Real Talk From 4 Airline Pilots On How To Beat Jet Lag

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome from the flight deck. Our nonstop service from Los Angeles to London’s Heathrow Airport has a flight time of 10 hours and 35 minutes. So sit back, relax, and accept our sincere apologies in advance for the debilitating case of jet lag during your stay in London, including falling asleep mid-conversation with the executive you needed to impress, and wandering, bleary-eyed, through a vacant Piccadilly Circus at 5:15 a.m. Looks like we’re first in line for departure, so enjoy the flight ― because jet lag’s coming for you, and it’s not going to be pretty. My co-pilot and I will be just fine, though.”

OK, so you’re unlikely to hear this kind of real talk from a pilot. But doesn’t it feel like the captain and her crew ― who seem to hop the International Date Line weekly without complaint ― know something you don’t when it comes to beating jet lag?

In partnership with United Polaris, we checked in with four long-haul commercial pilots to finally clue passengers in on the secrets of the flight deck, sharing their top tips for combating the grogginess and fatigue of traveling to another side of the world. With this guide, you’ll be crossing time zones like a pro before you know it.

Switch Up Your Sleep Schedule Beforehand

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If you wake up one to two hours earlier a few days before a flight to Europe, your body will thank you later.

Overcoming jet lag starts before you step into the taxi to the airport. Begin adjusting your sleep routine three days before your flight, says Captain Lisa Mrozek, a commercial pilot for a major domestic carrier who’s logged 18 years of flying to far-flung locales. If you’re departing an American city for Europe, Mrozek recommends waking an hour or two earlier than usual. Conversely, try to stay up one to two hours later if Asian travel is on the itinerary.

Yet even in spite of all the proper prep, you may still nod off into a glass of chardonnay at your Parisian hotel’s bar. Flying east, Mrozek says, is just more of a challenge. “If you’re flying against the sun, it’s a lot harder on your body,” she explains. “If you’re going west, it just seems to be easier. That’s the general gist I get from most airline people.”

An All-Nighter Before Flying Can Only Lead To Sadness

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Exhausting yourself the night before a long flight can be a recipe for jet lag disaster.

For once, your penchant for procrastination will serve you well! Or so you might think. If you’re up all night barreling through last-minute laundry loads, you’ll be knocked out for the duration of the 14-hour flight from D.C. to Tokyo, thus arriving in the Japanese city feeling fresh as a sakura blossom. Right?

Not a smart move, Mrozek says. “You don’t want to start out your trip tired,” she cautions. “Make sure you’re well-rested before you depart and that you have some sort of a base to start with.” Trying to catch a few Zs on a plane when you’re already exhausted isn’t a sure bet, and the quality of sleep you have may leave you feeling sluggish even when you’re on the ground. If you’re overtired, you might also have to skip that power nap after your 2 p.m. hotel check-in, lest you accidentally snooze until 10 p.m. ― and then stay up all night ― as your body tries to make up the deficit.

Your New In-Flight Cocktail: Water And Electrolyte Powder

Maciej Laska via Getty Images

Tempting, but just say no.

All of the pilots we talked to agreed: Hydration is key in stemming jet lag, especially as you while away hours in a plane’s pressurized cabin. So think of the beverage cart as more water fountain than booze barge ― avoid the dehydrating influence of alcohol or salty drinks like tomato juice and instead simply opt for H20. Captain Suzanne Skeeters, a long-haul commercial pilot with decades of experience ferrying passengers to cities like Mumbai, Bangkok and Frankfurt, recommends boosting the benefits of your water even further by mixing in powdered electrolytes, essential minerals that keep your body in an optimal balance.

Step Away From The In-Flight Entertainment

Fran Polito via Getty Images

We know the 14th viewing of “Frozen” is even more special than the first 13, but substituting sleep for binge-watching on the plane means having a better chance of beating jet lag after you land.

International flights have become, for many of us (cough, parents, cough), prime time to catch up on movies. But beware: binge-watching Meg Ryan rom-coms is liable to leave you Sleepless in your destination city. Mrozek remembers a family trip she took to Australia, in which her kids insisted on watching every movie on the plane they could, over her suggestion that they sleep instead. “They didn’t listen,” she recalls. “And we were up at 2 a.m. every night for the next five nights. We had to wait for the local McDonald’s to open up at 5 a.m. because they were starving and there were no restaurants open.” Their fellow patrons at that hour? The sequined, tipsy bar crowd. “It was kind of an eye-opener for them, let’s put it that way,” she laughs.

Test This Pill At Home First Or Face The Sleepwalking Consequences

Digital Vision. via Getty Images

If you’re not used to sleeping pills, taking them could lead to awkward cuddling with your neighbor.

To medicate or not to medicate? So many travelers weigh the question of whether to use sleep aids in-flight to mitigate the effects of jet lag. Of course, pilots aren’t allowed to use sleeping pills, says Kathy McCullough, a retired 747 captain whose 17 years of Tokyo-Singapore-Taipei routes would often take her from home for 13 days at a time. But melatonin, a hormone supplement which helps to reset one’s sleep cycle, is permissible for pilots and proved helpful to McCullough in managing her work-sleep balance. She now recommends it for others. “It kind of just quiets the thoughts in your head long enough so that you can go to sleep,” she says. “But it’s not a sleeping pill, so it won’t knock you out.”

Mrozek is more direct about sleeping pills. Unless you want to star in “The Flying Dead,” your very own mile-high zombie spinoff, she advises against using them on a flight if you’re not already accustomed to taking them. “We’ve had passengers take sleeping pills and then they sleepwalked on the airplane,” she says. “Or they keep sleeping and the flight attendants have trouble waking them up when they land.”

Get In A Workout At The Hotel Gym

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Got back-to-back meetings as soon as you land? Squeeze in a quick treadmill session as soon as you hit the hotel and you’ll be in better shape to fight off jet lag.

Flights from the West Coast of the U.S. to Europe tend to touch down in the early afternoon, says Chris Cooke, a pilot with 24 years of experience flying commercial. Listen to your body if you’re tired and take a nap ― no more than two to three hours ― but then get active if you’re looking to keep jet lag at bay. “If I’m staying longer than 30 hours, I have to exercise,” Cooke says. “Even if it’s just getting out and walking for a half hour or going to the gym in the middle of the night, that’s what I do.” Regular exercise, especially after a long bout of travel, will keep your body operating at peak conditions, which allows your internal systems to more nimbly adjust to changes in eating, sleeping and other activities.

Shut Out The World In A Room That’s Cool And Dark

swissmediavision via Getty Images

Not pictured: Restful slumber.

You’ve finally made it. Arrived at your destination well-hydrated, took an afternoon nap, and kept yourself busy and awake with exercise and meetings until the local bedtime. Now all that’s left is to let yourself drift off into a full night of sleep. And with the right hotel arrangements, enjoying a truly restful slumber could be well within reach.

“Go for a really cold room so you can snuggle under the covers and sleep much better,” McCullough advises. A room that fully blocks out light can further ensure you’re maximizing restorative R.E.M. sleep. “They have shoji screens [in Japan] that fit together so tightly, hardly a crack of light comes in the room,” McCullough recalls of her usual base of operations on Asian routes. So go ahead and cocoon yourself in your suite. By the time you emerge, you’ll be more than ready to get the day started ― on local time.

United Polaris is United Airlines’ all-new business class service, featuring a reimagined, built-from-scratch experience that prioritizes sleep and rest with the goal of making jet-lagged business travel a relic of the past.

The Power of Vision: Elon Musk and The Wright Brothers

And the naysayers nayed...

First a Tesla crashes, tragically killing its occupant/owner/"driver" while it was on autopilot

And then....

The Falcon 9 rocket exploded early on September 1, during a static flight test on its launch pad in Cape Canaveral. The rocket was preparing to launch the Amos-6, an Israeli communications satellite, but both rocket and satellite were destroyed in the explosion.

An expensive setback, for some, and the pundits were quick to jump on the feasibility-of-it-all bandwagon:

According to The Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket explosion puts NASA in a bind:

The explosion of a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. rocket during ground tests last week has added urgency to a key question for NASA: When will U.S. spacecraft be ready once again to carry astronauts into orbit?...

NASA expressed confidence that its commercial partners could transport its crews. But the agency said it was too soon to know whether spacecraft-development schedules would be affected....

If NASA's commercial crew program "experiences additional delays," the inspector general warned prior to the explosion, "NASA may need to buy additional seats from Russia to ensure a continued U.S. presence on the space station."

The Guardian, on the other hand, took a much more historically optimistic position in an article titled, "SpaceX's booms and busts: spaceflight is littered with explosions and disasters":

When NASA tried to launch a satellite into orbit, the rocket crumpled into smoke and fire. Almost 60 years later, SpaceX is feeling similarly explosive growing pains....

Musk has handled SpaceX's crashes stoically, reasoning that progress requires failures - science is messy. Nasa, for instance, has had contractors mix up metric measurements, lost a lander somewhere on Mars, and its Kepler spacecraft jerry-rigged into a planet hunter sailing on pressure from radiation off the sun.

And an industry expert took a realistic approach:

Although SpaceX is bullish about getting back to launching Falcon 9 rockets and its $10 billion worth of payloads, John M. Logsdon, a space-policy expert and historian at George Washington University's Space Policy Institute, said there will be some kind of disruption. "This will definitely affect their business," Logsdon told Business Insider.

Most importantly, to be fair to Musk, "The first time NASA tried to launch a satellite into orbit, in December 1957, the rocket made it 4 ft off the ground before crumpling into a blossom of smoke and fire. America's ambitions to catch up to Russia's success with Sputnik would have to wait."

The news of that day, back in 1957, was full of accusations, naysaying, paranoia about the Russians who were ahead of the US effort. I have even found a new clip of the mishap, here.

Needless to say, President John F. Kennedy, only 4 years later, changed the discussion by making it clear that the Unites States would land a man on the moon: "...[T]ime for this nation to take a leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth."

Musk, not missing a beat, channeled Kennedy and in an announcement a few weeks after the Falcon failure ignored the short-term issues and announced his plans for interplanetary travel, colonization of Mars and universe domination.

Let's be clear, I am a believer--big time. I am a sucker for Kennedy-type challenges and I love that Musk has taken up the gauntlet and is running with it.

Not to be outdone, other entrepreneurs and companies that represent entrepreneurialism made their own announcements about the frontiers they are conquering:

As reported by Fast Company last week, "Microsoft's 'Biological Computing' Lab Aims To Fight Diseases By Reprogramming Cells":

Microsoft's researchers don't talk about "curing" cancer. Instead, they are aiming to "solve" it. ...

In exclusive interviews with Fast Company, Microsoft's scientists provided an inside look at two ambitious projects of their own that are currently under way that treat cancer as an information system that can be programmed.

...The first is an effort to model the computational processes that happen within the cell. The second ... is the development of a tool for scientists and researchers to create their own computer models of biological systems.

Truthfully, I'd be happy if Outlook worked....

Google never misses a beat:

According to Business Insider, "This Is Google CEO Larry Page's Grand Vision For Changing The World":

Page spoke at TED about about how Google plans to connect the world by building a "worldwide mesh" of balloons. The goal is to use these balloons to provide Internet access to the two-thirds of the world living without it.

...Page also has his eyes set on driverless cars. Twenty million people or more are injured every year due to automobile incidents. It's the leading cause of death for people under 34 in the U.S. To date, Google has driven over 100,000 miles totally automated.

Google also wants more people to ride bikes. But in order for this to be safe, Google is exploring ways to cost-effectively separate bikes from traffic. In researching solutions, Page says, he came across this aerial bikeway.

And, please add to stop selling my data unless you really know that what I receive is relevant, even in some minor way.

And of course the two big disruptors were not going to be left in the cold:

WIRED reassures its readers, "Uber and Airbnb Are Making the World Better--They Promise!"

[Joe] Gebbia argued that Airbnb has compelled people to overcome their "stranger danger" bias and fear each other less.

...Kalanick sought to reinforce the idea that, by removing cars from the road, Uber is performing a critical public service. A future with fewer cars on the road, he said, improves people's quality of life and removes thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air of each city Uber conquers.

No comment....

Clearly, I have a touch of cynicism, Musk is a promoter: a showman with investors he needs to juice and an almost unlimited source of money as are the other "visionaries" I mentioned. And therein lies the problem.

The great entrepreneurs who drove the stakes in the ground that changed the world did so with little money and little support initially. They learned to improvise, to make things happen by sheer willpower. And others followed behind them building on their innovations, adding their own, and on and on.

The Wright Brothers, Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, Gutenberg, Louis Pasteur, Madame Curie, the inventor of the wheel all had three things in common--focused vision, passion for what they were doing and a huge amount of serendipity, as so often the pivot was, made them successful.

And there was more. Listen:

The vision of a champion is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when nobody else is looking. -Mia Hamm

Here is my bet. Somewhere out there--bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion--is someone we don't see. That person will open the universe for us in ways we have yet to imagine and frankly, I can't wait.

So for now I buy into Elon Musk's journey (which, by the way, is a partnership, let's not forget) not so much into the others. But who knows--maybe Airbnb will bring world peace, Microsoft will cure cancer and Uber will bring our environment back to Eden.

But forgive me if I keep my eyes open to help up that unknown champion.

What do you think?

Read more at The Weekly Ramble

Follow David Sable on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DavidSable

Twitter Is Reportedly In Sales Talks With Google And Salesforce

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc has initiated talks with several technology companies to explore selling itself, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, as the social media company grapples with its slowest revenue growth since going public in 2013.

The sale negotiations will test Twitter’s value both as a data and multimedia company, as other social media services such as Facebook’s Instagram and Snapchat are expanding their footprints and developing new ways to generate profits.

CNBC reported earlier on Friday, citing anonymous sources, that Twitter is in talks with companies that include Alphabet’s Google and Salesforce.com, and may receive a formal bid soon.

Twitter and Alphabet could not be reached immediately for comment. Salesforce declined to comment.

Twitter shares rose the most since its stock market debut in 2013, up 21 percent to $22.59, giving the company a market capitalization of close to $16 billion.

Twitter has been a near-constant focus of takeover speculation amid persistently disappointing sales and user engagement. In its most recent quarterly earnings statement, Twitter’s revenue missed Wall Street estimates and the revenue forecast for the current quarter of $590 million to $610 million was well below the average analyst estimate of $678.18 million.

As rivals such as Instagram and Snapchat gain traction with advertisers and social media users, investors have questioned how long Twitter could persist as a stand-alone company.

Co-founder Jack Dorsey returned to the company as chief executive in 2015, but his plan for reviving Twitter is at best seen as unfinished.

 

(Reporting By Greg Roumeliotis and Sinead Carew in New York; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

Bud Light Hopes Amy Schumer, Seth Rogen And Beer Help You Forget This Horrible Election

WASHINGTON ― Is a beer summit with Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen what America needs to forget about this horrible presidential election for at least a moment? That’s what Bud Light has been counting on.

The best-selling beer brand in the U.S. rolled out its “Bud Light Party” campaign during the Super Bowl and ran it through Labor Day weekend, with dozens of TV and radio spots, a concert series, in-store merchandising displays, a big social media push and more.

Making two extremely popular comic actors the faces of your brand is a no-brainer for a company like Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer and maker of Bud Light. But any brand that forces Americans to think about the ugly politics of 2016 is taking a big risk.

Election-themed ad campaigns are as predictable as elections themselves, and Bud Light is just one of the big consumer brands that has recently tapped into this tried-and-true idea, by playing on ideas of “choice” or people “voting” for their favorite brands. PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew, Kellogg’s Pop Tarts, Yum! Brands’ KFC, Chia Co., Expedia’s Hotels.com, Mars Inc.’s Twix, and Wakefern Food Corp.’s ShopRite Supermarkets have also used the election as a peg for ad campaigns, according to research conducted for The Huffington Post by Kantar Media.

The New York market research firm couldn’t quantify whether fewer brands are using the election or politics as a basis for ad campaigns this year. But a senior advertising executive at DDB North America speculated that some companies are likely avoiding what’s become a more taboo subject, even while Bud Light and others made the opposite choice.

Politics has grown a lot more divisive since Coca-Cola tapped Democratic strategist James Carville and Bill Frist, then a Republican senator from Tennessee, for a Super Bowl ad in 2008, or even since Carville and his wife, GOP operative Mary Matalin, hawked Maker’s Mark bourbon four years later.

“Based on the existing landscape politically, brands and companies are probably sitting this one out a bit more,” said Wendy Clark, the New York-based CEO of DDB North America, a unit of Omnicom Corp., one of the world’s largest advertising, marketing and communications agencies.

Companies like to tie their promotions to current events to tap into what people are already talking about. But they also want to avoid associating their brands with unpleasant ideas, and this presidential election certainly has plenty of those.

More than half of Americans hold negative views on both Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump, and two-thirds believe the country is on the wrong track, according to HuffPost Pollster. 

“You’ve got to weigh the potential upside with the potential downside,” Clark said. “In an environment that is so charged, as we’re seeing right now, I think those upsides would have to be pretty significant for you to think about going there.” 

Anheuser-Busch InBev/YouTube

Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen are the faces of the "Bud Light Party" ad campaign.

Anheuser-Busch InBev plainly sees things differently.

“We thought it was a great platform for us to then take a fake political party and come out with commentary that would make the entire conversation be significantly more lighthearted, and bring people together over a beer to have a conversation around politics and not necessarily always take it too seriously,” said Jorn Socquet, the company’s St. Louis-based vice president of marketing.

Anheuser-Busch InBev may have found the right balance. When the brewer reported its quarterly earnings in July, CEO Carlos Brito announced that the company’s internal research shows the Bud Light Party campaign helped improve consumers’ perceptions of the brand and, more importantly, led to a rise in consumer intent to buy the beer.

Yet even with a trusted brand, Bud Light took a big chance by bringing up the election, according to John Immesoete, the chief creative officer of Irving, Texas-based marketing firm Epsilon. “That just seems to get into the kind of ‘yuck’ feeling people have in general about this,” he said.

“When I do see ads or jokes that kind of go there, you kind of just wish they didn’t,” Immesoete said. “I really think both Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer ― these are really funny people that really do huge box office, a lot of people love them ― and I suppose if I was to hire them to do a funny ad campaign for beer, I don’t know that I would tie them into an election right now.”

Funny takes on the election and politics are possible ― and the ads from Bud Light, Mountain Dew, Hotels.com and others are decidedly comedic in tone ― but that’s a tough hill to climb these days, Clark said.

“Almost all brands want to have or seek to perpetuate a positive or optimistic viewpoint,” Clark said. “Let’s be honest ― there’s not much that is lighthearted right now.”

When it decided last November to roll out the Bud Light Party campaign, Socquet noted, Anheuser-Busch InBev didn’t know what course the presidential election would take or who would be the major-party nominees.

Still, the Schumer-Rogen ads touched on political issues that tend to split along party lines, including spots supporting marriage equality and equal pay for women, indicating that Anheuser-Busch InBev was willing to taking a position on controversial topics. In the end, the company counted on Bud Light’s own popularity to serve as a bulwark against any negative associations.

“Bud Light stands for the fact that we bring people together, and then even when there’s going to be potentially divisive moments in the political campaign, we will always stand for inclusivity,” Socquet said. “We were very well prepared in order not to be dragged down into any form of negativity,” he said.

If the Bud Light Party results reported by Anheuser-Busch InBev hold true, maybe Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen should’ve run on an actual presidential ticket themselves.

Alexander Kaufman contributed to this article.

Is this the END of YouTube?

YouTube has been blowing up lately with drama over "ad-friendly" content. I decided that I should take a stab at this topic, because it ties in so well with what I normally talk about in my videos and articles. Before we jump into my thoughts though, I think it would be beneficial to catch up on the story so far.

YouTubers Get Notified

The first stories that started coming out about this situation all focused on the fact that content creators on YouTube were receiving several notifications of their videos losing monetization status all at once. This led to the belief that YouTube had made some kind of change to their "ad-friendly" policies.

YouTube Responds

Then came a quick response from YouTube, which stated that nothing had changed in their policy. The changed that was made was in their notification system. They made it more reliable and created a more efficient appeal process. These notifications going out were just being made since the new system had been implemented.

Youtubers Get Angry

At this point, content creators all over YouTube start putting two and two together. YouTube had been revoking the monetization status of videos all along and not even letting the creators know! What made this even worse is that fact that several creators were able to successfully appeal their videos and regain monetization. So those videos should have never lost monetization in the first place, but since the creators had no way of knowing it has lost monetization, they were losing money all along.

YouTubers Notice Double Standards

As the drama progressed, many creators started talking to each other and communicating about who had been hit, who had been safe, who was denied their appeals, and who was able to regain monetization. Based on these conversations, it became apparent that there was no recognizable pattern or consistency to who was losing monetization or regaining it. Channels like Philip Defranco's were losing monetization for merely talking about current events, while a traditionally foul-mouthed channel like RoosterTeeth was reporting that they hadn't seen a single video lose monetization. Is it just a matter of time before other channels start seeing the hammer dropped, or is this a legitimate inconsistency in YouTube's standards?

When it comes to my thoughts on this matter, I'd like to start off by saying that agree with Philip Defranco when he says:

YouTube is, of course, well within their rights here.

There has always been censorship in the workplace. In the same way you can't mouth off to your boss on a regular basis and expect to continue receiving payment from that boss, YouTube has the right to determine the etiquette standards for getting paid on their platform. I am not saying that I believe their policies are right or proper for the current landscape of content creation, but they do have the right to set the standards however they see fit.

The one bit of the policy that I really can't get behind is the last bullet, which seems to target new channels. It states:

Controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown.

If they stick to their guns and enforce this, it will effectively destroy every news channel on YouTube. Those creators will either be forced to find other forms of monetization, or they will have to start censoring their news. The first option leading to less content, due to the creator spending more time establishing other forms of monetizations. The second option leading to the channel becoming just as frustratingly unbalanced as the traditional news networks we all hate.

It really all comes down to risk versus reward. Those in charge of this policy over at YouTube had a conversation about the risk of losing advertisers and the risk of losing creators. Could they get away with relaxing their policies without advertisers running for the hills? Even if they did run for the hills, would that open up the platform for more open minded advertisers to work with the content creators? By creating more firm policies, would the platform become more attractive to advertisers in such a way that the reward would outweigh the risk of losing creators to other monetization platforms like Patreon?

It's all just theory until we see it in practice. Will this cause more and more creators to rely on sponsorships and Patreon pages? Will this result in massive loses for YouTube? Will people calm down and life move forward as if this never happened? It remains to be seen. One thing is clear though, YouTube is maturing. They are making difficult decisions in the interest of seeing the platform grow and evolve. We will just have to wait and see if they have made the right decision.

Wells Fargo CEO Blames Multimillion-Dollar Fraud On The Lowest-Level Employees

Less than a week after Wells Fargo was slapped with a historic $185 million fine to settle customer fraud allegations, CEO John Stumpf is starting to open up about the scandal.

But instead of taking responsibility for what’s been described as a “pressure-cooker sales culture,” Stumpf seems to be blaming low-level Wells Fargo employees for opening up millions of fake bank and credit card accounts and billing customers for services and products they didn’t request.

Richard Drew/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wells Fargo chairman and CEO John Stumpf, seen here in 2015, is putting most of the blame for his company's recent customer fraud scandal on some of its low-level employees.

In a Tuesday interview with The Wall Street Journal, Stumpf refused to say who was responsible for the corporate culture that regulators say led to the creation of more than 2 million deposit and credit card accounts that customers didn’t necessarily authorize.

Stumpf insisted there was nothing in Wells Fargo’s atmosphere that encouraged these practices. “There was no incentive to do bad things,” he told the Journal. 

Instead, he appeared to lay blame at the feet of what he characterized as a minority of bad employees who didn’t “honor” the bank’s culture. Wells Fargo has said that at least 5,300 employees were fired over a five-year period for “inappropriate sales conduct.”

Not everyone in the financial industry accepts Stumpf’s assertion that Wells management knew nothing of the shady practices. 

“Stumpf has clearly forgotten Harry Truman’s maxim that ‘the buck stops here.’ He’s responsible for how the org runs,” said Helaine Olen, a financial columnist at Slate and the author of the personal finance industry exposé Pound Foolish.

“It takes a particular level of what my grandmother called ‘chutzpah’ to ― when you are earning millions of dollars annually ― to turn and dump the blame on what are fairly low-paid employees,” Olen told The Huffington Post.  

Shifting the blame to employees is “an astonishing indictment of how people in power think,” she said.

“Come on...this went on for years and they didn’t smell anything in the air about fake accounts?”Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is set to grill Stumpf next week when the Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing on Wells Fargo’s fake customer accounts, has been equally dubious that the company’s higher-ups were in the dark about the sales practices. 

“Come on...this went on for years and they didn’t smell anything in the air about fake accounts?” Warren told CNN last week.

In a later appearance on CNBC’s “Mad Money,” Stumpf modified his stance somewhat, telling host Jim Cramer that “the buck stops with all of us” and “especially me.” 

Stumpf also pushed back on the idea that he should resign in the wake of the scandal, telling Cramer the best thing he can do right now is to lead the company. 

Olen and Cramer both pointed to E. Scott Reckard’s bombshell 2013 story in the Los Angeles Times that exposed the very culture Stumpf denied knowing about ― even as the practices raised in the report prompted employee dismissals. 

“From that day forward, Wells had to know it had a problem,” Olen said. “But the settlement last week did not take on any of the higher-ups, and that is concerning.”

Olen said Stumpf’s denials “could come back to bite him” if the Securities and Exchange Commission decides to investigate Wells Fargo and finds evidence that contradicts his claims.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors said they plan to investigate the bank. No civil or criminal charges against anyone with Wells Fargo have been announced, but prosecutors have issued a subpoena for documents.

A spokeswoman for Wells Fargo declined to comment to HuffPost.

“We’ve seen that very few in the financial services sector are held to account for anything right now,” Olen said. “I find it hard to believe that if there’s already this [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] settlement, when there’s a fairly decent body of evidence saying Wells had to know about this. It defies reason that they were unaware of this.”

Dr Vishal Sikka's Meaning of Inclusive Capitalism

Dr. Vishal Sikka
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys

Technology as the enabler and amplifier of our uniquely human ability.

The single action that I believe will make capitalism more inclusive is to embrace, rather than fear, extreme advances in technology - in particular, advances in areas such as automation and artificial intelligence.

This might seem counterintuitive: I often hear questions about these advances creating a larger gap between skilled and unskilled workers or taking jobs away entirely. But the strength of inclusive capitalism is that it recognizes resources and potential beyond those that we traditionally consider (namely capital, raw materials and machines) to enable focus on the things that make us uniquely human.

Our most valuable future resource actually lies within us - our passion, creativity and imagination. Only when we open our minds into new areas will we solve the greatest challenges of our time, developing peaceful societies, improving the health of all, creating environments in which all children thrive, enabling stronger connections between us - which ultimately drive our feeling of being responsible for one another.

These notions, and the things we need to achieve them, are uniquely human capabilities. We can leave the mundane and routine tasks to artificial intelligence and automation, freeing us to pursue new ideas, new societies, new ways of connecting with each other - the important things, the things no computer program will ever achieve. Embracing technology is precisely what I believe will unleash this human potential.

At the same time, I understand the fears. Digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence have their risks - privacy protection and cyber security are pressing issues that need to be tackled by the public and private sectors. And technology, if it is to become an amplifier of our human potential, needs to be accessible to everyone. This will only happen if all people are in a position to exploit and benefit from the incredible opportunities of technology.

I believe we can solve these issues - fear, access, knowledge - in two ways. The first is by focusing on lifelong learning, satisfying people's continual hunger to develop, rather than focusing only on formal education systems. Such systems barely scratch the surface of our potential to learn and often fail to encourage or foster that which makes us human, such as a desire to explore. Learning brings deep understanding, and with that we can see the potential in all of us, the potential to use technology as an amplifier.

The second is formal education, which must be transformed. There is little disagreement that we must change our education systems and challenge our assumptions around education, but there is much disagreement about how best to do this. I believe a simple but significant thing we can change in the education system is to include computer science as part of the core curriculum.

This would give everyone access to fundamental knowledge and skills, removing the elitism around technology and enabling us all to be part of the dialogue. It would reduce the fear of technology and of artificial intelligence taking over the world, and enable a more inclusive and open debate about how to solve challenges around privacy and other areas.

These are not easy things to do, but we must do them. We must take away the fear of what is inevitable and create the right framework for us all to benefit. That starts with embracing extreme advances in technology and creating a level playing field around understanding the power of technology. I urge all of us - in business, politics and society - to play our part and ultimately help create a more inclusive capitalism.

The Importance Of Thick Skin And Giving Feedback With Grace

“I don’t love it...” is a phrase I don’t hesitate to use if my team presents me with an unpolished product or project. The good thing is that this phrase never stops them. They absorb the feedback, head back to the drawing board, make necessary edits or additions, and come back to me for a round two.

According to Quantum Workplace’s 2015 trend report, “one in five employees are not confident their manager will provide regular, constructive feedback.” No wonder so many of us are still uncomfortable giving and receiving constructive criticism—the unfamiliar can easily inspire fear.

And in a study of more than 65K employees, Gallup found that “those who received strengths feedback had turnover rates that were 14.9 percent lower than for employees who received no feedback.” Of course, not every piece of feedback is going to be golden, but this does demonstrate the power of communication and its role in organizational health. So with so much data pointing to the fact that consistent feedback is a must, how are so many of us still missing the boat?

I think one of the issues is that “feedback” can have a negative connotation. People sometimes think it means you’re doing a bad job when, really, it just means that a conversation needs to happen. In fact, these conversations often lead to opportunities for growth and continued learning. We would all be better served to view those moments as prompts for personal and professional development.

Here, I explore a few ways to ease the pressure of the feedback loop, including how to give and receive it with grace (and when to have thick skin).

1. Be direct and as clear as possible.

In other words, don’t sugarcoat or pad feedback in a way that dilutes the message. As an empathetic person, it can be tempting to “nurture” when what you really need to do is be direct about what went well or didn’t and why. My team and I are very direct with one another and I expect them to tell me how it is, even if I’m the one who has misstepped. Feedback isn’t something that only a manager can give to their report, after all. Employees should be communicating in this way with their managers and peer-to-peer, as well.

2. A healthy feedback loop requires trust.

I happen to be an extremely candid person, and my team allows me to be because I’ve earned their trust over time. They understand that my feedback comes from a place of wanting them to do great. They also know they are protected. You get to that place of trust by having open, candid, sharp, and honest conversations on a regular basis. If you give an employee a piece of feedback at their annual review and it surprises them, you haven’t done your job.

3. Separate the personal from the professional.

Easier said than done if you or the person on the receiving end of the feedback feels personally invested in the work, and hopefully they do. Even though receiving feedback can be an emotional experience, it’s important to put your personal feelings aside so you can discuss your professional work and how efficiently it is supporting the objectives of the business.

The ability to listen, take a deep breath, and let something sink in (versus being defensive or reactive) says a lot about your professional maturity. Instead of focusing on how the feedback makes you feel, consider how it can improve your final product. In the end, it’s a valuable opportunity for growth, and growth tends to happen in the struggle, not the stride.

4. Remember that feedback is a two-way dialogue.

It’s easy to feel attacked if someone gives you feedback and you don’t have the opportunity to participate. You should never feel that way because feedback, when conducted in a healthy manner, is a conversation. Really listen, ask questions, and be present so it feels like a conversation and not as though you’re having a fact handed to you. It should always be a two-way dialogue.

5. Don’t give feedback when you’re upset.

Instead, give yourself some time to calm down and process, then approach the issue a day or so later. Some people may advise the opposite, nipping the issue in the bud as soon as it arises, but I’ve found it best to hold off for a moment. If you give feedback when you’re upset, there’s no way it will be a two-way street.

The Golden Rule

Give feedback in the way you’d like to receive it. And if you’re struggling with a piece of feedback you’ve been served, ask yourself how your favorite manager would handle it. Would they take it in strides and, perhaps, even be thankful for it? My guess is yes.

Annie Appel is an executive vice president at The Bay Club Company, an active lifestyle and hospitality company with a network of modern country clubs across California.

Lessons Learned From Building a Multimillion-Dollar Business From $100

By Diego Orjuela

My story encapsulates the American dream: I was in debt, started with nothing but $100, and built a multimillion-dollar company. It didn't come easy; it took a lot of blood, sweat and some tears too. In the 16 years it took me to find success, these are the most important lessons I learned.

Failure Is Necessary

As an entrepreneur, you will inevitably experience failure. What you must understand, however, is that failure is good because it saves you time. When you fail, you know what not to do. The key is to identify failure, and stop chasing it. If something is not working within the first month, change course. I lost years chasing ideas that the market told me very early on were wrong. The market will tell you the truth very quickly; it's us entrepreneurs who fail to admit it. Don't be afraid of failing. It's the best way to take corrective actions.

It'll Be Harder Than You Think

I was always taught that starting a business will take twice as long as you planned, and cost twice as much. After failing miserably with seven consecutive businesses, I proved this theory wrong. It will take four times as long, and cost you four times as much.

Don't Be a Perfectionist

Time is more valuable than excellence. Early on in your business, you won't know whether your ideas are really the right ones. There is no better way of knowing if what you have to offer has a place in the market than by putting it out there.

I spent years perfecting a product that ultimately nobody ever bought. I would have saved tons of time and money by launching it when it was less than perfect. This goes for your website and logo too: I used to spend countless hours and dollars getting my logo just right -- from the color to the font. But a logo doesn't make the company. See if your business succeeds first, then spend time on your branding.

Keep Trying

It took me 12 years and eight different companies to finally find the right idea. If I had given up after the first, second or third idea, I wouldn't have made it to where I am now. Make sure you're in a position in life where it's OK for you to fail -- a lot.

Don't Get Emotional

When running a business, feelings don't let you see with clarity; they get in the way of the truth. Emotions can cloud your vision when making important decisions, and you won't want to hear anyone say anything negative about your business. This immediately skews your perspective and causes you to not think objectively. It makes you deaf to key information, which will drain you of time and money. Trust your gut, not your feelings.

Don't Ask Friends for Advice

Listen to people who have entrepreneurial experience. Don't consult with your mom or your friend if they have never run a business. They'll tell you what you want to hear because they care about you, and what you want to hear is never good advice when starting a business. You need to hear the cold truth about your idea and your strategy.

Sell to Those Who Can Afford to Buy

One of my mentors used to use the analogy, "Why do robbers rob banks?" Well, that's where the money is. When selecting your customer, go after the ones with money. Don't sell to consumers who will nickel-and-dime you. Business is hard enough, so remove as many barriers as possible and sell to customers who can afford to buy. It will increase your chances of success.

Break the Rules

Don't be afraid to break the rules. When you're small, you may think you're the center of attention and that everyone is watching you, but the fact is that nobody is, and nobody cares. Sometimes, bending the rules is necessary to save time to prove your concept or quickly get ahead. Once you do, millions of people will start taking notice.

Diego Orjuela, CEO of Cables and Sensors, is a 14-year, e-commerce entrepreneur recently ranked #377 on the Inc 500 fastest-growing companies in America.

10 Tips for Starting Up Your Disaster Restoration Business

The disaster restoration business is very challenging, and it's also very rewarding.

When I first opened ServiceMaster Restoration by Zaba here in Chicago, my sights were naturally set on startup success. I also knew that I would be in a position to have a positive effect on the lives of my customers.

If you like the idea of owning your own company in an industry with great growth potential, I definitely recommend the fire and water damage restoration business. If you're genuinely drawn to helping others, that's one of the best reasons for entering this unique field.

Ten Points to Consider

I've been very successful with my company, and I strongly believe in sharing my knowledge and experience with others.

If you're thinking about becoming a part of this exciting business, I offer these 10 points for your consideration.

1. Do Your Homework. When I first started my company, I jumped in and figured things out. With a lot of determination and a little luck, my strategy worked. However, you can get ahead much more quickly by learning all that you can about the disaster restoration field before opening your doors. For example, are you thinking about starting your business from the ground up or purchasing a franchise? Once you've done your homework, you can make the big decisions with confidence.
2. Develop a Business Blueprint. Frame a solid business plan documenting what your company is about, how you plan on hiring and where you should concentrate marketing. Detail your projected investment and expected returns.I met my goals within five years of starting up, but I could've done it sooner with a good business blueprint.
3. Target Your Customers, Focus Your Reach. Identify your target customers and service area. In the beginning, you're hungry for business, but you have to factor in the time and personnel it takes to cover different locations. As a franchise, my company works within certain zip codes, and that lets me focus resources where they best serve my business and my customers.
4. Get to Know the Competition. Don't assume that other restoration company owners won't talk strategies with you. It's a tough market, but we all have the same goals: to make our companies successful and to help our customers through difficult situations. However, you'll do best by contacting businesses that operate outside of the areas that you plan on covering. Also, speak with owners who take care of customers in a market similar to yours. This assures that the insights you gain will be relevant to the plans you have for your company.
5. Start Certification Now. You can't become certified in this business with just one course. Water damage restoration requires training that's different from understanding the science behind fire damage cleanup. Get started now on the certification process, and make sure that at least one of your employees is also certified. This allows you both to monitor and field-train new hires as they go through their certification.
6. Resist the Temptation to Over-Equip. Handle your startup budget wisely by equipping your business with the basics. You need moisture meters, air movers, dehumidifiers and cleaning products, and you need fleet vans. You don't need six of everything right now, and you don't need bells and whistles. Invest in additional equipment as your company grows.
7. Know Where You Want to Start. This strategy helps you make those important decisions about start-up equipment. Are you going to concentrate on water and fire damage projects? Do you want to include mold remediation? In my experience, it's easier to offer basic services in the beginning. As your business grows, you can expand and add specialized areas like commercial and house cleaning services.
8. Trust Someone Else With Digital Marketing. When customers need fire or water damage restoration services, they usually start with a smartphone search. You need to be highly visible on that digital radar so that you're always available for quick connections. Even if you have the talent, you don't have the time it takes to handle marketing strategies. Outsource this critical business component to a reputable SEO agency or company that specializes in digital media, web design and social media management.
9. Hire the Right Qualities. The disaster restoration business requires hard physical work, long hours and real job dedication. My staff and techs form the backbone of my company, and we've become a strong working family. When you hire employees, experience counts, but you also want people who have qualities that you value both professionally and personally.
10. Keep Your Skill Set Sharp. You're ready to run your own company. That demonstrates leadership capabilities, so set your professional standards high because you serve as an example to your employees. Keep smart time management and flexibility in your skill set, and balance everything with sincere empathy. Customers need your professional abilities to recover from disasters, and they need your genuine compassion too.

Finding Your Place

Before you open any type of business, you need to have a strong sense of what you want for yourself and how you can serve other people. Whether you help budding entrepreneurs develop marketing plans or assist people after they've gone through a disaster, your rewards will always be more than monetary.

You have to achieve financial success to move forward, and that's easier to do when you take the best possible care of your customers and your employees too. I salute your interest in the water and fire damage cleanup business, and I hope my advice can help you find your place in this amazing industry.

This blogger graduated from Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses program. Goldman Sachs is a partner of the What Is Working: Small Businesses section.

The 'Chilling' Moment This Father Realized Where His Kids' Clothes Come From

This article is part of HuffPost’s “Reclaim” campaign, an ongoing project spotlighting the world’s waste crisis and how we can begin to solve it.

Andrew Morgan never gave a second thought to the hidden cost of the clothes he bought well into adulthood.

The Los Angeles filmmaker and father of four made a habit of often shopping for cheap garments. When the items he bought wore out or fell apart after a year, he bought more. Morgan admits he simply didn’t take into account the possibility that his choices at the cash register might have unseen or unintended consequences.

“I very much grew up as a product of a modern world where I was taught to not think much about where the stuff that came into my life came from,” Morgan told The Huffington Post.

All that changed on the day he walked into a Starbucks store in Culver City, California, in 2013. As Morgan waited in line for his coffee, he glanced down at the newspaper rack. Eight thousand miles away in Bangladesh, a garment factory that produced clothes for Western brands had collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people. The photo on the cover of The New York Times showed two young boys, close in age to Morgan’s own sons, beside a wall plastered with missing persons signs.

“It did something to me instantly,” he said. “It was that chilling feeling where you realize you’ve been a part of something that you’ve never stopped to consider, and there are actually real people on the other end of it.”

Morgan had finished his latest film the day before the tragedy. He was on the lookout for a new project. Haunted by the image of the Rana Plaza building collapse, and appalled at his complicity in a system that had made it possible, he began contacting people around the world to learn more. He wanted to find out what was happening and to understand the stakes. Most of all, he wanted an answer to “why it was a story I had never been confronted with.”

Last year Morgan released “The True Cost,” a documentary about the fashion industry’s disastrous human and environmental consequences, including the staggering waste that results from an industry increasingly bent on producing cheap, low-quality, disposable clothes.

Courtesy of Andrew Morgan

Filmmaker Andrew Morgan in Shenzhen, China, during the production of "The True Cost" in summer 2014.

Fashion is a trillion-dollar global industry and the reasons for its wastefulness are varied and complex. But by any measure, the situation has reached crisis levels.

Each year, 80 billion pieces of clothing are bought around the world. Fifteen percent of fabric is wasted during the manufacturing process, before clothes even make their way to consumers. In the United States, where 97 percent of clothing sold is manufactured overseas, the average person throws away at least 60 pounds of clothing every year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, though other estimates put this figure closer to 80 pounds. Eighty-five percent of that ends up in landfills, where chemically processed textiles can contaminate groundwater if not properly contained.

In June, HuffPost launched Reclaim, a campaign to raise awareness around America’s waste problem and highlight potential solutions, beginning with a focus on food waste. Now, we’re adding fashion waste to the mix. In the coming months, we’ll explore the issue from many angles. We’ll spotlight the efforts of upstart designers and established companies as they strive to improve their practices and reporting on what impact, if any, those efforts are having on the global fashion waste crisis. We’ll also share tips on how to reduce clothing waste in our own lives and open up the conversation using the hashtag #ReclaimFashion.”

Critics of the clothing industry’s wastefulness point to “fast fashion,” a retail method of constantly updating a store’s inventory. Fast fashion brands like H&M, Zara and Forever 21 are not only outpacing competitors, but also redefining fashion cycles, as more and more retailers aim to satisfy customers who expect an ever-replenishing selection of cheap, trendy clothes. Elizabeth L. Cline notes in her 2012 book Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion that new shipments arrive daily at Forever 21 and H&M, for example, and 400 new styles debut online every week at Topshop, the London-based retailer with more than 500 locations worldwide.

With so much cheap clothing available, so much more eventually gets thrown away. “The relationship between fast fashion and increasing textile waste is now unmistakable,” according to the International Journal of Consumer Studies.

Still, within the fashion industry, a certain amount of waste has long been accepted as the cost of doing business.

“There’s waste at every stage of the textile supply chain,” Sass Brown, interim dean of the Fashion Institute of Technology’s School of Art and Design in New York, told HuffPost. “And part of the problem is the textile supply chain is a very complex logistical nightmare.”  

We have these faster cycles, we have more disposable fashion. But we don’t have a sense of where all that is going.

As food campaigns like farm-to-table and Slow Food gain traction, public awareness lags when it comes to the origins and consequences of what we wear, activists say. Sure, we know most of our clothes are no longer made in America. Even GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump gets it – sort of. But as Brown put it, “the average consumer has no idea” about the bigger picture: the chemicals in the fabrics we wear on our skin each day, the waste, the pollution, the lives of those actually making our clothes.

If clothing, like cigarettes, came with a warning label alerting us to these effects, Brown said, “I think we’d end fast fashion in an instant.”

Fashion is built on the idea of planned obsolescence. Much of what’s exciting about a piece of clothing being in style is knowing it may someday go out of style. But fast fashion’s critics say the breakneck speed of production and low prices have blinded us to the consequences of our purchases. The other side of the equation, as Morgan’s film shows, is an ugly mess of environmental damage, low-wage work and waste.

Tasha Lewis, an assistant professor of fashion design management at Cornell University, explained how fast fashion brings more clothes into our lives in a way that often leads to future waste.

“We have these faster cycles,” Lewis told HuffPost. “We have more disposable fashion. But we don’t have a sense of where all that is going. And a lot of consumers may tend to throw this clothing away because they don’t think anyone else would want to wear it. Because it just wasn’t made in the best way.”

The deadly Rana Plaza factory collapse, along with other similar tragedies in a short span, served as a wakeup call of sorts, for Morgan and countless others. To the delight and relief of activists who have worked for years to bring more attention to waste, injustice and abuse in the system, these issues are at last getting a more public airing.

In addition to “The True Cost,” which can be viewed on Netflix, there’s “Slowing Down Fast Fashion,” a documentary out later this year from the British musician Alex James. “It’s staggering how little most of us know about what our clothes are made from, where they come from or who made them,” James told WWD.

Fashion waste has found its way into the cultural conversation in other ways. A segment last year on “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver took aim at fast fashion. “Saturday Night Live” has skewered H&M’s low prices and disposability. From Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter to Anne Hathaway’s Instagram account, celebrities have shared tips for socially responsible shopping in a world ruled by fast fashion. Reformed shopaholics who once boasted of their extravagant “hauls” now preach conscious consumption inYouTube videos known as “haulternatives.”

More tangibly, businesses and designers are experimenting with take-back programs and other methods to give clothes a second life. Cities are introducing curbside textile recycling programs that take the time, effort and mystery out of donating used clothing. 

Fast fashion companies themselves are taking steps to reduce waste, with varying degrees of commitment and success, activists say. H&M, for example, touts a range of sustainability efforts, from the waste reduction campaign World Recycle Week to an annual Conscious Exclusive collection that features eco-friendly pieces. “Our ambition is to have a circular approach in how our products are made and used, to utilize only recycled or other sustainably sourced materials and to implement only renewable energy in our value chain,” an H&M spokesperson told HuffPost. “To achieve this goal we know we need innovation.” The spokesperson cited the company’s annual award encouraging participants to reinvent the fashion industry and a recent pledge to develop new recycling technology. Forever 21 and Zara likewise outline their own sustainability policies, but they did not respond to requests for comment.

Cline, the author of Overdressed, told HuffPost she’s now at work on a documentary about clothing waste and other impacts of fast fashion. She also works in the secondhand clothing industry, which has deepened her understanding of America’s clothing waste problem. She is amazed by the number of clothes that are donated, and wonders where they can all possibly go. Meanwhile, fast fashion brands are churning out more, more, more ― “far in excess,” Cline says, “of what could ever be worn to the end of its useful life.”

But she sees at least one reason to be hopeful. The idea of fashion being more sustainable and thoughtful isn’t yet mainstream, she says. “But the conversation is at least happening now.”

When to Jump, an independent media partner of The Huffington Post, is a curated community featuring the ideas and stories of people who have made the decision to leave something comfortable and chase a passion.

Break-Ups to Boss Babes

I owe it all to the ex-boyfriends. Shout out to them all.

If I hadn’t had failed so many times in my relationships, I never would’ve started a blog in college venting about my dating woes. If I never started that blog, I wouldn’t have written over 10,000 hours for it - learning the ins and outs of what to post, when to post, blog imagery, captions, template styles and personal branding.

The blog took a back seat in the priority bus when I was hired to takeover the marketing and branding strategy for a luxury goods store in Greenville, South Carolina. The job required me to have a public role in the community and attend networking events, luncheons and dinners with decision makers. I loved every second of it. I was living in the literal lap of luxury. Surrounded by glamour, working with brands big and influential - I was totally enraptured by the lobster dinners and fancy wines.

Then an event happened that changed me. I flew up North to fall in love — but it was unreciprocated. In retrospect, that was the best thing that happened to me. I remember my snotty, tear-stained face pressed to the window as I flew home. I knew I couldn’t be the same person who flew up 700 miles trying to make meaning of her life with a stranger she barely knew. I had gotten so off-track spiritually — I needed to find a purpose for my beating heart.

So, I moved home, regrouped financially, and took a moment to strategize.

Two months later I launched a new blog, www.ashleybrownwriting.com, that focused its attentions on telling diverse stories. For six months I balanced my full-time job with my blog, writing about new businesses, minorities, and the under-represented. The more I wrote, the more I noticed the difference some of the stories were making in my community. My hits skyrocketed when I covered Latinos making a difference. I did a 10 Most Eligible Bachelors of Greenville, South Carolina, that helped the hidden nice guys get the female attention they deserve.

After six months I hit 100,000 views and decided to leave my full-time job to start a marketing strategy company. My employer became one of my clients and within two weeks I had a full plate for the next six months. It’s kind of unreal how quick everything has happened and I feel very blessed. Whenever my head gets too big, God knocks it back down with a dose of reality. I’ve started to develop a niche in my market working with female entrepreneurs and female-owned businesses. Women own one out of every four businesses in Greenville, South Carolina. I’d like to see that number rise.

Writing is where my heart lies. I’m working on pieces about addiction in marriage, homelessness in Greenville and women’s sexual health. I also write about young business owners as they launch their businesses and need press. When I saw how many people actually read this thing, I woke up and realized that I have to hold my business and myself accountable to making a difference. It’s not about me or my legacy, but about using this platform to help people connect, grow and heal together.

The blog pulls about 10–15 story requests daily and I’ve had to learn the hard way how to balance that with the commitments of running a business. 80 hour weeks don’t feel like 80 hour weeks when you’re working for yourself though — I think a lot of entrepreneurs say that.

I decided to take the jump when my heart screamed for me to listen. The more I listen to my heart, the more alive I feel. Naturally I was terrified, but the thought of not listening to my heart and never growing scared me even more. I jumped as quickly as I could, full force.

Initially, I was so afraid of what people would say that I didn’t tell friends or family until after I had already lined up the office space, done the paperwork, met with the lawyers, accountants and given my notice at work. My heart was pushing me to take this risk and I was afraid that someone might sit me down and encourage me to table the idea until later down the road.

I greeted my own fears as old friends and began to welcome them instead of pretending I was some fearless maverick. When I announced my decision and some people were skeptical I laughed with them instead of taking their fears of my failure to heart.

I think the key to success is learning to love failure. I’ve failed 1,000 times. The first 999 times I failed were scary. But by the 1000th time I started to laugh at myself and my astounding ability to fail on such a grand level. In retrospect, I’m grateful for all my dating and career mishaps now. Every single one of them pushed me to believe in myself and to encourage other women to take the jump and follow their passions.

As my Queen Beyonce says, if someone tells you that your dreams are too big, “Tell them boy, bye.”

Boy, bye.

When to Jump, an independent media partner of The Huffington Post, is a curated community featuring the ideas and stories of people who have made the decision to leave something comfortable and chase a passion. You can follow When to Jump on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. For more stories like this one, sign up for the When to Jump newsletter here. (Note: The When to Jump newsletter is not managed by The Huffington Post.)

How To Learn And Master Any Skill Twice As Fast, According To Science

Whether you're trying to be pro at Photoshop, or step up your tennis game, or master a dueling banjo song, you're probably dutifully following the age-old advice that practice makes perfect.

However, contrary to popular belief, doing the same thing over and over again might not be the most efficient way to learn foreign concepts.

Traditionally, we're taught using the "blocking" strategy. This instructs us to go over a single idea again and again (and again) until we've mastered it, before proceeding to the next concept. But several new neurological studies show that an up and coming learning method called "interleaving" improves our ability to retain and perform new skills over any traditional means by leaps and bounds.

What interleaving does is space out learning over a longer period of time, and it randomize the information we encounter when learning a new skill. So, for example, instead of learning one banjo chord at a time until you perfect it, you train in several at once and in shorter bursts.

Below are a some practical ways you can use interleaving to train your brain to pick up new skills quickly and effectively starting today:

Practice multiple parallel skills at once

Whether you're trying to improve your motor skills or cognitive learning abilities, the key to transforming how your brain processes new information is to break out of the habit of learning one facet of a skill at a time. The advantage of this method is that your brain doesn't get comfortable or store information in your short-term memory. Instead, interleaving causes your brain to intensely focus and problem solve every step of the way, resulting in information getting stored in your long-term memory instead.

For example, one study gave a collegiate baseball team extra batting practice and broke them up into three groups: a control group, a blocked group, and a random group. The blocked group faced a variety of pitches in a set order, and the other group encountered pitches randomly. After six weeks, researchers found that the random group improved 56.7%, while the blocked group only improved 24.8%. That's a massive difference! And similar results have been replicated in other sports and classroom learning studies.

Interleaving doesn't cut any corners, so your brain is always on guard. Think of the difference between blocking and interleaving like a boxer who practices one move over and over again versus a boxer who practices by sparring in the ring. In the ring, you have to be ready for anything. It makes you faster, sharper, and more versatile.

Plan your lessons in advance

Since randomization and spacing out lessons are crucial to the interleaving process, try planning when and what you want to cover in a lesson in advance. As block learning is such a linear technique, we might not normally think to do this, but a little pre-planning will make adopting a new skill set go by much faster.

Think of it like pre-planning a workout. If you go to the gym without having a plan in mind, you can lose time and momentum by trying to decide what to do next. But if you know you want to work on legs that day, you can create a plan that will help you achieve that goal without missing a beat. When it comes to interleaving, this will keep you from getting frazzled with the new learning process.

Go back to basics

When we progress with a new skill, it's easy to forget to practice older material. But going back over the basics is an integral part of the interlearning process. Doing so strengthens our brains and reinforces our long-term memory of a skill. It also has the added benefit of spacing out learning and giving our minds a break from taking on a new concept right away. This will result in higher and faster retention overall. Even pros like University of Georgia's football coach, Vince Dooley, subscribe to this methodology when it comes to training.

Keep track of your progress

If you find interleaving to not be as immediately gratifying as the blocking technique is, don't get discouraged, you're not alone. In one study, "80% of students claimed that the block style helped them learn better, despite testing better when using the an interleaved method."

In some ways, interleaving feels counterintuitive because the wide majority of us were taught to get comfortable with learning one concept at a time through school. But sticking with it and monitoring your results in a measurable way is the best way to stay motivated and see that the proof is in the proverbial pudding.

Break out of your comfort zone

Often, we're gravitated towards repeated tasks that we already have a basic grasp of and exist in our comfort zones. The whole process of interleaving feels pretty uncomfortable at first, especially when you're trying skills from new angles and failing a lot.

When you realize that practice does not mean perfection, and that every step new towards finding a skill is a step forward (even if it seems like a step backwards), you'll have the winning attitude to use interleaving to your advantage.

By following these steps, you'll be able to use interleaving to your advantage and learn any skill at lightning speed like a champ.

Wells Fargo Will Pay $190 Million To Settle Customer Fraud Case

WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo will pay $185 million in penalties and $5 million to customers that regulators say were pushed into fee-generating accounts that they never requested, officials said on Thursday.

“Wells Fargo reached these agreements consistent with our commitment to customers and in the interest of putting this matter behind us,” the bank said of its settlement with California prosecutors and federal regulators.

“We regret and take responsibility for any instances where customers may have received a product that they did not request,” it added.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will receive $100 million of the total penalties - the largest fine ever levied by the agency, which was conceived after the 2008 financial crisis.

“Today’s action should serve notice to the entire industry that financial incentive programs, if not monitored carefully, carry serious risks that can have serious legal consequences,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray.

Los Angeles officials and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency were also party to the settlement.

In a complaint filed in May 2015, California prosecutors alleged that Wells Fargo pushed customers into costly financial products that they did not need or even request.

According to that complaint, Wells Fargo employees pushed checking account customers into savings, credit and online accounts that could generate fees.

Bank employees were told that the average customer tapped six financial tools but that they should push households to use eight products, according to the complaint.

The bank opened more than 2 million deposit and credit card accounts that may not have been authorized, according to the CFPB.

Wells Fargo fired more than 5,300 employees were fired in relation to the investigation of the practices.

The bank said that the deal this week settles the “allegations that some of its retail customers received products and services that they did not request.”

In recent financial filings, Wells Fargo has changed how it describes and calculates “cross-sell” - a term for bundling multiple products to retail, wealth management and corporate customers.

The bank added new language to its last annual report, stating that its “approach to cross-sell is needs-based as some customers will benefit from more products, and some may need fewer.”

(Reporting By Patrick Rucker in Washington and Dan Freed in New York; Editing by Alan Crosby)

ITT Tech Goes Out Of Business Following Federal Crackdown

ITT Educational Services, Inc., a national for-profit college chain, announced on Tuesday that is has gone out of business, less than two weeks after the U.S. Department of Education banned the school from enrolling new students using federal aid. 

The website for the school, which was commonly known as ITT Technical Institute, says the institution had more than 138 campuses in 38 states and more than 40,000 students ― some of whom were slated to graduate this week. 

All locations have been closed, the company said. The shutdown affects approximately 8,000 employees, ITT said in a statement.  

The school had been the subject of several state and federal investigations, as well as lawsuits that alleged fraud, harassment as an enrollment tactic and predatory lending. 

Students and faculty members have criticized the school by saying it aggressively enrolled students by making inflated promises about job prospects and the value of an ITT degree. 

Michael Batson Jr., who graduated from ITT’s Milwaukee campus in 1998, said he wasn’t surprised by the announcement. Relatives had been ringing the warning bell about the school for years.

“My aunt had actually tried to warn me and my mom before I went there in ‘96: It wasn’t worth the money, that if I wanted to continue on, my credits wouldn’t transfer,” he said. 

Batson recalls being lured by the school’s marketing campaign, which boasted something like a 90 percent graduate placement rate. He chose it over the nearby Milwaukee Area Technical College ― even though at $18,000, the program was far more expensive than MATC. 

His experience at ITT was mixed, but he praised the school’s interview training and job search programs. Batson was offered a job before graduation, but he said the skills he learned for his CAD drafting degree were obsolete in a few short years.  

“When I graduated in 1998, the job in early 2000s was by then pretty much obsolete,” Batson said. “When ITT told me, ‘We’re going to give you lifetime skills,’ they didn’t.” 

When ITT told me, ‘We’re going to give you lifetime skills,’ they didn’t.Former ITT student Michael Batson Jr.

Batson attended a four-year university several years after graduating from ITT. 

“They didn’t even want to hear that I went to ITT,” Batson said when he enrolled at the University of Milwaukee and tried to apply those credits toward a bachelor’s degree. “I had an associate’s degree and I had to start over.”

The Education Department put ITT on its “heightened cash monitoring” watchlist late last year, after the school failed to meet a financial disclosure deadline. The company had previously failed to account for millions of dollars it had received for federal student aid over the past five years. 

A former dean of academic affairs from a Florida campus filed a bombshell lawsuit against ITT in January, alleging that the school would enroll anyone ― including clearly underqualified students ― for the sake of securing more federal money. 

Ryan Freeman-Jones, a former ITT professor who began as an adjunct instructor and eventually became a full-time staffer and school chairman, said it was discouraging to see profit-driven practices that were often not in the interest of the students. 

“There was lots of pressure to re-enroll students who had dropped out — even students who, even from an academic perspective — would be better off not returning,” he said. 

The criminal justice program at his northwest Indiana campus was eventually cut because ITT was recruiting students with criminal backgrounds, Freeman-Jones said. 

“They were recruiting students for a degree they wouldn’t be able to use for jobs in criminal justice because of their criminal history,” he said. “That’s when I realized it was really more about the money than the education.” 

They were recruiting students for a degree they wouldn’t be able to use for jobs in criminal justice because of their criminal history. That’s when I realized it was really more about the money than the education.Ryan Freeman-Jones, a former ITT professor

Freeman-Jones said he thinks the ITT experience varied by campus, and that he felt positively about the dedication of the faculty to the students.

He now works in consulting, and said some of his former colleagues may have had an inkling that a shutdown was imminent when they received paychecks on Friday ― which was not a scheduled payday. 

“What really hurts me is that there are people being affected by this who are innocent,” Freeman-Jones said. “They did everything they were supposed to do and they’re being impacted because a company didn’t have its ducks in a row.”

The Education Department said Tuesday that some students who took out federal loans to attend ITT may be eligible to discharge their loans and have them wiped away. Students also have an option to transfer to a new school on their loans ― if they can find a school to accept the ITT credits. 

The school expressed “profound regret” over the closure, and blamed the federal government’s “complete disregard” for due process. 

“We believe the government’s action was inappropriate and unconstitutional, however, with the ITT Technical Institutes ceasing operations, it will now likely rest on other parties to understand these reprehensible actions and to take action to attempt to prevent this from happening again,” the statement read. 

The school noted it had decided to end operations “only after having exhausted the exploration of alternatives, including transfer of the schools to a non-profit or public institution.”

Batson said he was amused by the school’s stance that the federal government was doing something reprehensible.

“They were scamming people, as far as I’m concerned,” he said. 

This article has been updated with comment from Michael Batson Jr. and Ryan Freeman-Jones.

Labor Day 2016: Moderate Progress In Last Year

The story for workers in the United States has improved somewhat over the last year. The economy has created almost 2.5 million jobs, bringing the unemployment rate down by 0.4 percentage points. Perhaps more importantly, the percentage of the population that is employed also increased by 0.4 percentage points, meaning that unemployment is falling because people are finding jobs, not dropping out of the labor force.

Still, the employment rate for prime age workers (ages 25-54) is still down by 2.5 percentage points from its pre-recession peak, and almost 4.0 percentage points from its 2000 peaks. This translates into a drop in employment of more than 2.0 million compared to 2007 employment rates and more than 3.5 million compared to 2000 employment rates.

On the plus side, real wages are growing again. The average real hourly wage for non-supervisory workers rose by more than 2.0 percent over the last year. This is the second consecutive increase of this size, following seven years of virtual stagnation in wages for most workers.

Much of this increase reflects a one-time gain due to the fall in energy prices. Also, some of it reflects a shift from benefits to wages as employers cut back what they are pay for health care insurance. Still real wages are on an upward path at the moment, which is likely to continue if the Fed doesn't start jacking up interest rates to slow the economy.

In other positive developments for workers, more state and local governments are raising their minimum wages. The big actors in the last year are California and New York, both of which set a target of a $15.00 minimum wage for 2022. This may press the envelope in terms of how high the minimum wage can go without having a substantial impact on employment, but both laws allow for pauses if the increases appear to be increasing unemployment among low-paid workers.

Also, the Labor Department finalized rules for modernizing overtime regulations. Starting next year, more than 4 million additional workers will receive overtime pay if they are required to work more than 40 hours a week.

In addition, more state and local governments are requiring businesses to give workers paid sick days and family leave. While the business lobby groups invariable predict disaster from these measures, study after study finds that employers can easily adapt to these requirements and that they rarely result in job loss. Hillary Clinton has pledged to push these measures at the national level if she becomes president.

On the down side, there is little reason to believe that the long decline in union membership is turning around. The overall unionization rate was 11.1 percent in 2015, the same as the preceding year, although the unionization rate edged down slightly to 6.6 percent in the private sector. With several states having recently banned contracts that require the workers who benefit from a union contract to pay a representation fee, unions are likely to face greater difficulty in organizing and retaining workers in the future.

This is very bad news for those hoping that ordinary workers would share in the country's prosperity. In addition to raising the wages of their members, there is a large spillover effect on the wages of other workers, as documented in a recent paper from the Economic Policy Institute. This paper estimated that the wages of non-union workers would be 5.0 percent higher today if unionization rates had not declined from their level of four decades ago.

Unions also help to close the racial gap in pay, as documented in a new paper by Cherrie Bucknor, my colleague at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Unions also help to reduce the pay gap between men and women.

In addition to these direct benefits, unions have also played a central role in pushing for government regulations that help large numbers of non-union workers. It is unlikely that any of the minimum wage increases, or measures requiring paid sick days and family leave would have passed, if they did not enjoy the active support of unions. The same is true of the new Labor Department regulation on overtime.

Even Federal Reserve Board policy is affected by the relative strength of unions. In the fifties and sixties, the Fed was much more welling to accommodate full employment, even at the risk of somewhat higher inflation. The Fed always gets pressure to raise interest rates, to slow inflation, from the financial industry. If there is not a countervailing force pushing for full employment, the inflation hawks are likely to get their way.

In this story it is important to remember that the decline of unions did not just happen, it was the deliberate effort by right-wingers to reduce the power of progressives. Canada, a country with a very similar economy and culture, had no comparable decline in unionization rates. Almost 30 percent of its labor force is still represented by unions.

In short, we have had some good news for working people in the last year, but there are many clouds on the horizon. Workers have a long way to go before they get back their share of the pie and the path will not be easy.

5 Innovative Ways to Increase Small Business Cash Flow

If you are a small business owner like me, increasing cash flow is practically the center of our professional lives. Although it is crucial for any business, it is especially important for small business owners because we are in business for, and depend on ourselves, as well as our loyal customers. We know that cash flow is critical to the success and survival of our businesses.

It is important to remember that cash flow isn't profit, and profit isn't cash flow. Indeed, we can all have tons of profit but no cash sitting in our bank accounts. While sales are the muscles of your business, cash flow is the lifeblood. That said; it is also entirely possible to improve your cash flow without increasing sales. As a small business owner, sales may be hard to come by, but that doesn't mean your cash flow won't improve.

Strategies to Increase Small Business Cash Flow:

1. Decrease the time it takes to collect client payment

Known as "days sales outstanding" in the business world, DSO is the amount of time it takes to collect payment from your clients. Once your service or product has been delivered successfully, it is time for your customers to pay up. Look over your financial information and pay special attention to DSO. See how long sales are outstanding, and then try to decrease that amount for future sales by a quarter. Instead of giving clients 20 days to pay, next time, only give 15. Don't forget to start this strategy with new clients while allowing your current ones to finish their agreed-upon time.

2. Shift costs from fixed to variable

Evaluate your business costs to see if it fits in a variable or fixed cost category. In order to increase cash flow but not sales, it is essential for your business to try to shift some costs from fixed to variable. Take time to evaluate all of your business expenses with care and begin to identify costs that you can move from fixed to variable. Ideally, you will want to tie payments to key performance metrics that align with the timing that the business actually receives a payment.

3. Sell old or excess equipment

Chances are that your company has some equipment that is lying around collecting dust and costing you money. Instead of sitting in storage, that equipment could be making you money! Check out your inventory and decide what can stay and what you can sacrifice. If you haven't touched it in a long time, now may be the perfect time to say goodbye. If you don't think you will use it in the next 12 months, consider selling it and investing the cash in something more useful.

4. Collect deposits and process payments quickly

When creating customer agreements, structure them so you can collect payments upon the completion of work. Alternatively, require a larger deposit at the start of the job so you have available cash for the duration of the process. Be sure to send out invoices immediately to avoid waiting for incoming receivables. If you are late to send an invoice, the fault is entirely yours. Customers may be late at paying anyway, so if you are slow to send the bill in the first place, you may end up months behind on collecting receivables.

5. Conduct a credit check

If a client doesn't want to pay cash, be sure to conduct a credit check. This is your way to ensure that the customer has a trustworthy credit history and most likely will follow through on payments. If a poor credit report comes back, stand your ground; refuse to make the sale. If you decide to work with someone with a poor payment history, you can rest assured that your payments will be consistently late, meaning your cash flow will suffer.

You can find Victoria on her travel blog www.followmeaway.com