July 2020: Awakening

Posted on by Ciara Pressler
never waste a good crisis

And then suddenly, everyone woke up. Well, not everyone. And not fully awake. But no one can deny that the past month has seen a remarkable wave of increased awareness in America about the perpetual problem of racism, and how society cannot be healthy when we insist on viewing ourselves as individuals whose actions and worldview don’t affect anyone rather than part of a system where everything is connected. To me, waking up is the point. It’s the process. As in, THE process. The purpose of life. To be continually evolving, learning, growing, connecting. It’s difficult because there is no finish […]

An American Intervention

Posted on by Ciara Pressler
whitney plantation

Photo: The author inside a human cage at The Whitney Plantation, the only American plantation restored to honor the memory and plight of enslaved African people. Welcome to the week of waking up. I am watching the stream of Official Statements from various organizations from the back of the room, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed, side of my mouth turned up and brow furrowed. This week of black squares on social media has been what the rainbow logo is to Pride week: easy, convenient, trendy. Meaningless unless followed by tangible, measurable action. Businesses that declare support for […]

Steve Potestio on Who’s Hiring, Staying Relevant, and Putting In the Work

Posted on by Pregame Magazine
Steve Potestio

In The Interview: Episode #07, Ciara Pressler interviews Steve Potestio, co-founder and CEO of Mathys+Potestio. Steve and Ciara talk about… Staying active throughout a job search How working remotely has forced companies and employees to be much more flexible Shifting away from finding localized talent with a generalized move towards remote office environments Staying relevant in the job market How to run a chill business with a positive team culture Steve Potestio is a co-founder and CEO of Mathys+Potestio, Oregon’s largest recruitment firm for the creative/digital industries. In 2019, M+P was recognized as one of the fastest growing staffing firms […]

Join Pregame: Virtual Membership Now Open!

Posted on by Pregame Magazine
Pregame Virtual Workout

Pregame is all about helping you achieve your goals with the support of a team. We’re excited to open Pregame Membership to players everywhere. [learn more] Virtual membership has always been part of our long term game plan, but thanks to the coronavirus, we stepped up and moved everything online overnight. The silver lining? Now we can welcome you to our team, no matter where you are. For the past four years (plus five years of events before that), we’ve exclusively held our daily workshops in person. Nothing matches the magic of live interaction… or so we thought. It turns […]

A God of My Own Understanding

Posted on by Heidi Busche
In Time It Will All Make Sense

As a teenager, I felt like I had tried religion and found it wanting. I couldn’t square what I saw as hypocrisy with a message of unconditional love. I didn’t have the finesse to separate the humans practicing religion from the spiritual messaging that was at its core. As soon as my parents no longer required my attendance at the First Presbyterian Church of Davenport, I split. Spiritually, I wandered. Practically, I became self-reliant. I began to believe that no one could be relied upon except myself. Until. I hit rock bottom. And I came to a place where I […]

The Courage to Interrupt

Posted on by Michael Roderick
Pregame Group Action 7-13-39

In many of the interviews I do, I like to discuss the idea of turning points in people’s lives and the moment that things really changed for them. And of course, in my own life, I have many of those stories, but the one that came to mind recently was how I ended up getting started in producing and in a room with Broadway producers. Back when I was teaching, I was producing small shows at the Off-Off-Broadway level and used certain venues often. There was one venue that housed multiple theatres and I got to know the manager of […]

October 2019: Approaching Politics

Posted on by Ciara Pressler
Ciara PreGame Portland Oregon

Even though we’re over a year out from the next U.S. presidential election, we’re already inundated with reports of candidates, campaigns, and controversy. We’ve barely had a breather, and here we are avoiding the 24-hour news cycle again like it’s November 2016. Even if we can find a way to opt out of the minute-by-minute ticker tape of speculation and developments, to live in a society is to deal with politics. We each decide on a level of participation on the political spectrum, from habits of avoidance to a lifetime of public service. Eventually, politics demand interaction, if not on voting […]

Burn, Baby, Burn: Notes From the Ashes of the #MeToo Movement

Posted on by Uma Kleppinger
me too aftermath

Forests recover from wildfires through the germination of seeds that are stored in the earth, some of which need the heat of fire to germinate successfully. Singed trees can sprout new branches that become new trees. In short, many forests benefit from an occasional fire. But what of the business landscape after the wildfire that is the #MeToo movement? It has been nearly two years since the movement spread across the country and then the world, like a climate-change fueled wildfire. The tinder? The untold stories of millions of women who had experienced sexual or physical harassment, assault, or abuse […]

September 2019: Career Journeys

Posted on by Ciara Pressler
digital detox

This month’s topic was meant to be Business, but a theme emerged from our contributors: the ambiguous, unexpected nature of career opportunities. Whether you’re building a career or growing a business, comfort with the unknown is a definite success skill. The business environment changes so rapidly that resilience may be one of the biggest factors in whether challenges crush you or usher you into your best chapter yet. In the Kickoff Session, our intro-to-Pregame business coaching session at the Clubhouse, one of the top reasons people come to us is to determine when to take the big leap from working […]

10 Lessons from 10 Years of Being My Own Boss

Posted on by Ciara Pressler
Pregame Group Session-3

As of this month, I’ve been my own boss for 10 years. TEN YEARS! I deserve a promotion. It wasn’t my original plan. I was laid off during the recession, and ended up landing freelance clients. In order to start a business bank account, I had to form an LLC, and thus Pressler Collaborative was born. I hate working from home, so I rented an office. (Fun fact: I was the very first person to move into the first WeWork on their opening day!) With an address and a bank account, things were starting to feel pretty official. I’ve worked […]