Christmas.

Santa came, and Aada (my 4 year old goddaughter) had been extra nice this year. She got LOTS of presents. 

Elsa decided to take care of little Vilho. She did not leave him out of her sight, I guess she figured he was her baby. Whenever he cried Elsa got really sad too and tried to kiss him and make him feel better. Such a great dog!

Hyvää Joulua!

Tomorrow we are traveling to my home town in Finland. My girls are happy, because they know grandpa is gonna feed them all sorts of unhealthy things. No wonder my dad is their favorite person. 

When you are a kid, Christmas is all about Santa and presents and magic. Unfortunately you lose that at  some point as you grow up. Now it is just about the presents. I'm joking of course, everyone knows it's also about food. Oh yes, the food..

This Christmas I will spend with some of my favorite persons: My family, my best friend and her family and Peter and my girls. Because that is what Christmas is really about: your loved ones. 

Nuha, kuume, flunssatauti.

This past week has been crazy. I have so much to do.. But soon it's Christmas, and that makes me happy. I'm feeling a bit sick, but I do not have time for that.

We went to Finland this past weekend, to celebrate the baptism of baby Vilho. Pictures of that cute little thing will come soon, I promise. I cannot wait to spend Christmas with my family and Vilho and Aada. Oh I guess it will be fun with Katri and Risto too. We are also gonna throw a party for my little brother who turns 18! It is gonna be so much fun :)

You are the most important person in your life.

There are so many things I need to do before christmas: schoolwork, work, gifts, meetings.. You name it. But the funny thing is that I don't even fee stressed. I'm 100% sure that this is due to the fact that I work out 3-4 times a week. It gives me balance in my life and during that hour or 75 mins that I am at the gym, it is not possible to think about school or anything else but my wellbeing.  It feels like the first time ever I have prioritized myself, and it feels good. I'm not saying that this is the way for everyone, not at all. For some it might be a different hobby - something you do for fun, for you and nobody else.

I believe that this is one of the problems today. We work all the time and do very little for ourselves (even though we have become more individualistic). We go home after a long day at work, but we don't leave our work at the office. We are defined by what we do... for living. What I would like to see is a city or town that creates their brand around people feeling good. Wouldn't that be great? Everyone working together to create a sustainable future, where people feel good. I'm pretty sure that would lead to improved growth, creativity and yeah - feeling good!

Thesis writing

As you all know branding is my passion in life. I will be writing my masters thesis during spring and my topic is employer branding. I am so excited. I seriously cannot wait. I know, I'm a bit strange in that way..

It might be easier to pick a topic that is a bit older, just so you know you'll find good articles. Josse and I wrote our bachelors thesis on city branding towards inhabitants, and had a hard time finding proper articles, so we had to get creative at times. With creative I mean finding something different but similar, that could bring new ideas for the work. Good times.

I was asked by LTU Karriär to talk to students about how to write a thesis about 2 weeks ago. There are several things one should think about, but the most important thing is to find a topic you really like. We were sick of the word branding by the time we handed in our thesis, and we chose something we loved. So even if you end up with a topic that is new (which is a challenge), you at least look at something you really like. That is why I chose employer branding.