Stay on the platform

Most people don’t realize this, but Rachel and I start this newsletter 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.

Between impending tornado warnings and week ahead that looked like a game of Tetris… I was kinda spinning.

Nothing had actually happened yet when Rach and I got on the call... but in my mind? It was buckled in for a wild ride.

That’s when we started talking about how some people have a remarkable ability to stay calm even when surrounded by chaos. While everyone else is screaming through loops and corkscrews, they’re standing on the platform, handing out Gatorade and puke bags, while they calmly watch the ride go by (and productively keep getting important things done!).

That’s the place we’re trying to live from.

The platform. Not the ride.

The tricky part is that many of us... especially t...

Fill up the tanks

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.

That’s when it hit me. Sometimes the most important thing isn’t figuring everything out… it’s having someone in your life who balances you out.

Now, I don't know who you are or how you handle times like this. 

• Maybe you’re the optimist (or you stick your head in the sand), and you need somebody to help you face reality.
• Maybe you’re freaking out that the sky is falling, and you need someone to help you see the solutions.

Whoever you are, and whatever role you find yourself playing, I want you to remember:

You don't know everything.

Yes... I know......

Little me was onto something

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. 

It's not just me that thinks this. Business Insider recently shared a 20-year study of 10,000 people that showed that the most successful individuals had an average of 17 significant failures (17!!!!) before a major breakthrough, compared to just 3 for low-success individuals.

My bet? You're standing at the plate right now. You’ve got a hunch about what's next. Someone's seeded a new idea that's captivated you. There's a spark. 

But you're not swinging.

So what's up with that? Why are you just standing there? 

I'm going to hazard a guess and say it's the all-too-familiar FEAR. Boy, I know it well. 

Fear of getting turned down, of failure, of embarrassing yourself. It's so much easier to watch the ball go by and wait for the next pitch, isn't ...

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. Because there's a lot going on over here!

My hair's going white... and I wanna talk about it.   

I'm getting hitched... and I'm wanna talk about it.

Perimenopause? I NEED to talk about it. That sh*t's crazy!

And this little "gonna talk about it" project is a creative pursuit just for me. I don't care if anybody watches it or finds it... because it's mine.

Now... if I were coaching myself, I might say, "Girl, are you crazy? What are you doing?"

BUT!

I know myself well enough to recognize that, for me, this is:

A crucial counterbalance.

We all need a place where we don’t need to perform, produce or prove anything. 

And the right counte...

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.

And whew... I had to deal with him this past Sunday. Here’s what happened.

I was about to kick off 28 Days of Reinvention.

Now... 28 Days is my baby. I love it. And the women in this cohort are exceptional!

And yet… I felt off. Heavy and blah.

So naturally, my brain did what all our brains do.

Is it the weather?
Is it because the sun hasn’t been out?
Is it because I hadn’t moved all day?
Is it perimenopause?

I was spinning trying to figure out what on earth was the cause of my meh-ness. 

So... I went for a walk. That helped a little.

And the kickoff call with the cohort lit me up.  Of COURSE. It always does.

Afterwards, I went downstairs, sat on D...

Hey friend,

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.

The Present and the Future

Ambidextrous leadership is the ability to balance two seemingly opposing responsibilities:

• Operational excellence—keeping the business running smoothly day-to-day
• Innovation and exploration—adapting to emerging tech, new ideas and future opportunities 

In plain terms: it’s the art of working IN the business and ON the business at the same time.

If you focus only on what’s working now, you risk being left behind when the world shifts. At the same time... if you chase every shiny new idea, you can lose the foundation you’ve worked so hard to build....

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!

Want to know what I'm wading through?

• The 112 screenshots named “Screenshot (45).png.”
• My inbox full of junk emails I swore I’d unsubscribe from “someday.”
• The zillion SUBSCRIPTIONS I forgot I signed up for (Lensa, Britbox, Disney+, anti-virus this, anti-virus that... some I didn't even know what they were... ACK!!!!)

And don’t even get me started on my phone. The rogue apps. The 4,000 photos o...

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.

Let's get into this. We put ourselves in a box... don't we? I should be bold, but not TOO bold. I should be vibrant and smart and innovative... but not TOO MUCH. 

We're so afraid of crossing that line (whatever that is), going too far, stepping on toes (or egos)... we'll apologize for being bold, bright and brilliant.

But here’s the thing: If YOU don’t let yourself shine bright, who will?

This isn’t about bragging. It’s about visibility. It’s about giving people the gift of seeing you fully—your skills, your creativity, your impact. If you don’t show people what you’re capable of, how will they ever know?

So here’s my challenge this week:

• The next time you’re tempted to say “i...

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. He's going through the motions as quickly as he can, just checking the box. Garrett sees it and stops him. Not gently. And then he highlights a secret ingredient that we rarely talk about. 

Take a minute to watch the clip before you read any more.

Go ahead… watch it. I’ll wait for you.

Okay, so now that you've watched the clip, you know that polishing the forks isn’t about silverware. It’s about three things: personal standards, SELF RESPECT and clarity about your unique contributions. 

Polishing the forks is a reminder that excellence lives in the details. When you model care in the small things, you set the tone for pride, consistency and trust.

I've been finding ways to slip this into my keynotes and workshops because we all have “fork moments.” Things that ...

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.

Who’s actually rocking with you?

And—maybe more importantly—why are they even there? (Uh, oh... Did I step on your toes again?)

It's okay.... I got you. Let's do a little inventory. Let's start with your team. Who are you traveling with?

(Important side note: today we're talking about the work environment. Next week, we'll get into what to do if it's your friend, cousin or partner... tricksy stuff, I know.)

Now that you’ve got some names and faces in mind, ask yourself:

• Are they showing up when it counts?
• Are they learning, growing, pulling their weight?
• Or are they just along for the ride?

And...