Sitting in the fourth row, proud and beaming at Danielle's (one of my mentees) high school graduation, made me think back to 1987 and what life was like then pre-Facebook, LinkedIn and Tumblr.

As a young student attending the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., I wasn't the smartest student...

Four weeks ago I joined STEMconnector, 'The One Stop Shop' and powerhouse convener on all things STEM. An organization poised to move the needle on the big issues impacting our country and workforce.

I knew it would be a new career that builds on my 20 years in education...

I am still on cloud nine after attending the TEDx Rock Creek Park Conference last week titled 'The Hero's Journey.' The conference put on by wonderful leader Alison Whitmire of C-Lever and the hundreds of volunteers who stepped up to create an 8 hour space that...

That's what I love about entrepreneurship. You don't just take a job, you make a job and create.

I ran a company for 20 years with significant autonomy. The biggest competitor was doing better than we did last year and keeping up with market trends and shifts. The biggest...

So for the first time in 22 years, I am without title, colleagues, payroll.... Time is slowing down and my type 'A' brain doesn't like it. I'm excited to start my next opportunity yet keenly aware of the few weeks I will have here to learn, grow, and build more...

"The pattern has become predictable," I share with my friend over lunch at Jacksons yesterday in Tyson's Corner McLean.

"But remember, you are still a Mercedes," I offered as he shared his job transition woes. Let me explain...

People come to me every day as they believe I...

Last week was the biggest rollercoaster so far of my start-up career. The car I am sitting in on this ride went up to the top, swerved to the left, swerved to the right, cascaded 90 feet, and is climbing up again. I am anticipating another fast, fun turn, wondering...

When you are out in the middle of the lake and ice starts cracking underneath your feet, what do you do?

I was curious about this so I did some research and found some guidance from the Minnesota Department of National Resources.

Advice was to take two short...

Lena just bought the latest iPhone 5 last week and had eleven more gifts to unwrap. She luckily was up to date on her mortgage payment but her husband Samuel was just laid off from his job and they had a big private school bill payment due in two weeks.

The prospect of dating in your mid-40s after a divorce or breakup is about welcomed as a shower without any heat on January 3rd.

You feel like you are out in the world, exposed. Those extra tires around the waist, the kids, the mortgage, graying of the temples, you...

Dear nonprofit friends and social entrepreneurs,

My message to you is good news. Your skills are highly transferable and coveted in the private sector!

After twenty years in the nonprofit space, I gravitated and then grabbed with all my might the title 'social entrepreneur' when it came out ten...

When I tell people from out of town that I am from Washington, D.C., they often ask me if I am a lawyer or if I work for the federal government. Sometimes people don't even ask; they just assume that I am a lawyer who does work for the government.

"Come on you guys, you want to succeed in your careers and in business it's all about the 'F' word," I remember Walter Benson, my 48-year-old-board member of the charity I was running, saying, standing in front the class dressed as if he had walked out of an L.L.Bean catalog...

I love that old Billy Joel Song "Honesty" and in business that is a must have. If you discover a colleague who has been shall we say, less than honest, it can be challenging to build trust and you often must have the courage to confront this head on or...

In a sea of black dresses at the MBA Women International's awesome conference last week in Phoenix, it was difficult to stand out. Yet I couldn't help but notice an energetic young woman with blond hair and light brown streaks stride through the crowded ballroom. She wore a shiny gold...

Last week I had all of 60 seconds to pitch the company I co-founded, Barrel of Jobs, at the Carnegie Library in Washington, D.C. I started by asking attendees to look to the left and look to the right. Those with a memory for TV trivia might have thought I...

Lights, camera, action! DEMO 2012 in Silicon Valley was sensational. Launch day for a new company unspools like a 24-hour rollercoaster ride and our team returned to Washington, DC sleep deprived, technology addicted, and ready to try out a dozen new web and social innovations shared by our co-presenters from...

The days before the launch of our business Barrel of Jobs reminds me of that feeling I had as a kid as I approach slowwwwly the top of a rollercoaster. Huge excitement for the ride, tempered by the growing fear of the unknown.

"If I seem in control...

"Julie, here is my advice for you. In life, there are rubber balls and glass balls and you are always juggling. Your family is glass, so you can't drop them. Many of your work projects are rubber balls -- the assignment will still be there tomorrow and you need to...

I sat on the floor of my darkened bedroom with the last moments of November light trickling away. I was talking on the phone with my best friend about leaving my job.

This friend knew just how much I loved my job, so she knew something had...