Is It Time To Strategically Coast At Work?

By: Emily Lamia

It seems like today were constantly flooded with articles, podcasts, books, and more with information and suggestions on how tolean inmore at work, or get that next promotion or raise.

Even when were not actively seeking new responsibilities, were still getting messages about how to achieve more by doing less, or the best way to optimize our schedules.If career growth is important to you, it can seem like there might be something wrong with you if youre not constantly thinking about moving up or setting new goals.

[Related:Why It Might be Time to "Lean Out"]

Is it realistic (oreven healthy?) to constantly be driving toward the next developmental goal or promotion at work?Its time we make room for another acceptable approach thats sometimes needed at work: strategic coasting.

Strategic coasting is when you deliberately and thoughtfully take the energy you might usually put into going above and beyond at work, and redirect it toward something else.Its when you do your work (and do it well), while being strategic about where your extra energy and time goes.

Strategically coasting at work might make sense if youve got a lot of personal things going on at the moment. Maybe youve just become anew parentand those responsibilities are more pressing. Maybe youre caring for a sick family member or are working through an illness of your own. Or maybe youre training for a big race, and thats where you want to focus your efforts for a few months.

It might make sense if youre working on a career pivot. Making a career change can be a lot of work all those informational conversations and applications can take loads of time and energy!

There are phases and chapters we all go through in our lives and careers. Many people treat their careers like a sprint, and quickly burn out in the most demanding fields. We need to treat our careers like the marathons that they are. And sometimes it may make sense sense to stop for a water break, or walk for a few miles.

[Related:Five Ways to Manage Burnout in a Digital Career]

Strategic coasting makes sense for you if you find its time to take your foot off theworkgas pedalfor any variety of reasons.So, how do you strategically coast at work?

First of all, it doesnt mean youre clocking in late and leaving early. And it doesnt mean youre not completing your work, or being a great team player.

But it might mean youre not taking initiative on a new project. Or that youre actually taking your hour-long lunch break if you get one. You might leave the office or sign off for the day on the earlier side, assuming your most important work is done, so you can go focus on other things youre prioritizing.

But strategic coasting isnt something you want to do indefinitely. Theoretically, theres a specific time period youre planning on coasting.

But lets all give ourselves permission to strategically coast at work when we need to. In the long run, it may actually help us achieve new levels of success personally and professionally.

[Related:Why You Should Work As Though Your Kids Are Watching]

Emily Lamiahas been helping people grow and develop in their careers for over a decade. In 2015, she founded Pivot Journeys to create experiences to help individuals navigate their next career move and find meaningful work.

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Is It Time To Strategically Coast At Work? - Forbes

What do you want to accomplish in 2020 and beyond?

Each year I review the top lessons I learned, taken from the most interesting interviews I did and my own personal experiences as an entrepreneur.

This year I had the opportunity to have conversations with many amazing entrepreneurs, ranging from trailblazing artists to billionaire software CEOs. I also overcame burnout, discovered my true passions, and founded a new software company called Endpass.

Investor and software entrepreneur Heather R Morgan stands in front of art

Here are my top 8 insights from 2019 which you can apply to the coming year:

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan had one of the biggest tech IPOs of 2019. I was fortunate enough to meet Yuan many years ago when his company had less than one hundred employees. Yuan has always inspired me to be a better entrepreneur and person, as well as a more selfless leader.

Yuans advice for successfully running the startup marathon: Focus on your product, company culture, and recruiting the right team. You'll be better equipped for the ride when you've done these things. Running a startup can be overwhelming and feel impossible sometimes, but breaking down your priorities into these areas makes it seem more manageable. I think that patience is also the key to healthy growth and longevity for a company and its team.

It took severe burnout to make me discover my love for rap and other creative pursuits. I was so obsessed with work and my business goals that I forgot why I wanted to achieve them in the first place. Ive always loved writing, but during burnout I suffered from writers block, for the first time in my life. My creative passion was gone, and I had forgotten the joy of true self-expression.

Creating my rap persona, Razzlekhan, helped me rediscover that happiness, and reminded me of other creative talents I had completely forgotten for years. For a while, I was terrified that burnout would creep back again, but rap and other art forms have helped me create work life balance and given me a wonderful space for self-expression. Since I created Razzlekhan, I have been the happiest Ive ever been. My only wish is that I had done this sooner.

Technically I interviewed Awkwafina last year, well before Oceans 8 and Crazy Rich Asians came out, but I keep thinking about our conversation. Not only did it inspire my own creative pursuits, but to be more shameless as a female entrepreneur and leader. Like Awkwafina, I grew up a weird only child who never really fit in. Just as Awkwafinas childhood hero Margaret Cho inspired her to shamelessly do her own thing, even if it was the last thing people expected from her, my conversation with Awkwafina motivated me to take a big risk with self-expression.

I didnt realize it for a while, but it was my conversations with rappers Awkwafina and Mickey Avalon that subconsciously inspired me to start rapping and create Razzlekhan. Something else Awkwafina said also sticks out in my mind: Shamelessness is especially important for women because a lot of times it gets confused with courage. I actually think Awkwafina-level shamelessness takes great courage, whether she realizes it or not, but I hope my own shamelessness can encourage others (especially underdogs) to unabashedly be their real selves.

My interview with fashion art darling and badass female entrepreneur, Ashley Longshore, had a big impact on my year. If you dont know who Longshore is, shes the one doing the iconic feminist pop art you might see in places like Bergdorf Goodman. She regularly collaborates with brands like Gucci, and her paintings, which selling millions in hours on Instagram, feature everything from Lil Wayne to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Our conversation not only inspired me to strive for the next level of self-confidence, but her thoughts on fearlessly blazing your own path echoed my own life motto, Be a goat; not a sheep.

Anyone trying to do their own thing whether theyre an artist or an entrepreneur knows how difficult but important this is. While society loves celebrating innovative icons like Steve Jobs or Salvador Dali, there were many times when they were met with more criticism than popular support. While resilience is one of the most critical factors in success, staying authentic is a major precursor to happiness.

Its hard to pick just one tip from Keith Krach because everytime I talk to him I learn so much about leadership, business, and professional development. Keith Krach is the former CEO of two multi-billion dollar companies, Docusign and Ariba, and now works with the US State Department, furthering Americas global economic interests. After recovering from burnout, I was very careful about deciding what kind of software company I wanted to build next. I knew whatever it was, it had to have a noble mission I could feel passionate about since I might be dedicating the next 10 years of my life to this company.

Krachs words greatly inspired me to move forward with my new software company, Endpass, which strives to stop global fraud, cybercrime and terrorism through AI-driven identity verification.

Adam Foroughi is an aficionado of productivity. As a young father of five and the CEO of a billion dollar software company, AppLovin, Foroughi has to be. What impressed me so much was Foroughis dedication to a meritocratic company cutlure, no matter how big that business becomes. Because of that, he doesnt believe in pedigree, and would rather hire the person who struggled and took the road less-traveled over the Stanford or Harvard MBA.

By operating AppLovin under a culture of just get stuff done, and making sure his team only invites people to meetings if they will personally get value from the event, Foroughi truly embodies the idea of think big, act small.

Although Vietnamese immigrant entrepreneur Johnny Dang designs diamond jewelry and other bling for hip hops biggest stars, like Kanye West, Beyonce, Migos and Cardi B, he is all about staying humble and working hard. In my interview with Dang, he offered this timeless wisdom, Success doesnt always last, especially if youre complacent. This is true for entrepreneurs and rappers with hit songs; you have to keep working hard if you dont want to just be a one hit wonder. And thats something everyone should remember.

Fear of loss often drives people to make really bad decisions. But being afraid to cut your losses, and not walking away from time or money youve already sunk into something thats not working out can prevent you from being your happiest and most successful. So dont be afraid of letting go of sunk costs you already spent: instead remind yourself of all the potential amazing opportunities youre missing out on (opportunity cost) when you dont cut that loss.

Do you have other insights from 2019 youd like to share? Id love to hear about them.

Read more:
Use These 8 Insights From Trailblazers and Top Entrepreneurs To Make 2020 Your Best Year Yet - Forbes

December 30, 2019 08:00 ET | Source: Hemp, Inc.

Las Vegas, NV, Dec. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE --Hemp, Inc.(OTC PINK: HEMP) a global leader in the industrial hemp industry with bi-coastal processing centers, including the largest multipurpose industrial hemp processing facility in the western hemisphere, announced today its support for the U.S. Department of Agricultures new crop insurance option for hemp growers in select counties of 21 states in 2020.

The insurance program will provide Actual Production History (APH) coverage under 508(h) Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI). The MPCI coverage is for hemp grown for grain, fiber, and CBD oil for the 2020 crop year. This offering comes in addition to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection coverage program available to hemp growers that was announced earlier this year.

This new pilot insurance program is open to eligible producers in certain counties in Alabama, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave hemp farmers a huge Christmas gift this holiday season by creating a new kind of crop insurance for hemp producers in 21 states, just in time for the coming crop year, said Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc. The new crop insurance option for hemp growers is a groundbreaking program because it brings hemp closer to other commodity crops and reduces risks for producers.

According to a June 2019 market research report published by MarketsandMarkets, the industrial hemp market is projected to grow from $4.6 billion in 2019 to $26.6 billion by 2025, recording a compound annual growth rate of 34.0% during the forecast period.

Additionally, beginning with the 2021 crop year, hemp will be insurable under the Nursery crop insurance program and the Nursery Value Select pilot crop insurance program. Hemp will be insurable if it is grown in containers and in accordance with federal regulations, any applicable state or tribal laws, and terms of the crop insurance policy.

To see one-minute videos of Hemp, Inc.s current activities, visit Bruce Perlowins personalFacebook page, where he shares daily posts of Hemp, Inc.s activities around the country.

WHAT IS HEMP, INC.?

What is Hemp, Inc.? With a deep-rooted social and environmental mission at its core, Hemp, Inc. seeks to build a business constituency for the American small farmer, the American veteran, and other groups experiencing the ever-increasing disparity between tapering income and soaring expenses. As a leader in the industrial hemp industry with ownership of the largest commercial multi-purpose industrial hemp processing facility in North America, Hemp, Inc. believes there can be tangible benefits reaped from adhering to a corporate social responsibility plan.

HEMP, INC.S PROPRIETARY HEMP FLOWER DRYING SYSTEM

Unwavering in its commitment to the industrial hemp industry,Hemp, Inc. disclosed the successful development of its innovative hemp flower drying system for smokable hemp flower. Highly efficient, this compact proprietary hemp flower drying system is fast, drying in only 3 days as opposed to the traditional 7 days while maintaining the critical terpene profile of the product. To be unveiled at its Oregon location, Hemp, Inc. executives expect this advanced hemp flower drying system to bring in excess of $10,000,000 in revenue for the company from the Oregon 2019 harvest season. The drying process lends itself to creating Hemp, Inc.s high quality range of King of Hemp pre-rolls and, of course, high CBD hemp flower. The sheer size and scope of the crop in Oregon is nothing short of amazing and is expected to be a massive game changer for Hemp, Inc.

To read the full release on Hemp, Inc.s proprietary hemp flower drying system, clickhere.

HEMP, INC.S TEN DIVISIONS

Hemp, Inc. has been helping to build the industrial hemp infrastructure that was basically non-existent in America. There are now ten divisions:

Division One The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure

Division Two The Hemp Farming Infrastructure

Division Three The Hemp Extraction Infrastructure

Division Four The Hemp Educational Infrastructure

Division Five The Hemp Marketing Infrastructure

Division Six Accessories, Products and Services

Division Seven Research and Development

Division Eight Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures

Division Nine Industrial Hemp Consulting

Division Ten Educational Entertainment

Division OneThe Industrial Hemp Infrastructure

The Industrial Hemp Infrastructure(Division One)currently consists of two hemp processing facilities across the country, with two more under development, which will include an in-house third party testing laboratory. The largest of the two is its multi-purpose industrial hemp processing facility and milling operation inSpring Hope, North Carolina. Its the largest industrial hemp processing center in the western hemisphere and has grown to become one of the pre-eminent centers of the industrial hemp industry. The 85,000 square foot facility sits on 9-acres.It is environmentally sustainable and was built from the ground up in hopes of Making America Hemp Again." With a patent pending manufacturing process, the North Carolina facility is operating full time to process millions of pounds of our unique kenaf-hemp blend, to manufacture all-greennatural loss circulation materials (LCMs) that are to be sold to the oil and gas drilling industry, along with an all-green natural oil spill absorbent, a second industrial kenaf-hemp product called Spill-Be-Gone. (See http://www.ihempman.com)

In addition to the companysindustrial hemp processing facility in Spring Hope, North Carolina, Hemp, Inc. also has one of the most sophisticated local processing centers (LPC) in Medford, Oregon which focuses on hemp harvesting, drying, curing, trimming, bagging, storing, and in some cases selling high CBD hemp for local farmers and the Companys own hemp grows in that area, and post processing for the CBD industry. The Companys main focus is the King of Hemp pre-rolls and high CBD smokeable buds a new phenomenon of smoking hemp which has caught the marketplace by storm.

Hemp, Inc. also has 4,500 acres of land in Golden Valley, Arizona(90 miles from Las Vegas, 30 miles north of Kingman, AZ). Out of the 4,500 acres of land, 500 acres are designated for the Veterans Village Kins Community (VVKC) for Arizona. Hemp, Inc. is preparing 80+ acres, of the 500 acres, for hemp cultivation. The company aims to boost the economies of these towns by offering affordable hemp processing services, which incentivizes local growers to add hemp to their crop rotation. The company is continuing to scout new locations for local processing centers in Florida, Puerto Rico, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and several other states.

Thus far, Hemp, Inc.s Local Processing Center (LPC) in Oregon has employed over 200 employees during its 2018 harvest season and over 300 employees during its 2019 harvest season to further support the infrastructure necessary for local and large scale farmers operating in the industrial hemp space.

Division TwoThe Hemp Farming Infrastructure

The Hemp Farming Infrastructure(Division Two)consists of hundreds of acres of hemp and kenaf growing in multiple locations, farm equipment, cloning rooms, clones and seeds, grow rooms, greenhouses, hemp drying facilities and a huge amount of peripheral farming tools and equipment. The progress Hemp, Inc. has made in its agricultural endeavors, over the course of three years, has been amazing.(To see Hemp, Inc.s agricultural progress from 2016 through 2019, visit Bruce Perlowins personal Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/kingofpotand scroll through posts from 2016 to the present. Visitwww.hempincpresents.comto see the videos of Hemp, Inc.s grows in multiple locations.)

Hemp, Inc. also has a model Small Family Farm in North Carolina situated on 12 acres that consists of a cloning room, a greenhouse, and enough land to grow 2,000-3,000 high CBD hemp plants.(This model farm can be seen on Bruce Perlowin's Facebook page, in the Aug. 22nd - 26th, 2018 posts.)The model shows farmers how to grow high CBD hemp plants, operate a greenhouse and turn a barn into a cloning room to earn up to $500,000+ a year. This shows an example of how the Small Family Farm can be duplicated and reappear on the American landscape. After all, the original small family farms in America were able to survive economically by growing hemp as their main cash crop and the first five presidents of the United States were all hemp farmers.

According to Perlowin, the company is preparing to grow on up to 500 acres of land in Oregon, 300 acres in Arizona (maybe more), hundreds of acres in NC (combination of hemp and kenaf), and an undetermined amount in other states. He says collective sales from all these grows will be extremely significant in terms of pre-rolls, high CBD buds, distillate, isolate and biomass. By 2020, we anticipate the main function of the company will be sales and marketing as we will have completed the infrastructure to support that sales and marketing. Right now, I believe we have the largest footprint with vertical integration in the hemp industry in America today. We are always looking for joint ventures where we have or can expand our footprint, commented Perlowin.

Moreover, A to Z services for the farmers are available - from harvesting to drying, bagging, curing, storing, nitrogen sparging, machine trimming, hand trimming, and selling, creating a one stop shop for the small to large family farms. And with the soon-to-be addition of our third party, on-sitetesting labs from Digipath Labs, local farmers can do their testing, processing and selling in the same place. Digipath Labs brings their proprietary ISO-17025:2017 accredited standard operating procedures and testing protocols, to establish, maintain, and operate each lab.

DigipathLabs will bring state-of-the-art equipment, lab expertise, proprietary operating procedures and management to Hemp, Inc.s rapidly growing locations to ensure the highest quality of goods before entering the marketplace. They will provide all necessary laboratory-expertise and related management services to develop and operate each Lab, including purchasing and maintenance of the laboratory instrumentation, as well as hiring and comprehensive training of lab personnel.

Without an in-house, third-party testing laboratory, products in need of testing would need to be transported off site, which could mean waiting days or even weeks for results. The addition ofDigipath Labsat Hemp, Inc.s production centers will expedite testing processes and further support new business developments.(For more information on Digipath Labs, visit http://www.digipathlabs.com.)

Division ThreeThe Hemp Extraction Infrastructure

The Hemp CBD Oil Extraction Infrastructure(Division Three)originally consisted of a Supercritical C02 Extractor. After operating for over a year it has been determined that Hemp, Inc. will be upgrading to a much larger and advanced alcohol extraction process. These large-scale extractors are expected to be placed in all additional hemp processing arenas, thus completing this part of building the industrial hemp infrastructure. The CBD oil that we extracted from our 2018 hemp grows in North Carolina has been made into pure crystalline CBD isolate which we will add to our King of Hemp branded line of pre-rolls to bring to the marketplace and a pre-roll fortified with pure crystalline CBD isolate.

Prior to building its own extraction laboratories, Hemp, Inc. plans to utilize the facilities of other labs in the industry to manufacture its own line of CBD oil products while they continue to build and expand the infrastructure for pre-rolls and high CBD smokeable buds. The Company will hire or joint venture with other, already existing, labs to manufacture CBD, CBG, CBN, and other products in our future cannabinoid line. With 113 different cannabinoids, over 300 terpenes, and more of each being discovered almost monthly, the product range and possibilities in this area are endless.

Division FourThe Hemp Educational Infrastructure

The Hemp Educational Infrastructure(Division Four)includes Hemp, Inc.'sHemp Universitywhich focuses on educating and empoweringHemp farmers and entrepreneurswith knowledge, processing, infrastructure and support. Theeducational seminars, through the Hemp University, are held periodically and teach farmers and landowners how to create a profitable income stream by maximizing the per-acre crop revenue. Through this division, Hemp, Inc. has trained well over 500 farmers in its first two years by doing a total of nine Hemp University seminars in North Carolina and Oregon, thus far, which include:

The Pre-Harvest Symposium September 8, 2019 (Oregon)

The Pre-Harvest Symposiumworkshop at Southern Oregon University was expertly designed for both farmers and entrepreneurs of all experience levels, focused on harvesting, processing and profit channels within the hemp industry.The third edition of the Southern Oregon Hemp University brought an abundance of insight into innovations within the realm of harvesting and processing to the forefront. Additionally, the symposium touched on traditional practices in agriculture.(See Bruce Perlowins personalFacebook post on 9/9/19for a short video on this symposium.)

Pre-Plant Support Workshop May 4, 2019 (Oregon)

The Pre-Plant Support Workshopwas an incredible success that filled the entire venue to capacity with attendees. In total, there were close to 200 attendees, including 20 vendors in attendance. The workshop was designed to help hemp farmers or those who are interested in the hemp industry learn the best pre-planting practices prior to the planting season.The Hemp University Pre-Planting Support Workshop was an interactive and informative workshop that covered the various details hemp farmers should know prior to planting in the 2019 season and beyond.(See Bruce Perlowins personalFacebook post on 5/9/19for a short video on this workshop.)

The Hemp University Educational Seminar- March 23, 2019 (Oregon)

This was the first Hemp University held on the West Coast. The seminar provided attendees with a full day of networking, education, and support.The seminar helped others in the area who were interested in the hemp industry learn more about the Industrial Hemp Revolution and how this movement can not only transform Southern Oregons economy, but also revive family farms and small businesses in the surrounding areas.(See Bruce Perlowins personalFacebook post on 3/28/19for a short video on this seminar.)

Growing Hemp for Profit March 10, 2018 (North Carolina)The Hemp Universitys first educationalsymposiumevent of 2018 entitledGrowing Hemp for Profittook place on Saturday, March 10, 2018. Attendees learned from the Universitys industrial hemp experts as they shared their lessons from their experiences in growing industrial hemp.Growing Hemp for Profit,which took place from 8:30am to 5 pm at the Hilton Garden Inn in Charlotte, North Carolina.(See Bruce Perlowinspersonal Facebook post on 3/17/18for a short video on this symposium.)

Hemp Money Event: Economics, Lessons & Planning for 2018 December 2, 2017 (North Carolina)

The fifth most vital and anticipated educational symposium of the year was Hemp Money Event: Economics, Lessons & Planning for 2018. This symposium was held on Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 8:30am to 5:00pm at the Shrine Club (320 Airport Rd, Rocky Mount, NC 27804). Attendees learned the economics of growing industrial hemp for fiber, seeds, and CBD; learned about other master POD growers experiences and lessons; and, learned how to prepare for the 2018 industrial hemp growing season with a well-defined blueprint for success.(See Bruce Perlowins personalFacebook post on 12/23/17for a short video on this symposium.)

The Hemp Oil Event: The Art and Science of CBD Oil September 30, 2017 (North Carolina)

The Hemp Oil Event (The Art & Science of CBD Oil) was The Hemp Universitys fourth symposium in North Carolina, held on Saturday, September 30, 2017 from 8:30am to 5:00pm at the Peachtree Hills Country Club, 3512 Peachtree Hills Road, Spring Hope, NC 27882.The symposium brought attendees up to speed on all business and scientific aspects of Industrial Hemp CBD cannabinoids by disseminating current, reliable information that continues to shape the revolutionary CBD market. Attendees also got a chance to go to Hemp, Inc.s, then, 70,000 square foot multipurpose industrial hemp decortication facility for the first live public demonstration of its Supercritical CO2 Extraction System using North Carolina-grown CBD industrial hemp. Representatives from NuAxon Bioscience were also on-site to allow those interested in purchasing their own CBD extraction system.(See Bruce Perlowins personalFacebook post on 9/30/17for a short video on this symposium.)

The Art and Science of CBD Greenhouse Growing June 24, 2017 (North Carolina)

The3rd Hemp Universityeducational symposium held on June 24, 2017 focused on The Art and Science of CBD Greenhouse Growing.The educational symposium was held at Louisburg College in Louisburg, North Carolina.A team of experts engaged attendees through the greenhouse and indoor growing process from cultivation to harvest and from processing to distribution. Dr. Robert Bruck, Dean of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science at Louisburg College, was The Hemp Universitys special guest who lectured on soil microbiology during the symposium.Attendees were able to spend half of the course at Hemp, Inc.s, then, 70,000 square-foot Industrial Hemp Hub, in a 3,000 square-foot cloning room.There, attendees had the opportunity to experience a more hands-on learning approach.(See Bruce Perlowins personalFacebook post on 6/30/17for a short video on this symposium.)

Farming Hemp for Profit April 29, 2017(North Carolina)

Hemp, Inc.s second, sold out, educationalsymposium(Farming HEMP for Profit), through its Hemp University, was a phenomenal success. Thesymposiumtook place on Saturday, April 29, 2017, from 8:30am 5:00pm, at the Hampton Inn & Suites located at 3920 Arrow Drive, Raleigh, NC27612 and drew over 100 attendees. The one-day educational symposium and tour of Hemp, Inc.s, then, 70,000 square-foot multipurpose industrial hemp facility was an opportunity for landowners and farmers to learn how to apply real business building tactics with a specific step-by-step blueprint on how to grow, sell and profit from farming industrial hemp.This event accomplished its mission to help landowners and farmers add a new viable and profitable income stream by maximizing the per-acre crop revenue.(See Bruce Perlowins personalFacebook post on 4/30/17for a short video on this symposium.)

Farming Hemp for Profit March 18, 2017 (North Carolina)

This was Hemp, Inc.s firstHemp University symposium. The symposium was a sold out event and was a huge success with 100 attendees who rated the quality of information presented as excellent.The symposium took place on Saturday, March 18, 2017, from 8:00am 5:00pm, at Hemp, Inc.s wholly owned subsidiary,Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, LLC, located at 1436 Highway 581 North, Spring Hope, North Carolina, 27882.The one-day educational symposium was an opportunity for landowners and farmers to receive a specific step-by-step blueprint on how to grow, sell and profit from farming industrial hemp by using real business tactics and principles, presented by industry experts.(See Bruce Perlowins personalFacebook posts on 3/18-19 and 3/21-26, 2019 for a short videos on this symposium.)

The Hemp University is expected to hold its next Post-Harvest Symposium and the first ever Golden Grow Awards Gala, in Oregon, in collaboration with the Southern Oregon Hemp Co-op and GreenLeaf Lab during the first quarter of 2020(tentatively, January 26, 2020). The Golden Grow Awards Gala is a joint effort to recognize, evaluate and honor excellence in the industrial hemp field.

To listen to past Hemp University workshops, please visithemp-university.teachable.com. Also visithttps://www.hempincpresents.comto see highlights from Hemp, Inc.s inaugural Hemp University held in North Carolina, which sold out in two weeks.

The Hemp Universitys twelveonline educational masterclassesare $10 each and each masterclass is under an hour in length. The online courses include lectures from industry leaders who have educated attendees at the Hemp University workshops in Oregon. These online masterclasses provide farmers who were either not able to attend the first Hemp University or who would like to revisit certain topics presented by the event speakers.

Those interested in attending, presenting or showcasing at Hemp, Inc.sHemp University, for Oregon, may contact Sophia Blanton via email (hempu@hempinc.com). For other states and to be part of our online courses, all experts in any aspect of the industrial hemp industry, contact Chris Tinney on (855) 554-6834 or via email at (ctinney@hempinc.com).

According to executives, there are also plans in the near future to expand The Hemp University to other states, including Arizona, through a variety of different formats. The eco-village in Arizona will serve as the venue for interactive and hands-on camping events which will focus on building with hemp-crete and other hemp construction materials, as well as growing hemp and the various aspects of organic gardening/farming, natural bee-keeping and other back-to-the-land and small family farm educational courses.

Since The Hemp Universitys initial launch with the educational symposium, the number of attendees has grown tremendously and it has been an overwhelming success, each time.The interactive, hands-on learning approach is invaluable. By learning inan interactive cohort format, students gain the necessary skills they need to immediately implement them on their farm or in their organization. Its the perfect mix of quality instruction, relevant educational content and a high level of commitment, to ensure the educational success of each attendee, said Perlowin.

Thus far, The Hemp University has helped transformthe livelihoods of North Carolina and Oregon farmers transitioning from tobacco and other crops to industrial hemp by providing them with the tools and support needed to gain a foothold in this burgeoning industry.

Division FiveThe Hemp Marketing Infrastructure

While marketing is a critical facet of any business operation for increasing revenues, Hemp, Inc. believes there must be a keen focus on the infrastructure first. The demand for CBD and hemp products is massive, some even say the demand is insatiable. In order to supply that type of volume/demand, there has to be a strong foundation or infrastructure in place. While Hemp, Inc. is poised to grow a rock solid Hemp Marketing Infrastructure, CEO Perlowin reminds us that this infrastructure has to be able to support a meteoric industry growth.The cannabidiol (CBD) market is on track to grow to $23.7 billion through 2023, according to theBrightfield Group. The firm also estimated the smokeable hemp market to be valued at $11.5 million in 2018, a growth of 250% from 2017. This is why we focus on infrastructure, at the moment, more so than specific marketing activities, says Perlowin. Specific marketing activities isnt the issue. The ability to grow, process and produce what the marketplace is demanding is the issue and hence the reason we focused on creating the infrastructure first.

The company has also recently joint-ventured with the retail store Hemp Healthcare, in Dolan Springs, Arizona, to sell high-end cannabidiol (CBD) and hemp-based products. Hemp Healthcare is home to an array of renowned CBD and hemp products, including Hemp, Inc.s cosmetic and wellness line that includes shampoos, lotions, candles and more. The retail storefront is conveniently located off Highway 93 in Arizona, in a highly trafficked tourist area. Specifically located on Pierce Ferry Road, Hemp Healthcare is next to Dolan Station a location that welcomes numerous tour buses daily with visitors from around the world that stop there on trips to the Grand Canyon. On some days, up to 40 tour buses stop at this location, filled to the brim with tourists on their way to the Sky Walk at the Grand Canyon.

Division SixAccessories, Products and Services

Division Six focuses on the sale of hemp industry accessories such as the sale of extractors,harvesters, storage bags, containers,fertilizer, soil amendments, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, balers, greenhouses, and greenhouse equipment; the drying, trimming, curing, storing and brokering for other farmers harvesting hemp; and ultimately anything else a hemp farmer may need to be successful.

What we found is that people are always looking for hundreds of items. New harvesting equipment, irrigation equipment of all kinds, soil amendments, organic soil fertilizers, organic pest control products, new extraction technologies and more, said Perlowin.

Division SevenResearch and Development

While Research and Development has been an integral part of Hemp, Inc. since day one, a more formal research and development project is planned after significant revenues are created. This division will then start and expand rapidly. The Company originally planned for Puerto Rico, but found the barrier to entrance was much too great and has therefore changed its position to focus its research and development division on states where hemp is already legal. Hemp, Inc. is proud to have been a pioneer and leader in the early stages of the hemp industry in America with our strategy to build infrastructure even before legalization occurred in a state such as what was done in North Carolina and Arizona.

According to Hemp, Inc.s CEO, Bruce Perlowin, Currently, it is now economically more advantageous to operate in a state that already has several years of legalization behind it and thus, further down the road, making it easier for hemp companies to thrive as we have done in North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and especially Oregon. Weve hit a grand slam in Oregon, so to speak, in our growing operations for 2 consecutive years. We may revisit Puerto Rico once they have straightened out their legal red tape, and their rules and regulations.

Division EightIndustrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures

Hemp, Inc. recently established the eighth division(Industrial Hemp Investments and Joint Ventures). Since the passing of the 2018 hemp bill, Hemp, Inc. has been flooded with inquiries of people who want to invest in the hemp industry but dont know where to start. As the Avant-guard of the industrial hemp industry, Hemp, Inc. has put together numerous joint venture investment opportunities for the medium to large-scale investor. Those who are interested should emailir@hempinc.com. Multi-million dollar investors, and in some cases billionaires and billion dollar hedge funds, are aggressively trying to get into the hemp industry since the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill. Our joint venture agreements are that they put up the money and we put up the expertise in a 50/50 revenue share(after all the initial investment money is paid back first). This will save the large-scale hemp investor often two years and dozens of multi-million dollar mistakes that they WILL often make without an expert in the hemp industry. This is where Hemp, Inc.s vast network of experts and resources in the industrial hemp industry come into play because this is something that can easily be provided to those interested in entering this industry.

Division NineIndustrial Hemp Consulting

Hemp, Inc.s Industrial Hemp and Medical Marijuana Consulting Company (IHMMCC) was recently restructured as its ninth division and is now Division Nine - Industrial Hemp Consulting. With an influx of public companies wanting to expand into the industrial hemp industry, Hemp, Inc. has been inundated with potential consulting agreements.To keep up, Hemp, Inc. revamped its consulting division to work hands-on with each company to provide its years of expertise.According to Perlowin, there is definitely a sense of Community of Companies whereby a lot of companies are working together to pool their resources, marketing connections and strategies in order to grow simultaneously.

Typically, companies seeking in depth consulting services from Hemp, Inc. pay mostly in stock since cash flow is oftentimes tight during the developmental stage of start-up companies in this industry. Through Hemp, Inc.s Division Nine Industrial Hemp Consulting, a wide range of services are forged from the experiences of creating the first publicly trading company in the cannabis sector (Medical Marijuana, Inc.) and having well over a decade of experience in the cannabis industrys public sector. Perlowin, Hemp, Inc.s chief executive officer also has over five decades in the industry itself.

Division TenEducational Entertainment

Hemp, Inc.s newest division, Entertainment, will cover everything from investing in the movieThe Adventures of the King of Pot(http://www.kingofpotthemovie.com/)and other historical movies, books and documentaries representing our industry up to the current docuseries being made onThe Modern Day History of Hemp. Those interested in investing in any one of these ventures should contact the divisions Project Manager, Chris Tinney, at 855-554-6834 or via email,ctinney@hempinc.com.

VETERAN VILLAGE KINS COMMUNITIES

To see the livestream feed for the Veterans Village Kins Community Arizona, visitwww.hempinc.com/arizonaand click on View Live Feed.

The companys 500-acre strategic growing partner Veteran Village Kins Community in Golden Valley, Arizona, is designed to grow hemp and produce CBD products to benefit veterans as well as generate revenue for Hemp, Inc., the Veteran Village and individual veterans living in the community.

TheVeteran Village Kins Community in Arizona has completed its final site plan blueprints for its 500-acre site in Golden Valley, Arizona(20 miles north of Kingman, AZ and 90 minutes from Las Vegas, NV). The site plan was submitted to the Mohave County Building Department for final review. The Company is also in the final stages of completing the necessary infrastructure to support an off-grid, renewable, energy system.

As soon as all the live streaming video cameras are up and operational, the world can actually see the way the Veteran Village Kins Community is designed and watch it being built. According to Perlowin, the basic framework or overall plan of the Veteran Village Kins Communities is to create a holistic healing and learning center that is designed to educate and heal veterans with PTSD, alcoholism, meth addiction, opioid addiction, and other psychological conditions while at the same time training them on the numerous aspects of being part of the emerging multi-billion dollar hemp industry. To see the first live streaming video, clickhere.

The Company will also build hemp-growing communities for other groups such as Abused Women & Children Village Kins Communities, the Orphaned Children Village Kins Communities, Homeless Village Kins Communities, and the Healers Village Kins Communities (the healers are professionals who are knowledgeable in the modalities to treat these traumatized groups). These particular communities are all synergistically aligned to work simultaneously supporting each other.

For example, the Healers heal the traumatized veterans and women & children; the women support orphan children, and orphan children want to see people living in homes and not homeless. Thus, a portion of the hemp grown in each community goes to create and support another community, giving everybody a sense of giving back and helping others as they help themselves. This circles back to the healers who also work to heal the veterans and the other traumatized groups. This is the economic foundation on how the sale of the hemp products operates as a quantum economic matrix or an example of symbiotic economics which is more complex than this brief description allows.

Dwight Jory, the Project Manager for the Veteran Village Kins Community Arizona, Inc., said, We are very happy with the progress. Our Kins Community is really beginning to come together. In anticipation of planting to begin during the spring, 300 acres have been fenced, 16 overnight trailer park sites are under construction, and six 4040-ft organic vegetable gardens have been planted and are currently producing food and kenaf, according to Jory. These organic gardens double as experimental growing modules using an entire array of different growing technologies to see which modalities grow the best in a desert environment. As for the 6 geodesic domes mentioned in an earlier press release, 1 is structurally complete with only the electrical and plumbing to be completed. The rest are on site awaiting final site plan approval.

We are now accepting volunteers who have expressed an interest in helping to build the first Kins Community for our veterans, said Jory. Those interested in making the first hemp growing CBD-producing Veteran Village Kins Community become a reality should contact Ms. Sandra Williams via email (swilliams@hempinc.com).

One thousand trees, on 36 of the 500-acres, have also been planted, with an additional 1,000 trees on order. The Veteran Village Kins Community will include a 100,000-square foot GMP compliant, central processing plant, a state-of-the-art testing laboratory, and various health and wellness centers to support veterans who may have psychological, emotional or health issues.

As Hemp, Inc. positions itself on the forefront of Americas industrial hemp revolution, we see our partnership with Veteran Village Kins Community Arizona, Inc. being paramount in supporting the small family farm movement that we are confident will reshape the American landscape, said Perlowin. As we work toward getting our eco-village up and running in Arizona, we are also aggressively scouting strategic locations in other states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. Giving veterans and other Americans a place to learn new skills and take part in this multi-billion-dollar hemp CBD market is very exciting. Its a big part of our mission to give back. Recently we have expanded our Kins Community concept internationally focusing, but not limited to, Israel, New Zealand, Canada, Africa, and Uruguay.

Hemp, Inc. executives are also continuing to scout new locations nationwide to open additional hemp processing centers in legal markets.

PRESS COVERAGE

Between the Hemp University, the hemp processing center and Bruce Perlowin himself, the Company has created an enormous amount of media coverage. See below for the list of press hits the Company has received up to the end of this quarter:

Hit:Hemp: the burgeoning industry of southern Oregon - (NBC) KOBI-5, December 22, 2018

Press Release:Hemp, Inc. Featured on Oregon NBC 5 Station Following Passage of 2018 Farm Bill

Hemp, Inc. Featured on Oregon NBC 5 Station Following Passage of 2018 Farm Bill

Hit:Carolinas next cash crop?: Farm bill will add hemp into more growers rotation - The Wilson Times, December 26, 2018

Excerpt from:
Hemp, Inc. Applauds USDA's New Insurance Option For Hemp - GlobeNewswire

Haley Bogaert, Founder & CEO, Haley Bogaert Face

The beauty industry has grown to become a $532 billion industry and has shown no signs of slowing down. Successful startup founders, like Haley Bogaert, understand that the upward growth is due to the continued use of social media influencers and brand ambassadors, reaching untapped demographics with products that big brands may not offer, utilizing a direct to consumer approach, and aligning themselves with the clean beauty movement by offering sustainable products.

Bogaertwas just 24 when she launched her companyHaley Bogaert Faceafter working as a makeup pro for some of Torontos top beauty brands. Gaining significant experience from her time working under these names, she amassed a loyal following of customers as an in-demand make-up artist and brow guru. However, it was only after the tragic loss of both her mother and brother within six months of each other, that prompted her to rethink her career path and launch her own beauty boutique.

From serving clients out of her apartment to opening a flagship retail storefront, I sat down with Bogaert as she shared the approach she has taken to scale her business and why cultivating a close family dynamic within her team has been one of the greatest keys to her success.

Recognize The Talent Others See In You

Before building a business that currently employs nine staff and has over 4,000 clients in the HB Face system, Bogaert knew what she wanted to do from a young age. She started in the beauty industry working for other notable brands as a means to build her experience and foster relationships, but her future as an entrepreneur was clear. I started doing brows and makeup at 16 and I worked at Caryl Baker Visage. The owner of the store once told me, you're going to run an empire one day and it might be mine or it might be your own, but you belong in this industry. So, I always knew what I wanted to do. It just came natural to me.

Use Tragedy To Fuel Your Destiny

One of the most devastating times in Bogaerts life became her call to action and motivation to create the kind of career she always wanted. The loss of her mother and brother initially affected her headspace and drive as she took time to mourn, It was difficult for me to get out of bed every day, put my makeup on and come to work. I went through a lot of ups and downs, she recalls. The thing that helped me the most was to have a routine in order to stay focused, to be healthy and to clear my mind, Bogaert says.When experiencing hardships in ones life, she recommends celebrating small wins and remembering why you started. Use that why to ground you; find your centre and re-direct your next steps. Finding strength in a support system sharpened her vision as she tried to create and build something of her own. Instead of focusing on the pain of the loss, she turned to the work that fuelled her.

Start Small

Bogaert began seeing clients out of her apartment and doing home visits while selling her line of beauty products via an online shop all while attending business school at night. However, within a year the need to give HB Face its own space was clear. She says, I wanted to give my clients a great environment where they still felt at home. My client list grew rapidly in a short period and I knew I couldnt see 50 people in a day and go to everybody's house anymore. It just wasn't going to work. And I also [at the time] started the makeup line and I wanted to sell the product. Shortly thereafter, Bogaert began location scouting and drafting floor plans for her storefront. Leaning on her own intuition, even when others didnt have the foresight to see the dream, she proceeded without permission. And encourages women to the same. No one can succeed on your behalf. You have to want it [success] for yourself. Once you understand the power you possess as a [business]woman, nothing can stop you.

HB Face team photo

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

Ive always move at a slow and steady pace to ensure everything is running efficiently and my thoughts are organized, Bogaert says. Her decision to open a flagship retail store was a natural progression aligned with her business growth and needs. From house visits, she first moved to a studio space and employed a team of two to help with the demand. Within less than a year, she opened a retail storefront. My advice is to take your time. Learn what resources you need to start your business - whether it be a physical location or online - and raise your hand if you need help from an advisor, coach or mentor, Bogaert states. I break my big goals into small steps which helps me make purposeful decisions. Determining the ideal location to figuring out how to negotiate a lease and most importantly, funding the space were all top priorities - and by far the most challenging. To accomplish this, she looked to the insight she learned from business classes as well as mentors for some of the answers to her burning questions about design and operations while a friend and her father invested in the start-up funding. Understanding the importance of managing money early on and having no desire to carry any business debt, Bogaert made sure these loans were paid back within her first eight months of her launch.

Assemble Your Team

Bogaert also implements a careful and purposeful approach when it comes to hiring her team. I never over-hired because I want everybody to be busy before I started to grow, she mentions. Delegating tasks and sharing responsibilities means everyone wears multiple hats to run a successful operation that provides the experience her customers deserve. With an intentional focus on service excellence, Bogaert knows that nurturing a team that feels like family is essential to her business model. Knowing personally what its like to feel disengaged when life outside of work is problematic means that Bogaert creates space for her staff to express and bring their whole selves to the work environment. My girls know they can come to me about anything. There is obviously a fine line between personal and business, but if something is on their mind, I want to work through it together. I want them to feel their best at work, and I want them to succeed with me. Its about making them feel like they're part of something because I wouldn't be able to do anything without them.

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After Losing Everything, This Beauty Entrepreneur Takes A Family First Approach to Leading Her Team - Forbes

You're a company that's done rather well over here, in the UK. Now, you'd like to try your luck over there? Sounds simple enough, however, expanding a business into the US takes foresight and funding.

The most successful companies use technology to become more efficient. So, then, what kinds of technology can help a business succeed in the US?

Cloud computing has levelled the playing field by reducing the cost and complexity of setting up a technology infrastructure across the pond. You can now spin up virtual operating systems and applications quickly instead of installing physical servers to run stateside operations.

One company that experienced this first hand is fin-tech business PCI Pal. The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Council's PCI-DSS is an industry regulation that governs how companies store credit card information. Businesses that don't comply with its strict rules risk stiff penalties. The 20-year-old company provides payment solutions that online retailers and other businesses can use to process customer credit cards without having to store that sensitive financial data themselves.

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PCI compliance is an even bigger business in the UK than in the US, and a quick look at the data breach headlines reveals why: thieves are pilfering credit card details by the thousand. Seeing the opportunity, PCI Pal expanded into North America in 2017. It set up an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is a hotbed for fin-tech, but needed a solid technology infrastructure to run both its external services and its internal US sales, marketing, and project delivery operations, explains the company's chief revenue officer Darren Gill.

"Cloud has been instrumental in assisting us in our global expansionm and that's not only in terms of the solutions that we use internally, like email or Office 365 in the cloud," he says. "We were actually delivering a cloud-based service to our customers."

The company opted for Amazon Web Services, installing a presence at Amazon East, the cloud service provider's East coast region that communicates with PCI Pal's central hub located on Amazon's instance in Ireland.

PCI Pal can spin up a computing instance in the cloud in two or three days, explains Gill. He uses session border controllers from IP telephony solutions provider AudioCodes, which provide a link between PCI Pal's own VoIP network and its external telephony provider's network in the US. This also lets it funnel telemetry data about the calls that it's routing back to the Irish AWS instances. It's something that it can replicate in any country it tackles using its AWS set up.

Having a cloud-based instance in multiple regions also allows PCI Pal to meet a pressing customer challenge: data sovereignty. With corporate customers (and their consumer customers) increasingly sensitive about where PCI Pal stores their personal information, data centre location becomes a big factor.

"Particularly with the type of information that we provide and deliver, a US customer doesn't want their data sitting over in Frankfurt or in some other country's data center," Gill explains. Another Amazon instance in the Canadian province of Montral also gives customers north of the border peace of mind, he says.

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To keep up to date with US customer feedback, the company uses the issue and project tracking software Jira. This enables US employees to log issues from users across the Atlantic and feed them back quickly to development staff in the UK. This means US users don't get left out when suggesting new product features and getting fixes for problems.

As the US took cloud computing concepts and ran with them, PCI Pal also learned some new working practices that it exported back home, says Gill. The company began using Dropbox along with Office 365, setting up a dedicated section for the US office so that it could handle localized administrative paperwork, especially legal contracts involved with spinning up the US entity. It also began using DocuSign, which enables it to take its paperwork entirely digital using electronic signatures.

"The tendency was for most of the employees that were office-based in the UK to show up at the office every day and there wasn't a whole lot of flexibility with respect to working at home versus here," he says. The US culture is different, he adds: "We had an office location for convenience, but the reality is there was a lot of flexibility and most everyone works from home three days of the week." Technology enabled the company to replicate that cultural shift back in the UK.

Website development business UENI used the Internet differently during its own US expansion. The company started in late 2014 offering automated website development for UK businesses and expanding into continental Europe in 2017. It pivoted to a freemium model in summer 2018, abandoning a manual sales process in favour of an automated push-button web development system to grow its customer base. With a 100% digital system and a focus on generating customer volume, it began international expansion in 2019, beginning with the US in April.

The company used a content delivery network (CDN) to deliver its automated website building system to US customers, who now make up 500 of its 3500 global daily sign-ups. The CDN caches content from its central servers in over 50 US locations so that when someone visits a customer's website, they are downloading data from a local node.

"The closer the server, the lower the latency and the faster the content delivery," explains CEO Christine Telyan. "This gives us the ability to load our clients' websites as fast as possible on their customers' devices, wherever possible."

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UENI also uses cloud-native software development technologies to help manage its software operations across different regions. "To scale the product, we use systems like Kubernetes, the container orchestration system. Originally this was Google technology, but now the community supports it," she says. "Kubernetes helps us a lot to scale our product to different data centres over the world. This gives the ability to have enough resources for the fastest delivery of the pages of our websites to the end-users."

The company has also used technology to help ramp up the marketing necessary to tackle a market ten times the size of the UK 4,000 miles away. "On our marketing stack we use automation tools at every step of the way," Telyan adds. "From automated rules to optimise andscale ads based on Pixel data and derivative metrics, to A/B testing software to achieve the best match between audience and message"

Fortified by their US experience, both companies are continuing their global expansion. The next step for PCI Pal is Australia and New Zealand, assisted by an Amazon instance in Sydney. Gill explains that the company's successful global push has even allowed staff to migrate between countries. One of PCI Pal's lead developers relocated from the UK to the US after his wife got an opportunity to work stateside.

"Just by virtue of opening the office here that kind of broadened our horizons a bit from a cultural point of view," he says. The developer now works remotely with his colleagues back in the UK using the company's cloud infrastructure.

The internet and the cloud infrastructure built atop it, combined with advances in software development and deployment technologies like containers, has lowered the barrier to entry for companies that want to create enterprise-class infrastructures around the world. There's now less of an excuse than ever not to boot up a business arm in the US using tech that can help with the legal, financial, customer support, and marketing aspects too.

Transform the operator experience with enhanced automation & analytics

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What tech does it take to make a business succeed in the US? - IT PRO

Stress less with these morning routines that work.

December 30, 2019 6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Kicking off the day with a positive outlook and an organized mindset is integral to running a business or being successful at work.If youre a working parent, you likely deal with some morning madness, andif you have younger kids (or teens!), morning meltdowns.

Aside fromestablishing good morning eating habits, and eliminating unnecessary TV and social media scrolling in the morning, below are 9 tips for reducing morning stress by saving time, all while keeping your kids in a positive mindset.

Lay out your clothes, the kids clothes, pack lunches, ensure that homework is finished and in the folders and even have some breakfast items prepped such as cut-up fruit or hard-boiled eggs.Everyone has a different routine but the key is that we adapt to routines and kids especially do too.Even plan for little things such as knowing where essentials like car keys, glasses, and Bluetooth headphones are.(Tomake the time for this prep, give up some screen time or theseother habits that can destroy your productivity.)

We dont like to be rushed, and especially kids.If your kids can chill a little bit in the morning, they are more relaxed and this will minimize meltdown.On the same note, if you are someone that likes to journal, read the news or enjoy your cup of coffee, rather than just slamming it down in the car or commute, it is game-changing to prioritize waking up 15-30 minutes earlier, so long as you get in bed at a decent time.

Related:10 Tweaks To YourMorningRoutine That Will Transform Your Entire Day

A lot of time can be wasted trying to figure out what to make for breakfast, and it cant always be pop-tarts on the go if you want your children (and you!) to thrive throughout their day.I like to prep the cut-up fruit (because this takes time!)have hard-boiled eggs on hand and toast or bagels are easy for kids to make themselves. One favorite in our household istasty egg muffinsthat can be made over the weekend and are great for just pulling out of the fridge, on-the-go, and even for packing into lunches.

Just like the airplane oxygen mask analogy, you need to take care of yourself first to function best.So whether its exercise, meditation or cleaning out your inbox while you sip your coffee and eat breakfast, ensure that you put your armor on before you take on responsibilities for getting the kids ready.

As with many tasks at the office, its the teamwork that eases the load for everyone and drives success.So why not do the same at home? Identify your strengths and weaknesses and devise a plan with your partner.For example, I like to work out first thing in the morning and can get up and go. My husband prefers to take his time, work early and enjoy his coffee.He spends time with our boys, makes them breakfast, and then I come home in time to finish up the lunch boxes that were prepared the night before, drink a post-workout protein shake and get myself together, before getting the boys out the door for school.For single parents, aim for preparing as much as you can the night before and teaching your children to help out with breakfast and packing their bags.

Teach your children to help out.Our kids are 8 and 11 and we have taught them to make simple breakfasts like toast bagels and spread cream cheese on them, toast waffles or get things like yogurt and cut up fruit out of the fridge. For some families, a chore chart helps keep them organized and depending on the ages of your kids, its best to create a routine for them that includes boxes for them to check for when they: get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, comb their hair (we like to skip this one), pack their backpacks, etc.When you give your children ownership and responsibility, you empower them with confidence and independence that will pay off in the long run.

The last-minute hunt for homework, shoes, after school activity gear or anything else is an immediate stress trigger. Be it hooks and cabinets or an actual shelving cubby system near your back door, this launchpad station for everyone helps foster organization. At our home, we each have our own cubby and its a place where we keep shoes and have backpacks and paperwork.My personal cubby has my gym bag packed and ready to go (even with car keys inside of it!) the night before so that I can just grab it early morning and quietly sneak out the door.

Amazon Fresh, Instacart, Brandless, or whatever you like, find effective online shopping sites and skip the trips to the store.We rely heavily on Amazon Fresh and by using their Past Purchases drop-down tool, its simple to reorder staple grocery and home items.Going to the grocery store mid-week is difficult for many working parents andonline grocery deliveryhas redefined the shopping experience.

No one has ever calmed down when they are yelled at to Calm Down! right?While we are all guilty of yelling, its very counter-productive to getting out the door. Kids sense tension and anxiety and if you are not calm, neither are they.And why should your kids be rushed? For the benefit of all, including yourself, focus on using a calm voice and keeping a positive attitude as you explain to kids why you need their help.

As entrepreneurs and parents, jam-packed days are inevitable, yet keeping anxiety levels low is crucial to your health, well-being and success. Make the most of the limited family time in the mornings and evenings and try to truly be with them and minimize the multi-tasking.Whenever possible, have a back-up plan, get a good nights sleep and allow for some flexibility. Happy less-stressed parents will lead to happier and less-stress kids. Theres no debate about that.

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9 Strategies for Working Parents to Reduce Stress and Get Control of Mornings - Entrepreneur

Emma Oxnevad, Opinions and Social Media Editor|December 28, 2019

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As the 2010s come to an end, major publications are weighing in to give their takes on the best music of the decade. When looking at the music that filled the decade, one may notice that some of the most enduring hits were made by women.

This is backed by decade-end numbers for album sales, in which Taylor Swift sits atop the likes of fellow heavyweights Drake and Ed Sheeran, selling an estimated 32.5 million albums. Also featured on the list are Adele and Lady Gaga, having sold 23.3 million and 8.1 million albums, respectively.

While numbers are certainly an important metric of measuring an artists success, their cultural capital is essential in a largely saturated media market.

Pop music seems to be the one common thread we all share in the age of ultra-niche media, said Dan Bashara, an adjunct instructor of media and cinema studies at DePaul But everybody at least knows who Taylor Swift is, or has at least ambiently heard Rihanna, even if theyre not a fan.

There were certainly a great number of successful, influential men in the world of popular music in the 2010sthe aforementioned Drake, Ed Sheeran and Kanye West, to name a few.

In terms of cultural significance and enduring legacy, however, it is women of the genre who reign supreme.

Much of this has to do with image. When one thinks of Katy Perry, they also probably think of her neon-colored wardrobe and effervescent aura. When one thinks of Rihanna, they probably think of her tough-girl swagger and aloof persona. And when one thinks of Lady Gaga, they probably think of her role as a provocateur, from her iconic meat dress to her showing up to the 2011 Grammys being carried in a large egg.

I also think pop music tends to be at ground zero for our contemporary discussions of identity and representation, perhaps because of how powerfully central the pop stars image is, as opposed to a cast of actors, plus the overlay of fictional characters, plus writers and directors, as you have in TV and film, Bashara said.

A common thread between popular female artists with the genre is the ways in which their workas well as their imagehas transformed throughout the decade.

Taylor Swift began the decade as the darling of country music, fresh off her Album of the Year win at the 2010 Grammys for her sophomore album, Fearless. At barely 20 years old, Swift cemented her status as Americas latest ingenue, with her girl-next-door charm and adolescence-tinged discography establishing a clear brand.

As the decade went on, however, good faith toward Swift began to decline. It seemed that the world could not go five minutes without Swift dominating headlines, from her series of highly-publicized relationshipsand breakupsto her feuds with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

Swifts metamorphosis seemed to reach a peak with 2017s Reputation, in which she plays into the bad press that had followed her for years. The album featured a much more electronic, aggressive sound, with Swift appearing in dramatic black outfits in live performances.

On one hand, it is easy to view Swifts stylistic transformation as a routine tried on by many divas prior to her: changing ones sound or style in order to keep up with trends. On the other hand, Swifts journey as an artist can also be viewed as her coming into her own as a woman.

[Swift] went from country music star, to bubblegum pop star, to angry sexy lady seeking revenge, senior Madeline Mason said. Her newest album, Lover, reverts to that bubblegum pop star persona, but its truly amazing how shes been more than one thing. But, shes heavily scrutinized for it. Its almost as if people dont get that women contain multitudes, can be mean and sweet and kind and rude all at the same time.

Ariana Grande kickstarted her music career in the mid-2010s, with her Mariah Carey-esque vocals and signature high ponytail being essential components of her image and success.

Grandes career came to a dramatic turn following the 2017 bombing of her concert at the Manchester Arena. The attack left 23 people dead and over 100 injured, with a white-hot spotlight on Grandes response.

Grande rose to the challenge, putting together One Love Manchester, a live benefit concert with a star-studded lineup, which is poised to be one of the most iconic moments of the decade.

Grande eventually became something of a symbol of resilience following the 2018 death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and subsequent breakup of her engagement to comedian Pete Davidson. Amid the personal turmoil, Grande released some of her best and most popular work, including the hit song thank u, next.

It is impossible to talk about popular music or culture of the last decade, however, without talking about Beyonc.

Within the last decade, Beyonc has transformed her image into an otherworldy icon, or Queen B, as her fans refer to her.

This is in part due to her undeniable talent, which seems to have only increased throughout her decade-spanning career.

More important is the number of bold statements made by Beyonc that demanded the world at large pay attention, from placing a large sign bearing the word feminist behind her during her 2014 VMA performance to releasing her self-titled 2013 album with no prior promotion.

Beyoncs surprise dropping her self-titled, visual album impacted pop culture because everyone was shocked you could just drop an album without leading up to it with a release date, junior Lesley Perales said. It influenced other artists to start doing surprise releases with singles or albums.

And, of course, Lemonade.

As one of the most strategically private celebrities alive, Beyoncs 2016 album accusing her husband, Jay-Z, of infidelity shook the world of pop music to its core.

Lemonade showcased a side of Beyonc not yet seen to the public. While she had released a number of songs about breakups and men who didnt deserve her, Lemonade made everything a bit too real and personal to consume without a second thought.

Lemonade revealed Beyonc in her most human, vulnerable form, as well as showcased her love and pride in black culture with songs like Formation.

Beyonc later cemented herself as the most relevant artist of the decade with her 2018 headlining Coachella performance being dubbed Beychella by fans and popular media alike. The performance was a celebration of black culturespecifically historically black colleges and universitiesmade all the more relevant by the fact that Beyonc was the first black woman to ever headline the music festival.

Its hard for me to think of another artist after Madonna who has achieved such cultural power and who has shifted the public conversation so thoroughly, Bashara said. I do think her legacy will endure, though I also think it will come in for some re-evaluation; there was a period, the Beygency period when it was impossible to criticize her, and I think that as we look back well see some more complexity in our assessment of her. And thats a good thing! We like to flatten out our pop stars and make them all-or-nothing images, heroes or villains, and its easy to forget that theres a complicated person underneath that image.

As the decade comes to an end, there appears to be a new crop of pop stars on the horizon, like Billie Eilish and Lizzo. These two seem to know the rules of the game and are sticking to a tight, identifiable image: Eilish as a morose, street-style adorned waif and Lizzo as the unapologetically loud, proud life coach everyone needs.

When examining women in pop music, it is clear that a great deal of effort is put into sustaining ones career and, ultimately, their brand. It is not enough for a woman in pop to have a good voice and sing a few good songs; their image is ultimately their empire.

I think female pop artists are held to a higher standard; theyre expected to sing, dance and write their own music when male pop artists are not, Perales said. For many of these women, it was expected of them to have a clear image to attract their audiences. Recently, though, I feel like these women are taking control over their careers and defining pop in their own way.

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End of the decade: women in 2010s pop music - The Depaulia

Once you elect your contribution rate, you need to select investments. Don't make the mistake of leaving your deposits in the account as cash -- you have a much greater earnings opportunity by investing in stock market funds. As a point of comparison, cash interest rates might be as high as 2% before inflation. But the long-term return in the stock market is 10% before inflation.

Of course, your investment return from year to year will be higher or lower than 10%. But if you ride out the downturns, your long-term growth will exceed what you'd earn on cash deposits.

Even if you don't know anything about investing, you can still do a reasonable job picking funds. First, look for funds that track a major index like the S&P 500. Or you could choose a target-date fund, which adjusts the risk level in the portfolio based on your target retirement year. Next, compare the expense ratios of your fund options. The expense ratio is a key performance indicator, and lower is better.

Some 401(k) plans have an auto-increase feature that raises your contributions by a stated percentage each year. Use that feature if you can. You should also manually increase your contribution every time you get a raise. Serious savers will increase the contribution enough to offset the entire raise. And you can do this up until you hit the IRS-imposed maximum contribution limits. In 2020, the maximums are $19,500 (or $26,000 if you are 50 or older). Your company-match contributions do not count against these limits.

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Is the SECURE Act Bringing a 401(k) Your Way? Here Are 5 Steps to Success - STLtoday.com

You're familiar with the fad diet cycle: Today's keto diet is yesterday's Atkins.

There's a near-constant rotation of weight loss plans that promise to supercharge your metabolism, tap energy stores, and ignite your fat burnersall in the name of a thinner, leaner you.

The GOLO diet is an exception only to the fad diet churn-and-burn cycle in that it builds itself around an expensive supplement. That pill, called Release, isn't FDA approved. The research GOLO uses to tout the power of Release isn't, well, all that powerful.

And there's more to it.

The GOLO diet suggests that spiked insulin levels are the cause of slow metabolism, which, in turn, is responsible for weight gain. GOLO argues that when you can control your insulin levels, you wont store excess sugar in your blood, which your body then stores as fat. Regulated insulin levels equal regulated weight.

The company makes this claim based on a team of doctors and pharmacists, though the company does not disclose the names and affiliations of these experts.

To its credit, the GOLO diet, unlike Whole30 or keto, does not prohibit or severely restrict you from eating entire food groups.

Instead, the GOLO diet focuses on whole, unprocessed, and unrefined foods. At mealtime, a dieter selects one to two servings from each categoryproteins, carbs, vegetables, and fats.

A GOLO dieter eats three meals a day, with breakfast and lunch meals larger than dinner. The diet permits snacks if you go longer than four to five hours between meals or if you exercise.

While this type of eating plan can work, this is where the GOLO diet starts to veer into questionable territory.

Supplement territory.

One of the core components of the GOLO diet is a supplement called Release. The company claims that Release will help kickstart your body's ability to regulate insulin, increase your metabolism, and burn more fat.

Here's what's in Release: magnesium (15 milligrams in 1 capsule), zinc (10 mg), chromium (70 micrograms)*, rhodiola root extract, inositol, berberine HCl, gardenia, banaba leaf extract, salacia bark extract, apple extract, vegetable cellulose, dextrin, glycine, silica, citric acid

*These three ingredients are the only three ingredients with amounts listed on the label. The amounts of these ingredients, however, are not disclosed because the formulation is patented.

And then there's the price.

One bottle (containing 90 capsules) costs $50. Buy three bottles and you'll reduce that fee to $99, but you can't shop around for Release anywhere cheaper because you can only buy the supplement through the company.

Approach with caution, says Abby Langer, R.D., founder of Abby Langer Nutrition.

First, there's the idea that eating certain foods can drastically improve your metabolic rate.

Theres nothing you can really eat to boost your metabolism to any degree that you will have a significant change in weight, Langer says. Your metabolism is dictated by genetics and muscle mass and, sure, hormones. But there are so many factors that something you eat wont radically change it.

Theories do exist linking increased insulin and weight gain, but scientists still arent certain which hormones control metabolism and weight.

Its a theory for a reason. It hasnt been studied a lot in humans, she says. We really dont know definitively if insulin resistance is responsible for increased body mass.

The GOLO diet centers on whole foods, and doesn't require you to eliminate food groups, which is a smart way to eatbut you don't need the GOLO diet to eat this way.

And you surely don't need a supplement, says Langer.

Release is just a supplement. While it may not be harmful physically, I dont recommend it," she says.

GOLO dieters have reportedly lost upwards of 100 pounds in just 12 months, and that can carry undeniable allure for someone looking to lose weight.

Except that that weight loss may have occurred not from GOLO's proclaimed ability to help regulate insulin, but instead from switching from processed foods to whole foods.

While GOLO leans heavily on the theory that insulin resistance slows metabolism, Langer cautions that there is no simple or accurate way to definitively measure a persons metabolism. As a result, there is no way to measure the GOLO diet's success.

This is the hallmark of a fad diet, Langer says. You give the followers an outcome that they cant measure.

And the research cited by the company?

The research studies done to support GOLOs claims were small, she says. The studies were done by the company. None of their stuff has been published in peer reviewed journals."

Rather than following one of these one-size-fits-all diets, Langer says the best path to an effective diet is to talk to a registered dietitian and carve out a plan tailored to you life, your goals, and your eating habits.

And consider this, as it pertains to all diets: If there was one diet on which everyone would lose weight and keep that weight off foreverwouldn't everyone already be on that diet?

See more here:
GOLO Diet and Weight Loss - Is Golo Safe and Effective - menshealth.com

wbur (Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash)

For months, Juna Gjata, the co-host of WBUR's new podcast, "Food, We Need To Talk," asked every eating expert she interviewed the same question: "If you could tell people to change only one thing that would have the biggest impact on their health for the rest of their lives, what would it be?"

Their expertise ranged from nutrition to metabolism to how super-tasty foods affect the brain. She expected them to answer with pointers like "eat more vegetables," or "increase your protein," or "cut down on the cheesecake."

But, limited to just one recommendation for lifelong health, none of them focused on food. All had the same answer: just exercise.

And several focused on one particular type: resistance exercise also known as strength training as the best benefit for the least amount of time.

So, with 2020 just around the corner, here's an edited preview of an upcoming episode of "Food, We Need To Talk," with the hope it might help inform your New Year's resolution thinking. Juna is joined by her co-host, Dr. Eddie Phillips, founder of the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine.

They begin by looking back at Juna's old misconception about exercise as simply a way to burn off calories on the treadmill. Eddie notes that actually, the most important thing about exercise is that it increases and maintains muscle mass.

Juna: I asked Dr. Wayne Westcott, director of the Exercise Science Program and Fitness Research Program at Quincy College, why is having high muscle mass so important?

Westcott: Great question. Muscle not only burns calories and uses energy when you're active; when you're at rest, muscle also burns lots of energy so much energy that it makes up about 30% of your resting metabolic rate. When you're sound asleep at night, your muscles burn 30% of your calories.

Juna: Your resting metabolic rate that's basically all the calories your body burns when you're doing nothing lying down, sleeping, breathing.

Eddie: Right, just keeping the lights on. And it becomes even more important as we get older, because the natural course of events is to actually lose muscle mass. Our metabolism just slows down. And the way that we raise our metabolism is not green tea supplements or apple cider vinegar shots there's no science backing them. There's lots of science, though, for good, old-fashioned exercise.

Juna: So we should hit the treadmill?

Eddie: Well, not so fast. Not all exercise is created equal. Cardiovascular exercise like on the treadmill is really great for your heart, your lungs, your brain and your stress levels. But if you actually want to build your muscles, you've got to do what we call resistance training. That's the scientific term for lifting weights, using bands, your body weight, anything that stresses your muscles. It's also called strength training.

Juna: Honestly, the reason that I never got into it was because it really doesn't look like it burns that many calories. Lifting weights just looked so chill. I didn't think it would do anything.

Eddie: If you're just counting calories, Juna, you're absolutely right. You're not burning a lot of calories to lift those weights. But your body actually has to remodel itself after you've stressed it, and that takes even more calories.

Juna: That was the coolest thing that I ever learned about exercise: Basically, a human being is an adaptation machine. We're meant to adapt to the stresses we put our body through. So if you go out in the sun, your skin gets tan to prepare for the next time you're in the sun. Or if you're doing really laborious work with your hands, they grow calluses. That's how fitness podcaster Sal Di Stefano talks about exercise, and it's what finally got through to me.

Di Stefano: When you do lots of cardio, where you just get on a treadmill and jog, jog, jog, or you get on an elliptical and go forever, the body is getting a couple of different messages. It's getting the message, "We need stamina and endurance." And it burns a significant amount of calories, so we probably want to become more efficient. We don't need much strength. So, a great way to become more efficient at calories is to pare down muscle.

Eddie: So if you're picturing who's going to win the next marathon, you know what they look like. They're going to be slim. They're going to have near zero fat on them. Small and just fast. They're not carrying a lot of extra muscle mass around.

Juna: Exactly. On the other hand, resistance training sends a pretty different message.

Di Stefano: Resistance training doesn't burn a ton of calories when you do it, but it is sending the signal to your body that's saying, "We'd better build more muscle and more strength to be able to handle this stress." Because when you lift weights, that's what you're doing: stressing the body. It's why you get sore. So your body's OK with becoming less efficient with calories. It's OK with speeding up its metabolism because you're constantly telling your body, "We just need to be stronger."

Eddie: And when you're doing that resistance training, it's not just building up the muscles. It's actually that the muscles that you have become even more metabolically active. Here's how Wayne Westcott describes it.

Westcott: People who don't strength train, if they run or walk or swim or bike, their muscles burn about six calories per pound per day, which is great. That's a lot. People who do strength training, their muscles burn, at rest, nine calories per pound per day, 50 percent more. Resting metabolic rate increases when people strength train by between 5% and 9%, the average being seven in almost all the studies. That's huge in terms of maintaining a better body weight, and sustaining your body weight, which is the biggest issue in the United States.

If we didn't have scales, just had full length mirrors, people would do a much better job of deciding what kind of exercise they should do or not do.

Eddie: Seven percent doesn't sound like a lot. But it adds up to about 250 calories a day. That still doesn't sound like a lot, but over the course of a year, it's 20 pounds' worth of calories.

Juna: And Wayne Westcott found in his studies that when people diet down and they're not doing any exercise, they're just dieting they'll lose muscle and fat. So you're not just losing fat. You're losing muscle, too. Now, if you're anything like me, your natural inclination when you diet is to also run your little butt off on the treadmill.

Westcott: It increases the fat loss. But guess what? It also increases the muscle loss significantly. It exacerbates the aging process of losing muscle. When they do strength training plus diet, they lose the least muscle and they lose the most fat.

Eddie: So resistance training is perhaps the best exercise to use if you're trying to lose fat.

Westcott: In our studies, the average person loses about one pound of fat per month when they strength train, and they add about one pound of muscle per month. So the body weight tends to stay the same. And people say, kind of surprised, "Well, I haven't lost weight, but I'm wearing different pant sizes, or dress sizes. You know, and my waist is smaller, my hips are smaller." Well, that's because muscle is more compact, more dense than fat. If we didn't have scales, just had full length mirrors, people would do a much better job of deciding what kind of exercise they should do or not do.

Eddie: But we're not just talking about resistance training. We still want everyone to be doing their 150 minutes a week of exercise that raises your heart rate. It's going to take care of other problems your risk of diabetes, of osteoporosis, of cancer are all going to plummet the more active you are. You're going to live longer and live better. And in the meantime, psychologically, there's no medicine like exercise.

Juna: That is what I find to be the best part about going to the gym, for sure. The stronger I feel in the gym, the stronger I feel outside the gym, too.

Eddie: Also, the physiologic effects of starting to lift weights actually come much quicker than just going on the treadmill. For patients who have obesity, we start with resistance exercise. And the psychological benefit comes very quickly when you realize that you can and will get better from a little bit of hard work. And you really don't have to do that much exercise to get the most results. Which is good news for a lot of us, because the time intrusion of exercise is still what gets most people not to start and not to continue. And remember, what we're trying to do is get people to change in small ways, and to commit to changes that they're going to enjoy and do for the rest of their lives. It's not a 12-week beach body challenge. And the research shows that with the resistance training that we've talked about, two or maybe three times a week is all you need. And a half hour at a time, you're going to see those dramatic results. It's almost like an inoculation. It's just enough to get your muscles moving.

Juna: So what's best to do at the gym?

Eddie: If you want a simple answer? Shameless plug: Listen to The Magic Pill [the previous season of this podcast.] But if you only had one exercise to do, I would say squatting. Get the proper form. Up and down off of your chair, just to strengthen your legs, get into your core. You're also going to work your arms, by doing a little bit of pushups. If you can't do them on the floor, do them against the the edge of a table. And you're going to work your core. If you do that, your life has already changed. If you're overweight, the best thing you can do to carry that weight until hopefully you lose it is to make your muscles stronger. That then is going to take the stress off of your joints. Get some guidance. This is not something that everyone knows how to do. So if you can, find a trainer or use YouTube videos.

Juna: And if you feel self-conscious about the gym, here's what Sal Di Stefano says:

Di Stefano: I'll tell you something right now: One of the most empowering things you could do is overcome a fear like that. Nobody knows what they're doing at first. Nobody cares. People who work out couldn't care less that there's other people working out at the gym. Just go to the gym, put your headphones on and go take care yourself and don't let anything stop you, especially fear. Start small. Go easy. Once you start to get used to going to the gym, you start to find yourself getting stronger. You're going to be a more empowered individual.

You can subscribe to "Food, We Need To Talk" here. The American College of Sports Medicine has a new infographic on resistance training here.

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A Funny Thing Happened When We Asked Nutrition Experts For One Piece Of Advice - WBUR