Author Archive

Spring Fashion

Photography by Jacqui Smith Shot on location at Valley Farms, Helena, MT

Hair and Makeup by Katie Guthrie, Pure Hair Spa

AMBER: Lush blue jumper, Seychelles mirrored Oxfords, GoodWorks silver leather and silver chain bracelet,  Printed Village polka dot scarf and silver dangle earrings with blue accent. All from Sole Sisters. (pg. 83). Models own umbrella.

amber: Lush blue jumper, Seychelles mirrored Oxfords, GoodWorks silver leather and silver chain bracelet,
Printed Village polka dot scarf and silver dangle earrings with blue accent. All from Sole Sisters. (pg. 83).
Models own umbrella.

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Fair Pay Practices Open Up Opportunities

Text by Kristen McGuire | Photography by Sara Young

The gender pay equity gap affects households, not just women. Family-friendly benefits and flexibility are just as important to millennials as higher salaries. In Montana’s agricultural economy, at least one paycheck from a side gig balances out the risk of a bad crop year. Paycheck fairness is increasingly a gender-neutral proposition.

Liz Palla gets an early start each day in her home office. With her East Coast colleagues two hours ahead, she can jumpstart her to-do list and  free up her late afternoons for family time.

Liz Palla gets an early start each day in her home office. With her East Coast colleagues two hours ahead, she can jumpstart her to-do list and free up her late afternoons for family time.

Liz Palla rejoiced when she landed a telecommuting position with a strategic consulting firm serving foundations and charities. She found the golden ticket at just the right time. Her husband, Brendan, was re-entering the workforce after completing a Ph.D., so it was likely they would be moving from New York City. Happily for the University of Great Falls, the Pallas and their two little boys relocated in 2013, five months after she started her new job.

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Diabetes – A Growing Problem

Text by Deb Bjorsness- Benefis Diabetes Program Coordinator

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and continues to affect more Americans every year. From 1988 to 2008, the prevalence of diabetes diagnoses increased by a staggering 125 percent, and if the current growth patterns continue, as many as one in three Americans will have diabetes by 2050.

In addition to the increase of diabetes occurrence, pre-diabetes continues to grow in the United States. Pre-diabetes affects 86 million Americans, or approximately one in every three American adults.

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Fat Burning Body Weight Circuit

Text by Stephanie Frick | Photography by Jim Wells

This circuit training involves performing a series of body weight strength exercises with little to no rest between exercises. This is by far my favorite way to do cardiovascular exercise! The benefits of this workout include increasing work capacity (the amount of work you can do and recover from), increase in cardiovascular fitness, increase in strength endurance, adapting to acid buildup in the muscles, mental toughness, quick changes in body composition (lose fat without losing muscle).

There are many ways to design a circuit. You could pick sets of exercises and do one set of each with no rest. You could go several times through a circuit with no rest. You could do a series of exercises with work intervals and rest intervals. This can be as intense and as short as 15 minutes or they can be as long as an hour. I have chosen 8 exercises for you, around 40 minutes at length, including the warm up and cool down. 4 exercises are performed for 30 seconds straight through the set, until every exercise is finished. After each round of the exercises, 1 minute of recovery time is given. There is also a warm up and cool down. All exercises can be performed low to non-impact.

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e-Beauty

Text and photography provided by Phil Procopio

Would you ever think the world of beauty would be synonymous with the world wide web? In 2016, more and more people are turning to the web for everything beauty. YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest…all great resources for not only product information but step by step tutorials and lessons. I often tell my clients, these youtubers, instagramers and pinteresters, are like having me in your home walking you through all your beauty questions. I even turn to them once and a while for inspiration. These are just a few of my favorites that I follow and recommend to my clients.

Pixiwoo - YouTube One of the first mega makeup gurus on YouTube, Sam and Nic have a huge selection of tutorials to choose from.  They’re extremely talented and very relatable.

Pixiwoo – YouTube
One of the first mega makeup gurus on YouTube, Sam and Nic have a huge selection of tutorials to choose from. They’re extremely talented and very relatable.

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Springing into Beauty

Text and photography provided by The Penthouse Salon

It finally looks like we are shaking the winter blues as the Montana days get warmer and longer. With the change in season, although making us feel so much better it can cause real havoc with our hair and skin. Here are some products for a personal spring cleaning. Here are our tips to get a spring in your step and looking your best in time for the warmer weather.

Shampure Dry Shampoo by Aveda This is a non-aerosol powder mist that absorbs excess oils and lifts impurities away from the hair. It is a 99.8 percent naturally derived formula. Because of it’s scent it’s like a relaxing Sunday afternoon at the spa.

Shampure Dry Shampoo by Aveda
This is a non-aerosol powder mist that absorbs excess oils and lifts impurities away from the hair. It is a 99.8 percent naturally derived formula. Because of it’s scent it’s like a relaxing Sunday afternoon at the spa.

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