It’s been a minute since I just… caught you up on life without trying to sell you an AI Agent–building workshop. (Although, if you did come… have you recovered yet?? Because I’m not totally sure I have🤣.)
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​Here’s the guilty-pleasure song I played to welcome 200 of you into that very scary arena: Huey Lewis. (I DARE YOU TO NOT BOP…it’s impossible.)
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Half the room showed up live, and you all did GREAT… more on that below.

But first…here’s what’s been happening in my neck of the woods (anyone pick up the reference…..).

The $8 Latte Reality Check

Two weeks ago I paid $8 for a latte in my old NYC neighborhood and had an unexpected realization (after I had a mini heart attack.. what can I say I’m a soft European now).
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****And yes that is my mom in the pic and not in fact MY SISTER 🤣
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And for inquiring minds she has not done anything to her face (no botox, surgery, lifts, etc.) I know right!??! Colleen has an anti-aging empire inside her waiting to be birthed.
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But I digress….
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This was our first trip back to NYC as a family since moving to Lisbon two years ago.

And of course, I did the thing you have to do when you go back to a past life:
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I visited my old workplace — the TODAY Show…

The place where I learned how to craft stories under pressure.
The place where I met lifelong friends.

And the chapter that quietly set up everything I do now in storytelling.

And because the universe is always extra, we also ran into Mary J. Blige after my middle son shouted, “I LOVE YOUR GUCCI!”

She turned around, laughed, and said, “come on over here!”
​*my husband was NOT asked to be in the pic but here we are.

And because NYC is nothing if not chaotic in the best way, I also crashed my former TODAY Show work wife’s new network at ABC.
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My family watched us in awe and said:
“How on EARTH did you two get anything done together?”

Honestly… it remains one of life’s great mysteries.

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But if I’m being totally honest, I’d been low-key terrified to bring my kids back to the life we left behind.

Would seeing our old life make me regret everything?
Would I be a walking nostalgic sobbing mess? (which is usually how I operate on any normal day not even in NYC..)

But walking through those familiar Brooklyn and Manhattan streets, something unexpected happened.

I didn’t feel grief.
I felt dare I say a touch of relief.
And a feeling of gratefulness to my “old life.”

The Brain Space I Didn’t Know I Was Missing

In New York, a massive chunk of my brain was always running calculations.

Daycare costs.
Camp fees.
School fees.
Babysitter rates. (it was $30/hour when I left and if you’ve been here a minute, you know that me and my husband like to go out!)​
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Whether we could REALLY afford that summer program for all three kids (spoiler: usually not, but we’d stress-spend anyway because “the kids need experiences and YOLO🥴”).

Every decision subconsciously filtered through this mental spreadsheet of “how long can we actually do this?”

I thought this was just…
Mom life.
Entrepreneur life.
Expensive-city life.

But here’s what I didn’t realize until I removed it: That constant financial anxiety was eating up creative brain space I didn’t even know I had.

Space where MyStoryPro was born.
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Sometimes the version of you that’s meant to emerge can only do so when you change the environment – not necessarily across an ocean, but:

A new job.
A new boundary.
A new commitment to the idea that’s been sitting in your Notes app.
A “yes” that feels inconvenient but honest.

Speaking of saying yes when it would’ve been easier not to…
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​The Spain Trip I Almost Skipped

My college girlfriends invited me to Valencia, Spain and I’m embarrassed to admit that – despite being literal neighbors with Spain now – my first reaction was:

“I can’t. Too much going on. Maybe next time.”

In my defense, the timing was terrible.

Kids. Work. Life. Launch. Just back from NYC. AI Agent Workshop.

No different than any of your busy lives.

But there was a voice that was an old familiar part of me -the one that says, “If you step away now, you’ll fall behind.”

But then I did that uncomfortable thing where I imagine myself 30 years from now looking back.

And Future Patrice was VERY clear:

You’re not going to remember the “busy.”
You will however remember laughing until your stomach hurts.

You will remember your friends reminding you how feral you were “back in the day” now.
So I went.

And outside of everyone immediately needing to book a trip to Valencia…

It was exactly the kind of soul recalibration that only happens when you step out of the loop and into your actual life.

When 200 People Choose Uncomfortable​
***Roger, roger, are you still with me

Ok back to that AI Agent building workshop.

It was the hardest workshop we’ve ever ran.

The tech was challenging.
Some people left.
Some cried (I understand)
And there were moments I genuinely wondered, “Crap… can we pull this off?”
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Building AI Agents is NOT a “click here, save file” kind of energy.

But by the end, the chat exploded:

People who had never touched advanced AI in their lives suddenly had something running – because they chose to show up even when it felt uncomfortable.

And watching a room full of entrepreneurs and corporate leaders choose something scary over something “safe”?

That’s the energy that changes your entire life.

This month has been a joy-filled whirlwind – sprinkled with the usual mix of low-grade angst, parenting fails, petty spouse arguments and those “holy sh*t, maybe everything is actually working” moments of joy.

When I sat down to write this, it felt a little meandering at first… until I realized: (I am ALWAYS meandering.. Haha.. AND that..)

Every meaningful moment from the past month- New York, the TODAY Show, Spain, the AI Agent workshop – came from choosing the thing that didn’t feel convenient or comfortable.

Moving.
Returning.
Saying yes.
Stepping away.
Stepping in.
Doing the hard thing.
Letting yourself expand.

It’s rarely the easy moments that grow you but rather he stretchy, slightly uncomfortable ones.

So here’s my question for you:

What’s the thing you’re avoiding because it feels inconvenient, intimidating, or “not the right time”… and who might you become if you said yes to it anyway?

Hit reply — I actually read every single one.

Talk soon,

XO
Patrice