I made it through the messy middle. Here's what's next.

I made it through the messy middle. Here's what's next.

On Spain, teaching English in a community I might call home, keynotes in France, and what it looks like to make your dreams the actual priority.

A few weeks ago I wrote about sitting in my car after leaving Google, staring at the steering wheel. About the moment between who you were and who you're becoming, when everything feels uncertain and nothing has a name yet.

That was the messy middle. And I meant every word of it.

But here's what I didn't say then, because I wasn't ready: the messy middle doesn't last forever. At some point, not dramatically, not all at once, you stop waiting for permission to move forward. And you just do.

I'm there. And I want to tell you what that looks like.

I'm going to Spain.

Not as a tourist passing through. With intention: to explore a neighborhood I'm seriously considering living in, to teach English in a local community, and to find out what it actually feels like to build a life there. It's a pilot. A real one. The kind you can't run from a spreadsheet.

I've applied to teach through Pueblo Inglés and VaughanTown, programs where native English speakers spend a week immersed in a community, giving local students full conversational practice. No salary. Room and board provided. Just presence, generosity, and showing up fully.

That last part felt important to name.

I've been coaching leaders to stop optimizing around the life they want and start building it. At some point, you have to be living proof of your own work. This is me doing that. Teaching English in a community where I don't fully speak the language. Checking out neighborhoods on foot instead of in a browser tab. Making my family's future memories, and mine, the priority.

This is what I call "Courage as a Carry-On." Not the talk. The actual practice.

I read this and felt like I finally had words for something I've been living for the last year. Security isn't in the familiar. It's in the meaningful. That reframe changed something for me, and I think it might for you too.

While all of this is in motion, and I want to be clear it is very much in motion, I'm also heading to France to keynote.

I don't take that lightly. Every stage is a reminder that the work I've built from scratch, after leaving a 20-year career, is real. It's working. And I get to carry it into new rooms, in new countries.

Making your dreams the priority and doing serious professional work at the same time isn't a contradiction. That's exactly the point.

Speaking in France Keynote engagement | Summer 2026 |

I'll be honest: sharing this while it's still in progress feels vulnerable. The Spain spot isn't confirmed. The neighborhood isn't chosen. The plan isn't perfect.

But I'd rather show you the real version of this than wait until it's polished and post it as a highlight reel. The people I coach aren't waiting for perfect either. And neither should you.

What's the move you keep describing in a smaller version than you actually mean?

Hit reply and tell me. I read every response and will write back with my honest thoughts. No form. No funnel. Just a real conversation.

Whether you're navigating a career shift, a life transition, or you've been quietly wondering what it would look like to lead differently, I have a few coaching spots open this summer. One conversation can change the trajectory. Let's find out if that's true for you.

Or take the Saboteur Assessment first, just reply with "IM READY" and I will personally send it to your email. It takes about 7 minutes and reveals the patterns that have been holding you back.

With clarity,