Midsummer Dispatch

And: my other Substack's a Substack 🚗

It feels like time for a touchpoint. From me to you - and the other way around.

I’d love to know: how are you and what are you up to? Respond to this, text or ring me (I’m really into impromptu phone calls), send me a telepathic message - your choice.

📚 First, books 📚

I read every single night in bed (backlit Kindle ftw). Usually one book at a time, but occasionally flipping back and forth between a light-but-not-crappy novel and a self-help-y nonfiction book.

I’ve got coffee table books I like to read a few pages of at breakfast or while Louisa’s playing. On the weekends, it’s all about the newspaper (the NYT in print!).

And then there are my spiritual books. The ones I read before or after a meditation or that I treat like a deck of tarot cards, opening randomly to a page that always ends up offering the right message.

What I’ve been reading most recently:

• Antimemetics: Why Some Ideas Resist Spreading by Nadia Asparouhova (she’s

  Monomythical
  on Substack) — read it in one go on a flight and took a million notes on my phone (e.g., Do I want to be Tokyo or Zurich? What’s something I want to express from deep within my soul?), published by the new Kickstarter

• To get grounded in the morning, I’ve been reading The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life by Suleika Jaouad and then journaling for 10 mins and/or opening The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have by Mark Nepo to the entry for today’s date

• I Am Invincible by Norma Kamali — a 40th bday gift that I love everything about, from the recipes to the career wisdom to the unabashed and hard-earned self-love

• Sandwich: A Novel by Catherine Newman — I rarely read books more than once, but I just read this one for the 2nd time and plan to come back again (it’s my heartwarming, funny, relatable All Fours antidote)

🗓️ Next, what fills most of my days 🗓️

1:1 Coaching

I coach early to mid stage startup founders. Our work is a mix of personal and leadership development, with tactical advising mixed in when relevant.

I especially love supporting women and founders building in/around/for creatives/creators.

Recent clients include:

• co-founder of an n/a spirits company who’s looking ahead to an exit

• tech exec getting a better-for-you food product off the ground with the intention of going all in next year

• founder of a brand new incubator for artist-founders

Leadership & Culture Development

This is org-wide, larger scale stuff like manager trainings and offsites. It’s also where I get to collaborate with my Evolution Partners most closely.

I’m currently:

• facilitating an ongoing leadership skills training program for the management team of a multi-location senior living community (e.g., strategic thinking, leadership presence, delegation)

• working on a comprehensive proposal for a rapidly growing early stage startup that is deeply committed to building a personalized, exciting, sustainable L&D program (e.g., 1:1 advisory for the head of L&D, targeted workshops and coaching circles for managers)

Original Projects

I’m a builder and creative at my core, so I’ve always got something of my own going.

♥️ Currently,

VITAL

is the big one.

My collaborator

Areyla Faeron

and I are building a suite of offerings for women at all stages of life who are navigating big turning points. Think: executive promotion, becoming a parent, making a big geographic move.

VITAL means essential and alive. We believe naming and embodying what's most core and enlivening for you is the key to forging a more whole, vibrant, powerful you.

VITAL currently includes:

• a monthly Substack missive

• interviews with VITAL women

• live workshops ➡️ join us for the next virtual one on Fri. 8/15! ⬅️

🌝 I also co-host a monthly new moon gathering for women in LA with my dear friend Amanda Goldwasser. If you’re local and you’d like to join us sometime, let me know.

☠️ And, I’m still letting everything I learned in my death doula training last year settle and integrate into the rest of my practice, personal and professional. I’m beginning to explore the relationship between business and death — have thoughts? Tell me!

Family, Friends, & Fun

I’ve got an almost 1st grader and, after years of avoiding school leadership roles, I finally caved and am now a member of the Parent Council (aka the PTA) at my daughter’s TK-8 public charter Waldorf school. Surprise, surprise: I’m Co-Chair of Community Building. 😄 I’m psyched about the council camaraderie, the fast track to connecting with other families, and the sense of purpose and service.

This summer, my “it takes a village” dreams came true and our next door neighbors/friends (mom and college-aged daughter) were Louisa’s summer babysitters. That support allowed Andrew and me to have weekly date nights, and it’s a practice we plan to continue.

First ever (and very successful!) family camping trip (in Ojai) 🏕️

On the self care front, I’m feeling the strongest and most pain-free I’ve been in a while. My current regimen includes Pilates 2x/week, massages every couple of months (incl. craniosacral therapy), occasional acupuncture and cupping, power walking, 15-20 min. yoga videos, hiking, morning meditation, and journaling. My poor road bike (those tires have been deflated for a loooooong time) has been beckoning, and I’m maybe maybe maybe contemplating joining a friend for early morning ocean swims.

Other

After 5+ years mostly off Instagram, I’ve been drawn to posting there again. My desire for very short-form content tools and sharing my insights more widely have managed to override my deeeeeep disdain and disgust for Zuck and Meta and social media’s generally poisonous impact on us all. So, follow me? 🤣

On that note, I pretty much stopped drinking (ask me about my 5 Drink Rule for 2025!) and chopped my hair off and shared my lessons learned on Insta and both stories prompted lots of conversation. Anything you’d want me to dive into next?

One thing that’s gotten lots of love online and IRL is my word of the year: FLEAZY. It’s a combo of flow + ease. It’s about lightening and loosening up, going with the flow, rolling with the punches, enjoyment and pleasure. It’s been the parenting, marriage, work, etc. reminder I’ve been grateful for time and time again.

And what to say about the shit state of the world on so, so many dimensions? Can’t not mention it, don’t want to delve into it here. Let’s talk live if it’s the kind of thing you want to discuss. Here’s one piece of news that returned a bit of my faith in humanity / politics recently.

🤔 Curiosities & Questions 🤔

• Where should Andrew and I celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary in October? Some criteria: 3-4 days total, 2-3 hr flight or max. 5-6 hr drive from LA, awe-inspiring nature, beautiful design, delicious food.

• My minimalist AI stack is currently made up of Granola for notetaking and Claude as a brainstorming partner. I read every single BRXND Dispatch Substack. I digest the AI channel in my Evolution Partners Slack. Other tools I should consider? Sources of simple, actionable guidance? I’d especially love some ethics/responsible use content.