The one tiny critical list I made (and prayed over) before my business got big

In 2012, I was launching my web development business and wanted my own blog to play on. Something I'd be able to go deep with and be excited about.

I wrote a list of who I could possibly serve and what I might say to them. I carried it with me for a week, asking God to just give me a sign. I noticed how I felt as I read and prayed over it. What lit up in my body?

Most of them ignited something exciting. So that wasn't helping. I knew I could make a business (well, a blog at the time) out of any of them. But which was the RIGHT one to dive into?

That practice is how I landed on FirefighterWife — and how I spent $500 on a domain that became a successful business, that way over-performed my web dev business, and that I ultimately ended up selling.

If you knew me from those days: hi. Same ritual. Different decade. This piece is for anyone choosing who to pour into — not only people building a business right now.

Today, as I face a thousand swirling choices of who I could serve, I made that note card again.

Same ritual. Different decade. Because this same question matters more than anything: WHO do I choose to serve?

There are no wrong answers on that list. I can make an amazing business out of any of them.

However, choices are a luxury.

They are also an opportunity to step into soul-led moments.

Deciding points you don't forget.

Life turning point moments.

The day I choose to leave home for college and never go back to my small town.

The moment I asked for a more flexible parenting-friendly role while still holding down my corporate exec role.

And the moment I wrote those names on a note card in 2012.

What's different from 2012?

The world is way noisier. Choices are more abundant. Marketers are more convincing.

Quiet time with your own thoughts is harder to find.

Opinions are more slanted.

The "truth"… is more elusive.

It's still way easy to start a new business, but way harder to make it successful than in 2012.

If you are caught up in some swirly confusion about which direction to take your business, let me share 2 key things happening right now so you can see things more clearly.

1. AI is changing how we deliver — and what value we actually bring. (your delivery promise)

Everyone is learning the tools. Jobs and delivery are shifting. The easy parts of what you used to sell are getting cheaper and faster for everyone.

So the question isn't "can I use AI?" It's what stays mine? Wisdom. Taste. The call with your name on it. The way you help someone land on direction when the options are loud.

If you don't get clear on that delivery promise, you will build the wrong thing faster with prettier drafts and the same hollow Tuesday.

2. Marketing is more sophisticated — and so are the buyers. Too many options. (your who)

Who. Which problem. And the one that keeps circling: where do they hang?

It might not be the platform you already know. It might not be the buyer you served five years ago. Tunnel vision on past clients is comfortable — and it can keep you from seeing the room where your next who actually lives.

Buyers have seen every funnel trick. They can smell theater. What they still can't fake is a human who knows who they're for and what they won't do.

If you can get clear on your delivery promise and who you are promising, then all you need to figure out is where they are hanging out (it might not be where you think).

After that, the rest is quite easy.

Marketing and voice and copy and sales get quite clear.

What this receipt teaches

I didn't find FirefighterWife by asking AI.

I got quiet. Listened to myself. And watched for the signs.

And then, I simply gave it a trial and within 30 days it was so clear…. this one was going to take off like wildfire (pun intended!). And I loved it. Like loved in the depths of my soul purpose what I did every day to pour into that community.

This is why it's so important to nail your who.

You spend a lot of time with them, thinking about them, serving them.

They can't be annoying or difficult or you will just burn the whole thing down (or burn out).

I have a way I teach making key strategic decisions like this inside my Feel Good Way programs.

Get Quiet. Get Truthful. Get it Done.

Everything starts with getting quiet and listening to yourself and your version of God / divine guidance.

Getting truthful means… does it fly? do the numbers math? am I being honest with myself that I want to do the work here?

Everything else is just GSD, baby. Get Stuff Done.

Soft invite

If you're staring at too many options and an AI chat thread that never quite satisfies your soul — start with who, on purpose.

(And if you landed here because FirefighterWife lit up your feed: welcome. The practice still works when the "who" is a community, a season of life, or a next chapter — not only a business buyer.)

One thing I'm really good at is helping you sniff out "will this fly?"

Kick the tires (Back Porch AI): bring your who and your idea. I'll run it through my tools, then give you a human call — critique, direction, honest math on whether it wants to live. Starts at $97, pay what you want above.

→ Back Porch AI: https://feelgoodwork.com/backporch

Want the fuller system around Digital Brain + AI Helpers: https://feelgoodwork.com/way — Feel Good Way — AI Helper Edition (DIY $297 / Build from $997).