Turn Your Passion into Your Career

Forgive me if I get teary-eyed, but my oldest just started his junior year of high school. And while he still has two years left, the serious conversations have begun- careers, colleges, and scholarships, oh my! Since he was little, he’s always known that his biggest passion is music. And I’ve encouraged him to explore that over the years, he’s got such a knack for it. He’s self-taught on drums, guitar, bass guitar, and he has an amazing voice (my house is rarely quiet!). Last year his high school partnered with a local music conservatory to start a music production

6 Ways to Help Create Caring Instead of Callous Leaders

I have the opportunity to coach a lot of middle managers. Quite often they are middle-aged men, and I’m working with them because there is some issue with how they lead (or actually don’t lead) others.    Through some type of feedback mechanism, these men are described mildly as “aloof” or “disinterested” (always related to how they are with people, not necessarily the tasks or functions of their job) to more extreme words like “jerk” or “a**hole”.  I’m brought in most of the time to try to fix their “personality”. Making them more caring and a better leader of people is

The Confusion Over Cannabis

Written by: Lorrie Coffey, Horizon Point Consulting Ten states plus DC have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Thirty-four states have legalized it for medical use. And CBD oil is readily available in most states.  But marijuana is still classified by the Drug Enforcement Agency as a Schedule 1 drug, which means it is still illegal to grow, buy or sell, possess, or use under federal law.  Oh, and while CBD shops popped up on every street corner as soon as the Farm Bill was signed back in late 2018, the Farm Bill did not legalize the general production, sale, or

Killing the College Misconception

Did you know that Alabama has a “College Application Campaign”? A statewide initiative with the goal of having EVERY high school senior in the state apply to at least one college. I found this out last week thanks to the high school guidance counselor’s weekly email blast. I’ll be honest, as an HR professional, I had to hold myself back from sending her an email outlining the negative impact of such a campaign. I’m still tempted to.  I graduated high school many moons ago, in an era when high schools still had classes like shop, mechanics, and electrical design. I

Why a Decline in Teens Working is Bad For Them and Bad For Business

The diamond on my ringer finger I can thank in part to a teenager engaging in summer work. My husband worked during the summer every year starting at age fifteen. And although I wasn’t even on his radar at age 15, nor do I think marriage to anyone was at that point in time, his hard work and savings from that hard work led to a lovely diamond on my hand that he paid cash for. He worked painting schools, mowing grass, driving a forklift at a lumber yard and building tree stands while in high school. His college work