At my last book club the conversation drifted away from the book and wandered into stay-at-home mom sacrifices.
A fellow stay-at-home mom, part-time preschool teacher, said this, “Whenever I start feeling bad about not having as much money as everyone else or going without a nicer house I just think, “I live in the United States of America and we don’t even know the meaning of poverty and my children are white males in the United States of America with access to a good education, food, shelter and clothing.””
I very often find myself thinking the same thing. If you’ve ever been to …read more

I’m using the word Xerox as a metaphor for, supposedly, “menial” tasks…or more to the point, our own sense of self-importance.
For me, as a small business owner, the xeroxing and the envelope stuffing, and the running to the post office are never over.
I have to do these things myself…and goddd, I think I’ve been collating documents for 30 years.
But when I was in corporate-land, I had “people” who did these tasks.
We learn when we start life at a big corporation that assistants do certain things, and managers…well..don’t.
I was speaking to a colleague, a very Sr. manager at a large company …read more

Or, how the creative development process can go a-stray.
I think it’s vital for a business to include philanthropic efforts in its marketing plans, which has had me thinking about what The Pet Set might be able to develop.
Yes, we support great organizations such as The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation and Puppies Behind Bars , but I would like us to do more, and I would like to build a program that is exclusively Pet Set.
As I was looking around my dog’s canine pantry, it dawned on me that he has more food than we do. So …read more

This New Year’s Day will be the 2nd anniversary of the launch of my stationery business, The Pet Set.
A person with a healthy sense of self-esteem might look at that personal milestone as an exhilarating acheivement.
How do I view this upcoming date? With utter panic and fear.
Why?
Why would a person who left Corporate America to tackle what many Americans hope for — to become small-business owners — feel anything less than euphoric by what has been accomplished, in a little more than 2 years?
Why does every Pet Set sale give me only a momentary blush of pride — followed …read more

It can sometimes be unhealthy…that’s what.
This comes under the heading of, “It seemed like a good idea at the time”.
There are times when, in my new role of small business owner, “dog mom”, and house-wifey — I need a little help with some of the chores around here.
So, when my “danny”, (dog-walker-dog-nanny) asked if she could increase her hours…I thought what a great opportunity to combine the dog walking responsibilities with some light house duties.
I put together an official “danny” schedule and shared it with her. She seemed thrilled…and oddly inhabited with new-found sense of purpose.
Yay, I thought…I could …read more

Much of the time, I feel like such a fraudulent lightweight, compared to so many of my colleagues here at b5.media. I mean look at the important work, for example, that Noel is doing over at Unplugged Living, Shai over at Self Help Diva, Elizabeth at GenBetween — and of course, the prolific Ingrid who is everywhere.
Yes, it’s true, we’ve covered meaty topics such as employee/employer relationships, adversity during a presentation, the benefits and drawbacks of owning a small business — but most of the time, I wish I were on a perpetual coffee …read more

I have a good mind to send a polite, albeit slightly turse note to the folks who are responsible for Visa’s Small Business brand identity development. Not because their advertising is offensive in any way, essentially it’s just as banal as any other financial institution’s consumer marketing.

It’s their tagline: “Because Your Business Is Your Life.” Um…hmmm….nope. No, it is not; and I hate it when banks try to pose as if they know me or my life.
As the politicians say: make no mistake — The Pet Set is profoundly important to me.
It’s creation it and development …read more

I have mentioned both the rewards and the occasional drawbacks of managing a small business from home.
The one thing I may not have touched upon is how family members enter into the mix…which I feel must be addressed–hopefully in a manner that won’t insult anyone.
Today is Sunday, and I have spent several hours working on creative and administrative details for The Pet Set. Because it is Sunday, certain people and his dog wander into my office and begin to have entire conversations with me–not actually recognizing (accepting?) that I am working.
It’s probably my own fault. I will pause momentarily …read more

I have been having a recurring dream, or rather nightmare — and I can’t figure out what it means. If there is someone among you who knows anything about dream interpretation, I would love to hear your opinion.
It has become such a disturbing feature in my dream repertoire that I’ve been getting up in the middle of the night to work!
Here goes:
The dream is set at my old college campus; and it is final exam day. I am staring at a blank exam booklet and I realize that I didn’t spend one minute studying. Suddenly time is up and my …read more