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80 The art of corporate resilience with Christmas Hutchinson
by Lisa | May 15, 2019 | Entrepreneurship, Podcast
Lisa Linfield: 00:09 Hello, everybody, and welcome to today's episode of Working Women's Wealth. We've been doing a long journey on finding your passion and finding your side hustle and talking about how we create extra income through alternate sources of businesses, side hustles, things that we can do, and we're going to shift focus over the next quarter to focus on building ourselves as great, strong, talented human beings.
Lisa Linfield: 00:50 [inaudible 00:00:50], and today I'm joined by a woman who I just think about her and I giggle. She has a smile that you can't believe, and she has an energy that is so infectious. Her name is Christmas Hutchinson.
Lisa Linfield: 01:02 Welcome, Christmas. Thank you for joining us on our show.
Christmas H.: 01:06 Thank you for having me, Lisa.
Lisa Linfield: 01:09 Christmas is the author of a book called The Resilient Mind and is a resilience coach specific focusing on our careers and especially for those of us who are navigating careers in the corporate world.
Lisa Linfield: 01:27 Christmas, how did you get onto the journey of coaching and teaching and mentoring people about resilience and writing your own book on the subject?
Christmas H.: 01:37 I had my own experiences with having to be resilient, and I didn't know what it was when I was having those experiences at the time. About four years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer a week after I had gotten divorced, and it was literally like a month and a half right after I was passed over for a promotion, and so, for me, at that time of my life, it was rock bottom, let's just say, and I didn't know what to do, but the one thing I did know is that I wanted to live and that I knew that life wasn't meant to be this bad and terrible, so I chose to look at my situation as a growth point and that, if I navigated my way through it, that there would be something great on the other side, and so that's what I did.
Christmas H.: 02:33 I started to learn different methods and how looking at my illness and looking at how my marriage ending impacted me and looked more for the opportunities, and so that's when I learned meditation. I learned more self-awareness. I started to think about reasons how even ended up in those situations, how I didn't get promoted, all these things, and just through that reflection and self-awareness, I also started to naturally mentor people and coach people through regular conversation, and people started to tell me, "You're so resilient. You're so resilient. You should write more about this. You should write a book," and so just that whole experience and getting to that point and reflecting on all that I had been through, I was like, wow, this is something that I need to share with other people because, when I was going through it, people were like, "Oh, my God, how do you this?" and I'm like, "People don't know how to do this?" and then I started blogging, and then I hired a coach who encouraged me to actually write a book on how I do it.
Christmas H.: 03:38 That's how the book came to life, and that's why I'm here teaching resilience and career resilience, and even in my own career, like I told you, I've been passed over for promotion a couple of times, and now I'm an executive, so I really want to share with people how I was able to take a point in my life where I was stuck in my career and be able to expand on it.
Lisa Linfield: 04:03 Why do people get stuck in roles and in careers when, by nature, one thing is that we should be growing all the time, I guess?
Christmas H.: 04:14 Yeah, you're right. It is a human desire to want to grow all the time. That's why you and I do personal development. People get stuck. I can give one simple answer and… or maybe two. I think it's lack of self-awareness and not building that habit of reflecting on where they are and where they want to go.
Christmas H.: 04:36 For me, when I think about when I got stuck in my career, I had the mindset of, okay, you get all the degrees and you go into work and you just keep your head down, do the work, perform extraordinarily, and that's it, and that was what I was taught, but what I've learned through my experience is that I was so focused on doing a great job that I wasn't networking, and I never reflected on that. I just was like, "Oh, I just can't network." At that time, I wasn't learning the best ways to network.
Christmas H.: 05:13 Additionally I wasn't talking to the right people to learn what it is I needed to do to get ahead, and one of the greatest things a person can do to find out how they can grow is to ask people where they need development, where their blind spots are, and that's something that we don't feel comfortable doing because it triggers in our mind that we're not good enough.
Christmas H.: 05:38 Those are just a couple of reasons why we often get stuck, and I think having the awareness of, okay, I'm stuck, why am I stuck, and reflecting on all the choices we've made in the past, and putting a plan or a strategy together to get to the next level is something that's very critical in moving to the next level in your career.
Lisa Linfield: 06:02 I totally agree with you. I mean, I also think an additional reason, if I reflect back on myself and the people around me, is that once you get passed over for promotion once, people almost retreat from pain and think, "That was too painful. I'm not going to put myself there because that was an extremely bruising thing, so I'm just going to wait until either someone else promotes me, but I'm not going to actively put myself in there," and I guess that's where resilience comes in to move through that.
Lisa Linfield: 06:34 What are the five most common reasons that people don't get promoted?
Christmas H.: 06:38 One thing I wanted to say on what you said before I go to the reasons why people don't get promoted, to piggyback on what you just said, I think the fact that we're reticent to put ourselves in uncomfortable positions is a real huge reason, so me writing a book and putting myself out there definitely is going to provide me opportunities, but when you get comfortable with being comfortable, you'll definitely remain stuck, so I-
Lisa Linfield: 07:02 It's much easier to be comfortable being comfortable.
Christmas H.: 07:05 Yes. Oh, yeah, yeah, because who wants to feel pain?
Lisa Linfield: 07:10 Absolutely, and have all those gremlins creep out of the woodwork of your own soul.
Christmas H.: 07:14 Right. Exactly. There are five reasons. There's more, but I have five reasons why people don't get promoted or why I found myself not promoted. The first one is not connecting with the right people. I think that what we need to understand is, going back to the comfortability thing, when we're in the work environment, we connect with the people that we feel most comfortable with us, not the ones who are going to call us out on our stuff and be brave enough to say, "Look, Christmas, you could have done better here," just give us really that critical feedback, and, usually, those people who will do that are the ones who are the decision-makers or know the decision-makers in the organization, and so, when you're not connected to those people and those people don't know what value you bring to the organization, you're not going to be even considered.
Christmas H.: 08:11 Connecting with the right people is really important, and, in my career, I was on great projects and I did great things, but I wasn't connected with the people who were in the room saying, "Christmas needs this promotion." Another reason why people don't get promoted is that they don't take feedback well. From the perspective of the person giving feedback, because it is a very sensitive subject, if you don't take feedback well, people are not going to give it to you.
Christmas H.: 08:42 If you become defensive or give excuses or just make it an uncomfortable experience for someone to give you feedback, you're just not going to get it, and when you don't get the feedback, you will continue to make the mistakes. You'll continue on with your blind spots and you won't improve, and that will hold you back from being promoted or being put on those stretch assignments.
Lisa Linfield: 09:06 It's quite a difficult one because if you're not in a feedback environment… so I had been at four organizations before I actually came into an organization with a feedback environment, and the first time I ever received feedback, spontaneous feedback actually, I mean, I nearly fell over. It was actually from a subordinate, and I was like, "What are they doing?" Once I had learned the enormous power of feedback, it literally escalated my career because it not only made me aware of my blind spots, but it also made me aware of how other people perceive me when my intentions might have been really good, and it really grew me, but I think one of the challenges was when my particular piece of the organization, when I interacted with other pieces, they didn't have feedback cultures, so I ended up having to solicit it from other people because they weren't going to spontaneously give feedback. It's not always in a culture.
Christmas H.: 10:02 Right. No, you're right, especially an American culture, it's so politically correct that we talk about doing these feedback things and doing it in the moment, but it never really happens because it's just not in the culture at all. I wrote an article a little, I don't remember, maybe a year or so ago. It's called Feedback is a Gift, and I learned that from one of the partners at my… the former firm that I worked at, and it is because, like you said, once you got that feedback, you skyrocketed, and that's the gift. It's not meant to be hurtful and it's not meant to say that you're not good enough or you're not valuable. It's just, hey, this is how you're being perceived.
Lisa Linfield: 10:43 Also, the [trends 00:10:44] that you can pick up, because you always have to be aware that feedback is in the eye of the giver and, therefore, often contains a suitcase of their own issues, but there are often trends that we can pick up if we're open to it, and I remember one of the great pieces of insights that I had was that people who knew me well and who worked very closely with me, my boss and my own team, thought I was a fantastic leader, but the further up they got and the less they knew my soul and who I was as a human and what I was really about, the more they perceived me as quite tough and that the softest thing about me was my teeth, whereas the people who worked closely with me thought that I was a teddy bear.
Lisa Linfield: 11:28 It was interesting that there were such different perspectives on the exact same human being, but being able to pick up the trend meant that I was then able to say, "Okay, I've got to work harder at other people getting to know me, because whatever it is, when I get into a meeting, they're perceiving me as a real tiger," whereas in actual fact it proved to me when people were closer to me, then they knew my intensions, and so they knew that when I was pushing hard on a deadline, it wasn't because I was being mean or nasty. It was because the deadline was due, and so I think it's also I important, adding on to what you're saying, that you seek out feedback from a wide variety of people at different levels and through the circles away from you.
Christmas H.: 12:11 Right. Mm-hmm (affirmative). I love the example that you gave. The people who are closest to you know you one way and the people further away they have a different perspective, and that's pretty powerful to reflect on.
Lisa Linfield: 12:25 Absolutely, and I don't think I've ever mastered that one, so it's a learning journey, a complete learning journey. You said the first one was broadening our network and opening ourselves up to opportunities through the other people within our organization, and the second one was feedback. What were the other things that we should know in terms of why people don't get promoted?
Christmas H.: 12:46 The third one is self-promoting. I know imposter syndrome is something that is prevalent in everybody, but especially women, and what happens is is we get… and I struggled with this for a while writing self-evaluations or when I would go prepare for interviews. We always downplay our contribution. When you're in the room with people who are decision-makers, who are leaders in the organization, you want them to remember you, so, when you have that opportunity, when you're with them and they're saying, "Oh, hey, Christmas, what are you working on?" you say, "Look, I'm working on this, and I led this group to do this, this and this." We just don't self-promote enough. We're just like, "Oh, yeah, I just work in that department, and I produce this particular result," and the onus on us to show and demonstrate our value when we're having those discussions and we're in the places.
Christmas H.: 13:46 One thing that I do a lot, I have heavily branded myself as a program manager and the person who gets things done, so, whenever I'm sitting in meetings, I will always say, "Okay, so I'm putting on my analytical hat," or, "I'm putting on my program manager hat. Where are we going to blah, blah, blah?" I always put that description out there so that people have it cemented in their head, and what's happened is that people will reach out to me and say, "Oh, I have a program management question," or, "Do you want this project?" or can you recommend… so I've established myself as that particular expert by virtue of just dropping those little words when I'm in front of people.
Lisa Linfield: 14:28 I think that's fantastic, to be mindful of not only the little words that promote us non-offensively in a group situation, but what you were saying before is that we tend to downplay our particular roles in organizations, and in some cases, it's appropriate, for example, when you're within the team context, but when you're stepping out and reporting back is to also own your role in a team perspective.
Lisa Linfield: 14:57 I know that I was so indoctrinated into all of this that when I first launched my wealth management business, everything on my website and everything in my commentary and even when I first launched my podcast, I would say we, the team, we, et cetera, because I was so indoctrinated, but it was only me, and then when I met someone, they said, "How big is your organization?" and I said, "It's just me," and they said, "But you always talk in the plural," and it was because I was so scared of offending anybody in a corporate context that I actually couldn't say I or me, and it really was quite illuminating.
Christmas H.: 15:32 Right, and what's amazing is, because you said we, people assume she's got this big organization.
Lisa Linfield: 15:39 It's helpful sometimes, but in actual fact, it was much more indicative of just my lack of self-confidence in claiming ownership of the achievements I've achieved by myself.
Christmas H.: 15:50 Right. Exactly.
Lisa Linfield: 15:52 Number three is self-promotion. What's number four?
Christmas H.: 15:54 Number four is poor planning. This is something we definitely don't learn when we're going through our education. They say, "Okay, go to college. Do this and get into the workforce," but there are strategies that you have to put into place to move to the next level.
Christmas H.: 16:13 One thing that I've been working with a lot this past, I don't know, year or so are just setting intentions. When you set intentions, your mind automatically goes into planning mode on how to get to that next step. When you're looking for a dynamic career, you really need to be planning. Whether or not it's I want to get to the CFO position, for example, which that's not something I want to do, but it was something I used to want to do, so, to be a CFO, I would study other CFO's careers. Some of them are in insurance services and they go over to financial planning and analysis and then they do a stint in operations.
Christmas H.: 16:51 When you know where you want to go, you'll make plans to meet people in those particular area and make that your next career step because you're not going to get from entry level to the top of the organization in three years. It takes time, and the best way to do the planning is to step out and take the risk of meeting people at those levels and saying, "Hey, tell me about your career trajectory? How did you do it? Where did you start?" If you're too afraid to do that, you can definitely go on LinkedIn and see how people have gotten to where they are, but just goal-setting to get to the next level and incorporating the feedback that you received are definitely ways to plan to get to the next level. It just-
Lisa Linfield: 17:36 I love what you said about opening your mind, because one of the things I teach in my mindset course is this whole piece of the brain called the reticular activating system, and its job was in the old days to continuously scan the environment for threats, is the lion out there, is something going to hurt us, but also for opportunity. Is the food out there? Could that be food? Could that not be food? Even when we were doing other things, it was subconsciously scanning the environment all the time, and I love the fact that you say you need to set intentions.
Lisa Linfield: 18:08 In that fore-planning and set intentions, if you stayed to the intention deep enough, not just mention it once to yourself, if you're really focused on it and said it as part of your daily affirmations and things like that, that piece of your brain will start connecting dots in your environment around you to create the opportunity, and, as you said, if you study people who have been successful in their roles and even approach them and ask them how they did it, even the very act of approaching them and asking them how they do it helps with your first thing, which is your networking, because sometimes it's quite difficult to say to a person, "Hey, can I network with you?" People are very open to talking about themselves. Just say, "Hey, one day, I would love your role. How did you go about doing it?" and just listen to their stories.
Christmas H.: 18:54 Exactly. Luckily, when I was in a leadership development program, I was challenged to do that, meet leaders in my organization and interview them, and they were so happy to help, because people more or less usually want to help others and talk about themselves doing it.
Lisa Linfield: 19:11 Absolutely, so what's the last one?
Christmas H.: 19:13 The last one is the fact that you don't do more than what's in your job description. That's the best way to get stuck in your career, because you're not showing your value. You're not showing your commitment. You're not showing your desire to advance the organization, and when you just go in and is seen as a person who just does what you're supposed to do and don't go above and beyond, no one is going to promote you. You're not showing that you can be trusted with more responsibility.
Christmas H.: 19:47 The things that I like doing in my past and even now, I mentioned to you that I volunteered or I was asked to volunteer to read applications for a leadership program that we have at my company, and that's something I could have declined. I mean, am I dong it because I want to get promoted? No, but I'm doing it because I want to advance my organization. I want to help other leaders in my organization. When you do more, when you create programs, if you see that there's something missing, a lot of people always tell me, "Oh, my job is boring. I'm not advancing," I'm like, "Have you looked and seen and tried to fix a problem that's broken? How's the diversity in your organization? Have you thought of any programs or connected with anybody who you could create a program or create an organization within the company?"
Christmas H.: 20:38 There's always something to do other than coming in and doing what you're supposed to do, and when you show that you can do more, then you show you're valuable, and you'll find yourself in situations where you'll be promoted or get a stretch assignment.
Lisa Linfield: 20:56 I love what you're saying, because one of the things as an employer that always challenge me about promoting people who didn't stretch outside the narrow boundaries of their job description was if they stretched upwards, then the gap between, for example, me and them, if they were coming to take my job, wouldn't be that big a gap, but there was naturally a gap. I mean, a promotion by its nature requires broader, bigger domains of control even in terms of size or in terms of complexity, and if the person has never demonstrated that they can operate at that level, it's a higher risk than if someone is always stretching to almost close the gap between their current job and their future job.
Christmas H.: 21:44 Right. Exactly, and when you do these kind of things… and in my experience, I've actually had roles created for me because I've stepped out of what I was doing, and they're like, "Let's have you do this." It was not a role that existed before, and it came with more responsibility and more money, so, yeah, doing more makes you more valuable, thus, deserving of a promotion.
Lisa Linfield: 22:13 How do we bounce back when we go for that promotion and we put everything humanly possible in us and we've ticked all the five boxes that you've been talking about and we stepped up, and we faced our fears and we head off into that interview and then, a week or two later, we get that big sorry for you?
Christmas H.: 22:34 This is more about where resilience happens. What we don't understand is that we're going to have more experiences with failure than we are going to have with success, but, for some reason, the way our brain is set up, the points of failure are just so memorable and they just have the hugest impacts on us, and so depending on where you are in the rejection or the failures or whatever has happened, I always like to vent or talk about it with somebody.
Christmas H.: 23:05 In the example that you gave where you prepare so well for an interview and then you go in, and you do all the things, you do the essays, the case studies and all the things, and they come back and say, "We selected somebody else," it can become a pressure. I mean, it's happened to me. I'll just call a friend or call whoever my go-to is who understands me, and I just vent and say, "Oh, my God, I can't believe this happened and they didn't take me, and they wasted my time," and this, this and this. I just feel like getting those feelings off immediately, because it is a really, really quick way to defuse the situation.
Christmas H.: 23:44 I always want to caution people not to complain, but just get it off. How did this make you feel? What are you going to do about it tomorrow? It's a natural experience to feel hurt when you are rejected, and it's important to process your thoughts, and so to me, venting is one way.
Lisa Linfield: 24:06 Absolutely, but I think one of the things that I would add to that is vent to people outside your immediate zone at work because, somehow, things always seem to come back, so choose a safe source to vent and make sure that that safe source holds your venting as exactly that, a first unfiltered level of freeing of those emotions so that you can progress to a constructive solution.
Christmas H.: 24:36 Right. The other thing is… that I like to do when I've been disappointed, and it's something that I talk about a lot, I talk about it in my book, I've already mentioned it here, is reflect. Really think about what happened, where you may have gone wrong in your preparation, we'll go back to your example of the interview, where you've gone in your preparation for the interview or where you've gone wrong in your actual performance, if you've got a bad performance rating. There are usually opportunities in there, and even if they're not, don't let your self-worth be tied up into how somebody perceives you. Everybody, as you mentioned earlier, is perceiving you through the windows of their own experiences, and you can't let that determine your value and your worth.
Lisa Linfield: 25:25 I love what you're saying about at the end. The first portion, you said, "You need to reflect on what you can do better and you need to know that also sometimes it's just a different person's perspective." It's not related to your personal self-worth, because one of the things that… so in my own career which I've shared with my listeners is that I went from being on a top leadership program to basically, within two years, not having a role.
Lisa Linfield: 25:55 One of the lessons that I learned within myself was I the exact same human being, had the same skill set, the same experiences, the same everything, but the leadership changed, and the eye of the beholder was very different, but it took a long time for me to work that out, and I would have saved myself a lot of heartache if I could have done both of your steps, both reflect on what I could have done differently through the interviews in the process, but also the fact that sometimes the eye of the beholder just doesn't see that your skill set is a natural fit for them, where it might have been a natural fit for their predecessor.
Lisa Linfield: 26:37 After you've reflected, then what do you do?
Christmas H.: 26:40 Another thing that I'll do is, depending on what the situation is, let's just say for instance you thought you were going to get a better performance review than you actually received, I actually would talk about it with the person just find out what it is that they saw and why it is that they… giving you that performance rating that has created this situation where you're feeling low, and just find out their perspective, and be open and listen and try not to be defensive about it, and that's where you learn the other person's perspective.
Christmas H.: 27:19 Another thing that I've learned just through this process of healing from cancer and divorce is empathy, always putting myself in the other person's shoes. When you take that point of view, you're more open to seeing how people make their decisions.
Lisa Linfield: 27:37 I think it's so valuable what you're saying, because I remember interviewing a person who didn't get the role, and I've offered her a feedback session, and when we went through the feedback session… She was young and this was the first interview that she had been almost naturally promoted for the first 10 years of her career, and this was the first time she actually stepped out for an interview, as opposed to just got internally promoted, and had never done an interview, and in the feedback session, one of the things in terms of asking her around her weaknesses and what she was working on is that she thought that if she answered basically she had no weaknesses, that would be a problem, because wouldn't we all want to invite an overachiever into our organization?
Lisa Linfield: 28:22 It was around coaching her that we're looking for personal insight. We're not looking for perfection because none of us are perfect, but she had that insight, and without that feedback session, she would never have had it and would have continued to make the same mistakes in the interviews that she had, so I think it's hugely important what you're saying is that ask your boss if it's a performance review or ask the interviewer, "Would you mind either telephonically or face to face giving me a quick set of feedback on areas I could have improved in the interview?"
Christmas H.: 28:54 Right. Exactly, and that will help you in the future. You'll know, okay, I need to buckle down and provide some weaknesses. In those cases, too, especially with interviews, I would ask people, and people have asked me to do this, do mock interviews with them, and I've given them feedback, I'm like, "Oh, this is your answer. This is how you should shape it like," or, "You're going on and on and on and on. It needs to be more succinct," so, yeah, definitely asking is really helpful, and, hopefully, you'll get that information from the person. Not people are open to having that conversation because it's almost like a confrontation, even though it's not a negative thing, but there are people who just don't feel comfortable being challenged on their decision.
Lisa Linfield: 29:42 Absolutely, and anything else?
Christmas H.: 29:45 I also would say a couple more things. One, manage your expectations. Sometimes, we get so excited, like, "Yeah, I got to have this job. Oh, my God, it's paying this amount of money," and we start making plans with our future and all this kind of thing, but I always say manage your expectations because, when you manage them in a way that you're like, "Okay, if I did it, that'll be awesome. If I don't, then this is what I'm going to do," it's not as huge of a blow to your ego, and you'll be able to bounce back faster, and then the last thing is just get to that point where you'd choose to let it go. The last thing that you want to do is continue to harbor negative feelings about a situation or how you may feel that you've been wronged.
Christmas H.: 30:32 For me, it took some years of maturity to let things go. I used to take that experiences that I had with bad bosses and some new jobs, and it just formed my perspective and how I experience other people, and it wasn't helpful, and so you just got to let it go and be like, "Okay, that wasn't for me. Let me just figure out where I can improve and what is for me," and look for the future and not let these small experiences consume you because, at the end of the day, is this rejection that you received today going to impact you in two weeks, two years, three years, 10 years? Is that whole experience right then and there going to be a big deal five years from now? When you start to think about it in that way, no, it's not, so just let it go.
Lisa Linfield: 31:25 Absolutely, and I think one of the ways I've learned to let things go was a very valuable tip that I once got, which was to separate myself as a human being and myself as almost a product, the working person, the working Lisa, the production of work. They're two separate people. If there is, for example, a rejection or a bad performance review or something like that, that impacts Lisa the work person. It has no impact on Lisa the mom, Lisa the friend, Lisa the wife or any other form of Lisa the human being, and I think that was where I always got confused is that my sense of self-worth was so related to always winning in the job scenes, great performance reviews, getting the next promotion, then my sense of self-worth came from that.
Lisa Linfield: 32:22 It's learning to split that, that, no, you're an amazing human being regardless of whether you get that promotion, regardless of whether you get a performance review. Some things are the lessons you need to learn and some things are someone else's issues, but separating yourself helps you to be much more pragmatic about, okay, these are the things I've definitely got to work on and also these are the things that are never going to changed about me.
Lisa Linfield: 32:47 I remember saying that to one of my bosses like [Fred 00:32:50]. He'd been my boss for different jobs over many years in different companies, and I remember saying, "I get that this is an issue, because your weaknesses are always the side of your strengths," but… and I used to say to him, "Fred, you can have my strength," which is the ability to get an enormous amount done, "without the weakness," which is that every now and then it's going to rub someone up the wrong way, and eventually I used to say to him, "You need to choose which one you want, because if you want me to be, yes, I can stretch. It's not saying that I can't do that. I can always stretch into it, but it's never going to go away because it's the flip side of what makes me strong."
Christmas H.: 33:24 Right. Exactly. Exactly.
Lisa Linfield: 33:26 The American Psychology Association says that 65% of Americans site work as the top source of stress.
Christmas H.: 33:36 Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Lisa Linfield: 33:37 Why do we get so stressed at work, friend?
Christmas H.: 33:40 There are a multitude, and I could talk to… all day about this, Lisa. There are a multitude of reasons why, but I think it just boils down to everybody is just taking the experience, the work experience just too seriously. It's just embedded in us very early. You have to get good grades to get a good job so that you're not homeless and you're a good product to society, and when you're getting there, it just becomes really competitive.
Christmas H.: 34:09 The competition starts in school, where I know my mom used to do it, which she… I hope she doesn't do this anymore with my nieces, but we're talking about, "Oh, this kid got an A. How come you didn't get an A?" The competition just is there, and then you get into the workforce, and everybody's competing, and then there's so much pressure to perform because we have to make sure the stockholders are getting their return, and so they're creating more pressure and more competition, and you become stressed when you feel like you're not good enough.
Christmas H.: 34:44 I know that when I was in consulting, I always was in this perpetual state of not feeling good enough, but that was how the environment was set up, because we were all rated against each other. There was bell curve. You had to be doing more than the next person or… and who knew what the other person was doing? It's very stressful, and the bosses can be overwhelming because their boss is overwhelming, and it just leads to a huge ball of stress, and we take it seriously.
Christmas H.: 35:17 For me, when I had the experience of thinking about my mortality, I decided that work is not going to take me down because I feel like, the fact that I did have cancer, it was a sign to me that I was just going too hard and that I needed to appreciate life. When you're sat down for almost a year to focus on your health, you start to put into perspective what's really important.
Christmas H.: 35:44 I made the decision that if I were to die tomorrow, nobody's going to be at my funeral, especially my employer is not going to be there saying, "Oh, Christmas was the best worker possible," and, guess what, I don't want to be known as that when I die, as the best worker. Sorry, I had to shift my perspective of what's important, and doing that and saying, look, as long as I'm doing the best that I can and I know that I'm doing the best that I can, I'm not taking this stress with me home because it's not good for anybody at all, and I just made that conscious decision not to let it consume me the way it did.
Lisa Linfield: 36:23 I think that's hugely important, and in terms of the boundaries that we create at work, because a large portion of the feeling of stress often also is linked to the fact that it doesn't feel like an equitable, a fair exchange between the company and you, so you give them the asset of your knowledge, your skills and your time, and they give you money in return and, potentially, a fulfilling career, but that essentially is an added extra because it's your job to drive your career. I think one of the challenges that come is where that boundary gets a bit blurry, where instead of working the hours that you're supposed to work, you have lost every evening and every weekend, but you don't feel that that exchange is coming back either in terms of remuneration or in terms of promotions or whatever it is.
Lisa Linfield: 37:16 I always believe that there are periods where the scale isn't equals. For example, in the finance professional, whenever it's month end or quarter end or year end, it requires that you dig deep in there some extra time, but if the thing doesn't balance back the other way and it goes on too long, then that does create a sense of enormous stress and anger at the lack of balance. Whenever I really felt let down by a company, it was always because I hadn't controlled the boundaries and the balance, because no boss is ever going to say, "Hey, please don't work so hard." You're achieving and you're doing well, and they're looking good, so it's up to you to put those boundaries in place.
Lisa Linfield: 38:05 How do we create boundaries at work?
Christmas H.: 38:09 You definitely have to have some confidence in creating boundaries, but I subtly create them by letting people know up front and through conversations what my limitations are. For me, as a cancer survivor, I'm very open in saying, "Look, I'm on continuous treatment, so I have to be at the doctors," and I let people know that I have to go monthly and my health is the most important thing in the world. When you tell people that, they have to be a monster to not agree with that. I've had some monsters where I've had to put them in check and say, "Look, my health is more important than this job," and then they back off because then it screams lawsuit in their head.
Christmas H.: 38:54 Just being more conscious of when you're saying yes to everything, be okay with saying no and it not being detrimental to your career, and even if you think it might be detrimental to your career, which I doubt, just pick and choose what it is you want to say yes to. I always tell my coaching clients, "You don't have to do all that they're asking you to do."
Christmas H.: 39:24 As you mentioned, Lisa, it's not equitable. You can say yes to everything and you could be working 70, 80 eights a week, but when it comes around, people are not going to remember that. When it comes to that once-a-year performance evaluation or twice-a-year, whatever goes on in your organization, they're not going to remember that day that you worked 20 hours. Trust me. I've done it many times, and it's never come up in any of my performance evaluations.
Lisa Linfield: 39:52 I think, also, one of the things that I worked out is that, when I am working the 20-hour days, I'm not sleeping enough. Although I might score a 100 points for all the extra work I'm doing, because I haven't got enough rest and I'm tired and I'm worn down, I can snap at a person that scores me minus 200. It took a very long time in my career that I worked out the natural fact. I can shoot myself in the food much quicker when I haven't had enough sleep than I can do if I put in the boundaries to say, "Listen, I'm only working 12 hours a day." What ended up happening is that the quality of my work was better because I was better rested, I was better informed, and I didn't actually snap at people in the times because I had had no sleep.
Christmas H.: 40:47 Exactly. Exactly.
Lisa Linfield: 40:49 One of the things I loved when I was researching for our interview, because it made me giggle when I talked to you, so I've taken things so seriously, was how you recognize toxic people at work who's… but like Winnie the Pooh, where we can all recognize the Eeyore in our life and the Piglet and the Tigger. I love the names that you gave the different people at work. Take us through those five people.
Christmas H.: 41:15 We have Complaining Cathy. I'm a huge reflector, so I always think about who I've been as a toxic person, and the thing is is that we're not just born toxic. It just is something that is put inside of us. That's why you've got to manage the toxicity. You've got to stay away from people who complain. You've got to stay away from people who are just always Debbie Downers.
Christmas H.: 41:40 Complaining Cathy is the person who just complains about everything. It's too cold in here. They don't make the coffee good enough. They just cannot find anything good to say, and in addition to that, the complaints never are followed by any kind of solution, and that person, and don't ever be that person, even though I'm pretty sure a lot of us have, is just a victim. They're just always finding reasons why their environment sucks and not ever finding any solutions to fixing it or seeing the silver lining in this, and so Complaining Cathy is just really the person who victimizes themself, and that's not the life of a resilient person.
Lisa Linfield: 42:30 Absolutely. One of the things that I also think is it adds our stress, so it's always good for us at work to meet up with Complaining Cathy because it makes it very easy for us to complain, too, but the challenge with this is that you walk away not feeling like you've been lifted up when you've spent time with people like that, so protecting yourself from the draining energy of a Complaining Cathy for me is hugely important.
Lisa Linfield: 42:58 Tell us about Narcissistic Nancy.
Christmas H.: 43:03 Narcissistic Nancy is the person who the whole world revolves around her. She has zero concern for anybody. Every single thing especially as it relates to the workplace is all for her benefit. She never sees anything as her fault and, also, she just has zero concern for your time or any other person's time and will make every situation just about her.
Lisa Linfield: 43:34 Absolutely, and I think one of the challenges is that it makes us feel it's okay to make every situation about us, too.
Christmas H.: 43:40 Exactly, and it's not, that's why I always say like you've got to be empathetic. What is in the other person's shoes? How are they seeing this view? I mean, going back to… A work example is when you're asking somebody to work a lot of hours. I used to hate this when I was younger. I would be there, and it would be like four o'clock in the afternoon, and somebody would give a request, and without checking with me to see what my obligations were or commitments were for the next day or the night, she would agree to have something to the person the very next day. I would have to cancel my plans because I need to get to work done, and I just think that's just so inconsiderate.
Christmas H.: 44:28 That's that stressful environment that's created where people feel like your life is second to work, so you've got to get this done. If you had dinner plans with your family and friends, forget it. You got to do this. I'm just so glad that I was able to build that boundary, but Narcissistic Nancy wouldn't be the one to do that.
Lisa Linfield: 44:47 One of the things that I learned from working with one of my colleagues in the UK, whenever I would do that to him and say, "Could you please do X," he would turn around and say, "I'd be absolutely happy to do X. I'm just currently working on Y, so let me know which one is of higher priority to you, and I can reprioritize Y for X."
Lisa Linfield: 45:10 It was a really difficult thing because it then put the responsibility to you as the boss to then actually say, "Actually, Y is more important," or, "X is more important," because sometimes it is intentional, but sometimes it's actually unconscious, you don't actually know that Y is taking that person so long that you then get made responsible for making the choices. It was actually much easier when I had access to be able to make the choices because I happily said, "Listen, X is way more important than Y. I'm happy to push out your deadline for Y by two or three days, because we need to get X done as soon as possible."
Lisa Linfield: 45:50 I think it was a great lesson for me. It was frustrating as a boss because you want everybody to say they'll do everything now, but it was as great lesson for me as to how I could manage upwards is to say to my boss, "I'm happy to do it, absolutely willing to do it, but I'm currently working on this as my priority. Would you like me to reprioritize?"
Christmas H.: 46:10 Right. Exactly. It's a perfect-
Lisa Linfield: 46:12 One of the things as a resilient expert I'd love to ask you, do we ever reach the pinnacle of being resilient? Can we ever succeed? Is it ever finished to do? Are we ever resilient?
Christmas H.: 46:28 I don't really see it as the pinnacle to being resilient. It is a very active experience. It is something that you're always working at. There's going to be ups and downs and all the things in your life, and there are tools that will help you to stay resilient. I would say that I'm resilient in many areas in my life, but not all areas. I think that's like the perfect human, but I think having the tools and habits to lean on are very helpful, and not finding yourself in a situation where you're spiraling into negativity or you're feeling stuck or you're feeling like a victim. That's really where we want to be, where we have the confidence within self to take care of ourselves and not let the normal experiences of life take us down.
Lisa Linfield: 47:22 In one of our previous interviews with Brittany Hoopes, one of the things she told us which I love was this little saying, "I can do hard things," and I often think of my almost rock bottom, I think all of us have a rock bottom, is I can do hard things, I can do this, and it helps me to be much more resilient in knowing that I can get through this and not be surrounded by fear and, therefore, avoiding doing things that grow me and take on new paths.
Lisa Linfield: 47:58 Christmas, thank you for being with us. How do our listeners learn more about you and get hold of your book?
Christmas H.: 48:04 You can purchase my book at amazon.com. It is The Resilient Mind, A Field Guide to a Healthier Way of Life. It's in English and it's in Spanish, and there's a French version coming in July. It's also on Kindle Reader and paperback, and also you can read other things and follow me at simply-resilient.com, and if you want a more up-close, personal view of me, you can follow me at Instagram, @christmashutchinson.
Lisa Linfield: 48:38 That's wonderful. Thank you for your time and for sharing your expertise.
Christmas H.: 48:43 Thank you for having me. This was pretty fun.
Lisa Linfield: 48:47 That was Christmas Hutchinson, and I absolutely love the topic of resilience because I think that when we build more resilience, we end up allowing ourselves to grow more because we're not as scared of how deep the rock bottom will be, because we know we can do hard things and we know we can get through these things. There are so many good tools in her book and on her website, so I really urge you to go visit that.
Lisa Linfield: 49:14 Have a great week, everybody. I'm Lisa Linfield, and this is Working Women's Wealth.


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MEMBERS PRESENT:              T. Michalski, B. Larson, B. Mazade, S. Wisneski, J. Doyle,
L. Spataro, B. Smith, S. Gawron, F. Peterson
MEMBERS ABSENT:               None
OTHERS PRESENT:               S. Strautmanis, GE Capital, Wisconsin; C. Grinwis, Hooker
DeJong Architects
A motion that the minutes of the regular meeting of January 15, 2015 be approved, was made by
B. Mazade, supported by S. Wisneski and unanimously approved.
Hearing, Case 2015-02: Request for preliminary Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval for
a multi-family housing development at 30 E. Clay Ave., 4 W. Clay Ave. and 48 E. Western
Ave., by General Capital Group. M. Franzak presented the staff report. The proposed
development will consist of 87 residential units for low income senior living, and will be located
on three separate parcels (30 E. Clay, 4 W. Clay and 48 E. Western Ave). Staff is requesting that
if approved, the parcels be combined. The total size of the three combined parcels is 2.03 acres.
There is currently a vacant building (which is on the city's dangerous building list) on 30 E. Clay
and a garage/storage building on 4 W. Clay. Both buildings would be demolished as part of this
plan. The parcels are all zoned B-4, General Business district. A PUD is necessary for this
project to allow flexibility on the following standards: a) Building height: This district only
allows buildings a maximum of two stories or 35 feet. The proposed building is 4 stories and 46
feet high; b) Side setback: This district requires buildings of two stories to be set back a
minimum of 10 feet. This proposed four story building has a side yard setback of only 5 feet on
the east side of the property; c) Front setback: This district requires front setbacks to be a
minimum of 10 feet. This proposed development would have a front yard setback of only 5 feet;
d) Parking: Multi-family housing complexes require at least two spaces per unit; there are 87
proposed units in this development and only 92 total parking spaces.
The following items are missing from the original site plan submitted: a) A landscaping plan,
including landscaping islands in the parking lot, b) Parking lot lighting, c) Stormwater
management plan, d) Fire hydrants, e) A north arrow, f) Topography elevations at 5-foot
intervals, g) Arrows showing direction of existing overland flow of stormwater runoff, h) A
grading plan, i) Soil erosion and sediment control measures, j) Location of snow storage areas,
and k) Utility plans including water and sewer. The following items need to be corrected or
added to the site plan: a) A description of the type of pathway lighting to be used, b) The
maneuvering lane in the small parking lot in the front of the building is not large enough. There
must be at least 22 feet of maneuvering space for two-way traffic, c) The type of parking lot
pavement is not defined, d) Construction type needs to be listed to aid in determining water
supply and hydrant requirements and locations, and e) The Fire Department will need a fire
access road around the building that shall support a 76,000-pound fire apparatus. The Fire
Department also noted that water supply fire flow calculations shall be conducted and submitted
to the Fire Marshall and Fire Suppression Contractor. Also, the project must comply and
conform to NFPA 1141 standard for fire protection in planned building groups. In addition to the
missing utility plans and stormwater management plan, the Engineering Department is
requesting that the developer evaluate the sewer/water needs versus what is available to
determine if upgrades are necessary. There is not a sidewalk along the Spring Street side of the
property and Planning Commissioners may request the addition of one as part of the PUD
process. The proposed development is located in Flood Zone A (Special flood hazard areas
inundated by 100 year flood, no base flood elevations determined). This requires Section 2323
(Flood Hazard Areas) of the zoning ordinance to be met. An excerpt of that section was
provided to board members and the applicant. Without a topography map and elevations, it is
not possible to determine the risk associated with development within this flood zone.
Furthermore, staff is also requesting from the developer the submittal of Section 2323-6-d-2,
which states that "the Zoning Administrator shall obtain from a Registered Professional Engineer
or Architect, certification that the flood-proofing methods are adequate to withstand the flood
depths, pressures, velocities, impact and uplift forces and other factors associated with the base
flood so that the structure is watertight to the base flood level." Staff is also requesting that all
other requirements of Section 2323 are submitted to insure compliance with all flood hazard area
planning. Notice was sent to properties within 300 feet of the subject parcels. Jan Witt from
Witt Buick across the street at 67 W. Western Avenue stated that she is opposed to the project if
it is like Harford Terrace, but would be in favor of it if it were like Nelson Place. No other
comments were received.
M. Franzak explained that the preliminary PUD process involved only the approval of the plan
concept. The final PUD approval process would determine whether the site plan review
requirements were met. The applicant had submitted an additional landscaping and grading plan
since the first plan was submitted, but there was still more work to be done before it was ready
for approval. The maneuvering lanes were addressed, but a letter from an architect or engineer
addressing the flood zone requirements was still needed. T. Michalski asked if the Planning
Commission could conditionally approve the request and allow staff to approve any remaining
items. M. Franzak stated that they could. L. Spataro stated that, considering the scale of the
project, the plans were lacking a lot of information. He was also concerned with some of the
design elements, considering the population it intended to serve.
F. Peterson arrived at 4:10 p.m. B. Smith arrived at 4:11 p.m.
S. Strautmanis with General Capital displayed a PowerPoint presentation illustrating the project
details and design. He stated that this was their first project in Michigan, and they sought to take
advantage of tax credits available for affordable senior housing. They were using local architect
and engineering firms to assist. He stated that their previous projects have also included
"supportive housing" for people with disabilities, in addition to seniors. L. Spataro reiterated his
concern about the parking area being too far from the building, and questioned the number of
parking spaces available. S. Strautmanis stated that, in his experience, he had found that senior
living complexes did not generally utilize all their parking spaces. C. Grinwis of Hooker DeJong
Architects described the site layout and landscaping. He stated that the dumpster should not be
visible from Shoreline Drive, as there was a sizable berm between the two. Regarding parking
spaces, he stated that they had followed MSHDA's recommendations. They were also
considering installing a carport over some of the spaces. They had had some discussion with the
City's Engineering Department regarding stormwater management but did not have a finalized
plan yet. S. Strautmanis stated that between now and the next meeting, they would address the
remaining details with City staff. Their plan was to get the property surveyed and verify the
flood plain information, address final site grading, sediment and soil erosion issues, finalize the
stormwater management plan and obtain approval from the Fire Marshall for his items of
concern. He also explained that they were on a tight time schedule.
M. Franzak addressed some of the items discussed during the presentation. He stated that any
carports would have to be shown on the site plan. He was concerned that, with the parking lot
layout, a carport structure could cause vision issues with vehicles backing out. He stated that the
landscaping requirements had to be addressed before the site plan was approved; they could not
wait until building permits were issued. Regarding parking, this site was located just outside the
downtown overlay parking district. Parking restrictions were dependent on building height. If
there was not enough parking, they may need to proceed with a 3-story building rather than a 4-
story, and that decision needed to be made soon. He cited Nelson Place as another downtown
senior housing complex which had a ratio of 1 parking space per unit, and they were currently
having issues with a lack of parking and space for snow storage. A topography map was also
needed and a more complete grading plan. Once approved, future amendments to the PUD
would require the applicant to come back to the Planning Commission, and a significant
amendment would require another public hearing. B. Mazade concurred that it was important to
get a final decision on the number of stories and units in the building. He asked if there would
still be the same number of parking spaces whether a 3- or 4-story building was erected. S.
Strautmanis stated that the amount of parking spaces would remain the same. B. Mazade asked
about stormwater runoff from the parking lot, especially considering the proximity to the creek.
C. Grinwis pointed out the revised plan showing where runoff would flow off the parking area,
across filtered rip rap, then into the creek on the property. B. Mazade asked for clarification on
the exterior treatment of the building. S. Strautmanis stated that their company policy was not to
use vinyl siding, so they used brick. Regarding the number of floors in the building, he stated
that they preferred to have the option of a fourth floor as there was a possibility of additional
funding if they had the extra units. J. Doyle asked when the applicants expected to make a final
decision on the number of floors. S. Strautmanis stated that, if they could get the tax credits it
would free up additional funds for the fourth floor, but it would probably be several months from
now before they knew for sure. S. Wisneski asked if the building would have elevators, as he
did not see them in the plan. S. Strautmanis stated the building would have elevators. S.
Wisneski mentioned that property in that area had been sinking. S. Strautmanis stated that they
were aware of it and it could possibly halt the project, but they were getting the necessary
inspections done in order to make a determination and hoping for the best. S. Wisneski asked if
the project would be strictly low-income housing. S. Strautmanis explained that the program
they were seeking was a tax credit program in which they could buy down the cost of
development, but the renters paid their own rent, unlike a Section 8 program. He explained the
percentage of units devoted to low-income renters. L. Spataro stated that it was similar to the
Amazon and ArtWorks units. T. Michalski asked what the minimum resident age would be. S.
Strautmanis stated that they had not yet decided on an age limit of 55 or 62. S. Wisneski asked
how they planned to mitigate the odor of the creek. S. Strautmanis stated that they would clean
up and beautify as much of the creek area as regulations allowed, since they wanted it to be an
amenity for the tenants. C. Grinwis stated that they would be subject to DEQ regulations for the
clean-up. L. Spataro stated that there may also be some covenants in place from remediation
work done in the area a few years ago. He reiterated his concerns with the project as presented,
including the lack of information available/missing information, short time frame, the design and
layout of the structure including the distance from the parking area, and the runoff issues from
the parking lot into the creek, especially considering that substantial funds had previously been
expended on clean-up. S. Strautmanis stated that their biggest constraint on the site layout was
the shape of the lot. He explained how they came up with the proposed layout. L. Spataro
suggested using a smaller footprint and having four stories. B. Larson asked for an explanation
of their timeline. S. Strautmanis explained that they were trying to meet MSHDA's deadline for
the first round of grant allocations. L. Spataro asked if there was any reason they couldn't wait
for a year and come up with a more thorough plan suitable for the site. S. Strautmanis stated that
they preferred to deal with the political climate in place now, since that aspect can change and
derail an entire project. In addition, their options in obtaining the property may not be available
in another year. S. Strautmanis and board members discussed the ownership status of the
property. C. Robere of United Way had no objection to the request. They were located right
next to the site and were in favor of having the lot improved.
A motion to close the public hearing was made by B. Larson, supported by B. Smith and
unanimously approved.
M. Franzak reminded board members that this case addressed the preliminary approval only,
which involved approval of the plan concept. The following case was the request for final
approval, meaning that the project met site plan requirements. L. Spataro and B. Mazade
concurred that, although they were in favor of the concept, they were not ready to approve the
final plan.
A motion that the preliminary PUD for a multi-family housing development at 30 East Clay
Avenue, 4 West Clay Avenue and 48 East Western Avenue be approved, pursuant to the
determination of compliance with the intent of the City Zoning Ordinance and City Master Land
Use Plan was made by B. Larson, supported by F. Peterson and approved, with T. Michalski, B.
Larson, B. Mazade, S. Wisneski, J. Doyle, L. Spataro, B. Smith, S. Gawron, and F. Peterson
voting aye, and S. Wisneski voting nay.
Hearing, Case 2015-03: Request for final Planned Unit Development approval for a multi-
family housing development at 30 E Clay Ave, 4 W Clay Ave and 48 E Western Ave, by
General Capital Group. M. Franzak stated that if the Planning Commission determined that the
site plan met all of the standards of the zoning ordinance, they could make a motion to approve
the final PUD proposal. However, board members concurred that additional information was
needed before they were comfortable approving the final plan. Concerns included the lack of a
sidewalk along the Spring Street side of the property, the distance between the parking lot and
the building, and runoff issues into the creek. S. Gawron added that the site plan had to be more
complete before it was presented to the City Commission for approval. S. Wisneski stated that
the downtown was already at the saturation point for low income housing and while he liked the
design of the project, he was not in favor of the downtown location. M. Franzak stated that he
had an idea of what the Planning Commission was looking for on the final plan, but still needed
a consensus about the sidewalk along Spring Street. Board members concurred that a sidewalk
should be placed there. Board members discussed stormwater runoff concerns. M. Franzak
stated that he would discuss that and the high water table on the property with the City Engineer,
who had indicated that he was willing to work on coming up with a solution for the site.
The public hearing was held and there were no additional comments. A motion to close the
public hearing was made by B. Mazade, supported by L. Spataro and unanimously approved.
A motion to table this case until the March meeting so the applicant can present a more complete
site plan addressing the issues discussed was made by L. Spataro, supported by B. Larson and
unanimously approved, with T. Michalski, B. Larson, B. Mazade, S. Wisneski, J. Doyle, L.
Spataro, B. Smith, S. Gawron, and F. Peterson voting aye.
Hearing, Case 2014-04: Staff-initiated request to amend the zoning ordinance to allow
amusement and recreational facilities, including indoor and outdoor sports fields in B-2,
Convenience and Comparison Business zoning districts. Staff has received requests in the past
to locate these types of facilities in various business districts throughout the city. These include
sports fields, indoor skate parks and bounce houses. Currently, the only business districts these
types of uses would be allowed in are B-3 and B-4 districts, with a Special Use Permit. Staff
believes that these types of uses are compatible with the intent of the B-2 zoning district and
should be allowed as a use by right. Many of the B-2 districts in the city are located within and
around residential neighborhoods, providing easy access for potential customers. A map
depicting B-2 districts in the city was provided, as was the proposed wording to be added to the
B-2 language: "10. Recreational facilities, including indoor and outdoor sports fields".
B. Mazade asked what precipitated the request. M. Franzak stated that he had received various
requests in the past and decided on this course of action rather than a rezoning. S. Wisneski
stated that there had been support for athletic fields in the downtown area. L. Spataro clarified
that the facilities would be allowed as a matter of right and not as a special use. M. Franzak
confirmed that it would be a principal use (matter of right).
A motion to close the public hearing was made by B. Larson, supported by L. Spataro and
A motion that the proposed amendment to Section 1100 of the City of Muskegon Zoning
Ordinance to allow recreational facilities including indoor and outdoor sports fields in B-2,
Convenience and Comparison Business Districts, be recommended to the City Commission for
approval, was made by S. Wisneski, supported by B. Larson and unanimously approved, with T.
Michalski, B. Larson, B. Mazade, S. Wisneski, J. Doyle, L. Spataro, B. Smith, S. Gawron, and F.
Peterson voting aye.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Welcome to Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's Black History Month special edition
"Early in life, I somehow got the feeling that I could succeed even if I were a member of a minority group… I knew that I would have to work hard and never give up. I would have to take many affronts, but if I kept my personal integrity, nothing could defeat me." — Cecil E. Newman
In 1926, Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week in an effort to recognize African Americans in a history often void of their accomplishments. Surprisingly, this lack of recognition of African Americans and their contributions to society exists even now, almost a century after Woodson's establishment of Negro History Week, now Black History Month.
Woodson recognized that if Blacks are unaware of their victories, they are more susceptible to give in to defeat under the weight of oppression. Our stories of triumph serve as a roadmap to future successes.
As the oldest Black-owned business in the state of Minnesota, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (MSR), established in August of 1934 by Cecil E. Newman and led today by his granddaughter, Tracey Williams-Dillard, remains dedicated to championing the stories and achievements of the African Americans in the community and beyond.
For over a decade we have offered a special edition insert with feature profiles and reflections in celebration of Black History Month. We hope you enjoy the stories of triumph offered in our Black History Month special section and in each and every week of the MSR.
Three Minneapolis women who broke cheerleading color barriers
March 23, 2019 by Ken Foxworth
Few people realize that not only did women athletes cheerleading at sporting events originate right here in Minnesota, but several African American women made history here by breaking the cheerleading color barrier. Prior to 1923, cheerleading had been an exclusively White male activity. That year, the University of Minnesota (U of M) became the first […]
Black History Salute: Marvel James Cooke
February 28, 2019 by MSR News Online
One hundred years after the birth of Minnesota's first Black person, Marvel Jackson Cooke made her own history as the first Black birth in the city of Mankato.
Experience local Black history
February 25, 2019 by Tammy McIntyre
Consider the following collection a historical taste of Black history in the Twin Cities!
Black History Salute: George Bonga
In honor of Black History Month, we're sharing short clips highlighting the legacy and history of Blacks in Minnesota. This week, we salute George Bonga, Minnesota's first African American resident to be born in Minnesota.
Black History Salute: Minnesota's First Black Policewoman
In honor of Black History Month, we're sharing short clips highlighting the legacy and history of Blacks in Minnesota.
Black History Month Calendar: Feb. 12-21
February 8, 2019 by MSR News Online
Each week this month, MSR editors share their top picks for events celebrating Black History Month.
Minnesota Black History Salute: Lena O. Smith
In honor of Black History Month, we're sharing short clips highlighting the legacy and history of Blacks in Minnesota. This week, we salute Lena Olive Smith, Minnesota's first female African American lawyer.
Black History Month Calendar: Feb. 1-11
MN Black History Salute: The Legacy Of Blacks In Baseball
February 1, 2019 by MSR News
In honor of Black History Month, we salute the oft-invisible Black baseball players who found their place in history despite widespread racism and segregation.
Remembering trailblazing playwright and writer Lorraine Hansberry
February 21, 2018 by Dwight Hobbes
On Broadway (1959), in movie houses (1961), and afterward on television, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun increasingly held Black audiences — as well as White — rapturously spellbound. As hasn't been done since, the American landmark helped usher this nation into the civilized world. The August Wilson of her day, Hansberry's phenomenally unprecedented success came […]


Garou are an intelligent wolf race that is able to turn into a human. In their humanoid forms they strictly look like a human. Elven Garou exist but are rare. These usually come about through half-elven lycans when mating with a Garou. Garou are either born from other Garou or by breeding with Lycans. Their bodies have an excellerated regeneration time and normal wounds begin healing almost immediately. Though Garou shift usually around the age of sixteen, they are usually able to control these shifts by the age of eighteen. Garou do not have forced shifts during Full Moons but are strongly compelled to or are extremely irritable during these times. Shifting during a Full Moon is considered paying homage to their Goddesses, Ayn and Ay, and most pack-running Garou will return to their forms for the duration of the night. Shifting forms takes one post.
These are Humans, dwarves and any race that shares human blood that has been infected or born with lycanthropy. They share their body with the soul of a wolf and can turn into said wolf at will. Like Garou, Lycans have an excellerated regeneration time and normal wounds begin healing almost immediately. Born Lycans do not experience a shift until 16 and many lycans will never be able to control their shifting. Forced shifting comes with the Full Moon and times of extreme hunger, or stress. If a person is to one day control their wolf, it is through training and dedication. Many people do not recall themselves while in wolf form and with the same training, may one day become aware during their activities as their wolf. During Full Moons, Lycans without the skill neccesary to keep themselves human or aware, lose themselves to beastly urges and are prone to hunt anything that moves. Shifting forms takes one post.
These wolves are the most versed in Arcane Magic, they're the strongest casters of the Wolfkin. Typically smaller in stature, but not to be taken lightly. They can cast in crinos form.
These are the defenders of packs. Being the strongest, and typically the ones with the best leadership qualities, these are often the ones that become Alphas. Most will show off their life path with red warpaint on at all times.
The Goddess choses a select few to spread her word through ritual and practice. These wolves come in many sizes but fur is typically always pure white as a symbol of the moon. These wolves are commonly seen on the battlefield staying back to watch over the physically stronger to direct who needs healing first. These wolves are able to communicate to their Goddesses through a draining ritual and their saliva is known for its healing properties.
The Banamadr are the slayers amongst wolfkin. They typically are not concerned with the protection of their pack, as much as they are simply killing, by blade, tooth and claw, or spell. Cold blooded and treacherous, they are formidable foes. To distinguish themselves from Rekkr Wolfkin, they will typically adorn themselves with bone and black war paint.
The Soothsayers, Shamans, or Lorekeepers of the Wolfkin most oftenly are Krellr. These wolves have traded most social interactions in their upbringing to become closer to the spirit realm. They can be socially awkward, if not just 'weird', they are the only wolfkin able to directly speak to spirits on the physical plane, as well as open and enter paths to other planes through Moon Pools.
The Seers of the Wolfkin. The Taufr always carry one if not many talisman that protects them from what the charm is enchanted to. Taufr are more often than not paranoid and eccentric. These wolves also normally have a companion in which they can see through the eyes of. During this time, the body of the Taufr is left almost soulless and vulnerable, as it takes two posts to come in and out of this state. If a Taufr's companion dies, they cannot gain another and are left with emotional or spiritual distress. Taufr's companion perishes if they do.
Wolfkin are expert trackers by nature but the Vardmadr are the elite. Usually armed with bows and dual blades, they are a force to be reckoned with alone and nearly unstoppable in squads. They are able to track anything if there is something to track with. They never forget a scent, face or taste.
The moon shines upon most, but every source of light casts a shadow. The shadows amongst the wolfkin are the Frodr. They're able to remain stealthy in all forms, making them expert assassins. They are the go-to wolfkin when it comes to infiltration, interrogation and information gathering.
Wolfkin are not all about war and protection. There are of course those amongst who have taken the artistic path of life. These are generally the most beautiful men and women of the wolfkin. Honing one or multiple artistic skills, and using it to either bring income or simply to improve morale. Dancers, Painters, Bards and singers will fall amongst the Danzleikr.
Ayn sought to create a guardian, one that was fierce and powerful yet delicate of mind and nature to protect their gardens.
From this thought came the birth of Garou, a race that could harness the spirit of the wolf for his power, speed, cunning and leadership; Yet have loyalty for family and love for his home. The wolfkin are proud and slightly isolated. They view themselves highly as an ancient race and most take protecting their home very seriously. They are the claws and fangs of the forest and definitely are a force to be reckoned with.
Ay, after saving the Garou from extinction by blessing them with human forms, tried to replicate her sister's creations but instead created a disease. Now populous enough to be considered just a race of its own, Lycans are humans that take the form of wolves and share their body with the soul of one. Most now run wild with their Garou and Therian cousins but others try to blend into normal human societies.
Silver. Just the touch is painful and burns but will not poison the wolfkin unless the metal penetrates the skin. Wounds from silver can ONLY heal naturally and take twice as long to heal. Regeneration and magic do not help. Wolves can soak in the Moon Pool to resolve the effects.
Wolfsbane. This is a toxin that weakens Wolfkin and wards them. Smelling the scent can cause nasal irritation and if touched, poison oak type breakouts. Ingesting Wolfsbane can be fatal to Wolfkin. Inflictions caused by Wolfsbane can be treated by Healers and Magic.
Full Moon. Lycans respond to the power of the Full Moon and are forced to shift. Player's choice if the shift is to Lupus or Crinos form.
Hearing Sensitivity. Due to higher level senses, they do not always handle intense stimuli well and can be affected by loud sounds.
Wolfkin reach physical and mental maturity at the age of 18, Elven Garou also mature at 18. Their life expectancy maxes at 150, unless Elven, it is then extended to 1000. First shifts occur at the age of 16 or over for Wolfkin. Wolfkin have three forms: Human, Lupus, Crinos. Speech in Lupus is not possible, but in Crinos (Bipedal form) Speech is limited severely for Lycanthropes and may be broken and guttural, for Garou. No wolfkin can cast magic in their Forms other than Human unless specified. Please Note: Wolfkin should not have Hair, or human features such as that in their Crinos forms. We do not allow half-shifts!
Provides a false sense of empowerment to blood-drinkers and is poisonous to vampires.
A bite from a Lycan on a Human, Dwarf, or any that shares Human blood, will be infected with Lycanthropy. Kirkja saliva is the only known cure for Lycanthropy if applied to the wound within 72 hours of the infection.


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HomeReview 2022AboutPortfolioNewsContact
MaSa Partners Year in Review
At MaSa Partners, we invest in early-stage, mission-driven companies that are delivering transformative and scalable solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.
peaking at the youngStartup Venture Summit in March, MaSa co-founder Max Duckworth was quoted,
"I believe we can improve the planet and people's lives without sacrificing economic well-being. ... I'm confident we can overcome our greatest challenges, such as climate change and adaptation, cost-effectively by investing in people, fostering innovation, and increasing access to capital for early-stage companies."
We're happy to report that many of our portfolio companies made quite a splash in 2022.
The inaugural winners of the Earthshot Prize, Coral Vita became a household name this year as they continued their critical work restoring the world's dying coral reefs. "Earthshot has really helped launch us into a whole new level … and we also got to take Prince William and Princess Kate to plant corals [during their tour of the Bahamas in March]," said Sam Teicher.
Coral Vita also scooped up the Verizon Climate Resilience Prize in April and in August opened their doors for the first time to the public to become one of the must-see visitor attractions on the island of Grand Bahama. Musical artist Adam Beyer donated all the income from his 2022 track 'Dirty Lagoon' to Coral Vita and the company's Adopt-a-Coral program became a surprise hit as a gift for Father's Day.
2022 was a whirlwind of a year for James Roberts and the team behind the mOm Essential Incubator, which in late 2021 achieved its first clinical use and received regulatory approval and coveted CE marking in the Spring. Over the summer, the incubator was deployed to the Ukraine, where it had an immediate impact addressing the sharp increase in preterm birth rates due to the trauma and stress of war. The BBC and UK press reported how the portable incubators provided care and life-saving intervention for up to 100 babies per week.
"The original inspiration for the mOm Essential Incubator came from a documentary that focused on providing neonatal care in challenging environments. Helping the situation in Ukraine is confirmation that we are doing the right thing," said James.
Later in the year, mOm was named the Midlands winner of The Spectator and Investec Economic Innovator of the Year Awards and also awarded £100k from the NHS for an innovation that reduces maternal health inequalities.
Arcadia continued its extraordinary growth and progress as the data provider to combat the climate crisis. They received $125 million in new funding, on top of the $250 million raised earlier in the year to acquire the largest utility data provider in the world, Urjanet.
Another portfolio company that continuously trended throughout 2022 is The Farm Project, whose Lettuce Grow Farmstand was the Number 1 Christmas Gift this year based on Google searches. Their mission to empower consumers to lead the transition to a sustainable food system received a considerable boost in May when the Farmstand was onboarded at Costco, the fifth-largest retailer in the world. Lettuce Grow came in at No.183 of Inc. Magazine's #inc5000 2022, a list of the "The Most Successful Companies in America". We're also looking forward to watching co-founder Zooey Deschanel's new reality show about healthy eating, "What Am I Eating?" which debuts in early 2023 on Discovery+.
Talking of leafy goodness, Crop One Holdings, the vertical farming pioneers, opened the largest vertical farm in the world in Dubai. Craig Ratajczyk, CEO of Crop One, said of the 330,000 square foot facility, "Size does matter in the food production space. … When you're talking about something this large, the economics work out well ... so it turns out to be a very profitable farm." In December, they announced their second U.S. farm in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania, which will occupy more than 316,000 square feet, grow 7 tons of produce per day, and create around 40 local jobs once the farm is up and running in 2024. In addition, the company just received a grant of $1.5 million to help scientists grow high quality, plant-based protein more cost-effectively in a controlled indoor environment.
Milwaukee-based Agricycle Global continued to transform rural food loss across Sub-Saharan Africa into economic mobilisation for thousands of remote, smallholder farmers through their brands, the circular economy, and its partnership with the United Nations FAO. In December, founders Josh Shefner & Jacob Foss were named to Forbes magazine's 2022 30 Under 30 list as trailblazers in North America.
Also providing plenty of reasons to believe that tomorrow will be brighter than today are West Virginian solar experts, Solar Holler. Throughout 2022, they continued to drive a new energy industry for West Virginia. With the dynamic Dan Conant at the helm, and a dedicated, unionized team, the company passed the 1,000 customer milestone over the Fall. Recently, they equipped a West Virginian poultry farm with 1,400 solar panels, the largest such system to date in the state.
MediCardia Health have been successfully evolving their smart digital medicine platform, releasing a new mobile app in August that connects patients to the sources of their health records and data, and announcing collaborations with Caerus Strength, Human Longevity Inc, OptimizeEp and Encompass Remote,
MaSa Partners also added to its portfolio in 2022, making investments in WATTMORE™, David Energy and Sunairio, three companies that have real promise to make significant contributions to the energy transition.
Another MaSa portfolio company in the energy sector, the software-enabled retail electricity provider David Energy, closed a $20.5 million Series A round of funding in March, and have been successfully working to scale their bundled offering.
Goods Unite Us, who are on a mission to empower people to become political consumers and investors 'So that we can all collectively put an end to corporate political donations', did some digging into top ESG funds and uncovered some eyebrow-raising things.
EdTech pioneers Beereaders continued on their mission to boost literacy around the Latin world with their innovative platform that helps kids fall in love with reading.
Also, in 2022 Restorative Botanicals continued to expand their offering of organic CBD.
MaSa proudly invests in the fund of Rethink Impact - the largest impact venture firm in the U.S. focused on female tech entrepreneurs. With leading female CEOs they have mobilized $1B of investments into female-led, impact companies. We have been inspired by these leaders this year. Among them Ketos, Aclima, ReGrowAg, Guild, Immunocologie, Incredible Health, CancerIQ, Neurotrack, Ellevest, Winnie, CareAcademy, Culina, Spring Health, Eleanor Health, Defunkify and Morty.
At MaSa Partners, we are grateful for the inspiring progress made and resilience shown by our portfolio companies in 2022 against a multitude of challenging macroeconomic conditions. We look forward to these companies delivering more impact in 2023 as they continue to solve the world's most vexing problems.
info@masaimpact.com
Follow MaSa


Saturday, the day of the actual show. The field was filled with VWs, Audis, and Porsche as everyone came together for the main event. Outside of the field everyone one else was out on the streets, walking around, driving around, or buying merchandise from the vendors. A lot of beautiful cars, a lot of beautiful builds, just have a look for yourself.


The distance between Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and Lake Rotoiti, New Zealand is approximately 13,412 km or 8,334 mi.
To reach Winnipeg, Manitoba in this distance one would set out from Lake Rotoiti bearing 48.4° or NE and follow the great circles arc to approach Winnipeg, Manitoba bearing 60° or ENE .
Winnipeg, Manitoba has a warm summer continental/ hemiboreal climate with no dry season (Dfb) whereas Lake Rotoiti has a marine west coast climate (Cfb).
The altitude of the sun at midday is overall 7.4° lower in Winnipeg, Manitoba than in Lake Rotoiti.
The table shows values for Winnipeg, Manitoba relative to Lake Rotoiti. You can also view this comparison the other way around from the perspective of Lake Rotoiti vs Winnipeg, Manitoba.


Dutch Oven Roasted Red Curry Whole Chicken that's half baked and half simmered in rich homemade curry sauce and coconut milk. The chicken is savory, juicy, and roasted with sweet squash and vegetables. This is the ultimate one-pot comfort food for everyday as well as holiday.
My love affair with Dutch oven started the first winter I was writing my blog. The first Dutch oven I had was a 6 qt. Lodge which is still my favorite every winter. It's big enough to roast an entire 4.5 lbs plus bird and with room to add vegetables like carrots and celery.
This winter, I decided to get a smaller one – 4 qt. Cocotte from Staub. It's a birthday gift I gave to myself and also a much more practical size for just Nate and me.
Most of my long term readers know that I prefer making my own curry paste – I call it my curry flavor enhancer. It depends on the dish, but sometimes I incorporate my curry enhancer with store bought paste and other times I make whole dish from scratch.
But none the less, I can never make a pot of Thai-inspired Paleo curry without using my own curry flavor enhancer. It's easy and quick to blend and transcends ordinary store-bought pasta to delicious wonders.
First saute the curry paste in a well-heated Dutch oven. This deepens the curry flavor and be careful not to burn the delicate herbs.
Lightly brown the bird on all sides before adding stock to the pot. Scrape anything underneath the Dutch oven so that nothing is burnt underneath before sending into oven.
Slow bake and simmer the bird with a lid on at 400/410F for 40 mins (3.5 lbs), basting the bird periodically so that the breast side up maintains moist and juicy (see more info in the recipe notes).
Uncover and turn up the oven to 410/420F for an additional 10-15 mins.to give the bird a nice and lovely golden brown color and use a thermometer to check the internal temperature. The thickest part of the inner thigh should reach 165F.
I have met so many friends and readers like you through my Instagram account. The video below is a insta story did with my iPhone for Dutch oven red curry chicken. I do stories almost daily so come follow me there !
Looking for more simple comfort food ?
This is the original video footage from my Youtube channel – Dutch oven roasted red curry chicken !
Half roasted and half simmered Paleo Dutch Oven Roasted Red Curry Whole Chicken with coconut cream & homemade curry paste. Follow the instruction to make this healthy creamy one pot meal!
Blend ingredients listed under "My curry flavor booster" until it becomes a fine paste. Rub the paste over an entire chicken (about 2 ½ heaping tbsps for a 3 ½ lbs bird).
Over a stovetop, heat 1 tbsp ghee in a 6 qt. Dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, lower the heat to medium, add 2 heaping tbsp store-bought red curry paste + 4 heaping tbsp "my curry flavor booster". Saute the paste until fragrant (about 10 seconds). In the meantime, preheat oven to 410 F*.
Add an entire chicken to the dutch oven - breast side down first. Slightly brown the surface of the chicken then flip the bird to brown the other side (about 3-4 mins total). (*Note: if the dutch oven temperature is too hot, lower the heat. Be careful not to burn the bottom of the pot).
Add coconut milk, chicken stock, and fish sauce to the pot. Give it a gentle stir. Cover with a lid. Turn off the stovetop.
After 20 mins., remove the lid. Turn the oven to 420F, bake for 10 additional mins or until the thickest part of the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165F.
While the chicken is baked in the oven, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a large saute pan. When hot, add diced zucchini. Season with salt to taste. Saute until the zucchinis turn softer but still have some crunchy texture. Set aside.
When the chicken is completely cooked through, remove dutch oven from the oven and add sauted zucchini squash to the pot. Serve with chopped basil leaves and lime zest before serving.
*Oven temperature vary, if your oven tends to get heated very quickly roast the bird at 400F and turn up the heat to 410F for the last 10-15 minutes.
*The safe internal temperature for cooked chicken is 165° Fahrenheit(75° Celsius). A meat or instant-read thermometer is your best bet for determining the temperature of your chicken, and if you're cooking a whole bird, it should be inserted into the thickest part of the thigh but not touching bone.
this recipe looks so amazing…i cannot wait to try…i love your videos to teach me these beautiful dishes and techniques I otherwise may not have attempted…thank you for your wonderful teaching!! i have made the curry booster and i tell my kitchen smells like the most amazing restaurant!! haha i have learned to sort of make things up by using this booster for simple dishes to create something so much more outstanding….
This looks absolutely amazing. I would love to do this in my Instant Pot. Do you have any suggestions on what the new conversion time would be?
wonderful blog – just discovered it – want to try every single recipe!
Thank you so much Magdalena ! Nice meeting you here !
I love how you've used red curry here, sooo yummy and different than I would have known to do! Thank you for this!
This is so beautiful, and I love love love your new dutch oven! It is gorgeous!
This looks so good! My husband loves curry, I'm sure he would devour this. Love the Dutch Oven too, it's so pretty!
That Staub dish is so gorgeous! What a great recipe!!!
You really know how to work a Dutch oven! This recipe sounds absolutely incredible. I love the idea of doing curry whole chicken style.
Dang! The skin on your chicken looks amazing. I still don't have a Dutch oven but now I know what is going on my Christmas list.
Look soo delicious, also I'm so jealous of your Staub. I need to put it on my wishlist for the holidays!
This looks fantastic and you've inspired me to get out of my comfort zone of always roasting a chicken the same way!
This looks so delicious! I haven't busted out my Dutch oven yet this winter but now I know I need to!
That dutch oven is stunning. Love staub! What a beautiful recipe my dear!
This looks amazing! You have have such a way with chicken! Drooling!
This is a great alternative to regular roast chicken. The hubs and I both LOVE red curry. YUM!
I made this tonight for my family of 6. It's hard to find something everyone loves. This hit the mark. I can not believe how even my 9 year old gobbled it up! I ended up making a bigger bird because we are a large family and adjusted accordingly. So light and delicious. The meat was infused with the flavor. Well done! Will be making this frequently for my large crew. Thanks so much. Would love to have some light dessert ideas that would go along.
Came out amazing! My fear was that the chicken would be dry, but it came out juicy. And the top was crispy like rotisserie!
I didn't cook the extra 10 mins at the end.
I used bell peppers, onions, celery, carrots, and escarole greens. I also added grated tumeric. I left the whole lemon in the pot while it cooked too.
I took the cut offs from the veggies and the chicken packet with the gizzard etc to create a broth to cook the rice.
I've seen other recipes with peanut butter, I might try to add that next time.
That sounds fabulous. Adding nut butter will make it extra creamy smooth!