I just got back from a vacation, and I’m kind of embarrassed to admit it was the first one since starting in tech that genuinely left me feeling reenergized. It wasn’t because I fully unplugged or flung my laptop into the ocean. I kept Slack on my phone and pulled out my computer now and then - but it didn’t pull me out of the moment or add stress. I spent a lot of time thinking about why. Objectively, I’m under more pressure now than ever. Being a founder is intense. This team at Edera is incredible and knowing they’ve made the leap here, I feel a deep responsibility to give them the experience and security they deserve, while we make customers happy and educate a new market. Some days, my brain feels like it might explode or melt, somehow simultaneously. I read "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k" a couple years ago, and it stuck with me. It talks about life being a series of problems - so the key isn’t chasing happiness, but finding the problems you're most excited to solve, or at least willing to tolerate. Looking back, the stress and problem set I used to carry was a very different kind. Here are just a few real examples from recent years: - I was asked in a board meeting if I liked looking at shirtless photos of Matthew McConaughey. - A board member once refused to shake my hand at dinner (while shaking everyone else’s), ignored any work talk, and instead showed me a photo of a diaper blowout his wife had sent. - I was told that hiring me was the most controversial decision my boss had ever made (and got the most s**t about from investors) because my background wasn’t traditional and I wasn’t seen as “qualified,” despite having held executive roles before. These are the tame stories. I’ll save the rest for a future novel. That kind of stress led to burnout and a lack of psychological safety. A vacation couldn’t fix that - it just led to heightened insecurity. The bad kind of FOMO that happens when you’ve been gaslit a few too many times to actually feel like you can let go. At Edera, the stress is still real. It’s existential. Startups are hard. Like, really hard. But this kind of stress - building, failing, growing, creating - feels like the good kind of problems to be solving. And doing it with a team of people who have been at the forefront of so much innovative tech while partnering with investors who truly value the differences we bring as an inherent advantage is a joy. And with that, vacations become additive. I can zip line, hang with sea turtles, and also do some work - not because I have to, but because I want to. How do you vacation? Fully unplug? Partially unplug? Would love to hear your relationship with them and how you get reenergized! Also - took Ivy to the Caribbean - she enjoyed the sun and sand and left without a sunburn. Despite my best efforts, I was not so lucky. But, excited to get back to work, and off to some early Black Hat festivities in Vegas on Saturday! Let me know if you’ll be there!