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, The first stage of heavy lifting is done. The house is listed, and now we just have to be able to vacate at a moment's notice. So it's still a full time job. I will take all the prayers and good real estate mojo you can send my way -- would love to get this baby sold quickly! ICYMI Since I picked up TJ from (gasp!) his sophomore year of college last week, I thought it was an appropriate time to bring back "Advice for my college-bound sons," which I wrote after Timmy's first...

Dear Reader, Well, this is a lot of work. Over the next few weeks I am packing up a good portion of my home for 17 years to prepare it for listing. Turns out you can accumulate a lot of "stuff" over 17 years. So, I'm taking a brief hiatus from writing. I appreciate your understanding! ICYMI Since many of you are new in the last few months, I figured I would use this as an opportunity to reshare some early content. 5 signs your boss might be making you sick They say your boss has a greater...

Dear Reader, James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, has a newsletter called “3-2-1.” It is, unsurprisingly, full of tiny “atomic” nuggets of wisdom. Here’s the format: three ideas from Clear, two quotes from others, and one question for the reader. No elaboration or commentary on the items in the list, just truly small pieces of content to get your mind thinking. At least that’s what it does for me. One of the “three ideas” a few weeks ago was: “Take all the energy you spend on… - worrying...

Dear Reader, I subscribe to a lot of newsletters and my inbox shows it. Knowing the effort it takes to put each and every newsletter together, I like to make sure that if I am subscribed, it’s something I give the time it deserves. If I don’t have the time to read on the day it arrives in my inbox, I leave it unread and then I spend some down time catching up. In one of my recent catch up sessions with Daniel Hartweg’s High Performance Newsletter, I read his take on change management,...

Dear Reader, Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be out on Wednesday? How did this happen? I had no idea this was a risk when we got started. What are we even doing here? What do we care about at this organization? Any of these sound familiar? How about the “at home” versions? I have always had an aversion to repeating myself – it feels redundant and somewhat offensive to both the receiver of the message and to myself. If my words were important to the recipient, they would remember...

Dear Reader, One of my favorite movies of all time is Forgetting Sarah Marshall. My husband and I have watched it countless times. There are so many good lines that make their way into our daily conversation. "You want, like, a magazine or something? It's gonna be boring if you’re just sitting by yourself." "I was going to listen to that but then … um… I just carried on living my life." "No! My shirt! Take my eyes but not my shirt!" "Oh, you know what? If they were Sean John sweatpants it...

Dear Reader, Some people fear spiders. Some have a fear of heights. Bridges, closed spaces, the number 13. My biggest fear? A blank page. When I was little I had a recurring dream that filled me with a massive sense of overwhelm. All I can remember was that I had to color a massive picture that was so big I could never have completed it. It was huge, and empty, and I was starting in the corner. I’m pretty sure the picture involved a clown, too. I was filled with dread about the fact that the...

Dear Reader, Last December, I got a panicked LinkedIn message from K. “I just got laid off and your brother said I should contact you.” My brother has a tendency to suggest that I can help with things I can't really help with 😂 … but luckily this was not one of those times! I offered to meet and talk things over and K took my first available slot. The panic was palpable. I really felt for her. We met at Starbucks and over her first Gingerbread Latte of the season (why do I remember these...

Dear Reader, Last week I attended my second Women in Publishing Summit. Last year at this time, I had just attended the virtual conference for the first time. I wrote about my experience in one of my very first newsletters--but this year, it felt different. Last year at the conference: I showed up because I had time and I was curious. It took me the whole time to refer to myself as a writer. Even then, I called myself a “baby writer.” I had an idea for a book that I had been mulling over for...

Dear Reader, Can you believe February is over? It sped by in a blink. The only evidence I have that it really happened (and that I was there for it 🤣) are the recordings of the Toxic Culture Workshop Series. Thanks to those of you who registered and were able to join live! We had a good time. At the final session last week we talked about solutions – what do we do if we find ourselves immersed in a toxic work culture? And, as leaders, how do we prevent it or address it when we see the signs?...