Tuesdays with Mary

Tuesday, October 7, 2025 I’ve always admired women who build something of their own from the ground up. Bobbi Brown is one of those women. She started as a makeup artist in New York City in the 1980s, long before the natural look was trendy. From her house in Montclair, New Jersey, she sold her own line of lipsticks, and eventually built a global brand that reshaped the beauty industry. If for some reason you aren't familiar, Bobbi sold her original cosmetics company, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, to Estée Lauder in 1995 for a reported $74.5 million. What strikes me most [...]

Tuesday, September 30, 2025 This past weekend, diving across the plains on my way to visit my mom, I passed mile after mile of fields heavy with harvest. Combines cut neat paths, dust hung in the air, and trucks rumbled toward silos. It struck me that harvest isn’t just about gathering crops — it’s about gathering what has grown quietly, almost unnoticed, over time. Reunions feel a little like that too. They aren’t built in a single afternoon. They’re the result of all the small, steady moments that add up: the inside jokes, the phrases repeated so often they become [...]

September 23, 2025 Years ago, I worked with a company whose executive sponsor told me his measure of success for a software conversion was simple: his phone wouldn’t ring with employee complaints. You can guess what happened next. His phone rang…a lot. The project kicked off strong, slowly unraveled, then stalled.  Eventually they backed out of the conversion entirely, retreating back to their old system. It was painful to watch, not because either software wasn’t capable, but because the change wasn’t managed with the right mindset. That experience reinforced something I’ve seen again and again in large and important projects: [...]

Tuesday, Sept 9, 2025 Last week, our industry lost a true leader with the unexpected passing of Mary O’Donnell of Westcor. Mary was more than a successful executive—she was a woman of vision, integrity, and heart. She led with clarity and conviction, always keeping the future of our industry in view while never losing sight of the people who make it run. I remember her grace and grit, her laugh, and her sparkly eyes that held more than a bit of orneriness, too. Those who worked with her speak not only of her business acumen but also of her generosity, [...]

Tuesday, August 26, 2025 The housing and mortgage markets have always been central to the American economy, but right now they’re shifting in ways that demand close attention. Affordability, inventory, interest rates, negative equity, tappable equity, and borrower behavior are all moving pieces in a puzzle that affects lenders, real estate professionals, and consumers alike. In moments like this, data isn’t just helpful — it’s essential. The difference between reacting late and preparing early often comes down to who’s watching the market most closely, and how well they understand the signals behind the numbers. That’s why I’m especially excited about [...]

Tuesday, August 19, 2025 There’s a strange thing about community — it works best when you don’t agree on everything. I’ve been thinking lately about what keeps a group of very different people from turning into opponents. It’s not the sameness of opinion; it’s the sameness of agreement about the rules that let us live together. Think about the rules of the road. Some people like to drive fast, some slow. Some love big trucks, some drive little hybrids. None of that really matters so long as we all agree to stop at red lights and stay on our side [...]

Tuesday, August 12, 2025 We’re far enough into the year that January’s shiny optimism has dulled. The wall calendar has flipped more than a few pages, life’s curveballs have taken their swings, and those big, ambitious goals we set back in the cold months may be quietly collecting dust. Here’s the thing—now is a perfect time to dust them off, pick two or three that truly matter to you or to your organization, and commit to finishing them strong. Not “maybe.” Not “if I have time.” Make it known…to your team, your friends, your family—that you’re going to knock these [...]

Tuesday, August 5, 2025 There’s a moment, not marked on any calendar, when a place shifts from somewhere you’re in to somewhere you’re of. It doesn’t come with balloons or a banner. Most of the time, you don’t even notice it until after it’s already happened. You just look up one day and realize: Your co-worker’s last name that you used to have to effort through pronouncing just rolls smoothly off your tongue. You flick on the correct light switch in a series without even thinking. You know the shortcut that saves two stoplights, but only if you turn just [...]

Tuesday, July 29, 2025 At a certain point in life, you stop pretending. You stop pretending you like kale. You stop pretending you want to attend that 8:00 p.m. event that “should only last a couple hours.” You stop pretending you’re excited about the group chat. Somewhere between your mid-40s and early 50s, a glorious shift happens: your Give-A-Damn meter breaks in all the right ways. So in the spirit of midlife clarity, here’s a short (but ever-growing) list of things I no longer pretend to care about: Uncomfortable clothes. If I have to shimmy, tug, suck in, or re-adjust [...]

Tuesday, July 15, 2025 We’ve all heard the phrase “give better than you got,” but usually it’s delivered with a slightly raised eyebrow — part challenge, part consolation, and sometimes a quiet warning. Maybe someone was unfair to you, so you’re being encouraged to break the cycle. Or maybe you're being reminded of how much more is possible when you respond with grace instead of grudge. I’ve started to see it differently, not just as a reaction to poor treatment, but as a philosophy. A way of showing up that doesn’t wait to be earned. It's easy…natural, even — to [...]