by Solange Lopes | Aug 27, 2014 | Career |
Should you share your personal problems at work? – Photo credit: www.tribuneindia.com
It’s coffee break time, and also time for water cooler convos of all kinds at work…And considering how much time we spend at work, it may be difficult at times to avoid oversharing, and spilling our personal problems on professional grounds…Or sometimes we just feel like we owe our co-workers and managers some personal information to back up some work-related decisions, like temporary absences, time off or leave…
Yet is it always (or even sometimes) recommended? Does your personal life, and especially your problems, fit in with your professional life? Or should you keep the two far away from each other?
My $0.05: After blabbing about personal issues I was having to a then friendly co-worker (who didn’t turn out to be so friendly after all), I’ve unfortunately had to pick up my face off the floor when my private stuff became public talk. So I prefer to remain discreet when it comes to my personal life, only sharing mundane things.
Do you think it’s OK to share your personal problems at work?
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Aug 27, 2014 | Career
Bow Neck Layering blouse – $59.95 – thelimited.com
There’s just something about bow neck blouses…Not sure if it’s the (sexy) secretary look, the ingenue silhouette or the menswear attraction, but there’s something…
This bow neck layering blouse from The Limited is the perfect balance of ladylike and chic. Loving the semi sheer crepe fabric in white polka dot print on this timeless classic. I’d pair it with a simple pair of slacks or an elegant, knee length pencil skirt for work.
It’s $59.95 at The Limited!
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Aug 27, 2014 | Career |
Happy Hump Day!
Today I decided to change the pace a bit, and offer you a TedX excerpt of a talk given by Sheryl Sandberg, on how women constantly underestimate themselves! Hopefully, this inspires you to make your day, career and life count as a woman!
happy Hump Day!
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Aug 26, 2014 | Career
kids going back to school – Photo credit: familytreecounseling.com
It’s back to school time, yes, already! And in between attending early school functions, hunting for obscure school supplies, and accommodating different shuttling schedules, time, extra time that is, is required.
I remember constantly “beating around the bush” around this time of year, not sure whether to use my vacation days, try to scramble all my to-do’s into after hours, or just simply come out and bravely do the do. Very often as the only woman in an all-male team, it was an unfortunate no-brainer…
Given that women pay a heavier price than men when requesting flextime, is it OK to ask for time off to handle all the going back to school stuff? Is it better to just keep quiet about it and use vacation days under a different “excuse”? Or should we feel “entitled” to request time off to take care of our kids?
94 years after we gained the right to vote (Happy Women’s Equality Day!), is it OK to expect to fit our kids in our schedule while still keeping our jobs? Oh yeah, we could send the nanny if guilt did not continuously rear it’s ugly behind, and oh, if more of us actually made “nanny money” (glass ceiling cringing)…
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Aug 26, 2014 | Career
Suede pumps – $17.97 – oldnavy.com
Yes, the warm August temperatures may have returned for a bit in the Northeast, but the fashion side of my brain (yes, there is such a thing) is in Fall mode. And what spells Fall fashion better than a pair of suede pumps, like this one from Old Navy, yes the old Navy!
Gotta love the elegant, sleek silhouette of this classic suede pump. No gimmicks, no fancy hooplas, just simple, clean-cut classic, professional elegance! I’d pair it with just about anything, from a conservative pants suit to my favorite week-end jeans…
And these suede pumps are on sale for $17.97 at Old Navy…now ’nuff said!
By the way, another one of my Fall all-time shoe favorites is the purple pump, which Corporette had one of its amazing Hunt posts on, check it out here…
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Aug 26, 2014 | Career |
It’s OK not to know what you want – Photo credit: http://blog.axe-net.fr
Happy Tuesday!
I’ve seen so many people who seem to have it all together, only to end up finding out that in reality, they don’t. That they don’t even know what they really wanted all along, and ended up settling for personal or career choices that made them miserable…until they figured out cooking, taking care of their children, or making pearl bracelets really made them happy. My friend K. strove to take and pass the grueling CPA exam, and became a real estate agent shortly after. Another girl from Big Accounting, who had the reputation of being sharp as a razor and a “busy season” warrior (now if you know what “busy season” endless hours mean, you wouldn’t want to be one of those warriors), quit to become a chef. And although I know I was born to write, I am still painfully figuring out the how, when, and what the heck of it all…And after years of beating myself up and down the alleys of self-doubt, self-questioning, and lots of chocolate self-eating, I think it’s ok…
So it’s OK to not know what you want? To waste all this money taking private piano lessons, struggling in Tax Accounting (shudders…), landing your first awesome gig, and buying all these fancy work clothes, only to realize you’re not even sure it was what you wanted in the first place…It’s like shooting arrows in the dark, sleepwalking through your life, or getting lost five minutes from your house a few days after you moved in (it does happen)…It’s one of those things you don’t really tell your parents as they are signing your student loan checks to get you out of a jam. Or as your boss is congratulating on your promotion, just as you’re thinking you don’t even want the d… job. And definitely, the last thing you’d tell your stay-at-home frenemy (whom you secretly admire for making her own choice), as she frets over your newest pair of Louboutins.
I often wondered as I would watch the troves of working professionals exiting the commuter rail train at South Station in Boston, what really was going through their minds as they headed to yet another day at work. Many of them hated their jobs, while others had no clue why they even got dressed in the morning (which was painfully obvious considering some of the perilous fashion choices). And even many more struggled with the guilt of feeling the way they felt, because after all, bills had to get paid, kids fed, and shoes bought and worn. And maybe among all this gigantic confusion exiting the inbound train at South station, one or two enlightened, student loan laden, family breadwinner, proud Ivy League product, finally realized it is OK to just not know what they really want, or where their lives and careers was going to take them, yet to still work at it as if they had it all figured out…
They say (I know, who the heck is “they”) it’s “not the destination, it’s the journey”. I always hated this phrase, because really, I just want to get to the great destination. Plus the journey involves walking, and none of my shoes are made for walking. Yet I’ve had to admit over and over again, that without the annoying journey, the detours along the way, the big and small mistakes (more big than small), we wouldn’t be able to remotely start figuring out what the heck we even want, so…
1. Don’t quit your job to figure out what you want (unless you have a backup plan, backup money and some serious backup patience). You and I live in the real world, where there are more grey patches than definite blocks of white and black. And yes, maybe if I were a trust fund kid with beaucoup money, I’d go backpacking in the Himalayas to find myself. But I’m not a trust fund kid, and besides, did I mention I don’t really have walking shoes. And I don’t know much, but I know if you want to learn about work and making your own way and striving to be somebody, you’ve gotta start with just that…work! It ain’t gotta be fancy at first, it’s just gotta be work….
2. What you don’t want will help you figure out what you want. My daughter figured out she loves broccoli by figuring out first she’s not big on chicken (I know, it’s usually the other way around, go figure). That job you hate, the boss you could tell one or two choice words to, all those experiences you wouldn’t wish on your worst frenemy, really saved your life. That was the chicken you figured out you didn’t want, so you went for broccoli. Be thankful!
3. It really is about the journey! I really hate that phrase, probably because it’s so unpleasantly true. Like the whole “no beauty without pain” thing, except you end up learning more about pain than beauty. Your career will do a lot of things to you, but even when it leaves you blah, it still is showing you what “blah” is like. So that when you finally reach your destination, you can happily hug your slightly bruised ego, and exclaim out loud “All of that for this?”…Happiness is so overrated….
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Aug 25, 2014 | Career |
QBracelet – Photo credit: flaker.pl
I knew technology was going to make all kinds of things possible, yet I just cannot help being amazed over and over again at all the new gadgets out there…hence today’s coffee break pick, the new phone charging bracelet QBracelet. It’s a bracelet, and a phone charger all at once, making sure you never miss another tweet, text, call or Instagram alert just because your phone happens to be discharged (heaven forbid anyone would ever have to go phone-less for more than a millisecond)…
This metallic, polished and quite “rock’n roll meets sleek” accessory is now available for pre-order for $79, and promises to be quite the showstopper…as it makes us start contemplating how the rest of our wardrobe could also be put to use…hmmm…
My $0.05: Ok, I do think this is sheer genius and for busy moms like myself, it could be a life-saver. The price point is pretty comparable to other juice packs in the same category as well. Would I purchase one? It may not be at the top of my must-have’s, but would certainly make a nice Christmas gift (hint, hint…).
The Corporate Sis.
