Women in their 20s have an advantage over men in their 20s because all men want to sleep with women in their 20s. And women have power over men who want to sleep with them.

I remember having this power. The first time I wrote about it my editor had to call the magazine’s lawyer. Now it’s pretty well understood by women that it’s easier to get stuff done in the office when everyone wants to have sex with you. There is even science to back up the recommendation that women should flirt at work to get ahead. And there is precedent that when you are in a meeting with a smart young woman, you can switch it to a date if you feel like it. Women know this is the rule, and they’re on their toes at all times. Read more

The people who look like they have everything they want are actually the people who are most clear on what they are willing to give up. Do you ever feel sad that you have never visited the moon? Probably not. Because you just accept that you will not be doing that in your lifetime. We inadvertently start to think of other, less far-out things this way in an effort to make ourselves feel like we are living our best life.  Read more

The best way to get someone to call you from your LinkedIn profile is to put Confidential in the employer field. You might be wondering: Who does this?

Answer: Melissa. Read more

Could 9/11 ever become a time of celebration?

Could 9/11 ever become a time of celebration?

I was there, at the base of the first tower when it fell. That night I wrote a piece for Time magazine to make sense of what happened. And each year on 9/11 I write again. This year I was thinking that I’ve been back to New York City so often with my kids that maybe my 9/11 phase of life has passed…

But then I decided to tell you a story. Read more

This webinar will show you how to leverage your strengths by understanding personality type.  It includes four days of of video sessions and email-based course materials.  You can purchase this webinar for anytime, on-demand access. The cost is $199.

Buy it now.

The most popular webinar I’ve done is about personality type. I’ve taught thousands of people how to crack the code on personality type to get what they want in life.

But you know what? The on-deamand webinar that people have been downloading is really bad video quality. And people complain. To be honest, it’s mostly the ISTJs who complain, and ISTJs hate personality type anyway, because it is in their nature to hate everything except what is perfectly logical to them.

But even if I ignored the ISTJs, which, being an ENTJ, I am inclined to do, it is still true that the video quality of the webinar stinks. So I’m doing a second round of the course.

I could tell you that the course is so so fun and everyone loves it. But maybe you would think I’m saying that only because it’s so fun for me to make money from the course.

So here’s proof:  Melissa and I started doing the courses together when Melissa was always on the verge of not making rent. But since then, Melissa has taken everything she knows about personality type and turned it into a recruiting business and she’s on track to make half a million dollars this year.

Can you believe it? Even as I write this, I’m shocked.

So, anyway, you can be sure that I am not paying Melissa six figures to do this course with me, but she’s doing it with me anyway, because we have so much fun. The courses we do together always make us so happy, and we love meeting the people who attend, and I sort of feel like I am inviting you to a party and not a webinar.

Although I am charging you. But I think you get the point.

I am going to have to tell you what you’ll get from the course because I know people like to know that:

You will find out all the terrible aspects of each personality type. You will find out why your boss misses deadlines, why your spouse can’t stop arguing with you, and why you are not a millionaire by now.

You will find out essential tidbits about everyone’s strengths. For example ENTPs are the most adventurous in bed and ISTPs are the most competent in bed. Quick—pick which trait is more important to you.

Did you pick?

The course will also show you why you picked what you did.

I will show you tricks for memorizing traits of each type. For example, it’s hard to memorize that INTJs like to make elegant plans for complex problems, and ENTJs like to lead people with a big all-encompassing plan. But it’s easy to memorize how if an INTJ were going to commit a crime it would be murder and if an ENTJ were going to commit a crime it would be racketeering.

The reason I’m fanatically in love with learning about personality type is that it’s helped me so much in my life. Understanding what motivates me, and the people around me, has made me a better sales person, a better mom and a better wife. When I want to tell my brother to shut up, I remember his personality type and I remind myself what he really means when he says what it is that I want him to shut up about.

The best part of personality type, though, is that when I coach people they think I’m a mind reader. Almost all the time. The truth is that my coaching is a combination of two things: My ability to know what people are thinking and feeling based on their personality type, and my ability to say things to people that no one else will tell them.

I like that people tell me I’m clairvoyant, but you can get that too. Well, you can get the part where you can see it. I’m not sure if you can get the part where you will say it. That might be a special trait that gets you selected for special education in school, and top coaching awards as an adult.

I was going to put links in there — to special education and top coaching awards – but I am an ENTJ. Which means I’m very goal-oriented. And what I want you to do right now, before you read about my career as a special ed student, is to sign up for the course.

Here’s an outline of the course, which I may or may not stick to. But I promise you will learn tons about personality type and you’ll have a lot of fun.

What you get: Everyone will receive course materials, including a link to take a personality type test, and you will receive an explanation of your personality type. And, if you cannot watch the sessions live, you can download the recordings later. Plus, we’ll cover the following topics: Read more

I was talking to this woman who’s in her late 20s about how you have to know what you want to be respected for in order to feel respected.

People can’t respect you if you don’t respect you.
I can’t tell you her name. Let’s call her Imogene because it’s one of the most popular names of 2014 and I want this blog to feel fresh even though I’m writing about a topic that I have not been able to shut up about for five years. Read more

I took my son to a Lady Gaga concert.

I could tell you that. And I could tell you I take at least one kid on every business trip I have, and they are sick of it, so I tried to make Seattle fun by adding Lady Gaga. Read more

I told Melissa that black and white photos look stupid on my blog.

Did you know Melissa edits my photos? It started out that she lived with me, and she took all the photos. Her photos are gorgeous. When she moved out of my house I knew I couldn’t take pictures as well as she did, so I asked James Maher to take photos. He brought a gritty street photographer’s eye to the blog. Read more

This post takes place in Beverly Hills. I’m just going to tell you right now that I go there to get Botox. If anyone is surprised, I’ll be surprised. The path to self-acceptance is paved with injectables.

Step 1: Try to change yourself.

I was going to write a big post about how I’m confessing to getting Botox and then I thought better of it, that it would make me look too old. Then I thought maybe it’ll make me look rich. Because honestly, Botox is really expensive and it’s not just Botox but also fillers. I don’t even know what the brand is. I just go to the dermatologist and say “make me look younger.” Read more

When I was trying to get on the national volleyball tour, that was the only thing I was focused on. So eventually, I played professional beach volleyball. When I was trying to get my memoir published, I was focused on that more than anything else, and eventually, University of Colorado Press came through. And when I was running my last startup, I was always focused on funding. That’s why my company never failed. Read more

© 2023 Penelope Trunk