Most women entrepreneurs work hard, hoping their talent will speak for itself.

But in leadership, visibility matters just as much as skill. How do I know?

Because I spent 27 years in front of the camera as a TV anchor for CNN, Bloomberg, and ABC. So I know what it takes to capture attention, tell stories that matter, and own the room.

Then in 2017, I decided to flip the equation and walk away from the steady paycheck.

But before I could, I had a hypothesis:

I believed that more women in leadership could benefit from raw and honest storytelling. Because I saw how time and time again, I could silence a room with nothing but my own story. 

Only problem?

Most women don’t know how to claim their expertise or use their voice. I’ve seen it happen all too often:

→ Women afraid to take up space
→ Brilliant executives unsure how to articulate their value
→ Entrepreneurs with incredible ideas who struggle to build authority

That's exactly why I built Women's Leadership Lab – to help women master public speaking, build a powerful personal brand, and become recognized leaders in their industry.

Here's how it works:

1. Uncover your signature story by crafting a compelling narrative
2. Master public speaking by learning to command any stage or boardroom
3. Amplify your visibility by leveraging storytelling for career growth, business success, and thought leadership

The women I work with have:

✔️ Keynote speaking gigs
✔️ Raised millions in funding & secured board positions
✔️ Built personal brands that attract high-value opportunities

Because you don’t need to wait for permission to lead. You just need to start owning your story.

So if you’re ready to turn your story into your most powerful asset?

Drop me a DM or click here to learn more: www.joyadass.com

I've been promoting my services on my Instagram, but I've hit a plateau? How do I grow and monetize?

This was a question from a workshop I hosted last fall.
This person left their full time job and began a health coaching business.

Raw and honest take: I sit on sales calls all week long.
No judgment. Health is wealth, after all.

But she’s functioning in an attention economy. Every third woman has left a full time job in corporate and started a health coaching business.

Second raw and honest take: “I’m using my IG and email to promote my services.”

That’s the mistake.

Let me illustrate why:

Above my desk, above my vision board, sits a beautiful photograph of the Saint Germain neighborhood in Paris.

Black and white.
Large and in charge.

It may be one of the largest sized prints offered by a blogger named Rebecca.

When I first started following her blog, I was reading because she writes about all things Paris—a city I love and visit every year. I host client events there. I visit annually. I’ve been going since high school.

Rebecca photographs Paris a few times a year. She offers packing lists for every season (another obsession of mine —packing). She offers recommendations of Paris inspired tchotkes.

The point is this: She offered high value to my life. Consistently and first. She was conversational and natural in her writing. She lives in Chicago. She loves her dog Henri.

Much much later, I realized what she sells: She is a photographer. She photographs all things Paris. She sells her prints of Paris.

I bought one of her prints.

Point #1. You have to talk about one thing and one thing to the point of exhaustion. Boredom, even. In Rebecca’s case, it’s Paris.
Point #2. You have to offer your unique lens on that one thing. She shares Paris from a photographer’s and dog lover’s point of view.
Point #3. Once you have added enough research, recommendations, value to someone’s life, THEN you gain ‘buy-in’ from the reader for whatever you may be selling.

It’s that simple.

Holding forth with ‘just your services’ isn’t going to cut it anymore in an attention economy. Talking about 1,000 things isn’t going to cut it anymore.

BUT—Talking about 1 thing 1,000 creative ways—-will.

I’ll take myself as an example.

Last year, I started a series called “The Anatomy of a Good “No””

Daily, I noticed women struggling to set a boundary and deal with the guilt on the other side. I struggled with it too.

As I matured as a business owner, I realized, scripts were my lifeline while on television. Scripts are a critical lifeline in business. I collect them and squirrel them away in my Notion file. I whip them out and deploy them fiercely —and in real time —-when I need them.

As I shared more scenarios on how to say ‘no’ and preserve the relationship, the concept gathered moss.

Which brings me to Point #4.

Read on inside my newsletter here

Joya Dass

I’m a former TV anchor helping 1 woman who just left corporate to create smart thought leadership that calls in paid clients.

This was a question from a workshop I hosted last fall. This person left their full time job and began a health coaching business. Raw and honest take

Open article: Business: Why I’m Going Back to My One Thing in 2026 by Joya Dass • 5 min read

Business: Why I’m Going Back to My One Thing in 2026

You have just left corporate and stood up your own advisory or consultancy.
Problem is: You have no clue how to call in clients.
You’re used to a paycheck depositing every 2 weeks.

I’ve been there.

One Story:

I remember waking up with dread in my Upper West Side bed, wondering how deeply in the red my bank account was one morning. I had left full time television and stood up my own documentary production business.

I’m not ashamed to tell you, that I was dumping out change from a metal Indian silver box to figure out how to take the subway that day.

I’m the product of immigrants who were absolute crap at money. Making it. Saving it. Spending it.

Fear informed every single part of their day. But let’s talk science for a second.
When your brain is in ‘survival’ mode, it’s activating the amygdala. The reptilian brain is responsible for the ‘fight or flight’ response. We, as primates, are designed such that, when there is a real threat to our well being, all other systems shut down. The ‘fight or flight’ brain is in charge.

Trouble is—It’s tough for the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain designed for rational thinking to do any ‘big picture thinking,’ if the ‘survival’ brain, fueled by fear, is in charge. And, frankly, you’re not hunting lions for dinner anyway anymore.

I’ve done the work to allow my brain to move out of ‘survival’ mode and put the ‘pre frontal cortex’ back in charge.

I’ve switched my business model to not only create lanes of security and safety, but I have created systems in my business that allow me to live in another country each quarter in order to do that strategic thinking.

I’m living in Rome all of February. But there is a reason for it and I write about it in this newsletter.

But let’s say for argument’s sake, I had to start all over again

One Word:
I’d figure out my one word.
Look if I dropped the word “Beyonce” you would say “singer.”

Not astronaut. Not cheesemonger. Not dental hygienist.
Singer.

If I dropped the word “Tom Brady” you know I’m talking about football.
Not hockey. Not slalom racing. Not fencing extraordinnaire.

You catch my drift.

So——What is the one word associated with you?

Let’s invoke some science.

The brain stores knowledge in something called “schemas.” Kind of like mental filing cabinets.

Beyoncé → Singer
Tom Brady → Quarterback
Oprah → Media mogul

A schema is a shortcut.

When someone hears your name, their brain asks:
“Which drawer do you go in?”
If it can’t find one quickly, it experiences friction—and keeps scrolling.

I'm a former TV anchor. Today I have built a business with systems that allow me to live out of country every quarter. If you have just left corporate and are standing up your advisory-- and have no idea how to create thought leadership that calls in clients, I'm living in Rome in February to build that course.

Join the waitlist here for that course: 
https://lnkd.in/eERN8N9G

You have just left corporate and stood up your own advisory or consultancy. Problem is: You have no clue how to call in clients. You’re used to a payc

Open article: Finding your 'one word' to hang your personal brand on by Joya Dass • 6 min read

Finding your 'one word' to hang your personal brand on

Mondays, I share a script worth sharing. 
Last week, a client asked me how to present herself in high level conversations.

I gave her this exercise:

Step 1: Choose the Real Scenario

Select one situation you are currently facing:

☐ Board / leadership dinner

☐ Investor or client conversation

☐ First meeting with a peer

☐ High-stakes introduction

☐ Other: _______________________

The opening question I expect to hear: Write in the blank

__________________________________________________________”


(Examples: What do you do? What are you working on? Tell me about your role. )


Step 2: Write Your 3-Line Response

You can use only three lines

Rules

- No backstory
- No credentials list
- No “because”
- No adjectives like *busy, exciting, crazy, lucky*

Line 1 — Anchor (Who I am now)
Line 2 — Focus (What I’m shaping / building / solving)
Line 3 — Signal (Why it matters — without pitching)


⬛ Stop. Do not add more.

Step 3: Deliver It (90 Seconds)

Record yourself into your phone delivering your response three times:
Play it back: with the sound OFF

- Do I look settled or performative?
- Am I moving unnecessarily?
- Do I look like someone who expects to be listened to?

Play it back with the sound ON

- Where did I rush?
- Where did I add filler?
- Where could silence have done the work?

Step 4: The Silence Test (This is for the advanced)

Repeat your response again—but stop after Line 2

Comment 'HIGH LEVEL' and I'll share my worksheet I shared with my clients with you for the above exercise.
________
I'm a former TV anchor. I work with women who have just left corporate to stand up their advisory. I write about how to create thought leadership that smartly calls in clients for you.

I want to talk money mindset for a minute because I had a conversation (several) this past recruiting season for the Mastermind. So much fear dominated that it’s impossible to have a larger strategic conversation around business.

Listen, I get it.

When I first left corporate (television) and was building my business, the fear was real.

But now that I’m 13 years in, here is my morning hymnal on this topic:

Let’s invoke science for a few minutes.

When you are operating from a place of fear, your amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for fight or flight, is in charge. It’s the part of the brain that takes over when your child runs into the street.

Your heart quickens.

The amygdala hits system override on everything so you can leap into necessary action.

You’re not standing back and thinking about how your stock portfolio is doing.
Conversely, when your body and brain are in ‘survival’ mode, it’s hard for you to think strategically. It’s hard to think ‘big picture.’ That’s the pre-frontal cortex’s job. It sits in the front of the brain and humans are the only mammals to have this part. It was the last part of the brain to evolve.

I’m smart enough to know this science, so even as an 18 year old on my own at Bucknell (college), I duked it out with the CFO of the college to secure ‘runways of security.’ Loans. Grants. Federal. State.

This way, I could have the mental bandwidth to think about laying ground for my future. Grad school. Network my way into television. Get a job.

So —If I had to start all over again in business and go 'gangster’ on my money mindset, I would do these 4 things:

read on in my newsletter

I'm a former tv anchor who has created systems in her business to live in another country each quarter. If you have just left corporate and need to create content that calls in clients (And have no blueprint for it) this is for you.  Join the waitlist here

https://lnkd.in/eERN8N9G

The 4 things I would do to turn around my money mindset today if starting in business again, my results from a quantum healing and hypnosis session, m

Open article: 1.11 What I Did Last Week (What I'm looking forward to) by Joya Dass • 9 min read

1.11 What I Did Last Week (What I'm looking forward to)

This week, I’ve bore witness to the same pattern.
“"Investing in building my personal brand ‘isn’t safe.’”

In both cases, the hesitation wasn’t theirs.
He said,
“The investment isn’t right right now.”

That sentence sounds responsible. Sensible, even.

But it’s based on a misunderstanding of risk.

I’ll deploy a stock market analogy as covering the financial markets for television was my former life.

A corporate salary functions like a bond.
It’s predictable.
It pays out on a regular schedule.
It supports the household.

And like most bonds, it does one thing very well:
It stays at one number.

There is nothing wrong with bonds.

The problem is when your entire financial future depends on one investment type.

Because when that bond disappears, so does the income.
Building a personal brand, on the other hand, is equity.

At first, it looks risky.

You begin writing. You don’t see the returns right away.
But over time, that daily content, that authorship creates something a salary never can:

options.

Publishing consistently is not “posting into the void.”

It is the slow construction of a portfolio.

Each piece of content is an asset.
Each idea compounds how you reach people. You are no longer speaking 1:1. You are speaking at scale.
Each story widens “the surface of luck” for opportunity.

If I were starting over today, I would do one thing immediately:
Read in newsletter

This week, I’ve bore witness to the same pattern. “"Investing in building my personal brand ‘isn’t safe.’” In both cases, the hesitation wasn’t theirs

Open article: My raw and honest take: Your corporate salary is not safety.
Publishing daily content is. Here's why it increases your "Surface of Luck" by Joya Dass • 3 min read

My raw and honest take: Your corporate salary is not safety.
Publishing daily content is. Here's why it increases your "Surface of Luck"

I’m writing this from the road.

Matt and I are on the 6 hour drive upstate for our annual weekend in Holiday Valley with my former clients and their families. (He’s driving, obvi)

This may be my favorite piece I write all week. It’s even more joyful to write from one of my adventures in progress.

I packed in 1 hour flat. In that process, I observed: I’m a better traveler this year

How so?
I cleaned out my closet.

I would work through the allocated time left to my own devices. So I hired my cleaning person Clementine one day for accountability. My closet has 9 foot ceilings. Given that I’m 5’1,” much of my closet exists in the liminal space that exists above my head. I was perched on a ladder. She was on terra firma.

We started sorting. Rapidly. Unapologetically. I didn’t have her all day. I had to be swift in my decision making.

We made 2 piles.
Donation
Keep

That’s it.

My rule was simple: If a piece didn’t represent who I’m becoming—future me—it went. 

Afterwards, I hired Aleksei from TaskRabbit to haul the ‘donate’ pile away swiftly before I had a moment of regret or ‘take back.’ (I make more money, delegating this task and paying for it. Not by hauling stuff to Housing Works myself).

So when it came to finding my ski pants, gloves, and my puffer for this trip, I found them instantly.

I don’t pack better now—I prepare better.

Afterwards, other systems thinking kicks in:
I write about them in this newsletter

_______

I’m living in Rome all of February to build a course to make the work I do in a 1:1 VIP day and 1:1 coaching accessible at a friendlier price point and more DIY. I want to be away from distraction and have big blocks of time to build.
I’ve built a business with systems that allow me to live in another country each quarter.  

BUT—-if you are keen to come over to Rome and do a 3 day intensive with me to figure out what story you want to tell and build your legacy, I’ve created this fantastic 3 day itinerary. Think working lunches over figuring out your ONE WORD. Visiting the Vatican before it opens to the public for morning inspiration.
The Borghese Gallery after hours.

Just you and me.

This is a really special itinerary and I had so much fun building it.
Register here: https://lnkd.in/eR49z7Dp

I’m writing this from the road. Matt and I are on the 6 hour drive upstate for our annual weekend in Holiday Valley with my former clients and their f

Open article: Why I'm a Better Traveller this Year | The Raw and Honest Take on my Closet, My Habits, My Podcasts by Joya Dass • 4 min read

Why I'm a Better Traveller this Year | The Raw and Honest Take on my Closet, My Habits, My Podcasts

"That feels really limiting," she said after we crafted her tagline sharing who she was, who she helps and how she helps them.

She was moving from a B2C to a B2B play.

In service of this, I shared a parallel example.

Apple, an already established brand like her, was being deliberately “narrow” to go wide later in 2008.

That year, it launched the MacBook Air for the first time. Keep in mind the Macbook pro, like her 'B2C play,' was already on the market and doing really well.

Apple knew the messaging had to be different. It didn’t lead with specific features. It went after "this product is for young designers, creatives" signalling identity. Someone who has

taste
discernment
mobility
future-forward thinking

You start with the people everyone else wants to be like.  There is a prestige associated with that title.

Designers and creatives:
are early adopters
influence office buying decisions later
signal “this is what the future looks like”

By winning this demographic first, Apple created desire with

-executives who later justified it as “lightweight for travel”
-students who saw it as the “cool but serious”
-corporations followed once it felt inevitable

Limiting the audience increased clarity, not exclusion.

If Apple had led with this message: “It’s thin, but not the most powerful, and expensive, but… versatile?” It's not specific enough.

Instead, Apple made a clean promise: This is the laptop for creatives who value elegance, portability,creativity.

That clarity created immediate differentiation from the MacBook Pro. It gave the product it's own identity.

The company wasn't saying with the MacBook Air “You need this computer.”

Apple was saying “You are the kind of person this computer was made for.”

Once that gets traction, the audience can safely expand.

She is already a strong brand in her market. I shared she start narrow on purpose with this new offering.

And once her service owns a story, everyone in your world finds their own reason to buy into it.

_________
I'm a former TV anchor who has created systems in her business to live in another country every quarter. I share those systems in my workshops.

I'm hosting a workshop this Friday at noon EDT. Register here.
https://luma.com/d0erotqr

Mondays I share the Anatomy of a Good "No": Instead of saying "I have no idea," say this

A team member just said the dreaded four words: "I have no idea" 
It doesn't acknowledge the importance of your question
it kinda shuts down the conversation without any effort to engage or be curious about why you’re asking
it makes you feel unheard or undervalued

A kinder way to say the same thing:
Read this newsletter to get a break down of a script and why it works

________
Scripts were a lifeline while I was a news anchor on television.
Today, scripts are tucked away in my back pocket and deployed in real time in business:

Welcome to the 1.20.2026 Edition of my newsletter Scripts in this newsletter so you can be your own best advocate in business. Today at a glance: One 

Open article: Anatomy of a Good "No": Instead of saying "I have no idea," say this by Joya Dass • 1 min read

Anatomy of a Good "No": Instead of saying "I have no idea," say this

Today, stylist Tamara Gaudin came to my home.

What prompted it?

I had already whiteboarded all of my outfits for Rome (as I prepare to live there for a February to do deep work).

She took one look at it and simply said “It needs depth.”

I thought I had already built in depth, by my choice of fabrics (silk, cashmere, wool). I invited her to my closet to better understand what she meant.

Upward career strategist Avni Barman intentionally fashioned her wardrobe with the help of a stylist. She makes the case of the mere act of very intentional dressing opened up opportunities and tripled her income.

Psychologists Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky coined the term “enclothed cognition” — the idea that what we wear influences how we think and behave. In controlled experiments, participants who wore a lab coat described as a doctor’s coat performed better on attention-related tasks than those who wore the same coat but thought it belonged to a painter. This demonstrates that the meaning we attach to clothing changes our cognition and performance.

My one word for 2026: Uplevel?

How do I mark that THIS season of life and business differently than last year? I’ve grown as a business owner. I’ve grown in quantum leaps from travel.

Read my newsletter to learn more

___________

I'm a former TV anchor who has built systems in her business in order to live out of country each quarter. I'm hosting a workshop this Friday at noon EDT on 1 key way I created that for myself. Register here: https://luma.com/d0erotqr

One Story: Today, stylist Tamara Gaudin came to my home. What prompted it? I had already whiteboarded all of my outfits for Rome (as I prepare to live

Open article: My 'One Word' for 2026 via a Stylist's Visit to my Closet Today
 by Joya Dass • 5 min read

My 'One Word' for 2026 via a Stylist's Visit to my Closet Today

When I launched my first public speaking Masterclass during the pandemic, I took a course on “course building” from Danny Inny. The first thing he had us do, was interview 30 people.

Thirty.
Thirty people who wanted public speaking help.

Why? Rather than divine in a silo what people need, I had to become a data scientist. I had to interview 30 people to understand exactly what was keeping them up at night about their public speaking needs. I recorded the conversations. I transcribed them. I categorized each interview on an Excel doc.
If you want my Excel doc, comment INTERVIEW below.

On a score of 1-10, what was the level of urgency to make change? I scored them. What was the category this person fell in? 

I categorized them.
Were they job searching?
Were they trying to kick imposter syndrome?
Were they desperate for a place to practice without judgment?
Were new categories I had not anticipated emerging?

Now—I could do two things: I could double down on what to talk about in my marketing. PRESENCE. I could regurgigate the exact words people were using to describe their pain. I WANT PRESENCE.

You see it in my LinkedIn banner today.

“Gosh, its like you are in my head,” people would say.

Well, I kinda was. Just not your head. Someone else’s.

My idea is this: When building something, I encourage building in public.
I’m re tooling my one word now. It seems like “raw and honest” but let’s see. The audience will tell me in real time, what is resonating and what is not.
Based on their likes, comments and engagement.

Use this to arrive at your catch phrase.
Use it ad nauseum.

But this post is about the ‘widgets’ people use to make it easy to access their book, course, product.

I studied how Amie and others with massive followings and even bigger earnings, socialize their e books, courses and products.

Below, I break down the three ‘widgets’ I’m enchanted with right now and how each one works:

One Story: She poured her heart and soul into building a course. Energy. A fair bit of money. Now she’s in despair. Nobody bought it. It didn’t gain t

Open article: The Raw and Honest 3 Apps You Need to Sell Your Course, E Book, Product on Instagram by Joya Dass • 6 min read

The Raw and Honest 3 Apps You Need to Sell Your Course, E Book, Product on Instagram

This past weekend upstate, “B” held a sketching class.

The ties that bind are the 4 women who became clients of my business in almost 10+ years ago.

Over the years, they grew in revenue and self assuredness. Over the years spouses, kids joined in.

We have travelled the world together. But an annual tradition is to gather at D’s mountain home each MLK weekend.

The weekend is full of activities: Yoga, snow boarding, snow hiking, LOTS of Indian food, wine. Everyone contributes. The sketching class was “B’s” idea this year. She brought boxes of pencils of varying softness — hard, soft, charcoal.

We sketched by the fire the last night. The kids. The adults.

Some sketched from photos of a travel memory. An elephant from Africa. An orchid from Jaipur.

Some sketched objects in the room. A wine glass. Some free-styled it.
We were on the floor. In pajamas and apres ski sweats. Phones nearby, but ignored.

No one talked about work, identity, or what’s next.

We drew.
 
_______
When I think back to some of the biggest things I have created out of my life.

I mean, created something out of nothing, it was a 7 day cruise of the Dalmatian Coast in 2022. It was 30 clients, friends and their families.

BUT--what you don't know is that I had an accountability partner everyday for weeks preceding. Each day, we met at 2:30pm to do this "Future me" exercise. I'm going to host it next Friday at noon EDT.

Selfishly, there are some things I want to create for 2026. Why not join me for accountability?

My partner in doing this in 2022 was unsuccessful in having a child --FOR YEARS. Her family had written her off. Her doctors had written her child bearing capacity off.

She now has a beautiful little girl whom she is travelling the world with.

This works.

But you just don't have the blueprint for it.

I'm sharing it next Friday. Register here: https://luma.com/d0erotqr

One Story: This past weekend upstate, “B” held a sketching class. The ties that bind are the 4 women who became clients of my business in almost 10+ y

Open article: Your 'uplevel' to finding your one word: Start with your core values by Joya Dass • 5 min read

Your 'uplevel' to finding your one word: Start with your core values

When asked how he carved “David” from the big ol slab of Carrara marble two other sculptors had abandoned in the church yard, the famous sculptor Michelangelo said,

“I just removed everything that wasn’t ‘David.’”

My clients love to tell me about the 58 things they are good at. But, see, 58 things aren’t repeatable by someone else in your network. The human brain, can, at most remember —maybe 4?

That person CAN, however, repeat one word associated with you. It’s up to you, like Michelangelo, to remove everything that isn’t that ONE WORD.

I know it’s constraining, but this is how great brands are built. You craft the narrative first. Your brand comes alive, when others start echoing the word back to you.

One of the experiences I am taking my VIP Day client is a tour of the Vatican before it opens to the public.

I’ve been talking about the importance of finding the ONE WORD your personal brand hangs on.

Once you have settled on your word, it’s time to build a culture around it.
How do you do that? Consistent content. The challenge is in saying ONE WORD, 1,000 creative ways. Not saying 1,000 different things.

Michelangelo’s Vatican work—especially the Sistine Chapel ceiling—was his next, HUGE “uplevel.”

When Pope Julius II called on Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, he didn’t actually want the commission. Sculpting David was 1 figure. The chapel was going to be 300 figures! and he had to create basically an entire cohesive universe around it. It was hard. He had to paint on his back. The paint dripped in his eyes. It took him 4 years.

He HAD to let his old identity (sculptor) ‘die’ and embody a new one (painter) in order to paint the Sistine Chapel we know today.

Every commission he got since the Sistine Chapel (St. Peter’s Basilica, for example) —came because he proved he could:

handle scale
handle pressure
redefine himself publicly

Read on for how your one word relates to how I'm packing for Rome for a month.

______
I'm a former TV anchor who has created systems in her business that allow me to live in another country 4x a year. 

I'm hosting a powerful workshop of a mindset exercise I did for 30 days to create this Friday Jan 30th at 12pm EDT. Register here https://luma.com/d0erotqr

Joya’s Substack Jan 23, 2026 Story I told Keep your outfits to a maximum of three colors in order to look ‘put together.’ Here is what I’m packing for

Open article: I want to help you choose your ONE WORD with What I'm Packing for Rome for a Month by Joya Dass • 6 min read

I want to help you choose your ONE WORD with What I'm Packing for Rome for a Month

It was the first time I had stayed out until the sun came up.

I was hostessing at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant in the heart of Washington DC, right near the White House. I could sustain myself financially as I was interning with CNN, post-college.

Years later, I would walk that block.

The restaurant is long gone.

But back then, a whole new world —-the seedy underbelly of restaurant life I only read about it in “Kitchen Confidential”——-was opening up to me.

The wait staff.
The bus boys.
The bar backs.

“Behind you.” A phrase I still use today to let someone know I’m behind them so they don’t back up too fast and bump into me.

Family dinner before a shift (at least, I had at least one square meal a day).

Beers with the wait staff at the Old Ebbit Grill after a shift. A pint of beer.
That was sustenance too.


Now, when I tell that story, the emotional charge around it is gone.
I almost miss it. Life was so simple.

But—that identity was so steeped in survival and scarcity.

I had to let that identity ‘die’ in order to ‘uplevel’ over the years.

👉🏽As you craft a new season of life in 2026, I challenge you to consider these scripts on this Monday.

Your nervous system/your ego is designed to keep you safe, So if you are used to ‘doing,’ you’ll reject ‘being.’ If you are used to ‘caregiving’ you will reject ‘receiving’

Monday: Get specific. How will you treat your body this year?
Tuesday: What do you tolerate? What will you no longer tolerate?
Wednesday: How do you talk about yourself? What will you no longer say?
Thursday: How do you speak to yourself? How do you open yourself up to receive more?
Friday: What conversations are you having? What are you no longer available for?

Analogy: I couldn’t be on a Peloton exercising, while eating a donut. Both activities can’t be happening if a better body and better health are in my goals list.
________
Today, I've left my life in television behind. I write about the systems I've created in my business that allow me to live in another country each quarter.

When I think back to some of the biggest things I have created out of my life.

I mean, created something out of nothing, it was a 7 day cruise of the Dalmatian Coast in 2022. It was 30 clients, friends and their families.

BUT--what you don't know is that I had an accountability partner everyday for weeks preceding. Each day, we met at 2:30pm to do this "Future me" exercise. I'm going to host it next Friday at noon EDT.

Selfishly, there are some things I want to create for 2026. Why not join me for accountability?

My partner in doing this in 2022 was unsuccessful in having a child --FOR YEARS. Her family had written her off. Her doctors had written her child bearing capacity off.

She now has a beautiful little girl whom she is travelling the world with.

This works.

But you just don't have the blueprint for it.

I'm sharing it next Friday.

Register here: https://luma.com/d0erotqr

When I think back to some of the biggest things I have created out of my life.

I mean, created something out of nothing, it was a 7 day cruise of the Dalmatian Coast in 2022. It was 30 clients, friends and their families.

BUT--what you don't know is that I had an accountability partner everyday for weeks preceding. Each day, we met at 2:30pm to do this "Future me" exercise. I'm going to host it next Friday at noon EDT.

Selfishly, there are some things I want to create for 2026. Why not join me for accountability?

My partner in doing this in 2022 was unsuccessful in having a child --FOR YEARS. Her family had written her off. Her doctors had written her child bearing capacity off.

She now has a beautiful little girl whom she is travelling the world with.

This works.

But you just don't have the blueprint for it.

I'm sharing it next Friday.

Register here:

Open article: Imagine "Future You" · Luma by luma.com

“So —what exactly are you going to do by yourself in Rome?”

Melissa posed this question to me at the candlelit bar at Cosme Thursday evening as we chewed on pork filled flour tortillas for Restaurant Week.

If you know me a little, you know I’m writing about my ‘uplevel.’
That’s my word for 2026.

What you don’t know is that I spent $40,000 last year, studying and learning who I sell to and why. I’m gonna be honest, as I was filing my company taxes with my accountant this week, I gulped hard when I saw that number.

But with that line item on my P&L that reads “marketing and sales,” I also learned three more words:
Product.
Market.
Fit.

What the market will pay me for.

Years ago, I interviewed Sarah LeFleur, founder of the clothing brand, MM Le Fleur. [Interview in this newsletter]

Her sales were flagging, until this moment in 2016.

Donald Trump had just beat Hillary Clinton in the election.

M.M.LaFleur scrapped the “pant-suit email” they had planned to send clients.
Instead, the company opened up a conversation with women asking what they, as a brand, could do.

The responses started flooding in. “I think there were a lot of raw emotions,” Sarah recalls. “But the number one thing we heard is, ‘We need more women in politics, Republican or Democrat. So how are you going to help with that?’”
How?

MM Le Fleur launched a PR campaign promising to lend clothing to any female running for public office. “We will dress you for your campaign trail.” It went viral. “AOC tweeted about it, Hillary tweeted about it,” Sarah recalls, just as more women began running for public office.

That’s when she found her ‘product market fit.’

80% of startups fail in the first year. Why? Lack of ‘product market fit.’ Said another way,

What does the market want?
More importantly, what will the market would pay for?
How does that intersect with what you are selling?
Your friends and family may be very enthusiastic when you say, “Hey, I’m launching a food product.”

Yay!
Congratulations!
That’s a good idea

You spend thousands bringing the product to market—and those well meaning friends (and their wallets) are no where to be found.

Until people put money where their mouth is, you haven’t discovered “Product market fit.”

So, yes, I spent $40K last year. But it was a valuable education, sitting on 5 calls a day, learning what my customer will ultimately pay for. Who she is. What season of life she finds herself in.

Now I am so dialed into 
Where she vacations 
Where she hangs out (and does not) 
How urgent is it that she work with me 
How much agency she has over her own money
Is she raising young children? 
Does she have a full time corporate role or calendar space to give me?
What she has objections to.

Are you clear on these metrics?
Read on in this newsletter.

2.1.2026 Edition of "What I Did Last Week (and what I'm looking forward to)" I am back from the annual antiquities fair at the Park Avenue Armory this

Open article: The Raw and Honest Reason I'm Am Going to Rome for a Month Today by Joya Dass • 7 min read

The Raw and Honest Reason I'm Am Going to Rome for a Month Today

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