On race morning, I still had one workout left - the 5K warmup. On the walk from the high school parking lot to the start line, I played it out loud, embarrassing Mary Beth as I launched into lunges and high knees among the other runners.
I ran one of my best races that day. When I got home, I opened the Peloton app to see my badge for finishing the program - but it wasn’t there.
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Katie also mentioned that her pinky hurt. She sat out the rest of the game, and we went home for ice and ibuprofen.
The next morning, she said her leg felt OK, but her finger hurt. As the keeper, she often jams fingers, so we did what we typically do: put a splint on it and sent her on her way.
When she got home from school, it was completely swollen and black and blue, so off to urgent care we went. I joked at check-in, “Haven’t we made it to our 10th punch on the punch card for a free visit?” They chuckled and charged our insurance accordingly!
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I popped into the grocery store after dropping my daughter off at school to get supplies for the Let Her Out 5th Birthday Celebration. I gathered flowers and a small cake and approached the florist with a big, gold mylar balloon in the shape of the number 5.
Florist: What color do you want the ribbon?
Me: Florist’s choice.
Florist: Is it for a girl or boy?
I know my eyes instantly did the thing where you look down at the corner of the floor in a moment of “hmmm…what do I say here?”
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This month, as Let Her Out: Reclaim Who You Have Always Been turns five years old, I’ve been thinking deeply about what it really means to “let her out.” Here’s the truth… Let Her Out has never been about doing more. It’s about being more you.
More grounded. More brave. More joyful. More honest. More awake to your own life. So instead of launching a to-do challenge, I’m inviting you into a to-BE challenge...
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Think back to November 2020. Where were you living? What stage of life were you in? How were you navigating a global pandemic? Now, fast forward to today. What’s changed? What have been your biggest shifts in the past five years? I love this five-year reflection exercise. One year feels too short to see real transformation, and ten years can feel overwhelming. But five years? It’s the perfect Goldilocks zone — just right for noticing growth, lessons, and change. This month, I’m seeing the past five years through a special lens — the lens of a “book baby” that’s all grown up. Let Her Out: Reclaim Who You Have Always Been was published on November 19, 2020.
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Part of my morning routine is completing a few word games. My favorite is Crossclimb from Apple News. A friend recently introduced me to another set of puzzle games, and let's just say, I've got a solid streak going (except for Queens, which drove me absolutely mad!) I enjoy the mental flexing—typically before my body flexes—and if I’m going to use my phone early in the day, I want it to support my brain, not trigger a negative thought spiral. Perhaps it’s because I’m tuned into words and letters that I had a “pause and chuckle” moment in a recent coaching session.
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From the opening minutes, the game turned physical. U14 girls can be feisty, but this was on another level — pushing in the back, grabbing jerseys. Right in front of me, one of their players lifted one of ours around the waist and spun her around. I was sitting next to that player’s dad, who had to stop himself from going full papa bear mode. A yellow card was issued.
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At a recent event I attended, brand new boxes of crayons placed on each table brought forth the strongest memory I’ve had in quite a while. When I was a senior in high school, I competed in the Ohio Junior Miss competition. As part of the competition, we each had to write an essay with the theme “Be Your Best Self.” Mine was based on the idea that we are all like a box of crayons.
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I’ve been thinking about a title for a blog post lately and it’s this one: Empty spaces. When I was growing up in Republic, Ohio there were a few places that I felt were truly sacred. One was the empty sanctuary of the Republic United Church of Christ.
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This is an expansion on the two minute video I posted to honor my mom, Mary Powell, and her 40+ year career. For any of you who are managers, aspire to management, or coach managers, this list should give you a lot to think about.
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My family embarked on a complete kitchen renovation last week. It’s the biggest project we’ve ever undertaken and I’m excited thinking about the new cabinets, countertops, and gadgets, but as we were in the process of packing up the kitchen and preparing to live out of our dining room for the next eight weeks, I began to reminisce about one piece of furniture: this table.
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The day after Christmas might mean lazing around in your pajamas, hitting the day after Christmas sales, playing your new video game over and over or getting back to the grind. On this day after Christmas, I want to revisit one that sticks in my memory and has led to some of the most significant leadership lessons of my adult life.
Read more >I wrote and rewrote this post three times. I guess I needed inspiration to hit at the right moment, and it did as I was running in the Columbus Half Marathon yesterday. The first half of the race I was feeling great. I was beating my planned time, the cold didn't bother me, and spectators were out in full force. When I saw one spectator's poster around mile 8 as I started to feel a little wobbly, I knew I had the message. The sign said: REMEMBER YOUR WHY.
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I've never written about September 11. I have always figured that there are enough documentaries and stories that reflect that horrific day. Today, I came home from a happy hour with friends to my family happily playing games in the living room. I asked what they learned in school and my 8-year old daughter said, "It's Patriot's Day." When I asked her what that meant, she said, "It's the day the twin towers fell." My 6-year old added, "Today is the day to thank police and firefighters."
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"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:20) I wore this quote and an actual mustard seed around my neck during most of high school (see picture). The necklace was a gift from my parents. They have always been my #1 fans and raised me to believe I can be anything I want to be.
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I spent the last two weeks with Julie Lythcott-Haims. What I mean by this is that on my way to and from work, I listened to her book How to Raise an Adult. I know Julie as the Dean of Freshman at Stanford from my time working at the university. Now, Julie is better known as an author and parenting expert. Her book was full of great insight and advice on how to raise kids to become independent, caring, and successful adults. As the mom to 8 and 6-year old daughters, I was tuned in to her advice.
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When I returned to the office this month, there was one big difference in my day-to-day work life. I no longer have an official leadership role with the women’s group at my company. For the past four years, I have served on the board, the past two years as president. As I reflect on these past two years, 10 things stand out as the major learnings.
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