You’re calculating percentages in Excel wrong 😯

Hey there! I hope June’s treating you well (and if you’re melting into your chair because of the heat wave, just know you aren’t alone). Speaking of things that make us sweat—what’s the most unhinged thing you’ve seen someone do at the office?

I’ll go first: I once saw someone open Excel and then grab their calculator. 

Um….Excel is a calculator. 😅 Reply to this newsletter and let me know what wild things you’ve seen!

Turn Excel Into Your Personal Calculator 🧮

POV: Your boss asks you to find what percentage of total sales came from each month between January and May. Is your instinct to calculate it the hard way—like this? 👇

If so, I’ve got a better way! Whether you’re calculating sales numbers, budget spent, or your team’s percentage to goal, this Excel tip will save you from the calculator shuffle. 

Done! I posted a video on this tip, and one person commented, "I swear as soon as I start feeling good about Excel, someone shows me I know nothing." 

LOL. Don't worry—that’s the best part about Excel. There’s always something new to learn! 🤓

Get Really Good at Excel. Really Fast. 🏃 

Imagine your manager asked you for a report in Excel…by Friday. 🫢 “On it!” you say, but inside you're screaming. Pivot Tables? Formulas? There’s no way you’re pulling this off.

That’s where The Excelerator Course comes in. This course gives you the exact tools, shortcuts, and workflows to get things done without feeling overwhelmed or left behind.

Whether you're new to Excel or just want to sharpen your core skills, this course helps you build confidence fast. Here's how one previous student described The Excelerator Course:

If you’ve been meaning to finally get confident in Excel, now's the time! Use the code WORKBOOK30 for 30% off The Excelerator Course this week only. 💚 

Their Doubt ≠ Your Ceiling 

On my first day of MBA classes at Binghamton University, my professor asked me if I’d taken any of the prerequisite statistics courses. I was the only student who hadn’t. 

“I advise you to drop the class,” they said. “There’s a good chance you’ll fail data analytics.” Ouch. I had two choices:

1. Listen to them. 

2. Prove them wrong. 

You know I chose the latter. I was determined to major in supply chain management, regardless of the catching up it would require. So I went all in on Excel and made spreadsheets for everything…and I ended up graduating with the highest average in the class! 

That was over 10 years ago, but I still wonder what would’ve happened if I’d called it quits. Would I have found my passion for Excel? Would Miss Excel exist today?  

Hard to say, but what I do know is this: When someone tells you you don’t belong somewhere, whether that’s a classroom, job, or boardroom, it says more about their imagination than your potential. 

Most people (including that professor) only see what’s right in front of them. They only see your starting point, not your finish line. 

Although their doubt definitely stings in the moment, only you know what you’re capable of. And if you know you’re going to put in the time and effort, you can prove to them (and yourself) that their doubt isn’t your ceiling. 

As I always say, if you never quit, you have a 100% success rate. Just don’t let someone else’s limited perspective determine where you want to go. 🌱

• Still using CTRL + F to find values? Try this Excel hack instead. 😉

• How to make ChatGPT your assistant in under 20 seconds. ☑️

• The lazy genius’s way to clean up Excel spreadsheets. 🧠

• Why type manually when this Excel shortcut can read your mind? 🤯

• What your Sunday night energy says about your career trajectory. ↗️

Thanks for reading! Before we part ways, here’s a random fact: Did you know that Microsoft Office was actually first released for Mac (not Windows) back in 1989? And here I was thinking Excel and Windows were BFFs since day one. 😅

Stay Exceling,

Kat