I am not proud to be an American right now. Writing that makes my throat tighten, but pretending otherwise feels dishonest. An educator in Minnesota shared a message with me this morning that I cannot shake. He witnessed students having their parents taken away. At school. Inside buildings that are supposed to be safe. Places built on trust, routine, and care. That safety is gone for too many families. His superintendent described this moment like a blizzard. "When blizzards hit Minnesota farms, families would tie a rope from the house to the barn so they could find their way back when visibility disappeared. The rope was survival." Right now, many students and educators do not feel like they have a rope. Fear is no longer something outside the school walls. It is walking the hallways. Sitting in classrooms. Living inside the bodies of children who are supposed to be learning spelling words and math facts, not wondering if they will see their parents again. Educators are being asked to hold all of this. To teach. To comfort. To create normalcy while the ground underneath them keeps shifting. Schools in Minnesota are not even safe anymore, and that sentence alone should stop us cold. I cannot fix what is broken in this country. I cannot undo violence, stop families from being torn apart, or correct lies that are told and never repaired. What I can do is act where I have agency. Today, I am sending 200 mental health journals to educators in Minnesota. I wish they could arrive instantly. They will take time. But they are going with care, respect, and deep gratitude for the people who keep showing up anyway. This is about humanity. About refusing to look away. About saying this is not okay. About standing with educators who are being asked to be the rope in a storm they did not create. This educator thanked me for being part of that rope. If you are an educator in Minnesota, thank you for being a safe place when so much feels unsafe. If you are a parent or caregiver in Minnesota, I see your fear and your heartbreak.

🕣 7:30 PM — Disconnect, puzzles, family time 🕣 8:20 PM — Bath or time by the fire reading 🕣 8:40 PM — Journaling 🕣 9:00 PM — Brush teeth 🕣 9:20 PM — Lights out Drop a “😴” if you’re committing to better night habits this winter. If you want, tell us what you do to wind down.

Back to bed!

Yes. Eleven. That alone tells you everything you need to know about why I only do one big event per quarter. I did not realize how much this event was sitting in my body until it was over. The sleep was my body saying, thank you, we can exhale now. So let me tell you what happened and the strategy behind it, because this was very intentional. Here is the play-by-play: 1. I connected with a foundation owner on LinkedIn. She runs a literacy foundation, which is my area of expertise in education, and an animation studio that creates incredible literacy videos on YouTube, helping kids become readers and authors. She is also an author herself. I knew I wanted to get into her world and get close enough to build trust and work with her in some capacity! So I got on a call with her, and this is what happened! 2. I sold her a low-priced workshop for educators on how to Burn Bright, Not Out. $150 total for a thirty-minute talk and a thirty-minute Q&A. Yes, a thirty-minute talk about my own products stressed me out! I can talk about other people's content and tell my story all day, but this?! Why did I charge so little? Because this was not about maximizing revenue at this first step. It was about a relationship entry. I wanted to show value, alignment, and how I think. 3. On that call, I told her about who I was and what I did/do now. I told her I would follow up our conversation with an email with all of the info. I offered her bulk pricing on all of my products, and she picked the Illuminate journal. So I sold her 210 yellow (the color I had the most overstock in) illuminate mental health journals. They were delivered directly to her people’s homes as a Christmas gift. Yes. Two hundred and ten. 4. On Thursday evening, I delivered the virtual talk. We focused on burnout, energy, and exactly how to use the journal to help them avoid burnout. I also did a live walkthrough of the journal for the first time. It felt so good to explain my product! BTW - This is another benefit of booking that first speaking gig! Now I know I will be recording short walkthrough videos for every product and linking them via QR codes on my landing pages, quoted in the product, social media, and YouTube.

Tomorrow I’m leading a virtual workshop for 200 people and every single one of them already has my journal in their hands. This is a first for me and I’m honestly so excited. A foundation reached out and asked me to speak. I offered my journals at a discount. They said yes and bought one for every participant and mailed them out as a Christmas gift. I used Amazon MCF to fulfill the order and it worked beautifully. Yes, it was a little pricey during the holidays. Prices definitely shift depending on timing. Still 100 percent worth it. There is something really powerful about teaching when everyone is holding the same tool and we are learning together in real time. Note to self. Remember to ask for screenshots of everyone holding up their journals. That will be epic. Sharing this as a reminder of what is possible when you say yes, make it easy to buy, and trust the process. Grateful. Excited. And cheering all of you on as you build your own firsts.