectivity and email use.

According to digital researcher and privacy advocate Juan Carloz, from the University of Melbourne, this spying trend isn’t going away. Despite the controversy surrounding this invasive tech.

“There’s no real sign of this trend slowing down,” Carloz said. “No sign of legislative change in any jurisdiction I can name, and no sign of pushback from employees, even when they’re aware of it happening.”

It’s An Invasion Of Privacy, Right?

Sneek co-founder Del Currie says that his software is designed to replicate the office—and he fully admits it’s a total invasion of privacy.

“We know lots of people will find it an invasion of privacy, we 100% get that, and it’s not the solution for those folks,” Currie says. “But there’s also lots of teams out there who are good friends and want to stay connected when they’re working together.”

But Carloz argues that the tattleware boom is giving way too much power to the employer. He says that before the pandemic, the line between work and play was much clearer because “surveillance… stopped at the door.” Now, with tattleware, an employer can spy on an employee even when they’re not at work.

If an employee uses a spy-enabled work computer outside of business hours, their employer can still easily watch them. And, the employer would also have access to the employee’s personal data, like internet banking passwords and Facebook messages.

Carloz says that there are “essentially no legal protections afforded to employees in most western nations” if their boss snoops around their personal info in the off hours.

“But since, rightly or wrongly, [surveillance software] is being framed as a trade-off for remote work, many are all too content to let it slide,” Carloz says.

We admire many women for their hard work and accomplishments, but some deserve special credit for transforming their entire industries. This is only a small (but mighty) roundup of changemakers throughout history who refused to accept things as they were and, through hard work and perseverance, transformed the way everyone does business for the better.

The job isn’t yet done regarding equality for women in the workplace. But these women made enormous strides in fields from hair to wine to science, paving the way for progress.

1. Madame Clicquot: Wine

Madame Clicquot, also known as Veuve Clicquot, shaped the history of wine forever in the late 18th century. She owned the first champagne house, introduced pink champagne to the world, and opened space for other women to make their mark in the wine industry.

2. Patsy Mink: Politics

Before Kamala Harris made her mark as the first female and person of color to become Vice President of the United States, there was Patsy Mink. A third-generation Japanese American, Mink was the first woman of an ethnic minority group to be elected to Congress. She was a major pioneer for women in politics, especially women of color.

3. Madam C.J. Walker: Hair

If you’ve watched Self-Made on Netflix, you’ve already met Madam C.J. Walker. Octavia Spencer plays the starring role, and it’s all about how Walker became the first Black woman millionaire in America. She played a massive role in the hair business industry. Her work and success were stepping stones for many other women of color to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.

4. Ada Lovelace: Computer Programming

About 200 years ago, Ada Lovelace created programming. Lovelace built on Charles Babbage’s work in developing a massive calculating machine—one of the first renditions of a computer. She took his research and showed how his machine could complete any computation.

5. Aretha Franklin: Music

The “Queen of Soul” is one of the most honored artists in Grammy history. She was the first female performer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Rolling Stone considers her the greatest singer of all time. The Gospel Music Association described her as “the voice of the civil rights movement, the voice of black America” when inducting Franklin into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

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Millennials have had the wild, weird (dis)pleasure of growing up with social media. First, we blogged on Xanga. Then, we wrote code and answered surveys on Myspace.

From Facebook and Tumblr to Twitter and Instagram, social media has changed a lot since the 90s. But throughout it all, we’ve mostly regarded these sites as just a space for fun. But that could all change for good, thanks to TikTok’s resumes feature.

Here’s What A TikTok Resume Is

I’ll be honest. When I first heard about TikTok resumes, my mind immediately flashed to the cringe-tastic spectacle that used to be my Vine profile. Social media was (er, is) my outlet to express myself and not worry about the watchful eye of an employer. 

So, how do TikTok resumes even work and what are they? Are employers scrolling from resume to dancing video to shitposting to back again? What does a digital resume look like? My millennial brain needed answers. 

Thankfully, TikTok answers a lot of the most pressing questions on its website.

Ultimately, TikTok resumes are video resumes. Furthermore, the app suggests using its green-screen feature to showcase experience and portfolios. 

The TikTok Resumes homepage also has a handy “do’s & don’ts” video. Some “do’s” include letting your personality shine through, keeping videos up and public for one month and using the hashtag #TikTokResumes. 

(To be clear, anyone posting a TikTok resume needs a public TikTok profile. So, yes, in theory, your future boss could be watching you and your friends do dance routines in the street. That’s something to keep in mind.)

The video also advises job seekers not to include full names and e-mail addresses. You can safely share contact information after a company has reached out to you.

Revamping The Elevator Pitch

The app’s new feature piggybacks off of the elevator pitch. With TikTok Resumes, everyone can benefit from the ultra-personalized, modern recruitment experience. 

According to the company’s website, users are “encouraged to creatively and authentically showcase their skillsets and experiences” in their TikTok resumes. 

In addition to uploading their resumes, job seekers can search job listings. Users can also find examples of strong digital resumes and browse career-related content. 

“We are encouraging our users to turn their traditional paper resume into a digital video resume or elevator pitch,” TikTok wrote.

TikTok Resumes Was Inspired By #CareerTok

While TikTok Resumes sounds completely new and groundbreaking, it’s not the social media platform’s first dip into the professional audience pool.

“#CareerTok is already a thriving subculture on the platform,” Global Head of Marketing Nick Tran wrote on TikTok’s website. “We can’t wait to see how the community embraces TikTok Resumes.”

The #CareerTok hashtag on TikTok currently has over 65 million views. Content ranges from how to fluff up your resume to providing interview questions for employers. 

The New York Times reported on this back in November 2020. The publication interviewed Shadé Zahrai, a career strategist with more than 450K TikTok followers. Zahrai told NYT that her firm was fielding requests from CEOs and Fortune 500 companies who had seen her TikTok videos. 

“What I’m finding is there’s this real desire to seek guidance from someone who they can trust,” Zahrai said. Seeking guidance through TikTok, she says, is “almost like having a mentor or counselor in your pocket.”

Solving The National Labor Shortage

Chipotle is one of the brands utilizing the new “professional” side of TikTok, and the company cited the national labor shortage as its reasoning for trying it out.

“Due to the competitive labor market, Chipotle is continuing to experiment with new methods of meeting its potential applicants where they are,” the food chain told CBS News.

Indeed, the labor market is on unsteady ground. “The worker shortage is a national economic emergency. And it poses an imminent threat to… America’s great resurgence,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Suzanne Clark told Business Insider.  

Opinions differ on what caused this shortage. Some editorials blame COVID-19 unemployment benefits. Others claim the declining birthrate shrunk the labor pool. 

And while this might account for some job loss, there are more pressing issues at hand. Despite the food service and accommodation industries adding a record number of jobs this spring, workers aren’t biting. Why? Workers want a living wage.

Many of these jobs crying “labor shortage” don’t provide a living wage or benefits. Therefore, I would argue there is no labor shortage. There is a fair compensation shortage.

What This Means For Brands Using TikTok Resumes

Over half of TikTok’s user base is younger than 24. Under 20% of LinkedIn users are of the same age range. The internet doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon. So, TikTok Resumes is a logical next step. 

Generally speaking, TikTok Resumes is a cue to older generations to adapt. “Tweeter,” “Face-gram” and “Click Clock” are capable of enacting great change. To keep up with the times is to adjust to the new. 

At the same time, employers should heed the labor shortage as a warning. And, yes, while companies like Chipotle and Target are trying to stay hip, unless those companies provide livable wages, benefits and equitable work, it’s all performative.

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Help wanted; a jack of all trades, a job description all too familiar, pushing the boundaries of realism—a common pitfall of today’s workforce that often leads to significant burnout. 

Yet, if that wasn’t enough, 2020 arrived and tested us beyond measure. As a result, 95% of American workers are now questioning whether or not they should quit their jobs because of stress. 

Here’s How It All Started

As the pandemic swept through the country last year, millions of workers adapted to the foreign reality of remote work. Although employees could now get comfortable in cozy style as they sat in front of their computers, hours of digital meetings ensued. 

According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, the average meeting time increased by at least 10 minutes between February 2020 and February 2021. Although it doesn’t sound like much, that meant meetings started to extend from 35 to 45 minutes, allowing less time for other work priorities. 

Additionally, Microsoft Work Trend Index reported teams sending 45% more chats per week and 42% more chats per person after hours, a significant increase from years past. Moreover, they’ve seen a 66% increase in the number of individuals working on documents. Consequently, more time spent in a virtual world sent workers spiraling into digital exhaustion. 

During the pandemic, employees also experienced intensified levels of both engagement and stress. As a result, their well-being quickly diminished. Gallup, an American analytics and advisory company, described workplace engagement and well-being data trends as nothing they’ve ever witnessed before. 

On top of this, homes, once places of comfort and relaxation, became “always-on” offices, making work-life balance harder than ever.

With many fluctuations and adaptations at hand, employees became tired, unmotivated, and very clearly burnt out. With this increase in pressured emotions, individuals began to wonder if it was best to simply just quit.

It’s Not Just You Who Wants To Quit

It’s not surprising that after an unprecedented year, a whopping 95% of American workers are currently thinking about finding a new job. Additionally, 92% of workers are willing to switch industries for a new position. But, why? A stark 32% of respondents named work burnout as the most common reason for their willingness to leave. 

The elongated meetings, constant work, and an always-on-the-clock model can only go on for so long, and Americans are desperate for a break. But is quitting the answer? Maybe, depending on your personal situation, but there are also some helpful tools to combat work burnout.

Ways To Combat Work Burnout

According to Harvard Health, heavy workloads, lack of community, and a mismatch between workplace and personal values can cause burnout. So, do you need a new job, or do you just need to change the way you tackle the work you do?

It may be a good idea to try out the below tips on how to combat work burnout before quitting. However, only you know what is best for you, so remember to always put yourself first.

1. Practice Relaxation Techniques

Taking a break away from work to unwind and reset can relieve stress. A quick stretch or yoga break will do a lot of good. You can even take short walks during your breaks to improve mobility.

2. Think Twice About Negative Situations

When something bad happens at work, be sure to give yourself time to reflect on the situation before acting. At a second glance, the situation may not be as negative as you originally thought. Harvard Health states that people under stress are more likely to look at situations through a negative lens that may not reflect the true situation.

3. Set Hard Stops

Creating a healthy work-life balance is essential. This is especially true for those looking to make remote work their long-term goal. Create boundaries, such as hard stops, to reduce the urge to do one more task after dinner. For example, at 7 p.m., close the door to the office and stop checking work emails and Skype messages.

4. Have Casual Conversations

Remember that engagement and well-being are crucial to happiness at work. It’s okay to talk to your coworkers about non-work-related things. Ask how their garden is doing or discuss the last binge-worthy shows you’ve watched. Even if you’re working remotely, take the start of all those extra meetings to catch up while the rest of the attendees join in.

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As Queen of Appalachia Dolly Parton once said, “working 9 to 5” is anything but easy. Over the last century, the American workforce has accepted the 40-hour workweek as normal and expected.

Gen Z, however, has different plans. The younger generation is slowly entering the workforce, and the first item on their agenda is ditching this 40-hour tradition.

The History Of The 40-Hour Work Week

Following the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century, American workers were running ragged. The late 1800s saw waves of employee strikes and the creation of labor unions as Americans fought for workers’ rights. 

It wasn’t until September 1926 that Henry Ford began implementing a five-day, 40-hour workweek. Ford explained his reasoning in Ford Motor Company’s newsletter, Ford News. 

“The five-day workweek will open our way to still greater posterity,” Ford wrote. “It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure for workmen is either lost time or a class privilege.” 

Ford argued that workers with more free time could spend more money vacationing, shopping, and, of course, driving. Nearly 100 years later, and we are following his same cue.

Theory Of Relative Productivity

Research suggests we’re well overdue for a change. An Icelandic study found that when public sector employees reduced their weekly work time by five hours, their well-being dramatically improved. 

Productivity also stayed the same or improved across most workplaces. Microsoft in Japan conducted a similar trial in 2019 that saw productivity increase by 40% in a four-day workweek.  

“Forty hours isn’t some kind of a natural law,” Natalie Nagele told the Society for Human Resource Management in 2020. “Give employees space to do their work. Don’t micromanage them. Don’t harass them. They’ll get more done in four hours than eight.” 

And besides knowing a thing or two as co-founder and CEO of Wildbit, Nagele has a scientifically backed point. Research shows that longer hours do not equate to higher productivity. In fact, it seems to have the opposite effect.

The Pandemic Got The Ball Rolling

Changing a 95-year-old labor standard requires a major shake-up. Luckily, the COVID-19 pandemic was perfect for the job. As businesses everywhere switched to remote work and reduced hours, the 40-hour standard seemed more and more obsolete. 

KCRW’s Press Play with Madeleine Brand interviewed Alex Soojung-Kim Pang addressed this in November 2020. Pang is the author of Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less—Here’s How and founder of the consultancy company Strategy and Rest. 

Pang explained that outmoded processes and bad implementations have effectively “buried” the 40-hour workweek. “Lots of companies are discovering ways of moving to four-day weeks or other kinds of shorter workweeks.”

These shortened workweeks “let them be as productive while also solving really intractable problems with things like work-life balance and gender equity in the workplace,” Pang says.

Finding Balance Between Work And Home Life

So, what makes Gen Zers think they have what it takes to ditch the 40-hour week for good? Namely, it’s all about that work-life balance. 

“Yes, [Gen Zers] obviously want to be successful,” said TikTok user @jazybdazy in a now-viral video. “We want to have money to afford the things we want to afford. But ultimately, we really value work-life balance and mental health.” 

@jazybdazy

ok I filmed this b4 Salesforce dropped their new article so now I’m convinced it’s happening #9to5 #workfromhome #fortyhourweek #worklifebalance

? original sound – jazybdazy

Millennials and Gen Zers have this in common. According to a 2020 Zapier report, more than 75% of millennials and Gen Zers say that the ability to discuss mental health openly at work is important. Moreover, they believe employers should have a mental health policy in place.

“Gen Z is a generation that is used to creating change and making an impact,” Christina Cuzverga of Handshake told PR Newswire. “It is encouraging to see these young people advocate for themselves.”

Kissing 40 Hours Goodbye

Furthermore, in May 2020, YPulse found that 61% of employed millennials worked from home during the pandemic. Over 50% of these young workers plan to continue working from home, whether or not it’s pandemic-related. 

According to a recent survey from professional network Blind, a whopping 64% of employees said they would rather work permanently from home than take a $30K salary increase. 

That number is even higher in a Citrix Systems report, which states that 90% of survey respondents have no interest in returning to office work full-time. More than half prefer a hybrid working model where they can work from home most or all of the time. 

Clearly, young American laborers are hungry for something different. Women no longer want to choose between a career and children. We need living wages. And most importantly, we want to work without running ourselves ragged. 

This country has changed its labor standards before; it is more than capable of doing it again. And if we are to take a cue from our younger colleagues (which science suggests we should), that time for change is right now.

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We all experience rough patches at work. Perhaps business is booming, and the workload becomes heavier than anticipated. On occasion, our skills will be put to the test when we take on new roles, and the job will become more challenging in return. Consequently, these situations will cause temporary stress. Yet, rough patches are just that; they’re rough patches. You’ll get through them. 

However, other work situations can prevent us from enjoying successful and satisfying careers. Knowing how to tell the difference between a rough patch and whether or not it’s time to leave your job is essential. If you answer “yes,” to the following questions, it may be time to find something new. 

1. Do You Dread Getting Out Of Bed Every Morning? 

We’ve all pressed the snooze button once or twice. But if hearing your alarm in the morning brings you feelings of impending and unrelenting doom, it might be a sign that you need a new job. Don’t get transported back to Sunday nights as a kid dreading school the next day. If you find yourself there too often, dust off that resume and update that portfolio, a new job may just be what the doctor ordered.

2. Do You Feel That You’ve Learned Everything You Can? 

Our jobs can become stale because we can outgrow our positions over time, especially if we’re not challenged with newer responsibilities or promoted to a different role. When a lack of opportunity strikes, it can put a serious damper on career advancement, thus hindering our professional skills. If you feel like you’re at a dead end at your company, it may be time to move on so you can grow. 

3. Do You Complain About Work More Often Than You Should?

Everyone needs to vent about a not-so-great work week every once in a while. But if your work troubles are becoming the hot topic at the dinner table all the time, consider it another strong sign that it’s time to put in your resignation. 

4. Do You Have A Toxic Work Environment? 

Unfortunately, workplace relationships aren’t always going to be rainbows and unicorns. But for the most part, we can keep workplace relationships professional, even when we don’t see eye to eye. However, it’s important to know when you need to abandon ship. If you’re feeling undervalued or taken advantage of and notice poor communication or rapid turnover, it may be time to leave. The last thing you need are cliques, burnout and poor leadership.

5. Are You Making More Mistakes Than Usual?

Something odd is happening; you’re suddenly making more mistakes at work, and you’re feeling unconfident. But you used to be great at your job. What happened? If you’ve noticed your job performance plummet, it may be the result of not being happy at your job. This is because you’re just going through the motions, and that’s no way to live; it may be time for a refresher. 

6. Do You Feel A Sense Of Fulfillment?

Although adulting isn’t easy, our jobs should be so much more than a paycheck. Our work should provide us with a sense of purpose and should fulfill a passion. If your job doesn’t offer you either of those things, you’re headed towards burnout. So do yourself a favor and do something that gives you at least a bit of joy and excitement.

7. Do You Ever Get A Decent Raise?

Have your job requirements increased but your pay has stayed the same? While it’s never easy to ask for a raise, it’s important to not undervalue yourself. You deserve to get paid what you’re worth. But if your negotiation skills still don’t pay off, it may be time to move on. Not only will you be happier, but so will your wallet.

8. Have You Thought About Finding A New Job?

If you’ve thought about quitting your current job and finding a new one before, then that’s a pretty good indicator that it’s time to go. Sure, sometimes it’s just an idea, but if it keeps crossing your mind, really give it some thought. Think about it, if you were truly happy with where you were, would you ever consider leaving in the first place?

Finding a new job can be stressful, and it can be difficult to muster up the courage and motivation to find new work. But take time to think about these questions, and if you’re truly unhappy with where you are, then look for new opportunities. You’ve got this.

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The Best Products From Clinique That Are Actually Worth Spending Your Money On

Audio and video editing by Sofija Jovanov

Margo Krasne rebooted her life at the age of 50. A lifelong New Yorker, she worked as an actress, an ad gal, a sculptor and started over again at 50 as a communications coach. She is the author of Say It With Confidence, I Was There All Along: A Memoir and What Would I Do Without You.

Now 83, Margo has a perspective on career, midlife, owning your age, living alone, friendship and so much more that we rarely get to hear in today’s youth-obsessed culture.

During the pandemic, she became so convinced she would be felled by Covid-19 that she filled a bag with her medical history, meds, and extra masks for the EMTs who would cart her away. She hung it by her door “almost as an amulet.”

But her 2020 turned out to be better than she could have imagined. Listen to hear her story!

Margo’s books:

Say It With Confidence

I Was There All Along: A Memoir

What Would I Do Without You

Margo’s essay at Mean Magazine

Margot’s Speak Up program

Countless headlines and studies have confirmed what women already knew: the pandemic (and to be honest, the years following it) have decimated many of our careers and ability to make income. Now that life has all but returned to pre-pandemic normals, you may find a few hours here and there when you could be earning money.

Applying for jobs can be time-consuming and take months. But what if you could start working from home and make money relatively quickly? Even better, what if you could make money doing something that’s a no-brainer because you’ve already gotten good at it just by living your life?

It may not relaunch your dream career, but money is important. And having a little financial cushion can ease stress and brain space to make room for pondering what will take you to the next level.

Keep reading for a few easy money ideas.

1. Stock Photography

Getting pretty darn good at photography, thanks to your Instagram and/or Pinterest obsession? Do you think your photographs rival (or are much better than) the stock photography you encounter around the internet? If you answered yes, you should probably try getting paid for your photos. Check out the links below for guidelines on how to submit your photography to some of the most popular stock photo services.

• Shutterstock
• Alamy
• Getty Images
• Adobe Stock
• Pixabay
• Dreamstime
• Unsplash

2. Transcription Services

With all the time we spend writing and answering e-mails (not to mention posting on social media), many of us have organically become expert typists sans professional training. If you’re finding you have a few hours free but want to keep it light, offering transcription services might be an excellent way to make some extra income. Someone else feeds you the content, and you type it. All you need are decent headphones and a computer. Check out websites like Indeed for job leads, or list yourself at a freelance marketplace like Upwork or Thumbtack. According to ZipRecruiter, the average salary is $30/hour, and you could earn up to $126,000 per year.

3. Essential Oil Biz

This one takes perhaps a little more effort, but you may have perfected your at-home spa skills during the pandemic when personal care services were closed. If you were really missing your spa visits, you may have discovered that an at-home ethanol recovery device can help you create essential oils using botanicals from your garden. And it could very well be the beginning of your own essential oil-making operation.

4. Gardening

Home has become more important than ever, and thanks to soaring real estate and furniture prices, it’s pricier than ever, too. If your once-lackluster landscaping is currently thriving thanks to the skills learned (and time spent in your yard) during the pandemic, you may want to consider offering your services to your community. You can create a listing on Craigslist or Thumbtack advertising your specialties, whether it’s fruit tree care or succulents. Or, if you’ve propagated so many succulents that they’re threatening to take over your yard, you can plant them in cute terra cotta pots and sell them on  Facebook Marketplace or Nextdoor.

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• ‘Yes, I Need Help:’ Woman’s Moving Mouse Hack Sparks Debate On Worker’s Privacy Rights While WFH
• ‘Quiet Quitting’ Is Popular Among Gen Z, But Will Older Generations Follow Suit?

Audio and video editing by Sofija Jovanov

First a quick announcement: The Mean Show is now on YouTube! Click below to check out the spankin’ new channel which actually contains only this episode so far but stay tuned for more!

This week’s guest is Debbie Mink a midlife rockstar mom on a lifelong quest to integrate her creative life with the need in San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the world, to have two-income family. She started out as a ceramicist, has been a go go dancer (in the podcast I incorrectly say she was a burlesque dancer, apologies!), performs spoken word, and is a curly hair advocate. She has a new online course called UnF*ck Yourself and co-hosts her own podcast called Talking Smack 415!

Also don’t miss the fun song she wrote, Bangs or Botox. Keep an ear out for it in the podcast.

Last but not least she created an amazing Pussy Quilt out of Blue Bottle coffee bags in response to the 2016 election. You can get a peek at that if you check out the video version of the podcast.

LINKS:

Debbie Mink

Debbie Mink on Instagram

Talking Smack 415 podcast

UnF*ck Yourself digital course

Our guest this week, Gina Pell, was a huge inspiration for creating Mean. She came up with the concept of Perennials, and when I read her article Meet the Perennials, I knew I had an audience. The idea that a demographic can be about more than the year you were born struck a chord. Perennials are ever-blooming people of all ages who continue to push up against their growing edge, always relevant, and not defined by their generation.

Mean has shifted since then to focus mostly on women at mid-age, but Pell is as inspiring as ever.  She’s been a tech entrepreneur since the 90s when she founded Splendora, which was eventually acquired by Joyus. She’s currently Content Chief of The What, a vibrant community as well as an email newsletter that provides five eclectic, curious things you should know about every week including  books, health tips, life, style, travel, and tech.

Listen in on our conversation to learn how she’s weathering the pandemic, what inspired the concept of Perennials, how women can get Jack Nicholson sexy, and lots more.

Audio editing by Sofija Jovanov

Signs up for The What newsletter

Meet the Perennials

The venture capitalists making a bet on aging consumers

The Keep Going On Song

Watch Miss Americana on Netflix

Next Draft

This week we have an interview with author and professor Jennifer Worley, who recently published a memoir called Neon Girls: A Stripper’s Education in Protest and Power.

It’s intriguing anytime you get a peek into a somewhat private, secretive world. But this isn’t just any stripper or any strip club. We’re talking about the Lusty Lady in the grunge-era ‘90s where there was a small but important revolution happening. The Lusty Lady was known as sort of a feminists’ strip club. They allowed things like piercings and tattoos, while other clubs didn’t allow such things. They encouraged a range of body types, not just the blond bombshell archetype. There also were no lap dances, which as you’ll read in the book really differentiated the Lusty Lady from other clubs in terms of the vibe of the place as well as the relationships between the dancers.

Despite its plusses, there were also some inequities and, alarmingly, hidden cameras discovered at the Lusty Lady. When management didn’t address their concerns, Jennifer and a cohort of her fellow strippers started a union. And they didn’t stop there, they went on to buy out the whole club and became the first worker-owned strip club. They were basically a stripper co-op and the story of how they did it is fascinating.

Both highly personal and searingly political, Neon Girls: A Stripper’s Education in Protest and Power is a thinking woman’s exploration of sex work, labor, and collective power. It’s also a page-turner! I honestly could not put it down.

Jennifer went on to become an English professor, and she continued her labor-activism continued later in life as President of the faculty union at City College San Francisco.

I loved this conversation with Jennifer and I hope you do too!

As always, if you would like to be on the show, or know someone who would be great, please hit me up!

Audio editing by Sofija Jovanov.

Relevant links:

Jenny Worley

Neon Girls: A Stripper’s Education in Protest and Power

City College San Francisco

This week’s episode is a conversation with Bay Area designer J’Amy Tarr, and it may be the most fun I’ve had to date recording an episode, despite some major technical difficulties. Thanks to my wonderful editor Sofija in Serbia you’d never know we had major connection problems. But trust me, we did. I think I had J’Amy on the line for nearly two hours but she did not complain—and hopefully she had as much fun chatting as I did.

J’Amy and I haven’t met in person, but I felt like we were old friends from the moment we starting talking.

She designs specifically jackets and she learned earlier than most designers that being really focused is the future of fashion—especially now that the pandemic has changed everything about what women want to buy and how they buy it.

Besides fashion, we talk about middle age, gen X and how she has gotten completely off social media! Can you believe it? Can you even imagine the liberation? Sigh, I want to be like her when I grow up.

She also has a great voice and vibe! Oh, and if you’re wondering about the spelling of her name, it’s a combination of Jeanne and Amy. Jeanne was her paternal grandmother and James was her maternal grandfather. She was named Jeanne Amy at birth, but was called J’Amy unless she was in trouble (her mom had a friend named Jamie and loved the name). She officially changed Jeanne Amy to J’Amy in her 20s after realizing she had ended up with various accounts under different names. “When I couldn’t get Southwest Airlines to combine mileage from both accounts under one name and that was the last straw!”

Audio editing by Sofija Jovanov.

Relevant Links

J’Amy Tarr

J’Amy Tarr blog

Biased Cuts podcast

Joy Is Now podcast

Editor’s note: In the introduction to this episode, I talk about my approach to getting more BIPOC women’s voice on Mean. I hope you’ll have a listen.

This week’s guest embodies everything I love about interviewing women in their fifties. Christine Marie Mason, founder of intimate wellness company Rosebud Woman, is also a mother, yogi, author and a veteran startup entrepreneur. She has founded six companies over the course of her career and sold four. And she’s far from finished.

A few years ago, after opening a yoga center in Hawaii, she could have easily kicked back and ridden her fifties into the sunset. Instead, she got the itch to launch another company.

Mason is passionate about helping women understand that intimate wellness isn’t just about the physical body. It’s about changing our personal and cultural stories about life in a female body, then liberating and transforming those stories. She wants to create more joy and less suffering by valuing the perfection of women’s natural bodies.

She explains in our interview how her entire life and career has culminated in creating products to help do just that. Rosebud Woman makes plant-based intimate skincare products to honor, soothe, refresh, and arouse.

Our conversation is wide ranging—we talk about everything from the experience of flying during the pandemic to having three kids under 3 at the age of 24 (while she was in business school, no less) to growing Rosebud women to a million dollars in sales in a year’s time.

I really hope you enjoy this episode!

Audio editing by Sofija Jovanov.

Relevant links:

Rosebud Woman

Rosebud Woman on Facebook

Rosebud Woman on Instagram

Rosebud Woman on Pinterest

Christine Marie Mason on Instagram

Photos via Bells & Becks

If anyone could have predicted a pandemic that would shut down the world, no one would have founded a shoe company—or a jewelry company or a clothing company or any other non-essential small business. But thank goodness they did, because what kind of a world would that be?

Now, entrepreneurs like Tamar Miller, this week’s podcast guest, are figuring out how to stay in business. Founding her luxury shoe brand Bells & Becks two years ago came off the heels of an impressive (to put it mildly) career in retail, so if anyone can do it, she can. Tamar’s previous roles include head of merchandising at Old Navy online, head of merchandising at Banana Republic online, director of merchandising for women’s shoes at Piperlime, and earlier in her career she was a buyer at Macy’s and Pottery Barn.

Her education is equally stellar: she graduated from UC Berkeley and Harvard business school. And at a time when she had reached what some might call the pinnacle of her career, she decided to jump off the corporate ladder and become an entrepreneur.

When we recorded our interview, we were in the earlier stages of the coronavirus pandemic, and you can probably hear in our voices that we’re both a little shellshocked. Tamar had returned from Italy, of all places, just weeks before, so you don’t want to miss that story.

We also discuss how becoming an entrepreneur when you are approaching 50 might be unconventional, but it also might be a great idea. Tamar goes into some detail about her decision-making around slowly but steadily growing her shoe brand, and how bootstrapping the business has served her well, especially in the time of coronavirus. She also shares some gems about her experience with Facebook advertising and her thoughts on the pros and cons of a brick and mortar shop.

It’s a really meaty conversation that I think you’ll get a lot out of, especially if you happen to be an entrepreneur.

Plus, the shoes are so cute!

And as always, we also touch on the personal perks of getting older. I really enjoyed this conversation with Tamar and I learned so much. I hope you will to!

Audio editing by Sofija Jovanov

Relevant Links:

Bells & Becks

Bells & Becks sample sale

Bells & Becks on Instagram

Bells & Becks on Facebook

Bells & Becks International Women’s Day survey data on shopping habits/desires of 40+ women

Turning 50 is not what it used to be, and this week’s podcast guest, Kim Mitchell, proves that in spades. Incredibly stylish, ageless, and radiant, Kim is a style blogger and Banana Republic’s art director. We met about a decade ago when we both had fashion blogs (she still publishes hers!), often running into each other at events in San Francisco.  

For the interview, we spoke from our respective quarantines, she in San Francisco in her studio apartment and me at home with the family in Pacifica. Kim talks about how she worked her way up the ranks to land her dream job, her thoughts on turning 50 later this year, and we also discuss some of the challenges she has navigated in recent years, including her experiences in the workplace as a minority, and the tragic loss of her husband of seven years.  

Kim is also one of the friendliest and kindest people I’ve met in the fashion industry (or anywhere). She’s one of those people who always greets you with a smile, is easy to laugh with, and who you can tell is attentively listening when you’re talking, which is such a rare and wonderful trait in a human being. So I’m really excited for you all to get to know her!

Audio editing by Sofija Jovanov

Relevant Links:

This week on The Mean Show we feature multiple Emmy-award-winning T.V. personality Lizzie Bermudez. You’ve heard from her on the podcast before, but this is the first time we actually focus on HER and her career.

We discuss how she got her start in television, how she rose to prominence, the ageism and sexism she experienced along the way, and how she’s surviving at home with her family, including two school-age girls.

I always love talking with Lizzie, but I especially love this interview because we discuss some intimate details about her struggles and successes. It also made me very excited to see what she’ll do next. Keep an eye on this woman, she is poised to do amazing things!

Our interview for you this week is with Leigh Rawdon the co-founder and CEO of Tea Collection, which is a very cute but not too cute kids clothing brand. I love it because it’s girly enough for my glitter-loving 7-year-old, but it doesn’t have pictures of princesses covering everything. Rawdon founded the company 18 years ago after raising just a small amount of capital and has stayed at the helm all these years.

Tea Collection is now a multimillion-dollar children’s brand that along with providing kids with stylish clothing, spreads knowledge about various cultures and gives back economically. Twice a year, Leigh and her team explore a new region of the world and transform their discoveries into high-quality, modern and sustainably-sourced kids clothing.

Through a partnership with The Global Fund for Children, Leigh has donated more than $500,000 to local, grassroots organizations. Under her leadership, Tea Collection has been recognized in Inc. Magazine’s “Inc 500” list of America’s 500 fastest growing private companies, as well the San Francisco Business Times’ list of largest women-owned companies in the Bay Area.

Leigh grew up in a suburb of Memphis, earned a BA in English from Davidson College and went on to graduate with an MBA from Harvard Business School. Later she taught entrepreneurship as a lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business before launching Tea Collection.

She is hunkered down in Oakland, California in her new home office, and she gave us an honest peek at what’s happening at Tea Collection during the coronavirus pandemic. We also talk about the magic of dance classes, and the best things about getting older, and lots more. We hope you enjoy!

Audio editing by Sofija Jovanov

Relevant links:

Tea Collection

Global Fund for Children

Dance Fit Fusion with Andre Cole

Volt dance class with Kristarae Flores

Rhythm and Motion

Catch up on all of our podcasts!

For this week’s podcast I interview author Jennifer Louden, whose most recent book, “Why Bother,” will be published on April 21. Louden was one of the earliest self-care authors who published her first book, “The Woman’s Comfort Book” in 1992. She has since publshed eight books.

But the one coming out next week, “Why Bother,” she says, is the culmination of her life’s work.

It took Louden 11 years to solidify the concept and finally write “Why Bother.” So to say that it’s a bummer that she’s publishing it—self-publishing it, by the way—during the coronavirus pandemic is the understatement of the year.

But in our conversation, she tells me she’s letting go of her plans to promote the book. Most of them won’t happen. That’s not to say she hasn’t had some good cries, but she says she’s at peace with releasing a book in the time of coronavirus, and finding creative ways (like doing lots of podcasts) to get the word out.

I have a feeling the lack of a book tour will not prevent “Why Bother” from being successful. The book is extremely engaging, practical, real, and kind.

It’s also a brave book for several reasons. For one, it’s personal. She tells the story of her own struggle with depression and wondering why she should bother. For a long time, she was a self-help guru who was not taking her own good advice.

She also tells the story of how she and her husband almost didn’t get married because of her fear and uncertainty around intimacy.

And she shares the story of her experience of being on Oprah, which had me so on edge I almost couldn’t take it.

Louden’s writing about how to feel satisfied with life—or at least the direction it’s heading—really resonated with me. I’ve already put into use many of the suggestions in the book. If you’ve ever had that “Why Bother” feeling—like you’re too old, not smart enough, not good enough, what’s the point?… it’s a must read. Even if you haven’t had precisely that feeling, the book is helpful for anyone who wants to connect with their desire and make moves toward getting what you want.

Audio editing by Sofija Jovanov

This week I speak with Debra Szidon, the multi-talented founder of a super-chic line of luxury handbags, The Cass Clutch. She also has an interior design business called Cocoon Home.

In the podcast, she talks about being pulled in two directions by her disparate ventures, and how moving her family away from the S.F. Bay Area to Lake Tahoe gave her focus. We also discuss vintage cars, being a Jersey girl, turning 50, and how 9/11 contributed to shuttering her storefront back in 2001—and how the mood feels similar to today’s coronavirus pandemic. 

Stay tuned for next week when I interview Bells & Becks founder Tamar Miller, who gave up a high-powered executive position at Gap to launch her own shoe brand.

Relevant links:

The Cass Clutch

Cocoon Home

Bike Pretty

My Cass Clutch modeling gig

Audio editing by Sofija Jovanov

I’m so excited to introduce you to ocean swimmer Andy Schine. We met in Wini Linguvic’s yoga class in our home town of Pacifica, California about a year ago, and I could tell right away I liked Andy and hoped we’d become friends. Truth be told that’s partly why I lured her to my home to do this interview (before social distancing was fully in place).

Not only does she have the best curly hair and a cool girl vibe that’s also somehow super friendly, she swims in the Pacific Ocean. Every chance she gets. Without a wetsuit. In a bikini! I shiver just thinking about it.

Swimming in the ocean is a scary thing to do. But how she feels afterwards, Andy explains, makes it more than worth the fear and discomfort, which after years and years she still experiences every time she stands on the beach and ponders stepping in the water. She also talks about some other scary things she’s done, including home birth, leaving a secure job as a teacher to break out on her own as a kids’ writing coach, turning 50, or a really hard yoga class. I hope you enjoy the podcast!!

Relevant links:

Wini Linguvic’s online yoga

She uses Rescue Balm on her face before swimming

Leisa Askew of Luxaskin is her aesthetician (look for online booking coming soon if you’re in the SF area)

Andy uses Kevin Murphy products on her hair

Wini Linguvic podcast

Angelina Rennell of Beklina podcast

Audio editing by Sofija Jovanov

Angelina Rennell has been running her online fashion boutique, Beklina, since 2006. Back then, there wasn’t much competition. But soon the internet was flooded with online fashion sellers.

In our conversation, Rennell shares some reasons why that wasn’t a problem for her: a background in art, a passion for eco-consciousness, a unique aesthetic point-of-view, and unwavering hustle all came into play. Oh, and also thanks to her amazing clogs, which have a cult-like following. Beklina has sustained a steady growth over its nearly 15 years in existence, which we all know is decades in internet years.

As a woman in her late 40s, she also discusses her decision to let her hair go gray, and how it feels to be out in the world as a silver-haired woman.

And lucky you, she’s offering and extra 30% off sale items with code 30extra, plus 50% off sale knits (code cozyhome50), perfect for working from home. Also get free shipping on orders of $200 or more. So hunker down in style, or shop for those dreamy days when socializing will no longer happen from a distance. And let me know what you think of the podcast!

The idea for Sophie James Wine was a seed planted on Sophie and James Gray’s first date even though they didn’t realize it. That night as James discussed his dream of owning a ranch, moving to the boonies, and creating an off-the-grid community, Sophie fell in love with the idea and him, too.

Little did they know that nearly a decade later, Sophie would have made an extreme career switch from scientist to co-founder (with James) of a wine company and club with a miles-long waiting list—oh, and that they’d also be married with two children.

The path was not easy and definitely not straightforward, but Sophie’s grateful that she followed advice she’d recently heard and couldn’t stop thinking about: that to accomplish extraordinary things requires extraordinary risk.

Quitting a promising career in science and turning down a coveted job at Stanford may have sounded insane at the time, but as you’ll discover in the podcast, the risk was most definitely worth it.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!

Sophie James Wine on Instagram

Lundberg Design (architect)

Cello & Maudru (contractor)

Shelter Co.

Souvla

Lord Stanley

Kendra Smoot

Marigold Flowers

Prop 71

Listen below, and please send feedback or interview suggestions to kp@meanmagazine.com!

In this episode, master ceramacist Linda Fahey, who owns Yonder Shop in San Francisco, talks about the many ups and downs she has lived through as an entrepreneur in San Francisco, from her driftwood spoons going viral, to collaborating with Anthropologie, to having her work ripped off, to surviving a fire at her new shop in San Francisco.

A year after the fire, Linda talks about the clear-headedness and freedom that came with turning 50. Oh, and don’t miss her take on the art of the three-minute conversation.

Also, here are some of the artists Linda mentions:

Linea Carta

Studio Choo

Torryne Choate of Birch

Coup d’Etat

Marie McCarthy podcast

Bland Workshop

If you’re in the Bay Area visit the shop in person! The Yonder Shop is located at 701 11th Ave (at Cabrillo), San Francisco, CA, 94118.

Listen below, and please send feedback or interview suggestions to kp@meanmagazine.com!

Social media is bursting with #girlbosses, #powerfulwomen, and #badassbabes. A historic 102 women were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. Indeed, it feels like women are on the rise! We are unstoppable!

There is certainly a lot to be excited about. However, women still represent less than 25% of the total number of elected officials in Congress (not to be a Debbie Downer or anything). As Barnard College president Sian Beilock points out in the Harvard Business Review, we’re making slow and steady progress on gender equality in the workplace—emphasis on slow.

Unfortunately, still-rampant gender discrimination leaves many women suffering from self-doubt. This self-doubt only perpetuates more professional setbacks, further continuing the cycle. But luckily, these crises of confidence don’t have to be crippling.

There are plenty of science-backed methods for combating negative feelings so that you can focus on success and pull up your fellow females with you.

1. Find (Or Become) A Mentor

Women who are exposed to powerful female role models are more likely to believe that women belong in leadership roles, according to this 2004 study. So, if you’re a junior-level employee, finding a mentor might increase your chances of landing a C-level position. And if you’re more experienced, you’ll be doing womankind a solid if you initiate a mentor relationship with a less-experienced colleague.

2. Write It Down

Research shows that journaling makes you feel better about whatever problems you may be grappling with. There’s even a book to help you get started if writing isn’t typically your thing. And hey, it’s 2019—if you don’t want to put pen to paper, you don’t have to. Just use your phone, tablet, or laptop instead.

3. Nevermind The Imposter Syndrome

Research shows that feeling like a fraud does not preclude success. In other words, self-doubt is often not crippling at all, and keeping that in mind can help you move forward when you feel like crawling inside a hole. Even celebs like Mayim Bialik suffer from this misleading syndrome.

4. Reboot Your Brain

As this research paper puts it, a “break in the attentive activity” might be what you need for a breakthrough. Take a walk, read something completely unrelated to your problem, or call a friend for a check-in. When you go back to the task you were stuck on, you might find that a solution comes seemingly out of the blue.

5. Reframe Setbacks

A 2008 study looking at swimmers who failed to qualify for the Olympics found that those who were encouraged to watch replays of their performance, study what went wrong, and plan for a better performance next time felt optimistic about their future competitions. Conversely, those without such prompting felt a sense of futility after watching the footage.

So, if you come up against something that sucks (a bad review, sub-par presentation, weird interaction with a colleague, etc.), think about (but don’t dwell on) what happened, and imagine what you’ll do differently next time.

More From Suggest

• These Women Over 50 Shared How They Landed New Jobs, But Ageism Is Alive And Well In The U.S.A.
• Can I Use Inflation To Negotiate A Raise? Financial Experts Weigh In
• Salary Expectations In The U.S. Are Up, But Only For Men—For Women They’re Way Down