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Catherine Read

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Archives for 2014

by Catherine Read

Regulating Home Based Childcare Providers in Virginia (2014)

(Dec 15, 2014) Joining me on Inside Scoop Virginia were Mary Braxton of Prince William County and Kandy Hilliard of Stafford County. Our discussion is about the lack of regulation in daycare homes, where many of Virginia’s 394,000 children are cared for each day.

Mary Braxton is a home based daycare provider in Prince William County and also the President of The Virginia Alliance of Family Child Care Associations and President of The Eastern Prince William Area Family Child Care Associations. She has worked for decades in advocating for children and families to have access to safe quality care using the best developmental practices.

Kandy Hilliard is the Assistant Director of the Child Care Network and Outreach Specialist for Childcare Aware of Northern Virginia. Kandy is also a former member of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors and she has spent 25 years of her career in early childhood education.

Fairfax and Arlington Counties, along with Alexandria city (all in Northern Virginia) have greater regulation of licensed daycare homes than the other 93 counties and 39 independent cities in Virginia. There are greater licensing requirements for dog groomers and nail technicians in those counties than there are for people who keep 5 or fewer unrelated children in their home daycare business. Sharon Veatch, Executive Director of Child Care Aware Virginia, wrote an op-ed to that affect to the Richmond Times Dispatch on October 28, 2014.

The Virginia General Assembly needs to address this lack of basic oversight to make it consistent across the entire commonwealth. Some of those recommendations include criminal background checks for every adult in the home, an inspection by the fire marshall to insure there is a fire evacuation plan in place. In September of 2014, 3 children died in day care fires in both Lynchburg and Midlothian in unlicensed homes. The brings the total to 43 children who have died in daycare in the last 10 years.

For 2015, Child Care Aware of Virginia recommends:

  • Reducing the licensing threshold for child care homes;
  • Training for providers to promote the safety and healthy development of children, and
  • Reviewing the state licensing fee to determine whether it is set at an appropriate level to promote accountability in state oversight.

This show explores the many ways in which we can elevate the profession of daycare providers and insure greater safety for Virginia’s children.

Filed Under: Blogging, Inside Scoop, TV Shows, Virginia, Women Tagged With: child care, Kandy Hiliard, Virginia

by Catherine Read

Executive Presence – Sylvia Ann Hewlett

Screen Shot 2014-10-31 at 12.59.54 PM This book is excellent. Not so much that it’s groundbreaking material, but the research and personal stories validate what most of us already know about what it takes to be perceived as a “leader.” To get the most out of it, you need to be in the frame of mind that values “what it is” over “how it should be.” While the book is not gender specific, author Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s research points to the greatest challenges for potential leaders and those challenges happen to fall heavily upon women and minorities. There is little doubt that women face substantial challenges in navigating their way to the top in a culture where male leaders predominate and always have. If you are serious about developing your Executive Presence (EP) this book will be invaluable.

A wide and varied range of subjects is addressed, including the tension between conformity and authenticity. While that is an individual struggle we all confront at some point, the hurdle is a bit higher for women and minorities. “For these historically underrepresented groups are dealing with a double whammy. Not only do they need to shape and mold their identities to fit an organizational culture (something everyone faces), but they’re required to ‘pass’ as straight white men. Why? Because this continues to be the dominant leadership model. Eighty-eight percent of those who sit in corner offices on Wall Street and Main Street look this way.” I would add to that – 65% of everyone elected to office as well.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ as coined by Daniel Goleman) is an essential element to developing EP. “EQ is just as important for building trust because demonstrating it shows you have not only self-awareness but also situational awareness.” Being able to “read a room” is something I developed through theater experience. A good stage performance requires being able to read the audience and to work off their energy. It’s a skill that is needed in every situation whether it’s a roomful of people or just one person.Read More

Filed Under: Good Books, Political, Women Tagged With: Executive, Leader, Leadership, Women Leaders

by Catherine Read

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants – Gladwell

David and Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell(Oct. 2014) “We need to remember that our definition of what is right is, as often as not, simply the way that people in positions of privilege close the door on those on the outside. David has nothing to lose, and because he has nothing to lose, he has the freedom to thumb his nose at the rules set by others.”

Another wonderful book by Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Blink”, “The Tipping Point” and “Outliers” – all of which I loved. He uses such a wide range of examples to make his point about how we often misread disadvantage and disability as a weakness rather than a strength. As the story of David and Goliath illustrates, strength and weaknesses are often situational, and we can overlook how a strength in one situation can become a weakness in another. That metaphor is used throughout the book to great effect.

The book is well researched and Gladwell again takes recognizable people and situations and shows us how to view those familiar stories through a different lens. One example of that is how the Germans misread how the people of London would be affected by relentless bombing of the city. Rather than paralyze the city’s residents, those who experienced “near misses” became more courageous with every bombing they escaped.

Gladwell cites the work of other researchers and does extensive interviews himself. Some people profiled in the book are readily familiar and others are not. He weaves their stories into his overarching themes and the result is an exciting and engaging book that makes his concepts simple, accessible and easily explained to others.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

Filed Under: Blogging, Good Books Tagged With: Achievement, education, Malcolm Gladwell, Perspective

by Catherine Read

Inside Amalfi – The Da Mimmo Tour

(September 2014) A wonderful trip to the Amalfi Coast with Da Mimmo Italian Tours. This tour is so unique:  it’s only twice a year in June/July and September. It’s a 10 day all inclusive tour put together by Mary Ann Cricchio, the proprietor of Da Mimmo Italian Restaurant in Baltimore, MD, and her Chef Masood Masoodi.

They are part time residents of the town of Maiori and have many established relationships with chefs, restaurants, hotels, merchants, small businesses and local transportation providers. It’s the very best “insider tour” of the Amalfi Coast with people who know it well and speak both English and Italian flawlessly. The tour is built around creating memorable experiences with food and wine in addition to seeing well known tourist sites like Pompeii, The Blue Grotto, Revello and Capri. The tour is limited to 20 people which makes for a surprisingly intimate group. After 10 days together, there is a camaraderie and friendship we didn’t expect and that is priceless! This is the first tour group we’ve ever joined and we know it is the exception and not the rule. We enjoyed every minute of it. More information can be found at http://InsideAmalfi.com or on Facebook.

Filed Under: TV Shows Tagged With: Amalfi Coast, Capri, Chef Masood, Da Mimmo, Italy, Mary Ann Crecchio, Revello, Travel

by Catherine Read

Give and Take – Adam Grant

Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 4.21.49 PMAn excellent book that reinforces much of what I believe about the value of giving. The pivotal idea in this particular book is that there is more than one way of being a “Giver.” Author Adam Grant, the youngest tenured professor at the Wharton School, presents compelling research on the nature of human interactions relative to professional success. He identifies three main personality types: Givers, Takers and Matchers. He opens the book by sharing research that shows some of the least successful people in businesses are Givers. He follows that up with the secondary revelation that so are some of the mostsuccessful people.

The book hinges on a distinction Grant makes between “selfless” giving and “otherish” giving. It’s the difference between being a burned out disaffected doormat for others and creating a way of helping others that assesses more clearly an investment strategy that moves everyone forward. His case studies and profiles are really interesting. The real people he introduces us to (some agreed to use their real names and some use pseudonyms) find their way toward this “otherish” style of giving through a variety of means.

One young Teach for America teacher ended up starting a nonprofit to coach promising disadvantaged students interested in continuing their education in addition to her overwhelming day job as a high school teacher in a tough Philadelphia school. Doing something that was impactful and meaningful energized her and motivated her beyond the discouraging daily routine she had in the classroom. Ultimately, it affected her classroom environment in a positive way and she ended up creating an informal mentoring program among her fellow teachers.
Read More

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Good Books Tagged With: Altruism, business, Career Success, Givers, Mentoring, Reciprocity, Takers, Wharton School

by Catherine Read

Cameron’s Coffee & Chocolates Celebrates their 1st Year

(October 1, 2014) Cameron’s Coffee & Chocolates celebrated their first year in business! A non-profit enterprise that was created to employ intellectually and developmentally disabled young adults, they now have 4 full-time and 6 part-time IDD employees on staff. It’s been a great year of many “firsts” and the community of Fairfax City has embraced Cameron’s. They boast supporters, donors, volunteers and loyal customers from around Northern Virginia who believe in good coffee & chocolates for a good cause!

Filed Under: TV Shows, Virginia Tagged With: Cameron Anne Graham, Cameron's, Cameron's Coffee & Chocolates, Every 1 Can Work, Fairfax City VA, IDD, non-profit chocolates

by Catherine Read

Factory Man – Beth Macy

Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 4.12.28 PM“He may be an asshole, but when he’s your asshole, that’s a very good thing.” Garet Bosiger. A wonderful book that is about the past, the present and the possibilities of the future. It’s a reality check for the global economic theories of the 21st century that look good on paper, and even make sense intellectually, but don’t really factor in the consequences on real people living in communities built on a single manufacturing industry.

As a lifelong Virginian, born in Galax and raised in Southwest Virginia, I savored every detail that author Beth Macy brought to this story. It is a portrait of a strong man, John D. Bassett III, who inherited both the privilege and the responsibility of a family owned furniture business. His analogy of being the only girl left on a deserted island with 12 men crops up several times in the book and illustrates his focus on making certain that Vaughan-Bassett was the furniture manufacturer left standing at the end of the day.

I can’t say enough about the skilled research and writing that went into this book. Beth Macy comes from a manufacturing community in Ohio where her mother worked in a factory making lights for airplanes. She made her home, geographically and journalistically, in Roanoke, Virginia, working for the Roanoke Times. The book grew out of a series of articles she did for the Roanoke Times on the plant closings throughout Southwest Virginia – which was once the economic engine of the Commonwealth in the early to mid 20th century. She credits the photos of freelance photographer Jared Soares for inspiring that series of articles. It was his images of Martinsville and the people living there that made Beth Macy go searching for the answers to what happened there and why.
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Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Good Books, Virginia Tagged With: Beth Macy, business, Factory Life, Galax VA, John D Bassett III, Manufacturing, Off Shoring, Vaughan-Bassett, Virginia

by Catherine Read

Overwhelmed – Brigid Schulte

Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 4.02.08 PMI loved this book! For so many reasons. Brigid Schulte is a reporter for the Washington Post. She lives here in the DC area and many of the experts she consulted are local to where I live. I know her commute and her community, which gives this an authenticity that may not resonate with every reader but it’s real.

What will resonate with all readers is the concepts she speaks of: “Living in the Overwhelm,” “Time Confetti,” “Frenetic Families,” “The cult of intensive motherhood,” “Extreme Facetime workplaces,” “Ideal Worker Workplaces.” Naming these things we *feel* crystalizes them into concepts we can talk about. And talk about them we must!

There are so many quotes from this book, so many passages that deserve their own callout boxes, that I could spend hours doing just that. But I won’t because I want people to read this book.

“Know that humans have evolved to conform and fit in with the group. And know that right now the group isn’t clear on what it wants you to do. Embrace whatever it is you’re doing, whatever you’ve chosen, with passion and see where it leads then adapt as you go.” In the end, we’re not only torn by external demands and expectations but our own ambivalence about what we want from our love relationships, our family life, our careers and our inner life.

Everyone would benefit from reading this book because we all need to change our thinking in whatever role it is we are playing – and we all play many roles every day. We are creating the future path for our children and the generation that comes behind us. We should feel that burden and strive to leave a better legacy.

Filed Under: Good Books, Women Tagged With: Brigid Schulte, Career, family friendly policies, Overwhelmed, Raising Children, women in business, Workplace

by Catherine Read

Deer Hunting with Jesus

Screen Shot 2014-08-11 at 8.09.23 AMSubtitled: Dispatches from America’s Class War. This book is still relevant and important despite it’s publication date of 2007. Joe Bageant wrote this before Obama was elected, but the vast majority of what he has to say is still very true. Some of it has been true for hundreds of years. I saw myself in his stories and I saw the people I grew up with too. Bageant is a born again Virginian. He’s a native of Winchester who spent four decades in Oregon and found enlightenment. He returned to his hometown and childhood friends in the early 2000’s and chronicles what he sees as the great political divide that keeps the most disadvantaged among us at the bottom of the food chain. 

I don’t agree with every conclusion he comes to and some things have changed a bit with Obama in the White House. If anything, it’s heightened, sharpened and widened the gap between liberal and conservative thinking in this country. We are even more polarized than we were 8 years ago. Joe is a great storyteller and he appreciates a well turned phrase. There are numerous “quotable quotes” that resonated with me.

He points out that “Slightly over half of all the poor people in the United States are white. Poor whites outnumber all other poor minorities combined . . . There are at last 19 million poor and working poor whites and the number is growing. By the way, most poor people work. About one half find employment for at least half the year. Public assistance accounts for only one quarter of the income of poor Americans.” I don’t know the numbers in 2014, but the recession only made those numbers worse.
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Filed Under: Good Books, Political, Virginia Tagged With: Class Warfare, Joe Bageant, Politics, Rural Virginia, Winchester

by Catherine Read

The State of Women in Virginia Politics

(July 28, 2014) As a sometimes guest host on the cable show Inside Scoop Virginia, I am given free rein to choose both my guests and the topic of the show. This is the second show I have done in the past year on the subject of women in Virginia politics.

My guest for this show was Stephanie Dix Clifford, a Democratic activist and former candidate for the House of Delegates from Arlington. That’s one of many things we have in common: being former political candidates who were unsuccessful in our first ever campaigns for public office.

There is no shortage of opinions on why we don’t have more women in public office. The fact remains that here in Virginia we have made no substantive gains in women representing us in state and federal offices. There has been only one woman who ever served in a statewide office: Mary Sue Terry who was elected as Attorney General in 1989. Her subsequent run for Governor was unsuccessful.Read More

Filed Under: Inside Scoop, Political, TV Shows, Virginia, Women Tagged With: Catherine Read, Stephanie Clifford, Virginia Elections, Virginia Legislature, Women Candidates, women in politics

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Catherine S. Read
I believe in the power of community and the ability of one person to make a difference.

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