By Duff Goldman, the Ace of Cakes

Published in the May 2013 issue

My business and everything that's come out of it - the bakery, the television show, the cakes for celebrities, and this year's presidential inauguration - is actually a big accident. I was working as a private chef when I really wanted to be on tour in a rock band (1). I was twenty-five at the time. I had made a couple of birthday cakes for the kids of the people I worked for, and they liked them so much, they asked me to make cakes for their friends. The more cakes I made, the more requests I got. It didn't take long to figure out that I could make it work as a business.

But there was no dream of owning a bakery and being on TV. I just needed the kind of business that would allow me to take a month off now and then to go on tour. I saw it as my path to rock stardom. Here's the thing, though. My dad is an entrepreneur with a Ph.D. in economics from UCLA. He's crazy smart - the kind of guy who can grasp the essence of a

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When it comes to cover letters, I've seen-and tried-it all. I've written stiff, formal documents ("Dear Sir or Madame"), overly casual notes ("Hey guys! Cover letters suck, huh?"), and everything in between. One time, I even composed a cover letter entirely in rhyme. (Yes, I did. And no, I didn't get the job.)

Cover letters are a blessing and a curse. They give you some elbow room to discuss your qualifications, which is a welcome relief from the crunched bullet points of a resume. But because of that freedom (and that intimidating blank page to fill), it's easy to veer off in the wrong direction and make some common mistakes that can pretty much guarantee you're not getting a call back.

If you're in my cover-letter-writing boat, chances are you've made some of these blunders before. Read on to learn five of the most common cover letter mistakes-and how you can turn them into successes.

1. You Didn't Listen to Your Career Counselor

If you've ever set foot in a career resource center,

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By Kelly Hernandez, Refinery29

Kelly P. Hernandez is the founder and CEO of Financechic.com an independent personal finance site for women. After 15 years of working in male-dominated Wall Street and Silicon Valley, she's made it her mission to help women take charge of their money. And, when she talks about getting a raise, you know we're going to listen.

Here's the sobering (and all-too-familiar) reality: Chances are you're performing better at your job than some men, yet you're probably making less. Don't sit back and just hope to get noticed. Study after study shows men ask for raises more often, negotiate more for compensation, and ultimately get paid more than women - all for the same job.

You could sit and sulk about this, or, you could go ask for a raise. How? It's important to be analytical and not emotional. ("Sure, I'll double your salary because you're angry and bitter," said no boss ever.) So, here's how to make that big request deliver the big money you're looking f

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So, you've spent the last couple of years at your gig honing your skills and getting great experience, and you've decided it's time to move on and look for something new.

But wait: What should you do with your resume now that you've got tons more knowledge and experience under your belt-but the same jam-packed 8.5x11" sheet of paper to work with?

Hint: The answer is not to add another page (in fact, most hiring managers I know would automatically disqualify you for doing so!). You'll want to employ the opposite strategy: If you're dusting off your resume for the first time in a while, you should reconsider what you include, and remove some things that don't make the cut. Here are a few strategies for trimming what you don't need so you can make room for the new.


Rule #1: Tell a Story

Your resume is a narrative, and it should tell a purposeful story. The chronology, headers, and action words on your resume don't matter nearly as much as your overall personal narrative does. No one care

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"You almost don't recognize her when she comes up to the front to check out. Not only does she look different, but there's like a pep in her step," says hairstylist and Drybar founder Alli Webb. She says a woman can be instantly transformed just by visiting the salon, so in 2010 she founded Drybar, a place where women can get blowouts, feel pampered, and leave more confident.

More on Shine: Are you loyal to your hairstylist?

Alli, who has naturally curly hair, says she constantly begged her mom to blow dry her hair when she was a child. Even in high school, she would blow dry her hair the night before, thinking that if she slept on it, the frizz would go away. "It never looked that great," she says.

Alli started her career in fashion, but soon realized she needed to follow her dream of becoming a hairstylist. She started working in salons, but left that behind to become a stay-at-home mom. She says after about five years at home, she began feeling a little stir-crazy. She started a mo

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