Hey {{first_name}} so I did something that scared me last week.

I recorded one of my executive coaching sessions, and I'm sharing it with you. Not the highlight reel. The actual conversation 🫣 where I talk about what I'm working through as a founder and a leader right now.

What came up for me is that I shut down when I'm stressed. You can’t tell but I just… go still. The momentum stops. The decisions stall. And if I'm not careful, everything around me stalls too.

My routines are what pull me back. They're not sexy or aspirational. I’m very anti cold-plunge! But the routines are the scaffolding that keeps me grounded and from disappearing into the stress. When I hold them, I stay in motion. When I don't, I drift.

I'm sharing this because we talk a lot about operating in your zone of genius. And I love that advice. Do that. But nobody talks about the other side.

Building a company is the most intense self-reflective exercise you’ll choose. Whoever you are, the parts you're proud of AND the parts you hide, show up in what and how you build. In how you hire. How you lead. How you make decisions under pressure. How things run when you're not watching.

The anxiety. The avoidance. The impulsivity. The shame. Whatever your thing is, it doesn't stay personal. It compounds. And it becomes operational. When we don’t engage with it, it becomes not just your weakness, it becomes the company’s.

Your Zone of Genius is half the work. The other half is working out your ish.

I'm learning this lesson on repeat. So I figured I'd stop keeping it private.

Watch the session here

I've been thinking a lot about what it would look like to build a space where founders do this work together, not just the business strategy, but the personal patterns that shape how we build. More on that soon.

In the meantime, our next Founder Dinner is on Tuesday, February 24th in NYC. Join us →

More soon, Kelly

If this resonated, forward it to a founder who might need permission to be honest about what they're working through.

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