Hi, Here's a video I watched beginning to end. You might like it too. ~Jenise

Hi, Here’s a video I watched beginning to end. You might like it too. ~Jenise

I am a third generation article clipper. When we were little, Grandma Kay sent my sisters and me snippets of the local newspaper or magazines, including some annotation in her distinctive handwriting. They usually addressed favorite subjects of the time: food, dogs, hobbies.

My mom Sandy has deployed hundreds of paper surgical strikes of her own, leaving poignant (or sometimes pointed) articles on pillows, mailed clippings in manila envelopes when we moved out. Today we get “Sandy has shared an article with you!” emails.

Getting a clipping is a nice reminder that a loved one was thinking about you, and a way for them to stay connected on shared interests. I always thought it was a quaint, eccentric habit. “Oh another article from mom on the power of kale”.

But now I do it. With a vengeance. I send links to friends, family, colleagues– I can’t help myself. From close friends who know the source of this habit, I get replies “Thanks for the article Sandy!” I tell myself “everyone does it” but I know why I do it– it’s in my genes.

Last week mom sent me a link to a TED video about body language with the note “Looks like Brooke already has a handle on this.” My daughter Brooke is an assertive and confident almost 3-year old, and it’s our goal to keep her that way.

I have a few books on body language. I always thought the ability to know what people are “really” thinking via unconscious facial or body “tells” was super spy neato. I always pay attention to nose scratching for example, which can mean anything from a negative reaction to a lie. So I fired up the video to see if I could add anything new to my observational skills.

Personally I have little patience for videos. If the creator is unfamiliar, it’s difficult to know in advance whether the material will be worth the time it takes to watch them. I usually watch a few seconds of the intro, try to skip ahead to the punchline and then move on.

However, I ended up watching this video featuring social psychologist Amy Cuddy, twice, end to end. My takeaways:

Her description of the HBS students strutting around was awesome
Doing a simple pose for two minutes can change lives. “Fake it til you become it”!
You don’t see many standing ovations at TED.

I hit forward on the email. But as the To: line got longer and longer as I included more and more people, I realized I needed to publish instead of share.

And perhaps this is why I gravitated towards web publishing in the first place.

So thanks mom, for the gift of article clipping– it may have helped lead me to the dream career I have today. I hope to pass this gift on to Brooke, my future 4th generation “clipper”.

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Jenise Uehara Henrikson

CEO, Partner at Alpha Brand media

As CEO, Jenise manages Alpha Brand Media's long-term strategy while overseeing workflow performance and operations. She also manages select Alpha Brand Media ("ABM") properties and contributes content to ABM publications such as SearchEngineJournal.com.

Jenise graduated from Cal State Los Angeles (BA Sociology). In 1996 she joined Pointcast, a push technology startup where she was promoted to program manager for sponsored channels.

In 1999, Jenise joined Phone.com, a pre-IPO mobile Internet startup. After merging with Software.com in 2001, Phone.com changed its name to Openwave Systems. In 2005 she was promoted to Director, reported to the CFO and managed the Deals Desk, a sales and business ops team that manages a complex sales contracting process.

In 2007 she became CEO of Henrikson Media, a web publisher that was acquired by Alpha Brand Media in 2010.

Jenise has been quoted in ABC News Online, Investors.com, and internet marketing blog Shoemoney.com.