If you want to be great, get back in the trenches.

It’s Wednesday, May 15th, and today we’re talking about keeping your hands on your business.

Forward this to a smart friend so they can sign up here.

This week, applications closed on my new membership.

A few other things happened this week:

• I screamed at a Facebook Pixel and called it the stupidest little creature in existence.

• I slid down my office wall and sat there slumped, partially comatose, staring into space after my 62nd (no, really) call.

• I actually said, out loud, “F*ck you, Mark Zuckerberg.”

I contemplated the odds of not pissing everyone off if I went back to them, after an application, interview, and sign-up process, and said “never mind, I’m calling it off” and moved to Europe. (All because I read an article about €1 homes for sale in Italy.)

I’ve successfully launched three community-based businesses of my own. I have three certifications and have built strategies behind 7, 8, and 9-figure brands.

Which doesn’t mean squat when you get back in the ring.

I know a few dance teachers who won’t dance. They’re not injured, but they are out of shape. They will teach class with an assistant who demonstrates everything.

I don’t take those classes.

I don’t want to learn from anyone who’s given up learning themselves; who has forgotten what it is to be a student. Because it becomes way too easy to tell others what to do when we’ve lost sight of how many obstacles they’ll face.

For example, here’s what I’d like for you to do:

1. Floss daily

2. Break a sweat daily

3. Eat a lot of protein

4. Be very curious

5. Exercise some sort of creativity

6. Find a few social groups to belong to

7. Take a complete tech break once a week

8. Get a pet (I just can’t imagine life being better without one)

But here’s what I do:

1. Floss daily

2. Break a sweat on days when I’m not bleary-eyed tired, which lately is 3 times a week if I’m lucky

3. I cannot hit those macros

4. Get cranky and not want to hear from anyone about anything

5. Put my creativity on the back burner and become dull and listless

6. Hahahahaha

7. Hahahahaha (though I did just buy a brick)

8. My pet is essentially making up for my deficiency in every other area

I share all of this because getting back in the trenches of starting a community from scratch is revealing my vices, virtues, and more importantly—giving me serious empathy. Because while I confidently advise every client on, say, which platform to build on, my own journey is more like:

Every time I watch some formulaic TV show like Secret Millionaire where a CEO fumbles his way through the simplest of tasks, I wonder how we allow ourselves to get so far away from the reality of what we do.

I think it’s for a few reasons:

1. We think we’ve paid our dues.

2. We figured we’ve learned enough and moved on.

3. We tell ourselves “I have to focus on what I do best and let others do the rest” (this one sounds sneakily smart).

Phooey.

There is not a business alive that experiences real stasis, and the further you are from the front lines, the duller your sense of truth is.

I yelled at a Facebook Pixel because after 7 hours of trying, I couldn’t get it to fire correctly. I couldn’t get my ads to run. I am a reasonably intelligent person, so why, Zucks, are you making it SO DAMN HARD TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY?!?!??!??!

I doubt the folks at Facebook care about the UX of their ad platform. I doubt Bezos tries to get in touch with Amazon customer service with an order issue or that the thousands of “experts” selling courses have actively built what they’re telling others to do.

And I’m telling you—if you’re feeling like you have a great handle on your business, get back into the trenches. Find a way to do the things you’re asking others to do. Whether employees or customers: get in their shoes.

Nothing builds empathy like experiencing the day-to-day realities of interacting with what you offer. It’s hard to stay close to reality from the (often metaphorical) corner office. This experience is giving me a window both into my clients’ journey and into their members' journey.

And if you care enough to do so, you’ll make four great discoveries:

1. How to ground decisions in reality: I often think about the flubbed, heartless layoffs that have been well documented on social media or strange, overly programmed communities I’ve been invited to. In both cases, these experiences could have been avoided if decision-makers actually knew the ins and outs of the daily experience and kept one boot in the muck.

2. Finding the Eureka Moments: I’ve experienced the same cycle several times now: experienced a frustration or friction point > tried to solve it easily with no success > jumped down a rabbit hole of creative problem solving > discovered something even better for my members > tucked away the knowledge to share with future clients.

3. Dirty Hands = Strong Culture: Annie (my project manager) and I have been building the member’s resource library together. Being “in it” with her has created a sense of togetherness we don’t usually experience when working in our separate silos.

4. Sharpening the Strategic Skillet: The business world doesn’t stand still, and neither should we. The only way to stay sharp and adaptable is to do.

Not one of these things can be found through a comfortable rhythm. And while every business needs periods of rest and predictability, there is a direct correlation between complacent distance and your own aptitude.

There is a great prompt in Seth Godin’s Shipit Journal:

Plus it: What are ten things you can add that will radically or subtly improve what you’re offering?

Minus it: What are ten things you can subtract that will radically or subtly improve what you’re offering?

These two questions have quickly allowed me to both remove the fluff and tap into the delight aspect of launching a new thing. And they’re the perfect follow-up to a season in the trenches.

Enjoy the muck. 🥾

Onward,

April

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