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Something I'm wrestling with is what working as a founder looks like. I spoke with an investor last week who recalls 80 hour workweeks when she launched her startup. Then she referenced the transient stage of young children like mine. Was she implying I ought not go all-out in this phase of parenting?  Then faith kicks in and God nudges me to seek Him for the next step to take. Sure, I need to envision what 3- and 5-year plans for the business look like but the reality is in His hands. It's easy to get caught up in what others think and what the future holds. It's a lot harder, for me at least, to remain grounded in the here and now. It's harder for me to be faithful to using this  day for God's glory and for good and to avoid living in the future. There's a lot wrapped up in this struggle but it's a good one for me to engage in. It would be easy to tread the path of the workaholic founder aiming for all the investment and all the business glory and entirely...

It's been 109 Days since empowered together's pilot launched. Community members have remained and activity has dropped off. Since we're all parents of school-age kids, that drop-off could be due to the start of the school year. It could also be due to lack of interest. I'm trying to get the pulse on that. I'm at an inflection point around purpose/vision and growth. Do I a) continue bootstrapping a peer-led, curated social community OR b) prepare to raise investment for a community + care support + referrals + clinical care? Parents benefit from community; we'd also benefit from having our to-do lists shortened which means someone else doing the legwork of coordinating our child's care so we get more quality time with our kids and to actually enjoy  life. I'm stuck in an either/or framework; I'm viewing outside investment as the path to b. Perhaps, however, I could bootstrap to b. From here on out, I'll be documenting this startup journey periodic...

What do you do when your job future looks uncertain? Worry? Escape to a good book? Start knocking on doors to see what opens up? In April 2020 I took the latter path. I learned that my job at a nonprofit was going to change in July but didn't know much more than that. Here's the month-by-month journey I've been on since then. APRIL 2020 Faced with job uncertainty, I applied to INVANTI's Founder Studio .  MAY/JUNE/JULY 2020 I joined the Founder Studio and spent three months researching passion areas that also presented compelling opportunities. These included the disparity of teachers of color, therapeutic benefits of getting kids with autism into the outdoors, and peer-led groups for mental health. The passion that kept coming back to me was providing support to parents of children with special needs. AUGUST 2020 I started a new role at the nonprofit with significantly more responsibility and less time to pursue my startup dreams. SEPTEMBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 In S...