One year ago, I made a choice.

LinkedIn reminded me this morning that it's been exactly one year since I stepped into entrepreneurship. A whole year. And honestly? It feels like both a lifetime and the blink of an eye.

For my entire career, I was what they call an "intrapreneur" – running my profit center like it was my own company, pouring my heart into my employer's vision and mission. I was good at it. I was fulfilled. Or so I thought.

My very first cards !!!!

Then I took the leap, and I discovered something I didn't even know I was missing: the power to choose. Really choose. My contracts. My voice. My risks. The projects that light me up from the inside.

There was my first client. The incredible people I met along the way. The late nights building my website, crafting my blog. And y'all – finally being able to write in my own voice? About the things I'm passionate about? Without having to get approval or worry about being censored? That was freedom I didn't know I needed.

My mentor warned me: "Expect six months before you land your first contract." Six months. For someone like me – admittedly impatient, admittedly eager – that felt like forever.

But here's what I want you to know, what still takes my breath away: My people believed in me before I believed in myself. My friends, my former colleagues, my children, my husband – they saw something in me that I was still discovering. They held me up when I worked through what should have been family vacation time. They cheered me on when doubt crept in.

And those moments of doubt? I treasure them now. Because that's where the growth happened. That's where I found parts of myself I didn't know existed.

This year has been filled with so much beauty and generosity. It's taught me that sometimes – often – the people who love us see our potential long before we're brave enough to claim it

ourselves.

When I think about this journey, I think about the courage it takes to bet on yourself. To trust that you're enough, even when you don't have all the answers. To believe that your voice, your vision, your unique way of seeing the world – that it matters.

So to everyone who's been part of this adventure, who believed in MHA Insights before it was even fully formed: Thank you. You've given me the greatest gift – the confidence to keep choosing myself, one day at a time.