Posts in Featured Posts
The Entrepreneur Sessions: Erin Ardleigh

Erin came to New York City at 18 years old with only grit and determination to fall back on. Needing to pay for food, housing, school — and fast — Erin learned how to hustle. That hustle would pay off in 2014 when, after a year of traveling the world, Erin started down the entrepreneurial road, one beset by challenges internal and external.

Erin's company, Dynama Insurance, is more successful today than ever. Her story is a must-listen for young entrepreneurs — especially women — hoping to make their mark on the world.

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The Entrepreneur Sessions: Lisa Weldon

Aged out of her career and reeling from her husband’s financial infidelities, Lisa Weldon found herself 58 years old and in need of a new start. While all of us take recovery one step at a time, Lisa took it one step further, walking every neighborhood in New York City, and building an online following around her blogs and photographs.

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Grit with Guests: The Louvre or Not?

Excuse me, but I’m going to be a bit sacrilegious for a moment. I’m walking the 1st Arrondissement in Paris today, the neighborhood that houses the Louvre, the grand sentinel of the world’s art treasures.

But I doubt I’ll even step foot in it. I have great respect for the works of art and the masters who created it, but quite honestly, I’m bored by most of it. I’d much rather see what’s outside its walls, the graffiti around this City of Lights.

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That's A(nother) Wrap! Writing My Way Through 2021

As America started its painful process of breaking up with its tyrannical commander-in-Cheeto, I experienced my own little breakup. A global pandemic ravished the world, and I left corporate America. I was tired of not being able to say what I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted. I loved my work, and I loved my clients, but after 40 years in corporate environments, it was time to spread my wings — and to raise my voice.

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That's a Wrap: Looking Back on Season 1 of "To Grit, with Grace"

In just nine episodes, we spanned much territory: Navy Seal operations in Iraq, backpacking in Turkey, folk singing in Nashville, financial crisis all across the country, and more. We talked to people who grew up with nothing and people who grew up with everything. In short, we talked to humanity — the many ways it can manifest, the common lessons that make our days enjoyable.

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To Grit with Grace, Episode 8 — Lynn Thomas: Permission to Live

There’s no guidebook for grief. It’s an internal battle. People on the outside can provide support, but the real work happens on the inside. It’s hard enough when a relative dies at a ripe old age. But when someone we love is taken from us prematurely, and in the worst possible way, the difficulty multiplies.

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From the South of France to the Hudson Valley: Why I Read, and Why I Write

A lot of money-oriented people don’t see the point in writing. A lot of corporate communications are filled with typos, dry language, and other missed opportunities to generate meaning. I went away from the literary arts for a long time, focusing on my career. But I came back when I desperately needed answers. I’m never leaving again.

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To Grit with Grace, Episode 7 — Rachelle Fender: Unstoppable

In 2008, the financial crisis brought Rachelle Fender’s career to a halt. But she’d seen devastation before, and she realized that this time, the worst news could actually be the best news — with the right mindset, and with courage. Rachelle found her life’s purpose working with the humanitarian organization appropriately named Unstoppable.

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To Grit with Grace, Episode 6 — Justin Breen: No Excuses

Justin Breen, founder of BrEpic, was born with a story. He found out he had what it took when his career came to a halt. A Chicago journalist, he was told one day that his salary was being cut in half for no particular reason. Over the course of the next several months, he reached out to 5000 people. The day after he got his fifth client, he resigned, and his company was off to the races.

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Field of Dreams: Cracking the Mind of an Entrepreneur

Due in large part to how entrepreneurs are depicted in pop culture (think HBO’s “Silicon Valley”), there’s a common perception that they tend to be young, insatiably energetic, tenacious and willing to risk it all. But studies have shown that when you push back the curtain, you see a much more fascinating, diverse, and often surprising portrait of our most prominent movers and shakers.


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To Grit with Grace, Episode 5 — Lowman Family: No Success Like Failure

Dustin Lowman wasn’t always my marketing manager. In 2015, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to turn his passion for songwriting into a career. But things didn’t go completely as planned for the 22-year-old. Struggling in an industry town, Dustin faced trials of confidence and identity he never thought he’d face.

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