by Solange Lopes | Nov 17, 2014 | Career
Moto wrap dress – $130 – whitehouseblackmarket.com
It’s no secret I love wrap dresses (check out my prior wrap dresses selections here and here). Today’s selection is also a wrap dress, with a modern moto edge, that is. Loving this long-sleeve moto wrap dress from White House Black Market, which combines a classic silhouette with edgy biker chic accents on the notch collar and on the waistbelt.
This great moto wrap dress is $130 at White House Black Market,and would look great with a chic yet still edgy pair of ankle boots like this one from Ann Taylor.
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Nov 17, 2014 | Career
Is your career trapping you – Photo: forbes.com
It’s Monday morning, it’s pouring rain outside, you can’t find your umbrella and you’re late for work. And of course, traffic is crazy and your hair is starting to frizz. All of a sudden, your throat feels tight, your palms get sweaty, and you feel…trapped! Trapped in a career you feel you can’t escape from. Trapped in a 9-to-5 that you feel will never help you fulfill your dreams. Just trapped, with no prospects, no light at the end of this long career tunnel…
There are many reasons nowadays to feel trapped in one’s job, the bad economy, a family at home, and so on and so forth. It ends up robbing us of our confidence,depleting our ambition, and making us give up on our dreams.
Yet, are you truly trapped in your job, or are you making yourself believe you are? And if the latter is true, is it really possible to be happy in one’s career? Or must we all settle for some lousy measure of career satisfaction (if any) in order to barely stay afloat?
Yes, many are the pressures, from mounting (and still unforgiven) amounts of student debt, to family and personal responsibilities. Yet, I strongly believe as much as you may have to put up with an undesired career for some time, there are ways to prevent your career from having you, all of you that is:
1. Decide what you want! I hate to point out the obvious, but not knowing what you want may keep you from getting it. What makes you happy? Better yet, what are you good at that provides you with satisfaction? If in doubt, poll your friends and family, they may see in you what you fail to give yourself credit for.
2. Start somewhere, anywhere! The best way to feel less trapped is to crack a window in your golden prison of a career or job. A friend of my sister’s had always been passionate with photography. She just started one day, taking pictures of people and places around her, posting them on social media and on her website. After years of side hustling, she now has a thriving side business. While she’s not yet ready to take this business on full-time, she’s glad she started somewhere, anywhere, with what she had.
3.Keep checking in with yourself! Now this may not be your typical career advice, yet it has saved me from many a bind. In your career equation, you are the most important variable. And just as you are called to grow and change in life, so are your career aspirations. Check in with yourself, often; ask yourself if you are happy and fulfilled, and what you can do to be happier and more fulfilled. Whether it’s saving up to launch an entrepreneurial venture, or hustling on the side, or taking a sabbatical to find yourself, take your career pulse often, and do what works for YOU!
Do you feel trapped in your career? What are you doing about it?
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Nov 16, 2014 | Career |
Weekly news update – Photo credit: clutchmagonline.com
Happy Sunday!
Hope everyone is having a great week-end! The temperatures are dipping lower and lower around this side of the blogosphere, and as were cozying up under the covers this morning, here are the news headlines that made me smile, tick, and go “shut the front door” this week:
Happy Sunday, and happy reading!
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Nov 14, 2014 | Career |
Photo: blackbluedog.com
I’m not a perfect mom, I buy my kids’ bakesale cupcakes (and pack them in pretty tupperware so it looks like I baked them), and I’m guilty for blabbing about them and showing everyone pictures of their latest funny faces. Yes, including at work…
And while I, and so many other moms working outside of the home, cannot help from gushing about our kids (or pretending we actually bake, or cook on a daily basis), there is a demarcation line we have to be careful not to cross…
So, really, how much should you talk about your kids at work?
My $0.05: Being true to yourself at work is an amazing concept! It just doesn’t always work out, especially at work. You and I live in the real world, where there’s not enough time to bake cupcakes or fight idealistic wars, and where you’re better off being aware of discrimination where it exists. Truth is, today’s workplace is much more sympathetic to dads than moms, and mentioning your sleepless nights with your infant is only going to make you appear incompetent.
So, no, you need not act like you’re single and ready to mingle. Yet you also don’t need to excessively brag about your kid’s brand new tooth. Strike a balance, and if in doubt, err on the conservative side. Unfair? Yes, but real, and since most of us live in the real world…Just sayin’….
How much do you talk about your kids at work?
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Nov 14, 2014 | Career |
Skinny Faux-leather pants – $158.40 – Photo: nordstrom.com
My inner biker chic girl is calling, and I’m seriously into leather this Fall/winter. Yet I’m no longer 20 (in mind, body or shopping tolerance), and need to find pieces that cater to my still untamed yet “grown-folk” side. Hence today’s pick, this 7-for-all-Mankind pair of faux-leather skinny pants from Nordstrom. Loving the sueded knit which nicely sculpts these pants for a stylish, yet still not “second-skin” finish.
For a casually elegant effect, for date night or your girl’s housewarming gathering, I’d pair these pants with a cool sweater tunic like this one from Old Navy (nice high-low effect price wise too), or even this marled version from the same store. I also like this boho chic angled edge tunic from Zappos, and would not mind this cowl-neck version from Target either…
And of course, I’d step up the whole thing for date night with these fierce Coach pumps, or call it a (fiery) night with these red stunners (just because I can)…
Seen a great piece you’d like to share? Please leave a comment or email me at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Nov 14, 2014 | Career |
So Dear Daughter’s kindergarten bake sale is today. And as a proud mommy, I woke up this morning, lined the bottom of one of my best tupperwares (i.e.the only one I could find with a matching lid) with foil paper, and placed all the cupcakes, expertly aligned in their array of colored frosting and sprinkled to perfection, in it. Bake sale handled: Check! Ready to get to work: Check! Store-bought cupcakes with a heavy dose of motherly guilt: Check, check, and check!
In a perfect world, I would have this great bonding time with my daughter, baking cupcakes and sharing lifetime memories. We could have even taken pictures and posted all this family happiness and wholesomeness on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
In my world, I got home the night before with a terrible headache, right before noticing the Betty Crocker buttercream frosting from last year was frosted over, literally, and unusable. Not to mention the most basic cake mix recipes on Pinterest had at least two more ingredients than my entire pantry. I was busted, shoved in the bad mommy corner. So Dear Hubby got it handled a la Olivia Pope, and bought the cupcakes, as I laid in a puddle of working mom guilt…
Most moms who also work outside of the home will admit, in addition to the dreaded motherhood penalty, to feeling these pangs of motherhood guilt. That sting in the pit of your stomach when your kid mentions other moms volunteering at school all the time, or when the umpteenth bake sale (really, must there be this many) catches you unprepared…Or the slight, controlled smirk at the PTA moms who always pick up their kids on time (really, how do you make bad traffic and last minute bosses magically disappear?)…
Does this mean I want to be perfect, PTA, homemade cupcake-making mom? As much respect as I have for the perfect moms out there, I don’t! Many of us, if not most, chose this life, and while it may mean buying cupcakes instead of baking them (with the cake mix), it also means we try our best…
And until they invent an automatic cupcake-maker that also helps with homework, laundry, dishes and remembers to pay the bills, I may have to invest in a few more cake mixes and store-bought cupcakes…Just sayin’…
How do you deal with professional mom’s guilt?
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Nov 13, 2014 | Career
Photo: http://halloftheblackdragon.com
One of the surefire signs you love your job is simply, you can’t stop talking about the good stuff and the amazing people that make your career so exciting! Incidentally enough, one of the signs you’d rather move to Siberia than get up to go to work is…you won’t stop talking about how much it sucks. In all cases, how much do you talk about work at home, and what does it really say about you and your career?
My $0.05: I can be tempted to talk about work at home more than necessary. After all, spending upwards of 8 hours at the office would make anyone want to blab about it too! Yet, I’ve noted forcing myself to draw a clear line between work and home has helped me keep a clearer head.
How about you? How much do you talk about work at home?
The Corporate Sis.
