I am launching a new online marketing platform that will allow brands to connect with (potential) customers globally in a completely new way. The biggest component of the business is partnering with various large and medium size brands that are willing to experiment with their marketing approach and product offerings.

Until now, I was working on devising the business plan and the operational aspects of it but now is the time when I have to penetrate the C-Suite, specifically the Chief Marketing Officer suite at those brands with my partnership proposal. I am not sure how to go about it.

Do I sent emails, pick up the phone, send letters? Do I prepare a “pitch deck” that I email the brands or send them or a top view summary page? I am totally unconnected to those brands and they span across various industries. Any ideas or insights would be appreciated!

I just finished my Ph.D. in educational policy and I’m on the job market for next spring. I don’t want to be an academic, so I’m looking at all kinds of jobs in all kinds of places.

I’ve been a teacher (middle school and university) for my entire working career, so I’m not familiar with how non-teaching job searches work. So, here’s my question: how do I know if I’m qualified for a job based on the job description?

I feel like they are written so cryptically that I can never be sure if I’m totally wasting my time applying or if it is a case (as you often write about) of framing my CV differently? For example, should I take the “experience, knowledge and skills” section as non-negotiable?

I am trying to use my Ph.D. to break into a related–but not directly academic–field and I don’t know if my skills translate.

The new hire wants to manage me. He’s supposed to be my co-worker. He’s in his thirties. Every conversation we have he’ll ask questions that are to “see the way I think”.

Am I just being competitive? Do I have to put up with him? The CEO hasn’t said that he’s my manager. The CEO has asked me to take more responsibility in managing the operations team.

Hi, so I’m no one specific. Just a mom reaching out to see if you have any advice for me. I’m neurotypical but my junior in college who is a girl has Asperger’s, but really mild. We tried some groups but those kids seem more severe. Her ACT was strong in math and science and low in English reading and writing. Those stupid tests do not represent her potential as a 4.0 average and her teachers said she is so organized.

She has learned coping strategies for dealing with people. However I have no idea how to help her with degree ideas. No real people skills, focusing on the tasks etc. Your writing makes me feel that there is hope in her future. If you have any time to just give me a suggestion for college ideas and degrees that would just be great. Facts are fine. Thanks!

I have been interviewing off and on for product manager jobs. I am so tired and exhausted from working startups and doing that. I’m freaking burned out.

Anyway, today I got an offer from a VC funded, pre-shipped startup who reached out to me.

I love the founder. I love the idea but there is part of the implementation that is bugging my conservative upbringing from an ethical point of view.

Also, I want a more stable company. I want to have a senior product manager to be my mentor and learn from in that role. I won’t have it here. I don’t want to have to figure it out anymore by myself, like I had to in my old startup.

I am an INFJ. Sometimes, an ENFP. Depends on the day.

What do I do?

I have a 22-year-old that no matter what I do, it is wrong. Her memories are not what happened. I put her through 4 years of school and that was not good enough. I am a single mom who put my life on hold for my kids, which I have two.

Now I have finally found a man that I should have been with 16 years ago and we are back together. I moved in with him with my youngest daughter and everything is fine except my oldest who is 22 says and tells people I abandoned her for a guy and don’t love her. She has this attitude that I owe her anything she wants.

I want her a part of my life, I just want her to leave the attitude at the door. I have made mistakes as a parent, I am not perfect. Have I smacked her, yes. Have I punished her, yes. If I told her “I don’t like that color on you”, she took it as I called her ugly. No matter what I do or say I do nothing right. Please give me some advise. I am at my wits end and don’t know where to go.

I work as a housekeeping supervisor at a hotel in Massachusetts. The general manager of the hotel had invited a prostitute to stay in one of the rooms at the hotel for sexual favors as payment for her stay. She also used the hotel room for clients and drug use.

The reason for me finding out all of this is because she was to leave the hotel one day earlier (Per: The general manager). She was not willing to leave the hotel at check out time, so check out time was extended until 2pm (Per: general manager). 2pm rolls around and she has not left yet and I asked her to please pack up and leave. She was not willing to leave, she was promised 3 days at the hotel. I advised her that I was going to have to call the police. She got very angry and upset.

She told me she had text messages that proves that she had a 3 day stays at the hotel by the general manager. Come to find out it was true, and along with that being true all the messages she had were all about the G/M picking her up to bring her to the hotel, sexual acts, lunch dates, all the conversation were between him and the prostitute.  I do have a copy of all the messages.

The G/M does know that I’m aware of what was going on. He is not willing to speak to me about this issue, he keeps ignoring me and I want to resolve it. What do I do? Do I report this? How do I go about this situation. He put all of us housekeepers at risk when cleaning the room. There were used needles laying around and condoms everywhere. The place was a mess. Please get back to me with some advice.

Thank you for sharing about your Asperger’s syndrome.  Thank you for sharing about yourself and your son.  Your article resonated with my wife and I and helped us see our adult son more clearly.

He denies that he has any sort of autistic tendencies, but everyone around him seems to see otherwise.  He appears to have blinders on . . . which is scary for those of us who love him dearly.  If I may presume to ask,  when did you first come to realize you had high IQ AS?  What helped you realize that?  Was it just getting older and more mature?  Could you have seen it sooner, with help from anyone else?  How do you separate your perhaps quirky tendencies as a person with a high IQ from those stemming from AS?

Our son has a very high IQ (160ish), and easily obtained a college degree with honors in literature and Spanish.  But he changed dramatically in college.  He came out very cynical and maybe even delusional.  He claims he is a poet, but he only wrote one major poem in college, and never had it published (although it was awarded best senior writing piece).

Since graduating three years ago, he has been unwilling (or unable) to get a job and says he is just waiting for the next poem to come to him.  He lives with his girlfriend, who is employed, with very few other close friends, which is precisely what you described in your article.  So what appears to be missing is his ability or even willingness to accept he may have AS and to get a paying job, maybe one not using his high IQ capacities.

So . . . any advice for worried parents?   Would love to hear from you!  Thanks again for sharing your article with the world on line.  That was a brave step in my view, and one I commend you on.

Do you have any recommendations on how to deal with two colleagues hooking up in a company smaller than 15? In larger settings it happened and was okay because it usually wasn’t with people on your team, or that you worked with on a regular basis.

We’re dealing with this while we’re all in France. two of the youngest team members (23 and 24) (he is a subordinate and good friend of the CEO, and she’s the CEO’s EA) hooked up pretty early, and the behavior has just increased and made everyone uncomfortable. She’s currently using him as an errand boy, partnering with him to get a lot of her work done.

My boss asked me what we think we should do, but I don’t have a clue on how to handle this at such a small scale. The relationship has definitely been affecting work dynamics, and we’re all dreading the implosion for when things go sour. We both agreed that while they are two adults and should be allowed to do their own thing, we’re dealing with two very immature individuals, so there aren’t high expectations for this to work out in a positive way.

Do you have any recommendations on how to handle this? What should the policy be moving forward?

I am an early years teacher and would like your expertise on this matter. I have a young girl in my class. She is 3 years and 9 months old and I have been talking to her mother in regards to her challenging behaviours. Her mother is not responsive and I have been attempting to get her a referral from the GP to a speech Therapist to help her with language.

Mum has asked her doctor and he said there is nothing wrong with her. Now the mother is angry and wants a sit down meeting to discuss what I obviously think is wrong with her child. I have lots of written reports which I can show her, but want to be really careful not to overwhelm her.

Here is a list of behaviours and development that I have noticed:

  • Resistant to change often screaming and will refuse to wear a spare hat if hers is at home but can’t understand that we need to have another hat to play outside.
  • Has a preference for male peers and often younger
  • imitates the actions/behaviours of others
  • clumsy gait
  • randomly hugs strangers
  • unaware of personal space
  • affection is over the top at times
  • pronoun reversal – even after explaining that Felicity is a girl so it is her hat will say his hat
  • Will scream at peers and adults without provocation
  • does not show concern when another child is hurt or sad
  • has trouble following routines and directions
  • has trouble sharing
  • will push over a much younger child and does not like to talk about how that would make her/him feel

Do you think I should take the wait and see approach, rather then distress the family who are already defensive?

©2023 Penelope Trunk