While layoffs and hiring freezes incessantly plague our generation, what can we look forward to? The work paradigm will shift. In fact, it already has. Here are the major trends impacting the workplace.

Bye-Bye Baby Boomers, Hello Gen X

That’s right; the largest generation in the United States is heading for retirement. We won’t see boomers disappear from the workplace altogether but there will be jobs to fill. In 2019, Gen Xers, the cohort born from 1965-1978 is expected to take over. How that will affect you, depends. “Success will be defined not by rank or seniority but by getting what matters to you personally,” says Bruce Tulgan, author of the book, Not Everyone Gets a Trophy. If that means starting a non-profit, creating your own website or traveling abroad versus moving up slowly for a company over time, then go for it! In the future, it will be more about personal fulfillment by achieving individual goals.

Women Will Rule

Bellists, take note. According to Time Magazine, “Women, and the way we want to work, are extremely good for business…They’re consensus builders, conciliators and collaborators, and they employ what is called a transformational leadership style—heavily engaged and motivational…” Alas, women will be valued for their emotional and intelligent approach. Not to mention, companies will start to hire lots of women on getting the job done when it comes to marketing women and making more money. A degree in business management could help you land a job as a management consultant. Over time, the demand for female management skills will be stronger than ever.

More Freelance and More Flexible

In the near future if not already, Time Magazine predicts that we will see a “more flexible, more collaborative and far less secure work world.” Many companies are hiring freelance in order to eliminate costs and make ends meet during the economic crisis. Freelance is a great option but beware that it requires a lot of flexibility and commitment as needed. You might work full-time one week and might go one week without getting a project in. If you’re thinking about benefits, expect companies to scale back on retirement and healthcare. Ultimately, you’re on your own when it comes to saving.

Best Jobs for the Next Decade

Whether you’re about to graduate from college or a working adult looking for a career change, choosing a job that matches your personal passions and still pays the bills can be a challenge. If you’re looking for a career path that provides security and personal growth, focus on industries that are thriving and adding the most jobs. Top jobs for the next decade and beyond include: employment specialist, environmental engineer, networking specialist, physician’s assistant, or social services coordinator.

At one point or another, we’ve all experienced job uncertainty. Be patient ladies, work will eventually return. Stay hopeful and be open to change. The good news is women will increasingly be at the controls and will be appreciated for being exceptionally good for business.

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Fashion Diva: Rose F.

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

The Look: Simply Dressed

Style Icon: Ashley Olsen, Marion Cotillard

Her Words: “I think that my style is a mixture between Paris and Los Angeles. I love the Parisian sense of sophistication but with a more casual California flair.”

Our Words: When we saw those sweet ruffles flouncing down the street, it was inevitable – we were roped right in. Underneath the California sun, this diva’s style is refreshingly sophisticated among cut-off shorts and boyfriend tees. Her dress enhances an otherwise simple frock with a flirty hem and a mix-and match pattern. And the peacock blue adds a touch of class by bringing a more somber hue to the electric color palate of L.A summer. Hippie elegance is what this diva is all about, and we can’t wait to try it for ourselves.

The Breakdown

Dress: French Connection

Sandals: Havaianas

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

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We all have healthy “quirks” that make our eating habits unique or odd to others. For some it may be getting their salads “dry” and adding their dressing sparingly, to avoid an overkill of calories. For others, it could be never adding butter, putting everything “on the side”, or worse, eating smaller and smaller portions until they are eating a Dixie cup’s worth of cereal for breakfast. The point is these healthy quirks can often time lead to big time problems.

Take the case of Jess. She’s in great shape, athletically built, and attractive. Yet, she feels she could be “in better shape” and so avoids eating after 7 pm, has a salad with every meal, will not eat any bread or complex carbohydrates, and knows the caloric count of any item. She hears that a new diet fad for getting slim quick is adding fiber supplements to every meal, leading her to the bathroom at inconvenient times, and is constantly uncomfortable.

The common excuse for those who have these behaviors is that they want to loose weight; they just don’t know how to do to it in a healthy way. They take tips and ideas from the media, popular diet trends, or “what the celebrities are eating” and try and incorporate it into their life styles. This results in frustration, weight fluctuation the onset of eating disorders, and low self-esteem.

How do you tell if it’s health-conscious or obsessive?

Normal: working out to ward off stress and stay in shape, 30-45 minutes 3-4 times a week.

Obsessive: focus on calories burned; working out multiple times a day and not taking time off to recover.

Normal: eating 3 square meals, or 5 mini meals, that are balanced with protein, carbs, and fats.

Obsessive: eating under the suggested amount of calories for your weight, only snaking on low-fat, low-calorie snacks, and never feeling full or satisfied.

Normal: giving in to a craving now and then (that amazing pizza place or ice cream sundae).

Obsessive: compulsive thoughts about satisfying your craving; working out, taking laxatives, or purging after eating it to put your guilty thoughts at bay.

Normal: taking fiber supplements as directed by a doctor or to have consistent bowel movements.

Obsessive: Taking laxatives and colon cleanses to rid- food from your body. This has detrimental ramifications on your body overtime; it can cause permanent damage to your stomach lining and colon. Plus you’re stuck in the bathroom at really awkward times.

What is a friend to do? It’s really difficult to talk to a friend about your concerns about an eating disorder. They can take it as you being jealous or as attacking them (defensive). It’s important to make this conversation about their health and how much you care about them. This must be done in a non-confrontational way; if it’s a group of you who are concerned, ask the friend who has the most impact on them to speak to her.

Check out www.NationalEatingDisorders.org for more information. Also remember that quirks can be just that, but when they begin to take over someone’s life, that’s when these odd habits can turn into life threatening disorders.

Photo courtesy of: Diets in Review

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Our government is taking a rather motherly approach to help reduce health risks from tobacco, and prevent young people from getting sucked into its addictive nature. On June 22, President Barack Obama signed “The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.”

For the first time, the act enables the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the “content, marketing and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products,” according to a recent Associated Press (AP) article. “The focus is on reducing health risks from tobacco and making cigarettes both less accessible and less inviting to young people.”

But why does the government feel the need to act? Maybe it’s because tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. and roughly 400,000 people in the country die each year from smoking-related diseases. Those are pretty staggering statistics for a product still used by more than 40 million people in the U.S.

Over $100 billion is spent each year on health care costs related to smoking. With an initiative to curb smoking-related health problems, Congress and the White House are hoping this act will bring down the annual costs spent on these issues and thus put less of a drain on the federal budget. Congress also increased “the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes by 62 cents to pay for expansion of a child health program,” according to the same AP article.

The FDA will have to come up with larger warning labels that cover fifty percent of the front and rear of packages. In addition, the warnings themselves will have to point out more strongly the dangers of smoking. Most importantly, the act bans the use of descriptions such as “light,” “low tar” or “mild” — labels that could mislead buyers into thinking the packs are less unhealthy.

The tobacco industry is being scrutinized like never before. Surprisingly, one of the biggest corporations, Phillip Morris USA has actually shown support for the tough but fair regulation.

Even Obama, a smoker himself, sees promise in this act, saying it will save lives.

“I know — I was one of these teenagers,” he said during the signing ceremony. “I know how difficult it is to break this habit.”

If the government, the president and even a major tobacco company are proponents of an act such as this, it might be time for those 40 million smokers to re-evaluate their choice to light up as well. Countless studies show the risks outweigh the benefits of smoking, but despite efforts like this new act, the government cannot ban smoking altogether. It’s just too large of an industry in the U.S. to try to shut down.

But maybe with a tax hike, large warning labels and fewer descriptive adjectives, less people will drift towards nicotine. Whatever the case, lawmakers are hoping this new legislation has a powerful affect on Americans and their health.

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Amy Kuney didn’t grow up with a famous dad, guaranteed success or hopes of winning a lottery ticket in the form of American Idol. She worked for it, sacrificed for it and fights for it now. Singing and songwriting are her passions and rather than wait for someone to hand it to her, she’s put her destiny in her own hands and turning her dreams into reality. From personal experience Amy is a rare breed, a diamond in the rough and is worthy of ALL the praise and accolades awaiting her. However, despite her natural talent, it’s her life story that is almost as compelling as this breakout, new face on the singer/song writer stage.

With Amy Kuney, appearances are certainly deceiving. Sure, the singer/songwriter looks young but just wait until she sits down at a piano and starts belting, that sweet little thing will turn a head two blocks away with her soulful singing and powerful lyrics. However, despite her impressive set of pipes, at17 she and a group of friends were kidnapped by rebels while on a Guatemala sightseeing trip. (Their captors, by the grace of a higher power, eventually let them go), but the experience, harrowing as it was, threw Kuney’s nascent songwriting into high gear. “I built a studio in my basement using shower curtains and mattresses and I just put everything into my writing,” she recalls. “I wrote this song, ‘How The Wind Must Feel’, and sent a recording of it to a producer in Los Angeles named Peter Barker. That’s how it all started.”

Sometimes it takes being kidnapped, or getting attacked by a shark in Bethany Hamilton’s situation to light a fire under someone and may be the adversity that eventually distinguishes the good and the great. Either way, Amy has found her calling, but more importantly she’s in charge of her own life and a woman to be reckon with on and off the stage.

Amy is That Girl in every sense of the word, she’s creative, passionate, driven, resilient and I have no doubt we have seen just the beginning of what she will bring to the stage not only in her career as a singer/songwriter, but as a bad ass woman in the world.

Check her music out for yourself at: http://www.myspace.com/amykuney

And join the whole i am that girl crew at her upcoming concert Thursday, July 23rd – 8:30pm at The Troubadour!!

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If only you could witness the maturity I’m exercising right now. I’m typing (still laying) in bed, with a half eaten bowl of Lucky Charms (yes I’m not above basing my most important meal of the day on a Leprechaun’s endless pursuit of marshmallows), wearing just underwear and my dad’s oversized, 15 year old turquoise t-shirt that says “Good God” in tattered, bright, orange letters. I have two weeks worth of laundry stacked up in a pile, a post-it note nagging me to pay the gas bill and a dirty plate on my night stand patiently awaiting a taxi home to the kitchen after a late night, post dinner snack. I’m currently a poster girl for college dorm life.

Sadly, I’m not freshly out of my parents’ nest with four whole years to figure it all out. The reality is I just turned 26. Okay, about two weeks ago, but regardless I’m a year older and yet there is so much of me that longs for the “problems” I had at 17. I remember having the luxury of fighting with my boyfriend and refusing to come out of my room for an entire day. However, my tantrum certainly didn’t interrupt the comfort of my rent free house, the fantastic meals my mom would begrudgingly leave outside my bedroom door in lieu of my explosive fits of teenage passion or threaten my job security. Taxes, bills, work, and responsibility were a nebulous cloud that existed on another planet, but certainly never drifted into the always sunny, blue sky that dominated my world.

However, despite my rosy colored nostalgia for the past, I have to call bull$#%@ on my revisionist history. Because I may be able to appreciate the simplicity and stability of my cushy financial situation now, but I remember the break up of my “first love” sending me into a bout of self pity and despair that easily rivaled Romeo discovering Juliet’s arranged marriage. If I were to be honest with myself, I’d remember that even at 17 I had my “serious” problems (despite now seemingly unnecessary, sensationalist drama) that would easily compare to the issues in my current mid-life crisis: finances, serious career decisions, pressures to find “the one,” and the obligation to leave Never, Never Land and return to the real world.

That’s when it occurred to me that I have no doubt in another 5-10 years I’ll wake up and wish for the “problems” I had at 26. Seeing as I’m single, (despite being broke) I’m living out my dream, no mortgage, no husband, no kids and no responsibility to anyone or anything other than myself. Yeah, I have a feeling there will be a time in the future when I wish for this kind of freedom and will be equally frustrated that I wasn’t able to properly appreciate it at the time.

It’s like when we look back at pictures of ourselves and we think, “oh my god, I looked SO good then, I’d give anything to have that body again.” Only when you really think about it, you never appreciated how hot you were then so why would you now?

So THAT is my new challenge for 26. Not to get in the best shape of my life, to find my soul mate, land my perfect job, or miraculously remove all cuss words from my vocabulary. I’m not expecting to cure cancer, have a multi-million dollar company tomorrow and overnight, transform into the perfect version of myself.

Nope, I’m just going to enjoy it. I’m going to consciously bask in the ambiguity of who I end up with or the excitement of whether I move to DC for a potential job offer. I’m going to believe that in spite of the challenges and the ever-present financial stressors inundating my sanity that I’m doing my best and things will, as they always do, work out the way they are supposed to. I’m going to revel in a kick ass 26 year old body instead of wishing I could lose the arbitrary 5 pounds that no one would notice anyway and stop being so distracted by the stress and anxiety of where I end up that I’m not able to enjoy the journey along the way.

I’m going to take a deep breath and be thankful for 26 and for all the “problems” a young, 26 year old woman is supposed to be facing at this particular chapter of her unique life’s journey.

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Rachel Fleischer has always felt a connection to the homeless. While heading to a friend’s birthday party when she was seven or eight, she remembers driving by a homeless family with young children and feeling compelled to do something.

“I told my mom we had to turn around, go home and make them sandwiches, gather up some toys and clothes — whatever we could find to help them,” reflects Fleischer.

Her need to reach out didn’t end after delivering those items to that family in need. Fleischer spent four years getting to know the homeless of Los Angeles for her moving documentary, Without A Home. The film recently had its first public screening and has received much praise at film festivals. Although originally destined to be more of a classic documentary, Fleischer emerged from behind the lens and became a central figure in her own film.

“Initially I just started interviewing people and was documenting what was happening,” she explains. “Knowing I was keeping a log of experiences, I didn’t know where the story was going. The story did become that I started getting more involved. It just naturally progressed that way.”

Fleischer became so involved that she developed very real relationships with the subjects of her documentary. Throughout the making of the film, Fleischer routinely had to discern when to lend a helping hand to her new friends. Fleischer shows audiences much of this process, but readily admits she didn’t always know when to draw the line. Her on-screen, often emotional dilemmas seem far removed from her relatively sheltered upbringing.

Growing up in West Hollywood, Fleischer attended private school. Her love of movies can be traced back to visiting her father on the set of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (he was the voice of the raucous cartoon character). Both her parents actively encouraged their children’s creative impulses, and Fleischer used to put on shows alongside her sister Jessica. That sibling collaborative spirit continues to this day with Jessica composing and performing the theme song for the new documentary.

Despite strong familial artistic ties, Fleischer believes that it was a combination of nurture and nature that led to her love of cinema. “I think if I grew up in another place, I’d still want to do what I’m doing,” she points out.

Although her current project is a documentary, she always saw herself making more narrative films. “I never thought of myself as a documentary filmmaker,” admits Fleischer. Documentary was a logical step, however considering it could be accomplished immediately with just a camera (paid for with a loan).

Fleischer’s passion for the arts extends beyond directing. This motivated mogul also loves to write and act. Even though she currently has her hands in several projects, Without A Home is definitely her baby.

“My focus right now is to get my movie seen, but I definitely also want to keep making stuff,” she says.

Check out the Without A Home trailer and visit the film’s Facebook site for more information.

I am that girl because I can only be me.

My motto is follow your heart.

One adjective my friends use to describe me is passionate.

My biggest fear is spiders (and getting stabbed).

I feel most confident when I’m doing what I love.

My definition of beauty is living your life as open-heartedly and with as much compassion as possible. [It’s also] the ability to really love yourself and be your own best friend.

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We are currently living in a culture where oral sex has become as commonplace as a goodnight kiss. Where sixth grade girls look sixteen and act like they are twenty. This year exotic dancer Halloween costumes sold out on one popular costume site: in child’s size 4-6.There are undercover “drug rings” selling the morning after pill and birth control in middle schools. This is a culture where sexy replaces smart, and to be anything but is unaccepted.

“If you’re a slut guys will give you attention; if you’re a prude no one will.” I was leading a leadership and empowerment group for middle school girls; this was what one of my eight graders said. The rest nodded their heads in agreement. These girls come from comfortable backgrounds; have designer handbags and country club memberships. The issue of teenage sexualization affects all economical classes, and families; and the parents who think they are not at risk, most likely already have children engaging in these hypersexual behaviors.

Lexi, a seventh grader, got suspended from school for “sexting” a high school boy. Her father is a lawyer and mom is the PTA vice president. The only way to prevent this epidemic from continuing is by creating awareness, and being the positive role models girls need now more than ever. The result: more educated and self-confident students who take on leadership roles and gain the knowledge needed to make healthy choices.

As many of you are aware, popular culture and technology provide all of us with an immense amount of mixed messages regarding self worth and sexuality, but now this is targeting girls at earlier ages than ever before. Combined with information shared by peers and insufficient discussions with their parents, kids today are left to make these important choices on their own, especially teenage girls.

The psychological ramifications are more extreme than we once thought and media influences can be the precursor to many psychological issues. Many studies associate low self-esteem, sexual promiscuity, eating disorders, violence, depression, anxiety, self-mutilation, and even teenage suicide to popular culture influences and peer pressure.

The seriousness of these issues has caught the eye of American Psychological Association (APA) who in 2007, developed a task force to combat media sexualization and to inform the public of the effects that it has on our youth. They report that sexualization of girls occurs within three interrelated spheres:

1. The contribution by society, cultural norms expectations, and values that are communicated through many avenues including media that encourage sexualization as being good and normal.

2. An interpersonal contribution- girls are treated and encouraged to be sexual objects by those around them and society.

3. Self-Sexualization- girls treat and experience themselves as sexual objects. This is down through conditioned sexual behavior and appearance that have been rewarded by society and peers.

As detached from this age group as you may feel, you are never too far away from them. They are your consumers, your nieces, your cousins, your siblings, and most importantly your future daughters. We interact with these girls everyday, and the one thing we can do is be their positive role models. We can show them that smart is sexy, and self-respect is even more so.

Pictures courtesy of Teamsugar and Parenttalktoday

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Whether you believe homosexuality is biologically hardwired or a matter of choice, the fact remains that our society has been living in a hetero-homo binary. You’re either gay or straight – maybe bi – and that’s it. These three categories have been considered to be mutually exclusive and sexual identity to be as simple as checking the applicable box. But as many will tell you, it’s not that easy.

For women, maybe love really is blind when it comes to gender. Within the past few years, a new understanding of female sexuality has emerged. Studying the growing number of women leaving men for other women, researchers have coined the term “sexual fluidity” to explain the collapsing boundaries of sexual orientation.

Cynthia Nixon, star of Sex and the City, became one of the most high-profile cases of sexual fluidity when she began seeing a woman after ending a 15-year relationship with a man. She told the Daily Mirror, “I have been with men all my life and had never met a woman I had fallen in love with before. But when I did, it didn’t seem so strange. It didn’t change who I am. I’m just a woman who fell in love with a woman.”

Lisa Diamond, associate professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah, is accredited for bringing this controversial subject to the academic table. Her 2008 book Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire explores the changing nature of female sexuality, citing scientific research and her own studies of nearly 100 women who have experienced same-sex attraction.

“People always ask me if this research means everyone is bisexual. No, it doesn’t,” Diamond tells O, The Oprah Magazine. “Fluidity represents a capacity to respond erotically in unexpected ways due to particular situations or relationships. It doesn’t appear to be something [anyone] can control.”

And as research suggests, this fluidity is more common in women than men. In a ground-breaking 2004 study at Northwestern University, both gay and straight female subjects became sexually aroused at heterosexual and lesbian erotic films. Male subjects, on the other hand, responded only toward films aimed at their sexual orientation. Since past research has been conducted mostly on men, this report opened the field on female sexuality and has encouraged further studies that have since supported women’s greater capacity for sexual vacillation.

But sexuality isn’t limited to the physiological phenomenon of blood rushing to genitals. Emotions play a huge part in who we find attractive, and Diamond has discovered that sexual fluidity stems from “being attracted to the person, not the gender.”

In an interview with the Boston Globe, Diamond quotes one woman who revealed that “deep down, it’s just a matter of who I meet and fall in love with, and it’s not their body, it’s something behind the eyes.” When women who are sexually fluid reveal that they are simply drawn to traits – like kindness, intelligence, and humor – that are universal to both genders, then their stories don’t seem so strange after all. Most people search for emotional connection in a life partner, and if it comes in the package of a woman instead of a man, then labels of sexual orientation be damned.

Photo courtesy of Misakie

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