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Ask AI to Describe You as…
This one was kind of fun. The prompt is ask AI to describe you as if they were warning someone before they meet you… WARNING: You are about to meet Ande. Proceed accordingly. She is going to seem friendly, funny, capable, and relatively normal at first. This is how she gets you. Within an alarmingly…
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Being Needed Is Not the Same as Being Wanted
I’ve had a few conversations lately that have made me think about the difference between being needed and being wanted. Last week, I wrote about a business owner who told me how much he trusted me, especially because he doesn’t feel like he has many people around him he can trust. In a different conversation,…
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Apparently, People Are Paying Attention
Friday morning, I was sitting down with a new client. Except “new client” doesn’t really explain the relationship. I’ve known him for a while through the business world. Somewhere along the way, we went from people who knew each other professionally to actual friends. We’ve gone out, talked about our businesses, talked about life, and…
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You Can’t Spreadsheet Everything
I’m really good at solving other people’s problems. Need a system? I’ve got one. Need a process? I’ll build it. Need someone to organize the chaos? That’s literally how I make my living. But every once in a while life reminds me that some things don’t care how organized you are. The last couple of…
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Sometimes Healing Looks Like 79-Cent 3D Glasses
For the last few years, I was the Fourth of July party host. My house overlooked the biggest fireworks show in town, so everyone came to us. If there’s one thing my mom knows how to do, it’s host a party. She always had everything organized, the food ready, and people gathered together. It became…
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Sometimes the Internet Surprises You.
A couple of months ago, I stumbled across an ad asking people to nominate someone in their community who deserved a new roof. My first thought was immediately of my sister, Nicole, and brother-in-law, Chris. Their roof is original to the house. It’s been needing replacement for years, and it’s something we’ve talked about more…
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The World Doesn’t Stop for Grief
Last Sunday, I lost my dog. Even typing that sentence feels strange. Partly because I still don’t want it to be true. Partly because life has a funny way of demanding your attention even when your heart is somewhere else. I’ve gone back and forth on whether I wanted to write about this. Not because…
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Becoming My Own Client
One of the more humbling parts of running a business is realizing that eventually, if you’re lucky, you’ll run into the same problems your clients have. I know. I was hoping that wasn’t true too. For years, I’ve helped business owners navigate growth. Not the flashy kind that makes headlines. The messy kind. The kind…
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The Horrors of Medication Changes
Especially the kind that are supposed to keep you alive, sane, stable. People talk about medication changes so casually sometimes. “Just switch meds.” “Maybe increase the dose.” “You can always try something else.” As if changing psychiatric medications is the same thing as switching laundry detergent and not a complete neurological demolition project. Because some…
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The Day I Realized I Can’t Keep Running My Business Like a One-Woman Emergency Room
Today was one of those days where I looked up at the clock and realized I had somehow already lived three workdays before dinner. I was up and out of the house early because I knew I needed uninterrupted focus time. A real estate agent I recently started working with had a listing appointment pop…
The A La Carte 