Law And More

"Medellin" Flop Raises Question for All Aging Professionals: When Is It Time to Leave?

" … [Madonna'] 'Medellin' failed to catch on. It rose to number 9 on iTunes briefly, and now sits at number 32 … Beyoncé's 'Homecoming' album, released the same day, has sold or streamed a total of 43,000 copies in 48 hours." - ShowBiz411, April 19, 2019. Here is the article. 

Here is the audio - chachacha - from "Medellin," which is the lead-in to Madonna's new album "Madame X." Out in mid June, "Madame X" is supposed to be the 60-year-old's comeback platform. 

Nothing about "Medellin" is fresh.

That's why Madonna is being positioned and packaged as "washed up."

It isn't her age per se.

Betty White, a relic from the Mary Tyler Moore era, is in her 90s. She did fresh. That was through creating the persona as the designated role model for aging. That process, she hammered in her book, wasn't for sissies. The world loved it. Still love it. She remains marketable.

The issue Madonna raises is the scary question for all aging who are still working: Is it time to leave?

But what they are leaving might well be a very narrow career path. No, it isn't necessary to hang it all up, disappear into a retirement community in Oro Valley, Arizona, and compulsively do yoga. 

ShowBiz411 points out that the last several albums Madonna has put out have been "flops." 

Instead of continuing to do what isn't panning out, she could be testing out other ways to distinguish herself through work.

Maybe she can launch a training institution for the performing arts in Lordstown, Ohio. GM recently shuttered the plant there, putting about 1,600 out of a good job and hope. She can open the door to the light for all the Youngstown, OH metro area. The region still is caught in the shadow of Steel Yesterday.

Shoot-'em-up actor Clint Eastwood transitioned to serious drama at age 62. That was his film "The Unforgiven." Most recently, near 90, he gave us the amazing complex character of Earl Stone in "The Mule." Here is a video clip.

In the legal sector, Chris Darden of O.J. Simpson criminal trial fame shifted from prosecutor to defense attorney. At age 63, he is representing Nipsey Hussle's alleged murderer Eric Holder. 

If Don McGahn of Trump Administration fame is to regain his power and influence, he has to figure out how to develop a new sphere of influence. At age 51, his long-term branding is being blown to bits. Here is just a peek into that mess.

And there is that much younger version of transition: Elie Mystal. The Harvard Law School trained lawyer has gone rogue as journalist activist. He set that in play during his "audition" for a reporting job on Abovethelaw.com.

How do the aging and those no longer perceived as "young" come up with the courage to change?

I don't know about others.

What I do know is that for me the pain of becoming invisible was greater than the anxiety involved in trying out new lines of work. That experimentation in my professional life began when I was 58. Then, that same courage took over the decisions I made in my personal life. Here is one of those stories of brutal moments of clarity and then transition.

A useful read for those caught between career paths is "Necessary Endings" by executive coach Henry Cloud. Here you can order it from Amazon.

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Legal Marketers - Unlike Most Blogs, Most Podcasts Are "Sticky" (80% of listeners stay for entire episode)

Voice is back.

Is it because listeners missed its sound that about 80% stick with a podcast for the whole episode? Maybe.

Or it could be that those doing podcasting recognize that they better have an engaging idea for the series. 

That stickiness is only one reason why podcasting quickly became a necessary part of the public relations and marketing mix. 

Here, in this exclusive article for Odwyerpr.com, I explain how to use podcasting (yes, you can include music) and maximize its impact.

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That includes podcast scripts. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence without paying high rates,  janegenova374@gmail.com. 

Mark Kelly, Former Rocket Man & Gabby Giffords' Husband, Runs for John McCain US Senate Seat

Musician Elton John knew to select the right topics to sing about. One had been mindset of men who actually boarded those spaceships and nosed around beyond the boundaries of earth. The song was "Rocket Man." That was way back in the early 1980s.

Now, though, rocket men still fascinate. 

That's one thing former space traveler Mark Kelly has going for him.

The other is being Gabby Giffords' husband. In 2011, she was seriously wounded in Tucson, Arizona when meeting with her constituencies. In 2103, Kelly and Giffords launched an advocacy organization about gun control. 

With that branding already established, it's no surprise that Kelly is running for a political office. On twitter, through a video, reports Axios, he announced, he was going after, as a Democrat, John McCain's US Senate seat. McCain has been a Republican.

Overall, AZ is a conservative state. Kelly likely won't have an easy time of it, even with the aura of the man who loves Gabby Giffords. 

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That includes podcast scripts. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence without paying high rates,  janegenova374@gmail.com. 

RBG Star-Snap at National Museum for Women in the Arts Concert

She's out and about. 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's son James says that mom has been taking walks.

But the first official star-snap had been at a concert honoring her career in law at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in D.C.

Performing in that concert was James' wife musician Patrice Michaels. RBG was confirmed to be sitting in the back of the auditorium. Here are more details from Daily Mail.

This development is bad news for conservatives who have been voting in polls if RBG should resign from SCOTUS and/or if she is too ill from cancer surgery to perform her duties with competence. 

As yet, though, she hasn't returned to work in-person at SCOTUS since her December 21st operation. At home, she has been reviewing oral arguments and writing opinions.

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

 

Loneliness in the Legal Sector: Too Damn Tired to Make Friends

This weekend there will be those loading up their shopping carts with Doritos, dip, chicken wings, and beer.

They're the lucky ones.

They will not be watching the Super Bowl alone.

Then there are those trapped in the loneliness epidemic.

A symbol of this time when it's so difficult to build a social network that meets up in-person, they will be taking in the Super Bowl alone. They are probably self-conscious of being isolated - loneliness carries with it stigma - so they won't go to a sports bar to do the game.

Loneliness, of course, isn't new. The Beatles wrote a great song about it - Eleanor Rigby. There was also that best-selling book Bowling Alone. And, from the get-go way back in the 1930s, the two founders of the 12-step movement - Dr. Bob and Bill Wilson - warned about the link between isolation and problem drinking. 

What is new is that loneliness has become standard. That's no surprise.

Since it requires so much time to make a good living we have less energy to devote to nurturing friendships. In fact, we are so bone tired at the end of the work day that we are even reluctant to communicate. Increasingly, we send a subtle or even blatant signal: Leave me alone.

Those in the legal sector are at the top of the list who are forced to snatch in the welcome mat. Most lawyers simply have no choice. It's either extreme hours or no hours.

Being online so much on social networks also creates the illusion of having relationships in our lives. Only if we are delusional, though, does anyone step out from the iPhone or laptop and join us for real conversation over a coffee or beer.

Lunch? Hell, who has time. And we've been all told to save our pennies for retirement. Eating out is expensive. Also, more economic watchers are predicting an economic downturn. Recall in 2009 in the legal sector 6000 souls were put out on the street. You bet, watch the money.

In addition, in this era of rage we are losing our ability to tolerate  imperfections. This one or that one gets under our skin. No, we won't let them into our lives. And, the reverse is also the case. In their eyes, we aren't up to snuff, either. The mutual intolerance is palpable. 

Reflection: Make this the last Super Bowl you will take in alone. Resolve to develop at least one friendship in 2019. An executive coach is helping me with that. 

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

CBS Les Moonves Show Not Over - Former CEO Opts for Arbitration to Shake Loose All/Some of $120 Million Possible Severance

The dark drama of the Les Moonves alleged sexual miscount gets a sequel. 

The Wall Street Journal reports that instead of going away, Moonves is challenging the CBS board of directors' decision to deny him the possible $120 severance package. He is taking the option, specified in his severance package, to have the dispute submitted to arbitration. 

This was expected. Moonves' lawyer - Andrew Levander of Dechert - denied that his client was guilty of any inappropriate sexual behavior.

The revival of the Moonves show is an ugly development for CBS. As it searches for a new CEO it wants a fresh start. 

But this move by Moonves could also impair his own comeback. He could be perceived as an obstructionist. Who wants that type in their business? 

The usual first step in a comeback after a scandal is to lay low. 

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

"20/20" Presented Robert Blake Saga as Legal Drama - Neglected Psychological Undertow

Big trials are big drama. 

So, no surprise, last week ABC's "20/20" featured a two-hour presentation of the criminal and civil trials connected with the murder of grifter Bonny Bakley.

She was also Robert Blake's wife and mother of his daughter.

Blake became a household name playing Perry Smith in film "In Cold Blood" and a hard-boiled detective in television series "Baretta." 

ABC parachuted in lawyer Dan Abrams to discuss the legal complexities associated with Blake's acquittal in the criminal trial and conviction in the civil one. Because of the multi-million dollar verdict in the latter, Blake went bankrupt. Currently he lives in a simple two-bedroom apartment.

What could have been a downright public service is if ABC also had included a psychological expert. Abrams noted in passing that Blake is an angry man. Most human beings who have endured deep hurt as children do carry rage. 

As "20/20" mentioned, Blake's mother and the man married to her wanted him to be aborted. But at the time it was difficult to get that medical procedure done. Blake was conceived during an affair his mother had with her husband's brother. The brother vanished. Therefore, Blake faced a life in which both his caretakers despised him. The husband beat him and later derailed his career, at least temporarily, by messing with a major studio head.

The kind of life Blake lived seemed to be a stereotypical version of those who had never learned to love themselves because of severe early trauma.

Those of us also in that pickle sure recognize the syndrome. Beneath rage is usually hurt. Top on the list of the victims of that rage are ourselves. 

For years, after a big success, such as "In Cold Blood," he would then drop out. Although he had the resources to vet Bakley before taking up with her, he didn't. 

In the current film "Bohemian Rhapsody," we see that same playout of the lack of self-love. After making it to the top of the music world, Freddie Murphy gets lost. In the process he acquires AIDS. But he is one of the rare souls who finds he can love himself and can live out the rest of his life without self-destruction. 

Blake is 85 years old. It's never too late to acknowledge the hurt from childhood and take the first steps on the journey to learn to love himself as he is. 

Currently, though, Blake remains locked in his pain. 

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

The Peril of Not Likely Yourself - Lesson from "Bohemian Rhapsody" for Lawyers

Freddie Mercury, who became lead singer in British band Queen, was filled with self-hate.

The meme of how not liking yourself is so destructive permeates the smash hit film "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Mercury grows up in England in an immigrant family from Pakistan. The father is rigid, especially in his religious beliefs and notion about how an ordinary life should be lived. Of course, that clashes with the creative spark in the young son. 

As with so many creatives, the son follows his dream of artistic performance, despite the father's disapproval. But, as we all know who have taken the road Mercury traveled, there is hell to pay. The undertow of confusion is hard to shake.

Mercury gets lost in sex, booze, and drugs. It will be AIDS which shortens his life. 

But late in his life he does find the ability to love himself. He forms a lasting bond with the man who told him to only come around after he learned to like himself. And his performance is brilliant at the Live Aid concert.

This movie should be shown in rehabs and at recovery meetings. There's not enough of a conversation among the addictive about how self-hate probably got them into that pickle. 

It should also be showcased by the American Bar Association. Lawyers are notorious for self-destructive behavior. The cause could simply be they don't like themselves. 

Out of the Box Communications = Unexpected Results

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FIRE - Grabbing Hold of Dream, Again

FIRE - Financial Independence, Retire Early - doesn't necessarily mean stopping work.

Instead, for those of us who still love what we do professionally it can mean having choice in what assignments we do and for what clients.

This morning I rolled my eyes.

A former client who had treated without respect in the past tried to foist on me an urgent assignment.

Of course, I didn't have to accept it.

See, I didn't need the money.

Not that I'm wealthy. It's that I have "enough." At least, for now. If that amount ceases to be adequate, then I will have to lower the criteria for assignments I find acceptable. No big deal.

Even with FIRE, there is no settling in. We play it by ear. 

Since October, the numbers in my portfolio were erratic. Mostly on a downward trajectory. I held off even on swinging by discount retailers like Goodwill. Obviously, my financial wiggle room was smaller.

Starting at the end of last week, the numbers surged upward. Also, I was tested as an "intuitive," passed, and have been hired to provide psychic guidance to those over-50 in their struggle with ageism. The compensation is less than my communications work but it's a side hustle which does plenty of good.

So, the financial wiggle room has widened. 

Today I bought a winter coat and five sweaters at Goodwill for $26.00. A few years ago, that bill at Talbots likely would have been more than $2,000. 

Goodwill, at least in my experience, charges less than consignment shops, yet carries brandnames, including the Talbots one. 

Goodwill has more selection that the Salvation Army thrift shops.

And it offers both a rewards program and senior citizen discounts. 

Six months ago I shifted from JCPenney hair salon to GreatClips in Austintown, Ohio. The trick in that is having a referral to a good stylist at those discount hair services. Through the grapevine I found my way to Hannah. The monthly styling bill is half. 

I downsized from an iPhone to one with only the features I need. The initial price of the phone itself and the monthly fee are significantly less. I cut an additional five bucks from the bill by prepaying monthly with a credit card. 

For the future I have even bigger plans for radical saving.

At the end of August I will relocate to a small U.S. town on the border on Mexico. The internet service is fine. Therefore, no limits on my telecommuting communications assignments. 

Crossing that border will reduce the money I traditionally invest in dental procedures. Yes, I have one of those million-dollar mouths, including myriad crowns.

Even with the best kinds of dental insurance, dental tourism to Mexico results in saving about a half what I pony up in the U.S.

The apartment I called about in that town reduces monthly rent a third. Its location gives me access to amazing day trips to California and New Mexico, as well as, of course, Mexico.

By bunking in motels and pensions I also can penetrate Latin and South America and cross the ocean to Spain where I had lived and worked in in my youth.

Can I become a travel writer?

That's an emerging dream.

And, dreams become possible again with FIRE.

My last dream was in the late 1970s.

I was stuck in the tiny town of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Then state senator James R. Kelley had fired me as a research assistant, just as he had fired the previous research assistant. He also had fired the secretary.

It was a bottom.

At a bottom, you can look down or you can look up.

Up I saw I had nothing to lose by trying to become a professional writer. Within four years I was a ghostwriter/speechwriter for executives at Chevron.

Decades later, when I was blogging the Rhode Island lead paint public nuisance class action trial, I had the opportunity to post on that worst of times with Kelley. Here it is. Smirk smirk. I hadn't even dared dreamed of achieving my version of "justice."

A disbarred lawyer I assisted with his promotional materials for a guitar coaching business also has grabbed back hold of a dream. It was one he had had in high school.

He had envisioned himself as a high school music teacher.

By sophomore year in college, "they" convinced him that a smart guy like him had to become a lawyer. No surprise, he self-destructed. 

A displaced housewife I intuitively coached moved out of Greenwich, Connecticut. She is leveraging her divorce settlement to fund her dream to, as she puts it, "make trouble." I predict she will run for elected office in Jersey City, New Jersey. Since that's my home town I will campaign for her pro bono. 

Meanwhile, colleagues ask me what I will do with all the money I will earn if I land a possible lucrative book ghostwriting assignment. It may or may not come through.

Answer: Squeeze every penny.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

"A Star Is Born" - It Makes Addiction Seem, Well, Worth It

The latest remake of "A Star Is Born" can convince the already-troubled that addiction is a small price to pay for success - even if that success peters out.

From the get-go, music star Jackson Maine had a tough go of it.

His mother died when he was born.

His father was a drunk.

His older brother who looked out for him was one of those guys we met in high school who had a sense of direction and determination that we less emotionally and socially didn't. Of course, we couldn't bond. 

In his early teens, Jackson even attempted suicide by hanging but the ceiling fan gave way. He fell to the floor. Later, his hanging himself with a belt in the garage does succeed.

So, the message of the film could be interpreted as: Without booze and pills, Jackson could never had been able to put it together to develop into a performer.

That could be way too seductive to youth whom the universe didn't bless with a loving, non-chaotic start in life. 

Not surprisingly - who hasn't been exposed to the Alcoholics Anonymous mantra - the substances took him over. Another factor was simple aging. The years aren't kind to most of those in the performing arts. We content-providers have it easier and a longer shelf life.

But, along the way, Jackson had it all. That included the authentic love of struggling song-writer/singer Ally. That's more than many of us from difficult backgrounds are able to grab onto from life. Currently, I continue to struggle.

A sort of heretic in a recovery program for alcohol abuse, way back in the early 80s I declared that boozing bought me time. In its predictable way it empowered me to function until I could access the tools I needed to create my own life. Eventually, as with Jackson, its role was counterproductive. I was fortunate. I could and did stop. I stayed stopped. 

So, what do members of law enforcement, the courts, high school guidance counselors, college mental health therapists, recovery experts, researchers, friends, and family tell at-risk youth and kids already in trouble about the dangers embedded in substance abuse?

That's the rub.

How can they replace the "help" which addiction seems to be delivering at the time? Already, youth probably knows that the success rate of traditional program Alcoholics Anonymous is quite low. Here is the iconic The Atlantic article on that. Most courts route substance abusers to that mode of treatment: X amount of meetings a week and have the attendance verification document signed. 

Meanwhile, the whatever which does create and reinforce sobriety is less available in 2018. That includes affording college, being able to pony up the rent to live away from the toxic nuclear family, landing work with a future, and hope. 

Those committed to rescuing youth from despair have to reimagine their message. That could start by analyzing how Jackson could have prevented the start of his addiction or could have found a sustainable way out of it. Love, obviously, was not enough.

In that other new film "Unbroken," that path is giving up the illusion of control and surrendering to some higher force. 

As the uncontained opioid epidemic hammers, traditional approaches aren't effective. The times are different from when the recovery movement has been launched in the 1930s. Yet, there has been no Big Woke.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com