Never #1

In high school there are always the Math wizzes, Track stars, perfect figured cheerleaders, and the nerds in AP classes. I was never the best at anything, which hindered my path into college. I liked many things, I loved nothing, but decided to go to college for architecture.

My first and second year of college I began to find my weaknesses, calculus, and my strengths, making hard decisions. It might not be the name of a class, but “making hard decisions” is a skill I will value the rest of my life. It allowed me to switch my major, switch my college, and switch my city. It put me onto a direction that favored a wide range of talents, not one specialty.

If you are one of those people who don’t exceed in only one area, but exceed in adapting to many things, that is your #1.  Many jobs these days require a variety of skills, and if you fail at any one of them it could create a huge gap in your workload. So embrace your many skills, this makes you more versatile, adaptable, moldable, and gives you more of a management mentality.

Hailey Schultz

The Table of Contents to my Life

I finally put together a personal website!

The purpose of this website is to keep track of all running projects. It holds my contact information and keeps people up to date on my personal and professional life.

I love the idea of everyone having websites because unlike Facebook or Linkedin, you have total control of what to show, what things say, and it can be a great representation of who you are. So many of these prebuilt pages make it hard to stand out, they tend to communize everyone.

So here it is:
http://schultzhailey.wix.com/visionary

Hailey Schultz

What's a lunch?

Once you turn salary this is a question many of us ask. I step away from my desk to have lunch around once a month, as for the rest of the workdays I take a 15 minute internet/ snack break 2 or 3 times a day. 

Although personally I would like to not have a lunch break and leave 1 hour early from work everyday, I think lunch is something people should take advantage of, including myself. When I leave the office and come back I feel refreshed, empowered, and less tied down. I was not bothered by e-mails or a bright screen, I got to walk around, and I'm ready to push through the rest of my workload. 

I read an article recently of a CEO who works 4 days a week. How is that possible? Besides being very well organized and efficient, they don't get burnt out. They have a generous weekend with time to relax and rejuvenate themselves. 

Not very many people have the option to work only 4 days a week, but by taking your lunch break to relax and rejuvenate, I think your work and your day will be much more satisfying. 

Hailey Schultz

Personal vs. Business

When I go to work in the morning I bring a lot of myself, and little is turned off. So how do you tell if it is personal, or business?

At work I analyze work, everywhere else I analyze people. At work I am not judging you for what you do at home, I am only concerned about your work and professionalism.

We have quite a few temps that have been helping us with the Fall workload and they have taught me so much. Every so often I might e-mail a brisk comment to them, this is not meant to judge them as a person, but to judge their work and to help them learn. As far as I am concerned their work is a completely different subject than them as a person.

Many people take things personally, including myself, and it only hurts yourself. Don’t waste your energy, keep it professional on your end, and you will grow much easier.

Hailey Schultz

In over your ski tips

--> I taught one of my brothers how to ski when he was just shy of turning 3. He wore one of those crazy colorful ski hats so we would be sure not to loose him. One of my favorite things to do is go skiing on a weekday around 9pm when no one else is around, you can hear your skies cutting through the snow, you don’t have to worry about anyone else, and you can glide down the hill at your own leisure. It is the only thing in this world I have found to clear my head.

But there have been those days where I am skiing and, although usually I fall backwards, I have been “over my ski tips.” Sometimes you can redeem yourself, others result in an injury-like a sprained knee…yes this can carry over to other aspects of life ha! Many times I have taken on more than enough workload for two people, and as I try to slow down to process the information around me I usually redeem myself, however there are a few occasions where I have tripped up…

The good thing about spraining your knee every so often is it reminds you to be more cautious. You need to watch out for yourself and be careful with the choices you make. You might briefly look like an Olympic skier, but if you end the run with a broken neck, it wasn’t worth the fleeting glory.

Every year I learn more about my own abilities and limitations. I love pushing myself and seeing what happens. And don’t worry, I will keep you updated on the next success, or sprained knee.

Hailey Schultz

Flip-flops in the workplace

I'm guilty of wearing flip-flops in the workplace, yesterday mine were metallic with rhinestones and with every step I heard them flop.

It really depends on your workplace and company on the wardrobe you should invest in. I work at adidas so it is perfectly acceptable to wear adidas gear, track jackets, tennis shoes.... however many men walk around in button ups and khakis. I have the luxury of a broad wardrobe here, the only no's are Nike and Puma.

I came to a realization that it is not the flip-flop that is unacceptable but the noise they make when you are walking, much like "swoosh" pants would be inappropriate. Any clothing that makes noise should not be wore in an office environment.

Today is the last day I will wear flip-flops, I guess this is an awesome excuse to go summer shoe shopping!

Hailey Schultz

Seeing opportunities and appropriately presenting them at the right time

-->

Quite a mouthful and quite hard to do.  

When my 4 brothers come to my house they always ask me for “good & naughty stuff” (sweets & treats), but I’m not the mom, I can’t make that decision, and so off they go to find mom. They are still learning what to ask whom. Right after Christmas they always get excited about a new toy one of their friends got, don’t they know I’m broke from being Santa and that they just got 100 new presents that are still scattered across the living room?! They are still learning timing….they are not selfish, or spoiled, they are just excited at the opportunity of the new toy! In a few years these boys will learn, when mom is in a good mood she will bake cookies, when she is depressed she will buy you clothes.

I’m not sure why but it is always easier to see inappropriateness from the outside, rather than when you are in the mix. I have so many ideas but many times I don’t know where they would fit, how to tell someone, or when would be a good time to talk about it.

(find opportunities that improve)

Your uniform is all black and you want the shirts to be maroon: If something is working don’t change it unless it is a substantial improvement. Why maroon? Will this bring in more sales? Do people with maroon shirts work harder? Does maroon hide spills more than black?

(ideas are great, but they need to enhance, not clash)

If you are having a black tie event, don’t serve wings: A mistake I have made many times is trying to fit an idea (different flavored wings) into a situation that just didn’t fit (black tie event). Default to traditions that have worked in the past if you see yourself in a jam, just serve something you can eat with a fork and knife.

(timing is everything)

Your boss just got back from a vacation in Jamaica and there was a huge catastrophe while he was out: Chill, if this catastrophe can’t be fixed let him get his coffee, second if it was so bad you should talk to his boss to help you out. Timing is important, this catastrophe will have to be explained but figure out a time that he would be able to help you, don’t overwhelm him the second he walks through the door.

(don’t make spam)

“Boss, Boss, look at this awesome new desktop collage I made for everyone in our department”….Don’t waste work time to create things that no one else cares about. Just because you are passionate about it doesn’t mean it will contribute or interest anyone else.

Hailey Schultz