At work, I wear many hats—plumber, receptionist, IT gal, operations manager, therapist, and occasionally, teacher.
My official title is Director of Administration. Unofficially, I’m the go-to woman—the one people turn to when something needs to be done, no matter what it is.
My guiding principle is simple: I go where I’m needed and do what needs to be done to keep things running smoothly. I believe in leadership by example. I’ve never considered any task beneath me—not even the messy, uncomfortable ones.
When I interview potential team members, I lay it all out—the perks and the challenges. I make it clear that while we have a janitorial service, accidents happen when you work with kids. Sometimes, those accidents involve bodily fluids. And yes, someone has to clean it up—especially if it’s in a public space.
We provide everything you need—gloves, masks, cleaning supplies—and we all take turns when needed. Including me.
This is usually the moment in the interview when people decide if they’re really a good fit.
Leading by example isn’t always the easiest path. Sometimes, delegating would be quicker. But I’ve never been the kind of leader who just gives orders from the sidelines. I expect just as much from myself as I do from the rest of my team.
For me, it’s not about choice—it’s about character.
Because at the end of the day, leadership isn’t a title. It’s showing up, getting your hands dirty, and doing what needs to be done. Hats and all.
Tag: leadership
Why Are We Racing Through Life?
This morning, I caught myself sprinting—not toward a meeting or deadline, but toward my favorite reformer at Pilates.
It wasn’t about being late. It was about being first. Someone else who likes the same reformer had just parked, and instinctively, I rushed.
Why? Because the AC is over that spot, and it’s next to a wall—my non-working ear faces it, so the silence suits me. Logically, I know the workout would be the same anywhere in the room. But emotionally? I needed to win that micro-race.
It made me think: how often do we do this?
We weave through traffic just to stop at the same red light. We rush to checkout lines. We race—not because we have to, but because we feel like we must.
Most of us aren’t race car drivers or Olympic sprinters. So why do we move through the world like we are?
As I grow older, I’m starting to question the value of being first. Maybe it’s not about where you end up in line—but about showing up at all. And getting home safely.
That’s the real win.
Curious if anyone else feels this way—have you caught yourself racing for no real reason?
#Mindfulness #PersonalDevelopment #Productivity #Leadership #WorkLifeBalance
How to lose your employee’s faith in the workplace with one small step.
“I did not receive my paycheck today—not because I didn’t work or fail to submit my timesheet on time, but due to poor planning from headquarters and, frankly, a lack of respect for employees.
Our company has been going through restructuring, and it’s clear that the payroll process has changed. Typically, we receive our pay via direct deposit every other week, and this has never been an issue. However, this time, there was no advance notice that the payroll process would change.
With no communication about the changes, many of us were surprised today when our pay was not deposited. Instead, we found out through a system notification that paper checks are being mailed. After checking with USPS, I know my check won’t arrive today, and with Monday being a federal holiday, I don’t expect it to arrive then either. This delay has left many of us scrambling to manage our finances, and the lack of notification has only made the situation worse.
Proper planning and communication would have helped employees prepare for these changes. A simple email informing us of the switch, or even a down payment to help bridge the gap, would have made a big difference.
This situation raises some important questions:
- Is this poor planning on management’s part? Absolutely.
- Is this a sign of disregard or disrespect for employees? I believe so.
- Will this affect employee morale? Without a doubt. When employees feel uninformed and unsupported, trust in leadership erodes, and so does faith in the company’s management.
This is particularly disappointing because I genuinely enjoy working here, but now I’m questioning the direction we’re heading. I hope management takes these concerns seriously and works on improving communication and employee support moving forward.”
The going back to work positivity
I really enjoyed my last two weeks off work, it was nice not to return emails or answer phone calls, no meetings, training sessions or work to do lists. I thought I would be bored but I wasn’t.
I read a couple of books, binged shows on Netflix, and had meals with friends.
But even though this was a great mental break for me, I am still happy to go back to the office today , not because I miss the work but because I miss the people I work with. I miss my team!
I have a great team. Some unfortunate weeks we spend more time together at the office than with our families at home, so naturally we are close to each other.
Most of us are immigrants and have shared experiences as strangers in a strange land (yes, I love the book), moving to the USA without our families and reinventing ourselves in a foreign country. We make sure we all have breaks, make sure that the workaholics among us stop to eat and cover for each other when an emergency happens. So yes, your work is not your family but there is something different about a group that really cares about each other. And no, we are not all women, we are a mix of men, women, younger and older who come from different backgrounds and are in different stages of family lives and careers.
Not everyone has this experience with their work colleagues, I believe I am quite lucky. I worked with teams and bosses before that were just terrible and Sunday night was filled with agony about going back to work on Monday. The question is why is this team different?
It is different because our supervisor built this team from scratch and when she chose team members added people that are positive and can contribute to the team. She surrounded herself with team players who are good at what they do and there was no fear of overshadowing herself. This leadership played an excellent role in building a great team that most of us are happy to be part of.
So yes, I am happy to go to work today and see my team.
Is quiet firing really new?
This Labor day morning I was enjoying my morning coffee when an article caught my eye, the title of the article was “quiet firing”, we all heard about the great resignation & quiet quitting so naturally i had to read it as it intrigued my curiosity.
Quiet firing means that an employer will make your work life miserable by demoting, adding extra unpaid work and generally mistreating you so you will quit, this way the employer does not have to pay you severance as they did not fire you. There is no need to prove that your performance was bad, involving HR or paper work.
The article spoke about this as a new trend, but as being employed for many years, I know it has always been there. We have all seen it in our professional life and sadly general life. Instead of quiet firing we all need to call it in its true name – a hostile work environment .
This is not caused by one person, the article kept talking about the work place’s behavior, but workplaces/ companies are not some anonymous entity, they are built with people who are not only demonstrating bad leadership but are also letting the rest of their employees know that they are condoning it. Should we stay and suffer? Look for a new job while being mistreated or just start speaking about it publicly? I have no answers as each person has their own decision to make.
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