2020 has been a year of challenges, the unexpected, and the unknown. For some of you, it’s been a year you simply needed to survive. You’ve evolved, transformed, and “pivoted”… As we’re heading toward the last months of 2020, we want to take a moment to slow down. Stopping to reflect is powerful. Too many times, we wait until the end of an experience to look backward. Instead, as we’re still in this year of uncertainty, take some time to contemplate it now, while there’s still some time to impact our outcomes.

Earlier this summer, we asked you how you were doing. As in, how are you holding up and thriving in the midst of everything going on in our world today? Today, we’re making an important shift, and encouraging you to ask each other that same question... "Hey, how are you doing?" Five simple, short words that hold immense power. Here are five tips for asking that question the right way…

As the song says, “You gotta have faith.” We don’t talk much about faith when it comes to work. It’s a super-taboo subject to bring up because we never know what kind of reaction it will create. Instead of talking about the topic of faith, we keep it packed up where it can stay safe. That is, until now… With everything going on in the world today, the concept of faith has become just a little more acceptable. All those things we thought we were in complete control over in January have now shown their true chaotic nature and reminded us how easily they can shift right under our feet. Maybe there is a place for faith in our work? Spiritually, relationally, and from a human-perspective, here’s where we’re going with this…

We know none of us are ready for falling snow yet. Maybe we should have renamed this "Like Falling Leaves..." Either way, whether we're talking about leaves or snowflakes, here's something we can all agree is true. The reason we notice the falling leaves and snowflakes is based on their quantity. A single leaf or one snowflake falling to the ground would be forgettable. Unless we're looking out the window at the right moment, we might not even notice it. Seeing enough leaves to require raking, or snowflakes to require shoveling, is another story. Your brand's content strategy is no different. If you're trying to increase your brand presence or add to your tribe, you need to produce enough content that you get noticed. Here's what we mean...

It's Wednesday, September 23rd, and we've started our day off at this year's virtual version of PENworks 2020. Very fittingly, the theme of this year's conference is Mission Possible: Positive Change in Challenging Times. We can tell you, as OrangeBall is part of PENwork's annual planning committee, that we landed on this year's theme toward the end of 2019. We had no idea then how relevant those words would be today…

This was all supposed to be done by now. Remember in May, when we told ourselves that fall would be the end of COVID and we'd be happily transitioning into our "new normal" lives? Well, the temperatures are shifting, the leaves are changing, the days are getting a little shorter… and we're not quite there yet. We're navigating new versions of school for our kids, new versions of what work looks like, and new ways to stay connected. Personally and professionally, we're being stretched in unexpected ways. Today, in the midst of all of this, we want to share this simple reminder…

Legs. Not just any legs, but John’s legs. Average, unremarkable, normal legs… or are they? Those legs are the inspiration for this week’s blog post. Curious yet? Keep reading...

About this time last summer, we were having conversations about our 2020 Bounce Calendar. Every year, there’s a theme, and we needed one for 2020. After some great conversations about where we wanted to go with this, we landed on the following: “Challenging you to bring positivity to 2020!” We filled our 2020 calendar with little things we could each do to help us slow down, enjoy the moments, and create some positive energy. Little did we know…

We've put concepts like authenticity and being genuine on a pedestal for brands for the last few years. We want them to be real with us – to be transparent in who they really are when no one's looking. With that in mind, there's been an interesting shift over the last few months. If we wanted "real" back in January, we're getting a healthy dose of it now, and it's transforming how we view and produce content for our businesses and organizations. Here's what we mean...

We're living in a world today that is divided in so many ways. Across so many issues, we find ourselves disagreeing on how we see things. What if there was a way, in our businesses and personal lives, to turn our differences in perspective into our greatest strength? There is, and here's our take on how to do that…