Not gonna lie. This week's newsletter is coming from one pooped puppy.

Talk about a full week! Started my first full-time contract in over a year (for a division of my previous employer). On one hand it almost feels like coming home 'cause I'm doing something I did about 15 years ago and for which I'm considered an expert (very niche HR discipline called Talent Supply Chain) but on the other hand, it's learning the quirks and foibles of a different department (one that has a lot more compliance guardrails.)

The best part is that the people I get to work with are truly awesome - folx who are committed to doing an exemplary job even in the midst of reorganization, rolling layoffs, and continual disruption of the status quo.

The most confounding part? I now have another calendar to try and fit into my current system (or my current system into the new calendar???) It doesn't sound like a big deal to most people, I know, but for me this type of executive function challenge is the flavor that can drive me completely bonkers.

I'm that weirdo who hates double-booking or having to reschedule because of a snafu on my part. When I'm sick and unable to function, fine. That's out of my control. But when I have to balance a paying contract with the potential for paid client work, then things get a little more dicey.

The solution? Boundaries. Firm, clear ones set on both my new contract calendar and on my business booking calendar. Guess what I'm gonna be doing tonight after I've scheduled this newsletter?

This past weekend was a humdinger. Celebrated my 35th college reunion at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.

For those of you going... "St. Olaf?? Where have I heard that before..." You may remember Rose (Betty White) from The Golden Girls referring to her hometown of St. Olaf. Yes, it's the same thing (sorta). In fact, Betty White visited the campus back in 1992 (the year after I graduated, of course.)

It's a Liberal Arts college in southern Minnesota (about 40 minutes south of the Twin Cities) and it's affiliated with the Lutheran Church which meant the campus was (and still is, usually) a dry campus.

Since the last time I was at a reunion (2016) they've moved all celebrations on campus so there were actual BARS on the college green (we even had drink tokens - I think some of us were mildly traumatized remembering the logistical flaming hoops we used to jump through to smuggle alcohol on campus... I have one distinct memory of being the lookout for a buddy who was muscling a case of Leinenkugel bottles up the back staircase of the original Ytterboe.)

Honestly? It was a wonderful weekend filled with hugs, laughter, singing, and a few tears. Especially when we considered those we'd lost in the intervening years.

And after eating 3 squares in the famed college cafeteria, I have a good idea why most of us lugged around the freshman 15 (for most of us it was closer to maybe, 25) for several years.

Smidge was with me - my college buddies have long since dubbed him an 'honorary Ole' - and he was the solid foundation for my sometimes overwhelming and hyperactive personality.

All-in-all, a wild success and the reason I'm bringing a little less of my buoyant energy to this newsletter than usual. My speaking voice is a little husky today after 2 1/2 hours of singing along to almost every song of the dueling pianos last night.

What's been invaluable the last few weeks is the support of my coach, Natalie Hoop. The woman is an Ops guru who also happens to coach fractional experts from all verticals and industries. And I see why she's in such high demand. My messaging and my confidence has increased exponentially since April and I'm more clear than ever on what it is that I'm building. Mine is a portfolio career, structured to have multiple streams of income, primarily through partnerships with other women.

Everyone who works with me leaves my company feeling safe & seen, energized & inspired, brave & unstoppable. I'm who you come to when AI makes you feel stuck, behind, or dumb - and I make sure you leave feeling none of those things.

Which brings me to this week's little gift. Summer's here, the kids are home, and your brain now belongs to everyone but you (in roughly 4-minute increments... "mom. MOM. can I have a snack."). So I made you something to buy back a few of those minutes - no guilt required. Meet the Bored Button. More below. 💜

Here's what I keep forgetting: the last time I was somebody's employee, I treated my own calendar like scratch paper. Company needs me? Done. Move the appointment, skip the thing, cancel on the friend. My time was theirs the second they wanted it, and I handed it over like that was just the deal.

This week I started a new contract. Same kind of work. Different me.

So tonight, after I schedule this newsletter, I'm doing the thing I never used to do. I'm blocking off the hours that belong to my own business. Not "if there's room." Not "once I've proven myself." Mine. Marked unavailable, on the contract calendar, on purpose.

If a real conflict comes up, I'll make a call. And I already know which way I'll lean. Toward me. Toward my sanity. Toward the thing I'm actually building.

I now know two things I didn't know back then. I know I have ADHD, so I've quit pretending I can run myself the way everyone else seems to run themselves. And I know I have nothing to lose. They could tell me tomorrow they don't need me anymore. It would sting, and yeah, I'd miss the money. But that's the whole loss. The money. Not me.

And the wild part? Knowing all that, I get to enjoy it. Working alongside genuinely amazing humans again, doing work I'm good at, with zero of the old desperation underneath it.

So this week, look at one place you've handed your time over before anyone even asked. The standing yes. The block on your calendar that's somehow open for everyone but you.

Then block off one hour that's yours. Before it's convenient. Before you think you've earned it.

You're allowed to claim your own time first. You always were.

The stuff that touched, moved, and inspired me this week. Or in the case of the last one, made me laugh entirely too hard.

The bare minimum
Two guys, 42 seconds, one idea that'll sit with you longer than that. The gist: all men benefit from violence against women, whether they participate or not. So the bar for "good man" turns out to be... just don't be violent. That's the whole bar. Watch it twice - the second time is when it lands.

Play is magical
Simon Sinek out here saying the thing I've been saying for two years, except people listen when HE says it (I'm not bitter, I'm validated). We need more play at work. Not as a perk. As the point. One minute, and he's got James Carse and the Infinite Game backing him up.

Teeny weenie beanie
Paul Rudd. On Fallon. That's the pitch. I've been gone for this man since Clueless, he has not aged in any direction since 1995, and he's somehow gotten funnier. It's longer than the others. Worth every second. Do not @ me about my crush, it's lifelong and it's load-bearing.

Fruit, desiccated
Under 10 seconds and I have never felt so seen AND so attacked at the same time. If you've ever bought beautiful fresh fruit with real intentions, only to find it fossilized in the crisper drawer two weeks later... this one's a personal attack. With love.

A quick word from this week's partner (yes, a real live ad - gotta keep the lights on around here 💜)

Raise your hand if you've ever clicked "accept all" on some shiny new AI tool without reading a single solitary word of what you just signed away... 🙋🏻‍♀️ (same. so same.)

The catch with most AI tools? They want a trade. Your data for their smarts. Norton Neo skips the trade. It's a browser with the AI baked right in - search, summarize, write - except your stuff stays on YOUR machine instead of wandering off to get sold to strangers.

If "wait, where is my information actually GOING" lives rent-free in your head (it lives in mine), give it a peek.

Most AI tools are a trade — your data for intelligence. Norton Neo breaks that deal. Powerful built-in AI, anti-fingerprinting, VPN, and ad blocking come standard. No setup. No add-ons. No compromises. Search, summarize, and write with AI that works inside your browser and stays there.

Browse Smarter, Stay Private

Summer math: the kids are home, and your brain now gets handed back to you in 4-minute increments. "mom. MOM. can I have a snack." You know the rhythm.

So I built you a button. Tap three things - how old the kid is, what you need the time for, and how much energy you've actually got left (be honest). The Bored Button hands you back ONE activity. Not 30. Not a Pinterest spiral that ends with you crying over a glue gun at 11pm. One.

Something to say to your kid, and a plan that runs without you standing there. No signup. No prep. No "first, gather these 14 craft supplies." You tap, you get a thing, you go reclaim your twenty minutes.

There's also a little box that says "anything about your kid?" Use it. Throw in the dinosaur obsession, the kid's name, the fact that they will not, under any circumstances, do anything that involves sitting still. It builds the activity around that.

It's June. Your inbox has fourteen emails from camps, the school, the soccer thing, and somebody's mom.

One says bring a water bottle. One says don't. One has a PDF you're scared to open. And buried in there somewhere is a date you're definitely about to miss.

Instead of reading them all at 11pm, paste this, fill in the two brackets, then paste your emails underneath:

That's all four pieces of ROCO, labeled so you can see the bones: who AI is (Role), what winning looks like (Objective), what's going on (Context), and the exact shape of the answer (Output).

The two moves that make it sing: telling it "a summary I have to double-check is a fail" so it aims at the real target, and "flag it CHECK THIS, do not guess" so it never quietly invents a deadline you'll pay for later.

Fourteen emails in. One clean list out. That's a Tuesday night you just got back.

The Matriarchy Minute is where I spotlight women doing work in AI that you should know about but probably don't.

This week: Andreea Elefteriu

I first noticed Andreea because she talks about AI the way I wish more people did - less shiny robot circus, more "okay but how does this actually help humans do real work without losing the plot?"

Her path didn't start the usual HR-approved way. She started in nursing, moved through sales and marketing, and landed in Learning & Development with a real love for technology that solves actual problems. Which, frankly, is the good stuff.

These days she works across learning, transformation, coaching, leadership, and AI implementation - basically translating tech into human so teams can use it without drowning in buzzwords. Right now that's AI and digital upskilling, helping people build confidence with new systems, and building support that meets folx while they're actually doing the work, not after.

I love that she challenges the old "push out a course and call it learning" model. I love that she treats people development like a business function, not a decorative HR throw pillow. And I love anyone who believes the uncomfortable questions are the ones that lead to better answers.

Find Andreea on LinkedIn.

Friday, June 5 | 10 AM CDT (It’s happening this week from Denver!)
Friday Jam Session with Joy Prompt Club. 30 minutes. No agenda. Just prompts, play, and people who get it. Open to anyone who wants to join in and has questions or a problem they’re trying to solve. You do not need to be in Joy Prompt Club to benefit from these fantastic humans.

The Executive AI Edge - Digital course (90 minutes) with me and Kate Sargent. $449. For the executive in your life who's nodding along in AI meetings and understanding none of it.

AI Confidential for Teams - The corporate AI training that doesn't sound like corporate AI training. Send the link to whoever's making training decisions at your company.

Joy Prompt Club - My favorite little virtual place in all the interwebz.

AI Confidential Prompt Kits - 10 copy-paste-ready prompt kits for the stuff you actually need help with - resumes, LinkedIn profiles, interview prep, content, career direction, caregiver sanity, all of it.

Fifty-one issues in, sent to you from one husky-voiced, slightly pooped puppy who spent the weekend hugging old friends and is spending tonight blocking off her own calendar. Go claim a little time that's yours this week. You don't have to earn it first.

💜

Take care of yourself, take care of each other,

Deb

P.S. Go press the Bored Button. Then hit reply and tell me - did it actually buy you a few minutes, or did it hand your kid something they ditched in four? Tell me what worked, what flopped, what your kid said. That's how it gets better.

P.P.S. I love hearing from you. If AI's got you feeling stuck, behind, or dumb, or you just need a human to talk it through with, hit reply. That inbox is me. It's always been me.