Arts
Alexandra Franzen is a writer, consultant, and entrepreneur based in Portland, Oregon. Her writing about creativity, productivity, goal-setting, handling adversity, disappointment, and fear, and how we can all use our gifts to create a positive ripple in the world has been featured in places like Time, Forbes, Newsweek, The Huffington Post, and Lifehacker. Her newest book is called You’re Going to Survive. It’s a book about how to deal with stressful, discouraging times in your career, including dealing with negative online reviews. (Alex helped her partner Brandon open a restaurant, and dealing with online trolls and 1-star Yelp reviews is something she’s had some personal experience with!) While Alexandra has a significant online following of her articles and email newsletter, she no longer uses any form of social media. We talk about what led her to make that choice and how she runs a thriving business without being on social media. We also talk about scheduling “life” first, the importance and joy of tiny projects, and how to say “no” in a thoughtful, helpful way that can leave the other person better off.