Real Talk: Growing a Business (and Why It’s Never a Straight Line)

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it really means to grow a business. Not the version we see in glossy success stories or those Instagram posts where someone goes from idea to empire in six months. I mean the real version—the messy, layered, sometimes exhausting, but ultimately rewarding process of figuring it out step by step.

Here’s what I’ve come to realize: growth isn’t linear. It’s not a straight line where each step automatically leads to the next. It’s iterative. It’s a cycle of trying, learning, adjusting, and trying again. And honestly, once I embraced that, things started to feel less overwhelming and a lot more doable.

For me, “iterative” has meant testing small ideas before going all in. It’s meant letting myself experiment—sometimes with programs, sometimes with partnerships, sometimes with entirely new revenue streams—and learning from each one, even the ones that didn’t take off. The truth is, every pivot, every experiment, even every failure, has taught me something essential about what my audience needs, what I actually want to build, and where the two meet.

Some days it feels slow. Other days, there are huge leaps forward. But it’s the combination of those cycles that builds a strong, sustainable foundation. Growth isn’t just about scaling fast—it’s about iterating smart.

So, if you’re growing something—whether it’s a company, a side hustle, or a creative project—give yourself space to evolve. Celebrate the experiments. Document the lessons. And remember: every version of your business is just one step toward the next, and that’s not a setback. That’s the process.

On Superheroes, Play, and What Our Kids Really Need

I had the chance to connect with Christopher Bell, the voice behind one of my favorite TED Talks: Bring on the Female Superheroes. His message hit me, once again, in that place where my work and my heart overlap: our children deserve more. More representation. More depth. More chances to see themselves in the stories they love.

I spend so much of my time thinking about how kids learn and play, and it always comes back to this truth: kids are complex. Their imaginations aren’t one-note. They aren’t confined to pinks and blues, dolls or trucks, “boy stories” or “girl stories.” When they play, they build whole worlds. They create rules, break them, and make new ones. They test what it means to be brave, clever, silly, or strong.

And yet, so often, the media made for them doesn’t reflect that. Too many characters are flat or formulaic. Too many stories miss the opportunity to tell a child, Yes, you belong here. Yes, you can be the one who saves the day, solves the puzzle, or leads the team.

Talking with Bell today reminded me why this work matters so much. It’s not just about putting more diverse characters on screens. It’s about giving kids the tools to imagine themselves fully—in all their strength, creativity, and complexity. When their stories and heroes evolve, their play deepens. And when their play deepens, so does their confidence.

I walked away from our conversation feeling grateful—and motivated. There’s so much we can do to make the worlds we build for kids reflect the fullness of who they are. And that work, I believe, changes more than just media. It changes how they see themselves.