The Brilliant Balance Blog

As school ends and another summer break begins, with its roughly 80 sun-soaked days stretching out ahead of us, are you feeling a little anxious and wondering why? Well, here’s why. Summer is supposed to be the best time of the year. The anticipation as been building for months. And now you’re in charge of making the magic happen. Eek. Frankly, I […]

In this rat race we’re running, the rats are getting faster. Or maybe they’re just wearing backpacks now so they can carry even more stuff with them. Either way, I’m starting to worry. Every day I talk to women who find they are reflexively saying yes to every single thing asked of them – and then staying […]

Don Draper had me at hello. When the series premiered, I was working in a marketing job at Procter & Gamble, collaborating with an agency team at Leo Burnett, and living in a modern day version of the world the show depicted (with far fewer cocktails, I’m afraid). I was swept up in the nostalgic […]

This week I spent a day outside my comfort zone, as the subject of a photo shoot to update the photography on my website. In truth it was actually only two hours, but as someone who barely tolerates the annual family Christmas photo, it seemed like an eternity and I literally felt it for days leading up to the big event. […]

Last week, I was interviewed by the Cincinnati Business Courier and was asked to share the best advice I’d ever received. Boiling it down to just one piece wasn’t easy, but in the end, I chose this one, given to me during my marathon running days. At the time, I was being cautioned not to get swept up in […]

I believe there are people in this world who experience deep satisfaction. I’ve just never counted myself among them. I’ve spent years labeling my never-ending dissatisfaction as “Divine Discontent” writing it off as just the way I’m wired. No sooner do I cross an accomplishment off my list than I tackle the next one. Or decide that the first one wasn’t big […]

Earlier this year,  I made the logically sound but emotionally difficult decision to close a business I’d poured my heart and soul into for five years. It was one of the weightiest decisions I’ve ever made, with many people’s lives affected beyond mine. Because of that, I wrestled with my options for months, virtually paralyzed with indecision. I […]

Once upon a time I almost opened a muffin shoppe. Well, at least that’s what my Godfather called it. I imagined it as more of an artisan bakery – a dreamy space with wide plank wood floors and a chalkboard menu and stacks of thick white plates and sturdy mugs. I envisioned gleaming floor to ceiling wood-trimmed windows with flower […]