I spent months following other people's business formulas that didn't fit me, lost myself in the process, and learned a crucial lesson: there's no single path to entrepreneurial success.

Like a NASA shuttle that's only on its prescribed flight path 2-4% of the time, the key isn't avoiding course corrections — it's building systems to quickly spot when you've drifted and get back on track.

The Essentialist CEO approach is about surgical precision: focusing on what's essential to YOU and having the courage to stop everything else, even the "productive" busy work that achieves nothing.

Join me on September 24th to discover exactly what's blocking you from consistently earning $10k+ months.

Remember that email I sent about leaving Wizly and rebranding to Essentialist CEO? The one where I told you my body was screaming warnings, I finally decided to listen to?

As you might imagine, I've been thinking about that story a lot lately. About how sometimes the universe forces clarity through chaos. How the things that feel like setbacks can actually be course corrections.

It’s consumed a lot of my time and energy over the last month.

And I keep coming back to this: I spent so much time following other people's maps that I forgot I was climbing my own mountain.

Here's the thing: I learned years ago that using someone else's playbook just doesn't work for me. It's something I've talked about for years.

At the beginning of Solo CEO, I was really good at listening to my instincts. Hell, that’s where the idea for Solo CEO came from.

The business that actually spurred the Solo CEO ran LinkedIn personal branding cohorts. And they were successful! Good money, great reviews, tons of potential.

But I knew in my gut that I was called for more.

That I wanted to get out of the game of selling information and level up to selling transformation.

And I knew I could do it in a way that looked and felt radically different from anything out there.

The whole business was born out of my willingness to trust my inner voice and then do the work to follow her wisdom. To do the research. To listen to customers. And to build in a way that I knew would work for me, and this vision of mine.

At first, it grew faster and felt better than anything I had done before. Seriously, it felt like a goddamn rocket ship, which made me feel an increased urgency to keep the momentum going.

But the more success I had, the more I started thinking, "I’ve got to level up." So I started looking for help to grow.

And instead of doing what had always served me — doing the research, understanding why other people's systems worked for them, then adapting them for myself — under the pressure to move quickly, I started following their formulas wholesale.

Multiple times, I’d catch myself quickly that it wasn’t quite right. I’d end relationships or contracts and adjust. But the longer it went on, the more I lost myself in it.

They all wanted me to contort myself and my business in ways that they emphatically argued were necessary to reach my goals.

All were objectively smart strategies, but they didn't feel right. At least not for me.

I kept thinking something was wrong with me. Why couldn't I just follow the proven path? Why did every "best practice" feel like squeezing into clothes that didn't fit?

Here's what I've learned: There isn't just one mountain. Or only one path to the summit.

And trying to use someone else's compass when you're climbing your own mountain? That's how you end up lost in the woods, exhausted and wondering why nothing looks familiar.

I once heard something at a personal development retreat that completely shifted how I think about this entrepreneurial journey. And life in general.

The facilitator asked our group: "What percentage of a NASA space shuttle's flight is it on its prescribed flight path? How much of the mission is it doing exactly what they planned from the beginning?"

Everyone started guessing. 80%. 70%. 60%.

The answer? 2 to 4%.

The rest of the time, it's adjusting to get back on track.

This hit me like a lightning bolt at the time and has always stuck with me,

I’d always thought that getting off track meant I was doing something wrong. That if I had picked the right strategy from the beginning, I could set it and forget it.

Turns out that's not how space travel works. And it's definitely not how entrepreneurship works either.

The goal isn't to never get off course. The goal is to build systems that help you quickly spot when you've drifted so you can adjust and get back on track. Because you will. Multiple times.

But when I was forced to rebuild, I realized that most entrepreneurs don't just need better navigation — they need clarity on what summit they're actually climbing so they can design the right navigation for them.

When I lost the Solo CEO trademark (devastating at first, then liberating), I had to get crystal clear on what I was actually building. Not what I thought I should be building. Not what worked for other people. But what felt essential to me.

And suddenly, Essentialist CEO wasn't just a rebrand. It was recognition of what I'd been moving toward all along — and my course correction back to it.

What if you could be both the Chief Executive Officer of a wildly profitable business AND the Chief Experience Officer of a life you absolutely love?

And just as importantly, it's about building your own navigation system. Your own instruments for detecting when you've drifted off course, so you can quickly adjust back to what serves you.

After coaching 100s of brilliant, passionate entrepreneurs, I’ve learned that even when people got clear on their positioning and strategy, many still wouldn't take action.

They'd see the opportunity, understand the value, have a vision for the future, but something would block them.

Damn near every time, they were drowning in busy work that felt productive but achieved nothing.

And they resisted taking the simple steps that would actually transform their business.

I'll never forget this woman who'd been posting on LinkedIn every single day for five years. Five years. And had never — not once — generated a single lead from it.

When we talked through her business, I could see exactly what needed to happen:

My recommendation? Stop LinkedIn immediately. Focus on the three things that would actually move her business forward.

Her response? "No, no. I know it will work eventually. I just need to give it time. Besides, I’ve already invested so much."

Sunk cost fallacy in real time.

This is why I've become obsessed with surgical precision. Not just knowing what to do, but having the clarity and courage to stop doing everything else.

When you're lost in someone else's strategy fog, these are the questions that will bring you back to your essential path:

Not where you think you should be. Not where other people started. Many people think they know, but they’ve never truly assessed their current situation. So they have no clarity on what needs to change to reach their goals.

Where are YOU right now, with your specific strengths, challenges, and current reality?

Not massive scale for the sake of scale. Not what looks impressive on LinkedIn. We get caught up in what everyone else says we “should” want. Chasing their goals and moving further away from the life that would truly make us happy.

What does success actually look like for your life, your values, your vision?

Not the path that worked for the 23-year-old with no kids and a trust fund. Not the strategy that requires you to become someone you're not. The business model and the style that plays to your unique strengths, values, and dreams.

What approach honors how you're actually wired?

This is the question that has the power to transform, well, everything. Because clarity isn't just about knowing what's essential. It's about having the courage to let go of everything else — even the things you've been doing for years, even the things that feel "productive," even the things that might work for someone else.

And then ruthlessly committing to protecting those boundaries over time.

What “good” opportunities and activities are you holding onto that are blocking your path to what would transform your life?

When you get clear on these questions, everything becomes simpler. Not easier, necessarily. But simpler.

Because you stop trying to navigate with someone else's compass. You start building your own.

I've been developing something I call the Essentialist Compass — a navigation system that gives you surgical precision to cut away everything keeping you stuck.

Think of it as your onboard guidance system. The instrument that helps you detect when you've drifted off your essential path before you end up completely lost in someone else's strategy.

It's the compass I wish I'd had during those months of following other people's formulas. The system that would have helped me see that woman's LinkedIn obsession for what it was: sophisticated procrastination disguised as marketing strategy.

In all my years of working with 100s of brilliant, experienced entrepreneurs, I’ve learned one powerful truth…

When you build around your authentic differentiators — the things that make you weird and wonderful and irreplaceable — both positioning and profit become obvious. (and more fun)

But only when you have the courage to stop doing all the other stuff.

That's what needs to burn. That's what The Essentialist Compass helps you identify and then gives you permission to release.

Authenticity isn't just about embracing what makes you unique. It's about having the courage to let go of everything that doesn't serve your essential self — even when you've been doing it for years. And building the systems that help you stay on course.

When I was lost in those months of following other people's formulas, drowning in strategies that didn't fit, I kept thinking: "Why doesn't anyone just tell me what to stop doing?"

Everyone was happy to sell me more tactics, more frameworks, more things to add to my already overwhelming life. But no one was willing to help me see the difference between what was actually essential for the business I was trying to build and what was just sophisticated, busy work.

That's what I want to do for you.

Next Wednesday, September 24th, I'm hosting something I've been working on for months: "Discover Exactly What's Blocking You From Consistent $10k+ Months."

This is me taking The Essentialist Compass — the navigation system I wish I'd had —and using it to help you see your business with brutal clarity. Not to give you more things to do, but to help you identify what you need to stop doing immediately.

We're going to find your version of that LinkedIn woman's five-year posting habit. The thing that feels productive but moves you nowhere. The strategy that might work for someone else, but is slowly killing your momentum.

And yes, it might be painful to see how much time and energy you've been spending on things that don't serve you.

But that pain? That's the price of clarity. And clarity is the only thing that leads to freedom.

Join me on September 24th.

If you've been with me for a while, you've probably noticed something in these last two emails: I'm being really real. Really raw. Really honest about the messy parts of this journey.

That's not ending here. In fact, I’m just getting started.

One of my biggest gripes about the entrepreneurial world is that everyone says "it's so hard" but they never really explain what was hard about it. They never share the details of how they got through difficult things. What came up. What they learned. How they actually navigated the mess.

I'm promising you right now: you're going to get that real, unvarnished truth from me.

In everything I share with you, everything we do together, you're going to get me pulling back the curtain. What's working, what I'm going through, what I'm thinking about, what I'm struggling with, what I'm celebrating.

Everything from super specific details about my upcoming launch and growth strategies to raw real stories about how I personally navigate this wild entrepreneurial journey.

You're going to see me building in public, learning in public, growing in public.

Because I know that the more I can take you along with me on my journey, the more I'll be able to play a meaningful role in yours.

I often think about the hikes I used to take in the mountains around Portland. How many times I wanted to turn back. How the trail never looked like what I expected. How every summit revealed new peaks I hadn't even known existed.

That's what this entrepreneurial journey feels like. Especially when you commit to building something that's authentically yours instead of trying to recreate someone else's success.

The trail is harder to follow because you're not just following — you're creating. But the vista waiting for you? The view from your own summit, built around your own values and vision?

That's something only you can see. Something only you can reach.

And I'll do everything I can to help you get there.

Because the world doesn't need another entrepreneur trying to be someone else's version of successful.

The world needs YOU — building the business that only you can build, serving the people only you can serve, creating the impact only you can create.

Your mountain is waiting. Your compass is ready.

The only question is: are you brave enough to trust it?

As always, in love and in growth,
Kasey

P.S. If this resonates and you're feeling stuck in your own version of "following someone else's map," I truly hope you'll join me on the 24th.

This work — finding your essential path and having the courage to follow it — might be the most important thing you do for your business this year.

Save your spot here →