Community is Inconvenience

Leadership is a complicated, ever-evolving journey.I have come to see it as both the greatest challenge and the greatest blessing in my life.

Painting a vision that inspires people to feel empowered is not a simple task. It takes tenacity, grit, and resilience. These words carry weight, yet they still don’t fully capture the depth of hard work and the lessons required to build an effective team.

Being a leader requires confidence rooted in humility, vulnerability grounded in trusted relationships, and honesty backed by compassion. It demands the ability to hold steady while remaining open—to guide without controlling, to listen without losing direction.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on a larger truth: building a team is equivalent to building a community. Community is not always convenient, and it requires selfless sacrifice. It is a constant reminder that the momentum you are creating is bigger than you. Leadership is not about personal achievement, but collective growth. True leadership development encompasses the whole person—not just the professional version we present at work.

There were moments this year when I was filled with self-doubt, questioned my own ability, and felt completely exhausted while navigating struggle, crisis, and opportunity.

My job brought me to tears more times than I would like to admit. I restructured two teams hours apart while simultaneously leading a startup in Tucson. I stepped into an operation with no culture, no vision, and no systems—and built it from the ground up. I walked into a financially struggling organization and ended the year profitable year-to-date.

It tested my bandwidth, my confidence, and my capacity, yet I never gave up. I showed up despite the fear, and through that persistence, I gained clarity.

Leadership is not about being unshaken—it’s about staying present. This lesson echoed through many areas of my life. It’s staying through the inconvenience, choosing growth over ego, people over ease, and love over convenience. When you show up radically, you find people who align with you and begin to build a foundation that heals you and supports you through the inevitable challenges ahead.

Before 2025, I didn’t know how to invest in community. I was so consumed by anxiety and fear that I didn’t know how to truly show up. Betting on myself gave me the confidence to be vulnerable—to let people know me. I learned how I want to show up and how to love my friends, my family, and myself more fully.

2025 was the year I found my peace.

2026 is the year I will embrace clarity.