Build Ecosystems, Not Empires
Formerly Brown CEO Letters / Written by Gelaine Santiago
You're Invited: The 1st Founder's Focus Session Is This Friday!
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Happy 2025, Reader! I hope you’ve landed into this year with softness, ease, and space to reconnect with yourself.
As for me, I spent the first few days of January reflecting on 2024 and what I need from this year. The word that kept coming up was: realignment.
Sometimes Most of the time, running a business feels like a marathon in urgency. There’s always a fire to put out, an email to answer, or an urgent request sitting on read for days. And, as founders who are committed to social justice, there’s the constant backdrop of political dumpster fires demanding our attention.
It’s easy to lose ourselves in the grind. What we really need is consistent time and space to realign with ourselves and our long-term vision. To ask:
- Am I working on the things that truly light me up?
- Am I dedicating time to the projects that will not only move my business forward, but also serve my community?
If, like me, you’re someone who struggles to step back from the daily grind, then I’d love for you to join me this Friday!
Introducing Founder’s Focus Sessions!
On Friday, January 10th, from 11 AM–1 PM (EST), I’m hosting the very first Founder’s Focus Session - a virtual coworking space for founders, freelancers, and business owners who want to:
- Clear distractions, reset, and reconnect with their long-term vision.
- Make meaningful progress on those big-picture projects we tend to put off.
- Be in community with other business owners who share your values & ambitions.
We’ll set intentions, dive into focused work, and take time to celebrate each other’s progress—because we aren’t building our businesses in isolation.
Here’s what to expect:
- Welcome & Intention-Setting (5 min): We’ll share our goals for the session and clear distractions. (On-camera)
- Focused Work Sprint #1 (45 min): Heads-down time to work on your priority projects. (Off-camera)
- Break & Check-In (10 min): Grab a drink, stretch, and share quick wins. (On-camera) If you need to leave early, this is a great point to hop off.
- Focused Work Sprint #2 (45 min): Another solid block of deep, focused work. (Off-camera)
- Wrap-Up & Connection (15 min): Celebrate progress and connect with your fellow attendees 🩷
This space is for you if:
- You’re a founder, freelancer, solopreneur, or business owner (at any stage and in any industry)
- You're committed to social justice, collective liberation, and using your business as a tool to lift up the community.
- You need gentle accountability and support to tackle long-term projects, and enjoy being in community with values-aligned & badass peers.
If this sounds like you, come join us! RSVP Here.
See ya there!
Gelaine
PS - If you can’t join this time around, I’m aiming to host this on the first Friday of every month, so stay subscribed to the newsletter :)
PPS - One of my big intentions for this newsletter in 2025 is to make content that speaks directly to your questions and challenges. So I’d love your help!
What’s something that’s been bugging you about your business lately?
Please reply to this email and let me know! Your input will help me create content that truly supports you and the community, and I’d be so grateful. Salamat 🙏🏽
Thoughtful Finds 🌸
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