Love, Loss, and Life’s Teachable Moments
‘It is July and I have hope in who I am becoming.” - Charlotte Eriksson
This month, after handing in my manuscript for my book, I found myself immersed in the personal. And by that I mean two weddings, an engagement, a move-in, and a funeral—all making me realize that when it comes to life’s important moments, attention must be paid. Because when you do that’s when you find perspective amidst all the noise in the world. By being fully present in those moments that are filled with emotion, you can learn from each one and bring those life learning moments into your leadership—the personal and the professional are intertwined when it comes to emotional moments of growth.
In addition to celebrating the weddings of two amazing young couples, we celebrated our son’s engagement to his incredible FIANCÉ (love that word). In that moment, the world slipped away as we watched them share their love with their families. It was a feeling of pure joy—one that I had not felt since he was born (and that one actually hurt). By paying full attention to that feeling, it also let me focus for just that moment on all the possibilities for the future that lie ahead for this beautiful couple in love. They are the embodiment of hope in human form for their families. That’s a feeling that needs to be captured whenever the world gets too dark.
We also helped our daughter move to her new city and role as an MBA student studying health care impact. I always say when they go to a new school, I feel like I learn from all they share with me about their education journeys. Our greatest pride as parents has been providing them with a foundation of values and education that will help them make a difference in the world.
Finally, there was the bittersweet loss of two personal icons for me. Chuck Mangione, the acclaimed trumpet player, and his family have made such a difference for our family. I wrote a column about my children and their natural pucker and how the music of Chuck Mangione and his brother Gap became the background music for their growing up. Chuck represented the values of family, excellence, and education. He changed the world with his talent. But ultimately, it’s the legacy of his family and dedication to our community of Rochester, NY, that I’ll always be grateful for.
And while you wouldn’t know him, we lost another community icon, Ed Kay, a man who adored his wife and children, who worked for his entire career at PWC, devoted to his clients and his colleagues, and who donated his time to his community. For us, many years ago, he welcomed our family to our new city with generosity and hospitality, and was a huge cheerleader and role model for how to live your life professionally and personally.
All of these personal events have truly affected me this month—whether joyous or challenging—along with the loss of people I don’t even know in senseless violence that occurred just a few days ago. There is no question that the personal affects the professional. I love that research supports what we know to be true—that feeling all the feels as a human being in life makes a difference in how we show up at work.
The personal shows up in our ability to recognize our own feelings in the workplace—whether it be experiencing the joy of a project well done or taking the time to learn from failure, we bring our emotions and who we are into our everyday…every day.
This is especially true during the summer months when the personal is all about going on vacation and figuring out how to balance coming back to work and keeping what I call that “vacation” feeling—you know, the feeling you get from the respite and reset of clearing your mind and letting go of daily tasks. When you do bring that “vacation” feeling with you back into the workplace, that’s when you’ll remember you are not just a human doing but a human being.
This is exactly why I wrote Play You, the Role of a Lifetime so that readers will be able to form the foundation that will help them bring their whole selves to all their audiences in order to build their internal believability and help others believe in them too. I’m so excited to share this book with the world. Since handing in the manuscript, I worked with an incredible cover designer to bring the book to life through her art—I can’t wait for the big reveal. We are working on sharing the book with thought leaders and getting ready to launch the pre-sale. While the book will be live on platforms for pre-order starting in September, it officially is published in April 2026. I can’t wait for this community to be the first to see the results of this book, years in the making.
As always, I love sharing one thing I’ve loved this past month, and for me, I’ve got to say it’s all about…reading. The moment I handed in my own manuscript, I loaded up my Kindle with rom coms, fantasy, and science fiction and with books about work that have real answers for shifts in the workplace. I’m especially excited about Meghan French Dunbar's new book This Isn’t Working coming out on August 5th—it’s all about helping women overcome stress and guilt to find success.
I look forward to the opportunity to work with you or your organization to grow your EDGE: Explore, Dream, Grow & Excite®. Feel free to reach out anytime.
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