The books listed in this blog entry should be available at any public library that is not censoring and banning the books people can read and check out with library cards:
Black Faces in High Places: 10 Strategic Actions for Black Professionals to Reach the Top & Stay There by Randal Pinkett.
Black Founder: The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider by Stacy Spikes.
Build the Damn Thing: How to Start a Successful Business if You’re Not a Rich White Guy by Kathryn Finney. (I read this book at least 2 years ago and reviewed it here.)
It’s About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated into Your Greatest Advantage by Arlan Hamilton.
Twice as Hard: Navigating Black Stereotypes & Creating Space for Success by Opeyemi Sofoluke.
These books are geared to acing jobs the corporate world for those of us who aspire to the C-suite.
Though I’m not a fan of thinking a corporate office job is the only one you should get I understand and respect that for other people they want to excel in a traditional workplace.
The point is that these authors promote navigating the corporate life on your own terms with skills you can learn that they give you. Linked to how they got ahead from a job like film studio gopher to CEO and from food-stamp recipient to venture capitalist.
I say to you readers: Go for It if this is what you want.
About one or two years ago I posted here a blog entry on advancing trauma-informed career counseling. The link to that post is at the end of this entry.
The fact is if you’ve been the victim of racism you’ll be hypervigilant about that happening again. Going into the workplace BIPOC individuals don’t need this added stress.
In keeping with Black Business month I’m going to write about DEI topics here.
It’s not that I don’t think racism exists. It’s that I can’t believe this is still happening in 2023.
Along with reading other career books I think the above book The Pain We Carry should be required readings for victims of microaggressions which are hardly micro and for victims of any racial injustice.
Coming up in the future I will link to an article on gaslighting on the job featured at The Muse website.
Though I have a bias against working in a corporate office setting (based on firsthand experience) I understand that some of us want to work in traditional office jobs and succeed in those careers.
This just in a new article from Guest Blogger Jackie Cortez:
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From Passion to Profit: Navigating the Exciting and Challenging Journey of Building a Home-Based Business
Building a home-based business is an exciting journey that allows individuals to turn their passions into profit. However, navigating this journey can present several challenges that must be overcome to achieve success. In this blog, we’ll explore some of the key considerations and strategies involved in taking your passion and turning it into a profitable home-based business.
Stay on Top of Organization
Staying organized is paramount for building a successful home-based business. Without a proper system, handling finances, inventory, and other tasks can become overwhelming quickly. To avoid this, invest in reliable accounting software to manage finances and track expenses. Additionally, using tools can help you stay on top of tasks and deadlines.
Give Yourself a Dedicated Work Area
Designating a dedicated workspace is essential for maintaining focus and productivity while working from home. Although working from your couch or kitchen table may seem tempting, it can hinder your work progress. Instead, create a separate workspace that defines a clear boundary between personal and professional space. This could be achieved by converting a spare room, a living room corner, or even a closet into a mini-office.
Establish Boundaries From the Family as You Work
Establishing clear boundaries with children regarding workspace access is crucial for minimizing distractions and interruptions while working from home. Create a visual reminder, such as a “do not disturb” sign, to signify when you’re working. Additionally, setting up a play area or hiring a babysitter to occupy your children during work hours can also help maintain focus and productivity.
Get Ambitious With a Plan for Long-Term Success
Create your own B.H.A.G. (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) when building a home-based business to ensure long-term success. It’s crucial to set ambitious objectives and develop a plan of action to achieve them. Begin by defining what success looks like for you, whether it’s financial independence or the flexibility to work on your terms, then create a roadmap that outlines the necessary steps to reach your desired outcome.
Separate Your Personal and Business Assets
Combining personal and business finances is a typical blunder made by home-based entrepreneurs, leading to complexities in expense tracking, cash flow management, and tax filing. To prevent such issues, it’s vital to create a separate bank account and credit card for your business. This practice will allow you to effectively monitor your business expenses and simplify the tax filing procedure at year-end.
Promote Your Products or Services With Effective Content
Innovative marketing strategies are essential for home-based businesses’ success, mainly because they lack a physical storefront or office. One proven strategy is to create engaging and informative content that not only captures the attention of potential customers but also builds credibility and trust. By sharing valuable insights, tips, and industry news, you demonstrate your expertise and commitment to helping your audience succeed. But don’t let your content fall flat; consult online resources to help you craft compelling content that resonates with your audience.
Plan Your Finances
To achieve success with your home-based business, it is essential to have a solid financing plan in place, no matter what size it is. It’s vital to be proactive and investigate different finance options, including crowdfunding, loans, and grants, to determine which one best suits your business needs. Additionally, utilizing free tools or hiring freelancers for specific tasks can significantly reduce your expenses and provide you with the resources you need to grow and thrive.
Achieving success with a home-based business necessitates meticulous planning, a high level of organization, and unwavering discipline. By adhering to the tips outlined in this article and maintaining a laser-sharp focus on your objectives, you can establish a booming enterprise that not only provides financial independence but also enriches your life personally. Therefore, ensure that you stay motivated, persistent, and enthusiastic while pursuing your entrepreneurial dreams.
I checked the book in the photo above out of the library. It should be required reading.
The last three chapters were the best in my view. The chapter on housing was my favorite.
The fact is that individuals who collect SSI and SSDI should get checks that are $1,000/per month or more. Not be forced to live in poverty with a subpar income.
The chapter on housing was my favorite. Our housing should not be substandard either. Housing should be affordable and accessible for individuals of all types of disabilities.
I have ideas that I’m going to write about in future blog entries here. These radical ideas I’m going to publish in a second career/recovery book for peers.
In talks I and others give we’re quick to tell the audience that we succeeded because of our illnesses not despite having them.
Framing disability as an asset is the difference. Showing how experiencing a hardship gives us the skills, abilities, and strengths we can use to innovate as creative problem-solvers on the job.
Yet listen: being honest about being depressed on a college application essay will backfire. The reviewer of what you wrote could think you’re too depressed to get out of bed on time to attend class.
How it goes is that talking up the positive effects and benefits of proactively managing our medical condition. That enable us to thrive better. Is the key to turning around an outsider’s view of us.
Like it or not a lot of people–and employers–still view having a disability as a liability. This is called “ableism.”
It comes down to researching companies that value hiring, retaining, motivating, and promoting–and having their leaders “sponsor” workers with diverse backgrounds whose life experience is an asset.
From my own experience I can tell you that having persistence, determination, and the ability to follow through on a goal until you reach it. That right there sets you apart from the average Joe or Josephine who goes through the motions in life, comes home, and turns on the TV for two or three hours.
That’s why a favorite interview question that hiring managers ask in an interview has become:
“What did you do while the pandemic forced everyone to stay at home?”
While New York City shut down I was writing and posting inspirational blog entries and exercising in my living room mostly 2x per week.
How has having a disability changed my life for the better?
I literally had to fight for the right to get a job and live in my own apartment–two things other people take for granted they can have.
In the 1980s it was thought no one could recover.
People like you and me who have had the guts to speak up for ourselves have this competitive advantage in the workplace.
We should be celebrated as employees who are not afraid to raise our voices in a staff meeting. To challenge or champion a policy or procedure being discussed.
“Rubber-stamping” a yes to everything brought up could backfire when your intuition tells you it’s the wrong move for the team to pursue.
In fact just showing up in the boardroom sitting at a table with coworkers is often a feat in itself for a person with a disability.
Having the courage to speak up in life as well as with our livelihood should not be frowned on.
Ordinary people might not like it when individuals with mental illnesses come crashing through the glass wall that separates us from what’s on the other side.
I turn 58 in the spring. The closer I get to 60 I’m reassessing everything in my life.
In the coming blog entries I’m going to talk about strategies that are in the vanguard for getting ahead.
The older I’ve gotten I’ve become crazed to make things happen.
This book on How a Non-Traditional Workforce Can Lead You to Run Your Business Better should be required reading.
The author lists four issues:
You hire based on interviews. You think great talent is the secret to a great business. Your managers are “good enough.” You fire your worst employees.
The four wins he details instead are:
Every employee feels safe. Accountability is a tool for growth. Your work has purpose. Customers love their experience.
The author and his father chose individuals with autism as their target employees and built a business around this workforce.
The father and son operate two high-profit car washes in Florida that employ only individuals with autism.
In the author’s note up front:
“If you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism.” The quote originates from Stephen Shore, an Autistic self-advocate and professor of special education at Adelphi University.
This holds true for individuals with mental illnesses.
What bugged me about one 3-star review of my first memoir Left of the Dial was that the critic insinuated that recovery was not possible for the majority of people with schizophrenia.
In fact, individuals diagnosed with and living with SZ are a diverse crowd. In a way there’s a spectrum in how the symptoms of the illness manifest in each person.
Not everyone hears voices who has SZ. Others have only paranoia or delusions.
The four wins for the car washes that have autistic workers hold true across disabilities and business types.
Coming up I’ll devote a blog carnival to writing about how having a mental illness can be an asset on the job.
I had wanted to talk about working in a public library as a possible career.
For those of us without a college degree we can apply to be a clerk or a computer tech person.
You can often apply for a job on the library’s website or via their LinkedIn account.
The case I make is for a person with a 4-year degree to consider getting a Masters’ in Library and Information Science.
Often these jobs are union jobs and might offer a pension unlike traditional office work.
I’m not a fan of getting an office job after how I bombed out of the insurance field in the 1990s. Followed by a repeat of the same dynamic in the job I had at a law firm for two years while in graduate school.
Starting out fresh out of library school with an M.S. in New York City the salary is $56K for a professional librarian job at a public library.
Not all library systems are equal. The supervisors at some public libraries can be tricky to deal with.
Yet in the end if you ask me getting a job in a public library is far better than working in an office. Especially if you don’t want to wear a suit or put up with the corporate life.
The best thing is a public library might have a scholarship fund staff with 4-year degrees can apply for to go to library school.
I’ll end here with this:
For those of you who live in New York City and have a Brooklyn Public Library library card you can check out of any Brooklyn branch a copy of my book Working Assets: A Career Guide for Peers.
It’s shelved at their Business & Career Center. You can place a copy on hold and have it sent to the branch you want to pick it up at.
If you read one DEI book first read Inclusion Revolution by Daisy Auger-Dominguez. It’s the complete guide to the topic.
My favorite DEI book though is the Antiracist Business Handbook by Trudi Lebron. She owns a million-dollar coaching and consulting business. Lebron believes in Just Commerce–a better alternative to Conscious Capitalism.
I’ll talk about DEI in terms of inclusion for individuals with mental illnesses. In order to thrive in an inclusive workplace you first have to get the job to begin with.
In New York City there’s a Queer in Every Career Job Fair. Why isn’t there a (mental illness) Peers in Every Career Job Fair? Or what I would title a Wheels-to-Work Job Fair for those of us who use wheelchairs?
One DEI book I have on my shelf to read talks about DEIB–diversity equity inclusion and Belonging. Again feeling like you belong in a particular workplace is predicated on getting a job with a savvy company that knows promoting diversity and individuality increases sales. The well-being of staff flourishes too.
Michelle T. Johnson easily 10 years ago wrote the book The Diversity Code. What she said: “Honoring individuality is the highest form of achieving diversity.”
In coming blog entries I’ll talk about alternative career paths.
It begs the question: What if you want to work in an office job? Shouldn’t that be an option?
For a lot of us the corporate office environment is not conducive to our mental health. I’m going to talk about getting a job in a public library which I feel should not be overlooked as a viable career.
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