Hey Friend,

I almost forgot that today is Reloveution's birthday! But here we are, celebrating our 7th year helping workplaces make sense of humans and humans make sense of work.

Year seven has felt different from the ones before it, which might be why this day nearly came and went without acknowledgment. These days, it feels quieter and more settled than it did a few years ago. It took a long time to develop, but there’s a flow and a cadence to this work now, and I'm feeling steadier and less anxious in myself and in what I’ve built.

But I'll admit that time has started to feel like a bit of an illusion, and the milestones have started to feel a little arbitrary. What does another year really mean?

I know that building something from the ground up, sustaining it, and still loving it seven years in, is not something everyone (most people?) gets to experience. I don't want to minimize it, be cavalier about it, or have anyone think that I take it for granted. I know how much of a gift this is, and I celebrate it EVERY DAY.

But if I’m being honest, what actually lit me up this morning was knowing that I’m facilitating a team retreat today for a group of people yearning to work better together.

I'm jazzed about the keynote address about trust that I get to deliver to a group of hundreds of educators later this month.

I'm motivated by feedback like the emails below that I receive out of the blue that remind me why my/our work matters:

That’s the stuff. That’s what seven years feels like from the inside. That's what I want to celebrate and scream to you about from the rooftops. That's what truly matters.

Somewhere along the way, this work has become both more and less about me. The part of me that values humility has had to accept that I am, in many ways, the magic sauce to all of this. I bring a specific combination of gifts, experience, perspective, and nerve that makes it all work.

On the other side, the prideful part of me has had to understand that my special sauce, no matter how delicious, is a condiment. And no shade to anyone who may eat mayonnaise out of the jar, but 99% of the time, condiments are only really useful when paired with something that deserves them.

You—my readers, my followers, and the folks who invite me in—are that something. You give me a canvas to paint on, a stage to work from, a reason to keep sharpening what I do. That’s where my gratitude and celebration live. Not in the anniversary or the number of days I've been doing this work, but in the fact that you keep showing up and making the work worth doing.

So thank you. Thank you so much for being part of the Reloveution experiment/movement/labor of love/community. We truly could not be here without you.

Whether you've been on my list for all seven years or just entered my orbit yesterday, I want to take this opportunity to remind you what we're building towards. Since the beginning, we have focused on disrupting specific mindsets, behaviors, and systems, including:

1. That martyrdom is required to do meaningful work. Burnout is not a badge of honor. Suffering is not proof of commitment. You can care deeply about your work without sacrificing your well-being.
2. That fear, competition, and scarcity should drive performance. The best teams I’ve ever worked with are not motivated by fear of failure or competition with each other. They’re motivated by belief in the work, trust in their teammates, and clarity about what they’re building together.
3. That feedback and conflict are things to avoid. Avoiding feedback and conflict doesn’t make them go away. It makes them fester. The most direct path to trust, growth, and stronger teams runs directly through the hard conversations, not around them.
4. That you have to choose between being kind and being accountable. This is one of the most damaging false choices in leadership. Compassion and high standards are not opposites. The most psychologically safe, highest-performing teams require both, usually at the same time.
5. That people are “the problem.” Before we label someone the problem, we have a responsibility to look honestly at the system, the structure, and the spoken and unspoken rules they’re operating inside of. People rarely fail all on their own.
6. That work is inherently transactional. Productivity and profit matter. And they are not the most important outcomes. How people feel, whether they belong, and whether they’re growing are essential measurements and deliverables. A workplace that treats people as means to an end will always leave something important on the table.
7. That the status quo is good enough. It isn’t. We deserve workplaces that are more human, more honest, more just, and more joyful than the ones most of us inherited. And building those workplaces is possible. Over the last seven years, I’ve seen it happen, over and over again.

If you believe these things too (or are willing to be convinced), here are a few ways to jump in:

• ChatGMB: Wisdom & Insights for Modern Leaders — My podcast, where I have honest conversations about leadership, work, and what it means to be human in professional spaces. Listen/follow on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
• Resources & Free Downloads — Tools, frameworks, and resources you can use right now, no gatekeeping required. Browse here.
• On-Demand Coaching — Get real-time support from a real human when you need it most, without the wait. Learn more.
• The Millennial Manager Collective — A community for leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs who want to do this work alongside their peers. Check it out.
• Our Workshop Catalog — 60+ workshops across 8 categories, customizable to your team and context. Explore now.

And if you're already bought in, perhaps now's the time to work with us! We offer consulting, training, retreats, and coaching for organizations ready to build something different. Let's talk.

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One more thing before I sign off and go eat cake...

To celebrate seven years, I’m giving away seven copies (physical or audio) of Priya Parker's newest book, The Art of Fighting.

To win, just hit reply and be one of the first seven people to tell me one of two things:

1. Which of the seven beliefs above resonates most with you right now and why?
2. What is one thing that you love about Reloveution OR your favorite memory of our work together?

That's it! I'll reach out to the winners by October 7!

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Here’s to seven years of being on this wild ride of entrepreneurship and magic-making. And here's to however many more it takes to get to where I know we can be!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

With so much love,
Marissa