Day 7

This week has been amazing.  I have learned so much about the lives of the families that we are seeking to help.  I talked to three amazing, strong woman this week about how they care for their loved ones - and the depth of passion these women have for their families is awe inspiring.  I was given a great dose of humility this week.  The kind you need to get when you have those days where you think your life is hard.  The kind you need when you are starting a new business, a new business that will help these amazing woman.  The kind that we all need once in awhile to give us a little perspective.

Today was a typical day for the Startup CEO.  The first and most important meeting of the day was with my son.  I took him to school and we practiced his spelling words for his spelling test today.  He is working on long vowel sounds - the words all themed for fire fighting after a book they are reading at school.  

Following that was the one of the most important meetings for the business.  I spent an hour and a half listening to our development team's proposal on how they intend to build my new baby to the world.  This was their plan for the 9 months that we would carry it in our woub, before given her life.  There was a lot of talk about technology decisions and also a lot of talk about budgets.  It was a great meeting and a great way to start the day, discussing how to bring this idea to life.   

Following the development meeting was some more marketing fun.  Continuing to bang out the UI/UX design briefing - it is a bit more of a monster than I originally expected, but I will say my brain is loving all the new concepts and all the attention to detail that goes into outlining the strategy for this important deliverable.  It speaks to my nerd side and my creative side - something rare in my work - using both sides of my brain at the same time.

Marketing fun was cut short to spend 45 minutes doing playground duty at my children's school.  Greeted by my son with a hug that would melt the hardest soul.  He was happy to see me.  He told me he thinks he got all of his spelling words right, so I think the care ride to school was 15 minutes well spent.  One of the best lunch hours I have had in a long time.  I spent the last 15 minutes of my lunch reading the 1st grades a story about Dazzle the Dinosaur, how his unique sparkles saved his family.  It really was a fun story to read, and my Eeyore voice works great for a giant Brontosaurus.   

Later in the day an amazing meeting with a caregiver.  Learning Sondra and Mary's story was motivating.  I almost wish I could have started my day with this meeting, I wish I could start every day with these types of meetings.  Learning the true depth of this complex problem we are trying to help solve.  Seeing that this is one way that technology can truly enable care, really make lives better.  It was fuel for the fire burning in my belly.  The fire to create something the world really needs.  The fire that has burned so long and been extinguished time after time as the thing I was building turned into following a blueprint for corporate america that met a timeline and a file format, but not a need.  

Today was a good day friends.  Today is the kind of day that everyone dreams about when they want to start their own business.  Today is the beginning of something, something big and something real.  Today is the day I will burn into my mind for all the days that are coming.  For the hard days where time lines are not met, budgets are overrun, and money is running thin - today is the day that will make those days worth suffering through.  

I will remember Day 7.

CEO of a Startup