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I’ve written a guest blogpost for PrimeWomen a new, on-line magazine where you will find a storehouse of strategic content for those seeking new horizons and career transition.

Your future life may span many more years than you think.  Best to be proactive, not reactive,  in designing the Perfect Fit for the life you want to lead.  Start now to lay the groundwork for your next chapter.

Expect the Unexpected.   Be expansive in imagineering the possibilities you want to pursue, but do incorporate an underpinning of reality planning.  What if an elder parent whom you are supporting lives for another 10 years?   What if you become responsible for the lifelong care of a younger sibling R...

The female cop has held a media mystique from the days of pioneering glamazon Angie Dickenson’s Police Woman to The Killing’s austere Sarah Linder and cop-next-door Ellie Miller in Broadchurch.  Such danger and heartache! What inspires that career path in real life?

Here, a view from my cousin Bonnie Beck (Cpl, Burlington VT Police Dept), who shares a range of emotion and experience in her newly-published book Poetic Injustice.  Growing up, you could see her introspective, creative side.  A future in police work?  I would not have predicted. But, then there is the death aspect……

Q.  You grew up in the funeral business.  When did you see your first dead body?

A.  I re...

To be a leader, you have to attract and motivate followers.  This is true in business, politics, media & entertainment, non-profits, institutions — even families.  Any type of group dynamic.  Who leads the pack?  Why?

Early in my career,  I spoke on this topic at a skills development conference for women. Here are some talking points from my office archives — inspired by Michael Korda’s brilliant Newsweek column How to Be a Leader. Korda referenced political leaders. In my talk, I shared business and career examples.

You might have the best abilities and intent, but if you can’t get anyone to follow — or listen to your ideas — your talent will never b...

Life is busy.  You need short cuts.

Here are some tips and strategies to consider.  Courtesy of the U.S. Army Air Forces 433d Troop Carrier Group where my father Frank Vetakis served as Tech Sgt. during World War II.  Planeloads of young guys — sons of immigrants from tiny towns across America — were dropped onto South Pacific islands where they had to clear out the jungle and build operations bases for troops and guerillas.

Their mission: Create something from nothing – with minimal resources and limited time.

He brought home valuable lessons which he imparted to his daughters, providing an excellent edge when we embarked on life and career adventures.

To be effective and...

Start with a number:  717 million smart phone shipments in 2012.*

Then, imagine the impact and opportunity if you are a restaurant or retail chain.  Your customer has a technology device close at hand on nearly a 24/7 basis.  Thus, a new delivery path for customer acquisition, market intelligence and revenue growth — all under the umbrella of omni-channel, a seamless approach to the consumer experience through all available shopping channels, from on-line to brick-and-mortar.

What is the best road map for your enterprise?  Trailblazer Capital offered up a tasty menu of possible solutions at its second annual TechTrends in Restaurant & Retail event — expanding the synergies t...

For CEOs of entrepreneurial and middle market companies, solving the talent puzzle is critical to the success and future growth of the company.  A Fortune 500 monolith can absorb a hiring mistake once in a while, as the work is distributed among thousands of people.  But, in a smaller organization, there is a bigger impact.  A wrong hire or even worse – on-going turnover — can bombast customer relationships, poison employee morale — or actually sink the ship.

According to the Bersin human capital consulting arm of Deloitte, improving the quality of hire doesn’t start at recruitment, i.e., the actual solicitation of candidates.  I agree.  It’s the upfront planni...

You’re buzzing along in life, minding your own business.  Then, an announcement implodes the routine.

Another re-organization in your company.  Or worse, downsizing.  You receive a rejection from (fill in the blank).   A key client defects to a competitor.  Your #1 salesperson quits.  Your (fill in the blank) calls in sick.  An ice storm is forecast the day of an event you’re chairing.  You have to upgrade your iPhone to the new OS.

 Kapow!

Scream-inducing change is the worst.  But, in a way, it is also the easiest — because you don’t have a choice.  You have to act.  You have to move forward, the mantra of Don Draper in the TV show Mad Men.

As a blogger and consulta...

Growing up, our families imprint us with traits, values and habits. Some we strive to emulate. Some we struggle to avoid. Others slip unnoticed into our daily patterns. The DNA continues into adulthood.

In ten years of executive search, it was my opening interview question:  Tell me about you as a little person. Who was in your family? What did your parents do? Who were the role models who influenced you into becoming the person you are today?

Dead silence.  No one has a standard sound bite for this query.  Then the interviewee opens up and tells a stream of heartfelt meaningful-ness.  You can look right into the soul.  Then, you see the threads of family throughout the discussion of career ...

There is a shiny glimmer of hope in urban education and I saw it with my own eyes at Trinidad Garza Early College High School.  Long title…but very innovative program.  It’s a joint venture of Dallas Independent School District and Mountain View College.  Students go to classes year-round and have the opportunity to earn college credits — as much as a two-year Associate’s degree –along with a high school diploma.

Continuing on to a four-year degree is less daunting.  Students already have a taste of the academic rigor that will be required.  And they don’t need to fund the cost of a full baccalaureate program — just a couple of years.  This is a win...

In the TV show Mad Men, Betty Draper epitomized the ideal of American womanhood in the go-go era of the 1960s.  She was Grace Kelly gorgeous and Bryn Mawr-educated with a drop dead handsome husband who was minting money as a successful Madison Avenue ad agency partner.

She presided over a stately Colonial manse with a spectacular wardrobe and a housekeeper to help look after her children.  She was a poised and effective corporate wife, the perfect accoutrement for client and business functions.  “Is this the one where I talk?  Or the one where I don’t talk?”  

Betty had it all.  A blonde version of First Lady Jackie Kennedy, if you will.  But it wasn’t as it seemed. ...