Jane Pollak Logo

Category:

Uncategorized

Artist, Coach Thyself!

I had a blinding flash of the obvious last week when one of my mastermind trio suggested I apply my well-seasoned coaching skills to my own new venture: creating one-of-a-kind penny rug pillows and wall-hangings. As Homer Simpson would say, "Doh!" Somehow, I had...

What Makes You Tingle?

I'm just back home after leading two women's retreats in Massachusetts, one in the Berkshires, the other on the Cape. Both were filled with extraordinary women who carved out time in their lives to focus on themselves for a few days. How often do YOU take time just...

Happy Mother’s Day! May Your Card Selection Be Easy!

Mother's Day was always a challenge for me. I'm excited to have an article I've written about it published by BookTrib. Would love to hear from you how you celebrate (or don't). As a young adult, I spent more time than most pondering the selection of Mother’s Day...

Another Reason I Love NYC

This week marks three years since I bought my apartment in NYC. I moved to Manhattan in October, 2012, rented for awhile first, then got a place of my own in early February, 2016. While there are many challenges about living in this extraordinary city, every time I...

When Was the Last Time YOU Made a Big Ask?

If you posed that question to me, I'd proudly respond, "This morning!" I'm working on a deadline these days with my memoir due out at the end of April. Feels like tomorrow with all I need to do in preparation for that event. Today's task was to ask people I deeply...

Three Things People Do in June – Part 2

You've read about my beloved theatre professor, Jim Cavanaugh, many times throughout the years on these pages. I graduated from college decades ago, and he is still an active cheerleader and mentor for me. Hardly a post of mine goes online without a comment from...

You Think 40 is Old!

A wonderful article by Pamela Druckerman, a writer in her 40's living in Paris, wrote a piece for the NYTimes earlier this month which said, "If you want to know how old you look, just walk into a French cafe. It’s like a public referendum on your face." She...

Advice from 2022

The last session of my mastermind intensive held in June had a special theme. Members of the group arrived as though it were five years in the future: 2022. They dressed as the successes they'd become, brought evidence in the form of published books, checks for...

Were You Invited to This?

A current client shared an ad with me for a conference she believed I belonged at--Vanity Fair's FOUNDERS FAIR: Women Entrepreneurs Tell Their Stories. Sign me up! An interview with Reese Witherspoon (I'm loving her in Big Little Lies!) is the opening feature on...

Down for the Count

Have you missed me? It's been over a month since I've posted on my blog, and here's why. I was down for the count. Whatever has been going around virally this winter found a friendly host in my chest, burrowed in and lingered for four weeks. For the first time in...

Own Your Wins!

That's what one of my vision partners said to me during our meeting this morning. I was bemoaning the string of rejections I got this week, wanting sympathy or to be let off the hook. "Yeah, Jane. Give up on trying to sell your memoir." Right? In my imaginary...

Meet the Remarkable Kimberley Chagnon

Every time a person signs up to receive my newsletter, I glance at their email address and subscribe them to my list. On a rare occasion, something about their name catches my eye, like it did when Kimberley Chagnon sent her contact information to subscribe. Her...

Holiday Tipping Surprise

As you know, I moved permanently, I hope, into my own co-op apartment in Washington Heights last February. So this is my first holiday season in the 'new' building. Although I received the "usual suspects" list of staff wishing me a Happy Holiday Season, I wasn't...

Bring Back the Old Days!

  This post isn't about the election results, although that's an underlying contributor to my angst these days. I wanted to share my frustration--and echo yours, I'm sure--with a virtual conversation I had this afternoon while trying to consolidate my email...