Assertiveness Is a Life Skill — Not an Attitude Problem Let’s Talk About the Worst Advice We Give Kids (and Ourselves) “Just be nice.” It sounds harmless. Polite. Well-intentioned. But in real life? It’s some of the most damaging social advice  we hand out — especially to girls, teens, and emotionally aware adults. Because “just be nice” doesn’t teach communication. It teaches suppression . At the heart of this advice is a confusion many of us grow up with — assertiveness vs

Teaching Friendship, Empathy, and Appreciation We’ve Narrowed Valentine’s Day Too Much Somewhere along the way, Valentine’s Day became almost exclusively about romance. Couples. Cards. Grand gestures. But when we zoom out — especially through the lens of kids, families, and real life — Valentine’s Day is really about relationships . Friendships. Family connections. Kindness. How we show care for the people around us. And that’s a message worth teaching — at every age. Relatio

(And One of the Most Overlooked Ones in Leadership) Let’s Clear Something Up Emotional intelligence is often misunderstood. It gets lumped into: “Soft skills” Personality traits Being nice Avoiding conflict But emotional intelligence isn’t about being agreeable or passive. It’s about regulation, judgment, timing, and respect. And in real life — especially in leadership — the lack of it shows fast. What Emotional Intelligence Looks Like in the Real World Emotional intelligence