The Substack

This is for the builders.

Building isn’t reserved for entrepreneurs or executives. It’s what all of us do, in the relationships we hold together, the homes we make out of whatever we’re given, the trust we rebuild after it breaks.

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Three essays that say the most about how I think and how I work.

Being Right vs Being Effective

The trade most people don’t realize they’re making (A reminder I picked up from Scott Galloway)

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The Math We Refuse to Do

A case for surrendering to the data and then building anyway.

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Burn Out

Building a life you don’t have to recover from

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See everything

For a long time I thought this would be a place to write about business. Then life kept interrupting with reminders that we’re all building something, whether it’s a company, a family, a marriage, or a version of ourselves we didn’t see coming.

This is for the people carrying decisions no one voted them into. The quiet victories nobody claps for. The disappointments they process alone. I used to think resilience meant becoming someone who could carry more. I’ve since learned it also means knowing when to set something down.

I don’t have a blueprint for any of this. I have stories, from building companies, leading teams, raising a family, serving my community, watching businesses succeed and fail. Even after loss, life keeps asking the same question: will you keep building? My answer is yes. It’s how I know to live.

The beaver mindset

Years ago I did one of those animal totem exercises, expecting something majestic. An eagle, maybe. Instead I got a beaver, and laughed about it for a week. Then I actually learned what beavers do. They build in bad conditions, and the building is what makes the water usable. When a storm takes out their work, they go find another stick.

There will always be a river. What I care about is what you build anyway. Some days placing another stick means making the hard phone call. Some days it means resting, or asking for help, or choosing kindness when cynicism would be so much easier. Building looks different every season, and it still counts on the small days.

What you’ll find here

A few times a week, a short essay. Leadership, business, grief, parenting, community, faith in ordinary things, or just something I can’t stop turning over in my head. Usually just a few minutes to read. One idea worth carrying into your day, and a reminder that you’re not the only one out here trying to build a life that means something.

You don’t need to own a company. You don’t need to be leading a team. You don’t need your life figured out. If you’re building, you belong here.

Just keep building. ~E