
5 Things / A Shortcut
I gave a speech this week where I talked about my divorce and how the distraction led to mistakes at work. Because I didn’t tell anyone, I never gave them a chance to be understanding or empathetic.

5 Things / Stories and Data
This is not the first time my business has been negatively impacted by the political climate. I learned some things the first time, so I’m hosting a free workshop to share these lessons and empower you to speak confidently about DEI. Please register and forward this opportunity to anyone you think may be interested. The replay will be available to registrants if you can’t attend live.

5 Things / Self-Compassion
A number of folks reached out to me this week to thank me for shining the light on good vibes. It’s hard. Many times recently, I could feel my heart racing and my stress level rise, and then I realized that it was from doom-scrolling on social media. I put the phone down. Pick it back up. Pick myself up off the floor. Thank goodness I have pickleball as an outlet.

5 Things / Pain Points
In a week in which federal DEI came crashing down (we lost the FDA as a client), I was grateful for distractions: the graduation show for my comedy class (I performed a 5 minute bit on pickleball and diversity); and a keynote at a national sales conference for a financial services firm. The keynote was about how to build authentic relationships with increasingly diverse clients.

5 Things / Empowered
Crain’s Chicago Business asked, “Bernadette, what’s your take on the current state of DEI?” I was honored to write an OpEd in this week’s edition if you’d like to check it out.