At the beginning of 2025, I decided to set a word for the year: Leadership. My intention was to better understand what it meant to be a leader and how to lead. Throughout the year, this showed up in many ways: - I started this community, - I began leading more and bigger events - I coached over a dozen entrepreneurs My favorite way I showed up as a leader? For my inner child. The little boy who was lost and needed someone to guide the way. I attached the photo I had as my phone background for most of the year… a photo to remind me who I was talking to whenever I was being mean to myself inside my own head. And who wanted to come out to play! It was such a beautiful year. Setting this word as my intention really shaped my decisions and thoughts, which shaped my outcomes. I still have a lot to learn about leadership. It will be something I continue to study. But 2026? At first, I thought my word was going to be “love”. I have a strong desire to deepen into love. But something was missing there… And during a loving kindness meditation today, it hit me: “Presence” A single word wasn’t cutting it. I needed a phrase! And so, my phrase of 2026 is Loving Presence. I have many goals; financial, mental, physical, relational, spiritual. But regardless of the category of the goal, my intention is to move towards it with loving presence. That is to say, being present with myself and with others, with love. With kindness. (Especially towards myself! I’m good at doing this with others, but can use some extra awareness towards myself.) This does not mean I can’t be direct or blunt. It means that I will, to the best of my ability, come back to loving presence as often as possible. I’m excited for the year to come… I’d love to hear from you. What is your word, phrase, or guiding light for 2026?

Yesterday, @Rex Loyer and I sat down for ~6 hours chatting about Focus Founders' mission, purpose, and vision. And today, I'd like to share that with all of you. The Vision: To help 1,000 ADHD entrepreneurs become Focused Founders, earning great money while having a beautiful impact on the world - and loving it every step of the way. Why? Because we believe that good people + focused effort + self-love & compassion = massive world impact Our mission is to eradicate self-doubt and stigma around ADHD while helping people bring their authentic selves into the world, free of judgment. To drop the masks. In a nutshell: Get focused & grow your business - with ♡ Our community is for impact-driven ADHD entrepreneurs with big hearts and big ambitions. It is NOT for founders chasing money without meaning, those unwilling to self-reflect or grow, victims, or complainers. And it's not for the faint of heart. A Focus Founder is someone who cultivates the superpowers of their ADHD brain and builds incredible things that positively impact the world, from a place of love, compassion, and authenticity. We may be messy. We may be imperfect. But we move with purpose. We are Focus Founders. ARE YOU WITH ME?!

I was asked to write a post about hiring, and so many of you had such great questions that I’ll do my best to answer them here while also sharing my own experience and perspective. When I started, I read a lot of different experiences, and learning about everyone’s different approaches helped me form a more holistic picture. There’s no one right way to hire, but I’ve definitely learned what works for me and what doesn’t. I inadvertently followed Dan Martell’s Replacement Ladder before it was even published, but that’s a big recommended read for you all (PDF is attached below). The concept is in the Buy Back Your Time book. Another solid one is Who Not How. For context, here’s what my support team looks like right now: - About 12 instructors, lifeguards, and safety instructors - 3 social media people (one manages the others and also manages the data analytics team member) - 1 VA - 1 marketing and analytics executor (doing a lot of the doing that comes from the marketing coach) - 1 marketing coach (big rec here- https://angiecolee.com/work-with-me/#caos) - 1 executive coach (big on vision and growth strategies) - 2 financial people (a CPA who does my taxes and used to do bookkeeping and payroll, but we’re bringing that internal now) - I also co-own another business with 4 technicians, an on-site manager, and 2 admin staff I do believe a VA should be most people’s first hire. My first backend hire was an ops assistant because I could make more money teaching swimming than what I paid her ($22/hour). My teaching rate was around $150/hour at the time, so it made sense. My very first hires were more instructors because I couldn’t teach enough to match demand. !!!! You will never feel ready to spend the money on a hire, but once you do, you won’t go back. !!!! I’ve used Indeed, Fiverr (originally, not anymore), and Seek (an Australian platform for overseas talent). Now, I have enough team members that I just tell them what kind of person I’m looking for, and they handle finding me the right fit and someone who can hang with our expectations and growth.

What’s your Halloween vibe this year? Drop your choice below! Bonus points if you share your costume idea or favorite Halloween tradition!!

I remember a time when I would prioritize watching TV and playing video games over things I thought were important. Problem was what I thought was important actually meant very little to me, so it was easy for me to chase the bright shiny objects. What it wasn’t easy to do is think about what I really wanted out of life. I had practiced the art of self sabotage for 22 years and I was damn good at it. So what changed? ✨ Well we all traverse different roads made of yellow bricks and I am grateful that something somewhere within me had my back and was slowly pulling me towards the path that led me to where I am today. 😈 Through many trials and tribulations, battling my ever so unique demons, I learned to follow this path with an open heart. Now I wake up every morning, fucking excited for my day and prioritizing the important things is incredibly easy, because I know what’s important to me now and I know how to get more of it! I do things that make me successful not because I have to or need to, I do them because I enjoy them, they fill my cosmic energy cup to the top! 🤩 As much as I kinda wish I had a little more external guidance throughout this process… I am grateful for the life that I’ve lived and the person I’ve become 🥰 So I feel called to ask: What’s one thing, no TWO things that you can add to your day that absolutely light your soul on fire? 🌟