When I was in college, in between my English and creative writing classes, I would race a few blocks downtown to volunteer at an animal shelter on the east side of Manhattan. 

Getting lost in books and spending time with shelter dogs were the twin pillars that held together the chaos of my twenties, and what kept me sane and motivated day after day. The north star of my career has been telling stories about animals in need. 

My first job out of college was working for a dog photographer. I followed him around New York City, and then the country, and then the world, helping to carry camera equipment and making notes of all the dogs we met that day. I didn’t make good money, but I loved it. 

After seven years, I was unexpectedly let go.

It was the eve of my 30th birthday, and I was suddenly without a job. I had two options: I could find another position, or I could try to make it on my own. The choice, for me, was simple. I had to at least try to make a name for myself, doing what I loved most, which was helping dogs.

This upheaval all coincided with me moving into a new apartment with my now-fiancé, Jacob, and our special needs rescue dog, Simon. 

This apartment was special because after living in seven New York City apartments, I had a backyard for the first time. I had fostered some dogs over the years, but with a big yard and a rare dog-loving landlord, I decided it was a great time to really lean into it again.

We welcomed our first foster, a Heeler mix named Ken, a few months after moving into the new apartment. On our way to pick him up, I handed Jacob my phone and asked him to take a video of me. I had an Instagram audience of about 50,000 followers, where I posted videos about my dog. 

But I decided that I wanted to highlight the process of fostering, every step of the way. I wanted to show people exactly how it was done, so it wouldn’t be so intimidating for people who might want to try it themselves.

I spoke to the camera and explained what we were doing in the sweltering subway tunnels, my excitement and nervousness bubbling off me. We recorded the entire thing: Ken coming off the transport van, bringing him back to our apartment, and introducing him to Simon. 

Afterwards, I edited the clips together and posted it to Instagram and TikTok. Miraculously, for whatever reason, people loved it. The video blew up. On TikTok it got 257,000 views, 27,000 likes, and over 500 comments. 

I was in shock by how people responded to it, and the immediate emotional connection these strangers on the internet felt with Ken. So I continued: a video of us giving Ken a bath, a video of Ken playing with Simon, a video of Ken chasing bubbles I blew for him in the backyard. And, finally, a video of Ken getting adopted by his new mom.

Over the week that we had Ken, my audience grew. People wanted to see his journey, and the process of fostering a dog in New York City. But, more than anything, I think people wanted to see a happy, feel-good story play out in front of their eyes, to feel a piece of magic that happens when a dog is loved for the very first time.

After that first foster, I decided to focus on fostering primarily medical and behavioral cases. Simon has struggled with idiopathic epilepsy his entire life, and my experience caring for him completely shifted the way I interacted with the world and the level of patience I have.

Plus, most rescues and shelters cover all costs associated with fostering: supplies, food, and any medical procedures a dog might need, so the only thing I needed to sacrifice was my time and heart.

I wanted to tell the stories of the dogs who would otherwise be forgotten and show the world how incredible they are. 

Since Ken, I have fostered nearly 30 difficult medical cases and found them all loving homes. I’ve raised over half a million dollars for animal welfare organizations. I’ve worked with brands like Toyota, Chewy, The Farmer’s Dog, and Williams Sonoma. I’ve grown my audience to over two million followers across platforms. 

And, my greatest dream came true. I wrote a memoir called “Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About,” and it will be published in the spring.

I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have made a career doing exactly what I’ve always dreamed of: helping dogs and telling stories. I have more freedom, I make more money, and I’m making a bigger impact. 

My biggest advice for people who hope to make their passion their full-time job is to start small. Before I went out on my own, I did freelance content creation for a year and a half. I reached out to every dog brand I could think of and asked if they needed help creating content or managing their social media.

My biggest client was Adopt a Pet and Kinship, where I got to travel to shelters and highlight adoptable dogs. It wasn’t until it became unsustainable to work full time and do content creation that I actually stopped those jobs. But the connections I made absolutely helped forge my way as an independent creator.

Every day looks different for me: Some days I’m picking up a dog from the shelter and scrubbing feces off of them, some days I’m doing a photoshoot with my previous foster dogs for Oscar de la Renta, and some days I’m sitting in a coffee shop, hoping to meet my writing deadline on time.

What has become most apparent to me, through every foster dog and every journey I document, is that dogs are one of the greatest human connectors that we have. 

They represent life, love, loss, joy, sadness, and living each day in the moment. They ground us, motivate us, and when you tell their stories, people can’t help but listen. Never in a million years did I think that telling my stories could turn into a career. But as I sit in my Brooklyn apartment with my rescue dog snoring at my feet, I am eternally grateful that it did.

Isabel Klee is a dog owner, writer and content creator. She shares her experiences rehabilitating foster dogs on social media @SimonSits. She lives Brooklyn with her fiancé, Jacob and her rescue dog, Simon. She is the author of the upcoming memoir ”Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About.”

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You need to have the right skills to do the job you’re hoping to land. But your ability to communicate that you have them — and can use them to help your prospective employer become more successful — is just as important.

“The things that make us good at communication also make us very, very attractive in an interview,” Charles Duhigg tells CNBC Make It.

Duhigg has studied hundreds of people in authoring three books on productivity, habits and communication. His latest book, “Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection,” examines what sets the most effective communicators apart.

Duhigg shared three communication tips that candidates should take into their next job interviews to connect with the person on the other side of the table (or screen) and make a stronger impression.

Interviewers know candidates are eager to impress. But if your answers to interview questions sound too polished or canned, you could be doing yourself a disservice.

“They know that you’re performing; they know that you’re there to try and get a job,” Duhigg says. But the more we can “genuinely convey who we are,” the more the employer has “a chance to see whether we’ll actually succeed there.”

Answering questions genuinely, but tactfully, can help you stand out, he adds. “The interviewer is going to remember that answer,” he says. “The best communication is the most genuine communication.”

One of the toughest questions to answer in an interview is “Tell me about your weaknesses.”

If they ask a question like this, Duhigg says, “and I answer it as honestly as I can, it doesn’t mean that I have to expose my flaws, it doesn’t mean that I have to say something out of line.”

Career coach Madeline Mann previously told CNBC Make It that an ideal answer would briefly explain a genuine weakness, but not one that’s “core to the job,” before laying out steps you’re taking to address the problem area.

“Think about how many people go into an interview and the person asks them, ‘Do you have any questions for me?’ and the question they ask is completely predictable,” Duhigg says.

The best communicators typically “ask a lot more questions” than their peers, Duhigg says. They also ask what he calls deep questions, or those that center on a person’s values, beliefs or experience.

For job candidates, that might mean asking an interviewer how they got into that line of work, or what their favorite part of working there is.

Some of the most important communication is silent. Body language can be very telling, and mirroring things like your interviewer’s posture, gestures and expressions can make you a more attractive candidate for the job.

That could be as simple as smiling back when they smile during conversation or noticing when they lean in and doing the same.

“The more we are prepared and comfortable doing that, the better off that interview is going to go,” Duhigg says.

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For many of us, procrastination comes with a lot of emotional baggage, says neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff, PhD.

“We’ve been taught to associate procrastination with laziness and lack of willpower, and so whenever we procrastinate, we start blaming ourselves for not doing the thing that we said we were going to do,” Le Cunff says.

Those negative feelings only make it harder for us to get back on track, according to Le Cunff, the author of “Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World.”

From her perspective, procrastination shouldn’t be a source of shame — it’s “really just a signal from your brain that something is not working quite right at the moment,” she says.

“Instead of ignoring that signal, instead of trying to push through and blaming yourself in the process, what would it look like to just listen to that signal?” she continues.

A better approach is to “get curious” about the root of your procrastination habits, Le Cunff says. Here’s her strategy for overcoming procrastination.

Le Cunff created a “triple-check” system that helps her evaluate why she might be avoiding a task — in her words, whether “the problem is coming from the head, from the heart or from the hand,” she says.

If your procrastination stems from the head, it means that “at a rational level, you’re not fully convinced you should be working on that task in the first place,” Le Cunff says.

The heart refers to your feelings: “If the problem is coming from the heart, it means that at an emotional level, you don’t feel like this is going to be fun or exciting.”

Finally, “if the problem is coming from the hand, it means that at a practical level, you don’t believe that you have the right tools, the right skills, or the right support network in order to get the task done,” Le Cunff says.

Once you’ve identified why you’re avoiding a task, “you can systematically find ways to get unstuck,” she says.

To tackle “head” problems, Le Cunff recommends taking a step back and evaluating what doesn’t feel right about the work.

For example, if you’re dragging your feet on finishing a task because you’re not sure whether it aligns with your project’s strategic goals, “you can go back to the drawing board and kind of redefine the task and see if that’s the right approach,” Le Cunff says.

For tasks you’re avoiding because they don’t feel sufficiently exciting or stimulating, Le Cunff’s best advice is to “make the environment fun,” she says.

“Maybe grab your favorite colleague and do a little co-working session, or go to your favorite coffee shop to do the task,” she says.

If you tend to procrastinate when you feel overwhelmed or unprepared, Le Cunff recommends reaching out to trusted friends or colleagues for advice.

“I always tell people, raise your hand, ask for help,” she says. That support could involve coaching, mentoring or asking your company to sponsor an online course — “whatever it is that you need to feel like you have the resources in order to get the job done.”

The triple-check system helps circumvent the ‘shame’ component of procrastination, Le Cunff says.

“It’s really going from this vague sense of dread and self-blame that you’re not doing the thing that you should be doing, to acting a little bit more like a scientist, like a detective, and seeing it as a puzzle to solve,” she says.

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Building a healthy romantic relationship takes time and intention. Over time, meaningful experiences, personal disclosures and authentic conversations create closeness and intimacy.

To genuinely know someone, you must understand what matters to them — their likes and dislikes, passions, limits — and respecting those traits even when they differ from your own.

In fact, many strong couples come to appreciate differences, recognizing that a person’s history, quirks and tendencies are what make them unique. Here are eight phrases couples who are truly close use when talking about each other, and they should be relationship goals for all of us.

Your partner’s mistakes aren’t yours to carry, and their successes aren’t yours to claim. They are their own person living alongside you, not an extension of you.

Similar phrases:

• “She’s always been like that.”
• “I know that’s one of his favorite things to do.”

When you really understand your partner, you’re not likely to be taken aback by what they say or do. If friends are shocked by a comment or action they make, you might just smile and shrug. 

Similar phrases: 

• “Oh yeah, that’s my mate alright!”
• “That’s totally her style.”

Everyone has their own quirks, odd habits or routine preferences, from how they drink coffee to how they fold their towels. These are little things that no one else probably knows about them. But if you really know your partner, you notice those details and often find affection in them.

Similar phrases:

• “They sneeze like a train!”
• “His hiccups are kind of adorable.”

Deep knowledge builds trust. When you know your partner, you trust them to act authentically and responsibly, whether you’re together or apart.

Similar phrases:

• “She can be a little intense, but I trust her to make good choices.”
• “I know they’ll be respectful.” 

Intimacy means understanding your partner’s fundamental ideas, beliefs and principles. Even when you disagree, you can acknowledge what truly matters to them without dismissing or demeaning it.

Similar phrases:

• “I know this is really important to them.”
• “He’s very passionate about politics.”

Knowing someone deeply means understanding their fears, vulnerabilities and emotional triggers. When those struggles surface, you respond with empathy rather than judgment or defensiveness.

Similar phrases:

• “I know this is painful for them.”
• “I see her struggle and want to support her through it.”

Knowing your partner means accepting that you can’t — and shouldn’t — try to change who they are, even if it’s something you really dislike about them. True growth only happens if they choose it.

Similar phrases:

• “They’ll change only if they want to.”
• “I accept that we see this differently, even if I don’t like it.” 

Even in long-term relationships, there’s always more to learn. When couples truly know each other, discovering something new feels like an opportunity to grow, not a threat.

Similar phrases:

• “I never realized they felt that way.”
• “Even though we’ve been married for years, I’m still learning new things about him.”

Here are a few ways to start:

• Ask open-ended questions with genuine curiosity.
• Practice seeing situations from their perspective.
• Speak with respect during difficult conversations.
• Use physical touch, like hugging or holding hands, to bond.
• Show presence by putting down your phone, making eye contact and prioritizing time together.

The answer to real intimacy is simple: You have to understand and choose each other, every day.

Dr. Cortney S. Warren, PhD, is a board-certified psychologist and author of the new book “Letting Go of Your Ex.” She specializes in romantic relationships, addictive behavior, and honesty. She received her clinical training at Harvard Medical School after earning her doctorate in clinical psychology from Texas A&M University. Follow her on Instagram @DrCortneyWarren or Twitter @DrCortneyWarren.

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In the past week, automaker Stellantis and retailer Home Depot became the latest major companies to call employees back to the office five days a week.

They join employers like Instagram, Paramount and Amazon in recent return-to-office mandates. About one-third of all U.S. firms (34%) are requiring workers to be in the office full time, according to workforce insight provider Flex Index.

The new rules set up a growing tension between employers and their teams: While executives tout fully on-site work as aiding efficiency, creativity and culture, it’s the least popular setup for all workers — particularly the youngest cohorts in their 20s and 30s. Experts warn this clash could lead to employee burnout, disengagement and brain drain if top performers leave for better jobs and those in the middle feel increasingly stuck.

Together, Generation Z and millennials, generally considered those born between 1981 and 2012, make up more than half of the 170-million person U.S. labor force and are the least interested in full-time office attendance.

Just 6% of Gen Z workers want to work fully in-person, along with 4% of millennials, 9% of Gen X, and 10% of baby boomers, according to Gallup data. Most workers prefer hybrid work, a schedule that includes both remote and in-office days each week, with a whopping 71% of Gen Z workers citing hybrid as their top choice.

Yet more workers are feeling pressure to comply with RTO mandates due to the tightening job market, with weak hiring gains in 2025 and an uptick in long-term unemployment. U.S. employers added 584,000 jobs last year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, making 2025 the worst year for total job gains outside of a recession since 2003, according to Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. And while unemployment rates have remained steady at 4.4% in December, a growing share, 26% of those unemployed, have been without work for six months or more.

Just 40% of employees said in December they’d quit or look for another remote job if they were given a mandatory RTO notice. That compared to 91% who said they would in January 2025, according to a survey of 1,000 workers from MyPerfectResume. This indicates that employees — even if they’re unhappy about it — are getting more accustomed to being back in the office full-time.

Workers are “choosing to stay in jobs and hunker down and accept things they would not normally accept,” including increased attendance rules, more responsibilities, smaller raises and so on, says Jasmine Escalera, a career expert for LiveCareer, an online career platform.

This added stress could lead to lower engagement, where workers feel detached from their jobs and pull back on their effort at work, especially for the youngest workers who are used to a world of hybrid work and value flexibility, but are also the least tenured and most job-insecure, Escalera says.

Younger workers have already experienced the largest declines in workplace engagement since 2020, according to Gallup, with Gen Z and young millennials reporting the biggest drops in “feeling cared about, having opportunities to learn and being developed at work.”

“My biggest guess is we’ll see more compliance with RTO mandates than before,” Escalera says. “But that compliance may not be due to the fact that employees are like, ‘Yes put me back into the office; I’m ready to go.’”

While many workers may grit their teeth and hang on, new RTO rules could lead others to quit.

That may be the point, says Nick Bloom, a Stanford economics professor who researches work-from-home dynamics. Companies may want some workers to voluntarily leave so they can cut costs on headcount and layoffs.

“One way to lose about 5% to 10% of staff is to make them all come in five days a week,” Bloom says. “For every person that quits because of the RTO, that is one less person that needs a redundancy package.”

Of course, leaders have listed other reasons for asking people to be fully back in office, including to boost productivity, innovation and business performance and to strengthen skill development and company culture.

“In-person engagement enables more meaningful support for store and field associates, drives results and reinforces our people-centric culture and inverted pyramid,” Home Depot CEO Ted Decker said in a message to employees last week.

Bringing colleagues together can improve an in-person company culture, says Escalera, as long as leaders make an effort to help people collaborate in the office and invite creativity and new ideas.

Since reporting to the office five days a week was the norm for most people until the pandemic, leaders may feel managing in the office is more familiar and comfortable, says Mark Ma, an associate professor of business administration at the University of Pittsburgh.

The recent RTO announcements could have a domino effect across industries, he says, where executives in favor of the setup become more outspoken about ratcheting up attendance rules at their own organizations.

However, these mandates could have unintended consequences. People who quit following new RTO rules tend to be top performers and experienced employees with a lot of leverage, Ma says.

“The probability of more skilled employees departing after RTO mandates is 77% higher than that of less skilled workers,” Ma says, “and the probability of senior employees departing after RTO mandates is 36% higher than that of junior workers.”

His research has also shown that RTO disproportionately leads working parents and caregivers (often women) and people with disabilities who require workplace accommodations to quit.

Anecdotally, Ma says he’s already heard of senior talent looking for new jobs after the recent spate of RTO announcements.

“The vast majority of firms are still allowing workers to have a hybrid schedule,” he says, noting that these employers will have an easier time courting top talent.

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