General Resources - Portfolio Creative

Woman-Owned Business Day

May 1, 2020

By Catherine Lang-Cline May 1 is Woman-Owned Business Day! What is it, you ask? Google says it’s a day to “encourage consumers to shop from women-owned businesses. Inspired by the investment gap between woman–owned and male-owned businesses, the founders (of this day) hope to create awareness that women-owned businesses can succeed and are good investments.” Okay, I have some thoughts on this. If you have been following Portfolio Creative, you know that we started our business in 2005. Let’s back that up even more to when I graduated in 1988.

Deliver a Message of Hope

April 30, 2020

By Catherine Lang-Cline There are some strategies out there now about how to sell to people during a time of pandemic. If you are like me, you are thinking, “I really don’t need the hassle.” Unless you are trying to help me keep my business afloat because we all need to work from home now, I really have bigger problems. This is all of us, isn’t it? In Jim Collins book, “From Good To Great” you will find what Jim refers to as the “Stockdale Paradox”, named after Admiral James

Was All Of That Completely Necessary? Leading a Simpler Life In a Quarantine.

April 28, 2020

By Catherine Lang-Cline You wake up and you can’t leave the house. The entire world is in quarantine! If I could have chosen something that the entire world could participate in together, this would not have been my first choice, not even my 500th choice. I would have chosen something entirely more positive, but with that said, can something positive come out of this? Many of us humans lead a very fast-paced life, especially Americans. We pride ourselves on working hard, digging deep, achieving more, being successful no matter what

Working From Home? Structure Your Day!

April 21, 2020

By Catherine Lang-Cline Back before we were all asked to stay home in quarantine, my day came flying at me from every direction and I would spend my day tackling each activity. Early board meeting…done. Team meeting…done. Lunch meeting…done. Coffee meetups, webinars, blog postings, evening networking, all done and typically all planned weeks in advance. Then it all stopped. Now I am working from home and all of that contact with people, all of that business-as-usual has changed. Now there are even more and different distractions, so my days need

That Weird Feeling You Have? It’s Grief

April 14, 2020

By Kristen Harris This morning I woke up sad. My heart was so heavy. I listened to my daily news podcasts, then I was even sadder. I took a shower and almost started crying. I didn’t know why—I mean, I know why…but why now, why me, when nothing specific has happened. I had this dark cloud over me that I couldn’t shake. I headed out for a morning walk with the dogs with a lump in my throat and nearly in tears, still not sure why. Then I started listening

Finding Happiness During a Pandemic

April 8, 2020

By Catherine Lang-Cline Is it even possible to find happiness during a pandemic? Does the idea of it even make you feel a bit guilty? Truth is, what everyone is dealing with now is stressful and exhausting. Yes, we have all had some experience with stressful things, but nothing like this. First time for everyone! And so far, we are doing pretty good. So how can we take a break from it with our options so limited? Here are a couple of things that I have tried that were so

Women’s History Month

March 17, 2020

By Catherine Lang-Cline Central Park in New York City has 23 statues adorning the many walkways. Not a single one of them is depicting a real woman. Not one. Mother Goose is as close as it gets. That will be changing soon as on the centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment there are plans to erect a bronze statue of New Yorkers Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Sojourner Truth in August 2020. Yes, this is progress, but considering that there are less than 400 statues

Remote Work: Making It Work

March 12, 2020

By Kristen Harris Remote work is becoming more common and popular with both companies and employees. We’ve hit a tipping point where remote work is becoming much more common and accepted in many industries. For more information on the benefits to both companies and employees, see our article Remote Work: Benefits for Companies and Employees. Of course, whether remote work is even an option depends on the role requirements, including work performed and internet security concerns. If you’re considering it for your employees or want to propose it to your

Remote Work: Benefits for Companies and Employees

March 10, 2020

By Kristen Harris Remote work has moved from a future trend to current reality. Every day more companies allow, and in some cases even encourage, employees to work remotely. Ours included—currently, 20% of our internal staff are fully remote, and all of our internal team members have the option to work remotely a day or two per week if they like. Some people feel it helps their productivity and frequently work remotely; others prefer the consistency of coming to the office. We’re continuously listening to what our employees need to

Equality = Better Business

March 5, 2020

By Catherine Lang-Cline International Women’s Day is this Sunday, March 8, and the one thing we can all think about as business owners of any gender is that equality is not just a women’s issue, it’s a business issue. And it is great news to share this month! A new Harvard Business Review study, just in time for International Women’s Day, “When Gender Diversity Makes Firms More Productive” reports how gender equity is tied to business productivity and growth. The study looked at 1,069 leading firms across 24 industries in

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