American Beauty

Want to be Authentic? Stop Painting Rainbows Over the Rain Clouds

By Shelby Skrhak / July 13, 2018 /

My freelance career as a marketing writer isn’t looking very promising right now. I’ve often been accused of writing too tight and too newsy when it comes to marketing copy. “Fluff it!” I remember one editor told me. “And that’s why I don’t do marketing copy. I write editorial,” I muttered to myself. But she was…

What Success, Self-Help, and Real Estate Have in Common

By Shelby Skrhak / May 7, 2018 /

“In order to be successful, one must project an image of success at all times.” That’s a piece of wisdom from Peter Gallagher playing Buddy Kane, the trite mantra-spouting real estate king in the 1999 film American Beauty. Of course it’s utter B.S. because Buddy, well, he was B.S.. But there’s a Realtor out there…