Intrepid Women: Piper Cherokee Rising

smallairplane.JPGby Kate St. Vincent Vogl (New York City)

Flying by the seat of your pants is more than making things up as you go along. It’s trusting your instincts. I learned how in a Piper Cherokee. Not the first small plane I’d ever been in, but the first time for me in the left seat.

My flight instructor had a comb-over and shoulders hunched from years of folding into impossibly small cockpits. I was so sure I’d earn quicker than most. For years my family had planes—Beechcraft, Cessena, Mitsubishi. I already knew about the walk around, the preflight checklist. I knew to yell “Clear!” before starting the propeller. But, I didn’t know I couldn’t count on the instruments, white numbers dialed in black upon a dusty instrument panel. Read more

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Intrepid Women: The Language of Currency

greatwall.jpgby Kate St. Vincent Vogl (New York City)

Traveling to another country is a bit like traveling to an alien planet. “Assume laws of gravity won’t apply,” international marketing guru Christin Walth says, “and just roll with it.”

With this attitude, no matter how strange the land, Walth has always landed on her feet. In charge of marketing for Microsoft in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, she’s worked in Stockholm, London, Paris and Shanghai. In all her travels, Walth has found one universal truth, even in the remotest reaches of China: the common language of currency. Even street vendors pull out foreign phrases as if another of their most precious wares. “Beautiful lady,” they’ll say, “for you special deal.” It’s small talk that’ll get shoppers to buy, these micro-entrepreneurs know.

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If It’s Not Bleeding, And It’s Not Burning, It’s Not An Emergency

by Sima Matthes (New York City)

I am crouched down, my face pressed against the back of my partner. It’s dark, and hot, and I am unable to see past my protective mask. It’s noisy—crackling and creaking all around, the sound of dripping water overhead—and yet strangely quiet. We advance, holding onto the hose, and hoping that we’re going to get to the fire before it gets any larger. I’m terrified and exhilarated. I can’t clear my head, so I scream—a deep, primal scream—and then, suddenly, I know what I’m supposed to be doing again.

We find our way toward the source of the heat, click the switch, and exit the exercise. Outside, I join my class of fellow firefighters, dirty, stinky and dripping with perspiration and condensation from the inside of our masks. We wait to be debriefed, then gear up for the next “evolution.”

This is not for the faint of heart, and I wonder how I got here.

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Adventures in Trading

Contributed by Suzanne Bodlovic (Chicago)

I am deep in the woods, up high on a mountain. It is the dead of night. With a map, compass and a backpack full of gear, I am with my teammates and we are looking for our next checkpoint. We are lost and have been racing for the last 15 hours. We are still nowhere near the finish line. Tired, hungry and cold, with blisters on my feet, I am ready to quit. I tell myself to dig deep and find the inner strength to push through. Focus on good thoughts and ignore the negative – just make it to the finish line.

I am back at work on the trading floor, making markets for my own trading account in a pit full of sweaty men who are out for blood. The tension in the air is thick. I am mentally drained and my position is going against me. Even though people surround me, I am alone, and must rely on my mental strength to get me through the day.

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The Executive’s Guide to Throwing the Perfect Dinner Party

by Jacqueline Church

You run a department, head a practice, handle the crankiest clients and supervise staff. But throw a dinner party? Who has the time? Where to start? If hosting a dinner party has never been your strong suit, and you don’t want to go the “hired help” route, fear not: you already have all the skills you need by virtue of your success at work. Here then, the simple rules of successful hosting:
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Intrepid Women Series: Evening at the Russian Bath House

The Intrepid Women series follows brave women who venture into the traditionally male dominated domains that have long been sources of entertainment for men in law and finance, but where women rarely tread. Previous excursions include steak houses and cigar bars.

793238617_5d2328f9a7_m.jpgFor years, one of my Russian friends has been telling me about the Russian bathhouse in my neighborhood. I live in the Financial District of New York City, and apparently there is a secret den of tough love Eastern European style relaxation, right around the corner from Wall Street.

Walking down Fulton Street, it doesn’t look like much. Blink and you’ll miss it. The little white and blue sign reads Spa 88, and is sandwiched between a bodega and a fast food restaurant. I thought it was probably a discount nail salon as I walked past it every day.

Oh, was I wrong.

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Passions: Canoeing in the Wilderness

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Contributed by Jane Lucken

a582238453_471172_7502.jpgYou want a stress-relieving break and are considering a spa vacation. They are great in principle, but often end up costing a lot more than you budgeted for and, if you’re like me, tend to involve more time spent on massages and pool-side lounging than giving your body the exercise it needs. If you are truly looking to escape your everyday life in the city and get healthy without too much effort, then I recommend a canoe trip in Algonquin Park.

A friend and I flew out from London last summer and found ourselves eating homemade muffins and fair trade coffee in a solar-powered lodge in a forest in Canada. The other guests were all participating in a training to become shamans and were wolfing down what was to be their last meal for a few days. We were pleased to see Chris, our guide, loading up food barrels with spices, organic vegetables and wild blueberries.

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Reviews: Top Restaurants for a Business Dinner in Midtown

2135418029_be84fd517a_m.jpgThe Glass Hammer returns to one of its favorite hobbies, writing restaurant reviews, this time, for top eateries in Midtown Manhattan. (Alright, our hobby isn’t writing the reviews exactly, but we do love the research!) Below, find three recommendations to wow clients and celebrate with co-workers for a job well done. Our reviews of Jean Georges, Picholine and Sushi Yasuda after the jump ….

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Up, Up and Away! Reviews of Two Business Books to Inspire Women

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cimg2998.JPGFor this second installment of business book reviews, our editorial staff has reviewed two of their recent favorites:

  1. Trade Up! Five Steps for Redesigning your Leadership and Life from the Inside Out, by Rayona Sharpnack
  2. Spiral Up: and other Management Secrets Behind Wildly Successful Initiatives, by Jane Linder.

As you might imagine from their upwardly mobile titles, both books provide advice and encouragement to women looking to move up in the ranks at work, and harness the power and confidence to succeed in life. Sort of like the literary version of buying a coveted handbag or treating yourself to some full-fat ice cream, both of these books are a great start to a career pick-me-up.

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Poker: Not Just For The Boys Anymore

In the return of The Glass Hammer’s Intrepid Women series, we sent our own Kathryn Nilsson Reichert to learn how to play poker well enough to beat the gentlemen at their own game. Here, she describes the results…

564143766_45929e0bc2_m.jpgCard games were never interesting to me. In fact, aside from an occasional game of solitaire while traveling, the last time I remember playing cards was a game of “go fish” with my grandmother when I was in junior high school. I have never owned a deck of cards nor felt the need to buy one.

Naturally, I was less than enthused when a girlfriend called me recently and said, “Come with me to a women’s poker party tomorrow night!” My first thought was, why? It’s cold outside and it’s already been a long week at work. Besides, thinking about poker conjured up images of men in cheap suits in Vegas casinos hunched over tables for hours, slowly burning through wads of cash. “Don’t be a wet blanket,” my friend said. “Poker is the ‘game du jour.’ We can learn how to play and do some quality business networking at the same time.”

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