2ND EDITION | ISSUE #151 I can smell it like it was yesterday. The pine pulp and paper mill outside the city, while we sat in the rocking chairs outside. The faint smell of cigarettes and haze from the smoking section. I searched the walls around me for little treasures. Nostalgic things I thought were cool. My dad and I had spent the last 20 minutes playing peg solitaire, and like a mirage the server came out with my favorite meal steaming from a tray - Chicken and dumplings. I can taste the...
10 days ago • 6 min read
2ND EDITION | ISSUE #150 I wear my heart on my sleeve and my emotions on my face (and so does my little sister, if you zoom in on the picture below). This was the moment that my first bridal appointment turned to disappointment. I had been looking forward to this moment since the days of eating cereal at our kitchen countertop and watching Say Yes To The Dress with my mom on our little black box TV. I wanted happy tears. I wanted to leave with a contender I could come back for with my moms. I...
17 days ago • 6 min read
2ND EDITION | ISSUE #149 Mid-set, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Next to me - a fellow concert lean in. She pointed at my old, scuffed and dirty cowboy boots and yelled over the band (we were in the second row) “Those are Awesome! If those boots could tell stories - you’d be in jail”. My new favorite compliment of all time. And honestly, she isn’t wrong. If those boots could talk - they could tell you about the time I snuck into the pit at Craig Morgan the day after my 18th birthday, and then...
24 days ago • 5 min read
2ND EDITION | ISSUE #148 The final scene of the movie. Giant waves crashing. A beach full of spectators hanging on every moment. And then it happened. The perfect wave. The perfect set. From inside the tunnel of water emerges Kate Bosworth. Surfing history is made - and they all live happily ever after. And yes - if you were wondering this is the ending of Blue Crush. Meanwhile, all I could think about was how wild that must have been on set. Like, how did they even film all that? I wonder...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
We were on a break…. Did you notice? After 148 consecutive newsletters, I quite suddenly fell out of love with this format and spent the last month ghosting my email list for the first time ever. I just needed a break. But it’s not you. It’s me. And while I guess I could have just jumped back in and acted like nothing happened, it just didn't feel right. You see — when I started this newsletter, my goal was to become a better writer, and somewhere along the way, I actually started building my...
3 months ago • 2 min read
issue #148 If there is one thing that I get from my grandfather, it is a love for ice cream. Specifically soft serve custard — but that's beside the point. This bond between us runs so deep that I told a story about it at his 90th birthday this past December. And I spent seven years of my life working in an ice cream parlor. I can confidently say that I haven't "ruled out" owning an ice cream stand sometime in a future life. So my grandparents obviously thought it was a hilarious joke to...
4 months ago • 6 min read
issue #147 "Do I have enough answers for you to really do this?" Savannah's face on my Zoom screen showed the familiar mix of hope and hesitation I've seen countless times. As a Broadway professional trying to merge her theatrical world with her freelance business, she was caught in that messy middle so many multi-passionate entrepreneurs find themselves in. Knowing she wanted to change her brand, but not being able to figure out how to translate her idea into an identity. And there it...
4 months ago • 7 min read
issue #146 I had just finished Mother's Day brunch on Sunday when I realized: I had almost dropped the ball on a very important email that my brand management client needed ASAP. I was left with no choice but to Irish goodbye the entire family, slip out, and run home to take care of it real quick. I was back within an hour. No harm, no foul. But still — a sign that shit was about ready to hit the fan, and I needed to do something about it. The last month has been one of the most fulfilling...
4 months ago • 7 min read
issue#145 This time a year ago, I would tell you NOT to do what I am doing right now. But, the last year in business has easily been the hardest, and a lot of unlearning. My offers changed a lot. I repositioned my brand. I seriously considered giving up. And unlearned a lot of what i “thought” showing up for my brand looked like. Especially when it comes to selling. Yet here I am, breaking my own rules. 17 new subscribers, my best-performing masterclass ever, $2,500 from all new offers (not...
4 months ago • 6 min read