Never underestimate the power of sending a personal Thank You note and it’s impact on the recipient. I do some mentoring from time to time, helping up-and-coming professionals build their personal brands. Upon arriving home on 12/17 after a long drive north from Florida to Pennsylvania to spend some extended time with my wife and …
People will travel further, pay more and give greater consideration to brands considered premium. Like my Grandmom McMenamin would always say: “long after the price is forgotten, the quality remains”. I bought these socks in late November 1997. These thick winter socks cost some bucks back then but I needed warm feet for a cold 5th …
1. Networking isn’t reaching-out to contacts only when you need a new job. 2. Sending a handwritten note is incredibly more effective than an e-mail. 3. Stress isn’t having 5 college mid-terms in 2 days. Growing a career and family is. 4. You have to “walk the decks” to truly connect with your staff. 5. Bro hugs don’t convey strength and …
This is my house. My wife and I purchased it when we were in our 20’s. It’s not built on wealth or grandeur. It’s a modest home that suits us well and allowed us to raise our children in a great environment. As my career progressed, we could’ve gone bigger, spent more, had a …
Since I was a kid, I’ve always fashioned myself a bit of a writer. It’s likely what led me to my career in marketing, communications, advertising. I was invited to have lunch in Philadelphia in spring 2019 with the Dean of Penn State’s Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. I thought the lunch would be for a …
Seriously now. What can this kid possibly offer me? Read More »
Building and launching your personal brand or a search for that next great thing in your career can seem a daunting task…and it is, no doubt about that. When faced with this, most people don’t know how to get started, so they don’t. And they default to the behaviors that they know: develop a resume and wildly …
Most people don’t know how to get started, so they don’t. Read More »
I heard this phrase the other day and it really stuck with me. The world is full of makers and takers, those that work hard while others coast, those that do the right things when no one’s looking while others cut corners and only shine when the cameras are on. I’ve been a road paver …
Some people pave roads while others just drive on them. Read More »
A friend sent me this awesome LinkedIn Yeti mug. I’ve arrived! I’m someone now! Kidding aside, the gesture meant so much more than a simple gift. Sometime around 2005, a friend invited me to join the platform, so I did. It was an odd time at work. Admin changes were happening, marketing was de-emphasized. I …
Patrick was “supposed” to graduate college in May 2017. Instead, he graduated in December 2020. It’s taken him over 7 years to finish his college degree but he did it. He did it while fighting adversity, self-doubt, confusion. He started at Penn State in 2013 as a chemical engineering hopeful, hit a hard wall, took time off, worked …
Some will say it was 3 years’ late. I say it was right on time. Read More »
A few months ago, I thought about buying some Pitt gear considering that my daughter’s boyfriend was a Pitt grad and working with the Pitt football team. Nope, couldn’t do it I said back then. I wouldn’t be staying true to my Penn State brand. Well, I reversed course, for a good reason. I had …
I said I couldn’t, but I did (and for a good reason). Read More »