Vol. 1 Edition 13 August 3, 2025 This is Your Time, Your Challenge

Please don’t fall into the abyss because something negative once ruled you. I’m from where you are—and I’ve got to fight my demons too. – Jill Scott, Golden Days 

Dear Brilliant Community,

This week, I’m finishing a six-month engagement with a client scaling with intention. We’ve built a hiring process from the inside out—systems, SOPs, onboarding flows, evaluation rubrics—laying groundwork that lets organizations grow without losing their soul. Now we’re in the unglamorous, tedious space: crossing every ‘t’, documenting what we know so future staff won’t have to guess.

While building foundations for others, I’m also deepening my own expertise—wrapping up summer classes and diving into procurement research (tracking local government bids for community-focused projects) from Buffalo to Raleigh to Winston-Salem. I’ve found my rhythm in this work—that sweet spot where my experience, strategy, and sense of service intersect.

Last Thursday, I learned I didn’t win the first bid I submitted. And still, I’m not discouraged. Because perfect is the enemy of done. I submitted. I asked for a debrief. I’m adjusting. I’m applying again.

Plan. Do. Study. Act.

That’s my cycle.

That’s the work.

That’s the win.

This is your time, your challenge. What is it that you want to do?” – Jill Scott, Golden Days

All week, these lyrics from KEM’s Golden Days (featuring Jill Scott) echoed in my ear:

“An obstacle is something that blocks or impedes your path.

You can climb over, you can dig under, you can chip through it,

You can go around it, you can move it. You can ignore it!

But you can do it! You Can Do It!

Getting around, through, under obstacles

I’m not ignoring the obstacle—I’m facing it.

So I’ll ask you: What obstacle are you moving through right now?

✨ Now tell me…

What obstacle is in your way this week?

What would it look like to chip away at it—even just a little?

You don’t have to move the mountain.

You just have to start.

You can do it.

And I can too.

With you in the field,

Soyini