What I wish you knew.

A little bit about how I see the world.

Aside from a very few people, I always hear the same thing:

“I have no idea what you do.”

It’s nothing new but very hard to explain in-the-moment. Where would I start? Despite being chronically online since my teenage years, writing and taking photos of my world, and generally not being scared to speak my mind, I hear the same thing.

It’s not that I’m in any way mysterious or want to be—truthfully, I’m average in most regards and an open book if you simply ask. I’ve heard that I’m “intense” and quite possibly overwhelming. That’s ok, although I try to think of myself as more calm and relaxed.

But in the spirit of this longer-form writing again…

There’s a few things I’d love for the people around me to know.

In no particular order, separated out by “work” or “personal” this time:

(Work) I own a media and marketing company, Aspire. People are often confused by what we do but it’s pretty simple: we build websites for small businesses, take photos and create videos, and optimize stuff so businesses grow and your customers are happier. It’s 1000 small tasks, rolled into the umbrella of “marketing”.

(Personal) I co-founded a run club five years ago, Christiansburg Run Club. It’s grown a lot and is pretty big now. I wasn’t a committed runner before starting a run club. The club was simply a way to build community. It’s led me on a path to consistent running and incredible growth.

(Personal) Nothing I do is to build a “personal brand”, become influential, or as a runup for elected office of any kind. No, I will not run for town council. I’m sorry. It sounds thankless and I’m interested in building in different ways.

(Work) Lately, “marketing” tasks are burning me out…but not because of the work. Too many businesses are broken in ways that the marketing they expect won’t fix. Half of the contact forms I see are broken. Other times, leads are coming in but your sales guy doesn’t actually answer the phone. People aren’t ready to hear those things, though. I want to work more on testing systems and fixing problems—not making video campaigns when your business isn’t ready yet.

(Personal) Mental health is really important to me and I’m glad that I started going to therapy years ago. I make a point to talk about going to therapy and managing my mental health whenever I can. It’s fun to see people react when I do. There shouldn’t be the stigma around it but it’s truly pervasive. If you’re scared to take that leap, reach out. It really helped me. And coping with the impending chaos of 2025 without professional help? I don’t recommend it.

(Personal) I don’t really like racing. I love other parts of running: the inane conversations runners have on mile 8 when we’re just trying to get through. Running hard in a group, when I know I can’t actually hang on for long. The “can we run today?” texts that mean you’re having the worst day of your life and don’t want to say it. And yes, we can. I’m lacing up my shoes.

Happiness looks like trail running with your loved ones and knowing you absolutely bit off too much and will be finishing this thing 3 hours after dark.

(Work) As I keep going into my career, I hope I can really have more people start believing that I’m doing all this for our community. It’s not out of personal interest or hopeful gain, I promise. It’s not a facade and I know a lot of people think that it is. I just want to improve where I live, build a career, and scale that so that other communities might be better too.

(This was my fiancé, Kristy’s, request) I’ve never had a good plan going into something. I have no idea how far a run will be, how long a drive is, or if we’ll get back by dark. I correct for that by being very prepared and overthinking so whatever happens, we deal just fine. This irritates people to no end—like my fiancé, Kristy.

(Work?) Consistency and execution are why I’ve found the career-oriented success that I have. I’m not scared to launch something before it’s perfect and I absolutely promise you that I’m more stubborn. I think in the scale of years, not days or months, and am willing to keep going a lot longer than most people.

(Who knows) I am very frustrated with the place that I live: Christiansburg, Virginia. We’re trying. We’re consistent. The people around me are amazing. Some are far more hopeful than I am. But it’s hard to walk on nonexistent sidewalks, get yelled at every time we bike, have a mostly shuttered downtown, and understand that this is exactly what a lot of people want.

I’m very thankful for the people who have reached out with the express mission to keep us here, building this place. While we’re here, I hope to build the community and create a lasting, positive legacy that benefits this place I call home.

(Personal) The “camera thing” isn’t an occupation, although I do it professionally. It’s how my brain works and something I can’t imagine going a day without. I’d take photos, even for other people, for free if I didn’t have bills to pay. I truly love it.

(Personal?) Win the lottery, stack enough money to live on investments, or otherwise never have to work again? I’m disappearing to some small, snowy, tourist-adjacent town and opening an outdoors store—the kind with actual equipment and not just cute fleece jackets. We’ll have hot coffee ready at all hours and it will be my mission to help people fall in love with being outside like I did.

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That was fun! Like doing those Facebook Notes surveys when we were 16—when social media wasn’t work. I hope this gives some people a little deeper glimpse into who I am. I know I’m always doing something else and dreaming up some new thing. I understand why people don’t keep up. But I love this and hope it resonates.

Next up with this blog, I want to work on some photo essays, interviews, and dives into my world. Right now, I’m catching up on writing and concepts that have been in my head for years. Stay with me and I’ll keep writing.