Alyssa is from the woods of Connecticut, lives in New York City's East Village and works in tech PR at a digital agency in Brooklyn. It's safe to assume she's always at least half-joking.

Hate mail, bad PR pitches and offers of riches can be sent to woodlandcreatureblog at gmail.

These opinions are hers alone and do not reflect the views of her employer, clients or mom. Nobody pays her to write about products or gives her free stuff, but it'd be cool if they did.

Woodland Creature

Obama for America: The Lily Ledbetter Act

barackobama:

“An anonymous coworker—to this day, I don’t know who—had left a pencil-written note on a torn piece of paper with some numbers on it. It showed how much more my male coworkers were making, even though they had less education, training and experience.

I’d been at Goodyear almost 20 years, and was still making 20 percent less than the lowest-paid male supervisor in my same position. I’d been praised and promoted by my bosses, but rewarded with much smaller raises than my male coworkers got.

It hit me in the gut like a ton of bricks. I immediately thought of the countless overtime hours that I worked every chance I could, and realized I was paid for them based on an unfair salary. All those good days of work hadn’t earned me the good day’s pay I deserved.

It was about fairness, and it was against the law.”

—Lilly Ledbetter writing in the Charlotte Observer today. Three years ago, President Obama made a fair pay act that bears her name the first bill he signed into law as president.

Ladies, always make sure you know what you’re worth. Ask friends who have left your company what they think you should be making, ask friends who work in your industry at different companies, ask recruiters who reach out to you with job offers (if you want this to happen, make sure you have a detailed LinkedIn profile set up and connect with everyone you know), do research online (Glassdoor is a good resource and here’s a helpful guide I found for the public relations industry). 

Then, once you know how much you should be making, state your case to your employer as to why they should give you that much (well, that much plus a few thousand dollars more, in case they bargain you down), based on what you’ve contributed to the company. And if they won’t give it to you, and they don’t offer a good reason why, find a company that will. Sometimes it’s as easy as just working up the courage to ask, which men do all the time.

It’s important to remember that no boss is just going to hand you tons more money. That just doesn’t make business sense. But if you’re great at your job, it’s easier and less expensive for them to give you what you’re worth than to try to replace you. So get it, girl!

Source: barackobama


jobs careers women feminism obama equal pay work money

Proof that I dress like a 10-year-old: I almost bought Sasha Obama’s new official portrait dress a few weeks ago.

Proof that I dress like a 10-year-old: I almost bought Sasha Obama’s new official portrait dress a few weeks ago.

Source: Flickr / whitehouse


obama fashion dresses kids

That’s a lot of brush-clearing…

That’s a lot of brush-clearing…


Obama presidents vacation dubya

Obama's Aunt Sends Him Article Mentioning United States

KALONA, IA—According to family sources, Barack Obama’s aunt Claudia, 79, mailed a letter to the president Monday that included a short note and a carefully clipped-out article from the Highland Review newspaper mentioning the United States. “Thought you would be interested in this,” read the note, which also had “This is kind of neat” written on the top of the article and the words “United States” and “Washington, D.C.” highlighted throughout. “I know you probably saw this already, but it would be a shame if you missed it.” President Obama told reporters his aunt Claudia is very sweet and he needs to remember to call her soon.

I am totally that aunt. And I don’t even have any nieces or nephews (that I know of).


the onion LOL obama aunts

I’m pretty sure I sat at that exact table where President Obama is sitting, when I was in Puerto Rico in 2007! We stayed at a great guest house a couple blocks away and ate breakfast at Kasalta every single morning.

I’m pretty sure I sat at that exact table where President Obama is sitting, when I was in Puerto Rico in 2007! We stayed at a great guest house a couple blocks away and ate breakfast at Kasalta every single morning.

Source: The New York Times


puerto rico san juan obama kasalta restaurants

Memorial Day-related Facebook awkwardness.

Memorial Day-related Facebook awkwardness.


facebook military obama politics memorial day

President Obama’s signature is “totally a cartoon baby Tyrannosaurus playing with a ball of yarn.”

President Obama’s signature is “totally a cartoon baby Tyrannosaurus playing with a ball of yarn.”

Source: New York Magazine


obama dinosaurs art

That’s what Obama said?

That’s what Obama said?

Source: 365q


obama osama bin laden

Obama's Young Mother Abroad

Compelling longread about President Obama’s mother’s fascinating life.


obama longreads parenting moms

Disappointed Obama is disappointed in my generation for not voting. Also, I can’t figure out how he’s doing that thing with his bottom lip.

Disappointed Obama is disappointed in my generation for not voting. Also, I can’t figure out how he’s doing that thing with his bottom lip.

Source: The New York Times


obama elections sad politics president

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