Coffee Break: Marie Forleo’s B-School (And Corporette)

148 Comments

1. side banners, pop-up ads, bottom banners, affiliate links, now a full on ad…

   1. Isn’t every post an ad? Clearly she gets revenue if we buy an item. I don’t see this as that much different.

      1. Yes, I guess, but it’s hard to believe this is an honest review. If you g00gle the company all the “reviews” have links to sign up and have very similar language. At least with a piece of clothing it’s easier to tell what you are getting for your money.

         1. Yup, it’s just a MLM scam to earn money from people signing up under her.

            1. Ah. If it was a legit online course I wouldn’t care. MLMs, no thanks.

   2. I have been part of thiss_te community for YEARS and YEARS. This post is beyond tacky and jumping the shark. Kat, you should be ashamed. Really. REALLY.

      The ads are out of control. And now this. I really need to find or start another community for smart ladies on the web. Maybe that’ll be my idea…that I won’t pay someone $2000 for.

   3. Leave Kat to earn a living! We all do. Kat was a lawyer, like me, but decided to forego that in favor of doing this on line blog, but it is also designed to keep her in nice clotheing. She is doeing a great job, and if that means you have to see some ads, well then that is to bad. I do NOT mind the ad’s b/c they give me idea’s for clotheing purchases. And it is important that we look good in court, and if that means buying new clotheing, then so be it! YAY Kat! Keep up the good work.

      1. Oh great, you’re back. This s!te really is going to the dogs. Please go away.

   4. Yes. Also been on here for more than 10 years, and I think my time is done. I lost a lot of respect for this site in the last month. It’s been real, ya’ll!

      1. Hey all, I’m not getting why the post is so offensive. Kat is transparent about having used this program, and she says she found it helpful in starting her business. It’s not a fashion thing, but she sometimes posts about other types of coffee break topics. If we’re interested, great. If not, move on!

         1. I just think it’s hard to respect the validity of a review when the reviewer gets paid for others using the same product. This isn’t a shirt, it’s a $2000 class with a bad rep online and probably no recourse to get your money back if you don’t like it.

2. What is this photoshop? Why?

3. UGH

4. NRA, f*ck you.

   Right? Can any of the smart and rational women gun-owners here help me to see this organization as anything other a mouthpiece for a delusional fringe subculture? What am I missing, that so many people give them money? Don’t responsible gun owners agree that they’re just f-ing nuts?

   1. Nope. Responsible gun owners is a myth.

      1. Way to attack a hundred million Americans. To hell with you.

         1. Prove it. I don’t see anything responsible coming from gun owners at all.

            1. Do you know any gun owners at all? Also, how do you define responsible? Honest questions.

            2. Do you know any gun owners at all? Also, how do you define responsible? Honest questions.

      2. This.

         If they weren’t a myth they would have started a responsible gun owners group to fight back against the NRA and garbage like assault rifles, high capacity magazines, and bump stocks.

         If you’re a gun owner and you belong to the NRA, you are not responsible, you are culpable.

         and @Anon 3:46 – the ones going to hell will be the NRA and its members, they are the ones with the blood of hundreds of dead children on their hands. I hope they rot.

         1. Hon, we’re talking about the NRA, not any given hour at Planned Parenthood.

            1. lol lol lol

               If you know of anyone killing hundreds of children per hour, please call the police. I’m sure you’re picking up your phone right now.

            2. I could show up outside a high school with a box of free abortion pills (good idea, actually) and I’d get more opposition from the religious right than if I were a shooter with a box of ammunition.

            3. Did you fail 8th grade biology? A zygote, embryo, or fetus is not a child, it is a zygote, embryo, or fetus. Words mean things.

            4. According to every embryology textbook in existence, a human zygote is a human child. But I guess my engineering degree isn’t quite as science-heavy as your experiences in, um, a Nasty Woman t-shirt and sleeping around, so pardon my reliance on such outdated scientific resources like biology texts.

               And for the record, I do work to end abortion. Future generations will look back upon it the way we look at slavery.

            5. I’m sure your engineering degree required more biology than my medical degree and required looking at a ton of embryology textbooks. Which all define a human zygote as a eukaryotic diploid (2n) cell formed by the union of a female gamete, the ovuum, and a male gamete, the sperm. No legitimate scientific textbook would define it as a child. Did you read this in the kind of biology textbook used by homeschooling parents who don’t want their kids to learn about evolution? Also, shockingly, one can get a degree in a scientific field while wearing what she pleases and sleeping with whoever she pleases. Your aptitude for science is exceeded only by your aptitude for logic.

               Congratulations. Your grasp of science is typical of my experiences with anti-choice activists. I work to help people get abortions so they can decide their own futures. Totally like slavery.

   2. I’m not a gun-owner, nor do I support any of the NRA’s garbage, but I grew up in a family that does. Honestly, I think it’s just part of the culture in some places and there isn’t a lot of deeper thinking and analysis happening– you’re a member of the church and a member of the NRA.

      I agree it’s abhorrent.

      1. “there isn’t a lot of deeper thinking and analysis happening– you’re a member of the church and a member of the NRA.”

         I bet when the Bill of Rights was written, which RKBA and religious freedom literally topped the list, it was without “deep[] thinking and analysis going on.” Because we all know church and RKBA are all about people who aren’t deep thinkers. Just dumb ole people who can’t keep up with you and should follow your deep thinking.

         Yeah, that’s it.

         1. ….are you literate? You’re not helping your argument.

         2. Go take a ride in the uneducated part of the Deep South where I grew up and then tell me I’m wrong. I didn’t say it’s true everywhere.

         3. I think this point is a little more nuanced.
            I grew up in the rural SEUS. Most of the kids I went to school with were on free and reduced lunch. One of my parents had a college degree, which made me a rarity among my peers. I still live in the South, though in a much different place (geographically and culturally).
            Contemporary American politics does seem to have this tribalistic impulse that leads people to vote for God and Guns, often in a way that is otherwise against their own self interest, which might a more precise way to characterize this behavior than “unthinking.” That can all be true without it meaning that the authors of the Bill of Rights were something other than “deep thinking” people, something I don’t think Anon at 3:36 was implying in any event.
            But also, I’m kind of over this infatuation with the authors of the Bill of Rights as a driving force for our constitutional interpretation now because while they were very deep-thinking, but they–sure as eggs is eggs–weren’t thinking about well over 50% of the population.

            1. More like over 75% of the population – you only mattered if you were a land-owning white male

            2. Yup.

            3. Seriously.

               It actually offends me when people just thoughtless wrap themselves in the constitution.

               I would never want to go back to live in 1776. Or 1976. Would you?

            4. Good thing I didn’t say the founders were perfect. But the did craft a document that has outlived every other founding document of its time (as I recall – correct if wrong). Topping their list of rights to protect are religion and guns.

               Before denigrating the tens of millions of devout, gun-owning Americans as lacking critical thinking skills, maybe you need to wrestle with why the greatest constitution in the world protects those rights.

               Anon at 7:43: that statement is so idiotic a response that, as the kids say, I can’t even.

   3. I think there are responsible gun owners, and then there are rabid NRA 2A or die defenders, and these two groups are mutually exclusive.

      Once they called the traumatized kids “actors” they lost all credibility.

   4. Different perspective than you are looking for, but I live in America now and do not own a gun, but used to own guns and weapons in my home country (think war-torn nation that has a lot of sand). When the violence was very bad, I would sometimes carry a gun or two, including an assault rifle, when I would do things like go and, you know, buy food, get gas, or go to a doctor.

      I have a hard time grasping why Americans are so obsessed with guns. I am so happy and feel so lucky that I don’t need one. But even if you want to own a gun for hunting or going to the shooting range, OK I can get that it is a hobby. But why anyone needs an assault rifle who is not in the middle of a war is beyond me. Any organization or individual that supports that is f-ing nuts.

      1. I think some of them think they are in a war – not a real physical people die sort of war, but a war on their ideology, so they feel more secure by buying actual weapons. They’ve never actually been physically threatened the way you would in a warzone, so have no way to calibrate the actual risk/danger they are in. But it provides a bit of control in a world where they don’t feel they have much?

      2. I had a friend actually tell me he needs an AR-15 to hunt deer. No… you don’t… you’d destroy too much of the meat. Like have you ever actually been deer hunting? Idk enough about guns personally to talk about it in any detail but I come from a family of avid hunters and none of their rifles look like that. Or have bump stocks.

         1. By any chance, do you watch the web series Manitowoc Minute? On the most recent episode, the host pointed out, “Bragging that you use an AR-15 to hunt deer is like bragging that you completed a marathon riding a Segway!”

   5. Nope. I know and am related to plenty of hunters who love their guns but none who are NRA members or think there’s any civilian use for an AR-15.

      1. Ditto… and the AR-15 is a shitty rifle that doesn’t do anything well if you care about things like accuracy, not jamming easily, or putting a round in your neighbor’s house (if shot in the name of home defense). Unless your goal is to satisfy your urge to play out your Call of Duty fantasy or just spray bullets, you can do better with just about any other weapon.

         Seriously… home defense, get a shotgun, though a big dog is probably a better deterrent. Hunting, get any of a bunch of good quality rifles (Remington 700vs would be my choice). Concealed carry, probably just don’t unless you’ve had a sh*t ton of training- way more than what’s required to get a permit.

         1. ITA with this. I know many people in Texas who have handguns for “self-defense”. in 99% of cases one or both of the following is true: the gun is such a small caliber that it is unlikely to do much damage unless the target is shot many times or the person who owns it is a freaking terrible shot who cannot hit the broad side of a barn. If you own a gun for “defense” and either of those is true, you’re an idiot, and a dangerous one at that.

            I am a gun owner. I have a shotgun. The only thing I’ve ever shot with it is clay pigeons, which I’m reasonably good at. It’s a fun thing I do sometimes. If it was illegal, I’d stop doing it without much angst about it at all. I support banning assault weapons and extended magazines too. Frankly, I worry more about big data’s ability to restrict my freedom than a lack of guns.

         2. Actually, shotguns are terrible for home defense in close-range circumstances. And they are even worse for defending yourself when in your car or out around town when someone tries to carjack or r*pe you.

      2. My husband owns guns for shooting at the gun range, all of which are stored in a locked safe with the ammo stored in a different locked safe in a different room. We both think the NRA are loons.

   6. I was really surprised to see the rhetoric from the NRA leader at CPAC earlier today. …Actually, to clarify, I was surprised by just how fringey the rhetoric was.

      My husband’s a hunter and we eat wild game most nights (it’s the original organic and free range). We watched some of the CNN debate together last night. He – and every other responsible gun owner I know – fully supports more aggressive background checks, closing the gun show / craigslist loophole, the gun purchase restraining order where family members can put their loved ones on a No Buy list, a purchase waiting period, the bump stock ban, and limiting magazines to no more than 3-10 rounds.

      He doesn’t support an assault weapons ban and neither do most of the other gun owners I know. For some people it’s a 2A “the government’s comin to get my guns!” argument, but for a lot of these common sense hunters, they say that limiting X models or characteristics won’t stop anything. I disagree with that and certainly think you could craft tailored legislation that would get at assault weapons without accidentally dragging in other types of weapons.

      The hunters I know are just as passionate about protecting their children as anyone else is. They raise their children to respect a gun’s power and to respect the animals when hunting (only take what you can eat; don’t shoot if you aren’t positive you can kill the animal so as not to leave it wounded). I’m hopeful this amped up rhetoric may be a turning point for many average American gun owners who are common sense people who are listening to these words and thinking, “Yeah, that’s pretty nuts. Let’s be responsible about this.”

      1. Nonsense. If you don’t support banning assault weapons you are not responsible and you are in no way as passionate about protecting kids as anyone else. People like your husband are the problem.

   7. The NRA can f*ck off. Responsible gun owners don’t get to sleep scot-free if they support the sale of assault rifles, bump stocks, unlimited ammunition, and who knows what else, especially without background checks, just because they personally don’t shoot up schools. Want to call yourself a responsible gun owner? Put your money where your mouth is and lobby for laws that protect people from the deadly devices you consider more important than children’s lives.

   8. don’t get me started. i recently relocated to the South from the Northeast and saw a segment on the news yesterday that a school decided to cancel its gun raffle fundraiser for the softball team due to the recent shooting in FL. Why on earth were kids selling tickets to raffle off guns to begin with? They needed a school shooting to tell them that this is a horrendous idea and sends the wrong message about guns.

      1. A former president of the NRA donates firearms for for their grandkids’ annual school auction fundraiser near here. I am perennially shocked that it doesn’t raise eyebrows.

   9. I’m a gun owner but I despise the NRA. I’d give up my gun in a heart beat if it would stop school shootings. I only use it at the range and wouldn’t mind keeping it in a locker there. I only have one because of a weird clause in my husband’s employment agreement. He has a service weapon and even though he needs to take it home on frequent occasions, it cannot be used for personal safety reasons off duty. So if it’s in his gun safe and there was a home invasion and he used it, he could be fired and would not be protected by his work liability insurance. His employer prefers that for this reason all employees who have service weapons also have a private weapon so they never find themselves in that position. The two guns are the same and live in separate safes when not on his hip for work or at the range with me.

      We both support tightening gun control laws, including restricting access to a lot of weapons. Further, he supports de-militarizing police (but recognizes that he is in a cushy fed job now not a patrol officer anymore and might not have the pulse of what’s going on in the streets) and even going back to having downtown beat cops walking the beat without weapons. We don’t need a swat team in every small town.

      We are basically in an arms race. 2A folks feel they should have equal weapons to their gov’t. The gov’t needs to keep upping their weapons to be able to face the mass shooters.

      Last thought, even us “responsible” gun owners are sometimes irresponsible. We have both had some scary oops moments and when you are dealing with a lethal weapon that is terrifying. It’s even more terrifying when it is in the hands of an untrained person.

      1. Thank you for sharing, Blonde Lawyer. Very rarely have I heard a response like this that made me think I could have a conversation about gun control without being called an anti-American commie. Your last para about the arms race is a really good point. I had never thought about it that way before, but it makes a lot of sense.

         To add, I also have a hard time believing that a gun would keep me/my family safer. As a person of color and often the recipient of islamophobic/xenophobic rhetoric (despite being born and raised here), I’m not sure I can trust that I wouldn’t be vilified for it if I did use a gun in self defense. What if I see a home intruder, only to be arrested for shooting my gun? Or what if I fire warning shots like that lady in FL did, only to be arrested for it?

         1. Link for the FL case referenced above: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/us/marissa-alexander-released-stand-your-ground.html

         2. In a mass shooting scenario, you don’t want a gun out anyway or else you are going to be confused with the bad guy/girl. Police that carry off duty have been shot in this scenario. Sadly, they are often police officers of color.

            Even with the home weapon, we don’t plan to “stand our ground.” It’s a last ditch hope if someone was at our house with the intention of injuring us personally, not just to rob our house. The plan is still run, hide, fight. For most families, even my own, not having a handgun is safer than that off chance you need it for self defense.

         3. I have a reply in mod. To everyone thinking their voices don’t get heard and there is no point in arguing on the internet, keep at it. While I’m a democrat, I did get brainwashed for a brief bit by the pro-gun crowd and have come to see the errors of my ways. I probably have old posts that said some embarrassing things. Keep fighting the good fight.

      2. Or he could just not use his service weapon and you could have no other gun. That is allowed.

         1. Seriously! Why is the only option “get more guns”’!!??

5. Wow. Are you kidding? How much money are you making off this Kat? Her whole “school” is a for profit MLM scam. I’m stunned to see this here.

   1. +1

   2. +2. Boo, Kat. I’ve been on this site for 10 years and I am very disappointed to see this.

   3. I haven’t heard of this before but just a little g00gling shows that all the “reviews” include affiliate links and very similar verbiage…Can you really do an honest review of a service when you are also asking people to sign up for the service and you’ll get money from it?

   4. +3. What the heck is happening to this site?

      1. Websites like this (blogs in general now) are going the way of the dodo. All other blogs have turned into instagram sites only. Blogs are no longer a sustainable business model, hence the weird advertising, the shrinking screen size with ads all around, and the shilling of services.

         I only come here for the comments now.

      2. It oddly feels like it is losing its original focus on professional women. This course is not something a true professional would take, and a lot of the clothes recently have been downright frumpy and unflattering.

   5. Yeah come on. The review also sounds super canned.

   6. Agreed. I agree with the comment above that this whole site is basically one big ad, but things have really gotten out of control lately. And Kat either doesn’t know (does she read comments??) or doesn’t care. It’s a big turn off.

      1. Who knows. She has never bothered engaging in the comments.

         1. That always annoys me as well. I always went back and forth on whether or not Kat was out of touch with this community because she doesn’t work in a corporate setting anymore and doesn’t engage us, but I always pushed it aside and gave her the benefit of the doubt. After seeing this post, I just don’t know anymore.

   7. + a million. Kat, you’ve got to offer SOMETHING of actual value to readers among all these ads. Otherwise why doesn’t someone just start a Threadjack Blog for fashionable/professional women with a daily post (content doesn’t matter) open to comments? We could migrate there. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the real value of this site — what keeps me visiting. I click through on the clothes sometimes, but I wouldn’t be here without the conversation in the comments.

      All the ads and excessive/slow moderation discourages readers.

      1. I want to add something that I hope will be constructive to this. I’ve read this site for 8-9 years now and there are a few things that come up again and again, but that are never really changed/addressed:

         1. The moderation policy and how innocent comments head to moderation
         2. The ads that a lot of people are encountering (I have an Adblocker, which I’ll certainly keep enabled)
         3. How it’s really hard to search for prior discussions on this site. You can use the search bar and a good threadjack will almost never come up; you can go through Google and it’s the same thing. That’s why we always have 3940830583985 conversations about where to stay during a business trip in Dallas, what kind of face cream is best for dry skin, whether to tailor pencil skirts, and where to buy fleece tights.

         She has built a successful site here and I know we all love coming here for the conversation, but it does get frustrating to repeatedly see these problems (for years and years) without any real transparency or resolution. Would it be possible to consider some of these points? I’d also like to note that I do appreciate some of the changes that have been implemented in response to complaints, like disclosing affiliate links more clearly and having a “thread jacks of interest” bar.

         1. YES, this. Especially #1. Any time Kat even responds in the comments, it’s a canned response about “here’s the policy, we have reasons for it” — except it completely stifles commenting! Surely Kat gets more ad revenue if more people comment, so what gives? I’m in perma-mod for reasons that I cannot explain and no means of contact via this s!te have resulted in any response at all. Frustrating and disappointing.

         2. I’m going to try to respond to this comment, but not here and not now. I’ll link back when I do. Thank you for your patience, and for reading.

      2. +100

      3. I have considered starting a Threadjack Blog. the only thing stopping me is that I’m not sure how I would get an audience. But if I could just move this community over to a new blog, I would do it tomorrow to get rid of all the crazy ads.

         1. Please create a new blog. I used to feel guilty at the thought of jacking Kat’s community because I thought she was entitled to coast for a couple of years to make up for the time she put into the blog early on when it wasn’t pulling in any revenue. But the past few years have demonstrated that she’s not interested in putting forth effort to create substantive content or even respond to readers’ comments in order to up/maintain her profitability. That kind of laziness should not be rewarded, and I will gladly jump ship to a new blog.

            1. I don’t think that’s quite fair – some of her posts clearly take a lot of time and effort (especially ones on handling student loans, handling salary negotiations, things like that), although most of the clothing choices are placeholders for the comments section. I think Kat has done a lot of work over the years and there is a lot I appreciate about this site, but there is room for improvement as well.

         2. Start a forum instead of a thread jack blog! Then topics can discussed (and followed up on) over time.

         3. Could we just have a reddit board? I’d probably spend way too much time there, though.

            1. Let’s go!

            2. But time well spent?

   8. +1000 totally agree. Very disappointing.

   9. I respect the right to advertise pretty much anything, but the sentence about installment plans being available is a bit over the line of good taste.

      1. lol. Especially the “Golly, I Don’t Know, maybe pay for this using installments if you’re a poor … that might be possible I guess. It’s expensive for what it is — definitely affordable tho” WTFery of it all. Like why suggest this payment plan that may or might not even exist for this shady MLM?

         1. I just can’t. “Use a payment plan … they might have one! I couldn’t be bothered to figure out for sure. In fact, I don’t know anything about this thing which I’m advertising … definitely buy this downright-affordable, expensive-for-what-it-is thing from me though.”

      2. Also, the weirdly fake “criticism”: people are just TOO enthusiastic about posting in the Facebook group!

         That’s the equivalent of “what’s my greatest weakness? I care too much!” in an interview.

      3. Re installment plan: My apologies to all I offended; I was running out the door for an appointment I knew would take a while. In the past they’ve offered installment plans of $499 a quarter; I wasn’t sure what they were doing this year and didn’t have time to check before I ran out the door. This year they’re $199 a month.

         1. Kat, I appreciate that you responded, but please keep your audience in mind. I’m a lawyer and have an 11-month-old and in no area of my life would being busy with a task from another area be an acceptable excuse for shoddy effort. I gather that you’re surprised and frustrated by the response to your post but I hate to see you double down on some of the things that readers keep complaining about, such as being out of touch with us. Hope this unsolicited advice is understood as well-intentioned. I do value this space and know we aren’t an easy audience.

         2. Ok so here are your problems. That excuse is laughable- you don’t post if you are rushing out the door. You take a second to check. That’s what sounds off on the whole post – it sounds like you barely know what you are offering. You don’t know what plans are available, you don’t know what lsat classes cost, you say you aren’t familiar with mlm which I find hard to believe but it is also confirmation that you never read the comments because we talk about them often.

6. wow kat. Kaplan in person lsat classes are $1399 – so how do you make the comparison that it is downright affordable compared to that?

   1. Ha I had skipped over the cost. That’s outrageous.

   2. Maybe she’s taking into account how much she’s making for shilling it to her readers ;P

7. Want to weigh in on a conversation I’ve been having with a work friend?

   It’s review time at our non-profit, in advance of the organizational budget being developed for the next July-June fiscal year. One of us thinks that review time is always the time to expect or, if necessary, instigate conversation about compensation. One of us notes that isn’t company culture and that, given how heavily our organization relies on contributed income, management isn’t in a position to talk about compensation options before some of the coming year’s major grants are finalized (usually in April).

   I see both sides. My review is tomorrow, and I’ve had a stellar year (including a new role and commensurate major compensation increase)–what are your thoughts?

   1. In general review time is the normal time to talk about compensation as raises and bonuses are generally tied to reviews (although at that point it may be too late to ask for a raise because the raises may have been decided). It sounds like the timing doesn’t work for this particular organization though.

   2. Maybe review is the time to start the conversation, knowing it can’t be finalized for a few months? You can promote/outline reasons to deserve a raise, to be considered as part of budgeting.

      I probably wouldn’t raise it during my review every year, but would expect the organization to at least be reviewing compensation annually, as part of their budget discussions, even if raises weren’t happening every year.

   3. Since you already had a big promotion and raise this year, I’m not sure you should be bringing it up at all. Unless your organization gives out raises and bonuses more frequently than nonprofits I’ve worked at, they are probably going to focus on trying to get other underpaid employees up to where they should be this year rather than further increasing your compensation. If you think you are still under-compensated you could broach it, but I would not do it just because you are doing a stellar job at the position you were promoted to do.

8. Pretty disappointed by this post.

9. In the past couple of years, I’ve noticed that my work habits have become less disciplined and I’m actively trying to get back on track. One way I’m doing this is creating a list of small things I need to accomplish each day. Like Mondays, I check a certain report and update our team’s Trello board; on Tuesdays, I will do a weekly email cleanup; and so on. On Fridays, I’m committed to straightening up my desk, reviewing my schedule for the upcoming week, and setting time aside for brainstorming. Have any of you tried something like this? What was on your list? I’m looking for small things that make a big difference in feeling organized and prepared for whatever the week throws at me.

   1. For work tasks: One spreadsheet with weekly recurring tasks (Example – Monday: Update report, compile meeting file, review task manager). On my calendar I schedule blocks of time by category to make sure they don’t fall behind (Compliance, HR, Social Media, Required Training, you could add Brainstorming). Weekly I sync work and home calendars. By the end of every day I clear all email into one of four folders: Today, This Week, This Month, Reference. Last 20 minutes of work is clearing up the desk and setting up todos for the next morning.

10. Hair .. so… shiny… must … join… whoa blacked out there for a second. Also agree that this reads like a total shill. I’d like to know what kat paid. I’m guessing not 2k. Also I just looked up summer tuition for Brandeis – a 2 credit course is 1800.

11. I am a 3rd year associate doing insurance defense currently and I have an upcoming interview at a plaintiff’s firm. Feeling a little out of my league as this firm is very well respected in my market and insurance defense is looked down upon by many. What kind of questions should I anticipate? Do I bring a writing sample? My law school transcript?

    1. ?

       Insurance defense isn’t any worse-regarded than plaintiff’s firms! That is crazy.

       My exp with plaintiff’s firms is that you need to be chill, the girl-version of fratty, sociable, and aggressive on the d.l. (hate to say it, but bonus points for being attractive).

       In my area, there’s brief-writers who do most of the briefing, so bring a writing sample–couldn’t hurt, but I doubt it would be the deciding factor.

       1. The impression I’ve gotten when I tell my friends in biglaw what kind of work I do is like, “I’m sorry.” I will bring everything (writing sample, transcript) just in case, because worst case scenario it just stays in my bag the whole time, can’t hurt. Thanks to you and poster below for the advice!
          Also interesting to know about the girl-fratty stereotype! I think I come across like I can hang, and I’m not hideous so at least appearance isn’t working against me :)

    2. I would think that a well-respected plaintiff’s firm would be thrilled that you’re willing to switch sides and very much value your experience. I am sure it is a lot more on point than someone who has done high-stakes M & A, etc. I’ve been an insurance defense attorney or the person who retains one for about 20 years. I have to agree with Juvi. Also, in my experience, there is a huge difference between the top tier of plaintiff’s firms and the rest. The top tier ones never miss the smallest deadline, never ask for extensions, always follow every judge’s standing order perfectly. If you are applying at one of these, I would emphasize your respect for deadlines, no matter how soft they may be in reality. It can’t hurt to bring a writing sample. I recently read something on LinkedIn that suggested you provide a dep transcript or a motion for summary judgment showing that how you personally obtained the evidence necessary to get the SJ. I’d have the transcript available, too. Good luck . . . but why are you switching sides?

       1. I mean have the law school transcript available . . .

       2. I can’t believe that stuff wouldn’t be covered by a protective order. I’ve never had a case without one. Isn’t that the norm?

          1. Not where I practice, in the insurance defense realm. We only see protective orders where trade secrets or something of that nature are discussed, or if the allegations in the suit are of a particularly sensitive nature.

12. I work at a large corporation that has an emergency “on call” team to respond to off hours incidents in operations. This has now been expanded to my department, for no real reason other than as a CYA.
    While the on call team was hired into a job with nights and weekends required, my department was not.

    Also, when other non-operations departments need someone for a particular reason, it is at the senior level where as our management has opted to just throw the department’s non-managers into the program. It basically requires having a computer with internet access and sometimes key documents and printer available 24-7 and always responding immediately to an “emergency” – in short, very disruptive to sleep, family life and weekends.

    There is no rhyme or reason as to who is selected and it is not a department-wide requirement, some unlucky chosen just get stuck with the role for an unspecified time.

    Is this a reasonable job requirement? I guess I’m just shocked and upset so I’m wondering how others would handle this.

    In addition, I take medications at night that make me drowsy and not in the clearest frame of mind. I would not drive while taking these meds, for example. I am afraid I won’t be woken by the email ping that notifies me or that I won’t be in my best frame of mind, never mind that I have children and their care and activities most weekends.

    1. Legal? Yes. Likely to change if you push back? No. Time to job hunt? Probably.

       My husband runs Operations and his team went through something similar- they weren’t 24/7 until they were told they had to be. So basically he had to tell his team they get to be 24×7 customer support until he could build out a full blown on call team. There was some kind of incentive/bribe (one time bonus), but it was small. The company wouldn’t fund any kind of increase because they argued the number of times an incident that required off-hours support happened was rare enough it could be compensated for with comp time.

       A few people had major scheduling issues- I remember one guy who was Jewish and had evening services on Fridays, so he had to trade off with someone whenever his on-call fell on Friday/Saturday. The staff was senior enough (for reference, all making >100k; they were technical support engineer type folks) that they worked out coverage for stuff like that- where someone would literally be unavailable.

       Anyway, it took almost 8 months to get a true 24×7 team in place and it was miserable. People flakes on being on call, activities intervened…and since my husband managed the whole team, all the missed calls landed with him, in the middle of the night, on weekends, on vacations—and he was the point of most serious escalation, so there was no passing off.

       I would expect that you should have a sit down with your boss and outline that you would never have taken the job if this were a requirement (such as a 100% travel job), and you cannot do it (reasons). Should you be looking for another role m- possibly even within the company?- or is there a possibility this will be very short lived and tou’ll Be back to your regular schedule. Also, find out concequences for missing calls. Eventually my husband put in a 3 (or some number) strikes rule, because the same people were failing to answer and it meant craziness for everyone. Also, he still curses the salesperson that signed a 24×7 support contract without speaking with the head of support.

    2. Not sure if it’s too late for you to see this but my job is an ops job with an on call component. It does suck being on call and does definitely impact daily life, nights and weekends when I’m on call. Being on call is also a huge commitment because we respond to very tight regulatory deadlines- sometimes as quick as an hr— even in the middle of the night.
       I was hired into the role knowing I’d have to do some amount of it. Because it sucks so badly, we are constantly trying to get other teams to either volunteer as part of the pool or be forced into it by their bosses. People have definitely pushed back and been successful- I think this is a know your work place kind of thing. Maybe push back a little and see what your boss’s reaction is, maybe file for fmla if you are on meds and can get a dr to back that up— but judge how much this might or might not affect your career (and if you care)… and agree it’s always good to look for other jobs if the one you have isn’t fitting.

13. One of our team members is being terminated (nice guy, low performance). I got tasked with writing our team’s goodbye card for him. English is his first language, whereas mine is not.
    What could I possibly write that does not sound off? He has only been with the company for 3 months, has mainly kept to himself and has no new job lined up. So no anecdotes and no exciting new opportunity…

    1. I think this is a hard one to do. I’ve never seen it for someone being terminated. Is there a reason to provide a card at all?

    2. Don’t overthink this one. Something short and generic is fine: “Zimothy, we appreciate all you’ve done and will miss you! Thanks for everything and good luck!” Write big and circulate it for signatures.

       The whole thing seems fairly pointless – he’s been there three months; he’s not going to treasure this beloved goodbye card forever. There is no perfect, meaningful thing you will be able to write, and even if you could, it probably wouldn’t matter to him anyway – the card is a kind but ultimately pointless gesture and I’m sure you have better things to be thinking about. Do the minimum to get it off your to-do list – even debating the necessity/appropriateness of the card will probably take longer than just writing something.

       1. This is very good advice.

       2. But they don’t appreciate him; he’s being fired. If you must, keep it super simple, Best wishes or Best wishes on your future endeavours.

          1. I think if you’re writing this as a team member/colleague and not as the person who made the firing decision, you can just write something kind and not worry that it may be technically slightly inaccurate.

             Also, what’s the worst case scenario here? He brings that card to court and claims wrongful termination because someone scribbled “we appreciate you”? He reads the card and says, “Wow, I was totally cool with being fired until someone said they appreciate my work when clearly they DON’T appreciate my work!”?

             I stick with what I recommended: just write whatever to get it off your to-do list and don’t worry too much about it. It is not going to affect you or him in any way after the thirty seconds in which he is given the card and says, “Oh, gee, thanks.”

          2. So what that they don’t really appreciate him? That’s what you SAY. This is not a deposition; nothing will happen if you’re not 100% truthful as to the depths of your appreciation for him.

             Massive overthinking here.

    3. Don’t.

    4. Best wishes, Team.

    5. A goodbye card? I’ve never heard of that. I’d prefer an email wishing him the best and offering to be a resource (connections, reference, etc) if you feel comfortable. Definitely no card.

14. I’d like to point out to anyone that’s in the market for business education that HBX (the online component of Harvard Business School) is online and open for business. And you can put that line on your resume without eliciting guffaws, like this scammy “school.”

    There’s also Coursera, the courses from LinkedIn Premium, Curiosity dot com, Khan Academy…the list is endless.

    1. +1

       The post should have been about all the online Biz learning options. You could list the big names, contact them and find out the most popular courses. And then Kat could tell us about what she took and “why this one” vs other options…… And then link as appropriate.

       1. +1

          Late to this, but I would have been much happier with this choice.

15. I just heard of the opt out pre screen site. It looks like the only info required is name and address. Is it effective if you only provide this? Also, after 5 years, would mail be sent to the old address you used on the form? (This is assuming you’ve moved.)

16. Kat. Srsly. If this were legitimate, there would not be people making their entire living off getting others to sign up for it.

17. I have a hectic travel schedule coming up and would appreciate any tips to make it easier on me.
    First, flying from West to East coast for a conference (flying all day Sunday and the conference on Monday), then flying to Asia from the conference directly for a family funeral.

    I’ve been to my home country in Asia many times before, but always for a week or two at minimum, so with some time to sleep off the jet lag (usually takes me a week to be fully adjusted). This time I’ll be there for 48 hours only before flying back. The funeral will be busy with non-stop talking to folks.

    I’ll plan to get a neck pillow and bring an eye mask so I can sleep as best I can on the flight (but sleeping upright and with light coming in through the windows is hard for me). Also want to minimize the risk of getting sick (both the flight and handshakes/talking to people at the funeral) but short of wearing a mask which I don’t want to do, there isn’t much I can do.
    I’ll also try to get in the Asian timezone from the beginning of my flight to minimize jet lag. Any other tips to make it easier?

    1. If you’re only there for 48 hours, there’s no hope/chance of adjusting. I think you mostly just have to plan to sleep as much as you can, whenever you can. Drink lots of water before, during and after the flight, and use some caffeine to get you through the rest of the time. I also tend to feel less lethargic if I avoid carbs/sugar and try to eat lightly, so maybe try that as well.

    2. My boss swears by using the app JetLagRooster to adjust to timezones; I haven’t used it yet, but it may be worth looking into – it has you adjust your schedule depending on the length of your trip and the number of time zones and if I recall correctly offers advice also for integrating melatonin to help.

       I’ve tried a bunch of different pillows, and so far this is my favorite: http://www.xpresspa.com/product-p/sn-mem-pil.htm The snaps (as opposed to the open end models of others) mean it supports my chin and keeps my head from tipping too much to any side and thus allows me to fitfully sleep (I never sleep soundly on planes) without getting a cramp or awful pain in my neck.

       As LAnon said, drink lots of water. And consider compression socks – my legs and feet started swelling during long flights a few years ago, and since I’ve started wearing these I find my legs/feet are less tired (and less swollen) which helps with my overall energy and wellbeing after landing.

       To minimize chances of getting sick, make sure you’re washing your hands frequently. Consider bringing some disinfectant wipes on the plane to wipe down the surfaces (armrest/tray), use saline nose spray to keep your nose from drying out, and look into upping your vitamin D and vitamin C intake. I also take an elderberry tincture, particularly in the winter and when traveling, and I find that adds immune support.

       Sorry if some of these tips are too obvious, but I travel quite a bit and I used to catch a cold or other bug after every long trip, and since instituting the above I’m a happier and healthier traveler most of the time.

18. Oh dear. B-School? Really? Do you also have exciting opportunities for us to join your Beachbody team?

    And I’m pretty sure that if you don’t have $2000 to drop on a video course, you…should not drop $2000 on a video course.

    1. And I do not understand what is going on in the hip area of that photo.

       1. Bad photoshop?

19. Kat, trying to get readers to join an MLM with a “review” that was obviously taken from a template and then claiming that you’re not familiar with what constitutes an MLM when readers call you out on it is an unbelievable low. You run an internet business. You know what an MLM is. You either know that B-School is an MLM, or you put so little time into this post that the thought never even had a chance to take hold.

    1. I honestly read zero reviews before I wrote this post (by which I mean that having taken the class myself and read a ton of promotion about it over the years, I didn’t want to be biased by anyone else’s review materials for the course this time around). I’m sorry if I offended anyone in my desire to be clear that this wasn’t your typical book or podcast recommendation, the subheadings seemed like the best way to do that. There honestly is no “template” and if there were I doubt it would include reviewers talking about the negative things they’ve heard about the program or how the program’s FB group is full of too much woo.

       1. Who purchases something worth $2k without having read any reviews? These responses become more and more far fetched. Or could it be that *you* didn’t spend $2k on this? I am not one of the regular posters on here But I am rather impressed by your gall as well as how dumb you apparently think your readers are.

          This is probably going to go into mod or never show up, oh well. I hope the community migrates elsewhere. Maybe someone will actually read this.

       2. 10ish year reader here, coming late to the conversation, but I’m surprised by how insulting so many anonymous posters feel they should be in conveying the message that they don’t like this recommendation.
          I tend to think this type of course is a bit small-time and not a fit for audience, so I get why everyone is negative on the course…
          But I don’t feel Kat is trying to trick anyone into a MLM scheme – just that she genuinely likes something I think is (sorry) kind of dumb. But I’ve thought dumb stuff was a good idea before, because I got something specific that I needed from it.
          We should probably use a charitable reading.

20. Well its obvious why Kat is pushing this….

    Directly from the B School Website itself……

    The cost of B-School is $1999.
    Affiliate Partners receive $999.50 per sale.

    1. Mic drop…….

21. Kat: “I’m not totally familiar with how “MLM businesses” work but with most I would assume there are “additional buying opportunities,” contests to sell more, and so forth — none of that exists in the B-school course”

    Kat’s Review: “This is such a popular program that there are a ton of great bonus offers when you sign up, and a lot of ways to add material on to the course… if you sign up for the class through one particular person. (Some of the really popular add-ons are from Gabby Bernstein, Amy Porterfield, and Danielle LaPorte, but there are seriously a ton out there!)”

    Whether this comes from an honest place or not (heck, I hate MLMs but I really do like R+F products…), this post is incredibly disingenuous, to the point that even if I had an interest in this program, I’d sign up another way.

    1. I think I’ve miscommunicated there. I would expect an MLM place to be like “buy these $5K worth of printed leggings to sell to all your friends!” and then once you get in the program to be expected to buy another $5K and another $5K and sign up for additional training and so forth — as well as to get your friends to buy $5K worth of leggings so they can sell and then you can profit off the leggings they sell as well.

       The B-School program is $2K. It doesn’t matter who you buy it from, the course itself is $2K. The course also comes with bonuses within it (like Amy Porterfield’s ninety-minute long class on FB ad sales, which I’m guessing will have to be heavily updated this year) that are created with MF; all B-Schoolers get access.

       But a lot of affiliates offer additional classes, coaching, materials, and so forth (which I’ve mistakenly called bonuses above) — it’s the carrot to make you want to sign up through them. As a consumer, you still only pay $2K and there are no upsells within the program. If you DON’T sign up through that affiliate then you may be out of luck because the coaching or classes may ONLY be offered as part of a B-school carrot.

       1. No you haven’t miscommunicated. You got caught trying to scam your readers. Do your research next time. You can’t build a brand on smart over achieving woman and then plug this nonsense.

          1. +1 know your avatar

          2. Exactly this.

          3. Huh? Exactly how is this a scam?

22. Surprise! My comment about Kat’s failure to act like a real business owner went into mod.

23. Eh, I appreciate this post. I hadn’t heard of this type of class before, and it’s interesting to me. The fee is steep given that I don’t really have a good idea in the back of my head, but if I was thinking about starting or expanding a side gig, this would be helpful. I also appreciate the constructive comment about other options (HBX, Coursera, etc.), and the additional explanations from Kat. I presume best intentions (learned that here, thanks Sr Atty!) and don’t think this sounds like a MLM scheme.

    1. It’s definitely a MLM scheme. Whether you think you might still like the product despite that selling structure is up to you, but you should be honest with yourself about how this product is marketed.

24. Kat, while you’re engaging, that header is just the worst. If you’re going to have it, at least get the logo to link back to the top of the homepage.

25. Hi, Kat. I’m one of your Blog Mastermind classmates. Even though I’m not part of your target audience, I’ve been enjoying your posts in my Inbox ever since.

    I think it’s safe to say we both received a lot of value from that course, even though my business model is much different.

    I don’t know about you, but I felt really frustrated when Yaro shut down the forum, for which he’d insisted in the pitch that we’d have “lifetime access,” and then offered to sell us the new and improved course. I miss that forum and wish I still had access, if for no other reason than to keep up with the new tech and trends.

    So, whenever I see the term “lifetime access,” I often wonder what it really means.

    Good luck and good wishes. I like seeing your posts in my Inbox.

26. Long-time reader, very infrequent commenter. Thanks for posting this. I passed it on to my husband, who is staring an e-commerce business. I had heard other good reviews of the course in my network, but was not aware of the deadline.

Comments are closed.