WORK/LIFE BALANCING ACT

Authors juggle different duties

Economic pressures in the publishing industry prompt authors to become their own marketing muscle.

Turnaround strategy of boss is a turn off for employees

Q: Our new CEO dictates orders without getting input from experienced staff and intimidates people by yelling at them in meetings. He was brought in because sales are dropping and the company is losing money.

BALANCING ACT

South Florida mothers find opportunities of their own

Many mothers are building businesses from home -- and learning lessons along the way.

BALANCING ACT

Do men accept women's new role in workplace?

What are real guys saying about women overtaking them in the workplace?

JOB SEARCH

Education gap is leading to a `Great He-pression'

For several years, women have been earning the most college degrees. This trend may end up creating a `Great He-pression.'

WORK/LIFE BALANCING ACT

Bad boss? Don't explode

Losing your cool never helps, especially in this tight economy. Advice from the experts can help you go beyond coping to actually thriving.

WORK/LIFE BALANCING ACT

Women-owned businesses seek ways to grow

Sharmila Melwani could whip up a batch of cookies so delicious she decided to make a business out of selling them. Like many moms, she launched her business from her home kitchen, but when things took off about six months later, she moved Cookies By Shar to a commercial kitchen in a Davie warehouse.

WORK/LIFE BALANCING ACT

More employers looking at their roles in obesity

In the midst of the most vigorous national healthcare debate in 15 years, the link between our work life and our weight is intensifying. Two-thirds of the U.S. workforce is overweight.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Improve yourself to achieve career goals

Self-improvement goes hand-in-hand with career development.

WORK/LIFE BALANCING ACT

Make social media a business tool, not a distraction

My new fascination with social media has me trying to figure out how to keep up and still have time for work and family.

Sometimes it makes sense to fire clients

Even in this turbulent economy, some business owners have faced this cold harsh reality: Sometimes the best thing to do is to fire a client.

WORKPLACE

Help new boss realize your talents

If your boss has no clue what you are capable of, draft a work plan and review it with him to show how your ideas can achieve company milestones.

People who love their jobs

This Labor Day marks a time when many workers are facing the most uncertain economic times of their careers: pay cuts, layoffs and some wondering if their companies will even survive this downturn.

NONPROFITS

Having a purpose -- like child advocacy -- makes work more enjoyable

As executive director of Kristi House, a nonprofit that works with sexually abused children, Trudy Novicki is used to the look people get on their face when she tells them what she does for a living.

HOSPITALITY

Smiles go a long way for hotel guest services worker

Latoya Skeete takes the motto of the hotel she works at seriously -- her job at the front desk, she said, is to make everyone feel at home.

``When you work in guest services, you're the first and last person people see,'' said Skeete, 31, who commutes daily from Hallandale Beach to the Miami Airport Marriott Residence Inn, where she has worked since the hotel reopened in June.

SALES AND DISTRIBUTION

Pepsi worker still bubbly after nearly 50 years; his secret: `I like people'

When Mario Gutierrez started delivering Pepsi products, the job started early. He got into the habit of arriving at work around 5 a.m. each weekday at the Pepsi Bottling facility off the Palmetto Expressway in Doral.

PUBLISHING

Corporate litigator takes `novel' approach in life

In 1996, James Grippando had recently made partner with Steele Hector Davis' Miami office -- but he had a secret.

The corporate litigator had spent several years working by day as a lawyer, mostly trying health insurance cases. On nights and weekends, he wrote his novels.

EDUCATION

Guidance counselor helps students -- and himself -- stay positive

He thought about becoming a rabbi. Then he went into business and became the top salesman in the country for his company.

But after a few years, Harry Nerenberg decided he want to go into teaching. That was 1979, and that, he said, was the last time he woke up and had that dreaded ``I-don't-want-to-go-to-work'' feeling.

BALANCING ACT

Job-related claims of pregnancy bias on the rise

Claims of pregnancy discrimination are on the rise, maternity leaves are a luxury and conducting a job search while pregnant is like trying to win the lottery.