POPSUGAR Founder Lisa Sugar On Four Ways You Can ‘Power Your Happy’
As busy women in pursuit of succeeding in our career and home life, finding time to take care of ourselves can sometimes be quite the challenge.
But it is possible. In her memoir Power Your Happy, Lisa Sugar who is the founder of the pop-culture website POPSUGAR (and also a wife and mother of three) shares how she has learned to work hard and build her dream life. Throughout the book, Lisa discusses her experiences of navigating the early stages of her career in order to pursue her true passion for writing, celebrities and fashion, and eventually turning it into a multi-million dollar company.
While Lisa provides a number of helpful tips and advice throughout her book, I chose four points that can help millennial women specifically power their happy as they build their careers and create lives that they will ultimately love.
1. Just Do It.
Before Lisa started POPSUGAR, she noticed that there wasn’t a place online that housed her interests in entertainment, fashion and beauty. So instead of waiting for someone to create this one-stop shop, she (along with her husband Brian who is a tech entrepreneur) started the website.
“I wanted to develop a healthy habit of writing every day,” Lisa writes. “I started off writing about whatever excited me the most: reviews of shows, books, and magazine articles, stories about new beauty products or a purse I wanted. I set small goals that were attainable and satisfying, and hitting that goal every day gave me a sense of accomplishment and made me feel like I was working toward my goal of creating content, even if no one was paying me to do it.”
The lesson here: In order to get where we want to be, we must be willing to create our own opportunities, maintain consistency and remain humble. Lisa suggests that in order to really see our dreams come to life, we must be willing to start from the bottom, hold ourselves accountable and learn in the process.
2. Major In Your Health.
A lover of all things sweet, Lisa figured out that as she got older and her schedule got busier, she was going to have to become more responsible of her diet and exercising habits. And even as a working mom of three, she still finds times to hit her coveted SoulCycle classes on the weekends.
“It really helps to dedicate a time of day or certain days every week when you know you’re going to work out,” Lisa says. “Treat it like anything else you would schedule on your calendar.”
The lesson here: Self-care is essential to your professional success. From eating balanced meals and getting exercise, to finding time to reflect and meditate, your health should be just as much as a priority as your career. Keeping healthy snacks at your desk, walking around the block a few times and drinking lots of water can not only keep you in shape, but do wonders for your mental health, too.
3. Don’t Do It Alone.
In this chapter, Lisa suggests that having a strong support system in your office environment can lead to your progression both professionally and personally. She mentions about three to four quintessential people that you should have in your circle that can help you thrive.
“Whatever the industry, we meet a handful of people during our careers who can help in different ways,” Lisa writes. “From your boss (the most obvious), to the HR person, to your networking buddy and first mentor, each of these individuals are incredibly valuable when building your work-related support system.”
The lesson here: There’s more to work that just sitting in your cubicle and completing your daily tasks. Building relationships with co-workers, managers and even executives not only shows that you’re interested in your organization’s mission, but you’re invested in gaining experience that will aid your growth presently and in the future.
4. The Work-Life Blend.
The age-old question of “How do you do it all?” is one that Lisa Sugar receives often. In running a company with her husband, she has found that they have to work smarter together in order to prioritize everything from their daughters’ dance recitals to new business projects. While most of us haven’t quite reached that plateau in our lives yet, Lisa does share a great piece of advice that could help any millennial woman growing in their career:
“The concept of work-life balance doesn’t mean separating my work from my life,” Lisa says. “It’s more like a work-life blend, where everything is interwoven. You have to figure out the blend that works for you and when enough. You have to be able to shift the scales as the circumstances of your life change and reprioritize when it’s time.”
The lesson here: While the work-life blend will look different for many of us, the important thing to note is that asking for help and being completely okay with saying “no” are essentials to creating your own work-life blend. Inevitably, life will get hectic and sometimes get out of control, but having a solid team who supports your happiness and success.
Overall, Lisa’s memoir provides a peek inside the lifestyle of pop-culture enthusiast who turned her passion for writing into a thriving company without sacrificing family or self-care.
Power Your Happy is available now.
