Five Truths

18th May 2013

While I’m certainly behind on sharing this post, I’m so honored a dear friend of mine, Lauren with Mason Jar Moments, included me in her post for the “Five Truths” Challenge. And a challenge it was! It took some thinking, but here are my five truths in no particular order:

Truth one: I’ve always been a big bow kinda girl.

I try my very hardest to keep a smile on my face throughout the day, and I guess you could say my “big bow” past has a little to do with that. From middle school through my freshman year of college, I spent my evenings (and Saturdays and Sunday afternoons) being tossed around and knocking out countless triple toe-backs (thanks for that Jamie). Truth be told, I didn’t even own a t-shirt until I got to college. Cheerleading seems to be the perfect metaphor of who I still am today: determined to brighten those around me and a little stubborn when it comes to sticking the landing.

Truth two: I wanted to be a fashion designer.

As a child, I made my own barbie clothes. I was determined to head to The Parsons New School for Design in NYC and live out my days in a magazine. While I’m certainly far from that aspiration today, I’m still a big fan of anything DIY-able. You’re certain to find my Dad and I in the garage designing something on the weekends. My most recent interest involves anything where I can get my hands on learning how to use a saw.

Truth three: I’m my family’s number one fan.

I’m the oldest of four and couldn’t be more proud of it. I’m so thankful to be surrounded by two wonderful parents, three fantastic siblings and cousins that I can’t even begin to count on two hands (my Dad is one of five children and my Mom is one of seven). The memories you make with the people with whom you share DNA simply cannot be put into words. Experiences like skydiving for the first time with a cousin from Colorado, simply because a “family tradition” of the exercise was started the morning of another’s wedding, become more than just memories and I am beyond blessed to have that.

Truth four: I can’t go to sleep without matching pajamas.

I have this irrational (or maybe terribly rational) fear that if something were to happen during the night and I had to run outside, I would hate for anyone to catch me in hideous pajamas. It’s silly and slightly embarrassing. There’s nothing more to it than that.

Truth five: There is no better date night than movie night.

I’m certain my Mom passed along this one to me, but I don’t think I’ve ever met a movie night I didn’t like. Between my family and boyfriend, I make it to the theater at least three times a months and movie theater popcorn + Sour Patch Kids are always worth the splurge. It doesn’t stop there either. I still buy DVDs and if it’s raining and a weekend, my sister and I are probably watching Sweet Home Alabama. TV movies always seem like some special treat that can’t be planned, and the commercials are just part of the fun to get things done in between.

So there you have it, thanks Lauren for inviting me to participate in this one. And now, to pass the challenge along to a few of my favorites: Jessica, Drew, Kelly and Abby, you’re up next.

Leadership’s Dirty Little Secret

15th May 2013

There’s a dirty little secret I’m learning about leadership: you’re likely already a leader, whether you like it or not.

Whether you are leading to inspire, leading to drive action, or leading to drive people crazy, well, that’s the part you control.

Chick-fil-A’s annual leadership conference, Leadercast is hands down one of my favorite annual events. As I wasn’t able to attend this year, I found myself eagerly following along via Twitter. The Tweets alone shared a powerful message: Simply Lead. Simply Lead was the theme for this year’s event, and the funny thing is, each time I read the tagline, I found myself reading it as “Lead Simply,” a small tweak, but one that I couldn’t help but stop to think about a little further.

I tweeted my little conundrum and received this in reply from a colleague.

I think he hit the nail on the head and lead to even more thoughts rolling around in my head.

Simply Lead.

A recent conversation with another colleague of mine lead to a conversation around leadership, roles and the growth for the future. As we discussed paths, she shared with me sentiments that I’m not sure I’d ever really, truly accepted: you are leading right now. There will always be someone watching, a conversation somewhere taking place and an opportunity unfolding, it is how you define yourself in those small moments that build leadership skills. In a nutshell, if you want to hold the keys to becoming a leader in your organization: simply lead.

Lead Simply.

To simply lead is only part of the equation. If taking the reigns and helping to calm the chaos is the starting line, defining the route to the finish must be the next 26.2 miles. Leadership is, for a lack of a better word, leading me to two things: humility and patience. Humility is the action required to take a step back and serve those around us. If we expect to better ourselves, we must first tend to the needs of others. As for patience, success and triumph aren’t a matter of winning the lottery, they are the result of dedication, hard work and the flexibility to alter as we go. If we expect to lead simply, we cannot expect the journey to follow the straight line of a guidebook or some pre-determined path up the corporate ladder. Becoming a leader is a team effort in order for each of us to become successful. In other words, it’s going to take a village.

It’s quite funny how a day long leadership conference can be boiled down into two words and leave such a stunning impact. I think those guys are on to something.

*Disclaimer: While Chick-fil-A is a client of mine, all thoughts and opinions in this post are my own. However, I am just as flattered and enamored by those chicken guys outside of the office each and every day.

The Dreaded Runner’s Knee

13th May 2013

Remember that whole resolution to take things a bit slower in 2013? The one that I *thought* I was conquering just a few months ago? I have a confession to make, I’m apparently doing it all wrong. Or so says my body.

Last week, on an otherwise bea-u-ti-ful run through Central Park during a quick business trip to NYC, it hit me, the dreaded, often whispered about pain just to the side of the kneecap, also known as runner’s knee. Until this point, my running career has been largely injury free. I’ve learned how to better take care of my body, train properly and as a result i’ve made it hundreds of miles without too many setbacks.

How could one *not* want to run here?

Then, around mile two, as I floated past Strawberry Fields, someone took a sledgehammer to the outside of my knee, and that all too well known searing pain found its way up my leg. Runner’s knee had finally caught up with me and reared its ugly head.

The cure? (thanks to futile Google searches in hopes of some forgotten treatment), ice. And ibuprofen. And REST. Oh the rest, we’re just not quite on the same page, rest and I.

The good news? Another likely culprit of this little setback is a lack of strength training. While I’d like to tell you that my bottom half is rock solid muscle, it’s not, running does many things for me, and building the right types of muscle is just not one of them. I’ve known for some time that I should be spending more time strengthening my hips, quads and hamstrings, and now I have the perfect excuse.

If an injury is the excuse, The Nike Training Club app is the solution. I’m not much of a gym fan, so in-living room workouts work well for me. The app provides some fantastic workouts for as few as 15 minutes, all targeted to various body parts and brought to you by Nike athletes. Combine this with AirPlay over the Apple TV and it’s almost as if I have a personal trainer in the room with me.

Here are a few of my favorite low-impact exercises so far (all courteous of the ever so lovely Gabby Douglas, who can also be found within the app):

Side planks with leg lifts:

Side leg circles:

Straight leg flutters:

So there you have it, this is the look of my next week and beyond. With a little help from Gabby and others, I’m hoping to be back outside in no time. In the meantime, I’ll be here with my phone and a bag a frozen peas on my leg.