Erin Albert’s Blog

Nothing thrills me more than when my homies bring back crazy stuff I say, preach, or just flat out love, and today was the perfect example of that.

One of my friends, Jeff, posted a photo of a sign on my Facebook page that said the following:  “If you are waiting for a sign from the UNIVERSE, This is it! Now go big.”  LOVE IT!  Another friend from high school, Karen, apparently remembered that I’m a huge fan of the Shamrock Shake, and reminded me that today, the magical shakes were back at McD’s!  So, guess where I headed between law school and home tonight?  Yup! DETOUR to the land of awesome green shakes! YUM!

Other friends invited me to radio (tomorrow night – Coach Caroline – 5 pm eastern, in case you want to listen in–to rap about Plan C), and even another friend posted about Downton Abbey (another show I’m a total sucker for – LOVE MATTHEW!)

I digress.

Last but not least, there’s been quite a brewhaha about Facebook having an all-male board with their IPO just out.  But one of my friends made a good point: he said, “Hey – why don’t you get on their board and change it?”  I thought that was an excellent piece of advice, so I sent Mr. Zuckerberg a letter expressing my concern over his lack of equality on his board, along with a copy of my board bio and my CV for his consideration this morning.  Why not be the change?  I’m ALWAYS giving this advice, but it was great to see it reflected back to me!

What’s my point on this post?  Well, my dear friends of the universe, sometimes it’s just cool to know that other people have your back from time to time–they can also get you to expand your mind.  Furthermore, it’s fab to see that in some tiny way, the difference one makes in the universe from time to time sometimes reflects back in surprising and fun ways.  So all my messages reflected back in a super cool way today–on a Monday of all days–after the Super Bowl of all days–and it was such a lovely and pleasant surprise!

I hope you have a reflective day coming up too.  They are fun, and every once in awhile, it’s great to know that one can make a little bit of positive difference in the world.  You, too, can be the mirror.

Yay!

Yay!

Tomorrow at 5 pm eastern, I’ll be talking to Career Coach Caroline about you guessed it–Plan C!  It will be on live in Seattle on KJAQ HD3, WBMX HD3 Boston, WOMC HD3 Detroit, WDSY and WZPT HD3 Pittsburgh.  Also, if you’re not in any of those cities, you can listen in here.

Can’t wait to talk Plan C!!! Listen in if you’ve been thinking about starting that business, but don’t want to leave that stable day job…

Twas the night before the Super Bowl,
And all through Indy–
Visitors were amazed and shocked
by how great the City…

is prepared for their arrivals;
all through the streets,
locals and visitors–
people of all varieties meet.

On Patriots! On Giants!
The teams’ fans will root.
But more importantly to Indy,
We hope the east coasters will toot

that Indy is a great place for Super Bowl fun.
And we hope everyone comes back
for another bowl game–
bringing their cash by the ton.

(Poet I’m not…)

I am a Gemini.  And me too!

(Don’t worry, I’m not going to reveal my exact birthday, nor am I going to talk about how old I am in this post.) #Relief

Instead, I’m here to argue that like it or not, we are all Geminis now.

As I often explain to my students who are getting ready to go into the “real world” and get those things called “real full-time jobs,” I explain that their generation really has 2 individuals to manage.  The first is/are their “real world” selves; the existence in the real world, their work ethic, how they interact with the rest of us in reality, etc.

The second?  That’s their digital selves.  A vanity search on Google reveals what about you…?  What does your linkedin profile look like?  (And you do have a linkedin profile, right? I never cease to be amazed by the people who DON’T HAVE a linkedin profile.)  What can people see of you on Facebook?  Are there other people with your name running around online decreasing your street cred with their own beer pong parties, as an example?

Like it or not, there are two of each of us – there’s the real-world one, and now the digital one.  My challenge back to my students, myself, and all of us is: how are we managing both?  ARE we managing both?  Reviewing one without the other can be a career killer.  So own them…BOTH.

Now, I’m backing off of the digital self and getting back to the first world self in 3….2….1…..!

This will all make sense in the end, promise.

First, I sat in my office at lunch contemplating one of my previous posts, this one, and my still uncompleted homework assignment for D700 – Higher Ed Law. Then, I said to myself, “Hey, self, shouldn’t you be walkin’ your talk?!?” So, I next pulled out my virtual pen (my mac keyboard of course) and wrote a note to none other than Drew Faust, President of Harvard dot edu.

I introduced myself, remarked that I visited her campus awhile ago with a friend of mine who was an alum of her fine institution, and explained the assignment.  I also submitted that I could think of no other person on the planet I’d rather interview for that particular assignment who is in Presidential position at a university other than herself. Then, I reviewed my digitally penned note, ran the spell check, and hit send.

Will I hear from her? Doubtful.  I realize she’s busy running one of the oldest and most prestigious universities on the planet.  Trust me, I get it.  However, I left her with one of my favorite quotes from one of my other favorite Drews in my digitally penned note – Drew Barrymore – who said the following, which, of course was also featured in the movie, My Date with Drew (hence the catchy title of this post):

“If you don’t take risks, you’ll have a wasted soul.”

Let it be known, my peeps, that I am up in here walking my talk.

Second story: for those of you not in the U.S., we’ve got this little shindig called Super Bowl XLVI going on here in my hometown–Indianapolis–this coming weekend.   So I floated over to the faceplace to see if anyone had any photos of celebrity a la Indy.  The local paper and a few of my friends said that none other than Mr. Ryan Gosling was in town.

Now, while I’m not usually a fan of blondes, (tall dark and handsome is my modus operandi) I am a fan of his.  Hello?  THE NOTEBOOK.  What’s not to like!?!

Anyway, I posted on my facebook and twitter pages that if he’d like to dine with me, I’d be available tonight after 7:30 pm.  As I was joking before law class with one of my friends about my post, she said, “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being a little delusional from time to time.”

Did Ryan get back to me?  Not yet.  Maybe he’s a night owl.  Who knows.  I won’t hold my breath.  But–if he does get back to me?  I’m buying the first round of drinks in my hood, because that’s called Hoosier Hospitality, and that’s how I roll!

Now, what’s my point?  My point tonight my friends I share with my law school friend and Drew Barrymore: sometimes, one must take a few risks along the way.  Because, if you don’t, not only will you have a wasted soul, but you’ll also live a sort of quasi-life, and a life full of regret.  I don’t ever want to live to age 86 and say, “Darn.  Wish I would have emailed President Faust about that homework assignment,” or “Wow. Would have been cool to have drinks with Ryan when he came to town.”

Take risks.  Don’t waste your soul.  And remember, as my friend said, being slightly delusional every now and then is permitted, and necessary for a full life.

(And Ryan…call me.)

I really liked this blog post from Harvard Business Review this morning on making your work meaningful.  It made me think of a presentation I’m giving soon on how to find your passion and integrate it, Indy style (yes, for a local audience).  I tried to visually represent what getting in this passion zone looks like, and again, the best I could do was something like this:

Our calling, reason for being here, perfect passion, “zone-zen” place, whatever you choose to call it, lies at the intersection of these 4 rings, methinks.  You have to know what you value, what you’re personally great at, what you love to do (because let’s face it, sometime we are good at something that we can’t stand), and what someone will pay you for. That 4th ring of the pay thing may seem only about money – but I’m also talking that someone might pay you in social capital, or media capital, or some other form of capital that is awesome to you and not necessarily cash.

While preping for this lecture, I asked others how they found their passions.  I didn’t really like the answers.  Why?  Because they were messy.  ”I stumbled upon it,” or “it found me,” or “I don’t know – I just accidentally discovered it” were the answers I received.  As a scientist, I get that we all need to experiment to stumble upon our happiness; however, as the pragmatic businessperson, I can’t believe we haven’t yet invented a better way to find our passions…

I don’t have many answers here, just more questions.  Like, who are you?  What do you value? What do you love?  What are you good at?  What are you doing when an entire day flies by and you didn’t even notice?  Answering those tougher questions I think might lead you to more of the center of the circle.  Of course, life has experimentation associated with it as well.

I could be splitting hairs here – six and one half dozen of the other…etc., but at the end of the day?  The universe really doesn’t care how you got to your perfect passion sweet spot.  I think we all should care that you got there, and your life is meaningful in a way that is meaningful to you.  Not that easy, and not that simple, but very, very important.

Today, I had the opportunity to:

A. Finalize 50 or so patent term calculations;
B. Finish writing a quiz;
C. Lecture for 2.5 hours;
D. Attend class for an additional 2 hours;
E. Fight PowerPoint – and lose (OF COURSE on a PC, not a mac);
F. Both teach and learn about Orphan Drugs;
G. Nearly die on the way to work this morning via inane drivers;

Correct answer? H. All of the above.

This was a mother Monday.  But I’m still alive.  I survived.  And in order to celebrate our survival on this oh-so-crazy Monday, I will leave you with a quote I posted tonight on Twitter, that should definitely apply to ALL Mondays, which is an African-American Proverb:

“Do the best you can, where you are, with what you have, now.”

Next Monday?  I’m going to repeat the line above.  In my head.  Over and over…

One of my mentors from college told me to never wish my life away.  But that’s really hard to remember on days like today, where it’s 30 degrees outside, blustery, with snow on the ground–and after spending a Friday night at a memorial service for a colleague.  But, I created a win-win here by wishing for spring, discussing spring break plans, and yes, even curating a hurry up spring board on pinterest as part of my pin-therapy. Pindiction. Pinspiration. Whatever you so choose to call it.  Enjoy.

Winter is probably my least favorite season, long about the end of January, and it is getting more difficult for me each winter as I get…eh hem…more mature. So while my old school mentor was correct–it is a bad thing to wish one’s life away–I totally understand that sometimes, it’s OK to want to fast forward a little. Also, in an effort to bring the experiences I want back to me, here’s a few things that I’m getting straight with the universe for next quarter or two. Please bear with me, but as those who believe in putting out what you want to come back to you–allow me to indulge in a Tony Robbins moment or two below:

1.  Paris:  Let’s be clear, dear universe.  I’m VERY interested in heading to Paris during spring break.  Let’s make that one happen!

2.  Plan C: Everyone keeps on asking if Plan C will ever be a book-book.  My answer to that is: maybe.  I just need about half a dozen more compelling stories to add to a second edition, THEN and only then will I make plans to do a book-book.  So, dear universe, if you can bring ‘em on, I’m here, with my computer, ready to take answers and notes.  If not?  Good enough is good enough.

3.  Passing the bar: Pass the bar the first time.  Do it once, do it right.  (That’s more just for me–but still, need to put that out there…)

4.  Children’s RX book: let’s have an awesome party for that one, mmk?

5.  My law school reading for the week and my lesson plans: get magically into my brain before I finish this post.

OK – not going to push my luck here.  #5 probably overstepped my wishing boundaries.

But you get my point.  Sometimes, it’s a good thing to rectify with the universe what you want.  That way everyone is on the same page–no matter what season, time, temperature, or otherwise.  Try it – write down 5 things you’d like the universe to bring to you during the next quarter or two.  Then, put the note in a safe place and drag it back out later on in the year – did any of it come true?  You might just be surprised…!

(And still..bring on spring!  Sorry to my mentor.)

OK, boys, you all have your fantasy football and basketball teams, right?  Well, I don’t have any fantasy sports teams.  But, here come the sports analogies regardless, and I’m officially starting my own fantasy league with this post!

I have a homework assignment for one of my classes (Higher Education Law) where I need to interview someone (not so ironically) in higher education.  I can interview anyone I pretty much want to – the sky’s the only limit.  So, if I could have my fantasy interview team around this assignment and could interview anyone, who would it be?

After doing some research online and discovering that only 23% of women are at the helm of colleges and universities (which, when you think about it, 75% of the teachers are women) – this number is abysmal.  However, there are some AWESOME women out there now, and here’s my very own fantasy university women’s leadership league, if I could interview any of them, would be a dream come true!  Here are just a few in totally random order:

Drew Gilpin Faust – Harvard – She’s only the 28th President of the university, AND the first woman, 5th in the Ivy League.  Now I know not everyone thinks that Harvard is the end all be all when it comes to colleges and universities….but despite the haters, one must pay respect to her and her position, regardless of what people think of the school.  Being awesome always draws criticism.  And my first question to her – after congratulating her on breaking that very thick glass ceiling?  Easy.  How has it been being the first woman of one of the preeminent international universities?  Also, she never went to Harvard – so that would be my next set of questions–is the fact that she didn’t attend Harvard an asset or liability, and if so, in what ways?

H. Kim Bottomly – Wellesley College – Immunologist.  Life Scientist.  Publishing machine.  Rock star of one of the women’s-only leading colleges on the planet.  What’s not to like here?  My first question to her would be: how was transitioning from the west to the east coast?  Second, about the school–what are the unique challenges in educating women in a women-only academic environment?  What are the differences between it and co-gender educational environments?

Mary Sue Coleman – University of Michigan – The most impressive accomplishment regarding President Coleman is her ability to raise funds at first glance, and manage a MEGA institution.  (I called on U of M at one of my former jobs, and the campus is mind-blowingly huge!) U of M’s capital fundraising campaign to raise $2.5 billion (yes, with a b) was surpassed by Coleman and her campus raising $3.2 billion – the most ever raised by any university, ever.  That. Is. Impressive.  First question I’d ask her?  How do you get rockstarian at fundraising?  It truly is an art form, and her legacy in that arena is amazing!

Shirley M. Tilghman – Princeton – President of Princeton since 2001, three things strike me at first glance with President Tilghman’s ascension: 1. Princeton is ranked at #2 of the top 50 best colleges in the country, 2. She’s from Canada and 3. She actually worked as a teacher at Princeton for 15 years before she was promoted to President.  For those outside academia, it is rare to see Presidents gain promotion from within the university.  Typically, presidents are hired outside the four walls of the college or university.  The other cool item of note for President Tilghman?  She’s a woman, at a school that fought for a long time to be co-ed.  Questions I’d ask her: how did you get to be a president at a university where you taught for years before (which again is highly unusual)?  Were you aware of the co-ed turmoil, is it still an issue on campus, and how do you manage that as a university president?

Catharine Bond Hill - Vassar – Economists are smart cookies.  I have no doubt at all that ALL of these women are brilliant, but the thing I love about reading President Hill’s bio is that she reinstated need-blind admissions at Vassar.  (As a scholarship recipient myself regardless of need at my own undergrad university, I can appreciate this.)  I also know how insane colleges and universities are getting in terms of tuition–and so my first question to President H would be: can the costs of higher education keep escalating at the current rates and remain a viable option for the majority of high school students in the U.S.?

Debora L. Spar – Barnard – She attended Barnard, then worked and went to school in various capacities, then became President.  She’s also a political scientist, and does a ton of work on women’s issues and B school work at Harvard.  The first question I would definitely ask her is the full-circle question: how does it feel to be president of an institution you attended as an undergrad?  (Right now, being a teacher at my former undergrad school is surreal enough – I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to actually run my alma mater!)

There are other amazing women on my fantasy team and in my fantasy league that I’d love to interview.  I could go on.  But I won’t.  However, I will leave you with this: why aren’t these women out in the media more, sharing their leadership success stories with all of us?  I know the real answer, but I’d like to respectfully challenge the universe with this question again.

And Presidents, if any of you are reading this and would do me the honor of giving me 45 minutes of your time for an interview, I’d welcome the pleasure of it–your administrative partners can email me here to schedule a time to chat!  And if not, THANK YOU regardless–for your tenacity, intelligence, and hammering through the very tough glass/concrete ceilings out there.  We appreciate you paving the way!

One of my law professors sent me an excerpt from this article in the Times about The Joy of Quiet.  I liked it. And I think it is right, in a lot of ways. We’re so overloaded with technology and white noise these days, it literally is a golden thing to be able to shut it all off and merely listen…God forbid…to only the voices in our head.

I’ve written before that I value silence.  But after reading the article, I even went over to Pinterest and thought about my own idea of what truly is golden these days, and I think it is both quiet and contemplating ideas that I value, which for me, frequently comes from reading.  So, I curated a board on Pinterest about this too–the Joy of Quiet and Ideas.  For me, that means a quiet library crammed full of new and old books, a cozy chair, and a glass of wine.  That’s really all I’d need to keep myself content for a long, long time.  No iPhone, no laptop, no gadgets, no video.  Just me, my wine and my books. (OK, and pen and paper.  I would need to collect my best thoughts on something.)

But I’m certainly not going to move to the middle of nowhere as the author suggests in the Times article.  Been there, done that, and really don’t want to do that again.  However, it would be a lovely respite to have some quiet places to go, relax, unwind, and quietly read a book.  That rules out about 98% of the world. That’s also why I’m mourning over the loss of the great American bookstore.  They’re just..disappearing.  I just want places where I can go to be inspired, and bookstores used to be part of filling my inspiration bucket. Now?  I’m not sure where to go, other than online.  And frankly, that’s just not the same.

I’ll keep looking for the 2% of the remaining world that is quiet.  If that’s important to you, and you find that 2% quiet space?  Hold on to it…for dear life.