Media buyers do precisely what it sounds like they do: buy media space — but here’s what that really means. For advertising campaigns to be successful, they must be targeted to particular groups or demographics to impact sales of a brand’s products or services. Whatever the media outlet — print, radio, television, digital, billboards, and more — companies need someone (hello media buyer!) to conduct media research and know the best ways to reach those target customers. The media buyer magic is to successfully assess individual platforms and media channels to make sage decisions about where advertising campaigns should be unleashed.

WHAT DOES A MEDIA BUYER DO?

The essence of the media buyer role is to ensure that a company’s advertising message rises above the noisy fray of an ever-expanding mediascape. From billboards to magazines to banner ads on websites — media buyers vie to get their company’s brand seen by the right audience at the right time in the right place through strategically purchased advertising buys.

Media buyers are responsible for negotiating price and placement for all ads on radio, print, television, and digital — and ensure that all media inventory (running the gamut of logistical details including times, days, lengths, and size of placements) is purchased within a pre-designated budget. The goal is simple: ensure that ads are seen by the most people within a particular target audience while staying within budget.

The three main specialties within media buying are determined by advertising format.

  • Traditional advertising includes television, radio, print (from magazines to newspapers and direct mail), and outdoor (think billboards, bus stops, subway platform posters).
  • Interactive marketing includes banner ads, web ads, mobile apps, email blasts, native advertising, and social media, among other digital platforms.
  • Engagement marketing includes experiential campaigns (which can range from events to immersive environmental concepts), point-of-purchase (like in-store demos), and behavioral marketing (which can span from viral marketing campaigns to street teams).

It’s a changing landscape; agility is vital. The way people consume media content is in a constant state of flux. Individual channels become more or less relevant and useful at reaching specific demographic groups — which is why media buyers need to keep abreast of new forms of advertising and media to ensure that the brand and products they represent maintain a strong position in the marketplace.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MEDIA PLANNER AND A MEDIA BUYER?

Say hello to two of the most important cogs in the great advertising machine: media planners and media buyers. While the two roles are often lumped together, media planning and media buying are distinct — it is likely best to describe their relationship in the mediascape as a symbiotic one, as their individual roles experience peak performance when working in tandem. Most media professionals know that an integrated approach to creating, planning, and broadcasting delivers the best ROI for advertising campaigns.

Together, media planners and media buyers connect media strategy elements to an actual media platform. Without them, advertising campaigns would wallow in the darkness of creative obscurity instead of garnering potential consumers’ attention.

Media planners are tasked with figuring out what media platform will be the most effective for a particular campaign. They research the best way to achieve the client’s aims while outlining specific campaign goals and objectives. And they set how the budget should be allocated across the various media platforms chosen.

The primary roles of a media planner include:

  • Conducting external market research to assess the lay of the media land for a client’s particular field, looking into how a brand is currently advertising, what their competitors are doing, what inspires and motivates their target audience, and what media channels have been most effective in reaching them.
  • Conducting internal market research to uncover what a client’s brand identity really is, what unique value proposition and selling points are, and get a sense from demographic research who the particular customer personality is.
  • Setting campaign goals and objectives for what is likely the most essential interface for an advertising campaign. The nexus between what a client hopes to achieve and what media planners believe can be achieved is the crux on which campaigns’ success rests.

Media buyers receive the media strategy from their media planners for an ad campaign — and then ensure that the ads are featured in the most appropriate media channels, as cost-effectively as possible. Successful media buyers possess an intimate understanding of the media landscape and have cultivated and nurtured relationships with media vendors throughout their professional lives.

The primary roles of a media buyer include:

  • Cultivating and leveraging contacts is the heart of media buying. Who you know may well trump what you know for successful media buyers — media buyers have to know the right people in the right places.
  • Knowing where the space is and how to get it (for a good price) is the name of the media buying game. The right people matter, but they have to be in the right places for a client’s campaign. The goal? Find the perfect space to get the best exposure for a client, yielding the best return for the best price. Phew.
  • The ability to tweak and finesse a campaign in motion is also paramount. Once the strategy is handed off from the media planner to the media buyer, it is up to the media buyer to optimize the platforms and channels used to ensure the campaign’s effectiveness across its lifecycle.

YOU NEED THESE ATTRIBUTES AND CHARACTERISTICS TO SUCCEED AS A MEDIA BUYER

  • Excellent negotiation and relationship-building skills. This job is all about negotiating terms and money — so media buyers need to excel in this department in spades.
  • A nuanced understanding of media consumption and overarching marketing strategy is essential for media buyers.
  • A strategic financial mindset to calculate rates, budgets, and usage is key to succeeding as a media buyer because they are the team’s money managers.
  • Budget savoir-faire. Media buyers have to make the advertising magic happen but within budget. The name of the game is getting the best inventory for the best price for the most impact on the leading demographic.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES OF A MEDIA BUYER

  • Monitor daily client performance and campaign delivery across channels to ensure strategies are implemented correctly and goals met
  • Connect the dots between internal teams, vendors, and media network partners
  • Perform research and analysis of media landscape using Nielsen, Kantar, iSpot, and other research platforms
  • Evaluate and negotiate new media opportunities and advertising contracts
  • Utilize web analytics tools to monitor digital campaigns
  • Monitor costs and ROI (return on investment)
  • Ensure ads are displayed correctly across channel distribution
  • Communicate with media companies to find available times and spaces and pricing for ad placements

QUALIFICATIONS

Most media buying professionals hold a bachelor’s degree, with majors in marketing, communications, or public relations. In terms of personality, this is a people person, numbers loving role — you’ll need to like both to succeed. It is useful to have experience in both advertising and media outreach and learn how to utilize media research strategies like Nielsen research tools.

SALARY

Many media buyers earn part of their income from commission. The more advertising space and time they buy, the more money they stand to gain. Therefore base salary is not necessarily reflective of full earnings potential. Media buyers make on average $80,509 a year, but the position offers career growth opportunities that could lead to higher-value roles with experience.


About the author.
An award-winning creator and digital health, wellness, and lifestyle content strategist — Karina writes, edits, and produces compelling content across multiple platforms — including articles, video, interactive tools, and documentary film. Her work has been featured on MSN Lifestyle, Apartment Therapy, Goop, Psycom, Pregnancy & Newborn, Eat This Not That, thirdAGE, and Remedy Health Media digital properties.

Hindsight is 20/20; looking at the way our past shapes (and sometimes parallels) our present might reveal some insight into the train wreck that is the year 2020. Meaning? Maybe these “unprecedented times” aren’t as unprecedented as they may feel. When you enter the time machine and take a look at marketing and advertising efforts from other turbulent times, you’ll find similarities abound.

Here is a look at some ways the wars and illnesses of the 20th and 21st centuries have intermingled with advertising, technology and propaganda to, inevitably, transform the dominant culture. Be warned, reading this may lead to feelings of déjà vu.

The Spanish Flu: Dangerous Parallels

While the state of the world and the state of medicine are very different now than they were in the early 20th century, many of the trends and messaging around the Spanish Flu and COVID-19 run parallel. The viruses are very different, but there are hygienic mainstays that have been communicated during both: wear a mask, wash your hands, and avoid crowded spaces.

Not surprisingly, advertisements for “life-saving” soaps, the dangers of crowds, and a range of antiseptic products were prevalent in early twentieth century publications. However, it also seems there were plenty of anti-makers in pandemics past. It’s not just a modern problem. San Francisco was home to an “Anti-Mask League,” and men were more reluctant to wear masks than women. Sound familiar?

Another common trend that we are seeing echoes of now is the prevalence of misinformation about “cures” and “remedies” that lacked scientific backing. For example, a malted milk brand promised it would “cure the Spanish Flu,” despite no evidence supporting that claim. Today, we’ve seen that within alternative medicine and the wellness industry.

Interwar Period + Great Depression: From Bold Claims to Daring Pivots

While Europe languished in the agony of postwar trauma, the US economy boomed as their troops returned home. Luxury, film, fun, and extremely bold claims were all the rage then. Without government regulations, a range of inventions hit the market that claimed to reshape faces, fix bad backs, or protect people from viruses. As scientific breakthroughs emerged, so did claims of miracle cures, particularly from soap brands.

Once the Great Depression hit, soaps had to pivot. The term “soap opera” actually emerged when Proctor & Gamble began sponsoring day time radio shows to advertise their soap, targeting housewives who listened in the afternoon.

There was a range of other great pivots during this time. Ginger ale’s popularity came from Yuengling’s pivot after prohibition prevented him from brewing beer. MGM offered double features for the price of one. Martin Guitars offered the same deals to mom and pop stores as they did to bigger stores, giving them the integrity edge. Tobacco was one of the more successful industries of the 1930s thanks in part to doctor and celebrity endorsements.

Advertisers faced many of the same challenges they face now: reading the room. Some attempted to draw on hope for the future, some encouraged spending despite hard times so as not to make them worse. A 1933 bill that gave the FDA power to prohibit false and misleading ads shifted the bold claims of yesteryear to something a little more realistic.

Overall, advertising plummeted by over 60% and didn’t fully recover until after World War II. We’ve seen similar dips and shifts, most notably from TV to digital ads, explored below.

The Post-War Rise of Consumerism

As the end of World War II loomed on the horizon, advertisers started planting the seeds of demand for the future. After years of rationing, minimal leisure time, and limited consumer choices, with industrial and consumer brands promoting patriotism and war bonds, campaigns shifted their view to the future, playing on the technological fantasies of an automated future and promising a bright “world of tomorrow” as would later be depicted in shows like The Jetsons.

Spending habits changed drastically once supplies were back in the market. Consumers spent $5.7 billion in 1950, double of what was spent in 1945. Not only were scarce goods replenished, but a plethora of new offerings hit the shelves. From new hygienic and beauty products, to goods marketed to new mothers as the “baby boom” took place, advertisers promised a perfect utopia that many modern folks might confuse with a nostalgic reality. Emphasis on image and “family values” were prevalent during the so-called the golden age of advertising.

Along with the rise in products, manufacturing that had been purposed for the war effort had to be shifted towards civilians and thus began the dawn of single use cans and plastic bottles. Where once glass bottles were picked up and refilled, consumers were instead urged to simply throw things away in this revolution of convenience.

The consequences of single use plastics as a major component of consumer packaging are still ravaging our businesses, homes, landfills, and oceans. It’s almost as if the post-war time of plenty directly led to the habits that are killing us, and the planet, now. We still seem to value convenience (like Amazon) over conservation.

The industry was still poorly regulated throughout the post-war and Cold War era. Despite heavy censorship in comics and film, advertisements regularly featured jokes about domestic violence, smoking, and TAPE WORMS as doctor-approved weight loss aids.

During this time, advertisers had far more reach with the introduction of the television, which placed their ads directly into 90% of American homes by 1959.

Modern Pandemic: Some Things Never Change

At the beginning of the pandemic, some companies embraced the message of staying indoors for the common good. Perhaps no brand more effectively than Jeep—check out their #StayOffTheRoad ad spot and their creative take on their iconic design:


Images courtesy of Ads of the World.

While the 90s and early 2000s featured ads about good times with a plethora of celebrity endorsements, crowded spaces, and bustling cities (except for a brief period of somber patriotism after 9/11), many companies have drastically shifted their tone to accommodate the plight of a modern pandemic. KFC’s latest “finger licking good” campaign launched just before the pandemic set in and was pulled almost immediately.

Ford shifted early on, offering payment relief and showed their commitment to manufacturing PPE supplies and ventilators. Walmart, Samsung and Uber played on the heartstrings of consumers by offering messages of distant support during hard times. Guinness shifted their St. Patrick’s Day messaging to show community support while social distancing. Like the strategies of World War II, brands wanted to stay top of mind despite present hardship. Matthew McConaughey directed several PSAs about staying home as the best weapon we have in the war against COVID-19.

Despite the continued messaging, television ad spending fell 41% in April. As of this month, however, digital ad revenue is climbing back up.

Some campaigns, like this Havas campaign for Durex, are spreading more unique messages like “Let’s not go back to normal,” emphasizing that “normal isn’t good enough” and that the pandemic could be a catalyst for change.

However, as the pandemic rages on, and Americans get increasingly more reluctant to stay inside (or more alarmingly embrace conspiracy theories about the #plandemic hoax, 5G nonsense, or whatever range of misinformation that’s out there), the messaging has been less concerned with “let’s keep each other safe” and has moved more towards “we can start doing things again, it’s fine,” depending on where you live.

Of course, that’s not the case for the families struggling to make ends meet without another stimulus check. While entertainment, tourism and events have taken a nose dive, the tech industry has become more powerful than ever, as Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook have managed to grow billions of dollars in profit this year.

Over the summer, Google had to start banning publishers from advertising on Coronavirus conspiracy theories after already banning dangerous claims about unproven cures. Sound familiar?

While misinformation during the Spanish Flu was a problem, the rate at which it can spread now can mean catastrophe. Social media can allow misinformation to spread at lightning speed with quack advice and conspiracy theories making their rounds on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and of course, forums like Reddit and Four Chan. It seems it’s in our nature to share the exciting falsehood, more than the boring reality.

It’s extremely important we stay vigilant to misinformation now more than ever. Check your sources, fact check, or use a resource like Snopes to verify information. There are also podcasts like Conspirituality that explore the intersection between the wellness industry and conspiracy theories and shed light on how people can be manipulated into believing unverified claims. Protect your mind and your health! It’s wild out there.


About the author.
Alessandra is the mentor, educator, and writer behind Boneseed, a private practice devoted to deep self-inquiry through a range of physical, energetic, and mental modalities. She has over 500 hours of yoga, mentorship, and facilitation training and can be found slinging knowledge on her website, newsletter, and @bone.seed.

A poor hiring placement creates a heavy burden on all involved. The “all” pertains to both ends of the equation — the company and the candidate. How “heavy” is the hit? For employers, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates the fallout could be as high as 30% of the employee’s first-year salary. Quick number crunching reveals the impact in dollars. Let’s consider the case of an employee who earns $60,000 annually. Making a mistake in hiring this person could cost the company as much as $18,000. It’s no wonder the Society for Human Resource Management refers to the financial fallout from such a bad decision as “astronomical.”

What are the factors behind these amounts? They derive from a mix of time and expenses that organizations incur, as well as intangibles. The major ones include:

  • Interviewing
  • Recruiting
  • Onboarding
  • Training
  • Managing performance
  • Loss of productivity
  • Harm to morale, customer service, and reputation
  • Payment for outplacement services and legal fees

Then there’s the other side: there are the repercussions for employees too. A suboptimal work situation subjects them to an array of problems and hassles. Failure on a job creates a stain on their record and need to discuss and defend it in vying for another spot. Lost wages produces financial hardships. And emotional stress plays havoc on the person and their family members.

It behooves everyone involved to make good decisions throughout the recruitment process. But, all things considered, sometimes you don’t know how it will go until you do a test drive. This explains the genesis of a hiring protocol gaining popularity. And that is the freelance to full-time transition employment option. You can think of it simply: Try before You Buy.

Hybrid Hiring with Satisfaction and Safety in Mind

Freelance to permanent placement provides a wide range of benefits. It brings to employment the principles we use for most aspects of our life. We try on clothing and shoes before buying them, sometimes lease or rent items prior to purchasing. Why not apply this practice to how we approach critical matters regarding business and livelihood? This hiring model enables organizations to get the talent they need quickly. At the same time, it ensures that the candidate selected has the desired hard and soft skills to mesh with the team on a long-term basis. What’s more, it extends the same set of assurances to the candidates themselves.

Also known as temporary to permanent or temp to perm, this style of recruiting spans the best of both worlds. It bridges gig assignments and full-time payroll employment. Job requisitions and alerts embed this provision in the descriptions. They may note it in several ways. In the status line, a term used is “Freelance/Possible Full Time.” In the estimated time of duration, it indicates “Possible Full Time.”

Employers have the confidence of knowing that those applying for the job ultimately seek full-time payroll positions. Candidates understand this concept too; that is, if they do well, the opportunity for enduring work exists. If there’s any doubt about fit or other factors, employers have yet another possibility. They may extend the length of the temporary/freelance assignment. This gives them more time to make a final decision about bringing the person permanently onto the payroll.

Cases in Point

Creative Circle offers this recruiting specialty. Since COVID-19 took root, finding a full-time employee by hiring a freelancer first has attracted major interest. In fact, it has proved to be the most sought after hiring pattern for top clients. It provides them with the help they need at this difficult time until their economics improve to add a full-time resource. For applicants, many lost their permanent jobs during the pandemic. This arrangement gets them back into the workforce; it also offers them peace of mind about starting something new. And it may lead to a long-term career at the company that engages them initially on a provisional basis.

Although any role can be filled via this method, the top 10 regularly requested temp-to-perm titles include:

  • Marketing Manager
  • Marketing Coordinator
  • e-Commerce Specialist
  • Social Media Director
  • Digital Strategist
  • Project Manager
  • UX Director
  • Email Marketing Specialist
  • Copywriter
  • Graphic Designer

Creative Circle has an active database of highly qualified candidates in major markets across North America, standing eager and ready to fill these and other jobs. With COVID-19 in mind, temp to perm fares as well for remote placements and off-site work as it does for in-office situations.

When it comes to moving forward in this sphere, take advice from what an advertising slogan once proclaimed: “Try it, you’ll like it.” The freelance to full-time hiring option is an all-around win-win waiting to happen. Get started now.


About the author.
You name it, she covers it. That’s the can-do attitude Sherry M. Adler brings to the craft of writing. A polished marketing and communications professional, she has a passion for learning and the world at large. She uses it plus the power of words to inform and energize stakeholders of all kinds. And to show how all of this can make a difference, she calls her business WriteResults NY, LLC.

When faced with the impossible, an experienced art buyer can make the magic happen just by pulling out their little black book (aka iPhone) — but what do they really do?

Traditionally, an art buyer searched for creative talent for photoshoots, finding talent, negotiating fees, coordinating pre-production planning, and then handed the project over to a project manager for production. Their role was to ensure that artwork — be it photography, illustration, animation — not only meets a client’s needs but is also of the highest quality and value.

But today, the lines have gotten a little blurred. There’s less and less significance placed on fine photography and art in the ever-burgeoning world of digital media. While some feel the role of an art buyer specialist should be even more critical in our ever-saturated visual landscape, the roles of producer and art buyer have begun to merge.

Today, an art buyer often has to straddle what was traditionally two separate roles and be equally steeped in the culture of production and know which vendors are the best fit for a project. The role of art buyer has blended with art producer in today’s agency world, and in many shops, the two are synonymous.

WHAT DOES AN ART BUYER / ART PRODUCER DO?

An art buyer produces commercial advertising projects, maintaining creative integrity within a budget. Amen. They understand all of the project needs, source all the appropriate vendors, and shepherd the creative vision to create the best value for the end client. An art buyer’s special sauce is knowing the right people for the job — you need an extensive familiarity of industry talent worldwide, from photographers, illustrators, animators, CGI shops, retouching resources, and more. You have to know how to write contracts, with a deep understanding of all language surrounding usage and deliverables to realize the creative vision. It’s your job to recognize legal pitfalls (especially copyright issues) and safeguard both the agency and client against them.

YOU NEED THESE ATTRIBUTES AND CHARACTERISTICS TO SUCCEED AT BEING AN ART BUYER / ART PRODUCER.

  • Art buyers/producers must be consummate networkers and relationship builders. It’s critical to work with people you trust. Art buyers/producers need to know and understand how to navigate personalities (and we know there’s a lot of personality in the agency world!).
  • Budget, budget, budget. Did we mention that art producers must be good at budgeting and negotiation? Art buyers and art producers need to be nimble with numbers and know the cost and value of things. It’s key to be able to move numbers around in your head as project scope increases or a client asks for something last-minute. Money matters — art buyers have to know how to talk dollars (or £, ¥, €) with teams, clients, and vendors.
  • You need to know how to say no because sometimes, no is the right answer. Not everything can be done. Cheap clients can burn bridges and jeopardize good work. An ace art buyer or producer protects both clients and vendors alike, strutting the ambassadorial catwalk like a champ.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES OF AN ART BUYER / ART PRODUCER INCLUDE:

  • Work with creative teams from concept to completion of final artwork
  • Oversee art origination and asset output from the initial creative development phase through production to deliverable
  • Ensure creative and brand needs are both being met
  • Contribute to the creative process and offer workable solutions
  • Maintain a pulse on emerging artists and trends to elevate agency and brands
  • Build relationships and creative, collaborative work environments
  • Be the steward providing governance over image use

QUALIFICATIONS

You’ll likely need to have a Bachelor’s degree, particularly with a focus on Digital Art or Photography. In terms of personality, this is a role for people who like people — the name of the art buying game is collaboration. You’ll need a strong visual sensibility and be able to problem-solve like a champ.

SALARY

An art producer typically makes $60,000 to $100,000 but depends on the city and level of experience.


About the author.
An award-winning creator and digital health, wellness, and lifestyle content strategist — Karina writes, edits, and produces compelling content across multiple platforms — including articles, video, interactive tools, and documentary film. Her work has been featured on MSN Lifestyle, Apartment Therapy, Goop, Psycom, Pregnancy & Newborn, Eat This Not That, thirdAGE, and Remedy Health Media digital properties.

Angry. Weepy. Irritable. Unfocused. Tired. Anxious. Emotional. Withdrawn. Combative. Hopeless. Depressed. Invaded by negative self-talk.

These are just a few of the states I’ve passed through in the past year. After sustaining a concussion last November, I’ve experienced a range of symptoms like sensitivity to light and sound, nausea and pain, but the hardest one to work through has been my inability to sleep through the night. In the beginning, I could barely sleep at all. Over the past couple of months, I’ve found a range of remedies that have not cured me completely but have gotten me to the point of actually functioning. Since I started researching, and since a global pandemic raised the collective anxiety, I learned I was not alone. In fact, insomnia plagues 10-15% of the US population leading to 5.5 million office visits in 2010. I would venture to guess those stats are elevated now.

Long term, insomnia can cause impaired performance, slowed reaction time, increased risk for mental health disorders like anxiety and depression, and increased risk for long term illness like heart disease or high blood pressure. And if the health effects aren’t enough to worry you (although they should be), a 2011 study found that insomnia costs the U.S. workforce $63.2 billion in lost productivity every year.

Thanks to an increase in collective anxiety, depression, isolation, greater family and work stress, excess screen time, and stress-related fatigue, a lot of us are having a hard time sleeping well. We’ve had some time to adjust and most states have reopened, so maybe our schedules are a little more normalized, maybe we’re getting out more in the fresh fall air, but maybe it’s still not quite what we need to get quality sleep. If at this point sleep is still an issue, it could become a more long-term problem like insomnia disorder, circadian sleep-wake disorder, or nightmare disorder. Or maybe you’re finding yourself in some weird in between place like me where you’re starting to get sleep again … just not quite enough.

I’ve tried a lot of things to get my sleep back in order. Things have helped, things have hurt, things have done nothing. The following isn’t medical advice, just the reports of my experiments with a range of remedies spanning over the past 7+ months. Consult with a doctor before getting too crazy.

Food + Beverages

Almonds
Almonds are a great source of melatonin and magnesium. Enough for them to do anything on their own? Not really, but I will grab a handful if I didn’t eat enough dinner and start to get hungry before bed.

Chamomile Tea
The soothing effects of this tea are certainly not lost on me, but again, not quite strong enough for my issues.

Turkey
Turkey contains tryptophan which increases the production of melatonin. I have had ground turkey for dinner a few times and I’ve had overall better nights of sleep, but I also just ate better in general on those nights. Like the above, it’s not a cure, but it doesn’t hurt.

Tart Cherry Juice
While tart cherry juice has been shown to elevate melatonin levels, I didn’t notice enough of a change to write home about. It was a delicious pre-sleep beverage, but with all these liquids, I’m more likely to wake up to pee.

And more…
There are tons of foods recommended for inducing and elongating sleep which may or may not have some effect, however, none of it seems to be strong enough for those of us with bigger sleep issues. I try to have a solid clean meal two hours before bed, full of protein, fat, and veggies, sometimes with a light carb element.

Accessories

BedJet
This cooling device blows cold air into the covers so my overheated body stays cooler for longer, but the mattress beneath me still gets warm and I usually have to move to cool down. Helpful, but not a cure.

Eye mask
Hell yes. Darkness lets our bodies know it’s time for sleep. This is a solid piece in the sleep-well puzzle. At least it is for me. I use an eye mask that kind of looks like a bra so it doesn’t press on my eyes, although some people like that pressure. Go wild. Experiment. I don’t use it every night, but if I’m going to bed earlier and there’s light creeping in from the living room, it’s essential.

Earplugs
I started using earplugs long before this issue came up. As a light sleeper living in New York City, I used them nightly to drown out the sounds of motorcycles, music, and general debauchery on the streets below. The habit has stuck with me through the move to Miami and especially now in my partnered state, it keeps his snoring from waking me … most of the time.

If you’re a light sleeper at all, earplugs can be a godsend. I alternate between reusable ones like Happy Ears and foam ones.

Acupressure Mat
Whenever I have a pain or anxiety flare up, this is my go-to. Some people love it, some people hate it. If you are not down with a little pain, I don’t recommend it. But for me, ten minutes of acute pain can lead to some relief from anxiety and more chronic pain. Studies show its potential for pain relief, as well as its safety!

Exercises

Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall)
As a yoga instructor, this is one of my favorite restorative poses. Throw your legs up the wall or onto a chair and just feel those femurs sinking into the hip socket. It’s relaxing and good for almost any kind of pain in the back or pelvis.

And of course, a long-term yoga practice is great for your body, mind and spirit, bringing clarity of mind, awareness, and it even reduces inflammation.

Meditation
I’ve been a consistent meditator for nearly 6 years. It definitely helps every aspect of my life and well-being, but it got harder after the concussion and chronic pain set it. I’m not as disciplined as I used to be, but I try to get in at least 10-20 minutes per day. It’s definitely helpful for sleep.

Cardio + Strength Training
Thirty minutes of cardio per day has been shown to improve sleep, as long as you don’t work out right before bed. Strength training also leads to better sleep quality and duration. In my experience, there’s a sweet spot. If I work out to exhaustion and cause a lot of extra pain, my body gets more stressed than tuckered out.

Habits

No Screens Before Bed
So I started this as a battle against blue light, but apparently the science on that is still under debate. However, I find staring at my phone and scrolling, or watching TV doesn’t let my body wind down. I get much better sleep when I spend the hours before bed listening to music, using the acupressure mat, reading, and listening to music.

Listen to Something
I don’t have headphones that I enjoy sleeping with, but I did find some benefit to listening to binaural beats or some audio like Bedtime Stories helps prevent anxious thoughts and gets me back into relaxation and sleep mode.

Consistent Wake Up + Bedtime
I hate this one, but I do my best to go to sleep between 11 and 11:30PM. I usually wake up between 7:30 and 8AM. I used to prefer early morning wake ups, but this is what my body wants right now, so I must obey. This one is super important and beneficial for everyone.

Another technique people use is having the same wake up time, even when you have trouble falling asleep to train your body, but I lack the constitution for that kind of torture.

Cutting Down Caffeine + Alcohol
After a poor night of sleep, pounding coffee seems like a great idea, but I try to stick to one cup before 11AM so that it doesn’t keep my nervous system too amped up. (I’m extra sensitive to it, but the average person should be fine.) I don’t drink alcohol because it’s bad for my brain and my body hates it, but it also really messes with sleep quality. I have never smoked cigarettes (except for that one week in Paris and a few sad-girl nights out in my early 20s), but that’s not great for sleep either, just FYI.

Keeping it Cool
65°F is the optimal room temperature for sleep. I feel bad cranking the AC that much, so I opt for 68°F, but if you live somewhere cooler than Miami, bless you and enjoy.

Hot Bath or Shower
Taking a hot shower before bed actually cools the body down, letting the body know it’s time for bed and helping the average person fall asleep more quickly.

Changing Locations
Often when I wake up, staying in bed just makes things worse. I’m restless or too hot and can’t get comfortable. I used to move to the couch and fall asleep for a while and eventually make it back into bed. Now, however, I move to another mattress.

Mindset Manipulation
At its worse, my insomnia kept me awake most of the night, anxious, tired, and frustrated. A common phrase to describe the post-concussion brain is “tired and wired” so you can imagine how fun that must be. I started getting super stressed any time I woke up, dreading the horrible day ahead.

Over time, it became clear that even if I was tired, it wasn’t the end of the world. When I was still in recovery, I had to take time for naps to heal my ailing brain. Now, a bad night of sleep just means the next night will probably be pretty good.

Supplements & Medication

5HTP Supplement
5HTP is an amino acid that your body uses to produce serotonin. It has a range of benefits from easing depression to helping with sleep. It didn’t really help me sleep, but I think I was less cranky while I took it after a poor night of sleep.

Melatonin
Melatonin supplements alone didn’t do much for me, and it’s not recommended for long-term use, so I ditched it (although it comes in another supplement mentioned below). It’s mostly recommended for short-term use like jet lag.

GABA
This is another one that made a little difference. Maybe a little calmer, but not much. GABA is an amino acid that works as a neurotransmitter. Studies show it can help with anxiety, insomnia and fatigue, but the studies were small and it seems our bodies aren’t great at absorbing it in supplement form.

Advil PM
When I need pain relief in addition to help sleeping, this is my go-to. However, I find that taking the recommended 2 capsules can sometimes make me feel wired out and unable to sleep. With just one pill, I usually do pretty well. Some folks prefer Benadryl for their OTC sleep aide although I try not to do this more than a few times a month.

Magnesium
After a concussion, your magnesium levels drop really low, and I have the lab results to prove it. Furthermore, studies suggest 75% of Americans are not hitting their daily intake needs of this essential mineral. I take a few different supplements, but for sleep I prefer might nightly CALM drink. I used to use the regular one but then discovered the “Calmful Sleep” one which contains GABA, L-Theanine, and melatonin cutting my supplement game down, getting more magnesium into my brain, and helping to induce that state of relaxation.

CBD
While studies are ongoing for CBD, it has shown promise to treat pain, anxiety, and sleep, and my baseline anxiety has definitely leveled out since I started taking it. While the magnesium calms my muscles, this soothes my nerves and makes the wind down relaxation time a little easier. I use 2-3 droppers full of Charlotte’s Web CBD oil — which comes out to 35-55mg — 1-2 hours before bed. (And I don’t make money telling you that, it just works for me.)

In Conclusion

Eating well, exercising and keeping up my meditation practice definitely help my body stay on track for health, but they’re not always enough for chronic sleep issues. For now, my best bedtime routine consists of a hot shower, 20 minutes on the acupressure mat, lowering the AC to 68°F, making my CALM Magnesium supplement drink, some Viparita Karani time, ~60mg of CBD oil, and reading War & Peace until I get too drowsy to keep going.

I tried a lot of things that worked and a lot that didn’t. But ultimately experimentation was my friend and allowed me to shake the hold insomnia had on me. Remember, this is all super personal so talk to your doctor, experiment, and find what works best for you!


About the author.
Alessandra is the mentor, educator, and writer behind Boneseed, a private practice devoted to deep self-inquiry through a range of physical, energetic, and mental modalities. She has over 500 hours of yoga, mentorship, and facilitation training and can be found slinging knowledge on her website, newsletter, and @bone.seed.

José Martí is commonly thought of as the patron saint of Cuba. He is almost a deity, the most universally beloved and revered figure in the island’s post-colonial history.* A teacher, journalist, poet, philosopher, and revolutionary, Martí relentlessly co-conspired to free Cuba from Spanish rule. His death at the beginning of the Cuban War of Independence branded him as a martyr and inspired his countrymen to fight for their freedom.

Born in Havana in 1853, he came of age during the Ten Years War, Cuba’s first attempt to rid themselves of Spanish sovereign rule. At 16, he was already a promising writer, academic, and staunch proponent of liberty for his island nation. During the conflict, he was incarcerated, sentenced to hard labor, and eventually deported to Spain.

“Saber leer es saber andar. Saber escribir es saber ascender”
Knowing how to read is knowing how to walk. Knowing how to write is knowing how to fly.

After attending university and continuing his writing career, Marti moved to Mexico, where he met his wife and later spent time teaching in Guatemala. He made attempts to return to Cuba, but after having a request to practice law denied, he eventually left for the United States. During that time, he worked as a journalist (even founding newspapers and magazines himself), professor, and writer. He taught Afro-Cuban exiles how to read and write, earning the nickname “El Maestro,” and was considered a renewer of Spanish poetry. Martí is renowned as one of the most important writers of the 19th century.

As he spent more time in the United States, he connected with the community of Cuban exiles. While making plans for the Cuban War of Independence, he eventually tapped into this network to raise money for the war effort and sent weapons to Cuba. In 1892 he was elected “delegate” of the Partido Revolucionario Cubano. As a writer and philosopher, he managed to bring together various factions of rebels Including Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gomez, who were leaders during the Ten Years War, forming a unified alliance against Spanish occupation.

No hay hombre sin Patria, ni Patria sin libertad”
There is no man without his country, nor a country without liberty

On April 11, 1895, Marti, Gomez, and others landed in Cuba and met with the Cuban rebels lead by Maceo. It soon became clear while he was an excellent communicator and strategist, Marti was not a soldier. One month later, on May 19, he was killed during the Battle of Dos Rios.

According to scholars, when he galloped on horseback in Dos Rios it was “basically suicide.” Some note that it was “the best possible death for him,” not because he longed for death, but rather he would have chosen to die on the battlefield in pursuit of liberty. In his poetry he deems dying in the light of the sun as the death of a good man.

My great-grandmother’s personal favorite:
“Ser culto para ser libre.”
Be educated to be free

While he was only 42 at the time of his death, Martí left behind an incredible legacy as a politician, journalist, and writer, shaping Cuba’s liberation not only through his ideology, but also his martyrdom. The start of the Cuban War of Independence failed to appeal to the common man as it was organized by the intellectual elite rather than the masses, but Martí’s death provided a source of inspiration that permeated the rest of Cuban culture, as well as much of Latin-America and the subsequent migrants of the Cuban diaspora.

Cuba’s signature song, “Guantanamera,” draws its best known lyrics (there are many versions of it, as folk songs lend themselves to adlibbing the verses) from one of Martí’s poetry collections, Versos Sencillos or “Simple Verses.” The excerpted stanzas are highlighted below (with fairly literal translations by yours truly).

I:1

Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crece la palma,
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma.

I am an honest man
From where the palm grows,
And before I die I want to
Throw my verses from my soul.

V:3

Mi verso es de un verde claro
Y de un carmín encendido:
Mi verso es un ciervo herido
Que busca en el monte amparo.

My verse is of a soft green
And of a flaming carmine:
My verse is of a wounded deer
That searches for shelter in the hills.

XXXIX:1

Cultivo una rosa blanca
En julio como en enero,
Para el amigo sincero
Que me da su mano franca.

I cultivate a white rose
In July just as in January,
For the honest friend
That gives me their open hand.

III:2

Con los pobres de la tierra
Quiero yo mi suerte echar:
El arroyo de la sierra
Me complace más que el mar.

To the earth’s poor
I’d like to cast my luck:
The streams of the mountains
Please me more than the sea.=

*Meanwhile, the most revered indigenous (or pre-colonial) figure would be Hatuey, a Taino chief who led the first fighters against the Spaniards and was burned at the stake. He is known as Cuba’s First National Hero. The most generally beloved and revered figure might be Fidel Castro or Che Guevara, but the love is very much not universal, especially among Cuban-Americans.

Note: Parts of this article without linked citations take their evidence from The Cuba Libre Story: Episode 1 Breaking Chains


About the author.
Alessandra is the mentor, educator, and writer behind Boneseed, a private practice devoted to deep self-inquiry through a range of physical, energetic, and mental modalities. She has over 500 hours of yoga, mentorship, and facilitation training and can be found slinging knowledge on her website, newsletter, and @bone.seed.

Shirley Chisholm personifies the triumph of the marginalized becoming center stage in the American political story.

The first African American woman elected to Congress, she served a newly reapportioned Congressional district centered in Brooklyn, New York, for seven terms, starting in 1969. The daughter of immigrants from Guyana and Barbados, Chisholm was a tireless advocate for poor, inner-city residents and was elected in part due to her deep community roots in her Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Catapulted into the national limelight due to her race, gender, and larger-than-life personality — Chisholm was also the first Black woman to campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1972. Her slogan — “Unbought and Unbossed,” captures her fierce self-determination and independent spirit. But she was plagued by sexist and racist opposition from within and without, and failed to win her party’s nomination, losing to anti-Vietnam War crusader Senator George McGovern.

Born in Brooklyn, November 30, 1924, Shirley Anita St. Hill was the eldest of her four sisters. Her mother, Ruby Seale St. Hill, was a seamstress from Barbados, her father, Charles St. Hill, a factory laborer from Guyana. For part of her childhood, Chisholm lived on her maternal grandparents’ farm in Barbados, receiving a British education, while her parents toiled to make a living during the Great Depression. Her time in the West Indies gifted Chisholm with a slight, clipped British accent, which she kept her whole life. Chisholm graduated with high marks from public schools in Brooklyn and was accepted to Vassar and Oberlin colleges — but attended Brooklyn College on scholarship and graduated cum laude, with a Bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1946. In 1949, she married Conrad Q. Chisholm, a private eye (whom she later divorced, in 1977), and went on to earn a Master’s degree from Columbia University in early childhood education in 1951.

After working for several years as a nursery school teacher, and later as an educational consultant for New York City’s Division of Daycare, Chisholm pivoted into a career in politics. In the 1960s, she joined her local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, to join the growing fight against racism. But as it turned out, racism was not her only enemy. “I have certainly met much more discrimination in terms of being a woman than being black.” Eager for change, Chisholm also joined her local League of Women Voters group, the Urban League, and the Democratic Party club of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Her involvement with the NAACP and these other groups spurred Chisholm to run for New York State Legislature in 1964. She won — becoming just the second African American in New York to do so. And only four years later, Chisholm became the first African American woman to win a seat in Congress. In 1968, after a court-mandated redistricting created a new, heavily democratic district in her neighborhood, Chisholm seized the moment and made a historic run for Congress, kicking off what would be a seven-term tenure.

Roaming the new district in a sound truck that she would pull up outside housing projects, she called out to her community: “Ladies and Gentlemen … this is fighting Shirley Chisholm coming through.” She successfully capitalized on her ability to connect with people. “I have a way of talking that does something to people,” she said. “I have a theory about campaigning. You have to let them feel you.”

“Fighting Shirley” championed racial and gender equality, the plight of the poor, and was a staunch advocate for ending the Vietnam War, going on to introduce more than 50 pieces of legislation. Chisholm was a co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus — and in 1977, made herstory again by becoming the first Black woman (and second woman ever) to serve on the mighty House Rules Committee — a year that she also celebrated new love, marrying Arthur Hardwick Jr., a New York State legislator.

But it was her run for President, in 1972, that feels especially relevant today, as we continue to grapple with entrenched systemic racism and an avalanche of social justice activism. With Kamala Harris, our first-ever woman of color running as vice presidential candidate, we are closer than ever to realizing Chisholm’s vision. While her bid for President was ultimately unsuccessful, as an unwavering feminist with strong stances on civil and women’s rights, and support for the poor and working-class — Chisholm’s campaign captured hearts, minds, and vitriol. In her rousing speech in which she announced her candidacy, she exclaimed, “I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud, I am not the candidate of the woman’s movement of this country, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that.”

Her famous slogan, “Unbought and Unbossed,” personified a powerful and defiant campaign that sought to speak truth to power despite the Congressional Black Caucus’s unsupportive male members. Prominent African American politicians and activists Jesse Jackson, Carl Stokes, Julian Bond, and John Conyers Jr. each put the strength of their support behind her white, male opponent — George McGovern. Sexism and disbelief that a woman could actually win marked their flawed rationale behind their stance. Her response cuts deep to this day, “Black male politicians are no different from white male politicians. This ‘woman thing’ is so deep. I’ve found it out in this campaign if I never knew it before.” While she did not win the Democratic nomination, Chisholm gained national recognition, appearing on 12 national primary ballots, receiving 10% of the delegate vote, proving that her brave run had indeed won hearts and minds. During her campaign for President, she survived three assassination attempts, showing that she also scared people by boldly going where no Black woman had gone before.

Chisholm retired from Congress in 1983, going on to teach at Mount Holyoke College. In 1991, she made Florida her home, after declining to become US Ambassador to Jamaica due to poor health. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993. In January 2005, Chisholm suffered a series of strokes, dying at the age of 81. Forever a woman of firsts, even in death, she will be the first female ever to have a monument built in her honor in Brooklyn. Musing on her legacy, Chisholm said, “I want to be remembered as a woman … who dared to be a catalyst of change.


About the author.
An award-winning creator and digital health, wellness, and lifestyle content strategist — Karina writes, edits, and produces compelling content across multiple platforms — including articles, video, interactive tools, and documentary film. Her work has been featured on MSN Lifestyle, Apartment Therapy, Goop, Psycom, Pregnancy & Newborn, Eat This Not That, thirdAGE, and Remedy Health Media digital properties.