Wanna know the unsexy secret to building a successful business?

Not the “10K in 10 days” version 😂 Today I’m pulling back the curtain and showing you how (and WHY) the sausage is made. 

It starts with this newsletter. I told you last week that every Monday morning, without fail, Rachel and I start working on it... and by the time it gets to you, we’ve spent a couple of hours making sure it actually reflects what’s really happening over here.

Most people don’t realize this, but Rachel and I start this newsletter/blog post on Monday mornings. We hop on Zoom with coffee and workshop the ideas that (sometimes after many changes) eventually land in your inbox on Friday.

Some Mondays are smooth, but this last one… was not.

The other night Dasan and I were sitting on the couch, and I was listening to a podcast on oil futures and running through worst-case scenarios.

Oil prices are zooming. War. Politics.  

Meanwhile, Dasan quietly grabbed the keys and said, “Well… if gas is going up, we should probably fill up the cars.”

And off he went.

One of us was mentally preparing for the end of civilization... the other filled the tanks.

I started T-ball with the boys in first grade... and when you play with the boys, you'd better swing for the fences. And the lesson that still holds, from the T-ball field to age 50: It's the swing that counts. 

A professor stands in front of her class holding a glass of water. She asks, “How heavy do you think this is?”

Students call out answers. Four ounces. Six ounces. One says, "It's not heavy."

The professor says, “Are you sure? Here... hold it." 

At first, the student doesn't flinch and rolls his eyes. But three minutes in, the glass starts to shake. At five... he grimaces and the class starts to chuckle.

Hey friend,

I’m about to add something new to my plate... and nope, your girl has no extra time... and nope, this has NOTHING to do with my business.

The first three weeks of 2026 have been crazy! Work is full. Life is full. January is definitely doing what January does.

BUT… y'all, I got a wild hair over the holidays... and, I'm going for it.

Remember when you were a kid and you were convinced there was a monster under your bed? You did that full Olympic long-jump from the doorway into your bed because absolutely NOT.

Well... I’m 50. And it turns out… the monster is still real. It just doesn’t live under my bed anymore. It lives in my head.

Meet: The Mind Clutter Monster.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it means to lead in two directions at once—to build something steady and familiar while also stretching toward what’s next.

There’s actually a name for that: ambidextrous leadership (I unpack it here.)

It’s the ability to run your business today while preparing for tomorrow. 

It’s not just a clever metaphor... it’s a skill that every modern leader needs.

So.... we were going to write about something else, but in our Tuesday team meeting, my amazing team member Rachel and I realized that we've both been auditing our expenses (thanks, quarterly tax filing deadline!). After a tangent about if pest control service is worth it (uh... obviously, YES!), we both agreed that we needed to resurrect our clean out your junk drawer edition. (You know... the one that made you toss out all those twist ties, allen wrenches and random cords). But this year... with a twist.

Because your DIGITAL junk drawer... there's a real cost to neglecting that baby!

Last week I caught myself doing something I HATE to see others do... I apologized for being "too much."

The person I was with didn’t miss a beat. They looked me dead in the eye and said: “Girl, talk yo’ sh*t.”

I've been hearing that one phrase playing in the background on repeat. It's my new soundtrack…

I’ve been thinking about a moment from The Bear... yes, the show that hits close to home for anyone who's ever tried to do something with excellence while under pressure.

There’s this scene where Richie is polishing forks….

Last week we talked about what to do when someone on your team isn’t quite cutting it—whether it’s time to train them, reassign them or (deep breath) let them go.

So.... let’s say you decided to train them.

Great!

But before we move on, let me say something that might feel familiar and might hurt an eensy weensy bit…

Last week, we did a little inventory. We looked around and asked: Who’s traveling with me? And wait, WHY are they even here?

So this week? Let’s deal with what happens when the answer is…it’s complicated.

Maybe it’s your cousin who’s now your social media manager. (But she doesn’t really do social media.)

Maybe it’s your friend-turned-contractor who still hasn’t learned what a deadline is.

Or maybe it’s your husband—who’s also your cofounder—and uh, you can’t exactly “let him go.”

Last week, we clearly DID step on toes... many of you told me so.  We used a hiking analogy to make the point that delegation isn't a dirty word.

You’re hiking with your people—but somehow you’re the only one carrying the load. Seriously???

Now.... I know it's tempting to start handing out trail mix and assigning roles, but before you do, I want you to take a minute to look around.

Let’s start here: I’m about to step on some toes. Yours, mine, and probably a few folks who aren't even on this list. But we’ve gotta talk about this.

There’s a moment that sneaks up on so many of us—when you're standing in the kitchen, or on a Zoom call, or staring down your to-do list—and the quiet resentment starts to bubble.

"Why am I the one who always has to handle this?"

"Why does everything fall on me?"

Wanna learn the filter that landed me in Miami? (I'm assuming that's intriguing enough that you've kept reading.)

It's tempting to think that I say all these things in my Friday newsletter but don't actually do them.

No shade; I get that.

But here I am, in Mi-am-i, because I used a go-to tool that I've shared with you before. It's a filter that's simple and effective, and one I use all the time... so much so that it's like putting my seatbelt on.... I use this without even thinking.

So how did I end up here?

Let’s get right into it and talk about when dreaming becomes dodging.

You know that moment... The dream is calling you, and it's so clear in your head, but then it moves from the Dreaming Stage to the Doing Stage, and suddenly, you start squirming.

That’s the moment when some of us unconsciously sabotage the whole thing by pivoting to something new.

Not because we’re lazy. Not because we don’t care.

But because finishing something makes it REAL—and real means...

Last week I talked about how I've been tryin' to hold on through a wild season of change. 

This week? Let's talk about that wheel that gets extra wobbly during times like this: Friendship.

And to be real, I’m not just talking about friendships.

I’m talking about the shame and tension that comes with not being the friend you wish you could be.

A couple of people recently asked me how the house is coming along… and that’s when it hit me: I’m basically living in a full-on metaverse of reinvention.

My physical home is being renovated….

It’s Sunday afternoon in downtown Raleigh. Over 100 Triangle Leaders are gathered. Dynamic conversations abound. And somehow I found myself in the middle of it…