Are You Prepared to Take the Leap? Starting a company is not for the risk averse or financially challenged. It can be an incredible drain on personal, financial and emotional resources -- not just yours, but anyone you take along with you for the ride. Ask whether you (and they) have the stamina for the years of sleepless nights, occasionally contentious board meetings, demanding clients, and fickle employees.What’s your motivation to start a business? Want to make the world a better place, or are you suffering from an ego-driven need to compete with a college rival? Is launching a co... view article details

What’s the worst thing an entrepreneur can do? Not listen, according to Chicago entrepreneur Adam Fridman.“We -- I am including myself on purpose -- get excited about an idea and we fire. Pausing to listen to advice seems a waste of time,” he said.Fridman would know. He founded three Chicago companies, making him a prominent entrepreneur in the Windy City startup community. While earning his Master's degree in finance from Depaul University in 2003, Adam founded Idea2Result, a Chicago based B2B appointment setting staffing company.  Following the success of Idea2Result, Adam co-founded GoBumpe... view article details

Firefighter Ranked #1It turns out that making a lot of money doesn't necessarily make you sexy. In a recent poll conducted by Salary.com, firefighter hosed down the competition and won the title of 'sexiest job' with 16% of the nearly 5,000 votes. These brave, uniformed public servants lit it up over other high paying jobs like doctor, lawyer, and Chief Executive Officer. Take it from the wife of a firefighter: 'How could you not find it sexy when a person is willing to risk his life for another's; literally walk through fire? You can't put a price tag on that. It is not just a job to them, bu... view article details

Tips on Utilizing Alcohol to Sterilize Your Working Place The coronavirus has been threatening people's physical and mental health for the past few (and predictably following) months. As of March 26, 2020, there have already been over 82,000 cases in the United States. While some cities in serious situations have mandated workers to work from home, people in other areas still need to go into the office to work. People in the United States have started to take various protective measurements to keep themselves safe. Alcohol is a very commonly used weapon against the coronavir... view article details

Whether you're one of many workers in a row of cubicles or the CEO with the sweet corner digs, your office is the place where you are expected to create, inspire, come up with ideas and do your best work. But if you're spending more time in your office managing stress and frustration than you are doing your job, it could be time to inject a little feng shui into your day.Feng shui, an ancient art and science developed in China more than 3,000 years ago, focuses on creating a harmonious environment using the principles of natural energy flow. As Asian culture has become more popul... view article details

For the most part, your team is great. You have created a workplace culture where your employees like to collaborate and share ideas, they’re supportive, and they’re (fairly) punctual. But there is one disrespectful employee on your team who is, well, less than stellar. What's worse is she acts that way in front of the other staff members, too. But before you lose your cool—or worse, fire her for insubordination—there are ways to deal with a disrespectful employee. Here’s how. 1. Be Available As much as you would like, you can’t expect the disrespectful employee to change their behavior overni... view article details

The Skyscraper's the Limit No bones about it, said Kevin Hanna: Working the kitchen grill at his grandfather’s steakhouse as a teenager helped him to launch a successful career in the real estate business. Hanna, 36, has since traded in a greasy apron for a white shirt at Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts, Inc., a commercial real estate firm in Boston where he cooks up deals with some of area’s most cutting-edge companies. He negotiates leases for retail, healthcare, high-tech, and other industries that are seeking office and industrial space in Boston and greater New England. He represents... view article details

Alive and Well It's midnight when you get the call to assemble your team and get to work. Someone's life is on the line, and, unlike an emergency room doctor or EMT, you don't even know where your person is. Someone - the reporting party, or RP - has reported a friend or family member missing, and all you have to go on is the place last seen (or PLS), a map, and the talent and experience of your team. Time is of the Essence Every minute counts, and often the clock has started ticking well before the rescuers ever know there's trouble. According to Robert, a veteran of over 400 searches, a beni... view article details

Dear Heather,Over the past three years I’ve developed a friendship with a co-worker. We’ve weathered a lot, both at work and in our personal lives. I respect him tremendously and appreciate how easily we’ve been able to relate to one another through administrative upheavals, divorces and the like. There has always been an underlying spark in our relationship, but we’ve been careful not to ignite it, as I am technically his superior (he’s an adjunct teacher in a separate department and could probably teach elsewhere). I’m also recently separated and still in the process of sorting through the e... view article details

Parting with Tradition For most of us, working on a resume is pretty uninspiring stuff. Fire up Microsoft Word, search for synonyms for “experience,” fiddle with the spacing until everything is lined up just so. Should the font be Arial or Times New Roman? 12-point or 11-point?But because we live in the digital age, there are a few brave souls among us who are turning the tedious traditional resume into something a little more creative and compelling. Personal branding websites, video resumes and social networking profiles are becoming increasingly valid ways for job seekers to distin... view article details