Speaker Articles

5 Questions You’ve Always Wanted to Ask a Head of HR

Macy Andrews

By Macy Andrews, Senior Director, Global Talent Brand and Culture, Cisco

If anyone has great career advice, it’s a human resources executive. After all, she knows what recruiters are generally looking for in candidates, what are good answers to common interview questions and what is needed for HR to approve a request. The problem, of course, is that unless you are friends with, or related to, someone in HR, it can be hard to tap this fountain of information.

Until now, that is. Here, Jill Larsen, senior vice president of human resources and talent at Cisco, where she globally leads both Cisco’s talent acquisition function and HR for Cisco’s services organization, shares her take on how to get what you want: Read More →

Posted in Career, Speaker Articles, Job Advancement Tagged , , |

Chef Barbara Lynch’s Recipe for a Good Life (and Her Easy, Go-To Summer Dinner)

Barbara LynchDining in her restaurants, such as No. 9 Park or Menton, you would never guess that Barbara Lynch grew up eating canned vegetables and instant foods. But an early job at a private club introduced her to the idea that food can make people happy, and a home economics teacher took an interest in the future award-winning chef, seeing her talent and drive.

“I was never going to be able to afford college,” says Lynch, who skipped out on the last year of high school as well. “But I knew that I was going to make something of myself and that cooking was my way out.”

Her company, Barbara Lynch Gruppo, now includes seven Boston restaurants, which all, by the way, provide health and dental insurance, 401(k) plans, parental leave and educational opportunities to everyone on staff, from the line chefs to the dishwashers. She also published her memoir, Out of Line: A Life of Playing with Fire, earlier this year. Lynch, who will be speaking both at Opening Night and at the Conference, took time out from her hectic schedule to share what she has learned along her path. Read More →

Posted in Speaker Articles, Embrace the Unknown, Success & Leadership Tagged , |

Barbara Lynch’s Recipe for Shellfish and Saffron Stew

(Photo courtesy of Chris Court)

Ingredients for stew (serves 4 – 6):

2 1.5 pound lobsters, meat removed
12ea U20 scallops, muscle removed
12 U15 shrimp
24 countneck clams, cleaned
24 mussels, cleaned, beards removed
1 Spanish onion, diced
3 ribs of celery, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T saffron
2 t red chili flake
1 cup dry white wine
1 16 oz can lavall cherry tomatoes, including liquid
2 16 oz cans white beans such as cannellini, drained and rinsed
1 T extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 bunch chives, cut into batons as garnish

Ingredients for black olive croutons:

1 baguette or day old bread, small dice
2 T black olive paste or tapenade

To build the stew:

In a large rondo, sauté onion, celery, carrots and garlic until softened, about 7 minutes. Add saffron, chili flakes and toast, about 2 minutes. Add clams, cook till they are about to open. Add mussels, wine and tomatoes. Stir to incorporate. Bring to a simmer and cook until mussels are opened, covering if necessary. Add shrimp and scallops, gently mix, being sure not to break them, poach until just through. Add lobster meat and white beans, gently warm. Season with salt and pepper.

To make black olive croutons:

In a large mixing bowl toss diced bread and black olive paste, till croutons are well coated. Toast on a sheet tray in a 375 oven until toasted and crunchy.

To serve the stew:

Ladle into soup bowls. Garnish with black olive croutons and chive batons. Serve with an empty bowl on the side to place shells in.

 

Barbara Lynch will be speaking at Opening Night and on a panel at the 2017 MA Conference for Women.

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Posted in Blog, Speaker Articles Tagged , |

‘My Work Is a Story of…’

By Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Aime Kyle, Jennifer Moss and Sonal Shah

We have all heard of the benefits of “personal branding.” It is no longer just one of many strategies you may employ along the road to advancement and growth in your career. Today, it is vital to obtaining the visibility and recognition needed to advance.  

So, how do you develop a successful brand? In her book Personal Branding and Marketing Yourself, Rita Allen identifies the three P’s: preparation, packaging and presentation. Here, based on our experience in the finance department at Thermo Fisher Scientific, is how to incorporate them: Read More →

Posted in Speaker Articles, Marketing Yourself & Your Small Business Tagged , , , |

How She Got There: Alison Quirk’s Path to Becoming Executive Vice President at State Street Corporation

If you want to know what a leader sounds like, talk to Alison Quirk. Direct and articulate while also unhurried and kind, she is clearly used to telling people what to do in a way that makes them want to do it. You get the sense that her meetings were never boring or overlong. You also get the sense that there are a lot of people out there who loved working for her. Read More →

Posted in Career, Speaker Articles, Career Choices, Goals & Priorities Tagged , , |