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, 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...

Dear Reader, Last month, I ran a three-day workshop series for a group of talented women who had just experienced an unexpected layoff. I planned content for the first two sessions and invited the participants to suggest topics for day three. I wanted to make sure the time we spent met their needs at that moment in time. One of the things on their minds was ensuring a strong workplace culture in their next job. “I feel like when you ask about culture in an interview, you get lame answers like...

Dear Reader, It’s almost August and I feel like summer just kicked off. I’m trying not to panic. If you've kept up with your inbox this spring/summer, you know that I’ve been in the process of moving since April. We are finally nearing the end of the long process, but it’s been just that – a long process. When your move starts on April 17 and ends on August 7, it’s not a surprise that summer seems to have escaped me. On top of that, we have an extra college drop-off to do this year. In just...