By Zondra Hughes

We’re all strong, independent women but this apocalypse has caught us off guard! Here are a few tips to help singles survive the COVID-19 fallout.

1. Get HEALTH INSURANCE.

Don’t ride out this pandemic without health insurance. If you’ve lost your job, visit the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplace for options.

2. Locate alternative HOUSING before you get evicted.

If you’re behind on rent, talk to your landlord about your options. (Don’t burn the bridge with your landlord! If you must move, you will need a reference). Swallow your pride. If you’re this/close to eviction, tell somebody so that you can get connected with emergency housing and/or find resources for shelter. Waves of evictions are on the horizon, so you are definitely not alone. Call friends and/or family members and offer to pool your resources to create a safe housing situation for all.

3. Create a job if you can’t find one.

You have a skill; monetize it and promote it as passionately as you promote your favorite celebrities. Here, Massy Arias explains. [embedded content] 4. Don’t ghost your creditors.

If you’re having cash flow issues, contact your creditors immediately to discuss payment plans (to keep your utilities on) and/or any disaster-relief programs that may assist you.

5. Build a support system.

Strategically add people into your life that can actually help you in your time of need. Start local, connect with your neighbors and family members to create a go-to list of trusted experts to call in an emergency (tow-truck driver, handyman, dentist, babysitter, car repairman, etc.). Connect with these people, let them know who sent you and that you exist. Here’s a twist, offer to help them if they need you as well.

6. Track your money.

STOP any automatic withdrawals that are robbing you blind. Don’t continue to pay for subscription services that you do not use regularly.

7. Check your MENTAL HEALTH.

It’s okay to NOT be okay during these crazy times, but don’t drown in depression; help is only a text away. IF you’re going through a crisis, talk to a trusted friend/family member or, text HOME to 741741 to reach a crisis counselor.

8. Learn life hacks at YouTube University.

For example, if you need a new weave but don’t have the money to buy new hair bundles, let YouTube creators teach you how to rejuvenate the weave you have. Conversely, if you have a skill to share, make a quick video and post it to help others.

9. Don’t give up.

This pandemic is devastating and there are no guarantees that help is on the way. However, if we dig deep into our networks, work together and pool our resources, we can overcome the hardships that COVID-19 throws our way.
Stay safe.

Follow Zondra on Twitter @ZondraHughes.

A couple weeks back I introduced you all to a young girl with big dreams. 

If you didn’t read that blog post, *SPOILER* that young girl was me.

These last few months really truly challenged all of those young girl’s dreams she had for her future and hurt her heart while she thought she was watching them disappear. With ending school so abruptly, moving home and not having luck securing a full-time job the voice inside my head was nothing but negative.

BUT, here I am to tell you that life did its thing again and surprised me.

I truly don’t know why I am shocked because forever I have heard the saying that “life has a plan of its own,” but in my heart, I always thought that strong-willed little girl’s plan was the end all be all, no matter what life had planned.

And here I am to tell you that boy, was I WRONG.

I have learned a lot of lessons in my life, but over the last few months, I have really been able to reflect and learn throughout the hardships and difficulties that I have faced.

One of these lessons being that what you might think is best for you, really might not be what is best.

What exactly do I mean?

I was so stuck and focused on moving somewhere after graduation that wasn’t home because I thought it was the best move for the next part of my life, when in reality that was not the case at all. Would I have loved a new city, new people and a brand new chapter to write? Absolutely. But here I am, in a familiar place with a support system and people who love and care about me, a new job combined with living at home that allows me to be financially stable, while still allowing me to write that next BRAND NEW chapter of my life. So yes, life came in and showed me what was best for me at this time, even if at first I didn’t see it.

I would be absolutely lying if I said that I wasn’t still trying to figure out all areas of my life, but learning this lesson has truly allowed me to breathe and realize that eventually, everything will fall into place.

And my hope for all of you? I know that I am by no means the only one who has been challenged throughout these last few months. It hurts my heart knowing the difficulties and hardships that some of you have faced. But seeing life help me out and lend me a hand when I needed it gives me hope that it too will help you.

Just take it one day at a time.

Everything will work out!

It’s hard to imagine modern business without HR, but what HR does isn’t always clear-cut. Depending on the size and type of your company, your HR department could handle anything from payroll to hiring. Whatever the specifics of what they do, they’re an essential part of your business.

You may be noticing some shortcomings in your HR, or maybe you’re establishing one for the first time. No matter what your situation is, you can probably stand to improve this department. It’s a tricky thing to get right, so here are some tips to help you.

1. Implement Technology

Just like any other department in your company, HR could benefit from embracing new tech. You probably already use software tools to handle payroll, but what about HR’s other responsibilities? HR involves a lot of paperwork, which, without technology, can take a lot of time.

Your HR professionals have a lot on their hands, and going digital can help mitigate that. You can find tools to streamline all manner of processes, from managing employee records to filing legal documents. Talk to your HR department to see where you can best help them with new software.

2. Establish Clear Company Goals and Policies

Your HR department can help improve your company best when they understand what the company’s all about. If employees don’t have a clear sense of direction or purpose, they can lose enthusiasm. According to one poll, only 60% of employees can confidently say that they know what their boss expects of them.

If you establish specific and actionable goals and policies, HR can help you improve your workplace atmosphere. With more precise expectations, they can make better hires, conduct better onboarding and provide better help to current employees. In a crowded market like Chicago, being specific will also help you stand out.

3. Consolidate Everything

As mentioned earlier, your HR department likely has a lot on their hands. You can alleviate some of the stress of dealing with all of that by consolidating their processes. Look for software solutions that they can use for most, if not all, their work.

If everything your HR department needs to access is in different programs and places, it can slow them down. On the flip side, if you consolidate everything, they can work much faster.

4. Consult Experts for Legal Help

One of the many tasks HR departments often handle is complying with legal issues regarding employment. You can’t expect your employees to all be law experts, but you can work with HR to establish company policies to enforce the law. Given how tricky legal matters can be, it’s best to turn to professionals for this.

Attorneys can help you develop policies and guide your HR department in complying with local laws. Turning to law experts will ensure that you can navigate both federal regulations and things unique to Chicago. When it comes to the law, it’s better to be safe than sorry, so consulting attorneys is a smart idea.

5. Set Up a Performance Review System

Your HR department may not be involved in performance reviews, but they should be. Regular feedback can reduce employee turnover by 14.9%, and who better to offer feedback than the department with access to employee files? That’s not to say you should let HR conduct all performance reviews, but turn to them for help.

When it comes time to provide employee feedback, ask HR about each worker. Your HR professionals’ expertise will enable them to offer more useful reviews than you could create by yourself. If you’re not using HR in feedback, you’re underutilizing that department.

Get the Most Out of Your HR Department

Your HR department is one of the most critical parts of your company. If you don’t optimize it, you could be hindering your business’s chances of success. On the other side, an excellent HR department will help you become a similarly excellent company.

Chicago can be a competitive place to start a business. Creating and maintaining a well-functioning HR department can help you stay ahead.

Throughout the pandemic most of us have turned to binging endless episodes of TV series, documentaries and other assorted bits of entertainment. On prime time TV it’s been difficult as most shows are in reruns, sports are pretty dull without fans (the few sports that are aired) and cable channels seem to play the same things over and over again.

ABC however, thought it a brilliant idea to re-air what they refer to at the GOAT, or The greatest of all time. As if seeing one of those seasons wasn’t painful enough, they thought they’d show some again. Granted, Bachelor Nation is huge and millions have rewatched but I myself as many others I know, have come to detest the show, all it’s drama and quite frankly, it’s continuous attempts to make each season THE MOST DRAMATIC EVER.

Cue – let’s not only re-air old seasons but let’s cast a gal for The Bachelorette’s new season that has been a staple of the franchise for years, Clare Crawley. Thinking that her age (39) has given her wisdom and maturity to really represent that she is there for the right reasons, she began filming a mere few weeks ago.

Wondering why they would cast someone with such a lousy history on the show really had many shaking their heads. Particularly since the show has lost most of its original appeal ending with last seasons complete train wreck of Pilot Pete and his lunatic mother. But producers obviously had their reasons for casting Clare, thinking this could be really good. OK – here’s a brief history of Ms Crawley:

We first saw her in 2014 when she was a contestant on Juan (Iss okay) Pablo’s season (Juanny Pabs as we called him in our house). She ended up being the runner up, dumped at the final rose ceremony. Juan whispered something in her ear to which she blew up at him and said she would never want anyone like him for the father of her child. She told him! And off she went.

Never knowing when to quit, she agreed to appear on not one, but two consecutive seasons of Bachelor in Paradise. The first go around saw her in brief liaisons with Robert Graham and Zack Kalter. With nothing really sparking, she left the show. On the following season she had a brief interlude with Jared Haibon, (now married to Ashley Iaconetti from Cris Soules season. A much better match with Ashley). She left in week four when no one gave her a rose. Damn. That had to hurt.

Of course when the franchise introduced Winter Games, good old Clare had to participate. Now here is a mouthful: she caught the eye of Benoit Beausejour – Savard initially and had a nice thing going with him until of course, another contestant, Christian Ranch caught her eye as well. He didn’t treat her well but as we all know, nice guys finish last and she dumped poor Benoit. Left the show after choosing Christian then after he dumped her, she apparently ran back to the arms of Benoit and they became engaged on live TV. Such a whirlwind.

They broke up. Shocking.

This brings us to now. Two weeks into filming Clare has quit the show, shocking the producers and all involved. But not me folks. She is already in love (happens fast with her) and felt it wouldn’t be fair to lead on the other men. So, she bid the show adieu and is in an alleged relationship with Dale Moss, one of the contestants she just met. And in love. So let’s see, Clare is 39, has had a string of nothing but broken relationships, was ridiculously cast as the Bachelorette and the producers are shocked she quit. Let’s face it folks, this girl is a hot mess. And that made for a seriously DRAMATIC event.

But now, another twist: because I guess we can’t live without a season of this tired show that needs to go away, they have recast the season with Colton Underwoods throwaway, Tayshia Adams. Now I actually liked Tayshia, thought she was a very smart and pretty girl. I hate to see her put herself through the process of being told who to keep each week, how to pretend to like the bad boy of the season whoever that may be and blah, blah, blah. Really folks, do we really care anymore?

The handful of successful marriages or engagements from the franchise are nice. Off course you throw enough people together, somethings going to work out. But having done this for 20 years and are truly out of ideas to make the show watchable, I think that they should throw in the towel. I’m sure Bachelor Nation will disagree. But you know what? For the past 3 minutes of reading this blog, I bet you didn’t think about Covid 19.

Who will tune in for Tayshia? Who really cares?

Inquiring minds want to know.