• Just a Beginner.

    I don’t know if I heard this from Mel Robbins or Brendan Burchard. Actually, I might have heard it from both of them in their own ways, but essentially they said, “Never feel ashamed of being ‘Just a beginner.’ We all start somewhere.” As I navigate through this transitional phase and consider what I truly want to do next, I keep coming back to how scary it is to put myself out there. Generally, I know what I need to do, but, in some ways, fear is holding me back from implementation. It’s not the fear of failure. It’s not even the fear of success. It’s a fear of being…

  • All the Things I Have Done.

    This morning, I sat in my office, sipped my coffee, and looked around, pondering the thoughts that have been in my head all week and which I wanted to dive into for this post. As I sat there, I thought less about the chaos that happened over the past week and became overwhelmingly grateful.  There are little reminders of the life I built for myself all throughout the room. The books on the shelves remind me of all the knowledge I’ve accumulated. The photos of my dog remind me that my heart is still healing from the loss. The lanyards and name tags from conferences and expos remind me of…

  • Dreams.

    I have so many unpublished post drafts in my dashboard, countless others in a Word document, and several others in a Google Drive folder. As always, I’ve been taking some time to reflect. When I read through these posts, it’s an insightful reminder of the emotions felt, lessons learned, and journey taken over the past year. Many posts do not get published, because my thoughts feel incomplete or I feel the post will be read in standalone judgement rather than in the greater context of who I am and what I write about. I don’t want my thoughts on a specific topic to be taken the wrong way, especially when…

  • Where Food Grows.

    I was talking to a friend awhile back about educating consumers on where their food comes from. Based on what we see online, it seems that consumers have an interest in learning about it. They are vocal about non-GMO, organic, antibiotic-free, free-range, fresh, and local produce. They get up-in-arms any time there is a recall or outbreak. They like farmer’s markets where they can see and meet the farmer. They like U-Pick stands where they can set foot on the farms themselves. It seems there is opportunity to bridge the gap between producers and consumers. But then my friend asked, “But do they really care?” This question has been swirling…