Most individuals find themselves on a journey toward happiness for the majority of their lives. Some find it with open arms, but others never seem to push past fear, expectations, and other factors to cultivate their own forms of happiness or contentment. Here are a few ways you can depend on yourself for happiness.
Read MoreToday, as I enter Year 32, I wanted to shed light on an inside look about what inspires me and Hourglass Media as a whole. This isn’t your typical blog post, but it may influence you to craft your own master list to create your own company’s brand voice or just to keep tabs on your current interests.
Read MoreIn a blog post later this year, we will touch on empathy mapping and how you can use it to form your brand strategy and business goals. This blog post will show you how leading with empathy can make your team and company stronger by adding a touch of compassion to your strategies.
Read MoreAugust is my birth month, so that natural year-older thing always puts me in this mode. I think about lessons learned and successes I’ve had from each August to the next, and this time around, I’ve been ruminating about what I would tell my younger self. Here are four mantras I would tell the younger version of myself earlier in my career.
Read MoreI have always liked event planning -- probably too much. Throughout my professional career and personal endeavors, I have planned anything from a 500+ person event to my own wedding. I love the hustle and bustle of events and created an atmosphere from scratch where audiences can come together for one specific purpose (when we could have mass events anyway). I love the little details and the overall vision, and seeing them work together is its own brand of magic.
Read MoreAt the beginning of the media-kit-creation process, make an outline to keep yourself on track and know what is needed throughout the creation of your media kit. These following checklist points will help you create an impactful media kit that will drive more engagement and get you the results you want.
Read MoreIn June, I realized that female CEOs are facing a mass reckoning. Some faced accusations of racism and toxic work cultures, while others walked away at the right time before COVID-19 ramifications could fully take their fortunes. I still believe that you can achieve whatever you want to achieve, but of course, there are limitations. We are recognizing and acknowledging our privileges, shortcomings, and other truths for the illusions they can become.
Read MoreIn 2009-2010, I was a senior at Marshall University in the throes of my first-ever public relations campaign. While overwhelming and stressful at times, I can say that I enjoyed every minute of it. Along with my fellow students, I learned how to craft a campaign from start to finish, raising more than $10,000 for a local nonprofit organization along the way.
Read MoreAs much as many of us don’t like presentations, interviews, and the like, you cannot get anywhere in a communications field without having to do them at least sometimes. In today’s Back To Basics blog post, I will highlight six ways you can give an impactful presentation from start to finish.
Read MoreThis Thursday, I will give you more tips on how to create an effective presentation — at least how I do it. There are so many ways to craft a presentation, but I will help you find a method that works best for you. In this week’s Mental Health Moments blog post, I want to talk more about presentation anxiety. So many people I know have it or have experienced it in the past, so I want to share what works best for me.
Read MoreWhile I don’t interview and write articles EVERY day, it’s still an integral part of Hourglass Media. I still enjoy sitting down and talking with people. This week, actually, I am writing an inspirational COVID-19 story for a local magazine, so I am already in the groove of this process. Here are five tips to employ, from the research to the completion phases.
Read MoreIf you’re a “Star Wars” geek like me, you’ll remember in “Revenge of the Sith” when Padmé Amidala says, ““What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists? In that same vein, what if all of these influencers and life coaches are actually harming us more than they are helping us? So, here are five reasons life coaches of the digital era can be problematic and just an illusion.
Read MoreDuring a recent therapy session, my therapist told me about the “drama triangle” to aid me in my journey for self-actualization and healthy ways to combat challenging dynamics in life. I must admit, since learning about this social model of human interaction, the way I look at the world has changed. I don’t want to freak anyone out, but I can recognize the behavior in anyone I know and meet now. It’s immensely helpful, especially if you’re trying to figure out why you feel like you’re in a rut or want to better understand those around you.
Read MoreWE’RE HIRING! Outside of the job description and other elements listed here, I wanted to offer some insight into what we are looking for in our current opening for a Temporary Account Assistant. I’m going to highlight a few key points below to expand upon the Hourglass Media brand and the requirements of this position.
Read MoreOur publics need compassion and truth in the information they consume on a daily basis. In essence, all of us need storytellers more than ever. We need the truth in media and throughout the chains of commands in our organizations. We need stories, fiction and nonfiction, that reflect who we are and who we aim to be. Ultimately, silence isn’t golden in these situations. Communicate early and often with your audiences. Here are some ways communicators can ensure their publics’ stories are being told.
Read MoreHow do you lessen your social media usage as a public relations pro when you want to focus more on your mental health? After all, we are expected to manage our own digital footprints and those of others, so it’s challenging to not have some sort of social media persona. I feel so much happier because of this decision to not post as much. Here are some ways that you can use social media for business purposes but begin to “break up” with it personally.
Read MoreBefore the soft launch of my first children’s book, Plastic Cupcakes, I took a free online course through my local library titled, “Writing For Children.” I’m going to share a few things I learned during this course if you are interested in writing your own children’s story or find yourself in a communications position marketing to children. Here are some ways you can use your inner child to craft stories for your own children’s story.
Read MoreMLMs FASCINATE me. While this is purely my opinion, which I share with a growing community of others, I believe MLMs take advantage of people in more ways than one. This blog post will aim to shed light on the dangers of MLMs if you find yourself flirting with the idea of joining one or know someone who is part of one and want to give them ways to escape. Or it could begin to give you your own script to politely decline to support someone’s MLM “business.”
Read MoreAs many of you know, mental health is one of my most coveted personal and professional journeys. It’s a vital part of who I am and who I will continue to be as I grow into more of who I am meant to be as a persona and professional. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and while mental health is important 24/7/365, we pause during this month to take a deeper look into illnesses plaguing one in five adults in the United States. These tips will help you, no matter what you are experiencing in your life currently.
Read MoreIt’s no secret that everyone has had to deviate from planned courses of action and routines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout all of the ups and downs, we have learned what works and doesn’t work for our daily work grinds and personal obligations. There are some things will stick with us. While these projections may not be the be-all-end-all strategy past the pandemic, I believe our world is forever changed. While our lives may go back to their own versions of “normal,” I don’t think any of us will ever truly be the same after this collective experience.
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