If you're in my inner circle, you know I live by a hard-and-fast "3 strikes and you're out" rule. This goes back to something I'm passionate about: knowing your worth and the true cost of your time. Whether it's taking a meeting, completing a task, or volunteering, my time — and my team's time — are precious commodities. This standard applies to networking, vendors, and even clients.

Clients

I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt — at least once. Everyone has bad days, and sometimes poor behavior is more about what they're dealing with than anything personal. But there's a limit. In my office, a client can have one bad day, and we'll let it slide. If it happens again, I want to know about it so I can step in, have a conversation, and make it clear that this behavior could become a pattern we need to address. I'll remind them that we all have the same 168 hours each week, and my team dedicates a significant portion of those hours — sometimes up to 50% during busy times like open enrollment — to serving clients like them. I want my team happy and thriving in their "work home," and I protect that fiercely. So, if a client crosses that line a third time, we end the relationship. No amount of revenue is worth the cost of my team's wellbeing.

We're in NYC, where some folks think yelling gets things done faster. But, as my Gramma Ruby always said, "You catch more bees with honey than vinegar." And I live by that.

Networking/Vendors

The "3 strikes" rule also applies to opportunities for meeting up. Life happens; kids get sick, trains stall, traffic grinds to a halt. I always give people the benefit of the doubt, but there's almost always a way to communicate. In our office, we send meeting requests so it's easy to shoot over an email if something comes up. I know many vendors and partners are in sales, and if a "white whale" client comes calling, priorities shift. But if you've scheduled and canceled three times, I'm done. Time is money, and last-minute cancellations can't always be replaced with revenue-generating activities.

Some might think I'm showing my military upbringing a bit too much here. But here's the deal: If your life is in such disarray that you need to reschedule three times, I don't want your chaos in my world. I believe like attracts like, and I wouldn't do this to someone else — not even when I was taking care of my father in hospice. I live by this, unapologetically.