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    10.29.2008

    #4 - Unexplained lumps or Get health insurance!

    So it's been a little over a week since I last blogged. No worries, I'm back and with a great topic that's especially important to young people early on in our careers -- HEALTH INSURANCE!

    Life was much simpler when we were on our parents health insurance. We went to the DOCTOR each year to find out how much TALLER we had grown and how much of an outlier we were becoming from the medical GROWTH CHARTS.

    From MEASLES to MONO, CHICKEN POX to a COLD, a variety of ailments leads the average minor to the doctor or emergency room. For many of us, while we vomited up the soup and DIMATAPP our mother had forced down our inflamed throats, the last thing on our minds was how we would pay for the trip.

    I remember my mother pulling out a white CARD -- like a credit card -- to pay at the register--ration desk and I was on my way.

    Then one day it happens. A couple months after the euphoria of having that 4 year degree wears off, you receive a letter in the mail stating that you are no longer eligible to remain on your PARENTS' HEALTH INSURANCE, unless you are still in school.

    I forwent this inevitability for two more years as I worked on my master's degree. When that ended I was left with the reality that I had no health insurance.

    Months passed and my internship turned to part-time and then a full-time job. I learned tough lessons in healthcare:

    1. GET HEALTH INSURANCE! Sure you are 25, a non-smoker or drinker, in shape and feeling good, but lumps emerge on healthy bodies just like they do on 50-year-old, overweight, smoking alcoholics.

    2. Unlike a credit card, to use the health card you have to PAY $$$ UPFRONT each week. Your health care provider is second in line behind Uncle Sam for dibs on your paycheck.

    3. Unless your employer's initials are S.C. (Santa Clause), there are NO FREE BENEFITS.

    4. If your visit doesn't meet the DEDUCTIBLE, you may have to pay for it. This creates an incentive to get as much done in a visit as one can. Why not go for the ultrasound or cat scan?

    5. Repeat #1. That extra $25-50 a month can pay for cable or a couple of nights out, but what happens when you twist your ankle getting off the train or sprain your wrist on the last frame at the bowling alley? That may cost you cable for the rest of the next couple years.

    If you don't remember anything else,
    GET HEALTH INSURANCE.

    10.17.2008

    #3 - Skip the Cherry Tomatoes or Working a Networking Event

    How many times do you find yourself coming to a networking event ALONE and trying to figure out who is worth your time?


    Two nights ago I found myself at the the National Press Club for a college ALUMNI networking event. A panel of journalists (also alumni) from several big news outlets --which I won't name-- was assembled to discuss election coverage so far.

    Usually, alumni NETWORKING EVENTS can be a toss up, either a career changing moment or a total waste of time.

    I didn't expect the the CAREER changing moment, but actually an intelligent and lively discussion. As usual there was a pre-event reception.

    The free beverages, CRUDITES and hors d'oeuvres are a good filler after a long day, especially when you're on a budget. Beware of slippery CHERRY TOMATOES though. You'll chase them around your plate with your fork until they slip off and roll along the floor. CARROT STICKS can also be impenetrable to your fork forcing you to use your fingers while everyone else is handily using their forks.

    With my club soda and lemon, I was ready to mingle and scanned the room. There were a few circles. As I sipped and sized up those in the room, I planned my strategy.


    WALL FLOWERS like me don't step into the middle of a conversation -- especially when the conversants are exuding an air of "I'm successful and you're not" and purposefully avoiding eye contact.

    There are the other LONERS who hover around the bar or cling to the food displays. They may have great personalities and are worth reaching out to but I wouldn't start with them perchance they cling to you for the rest of the night.

    The best approach is waiting until someone is close to you and their guard is down, like after they've just taken a bite of food that may not have been as neat as they expected. Stick your hand out and greet them. You are in a POSITION OF POWER and can use that as an entry point.

    You already have something in common, since you've attended the same school. You can build on that with a 'what did you study' or 'what are you doing now question?' Within the first 30 seconds, it's easy to tell whether you have enough CHEMISTRY to keep talking. If that SPARK is not there move on. If it is, keep building and you'll be surprised at how quickly others will join your conversation.

    10.15.2008

    #2 - Worthless Career Coffee Meetings or The Networking Virus

    Have you ever taken time out of your schedule to meet someone for "COFFEE" in hopes of getting a contact name, career direction or career advice?

    If you live in DC I think it's inevitable. Even if you don't live here we at some point all have fallen into that trap.

    Maybe a friend met someone at a party who did something similar to you and passed your name along to them. As an obliging person, you blindly set up the meeting only to find that you don't do similar things and you have more to offer than that other person.

    It's not their fault really. Nor is it entirely your friend's fault. I chalk it up to the NETWORKING VIRUS. It's an INFECTION that people catch at different stages of their life. Like chicken pox, once it enters a class or circle of friends, in no time everyone has it. It thrives in certain cities like DC and NY.

    At first you're host body, like me accepting contact emails from random people, but then you become a PREDATOR spreading your business cards to new VICTIMS or to others who already of the virus. Unfortunately, it never leaves you're system entirely.

    At varying stages, its SYMPTOMS wane, but facing a job loss or career change and suddenly it's back with a vengeance. Instead of waiting for invitations to receptions and networking events, you go on the prowl scanning websites and chatting up strangers at the grocery store looking for the business card that leads to the name that leads to the unadvertised position that leads to your SUCCESS.

    Even when you're settled in your CAREER, your energy shifts entirely to spreading the virus to the next generation, your children. Instead of "Here's my card and please keep me in mind if anything arises or feel free to pass my name along to Mr. X in that department," you start to say "my daughter is a high school junior interested in journalism, maybe you can use her help around the office filing or something."

    In any case, the benefit of the networking virus is that it BUILDS your immune system. It makes you stronger, more confident and expands your pool of resources for career, finances, real estate, education and general advice.

    Maybe my coffee meeting wasn't worthless after all. If anything, that's another person who knows my name and face in an organization that I may want to get into in the future.

    One day, I'll be in the other seat passing on the virus to some other pure host body.

    10.14.2008

    The Pink File #1 -- Building an Attractive Career not a Career on Being Attractive?

    Welcome to my blog.

    I'm Patrice. Speaker, media relations novice, former - but soon to be again - entrepreneur, conservative feminine voice, and now blogger.

    I'm an ENIGMA -- not an anathema.

    I'm highly OPINIONATED and just as passionate.

    I'm NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT, so beware!!!!

    I like ACTION flicks and BLOODY EPIC MOVIES over romantic comedies.

    I'll take a good Patriot's FOOTBALL game over a home decor show any day.

    I've done a lot in my short 26 years
    -- SPEAKING AGENT for a semi-celebrity
    -- SPEECH WRITER of speeches heard around the world
    -- managed a student travel program to South Africa...

    I'm from an island with an active VOLCANO.

    If I had a dime for every person who told me I should be a MODEL.
    -- There' s more to me than just looks and this blog will chronicle how I build my career based not on looks.

    I love PINK. I have so many shades of tops, sweaters, skirts, jackets, suits and even shoes in the color. Hence the name of this blog. But don't be deterred if you're a guy.

    I just moved to DC to pursue my career and that's what I hope for this blog to be about. Maybe you can take some lessons I've learned and apply it yourself.

    Come back again soon.