In the fall of 2025, I met Eric Farewell, the founder of Royals, a small group of founders, for coffee. I wasn’t looking for help. Life felt good, if over busy. But I was beginning to wonder if my small, owner-operated business was strong enough to sustain me long-term.
Once I joined Royals, it became immediately clear that I was carrying too much of the work myself. I’d already known that at some level, but the group gave me a container to think about my work instead of just reacting. For a while, I thought that was the whole ballgame: define roles and delegate so I could step back from the day-to-day responsibilities and focus on the business rather than being the center of it.
Directionally, that was correct. But the more I worked in this direction, the deeper I went down the rabbit hole, and the more I realized something more fundamental: I didn’t have a business at all. I had a loose operation of agreements that made my family and me enough money to get by.
That’s when the real work began. Soon, I was working with other members of Royals to actually look under the hood of my business; set a clear mission, vision, and values; and create a set of strategic goals that would grow the business beyond me. I began thinking about products and services that didn’t need me at the center, that could scale and create value without running me into the ground in the process. I created financial and pipeline modeling so I could actually track my progress toward my plan.
In some ways, these wins sound so basic. But for someone like me—a creative in the publishing world with very little business training—it’s been everything. I’d been winging so much of this, and I was talented enough as a producer to make it work. But I was never going to level up without this group’s support—and the wisdom, perspective, and accountability they shared with me every step of the way.
Today, I’m still working hard. But now I’m working to build a business rather than just get by. And because of that, my modest dream of a house with a badass library and a hidden bookshelf door feels concrete and attainable.
