Meagan Francis

Deep breath, small business community. It’s now been a few weeks since the threat of COVID-19 got real in the United States, and about a week since sweeping restrictions abruptly changed the way we all live, socialize, and shop. Here in Michigan, a sweeping order today shuttered “non-essential” businesses, following in the steps of other states; more states are very likely to follow suit soon. If your business is still open at all, it’s probably seen a huge slowdown and gone through major ope...

Like all children since the beginning of time, my kids roll their eyes when I tell them that back in my day, I walked 2 miles to school in hip-deep snow, uphill both ways. But since I grew up in the Upper Peninsula — Sault Ste. Marie, to be exact — only the last bit is a fabrication. Our school district’s superintendent, a stoic Finn, hardly ever called school off for weather. So, in the morning, my brother and I would bundle up in thick socks, long johns, snowsuits, scarves, mittens (with an...

IRISH COFFEE
By Journeyman Distillery
Tucked away in the village of Three Oaks in a long-retired corset factory, Journeyman Distillery enjoys the coveted distinction of being one of a handful of certified organic and kosher distilleries in the country. With an approach it describes as “truly grain to glass,” Journeyman offers a selection of handcrafted spirits including whiskey, rye, bourbon, brandy, vodka, gin and more. This Irish Coffee takes a twist on the traditional by augmenting the usu...

When my five kids were small, I naively saw the age of 18 as the light at the end of the tunnel. During that sleepless stretch in which my life felt like an endless blur of night feedings, diapers, bandaging boo-boos and navigating piles of sippy-cups and sippy-cup lids that never seemed to match, I looked forward to my kids’ legal adulthood as a kind of finish line. Once they’d crossed it, I figured, I could relax and celebrate having gotten past the hardest parts of parenting.
Now, with two...

I started podcasting in 2012. In those days, I used three separate pieces of software, non-expertly rigged together, to record my shows, and most of my guests really had no idea what a podcast was. There were no advertisers knocking on my door, and my long-loyal blog readers were mostly just confused about why I’d seem to abandon the craft of essay-style writing in order to jabber into a mic for an hour.
Things have changed a lot since then. In 2015 I started a new, actually marketable podcas...

If you’re like many parents, sometime in the last month or so you gave up the better part of a weekday evening to attend back-to-school night. Perhaps you stuffed your body awkwardly into a tiny chair made for second-graders while obediently writing down field trip dates. Maybe you leaned forward eagerly as you learned about the new grading system your sixth-grader faces, seeking reassurance your child won’t be overwhelmed in this unfamiliar system.
Even if we’d prefer to opt out, we don’t wa...

When my first son was a baby, I breastfed in private. In the first few months of his life, we saw the insides of more dressing rooms and restrooms than I care to count.

Conquering the Conference Call

4 Steps to Triumphing over Communication Overload

Believing in Santa, for now - The Washington Post

Should you attend that conference? - Meagan Francis...

by Meagan Francis

Self-Promotion with Tara Gentile

Upromise Blog: 3 Ways To Talk To Your Elementary Sc...