As the Super Bowl approaches, advertisers are pulling out all the stops to get their products seen by shoppers. After all, the Big Game is the top ad seller of the year, and beer is also big business that weekend, with 325.5 gallons of beer consumed (the equivalent of a whopping 50 million cases of beer). Fortunately or unfortunately for Coors Light, the team planning their ad buy leading up to that second Sunday in February made a slight error this week. Or did they? As thei

I truly believe that every female on this planet, or, at least in America (I can’t really speak for women in other countries) has felt...

Recently, extremely cold weather permeated a wide swath of the nation, including where I live outside of Chicago. So cold, in fact, that school was closed one recent Friday. Meaning, I had three girls to entertain and very little options for going outside. Regardless, I bundled them up and insisted they help me walk the dogs. Whenever their energy levels start elevating, I send them outside. Because that’s what my mom did. Many people aren’t aware: Minnesota is the state with

Recently, my business partner and I had lunch with Kurt Zoller and Mark Modesto, our associates from the Tenacious Group — a marketing strategy and idea group. The conversation meandered between business and personal, as business lunches typically do. This conversational meandering brought us to discuss the current state of television commercials. As Brooke said, “Has anyone else noticed how terrible TV commercials are lately? Don’t you agree, Kate?” My initial response was “

First, let me acknowledge that I am completely dating myself with the opening of this blog, but my first concert was New Kids on the Block. It was the summer between 4th and 5th grade. An outdoor concert, the opener was Color Me Bad. My mom dropped me, my sisters, and our friends outside the venue and off we went. I don’t remember a lot about the show, except a sense of cacophony (the lights, the sounds, the crowd), and a cute (older) boy near us with cartoon Batman socks (no

When my girls were little, I forced myself to live by the motto, “sleep when the babies sleep.” I became skilled in the art of the catnap, grabbing 15 minutes when I could. I even napped in my car a few times, maneuvering around my hectic schedule as best I could. It wasn’t an option. On the days it didn’t happen, I suffered, as did my family. The struggle was real. As anyone knows, sleep deprivation in working moms is a huge issue. Now that they’re older, this requirement ha

As the mother of three girls (10, 9, and 6), I find myself spending a lot of time at the nearby mall. It’s a pretty awesome mall. Open air and spacious, it’s fun to simply wander around and pop into stores unplanned. On a recent Saturday, my girls, a few of their friends, and I were wandering the mall when one friend asked to stop by a certain store. I was surprised by the choice, and equally as surprised by the palpable excitement that passed through the group. “Really?” I t

Let’s be honest, not everything I’m about to write will make people happy, yet isn’t that the point of a good storyteller? Similarly, Queen Elizabeth II was never one to focus on making people happy. She was more so known to honor loyalty, hard work, determination, and grit. All excellent qualities people in leadership can, and should, emulate. Recently, Britain and the world laid to rest one of the most iconic rulers in history. Queen Elizabeth II was a mother of four, grand