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Fresh Ideas, Real Stories, and a Lot of Laughs

Insights on laughter, leadership, and team culture direct from our founder

June 13, 2024

From the Tennis Court to Caregiving

When anyone asks me about my tennis game, I often call myself a hack. I’m not being self-deprecating - well maybe I am - but I’m also speaking truth. I have taken a handful of lessons in my life. But I love a good racket

June 6, 2024

Daughter, Caregiver, Worker

Yes, that's a legit fanny pack. And we'll get to that. But first...

May 23, 2024

Comedy Tools in Action!

“We’ve done that exercise already,” the Chanel-chic woman in the front row wearing thick framed glasses said. She readjusted them and smiled.

May 16, 2024

A Sense of Humor for Survival?

“Let’s start with the first scene,” the casting director said. “Sure,” I said. I was sitting across from Jerry Seinfeld who was also holding a script. Having gone through several rounds of auditions for Elaine, we were now meeting. I was young and this was my first “big audition.” The room was teaming with people laughing at every single thing he said. Anyone recall the laugh out loud Washington Mutual commercial where Ben Falcone walks in late to a company meeting and blurts out, “Sorry I’m late, I had a job interview. NAILED IT!”? That is not how I would describe this experience. Thrown by his Seinfeldian cadence, it was not my best work. Since then, I’ve followed his stand up and always marveled at his total respect for the craft and relentless tinkering of material. A few years ago, seeing him try out new jokes to mild titters, I thought, dude, you do not have to keep doing this. I fully believed this. Until I heard his Duke commencement speech. This man is not f’ing around about his passion for the value of laughter for, as he says, surviving the human condition. The guy lives to make people laugh. Despite what can feel like shallow subject matter, there is weight to how he feels about writing and performing it.

May 8, 2024

Mental Health Awareness Month & Mother’s Day - Coincidence?

It’s Mental Health Month and Mother’s Day - in comedy that’s what we call timing! I’m tickled by the chance to recognize mental health and my mother in the same month! What is it they say? Your parents know where the but

May 1, 2024

Happy National Small Business Week!

If you would have told me ten years ago I’d have a small business hitting its stride five years in, I’d probably have done a frozen yogurt spit-take. Those were the yogurt years - many of my jokes were about new mom stress, the set up for one was a 30-something racing up to a yogurt store counter, “Can I have a taste?” she pleads, panting.

April 22, 2024

Comedians Who Do More than Make Us Laugh

What do Pitbulls, The Cerebral Palsy Foundation and Comedians have in common in 2024? Comedians who care about them! Funny people who have put their talent where their mouths are to generate tremendous support! How lucky is Laughter On Call to have the chance to sit down with Rebecca Corry, Josh Blue and Zoe Friedman and hear from each of them what their organizations do? Very lucky indeed!

April 18, 2024

How do we Care for the Caregiver?

In comedy we talk a lot about timing so I’m very conscious of the recent report released by the Alzheimer’s Association and the fact that I’m heading to San Francisco this week to run two caregiver workshops. A new digital caregiver resource called Kinary has invited me up to bring some comic relief and share specific tools for self-care and creating connection through all stages of cognitive decline. I’ll be honest, these are my favorite workshops to run, getting me back to the heart of what we do. Two statistics revealed have given this trip even more urgency.

April 10, 2024

International Moment of Laughter Day!

Some holidays feel like they are designed to make me roll my eyes - National Beer Day (missed it! April 7), National Flash Drive Day (went by in flash - ba dum bum - April 5) and one there’s still time to honor, National WAGYU Day - June 21st! PHEW! I understand, picking a special day to recognize something is a positive marketing tool. I likely wouldn’t have thought to eat the most expensive meat in the world in June without a calendar nudge.

April 3, 2024

April Fool's Recap - Keep It Light

You know that feeling when you’re swimming with someone, jumping around and splashing each other in the water? And then to be really funny, they hold your head under the water? Your playmate presses down on your shoulders and just laughs and laughs until, I don’t know, they can make you turn blue? Ha ha ha. Yeah, um, I have never found that funny.

March 28, 2024

We’re baaaack!! Reflections on the WBENC National Conference

Yes! We made it back from our big excursion to Denver to host the closing brunch for WBENC’s All-Time Top Corporations for 25 years! I will not lie I had some butterflies in my stomach leading up to this. The team at WBENC could not have been more organized, supportive, clear and helpful, everything you wish for in a collaboration. My first idea for how to structure the two hours was to anchor the brunch in the letter M. We would recognize motivation, momentum, metamorphosis, and other marvelous M words, including mother.

March 16, 2024

March "Madness" For Women in Business

When you hear March Madness most people think of the NCAA - and yet there's another kind of "madness" going on for women this March. The madness of celebrating diversity and inclusion! According to the Women's History Alliance, celebrating Women's History Month this year means recognizing women "...throughout the country who understand the need to eliminate bias and discrimination from individuals' lives and institutions for a positive future."