As some of you know I love entrepreneurship but hate having a job. Still, we find times when we just need to rally on our strengths to get us what we want. Last week I landed a clint on the Upwork platform. He is looking to expand his business and needed an experienced recruiter. That is in my specialty, as I have more than 12 years recruiting experience. So I took the gig. I probably wouldn't have taken the contract it if the sale of my self-storage facility went through, but things happen for a reason. I'm not sure the reason for this set back but I just have to own it. This one should be about $100k for 6 months @ 20hrs / wk. More than I usually commit for my time, but my other businesses are pretty passive at this point (3+ years to get to this point to be mostly passive and I couldn't do it without business partners). Anyway, just sharing the grind like all of you. Sometimes we have to do what we need to in order to advance.

My biggest **win** in small business this year has been fully embracing AI — not as a gimmick, but as a core part of how I operate, market, and understand my customers. What surprised me most wasn’t the efficiency (though that’s been incredible). It was the *clarity*. AI gave me a sharper view of what my audience actually cares about, how they behave, and what messages resonate enough to move them to action. Marketing used to feel like a mix of instinct, experience, and educated guesses. Now it feels like precision. AI helps me test ideas faster, refine messaging in minutes, and build campaigns that feel handcrafted for the people I serve. It’s like having a strategist, analyst, and copywriter sitting beside me — without slowing me down. Customer insight has been the real game‑changer. Patterns that used to take months to notice now surface instantly. I can see what’s working, what’s not, and where opportunities are hiding. That level of visibility has reshaped how I make decisions. I an look back at conversations from the last 12 months and find patterns. If you’re a small business owner still on the fence, here’s my honest take: AI isn’t the future of small business — it’s the present. And integrating it has been the most impactful move I’ve made all year. My challenge to you is pick 1 repetitive task and find a way for AI to do it, or pick 1 software to use for generating images for your marketing, or pick 1 AI to screen for your customers pain points. Comment below on your win!

So after all my hard work emailing, and going out to businesses I finally got my first client tomorrow working with the Mansfield housing department doing a half day scan for them. I am so happy can't express how I feel to be honest all this hard work and stress has paid off. This will be the first of many clients going forward. Tomorrow I will be putting my best foot forward and doing the best work I have ever done in my life. Thank you to everyone who had given me advice in the group it all was extremely valuable getting me to the moment.

I recently used Codex to turn a flat 2D image of a product I wanted to make into a 3D model. I had a drawing of this little moth that is specific to my business, and I wanted to turn that drawing into a 3D-printed character. I don't know how to design in the 3D space, but I did hear recently Codex added Blender, which is a free 3D software, to its plugins. Being able to hand it a picture and have it help build the actual thing opens up a lot of possibilities for product ideas. I gave it the image, explained what I wanted, and had it go into the 3D software and create the model. It was working directly in the software, which was pretty cool to watch. There’s still judgment involved in deciding how something flat should look from the sides and back, so having a clear idea of the finished product helps. I’ve been using Codex for a lot of business and software work, but this was a fun example of using it for physical product development too. Something that started as a picture became a model I could keep working with.

Congratulate @Yvette Jones - Swanson for winning the September Leaderboard challenge. She wins a 1-Year Premium membership that comes with: - Full access to all courses - Monthly Live Group Business Coaching Call - Unlimited Direct Messages to Admins for any business question, or network connection request.