Blog - Catherine Johns

Pick Yourself Up, Dust Yourself Off

Some of us are celebrating today…and some of us are licking our wounds. That’s the thing about elections, right? Everybody can’t be a winner. Whether it’s a campaign for U.S Representative or professional association president or Homecoming Queen … somebody will lose. Some people never venture into the arena for fear they’ll come up short.…

Just say no—but how?

Maybe it’s easy for you. In which case, a lot of people would like to know your secret. Because for a lot of us, saying “No” is a huge challenge. So why not say “Yes”? We can’t agree to everything—we only have so much time, energy, or money. And when you say “Yes” to one…

What’s “like” got to do with it?

I once worked for a guy who was often described as “brilliant.” He knew popular music inside and out, and he really was gifted when it came to figuring out which songs listeners most wanted to hear on their radios. Of course, people also said, even more often, that he was “just not a people person.” That was a polite way…

How do you hold your instrument?

Great pianists spend years learning exactly how to position their hands over the keyboard. Guitar players practice placing their fingers on the frets. A violinist develops the ability to hold the bow just so to produce the perfect tone. You may or may not be musically inclined, but you definitely want to be heard when…