It's Fall, Y'all - Why It's My Favorite Season

Ah, September.  While of course January is traditionally the start of a new year, September also always feels like a bit of a fresh start. Maybe this harkens back to childhood memories of new notebooks and school supplies, but I always love the early part of autumn.

It's still warm enough to walk outdoors without more than a light jacket or sweater. I can finally break out long sleeved tee shirts, and drink pumpkin cream cold brew. And yes, I do like the PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte), but only after Labor Day. This year's August debut was just too early! The reasons I love fall are many; fall fashion, crisp days and cool evenings, the changing colors of the leaves.

September has been a busy month for me-- filled with travel and promoting the book I wrote with Dr. Cindy Goodwin-Sak . We also met in person for the first time!  That's right - we wrote a book together over zoom and Google Docs - and we never met in real life until this past week.  Where did we meet? At an incredible event in Fort Worth, Texas hosted by Donnie Boivin and Success Champion Networking (SCN) - The Badass Business Summit . I had THE best time meeting LinkedIn friends old and new, spoke on a panel about LinkedIn with LIAM DARMODY and Kevin D. Turner , and overcame some very loud in my head limiting beliefs by pitching myself on a podcast panel - The Voice blind auditions style. I am proud to say I received multiple chair turns and I am so excited to get to speak with some incredible podcast hosts!

I would love to hear your favorite memory from these first three weeks of September!

Now here we go -- it's time for this month's #fourtofollow flashback!

Jen Laffin helps goal-SETTERS become goal-GETTERS by managing self-doubt. Her mission? To help you turn your dreams into reality by overcoming the self-doubt hurdles that hold you back. Jen helps her clients to tackle procrastination and build discipline, gain clarity on their goals, boost motivation, conquer self-doubt, and enhance accountability. She is also a genuinely kind and lovely person. We are very fortunate to have her as our Success Mindset Mentor in the DIY Influence community -- her sessions are incredible. I also got to meet her for the first time IRL in Fort Worth last week!

Susan Collins, ACC, PHR, CI is a corporate leadership coach as well as a stellar human being. Her years in corporate HR have given her a unique perspective and incredible insights into the human side of business - and that makes her an outstanding career strategist and executive coach. Susan will be your 'partner in discomfort and growth' while at the same time providing you with a zone free of judgement, office politics, and others' expectations. I have had the pleasure of meeting her in person as well and I can attest to her genuine care for her clients.

Lisa Gable is a former United States Ambassador, a keynote speaker, and the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Turnaround: How To Change Course When Things Are Going South. She is now Chairperson at the World in 2050, a futuristic think tank of the Diplomatic Courier Global Affairs Media Network, created to address how major global forces such as demographic changes, resource stress, technology advances, and economic power shifts will affect our future. Lisa also sits on the Advisory Board of 6Star Capital. They are dedicated to investing in advanced AI-driven technologies designed to promote positive, safe, and truthful digital experiences. 6Star Capital support startups that develop cutting-edge solutions to systematically identify, monitor, and mitigate disinformation on a global scale. Lisa is on my short list of must meet IRL because she is one of the kindest, warmest, and smartest women I know.

Michelle Ferguson is a Chief Operating & Financial Officer who has led red to black financial turnarounds throughout her storied career. She has led high-performing teams of over 400 employees and hundreds of partners across multiple functions, geographies, and cultures. Michelle is a tireless champion for others and the epitome of a mentor. She even wrote a book about it: Women Mentoring Women: Strategies and Stories to Lift As We Rise. She is an avid reader herself, and I always enjoy her thoughtful book recommendations. As we are both New Yorkers, I have met her more times than I can count, and I always walk away from those meetups with a full heart and feeling just a little smarter.

My LinkedIn tip of the month: Have you realized that people whose content you enjoy have completely disappeared from your feed? It happens -- even when bells are rung (the bells are effective in the short term, and then often fall off). There is an easy way to get them to show up again -- and it's all about the DMs. Send the person a DM to let them know that you miss seeing their content and want to start having it show up again. But the key is - ask them to REPLY to your DM. Sending a DM to someone and getting a response tells the algorithm that you want to see each other's content. I have tried it and it does work! We have to take charge of curating our own feeds to get to see the people and the content that is meaningful to us.

And with that, another issue of the Caffeinated Chronicles draws to a close. Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed it. Make this last week of September count!! Every day is an opportunity to do something to meaningfully change your life, your business, or your career.

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