Happy Friday, friends!!!

OMG, this week has been a whirlwind, in the best possible way! Since we last spoke, this has been what’s been going on with me:

• (Saturday-Wednesday) Hanging with buddies: Over these few days, I got to hang with some of my favorite people to prep for/run/break down our big event. Huge shoutout to my girl Mandy Froehlich, my guy Desmond Hasty, and the hubs. Who knew that working could be so much fun?

• (Monday-Tuesday) NAESP Conference: As I’ve mentioned before, one of the many hats I wear is entrepreneur. I’m Founder/CEO of an organization called EduMatch, which connects educators globally along similar interests. We do lots of things, but we got a booth at the conference to lean into the professional learning part. We created a game that was modeled after “The Dating Game” to play with attendees with the goal of helping them learn more about our professional learning specialists. In total, we connected with over 100 attendees, and have already had some requests for PL!

• (Wednesday) #Spoiler: See the video section below

• (Thursday) New Connections: I was thrilled to wake up to find that a new school district had chosen to partner with us, and at the end of the day, connected with an attendee from NAESP. Bonus: As a throwback to last week’s edition, I wanted to share that we had a 12 minute Run for Distance benchmark at the gym, and I was able to add .06 miles to my previous record!

It was a great week, overall! I’m very thankful, and also getting ready to prepare for Deux Dent’s first birthday next week. All of that being said, I learned from my good friend Jennie Magiera that we are very good about sharing our highlights, but not always good about sharing the full story. In this spirit, I wanted to share part of a book that I read this week, that really resonated with me.

10x is Easier than 2x

I am ridiculous. I know it. I don’t read one book at a time like everybody else. On Kindle, I currently have 11 books going at once. I skim through a chapter of one, then bounce to the next, rinse and repeat. I don’t understand it, myself.

That being said, one of my favorite books I’m reading right now is 10x is Easier than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy, which is about how to maximize your impact while zooming in on your effort. I love it. One part really resonated with me, when they were talking about a real estate entrepreneur named Linda:

When I read this, I did a double-take, because it resonated so hard. Even earlier this week, I was chatting with one of my friends about the startup life. It looks sexy to the outside world, but it’s often full of ups and downs that nobody sees.

I try to be intentional about sharing the wins, because it is a struggle for me. Many people have told me they can relate to this feeling. As a matter of fact, I listened to a great podcast episode yesterday about unlearning how to shrink yourself, as many of us tend to do. It talked about how we should bring our full selves to the table, especially when we have pairs of little eyes looking at us.

That being said, I do want to also give a full picture of reality. Linda could be me. Linda could be most entrepreneurs I know. I used to joke and say that EduMatch was my dependent, as, more often than not, I would need to support it through my paycheck. This started to change, and eventually, it turned a small profit. Then, we pivoted and now, we are back in that familiar space with Linda. However, (1) it’s “heart work,” as my friends Barbara and Barbara say, which helps to keep going; and (2) I have a front row seat to the powder keg we are sitting on. Muhahahahaha. Meaning: I believe things are about to blow up (in a good way).

Which brings me to:

#Spoiler

Mark your calendar: August 7. In this video, Sarah Explains it All (90s kid joke), so no need for commentary.

Are you in?

📚 Also #Spoiler…Self-Publishing Course 2📚

I have been having a blast getting to know our participants of Introduction to Self-Publishing for Educators, and we are very close to wrapping it up. I wanted to create this series of courses to help educators share their voices using this medium, which is gaining in popularity and can open so many doors. I have seen this first-hand as an author myself, and am sharing the knowledge I have acquired from publishing about 100 books through EduMatch.

You are among the first to know, Course 2: From Manuscript to Published Book, will be coming soon. Let’s say you’re like me, and have your final draft of your book written, but are wondering what to do next. There is a little overlap from Course 1, but we are adding to the mix a deeper dive on Amazon Kindle Direct and introducing the basics of audiobooks. Pre-registration starts next week, and the live course will kick off in September. Respond to this or send me an email if you want me to notify you when registration is up.

In the meantime, if you want to brush up on the basics, we would be happy to have you in Course 1 :)

Alright folks, that does it for me. Thanks so much for reading!

Have a video to share or interested in being a guest blogger? Email me at [email protected].

Stay connected, stay curious, and let the sharing begin!

Best,

Sarah

P.S. We will try to move our EduMatch newsletter over to Beehiiv to see if it’s a good fit. Please subscribe above if you want to join us there. Even if we go back to our usual service, we will add you there.