CARE: Happy Earth Day! Excited to be in Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon to meet my students who are coming from all over the world. This week is the final week of the Chief Data and Analytics Officer Program, and we will be graduating a new class of data leaders. I’m teaching a class on leadership—and sharing my hard-won lessons from my scars and stings. Eager to engage with the class and take a walk outside in Schenley Park on this beautiful spring day.

PREPARE: I collected 5 days of audio data of my beehives during Eclipse week for the Eclipse Soundscapes project, and by enlisting my skilled son-in-law and one of my honey customers who’s a data scientist, we’ve loaded 35 GB of data to the cloud and begun to analyze it to spot unusual activity in the hives during Totality. Initial data looks promising. Stay tuned!

AWARE: I’ve been fascinated by the work of the sketch artists covering the Trump trial. It seems like such a throwback to have our only window into this trial be pastel sketches. Yet I’m marveling at the skill of Jane Rosenburg, a prominent sketch artist whose sketch appeared on the cover of The New Yorker. As I have been dabbling in pastels this past year, I am in awe of her ability to capture emotion and vibe with such an economy of markings. Her sketches are both simple and detailed; her use of color bold yet realistic. I would love to see an art exhibit of sketches from high-profile trials. One of the last vestiges of the analog era.

SHARE: April showers bring May flowers, but the joy of April is seeing bulbs. So far I have crocus, hyacinth, some early tulips, daffodils, leucojum, muscari, and a few fritillaria. Early stages still, but so joyful to see.

DARE: Feeling a little overwhelmed, I dared to have an offsite for myself last week to take a step back and refine my business strategy. I went to my cabin and spent time reflecting, hiking, resting… it is when I step away I’m able to integrate my thoughts and develop new ideas. It became clear that I had to let go of some projects to make room for new opportunities. Is it serendipity that when I opened up space in my mind and in my calendar, a new opportunity came my way? I’m recommitting to my mantra for the year #LessIsMore2024. Join me if this resonates with you.