It was never just one.

Sometimes people look at your life or work online and assume you’ve “made it.”

They see the polished pieces, the offerings, the photos, and assume it happened quickly. That success came overnight.

What they don’t see:
The canceled workshops.
The quiet seasons.
The years of doing everything, especially the things you’re not great at because you couldn’t afford a team yet.
Because you’re still building.

We don’t talk enough about that part.
Or the still in it part.
The this may not look shiny and it matters part.

This past Saturday, I hosted a free webinar to share about my new course.
A solid number registered, not as many as I’d hoped, but still.

At 9:00, I started the Zoom.
At 9:04, no one had shown up.

I texted my closest friends:
“It never even occurred to me that no one would show.”

They replied:
“That really sucks.”
And then:
“Come for the one.”

Wait.
Come for the one.
You always come for the one.

At 9:05, one person logged on.
We had a holy, beautiful conversation about courage.
I did the webinar for the one.
And it was good.

I shared the good and ugly on my stories later and someone messaged me:
“This is so brave.”

I don’t know if it’s brave.
I just know it’s real.

Yes, it stung.
Yes, it was disappointing.
And yes, I trust it with everything in me.

This is the life of a wholehearted leader. Sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes it fails.

Except, that’s only by the world’s definitions. And I don’t live by those.

So we root in our mission. We stand in our values. We remember who we are. And we keep going.

Because when you come for the one,
you remember the one has ripples.
And that is enough.
Maybe even more than enough.