Recently I had the opportunity to join 100 local business, nonprofit and public sector leaders on a four-day journey to Nashville, Tenn. to discover how this boot-scootin, honky-tonk city is thriving. Nashville has an identity no one can deny, and one this country girl couldn’t get enough of. But, let me tell you, it is so much more than a music town. Nashville is a thriving hub for business and forward thinking.

The sharing economy is a collaborative economic movement inspired by the efficiency of loaning and sharing existing resources on a fee-for-service model. It reduces environmental waste while supporting financial sustainability and building stronger communities, and it’s having a bigger impact than you might realize. 

Social media is abuzz today with announcements from both Apple and Facebook that they will cover egg freezing for female employees who want to put off having children. 

Kudos or crazy? Here’s what some of the women on our staff had to say: 

When we’re talking about social media, LinkedIn typically takes a backseat to more leisure-friendly platforms like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. But for professionals, particularly young professionals, that could be a mistake. We asked Catherine Fisher, LinkedIn’s director of corporate communications, for some tips to get the most out of the career-oriented networking site.

At 25-years-old, Kaitlyn MacGregor is the new director of communications for the California Republican Party, and she has her work cut out for her. New data from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California shows that young voters aren’t registering Republican and neither are moderates, African Americans or Latinos. With elections just weeks away, MacGregor will need to make strides quickly. 

Alex Medina and Brandon McKelvey’s new law firm looks more like a bootstrapped tech startup than a high-end legal practice. It’s one model among the boutique firms whose numbers have taken off in the region this year. The improving economy, a buyer’s market for legal services, and the lures of startup culture have upended Sacramento’s legal landscape.

Those long hours you’re logging at your desk may be taking a physiological toll that your morning run and bike commute can’t quite undo. We’re in the midst of a sitting epidemic that comes with some pretty scary health implications, but a simple change in our corporate culture might hold the key to better fitness for us all.

You’ve been there. You’re on a deadline with limited information, and what you’ve got to draw from is a similar episode that transpired eight months ago, or eight years ago or with an entirely different company. But hey, there are some parallels. This time sounds like that time (sort of), so you base your present reaction on your past experience. The process is called reasoning by analogy, and while it can be a powerful method in the decision making process, it can also be problematic and limiting.

I recently asked a gen-X friend of mine to give me her take on generational communications in the U.S. today. Her response was perfect: “In the words of MTV’s cultural phenomenon The Real World, it’s ‘The true story of seven strangers, picked to live in a house, work together and have their lives taped, to find out what happens when people stop being polite — and start getting real.’”

Pete Eckert envisioned himself as an architect, but a degenerative eye disease derailed his plan. He instead pursued his MBA and photography and now sells his art worldwide.