Hailley Griffis

A 2016 year in review: my first year at Buffer, five months working remotely while travelling, and everything I published along the way.

I’ve talked to a lot of companies that don’t even know where to start when it comes to their public relations efforts.

I was sure personal branding didn't apply to me — I'm not a company or a celebrity.

Here’s a story you probably haven’t heard.

Home in San Francisco after a month of travel, back at the most intense gym I'd trained at, and working on the mental barriers.

Going back for a second day in Reykjavik, this time without the gi.

My first class in Reykjavik, and more proof that BJJ communities anywhere in the world will take you in.

A focused work week in Chicago, and breaking away for a no-gi class anyway.

Ten days in D.C. for work and a second attempt at dropping into a local gym.

A warm Saturday afternoon class, and getting on the mat with my little brother.

Five classes rolled into one post: finding a routine that survived a busy job, and getting kneed in the jaw.

Writing down every move I learn, showing up to the Monday class when I wanted to sleep, and why I'm betting on consistency and small wins over fast progress.

Rotating partners across different sizes, and putting the previous class's lesson to work — instead of being sat on all class, I did some of the sitting.

A Friday night women's class, a defense that finally worked against a heavier opponent, and how little it takes to feel motivated again.

Back on the mat after a week in Paris and a week sick.

A women's class taught by a female black belt, and mistakes that turn into strategy instead of setbacks.

Back after a work trip and a week sick, training with other white belts and noticing what we all do wrong.

My first morning class in San Francisco, and how a different hour on the mat changes who you train with.

Back to full strength at the women's class, and the beginner mistakes I could finally see myself making.

Training jet-lagged after an impromptu trip to Canada, and deciding when to tap rather than push.

A good grappling session after a long day at the office, and the first sign that tiny adjustments were doing the work.

Back on the mat after letting sickness win a week, and what happens when new technique collides with old habits.

Driving to Elk Grove for my first all-female grappling open mat, with no idea what to expect.

The first class of a hundred.

Why I started a project to train 100 times and write about every class — accountability, consistency, and lessons that had nothing to do with arm bars.

After a year of moving every three months, hitting the three-month mark in the Bay Area and having no plane ticket out.

Failure, diversity, creating, community, growing, listening, opportunities — why the startups I freelanced for kept drawing me in.

The extra hours the holidays hand you, and a few ways to spend some of them on your career.

Eight months of freelancing out of a suitcase — time zones, scheduling, WiFi, and phone calls, and what I did about each.

Twelve quick fixes for a LinkedIn profile — the earliest version of advice I'd still be writing about a decade later.

Eleven tools for building a professional online presence — a snapshot of what the personal-branding toolkit looked like in 2014.

Six days on a Colombian island in the Caribbean, because it would have been wrong to be that close and not go.

Personal branding sounds enormous.

Watching the 2014 World Cup in Bogota as the tall foreigner in the crowd — four great moments, and the foam in my face.

What Jiu Jitsu kept teaching me about my own body, and how the same awareness applies to social media.

A conversation in Bogota that turned into the way I think about strategies that have to bend.

Arriving in Bogota speaking no Spanish, six feet tall in a city where I was a giant.

My stories took thirty seconds.

Appearance, content, and activity — how I kept my profiles hiring-friendly, back when a Twitter profile could land you a job offer.

The three pieces of a personal brand — who you are, what you put out, and consistency across every profile.

Five days in New York over a fall reading week, finally seeing the city everyone had been talking about.

How to pick a platform and decide what belongs in an online portfolio — a snapshot of the 2013 options.

Most resumes get six seconds of attention.

Know what your opinions are, and stick to them.

Walking into class with an iPad and no binder — how I ran a degree without paper.

A resume is more than a few sheets of paper summing up your life — three steps to make those pages work harder.

Summer as the last stretch before the year starts again, and how to spend it on something that compounds.

Businesses were quick to open profiles everywhere.

Shanghai, Beijing, and the Great Wall with my dad — including the tiny replica of it we built for a Grade 8 project.

LinkedIn scares a lot of young professionals.