This has been an interesting week.

Monday was supposed to be a working day – deep into all the tasks that come with starting a business. But I'm also job searching because I'm still on unemployment insurance with four weeks left, and mortgages don't pay themselves.

I had a screening interview with Uber.

I've been unemployed since March 2024. Had a seven-month contract that ended in April. My experience is super niche HR, and right now there are a lot of people looking for work. The competition is brutal.

So when they moved me to the next round? I was genuinely surprised.

But here's what's also true: I'm not planning on this working out.

Not because I'm pessimistic. Because I've changed.

Eighteen months outside the corporate machine and I can finally see what I couldn't see when I was in it: most companies treat their employees like parts in a factory. Replaceable. Interchangeable. Disposable.

I couldn't see it when I was part of the system. Now I can't unsee it.

And here's the thing about getting an ADHD diagnosis in your fifties and spending 18 months building something of your own: you discover a kind of freedom you didn't know was possible.

I joke that I'm a feral feminist in my fifties.

Turns out it's not really a joke.

I'm building a business that helps women reclaim their agency and power. I want them to feel seen and capable. To speak freely and act boldly. To realize they already have what they need – they just haven't experienced themselves that way yet.

The idea of going back to a place where I have to make myself smaller to fit? Where I can't blurt out a song lyric or a rant about corporate absurdity without someone clutching their pearls?

Yeah. Less attractive by the day.

But also: mortgage. Cat food. Debt.

So I need to find someone (or someones) who actually want to pay for my particular skills and who like that I say what I'm thinking.

They say there's someone for everyone. I'm banking on that applying to work, too.

This was also the week the fall cohort for IndeCollective started.

It's a ‘build a better business’ program for modern solopreneurs, and I was completely overwhelmed in the spring cohort. So I promised myself I'd show up fully for these next 10 weeks.

The program is designed for transformative learning in community – which is absolutely my jam and also what inspired the AI Confidential Founder's Cohort I ran earlier this year.

But here's what makes it different from your typical business course: it's not just about the practical nuts and bolts of running a business.

It's about looking at what in your life is getting in the way of being successful.

Because here's what I know: I don't want to build a business where I'm constantly chasing clients and customers.

I want to create something so valuable, people come to me.

Last week, a vendor reached out about me doing a corporate talk on AI and ADHD. I made a proposal. Both the vendor and the client liked it.

Then the client sent this to the vendor:

"We've reviewed Deb's YouTube interview and have decided not to move forward with her as a speaker."

Plot twist: the vendor still wants to work with me. They like my profile. They're not scared off by whatever they think the client saw.

But I am absolutely sitting here wondering: what did they see?

And then I catch myself doing the thing I teach other women not to do: trying to figure out how to be less of whatever made them uncomfortable.

Less loud. Less opinionated. Less... me.

This is the work, right here.

Building a business that lets you be yourself means actually being yourself. Even when it costs you the gig. Even when you're four weeks away from running out of unemployment benefits.

Even when it's scary as hell.

Simon Sinek on finding your WHY

This is a 15-minute video (yes, I'm telling you upfront because I respect your time), but it's worth every second.

Whether you're building a business or just trying to figure out what your personal brand actually is, this will make you think differently about what you're doing and why it matters.

Fair warning: you might end up with a notebook full of scribbles and some uncomfortable clarity about what you're actually building.

My debut as an R Generation Creator

If you've never had an actual artist create something from what you've given them as an idea, then you haven't fully lived.

I got to work with Clotilde, a ridiculously talented French artist, to bring one of my templates to life. It's now live on the Miroverse, and every time I look at it I'm just... grateful?

There's something about watching someone take your messy thoughts and turn them into something beautiful that reminds you creativity is collaborative.

Thank you, Clotilde. This one's on you.

Corporate Natalie strikes again

I nearly choked on my Kickstart while watching this one.

It's Snapchat filters as different corporate personalities trying to get their tech to work. The passive-aggressive one? The overly chipper one? The one who's definitely crying on the inside?

Dead. Accurate. Devastating.

Say the thing you're not saying

You know that email you've rewritten 47 times?
The conversation you're rehearsing in the shower?
The thing you need to ask for but keep minimizing?

I built you something to help.

It's called The Thing I'm Not Saying Translator, and it walks you through five questions to help you bridge the gap between what you keep trying to say and what you actually mean.

Copy the prompt, paste it into your favorite AI tool (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity - all work), and it'll guide you through the questions one at a time.

You know when you write something and it comes out sounding like a robot wrote it? Or worse – like you're trying way too hard to sound professional?

This prompt fixes that.

Use it for emails, LinkedIn posts, bios, anything where you need to sound like an actual human instead of Corporate Speak Bot 3000.

Role
You are my voice coach who knows how real people actually talk.

Objective
Help me rewrite this so it sounds like me – not like a press release, not like I'm trying to impress anyone, just... me.

Context
Here's what I wrote: [paste your text]

Here's how I'd actually say this to a friend: [write it how you'd really say it – be casual, be honest]

Keep the professional information, but make it sound human. I want people to read this and think "oh, that's a real person."

Output
Give me 2 versions:

For each version, tell me what makes it work.

✨ Try it in ChatGPT (free version works great):

This isn’t a webinar. It’s a creative playground for the brilliantly overwhelmed.

We’ll cover:
✨ What AI is (and definitely isn’t)
🛍️ The “AI Shopping Mall” - how ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity each shine
🧭 The ROCO framework (your GPS for better prompts)
🪞 How to use AI as a thinking partner, not a threat

You’ll leave with:
💡 Prompts that actually work
⚡ Confidence choosing the right tool for the task
🧠 A fresh way to see AI as your creative ally

Pajamas welcome. Cameras optional. Curiosity required.
No tech background needed - just bring your human brain.

Sometimes the hardest thing to say is the true thing.

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is practice saying it out loud - even if it's just to an AI first.

You already know what you need to say. You're just getting used to hearing yourself say it.

Take care of yourself, take care of each other.

💜 Deb

P.S. Forward this to someone who's been rewriting the same email for three days. They need this.

P.P.S. My inbox is open. Hit reply and tell me what's feeling murky - I might tackle it in a future issue.