by Solange Lopes | Feb 18, 2014 | Career |
vibevixen.com
Hope everyone had a great week-end, and enjoyed the great President’s Day sales yesterday! Well, for those of us who are still shopping, here are some more sales that are going on for a few more days…
- Ann Taylor is having 50% off on all sale styles, no code needed;
- LOFT is still having 60% off all sale styles as well;
- The Limited is having 40% off on all full-price items, and 30% off on all sale items;
- Lord & Taylor is still offering 20% off regular and sale, 25% off clearance plus extra 10% with your LT Card and promo code PRES;
- New York & Company is still having its Semi-annual Pant Event, buy one get one free!;
- The shoe clearance is still going on at Nordstrom, with 40% off discounts;
- Speaking about shoes, 6pm is still having its winter clearance event, with up to 60% off on some brands;
- Banana Republic is offering 30% off TODAY ONLY with code BR30;
- At Bluefly, you can get 40$ off $200, use code GET40;
Enjoy!
Heard of any other good sales? Chime in…
by Solange Lopes | Feb 18, 2014 | Career |
Professional transitions – huffingtonpost.com
In today’s professional world where career loyalty is an endangered professional species, frequent career transitions have become the norm. Whereas professionals used to remain in the same company for their entire careers, nowadays, millenials abhor career stagnation, opting instead for transitional paths and redirected steps to get to the top.
Today, you can no longer judge someone’s resume by the longevity of their tenures but rather by the breadth and width of their experiences. And that experience may not only span throughout many companies, but even through numerous fields and disciplines…
As thriving professionals and corporate sisters, how are we to handle the new norm? How do we manage both those transitions we willingly and strategicall choose, as well as those that are somewhat imposed to us?
I once watched a great contorsionist during a Cirque du Soleil show, and remember being amazed at the unbreakable flexibility of their limbs. He could bend whichever way without any sign of pain or over-extension whatsoever, while still displaying the most incredible grace under pressure. Each movement was synchronized with the next in a gracious continuum that looked like it was always a single act. Yet when you looked closely, you could decompose each micro movement into the overwhelming sum of its components.
And so are professional transitions. As seemingly individual as they may appear, the secret to building success out of the modern and fragmented careers of our times, is to graciously combine all our professional transitions into a seamless career continuum. To instill a flexible, adaptive approach to non-conventional career paths. To favor successful professional transitions, as unconventional as they may be, rather than opting to stay put in unproductive and un-gratifying professional settings.
The Corporate Sister
by Solange Lopes | Feb 16, 2014 | Career |
Reading the news online
Enjoy our posts? Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Pinterest!
Happy Sunday! Hope everyone is having a restful Sunday, what with all this snow that is just slamming us on the Northeast…Well, if you’re still snowed in today, then just grab a hot cup of cocoa and enjoy our reading suggestions for this week…
- Black Enterprise is confirming to us that high emotional intelligence is indeed linked to effective leadership;
- The Daily Muse is sounding off on a controversial piece of advice, and advising you to not follow your passion if you truly want work you love…hmmm;
- Time Magazine, in partnership with Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In organization, is offering us real images of real women doing real things in and outside of work, instead of the usual cliches we’re so over;
- Daily Worth is tipping us off on 17 FREE apps that will help cut our monthly bills, while confirming what we always knew but weren’t sure how to go about, that we can get almost everything we want, for less;
- Afraid of leaving money on the table? Forbes Woman tells you how to negotiate your salary successfully;
- It’s tax season! HuffPost Money advises you on whether you should file your own taxes or hire a CPA;
- Last but not least, our own The Corporate Sister tells you how to beat the competition before 9am, and in honor of Valentine’s Day, examines the love-hate relationship between women of color and the corporate world.
Happy Sunday, and happy reading!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Feb 14, 2014 | Career
Graysn Pumps – $73.66 – Nordstrom.com
For our coffee chat today, we are getting back to the essentials with these Enzo Angiolini “Graysn” Pumps from Nordstrom. And yess, Nordstrom has started is famous shoe clearance, so don’t miss out!
I love that this pump is a classic go-to for any career woman, in a basic yet shiny leather black. And to add verve to this classic pump, the metal trim just gives it some added oomph. And a great plus for this pump, it comes in suede or leather upper, and is available in Medium, Narrow and Wide sizes. With a 2 1/2 inch heel, it’s both comfortable and practical for work..
It’s currently on sale for $73.66 at Nordstrdrom. Can’t go wrong…
Seen a great, work-appropriate fashion piece you’d like to recommend? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Feb 14, 2014 | Career
Buddhify2- buddhify.com
Ok, seriously, with all the talks around being zen, meditating, living in the present, and being mindful, we wonder if those who actually talk and practice all these zen habits have ever set foot in your usual corporate workspace…Cubicles everywhere, files everywhere, the occasional family photo or decorative plant here and there, not exactly your quiet, meditation-prone setting…
Well, if you’ve been wondering how to squeeze in a few minutes of zen mindfulness in between wolfing down your lunch and turning in your next audit report, guess what…There’s an app for it! I know, I know, I need to find a new “app phrase”, I’m working on it…
Well, we found out about Buddhify 2 through the Daily Muse, and seriously, it gave me instant peace and inspiration. This 1.99 iOS app is literally your modern technological shortcut to peace. It offers various meditation tracks, each one adapted to your current activity. Need to mentally get away from your train neighbor’s annoying chatter? Or just need to fit in a 5-minute nap as you’re sitting on the toilet (stop frontin’, you know you take naps in the bathroom)? Turn on the corresponding meditation track, and welcome some much-needed zen energy in your workday…until your boss comes for that audit report, that is…
In the meantime, check out the below walkthough video:
Seen a great app you’d like to share or recommend? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister
by Solange Lopes | Feb 14, 2014 | Career |
Women of Color in corporate world – bushtvblog.wordpress.com
As we celebrate (or don’t celebrate) Valentine’s Day today, there’s another love-hate relationship that we wish would be discussed more often…and that is, this “I love you but I really hate you” relationship between women of color and the corporate world.
Yes, we love to hear and talk about diversity in the workplace, and how “leaning in” will help all women (really, all women?) achieve their true potential while making corporations even more profitable and successful. We, as women of color especially, are inspired and encouraged by talks of inclusiveness in the workplace. We smile when the Forbes List of Most Powerful Women features the likes of Rosalind Brewer (President and Chief Executive of Sam’s Club), Ursula Burns (CEO of Xerox), or Indra Nooyi (CEO of Pepsico), not to mention the Oprah Winfreys and Michelle Obamas of this world…And corporations smile as well, when their efforts at inclusiveness and diversity are rewarded with a very much public applause, along with a healthy stock price boost. And why would anyone not love this, all would be well in the best of worlds, right…Hmmm…
Yet, as we dig deeper into the reality of what it means to be a woman of color in the corporate space, we start uncovering the “hate” part of this eternally controversial relationship. That’s when we start seeing how truly difficult and challenging it is for women of color to push back against the barriers of “otherness” in corporations. We start realizing that where there is a glass ceiling for most women, for women and color and minorities in the workplace, there are not just ceilings. There are ceilings, and doors, and windows ( locked shut with iron locks and bolts), all made of the most solid brick and mortar. Centuries-old barriers of pre-conceived notions, antiquated ideas around race and gender, that are still very much prevalent in the corporate space. The gift of a heavy historical legacy, adorned with the strongest pinkish bow of mental, political and social resistance from both sides of the negotiation table. As we, corporate sisters, blame the patriarchal, traditional institutional powers in place, we also, and many times unconsciously, resist it enough strongly enough to slow our own progress, even to a complete, tragic and unfortunate stop.
In any relationship, there are two sides of the fence. And while it’s not necessarily greener on the other side, we may need to take a look at this controversial, much decried love-hate relationship we’ve been entertaining with Mr. Corporate. While waging war on gender and racial stereotypes may bring about social change, and comfort us in the process, understanding the role we play (and those we refuse to play) in this tough, but unavoidable partnership, may just reveal the truth of it all…
And if you ask me, it’s about time for a much-deserved, long-time coming love truce between these two…
The Corporate Sister
by Solange Lopes | Feb 12, 2014 | Career
Stress Sweat – hellawella.com
So I admit it, I stress out quite a bit, and as a result, I start sweating…quite profusely. Not a big deal, right? There are deodorants for that, and there’s probably going to be an app for it pretty soon… Well, for a corporate sister in need of self-assurance in any male-dominated, patriarchal-type corporate environment, stress sweat can actually be yet another source of….yes, you guessed right, stress! Back in October last year, the first-ever study of its kind by P&G Beauty revealed that the smell of sweat may actually alter the way women are perceived and judged. More precisely, the order from stress-related sweat significantly affects how women’s competence, confidence and thrustworthiness are perceived by both males and females. Ouch!
While it is close to impossible to avoid stress at work, it is reported that adequate preparation and exercise can help in treating stress sweat, and hence improving the resulting perception of women suffering from it.
As corporate sisters, these are some of the topics that are not easily discussed among ourselves or others, and understandably so…Yet, in an environment where perception unfortunately can play a significant role, we must be aware of these, hence our coffee chat today…
Do you suffer from stress sweat and do you think it affects how you’re perceived at work?
The Corporate Sister.
