Back in art school, sculptor William Daley gave a talk about his work. Someone asked where he got his ideas. He dropped a line I still think about: “Originality is in direct proportion to the obscurity of your sources.” Some of us chuckled. We knew his sculptures were inspired by symbols and shapes created thousands of years ago: simple, elegant, and geometric. (We also knew his humor.) By the time those ancient influences moved through Daley’s hands, the work had become unmistakably his own....
8 days ago • 3 min read
I’ve been thinking lately about how we return to things.Not out of nostalgia, but because the timing is finally right. For example, I’ve recently returned to studying French. Not due to a big life change, but because I was ready to circle back. I started in 4th grade, continued through high school, and a year in college. Then it went dormant. Years later, there was a burst of intense study, and I even spent a month in France learning and living with a French family. But life moved on, and the...
15 days ago • 3 min read
Sometimes the biggest breakthrough in your work comes from who stands next to you. We’ve been watching a string of Robert Redford movies at our house this past week, kind of a tribute marathon after hearing about his passing. One thing I didn’t know: he almost didn’t get the role that made him famous. When Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was being cast, the studio had other names in mind: Jack Lemmon, then Steve McQueen. Even after those fell through, they thought Redford was too...
22 days ago • 3 min read
Welcome to the second issue of SOLO Field Notes. Each week I’m sharing a quick story and examples that spark ideas for standing out as a solopreneur.Today, it’s a story from my fridge. Humor and delight go a long way in standing out. Here’s a recent favorite find: the bottom of a tub of Ithaca Hummus. Just as you’re finishing the last bite, you see this line: “If you’re licking this clean, another tub must be in your future.” Now, to be fair, I wasn’t exactly licking the container. 🙂 But I...
29 days ago • 2 min read
Hey, Reader — One of my favorite parts of this summer was wandering through Muir Woods in Northern California, among those ancient redwoods. Have you been? Here’s a photo I snapped. Yes, that tiny figure in the lower R corner is a grown woman — these trees are enormous. The park map had two kinds of trails: solid lines and dotted lines. The solid ones were official and well-marked. (I made it to Bridge #4.) The dotted ones? Unpaved paths you could follow, but at your own risk. It struck me...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
What Comes After the Shapes? Over the past 12 weeks, we’ve explored the power of visual frameworks together. From circles, triangles, and squares to paths and networks, we’ve seen how simple shapes can explain, clarify, and inspire. This series was never about design tricks. A well-drawn framework can do more for your product or service than a dozen paragraphs of text. It helps your audience understand quickly, remember clearly, and see themselves inside your story. That’s persuasion at its...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
SOLO is your weekly design and visibility lab — part of the Solo Business School, and dedicated to helping solopreneurs stay small and play big. Welcome to issue #077 and to all the new readers who have joined us this week. From Visual to Valuable: Turn Visual Frameworks Into Assets Hey, Reader — Today I want to share an important distinction that many solopreneurs overlook: Some visuals are nice to look at. Others are business assets. They become reusable tools that build your authority and...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
SOLO is your weekly design and visibility lab — part of the Solo Business School, and dedicated to helping solopreneurs stay small and play big. Welcome to issue #076, and the many new readers who joined us this week! Are Mixed Signals Undermining Your Credibility and Authority? Have you ever looked at a visual and felt something before you understood it? That’s no accident. Shapes, lines, arrows, and colors speak their own language, instantly and subconsciously. Before your audience reads a...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
SOLO is your weekly design and visibility lab — part of the Solo Business School, and dedicated to helping solopreneurs stand out with smart systems, sharp visuals, and AI that unlocks your edge. Each week, you get fresh ideas to help you stay small and play big. Welcome to issue #075, and to all the folks who joined us this week! What Can You Do With a Visual Framework? Have you ever tried to explain something and watched your audience’s eyes glaze over? Then you quickly sketch it out, and...
2 months ago • 2 min read