Jennifer McClure`

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Written by Jennifer McClure

Putting Yourself First and Finally Taking Control of Your Career With Laurie Ruettimann

photo Laurie Ruettimann

I’m coming in hot into 2021 with Episode number 53 of the Impact Makers podcast!

Seriously.

I’m ready to emerge from my 2020 coronavirus induced cocoon, and to make great things happen in my world, and for you in this shiny and promising new year. And I can think of no better way to kick off the year, than with my BFF, Laurie Ruettimann.

Laurie is back as a guest on the podcast to chat about her first traditionally published book – Betting On You – which will be released on January 12, 2021.

And that’s truly a big deal.

In Episode 002 of the Impact Makers podcast, I shared a little bit about how I originally found Laurie online through one of her early blogs – Teambuilding Is For Suckers. She wrote every day about work, life and cats – among other things – and even though I didn’t always agree with her, or share some of her views, her writing style was totally engaging, and she always had an informed point of view that made me think.

Over the last 15+ years, she’s evolved online from the anonymous voice behind the Teambuilding Is For Suckers blog, to being the pixie of the apocalypse who penned the wildly popular Punk Rock HR blog, and then the successful blogger who blew everything up to rebrand, and become The Cynical Girl for awhile.

A few years ago, she took all of her great writing and talents over to her own online domain – laurieruettiman.com – and resurrected Punk Rock HR as the name of her popular weekly podcast.

And while she’s become my best friend over the last 11 years, I’m also her biggest Fan. She’s simply one of the best writers out there, and can always be counted on to share frank, informed – and sometimes contrary to popular opinions – career and life advice, which is what is needed in a world where many of the so-called career experts sound very much the same.

It’s always been a personal dream of Laurie’s to write a book, and to have it published by a traditional publishing house, and she’s finally made that dream come true. Her book – Betting On You: How To Put Yourself First And (Finally) Take Control Of Your Career – will be published and released by Henry Holt & Co on January 12, 2021.

So, of course, we needed to talk about this moment in time, and what it took to accomplish this major life goal. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’m so glad that Laurie pushed through the challenges, did the hard work, and has reached the point where the book will go from a dream to reality next week.

In this episode, Laurie will share a couple of the career and life stories that are included in the book, and she’ll also unpack the framework she proposes for fixing work by fixing yourself – which includes focusing on self leadership, well-being, continuous learning, and risk taking.

I’m so proud of my friend. And I’m really proud of this book.

I’ve read an advance copy, have pre-ordered a hardback version, and will also purchase the audio book. I hope that you’ll buy at least one copy too, and will connect with Laurie to continue to follow her journey, as well as learn from her in the future.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:​​

  • The steps Laurie took in the long process of selling her book proposal for Betting On You, and ultimately signing with a major publisher.
  • The project plan that Laurie and her team created to ensure that the book was written, and delivered on time.
  • The role that her husband, and a bottle of tequila, played in the receipt of the long awaited initially proposed book cover for Betting On You.
  • The framework for fixing work by fixing yourself: self leadership, well-being, continuous learning, and risk taking.
  • What the buyer of Betting On You is going to get – a fresh take on the world of work, and also life. Also, good stories, well told.
  • The role that punk rock singer Courtney Love played in Laurie deciding to put herself first, and reclaim her life.
  • Why everybody good gets fired at least once – and the lessons that can be learned in that process.
  • How using the pre-mortem process can help you approach your life and career more effectively.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 53

(Email subscribers – click HERE to listen to the podcast.)

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“You fix work by fixing yourself. People really get sick and tired of me saying that. I don’t care. I’m going to say it until I die. You fix work by fixing yourself. When you look at your employer for the answer, you’re never going to be satisfied. When you look for your HR lady to swoop in and solve a problem, even if she nails it, it’s never going to feel good. Because most of the problems we have at work reflect the problems we have in our own personal lives. I’ve never dealt with someone who was chronically late at work that didn’t have something going on in their personal life that was driving some of those attendance issues. For me to just sit there and blather on about an attendance policy was a failed way to solve that problem. We had to drive in deeper. And it’s not just attendance. It’s attention, it’s attitude, it’s engagement. All of this doesn’t start at work, it starts at home. That’s what I believe.” ~ Laurie Ruettimann

“Your worth is not your work.” ~ Laurie Ruettimann

“If you’ve been fired, know that you’re in really great company. But beyond that, know that it’s not the defining moment of your life – or it doesn’t have to be.” ~ Laurie Ruettimann

People & Resources Mentioned In This episode:

Order your copy of Betting on You: How to Put Yourself First and (Finally) Take Control of Your Career by Laurie Ruettimann

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 002    – The Thriving Contrarian with Laurie Ruettimann

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 036    – The Random Show — Conversations with My BFF Laurie Ruettimann

Laurie Ruettimann Website

Laurie Ruettimann books

Betting On You Book Resources

Laurie’s LinkedIn Learning courses on Self-Leadership & Managing Conflict

Punk Rock HR podcast with Laurie Ruettimann

Danny Ozment / Emerald City Productions

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins

Blake Mycosckie / Madefor

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

Categories: Career Development, Personal Development, Podcast
Posted on January 8, 2021

Written by Jennifer McClure

Creating Your Reset Story: Identifying and Overcoming the Limiting Beliefs That Hold Us Back with Kendra Ramirez

photo of Kendra Ramirez

Today’s guest on the podcast is my friend Kendra Ramirez.

Kendra is a well-respected entrepreneur who is a Women of Influence Award Winner, and a recipient of the John Barrett Entrepreneur Vision Award. She’s also been honored as the Cincy Chic Woman of the Year, an American Marketing Association Marketing Legend, and was a finalist for the Social Media Innovator of the Year.

Since 2005, Kendra and her team at the Kendra Ramirez Digital Agency have helped hundreds of organizations to leverage digital technologies to build relationships, brand themselves, generate sales leads, and attract talent. In 2018, Kendra also founded Reset, a mindset community that helps people to move from fear and anxiety to joy and gratitude.

Kendra and I both live in Cincinnati, and we started our entrepreneurial journeys at about the same time – around 2006 – and would see each other periodically at conferences and events, where we were both speaking about using LinkedIn, social media, networking, and a whole lot of topics that people were interested in during that time, in order to grow their businesses and careers.

And while I’ve always admired Kendra for the work that she’s done, and the reputation that she’s built, I’ve been curious about some of the shifts I’ve seen her making over the last couple of years related to building a healthy and positive mindset.

So I invited her to join me to share more about her journey through personal and business successes and setbacks that led her to seek out a mindset coach in order to overcome some of the limiting beliefs that were holding her back.

Since we’ve all had our lives disrupted by recent events related to the global COVID-19 pandemic, I think that Kendra’s recommendations for establishing and maintaining a positive mindset will be helpful to you, just as it was for me.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:​​

  • After reviewing the business plan for her first training and speaking business in 2005, three business coaches told Kendra that she should not start the business. But she was passionate about the work, and believed in herself, so she did it anyway.
  • How the great recession of 2008 / 2009 forced Kendra to go back to working for someone else, in order to keep her dreams and her company alive.
  • Times of struggle are often times of growth, and what Kendra learned during the difficult times helped her to restart and refocus her business in a way that better served her customers.
  • How hiring a mindset coach 3 years ago helped Kendra to unlock her potential, learn to trust herself again, and address limiting beliefs that she’s held since childhood.
  • Kendra’s second business – a mindset and coaching community called Reset – helps others unlock their potential, and not struggle for as long as she did.
  • What have you learned during this time of global crisis and change that you will take forward into the future?
  • Two actions you can take to begin to work on your mindset, and establish a positive foundation.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 43

(Email subscribers – click HERE to listen to the podcast.)

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“I took that knowledge that I learned in that valley moment, and turned that and really shifted. So that was 6 years ago, and I’m so incredibly grateful that I’ve been able to evolve from there, and those learning lessons have served me so well now, during what we’re experiencing with another downturn. I’ve been in a place of peace this time. I haven’t been in a place of panic or worry, and so I’ve been able to just show up for other people, because I’ve been through this before and I’ve been able to just to show up and have conversation, and like you said, let people know that we will get through this, and we will grow on the other side. ~ Kendra Ramirez

People & Resources Mentioned in this episode:

Kendra Ramirez LinkedIn

Kendra Ramirez Twitter

Kendra Ramirez Instagram

Kendra Ramirez Facebook

Kendra Ramirez Digital Agency

Reset Mindset Community

Virtual Reset mindset conference – October 1, 2020 

Danyetta Najoli

Mary Miller

Changing Direction: 10 Choices that Impact Your Dreams by Mary Miller & Dustin S. Klein

LaMarque Ward

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

Categories: Blog, Personal Development, Podcast
Posted on September 26, 2020

Written by Jennifer McClure

Welcome New Year! Now, When Can I Take A Vacation?

For most people, it’s the first work day of the new year, and you’ve probably already seen or read several articles about hopeful New Year’s resolutions, what people will be doing to make 2018 their Best Year Ever, and even what went wrong in 2017.

Good news! This post is not any of those things.

Sorta not. 🙂

I’ve not yet set any goals, or made New Year’s resolutions – more about that below – but one thing I do plan to do going forward is to share more peaks into my life as the Wizard behind the curtain with my community. My hope is that by sharing more about what I’m learning along the way – through both successes and failures – I can encourage and equip you to make the most positive impact as you travel your own journey.

Out With The Old Year

Like many of you, I spent the last two weeks of 2017 winding down.

While I did manage a tiny bit of work the week before the Christmas holidays, for the first time in my life, I didn’t do ANY work during the last week of the year.

And that was a big deal (for me).

No work meant:

  • I didn’t go into my home office.
  • I didn’t schedule any calls.
  • I didn’t answer my phone or respond to texts – except from family or friends.
  • I didn’t open my To Do List app to review scheduled tasks.
  • I didn’t go on LinkedIn to respond to invitations and messages, or approve any posts in the groups that I manage.
  • I didn’t scroll through social media – except Instagram – although I did check in on Facebook if I wasn’t doing anything else, and I replied to tweets/DM’s sent to me.
  • I didn’t read/respond to email to me/Unbridled Talent/DisruptHR – although I did briefly open emails on my phone to get that annoying red dot to go away. (Note to self: just turn off notifications next time, or maybe even delete the app.)
  • I didn’t do my annual Goal Setting process.

In addition to opting out of work for a week plus, I also nixed a couple of personal habits:

  • I didn’t watch the national news, and watched the local news only for the weather a few times. (Because I’m officially and old person, and that’s what my people, do.)
  • I didn’t look at the feeds from my Twitter lists set up to track political happenings and commentary by reporters, politicians, or celebrities.

So, while this means I’m starting the new year goal-less, less politically informed (this is a very good thing), with a mountain of email to respond to, and a To Do List in need of triage, I’ve tasted something sweet, and I want more…

How Can I Avoid Burnout?

The truth is, I’ve felt on the verge of burnout for some time now – probably a year or two.

I’ve jokingly made comments to friends that I need a month long sabbatical, but in my heart, it’s felt more like I’ve fallen so far down the rabbit hole of obligations and busyness, that a month wouldn’t even be long enough.

Yet those feelings of overwhelm haven’t meant that I’ve fallen out of love with my work, or with either of my businesses. In fact, I’m more grateful and in love with what I do than ever, and I’m looking forward to some exciting changes in both my personal business, and DisruptHR in the near future. (Which is fantastic. And daunting.)

The Allure Of The Sabbatical

So, how does a self-employed person (or any person, really) – responsible not only for supporting self, but an ecosystem of family, animals, and things – take time away from work to recharge and renew, while still being able to eat and live indoors?

When faced with something that I don’t know how to do, or don’t do well, I often look around me to see who I can learn from.

Whether you work in a corporate environment, or you’re self-employed, you can probably think of a few people in your world who seem to have the work/life balance thing under control. You can also think of a few people who are flaming dumpster fires. (This one is usually much easier.) We can learn something from both of these types.

For me, I see plenty of people (including myself), who are doing many things wrong. Trying to do everything themselves (guilty), not using systems to plan and prioritize their work (guilty), and not establishing and sticking to schedules and timelines (guilty), are just a few of the things that they (we) have in common.

I also can identify several successful entrepreneurs that I follow who are doing a lot right. For example:

  • Michael Hyatt – takes a month-long sabbatical from his insanely successful personal brand business every year, and also takes several weeks of vacation during the year. Each year, he writes about how important his sabbatical is to recharge physically and emotionally, and for doing long-range thinking.
  • Chalene Johnson – typically spends the entire month of December away from her many businesses to focus on family and friends during the month of December. She looks at this time as her “fallow season” – a time of rest and restoration necessary for future growth.
  • Ryan Estis – steps away from his extremely successful speaking business for a month each year to recharge and refuel. He calls this the most expensive vacation of his life – that is worth every penny.

Plan It. Schedule It. Do It.

Thankfully, my short period of recharging recently freed up enough brain cells to help me to identify some consistencies among those that I see who are struggling to find whatever balance means to them, and those who seem to not only be doing it well, but thriving.

And since I like to break things down into threes, I’ve decided upon three focus areas to take my life back in 2018:

  • Plan my days/my week based upon priorities to achieve goals – and stick to the plan.
  • Create systems and processes for routine work, so I can outsource those tasks.
  • Build teams to support both my personal business, and DisruptHR.

I’m starting 2018, by setting a big, audacious long-term goal: to prepare myself and my businesses to be able to plan – and take – a month long sabbatical in 2019.

What About You?

I’m sure that there will be some twists and turns in the journey throughout 2018. But, I’m going to focus on what I can control, which is making a plan, and working that plan. By doing this, I actually believe I can set myself up to take time away from my work, and have my life and my business be even better because of it.

Do you also want time to create more space to rest and recharge in your life? Your goal may not be a month-long sabbatical, maybe it’s a just a long weekend unplugged, or a vacation spent fully present with your family. Whatever your big goal is, identify a few virtual or in-person mentors you can follow and learn from, create a plan, and work the plan.  There’s no better time to start your journey than now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Personal Development
Posted on January 2, 2018

Written by Jennifer McClure

How HR, Recruiters And Job Seekers Can Prepare For The Future Of Work

Recently, I had the opportunity to be a guest on the Copeland Coaching Podcast, which is hosted by Angela Copeland – Career Coach and the CEO of Copeland Coaching.

Angela had some great questions related to typical challenges faced by job seekers, such as how to prepare for an interview, how to work with HR in the process, and how to ask for – and get – constructive feedback.

We also talked about the importance of managing your career like an entrepreneur, and why we must all become life-long learners – because the world of work is changing so rapidly that we’ll be left behind if we don’t.

[Read more…]

Categories: Career Development, Interviewing, Job Search, Personal Development
Posted on August 10, 2017

Written by Jennifer McClure

Can Regular People Like You And Me Change The World?

I want to change the world!

Some days, I can get really excited about that statement, and be filled with enthusiasm – but the reality is, on most days, I’m caught up in the day-to-day things that overrun my life, and I don’t even think about it.

I’m just a regular person, who used to work in human resources, and who now speaks on stages, writes online, and wants to help people to build careers that they love, and lives that matter.

[Read more…]

Categories: Blog, Leadership, Personal Development
Posted on March 11, 2017

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