Today marks the completion of a course I’ve been building for the better part of a year — a course that started as a seed on a whiteboard in August of last year. Around the time Twice Over a Man launched, I wrote down a simple note: Create a course that helps people rise. I thought I’d finish it by summer 2025.
I underestimated how much time it would take.
I also underestimated how much it would give back to me.
This journey required the kind of effort, energy, and perseverance that reminded me of earning a master’s degree. I had to learn entirely new systems, navigate unknowns, and commit hour after hour to shaping something worthy of the people I’m called to serve. And yet, the satisfaction of completing it — the quiet pride, the deep breath, the gratitude — is something I didn’t fully anticipate.
I’m grateful for every person who stuck with me through the process. One person in particular — my social media manager — stayed consistent from beginning to end. And of course, my family, who supported me through the long hours and the sacrifices required to bring this to life.
But the truth is this:
The vision for this course was planted 30 years ago.
Just like writing Twice Over a Man was a relational sacrifice, this course required its own kind of sacrifice. There were many things I could have been doing in my “free time” — but I chose the harder path, the path of completion, the path of legacy.
The First Move™ isn’t a course about standard skills like getting noticed or advancing in nontraditional roles. It’s about the inner work — the transformation — that allows a person not just to lead, but to lead well. It’s the lessons of my 30-year leadership journey reframed, reclaimed, and renamed for a new generation.
And today, standing at the end of this long road, I am profoundly grateful.