*****get cozy this is a BIT of a longer read. But one that I hope is worth your time. ​
​
Last Friday, I had the biggest meeting of my entrepreneurial life.

A reminder that you never know who is watching you.

Not everyone COMMENTS and LIKES and REPLIES. (although please don’t stop if you do😆)

And if you have a product (or an AI tool in my case) you never know who might be using it….and falling in love with it. *CUE Olivia Dean because always. ​
​
Which brings me to last Friday where I aged at least 56 years in the general existential anxiety leading up to it.
​
I always tell my clients, “you NEVER start with the TODAY show or “How I Built This.”

However, I need a new line because I put up the middle finger to my own rule of thumb last week.

Because opportunity doesn’t want to see “if you’re fully ready.” Sometimes it comes barreling straight to your inbox on a random Tuesday that leaves you in a brief period of catatonic shock.
​
​***back to this meeting.
​
The type of meeting where when get the Microsoft Team’s invite and you go straight to ChatGPT and ask about the 5 people on the guest list and it says comforting lines like:

And fun little descriptors like this:

It was the first time since 2005 that I felt that specific sliding-doors sensation.

That “OMG, I can see another version of my future” type feeling.

The outcome of this meeting is unknown at this email and ultimately it won’t affect my path -because my mission around storytelling and AI is bigger than any meeting, even meetings with industry Superstars.
​
​***but obviously I am like JESUS TAKE THIS WHEEL HOME and BRB let me go pour 5LBs of crystals in my bra for the next month.

BUTTTTTT….. Regardless of the outcome… I know in my soul that I only got IN that room at the stage of the company I’m at because for the past almost decade (I started my video storytelling company 2017 Holy crap) I’ve been more or less putting my “Big Idea” out there for public consumption.

Even when the path hasn’t always been clear.
Even when I haven’t felt like showing up.

Which has been a lot in the past year.
​
​The last time I felt THIS specific feeling? 2005.

I’m walking through the doors of Rockefeller Center for my final interview for the NBC Page Program -arguably the most prestigious early-training program in news.
​
And after getting rejected full stop the year before, the second time I applied I found myself getting a letter in the mail (IN THE MAIL:) to fly to NYC for the final interview stages. ***are we all swooning for the simpler times of 2005 or what.

White skirt suit from Bebe SECURED (IYKYK).
​
A Chicago girl who never even wanted to move to New York. (the brainwashing of “Chicago is the best city in the world” starts REALLY young.)

Case in point this is ME (early pregnant with my 3rd & hadn’t lived in Chicago for more than a decade..)

But the second I walked through those doors at 30 Rockefeller.
I felt it. Through my veins. This pull I couldn’t explain.
​
Spoiler alert: I didn’t get into the program. And YES I thought my life was OVER.

But six years later I walked through those SAME doors as a TODAY Show producer with a NYC zip code.

The path found me anyway because I had already decided that’s where I was headed.

That’s how you know you’re on the right path with YOUR Big Idea.

It doesn’t go away just because one door closes.
It doesn’t disappear when things don’t work out the way you planned.
It keeps pulling you forward because it comes from somewhere cellular.
​
Speaking of Big Ideas…
​
If you’ve been here a hot minute, you know how I feel about AI… it’s simultaneously the most democratizing thing to happen to storytelling and your content AND the thing that makes standing out harder than ever.
​
​I actually talked about this at a workshop I ran last week for 104 of you.

In the clip I talk about WHY tapping into your lived experiences for your original thinking has never been more urgent.

The playing field for “well-told content” has been completely leveled.
​
​The only differentiator left is original thinking rooted in your lived experience.​
​
The insight AI can never replicate but also the thing you’re too close to see clearly on your own.
​
And you know what’s even more effective than AI for clarifying that?

Doing this work in community.

Not alone at your laptop trying to figure it out for the 47th time.
Not scrolling Instagram hoping the answer will appear.
Not in another AI chat that gives you perfect structure but no soul with it and you’re left not even sure what to ask at this stage vibes.

But in a room. With other humans.

All trying to connect the dots of their own lived experience into something meaningful for 2026.

Which brings me here….

As many of you know, once a year I run a high-touch live storytelling program called Founder’s Fire.
I joke it’s my daughter. (SHE’S PERFECT.)
​
​But this year, it’s getting an inaugural twist. ​
​
​For the first time, this program isn’t just about your Founder Story or getting on video.
​
It’s about clarifying the ONE Big Idea you want to be known for in 2026… and turning it into a signature story that works across stages, podcasts, sales conversations, and content.​
​
​It’s 12 weeks. Nothing pre-recorded and then a “ask me questions” type cohort.

Just an intimate group that will end up being your “board of directors.” (we have 4 amazing women locked in right now.) ​
​
And for the first time, I’ll be co-teaching with an alumni of this program – Tara Rynders (who did Founder’s Fire almost two years ago and credits this work for changing her life and business)

Knowing she needed to formally step away from nursing, Founder’s Fire ignited her speaking and consultancy career.

She’s going to be bringing in practical application for the group on HOW she did this so successfully.
​
If you’ve been watching for a while…
If you’ve been sitting on your Big Idea wondering when it’ll be the right time…
If you’re tired of trying to figure this out alone…

Take this as your sign?

Applications are open now.
We start in mid-February.

​The application takes about 10 minutes and all the pricing info is in there.
​In my next email, I’m going to share what surprised one woman the most about doing this work… and it wasn’t what she expected when she signed up.

Your Big Idea is waiting for you to claim it.

And you don’t have to do it alone.

XO
Patrice

P.S. There are people who’ve been watching you for YEARS. Not commenting. Not engaging. Just… watching quietly. Waiting for the right moment. Your Big Idea matters more than you think. Even (especially) when you can’t see who’s paying attention yet.