If you’ve felt like your brain has been operating at 110% capacity lately, you’re not alone. Between the rapid shift toward agentic AI, managing personal “cognitive debt,” and trying to keep up with where tech leadership is headed, mental bandwidth is at a real premium.

This month, I’ve been thinking a lot about the balance between high-level cognitive demands and simple, grounding comforts. Below, you’ll find articles diving deep into the realities of AI burnout, leadership, and human connection—balanced out by a few lighthearted obsessions keeping me sane right now (think electric bug zapper rackets, simple summer snacks, and nostalgic deep dives).

Take a breath, grab a snack, and let’s dive in.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🎙️ Zootopia Exposed! (Part 1 and Part 2) - Honestly a fascinating couple of episodes about IP and the movie that I would have never guessed.

🔍 Electric bug zapper racket - Keeping me sane during bug season.

🔍 Lovable - I’ve toyed with lovable in the past and it didn’t impress me, but I recently picked it up again and boy does it have my “I can create anything” juices flowing again.

🏡 Tomato, mozzarella, basil snacks - Simple and perfect for these dog days of summer.

🏡 Sleepaway camp - Dropping my kids off at sleepaway camp was somehow both the hardest and best thing I did this summer, both for me and for them.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 The Real Truth About That Onerous ‘AI Brain Fry’ That Everyone Is Talking About - Dissecting the ways AI is impacting mental health in the workplace.

📰 How Generative and Agentic AI Shift Concern from Technical Debt to Cognitive Debt - Arguing that overwhelmed developers—due to cognitive debt—are a bigger problem than the technical debt related to the code itself.

📰 Your Strategy Needs a Visual Metaphor - People want story, it’s what helps them buy-in to the strategy that requires employee engagement and support to execute well.

📰 How Agentic AI Supercharges Startups and Threatens Incumbents - These new systems are helping startups outpace established companies who are now being forced to re-strategize their operating models.

📰 How does GenAI change when and how teammates talk to each other? - We all know AI is changing the game in so many technical ways, but it’s interesting (and helpful) to know how it shifts what conversations teams now have with each other.

📰 How does gender impact adoption of GenAI tools? - The AI gender gap has stalled, with women behind men by about 22%. This article recommends three great ways for eng leaders to address it head on.

📰 Our Bodies Are So Complicated and Confusing - The diagnosis crisis is real and this interview is for everyone who’s ever had to fight to be believed by their own doctor.

📰 The Loneliness of Early Parenthood - As a mom of two, with one going into middle school (!), I can attest that the isolation fades as your kids get older.

📰 Here’s The Rub: We Don’t Believe You - The moment your new team stops believing your assessment is exactly when you know you’re telling the truth.

📰 Paging Charity! How can engineering leaders avoid becoming Bond villains? - Running a good business is crucial for leaders, but so is being a kind, caring human.

📰 When AI Costs More Than the Engineer - AI compute costs are rising fast and by 2029, the top companies could be spending as much on AI as they do on the engineers using it.

📰 How is AI adoption affecting team motivation? - 41% of engineering teams are less motivated than last year because AI is eating the parts of the job that made it worth doing.

📰 The CTO’s Second Brain - The bots are capturing everything and you’re remembering less because of it.

📰 The office doesn’t fix loneliness at work - Turns out in-person workers feel more disconnected than remote ones because proximity isn’t connection, and the office was never going to fix that.

Last month, we talked about designing frameworks that accommodate human reality. This month, the conversation shifts from theory to the messy, high-stakes reality of execution. We are officially past the phase of merely ‘experimenting’ with AI, and we’ve landed squarely in the era of restructuring. It’s forcing us to ask hard, practical questions: How do you interview and hire an AI-native engineer today? Why does consensus-driven decision-making fall apart in this fast-paced environment? How do you move experimentation and implementation from silo’ed to cohesive?

Moving past the playground phase of technology into true AI transformation is tough, but it’s exactly where the real work happens (and happens to be the space I love helping leaders navigate). And as we rewrite these professional playbooks, the ripples are hitting home, too—fundamentally altering how our kids grow up while working parents face an uphill battle for their time. Let’s dive into what execution looks like on the ground right now, with a few comforting recipes and creative distractions thrown in to keep us grounded.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🔍 Pipsticks - The cutest stickers for literally anything! (They were a hit at our Fractional Women’s Summit in May!)

📰 What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking - One stop shop for quick meals that use as few dishes/tools as possible because let’s be real, you won’t find me in the kitchen cooking for 2 hours every night.

🎙️ What AI Could Be Doing to Our Kids - Even as an AI trainer/facilitator I’m acutely aware of its downfalls, and when it comes to my kids I’m mindful about how technology might be affecting their young minds.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 How we hire AI-native engineers now: our criteria - Augment is restructuring their hiring process to focus on the skills engineers need now that AI is doing most of the coding.

📰 Decision-Making by Consensus Doesn’t Work in the AI Era - Algorithms and data aren’t the markers for success they used to be — “organizational agility” is what determines if a company sinks or swims.

📰 To Succeed with AI, You’ve Got to Nail the Basics - Successful AI adoption isn’t about how fast you can start using the tools, it’s taking the effort to set them up well for the long term.

📰 Employees Are Relying on AI for Personal Support. That’s Risky. - Increased personal AI use in the workplace is notably decreasing human connection, collaboration, trust and socials skills.

📰 How to Move from AI Experimentation to AI Transformation ← I can help with this!

📰 Which popular beliefs about GenAI and software engineering hold up to research? - What you’ve been hearing may not be what’s actually happening for real teams.

📰 AI enthusiasts are in a race against time, AI skeptics are in a race against entropy - On closing the gap between the AI “enthusiasts” and the AI “skeptics.”

🏡 AI is here. And growing up looks different now. - Such a helpful tool for parents to learn more about how AI is affecting our kids and how to use it safely in our families.

📰 The Gap Nobody Measures in AI Adoption - Nobody’s questioning whether AI tools work anymore, we’re just stuck in the building-infrastructure-around-AI stage.

📰 Working Parents Say They’re in a Losing Battle Over Their Time - As a working mom, I get this. I love my job and my family, but making the time to do all that and take care of myself is…hard.

📰 Does Your AI Have a Personality Problem? - AI is still being evaluated like data, but measuring how it talks to your staff is just as important.

📰 How does deepening AI fluency change what it means to be a software developer? - Developers want to spend less time on reactive work and for many AI hasn’t freed up the time it promised—it’s time for AI tools to meet developers where they want them.

As leaders and builders, we spend a massive amount of energy trying to fit human beings into neat, predictable boxes. We design perfect workflows, optimal interviewing loops, and flawless organizational structures only to watch real life mess them up. Lately, I’ve been fascinated by a series of pieces that challenge our core assumptions about how the human brain actually operates, thrives, and handles pressure. Whether we’re examining how hypercuriosity helped our ancestors survive, how tech leaders manage a finite “attention budget” in a noisy landscape, or why standard organizational alignment is often just a comforting illusion, the takeaway is clear: the most resilient frameworks are built around human reality, not corporate ideals. This month, we’re diving into what happens when we stop fighting the human variable and start designing for it.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🎬 Remarkably Bright Creatures - Read the book. Watch the movie. Thank me later.

📰 Please don’t bring that book on this holiday - On pairing the best book with your summer travel plans (so you don’t end up wallowing on your annual girls trip).

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 Anthropic Education Report: The AI Fluency Index - Using AI is a skill and most people stop refining it the moment they get an answer that looks good enough.

📰 The engineering manager’s attention budget - You only have so much attention to give and most EMs don’t realize they’re spending it all in the same two places.

📰 How do technical interviews change when AI coding assistants are allowed? - I’m in so many conversations right now debating the impact of AI on interviewing.

📰 Encoding Team Standards - Your senior engineers’ best instincts shouldn’t live only in their heads; here’s how to encode them so AI applies them consistently across your whole team.

📰 Why Are Women Doing Their Husband’s Job-Searching? - There’s a whole trend of women job-hunting for their unemployed husbands, and absolutely no corresponding trend of men doing the same.

🎙️ Is this social media’s tobacco moment? - We already knew social media is addicting, but now Meta and Google are being held liable for designing it that way for children.

📰 The hypercurious mind - What if ADHD isn’t something to be “fixed”, just a brain that was built for a different kind of world?

📰 What Parents Should Know About Puberty Now - Really helpful to better understand where my kids are at and why it all feels like it’s happening so soon.

📰 The False Alignment Trap - Something I see a lot of in the companies I work with, and it’s completely preventable with the right conversations upfront and early on.

This month’s links kept circling back to a single question: In a world of total optimization, what happens to the things that can’t be automated? Whether it’s the heavy, human decision-making of motherhood, the 'relational intelligence' required to lead a team, or the simple act of taking a 'boring' meeting just to build a connection, our most important work remains stubbornly manual. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the 'debt' we accrue—not just technical or financial, but the relational debt that builds up when we prioritize speed over presence. Between diving into the alternate history of For All Mankind and the very real financial struggles in Margo’s Got Money Troubles, I’ve been struck by how much of our lives are defined by the friction between our high-tech tools and our very human needs. I hope this month's collection helps you find a bit of 'relational infrastructure' in your own week.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🪩 CTO Craft Toronto - Next week! I’ll be chatting about how to run meetings that actually matter.

📺 Margo’s Got Money Troubles - An all-star cast and does such an amazing job at portraying real struggles so many people experience every single day.

📺 For All Mankind - Love this alternate take on how the global space-race could have played out if the Soviets landed on the moon first.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 How We Hire Engineers When AI Writes Our Code - The interview question isn’t “can you code?” anymore, it’s “do you know when the code isn’t good enough?”

📰 Building An Elite AI Engineering Culture In 2026 - AI doesn’t make struggling teams better, it makes their problems louder, faster.

📰 How AI Damages Work Relationships—and Where It Can Actually Help - Let AI handle the logistics, not the relationships.

📰 Welcome to the Era of Relational Intelligence - The most important skill in the age of AI is actually knowing how to genuinely connect with other humans.

📰 The People Who Shun Super-Popular Pop Culture - The more everyone tells you to watch something, the less you want to — sound familiar? You’re not alone.

📰 Don’t be that miserable person, and try not to stand next to them either. - On seeing the good.

📰 AI Doesn’t Reduce Work—It Intensifies It - AI isn’t taking work off your plate, it’s just filling the plate faster.

📰 Harness engineering for coding agent users - Giving AI agents more autonomy is only smart if you’ve built the guardrails to catch what they get wrong — here’s how.

📰 Love in the Time of A.I. Companions - Tech isn’t only changing our relationships, it’s becoming them.

📰 Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago - Why does it still feel like it’s not enough?

📰 Americans Work Hundreds of Hours More a Year Than Europeans: Report - Overworked, underpaid, less vacation, fewer protections, and somehow we still think the problem is efficiency.

📰 Do parents need to let kids go outside more? - A study found that kids are experiencing boredom, isolation, inactivity, and poorer mental and physical health.

📰 You Should Take That “Boring” Meeting - Turns out it might be more engaging than you expect.

📰 Maybe Knowing Too Much About Motherhood Has Ruined Me - We have more information about motherhood than any generation before us, and somehow it’s made the decision harder, not easier.

📰 What kinds of new debt are teams accumulating with AI? - The practical issue is whether or not your team still understands what they built.

📰 It’s Equal Pay Day. Women have lost ground for the second year in a row - We’re going backwards — the gender pay gap just got wider (again).

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we evolve—both in the boardroom and in our personal lives. From my latest piece in Fast Company about fixing our meeting culture to the fascinating relationship dynamics in Age of Attraction, this month’s curation is all about how we adapt to the "middle" of the journey. Whether we are navigating "iPod brain," understanding how ADHD shows up as we age, or learning how to debug a team that has stalled, the common thread is a refusal to stay static. We are all works in progress, and this month’s links are here to help us navigate our careers and our identities with a bit more grace (and perhaps a better reality TV lineup than the Ohio season of Love is Blind).

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

📺 Bridgerton - Catching up on Season 4 and it’s just so good!

📺 Love is Blind (anti-recommendation) - I LOVE Love is Blind, but the only thing more boring than the Colorado season is the Ohio season. Still holding out hope the next one is great.

📺 Age of Attraction - Thank goodness this show came along. I’m only half-way through, but it’s great so far. I AM interested in seeing how the older woman/younger man dynamics work out compared to older man/younger woman.

🪩 CTO Craft Con in Toronto - Happening next month! Catch me there chatting about how to run meetings that actually matter.

📰 Fast Company - So excited that I was published in Fast Company last month on my favorite topic: meetings!

🎙️ Rebuilding Our Village with Esther Perel - We’ve traded the village for independence, and Esther Perel makes a compelling case for why it’s time to rebuild it.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 Why Training Employees Pays Off Twice - Training your team doesn’t just help them, it frees your managers to do the work that actually matters.

📰 Is It Aging, or Is It ADHD? - The question more midlifers are asking.

📰 Are ‘Bossware’ Tools Tracking You? - How AI is reshaping workplace surveillance.

📰 25 years of iPod brain - The iPod didn’t just change how we listened to music, it rewired how we thought about taste, identity, and devotion to the songs we chose to carry with us.

📰 I Was Kind of Looking Forward to Letting Myself Go in My 50s - For anyone grappling with the new goal posts of aging.

📕 Culpablity by Bruce Holsinger - Super intriguing story weaving AI into this family drama that has you asking where the line between morality and tech should live.

📰 Does using AI to code come at the cost of learning? - Using AI to code faster comes at a real cost: developers who lean on it while learning something new score 17% lower on skills tests than those who figured it out themselves.

📰 The Complicators, The Drama Aggregators, and The Avoiders - Understanding how to motivate the people on your team requires knowing what they want.

📰 How to debug a team that isn’t working: the Waterline Model - How to diagnose the actual problem on your team before passing blame.

As I was pulling these links together, I realized my input stream this month has been… intense, a feeling I suspect many of you share. I’ve found myself oscillating wildly between deep, critical reflections on sustainability in senior leadership roles and, well, the much-needed (and entirely different) drama of Paradise and The Pitt. In a world where we’re constantly told to focus, the reality is that we are all managing a complex spectrum of inputs.

This issue reflects that necessity of balancing the heavy with the light. We are tackling the major industry event of the week (NTEN’s NTC is here!) and some truly serious management challenges: from avoiding the ‘trap of instant heroism’ and structuring meaningful offsites for maximum alignment, to questioning the entire moral state of leadership in 2026. These are the deep strategic dives we need. But to maintain the stamina required for that work, we also need to respect our decompression time. So, yes, I’m including recommendations that offer the necessary mental space, whether that’s a new documentary, a ‘grim’ podcast for the older elementary kids, or that reliable reality TV guilty pleasure. Let’s explore how we process it all without burning out.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

📺 Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model - Three part docuseries exploring the modeling show’s complicated controversies.

📰 Learning To Live Well with Ella Mills - Ella shares recipes, habits, and practices helping her slow down and actually live well after years of burnout.

📺 Paradise - Next season of Paradise is here!

📺 The Pitt - The new season is just as good as season 1!

🪩 NTEN - NTC conference is this week!

🎙️ Grim, Grimmer, Grimmest - Podcast for the older elementary kids.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 What to Do When Your Senior Role Feels Totally Unsustainable - Offers a practical blueprint for senior leaders to redesign their role, relationships, and expectations before it’s too late.

📰 Why AI Boosts Creativity for Some Employees but Not Others - New research confirms what many of us are already seeing: AI mostly amplifies creativity for the people who already know how to think about their thinking.

📰 I Survived: Parenthood (maybe) - So good. Just so so so good.

📰 AI is Coding at Warp Speed, but Your Delivery is Still Stuck in Traffic - AI is making your engineers faster, but if your review and testing systems haven’t kept up, all that speed is just building a bigger backlog.

📰 The Trap of Instant Heroism in the Era of AI - AI makes heroism cheap, but real leadership is building a team that doesn’t need one.

📰 Don’t Salaries Matter? - Salaries matter, but they won’t make people stay. What actually drives engagement is trust, belonging, and feeling genuinely cared for.

📰 State of Moral Leadership in Business 2026 - 94% of employees say moral leadership has never been more urgent, and only 6% of CEOs deliver it.

📰 Something Big Is Happening - We might be in the “this seems overblown” phase of something that’s really big.

📰 How to Manage Team Offsites Across Multiple Departments Without Micromanaging - How do you keep offsites consistent across teams without making them all feel the same? Five strategies that actually work.

We often talk about technology as a way to bridge gaps, yet this month’s reading list suggests we’re becoming more discerning about how we bridge them. Coordination is expensive, skip-levels are essential for transparency, and despite the rise of AI-assisted coding, there is a growing appetite for tangible, in-person connection. In this edition, I’m sharing resources on the upcoming NTEN and Jewish Digital Summit—both powerhouses for nonprofit tech—alongside a deep dive into why 2026 might be the year we prioritize 'being there' over just 'being online', and how to even just be online more effectively.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🪩 Jewish Digital Summit - I’m speaking at the Jewish Digital Summit this year (I also spoke last year). It’s filled with some great topics and it’s virtual, so a good option if conference travel isn’t in reach for you this year.

🪩 NTEN - NTEN is THE place to be to talk about nonprofit technology. Catch me there chatting about AI tools in March.

🔍 Cards Against Humanity Family Edition - A classic that I recently bought to play on family game nights and it delivered. As fun as the classic and highly recommend.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 Why Senior Developers Hate AI (And Why They’re Wrong, But Also Right, But Mostly Uncomfortable) - Using the Mad Hatter metaphor, it explores why senior developers resist AI - not because of what it can do, but because it threatens the identity they built through years of hard-won experience.

📰 Change Intent Records: The Missing Artifact in AI-Assisted Development - Ever head of CIRs? They’re a simple way to capture why you told the AI to build something a particular way before that reasoning disappears into the void.

📰 What a big study of teens says about social media — and what it can’t - The article unpacks why a big study finding no social media harm to teens misses the point - the real dangers don’t show up in annual surveys.

📰 The Complete Guide to Skip Level Meetings - Skip levels often get skipped because they feel awkward or time-consuming. In my latest blog post, you’ll learn how to introduce them, structure them for real insight, and adapt when meeting everyone individually isn’t feasible.

📰 Stop Planning Birthday Parties When Your Team Needs Business Outcomes - Most managers plan team gatherings around activities people want to do, then wonder why nothing changes. My blog post will help you learn how to design offsites that produce strategic outcomes instead of good vibes that fade by next week.

📰 Because coordination is expensive - Why big organizations feel slow and meeting-heavy. And it only gets harder as you grow.

📰 Six Counterintuitive Trends to Think About for 2026 - Special shoutout to number 4 “in person experiences will surge not decline.”

Have you all seen these Tin Can phones? If you’re a parent, chances are you’ve heard about it and if not, you’re imagining actual tin cans connected to string. So, here’s my spicy hot take… Tin Can phones are landlines that you have to put a whole lot more effort into. For years now everything in parenting has been around screen time, social media, phones, etc. When you introduce them? How much time kids get on them? What it’s doing to their social emotional development, and more. That research and information is interesting and we can see it in our kids (a frequent topic of conversation with my friends is about how our kids act after getting some screen time, which feels very different than how we acted when we were kids and had screentime) and I’m all for old school technology. We ARE the proud owners of a landline and even a rolodex that sits next to it where we keep the phone numbers that the kids need to access. BUT, as with so much in parenting today, we’ve taken a simple idea, heaped a whole lot more process and responsibility onto it, and made it an additional job for parents (and let’s face it, mostly moms) to take on.

One thing that I focus on, in life and in business, is how we streamline things. How can we make things easier for us to do? AND do WE have to be doing all the things? Maybe it’s that decision you can empower someone to make, or that meeting you can delegate to someone else to run, because when we don’t make ourselves the bottleneck, amazing things can happen. Below you’ll see articles about doing less, being comfortable, taking breaks, and choosing your battles. So, in this new year, amidst resolutions, circling back, and hitting the ground running, what are you changing? What are you holding tight? And what are you letting go?

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🔍 SHEFIT Sports Bra - Honestly, I hate working out, and at least part of that is finding the right equipment. I don’t even want to tell you how many options I’ve explored but this one is truly amazing. Highly recommend.

🔍 Jockey Supersoft Cami Tank Top - I basically live in these Jockey camisoles because they’re soft and easy layering. One less thing to think about.

🎙️ Culture Study Podcast What’s So Great About a Freaking Hobby? - Loved this episode on hobbies as a reminder that we need things outside of work, even when everything feels urgent, and how to do hobbies well.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 Are You Interviewing a Candidate—or Their AI? - Turns out candidates are using AI to craft answers in real-time, which means we’re not actually interviewing the person anymore (and if we can’t tell the difference, what does that say about our interview questions?).

📰 How Generative AI Is Reshaping Venture Capital - VCs are using AI to surface patterns in due diligence, identify promising startups earlier, and even predict founder success.

📰 Don’t argue with strangers… and 11 more rules to survive the information crisis - 12 practical rules to help survive this information crisis like taking breaks from doomscrolling and questioning why certain content finds you. Apparently most of us are better at spotting misinformation in others than in ourselves - communication problem?

📰 How “Cozy Lit” Became the Latest and Most Shameless Form of Digital Escapism - You know those comforting low-stakes novels everyone’s reading? We’re craving gentler stories right now. Maybe it’s the same reason I tell clients to pause before sprinting - sometimes we need softness, not intensity.

📰 2025 Annual Report - Always fascinating to see what people are actually making vs. what we think they’re making - transparency like this helps everyone have better conversations about pay.

📰 Designing Team Traditions That Actually Fit Your Team - Breaks down how to design celebrations that actually fit your team’s culture instead of forcing generic ‘fun’ (spoiler: team building isn’t about forced rituals, it’s about creating moments where people feel seen, and you don’t need to be the manager to start them).

📰 Raising Humans in the Age of AI: A Practical Guide for Parents - The most practical thing I’ve read on this topic - it breaks down how AI actually works (it’s pattern matching, not thinking), why teenage brains are particularly vulnerable to it, and gives concrete frameworks for teaching kids to use AI as a tool instead of a crutch.

📰 The Women Shaping Business and Culture—One Podcast, Book & Newsletter at a Time - Something that’s always been near and dear to me is being a leader AND a visible mom. I’m honored to be highlighted in this post about podcasts and newsletters that are shaping business and culture.

📕 The Lion Women of Tehran - This book had me thinking about how the relationships we form when we’re young shape who we become (and how easily those connections can be severed by circumstances we can’t control, which honestly broke my heart a little).

I’ve been in and out of dozens of organizations and I keep seeing similar patterns repeat themselves.

Here are the top five things that drive me absolutely crazy when I walk into an organization:

1. Running ineffective meetings. I’m not anti-meeting. I’m anti-wasting-expensive-time-with-the-wrong-people-talking-about-the-wrong-things meetings. The cost is enormous, and yet I see it everywhere.

2. Under-utilizing AI. Yes, there are skeptics. Yes, there are things you shouldn’t use AI for. But there are also clear, practical applications that would genuinely save time. Right now, most people are still figuring out what those are, which tools work, and what’s actually worth the learning curve.

3. Over-utilizing AI. On the flip side, some companies think AI can replace entire functions of their business. It can’t. At least not yet, and maybe not ever in the ways they’re hoping. You need to right-size your expectations and understand the real limitations.

4. Not building teams. There’s a loneliness epidemic at work. People who know their colleagues stay longer and work more effectively. But this isn’t about forced fun or regular rituals. It’s about actually knowing the people on your team, understanding what makes them tick, and creating real connection. When leaders don’t invest in this for their own teams or the teams that report to them, you can feel the difference immediately.

5. Everything is a priority (which means nothing is). Prioritization should be a little painful. You should always have more things you want to do than you have time and capacity to do them. But too often, teams don’t take the time to really talk through those trade-offs and decide together what matters most based on what they’re actually trying to accomplish.

I think many of us have been in places where one or all of these have been true. The goal is to learn from those experiences and not repeat them.

As we close out December and look toward next year, now’s the time to think about setting your team up for success. So you’re not making the same mistakes so many organizations make year after year.

And if you need help moving your group through these challenges, that’s where I come in.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🎙️ Culture Study Podcast, Love is Blind as a Cultural Skeleton Key - We all know I’m a big fan of bad reality tv. This is a great episode about Love is Blind.

It’s holiday season, so here are some great gift guides for you!

🔍 Time - The Best Inventions of 2025

🔍 National Building Museum - 2025 Holiday Gift Guide

🔍 Bonfire - Kveller Merch Shop

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 Middle Managers Feel the Least Psychological Safety at Work - Hello?! Not surprising at all when they’ve also been the ones on the chopping block for so long.

📰 Prioritization Starts With Strategic Prioritization - Facilitators keep strategy and prioritization described here focused, helping teams move through sticking points to reach clear, shared decisions.

📰 The pulse of the workplace: Mid-year 2025 benchmark updates - Employees are getting better at “switching off” from work alongside improved goal setting, but energy and motivation are down. Plus four workplace contradictions identified in 2025.

📰 What AI Companions Are Missing - How these one-sided relationships are falling short.

📰 A Smarter Way to Disagree - It’s not about not disagreeing, it’s about disagreeing more constructively.

📰 Employee Discontent Is on the Rise. Here’s What to Do About It. - Nearly a third of employees describe their workplace as isolated or impersonal, and over 40% report significant stress. Despite this growing dissatisfaction, employees are “job hugging.”

📰 What process inefficiencies have the biggest impact on developer satisfaction? - Process inefficiency is creating job dissatisfaction, directly impacting productivity.

📕 Margo’s Got Money Troubles - It’s funny and sweet, with relatable chaos when several unexpected (and unwelcome) events collide all at once - life, right?!

📕 Under the Whispering Door - One of those perspective-shifting stories about all that life has to offer when faced with your own mortality, and living a lifetime in just seven days.

📕 I Hope This Finds You Well - I love that it’s more than an office comedy, touching and very human, while also being truly funny. A must read!

I always say that the thread through the different services I offer and companies/organizations I work with is helping people communicate more effectively. While it might sound hand-wavey, or difficult to pinpoint exactly what I help with based on that sentence, it’s the truth. I’ve recently been thinking about what does that mean, how do I make it more specific, or how do I use it to really speak to companies and organizations that could use my offerings to solve the problems they have. And, what I struggle with (again communication), is that really it means something different to each place and each person. For some, it’s how to make skip levels useful. For others, it’s around giving effective feedback. For more, it’s about how to be bold and articulate communicating while also being respectful and understanding. For more, it’s hidden in other topics like how can our engineering team ship faster? Or how can we better focus on our strategic plan and goals? And truthfully, this all comes down to communication, but the communication solution is different. Sure, it’s helpful to understand your individual communication style or your strengths and how that might work well within the team or group you’re operating in, but often, these communication conundrums take these lessons further than that, to work through concerns and considerations in ways that break through these communication barriers or really understand what the heart of the communication issue is.

I bring this up now, in mid-November, because it’s often a time of change (or a time of planning change) for many organizations. Performance reviews are coming up and teams and companies often use now to either roll out changes they feel are necessary or plan for what they might want to roll out in January. So, if you’re in those rooms and meetings, or thinking critically about what groundwork you’re trying to lay in the next two months for goals being rolled out in January, try to look at all the different communication aspects of it. What’s working, what’s not, and how new changes might be rolled out. And remember, wanting to gain something almost always means being willing to lose something else. Think about those necessary tradeoffs.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🔍 Good Grief - Care packages for life’s twists and turns.

🏡 ChatGPT Parental Controls - New safety features for teenage users.

🔍 Big Moods - Stickers of all kinds for grown ups!

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 Research-Backed Ways to Support Employees with Chronic Mental Illness - Many companies have resources for people who experience a stand-alone or first crisis, but they don’t know how to support employees with ongoing mental health struggles. Check out the article for strategies to help employees thrive, both in the office and out.

📰 Are we in a crisis of rudeness? - Does it feel like people, us included, are getting more rude, more brash, more grossly unapologetic? According to one survey, nearly half the country believes so, too. Experiencing impoliteness can lead to a worse mood and decreased cognitive performance.

📰 Don’t Overthink Your Use of Exclamation Points! - I love exclamation points! Now I don’t have to be as concerned about using them!

📰 One common thread at some of the companies seeing the most success with AI: Woman CEOs - While women make up only 11% of the chief executives at Fortune 500 companies, they represent 18% of the AIQ 50—an encouraging sign as AI becomes increasingly important.

📰 Why Women Don’t Need to ‘Act Like Men’ to Get Ahead - In an excerpt from her new book ‘Having It All,’ Corinne Low shares the evidence on the unique value women bring to the workplace.

This past month has been a whirlwind!! I was trying to think about what I wanted to write in this section to frame the month and what my mind went to was a meeting I was in a few weeks ago. The meeting leader said that we’re now in Q4, or the last 90 days of the year and asked what we want to accomplish in those last 90 days. All I could think was, man, I’m so busy right now! I have no idea. Come back and talk to me in a month. We all know this feeling. We sprint into and through October. The last few weeks have been Jewish holidays, my kids in and out of school, conferences, workshops, due dates, deadlines, Q4 assessments, and more. It’s also that time of year when there are gatherings and festivals every weekend because it’s not hot anymore and it’s not cold yet. All of that leaves me energized at the end of each day, but exhausted in the aggregate. If you’re feeling like me, this is your reminder to go outside, touch grass, light a nice-smelling candle, and put some time off on your calendar. Most importantly, as you’re running from thing to thing, meeting to meeting, or to do list item to to do list item, take a pause the think and make time and space for where you or your company should truly be taking a pause instead of just getting that next thing done.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🔍 Rescripted - A new health media site specifically trained for women

🎬 Thursday Murder Club - A fun movie watch about a group of retirees who are very into solving real-life murder mysteries.

🔍 The “Talking Dog” Theory of AI with Seth Godin - A great take on AI, the hype cycle, and opportunities beyond what people normally think of.

🪩 JS Nation - JS Nation is coming up and I’m a speaker! Check it out.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 5 Strategic Things Every Manager Should Do After A Reorg - A piece by me!

Middle managers often get overlooked during reorganizations, receiving information haphazardly while scrambling to understand what changes mean for their teams rather than positioning themselves for success. This guide provides five strategic steps that managers can take when they suddenly find themselves reporting to a new boss after a reorg, from understanding their new leader’s style to building relationships with new peer groups.

📰 No One Has Office Friends Anymore. Why That’s Bad News for Employers - Friends and knowing who you work with is a core reason for retention for lots of folks. When people don’t have work friends, it impacts their engagement and happiness levels at work, often increasing attrition and turnover. Check out this article for more there.

📕 Shark Heart - A very weird love story about a guy who’s turning into a shark. It’s out there but a fun read that ends up being a lot deeper than you think it will.

📕 The Huntress - Nazi hunters, multiple story lines coming together, and a book that keeps you turning the page!

📰 AI-Generated “Workslop” Is Destroying Productivity - Ok, I noted this article for this newsletter a few weeks ago when I saw it and now i’ve seen it EVERYWHERE. It’s a really interesting read about AI outputs and how it’s affecting today’s workplace (and will continue to in the future)

📰 Loneliness Is Reshaping Your Workplace - Similar to the above article about people not having office friends anymore, this article digs into the epidemic of loneliness and how it truly does affect business goals and has business impact. I know I’m a broken record here, but it does underscore the difference a GOOD offsite can make for teams and companies.

📰 Why Complexity is Not A Strategy - Look, I’m gonna boil this down to a basic line… just because it’s complex, doesn’t mean it’s strategic or good. The best strategies are clear, concise, and easily understood.

Too many accomplished women hold themselves back from opportunities that could transform their leadership journey—whether it's hesitating to apply for that stretch role, turning down speaking engagements, or skipping professional development because "it's not the right time."

But here's the truth: your time is valuable, and if you're going to invest a weekend away, it needs to be worth it, and you all know that spending time valuable is a core value of mine. That's why we created Extraordinary Machines—because growth happens when you're in that rare room where everyone is smart, interesting, and accomplished, where you can have real conversations instead of being "on" all the time. It's for women who want to talk about the realities of being a leader who happens to be female, who appreciate when someone else has done the work to bring together the right people, and who want actionable takeaways, not just inspiration. Professional. Personal. Practical.

Because the best insights come from authentic peer exchange, and those rooms don't happen by accident—they're carefully crafted.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🪩 Extraordinary Machines - Happening November 7-9th in the Hudson Valley, this is your opportunity to be in the room with amazing other women in leadership. We’ll focus on peer conversations, strategic thinking and problem solving, and you’ll leave with tons of new tools in your toolkit. Applications are due by October 1st for limited spots (maximum of 14).

🎙️ How to Make Fractional Leadership Work - an interesting listen but also, hot take… a good fractional leader will guide YOU through how to make it work, not the other way around

🎙️ The Secret to Making Hard Decisions: Minimize Regret and KNOW You’re On The Right Path - This episode is your personal GPS for hard choices—it’s packed with quirky tools like the ‘four omens’, ‘haywalts’, and a ‘warmer vs. colder’ test to help you tune out the noise, back your gut, and make decisions you’ll actually feel good about.

📺 Building the Band - Imagine Love Is Blind meets Making the Band: 50 solo singers belt it out in soundproof boxes, pick their bandmates with blind likes, and only later do they meet in person—because here, chemistry begins with what you hear, not what you see.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 5 Essential Things Every Leader Should Evaluate After a Reorganization - A piece by me! When you're suddenly leading a new department after a reorganization, you need to quickly assess the landscape without the usual onboarding grace period. This guide outlines five critical areas to evaluate—from goals and team effectiveness to culture and barriers—plus how bringing people together through strategic gatherings can accelerate your success as a new leader.

📰 New Research on How to Get Workplace Rituals Right - Turns out rituals aren’t just cheesy fun—when you nail them, they can actually boost engagement, performance, and team vibes—but a misfired cheer or awkward retreat? That can tank the energy instead of firing it up.

📰 AI Is Homogenizing Our Thoughts - Turns out leaning too hard on AI doesn’t just make everything sound the same—it can actually dull our brains, squash creativity, and trick us into thinking bland, cookie-cutter ideas are what ‘normal’ looks like.

📰 Five Kinds of Organizational Debt - Turns out companies don’t just deal with slow code—they can get bogged down by five flavors of ‘org debt’—like dodgy leadership, broken relationships, clunky systems, misaligned structure, and living in la-la land—each quietly turning your team into slow-moving sludge unless you actually pay attention.

📰 The Hidden Penalty of Using AI at Work - Using AI at work might feel smart until people start scoring your competence 9 % lower—even when your work is identical—and yes, things get even worse for women and older employees.

📰 "What's the Ideal Percentage for Spending on Tech Debt?" - People love tossing around neat percentages like 10 % for tech debt, 20 % for innovation, and 25 % for bug fixes—but all those sweet little buckets are really just comfy illusions that make us feel in control, not necessarily do the right work.

📰 Why Leaders Should Bring Their Best Self—Not Their Whole Self—to Work - Sure, ‘bringing your whole self to work’ sounds all warm and fuzzy—but for senior leaders, oversharing can blur boundaries and dim authority—so it’s way smarter to bring your polished, intentional ‘best self’ instead.

📰 ‘This Book Changed How I Think:’ 7 Leadership Must-Reads From Chief Members - Want lightning-fast inspo? Chief Members kept raving about seven books—from Stacey Abrams’s outsider playbook to Brene Brown’s soft-power swagger to Charles Duhigg’s three-type convo decoder—as their secret sauce for leadership glow-ups.

📰 What "use whatever herbs" really means - When a cook says ‘use whatever herbs,’ they’re not just being polite—they’re inviting you to play, use what you’ve got, get weird with flavor, and let your kitchen instincts run wild.

📰 Every Team Needs a Super-Facilitator - Your meetings feel like a contest where only a few people show up—unless you’ve got a ‘super-facilitator’ who quietly makes sure everyone gets airtime, trust blooms, and the best ideas get their moment in the sun.

You know how it goes in the fall. Everyone's back from summer mode, and suddenly there's this surge of energy. Meeting requests start flooding in. Your Slack channels light up. People show up with ambitious plans and sky-high expectations, but nobody stops to ask: What kind of pace do we actually want to set here?

Right now, before everything gets crazy, you have a window. A real chance to decide how you want this season to feel for your team. Do you want to sprint through October, or find a rhythm you can actually sustain? What conversations should you have now, while there's still time to course-correct? Are there old ways of working that served you well, or others you're ready to drop?

You don't need to overhaul everything. Sometimes the biggest shifts start small. One honest conversation in a team meeting. A workshop to really work through something that’s been gumming up the works more than it should. One outdated assumption you finally question. One moment where you pause and ask, "How do we want to do this?"

The teams that thrive don't just ride the wave of fall energy. They dictate where it’s going.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🔍 Large Desk calendar - With my son, we’re working on how to help him focus just on one day and one week to plan homework and get a picture of what is going on. We’ve been using a planner for a few years and it just isn’t sticking for him, so now we’re trying a large desk calendar instead.

🏡 PEP (Parent Encouragement Program) - A gem of a resource for parenting with more intention, less panic, and way more community.

🪩 JSConf - Come for the code, stay for the conversations about what tech is building and who it’s for.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 Product Marketing vs. Customer Education - Not everything you share needs to convince someone. Sometimes it just needs to make sense.

📰 Ruthless prioritization while the dog pees on the floor - When everyone owns the priorities, no one really does.

📰 Women in Menopause Don’t Care - Joy, rage, community, and menopause. This one made me want to throw a party.

📰 We're offloading mental tasks to AI. It could be making us stupid - Helpful to ask where the line is between delegation and losing that muscle of how to think.

📰 The Hidden Toll of Meeting Hangovers - Ever felt tired after a meeting that went fine? Same.

📰 Global Engagement Falls for the Second Time Since 2009 - People are not checked out. They are just tired of pretending it all still makes sense.

📰 Planning an Offsite for Your Leadership Team? Ask These 5 Questions. - Before you book the room, ask better questions.

📕 ADHD is Awesome by Kim Holderness, Penn Holderness - A messy, loving, validating read for anyone who thinks in zigzags.

This month I’ve been thinking about the things that feel second nature, until they aren’t. I took my son shopping before camp, and when we got to the fitting room, he looked at me and said, “What am I supposed to do now?” It stopped me. I had handed him the clothes, pulled the curtain closed, and assumed he knew what to do next. But he hadn’t been in a fitting room in years. Online orders and quick returns had replaced that part of the process. What was familiar to me wasn’t obvious to him.

It reminded me how often this happens at work. We dive into meetings or conversations and skip over the parts that seem too basic to name. We assume everyone’s starting from the same place, with the same context, the same mental model. Sometimes we need to take a step back, look at what we’re assuming, where we move too quickly, and what we haven’t clearly communicated.

Facilitation, like leadership, isn’t just about energy or structure. It’s about noticing what’s missing. It’s about creating just enough clarity so people can step in with confidence. Sometimes that means revisiting the basics. Sometimes it means asking better questions. But more often than not, it just means slowing down enough to explain what you thought didn’t need explaining. That’s the work I’m holding this month.

Legend:🎙️ podcast | 🏡 parenting hack | 📰 article or blog post | 🪩 conference | 📕 book | 📺 tv show | 🎬 movie | 🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🔍 Claude - something about using AI to help with a variety of things, not just work but what to cook, workout routines, itineraries for traveling, etc.

🔍 The Playsuit - ok, call me ridiculous but this playsuit is one of my favorite things that I own. Perfect for a hot summer day, add a belt, or just wear it loose. LOVE! (and I think the newer ones have pockets which feels like the only thing that mine is missing!!)

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 The Fractional Exec Hiring Guide - “Fractional” is everywhere, but what does it really mean? Here’s a thoughtful guide to bringing in experienced leadership on a fractional basis.

📰 What Does Effective Coordination Actually Look Like? - A sharp look at what coordination really requires inside organizations; and why getting people aligned is harder than we think.

📰 I’m in My 60s and Still Obsessed With Jewish Summer Camp - yeah yeah yeah, we all know i’m low-key obsessed with sleepaway camp (both from my own experience and as the parent of a sleepaway camper).

📰 Employee Stress Is a Business Risk, Not an HR Problem - An important piece about burnout and chronic stress as a leadership issue with hefty consequences.

📰 Productivity Rain Dances - Cal Newport unpacks why our obsession with surface-level productivity hacks often masks a deeper discomfort with the work itself.

📰 The AI Revolution Won’t Happen Overnight - An insightful reminder that meaningful change from AI will come slowly and unevenly; and that leadership needs to plan accordingly.

📕 Yellowface by R.F. Kuang - A sharp, darkly funny novel about authorship, cultural appropriation, and who gets to tell what story in the publishing world

.

It’s the end of the school year and every parent knows what that means… 10 million assemblies, plays, recitals, performances, and more. And while it’s hard to have some many things crammed into such a short amount of time, it’s also amazing to watch my kids be so excited about the things they’re accomplishing. They present. Or showcase an idea they developed and worked on throughout the year. Or perform something they’ve been thinking about and creating for months. It’s a culmination and a celebration of how they’re evolving and what new experiences they’ve taken part in this past year.

I’m working on an idea. I love new ideas. They’re exciting and interesting. I try to look at them from every angle… what won’t people like, what will people connect with, what won’t they care about. And they lead to personal questions as well… am I the only person who feels this way? Do others? But, I’ll be honest, this idea also scares me. I think it could be transformational, fun, and hugely impactful for individuals but it will require a little trust and a leap of faith. Will people give it that chance? I certainly hope so…

Legend

🎙️ podcast

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 parenting hack

📰 article or blog post

🪩 conference

📕 book

📺 tv show

🎬 movie

🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

📺 Doctor Who - I’m really liking this season! Lots of flashbacks to old doctors and interesting episodes.

📺 The Pitt - a great medical drama and I love a good, Jewish main character that’s depicted in a real and authentic way

It’s sleep-away camp time! If you’re sending your kid off this summer, here are a few little hacks that made things smoother (or at least feel that way 😅):

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Large zip bags - Swap vacuum-sealed bags for large zip bags that double as packing cubes. You can push the air out, they’re easier to repack, and you can label them so your kid knows what’s what without tearing the whole duffel apart.

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Stationery strategy - For letters home, I pre-stamped and addressed the envelopes. For letters to friends, I left that part to my kid to handle. (Spoiler: they chose not to write to anyone. A bold strategy.)

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Bunk-side essential - Throw in a few travel tissue packs for their bunk side pocket. Easy to forget, very appreciated when needed.

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 First night magic - I also tucked a little “first night” letter into their bag so they had something sweet and familiar waiting for them — especially nice if camp mail takes a few days to catch up.

Worth The Read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰 When You’re Asked to Meet Impossible Goals (HBR) - A smart, tactical read on how to say no (without actually saying no) when the expectations are sky-high and the timeline is... not.

📰 A Vacation from the Future (8Ball) - A thoughtful piece on what “time off” could mean in a world shaped by automation, AI, and constant availability.

📰 The Anti-Goal Setting Guide: Creating Objectives People Actually Care About - This is my most recent blog post. It’s for leaders who are trying to help the people who report to them (and the people who report to them) set better goals… particularly aimed at those you manage who hate goal-setting.

📕 The Wedding People by Alison Espach. A great read that’s more than a beach read but not so serious that it’s overly heavy.

📕 Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone with Sheila Heen. The sub-subtitle of this book is “even when it is off base, unfair, poorly delivered, and, frankly, you’re not in the mood” which is a great summary of this read, which is a good quick skim about how to make feedback more palatable.

Every month when I sit down to think about this newsletter, I find myself reflecting on what's been occupying my thoughts. My role involves countless decisions daily—some inconsequential and reversible, others with lasting impact. Recently, I've been auditing my calendar to understand where my time actually goes. The measure of doing a good job isn't having a busy calendar, but spending your time where it truly needs to be spent. This audit has helped me reclaim deeper work blocks and, as the weather warms, rethink how my family spends time together versus in our own spaces.

What I'm re-discovering and reminding myself is that intentional space-making isn't just about productivity—it's essential for both professional and personal growth. These reclaimed moments allow for innovation and creativity that simply can't emerge when racing between meetings. As leaders and people who interact with other people, our most valuable contribution isn't in the volume of decisions we make or meetings we attend, but in the quality of our thinking and the clarity of our vision. For example, it's amazing what information my children share or how deep we get into a topic, subject, or something that happened at school when I hit on the right questions to ask. Perhaps our greatest untapped resource is this white space—where our best thinking happens and our deepest connections form.

Legend

🎙️ podcast

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 parenting hack

📰 article or blog post

🪩 conference

📕 book

📺 tv show

🎬 movie

🔍 random product

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 A landline phone. I know, this one seems like a blast from the past, but we got a landline a couple of years ago and it was SUCH a good decision. Not only are we able to teach our kids actual phone etiquette again (like how you have to say hello when someone picks up and tell them who is calling) but they also don’t commandeer our phones when they want to call an aunt, uncle, grandparent, or cousin.

🪩 Lead Dev London — I love the Lead Dev conferences. They’re doing it big this year and the lineup looks great. Highly recommend checking it out.

🪩RailsConf — So excited about this conference. Always feels like a reunion with wonderful folks I haven’t seen in way too long and this year is the last one!!! Get your ticket today.

🔍Subscription to Universal Yums — Ok, so a couple of years ago my kids were both getting kiwi crates. They’re great, highly recommend, except my kids spent 20 minutes building the thing, then not using it, but also refusing to throw it out and after a year, it was just too much. I pitched a few “replacement” boxes to them and Yums won! Every month we get a snack box curated with snacks and food from different countries and areas around the world. The kids love it, I love it, and since it’s all edible, there’s nothing hanging around at the end of the month.

Worth the read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

📰Stories—A lovely read from Mike Fisher on the stories we tell—about others, ourselves, and the situations we’re in—and how they shape what’s possible.

📰“Thanks, but no thanks”—On how well-meaning help at work can sometimes backfire. If you’ve ever felt undermined by someone trying to be “supportive,” this one will resonate.

🎙️Wired for connection—A quick dive into how our nervous systems respond to relationships—and why social connection is more than just “nice to have.”

🎙️Hidden tech debt—Less about messy code, more about what happens when clarity and context go missing. A great write-up.

🎙️Getting More from Your Team Health Checks—This has been on my to do list to read for a while. Finally got to it and it’s great, particularly I love the fact that they dig into the fact that how you facilitate this conversation is such an important part of how to get real, actionable helpful results. When people ask me why a facilitator is necessary, or think they can facilitate these conversations on their own, these are the kinds of points I look to in order to drive home that while an outside facilitator seems like a nice to have, it actually increases the chances of getting to really amazing, actionable insights.

🎙️Building Leadership Influence By Asking The Right Questions First—Ever notice how some leaders consistently get buy-in, while your updates fall flat? It’s not just what you say—it’s how you say it, especially with execs. I wrote a short blog on tailoring your updates + pitches depending on who you're talking to. It's simple but powerful stuff. Free templates included!

📕Vox—Read this for a book club. I’m trying to stay away from dystopian novels these days but this one was a good one. Highly recommend, if you can handle books with that vine these days

Springtime! It’s new, it’s refreshing! It feels like we’re all crawling out of our winter hibernation and getting back into the world. For me, it means I can go on a walk or meet up with a friend without bundling up (although my chronic flaw is forgetting to check for rain) and going for post-work walks because there’s still daylight outside. As I’ve been thinking about this newsletter, I felt like it also needed a spring refresh. So I thought… which are the newsletters I like to read? What are the ones that feel valuable to me because lord knows we all get enough email that we don’t need another empty, useless item sitting in our inboxes.

Here’s a refresh. Every month, instead of the previous highlights, you’ll get a list of recommendations of things that I found interesting or helpful. They’ll probably be random and from all over teh place. Some work related and some life relatedApril feels like the perfect time for a reset—personally and professionally. So I’m starting with this newsletter!

I’ve been thinking about how to make it more fun and useful for you. Maybe it’s time to switch things up—a new format, some fresh sections, or even something interactive!

What kind of tips, stories, or ideas would you love to see here?

Legend:

🎙️ podcast

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 parenting hack

📰 article or blog post

📕 book

📺 tv show

🎬 movie

Current Obsessions

A random assortment of products, groups, hacks, tips, podcasts and more that I’ve discovered recently

• 📺Paradise on Hulu — A compelling show that had me actually tracking which date the next episode was ready. I was so bummed when the season ended.

• 🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Forms hack — Save form answers in a google doc - As my kids get older i’m realizing that i’m filling out basically the same answers in forms over and over again. For the forms that are trying to get to know my kids… the ones that ask about my their personality, struggles, fears, hopes, etc. (school, camp, those kinds of places), save these in a google doc because they change a little but not that much.

• 🎙️Neuroscience of confidence — A quick, fascinating look at how confidence actually works in the brain. Super digestible and worth a listen.

• 🎙️Gatecrashers podcast — A deep dive into who gets access to elite institutions, and who gets left out focusing on the Jewish experience with higher education. Thought-provoking and sharp.

• 🎙️Journey Lines podcast — One where I’m the guest!!! I talk about my path from nonprofit work to coding, startups, team leadership, and now doing my own thing again. If you’re into pivots and real talk, give it a listen!

Worth the read

Things I’ve read recently that are interesting or noteworthy in some way

• 📕The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley — A Victorian explorer is dropped into 2020s London and paired with a civil servant assigned to help him adjust. It’s weird, interesting, a little romantic, a little futuristic - and totally compelling.

• 📰Why Hackathons Are Breaking (Not Making) Your Engineering Culture — Hackathons sound fun—until the rushed PRs, forgotten projects, and burnout kick in. There’s a better way.

• 📰The Post-Performance Review Guide No One Talks About, Part 2 — What happens when you think your performance review is BS? Some good reframes in this post.

Ok, yes, that title is a hot take, but it’s also SO TRUE!!! It’s spring, which means it’s major offsite season. Now through the end of June is when so many teams look to connect, revitalize their teams, try to gain alignment on priorities that may have shifted since January, or onboard new hires. While I’d love to say that this means everyone gets to experience impactful, transformative, joyous, inspirational, knowledge-filled events, this, unfortunately, isn’t the case. The number of experiences that will be just ok, or good enough, or planned mere weeks before occurring is large (but hey, at least the flights and hotel rooms are figured out).

This is my plea to you—don’t make people sit through presentations, pointless discussions, or icebreakers they’ll hate. Call me. I’d love to chat and help you turn these experiences into something beyond your wildest dreams.

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My performance review is BS: Ways to shift your perspective when you don’t agree with what you hear

As a leader, if you even receive a performance review, one of the biggest challenges can be making sense of the feedback—especially when it doesn’t resonate or seems unclear. This post helps you reframe and refocus, turning what might feel like an unhelpful review into a valuable tool for growth.

Click here to read more…

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What I'm Reading

For Work:

This article dives into the benefits of simply doing nothing with loved ones—no plans, no agenda, just being together. In a world that constantly pushes us to be productive, these unstructured moments can actually strengthen relationships, reduce stress, and boost overall well-being. A good reminder that sometimes, the best way to connect is by slowing down.

Read more here: The Benefits of Doing Nothing with Loved Ones

For Fun:

Look, as a nice Jewish girl from Jersey, I love a good summer camp sleepaway story, and The God of the Woods by Liz Moore was fantastic. The camp vibes combined with suspense, mystery, and everything I love in a good book.

I hope you enjoy it!

As we step into February, the coldest and darkest month for many of us around the world — we’re reminded of the importance of nurturing connections. Just as we invest in friendships and camaraderie, it’s important to invest in ourselves as well.

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The Art of Upward Reviews: Writing Feedback Your Manager Will Actually Use

In part 1 of this series, we covered writing your self-review. Now, let’s dive into the art of crafting an upward review for your manager, no matter their level. Writing feedback for your boss can be tricky, but when done thoughtfully, it can foster growth and strengthen your working relationship. In this article, we’ll explore how to provide constructive, actionable feedback that benefits both you and your manager.

Click here to read more…

What I’m reading

For work:

This article was an interesting read about the number of individuals in today’s workforce feeling exhausted and checked out. There often isn’t one thing that leads to being checked out but, in fact, a lot of different components, that slowly and all of a sudden make you feel disconnected and disengaged. This article provides a few tips of things to try to help you re-engage and one that they didn’t mention that i’ll mention… get an offsite (virtual or in person) on the books and have someone great facilitate it. It’ll bring your team together in no time.

Read more here: Are You Checked Out at Work?

For fun:

The book The Women by Kristin Hannah provides a super interesting look into the important impact women made during the War in Vietnam. A subject I honestly didn’t know much about and a story I definitely hadn’t heard of before, the fiction book, based on true and real experiences was a fascinating read.

I hope you enjoy.

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