Play Nice: Playground Rules for Respect in the Workplace

Welcome to Book #1 of The Sandbox Series
Empowering Women. Educating Men. Changing the Culture. 
Play Nice - Playground Rules for Respect in the Workplace - An accessible guide to understanding what qualifies as sexual harassment and how to combat it, using the simple rules children learn on the playground.
==> Recipient of 2025 Reader Views Literary Award - Classic's Division for Business
One of today's most hotly discussed topics is sexual harassment in the workplace: what it looks like, how to prevent it, and what to do about it. So many people don't realize that they have been victims of sexual harassment or that they have a right to speak up and demand different treatment. Many don't realize that they are committing it, thanks certain behaviors being dismissed, forgiven, or ignored for many years when they should have been corrected long ago. Brigitte Gawenda Kimichik, JD, and J.R Tomlinson take things back to basics by applying the rules we all learned on the playground to the modern-day workplace, thus making clear to everyone what is and what isn't OK.

Play Nice: Playground Rules for Respect in the Workplace is an indispensable resource—both for empowering those who wish to reassert their boundaries and for teaching allies how to help in this fight. NEW - Check out Book #2 of The Sandbox Series: Play Smart - Playground Strategies for Success in a Male-Dominated Workplace, by Brigitte Gawenda Kimichik, JD.

Praise for Play Nice

"Chock full of smart, strategic advice to help anyone suffering from toxic behavior in the workplace. When you finish this book, you will realize that equal rights for women is not some far-off ideal but a reality that that soon can be achieved." —Skip Hollandsworth, Executive Editor, Texas Monthly

"For real change to occur, it is imperative that we all start holding ourselves responsible for ensuring everyone is treated respectfully. Play Nice is a giant step in the right direction. This book should be mandatory reading for all organizations and parents." —Vanessa Fox

Corp. VP, Chief Development Officer, Jack in the Box

"This is a must-read for any human resources executive, any woman embarking on her professional career, and any bystander (male or female) who is not sure what to do when faced with bad behavior." —Joel L. Ross, former General Counsel of Trammell Crow Company and retired partner of Vinson & Elkins LLP

Brigitte Kimichik retired in 2015 from the practice of law with over thirty years’ experience as a commercial real estate finance partner of the law firm of Andrews Kurth LLP, now Hunton Andrews Kurth. She received her JD in 1986 from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas, and her BBA with Honors from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas in 1983 after only two and a half years, where she was a member of the Dean's List and the Golden Key Honor Society. Brigitte was on the board of Wednesday’s Child Benefit Corporation from 1993 to 1997 and received the Most Powerful & Influential Women of Texas Award in 2012 from the National Diversity Council.
Born and raised in Germany, Brigitte earned her Abitur in December 1980 from the Gymnasium Osdorf, in Hamburg, Germany, and came to the US thereafter to study. She and her husband David have two daughters, Nicole and Samantha. She lives in Dallas, Texas.

JR Tomlinson has over twenty-nine years’ expertise in the commercial real estate and strategic alignment of corporate real estate operations for companies. She manages numerous multimillion-dollar complex transactions for Fortune clients in North America such as Ecolab, Nalco Company LLC, Huitt-Zollars, Jack in the Box, Distribution International, and One Vision Solutions. Awards for her skills and broad-based experience as one of the best in her field include the Dallas Power Broker Award by D Magazine, The US Green Council Building Award, and The Notable Women of Texas Award. JR is currently an executive managing director with Newmark Knight Frank.
Ms. Tomlinson first began her career as a financial consultant with Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith, earning her Series 7, 63, and 22 licenses after earning a BBA in finance and investments from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.
JR is married to her husband Rob Hargis and lives in Dallas, Texas.