Here is what five years looks like through the seasons. Spring: The Planting Spring is the season of beginnings, and mine was messy. I started the business, then slowed it down to keep searching for steady work. In the fall of 2021, I accepted a well-being role, and in November I became part of the Great Resignation statistic. I started the new job in December. A few months in, reinvigorated, I picked Empower Possible back up. Spring taught me that you can plant a seed, walk away for a season, and find it still alive when you return.
Summer: The Growth Summer was when things started to build, and I learned I didn't have to build it expensively. I developed a lean startup, using free resources, a small business development center, a women's entrepreneur fund, a free online course, and a lot of networking events. I made my first big investment of $1,000 in the platform, and I remember feeling giddy. It was the first time I'd put real resources behind my belief in myself. Then the doors started opening: A scholarship-based entrepreneur program accepted me into its cohort. I reviewed health equity grant proposals for the state. I did my first podcast interview, and then a whole run of them. I started a newsletter list at zero and kept showing up. I stepped onto stages, small and large, to share what I was learning.
Here is what five years of showing up adds up to:  118 newsletters written and sent
 17 podcasts recorded
 11 online courses developed
 48 events hosted and presented
And I learned to say what my time is worth. After a few awkward emails, I negotiated my first speaking stipends. It was uncomfortable, and it was worth it. Summer taught me that growth begins when you decide you're worth investing in.
Autumn: The Letting Go Seasons don't always arrive on schedule. My autumn started in the spring of 2022.
I began Empower Possible with a business partner, and it became clear we were headed in different directions. The decision was made that I would carry the company on my own. At first I was shocked, and then I realized it was right. Letting go of that version of the business made room for the one I'm building now. It also left me a set of lessons I'd rather share than keep to myself: Get the contract as clear as possible. Don't assume it will all work out. When someone shows you who they are, believe them. Be conservative in your agreements and plan for the worst. Do your homework. Research and outline every option before you sign anything. Put the work into the foundation. No one knows your business as well as you do, so stand up for what you built.
Autumn came back again in 2023. I entered a pitch competition and tied for Audience Favorite in two rounds of voting, then lost the coin toss for the prize. I was disappointed until I realized it was a gift. If I had won, I would have reshaped the business around hustle. I don't want to hustle. I started Empower Possible as a creative outlet, and I want to protect that.
A year later, a coaching circle helped me name two breakthroughs. First: I can't control what others think, and doing things to prove people wrong doesn't serve me. Second: I want to measure success by values and impact, not only by money. Joyful success is still success. Autumn taught me that letting go isn't the opposite of building. It's part of it.
Winter: The Reflection Winter is quiet. For a long time, I wanted to rush through quiet seasons. I've learned they are where the roots grow. In my winter, I made a big move to a new city, and I stepped into a new role as the first change manager at a brand-new state agency. I completed a certification in a process called Mountain 10, and when I used it to ask whether to continue with my business, the answer came back clear: keep going, and keep bringing my perspective on empowerment into the world. I'm also serving on a board, helping decide where grant funds go to support local organizations. In 2025, I received a Difference Maker Award, which was an honor.
Something else shifted when I let myself dream bigger. For years I thought of my work as local: a workshop here, a conversation there. Then I started saying my goal out loud: I want to have a national impact. And the opportunities started coming. I've since been invited to serve on regional and national conference planning committees. Helping shape what leaders learn, and who gets to share it, is an honor I didn't see coming. I don't think that's a coincidence. What you plant in the quiet shows up when the ground thaws. When I gave my vision room, the invitations followed. The best advice I received in the early days came from a woman in my Lean In group: learn what you need to learn when you need it. I love to learn, and I used to chase every resource and tutorial. Now I write down the most important task, learn only what I need to finish it, and move on. If it isn't connected to the next action, it waits.
Winter is also where the Wisdom of Winter Retreat, February 25 to 28, 2027, comes in. It feels like the right place for this chapter to lead. Winter taught me that rest is a form of readiness, and that dreaming bigger is part of the work.
To Everyone Who Believed in Me To the colleagues who showed up when I first started sharing this idea. To the mentors who gave me honest advice. To the friends who listened to the long, winding version of the story. To the clients, podcast hosts, and fellow entrepreneurs who gave me a stage, a push, or a vote. To the organizers who saw something in me and made room at the table. To my family, who cheered me on through seasons that were not easy for any of us. And to you, for reading. The shoulders I stand on are the arms that will catch me when I fall. I know exactly who you are. I'm grateful beyond words.
A Practice for You Take 20 quiet minutes and map your own journey through the seasons. Remember that they may not arrive in order. Spring: What did you plant, even when you weren't sure it would grow? Summer: What did you invest in because you believed in yourself? Autumn: What have you released, and what room did that make? Winter: What is resting in you right now, waiting for its time?
Reflection Questions Which season are you in right now, and can you let it be what it is? What would you create if you couldn't find the thing you wanted? Who are the shoulders you stand on? Have you told them lately? What would you dream of if you stopped editing it down to "realistic"?
Take the Quiz To celebrate, I made something for you. Take a few minutes to find out where you are in your own season of change: Take the quiz here
Here's to the Next Five Thank you for being part of this story. The next five years are about reaching further: more rooms, more voices, and more people discovering what's possible. I can't wait to see what grows next, for you and for me.
With gratitude. Take care, Dear reader,
Julie
Empower Possible | empowerpossible.com
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