Alright. My life is really funny because in college, I actually thought I was constantly stressed out. But looking back now…all lies. If I could go back to the consistent life of a college student, I would reclaim it in a little hummingbird heartbeat. Sure, maybe it was stressful to drink on a Thursday and barrel through a quiz the next day. Sure, maybe it was stressful to skip out class on a Tuesday to sun bathe in the quad.

The key word in the past two sentences is: sure. College sure wasn’t stressful at all.

In this real world I’m treading through (or flailing through), stress has been tumbling upon me like a pile of heavy, wet and unapologetic rocks. Because while in college the stress was completely personal, when you get a job – stress leaks onto other people’s plates. Suddenly, you’re no longer only responsible for yourself. You’re responsible for an entire company. Um, HELLO.

My body has been completely tweaking out on me because of the stressful job world. I have zits on my cheeks (I usually only get them in my t-zone), I wake up with night tremors about screwing up and I have been listening to more Enya than usual. While these may be personal problems, I have come up with a system to aid my stressed out tendencies…and I want to share them with you. And trust me; these new stress remedies are way different than college stress remedies. Think tea bags (the kind at the grocery store) instead of beer bongs. Think candles in place of a 14-hour Grey’s Anatomy marathons. Think timeliness practicality. Read More »

For years, women’s participation in the United States workforce was greatly limited. However, throughout the country’s history, women have made great strides toward equality in the workforce. We even get to run blogs!

So today, in honor of the female CEOs, doctors, teachers, political figures and more, our friends from the CreditScore Blog are helping us celebrate women in the workplace. Read More »

Although you probably do not know who Lilly Ledbetter is (I didn’t know until this past week), you should thank her.

For the last ten years of her life, Ledbetter has fought for equal pay rights in the work place for women. After experiencing pay-based discrimination because of her sex (and learning about it through anonymous letters in her work mailbox), Ledbetter filed a complaint of gender discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Making a long story short (however, you should read the whole story over at CNN), President Obama stepped in and signed the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Restoration Act this past week making the fight for women’s rights and equality better upheld through the law.

While I feel gratitude for Ledbetter’s ongoing battle with the Supreme Court and Congress to pass this act that will give women the rights they warrant and money that is rightfully theirs, I know that work is still left to be done.

It may seem hard to believe, but to this day, full-time working women get paid “on average, only 77 cents for each dollar full-time working men get paid,” according to the Wage Project. This happens in every occupation across the nation, and while it impacts women in different ways, the reality of it is that hardworking women with outstanding college degrees lose money in their pockets simply because of their sex.

Think about it. Imagine working at the same place, doing the same job as a man (who has the same degree and amount of experience as you), putting in the same hours, only to find out he is, in fact, making more money than you on an annual basis. How is that fair? It’s not, at all.

But it is reality. Read More »