Renia (pronounced R-EE-n-a) Carsillo hates business silos and marketing hacks. So, she spends her days working with mid-size and small companies to integrate their business strategy with their impact strategy, design sustainable marketing frameworks, and find a growth cadence that works for their team and their lives. Renia believes founders are uniquely positioned to create a kinder, more equitable world. She is passionate about bringing C-level strategic support to the small and mid-size companies shaping their communities every day. Renia says, "Sustainable marketing is built on a solid business strategy. A solid business strategy is built on values-driven habits. Values-driven habits are built on healed/healing leaders. We can’t do these things separately. They’re all interconnected. ”
Why Follow-Through is Still Human Work: Places AI Can't Help Your Business, Part 4 [Two on Tuesdays]
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Happy Tuesday, Reader! Today’s AI tools make starting things easier than ever. For example, much has been written about how helpful ChatGPT is at getting from blank page to rough draft for writers. But here's what no algorithm can do for you: the discipline of finishing. There are 99 days left in 2025. We're in that magic momentum cycle where hitting those big goals and leaning into the intentions we set in our planning sessions becomes not just possible, but natural. Realign with the Human Skill of Finishing ThingsJust like there are seasons for rest (winter is coming), there are seasons where movement is the natural order of things. Fall is one of those seasons. We are meant to finish things right now—to prepare our metaphorical nests for hibernation. The energy of fall is designed for completion, for wrapping up what we started when the year felt full of endless possibilities. For example, AI can generate your outline, suggest your next steps, and even write your first draft. But it cannot make you sit down day after day and do the hard work of edits and revisions. It cannot push through your resistance when the project gets hard. It cannot feel the satisfaction of typing "The End”, clicking "Publish”, or sending that final invoice. The discipline of finishing (of following through on commitments, pushing past the messy middle, choosing completion over perfection) is entirely human territory. Your Assignment for the Next 99 DaysTake some time this week to choose ONE priority project (note: this word was never meant to be pluralized). Choose something you're committed to finishing before the Winter Solstice (or New Year's Eve if that's more your style) and plot out a plan to get it done. If you need it, you have my full permission to use Claude or ChatGPT to help you make that plan if you're stuck. Let AI handle the logistics, the scheduling, and even the motivation techniques. But remember: the actual finishing? That's up to you. The tools can start it. Only you can complete it. Let’s do this.What important projects or big goals are you committed to completing by the end of the year? If you need some accountability, reply to this email and tell me about it. Until next time,
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Renia Carsillo
Renia (pronounced R-EE-n-a) Carsillo hates business silos and marketing hacks. So, she spends her days working with mid-size and small companies to integrate their business strategy with their impact strategy, design sustainable marketing frameworks, and find a growth cadence that works for their team and their lives. Renia believes founders are uniquely positioned to create a kinder, more equitable world. She is passionate about bringing C-level strategic support to the small and mid-size companies shaping their communities every day. Renia says, "Sustainable marketing is built on a solid business strategy. A solid business strategy is built on values-driven habits. Values-driven habits are built on healed/healing leaders. We can’t do these things separately. They’re all interconnected. ”
Happy Tuesday, Reader! There’s no question that every small- and micro-business leader is having to make tough decisions right now about how best to serve their team, customers, and community. But this is not the first time we’ve faced economic uncertainty, which is why I know sustainable business growth is still possible—and perhaps more necessary than ever. Sustainable growth means evolving, changing, and blooming over time without burning people out. For a business to have sustainable...
Happy Tuesday, Reader! I started writing about the uncertainty in our current market last year. And to say it’s gotten even more tumultuous might be an understatement. The early days of the pandemic are still fresh in many of our minds, and some of us were around to navigate the Great Recession of 2008-2009. But for many small businesses, what's happening now with tariffs, inflation, and shifting consumer confidence is hitting differently. It's not just supply chain chaos. Your customers'...
Happy Tuesday, Reader! If you're like most founders I work with, the word "networking" might make you cringe a little. It's earned a reputation that conjures images of forced conversations, uncomfortable self-promotion, and that nagging feeling that you're just using people for personal gain. And, coming across as “salesy” in the current market can make you seem out of touch, at best. But what if networking could feel different? What if it could help you build a community that sustains your...