We built businesses for freedom, so why are we still working seven days a week and feeling guilty about taking a sick day? Susan and Mika get honest about the pressure they keep recreating inside the lives they chose.

A promised empty plate becomes an 81-page course. A needed day off becomes unpaid time accompanied by guilt. A conversation about another entrepreneur's shiny car turns into the harder question: what are we actually comparing when social media only shows the finished product?

They also introduce the Messy Middle, admit where their own marketing and task lists fell apart, and talk about slow mornings, supportive community, deleting LinkedIn, and removing enough noise to hear what you want next.

Takeaways

• The freedom to choose your time does not automatically teach you how to stop working.
• Comparison feels different in a community where people share the unfinished parts and help one another solve them.
• Sometimes the honest response to overload is to clean the house, cut the daily list to three things, and admit what did not get done.

Links Mentioned

• Build Your A(i)gency and Mika-Taché St. Fleur
• Gather RVA Curious
• RVA's Got Issues
• Eat It Virginia
• In The Room On Purpose

Last month, we talked about focus. Then Mika went home and did basically the opposite.

This month, we're talking side quests: the ideas, platforms, projects and rabbit holes that feel productive because they're technically related to what you're building. Mika launched a personal website and a Substack. Susan bought a piano. Somehow we ended up talking about personal brands, slow mornings, AI rabbit holes, hobbies, and why some wins should stay private until they're actually wins.

In this episode:

• When a useful side quest becomes a distraction
• Why having interests outside of work matters, especially when you love your work
• The difference between sharing what you're building and celebrating too soon

Six months into the year, Susan and Mika realized something unexpected: the goalposts keep moving... and maybe that's the point.

This month's conversation starts as a simple catch-up and turns into an honest look at what happens after you finally commit to something. They talk about building businesses, using AI without losing your voice, resisting the urge to constantly start new projects, and why "arriving" is probably a myth anyway.

Along the way: launch party reflections, Google Business Profile horror stories, AI shame, dashboards, and an unexpected campaign to save the em dash.

• Why slowing down can be harder than starting something new
• How AI works best as a thinking partner, not a replacement
• The mindset shift from chasing goals to embracing the journey

• Susan's AI Policy
• Google Business Profile
• You Good, Girl? Podcast Website