When our plane finally left Newark, I sank into my seat and took a deep breath. Getting to Palermo had already felt like a marathon with delays, short staffing, and shuttle buses. We'd decided to upgrade to premium economy, and it was worth every penny. Wide seats, footrests, and actual room to move and stretch out. Gil sat beside me, Greg across the aisle. We were on our way to Sicily. I’d been to Italy before, but this trip was different. I was about to visit the place wher

I've been thinking a lot about overcoming. We've overcome so much in the last three years, right? The COVID pandemic catalyzed many of us to reevaluate our life and career choices. It did for me. I left a secure, steady-paying job to co-create Post & Beam. The idea of being an entrepreneur has been simmering in me for many years. The combination of COVID and cancer were a real wake-up call for me to stop letting fear control my life. I wish I had a dime for every time I tol

This week brought me more perspective. A former colleague of mine lost her battle with cancer. She was a mom of two young girls, a PR exec, a free spirit, and someone who radiated heart and positivity. Her passing triggered feelings of survivor guilt for me. Anger, shame, fear, worry, anxiety, and so on have been playing like a broken record in my mind all week. It's shocking to hear you have cancer. It's something you never think will happen to you, and in an instant, you se

I attended 1000Watt's TurnOn event this week in Portland, OR. Since this was my first TurnOn conference, I came into it with zero expectations. Marc Davison and Brian Boero, together with their team, vision cast an event that was essentially the "un" real estate conference which meant it would be stacked with speakers outside the industry and topics that were less about the mechanics of real estate and more about perspective, approach and leadership overall. Here are the less

I accepted the #IamWomanUP challenge to shine a light on a woman for whom I have great respect and admiration. Today I'm honoring Katie Lance, my good friend and mentor. I've known Katie for over 15 years, but I met her for the first time in 2009 when she agreed to come to Boston and speak at a RE/MAX event. I was immediately drawn to her because of her relatability, humility, and smarts, and I knew then that I wanted to spend more time with and learn from her. Since I've kn

Each year, instead of a resolution, I choose a guiding word. My friend, Debra Trappen, initially inspired me. My guiding word aligns with my personal and business goals and serves as a North Star to guide and influence how I pursue my goals and to ensure I stay on the path. 2022 was a year of transformation for me. My 2022 word, purpose, was divinely fulfilled with the launch of Post & Beam Creative. This year, my guiding word is RADIATE, and my vision is to take my purpose a

Happy New Year, Friends! It’s that time of year, time to organize and guide your focus for the year ahead. Each year at this time, I think about my own personal and professional goals. I’m excited to share that my husband, Greg, and I created a family goal this year as well. The next step in goal setting is to consider one word that will be the guiding force to ensure you stay on the path to achieve everything you’ve set out to achieve. 2022 is my fourth year doing this pract

Woweee!! It’s been exactly two months since I’ve written; that’s a considerable pause, the longest since I started this blog two and a half years ago. First, it’s great to see you back here. It’s been so long because I haven’t felt inspired to write. Every time I think about what to write, my mind seems overloaded with information. After some reflection, I’ve realized that I’m feeling burned out. Can you relate? I’m trying to accomplish too much, and I’m saying yes to too man

Our family has experienced many ups and downs in the last two weeks. I passed the one-year mark since my breast cancer diagnosis . I’m happy to report I am one year cancer-free. I’m celebrating by co-hosting a yoga class with Jen Houghtaling to raise money for the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. You can sign up for class here. At the same time, we said goodbye to our girl Molly. Our 15-year-old Coton de Tulear had been declining for a few months when her cancer metas

This week I was reminded to slow down! COVID affected all of us in ways I don’t think we’ll fully understand for some time. I believe we’re all crawling out like turtles coming out of our shell, wondering if it’s safe, asking ourselves if we’re ready. Meanwhile, the world has started up as if nothing ever happened. Over the last two weeks, I was in the fast lane, moving at warp speed with the rest of the world; back to being on the road, in the office, and out with friends.

Happy Sunday to you. In a recent episode of the Know Like Trust Podcast , Betti Russo and I had a conversation with Author and Empowerment Coach Debra Trappen about core values. Debra explained, “Core values are the guiding principles that dictate behavior.” She said when we align with our core values, We make more confident decisions. We attract like-minded people into our world. We live life with greater integrity. We experience more joy and happiness. Core values are the

I’m due for my annual mammogram in July. If you’ve been following me, you know I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. I shared my story here and here and here . I started noticing my anxiety and feelings of fear about two weeks ago. I became uneasy, as if I’d been sitting in a chair for a long time. I started fidgeting to move away from the discomfort. At first, I didn’t understand what was going on, but I soon remembered my appointment was upon me and realized, may

Yesterday, as I took Jen Houghtaling’s yoga class , I found myself moderating many poses, taking longer child poses, and skipping parts of vinyasa. I intuitively knew I needed a slower pace, a softer practice, so I took it. There was a time when I would not have listened and instead would have pushed through it. At the moment when I found myself in child pose, instead of criticizing myself for slowing down, I felt proud that I listened. As I laid there quietly, I realized fou

This week I made my official debut back into the real world. I attended an overnight event that included a 3-hour indoor meeting followed by an indoor dinner with the same group. I was nervous but mostly excited to see people, socialize, give hugs (yes, I gave a couple), and see people’s smiles. I saw more teeth than I have in 18 months! I saw so many teeth, I couldn’t get Jim Carry’s, The Mask , out of my head! All kidding aside, while it felt amazing to be among the living

On this Mother’s Day weekend, I’ve been thinking about mothers and mother figures. When I became a mother at 41, I’d already seen most of my friends become mothers. Yet, as far as I could tell, they seamlessly managed parenting, work, relationships, and anything else happening in their lives. Sure, they hit bumps along the way, but they made it look pretty darn manageable for the most part. I assumed I’d learned enough from them that I, too, would transition into parenting se

I have this memory of my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Rowe, telling me my work was careless and that I rush to finish. But, she said, “If you just slow down, you’ll get the answers right.” I’m a taskmaster. I love lists, and I love crossing things off my list even more. However, I’ve noticed throughout my life that my desire to complete tasks sometimes comes at the expense of quality work, which I believe to be the reason I still remember what Mrs. Rowe said. A good friend

Lately, I’ve been thinking about values. I’ve been asking myself, what are my values, am I aligned with my values, are my values reflected in my actions and behaviors at work, in my relationships, and in my parenting? I loved this post from the Dalai Lama, “I really feel that inner values are the most important thing in building a happy world. Once you consider others and respect others, there is no room for cheating, exploiting, or bullying. Then trust develops and a positi

Well hello! It’s been a while. I took some time off to focus on things at home like healthy cooking and eating, daily exercise, and downtime at night. At first, I felt guilty that I stopped writing. The truth is I felt stuck. I started and stopped more times than I can remember and came up empty. After a couple of weeks, I realized it’s ok to take time off from something you love to give attention to some other things (and people) you love. Here are four steps for moving forw

Last week I co-hosted my first Clubhouse room with my friend and colleague, Betti Russo . It’s a brand new weekly show called, Building the KNOW-LIKE-TRUST Factor for real estate. Betti and I are big believers that when you build authentic relationships where people know, like, and trust you, you’ll achieve success and happiness in business and life. In these weekly discussions, we collaborate on all the ways to gain the KNOW-LIKE-TRUST factor. I began the conversation by sh

We’re three weeks shy of the anniversary of the coronavirus shut down. Usually, this time of year, we’d be off to visit my parents in Florida for some much-needed Vitamin D. This year, however, we decided to stay put and take a staycation. As a closet introvert and homebody, the idea of not having to go anywhere or be any place was incredibly appealing. Escaping my routine allowed me to do some things that I most likely would not have done had I jetted off to warmer weather.