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By Vegasbab, June 4, 2011 10:58 am

I’ve read Sheryl Sandberg’s speech to graduates several times this week. I even posted it on my Tumblr. The advice reminds me of something Penelope Trunk would say. The advice is powerful and it hits home, especially for me, especially right now. While the advice is geared to women, it’s applicable to men too.

Women almost never make one decision to leave the workforce. It doesn’t happen that way. They make small little decisions along the way that eventually lead them there. Maybe it’s the last year of med school when they say, I’ll take a slightly less interesting specialty because I’m going to want more balance one day. Maybe it’s the fifth year in a law firm when they say, I’m not even sure I should go for partner, because I know I’m going to want kids eventually. These women don’t even have relationships, and already they’re finding balance, balance for responsibilities they don’t yet have. And from that moment, they start quietly leaning back… So, my heartfelt message to all of you is, and start thinking about this now, do not leave before you leave. Do not lean back; lean in. Put your foot on that gas pedal and keep it there until the day you have to make a decision, and then make a decision. That’s the only way, when that day comes, you’ll even have a decision to make.

In general, I think we as a society do this all too often, we check out before we have to. We check out because we’re afraid. It’s easier to leave then get left, so we do it before someone can make the decision for us. But, if we’re truly “leaning in,” if we’re passionate and giving everything we have, then why would someone ever ask us to leave? If we’re fully engaged, then the choice, whatever it may be, will always be ours to make.

Here’s to not worrying about what the future may bring and focusing more on keeping our feet firmly on the gas pedal until our next destination has arrived.

Full speech:

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By Vegasbab, January 27, 2011 10:11 pm

Today on twitter, several people were taking pot shots and talking negatively about a 27-year-old being named Chief Digital Officer for New York City.

Kudos to NYC for not caring about age or being smart enough to realize her youth and that she was qualified anyway. To the people taking pot shots? I think they’re jealous and closed minded (although $115k for a CMO gig in NYC doesn’t seem like something to be jealous over). Or, as the article states, maybe NYC was wrong in their choice. As I’ve said before, promoting yourself through social media doesn’t always translate to being able to promote a brand through social media.

In today’s world, all you hear about are the people under 30 who are driving innovation. Facebook, Groupon and Foursquare were all developed by individuals under 30. Sure, maybe the “youngins” don’t have your “worldly” experience, but they also don’t have a closed minded attitude or the cynical boredom that comes from being (or working with) corporations for too long. Furthermore, career minded folks under 30 are hungry and passionate as hell, more so than you’ll ever be again. I’ve worked with some amazing rockstars under 30. In fact, if I was building an A-list team, my #2 pick would be a girl who’s 24 and blows my mind daily. My #1 pick? Someone who’s barely over 30 and has more passion for the interactive space than I do.

In today’s digital world… Actually, in the world in general, be open to learning new things from ANYONE, no matter what age they are. Who knows? Your five year old niece might spark the idea for your next big innovation.

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By Vegasbab, September 25, 2010 8:22 pm

I liked this post so much, that I wanted to repost it… or at least the life lessons that I liked

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By Vegasbab, July 31, 2010 7:12 pm

I’ve read a lot of “easy” five step plans lately. They make life seem oh, so easy. But, then again, maybe life is easy, especially when you don’t let you get in the way of you

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By Vegasbab, July 28, 2010 7:19 am

For some reason, I love this song by Rob Thomas. Maybe because it references mockingbirds and that song holds a special place in my heart. Maybe because it has the ability to embody personal and professional trials.

Here we stand
Somewhere in between this moment and the end
Will we bend?
Or will we open up and take this whole thing in?
Everybody else is smiling and their smiles don’t fade
And you don’t even wonder why you just don’t think that way
Maybe you and me got lost somewhere, we can’t move on we can’t stay here
Well maybe we’ve just had enough, well maybe we ain’t meant for this love
You and me tried everything
But still that mocking bird wont sing
Well man this life seems hard enough
Well maybe we ain’t meant for this love

I don’t wanna love you now, if you’ll just leave someday
I don’t wanna turn around, if you’ll just walk away
Maybe you and me got lost somewhere, we can’t move on we can’t stay here

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By Vegasbab, May 22, 2010 8:24 am

At iMedia’s Agency Summit this past week, one of the speakers talked about 3M’s motto since the 1940′s being, “Hire good people and leave them alone.” I love that idea. I wholeheartedly agree with that idea. Give people goals, encouragement and enough thought-provoking questions to take them to the next level, but on a day-to-day, project-to-project basis, leave ‘em alone!

While long, the below video, What Motivates Us (You and I) is a fun example of just that. While a bit counter-intuitive, it’s a good reminder that us crazy humans (to an extent) are more motivated by social rewards like recognition vs. cold, hard cash. If you want your team to bring you to the next level, start thinking about how you can leave them alone more often

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By Vegasbab, May 18, 2010 11:59 pm

I had the pleasure of sitting in a “special” presentation today. It was one where the presenters had intimate knowledge of some key audience members and yet, structured their deck to go above every one’s head. They talked social and search. They threw in “scary” graphs with steep trends both up and down. And, they threw out names of people that no one in the room understood the connotations of. Except me. The wild card of the presentation. My favorite part was when their Executive VP of Social Strategy said, “I live and breathe Mashable.” Clearly, it was true. Everything he spewed out in the presentation was a direct thought or idea from Mashable.

The comments got me thinking… the easy way to tell if someone’s full of social BS? They mention Mashable in a bow-down-to-the-all-seeing-all-knowing-god. Yes, I read Mashable. But, I sure as hell don’t live and breath by the thoughts in that BLOG. In fact, I take most of the articles with a grain of salt.

Think about it.

Sadly, even today, an easy gauge on how much someone knows about interactive can be based on whether they use the term “hits” or “visits”. While the terms seem to mean the same thing, they are in fact drastically different.

I’ve long said I don’t trust anyone who uses the term “hits” in the wrong context. Today, I’ve added to that philosophy. Today, I still wouldn’t hire an interactive person who uses the term “hits” when really meaning “visitors”. But, I also have no intention of turning my social media strategy over to someone who “lives and breaths Mashable.”

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By Vegasbab, April 4, 2010 8:03 pm

One day soon I’m going to write a real post. I think about it every day. I write one in my head. But then, writing it here, the words and ideas seem silly (sillier than my usual ideas ). I think I may have writer’s block.