July 2025 Newsletter

Dear Friend,

I’ve been away from the office. But I’ve never been more present.

Over the past two months, I stepped back from my work as President of The Creative Company to care for my sister, LaVonne, who passed away on Sunday, July 13th, after a short but intense battle with pancreatic cancer. She was just 54 years old.

LaVonne’s career was nursing. She loved to save people and animals from all kinds of harm. She was also a manager, and for the first time, I had a front row seat to her leadership.

While I stayed connected with my team, I was able to be where I was needed most. Thanks to remote work, smart systems, a lighter summer pace, and the maturity of the business, I was given the gift of time.

I was her best friend, caregiver, advocate, and often, her entertainment, telling stories, playing music, or just keeping her company with the ordinary things of life. I navigated Hospice and communicated with many friends and caregivers. The stories I shared about her journey have had over 100,000 views in the last month alone. That tells me we’re all hungry for what’s real and that, however imperfectly I shared the journey, it was one many people are interested in learning more about.

It was the most challenging work of my life.

It changed me.

This was a long way from lunch at the Madison Club, client meetings, or Rotary on Wednesdays.

She was given hours to days to live on May 14th, just shy of two months from her diagnosis. We were initially told she had a year.

But she surprised everyone, stretching a few days into a few months. She got up every morning choosing to live, to host a cookout, to be with her friends, to laugh and love, to make new memories.

Even as her body failed her, her mind and heart were 100% there.

That’s one of the lessons I’m carrying forward.

There have been so many moments in my life when I’ve thought, “This is hard.” But now I’ve seen hard, and most of the time, I’m standing in grace by comparison. I learned more about compassion and strength from the nurses, caregivers, and especially from LaVonne herself than I ever could have imagined.

As I return to work, I do so with a deeper understanding of what leadership and life require:

• Presence matters more than perfection.
• Listening is a form of leadership.
• There is strength in vulnerability, in asking for help, and it blesses the other person to be the solution.
• Time is the most precious thing we have; how we use it is our legacy.
• Even in loss, there is purpose.

To my team at The Creative Company, who stepped up in every way, and to my friends who reached out, encouraged me, or waited for me, thank you.

I’m back, and I’m bringing everything I learned with me.

Let’s continue to do work that matters, and let’s not forget to live while we do it.

So please, host the cookout, make the call, take the trip, be with your family, put away your phone, and live.

Don’t wait for a crisis to remind you of what matters most.

#lifelessons #lovewhatmatters