Life-in-Progress

Life is more than a day job.

Author Archive

When are you moving home?

Posted by Alora Posted on Mar - 28 - 2012

Much to my eternal surprise, I still find myself getting this question.  People seem to assume that the only reason I haven’t yet moved back to the Bay Area is because of work, or my husband, or some other random reason.  And they all seem to assume that it’s only a matter of time before  [ Read More ]

I still HEART New York… Much to my Surprise

Posted by Alora Posted on Oct - 08 - 2011

I have a confession to make: by the time we moved out of New York in 2008, I was burnt out on the Big Apple.  I was so excited to get away, that I couldn’t run fast enough for the George Washington Bridge. In fact, I was so burnt out on NYC, that I was  [ Read More ]

I had a plan

Posted by Alora Posted on Feb - 11 - 2011

Even the best plans eventually have to be revised.

Tradition isn’t Good Enough

Posted by Alora Posted on Dec - 20 - 2010

As an agent of change, I spend the vast majority of my time examining why people do things the way they do them in order to figure out how to get them to change their behavior patterns. The trouble is that people often assume their reasons as more valid than they really are.

The Process of Processing Information

Posted by Alora Posted on Nov - 29 - 2010

Learning to understand how I process information has become increasingly important to my ability to manage my career. My early, haphazard career steps were very lucky. Now that I’m older, I have the opportunity to be more deliberate — if I understand how to navigate.

Categories: Miscellaneous

The Curse of the NT

Posted by Alora Posted on Nov - 22 - 2010

The more I study the Myers-Briggs, the more incredibly valuable information I find. Some of it is very comforting (“I knew I couldn’t be the only one who did that!”) and some of it is very frustrating (“If that’s why I tend to do that, then how do I change this habit?”), but all of it’s useful. Yet one more MBTI nugget made its way my direction recently, and it’s clarified another trend in my life that I didn’t previously recognize.

A sentimental good-bye to Ursuline from an unsentimental atheist

Posted by Alora Posted on Nov - 10 - 2010

After 130 years, Ursuline High School in Santa Rosa, my alma matter, is closing. Given my loathing of high school, my general predisposition against sentimentality and my staunch atheism, I am quite shocked to discover that I am tremendously saddened by this news.

To Entrepreneur or Not to Entrepreneur

Posted by Alora Posted on Oct - 26 - 2010

My entrepreneurial journey has come to an end, and though I felt some guilt about it at first, the truth is, I’m relieved.

A New Chapter Begins

Posted by Alora Posted on Sep - 01 - 2010

We are now almost officially at our two year anniversary in Austin.  I can say, without a doubt, that it’s been an amazing rollercoaster — not one that I ever would have knowingly signed up for, but one for which I am immensely grateful, in spite of its rockiest moments. In the past two years,  [ Read More ]

The Entrepreneurial Legacy to Gen Y

Posted by Alora Posted on Aug - 16 - 2010

Like many of my peers in Generation X, my parents and my grandparents have never really understood what I do for a living. My parents use the web, so it’s not entirely outside their comprehension, but when it comes to my grandparents: I may as well be communicating with aliens via mental telepathy. Being an  [ Read More ]

Is entrepreneurship a means or an end?

Posted by Alora Posted on Aug - 09 - 2010

For some people entrepreneurship is a philosophy. For others, it’s the price we pay for an idea we are passionate about. But what’s the difference? And, even more importantly, why does it matter? I think it matters most if you are in a B2B business yourself. As a business that serves the needs of other  [ Read More ]

Categories: Entrepreneurs

The Value of Your Time

Posted by Alora Posted on Jul - 27 - 2010

One of my posts on WorkingPoint was about asking the right questions at different stages of your business maturation — there are some questions that you should ask when you’re getting started, and others that you ask several years in. But what questions matter for today? Jason Cohen of Smart Bear Software posted a follow-up  [ Read More ]

Categories: Entrepreneurs