We’re starting a new feature on Career Girl today that you’ll begin to see every Friday….Last Year on Career Girl! CareerGirlNetwork.com launched on March 7, 2012 out of 6+ years of blogging on numerous platforms including Chicago Career Girl and Minneapolis Career Girl. As we move into our second year, we’re looking back every week at the best articles from 365 days ago.

Last Year on Career Girl…

• Facebook Cover Photos have been around for a while now. Here’s how to get the right impact by “Creating a Kick Ass Facebook Cover Photo“
• It’s easy to think that balance means stopping all together at times. It doesn’t need to, though. Learn about “The Brilliance of Easing Up“
• One of our favorite videos of 2012, “CitiBank Sets Women’s Sights High – Literally“
• Are you wasting time at work? This great infographic will let you know.

The post Last Year on Career Girl Network… appeared first on Career Girl Network.

It happens all the time. My chipped nail polish looks terrible, so somewhere around Tuesday, I remove it, telling myself I’ll stop and get a manicure tomorrow. Then, along rolls Friday and my nails look terrible, my cuticles are peeling, and I don’t have time for a manicure before a big event that evening. Inevitably, what happens then is a scramble to get my nails done, calling every nail salon within blocks of my house.

Apparently, my friends over at Capitol Hill Style (a blog dedicated to fashion and tips for working women out of Washington DC) have the same problem. They recently published the article “Secrets for a Quick and Dirty Pedicure” and their tips are right on. They recommend great products and things to do every few days to keep your tootsies looking fabulous.

Career Girl Network recommends another product not mentioned in Capitol Hill Style’s article, one that has saved my own terrible mani/pedi many a time. I keep a jar of Bath & Body Works’ 60 Second Manicure Hand Scrub in my shower.

And it truly works in 60 seconds. A quick scrub on my hands (and yes, I use it on my feet too) and all those dry cuticles and calluses magically fade way. Jump out of the shower, slap on a little clear polish, and you’d never know I haven’t had a manicure in weeks. Buy it from B&B Works for only $12 here.

The post Secrets to a Quick and Dirty Mani/Pedi appeared first on Career Girl Network.

Every Saturday, you get your weekly dose of “Stay in Bed Stimulus” – great reads, fun videos, and amazing podcasts and pieces of music that will make you want to stay in bed an extra hour, and get your much needed relaxation time in this weekend!

Read It!

25 Years of Working Girl

This year marks the 25th anniversary of a film that truly shaped the way we think about women in business. The words “bony ass” never meant so much as they did when Melanie Griffith said them to Sigourney Weaver.

Watch It!

Shasta Nelson from GirlfriendCircles.com on Katie Couric

This week, we met (via phone, but still) the incredible Shasta Nelson. Shasta is the founder of GirlfriendCircles.com, and the author of the new book Friendships Don’t Just Happen. Her experience in creating circles of female friends and the community she’s created online is inspiring for all women.

Hear It!

Career Girl’s First “Virtual Girls’ Night Out”

The incredible Melissa Foster pioneered “Virtual Girls’ Night Out” in her work at Brilliant Life Design, and now she’s bringing it to Career Girl Network.

This week, in our first ever VGNO podcast, Melissa interviews Beth Santos, the phenomenal founder of Travel Go Girl Magazine.

Want to Get “Stay in Bed” Saturday in Your Inbox?

Don’t worry, we’re going to keep posting it on the website, too. But if you want to wake up to “Stay in Bed” Saturday, sign up for Career Girl Network’s newsletter by clicking here now!

The post Your Saturday “Stay in Bed” Stimulus appeared first on Career Girl Network.

We’re starting a new feature on Career Girl today that you’ll begin to see every Friday….Last Year on Career Girl! CareerGirlNetwork.com launched on March 7, 2012 out of 6+ years of blogging on numerous platforms including Chicago Career Girl and Minneapolis Career Girl. As we move into our second year, we’re looking back every week at the best articles from 365 days ago.

Last Year on Career Girl…

• To be truly productive, tracking your time can mean the world. Real Simple tells you how it’s done.
• Do you have a plan for every turn? Should you? Check out these “Contingency Plans: Your Lifesaver at Work.“
• Stop browsing the same old job search sites. These are “15 Unique Job Boards to Help You Get the Gig.“
• Gone through something mortifying at work? Here’s how to “Bounce Back After Embarrassment at Work.“
• A guest post from an incredible woman who tackled body image with the triathlon in “Good Enough for You!“

The post Last Year on Career Girl Network… appeared first on Career Girl Network.

We all want to leave a legacy. Not just at the end of our lives, but throughout, we want to craft both lives and careers that leave each company better when we leave than when we came, that affects our colleagues and friends positively, and that allows us to feel accomplished both personally and professionally.

Two of my favorite bloggers over at Marc and Angel Hack Life recently wrote an incredibly poignant post called “7 Questions You Will Ask at the End of Your Life.” One of those questions struck me as truly profound. Here it is:

How much of my story did I actually write?

Don’t let anyone convince you that you aren’t strong enough.  Your growth potential is as vast as your thinking.  You are as powerful and capable as you know yourself to be.

If you give in and let other people’s negativity convince you of who you are, their madness will wither you away.  You will morph into who they say you are, rather than living honestly as yourself.  In this way, these people will steal your life from you.  You will lose track of where their opinion ends and your reality begins.  Their fiction will become your life’s story.

Stay strong.  When someone tries to bully you, stand up for your truth and say, “Not so fast, buddy!  Your delusion of superiority is your problem, not mine.  I am holding the pen and I am writing my own life’s story.”

Perhaps this question struck me so deeply because I’ve been there. I have been in the place where I was not writing my own story, and where my opinion was not the most important one in my life. In fact, I didn’t even realize it was happening until after I left my full time job last year to start Career Girl Network. It was only then that I realized I had become 100% dependent on praise from my bosses and leaders, and had allowed the priorities of others to shape the priorities of my career.

My question for you, Career Girls, is whether you  might be doing the same? You don’t need to become an entrepreneur to write your own story, but you do need to step back from the opinions of others and hone into your own wants, needs, and desires. How can you start writing more of your story today?

The post How Much of Your Story Are You Really Writing? appeared first on Career Girl Network.

We’re starting a new feature on Career Girl today that you’ll begin to see every Friday….Last Year on Career Girl! CareerGirlNetwork.com launched on March 7, 2012 out of 6+ years of blogging on numerous platforms including Chicago Career Girl and Minneapolis Career Girl. As we move into our second year, we’re looking back every week at the best articles from 365 days ago.

Last Year on Career Girl…

• Don’t worry, being a “job hopper” doesn’t have the same connotation it used to. It might be time to embrace “The Four Year Career“
• Have you ever wondered about those personality tests everyone’s talking about – MBTI, FIRO-B, etc.? “Personality Tests: Yes or Stress?“
• Branding extends all the way to your closet. Here’s how to “Curate Your Own Personal Style“
• We can’t believe it was a year ago that the incredible Brene Brown told us to “Step Into the Arena“
• One of our most popular posts last year – “3 Words That Guarantee Failure“
• Being offered a job sounds great, but is it the right one. Here’s how to know “Should You Take the Job?“

The post Last Year on Career Girl Network appeared first on Career Girl Network.

We’re starting a new feature on Career Girl today that you’ll begin to see every Friday….Last Year on Career Girl! CareerGirlNetwork.com launched on March 7, 2012 out of 6+ years of blogging on numerous platforms including Chicago Career Girl and Minneapolis Career Girl. As we move into our second year, we’re looking back every week at the best articles from 365 days ago.

Last Year on Career Girl…

• Using Skype to interview for a job? Check out these tips on “Skyping for Success“
• Some of the world’s best executives share “The Best Advice I Ever Received“
• In a relationship? “The Four Minute Rule” could change the way you think about time with your spouse
• Laura Vanderkam asks, “Are You As Busy As You Think?” and also brings us “The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time“
• Interested in working for a new company? Here’s how to “Get Hired by a Startup“
• Take the risk in these “Lessons from a Corporate Cliff Jumper“
• I talk about becoming a yogi in “Yoga Tips for Beginners…From a Beginner“
• Last year at this time, TIME Magazine rocked the world with their article on women becoming “The Richer Sex“

The post Last Year on Career Girl… appeared first on Career Girl Network.

We’re starting a new feature on Career Girl today that you’ll begin to see every Friday….Last Year on Career Girl! CareerGirlNetwork.com launched on March 7, 2012 out of 6+ years of blogging on numerous platforms including Chicago Career Girl and Minneapolis Career Girl. As we move into our second year, we’re looking back every week at the best articles from 365 days ago.

Last Year on Career Girl…

• You’re going to want to discover “The Joys of Mentoring“
• Sara Blakely of Spanx became “The World’s Youngest Female Self-Made Billionaire“
• We discovered the amazing organization of “Erin Condren Calendars Organizing Your Life“
• lululemon got us running with “5 Tips for Sticking to Your Running Routine”
• We became obsessed with ABC’s “Shark Tank” and brought you “Interviewing Lessons from Shark Tank“

The post Last Year on Career Girl… appeared first on Career Girl Network.

March 8th may not be significant to many, but it certainly should be, because today is International Women’s Day! And while there might be a lot of social media buzz about this day, very few really know what to do about it. The Washington Post, this morning recommended “10 Ways to Celebrate” International Women’s Day – all amazing and phenomenal ways to celebrate. In this spirit, I’m stealing my idea and giving you my own:

5 Ways You Can Celebrate International Women’s Day:

1. Say thank you. Today is a day of celebrating our triumphs as women. Take the time to celebrate a woman who has helped you get ahead or has taught you something. Pick up the phone and call your mom, email an old teacher, or mentor. Let a woman know she was instrumental in your journey.
2. Support a girl. It’s easy to forget, when celebrating a day about women, those who are not yet women. Think, today, about all you can do to advance girls in this society. Of course, you can donate to my favorite organization affecting the lives of girls from underresourced neighborhoods, Step Up Women’s Network. But there’s more. Donate a book, give to a school, volunteer with your child’s Girl Scout troop. Whatever your decision, ensure that the success of women continues by investing in our littlest ladies.
3. Donate. Give financially to a women’s organization you love in honor of International Women’s Day. Let them know you care.
4. Get informed. If you can’t donate to a nonprofit today, that’s ok. But think about signing up for the email lists of some of the nation’s top nonprofits affecting the lives of women around the world. Here are a few links to email signups with great women’s organizations:
   • Women Thrive Worldwide
   • WomenVenture
   • Vital Voices
   • Global Fund for Women
   • womenwinning 
5. Honor those who paved the way. We all know the Gloria’s and the Jane’s of the feminist movement. But what about those women like our mothers and aunts, who paved the way for ordinary women to succeed in business? Take the time to Facebook or Tweet about a woman who paved the way in your industry, town, or state. Acknowledge her work.

The post Happy International Women’s Day from Career Girl Network appeared first on Career Girl Network.

You work hard all week, Career Girls. You balance work, family, friends, cooking, cleaning, and so much more. But somehow, when Saturday rolls around, you just don’t know how to relax. It’s what Miranda Hobbes says to Steve when he tries to get her to sleep in on Saturday morning on “Sex and the City”:

Read It!

Yahoo! Eliminates Work from Home Arrangements: What’s Your Take?

This week, Yahoo! made news when it eliminated the option to work from home for all of its employees. Instead of expressing any opinions on this decision, we want to give you a whole group of opinions, and let you form your own. Click on the links below to read some incredibly diverse and thought-provoking opinions on the subject.

Watch It!

The Debut of MAKERS: Women Who Make America

We told you about MAKERS a few weeks ago, but now it’s REAL! This incredible documentary about the women’s movement in the United States and how far we’ve come in making history for women debuted on Tuesday, February 26th. But don’t worry if you missed it! There are plenty of opportunities to watch the videos of the MAKERS documentary and the rebroadcast on PBS.

Hear It!

Our New Favorite Audiobook: Pitch Like a Girl

Confession: Ronna Lichtenberg’s book is one of our favorite, and we recommend you all read it. But why isn’t this in the “Read It!” section? Because none of us have time to read a big book these days, right? Instead, log in over at Audible.com and download the audiobook! Sure, it’s 10 hours long, but look at it this way – 10 commutes, 10 workouts, 10 before bed listening sessions and suddenly, poof, you’re ready to pitch!

Want to Get “Stay in Bed” Saturday in Your Inbox?

Don’t worry, we’re going to keep posting it on the website, too. But if you want to wake up to “Stay in Bed” Saturday, sign up for Career Girl Network’s newsletter by clicking here now!

The post Your Saturday “Stay in Bed” Stimulus appeared first on Career Girl Network.