WE'VE ALL FANTASIZED about telling off our Mr. Burns-like boss or putting that idea-stealing, credit-hogging co-worker in his place. And the stress we're feeling amid corporate layoffs, shrinking salaries and rising unemployment only adds fuel to those fantasy fires.
But before we open our mouths and say something we can't take back (we're talking to you, Kanye West and Serena Williams), workplace communications expert Marsha Petrie Sue advises we stop and think about just what hissy fits really accomplish. In her new book,"The Reactor Factor: How to Handle Difficult Work Situations Without Going Nuclear" ($24.95, Wiley, out Oct. 26), she offers tips and techniques for keeping your cool no matter what comes your way.
» EXPRESS: What should we all remember before reacting to any workplace situation?
» SUE: Every time you make a choice, the outcome is yours. If you don't like your outcomes, make better choices. It's personal responsibility. If people took more personal responsibility for their choices, life would be so much easier for them and for everybody else. I am so tired of people not taking personal responsibility.
Continue Reading "Stop, Think, Respond: Marsha Petrie Sue's 'The Reactor Factor'" »
WHETHER YOU'RE A DEWY-EYED romantic — or you just have dollar signs in your eyes — setting your sights on wedding photography can be a sweet way to marry talent and extra cash. You can flirt with the prospect at the Washington School of Photography's daylong workshop on how to shoot high-quality, unique engagement photos and couples portraits.
Everyone from newbies to seasoned photographers tag along with professional photographer Duane Heaton to photograph a real, live, smitten couple. Along the way, the group navigates the secret nooks of Georgetown as well as the quirks of portrait photography. "It's really simple to take a photo of somebody, but I try to teach my students to create something that's 'about' the subject," Heaton explains, which means capturing the dynamic and personality of the couple in each frame.
» The Basics: A maximum of 10 students, instructor and couple meet near the waterfront for "Georgetown Walk," Heaton's twist on the traditional engagement photo session. The 6.5-hour workshop (which includes a break for lunch) is crammed with hands-on opportunities to snap photos of the subjects in a string of unusual settings, from alley crannies to a boarded-up loading dock, with each location presenting a different lighting challenge. Students are to bring extra memory cards and a long telephoto lens, which gives the couple space to act more naturally.
» Name: Garrett Porterfield
» Job: Director of Virginia's branch of Overland Experts
» Salary: $75,000 to $85,000
» Education: A bachelor's degree in architecture from Penn State University
» What he does: Porterfield coordinates off-road driver training for military personnel and trains recreational groups, from corporate staffs seeking team-building exercises to travelers wanting to beef up their Land Rover skills.
» Would you want this job? A mellow personality — and higher-than-average tolerance for danger — is crucial. Time flexibility is also a must.
Continue Reading "Steal This Job: Director of VA Branch of Overland Experts, Garrett Porterfield" »
JENNIFER YEZEK USED TO LOOK "ENVIOUSLY" out the window of a New Jersey laboratory. Now she works on a sunny island in the Pacific Ocean, thanks in part to a certificate from D.C.'s American University.
The 32-year-old majored in math and chemistry at Wake Forest University, then studied forensic science at Michigan State, graduating with a master's degree in criminal justice. "Since the curriculum was heavy on analyzing controlled substances, the [U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency] was a natural fit," Yezek says.
After a background check, the Columbia, Md., native became a fed — analyzing evidence, writing reports and testifying in court. "I was never called a narc," she says, "but I did have one of those jobs that everyone thought was so cool."
When her husband took a job in New Jersey — "a mecca for pharmaceutical companies" — Yezek worked for a subcontractor to Eli Lilly, where she was qualified to do drug research, thanks to her DEA experience and master's degree. "One of the tests I did helped advance a breast-cancer drug along in the [Food and Drug Administration] process," she says proudly.
A FEW YEARS AGO, Mollie Myers was just another 20-something college grad letting real-world practicality trump her true passion. A graphic designer with a B.A. in education from Baltimore's Goucher College, Myers pined for the hands-on, creative thrill of 3-D art. So, in 2003, the Silver Spring resident enrolled in a welding class offered by the School for Professional and Continuing Studies at Baltimore's Maryland Institute College of Art, followed by a chain of jewelry classes there that led to a stint as a commercial jeweler.
This summer, the 29-year-old celebrated the opening of Studio Ag, her new art jewelry boutique in Maryland's historic Savage Mill, where she sells her handcrafted baubles and teaches classes on jewelry making. And she's taking more classes at MICA — business basics for creative professionals.
"I don't know if I could have opened a studio without their business class," Myers says. "My needs as a business owner are completely different than, say, a plumber." She is also planning to take a marketing class in the creative entrepreneurship series.
Myers was drawn to the institution's top-notch reputation and evening classes, and she figured the area's rush-hour traffic makes driving to Baltimore about as convenient as trekking to downtown D.C.
"GET A BOTTLE OF WATER," Lydia Wade-Driver orders her student, who, far from balking at the command, obediently opens the fridge, grabs a bottle and brings it over. "Good girl," Wade-Driver says without condescension. That's because her trainee is Chanel, a 3-year-old Labrador retriever who's preparing for work as a service dog.
"You can teach them just about anything," she says of assistance dogs. "I don't think we've even begun to touch on what they can do."
Tapping into their potential has helped her realize her own. Wade-Driver is one of three area women who have found innovative ways to commune with man's best friend: Wade-Driver founded Blue Ridge Assistance Dogs (BRAD); Rebecca Bisgyer pioneered D.C.'s doggie day care scene; and Cassandra Kraham gave grooming a new look.
IT'S NO SECRET that high-stress desk jobs can lead to highly sedentary workdays, but Audrey Babkirk, for one, can't relate. The self-professed "lazy" 30-year-old was little more than a sporadic exerciser when she took a job as online editor at the Motley Fool in Alexandria.
Fast-forward two and a half years: Babkirk arrives at the office three times a week at 7:30 a.m. for an hour-long "boot camp" with a personal trainer — a perk subsidized by the Motley Fool — and practices yoga regularly, an interest she cultivated via office yoga sessions.
Babkirk's colleague, senior analyst James Early, takes advantage of other fitness benefits their employer offers, such as equipping his Kingstowne home with exercise and gymnastic equipment (kettlebell, parallel lateral bars) on the company's dime, using the annual $1,200 wellness allowance. "I have a baby, so I don't have time to go to the gym," says Early, 32, who instead squeezes short workouts into his schedule before and after work. "I have less time than I've ever had before, but exercising every day has made me make the best use of it." And when he finds himself waffling on a work project mid-day, he shoots hoops in the game room to get back on track.
Continue Reading "Fitness Can Take Work: Companies Realize Fit Employees are Happy Employees" »
"MAN IS BY NATURE a social animal," the philosopher John Locke wrote. Wandekha Kanthula would agree. It's one reason he joined the Arlington County Fire Department.
Kanthula, 27, grew up in Springfield, Va., and majored in criminal justice at Old Dominion University; he wanted to go into federal law enforcement. Becoming a firefighter or police officer seemed like "a quick way to get into the real world," though, so he applied in several jurisdictions while looking into which would be the best fit.
Talking with police and firefighters showed that among Arlington County and Fairfax County police, "you're on your own in a cruiser with little interaction," he notes. "An engine company has a four-man crew, so it's important to be on the same page. Police have camaraderie, but I didn't see the same bond."
Continue Reading "Fighting Fire With Friends: Local Man Discovers Camaraderie at Fire Department" »
AS SHE PLUNGES into the Master's in Business Administration program at Yale University, Lydia Gensheimer is facing an English major's worst nightmare.
"I'm taking stats, accounting, microeconomics and Excel modeling," Gensheimer says cheerfully (so are all her cohorts in the two-year program).
It's a sea change for the former journalist, who covered education for Congressional Quarterly after graduating from Dartmouth in 2006. But getting an MBA also flows naturally from her former beat.
"I am one of those people who got so involved in what I was writing about that I decided to go do what I was writing about" — education reform, says Gensheimer, 24.
This fall, in the face of a stubborn recession and a lot of uncertainty in a whole host of fields, thousands of newly minted grad-school students are going back to school, often after years in the work force.
Each student's decision to matriculate now is guided by a range of personal, professional and financial factors. But experts say one thing is for sure.
"If you are only going back to graduate school to earn a degree because you think it will make you more money, that's the wrong reason," says Marsha Egan, a certified professional coach based in Reading, Pa. Through her company, the Egan Group, she consults across the country with people wondering whether grad school might be a ticket to greater security, greater satisfaction, or some combination of the two.
Continue Reading "Going Grad: Mid-Recession, Students Leave the Workforce for the Classroom" »
ATTENTION, PLEASE, career-oriented ladies in your 20s and 30s. Author Debra Shigley has an advice book on shelves that will not only tell you how to advance yourself professionally, but will also keep you chic and well-groomed while you're doing it. In "The Go-Getter Girl's Guide" ($16.99, St. Martin's Press), the former lawyer lays out the must-knows of everything from office etiquette and resume building, to healthy eating and basic makeup application.
Why? Because throughout her own life, Shigley admits, she could've used a guide. "I started noticing a string of commonalities among successful women," said the 30-year-old, "and I wished I had information like this when I was younger." Shigley recently chatted with Express about the fundamentals of a go-getter girl's life.
» EXPRESS: When were you first inspired to write this book?
» SHIGLEY: The seeds of it were planted when I was about 20. You go to a good school and they teach you lots of things, but not how to get and grow in the job you want. I looked for a mentor and contacted Soledad O'Brien. She responded, much to my surprise! What that made me realize was if you talk to people, they will give you advice — and that is a huge part of my book. There is knowledge out there, and you can stumble upon it, or you can just ask people.
Addison Road