It took four years to write my thriller, but only three months to see it morph from a 122,000-word computer file to a book available on Amazon and at local bookstores.

Ro Nayyar grew up in Roseville, a first generation American born to immigrant parents from India who owned a liquor store and emphasized the value of pursuing higher education.

Quick! What’s the next promotion, holiday sale or sales strategy you’re using in your business? If you’re thinking about Christmas or even Black Friday, then it’s time to shake up your marketing and create a system for monthly campaigns to promote your services, products or programs.

We have a female employee who reported sexual harassment from a male coworker. The woman didn’t want to come forward, but once the CEO found out, he felt he had an obligation to handle the claim. We currently are without an HR manager. What is the proper way to handle this? Should an investigation be made? 

Art in the workplace is more than cosmetic; it can actually improve employee attitudes, performance, and even the company’s bottom line. This feels almost blasphemous. By definition, we think of “art” and “profit” as two distinct and even clashing concepts, with the unspoken assumption that chasing profits will corrupt art, and that art drags down profits. Conventional wisdom says “art for art’s sake”: Art is not a means to an end, art is the end.

Making a career as an artist is rarely easy, sometimes impossible and usually totally worth it. Sometimes we catch a break and get to skip ahead more quickly than anticipated. Other times we have to put in (very) long hours. Here are a few pitfalls I’ve learned to avoid:

Meeting with investors can be both daunting and exciting. While it can confirm your hard work is recognized, it can also lead to self-doubt and uneasiness.

What exactly is the difference between a leader and a manager? We often use these terms interchangeably, but the skills necessary to be effective in these roles are quite different. One involves looking beyond day-to-day needs to see the big picture, while the other means focusing on the details. Both require a service toward others.

Anyone who has applied for a job before understands the dilemma of having an incongruous mix of work history on your resume, reflecting a career shift that has occurred somewhere along the line.

Let’s celebrate all of our Capital Region-based freelance colleagues who are doing this day in and day out. Freelancing is all about freedom and flexibility, but it’s also challenging — with dry spells and the typical ups and downs of being a small business owner.