On Persistance: I'm interested enough in the etymology and philology of words (where they come from and how they change over time) that I run an internet search every now and then when I wonder, "Huh; why do we say that?" That is to say: I trust the first result I read, and only dig deeper if things get interesting (yes; I realize "interesting" is perhaps doing some heavy lifting here.) 😂 Words often change meaning over time, or get pronounced or spelled in different ways. "Ye olde shoppe" is one of my favourites— British spelling for emphasis —because there is a fascinating, yet quite practical reason it looks like "yee" but is actually pronounced "the". But, my message today is about persistence: Roots and History - The Prefix: per-, which means "through". - The Base: It combines with sistere, "to stand". - French Influence: The verb "persister" was adapted to a noun form "persistance". - English Adoption: English borrowed the word, adding a firm or stubborn connotation. Today, the English meaning and spelling essentially reflects the Latin origin! In other words, it has ... persisted! 👏 So have I. I've started negotiations with a client in February. I had an idea for their marketing, communications, and website. It's a bit of a seasonal business: STEAM programming for school children. So, I wanted to get started early, and set a foundation for their Fall operations this year. But they went a different direction. We've kept in touch. I've followed up regularly. They've sent back questions. Yada yada. Essentially, I developed a good bit of rapport (another English word borrowed from the French). Today, I contracted with them to do the work. I couldn't have expected this yesterday, but I feel lighter today. My shoulders have less tension. I'm more harmonious in my interactions with people around me. Something feels right that I didn't even know felt wrong before. I can't attribute that entirely to the completion of this goal, but I'd be ignorant if I didn't realize it's a contributing factor. It's not just the business side of things, either; this is not my biggest client by far.

@Kasim Aslam I just wanted to say: I got more out of your welcome module than I've gotten in some other communities after months of being active. What a testament to the value of what you're building here. In the product development and design world, "time to value" is a big consideration. I'm not even sure it was intentional, or just the result of value emerging from a good framework, but you nailed it!

Hey everyone. I owe this community an apology. I've been quiet here for way too long. I want to recommit to being present and bringing value! I've hired a full time community manager, dedicated to helping this community. Her name is @Gala Rodriguez. She runs operations at Pareto Talent, and she's here to help, serve, and facilitate. Say hi to her below. And thanks for sticking around while I got my act together :-) So much more to come! Just wait 🤪

What I have: I’ve got this mix of creative vision and operational discipline that lets me hold space for founders and teams while also actually building systems that scale. I’m a Chief of Staff who thinks like an artist and a strategist at the same time. I’ve got a deep network, a mind that can zoom in and out from vision to execution, and a way of blending real talk with structure that earns trust fast. I’ve built communities, scaled ventures, and I’m relentless about learning and experimenting. What I want: I want to keep scaling ventures that matter, while codifying my Chief of Staff “operating system” into something other people can use. I want to build products and communities that create real transformation: health, leadership, creativity, family. I want my portfolio of projects to be both wildly impactful and financially abundant, while leaving space for presence, family, and flow. What I need: I need sharper focus and more leverage. The ideas and opportunities aren’t the problem: it’s prioritization and bandwidth. I need the right people, systems, and capital in place so I can stay in my zone of genius instead of getting pulled into the weeds. I also need to protect my energy so I’m not spread too thin between ventures, family, and creative work.

Most of us that have been in business for a while already know these, but for anyone that's newer and just getting started, there's a few business fundamentals that aren't sexy, but are necessary that you should make sure you have... and some suggestions on where to start if you don't have them... DISCLAIMER: I am NOT an expert in things like business entities or other parts I'm sharing below, I just have a LOT of years of experience and seeking advice from professionals that I used to compile this list. If you are unsure, seek professional advice, and if you are a professional and I'm saying something wrong - please comment and correct me! ("iron sharpens iron" as @Kasim Aslam says). - Business Phone Number: You do NOT want your personal phone number getting picked up and listed on the internet, make sure you have a dedicated number you can use on all business-related things. If you have HighLevel (or my SaaS built on HighLevel) you can pick up a number for just a few dollars a month and forward it to your cell phone. - Business Mailing Address: DO NOT get your home address listed on the web - I have so many horror stories I can share about this. You can get a PO Box - and check with your local post office, many of them will let you use their street address so even things that don't allow a PO will accept it. For example, my PO Box is 4685 Happy Valley Rd, Unit 349, Flintstone, GA 30725 - Professional Domain Name: This is where you host your website/funnels, like I have one for my personal consulting at https://christinahooper.com and one for each of my businesses. If you don't have one yet, I recommend PorkBun because they have a very versitle DNS editor and allow free email forwarding. So if you're keeping costs down and can't afford professional email like Google Workspace yet, you can set up email to forward from something like [email protected] to [email protected]