Almavina Insights

Welcome to Almavina Insights, Reader! I am beyond excited to officially kick off Almavina Insights, twice-weekly nuggets of wisdom and truth about organizational culture, career development, and women in the workplace, delivered straight to your inbox. When I left my full time job last fall, I wasn’t sure where I was headed. I spent some time prioritizing my health, considering my options, looking at job postings, reading (a lot), and writing (even more). I realized two things – I loved...

Dear Reader, This month has felt like the winterest of all winters. I don’t know about you, but the pull to hibernation has been strong for me this year. A friend sent me this Instagram post at the beginning of the month and it has really stuck with me. Here’s the punchline: If January feels heavy, slow, or resistant – nothing is wrong with you. You are listening to the Earth. Leaning into that idea, I’ve been trying not to be too hard on myself. I set small, achievable goals for the week....

Dear Reader, Happy new year! I hope the holiday season has provided you with an opportunity for rest and reflection in addition to celebration with family and friends. It’s that time again – time for my annual reading recap! I just took a moment to go back and read last year’s recap. And it was yet another marker to signify my journey this year. Last year I wrote about why I read. And yes, all of those things are still true. This year, I uncovered the science behind why I read – which is...

Dear Reader, Here we are – in that “in between” time. Thanksgiving has passed and the year-end holidays are on the horizon. If you don’t pay attention, it will go by in a blink. And yet, it’s a whole month of the year! For many years, Thanksgiving has felt like the weekend I wish all my weekends could be. I would wake up Saturday and Sunday thinking, “Woo hoo! Another day!!” And then I’d go back to the office on Monday morning and one of two things would happen. There would be a hard core...

Dear Reader, It's been seven months since Promises Broken was released into the world. (Isn’t that wild?) The most common feedback I’ve received from readers is: “I saw myself in these women.” That’s the power of story. It mirrors us back to ourselves—and reminds us we’re not alone. When I first started writing, I simply wanted to do justice to the stories that these brave women were willing to share. I knew toxic work culture was a problem that existed in so many mission-driven places, and...

Dear Reader, Have you ever walked through an open office space and not been greeted by a single person? How about being in a meeting when it’s clear that people are "side-chatting" over text? Maybe you’ve even side-chatted yourself? What about hearing the same generic critical feedback tossed out in group settings over a period of months and suddenly realizing the person is referring to you? Culture isn’t built by slogans or slide decks. It’s built in motion—tiny behaviors that signal...

Dear Reader, On a typical Monday morning (or Tuesday after a long weekend), you might be asked, “How was your weekend? Do anything fun?” If I worked in an office and was asked this question today, I would say “Great! I went to a college hockey game. I cooked a meal for my son and his roommates. I rooted for all of my teams, made some chili, and baked banana bread. And during yesterday’s storm I went to the boardwalk to check out the *very* high tide.” Not too long ago I remember being very...

Dear Reader, If you speak to people who used to work on my teams over the years, I think they would tell you that I prioritized health, wellness, and family over work demands. If someone had a sick child, I encouraged them to focus on the child rather than worry about the work. If someone had a personal crisis, I worked with them to cover their responsibilities so that they could manage the crisis and not let things slip. And yet. Here are two actual scenes from my work history: I once fell...

Dear Reader, I am married to a person who doesn’t read. 😱 Not that he can’t read, but he doesn’t. He’ll read nonfiction books occasionally, and he consumes lots of information through other means. But he does not read fiction. I, on the other hand, read a lot of fiction. Reading fiction isn't just a leisure activity—it’s exercise for your brain and your body. Check out some of the research on the benefits of reading fiction: Improved connectivity in language regions: MRI studies show that...

Dear Reader, Sometimes I wake up and wonder whether I am on the wrong path. Does that ever happen to you? Not on an existential level, like “am I on the wrong path in life?” But more like “Have I taken a wrong turn with a project or an aspect of my life?” It happened when I was writing my book. Should I really be doing this? Is there something else I should be spending my time on? It happened when I was on the school board and experiencing a lot of related anxiety. Is this where my energy...

Dear Reader, Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my 5th grade teacher, Miss Parasine. I’m pretty sure my desire to be a teacher started when I was in her class. I turned 11 that year. My brother was 4. Just old enough to sit in that little Playskool desk and be my “student.”. Lately I’ve been wondering – what exactly about my experience with her was so pivotal? I had very few “bad” teachers in my 13 years of public school, and all my teachers leading up to 5th grade were good. When I think...