Welcome to The Fulcrum, where I think out loud about work, community, and what it actually looks like to care about the world without losing yourself in the process. The balance is dynamic, and I'm figuring it out in real time. Glad you're here for it.
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What’s on my mind
Welcome to the first edition of my newsletter! It has been a little over two weeks since I left my corporate job, and people have asked me, “What have you enjoyed most about this time?” I couldn’t think of a specific thing, as I am still getting used to this adjustment - leaving corporate life after four years, and recently moved back to Los Angeles.
In one of my brain dump walks, where I record myself responding to prompt questions I ask myself, the answer hit me. Creative freedom! The ability to create without institutional constraints is one of the things I have enjoyed the most. In fact, in one of the conversations I had with a former leader of mine at Deloitte recently, she said, "You have always been intellectually curious, Kateri", and that was one of the greatest professional compliments I could have received.
How have I been using this creative freedom, you ask?
I have been working on an academic curriculum that proposes employee ownership conversions as part of entrepreneurship through acquisition, and I do not have to worry about violating conflict-of-interest policies. Most of my career has revolved around supporting small businesses, employee ownership, and improving people’s economic well-being. This concept explores purchasing small businesses while giving employees a share of the profits.
I show up to start-up events and vibe coding meet-ups in the middle of the day to learn and connect, and consciously (re*)build my community to contribute to causes I care about.
All in all, I had been saving certain conversations and ideas for later, and this creative freedom feels like a vault of curiosities, conversations, and activities I can bring to the world now.
I am allowing myself space (time, silence, writing) to observe what transition looks like at this moment. The reflection has included a combination of gratitude for my time at Deloitte, satisfaction in my financial, personal, and professional preparation for this change (I had a point system, haha), and some unease about essentials, such as health insurance and future income.
I want to hit the ground running, but I recently broke my toe, which has forced me to slow down and do more of this thinking. I expected to have more time in my day, but time is relative...
*more on that in future editions.
B-Rex (Book Recs)
Ego is the Enemy is one of the earliest books I read in my career. At the time, we were very public about what we were building, as the first cooperative coffee shop in LA. The author, Ryan Holiday, poses the question: Would you still be doing what you are doing right now if no one noticed, if no one gave you the accolades? Coffee shop sales and attention would fluctuate, but we saw community growth. So I asked myself the book’s question. The answer was yes: we wanted to make a concerted effort in a community that is often overlooked for what it can create locally. This book has served as a compass, a calibration of self as I pursue, iterate, and transition.
QQQ (Quotes, Questions, and Quests)
Quote:
“….and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity
but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself.”
- verse from the poem, Lesson of the Moth, by Don Marquis
Question: Where in your life are you playing it safe, and why?
Hit reply and let me know. Your responses may be featured in the next edition of this newsletter.
Quest: Start a note on your phone called "Vault of curiosities" and add to it throughout the week!