Empowering Women Lifts the World

©iStock/Clara Murcia

International Monetary Fund (IMF) research has consistently underscored the benefits of equality, including greater productivity and financial stability. To mark International Women’s Day – celebrating the entire month – IMF presents a roundup of their most recent blogs, podcasts, and research on gender.

Check out how empowering women supports economic growth.

Why Sell Globally?

©iStock/metamorworks

A company that does business only within its own country will find itself at a long-term competitive disadvantage if it does not have a global strategy. Companies will need to eventually find new customers – and to be successful, global expansion is the only path to continued growth says Mark Waring. 

The easiest way to extend a global footprint is to sell on the web. It’s especially easy for sellers of subscription-based services and other digital goods (gaming, for example). Indeed, TSG noted in a recent study that the growth of the ‘Subscription Economy’ is a noteworthy, permanent trend. Even internet-based marketplace sellers of physical goods are finding it easier to set up warehouses and shipping solutions in other countries. 

Read on to learn about trends in North American cross-border commerce. 

Disconnect From the Busyness of the World: Top 10 Tiny Homes

©iStock/Handcrafted Movement

Ever since the pandemic shook up our world, we’re trying to incorporate sustainability into every aspect of our life, including our homes. And, with everyone aspiring toward’s eco-friendly and mindful ways of living, tiny homes have completely taken over the world of architecture and cemented their place as sustainable, minimal, and economical micro-living setups.

Check out a wide range of micro-home setups that totally grabbed the attention of Yanko Design (YD).  From an AI-enabled prefab tiny home to a tiny home built from three shipping containers – there’s a tiny home out there for everyone!

Today in Global Small Business: Small Global Companies May Be In For a Big Surprise

©iStock/gorodenkoff

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• With Russian sanctions, small global companies may be in for a big surprise.
• COVID made us rethink labor; people are trying to figure out what to do with their lives.
• A series of sweeping global sanctions targeted Russian billionaires, known as oligarchs; as a result, business owners, families, and students fled to neighboring countries to find refuge.
• Quote of the week: “One of the greatest discoveries a man [woman] makes, one of his [her] great surprises, is to find he [she] can do what he [she] was afraid he [she] couldn't do." – Henry Ford
• Russia's decoupling from the global economy following its assault on Ukraine has caused governments and companies to examine their reliance on other nations says BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
• Joe Biden being Joe Biden (oh, and he happens to be President of the United States).

I Love Hi-Tech Kitchens

©2022 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"I love hi-tech kitchens, but that doesn't necessarily mean full of appliances." – Dominique Crenn

Never Bank On NATO Being Split

©iStock/Cineberg

Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin had banked on NATO being split when he launched his aggression on Ukraine last month, but has actually achieved the exact opposite of what he intended, with the alliance now being “more united than ever”, US President Joe Biden said at a NATO-G7 summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Get blow by blow details on what took place at the summit.

Who Do You Know Is A Woman of Influence?

©iStock/DGLimages

Now is your chance.  Who do you consider a voice of today?  Visionary of tomorrow?  

50 women who pioneer change, revolutionize industries and shape lives. They are difference-makers, life-changers and powerhouse leaders. They are women we know, women we trust and women we aspire to be.

Submit your nomination for someone you know who transforms lives and transcends boundaries.  You have 53 days (from today, 3/23/22) to make your decision.

The Beginning of Work As We Would Like It

©iStock/Chinnapong

Lately, we’ve seen a proliferation of discussions about the end of work as we know it.  But what about the beginning of work as we would like it?

In this third year of the coronavirus pandemic, Americans are burned out, quitting their jobs in record numbers, and reconsidering the place of work in their lives. 

As The Atlantic article proclaims:

If the American theocracy of work is to be dismantled, it won’t happen by just changing jobs or attitudes. It will require a fundamental transformation in the social system that dictates which institutions we derive fulfillment from.

Whether you agree or disagree, work has its place in our life as a meaningful institution.  

An Authoritarian's Worldview

©iStock/Artfully79

An authoritarian, take for example Vladimir Putin, lives in a world ... pictured by him as a sort of jungle, in which the whole world is conceived of as dangerous, threatening, or at least challenging, and in which human beings are conceived of as primarily selfish or evil or stupid, says Edward Hoffman, Ph.D., who teaches psychology at Yeshiva University.

“Once granted this worldview," Maslow [Abraham Maslow was the son of Jewish-Ukrainian immigrants] crucially argued, “everything that the authoritarian person does is logical and sensible… We can easily see for ourselves if we can only imagine ourselves in an actual jungle.” To speak of love, kindness, and cooperation in such a situation, Maslow noted, would be absurd. “If the world is jungle-like for an individual, then the authoritarian is perfectly justified in all his suspicions (and) hostilities.”

To Vladimir Putin, life is sort of a jungle.

Today in Global Small Business: Uncertainty Weighs Heavily in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

©iStock/Bulat Silvia

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• As uncertainty weighs on decision making concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, scenarios can provide guidance.
• Act global, look local.
• With Tably, your cat's wellbeing is always at your fingertips.
• Quote of the week: “The basis of your life is absolute freedom, the goal is joy, and the result of that perfect combination is motion forward, or growth.” — Abraham-Hicks
• Get your foreign-language tattoos translated free of charge!
• Thriving at work in a post-pandemic world.

Imagine a City Where Graffiti Wasn’t Illegal

©2022 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet." – Banksy

Are You Committing The Lacy Act?

©iStock/EcoPic

What is the Lacy Act?   

The Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.), first enacted in 1900 and significantly amended in 1981, is the United States' oldest wildlife protection statute. The Act combats trafficking in illegally taken wildlife, fish, or plants.

And this guy – an Oregon man named Darren Drake – is in big trouble.  He has pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally importing and exporting hundreds of live scorpions from and to contacts in Germany without obtaining an import-export license from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Drake faces up to one year in prison, three years supervised release and a $100,000 fine when he's sentenced later this year.

Wishing You All the Joy Your Heart Can Hold On St. Patrick's Day 2022

©2022 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Wishing you a pot o'gold and all the joy your heart can hold – Unknown

BAM! The Tit For Tat Continues on Sanctions

©iStock/wissanu99

Just when you thought Russia wouldn't bother with sanctioning any U.S. officials, BAM!  Take that Pres. Joe Biden.  Here's one for you Hillary Clinton.  And Hunter Biden, you're not off the list either. 

What am I talking about?  Russia's foreign ministry says it has imposed sanctions on US President Joe Biden and 12 other US officials.  Better check the list to make sure you are not on it!

How Climate Change Is Disrupting the Global Supply Chain

©iStock/Peter Shaw

The impact of the global pandemic on the global supply chain has been widely reported.  But extreme weather, from floods to wildfires, is increasingly hammering ports, highways, and factories worldwide, and experts warn these climate-induced disruptions will only get worse. 

Learn more about why climate change is a long term problem.

Today in Global Small Business: Super Power Conflict Is Now Constricting Global Business

©iStock/Piotrurakau

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Super power conflict is now constricting global business.
• Pixar teamed up with Disney Hong Kong to find the words for Mei’s aunties in the new movie, Turning Red.
• Unplugging Russia from the rest of the world.
• Quote of the week: "A wise ruler, when he makes his laws, is bound to find himself in conflict with the world." – Han Fei
• Stopping Putin.
• Russia versus globalization.

St. Patrick's Day Is An Enchanted Time

©2014 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

“St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time. It’s a day to begin transforming Winter’s dreams into Summer’s magic.” – Adrienne Cook

Global Businesses Operating in Russia Are: Suspending. Severing Ties. Closing. Exiting. Stopping. Pausing.

©iStock/Jakub Laichter

Giant global businesses in every sector are suspending, severing ties, closing, exiting, stopping or pausing activities in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Why it matters: In addition to condemning the invasion, the companies see an impossible environment — from worker safety to the logistics of getting supplies, financial and sales disruption and the complexity of complying with sanctions.

Learn more on what has happened since the invasion began.

What Do You Do When There Is a Massive Movement That Says #BoycottXXXXX? (Fill In Your Company Name)

©iStock/kb79

McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are closing their Russian operations.  McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski sent a note to staff yesterday afternoon (3/8/22) saying, “Our values mean we cannot ignore the needless suffering unfolding in Ukraine.” 

Is it really about McDonald's values? 

#BoycottMcDonalds had become a trending Twitter topic, and the Golden Arches ultimately decided to fold.  Kempczinski said the company will continue to pay its Russian employees.

When a company decides to pull out of a country is it because revenues are imploding?  People are suffering?  Customers are boycotting your brand?  Or, just no other choice than to get out?  

Brain Calming Music