Confidence

The Confidence Coalition was something I wasn’t aware of prior to joining Kappa Delta. Throughout my past two years in Kappa Delta and one semester of Girls on the Run, I’ve become really passionate about empowering girls to reach their full potential. As I reflected on what ties me to this I realized that it really started because of my triathlon coach in high school.
I was involved in a plethora of sports growing up, and I’ve written a lot about my triathlon experience in the past. I spent a large amount of my summers in high school on a bicycle all across the O’Fallon/Lake St. Louis/Wentzville area. Without the High School Triathlon Club I definitely wouldn’t have continued fitness in college, I wouldn’t have realized why fitness was important.

I don’t care about my body solely for the aesthetic reasons, I care about eating a balanced-ish diet (I’m not perfect) and working out because it makes me feel good. When I feel good about myself, I’m so much more confident in myself. When I am confident in myself, I am able to better serve other girls who are trying to find that confidence in themselves.
You better believe I ate a donut, 2 bagels, and chocolate milk after my half marathon
Going through recruitment can be such a hectic time-- move-in just happened, you’re getting adjusted to living on a college campus, and you’re starting life over. I am so grateful that I had the High School Triathlon Club in my life to lay the foundation for fitness, health, and confidence. I am also so grateful that Kappa Delta saw that confidence in me 2 years ago when I went through recruitment. The Confidence Coalition is so important and

I’m so happy I am able to be a part of something that gives girls the ability to embrace who they are and believe in themselves.

 I have a connection to triathlons and half marathons, I hope that I am able to use athletics to continue to empower girls to challenge themselves and do what they think is impossible.

 I have never been so confident in myself as I have been recently and I truly wouldn’t be at this point in my life without the HSTri Club and Kappa Delta. If you have any questions about fitness or joining Greek Life (or why I'd recommend Greek Life) please let me know! I'd love to talk about it!

 Check out these posts for more of my fitness journey! I should be providing a new update soon.
My Fitness Journey- the beginning of my journey into health/fitness
Going to the Gym- when I first started going to the school gym
13.1 Things I Learned About Training for a Half Marathon

 Until next time,
Taylor xx
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Creating Culture


Can you create a corporate culture? I think you can, but I know a lot of people disagree. Just because you can create it doesn’t mean it always happens or is easy to do.

Defining what a corporate culture “is” can be challenging when a company isn’t intentional. Patagonia and Zappos, for example, hire specifically on values. Zappos even offers you your pay + an extra $2,000 to quit if you don’t feel like you align with the company’s values after 2 weeks of working there.


When you work for a company that values the same things you do, you are more productive, engaged, and driven to work. This creates a better employee experience.


By prioritizing the employee experience, I think that creates the culture people want. For example, at one Patagonia office they let employees go out and surf during the work day. Patagonia employees truly embody the brand of their company, they are authentic. If the company forced them into high-walled cubicles with no access to nature, that wouldn’t really align with their brand. By allowing employees to engage in activities they love at work, while still doing their job, they value the company more. Simply put, people like going to work so they do better work.  

It’s easier with companies like this where the values are so clearly defined- a passion for sustainability, the environment, and activity (Patagonia’s Culture page on their website is very eye opening). In companies that focus on “just getting the job done” you lose that culture.

Unfortunately, though, getting to work for places with these cool perks or opportunities can take time. Many companies want you to have 4+ years experience, so you have to take that job with a rather bland culture. But hopefully as more managers and senior-level executives learn about the power of an intentional, positive culture, more people will become passionate and engaged in their work.

My hope going forward is that more organizations become aware of their company's culture. Having an employee base who cares about what they are doing and how they represent their organization is (to me) very important.

What are your thoughts about corporate culture?

Until next time,
Taylor xx
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Denver

If you're able to think back to when it felt like -2 outside, I was most likely scrolling through LinkedIn Jobs trying to find internships for the summer.

 I spent a majority of my winter break applying for internships in Kansas City and St. Louis because I was determined to not go back to my high school job (& I wanted real-life experience in my career field). 

 I found out in April that I'd be working with Spectrum (Charter) as an Internal Communications Intern. Over the course of the past three weeks I've absolutely loved it there. I have already gotten one article published and I've been able to edit/revise a lot other content, too. It's great to work in an environment that's so different from my past experiences. Through Drury I've done a lot of external PR and worked with small nonprofits, now I'm doing internal PR and working with a Fortune 100 company.
My first day in the office
But... when I accepted the job I found out that we present our intern group project on August 2, with my last day in the office on August 3. Unfortunately that meant that I couldn't go on vacation with my family and I was pretty bummed.

 This past Thursday, though, my boss approached me and asked if I wanted to go to the Denver office this week with another member of the Internal Communications team. Of course I said yes! I have always wanted to go to Colorado, and although it will be for a work conference, at least I get to travel this summer!

 Spectrum has four major corporate offices: Charlotte, Denver, St. Louis, and Stamford. Each office has a different corporate focus and I'm super excited to meet the people working in Denver. My internship has been great so far and I know that getting to network with even more people will be beneficial. 

 I'm so excited to see how I grow professionally over the next 7 weeks. 

 Until next time,
Taylor  xx

 PS: I should be updating my blog in the coming weeks so be prepared for that change!! 
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