Erin’s Blog

This week’s thoughts are brought to you by The Blue Angels.  As I write, I feel like Air Boss Johnson in Top Gun having said, “The pattern is full…” only to have Maverick buzz the tower. In this case, the tower is our house!  The Jax Beach Air Show is this weekend,...

Second semester sophomore year at JMU I pledged a business fraternity. I went ALL IN. Put it this way, when my parents got my grades for the semester, their comment was, “We know we dropped you off on campus…did you actually stay and attend any classes?”  I had!...

The day I gave my first official Erin O’Malley keynote, my sister, brother, and SIL arranged a gift to be sent to my hotel. I opened the box to find a leather bracelet inscribed with, “She believed she could, so she did.” I was on the phone with a friend freaking...

We were towards the end of day one of a 2-day feedback and coaching workshop. It was practice time, and we were IN IT. John was mid-coaching conversation and tanking hard. The more he spoke, the more oxygen got sucked out of the room. Cringy looks, shuffling feet,...

I call it my Mystic Pizza summer. Except I was in Maine, not CT. I had no sordid love affairs. I did not drive a Vespa.  It was the summer I worked in Camden, ME, slinging lobsters at The Lobster Shack, coming home nightly drenched in lobster juice and drawn...

About 2 months ago, I celebrated my birthday. Weird around birthdays. Don’t want the attention and then I get confused why no one does anything. I’m approaching what I’ll call the half-way-point birthday so decided to do a little assessment of where I’ve been and...

My sister came home from college for the summer and I spied a new mixtape in her car console. I borrowed stole it, as you do, to get a sense of what the college kids were listening to.  I fast-forwarded through a lot of the songs. One, from the opening clack clack...

Today I started with a new dentist. They are VERY thorough with their intake process, which I completely appreciate. I gave some examples of why I quit my old dentist to join the new.  One such example: the fluoride upsell. As I told Sam, the lovely assistant that...

We reviewed the feedback 101 section of the workshop. I covered the 9 positive/affirmative to 1 corrective feedback ratio as part of the 101. I asked if there were any thoughts and noticed a look of concern and mild confusion on a participant’s face.  “I think that...

Last night I met my two JAX friends for a hang. There were two options: a Downtown Art Walk or adult coloring at a bar. We choose option 2. Now before “adult coloring” can be construed as something it’s not, it is, rather, exactly what you would imagine: sheets...