Category: Wonderfully Random

What Do Great Bosses Do?

Dana PhelpsBlog, Professional Development, Wonderfully Random10 Comments on What Do Great Bosses Do?

As I grow the team at Clairemont, I ask myself on a daily basis what I need to be doing to be a great boss. Two books I like on the topic are Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em and How to Become a Great Boss. More than anything, I reflect on my former supervisors and what they did well.

While I’ve been thinking about this as a blog topic, there’s a reason for me writing this post today. On Sunday, I learned that my first “real job” boss passed away. I want to share four things that made him the kind of boss that nearly 17 years after working for him, I aspire to be. Continue reading “What Do Great Bosses Do?”

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Books that Launched Clairemont

Dana PhelpsBlog, Wonderfully Random1 Comment on Books that Launched Clairemont

What’s on your summer reading list?

I tend to read books in groups, and just started reading four this weekend, including the new one by Brian Solis, Engage. More on that soon. First, I’ve been in a few recent discussions about the books I read when I was thinking about starting Clairemont, and promised to post them here.

I clearly remember the day when I could no longer ignore the thoughts of having my own agency led me to the bookstore where I bought more books than I could carry on starting and running a business. As if the number of books purchased might be related to my chance at success! From that stack of books, here are the top 3 that really helped me the most:

1. The Girls Guide to Starting Your Own Business. Written by Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio who happened to be partners in — yes, you guessed it! — a PR and marketing agency, this is an easy read that is incredibly instructional and provides helpful checklists of things you need to do/consider when starting a business, sample budgets, business terms you need to know and resources for writing a business plan. Caitlin and Kimberly, thank you! I felt like you wrote this book just for me.

2. The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Michalowicz. The theme might seem a bit crude but it’s all about making do with what you have which I think is great for starting a business and for thinking about how to work with clients with small budgets. Thanks to Mike, Clairemont has immutable laws that guide us on our mission that the book helped us to define.

3. The Boss of You. Written by another dynamic female duo, Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears started Raised Eyebrow Web Studios about ten years ago. This is a straight-forward step-by-step guide to getting your business started & set-up, and I love that they give you some very specific thoughts on how you should and shouldn’t be spending money and little things that you would just never think of if you had never started a business before. Thanks to Emira and Lauren, I’m not afraid of talking about love in business (we love what we do for clients we love) or to turn down a piece of business that does not fit with what we do.

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I’ve Got Mail!

Dana PhelpsBlog, Wonderfully Random

I’m a fan of Facebook and love Twitter so much I use HootSuite, TweetDeck and Tweetie. Couldn’t live without texting. Still like some IM on occasion. With a healthy respect for all forms of communications, I must say…. one of my favorite things in this entire world is getting actual mail. Imagine my delight today when I received mail for the first time in the new Clairemont PO box!

Snail mail never gets old
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Marathoning is a lot like PR… and life

Dana PhelpsBlog, Public Relations, Wonderfully Random2 Comments on Marathoning is a lot like PR… and life

As I was training for my first marathon last year in the middle of a really busy time at work, I would often think about how running is a lot like working in public relations. And in many ways, life.

Through wind & rain, stay focused on the end goal!

#1 The Big Event requires a lot of planning. You can’t execute a successful client campaign or give a winning new business presentation without carefully planning well in advance for the big day. And if you try it, it will likely hurt. From planning what to wear, how much water to take and what to eat in advance of each and every training run, to doing the training just as the program described, the prep was essential. When you’re prepared, your work feels easy breezy.

#2 There’s going to be some goose poop along the way. Look, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. Maybe you’re running along having a great day when you realize the sidewalk ahead is covered in goose poop. You think how dare those geese! That’s MY sidewalk. They have all the grass around the lake! They’ve invaded my territory! The point is: get over it and stay focused!The day of my marathon, I woke up with a sore throat on the coldest day of the year. I had trained in hot weather. Oh and the rain. Did I mention the rain? It was with me the ENTIRE time. I used the weather to help create a mental barrier to block anything and everything that could have possibly distracted me from finishing. As the rain absolutely pelted me at one point, I used a mental technique I learned from The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer and said, “Hello rain! Come run with me!” Continue reading “Marathoning is a lot like PR… and life”

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