Personal Development

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Our smartphones are a modern marvel, granting us access to near-limitless content at just the touch of a fingertip. But we don’t need to tell you: They’re also <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-break-social-media-addiction/#h-my-7-day-digital-detox-challenge-to-help-reset-your-mind">incredibly distracting</a>.







“If you look at how people use their smartphones and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/12-steps-to-breaking-smartphone-addiction/">how many times</a> they pick them up per day, I mean, it’s just stunning,” Laura Vanderkam, author of books including <a href="https://lauravanderkam.com/books/off-the-clock/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done</a> and <a href="https://lauravanderkam.com/books/i-know-how-she-does-it/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">I Know How She Does it: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time</a>, tells SUCCESS®.&nbsp;



The average American spends five hours and 16 minutes looking at their phone every day, <a href="https://www.harmonyhit.com/phone-screen-time-statistics/?clreqid=a5b99b78-5919-4ddd-a2d7-5cb3c4e66e6d&amp;kbid=58587" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to one 2024 study</a>, and that’s before taking into account time spent looking at laptops, tablets or TVs. So, how do you set up your phone to avoid slipping into a scrolling spiral and wasting valuable time? We asked the experts and came up with this list of nine tips.



1. Take control of your notification settings.



David Kadavy, author of <a href="https://shop.kadavy.net/products/mind-management-not-time-management-productivity-when-creativity-matters" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mind Management, Not Time Management: Productivity When Creativity Matters</a> and <a href="https://kadavy.net/the-heart-to-start/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Heart to Start: Stop Procrastinating and Start Creating</a>, recommends keeping your phone in Do Not Disturb mode whenever possible. “Use favorites to allow notifications from any critical contacts,” he says, but otherwise? You probably don’t need to be getting every notification in real time.&nbsp;



If keeping your phone on Do Not Disturb isn’t doable (what if the kids need to call from a number you don’t know?), you can always mute certain numbers or apps so that those messages come through but won’t ping you with a notification. “Identify whoever is the most annoying—the WhatsApp group that you need to be on but don’t actually need to follow in real time, the people who you might want to know [what they said] eventually, but it’s not your babysitter texting that you need to come home right now—and then make sure that those alerts do not come through in real time,” Vanderkam says.



2. Make each app earn its spot…&nbsp;



“Don't allow time-wasting apps on your phone just because you might need them once in a while,” Kadavy says. If you find that you’re spending more time than you’d like scrolling Instagram or X, it’s a great idea to simply remove those apps from your phone. Kadavy even takes this one step further and uses parental controls to block certain websites from his phone—you can’t get distracted by an X link your friend sent if you’re unable to open the link in the first place!



3. …Or at the very least, protect your home screen real estate.&nbsp;



If deleting <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/why-social-media-is-ruining-your-self-esteem-and-how-to-stop-it/">social media</a> from your phone seems too extreme, either because you use social media for work or you just really want to be able to check TikTok over lunch, Kadavy recommends “burying” those apps in a folder and putting the things you really need on your home screen. “Don't confuse ‘used a lot’ with ‘use-ful,’”’ he quips. We’re talking about home screen staples like Maps, Uber and Kindle—not Facebook and Instagram.



4. Swap passive scrolling for active learning.



Speaking of Kindle, Vanderkam says putting an e-reader on your phone is a no-brainer. “In the moments when you are using your smartphone as a way to kill time, you want to make sure that you’re doing that in the most positive way possible,” she explains. Lots of people say they want to read more but struggle to meet their reading goals; having Kindle or Libby at the ready can help.&nbsp;



If reading isn’t your preferred productive time killer, consider trying language apps like Duolingo or Babbel, general knowledge apps like Crash Course, or self-improvement apps like Deepstash.&nbsp;



5. Set up shortcuts to automate tasks.&nbsp;



In iOS, there’s a feature called <a href="https://support.apple.com/guide/shortcuts/welcome/ios" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Shortcuts</a> that lets users create, well, shortcuts. In the simplest terms, these are ways to use your apps without opening them, and many shortcuts can help with saving time and energy. “Probably the most overlooked [iPhone pheature] has got to be Shortcuts,” Kadavy says.&nbsp;



Shortcuts can let you create or add to a note, turn text into audio, sort information, find a coffee shop within walking distance—even contact people to let them know you're running late and give them an ETA using Maps data and your current location. And you can use Siri to run shortcuts, meaning you can just ask your phone to complete any of these actions.



6. Don’t use your phone as an alarm.



According to Kadavy, the a.m. hours are the most creative ones in the day—and if you’re staring at your phone from the moment you wake up, it’s way too easy to get sidetracked during a time that should be used for more pressing tasks.



“I like to think of it like when you wake up in the morning, your mind is like a burning building, and what you do with that first hour of your day is who you decide to save,” Kadavy says. He recommends getting an old-school alarm clock and using those early hours for something more pressing, like working on a client pitch or putting together an important deck.



7. Do use your phone as a phone.



“Actually using your smartphone as a phone is a great idea. People should call people,” Vanderkam says.



She recommends taking some designated weekly planning time to look at the upcoming week and “triage your calendar.” Do you see any scheduled meetings that you strongly suspect could be handled with a brief phone call?



“When you see those little bits of schedule clutter, you can take that time to pick up your phone and call the person to say, ‘Hey, I see we’re meeting next week. I want to be prepared. How can I be most prepared for our meeting next week?’” Vanderkam explains. “That’s when the person says, ‘Oh, I just want to know when you’re gonna finish that thing,’&nbsp; and you say, ‘Thursday!’ and then it’s off both your calendars.



8. Or consider getting a second phone.



“I know, it's like, ‘Oh, who are you, like, the King of France?’ You can have two phones,” Kadavy laughs, but he means it—it can be a real <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/proven-productivity-tactics/">productivity booster</a> to have one phone on you when you’re working and another that you use during downtime. That way, you don’t have to choose between fun apps and productive apps.



“I mean, most of us right now have an extra phone lying around, right?” he asks. If not, you can get a used smartphone for a few hundred dollars. “If you're using it well, $200 for the amount of productivity that you can unlock isn’t outrageous. That's a screaming bargain.”



9. Turn it off and put it away.



Sometimes the best way to make your phone work for you is to get it the heck away from you. In moments where you really want to put your head down and work, or if you find that the tips above aren’t having the desired effect, one of the best things you can do is just not look at your mobile device while you’re trying to be productive.



“The cause of productivity is usually not advanced by spending more time on your phone,” Vanderkam chuckles. “And so unless there’s something you’re specifically doing for your job on your phone and you have an app that’s associated with that, you want to spend less time on your phone.”



Photo from Peopleimages.com/Shutterstock.com

Spend all day on your phone? Discover 9 ways to optimize your phone settings and take back control of your time.

Our smartphones are a modern marvel, granting us access to near-limitless content at just the touch of a fingertip. But we don’t need to tell you: They’re | SUCCESS

How to Set Up and Use Your Smartphone for Maximum Productivity

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Cassel is a Minneapolis-based writer and editor, a co-owner of Racket MN, and a VHS collector.

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Success | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

Maybe you think you know Nick Cannon.



The 44-year-old actor, comedian, musician and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/entrepreneurs-advice-for-becoming-self-employed/">entrepreneur</a> has been a presence on our TV screens since he was a boisterous teenager on Nickelodeon’s All That in the late ’90s, and he’s been a tabloid headline fixture since not long after that.



But the Cannon who sits down with SUCCESS® for our entertainment issue is soft-spoken and gentle. His demeanor is easy; he’s quick to laugh. (OK, that part you probably could have guessed.) Maybe that’s because years of hard work in the entertainment industry have taught him when it’s OK to be quiet or maybe he doesn’t have as much to prove at this point, decades into the career he built out of thin air. Perhaps it’s because when we speak, he’s just put one of his sons down for a nap.



One thing is certain: Cannon is not slowing down. Today, at the helm of a media empire that includes multiple podcasts and television shows, he’s one of a small number of actors who have successfully navigated the transition from a traditional entertainment and media economy to find success in the digital space. He’s still an actor and entertainer—he’s been the host of The Masked Singer since 2019—but he’s also a superstar creator, with more than a million subscribers on YouTube and hundreds of thousands of followers across his other platforms watching and listening as he sits down with Suge Knight, TikTok-famous hip-hop duo Flyana Boss or Mike Tyson.







For Cannon, this current era is a sort of personal pinnacle, a media success story that’s at the intersection of his private life, his creative life and his <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/8-proven-networking-strategies-of-successful-entrepreneurs/">entrepreneurial mindset</a>. But while he sees the digital media space as the future of entertainment, in a funny way, it’s also a return to the entertainment ecosystem where he first hustled for success as a teenager.



“Really, what kind of got me on was I was a kid with a camcorder, a kid [who] would go do interviews and man-on-the-street stuff. That was kind of my style of comedy and my style of entertainment in the ‘90s,” Cannon tells SUCCESS®. “So, to see that kind of come full circle and it actually become a true business today with all the creators and influencers, it’s like—wow. I’ve been doing this all my life, and it’s kind of like second nature for me.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-starting-from-scratch">Starting from scratch</h2>



In the entertainment business, it’s famously all about who you know.



Cannon did not grow up with the <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-network-101/">connections</a> typically required for Hollywood superstardom. He was raised primarily by his paternal grandparents in a public housing development in southeast San Diego, California, where gang culture was prevalent and talent scouts were not. But the future star was motivated from a young age—and he was funny. He was 11 years old when he got his first gig, performing stand-up comedy on his dad’s cable-access program.



He was still a teen when he was added to the cast of the hit sketch show All That during its fifth season. The Nickelodeon series, which was like Saturday Night Live for kids, was a staple of the network’s programming for close to a decade, and Cannon, for all of the silly characters he played, took it extremely seriously. “I was a teenager at the time, coming from my neighborhood like, ‘I’d do anything to get up out of here. Give me a dress; I’ll put it on! I ain’t scared. Is there a check that comes with it? Let’s go!’” he recalled in a 2014 oral history of the show.



The young actor had the heart and spirit of a great entertainer, but he had the aptitude for hard work and the mindset of a great entrepreneur. His time on All That (and The Nick Cannon Show, although short-lived) led to starring roles in films Drumline—for which Cannon’s breakthrough performance was nominated for MTV Movie Awards, Teen Choice Awards and Black Reel Awards—and Love Don’t Cost a Thing. Then, there was Wild ‘N Out—part sketch comedy, part rap battle, part improvised game show and all from the mind of one Nick Cannon.



“When I started the show, I was a young kid looking to find a place to voice my perspective and opinion in a comedic way, and I had so many friends [who] didn’t even have the opportunity that I had,” he recalls. “So, I was like, ‘Oh, let me open this door. Let me create this stage so people can hear voices like Katt Williams, and Kevin Hart, and Pete Davidson, and Mikey Day and Matt Rife.’”



Cannon felt certain that he had a hit on his hands, but MTV executives heard “hip-hop improv comedy show” and weren’t so sure. “They didn’t get it. They didn’t understand it,” he says. “So, I literally invested in myself, took my own money, rented a comedy club, rented some cameras, got my friends together and shot the pilot episode of Wild ‘N Out.” It wasn’t the traditional way of doing things, but it worked. “And if I would have gone the traditional route, let them make a pilot, and them pay for it and develop an idea, I wouldn’t have been able to own Wild ‘N Out to this day,” Cannon says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-keeping-doors-open">Keeping doors open</h2>



This has been his playbook since he was young—with his shows and with his music. Hearing “no” doesn’t make it a bad idea, Cannon reasons. It just means it might take a little more hard work to make it happen. His list of current creative endeavors is long and includes <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dailycannonshow/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Daily Cannon</a>, a radio show on which he often highlights up-and-coming music and comedy talent; audio and video podcast <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@cannonsclasstv" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cannon’s Class</a>, on which guests discuss far-ranging topics, from the prison system to homeschooling to hip-hop; and Nick Cannon’s Big Drive, a Tubi show that finds him hopping in the car and riding along with everyone from Snoop Dogg to Rita Ora.



And then there’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@counselcultureshow" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Counsel Culture</a>, the Cannon-hosted mental health podcast and show that asks, “What if, instead of trying to cancel one another, we counseled one another?”



Cannon connects to Counsel Culture on a personal level: “Being someone who has been on the chopping block many times, I’ve always just known that, instead of trying to cancel one another, if we would counsel one another, I think there would be so much atonement,” he chuckles. “I really sit in that space as if I’m sitting on my therapist’s couch, being as candid and as vulnerable.”



But like all of his entertainment projects, it’s a win-win: Not only does Cannon have full creative control over the content, themes and topics of discussion, but he also gets to give other people a platform they might not otherwise have. Now that he’s in his 40s, the former teen sensation says one of the most rewarding things is giving other talented and hungry young people their first opportunities.



“We get to curate this young entertainment space,” he says. “One of my gifts is to be able to recognize other peoples’ gifts and to be that guy to say, ‘Hey, this person’s next. This person deserves an opportunity,’” he says.



“If I’m a gatekeeper, I’m the one guy holding the gate open,” he continues. “I’m keeping it open for everybody.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-balancing-act">A balancing act</h2>



If the idea of hosting multiple podcasts and TV shows while also running your own media company sounds like a lot of work, well, it is. And while Cannon is at a point in his career where he could coast, doing the occasional movie or TV show and otherwise quietly collecting royalty checks, that’s never been a mindset that feels comfortable for him.



“When I sit with my therapist, he calls me a machete juggler,” he laughs. “It kind of makes so much sense… all the things people say I can’t do, I’m like, ‘Well, watch me. Imma show you. Throw me one more machete.’”



Even fatherhood, he grins, is something he approaches in a “machete-juggler type of way.” With 12 kids—Monroe, Moroccan, Golden, Powerful, Zion, Zillion, Zen, Legendary, Onyx, Rise, Beautiful and Halo—he has plenty to keep him busy as a parent. He put his son down for a nap just before our call, and in a short while, he’ll go pick up one of his daughters from school.



But being a parent has given him a feeling of purpose even greater than the most exciting entertainment opportunities.



“Maybe 10 years ago, I was kind of like—I was looking for a new challenge. I was looking for something else to intrigue me and inspire me,” he says. “Now, I don’t have to look, because it’s right there in all my kids. Whatever their dreams and aspirations are, I’m just trying to feed into that and invest in them as much as I possibly can.”



And if you’re wondering how he possibly balances all of his entertainment projects with raising a dozen kids… Well, he says, it takes more than one calendar. “It’s time management; it’s energy management. Whatever I put my energy towards, I’ll find the time. I think it’s really where my passion lies,” he explains.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-idealistic-optimism-nbsp">“Idealistic optimism”&nbsp;</h2>



Cannon says he’s more mature than he’s ever been—<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/using-parenting-skills-at-work-to-become-a-better-manager/">fatherhood helps with that</a>. But, in many ways, he’s still the wide-eyed kid he was in the early 2000s, full of a youthful exuberance that spills out into his life and work. He explains that he has an “idealistic optimism” that things will happen for you if you work hard to figure it out, and that’s an ethos he hopes he’ll pass down to all of his kids.



“I don’t think that the entrepreneurial spirit has been more alive than it is right now,” Cannon says, his eyes glowing.



He means that broadly—the fact that any young person can record a funny video and upload it to Instagram or YouTube in moments has upended some of the old ways of doing things in Hollywood, and success is something you can reach out and grab for yourself now more than ever. You don’t even have to have a camcorder the way Cannon did, as a future star doing man-on-the-street-style interviews; just a smartphone will do.



But he could also be referring to himself, specifically. Not content to simply run a media company, the ever-enterprising Cannon’s NCredible brand is getting into a new space this year, with a renewed emphasis on health and wellness. The line of NCredible Foods products will include NCredible Energy, an all-natural, zero-sugar energy drink made with natural caffeine.



“I just really, probably in the last five years, dove into that world in such a real way…. That’s a space that people don’t know I’m involved in: I’m an herbalist for one of my other jobs,” he laughs.



It’s all in line with Cannon’s belief that anything can be accomplished with enough hard work and dedication, so long as you don’t let anyone sway you from your goals. He saw it firsthand with Wild ‘N Out, the scrappy upstart show no television executives understood at first. Now airing on VH1, the show wrapped its 21st season in 2024.



Cannon shakes his head, smiling. If you’d have told him back in the early 2000s that the little show he dreamt up so that his friends had a place to tell jokes and rap together would still be around 20-plus years later, he probably wouldn’t have believed you. But, as it turns out, he had a trailblazing vision in what you could accomplish by casting people who were viral sensations but had little or no television exposure.



Looking back on it now, “The trajectory wasn’t linear by any means,” he says, explaining how he got where he is today. “But I’m so grateful for it. I’m so grateful for every journey, for every lesson.”



This article appears in the May/June 2025 issue of <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/magazine/">SUCCESS magazine</a>. Photo by Nick Onken.

Nick Cannon is a self-made entertainment powerhouse. Learn how he balances entrepreneurship, fatherhood and paving the way for young entertainers.

Nick Cannon is a self-made entertainment powerhouse. Learn how he balances entrepreneurship, fatherhood and paving the way for young entertainers. | SUCCESS

Inside Nick Cannon's Media Empire

Inside Nick Cannon&#8217;s Media Empire

Nick Cannon Takes Us Inside His Media Empire | SUCCESS

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A National Parks Service solar bus picks up passengers.

Lifestyle

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It probably won’t surprise you to learn that at the 63 national parks scattered throughout the United States, environmental consciousness is the name of the game.&nbsp;







“<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/the-right-conversation-about-sustainable-living/">Sustainability</a> is inherent in the NPS mission,” National Park Service (NPS) spokesperson Kathy Kupper tells SUCCESS®, including the preservation of natural and cultural resources “for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations.”



Established in 1916, the NPS prides itself in having long been a world leader in protecting those resources. But there’s a bit of a catch-22 inherent in the mission: the parks are there for people to come visit, explore and enjoy. And people? Well, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0143622810000317" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">we’re the ones responsible for the bulk of carbon emissions in the parks</a>, thanks in large part to the vehicles we drive around while visiting them.&nbsp;



Recognizing the need to address sustainability issues head-on, the NPS released the first edition of its Green Parks Plan in 2012. The GPP was first updated in 2016, and the third edition of the plan, released in 2023, presents a “bold vision” for the future of our parks. 



“Since 2012, the NPS has made considerable progress towards its sustainability goals,” Kupper explains. “The updated GPP recognizes this progress as well as improvements in science and technology and updates to legislation and executive orders.”



The latest update also streamlines and consolidates GPP goal areas from 10 goals to five:&nbsp;



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Be Climate Friendly and Climate Ready: Combat the climate crisis by achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>



<li>Be Energy Smart and Water Wise: Achieve net-zero water use and net zero energy for facilities and operations</li>



<li>Buy Green and Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Achieve net-zero waste and sustainable procurement&nbsp;</li>



<li>Green Our Rides: Adopt and support zero-emissions transportation methods&nbsp;</li>



<li>Foster a Sustainability Ethic: Engage the NPS workforce, partners, visitors, stakeholders and communities to support and participate in sustainability, climate resilience and environmental justice</li>
</ul>



All these goals are intended to reduce environmental impact while simultaneously adapting to climate change. And, yes, you read that right: The NPS’ latest plan commits to adopting zero-emissions transportation methods in the parks.&nbsp;



“The world is in a climate crisis, and the NPS is front and center in viewing climate impacts,” said Charles Sams, National Park Service director, in the plan’s third edition. “As such, the NPS is renewing its operational sustainability goals with a bold vision to attain net-zero status in its parks.”



<h1 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-nps-partners-with-the-community">How NPS partners with the community</h1>



Specific sustainability initiatives differ slightly depending on the park. At Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which <a href="https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the NPS reports</a> is consistently the most-visited national park in the country, human-caused pollution from the surrounding area has led to smoggy views, reducing the park’s visibility from 93 to 25 miles. The solution? A partnership with seven local shuttle companies to reduce congestion and fossil fuel emissions, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/national-parks-sustainability-carbon-free" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to National Geographic</a>. 



At Zion National Park, which more than 4 million people visited in 2023, Kupper <a href="https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/zion-national-park-shuttles-are-now-electric.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">points to the recent introduction</a> of an all-electric shuttle fleet. And while Zion is the first park in the National Park system to make this transition, Kupper says similar shifts are underway at Grand Canyon, Acadia, Yosemite, Bryce Canyon and Harpers Ferry national parks.  



The list of recent and ongoing sustainability projects doesn’t stop there. Grand Canyon National Park lets visiting cyclists skip the long lines <a href="https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/bicycling.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">and ride their bikes into the park</a>. In Colorado, national parks, including Great Sand Dunes, use the slogan “half the park is after dark” to <a href="https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/experiencethenight.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">encourage guests to visit at night</a>; they’re certified as an International Dark Sky Park by Dark Sky International, which means they meet strict standards for sky darkness, limiting outdoor lighting and reducing light pollution.



Kupper notes that the NPS also works to reduce its environmental impact using sustainable material management in NPS operations, which includes locally sourcing environmentally friendly construction materials and diverting solid waste from landfills. The service has a goal of diverting 50% of municipal solid waste by 2025 (and 75% by 2030), all while reducing per-visitor waste generation annually.



When it comes to adapting to climate change, some national parks are more at risk to climate-related disasters than others. At Denali National Park in Alaska, a landslide caused by thawing permafrost <a href="https://www.nps.gov/dena/getinvolved/polychrome-plan.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cut the park’s only road in half</a>. In Everglades National Park in Florida, rising sea levels and intensifying hurricane seasons have <a href="https://www.npca.org/case-studies/case-study-everglades-national-park" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stressed coral reefs and shuttered visitor centers</a>. In 2022, Yellowstone National Park and surrounding communities <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/yell-flooding.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">experienced historic flooding and mudslides</a> that destroyed several bridges, roads and trails, even sweeping entire buildings away.&nbsp;



But the impacts of climate change aren’t limited to just a few national parks. A <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/climatechange/upload/BRIEF-TWO-NPVuln-Overview-for-Park-Professionals.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2021 National Park Vulnerability Assessment</a> from the Natural Resource Stewardship and Science directorate found that nearly 75% of parks are at risk, either from the ongoing, cumulative effects of climate change or a more specific climate event like a forest fire, summer drought, sea level rise or forest pests.&nbsp;



“Rising temperatures risk destabilizing the balance between wildlife and their ecosystem,” <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/wildlife-climateimpact.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to an NPS report on wildlife and climate change</a>, which means some animals and plant life will no longer be supported by the habitats they’ve long called home. It’s likely that a warming planet will <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/climatechange/visitation.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">even impact visitor patterns</a>.&nbsp;



In 2024, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/biden-harris-administration-announces-$15-million-from-investing-in-america-agenda-to-make-our-national-parks-more-resilient-to-the-climate-crisis.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the NPS announced</a> it was the recipient of $15 million from the Biden-Harris administration for new projects to “build climate resilience, address climate change impacts, and restore healthy lands and waters at national parks and in surrounding communities across the country.”



“As our climate continues to change, it’s imperative that the National Park Service works to ensure our most treasured landscapes can adapt,” Sams adds. “I’m thrilled to see these projects getting additional support, furthering our investment in America’s resilient future.”&nbsp;



Photo courtesy National Parks Service

Learn how the National Park Service is tackling climate change using everything from electric vehicle fleets to after dark programming.

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that at the 63 national parks scattered throughout the United States, environmental consciousness is the name of | SUCCESS

How the National Park Service is Tackling Sustainability Issues and Addressing Climate Change

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In 2020, as COVID-19 raged on and the world ground to a halt, Erin McGoff sat in her 400-square-foot Brooklyn apartment and fretted. Her flourishing career in the film industry—the very thing that brought her to New York City in the first place—suddenly seemed in jeopardy. Editing and directing work all but dried up once the pandemic hit; it was like the entire industry was at a standstill.&nbsp;&nbsp;



So, feeling stressed in the face of unprecedented uncertainty, she did what every other millennial did.&nbsp;



“I downloaded TikTok,” McGoff says with a laugh.&nbsp;



For a while after downloading the app, she just watched, in awe of the algorithm’s ability to launch short-form videos in front of millions of viewers. “2020 was kind of an introspective year for everybody, [and] I was thinking about—there was so much awfulness going on around me, I just wanted to think about how I could make the world a little bit better,” she tells SUCCESS. “I posted a few videos that were just pieces of advice that I wish I had when I was younger and starting out, and people just loved it.”







<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-reluctant-influencer">A reluctant influencer</h2>



But as <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@erinmcgoff?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Advice With Erin</a> was taking off, McGoff resisted going the influencer route. She took a position at National Geographic, where she worked full-time for two years, even as her online following swelled.&nbsp;



Eventually though, her internet success became too much to ignore. “I was getting so many messages from people telling me how my advice was completely changing their life and helping them make more money and advocate for themselves,” she recalls. “It just was so fulfilling and rewarding.” She gave in and quit her Nat Geo job to start making video content full time.&nbsp;



Today, McGoff’s Advice With Erin series is huge. In addition to her nearly 3 million TikTok followers, she has more than 2 million people <a href="https://www.instagram.com/advicewitherin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">following along on Instagram</a> and another 870,000-plus subscribers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@AdviceWithErin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on YouTube</a>. Her <a href="https://advicewitherin.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a> is full of toolkits and quizzes, and she offers workshops and office hours for folks who want more individualized coaching and advice.&nbsp;



Often, career advice from experts can seem vague or dry, McGoff says—or depending on your industry—hard to come by or not applicable to your specific situation. “It’s squishy advice,” she says. 



McGoff’s advice, on the other hand, tends to be hyper-specific, like help for followers who ask for assistance writing a resume <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@erinmcgoff/video/6960001914708708614" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">as a retail worker</a> or <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@erinmcgoff/video/7454362812203355438" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">an administrative assistant</a>. Need tips on gracefully setting boundaries at work? <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DAdzj0qxi5t/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">She’s got ‘em</a>. Looking for do’s and don'ts for delivering bad news? <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DBoTegMsb5P/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Advice With Erin has you covered</a>. Or maybe you find yourself floundering for words when you’re waiting for another person to join a Zoom call? Yep, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DAR62SXMqUe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">McGoff has advice for that, too</a>. She’ll even <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@erinmcgoff/video/7454317570888322347" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">walk you through canceling your gym membership</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-documentary-films-to-content-creation">From documentary films to content creation</h2>



McGoff had wanted to work in the film industry ever since she was a little girl; she graduated with a film degree from American University, got a Pulitzer Center fellowship and released her first feature documentary, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/This-Little-Land-Mines-McGoff/dp/B07YYFZKSM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">This Little Land of Mines</a>, to acclaim in 2019. But over the years, she’s come to see that content creation and documentary filmmaking are almost two sides of the same coin. She’s trained to do research, and she knows how to make videos—ideally, videos that are really interesting to the viewer. She’s also begun to realize that, despite her initial hesitancy, the work she’s doing to help young people with their careers is important.&nbsp;



“The kids who grew up in the most privileged environments have the most access, and the kids who need a hand up, they don’t even know what questions to ask,” she explains. “My overall goal in my career was just to make a really positive impact in the world, and I thought documentary was the way I was going to do that.… But then I realized that TikTok was actually a much more impactful and less gatekeep-y way of doing it. The film industry is not the best place to try and make an impact on the world.”



Her time in the industry did help lay the groundwork for some of her earliest advice videos, which were specific to careers in film, but her followers kept clamoring for more general help. These days, in addition to relying on her own experience, she consults with other career content creators for advice; she’s also a voracious reader of career-related newsletters and follows news outlets like The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, MarketWatch, The Economist and CNBC.



And McGoff isn’t stopping there. In 2024, she launched a YouTube show called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnOGu2eY4y2sysGa-BF7Q75j8oKkex_P_" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">No One Knows What They’re Doing</a>, where she invites guest experts to speak on an even wider range of topics, from making friends as an adult to the pros and cons of moving to Europe as an American. She’s currently hard at work on a book (the topic is currently secret), and she’s always thinking about tools to add to her website or new ways to reach those who need <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-ask-for-mentorship/">career guidance</a>.



“I have dreams of hosting these adult job fairs where people can come and learn about new careers… but you know, one thing at a time,” she chuckles.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-current-job-market">The current job market</h2>



McGoff’s shift to career advice guru happened to take place at an opportune time, when lots of people were as uncertain about their futures as she was.&nbsp;



“The pandemic flipped the world upside-down for a hot second, and the past couple years we’ve been experiencing a recalibration,” she says. “A lot of people are really struggling to get jobs, or they’re getting laid off, or there’s whole industries that have massive demand and they can’t find enough workers.”



Add in the sudden ubiquity of <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/from-the-editor-ai-innovation/">AI</a>, as well as the proliferation of the applicant tracking systems companies use to aid in the recruiting process, and it’s no wonder so many people come to her with questions about their resumes, interview skills or workplace conflicts. 



“It can be really hard to articulate yourself, and that’s why I’m so passionate about making my content. [There are] so many great people who simply don’t… have the awesome writing skills, or they don’t have the awesome articulation skills, and it’s actually holding them back from getting a great job,” she says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mcgoff-s-advice-for-gen-x-gen-z-and-everyone-else">McGoff’s advice for Gen X, Gen Z and everyone else</h2>



When it comes to emerging and ongoing workplace trends, there are a few things McGoff sees. On the worker side, employees are still looking for more of a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-achieve-a-healthy-work-life-balance/">work-life balance</a>: “They’re prioritizing their time over actually how much money they’re making.” On the company side, she finds that hiring managers are increasingly looking for different things than before. “Companies are absolutely looking for what you can do over where you’ve worked and what degrees you have.”



One thing she’s seeing a lot of in her DMs at the moment is questions and concerns regarding ageism, especially as members of Gen X enter their 50s and 60s.&nbsp;



“Because again, that skills over degrees thing—Gen X was a generation that was able to fly on their degrees, and really lean on [them],” she explains. “Now, companies are like, ‘Actually we don’t care about those as much. If they’re not a legal requirement, we want to know what you can do.’”



For Gen Z, meanwhile, it’s all about the side hustles. “I think the future is going to be entrepreneurship, and I think we’re going to see less workers … we’re going to see more individuals doing their own things,” McGoff says.&nbsp;



But her biggest piece of career advice is one that applies for folks of all generations—find what makes you happy, and do that.&nbsp;



From quiet quitting to lazy girl jobs to bare minimum Monday, there are always going to be buzzy, catchphrase-y, viral work trends. McGoff says that her advice is to determine what resonates with you—what aligns with your interests and your goals—and don’t worry about the rest.&nbsp;



“Figure out what’s really important to you—what you want out of life, not what your parents want, or what your friends are doing or what you think is right or cool to do,” she says. “Because at the end of the day, if you’re not doing something that makes you happy, you’re never going to find a sense of happiness, no matter how much you achieve or how much money you make.”



“You’ve gotta do what makes you happy,” McGoff concludes. “I know it sounds like a Disney Channel original movie, but they were right.”



Photo by Brendan Wixted/courtesy of Erin McGoff

Find out how Erin McGoff launched her now-viral career series Advice with Erin on social media and made it a big success.

Learn how she launched her now viral career series.

Erin McGoff on ‘Advice With Erin’ Series and More | SUCCESS

How Did Erin McGoff’s ‘Advice With Erin’ Career Series Get So Big So Fast?

Erin McGoff on ‘Advice With Erin’ Career Series | SUCCESS

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Explore the journey of Erin McGoff and how she launched her now viral career series Advice with Erin on social media.

On a recent episode of her podcast, sportscaster <a href="https://www.instagram.com/erinandrews/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Erin Andrews</a> responded to a listener’s question about the best way to share constructive criticism. “Communication for me in general is horrible,” she said, “and that really sucks because I majored in telecommunications.”



This is the kind of remark that’s common on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/calm-down-with-erin-and-charissa/id1548527210" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Calm Down</a>—as it is in every conversation the decorated Fox NFL Sunday reporter and member of FOX Sports’ A Team has, recorded or not. What you see is what you get, whether it’s on the sidelines at the Super Bowl or in an interview with nosy reporters who come prepared with pushy questions about her personal life.



Quick-witted, down to earth and often self-deprecating—and today, one of the most high-profile names in professional sports broadcasting—Andrews has also become a powerful voice for women’s health issues. It’s a subject she began speaking on a few years ago when she shared her journey with cervical cancer, and it’s continued over time as she’s talked honestly about the fertility challenges she and husband, Jarret Stoll, faced.



Lately she’s had another topic to add to the mix: the joys and challenges of navigating motherhood as a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/career-motherhood-10-ways-to-make-it-work/">working mom</a>. “I feel like I’m back in school,” she chuckles. “I’m learning every single day.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-early-breaks-at-the-sunshine-network-and-espn">Early breaks at the Sunshine Network and ESPN</h2>



Andrews’ career began at Fox Sports Florida in the early 2000s, where she worked as a freelance reporter before becoming the Tampa Bay Lightning reporter for the Sunshine Network. She would eventually cover the Atlanta Braves, Thrashers and Hawks for the Turner South network.



Back then, she says, she didn’t worry or care about sharing her personal life with audiences. For one, it wouldn’t really have been possible—there was no Instagram, Twitter or TikTok.







“You’re not putting your outfit of the day on and that kind of stuff—which, thank God, because what I wore was hysterical,” she says. “For me, when I first started, I was just so excited to have my job. I love sports so much…. [I was] just so excited to learn, to read, to study about these athletes that I’m a huge fan of.”



Even if she’d had an avenue with which to share her innermost thoughts (and OOTD videos), Andrews was intently focused on her career then. “I worked my ass off, [and] it was never enough,” she says. There was a point when she was doing two football games a week—“That is so friggin’ hard,” she says of the experience. When she joined ESPN in 2004, she did it all: college football, college basketball, Major League Baseball, college baseball, the Little League World Series and the Scripps National Spelling Bee.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-finding-her-feet-at-fox-sports">Finding her feet at Fox Sports</h2>



But it wasn’t until around 2012 or so, when Andrews joined Fox Sports (where she continues to work today), that she says she started to share more of herself with athletes and viewers.



“I think when I went to Fox, I really was able to… show who I was,” she says. “I remember somebody telling me, like, ‘We want to see you smile and having fun with the players. We want your personality to come out.’”



By then, Andrews had been around for a few years, so she was more comfortable, calm and able to laugh with the players. This helped her bring out their personalities in addition to her own—which in turn raised her profile, led to endorsements and marketing deals, and eventually gave her the confidence and access to found her own clothing brand, <a href="https://www.fanatics.com/wear-by-erin-andrews/x-215339+z-8305808-2048560893" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WEAR by Erin Andrews</a>.



When it comes down to it, Erin says the reason she’s been so relatable to and popular with viewers and fans is simple. “I’m such a fan,” she says. “I really enjoy what I’m doing, and I’m having such a good time. And I think people can see that.”



Still, none of this came easy. Andrews worked very hard for a very long time to get to the place she is today. As a woman in a male-dominated industry, she had to.



“Hence why I got married so late, hence why I had a baby so late—I really put my career first,” she says.



She and partner <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jarretstoll28/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jarret Stoll</a>, a former NHL player who won two Stanley Cup championships with the Los Angeles Kings, were married in 2017, around the time Andrews went public with her cervical cancer diagnosis. She was diagnosed at age 39, and doctors encouraged her to freeze her eggs before beginning treatment (which she did).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surgeries-and-fertility-challenges">Surgeries and fertility challenges</h2>



Andrews underwent two surgeries and is cancer-free today, and she’s since become a vocal advocate for <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/helping-women-reclaim-their-health-with-dr-anna-cabeca/">women’s health</a>, encouraging early testing. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, she says that “going to the doctor saved my life.”



Then came the fertility challenges.



“I’ve been told ‘no’ my whole career, my whole life,” she says. “And for me, that just fuels me…. You’re telling me no, but I’m going to figure out how to get it done.”



The same hard work and tenacity that propelled Andrews in her career became integral to her pregnancy, a grueling ordeal that involved a nine-year in vitro fertilization (IVF) journey and an eventual surrogacy that was not without its own challenges.



She went public with those struggles in 2021 as she began her seventh round of IVF.



“I just said, ‘This sucks. This just absolutely sucks! And I am so sick of sticking myself with needles and going in there and having a happy face and not telling anyone about it,’” she recalls.



The response was “amazing,” she adds. Players on the sidelines, strangers on the internet—everyone responded with warmth and generosity. “I think that’s what helped fuel us to have the podcast,” she says. “These are really tough conversations to have, but if they can help one person, I’m grateful for that.”



As has been the case for Andrews throughout her career, the hard work did pay off. In 2023, she and Stoll welcomed a baby boy, Mack Roger Stoll, via a surrogate.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-balancing-a-public-persona-with-private-life">Balancing a public persona with private life</h2>



Andrews is characteristically straightforward about the challenges of being a public persona while maintaining an internal private life. “My husband would rather we not be so public—me not be so public,” she says. It was something that came up often during the couple’s fertility journey. “He was just like, ‘Why do we have to say this?’ And I said, ‘Because these waiting rooms are packed.’”



Calm Down has been a fulfilling avenue for Andrews and cohost Thompson to share the more personal parts of themselves. The duo describe it as a text chain turned into a podcast. On the show, Andrews has spoken candidly and at length about her years-long pregnancy journey. The story has resonated with listeners, and many have opened up themselves in YouTube and Instagram comments.



But this is yet another thing the journalist/clothing brand owner/public figure/mom has added to an already overstuffed plate. The idea of work-life balance is something she grapples with—on the podcast, internally and in her personal life.



“I talked about it on a walk with my husband last night as we were walking our dog—we’ve got a lot going on,” she muses. She says this just days before the start of the NFL season, the time each year when her life gets “absolutely crazy” and the boundaries between work and downtime can blur or disappear.



“Plus it’s a Super Bowl year,” she adds. “We have Tom Brady on our broadcasting crew this year. So it’s going to be a lot.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-motherhood-and-professional-life">Motherhood and professional life</h2>



The last year and a half have given Andrews a newfound respect for <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/books-for-working-moms/">working mothers</a> and the sacrifices they make to ensure that their kids have a good life. She’s more obsessed than she ever thought possible with checking the baby monitor while she’s out of town, and she’s gotten more familiar with squeezing interviews in while Mack takes his nap. She thought her son would be something she could fit into her existing life, but she quickly realized that it would be the other way around. Not that she’d trade any of it for anything, of course.



“It also doesn’t last forever, and I’m very well aware of that,” Andrews says. “Unfortunately for me, I don’t know any other gear besides ten. Maybe nine and a half.”&nbsp;



This article originally appeared in the January 2025 issue of <a href="https://offer.success.com/success-plus/?utm_medium=navigation&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_campaign=success-plus&amp;utm_content=dts&amp;utm_term=early-adopter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SUCCESS+</a> digital magazine.



Photo courtesy of Erin Andrews

Sportscaster Erin Andrews is no stranger to hardship. See what she has to say about balancing her career, experiences and new motherhood.

Sportscaster Erin Andrews is no stranger to hardship. See what she has to say about balancing her career, experiences and new motherhood. | SUCCESS

Playing Offense With Erin Andrews

Erin Andrews on Finding Balance as a Working Mom | SUCCESS

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Humans are profoundly emotional beings—one <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4689475/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> found that we experience at least one emotion 90% of the time.



But while we’re constantly feeling—everything from joy to gratitude to anger to fear—we don’t always have the tools to recognize, name and regulate those feelings. And that can make it tempting to just squish down or avoid any tricky, sticky emotions we have.



As New York Times bestselling author and clinical psychologist <a href="https://doctor-ramani.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ramani Durvasula Ph.D.</a> tells SUCCESS+, it’s important to honor and experience your emotions. Even the tough ones.



“I think that the challenge becomes, when we think about quote-unquote ‘controlling’ the emotion, it cannot be about denying the emotion, avoiding the emotion [or] not experiencing the emotion,” Durvasula explains. “That’s not how emotion works. You do that, and it’s like Whac-A-Mole—it’s going to come out somewhere else.”



Here are some tips from the experts for recognizing and regulating your emotions, without letting them get the best of you.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-figure-out-what-emotions-feel-like-for-you">1. Figure out what emotions feel like for you</h2>



Our individual emotional responses have been modeled by a number of factors, for example, what we saw growing up from our parents, what was appropriate in our culture and what’s worked for us in vulnerable situations in the past. We all have a sort of built-in repertoire “which might not always be a good one,” Durvasula says with a chuckle.



“Almost everybody has to do an emotional self-study,” she adds. “Some people, when they’re angry, cry. Some people, when they’re angry, yell. Some people… get up and walk out of a room. We need to know what are our anger go-tos?”



Furthermore, what makes one person sad might make another person angry; what makes one person happy might make another person anxious. Part of managing your own emotions is thinking about your history—in the past, how has having a difficult conversation with your partner made you feel? How has it manifested physically? Are there things you know you can expect in terms of your own reaction? Are there things you would like to do differently next time this comes up?



“I think one of the best ways to do this is after we’ve had an episode or a difficult time,” says <a href="https://kristenlee.com/about" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kristen Lee</a>, a Boston-based behavioral science clinician, researcher and educator. “It’s a really opportune time for reflection, to say, ‘What is happening in my body? Was I clenching? Did I break out in a sweat? Did my voice go up?’ Because when we notice what happens, we’ll be better equipped to develop skills for future occurrences.”







<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-2-take-a-beat">2. Take a beat</h2>



If you’re in a situation where you start to notice some of those physiological signs of heightened emotion, one of the best things you can do is just take a second to focus.



“When we look at a lot of the therapeutic emotional regulation techniques, almost to the letter, they’re based on pausing,” Durvasula says. “Pausing and catching. Pausing and putting a hand to our pulse. Pausing and taking three deep breaths. But it’s doing something to reorient our physiology and to bring us back into the moment.”



If you feel you’re starting to get <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/feeling-overwhelmed/">overwhelmed</a>, or if anger is rising inside of you and you’re worried about your response, taking a pause can be enough to help you stay grounded and in control. Depending on the situation, it might even be helpful to remove yourself entirely—to say to the person who’s leading the meeting, or to the partner with whom you’re having conflict, “Hey, I need to take a minute, I’ll be right back.”



Durvasula says that physically stepping away is a very common strategy for emotional regulation, but she clarifies that it’s not the same as storming out of the room in a huff. You do need to express what’s happening before leaving, and you do need to return to the conversation within a reasonable amount of time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-3-develop-an-emotional-response-tool-kit">3. Develop an emotional response tool kit</h2>



The way you regulate emotion might vary a bit when it’s in your personal versus your professional life, but Lee says there are many universal applications. One thing she suggests for folks who are working to become solid communicators of their emotions is to have a “tool kit” that’s tailored to their <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-set-goals/">personal goals</a> and values.



Go into potentially difficult conversations with a keyword—she suggests words like “peace” or “integrity”—that you can use almost like a mantra when you feel your emotions spiking. You can tailor this to the conversation at hand or to the outcome you’re hoping for, and it will help you stay in control.



“When we advocate for ourselves, it doesn’t mean that we have to roll over someone’s egregious behavior,” she says. “But just in general, ask yourself, ‘How do I want to show up?’ Having that mini mantra or that key intention word can be helpful.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-4-practice-healthy-habits-in-your-day-to-day">4. Practice healthy habits in your day to day</h2>



Ever snapped at someone because you were tired, hungry or stressed about something totally unrelated? (Yeah, um, me either.)



Emotional regulation starts with your overall health and well-being. Factors like getting enough sleep, getting good nutrition and setting aside time to exercise or practice mindfulness can all contribute to your overall ability to regulate and express your feelings in a healthy way.



“The better we take care of ourselves, the better able we are to roll with the emotions,” Durvasula says.



Lee acknowledges that it can be difficult when we’re “activated,” or feeling angry, frustrated or overwhelmed, to quickly return to a positive mindset.



“But outside of activation, if we’re developing the ability to find a peaceful state or a nonjudgmental state—through meditation, laughter, nature [or] expressive therapies like art and music—it shows us there is such a thing as homeostasis, and that we can tap into it,” Lee adds. “I think that’s a key piece of emotional regulation.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-5-don-t-expect-perfection-but-keep-working-on-it">5. Don’t expect perfection, but keep working on it</h2>



It’s nice to think that we could be totally in control—that with enough practice, we could always identify and respond to our emotions in a cool, collected manner.



In the end, though, even with all the meditation in the world, there are times when your feelings might control you rather than the other way around. And in the event that this happens, it’s important not to beat yourself up over it. We’re human, after all, not perfect little robots.



In these cases, Durvasula says, it’s important to practice self-compassion. “Then we can also work on that next series of strategies, which are: How can we repair when we don’t express an emotion well? How do we make amends? How do we take <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/personal-accountability/">accountability</a>?”



Here, she continues, it’s important not to pile on excuses. You want to own the emotion and apologize for your reaction, then work to rebuild.



If all of this sounds like a lot of work, well, it is! Or it can be. And these things might come more easily to some people than others. Durvasula notes that it can be especially difficult for those who have experienced trauma, or anyone who’s been in a situation where expressing emotion wasn’t safe.



But with practice, patience—and yes, enough sleep and a little mindfulness—most of us can get to a place where we can regulate and healthily express our emotions.



“It’s finding that balance between the arrogance that we can master our emotions and the wisdom that we can be present for our emotions,” Durvasula says.



This article appears in the <a href="https://mysuccessplus.com/shop">January 2025 issue of SUCCESS+ Magazine</a>. Photo courtesy of eamesBot/Shutterstock

Learn how to regulate your emotions with these tips from clinical psychologist Ramani Durvasula and behavioral science clinician Kristen Lee.

Learn how to do so according to Ramani Durvasula and Kristen Lee.

5 Tips for Recognizing and Regulating Your Emotions | SUCCESS

How to Recognize, Regulate and Manage Your Emotions

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Learn how to regulate your emotions with these tips from Ramani Durvasula and Kristen Lee.

women opens curtains on a brand new day of transformation

A good book can make you laugh, make you cry and keep you guessing. A great book can inspire you, help you see the world differently and—in the case of the four titles listed here—lead to powerful <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/3-must-dos-for-a-personal-transformation/">transformation</a> in your personal and professional lives.



Maybe you’re feeling like something is keeping your startup from operating at its highest potential or struggling to manage your team in ways that feel effective. Perhaps you’ve had trouble <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/rohn-4-tips-for-setting-powerful-goals/">setting goals</a> and sticking with them, or you’re dealing with imposter syndrome as you attempt to pursue your passions. Or maybe you just feel… stuck! Whatever it is, these are the books to reach for when you’re ready for a radical change.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-the-6-club-unlock-the-secret-to-achieving-any-goal-and-thriving-in-business-and-life">1. <a href="https://amzn.to/3OqOlco" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The 6% Club: Unlock the Secret to Achieving Any Goal and Thriving in Business and Life</a></h3>



By Michelle Rozen, Ph.D.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter is-resized"><a href="https://amzn.to/3OqOlco" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeterX56A3xsPoW-KVsmtJ6Vr7J1xu8KVYdSYq8GbdasmFALiWKU-_8auFQGfrr6w9ojceX8Obz7p6Om37ksfSzDiD3YLqrbuL21JxghPAWHmJWU45FxDDXvbPybeQ2uyM5X7giyA?key=Q5OZY94DZWlIDcUTUy1XPQ6y" alt="The 6% Club: Unlock the Secret to Achieving Any Goal and Thriving in Business and Life By Michelle Rozen, Ph.D.
" style="width:300px"/></a></figure>



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We’ll give you the bad news first: In a 2023 study, Michelle Rozen, Ph.D., found that just 6% of people who decide they want to change something in their lives succeed. Hey, change is difficult! Now, here’s the good news: The 6% Club will teach you how to become one of them.



Those who are able to stick with their changemaking goals—Rozen has dubbed them the “6% Club”—aren’t perfect people; they just have a different set of tools.&nbsp;



In The 6% Club, “The Change Doctor,” as Rozen is known, shares time-tested wisdom and practical steps for achieving the personal and professional goals you hope to accomplish. Her advice is practical, and her tone is upbeat and supportive, like it’s coming from an enthusiastic friend. Setting and sticking with your goals may be hard, but people can change—they just need a road map like this one that explains how to do it.



Buy it on <a href="https://amzn.to/3OqOlco" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon</a>.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-2-when-grit-is-not-enough-an-entrepreneur-s-playbook-for-taking-your-business-to-the-next-level">2. <a href="https://amzn.to/3V9FH5I" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">When Grit Is Not Enough: An Entrepreneur’s Playbook for Taking Your Business to the Next Level</a></h3>



By Dean Guida



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter is-resized"><a href="https://amzn.to/3V9FH5I" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeYKhoOSBeKGfa0bQODLiio5UIcAbuehGSrCPY5keqguYHKBiLALX5w9TePF9O-eAN_fcJJ7m7qiAZkq5V4jc0DLa8NEluaf6PedlxAUWTLGFJak2m03qmUfy9cL8nJFdaNAinVkQ?key=Q5OZY94DZWlIDcUTUy1XPQ6y" alt="When Grit Is Not Enough: An Entrepreneur’s Playbook for Taking Your Business to the Next Level By Dean Guida" style="width:300px"/></a></figure>



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For an entrepreneur, grit and determination are crucial—and often, they’re the factors that help get your business past the idea stage and out into the real world. But there will come a time when you need more than toughness and a strong work ethic to propel your company forward. And that’s where Dean Guida’s When Grit Is Not Enough comes into play.



Guida, CEO and founder of the software company Infragistics, offers his advice for startups that are ready to push past the startup phase. He has a lot of experience here: Guida founded Infragistics at age 23, and it’s now a thriving multinational business, but he had to learn the hard way how to transition from a coder to a business operator.



This is a tactical playbook for entrepreneurs who are ready to level up, even against competitors who have more resources, and Guida takes a holistic approach, with advice on everything from improving leadership and increasing cooperation to planning effective meetings and using data to drive performance. You’ll learn how to push past roadblocks and unexpected challenges thanks to Guida’s insights, which will leave you feeling reinvigorated as you strategize for the future.



Buy it on <a href="https://amzn.to/3V9FH5I" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon</a>.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-3-get-over-yourself-how-to-lead-and-delegate-effectively-for-more-time-more-freedom-and-more-success">3. <a href="https://amzn.to/3ZqLTJe" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Get Over Yourself: How to Lead and Delegate Effectively for More Time, More Freedom, and More Success</a></h3>



By Dave Kerpen



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter is-resized"><a href="https://amzn.to/3ZqLTJe" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXds_2cEypvl1XjuKZtPxUv9cuNmwc_QKZA68HkI57lrat16476gZTUwZvxf1dlmYGruMcw94qNGtT-CKbvu_K6V79zb__LiQavkrQMkF4-09ty5gnhvmTJnY_IrIBfA50WVYA9L?key=Q5OZY94DZWlIDcUTUy1XPQ6y" alt="Get Over Yourself: How to Lead and Delegate Effectively for More Time, More Freedom, and More Success By Dave Kerpen" style="width:300px"/></a></figure>



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Some of us are natural-born leaders, gifted with an innate ability to command a room, lead a large team, manage people with different personalities and communication styles and, crucially, delegate effectively. And some of us… well, some of us might need Dave Kerpen’s latest book.



The bestselling author’s previous books include Likeable Social Media, a guide to harnessing the power of word-of-mouth marketing, and The Art of People, about how relationship building is the key to getting what you want. Get Over Yourself is his latest guide for entrepreneurs, small-business owners and leaders of all kinds who might find themselves struggling to delegate to employees. The heart of Kerpen’s message is this: Professional success shouldn’t have to mean personal sacrifice, and being able to delegate is critical to establishing a healthy work-life balance. It’s good for you, and it’s good for business.



Buy it on <a href="https://amzn.to/3ZqLTJe" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon</a>.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-4-the-outsider-advantage-because-you-don-t-need-to-fit-in-to-win">4. <a href="https://amzn.to/49eaSmg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Outsider Advantage: Because You Don’t Need to Fit in to Win</a></h3>



By Ciera Rogers



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter is-resized"><a href="https://amzn.to/49eaSmg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcvOOGzuB1HIjW32IKTLCjdxBxXgaD20HEZkA1lWORkMZMElNZaCYth6_yhhNpOG-BaJ66cgsDsUJthhBuhIUSGgU7Yc-kIpeRvnVliO9M8x4Tz7f3o4l8-xKfmYWUaeJoanDkkHw?key=Q5OZY94DZWlIDcUTUy1XPQ6y" alt="The Outsider Advantage: Because You Don’t Need to Fit in to Win By Ciera Rogers" style="width:300px"/></a></figure>



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Today, she’s the founder and CEO of BABES, a multimillion-dollar fashion brand for curvy women, and her clothes have been worn by everyone from Kim Kardashian to Beyoncé. But Ciera Rogers didn’t start with celebrity connections and over 2 million Instagram followers. In The Outsider Advantage, Rogers’ first book, the designer and social media superstar reflects on the traumatic events of her childhood—including being kidnapped by her estranged father and living out of her mom’s car—and how those challenges became the fuel she used to launch her career.



If you’ve ever felt overlooked, underestimated or unappreciated, you’ll put this bold and bracing memoir down feeling more confident and ready to harness the power that comes with your nontraditional experiences. You’ll also feel inspired to pursue your passions, especially if you, too, are something of an outsider.



Buy it on <a href="https://amzn.to/49eaSmg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon</a>.



Photo by fizkes/shutterstock.com

Stagnant? Stuck? Get out of that rut with these change-inspiring titles that will motivate you to make positive alterations in your life.

Stagnant? Stuck? Get out of that rut with these change-inspiring titles that will motivate you to make positive alterations in your life. | SUCCESS

4 Books That Will Inspire Transformation

4 Books That Will Inspire Transformation | SUCCESS

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Mario Badescu occupies a niche unlike almost any other in the skin care market.



It’s a legacy brand, founded in the 1960s by the Romanian immigrant whose name it bears, and its lengthy list of celebrity clients includes Martha Stewart, Heidi Klum and Jennifer Aniston. But here, legacy is not a euphemism for luxury; they don’t use “prestige” to mean “pricey.” <a href="https://www.mariobadescu.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mario Badescu</a> is also an affordable, family-owned brand. And that’s largely thanks to the vision of its president, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-cabasso-130672a/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joey Cabasso</a>, who’s been with the company for more than a quarter century.



It was Cabasso’s father who bought the skin care company in the 1980s, but it was the younger Cabasso who steered its growth from a little two-bedroom apartment in New York City to a global brand you’ll find in more than 70 countries today. He still remembers getting their first retail account with the department store Henri Bendel, back when the products were made in the salon’s basement.



“We used to pack the products. I used to put it in my trunk, unload it into Henri Bendel’s, stock the shelves and work the counter. I really started from when the business was nothing,” Cabasso says. “I remember, my car—you know when you put too many boxes and it’ll be down to the ground? That’s how my car was.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-delivery-boy-to-successful-retailer">From delivery boy to successful retailer</h2>



Cabasso’s time as delivery boy and shopkeeper paid off. Before long, intrigued by the masks and moisturizers that were doing so well at Henri Bendel, bigger retailers like Nordstrom started reaching out.



“Ulta came to us, I think it was maybe 17 years ago, 18 years ago. They came to us, and we were like, ‘Who are these people, Ulta?’” Cabasso chuckles.



At the time, he recalls, Ulta Beauty had maybe 70 stores; now, they have more than 1,300, in which Mario Badescu is a big leader.



Mario Badescu grew alongside its retailers. “And we grew with our customers,” he adds. “You could take someone like Martha Stewart—she came in the ’70s; she’s still coming—there are thousands and thousands of customers, tens of thousands, that are the same.”







In some ways, they’ve been lucky. Having Stewart as an early champion, for example, gave them crucial <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-optimize-your-linkedin-profile/">exposure</a> in her Martha by Mail catalog.



That growth is due to the chances Cabasso was brave enough to take—like signing on at Ulta, a small chain they weren’t sure about in those initial days. Cabasso credits the fact that they’re a family-run business for making leaps like that, jumps that might have scared off a bigger business with the resources (and experience) to say no to such an uncertain proposition.



“We weren’t that corporate company that really looked into companies and really cared that much,” Cabasso says. “We want our products to be out there; we want people to have our products.”



This is the ethos that drives Cabasso’s leadership of Mario Badescu even today. When it comes down to it, he wants to see their eye creams and exfoliants in as many medicine cabinets and makeup bags as possible. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/why-you-need-an-inclusive-marketing-plan/">Inclusivity</a> and affordability are the name of the game.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-partnering-with-walmart">Partnering with Walmart</h2>



Take the brand’s March 2022 entry into BeautySpaceNK, a new retailer of beauty products located inside Walmart. “That was a big jump for us,” Cabasso admits. “But when we saw Ulta went into Target, and Sephora went into Kohl’s, we said, ‘OK, we’re a prestige company. But our prestige company is very affordable. And our price point is a mass price point.’ And that’s how we always were.”



Of course, it can be challenging to balance the legacy and history of a company that’s been around for nearly 60 years with the changing times. “We try to keep everything like Mario Badescu left it,” Cabasso says. “Yes, we come out with new products, but we don’t just throw products out on the market. We really are very involved.” It’s not uncommon for employees to take new products home to try themselves; Cabasso is always bringing in-development items home for his wife to try out.



Cabasso is modest about his success at the helm of Mario Badescu, and his advice for other leaders is in line with that. “Stay very humble. Very, very humble,” he says. “Work with the employees like you’re on the same level as them. We are a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/join-the-family-business-without-the-drama/">family business</a>; we like for each and every employee… to feel they’re family."



“And don’t be embarrassed to tell your story,” he adds. Cabasso knows that Mario Badescu’s status as a family-operated skin care brand makes it something of an anomaly in the space, and that’s a fact that fills him with pride. Even when, or maybe especially when, that fact surprises influencers who come by Mario Badescu’s New Jersey production facility and get a tour from Cabasso’s 85-year-old father, who still regularly comes into the office.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-keeping-prices-affordable">Keeping prices affordable</h2>



Ultimately, as much as things have changed since Cabasso started filling up his trunk and making deliveries for Mario Badescu, an awful lot has stayed the same. Many of the formulas are the same ones developed by Badescu back in the ’60s and ’70s. The label is as traditional and simple as they come, each bottle bearing a simple line of text—“Mario Badescu Skin Care, Since 1967”—above its emerald green logo. And there’s the price point: $8 facial sprays, $12 cleansers, $18 masks.



“I think we’re busy because of the price point,” Cabasso says. “Nowadays, price point is huge. And I see a lot of skin care companies that are suffering because they have creams that are $80, $100, $200 and they’re not selling it like they were.”



Cabasso says they have no plans to change. With a customer retention rate that hovers around 63%, why would you?



“Even though we’re not making as much as these other companies, we’re keeping that customer for a lifetime,” Cabasso continues. “We’re not out to make a killing; we’re out to keep the customer happy and keep them forever.”



Photo courtesy of Joey Cabasso

Learn how Joey Cabasso elevated Mario Badescu from a two-bedroom apartment to a global skin care brand in our latest interview.

Learn how Joey Cabasso elevated Mario Badescu from a two-bedroom apartment to a global skin care brand in our latest interview. | SUCCESS

From the Beauty Counter to the Front Office

From the Beauty Counter to the Front Office | SUCCESS

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two colleagues face off exemplifying outsmarting a narcissist at the office

Culture &amp; Workplace

Culture &amp; Workplace Archives

Culture &amp; Workplace | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance and entitlement, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others, <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to Mayo Clinic</a>. Narcissists seek attention and feel superior, and they often have fantasies of power, beauty or success. They take advantage of others; they feel they deserve special treatment. 



And as you can imagine, that makes a narcissist a real nightmare in the workplace.&nbsp;



The good news, says Erin Leonard, Ph.D., a psychotherapist and the author of the book <a href="https://amzn.to/3ZoCXEB" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How to Outsmart a Narcissist: Use Emotional Intelligence to Regain Control at Home, at Work, and in Life</a>, is that there are ways to identify and work with (and maybe even outsmart) a workplace narcissist. The bad news is that it might not be easy. In her book, she writes that the workplace can be one of the trickiest places in which you might have to interact with a narcissist. But with specific strategies and emotional intelligence tools, you can start to manage and take control of this relationship. 



First, how do you determine if your colleague is a narcissist? Counterintuitively, Leonard says, the narcissist will have been pretty nice to you—at least initially.&nbsp;



“A narcissist will really try to be on good behavior to gain your trust,” Leonard says. “Once you trust them, then their true colors show, but only behind closed doors.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-red-flags-to-watch-out-for">Some red flags to watch out for</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>They’ll suddenly become cold. There may be a moment when this person shifts from friendly and warm to cold and cruel. Often, they’ll make toxic comments, either to your face or behind your back. “They say devaluing things, so things that kind of hit below the belt, often camouflaged as a joke, or ‘Oh, I was just trying to help you out, give you feedback,’” Leonard says.  </li>



<li>They’re manipulative. The narcissist will lie, withhold information and scheme. They might try to get you to do their work, either by playing the victim or making excuses about why they can’t do it, or they’ll take credit for your work, stealing your ideas or the ideas of the team and presenting them as their own. </li>



<li>They’ll bend boundaries. “They’re calling you at 10 o’clock at night for help with their proposal. They call you and say, ‘Can you fill in for me on Saturday morning?’” Leonard explains. </li>



<li>They’ll exclude you. “All [of] the sudden, the whole office has gotten this email about the picnic on Friday but you…. And they unfairly attack you behind your back.”</li>



<li>They can’t take feedback or constructive criticism. Narcissists typically have a sense of self-importance and entitlement, and they react defensively—and often angrily—when they receive negative feedback or criticism. “It’s a knee-jerk reaction all the time when something comes along that’s going to ding their self-esteem,” Leonard says. </li>



<li>They’re passive-aggressive. Narcissists have a feeling of superiority; they need to be liked, and they need the focus to be on them. If they feel they don’t have control or aren’t in the spotlight, they’ll undercut others who they perceive as a threat to their self-image.</li>
</ul>







<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trust-your-feelings">Trust your feelings</h2>



Not every person who’s passive-aggressive or struggles to maintain appropriate boundaries is a narcissist. But if you’re noticing several of the attributes listed here—if it’s a pattern of behavior you’re picking up on—Leonard says it’s important to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/the-life-changing-power-of-trusting-yourself/">trust your feelings</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“A​​ lot of people intuitively understand that what’s happening is not quite right,” she explains. “But a narcissist does such a good job of making them think they’re the problem that they kind of give in to the narcissist’s perspective.”



Emotionally intelligent people want to look for the good in others, Leonard explains, and they’ll often try to reason away bad behavior from narcissists: “Well, maybe she had a bad day,” or, “Well, am I overreacting?”&nbsp;



It’s confusing when someone you thought was your friend and ally starts to demean and belittle you, so the first thing Leonard tells people who are dealing with narcissists in their lives is to trust their intuition. Especially if you notice that your mental health is suffering, or if this person makes you anxious or depressed at the workplace (or even at home), that’s a sign that something serious is going on with this colleague.&nbsp;



“If you feel like something really unfair is happening in your relationship, it is,” Leonard adds.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gaining-emotional-space">Gaining emotional space</h2>



Once you’ve determined that you may be dealing with a narcissist, the next step is to get some emotional space from that person.&nbsp;



This, too, can be a challenge, especially if you’re in an office where people are fairly close-knit. It might mean saying no to after-work drinks (even if you know they might talk about you behind your back), and it definitely means keeping your personal and professional news from them.



“You want to be civil and warm, but you do not want to talk about anything personal, and you don’t want to share your work, because they will either rip on it or take credit for it,” Leonard says. “Getting emotional space will help the emotionally intelligent person see the narcissist realistically: ‘OK, this person is definitely a problem. I cannot deny it.’”



Once you’ve gotten some emotional distance, there are tools you can use to cope with the situation—and sometimes, Leonard says, even outsmart the narcissist.



Those tools might differ depending on how the narcissist is treating you and their relationship to you. For example, managing this relationship with a colleague can be different than doing so with a boss. Often, this will look like <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/setting-healthy-boundaries-3-simple-steps-to-establishing-boundaries-that-stick/">setting a boundary</a> as quickly, kindly and concisely as possible.&nbsp;



For example, if this is a colleague or manager who won’t stop messaging you after hours, reply with: “Hi, thanks for the texts. I’ll take a look when I’m back in the office on Monday. Take care.” You might have to repeat or re-establish this boundary, but the important thing is that you maintain it.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-to-outsmart-a-narcissist">How to outsmart a narcissist</h2>



In How to Outsmart a Narcissist, Leonard adds that you can document these work-related incidents and take them to HR to clarify your off-the-clock responsibilities. This goes for other abusive behavior as well—write down and keep track of the narcissist’s boundary-crossing or cruel comments. Try to get as much of the communication as possible in writing, either via email or text message, so that you’ll have receipts that clearly demonstrate their actions.&nbsp;



When dealing with devaluing and demeaning insults, the best way to react is to move on—don’t engage, as engaging only gives the narcissist power. Simply redirect the conversation and act as if you didn’t hear it, and be ready to remove yourself from the conversation if it comes to that. A simple, “Excuse me, I have to use the restroom,” can go a long way.&nbsp;



Leonard says it’s natural for <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-improve-emotional-intelligence/">emotionally intelligent</a> people to try to empathize with the narcissist, even if they realize the way they’re being treated is wrong. It’s important to stay strong and continue trusting yourself—don’t let them play the victim, and remember that they’ll distort reality to gain control.&nbsp;



According to Leonard, narcissists often feel that emotionally intelligent people are weak, as they are empathic and kind—things a narcissist views as exploitable.&nbsp;



“The opposite is actually true,” she says. Emotionally intelligent people are strong, with sturdy self-esteem—a narcissist’s profound insecurity keeps them from reckoning with their own flaws. And once an emotionally intelligent person is able to see the narcissist realistically, they’ll also be able to see themselves more realistically. “They’ll know that they’re OK,” she continues. “They’ll know that they have to use their emotional intelligence and these tools to deal with the narcissist. And it is going to be fine.”



Photo by Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com

The workplace can be one of the trickiest places to interact with a narcissist, but there are ways to take control—find out how.

The workplace can be one of the trickiest places to interact with a narcissist, but there are ways to take control. Find out how in our latest. | SUCCESS

Outsmarting a Narcissist at the Office

Outsmarting a Narcissist at the Office | SUCCESS

https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/outsmarting-a-narcissist-at-the-office-header.jpg

All the way back around 500 B.C., <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Heraclitus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Greek philosopher Heraclitus</a> established the notion that the only constant in life is change. So why are so many of our modern workplaces so bad at it?



<a href="https://changeenthusiasmglobal.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Change Enthusiasm® Global</a> founder Cassandra Worthy spent 15 years in the corporate world frustrated by leaders who addressed change in the abstract but failed to support their employees through it. Since leaving that world behind in 2019, she’s focused on helping organizations thrive through these periods—particularly by harnessing emotions that can lead to personal and professional growth.



“My work is to debunk the myth that emotion should be left at the door of business,” Worthy says. “Regardless of if you talk about them, they’re still gonna be there. It’s just a matter of if they’re driving your attrition rates up. Or if they’re allowing you to move successfully through change.”



With Change Enthusiasm®, Worthy has created a program that helps organizations embrace so-called “negative” emotions around change—whether that’s a buyout, restructuring or new management—by using those emotions to fuel positive growth. She wants you to know that your emotions are worthy of interrogating in a workplace setting. And that they can, in fact, be used to propel you to a new and better place during otherwise challenging times.



We sat down with her to talk about harnessing your feelings to fuel <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/growth-mindset-examples/">positive growth</a>, especially in the face of fast-paced change and disruption.



(This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.)



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-start-of-change-enthusiasm">The start of Change Enthusiasm®</h2>



SUCCESS: Would you tell me about the origins of Change Enthusiasm®?



Cassandra Worthy: I went through a lot of change in my corporate career, and most of it was acquisition. I’ve been on both sides of the coin. I’ve been in a large organization that acquired a business for multibillion dollars…and then I’ve been a part of a business that got acquired by another large company… And every time, I’ve felt the pain, the frustration, the anger, the anxiety, the fear—not knowing if I would wake up and have a job the next day.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reacting-to-change">Reacting to change</h2>



CW: I noticed that leaders would talk about, “This is gonna be tough times; it’s gonna be difficult; we’re going through a lot of change.” They would do that at the beginning, but then nothing else would be said about the difficulty, about the challenge. It was almost like this unspoken, grit-your-teeth-and-bear-it thing. In corporate, there’s the sentiment of, “Leave your emotions at the door. We understand you’re human—you have emotions. But don’t talk about them here.”



S: Right, right. “This is not the place.”



CW: Exactly. “This is not the place. I don’t need to hear that.” This never sat well with me. And I knew there was a better way. So, I actually started practicing this mindset that I coined Change Enthusiasm® back when I was in corporate going through these acquisitions and recognizing that the feelings I was having—the fear, the frustration—they always were signaling me to some moment of opportunity. Some way to learn about myself [and] to learn about something that I didn’t like. And to learn about one of my boundaries, to learn about my colleagues [or] about the business. And it was up to me to choose. How was I gonna show up? How was I gonna use that emotional energy to work for me as opposed to against me?







<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-creating-change-with-change-enthusiasm">Creating change with Change Enthusiasm® </h2>



CW: A culmination of things happened. I got sober back in 2014. And I recognized this whisper I had been hearing really ever since I started in corporate—that there’s something more, something different you should be doing with your goals and talents to make the world a better place. The other thing that happened was, my sister asked me how was it that I was able to thrive and grow and inspire when going through really difficult times. I had to think about, “How do I do that?”



And I actually wrote out kind of the mental process, and the steps that I take…I started sharing it with other people and corporate, and was like, “This is something I could actually bring to the world.”



S: I can see this message really resonating with women, with younger workers—the idea of accessing your emotions and harnessing them to create change. It’s a powerful thing to hear.



CW: For sure. In Change Enthusiasm®, moving from step one to step two is about stepping outside of our emotional energy. It’s about stepping outside and not becoming our anger. Not becoming our rage or our frustration and acting out in that. I use this mnemonic of a traffic light, where the opportunity is the yellow light. That’s where you’re pausing. That’s where you’re taking a beat. [And] that’s where you’re reflecting on, “What is here for me to learn? What are my options in this moment? How can I move forward, becoming better, as opposed to running that yellow light and choosing to act in anger or frustration?” People really resonate with that because it’s like, “No, slow down. Take a beat. Take a pause when you’re feeling that emotion.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-change-enthusiasm-framework">The Change Enthusiasm® framework</h2>



S: In your speaking and consulting work, do you find that there are office environments or types of people who can benefit more from this framework?



CW: Honestly, the people who can benefit the most are the people who are most resistant to embracing it. It is the executives; it is the leaders [who] have grown up in a world where emotions were not to be talked about. They hear things nowadays about emotions, and it’s like, “That’s too woo-woo; that’s too fluffy. We need to be hard-nosed. We have to remain stoic; don’t talk about emotions. They cloud decisions."



CW: It’s these folks [who] I talk about empathy with—I talk about appreciation, [and] I talk about being your <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/bring-your-whole-self-to-work/">full authentic self</a> and about Change Enthusiasm®. And it’s like they shut down to it. They say, “You can talk to my junior colleagues about it, but I don’t need it.” But it’s them who need to [be] role model[s] and embody it and bring it to the forefront if they want their change initiatives and their growth initiatives to be successful.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-embracing-change-then-vs-now">Embracing change then vs. now</h2>



S: Do you feel that, as time goes on, there’s maybe less resistance to ideas like this? I think I’m seeing more and more talk about ideas like emotional intelligence, for example. Are people warming to it?



CW: For sure. They have to have been. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had the success that we’ve had to date with Change Enthusiasm® Global—and the fact that my calendar stays pretty jam-packed, which I’m so grateful for.



CW: I think there’s a turning point that’s happening. There’s an evolution that’s happening in corporate. I think a lot of it is due to the changing of [the] guard, generationally, as we think about individuals who have grown up in a different space, who are now taking on leadership positions, and also just the nature of the work.



CW: The pace of change, of disruption, is becoming more and more rapid—seismic shifts everywhere. And so, because of that, the emotional landscape is even more tumultuous than it’s ever been…I think it’s become a business imperative. And for many leaders, they’re at a point of desperation. They’re now opening their eyes and saying, “OK, let’s talk about emotions. What is this <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-improve-emotional-intelligence/">emotional intelligence</a> thing? Let’s talk about it—if it will help.”



This article appears in the <a href="https://store.success.com/by-media/success-magazine-september-october-2024-daymond-john.html">September/October</a> issue of SUCCESS Magazine. Photo courtesy of Rious Photography (IG @Riousshotme)/courtesy of Cassandra Worthy.

Learn how Cassandra Worthy guides companies through difficult times of change and disruption by harnessing the power of emotion.

Learn how Cassandra Worthy guides companies through times of change.

Thriving Through Change with Cassandra Worthy | SUCCESS

Change Enthusiasm’s Cassandra Worthy on Harnessing Your Emotions and Thriving Through Change

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a phone screen with tech tools for small businesses, showing Slack and Teams mobile apps

AI &amp; Technology

AI &amp; Technology Archives

AI &amp; Technology | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

You know the old adage “work smarter, not harder”? What if we told you there was an easy way for your <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/11-game-changing-tips-for-small-business-owners/">small business</a> to do it—reducing your workload, helping the team complete tasks more efficiently, improving communication, making it easier to meet tight deadlines and, ultimately, just making things work better? It’s true—all you have to do is have the right tech tools for small businesses.



Now, you might not feel like the most technologically savvy person in the world, but that’s OK! That’s why we sat down with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/morrisian" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ian Morris</a>, CEO and co-founder of the personalized entertainment recommendation app <a href="https://likewise.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Likewise</a>, to learn about the tech options startups and small businesses should consider when getting off the ground. From chat platforms and productivity suites to AI tools, here’s a look at the tech your small business needs to succeed in a fast-moving, rapidly changing business world.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-invest-in-communication-software">Invest in communication software</h2>



For a startup to function efficiently, having a centralized communication hub is essential.



“From very early on, Slack was a big part of what we’ve done,” Morris says. “My last company was pre-Slack, and so that communication software has been very useful.”



It’s not just <a href="https://slack.com/">Slack</a>; programs for workplace communication include <a href="https://www.breakroomapp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Breakroom</a>, <a href="https://zulip.com/apps/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zulip</a>, <a href="https://discord.com/download" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Discord</a>, <a href="https://www.spikenow.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spike</a> and more. Some, like <a href="https://zoom.us/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zoom Workplace</a> and <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft Teams</a>, even include built-in video chatting and internet phone services, helping to improve productivity and speed up communication in those moments where it’s easier and more efficient to hop on a quick call.







<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-consider-productivity-suites">Consider productivity suites</h2>



It’s one of the most fundamental questions of any small business: How are you going to be creating, storing and sharing company files? These days, productivity suites can pack a lot of services into one package: word processing and spreadsheet applications, sure, but also calendars, email and more.



“We use good old <a href="https://www.office.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft Office</a>,” Morris says. <a href="https://workspace.google.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google Workspace</a> is another popular option, and there are even more specialized programs like <a href="https://www.libreoffice.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LibreOffice Productivity Suite</a> and <a href="https://www.neooffice.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NeoOffice</a> for Mac.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tap-into-cloud-based-data-storage">Tap into cloud-based data storage</h2>



In-house servers are so 2004. More and more companies are turning to online cloud-based data storage services like <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dropbox</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/drive/">Google Drive</a> to keep their growing data secure and easily accessible, no matter where the team is located—and that’s especially crucial as more and more workplaces go remote or offer <a href="https://www.google.com/drive/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flexible in-office scheduling</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mange-tasks-with-a-project-management-platform">Mange tasks with a project management platform</h2>



Small business owners know firsthand how difficult it is to juggle varied day-to-day tasks, from paperwork and budgeting to client communication. At Likewise, employees organize their workload with a collection of project management software, “which I think is critical to any organization to standardize how they keep track of projects across teams,” Morris says.



Platforms like <a href="https://trello.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trello</a> and <a href="https://asana.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Asana</a> make it easy to standardize the workflow, which is especially helpful when projects are being organized across several departments. These platforms let you assign tasks so nothing falls through the cracks, keeping managers, developers and marketers on the same page.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-prioritize-cybersecurity-solutions">Prioritize cybersecurity solutions</h2>



“Cybersecurity’s really important. How are you safeguarding the data, the overall infrastructure, customer records?” Morris asks. “That was a big investment early on… it’s not optional. You have to do it.”



Many small business owners overlook data security and privacy, but that’s a dangerous mistake to make. A <a href="https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/articles/small-business-cyber-security-and-data-breaches/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2019 Verizon report</a> found that small businesses are a big target for criminals, representing 43% of all data breaches. Even if you’re just starting out, Morris says, you need to take security seriously, with solutions like encryption, firewall, antivirus software and two-factor authentication solutions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-create-a-social-media-presence-and-newsletters">Create a social media presence and newsletters</h2>



It’s not all internal. External-facing tools can help get your small business in front of clients and customers and also make you stand out in your own industry.



“Having a social presence is obviously critical,” Morris says. “Part of internal is getting the right people on the bus… building a social following is important for getting the right people on the team.”



Customer communication is also critically important. How are you reaching folks to keep them coming back? Email newsletter platforms like <a href="https://mailchimp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mailchimp</a>, <a href="https://www.benchmarkemail.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Benchmark</a> and <a href="https://www.omnisend.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Omnisend</a> make it easy to keep in touch.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tap-into-ai-tools">Tap into AI tools</h2>



Writing code, composing and scheduling social posts—there’s not a lot AI tools can’t do, and Morris says you’re wasting time and money if you’re not trying to use <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-use-ai-to-make-money/">AI solutions</a> before going any other route.



Take Likewise’s AI personal companion, Pix. While Pix was created to help the app’s users get personalized recommendations via chat, workers at the company are now “constantly” querying the AI for help with crafting quality editorial.



Morris adds: “That’s probably the biggest thing I would say: If I’m starting something today—starting a company today—I would make everyone on the team prove that something needed to be done in any way other than AI.”&nbsp;



This article originally appeared in the July <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/subscriptions/">issue of SUCCESS+ digital magazine</a>. Photo by Ascannio/Shutterstock.com

Top 7 tech tools for small businesses to streamline operations, boost productivity, and secure data. Invest in these essential tools today.

Top 7 tech tools for small businesses to streamline operations, boost productivity, and secure data. Invest in these essential tools today. | SUCCESS

7 Must-Have Tech Tools for Every Small Business Startup

7 Must-Have Tech Tools for Small Businesses | SUCCESS

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adventures of A+K

adventures of A+K Archives

adventures of A+K Archives | SUCCESS

digital nomads

digital nomads Archives

digital nomads Archives | SUCCESS

life on the road

life on the road Archives

life on the road Archives | SUCCESS

travel

travel Archives

travel Archives | SUCCESS

The Adventures of A+K: one minute they’re hiking the Bavarian Alps. The next, they’re hanging out with reindeer in Finland. They’ve also biked 500 miles across Iowa, kayaked in the Pine Barrens and slept under the Northern Lights in Canada’s Northwest Territories.



They don’t have a show on the Travel Channel, and they’re not related to Rick Steves—Adam and Kathryn Frazer are simply a married couple who, along with their pup Kona, spend their days traveling the world, sharing their journey on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@AdventuresofAplusK" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Adventures of A+K website and YouTube channel</a>.



It all started back in 2016, when Kathryn unexpectedly lost her job, kick-starting a move to Seattle the couple had been considering. “Before we lived in Seattle, we didn’t do much,” Kathryn says. “We didn’t hike, we didn’t travel, we didn’t really go anywhere.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-beginnings-of-adventures-of-a-k">The beginnings of Adventures of A+K</h2>



Moving to the Pacific Northwest awakened a dormant love for the outdoors: hiking, camping, road tripping. By 2019, they’d decided to buy and build out a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van (enlisting Kathryn’s dad for assistance) so they could go wherever they wanted for as long as they wanted without having to return to their apartment. They’ve been on the road more or less ever since.



The life looks enviable, whether the trio are galavanting through Glacier National Park or hiking one of Alabama’s 4,200 caves, and in many ways it is. Their travels have taken them to 49 national parks and all 50 states, plus 12 countries. (The van, which they’ve lovingly named “Brisket,” stays stateside for <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/at-least-theres-adventure/">those adventures</a>, which have included a wintertime stay on a private island in Finland and a motorbike trip through Vietnam.



But it’s not always easy or perfect, and that’s something the couple are upfront about in sharing their life on the road. “One of the things I had to learn that was hard for me is just being adaptable,” Kathryn says. “This lifestyle is so unpredictable.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-behind-the-scenes-isn-t-glamorous">Behind the scenes isn’t glamorous</h2>



There’s a lot of un-glamourous strategizing—not to mention hard work and long hours behind the wheel—that goes into leading a 24/7 van life: Where are we going to sleep tonight? Where are we getting our water? How are we doing laundry? These are just some of the questions Adam and Kathryn have to juggle on a day-to-day basis.



“I think people think we live a vacation life, and that’s like the furthest thing from the truth,” Kathryn chuckles. Even the money is unpredictable from month to month, and then there are times when their home on wheels needs repairs, something they’ve had to get handy at.



Adam and Kathryn say they’re lucky that their pre-van life careers applied to running Adventures of A+K. Before they started traveling full-time, Adam was a teacher, and Kathryn worked in event marketing. Today, he gets to educate viewers and readers all about making the most of their travels, while she can apply her photo and video editing prowess.



But there’s also been a tremendous learning curve on the business side of things, with everything from building the website to doing taxes. “With YouTube, we had to learn how to create better videos, how to edit them, what are the best practices,” Adam explains. And when it comes to the travel guides, “We didn’t know much about search engine optimization or how to write content in a way that would be best for what someone’s searching for.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adventures-of-a-k-a-social-media-presence-nbsp">Adventures of A+K: a social media presence&nbsp;</h2>



These days, more than 186,000 subscribers follow the Adventures of A+K on YouTube, where the videos have a fun and easygoing tone that’ll thrill fans of upbeat travel shows like Somebody Feed Phil or Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss (or yes, Rick Steves’ Europe). In other words, there’s no manufactured drama here—just a genuine enthusiasm for far-flung and unsung destinations—and there’s certainly no snobbery. They treat destinations like Oklahoma with the same excitement and respect they give places like Florence or Venice.



So what does <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-balance-personal-and-professional-at-work/">work-life balance</a> look like for a couple (and canine) whose life is their work and vice versa? Well… there’s really no such thing. “That’s our eternal battle,” Adam says, adding that they’d love to get to a place where they can take a day off each week—or even just one day a month.



Managing the website and YouTube has been the Frazers’ full-time gig for the last several years, and they’re adamant that this is a dream. But most nights they work until 7 or 8 p.m., then they get up and do it all over again the next day. Most weeks, they don’t take a day off to rest and relax and recuperate. There’s always miles to drive, video to film, content to write and edit, pesky reporters to email back and chat with.



“You have to prioritize [time off], and that’s something we haven’t prioritized, if we’re being honest,” Kathryn says. “When you’re <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/entrepreneurs-advice-for-becoming-self-employed/">self-employed</a>, it’s hard to stop working because you know when you’re not working you’re not making money.” This year, they’ve talked about taking it easier on themselves by traveling slower, spending a few days in one place rather than rushing on to the next location.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-logistics-of-life-on-the-road">Logistics of life on the road</h2>



Adam and Kathryn love the life they’ve made, but if you’re someone who needs to know what’s going on from day to day, the kind of person who lives and dies by their calendar, “Don’t do this,” Kathryn laughs. Even on the days when everything goes “right,” there are simply too many curveballs and variables to reckon with.



But if the van life does appeal to you, the duo agree that you should give it a try. Just maybe try renting one first and giving it a go for a few weeks or months.



The van has shown them that <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/ahead-in-the-clouds-how-travel-memories-mark-our-progress/">travel</a> doesn’t have to be expensive or involved—some of the best times they’ve had are spent camping or checking out state parks and national forests or cool little towns that otherwise never would have been on their radar. They still think about the time more than two years ago when they drove up to Alaska and then continued on to the Arctic Ocean. It’s memories like that one that make all the unpredictability and chaos worth it.



“Even on the darkest of days, it’s like, I could be sitting at a desk in an office like I used to,” Kathryn adds. “Getting to experience so many different places, especially while we’re still young and able and we can still hike and our health is good—it’s just the best thing in the world.”



This article originally appeared in the May 2024 issue of <a href="https://mysuccessplus.com/">SUCCESS+ digital magazine</a>. Photo courtesy of Adam and Kathryn Frazer.

Adam and Kathryn Frazer, the duo behind the Adventures of A+K travel YouTube channel, share the highs and lows of van life on the road.

Adam and Kathryn Frazer, the duo behind the Adventures of A+K travel website and YouTube channel, share the highs and lows of van life on the road. | SUCCESS

Adventures of A+K: Traversing the Peaks and Valleys With Adam and Kathryn Frazer

Adventures of A+K | SUCCESS.com

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Professional Growth

Professional Growth Archives

Professional Growth | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

If Nora Ephron's romantic comedies were set in the late 2010s, she might have written a meet-cute that looked a lot like <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/jen-gottliebs-super-connector-media-helps-entrepreneurs-build-profitable-brands/">Jen Gottlieb</a> and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/best-ai-tools-for-business/">Chris Winfield's</a>.



<a href="https://jengottlieb.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gottlieb</a> moved to New York City to study musical theater. She'd landed a role in the Broadway national tour of The Wedding Singer and then spent years hosting a VH1 show called That Metal Show—no matter that she wasn't exactly a fan of heavy metal music.



"Before I knew it, five years had gone by, and I had built this brand up as somebody that was a total lie," she says. "I was pretending to be somebody that I wasn't for this show that I had. I really lost myself in that era of my life."



Winfield, meanwhile, found himself in Manhattan after taking a job at a tech startup. He was raised in a small town, and all he knew was that he didn't want to work in the local school district like everyone else in his family.



"I was not one of those people who started doing a lemonade stand when I was 6 years old and knew I was gonna be a <a href="https://garyvaynerchuk.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gary Vee</a> or something like that," he chuckles.



When it turned out the tech company was kind of corrupt, Winfield started his own web design company and focused on marketing. He knew he didn't want to rely on anyone else for work again, and he thought he could get people to come to him through SEO and the <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/10-marketing-rules-the-best-entrepreneurs-live-and-die-by/">right marketing message</a>. Soon, he was doing media and speaking about his work in front of crowds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-acting-to-entrepreneurship">From acting to entrepreneurship</h2>



By 2017, Gottlieb had left the acting world behind to become a personal trainer, learning in the process that she had a knack for <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/why-conquering-self-doubt-is-essential-for-entrepreneurship/">entrepreneurship</a> and a love for running her own business. (In the Ephron-directed version of this story, imagine their lives unfolding on a split screen—he puts on a lavalier microphone to address an assembled audience; she dons a headset mic to teach a fitness class).



But something was missing. Gottlieb had a sense that she was alone and that the isolation was holding her back in her career.



Exhausted and searching for meaning, she decided on her word of the year: connection. That's when she met Winfield—who's also known as the "Super Connector."



"We went out on a walk in Central Park, and that walk ended up being an all-day excursion. And that was it," she smiles. "I think we knew in that moment."



Eventually, Winfield popped the question: "What would it take for you to drop your fitness business and be my partner and create Super Connector Media with me?"



Gottlieb said yes.







<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-creating-a-lasting-impact">Creating a lasting impact</h2>



Both members of this power couple know how to market themselves authentically—how to create a brand that resonates—and they spent years at <a href="https://www.superconnectormedia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Super Connector Media</a> helping other entrepreneurs and businesses do the same. Today, though, a lot of their focus is on events and education—specifically regarding <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/from-the-editor-ai-innovation/">AI technology</a>.



Now, maybe "authentic brand building" and "artificial intelligence" seem at odds to you. They don't have to be! What's important to remember, Gottlieb and Winfield explain, is that AI is a tool. It's a way to help clarify and hone your messaging, to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/the-power-of-storytelling-in-business/">tell your story in a powerful way</a>. And if you feel like it's overwhelming or too much to apply to your brand, they want to help you get out of your head about it.



"There's this idea that everyone is so far ahead of us, you know?" Winfield says. "We teach people all the time: It's still very early in this. I think sometimes people let that feeling of being behind keep them from doing more."



"I think all the work we've been doing with it thus far has just been showing us all the amazing opportunities to do good with this technology," Gottlieb adds. "For creators out there to start to expand and just play with it a little bit, you'll start to see…the more you play with it, the more confident you become in the fact that it can actually help you."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-using-ai-for-business">Using AI for business</h2>



One way Gottlieb regularly uses <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-use-ai-to-make-money/">AI technology</a> is to turn one single piece of content into dozens of pieces of content.



"I feel like some of the biggest excuses that entrepreneurs have when they’re not creating consistent content is, ‘I don’t have the time, I don't know what to say, I can't come up with a good idea, and I'm just stuck. I don't even know what to write, and then by the time I figure it out I don't have time to post. There's not enough content,'" Gottlieb says.



Let's say she's doing a long-form podcast interview. That's a lot of time to spend on one piece of media—except it won't just be one piece of media. Gottlieb will use AI tools to transcribe the conversation and then use additional tools to chop up that transcription and make lots of little captions. She can take the text and create Instagram posts or LinkedIn posts or email copy. She might make a course out of it. Or she'll use AI video editing tools like ContentFries to turn a single long video into dozens of shorter clips, which she'll share across social media.



"Whereas before, one long-form podcast interview would just be one long-form podcast interview, this podcast interview is going to be shorts, it's going to be videos, it's going to be posts, it's going to be emails, it could be a course," Gottlieb says. "It could be so many things, and it could be that very, very quickly."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-winfield-s-ai-recommendations">Winfield's AI recommendations</h2>



AI chatbots might be among the most well-known tools of this kind, and Winfield recommends a trinity of them: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-use-chatgpt/">ChatGPT</a>, Google's Gemini and Claude.ai.



"I use them to create at least two pieces of content every day," he says. "What it does is it basically takes my writing, which is pretty good, and it makes it as if I worked with someone who's really good."



His strategy on using AI for business is to run his copy through all three chatbots to see which one does the best. It may not be a matter of taking everything from one bot, but rather choosing here and there—one really good line from Gemini, one unforgettable sentence from Claude—to make the best version of his writing possible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-utilizing-ai-as-a-tool-not-a-crutch">Utilizing AI as a tool not a crutch</h2>



When it comes to writing, Gottlieb doesn't recommend having the chatbots spit out copy for you. Instead, she likes to use the tools as a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/human-centric-marketing-strategy/">writing partner</a>.



"I'll have AI ideate with me; I'll do a creative session with AI," she explains. "I'll say, 'Hey, I'm trying to think of a great post to write right now, and I've hired you as an expert social media marketer to help me write it. You ready?'"



She and the chatbot will go back and forth on what she wants to discuss and the message she wants her audience to receive. From there, she "Jen-ifies" the copy: "I add my voice, my spice. It's almost like having a co-creator with you so you don't have to do it alone."



This is what she tells her audience—when it comes to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/why-building-your-personal-brand-can-take-your-startup-to-the-next-level-and-where-to-start/">brand-building</a>, having AI with you is a confidence-boosting tool. It lets her post and create more, it helps her reach more people and it helps expand her audience. It removes barriers and jumps through hoops for you. "It's like having the best assistant ever," she says.



And it doesn't stop with writing: "For anything basically that we can think of, I probably have a tool that I use for it," Winfield says. There's a tool called Trainual for developing AI-powered SOPs, employee training and onboarding. Another tool, GoHighLevel, has "basically replaced everything," from <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website-and-increase-brand-awareness/">creating websites</a> and making landing pages to writing surveys to communicating with customers. Another site, Perplexity, is like an AI-based search engine, creating a beautiful web page for each search term from high-quality sources, in seconds. "If anyone ever was going to beat Google, it would be this," Winfield chuckles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-having-a-strong-personal-brand-matters">Why having a strong personal brand matters</h2>



Both Gottlieb and Winfield believe that as we move into this new AI-powered future, having a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-build-a-personal-brand-9-tips-for-making-a-mark-that-lasts/">well-developed personal brand</a> is actually going to be more important than ever before. 



"Here's the thing to think about: It's not going to be OK to not have a personal brand," Winfield explains. "There are a lot of jobs, positions, industries where, right now, it's fine to not have a personal brand."



Copying someone's voice or their avatar can be done right now with AI tools. In a year or two, though, it will be even easier, Winfield notes. That means owning your narrative and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-build-a-personal-brand-that-breaks-through-the-digital-noise/">having a recognizable brand</a> will be more important, not less.



"There's not gonna be any more Johnson and Johnson or 3M or anything where you have no idea who it is, what it is," Winfield says. "The companies that are coming up—people know who's behind them. There's a good story."



This article originally appeared in the <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/magazines/the-tech-integration-iss/">July 2024</a> issue of SUCCESS+ Magazine. Photo courtesy of Chris Eckert

Learn how Chris Winfield and Jen Gottlieb are showing brands how to capitalize on AI for business and setting them up for success.

AI for Business: How to Lead Your Brand to Victory | SUCCESS

Chris Winfield and Jen Gottlieb Share How to Maximize AI for Your Business and Build a Brand with Impact

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AI for Business: How to Lead Your Brand to Victory

Leadership

Leadership Archives

Leadership | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

Growing up in the Maryland countryside, Sandy Colhoun was always drawn to the wilderness, more interested in exploring nearby valleys and forests than he was in pursuing organized sports that captivated many of his peers.



But it wasn’t until his teenage years that he would have the experience that really cemented his love of the great outdoors. That’s when he participated in one of the signature courses offered by <a href="https://www.nols.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NOLS</a>, the National Outdoor Leadership School.



Colhoun completed the “Wind River Wilderness” mountaineering course in Wyoming, a 30-day backpacking trek that pushed him to his limits. “To be completely candid, it was really hard for me,” he says. He’d never had to navigate a nature course in such a way; he lost a lot of weight and had to push himself to get through. “But I learned all of these foundational skills—how to live and travel in remote, austere environments and to take others to do that.”



“It informed the rest of my life,” adds Colhoun, now in his 50s. That challenging early experience recently came full circle when he became the president of NOLS.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-nols">What is NOLS?</h2>



Founded in 1965 by mountaineer Paul Petzoldt, NOLS is a nonprofit outdoor education school that teaches leadership and technical outdoor skills at nine U.S. and four international campuses, with courses including topics like wilderness medicine, executive leadership and more. All NOLS courses, from “Alaska Backpacking” to “Yellowstone Wilderness,” are designed around learning by experience, with a goal of returning students to their day-to-day lives with a new arsenal of leadership tools and an increased self-awareness about their own leadership style.



“They can take that back with them and apply it universally to the businesses that they run, the schools that they attend and the communities where they live,” Colhoun explains.



It’s been a long and winding road—not unlike the Rocky Mountain trails and canoeing routes that are foundational to so many of NOLS’s courses—that brought Colhoun back to the outdoor school at this point in his career. As a journalist, his work took him to some of the more far-flung reaches of the globe, including Antarctica, where he spent about a year as the editor of The Antarctic Sun, a newsletter produced by the United States Antarctic Program. Next came a long stint in advancement fundraising for higher education institutions, which he says taught him how to be “an institutionalist,” as well as how large organizations operate and are managed.



This latest chapter finds him back at NOLS, where he joined as a trustee about three years ago before becoming the nonprofit’s interim president and then its permanent president.



The role lets Colhoun use the skills he honed across his decades in journalism and higher ed. “The writing is a giant part of my job; fundraising is a really important part of my job; my love of the outdoors and wilderness across my entire career is a part of my job,” Colhoun explains, adding that NOLS’s leadership-focused mission also aligns with his interests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-learning-to-be-a-leader-with-nols">Learning to be a leader with NOLS</h2>



NOLS provides field-based <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/leadership-lessons-for-business-owners/">leadership skills</a> to students at the United States Naval Academy and has trained NASA astronauts since the late ’90s, but its applications work for leaders of all kinds, not just astronauts and midshipmen.



“When you arrive at the International Space Station, it’s so disorienting with all the different things that you need to be able to do,” Colhoun explains. “In the same way, for a lot of our students, when you go into the field with a backpack full of gear, it’s disorienting. You may have never set up a tent, cooked on a cook stove—gone to the bathroom outside!”



Anyone can benefit, including those who lead in their business, in their family, in their church, in politics. With a catalog of hundreds of expedition courses, including programs specifically designed for young people and others for emerging business leaders, the curriculum is designed not only to develop each individual’s skills as a leader, but also to give attendees an opportunity to see how others lead.



For example, is your tentmate the person who gets up early and boils water so everyone can have coffee or tea before setting off for the day? Are they the one who’s quick with a joke to lift the cohort’s spirits during a particularly grueling trek?



“All of these pieces happen on a NOLS expedition. It’s not like we’re going to a classroom; we’re living together,” Colhoun says. Everyone gets a chance to learn by leading; everyone also gets a chance to learn by following others.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-leading-by-example">Leading by example</h2>



As the president of NOLS, Colhoun has his own ideas about what makes for an effective leader, wisdom he’s gleaned over the course of his varied, decades-long career. For one, “I believe that leaders need to be responsive to their people,” he says. “We need to understand what motivates them and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/what-is-empowerment/">how to empower</a> them, to give them the opportunity to really own their own ideas.” He’s a big believer in both transparency and open communication, “because I want to hear bad news way, way sooner than later. I also want to hear good news!” he explains. “And I want people to tell me if there’s a better way to do something. We don’t need to be stuck in our ways, and we need to be innovative.”



But perhaps his strongest belief is that leaders need to be open to taking risks—and even to fail. (“If you haven’t failed, you’re not leading,” he quips.) At its core, NOLS is all about risk management; they’re sending students into remote and rigorous environments where challenges are real and consequences can be serious.



There are wilderness instructors there to guide you, sure, but when it comes to managing hard and unexpected circumstances—a rainstorm, a snowstorm, getting lost—it’s the students who have to work through those problem sets. And that’s where the magic happens, where the leadership capabilities are honed.



“At the end of the day, I believe that in wild, untamed and natural places, we find our best self,” Colhoun says.



Photo by Khavazhi Akhmadov.

The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) takes students into nature’s untamed places. They leave with a new understanding of themselves.

The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) takes students into nature’s untamed places. They leave with a new understanding of themselves. | SUCCESS

National Outdoor Leadership School: Learning to Lead in the Wild

National Outdoor Leadership School | SUCCESS

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Money

Money Archives

Achieve financial success and freedom

Alexa von Tobel is a full-time investor, the founder and managing partner of <a href="https://www.inspiredcapital.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Inspired Capital</a> and author of the New York Times bestselling book <a href="https://amzn.to/3KgV6LI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Financially Fearless</a>. She’s also a mother of three—two daughters and one son—and perhaps unsurprisingly, she started sharing financial wisdom with her kids not long after they could walk. 



Now, von Tobel is helping set other parents and their children up for financial success with a new children’s book, <a href="https://www.rebelgirls.com/products/money-matters" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Money Matters: A Guide to Saving, Spending, and Everything in Between,</a> published by Rebel Girls.



“I very much wrote this as a fellow parent trying to do my part to empower parents everywhere,” she says. The book is an in-depth guide to earning, saving, spending and everything in between, from creating a budget to getting started with investing to starting your own business. 



The pages are full of colorful illustrations of girls chowing down on pancakes and dumping out their piggy banks, but the advice in here isn’t watered down; this is a practical, real-world look at financial planning from a certified financial planner (or, as von Tobel introduces herself in Money Matters, “basically a doctor of money”).



Like so many things in life, when it comes to talking with kids about money, Alexa von Tobel says it’s not about what you say so much as how you say it.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-use-the-right-tone-and-language-when-talking-about-why-money-matters-with-kids">Use the right tone and language when talking about why money matters with kids</h2>



“Tone is the most important thing I want parents to focus on,” she says, referring to a <a href="https://michiganross.umich.edu/rtia-articles/new-research-shows-children-form-attitudes-about-money-young-age#:~:text=A%20new%20University%20of%20Michigan,%2C%20real%2Dlife%20spending%20behaviors" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Michigan study</a> that found the tone you use around money can influence children as young as 5. “Meaning that by age 5, the tone of how a house operates around money does have a pretty sizable impact on how the child manages and thinks about money in their life going forward.”



Alexa Von Tobel encourages parents to speak about money in a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/4-actionable-steps-to-build-a-positive-money-mindset/">positive way</a>. Even when financial matters around the house might be stressful, as they often can be, it’s important to not let that negativity seep into conversations your child can hear. She suggests keeping it as matter of fact as possible, and talking about money “in a way that is very can-do,” with clear and straightforward statements like, “money is manageable,” “I can be strong with my money” and “money is something I can handle.”







That focus on tone should also be applied when you talk about <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-make-more-money/">earning money</a>—in other words, how you talk to your kids about work. If you’re making a habit of speaking about your job negatively, saying things like, “Ugh, work is awful, I hate it, but I have to leave you and go to work,” your child is internalizing a simple message: Work is bad.&nbsp;



That’s not setting them up for success, von Tobel explains, since just about everybody needs to work to pay their bills. She makes sure to discuss work in a way that is positive and in terms they’ll associate with fun. For example, “Hey, you know how you like doing puzzles and you have fun doing puzzles? Mommy loves puzzles… but her puzzles are bigger, and they involve building companies and working with people and solving big challenges.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-make-saving-and-spending-money-easy-for-kids-to-visualize">Make saving and spending money easy for kids to visualize</h2>



Visual tools can be incredibly effective for younger kids who are just beginning to learn about how money works. Alexa Von Tobel’s kids have three piggy banks: a huge one, which is for college savings, a medium-sized one, which is for bigger items they might want to save up for, like a bike, and then a much smaller one, which is for everyday treats and purchases. The idea is that they can see, with their own eyes and not in some abstract way, that bigger purchases will require them to save more money, and that the money they squirrel away in their banks actually will add up.



“And they get it: ‘The big one, I need to fill more into that one,’” she explains. “It’s a visual representation.”



Not long ago, she found herself in a situation many parents and their kids end up in. They were at Target, and her daughter, then age 4, really wanted a toy; von Tobel was not going to buy it. They were at an impasse until von Tobel held her arms out wide—a visual aid—to indicate the number of quarters it would take to purchase the toy, which was more quarters than she had at the moment.



“We had a moment where she actually relented and was like, ‘OK, Mommy. I understand.’ I realized it’s about using visuals so that they understand how big the amount of money is, or how expensive something is. It helps them appreciate it; they can take the ‘no’ better,” von Tobel says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-use-tangible-money-to-teach-financial-literacy-for-kids">Use tangible money to teach financial literacy for kids</h2>



Our money may be more virtual than physical these days, but von Tobel also suggests going to the bank and taking out different bills and coins. Using physical money is a way to hone their math skills, and seeing the actual dollars and cents can help kids understand what money actually is.&nbsp;



When they get a little older, go ahead and open a bank account for them, and show them those numbers! (Though it can help to stress: These are private numbers for our family to know.) Letting kids see their money and being able to watch it grow can be a powerful thing, and it helps emphasize that saving, especially for big things like college, is hard work—that money doesn’t just appear out of thin air, and you have to be committed to saving it over the course of years. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-to-introduce-more-complex-financial-topics-to-kids">When to introduce more complex financial topics to kids</h2>



Of course, different financial concepts will make sense at different ages—your 5-year-old might understand being strong with money better than interest rates—so when does it make sense to start introducing some of those more complicated financial factors?



According to Alexa von Tobel, “As soon as second grade, when kids are learning the basics of math, addition and subtraction, they are intellectually capable of learning all about the big parts of money.” As early as age 8, 9, 10, a child can grasp the most important principles of money: saving, investing, borrowing, compounding interest.&nbsp;



And as your kids grow, the conversations around money will continue to evolve. If your child has an <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/encouraging-entrepreneurship/">entrepreneurial spirit</a>, for example—perhaps they’ve started a lemonade stand or they sell bracelets, like one of von Tobel’s daughters does—there are additional ways you can set them up for lifelong financial success.&nbsp;



“Here’s my biggest, most powerful piece of advice: As soon as your child starts earning money… that money can actually go directly into a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/what-is-a-roth-ira/">Roth IRA</a> for retirement,” she says. “You’re basically giving your child an extra decade of retirement investing, which is incredibly important.”



This has to be external money your child earned—it can’t be allowance money—but you’re able to open a Roth IRA for them, and they can make small deposits as their business grows.



In Money Matters, von Tobel even has empowering advice for discussing less feel-good aspects of our financial world with your kids—for example, the pay gap. Rather than focusing on pay inequity, she manages to turn even this into a positive: Your work is important, and you are equal.



“It’s a simple concept, but the fact that your work is equal at all times… it’s just a powerful framing,” she says. “It doesn’t matter who else is around you, in all shapes and sizes, your work and your effort is equal to everyone else’s.”



Photo courtesy of Alexa von Tobel.

Investment expert Alexa von Tobel explains how to teach kids financial literacy in her new book "Money Matters."

Investment expert Alexa von Tobel explains how to teach kids financial literacy in her new book "Money Matters." | SUCCESS

Alexa von Tobel Explains How to Teach Kids Financial Literacy in New Book Money Matters

Money Matters: Alexa von Tobel & Financial Literacy for Kids | SUCCESS

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The last year has been one of firsts for Lilly Singh. For one, her debut feature film Doin’ It premiered at South by Southwest [SXSW]. For another, she and her mom finally had the sex talk. 



In Doin’ It, which she co-wrote with Neel Patel and Sara Zandieh, Singh stars as Maya, a 30-something, Indian-American virgin who gets a job teaching high school sex ed. Great premise! But not the most comfortable one to discuss with, for example, your Indian immigrant mother, someone who never gave you “the talk” and who you realize you might need to hop on a call with after you submit a script that’ll have you in a, um, compromising position on screen.



So when she asked her mom if she was going to be OK with it, she was surprised by the response she got.



“She said the sweetest words to me, she said—I’ve never heard my mom be so evolved—she said, ‘Are you OK with it?’ And I went, ‘I am.’ She goes, ‘Then I think it’s fine,’” Singh laughs. “And my mom actually helped me with some of the movie on set. She’s making sex jokes, and I’m like, ‘What’s happening? We’ve opened up the matrix!’”



If you’re not among the 14.4 million subscribers who followed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfm4y4rHF5HGrSr-qbvOwOg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Singh’s early career on YouTube</a> (where her parents’ strictness was a fairly common theme), maybe you know her from her NBC late-night show, A Little Late with Lilly Singh, or from The Muppets Mayhem on Disney+ (she was the human).



Or maybe you don’t know her yet—though we’d wager you’re about to.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-lilly-singh">Meet Lilly Singh</h2>



Singh was born and raised in Toronto’s Scarborough district and is a self-described tomboy with a creative flair and an unflagging spirit. Her career began on YouTube in the early 2010s, when, then using the name Superwoman, she started filming short skits and first-person videos that shared her experiences as a first-generation Indian-Canadian.



The silly sketches landed with an audience of young brown girls who saw themselves reflected in Singh’s humor, and she became one of the emerging video platform’s earliest stars. But she hasn’t posted new skits to that channel in years; she’s been busy writing and filming and producing. There’s Doin’ It; there are her two bestselling books; and there’s Unicorn Island, her combination production company and charitable fund.



Singh is a true multi-hyphenate… which is why being called a “YouTuber” today can sometimes be a source of frustration. “Sometimes, when I read a headline or read anything about myself, it’ll say ‘YouTuber,’ and I was trying to figure out why that unsettles me,” Singh says. It’s a perception she’s been battling since she stepped away from the platform to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/5-steps-to-turn-your-passion-into-your-profession/">pursue new passions</a>.



In December, for example, she was the subject of a Washington Post profile that asked, “Where does Lilly Singh go from here?” The piece was an in-depth and personal look at her career highs and lows following the cancellation of her NBC late-night show. Then, you get to the correction at the bottom of the piece: “A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Singh still regularly produces content for her YouTube channel.”



“I think it unsettles me just because I think, naturally, everyone wants to grow. Everyone wants to evolve,” she continues. “And everyone wants to be described in a way that’s accurate to what they’re doing right now.”



YouTuber? It’s not that Singh resents or regrets that career—it was empowering to run and grow her own media company, and she was an inspiration to a legion of young women who followed her, including actress Iman Vellani, aka Ms. Marvel, who told Singh she grew up watching her videos.



It’s just that it feels reductive. No one these days, she quips, is calling Justin Bieber a YouTuber.



Doin’ It, for example, is the first feature film from Singh’s Unicorn Island Productions, which also produces an animated children’s series (The Mindful Adventures of Unicorn Island) and has a drama (Arzu, starring Bridgerton’s Charithra Chandran) in the works. On the charitable side, the Unicorn Island Fund is <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/the-many-faces-of-empowerment/">empowering girls and women</a> in India to overcome shame and unleash their full potential.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lilly-singh-a-storyteller">Lilly Singh: A storyteller</h2>



“Really, what I do is, I’m a storyteller,” Singh says, noting that it took her some time to figure that out. “I’ve used various mediums to tell stories, whether it’s a quick video on Instagram or a feature like Doin’ It, but I believe in the power of telling stories.”



That’s why the production company and the charitable fund exist under the same Unicorn Island umbrella; both are trying to change the world by telling stories.



“And I’m trying to tell stories that look like the real world,” she says.



You can see the evolution in Singh’s life and career in the differences between her two books, 2017’s How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life and 2022’s Be a Triangle: How I Went From Being Lost to Getting My Life Into Shape.



In How to Be a Bawse, Singh uses stories from her career as a how-to guide for becoming a strong and confident person who’s taking control of their own life. The chapter titles alone tell a story of inner turmoil—how did the titular “bawse” get so lost?



When I mention that Singh doesn’t strike me as a person who’d need to get her life in shape, she smiles and shakes her head. “I’m not shocked to hear you feel that way, because a lot of people were like, ‘You get your life in shape? You’re all about the <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/the-art-of-the-side-hustle/">hustle</a> and the goal setting and the vision boards!’” But something happened in the years after her first book hit shelves: “Years later, I was like, ‘Oh, I think I’m sad.’”



Singh’s first book explained how to work really hard and get all the things—the accolades, the career, the respect—she’d been working toward in her own life. It didn’t explain what acquiring all that success and acclaim was supposed to mean. And that’s because, Singh says now, she frankly didn’t know.



When people would ask her about herself, she found she had a habit of rattling off career highlights: I was a YouTuber; now I act; I’ve been on late night; I’m starring in these shows. She realized she’d started to feel disconnected from her sense of self, from who she really was.



Was the work supposed to define her? Was she supposed to keep hustling more and harder? Having achieved so much of what she wanted to accomplish in life, what was she supposed to feel? What number or achievement would finally make her feel as if she’d made it?



“So, Be a Triangle was really a way for me to make sense of it all: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/hustle-culture-vs-quiet-quitting/">make sense of the hustle</a>, make sense of the success, make sense of the goals,” she explains.



“Even to this day, sometimes I stress—I have 14 million <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lilly/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a> followers right now, and I’m like, ‘What if it goes to 13.9?’ And what if it goes to 13.9?” she laughs. “Then what? What’s gonna happen? Someone’s gonna come revoke my success card?”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-youtube-as-a-career">YouTube as a career</h2>



Singh is quick to tell quips like this at her own expense; she’s affable and likable, a fast talker with an easy smile who makes you feel like you’ve known each other forever. The gregarious performer you see onstage or on camera—that’s Lilly to her core.



But Singh also has a quieter side. She plays Catan online every day, and she recently started making ice cream for her friends. She bakes; she keeps a journal. And if it’s not already obvious, she puts an intense amount of pressure on herself. Her drive to succeed is immense.



In the past, that’s been out of necessity. In 2010, she was proving to her parents that she could turn YouTube into a meaningful career as a way to avoid being forced into grad school. In 2015, she moved to Los Angeles, the first person in her family to move out of the house (let alone to a different country) for a reason that wasn’t marriage. She had no choice but to make it work, to make it worth it.



At 35, Singh says she’s driven by something less concrete but perhaps more meaningful: legacy. “Maybe that’s me getting older, maybe this is me seeing younger people coming up in the industry and being like, ‘Oh my goodness, I have such a soft spot for them,’” she says. These days, Singh finds herself wanting to do whatever she can to make it so that the young brown women who come after her might have a slightly easier time than she did.



“The truth is, all the headlines about me will disappear one day… I don’t know if people will watch my YouTube videos in 30 years,” she says, smiling in a wry way that suggests, in some ways, that might almost be a relief.



Singh is tremendously proud of the work Unicorn Island has done and continues to do, and that work—both on the production and charitable sides—will continue to occupy much of her time and energy over the coming years.



But legacy is only a part of it. There’s also a renewed search for joy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-staring-in-a-disney-series">Staring in a Disney+ series</h2>



In November, The Muppets Mayhem, the Disney+ series in which Singh played the human lead, was canceled after just one season, despite the fact that the show would go on to win an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s or Family Viewing Series one month later.



The show’s cancellation felt like a huge blow. But the more Singh thought about it, the more she realized why its cancellation hit her so hard.



“I was sad about it because it was so much fun,” she reflects. “I don’t get to talk to Muppets anymore! Do you know how awesome it is to not talk to humans and talk to Muppets?”



It wasn’t about the critical acclaim, and it wasn’t about the numbers. For the first time in her life, Singh realized that she was sad about the loss of a professional role because it brought her such a tremendous amount of joy.



“It won the Emmy, and I was like, ‘I would rather not have this, and I would rather just be able to have another fun season,’” Singh says. “That was a thing I never thought I would think in a billion years! If you told me 10 years ago, ‘You could win an Emmy,’ I’d say, ‘Give me the Emmy!’”



She admits that she’s still not sure exactly what compelled her next action—was it mania or a stroke of brilliance?



She called Brad Slater. The Rock’s agent.



“I said, ‘I want to do all of the things that little Lilly would just lose her mind over, all the things that bring me joy,’” she recounts. “So, I’m just letting you know that I’m going to have to work with Dwayne Johnson.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-creativity-as-a-goal">Creativity as a goal</h2>



Moving forward, the indefatigable Singh says her goal is to spend as much time as humanly possible being creative. This year, she says, pulling out a handwritten list of her latest goals, she’s arranged her life so that she isn’t stuck doing any task that someone else on her team can do—a big step for someone who’s been personally approving every single social media post Unicorn Island has shared for as long as she can remember.



She’s already started writing her second feature, and on a personal level, she’s working to practice the kind of self-love that involves separating your worth from the success of your professional projects. (Stars: They really are just like us!)



And, you know, maybe soon she’ll be working with The Rock.



Singh knows that having a career in the industry necessitates grit and determination—but those are things she has in spades. She’s Type A; she’s focused; she’s driven. She’s a maker of vision boards, a setter of goals, a keeper of lists.



Now, she’s putting all that drive and effort into telling her own story.



A few months ago, Singh was driving around LA when she saw a billboard for a Mindy Kaling show she’s still thinking about. It read, “From the mind of Mindy Kaling.”



That phrasing has stuck with Singh, who, since making the move to more traditional media, has sometimes found herself second-guessing her own instincts or deferring to someone else in the room, assuming they must have more experience.



She’s come to realize that Hollywood has more than enough insiders—and Singh didn’t get into this business to do things someone else’s way.



“So, I actually have on here, ‘From the mind of Lilly Singh,’” she says grinning, holding up her handwritten list.



“That’s the mantra for 2024.”



SMAG credits should be: This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/">SUCCESS</a> magazine. Photo courtesy of Nick Onken.

Canadian YouTuber, author, and television host Lilly Singh talks about her journey to find joy and the next steps in her career.

Canadian YouTuber, author, and television host Lilly Singh talks about her journey to find joy and the next steps in her career. | SUCCESS

Lilly Singh’s Next Act: Finding Joy, Telling Your Story and Talking to Muppets

Lilly Singh Reveals What’s Next for Her Story | SUCCESS

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katharina Harf of DKMS delete blood cancer with young patient in the hospital

In 1990, Katharina Harf’s mother, Mechtild, was diagnosed with acute leukemia. She needed to find a stem cell donor, and none of her six siblings or other family members were a match. But there was a bigger problem.



“Back then, there were only 3,000 donors on the German registry,” says Harf of the country where she was born and raised. “And basically, 3,000 donors is nothing if you want to find a donor.”



This is how, in 1991, <a href="https://www.dkms.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DKMS</a> (or Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei, if your German is good) got its start. Katharina’s father, millionaire Peter Harf, a brilliant businessman and longtime executive with the multinational beauty company <a href="https://www.coty.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coty Inc</a>., began raising awareness of this dire need for stem cell donors in Germany and helping people register with the life-saving national bone marrow registry.



A 14-year-old Katharina Harf was there in those early days, handing out flyers, appearing on TV shows and doing radio interviews alongside her sister. “It was hard, you know? It’s very important that you highlight specific patients, because obviously the community of family and friends, they want to help and to rally around that,” she says. “But it was really hard for my sister and [me] to be on the flyers and have our whole family [appear publicly].” Harder still, her mother ultimately did not survive her battle with blood cancer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-katharina-harf-answers-the-call">Katharina Harf answers the call </h2>



But, before she died, Mechtild made her husband promise to continue in this work, so that other families wouldn’t have to experience what the Harfs went through. This would become the fuel that propelled DKMS to global success. In that first year, the <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-start-a-nonprofit-organization/">nonprofit</a> helped increase the number of registered donors in Germany from 3,000 to 68,000; today, the organization has registered 12 million donors worldwide, helping to coordinate more than 110,000 donations to patients in need. With the motto “We Delete Blood Cancer,” the organization is no longer only a stem cell donor center—it’s also a leader in research that supports the fight against blood cancers.



And Harf is still there. She founded the United States DKMS affiliate alongside her father in 2004, after attending Harvard University and dropping out of Columbia University’s executive program. (“I don’t even think I stayed for orientation,” she chuckles. “Because I just realized: It’s not for me.”) Instead, she too felt called to the work her father promised to do, and today she’s the executive chairwoman of DKMS US and the chairwoman of DKMS’ foundation board.







<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dkms-us-and-blood-cancer-donors">DKMS US and blood cancer donors</h2>



Which is not to say that starting DKMS’ American division was a surefire thing. Harf remembers sitting in an office at Coty, where her father was an executive, staring at a computer and wondering where on earth to start. She can laugh about it today, but back in her early 20s, she remembers crying after one of the first U.S. donor drives—which she thought could bring in another 2,000 people—only led to another 150 donors signing up.



But Harf was not so easily discouraged, either. She traveled around to hospitals, meeting with doctors and patients, and continued organizing American donor drives. She followed the best practices that had worked so well for the organization in Germany. And she applied the things she remembered from her time spent advocating for her mother during her teens: calling newspapers, calling radio stations, handing out flyers.



“I think what is part of the DKMS philosophy is, ‘Never say no,’” Harf says. She credits the organization’s enduring impact with that dogged resourcefulness and with the fact that she did everything in a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-has-grassroots-marketing-evolved-with-social-media/">grassroots</a> manner, slowly growing the U.S. division and bringing new people on board as it blossomed. “It was very challenging, but I feel like I always thought, ‘You know what? Every donor could save a life.’”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-success-and-fundraising-for-dkms">Success and fundraising for DKMS</h2>



Harf is nearly as proud of DKMS’ financial sustainability as she is of its effect on those experiencing blood cancers. “We are very professionally run—my dad applied everything he knows from the business world to DKMS, only that our bottom line is saving lives,” she says. “I always say now, ‘I learned more from him than if I had gone to business school.’”



DKMS operates in such a way that they’re paid by patient insurance companies, and that money supports overhead costs to cover expenses or support their research in the field of blood cancer and blood diseases.



It’s not that they don’t rely on grants or donations—as with any nonprofit, every single dollar counts. But it means that when DKMS hosts one of its record-setting fundraising galas, the organization can tell people exactly where their donations are going: $5,000 will sponsor a transplant in Africa, for example, while $10,000 sponsors a child in India.



“I think you have a duty as a nonprofit to run your operation completely efficiently, and that’s why we apply those practices to DKMS,” Harf says. “For someone to donate money to you, you have to be completely transparent where their money is going.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-diversity-challenges">Diversity challenges</h2>



Decades into this work, Harf says there’s always a new challenge: “I’m still really striving to create more diversity, especially in the U.S.” 



Ethnicity is a major factor in whether cells will be a match, and so, while DKMS donor cells travel to 63 different countries, for example, roughly one-third of DKMS’ German donors donate to American patients. For Harf, who has a Black husband and biracial children, this need hits especially close to home. “I think we have to do a better job at trying to give equal chances to patients.”



Asked to share advice for people who have a cause of their own they’d like to raise funds and awareness for, Harf says it’s important to be “very, very mindful.” She recommends talking with experts and others in the field, asking, “Where can I move the needle?” And she suggests taking a similar grassroots approach, starting small and building upon your wins year after year.



“If I hadn’t been patient and been happy about every donor, about every patient [who] donates…” she trails off. “You know, I always said, ‘If I can have a part in saving one life, then what more do you want?’”



Want to join DKMS in the fight against blood cancer? Visit dkms.org/get-involved to register as a donor, learn about the patients they help and more.



This article originally appeared in the <a href="https://store.success.com/by-media/success-magazine-may-june-2024-tony-robbins.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">May/June 2024 issue</a> of SUCCESS magazine. Photo by Grainge Photography/Courtesy of DKMS.

Nonprofit executive Katharina Harf and DKMS are leading a global movement in the fight against blood cancer and other disorders.

Nonprofit executive Katharina Harf and DKMS are leading a global movement in the fight against blood cancer and other disorders. | SUCCESS

Giving Back: DKMS Is ‘Deleting’ Blood Cancer, One Donor at a Time

DKMS Deletes Blood Cancer, One Donor at a Time | SUCCESS

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Johnny Sirpilla’s transformative story began when he was in his late 20s. He and his wife Susan had tried for years to have children, and it was finally happening. Triplets, two boys and a girl. But Susan’s water broke at six months, and their beautiful babies didn’t make it.



Today, Sirpilla says that working through that grief, challenging as it was, laid the groundwork that would inform much of the rest of his life.&nbsp;



“I refused to let it be a tragic situation, where any time we thought of them we thought of them in this dark and awful way,” he says. “We really worked to turn that around, to create it as a blessing in our lives and to learn to be thankful for all we were given.”



Navigating that tremendously difficult time also impacted him professionally. He’s the first to admit that until grappling with infertility, he’d had a pretty charmed life: “raised in a loving home, every opportunity afforded to me,” he smiles. Previously, he’d always believed that people’s problems should stay at home—that they could only do their best work by separating their personal and professional lives.&nbsp;



Learning to live with the loss of his triplets changed all that.&nbsp;



“I needed to create a culture at work where we’re lifting them up through validation of their good work, creating security so that they know their job’s not at risk if they’re weak in an area,” Sirpilla explains. “So that they go home, to their most important job, as mother, father, sister, brother, caregiver, grandfather—whatever that role is in life—and they bring that energy home. I really saw it as a way to change the American household.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-johnny-sirpilla-found-his-calling">How Johnny Sirpilla found his calling</h2>



Today, as the founder of <a href="https://johnnysirpilla.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Encourage LLC</a> and the author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3TpalGk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Life Is Hard But I’ll Be OK</a>, Sirpilla shares his hard-earned wisdom on emerging from life’s darker moments with folks who are facing hardships, be they mental, spiritual or financial. 



His background is in business—for many years, he was the president of Camping World, and today he serves on the board of public and private companies including the Pro Football Hall of Fame—but he has a special knack for human development. He also holds certifications from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business in Executive Presence and Influence: Persuasive Leadership Development and Understanding the Brain: Using Neuroscience to Deliver Better Business Results.



“I love encouraging other people,” he says. “I love lifting them up. I felt it was my responsibility every day when I came to work to make the people around me successful. And as long as they were successful, the company will be as well. But I wanted more than just their professional success. I wanted to impact personal success and confidence that they could take into relationships, they could take into volunteer organizations that they’re part of.”



This more holistic understanding of success is what led Sirpilla to retire from Camping World. The company had its IPO on his 50th birthday, and he remembers being surprised by his own reaction—practically rushing off the stock exchange floor, in what should have been one of the proudest moments of his life, to get to LaGuardia Airport hours ahead of his flight so he wouldn’t miss a minute of his son’s football game that night.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-johnny-sirpilla-started-encourage-llc">Why Johnny Sirpilla started Encourage LLC</h2>



He was feeling called from within to do… well, to do something. He wasn’t entirely sure what just yet, but though he loved the company and his colleagues, he had a sense that it was time to do something for himself. This epiphany (and the accompanying rush home) were what spurred Sirpilla to start Encourage LLC. 



When it comes to uplifting those who find themselves in a place of hopelessness, he cautions against falling into a mindset of asking, “Why me?” You could just as easily ask, “Why not me?” he chuckles, and in fact, there’s a chapter in Life Is Hard But I’ll Be OK titled “Why Not Us?”



“None of us are exempt from hardships in our lives,” Sirpilla notes. “There’s bad things happening to good people all over the world. We’re not exempt.”



The key, he says, is to take those tough times and look for the insight that can be <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/7-daily-habits-to-build-your-resilience/">gleaned from the hardship</a>. He often asks people what they’ve learned from a difficult time, and if they tell him they haven't learned anything, he’ll quickly counter that that’s impossible.&nbsp;



If someone is emerging from a toxic workplace, for example, with a boss who belittled them, it’s one thing to recognize that you’ve been a victim—it’s another thing to allow yourself to be cast as the victim, and to wear that as a badge.&nbsp;



Sirpilla counsels people to reframe those negative experiences, and to ask, “OK, well now that’s over… what are you going to do moving forward?”



“When it’s so dark, it’s looking at: OK, there’s lessons here,” he says. “There’s pearls of wisdom that I have to find out of this.”



Photo by Darren Miles Photography

Johnny Sirpilla speaks from experience about how the most tragic life events can lead to incredible transformation—with the right mindset.

Johnny Sirpilla speaks from experience about how the most tragic life events can lead to incredible transformation—with the right mindset. | SUCCESS

Johnny Sirpilla’s Life Took a Tragic Turn. He’s Since Discovered Hardships Can Bring About Incredible Transformation

Hardships Can Make Us Better—Just Ask Johnny Sirpilla

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Brene Brown modern day leaders in personal growth

Some modern-day leaders in personal growth include icons like Brené Brown and Tony Robbins. Read more about these influential experts.

Some modern-day leaders in personal growth include icons like Brené Brown and Tony Robbins. Read more about these influential experts. | SUCCESS

10 Modern-Day Leaders in Personal Growth

10 Modern-Day Leaders in Personal Growth | SUCCESS

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Niké Ojekunle calls herself one of the “OG influencers,” and since joining TikTok, the Nigeria-born, Los Angeles-based blogger’s “get ready with me” videos and skincare recommendations have helped her <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@nikeoje" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">amass over half a million followers</a>. As her follower count grew, she also negotiated more and more sponsorship deals for herself, using her business savvy and entrepreneurial mindset to ink deals with fashion and beauty brands.&nbsp;



“I’ve always been self-managed,” Ojekunle says. “I’m good at it myself. It just doesn’t make sense for me to have a manager.”



But when a group called the Carter Agency reached out, the offer was a good one. They understood that Ojekunle preferred to work alone, and they were fine with that. Instead, they wanted to help her land occasional one-off campaigns with big-name clients. Ojekunle’s mom had just been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, and Ojekunle was flying back and forth from Tampa to Los Angeles to be with her parents. She wanted someone else to take the wheel for a bit, and the talent agency’s website listed Netflix, Amazon and the NFL as “strategic partners.” She said “yes.”



In November 2022, Ojekunle was one of the first influencers to speak out about her experience with the Carter Agency, which by that point owed her thousands of dollars for various branding deals. She wouldn’t be the last—dozens of influencers, many of them women of color, eventually came forward. Several of them shared their experience in an article in The New York Times titled, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/style/carter-agency-tiktok.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New Fame, Age-Old Exploitation</a>.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-turning-a-negative-experience-into-an-opportunity-to-help-others">Turning a negative experience into an opportunity to help others</h2>



The experience left Ojekunle somewhat shaken, but she wanted to channel it into something that felt productive. “The worst thing you could ever call me is a victim,” she says. “I just don’t ever want to be seen like that in my life. And so when all that stuff happened, I said to myself, ‘I will use this to change the industry, to make sure that everyone who comes after me—all the Black girls who come after me, will never get scammed again.’”



She decided she’d start mentoring other young influencers who approached her with questions about brand deals or the fine print in their contracts. It’s not an accident that the Carter Agency and other organizations like it primarily scammed women of color. Ojekunle explains that they’d seek out creators who might not have the experience or industry insight that more privileged creators did. Influencer marketing has <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/society-18-founder-pamela-zapata/">one of the worst racial pay gaps of any industry</a>. She thought she could help close that gap.







Eventually, though, even that work, rewarding as it was, started to feel draining. “That whole [Carter Agency] thing—I’m still a little traumatized from it,” she says. “And the last year, I’ve kind of stepped away from influencing completely because… it keeps happening, you know?” The scams haven’t stopped, and it’s been exhausting to watch other young creators fall for the same tricks, to accept low rates, to say yes to any crumb of advertising money that came their way because they felt like they couldn’t say no.”



That’s when the gears started turning. Maybe she couldn’t stop scammers from being scammy. With the launch of TikTok Shop, maybe the problem would take care of itself, as brands increasingly approach creators directly, rather than going through agencies.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nike-ojekunle-the-journey-from-homelessness-to-financial-literacy">Niké Ojekunle: The journey from homelessness to financial literacy</h2>



But Ojekunle realized she had started from the bottom, too, with no following to speak of and no fancy deals with talent agencies. She was homeless once, and she bought a house in Los Angeles last year. What sets her apart—what got her to where she is today, and what helped her realize that the Carter Agency was taking advantage of her and other creators—is that she has <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/community-and-financial-literacy-with-kiersten-julien-saunders/">financial literacy</a>.&nbsp;



“I realized a lot of influencers don’t,” she says. She references <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/emma-chamberlain-shocks-fans-by-revealing-she-doesnt-check-her-bank-account/news-story/65a6b320005e8edab2577e8a266fa35f" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a recent podcast episode</a> in which popular content creator Emma Chamberlain said she never checks her bank account. Fans thought the confession was irresponsible and out of touch. Ojekunle says we’d all be shocked at how common Chamberlain’s situation is, regardless of how much money an influencer has coming in from brand deals.&nbsp;



“A lot of influencers don’t go to college,” she explains. “So imagine, you have all that fame, plus you didn’t go to school, you have no formal education, you have no financial literacy at all. You just don’t understand money… That’s when I was like, ‘Oh, I could add this to my mentorship. I could teach influencers <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/7-ways-to-save-money-by-simplifying-your-life/">how to save money</a> and invest and not spend frivolously when you&nbsp; have that small window where you make good money.’”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-using-one-piece-of-the-puzzle-to-create-the-big-picture">Using one piece of the puzzle to create the big picture</h2>



Helping influencers avoid getting scammed—that was one piece of the puzzle. What Ojekunle is doing now with her <a href="https://www.specsandblazers.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Specs and Blazers</a> brand is the whole puzzle: financial literacy, saving money and making that money work for you, all while developing an awareness of what to look out for from shady companies that might not have your best interests in mind.



Ojekunle adds that there’s a real keeping-up-with-the-Joneses type of thing happening among influencers who want to look like they have it all—the newest products, the first-class flights—but in reality are living on maxed-out credit cards and overdrafted accounts. She recalls a recent conversation with one influencer, someone with a much bigger following than she has, who asked how she could have possibly afforded to buy a house in Los Angeles.&nbsp;



Her response was simple: She saves her money. She’s frugal. In her experience, many influencers aren’t. It’s not that she judges them though. There’s a certain image influencers have to portray if they want to continue being influencers, and the impulse to spend is one she understands well.&nbsp;



“Parasocial relationships are tough; you want to look like your favorite influencer, and your favorite influencer wants to look like her favorite influencer, and she wants to look like her favorite celebrity,” Ojekunle quips. And not everyone has been so enamored with the frugality mindset she’s pushing now. “A lot of them are receptive, but there are some who push back and are like… I just wanna buy that new bag,” she laughs. “I realize, it’s a microcosm of American culture. It’s a lot of pressure on them. And then there’s an added layer to it: being Gen Z, being an influencer, being Black.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ojekunle-inspires-her-followers-to-save-instead-of-spend">Ojekunle inspires her followers to save instead of spend</h2>



Still, she feels hopeful that this could be the start of something new. The vast majority of her followers have been excited to hear her talking candidly about money—about <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-set-financial-goals/">saving and investing</a> it, that is, not just spending it.&nbsp;



“After the very first video that I did where I said, ‘I’m pivoting my platform toward financial literacy,’ my DMs were full of girls saying, ‘We’ve been waiting for any influencer, and I mean any influencer, to stop pushing products on our page and tell us to save our money instead,’” Ojekunle says. “Financial literacy for influencers is what I’m so passionate about. I feel like if I can just convert 15, 20 influencers to be the biggest influencer in their own life, to advocate for themselves, then I’ve done my part in the industry.”



Photo by Christina Mumper.

Influencer Niké Ojekunle is turning misfortune into the Midas touch by teaching others the importance of financial literacy.

Influencer Niké Ojekunle is turning misfortune into the Midas touch by teaching others the importance of financial literacy. | SUCCESS

Niké Ojekunle Got Scammed. Now She’s Helping Others Avoid the Same Fate By Advocating for Financial Literacy

Niké Ojekunle Doesn’t Sugarcoat It: She Got Scammed | SUCCESS

https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Nike-Ojekunle-header.jpg