I’m writing this from a quiet spot just outside the hustle of Illuminate 2025. The hum of conversation, the footsteps, the energy - it’s all still fresh in the air around me. My dear friend Tracey Vavrek, who embodies grace and leadership in equal measure, and who with her team was our amazing … [Read more...]
The Swipe Test: If Trust Starts Online, Where Are You?
There was a time when proximity was destiny. We worked with the people we lived near, fell in love with the ones we bumped into at events or in lecture halls, and trusted those we saw every day. Familiarity bred connection. But we no longer live in that world. Today, our first impressions are … [Read more...]
I Don’t Wait for Friday, and I Don’t Chase Fun
People are often confused when I tell them that I don’t work in the way they’re asking about. The question usually comes with friendly curiosity: “You work hard. So, what do you do for fun?” And my answer seems to throw them off every time: “Not sure what you are asking, but I have fun all the … [Read more...]
It’s Enough That You Yourself Know
There’s a quiet dignity in not needing to explain yourself. In a world that rewards performance and punishes pause, it’s become rare to trust silence, rarer still to trust someone else’s. But every so often, you meet a moment, or a person, where explanation is unnecessary. And in that rare … [Read more...]
The Cost of Entry: How Being Misunderstood Shapes Success
There’s a quiet tax we pay when we choose to do something different, meaningful, or ahead of its time. It's not money or effort or even risk, though those are part of it. The real cost, the one no one prepares you for, is being misunderstood. Not briefly, not occasionally, but often for long, … [Read more...]