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life lately

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Welcome to Lipstick & Ink®, your home for everything career and wellness inspired. I’m Kelly, a Chicago-based marketing tech professional, writer, career coach, speaker, and events host.

Whether we’re working together on your career aspirations, refreshing your professional documents, or keeping your mental health in check, I encourage you to own your power and make your mark – one lipstick stain at a time.

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Latest Posts

5 Ways to Effectively Prepare for Parental Leave

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Dec 3, 2023

4 Things to Do When at a Career Crossroads

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Nov 12, 2023

7 Ways to Recharge & Rejuvenate

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Mar 29, 2023

4 Types of People to Have in Your Career Corner

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Feb 2, 2023

5 Reasons to Use Informational Interviews

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Jan 22, 2023

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Given I'm now on maternity leave, I wanted to shar

Given I'm now on maternity leave, I wanted to share a few of my top tips that I made sure to do before the time came to avoid any necessary stress or anxiety. If you are currently pregnant and planning your leave, take a read! And for the mamas out there, what tips do you have when it comes to maternity leave? Anything I missed?

While I'm on leave the next few months, you'll notice a few changes with Lipstick & Ink. Here's what you can expect:
➞ Less consistency in emails
➞ A pause on social media for a period of time once baby arrives
➞ 1:1 coaching/consulting hiatus until February 2024
➞ Delayed email/DM responses

However, here’s what you can take advantage of while I'm figuring out this whole new mom thing (all via the link in my bio):
✔ Digestible career tips and videos here on IG
✔ Always-on career advice on the L&I Blog
✔ Available L&I Resources to help guide your career
✔ Lip color and lip care products from the L&I Shop to give you a confidence boost

All that being said, I want to thank you for being here. I appreciate you following along with L&I and look forward to what's to come in the future after baby boy makes his debut! 💋

I’m your classic Type A, stereotypical Virgo, tr

I’m your classic Type A, stereotypical Virgo, traditional first born - a planner at heart. Ever since I can remember, I've looked to the future and did my best to plan and get ahead of any unknowns.

After being diagnosed with anxiety in 2017, I had to learn there was only so much I myself can control. Since then, I’ve allowed myself to let go and let things flow. While I haven't completely disregarded my innate planner ways, I've given myself grace to accept what is, be flexible to what's next, and hold trust in myself and what's to come will work out as it should. I'm more at peace when I accept what is out of my control instead of constantly fighting to control what I can’t.

Any day now, I’ll become a mom for the first time. I've been taking my pregnancy day by day with an optimism I didn’t think I’d have. I haven’t allowed myself to get caught up in the worries of what labor will be like, when he will make his debut, and what I’ll go through as a new parent. I’ve realized it doesn't do me any favors to think about the future and worry what can happen. Instead, I’m focusing on the here and now, while preparing in the best and most productive ways I know how.

Last week, I also started my maternity leave. I’m afforded the luxury of a long leave - something I recognize I'm fortunate to have. However, I've gone on a leave at an unsettling time, as my manager/leader of our team recently left the company. My team has been left wondering what’s next for us. I could get caught up in the swirl of rumors and those uncomfortable feelings, but again - it’s out of my control. I’m not allowing fear to overwhelm me; instead, I voiced my career aspirations to leadership last week and said what I needed to say. And now, all I can do is wait.

There’s a lot of change on my horizon, but I'm choosing to find acceptance, be flexible, and hold trust. I'm embracing what I’m going through - allowing things to flow - instead of fighting it. Hopefully with whatever change you're experiencing, you can do the same 💋

The unknown is something we like to avoid because

The unknown is something we like to avoid because we fear it. We crave control and predictability and like to know what we can expect. That space becomes our comfort zone, our safe place. But the comfort zone can also be a place where we stay stagnant - settling in a job we don’t like, working for a manager who isn’t supportive, remaining in a city we’ve outgrown, or staying in a failing relationship - simply because it’s known.

For years, I put off having a child because I was scared of the unknown - it was completely out of my comfort zone. Then, earlier this year, we found out I was pregnant. While I of course was excited, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel panic the moment I saw those two lines appear on the test.

I was at a point in my life where things felt settled and I was finally in control. Everything at that moment then became uncertain and unknown: Would I have a successful pregnancy? Would the baby be healthy? How would I feel about my body changing? How would I handle being a working mom? It became apparent to me that this child would challenge me in more ways than I thought possible.

With less than 2 weeks to go, there’s a part of me that is still scared. It’s arguably the biggest life change anyone can go through - having a child throws you into the void of the unknown. While I can try to prepare all I want, nothing will prepare me for the changes until I'm experiencing them.

But with any life milestone where you're faced with the unknown, you can learn to embrace it and appreciate the aspects of yourself that grow from it. Whether you're changing careers, moving to a new city, entering a new relationship, or becoming a parent, you can embrace the unknown by:
1) Viewing the unknown as an opportunity to push outside of your comfort zone.
2) Letting go of what you cannot control.
3) Having trust in yourself and the purpose behind what you're experiencing.
4) Acknowledging that you have pushed through the unknown and changes that have happened in your life so far.

When you come out on the other side of the unknown, you'll be able to look back and realize just how equipped you were to navigate it and how much growth came from it 💋

Hear from coaching client, Allie, who successfully

Hear from coaching client, Allie, who successfully navigated the job search the past few months in a very competitive market and how she landed the job that aligned with both her career goals and core values. Learn the tips and strategies she used and how you can apply them to your own job search now or in the future! 💋

#jobsearch #jobsearchstrategies #careeradvice #careerchange #careergrowth #careermoves

Two of my recent coachees came to me, burnt out an

Two of my recent coachees came to me, burnt out and feeling complacent in their careers, with the intent to look for a new job. Any time this happens, I work with my clients on helping them identify what's most important to them in a role/company and determine what intentional actions they can take to achieve their goals.

Here's what happened when my coachees did this:

⭐️ AWARENESS: After determining what's most important, they realized their current company already gives them a lot of what they want/need in their career.

⭐️ CLARITY: They determined that instead of looking for jobs elsewhere, they first wanted to ask for more responsibility and seek out new areas to grow their expertise/skills.

⭐️ ADVOCACY: They proactively set up meetings with their managers/leadership teams and advocated for what they were hoping to gain in their role and on their team over the next few weeks and months (i.e. promotion/raise, management experience, a higher leadership position).

💫 POTENTIAL: Through those conversations, they co-created actions with their managers to support them in achieving their career goals - and their leadership team is now providing them with what they asked for as a result.

Both of these women came to our last coaching sessions more energized and with a more positive perspective. The change they needed didn't end up being what they initially thought (a new job at a different company). Instead, through gaining awareness, achieving clarity, and actively advocating for themselves, they realized the potential for growth and fulfillment was right in front of them. The inner work they did and conscious choice they made to think and show up differently, coupled with the intentional actions they proactively took, is now paying off in their favor.

All of this to say, things may change and these women may end up deciding it's ultimately time to enter the job search and seek something completely new. But if/when that does happen, they won't be operating from a scarcity mindset. They now know the formula that will help them make that intentional change with a growth mindset when the time comes 💋

Are you ready to 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛

Are you ready to 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔? Introducing... the 𝗟&𝗜 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽 and 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, now available on thelipstickandink.com:

• ʟɪᴘꜱᴛɪᴄᴋꜱ: Rosey Posey | Berrylicious

• ʟɪᴘ ɢʟᴏꜱꜱᴇꜱ: Fruit Punch | Tickled Pink | Pinky Promise | Mauvelous Darling

• ʟɪᴘ ᴄᴀʀᴇ: Lip Bliss Balm | Soothe & Smooth Lip Scrub

Head to the link in my bio to browse and shop 💋

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kelly@thelipstickandink.com

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