Unabashedly Authentic

Spring Break is right around the corner and quite unexpectedly, I find myself planning college visits with our 15-year-old daughter.  She is a sophomore and our youngest. With three older siblings, we've been to this rodeo before. In the past, we have always commenced with this ritual in the winter and spring of junior year. Yet, for Mary, I feel compelled to start now. Why?

I've been questioning whether it's too soon to be starting down this rabbit hole, especially since she plans NOT to app…

In my last newsletter, I promised to share a list of eleven things that went really well last year as part of what I have come to call the Anti-Resolution Movement (ARM). The idea came to me after starting to read, The Gap and the Gain: the High Achiever's Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy.

I had a vision of sitting contemplatively with a cup of green tea under a blanket with my dogs snuggled on the couch as I happily reflected on what went re…

New Year, Same You! Long Live the Anti Resolution Movement.

It’s the middle of the month now, and I wonder how many of you have spent the days since January 1 trying to change something – your hips or lips or parenting or account balance. You’re trying to keep your RESOLUTIONS. 

I find the entire idea of New Year’s resolutions off-putting at best. They imply (or outright assert, if we’re being honest) that you are decidedly not what or where you need to be. Even the word itself, “resolution,” …

You may have noticed something new around here.

Since launching my educational consulting practice in 2014, we’ve had three "official" names and – I am embarrassed to admit – several additional “unofficial” names. In a world where branding becomes seemingly more important by the day, consistency means a lot. And yet, throughout my professional life, I have had to pivot, reinvent myself, shift markets and embrace change. As they say, change is the one thing that's inevitable, right?

Our first n…

Labor Day 2021 - Move-in day at Stratton Mountain School for Aaron '22 and Mary '24 

You don't need me to tell you that there are moments in life that require you to suddenly reprioritize your time. In other words, sometimes, things go seriously sideways.

This particular time, it was my husband getting a breakthrough case of COVID-19 right in the middle of back-to-school. The subsequent reprioritization required that I race to Jersey City at 9 am over a national holiday weekend so our two te…

One of the incredible side effects of owning a dog in the time of AirPods is that I get to walk Aspen, our super-athlete in the form of a German Shorthaired Pointer, while listening to podcasts and Audible. As in life, some are better than others. And some are so timely, helpful, AND informative that I feel that I need to share them. This is one of those. 

One of my go-to podcasts is called "Tests and the Rest." Amy Seeley and Mike Bergin, colleagues and hosts of said podcast, recently interv…

Sometimes what you most need to do... is stop

I was reminded recently of how ceremony, ritual, and tradition can be just what we need to take time for reflection, time to feel, time to stop the relentless adherence to the almighty to-do list in our burnout culture. Milestones – great and small and in-between – arguably deserve more of our attention.

Our daughter’s path to attend medical school began years ago; preparing for and applying to med school is akin to an extra year-and-a-half of co…

Hello !

Do you ever experience feelings of Back to School churn or am I the only one? (I tell myself I can't be alone on this.)

When July's long summer nights start to shorten and get cooler as we slide into August, the churn gathers energy. Forms, physicals, new notebooks, and whatever is left on the summer bucket list — it all has to go on the calendar now lest I find myself again in a shoe store over Labor Day weekend trying frantically to find a pair of school shoes that even fit my teen. …

Recently I had to re-establish a hard boundary with one of my brood. It hasn't been easy or pleasant, nor do I expect it to be moving forward. However, as I have wryly observed before, parenting is not for sissies. I am not going to go into the story here because I am just don't have the bandwidth nor the energy at the moment, and to be uncomfortably transparent, I'm still not sure I'm handling the situation appropriately and I'm still muddling my way through, as so many of us do. 

This latest …

Hello Friend!

We field variations on the following questions ALL OF THE TIME: "What's the best way my teen can spend their time over the summer?" and "What activities will help my student boost their application?"

In this short video, I share one of my favorite go-to services offered by Give3600. Teens are paired with a volunteer opportunity that aligns with their interests, whether they have two weeks or ten months. The Give3600 College Application Spotlight package is reasonably priced at ab…