Alamo, TN – September 8, 2026 – What does it really mean to be professional at work? Using her book How to Be Unprofessional at Work: Tips to Ensure Failure as a starting point, author Merry Brown will lead this interactive workshop, which examines the everyday behaviors that undermine trust, damage relationships, create unnecessary conflict, and make it harder for people to do their jobs well.
Participants will examine common workplace behaviors, from poor communication and gossip to disrespect, unreliability, defensiveness, and avoiding accountability, and consider what professional behavior looks like instead. We will also explore how generational differences can shape expectations about professionalism and contribute to workplace misunderstandings.
Finally, participants will consider their role as business owners in clearly communicating expectations and intentionally creating and sustaining a healthy, respectful, and productive work environment.
The workshop will be held on Tuesday, September 29, at Gibson Electric Membership Corporation, located at 402 Egg Hill Rd. in Alamo, TN.
The workshop will run from 10-11:30 a.m. and is ideal for business owners, leaders, and managers committed to fostering better working conditions.
Brown is a writer, workplace mediator, and host of the international podcast Conflict Managed. She serves as Ombuds at the University of Tennessee at Martin and is the founder of Third-Party Workplace Conflict Restoration Services LLC.
Her latest book, Winning the Generation Wars at Work: Making (Your) Age an Asset, explores how age and experience shape our workplaces and offers practical insight for turning generational differences into strengths.
Free books will be available to the first 10 registrants.
Tickets for the workshop are $25 each.
Crockett County Chamber members receive a free ticket.
Contact the Crockett Chamber for more information.
About The Mill Workspace: The Mill Workspace, a DBA of Northwest Tennessee Entrepreneurship, Inc., is a nonprofit 501(c)3 entrepreneur center located in Dyersburg, TN, and focused on serving entrepreneurs in the nine counties of Northwest Tennessee. They help businesses through one-on-one counseling, workshops, and multi-week programs, all designed to help businesses in the region start up and grow.
Programs at The Mill are funded in part by a grant from LaunchTN.
