The holiday season has a funny way of colliding with professional expectations. End-of-year deadlines, budget closeouts, performance reviews, planning for next year - all while your calendar is packed with “quick check-ins” that are anything but quick and at least one meeting where half the attendees are mentally already on vacation.

Even when your service member isn’t officially deployed, life as a military spouse can feel like its own kind of deployment. Right now, my husband is away for helicopter training, and while it’s an amazing opportunity for him — something we both agreed on and fully support as a family — it doesn’t make it any easier for those of us holding down the fort.

This week was the kind of week that makes you stare into the void and ask, “Is Mercury in retrograde or am I the problem?”
Spoiler: It was a little bit me

For most of my career, I thought leadership was something that belonged in professional spaces — conference rooms, classrooms, and project briefings. Leadership looked like strategic plans, performance reviews, and confident communication.

It’s not about the square footage or the number of rooms — it’s about the energy I’m bringing into them. I’m stepping into this season with more intention, more gratitude, and more grace for myself. I’m allowing space for both excitement and imperfection, for both dreams and rest

Some people are born to lead with booming voices, sweeping hand gestures, and the ability to make a PowerPoint feel like a halftime show. And then… there are the rest of us. The ones who would rather think before we speak, prefer small groups to spotlights, and believe coffee is best enjoyed without a meeting attached.

Some seasons of life feel like they change the moment I finally start to find my footing. This year has been one of those seasons — full of shifting schedules, new responsibilities, and the constant push to create some kind of balance. As a mom and a military spouse, I’ve learned that “predictable” isn’t really part of the vocabulary. But peace can be. For a long time, I thought having a routine meant locking myself into a strict plan — every hour accounted for, every detail managed. That worked until it didn’t. Life with a small child, changing work demands, and military schools have a way of laughing at even the best-laid plans. Eventually, I realized that what I needed wasn’t a schedule. I needed rhythms — flexible, gentle anchors that helped me feel grounded even when the day went sideways.

Some people wait for January 1st to hit reset — new planners, new promises, new motivation. But for me, there’s something about October that feels like the real start of goal season. The air cools, the pace shifts, and suddenly there’s room to breathe again.

Taylor Swift is dropping her new album The Life of a Showgirl this week, and honestly? My entire week feels like it’s happening in sequins now. So instead of a normal to-do list, I decided to frame my days through the Taylor lens (aka glittery chaos with great background music).

We’ve all been there. Your throat is scratchy, your nose has declared mutiny, and you’re pretty sure you’ve forgotten what energy feels like. Meanwhile, your to-do list is giving you the side-eye like, “Excuse me, did you forget about us?” Here’s the truth: life doesn’t stop just because you’re sick. But that doesn’t mean you have to power through like a hero. Enter my favorite survival strategy: the art of doing “just enough.”

When leaders talk about profit, they usually turn to numbers: revenue, expenses, and margins. But here’s the truth—profit isn’t just about the numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s also about how effectively people communicate. Poor communication isn’t just frustrating—it’s expensive. Every missed email, unclear instruction, or misunderstood client request chips away at profitability. A study by SHRM estimated that large organizations lose millions of dollars each year due to communication breakdowns. And for small or mid-sized companies, even a few costly mistakes can make the difference between growth and stagnation.

Life often feels like it’s measured in big milestones—new jobs, big moves, financial breakthroughs, or family milestones. Those are important, of course, but what I’ve been realizing lately is that those “big” moments are not what sustain me day to day. What truly keeps me moving forward, especially in a season that’s busy and sometimes overwhelming, are the smaller things.

Labor Day often gets labeled as the “unofficial end of summer”—a long weekend for cookouts, back-to-school shopping, or one last beach trip. But when you look beyond the sales flyers and crowded highways, Labor Day carries a powerful reminder we don’t always give ourselves: rest isn’t laziness, it’s part of the work. This can be something hard to really understand - if you’ve found the balance please let me know because I am still searching. I have found a few things though that can make life a little easier when attempting to find the balance.

When my office decided to do a walking competition, I thought, Perfect—an easy win. I already chase a four-year-old around the house, how hard could this be? What I didn’t expect was how quickly it would turn into an all-out step war. Suddenly, I’m parking in the farthest spot at the grocery store, taking extra laps to the mailbox like it’s a marathon training plan, and yes, pacing the kitchen while my coffee brews just to watch the number tick upward.

You know that moment when your phone buzzes, and it’s that one contact you really don’t want to deal with? That’s burnout calling. It’s relentless, sneaky, and shows up when you’re already juggling too much. But here’s the thing—I’ve learned to hit "ignore" and let it go to voicemail. Burnout doesn’t get to run my life anymore, and I’m here to share how I got there. Spoiler: it involves a lot of saying "no" and a little bit of strategic napping.

Picture this: I’m strutting through the airport—Grande quad shot latte in one hand, roller bag in the other—when my phone buzzes with a last-minute program question. Meanwhile, my brain’s stuck on the fact that I forgot to tell Gigi all the little quirks going on with my son.

Welcome to the chaos of work travel as a mom—a whirlwind where career excitement collides with gut-punch mom guilt. If you’ve ever felt like you’re failing your kids while chasing your career, this one’s for you.

As a program manager and a mom, I’m constantly juggling deadlines, team dynamics, and the chaos of parenting a now 4-year-old. This week, we celebrated my son’s birthday, complete with not the right cake, and decorating post bedtime just to make sure it's a fun surprise to wake up to. Amid the joyful chaos, I realized that planning his birthday and our upcoming free Friday so that he still gets a special adventure. That being said, my gift to you all, since my kid hates a valuable life lesson right now, is four leadership lessons you can find from trying to set up a fourth birthday celebration. 

Real talk this week? I’m tired. I’m a chef, chauffeur, bedtime negotiator, AND a full-time powerhouse. That’s a lot of hats for just one person. Throw in the chaotic noise of a dog that always is whining and you are one minor inconvenience away from an unscheduled blow-up. Just know you’re not alone, and no — you’re not failing. You’re just human. This week I wanted to explore better ways of reframing all of the negatives that I like to give. While it is Thursday already that means I just have a jump start on implementing things for next week. So all in all here are five ways I am going to tackle the shift of perspective to hopefully turn this week around.