THREE MILLS BAKERY

Founder

A. BAKER

Co-Founder

Two Before Ten Coffee Roasters

Founder / Director

I’ve built multiple businesses over the last 20 years, and the biggest lessons didn't come from scaling. They came from repairing.

Three Mills grew fast. Too fast. 0-140 people in the first 5 years.

We hit walls financially, operationally and culturally.

We were innovating at warp speed. Everything we implemented was soon outdated. It was chaos.

Instead of continuing to the point of failure, I started the hard work of fixing. 

Our crew fixed our margins, cleaned the legacy debt, reengineered products, rebuilt the team, redefined the story — and found clarity in the chaos.

Now, alongside leading Three Mills, I have a passion for helping other founders do the same.

What I talk about:
– Finding clarity when your story’s gone stale
– Maintaining company culture under pressure
– Fixing bloated businesses and broken margins
– Leading like a founder when everything feels heavy

What I (sometimes) offer:
– 1:1 advisory for brand-led businesses in the messy middle
– Practical systems for fixing without burning out
– Strategic intensives (in-person or virtual)

Where to read more:
Every Sunday, I drop one email about fixing businesses and the founder mindset. 
100% practical. No spam. And no, I'll never sell your details... Ever.

You might like reading it here - www.jarroddeaton.com.au

Otherwise, drop me a DM. 

I'd love to hear your story.

Jarrod Deaton

Last year, we took a bit of a risk and opened a new bakery outlet inside a Harris Farm supermarket

It's a bit of a new concept for us to be in this environment.

A full-scale artisan bakery inside the shop serving coffee, pie and pastries outside too was a stretch of the imagination.

We normally like stand-alone bakery stores tucked away in parts of the city where our wonderful clients are.

This one felt like a risk tbh.

It felt like we didn't have control over the customer experience or the types of people who interacted with our brand.

That can be problematic when there are competing values or customer perceptions don't align.

Thankfully only good things have happened since we open at Harris Farm in Majura Park.

It’s a great store.

The people are wonderful.

And our team is ripper.

Hope to see you out there.

three-mills-bakery

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Talks about #brand, #business, #personalgrowth, #entrepreneurship, and #customerexperience

Founder & CEO, Three Mills Bakery | Building the next generation of food brands through craft, tech & culture | Writer of Fix Before You Scale

I baked these in my home oven on the weekend. 

They're a new version of our bake-at-home croissants.

Stored frozen. 

Ready to bake in one hour instead of doing them overnight.

You just gently egg-wash the top. 

And bake for 15 minutes. 

Pretty spectacular results in the home oven.

My house smelled so damn good.

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Most founders only tell the story after they’ve won.

I’d rather share mine before the ending gets too shiny.

We were losing $40K cash a week and I thought selling more would fix it.

It didn’t.

If you’re in the messy middle, this one’s for you.

Swipe through these lessons would’ve saved me years.

The $40k per week reality check

I’ve had weeks recently where my calendar owned me.

Back-to-back meetings.
Lunch as an afterthought.
Late to the gym or not at all.
Zero time to actually think.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

If you’re in a leadership role and your week leaves no time for thinking, you’re not leading. You’re reacting.

So, here's my plan to get it back on tack:

Block 2 x 60-minute “no meeting, no calls” slots in the calendar weekly. 

Use them for one thing only: deep work on the 1–3 priorities that define your year.

Thinking is part of the job description.

If your schedule doesn’t reflect that, you’re playing an operational role with a leadership title.

Most people only focus on the wins. 
 
But in 2016 I lost everything. 
 
Financially wiped out when I walked away from a business partnership. 
 
But I wasn't done with business. 
 
Even though I interviewed at a few other places to work, each time it didn't feel right. 
 
It wasn't ego this time. 
 
Something in my bones told me to give business another go. 
 
With the support of my family, I accepted the terms to buy the used bakery equipment from my business partners and start again. 
 
I only had 2 weeks to pull it off if it was going to work... 
 
That's: 
 
- start a company 
- find bakery space 
- fit it out and open a cafe 
- handle legal, finance, banking, branding 
- move all the bakery equipment across town 
- and maintain the dozen or so wholesale clients we'd built up during that time. 
 
Crazy when I think about it today... 
 
I've always admired people who have started with nothing and built a life for themselves and here I was doing the same thing. 
 
It's incredible what you can do when your back is against the wall. 
 
But in saying that, none of it was a solo effort. 
 
Along the way, I've had incredible support from friends and family. 
 
Not to mention the wonderful team who've contributed to building each part of the vision. 
 
I rarely step back and admire it but I'm proud when I do. 
 
- 140 employees 
- Loads of wonderful clients 
- And some of the best sourdough and pastries around 
 
It's been a wild ride! 
 
Hugely grateful for every bit of it. 
 
My mates who lifted all the bakery equipment out of the basement and drove it across town. 
 
Those first few clients who walked in the door on day one. And every single one since. 
 
Our amazing team and all our families who back us. 
 
And a long list of wonderful suppliers, advisors and partners. 
 
Thank you all!

Most founders don’t fail because of their product.

They fail because they try to build everything alone.

This one’s for the founders grinding it out solo - thinking working harder is the answer.

It’s not.

Swipe through if you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying it all on your own.

Building solo feels noble. It’s actually reckless.

I never had an office at the start. 
 
I spent two decades hot-desking and working from cafe tables. 
 
But a couple of years ago I set one up above the bakery.
 
The result? 
 
My work output exponentially increased. 
 
Having a private space to focus on deep work for 3-4 hours daily has changed the game for me as an entrepreneur. 

- No distractions
- No juggling/multitasking
- No temptation to jump in and help.
 
I can only imagine the waste this must have created in huge corporate workplaces when the world switched to open-plan offices and hot-desking. 

For me, locking myself away for blocks of time has massively boosted my productivity. 

I highly recommend it.

The world didn't need another bread book.

So we wrote one that uses leftover bread!

You know all those bits you have left in the freezer or the tips of your artisan loaf that are too small to do anything with?

That's what we decided to focus on when we wrote ours.

We set out to make stale bread sexy.

So we got a bunch of talented chefs together who've worked the fine-dining scene all over the world and created dozens of recipes that you can recreate at home.

Whether you like cooking or not, we leaned into bespoke ceramics and incredible photography, and then really dialed up the quality of the printing. 

It's such a nice object to have on the coffee table.

We still have a few left from this batch if you're looking for Christmas presents!

Bread with No Added Nasties...

That's the game we're playing. 

And in this game, our villain is fluffy white supermarket bread. 

You know the super white, super soft, super flavourless bread that has an unusually long shelf life because of additives?

Yep, that's the stuff we're up against. 

Don't get me wrong, I ate that stuff most of my childhood. 

But back then I didn't have a choice. I was a kid in a country household who didn't know any better. 

But after I started to learn about the wonderful world of sourdough, everything changed. 

I started thinking about how much the world screwed up with bread making.

And in the tiniest way, we're going to do our bit to correct course by making things like this:

Our Quinoa and Walnut Sourdough. 

It pairs perfectly with cheese and wine. 

And it makes the most incredible base for a Chicken Sando. 

Bring on the good bread revolution!

--- 

Love to know what your favourite sourdough is. Drop me a comment.

I used to be afraid of sucking at things. 
 
Always practicing in private before revealing a skillset in public. 

But the problem is, when you keep it a secret, you miss out on rich feedback that can help you level up faster. 

Most people genuinely want to help you succeed.
 
The key is to switch to a student mindset, and not an expert.

Being prepared to suck at something first and make tiny rapid improvements using loads of feedback. 

That type of vulnerability has helped me so much in my career. 

Not to mention the accountability it's added to my life as an entrepreneur.

Apart from the occasional idiot who laughs at you from behind the screen, it's been all upside.

I'd encourage you to put yourself out there, openly try new things and be prepared to ask for help along the way.

If your company falls over when one person’s on holiday, you don’t have a team. You’ve built a shrine.


Too many businesses are built around a hero.


The rainmaker.

The genius founder.

The “only one who really knows how it all works.”


Looks impressive from the outside.

Feels powerful on the inside.


But it’s also weak, fragile, and one crisis away from breaking.


As entrepreneurs, you want to push through that phase as quickly as possible, making yourself redundant at every stage as you hand things over.


The ones that don't, say things like: I wish the team would “take ownership” or “demonstrate autonomy”...


Meanwhile they design systems where:


Decisions bottleneck through one inbox.

Information lives in one person’s head.

Clients only trust one name.


I don't claim to have the solution here in this Linkedin post, but I do know exactly what I'm trying to build.


And it isn't a shrine.


We need more antifragile businesses.

I often catch myself focusing on urgent tasks instead of the important ones. 
 
You know those easy things you tick off the list instead of the hard ones that really need to be done. 
 
I've become way better at catching myself these days but it took building a tiny system first. 
 
Here's what it looks like: 
 
1. I locked in time for doing the hard thing. 
 
If it required thinking time, I blocked out space on the calendar. 
 
If I had to make phone calls or write, I made time for that too. 
 
Give it the space and attention that it needs in your day/week by scheduling enough time. 
 
2. Accountability. 
 
I made sure I told someone that's what I was working on that week knowing that they would ask me how I went with it. 
 
Just the thought of them asking made me get it done more often. 
 
3. Mental capacity. 
 
Every time I found myself avoiding something was because I had way too many things on or big decisions to make. 
 
The mental load screwed everything up. 
 
So in those times, I paused on all other things to focus on building momentum on ONE thing. 
 
4. Incentive 
 
I use fear and rewards on myself all the time to drive action. 
 
I think of the bad result occurring if I continue to not act (the fear incentive). 
 
OR 
 
I dangle a reward for myself after doing something I've been putting off. 
 
Something as simple as - as soon as I finish the thing, I leave work and go for a run in the forest. 
 
Over time, this builds momentum for crushing things you've been avoiding. 
 
--- 
 
I don't think I'm unique here. 
 
Maybe others are facing the same challenge of avoiding important work. 
 
In that case, I hope this helps!

I'm an entrepreneur. It means I get distracted by lots of shiny things. But this helps me stay focused on the right things:

Some days I catch myself getting distracted by shiny new products, platforms, or ideas pulling me away from what's already working.

I have to keep remembering that it's not only about innovation and pioneering new frontiers with less competition. 

The best companies optimise relentlessly.

They follow the real 70/20/10 rule:

70% of effort into what’s already working. Your proven products, best customers, top-performing channels.

20% into adjacent plays. The small twists, repackaging, bundling, new segments.

10% into testing bold new things, The long shots, market-changing bets.

But what do most teams do (including me, at times)??

We try it backwards.

70% on distractions and shiny objects,

20% trying to fix what’s broken,

10% (if that) doubling down on the things that are already working.

Then we wonder why it feels like pushing a square boulder up a giant hill.

If your business feels stuck, it’s probably not your product. Or a lack of effort. It’s how you’re allocating your focus.

You rarely need more ideas.

You need more discipline around the ideas that already work, and you need to do some much more volume of them.

It’s not sexy.
It’s not exciting.
But if you do it, your business will grow and eventually, you can stay do whatever you want with your time while it runs.

Before we could use the 70/20/10 lens, we needed to identify a few things:

- What were the handful of processes that gave outsized results.
- What were the handful of profitable products we sold over and over.
- Who were a small group of like-minded clients who bought way more than others.

Knowing these helped us double down on what works. Then everything got easier.

I won’t lie: doubling down on the "boring" things isn’t always fun.

But having a business that finally works? 

That’s very fun.

---

You can read other articles like this on my website - I've been uploading 3 years worth of newsletter content there recently.

I was tied to my last business. 
 
Working 7 days a week and feeling like I couldn’t take a single moment off without returning to an absolute mess. 
 
I’d taken a break in the past and returned to chaos that took months to repair. 
 
The clean-up was so painful that it made me think twice about taking another holiday... 
 
But thinking like that is a slippery slope. 
 
That mentality makes you believe that it’s not your fault and that others let you down. 

In some cases maybe that's the case, but the reality is, blaming others is the easy path.
 
And that story you tell yourself about the business needing you to survive. 
 
It's a load of BS.

The solution for escaping your business is simple (not easy). 

Empowering good people with high standards to create good processes.
 
As well as telling yourself to snap out of that negative way of thinking...

Thankfully I snapped out of it quickly and began looking for ways to grow and unlock freedom. 

Have you ever felt this way? 

Love to know your thoughts on how you escaped working huge hours in your business.

Running a test bake in my home oven on our new bake at home croissant.

This one spent months in the freezer with things stacked on it. I wasn't sure how it would go. 

But, it was a freaken lovely result. 

Can't wait to share this product with the world!

Most businesses don’t get taken out by competition, they get taken out by denial. 

I learned that the hard way. 

From the outside we looked like we were winning... but the numbers told another story. 

Growth doesn’t fix broken foundations. 

It just makes the cracks louder.

If you’ve been avoiding a number, a conversation, or a cultural problem hoping it fixes itself, it won’t. 

The fire costs 10x more next year.

Swipe through the carousel to see the lessons I wish someone told me before I paid for them the expensive way.

The warning signs I ignored for too long

We grew top line 23% one year and had less cash at the end than when we started.

On paper, it looked like a win.

Revenue up.

Sites busier.

More customers served.

From the outside, everyone assumes growth = progress.

Inside the bank account, it was a different story.

Here’s what I’ve learned the hard way:

A lot of “growth” is just you working harder to stand still.

Here're three places the money quietly disappeared:

Discounts and “deals” that felt harmless
We said yes to little things that shaved a few percent here and there especially with legacy customers. On a big enough base, those “small” give-aways add up to serious cash.

Operational drag
More volume and more SKU complexity through a system that wasn’t ready. Add in overtime, wastage, rework, fire-fighting and as revenue went up, every extra dollar was more painful to earn.

Overhead creep
As soon as topline lifted, we felt justified adding headcount, tech, and “nice to have” projects and weren't as disciplined looking at costs. We chased instead of fixing. 

Growth didn’t fix broken economics. It multiplied them.

If your topline is climbing and you still feel broke, sanity check your numbers. 

Fix them before you scale.

Building this tiny habit has transformed my business: 
 
Every business has a daily rhythm. 
 
The things you do on autopilot. 
 
But most of the time they're designed to sustain what is there and not improve things. 
 
That was exactly what was happening with my business... 
 
We'd come in each day and do the: 
 
Same actions 
Same processes 
Same conversations 
 
Over and over. 
 
It's hard to see new things when you get in that habit. 
 
So you need to make a conscious effort to reprogram your daily rhythm. 
 
For example: 
 
Instead of walking straight in the door, pause for a moment and see the place like a customer would. 
 
Look around like they would. 
 
Stand where they would stand. 
 
Sit where they would sit. 
 
It's powerful stuff when you do things like this daily. 
 
You start to see improvements everywhere that make your business better instead of just walking in on autopilot. 
 
The key is to program the right things into your daily rhythm that sustain what's there as well as growing it.

It's tempting to relax a bit once your business is out of the start-up phase. 

And after years of working your face off to build something from scratch, who can blame you? 

But complacency can destroy things. 

If it's about getting your time back, delegate things instead. 

If it's about enjoying yourself, find someone who's hungry to grow your business for you.

Because even if you deserve a break.

Even if you don't have competitors chasing you. 

Things that are hard to build can be shattered easily. 

And the bottom line is, instead of taking your foot off the gas at the first sign of success.
 
It's best to use that time to double down on what's working and leap further ahead after years of grinding.

Unique 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲s are 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 today.

Everything else can be copied or purchased.

Even though we don't always nail it, we're pursuing excellence in this space. Constantly meeting about it, doing case studies on others and testing ways to level up our game.

Fundamentally, service needs to be part of your culture if you're striving for long term customer delight. 

If you get that bit right, it's nearly impossible for competitors to buy the trust and connection you've established.

But the problem is, most established companies are on autopilot.

They're so busy just keeping up with the volume of work these days that they've shifted their focus from delight, to delivery.

Nailing it doesn't mean transforming your business, it's about leaning into a few key moments in your customer journey. 

If you're an established business looking for ways to retain clients and build a stronger organisation, I talk about what we've done often in my weekly newsletter.

I share real strategies that are working right now to build culture, increase retention, and drive impact.

I'd love to see you there when you're ready.

At A Better Jones, I help startups, small businesses, and solopreneurs accelerate their growth. 

A Better Jones

I finally know why I feel "invisible" in conversations—and research shows it has nothing to do with being boring.
 
Everyone thinks people don't like them because they're not...
 
• Funny enough 
• Impressive enough 
• Interesting enough
 
Right?
 
BUT psychology research shows the complete opposite.
 
People usually don't connect with you because you're too busy trying to be liked.
 
When you focus on being likable:
 
• You start performing. 
• You hide the real YOU. 
• You say what you think people want to hear instead of what you actually think.
 
You smooth out your edges. You become generic.
 
And people can sense that.
 
They don't dislike you—they just can't connect with someone who isn't actually there.
 
It's like trying to hug a hologram. There's nothing to grab onto.
 
The people who are most genuinely liked? They stopped caring about being liked.
 
They show up as themselves—rough edges and all—and the right people connect with THAT.
 
Think about your last few conversations.
 
How many times did you say what you actually thought versus what you thought they wanted to hear?
 
If you're...
 
➝ Always agreeable 
➝ Always accommodating 
➝ Always saying the "right" thing...
 
You're not unlikable. You're just "invisible".
 
And that might feel safer, but it's also lonelier.
 
Here's what to do:
 
Share one real opinion in your next conversation. Not controversial—just something true to you.
 
Stop filling every silence with small talk. Let conversations breathe.
 
Ask questions you're actually curious about.
 
"How are you?" gets polite answers.
 
"What's been on your mind lately?" gets real ones.
 
People don't dislike the real you. They just can't connect with the fake version.
 
Stop trying to be likable. Start trying to be real.
 
XOXO, 
Kasey

Kasey Jones 🏔

abetterjones

ourgalaxy

integral-healthcare-solutions-llc

wearefounderup

high-growth-founders

Talks about #founders, #entrepreneur, #revenuegrowth, #personalbranding, and #personaldevelopment

From Referral-Dependent Income to Systematic, Predictable Revenue | I Help Consultants Scale Through Strategy & Leverage, Not People & Time | 31K+ Subscribers | Mix of Jocko Willink & Mr. Rogers

Things no one tells you about divorce (but should):

And I don't just mean marriage.

I mean, the moment you realize something in your life is no longer right. 

A partner. A job. A business. A whole damn identity.

When you decide: “This can’t be it.”

Here’s what I wish someone had told me:

🖤 1. It will feel like grief…even if you’re the one choosing it.

You’re not just walking away from something. You are BURYING it.

You’re burying the dream, the plan, the future you thought you’d live.

Let yourself mourn that. Fully.

🖤 2. You’ll be afraid of what people think—and it’ll feel like shame.

→ Even if you know it’s right.
→ Even if you know you’re better off.
→ Some part of you will feel like you failed.

You didn’t. You just had the courage to stop pretending.

🖤 3. You’ll crave a clean break. There won’t be one.

There is no clean ending. 
There’s only detangling.

One slow, painful knot at a time.

🖤 4. You’ll question who you are. And that’s the point.

You’re not just leaving something behind. You’re rediscovering yourself.

This moment will strip you bare. So you can rebuild without the performance, pretending, or fakery. 

🖤 5. What comes next will be harder—and more beautiful—than you can imagine.

Because freedom isn’t easy. But it's worth it.

EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. 

If you’re standing on the edge right now…

→ Leaving the job.
→ Ending the relationship.
→ Burning down the old version of your life.

I want you to hear this:

You’re not broken. 
You're not behind. 
You're BECOMING. And it's absolutely f*cking beautiful.

XOXO,
Kasey

I spent YEARS asking myself "Am I qualified enough?" and "Will people take me seriously?”
 
Then one day I realized: Those weren't the real questions. Those were stalling tactics.
 
The REAL question was always: "Do I want this enough to figure it out?”
 
That's the freaking shift. From waiting to be chosen... to choosing yourself.
 
Being a businesswoman isn't about having it all figured out. It's about trusting you'll figure it out along the way.
 
XOXO,
Kasey

#EssentialistCEO #FemaleEntrepreneur #CEOMindset

Is this your life's work?

Here's how you know you found what you're meant to do.

Steve Jobs said the only way to do great work is to love what you do. But how do you know when you found it?

Jobs understood that "meant to do" isn't destiny handed to you. It's alignment discovered through action.

When what you do matches who you are, you don't have to force it. It flows.

Here are the unmistakable signs:

Time disappears when you're doing it

You sit down to work and suddenly four hours passed.

That's not distraction. That's flow. That's your soul saying "Yes, this is it."

If you're constantly watching the clock, you haven't found what you're meant to do yet. You found what pays the bills.

You do it even if no one was watching or paying you

Strip away the money, recognition, status. Would you still do it?

Do you do it in your spare time? In those cracks of your life?

People who found what they're meant to do can't NOT do it.

It's not about external reward. It's about internal compulsion.

I know people making millions who do the same work for free. That's when you know.

Other people seek you out specifically for this thing

When you found what you're meant to do, you don't have to convince people you're good at it.

They come to you because there's something about the way you do it that's different.

Your meant-to-do has your fingerprints all over it. It's unmistakably yours.

It challenges you without crushing you

What you're meant to do isn't easy. But it's not torture either.

It stretches you. Sometimes frustrates the hell out of you.

But it never depletes you. Not really.

You finish exhausted but satisfied. Not drained and resentful.

If your work drains your soul, it's not your purpose. It's a paycheck.

Follow what makes you lose track of time, what you can't not do, what people seek you out for, and what challenges you without crushing you.

That's your life's work.

How many of these signs describe what you're doing right now?

I used to spend 3 hours on LinkedIn content that took 30 minutes to write.

The problem wasn't creativity. It was FRICTION — ideas scattered everywhere, no system, no follow-through.

MagicPost's editorial calendar fixed that. Not by writing my posts for me. 

By removing the chaos that made me avoid posting in the first place.

Swipe to see how I use it →

I'm partnering with magicpost.in because it solved a problem I'd been white-knuckling for years.

If you've been inconsistent on LinkedIn — not because you don't have ideas, but because the process of getting from idea to published post feels like a slog — this might be worth checking out.

𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆: 70% off yearly / 40% off monthly with code 𝗞𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗬𝗕𝗙𝟭𝟬 at magicpost.in

BLACK FRIDAY 2025 - Carousel

I spent years performing confidence in boardrooms with executives twice my age. 

Turns out, the louder my certainty, the deeper my spiral.
 
I thought real confidence meant never showing doubt. 

But the more I performed "I've got this," the more I panicked internally.
 
Then a 9-figure CEO told me something that broke the whole act.
 
"I didn't hire you because you had all the answers. I hired you because you asked better questions than anyone else."
 
That's when I got it.
 
Real confidence isn't certainty. 

It's being okay saying "I don't know" without apologizing.
 
The people who seem most put together? Watch if they ever admit they're struggling. If the answer is never, they're performing too.
 
Real confidence is quiet. Performed confidence is loud.

XOXO,
Kasey

I wrote ONE LinkedIn post about a 9-figure CEO who didn't want the "polished consultant"
 
It brought in $15,000 in two weeks
 
(And one of those leads? Six figures over two years)
 
What changed wasn't my skills. It wasn't my content quality. It was my POSITIONING.
 
I stopped trying to be for everyone and started being undeniably, specifically ME.
 
For months before that, I'd been creating great LinkedIn content.
 
󠁯•󠁏󠁏 Great engagement. 󠁯
•󠁏󠁏 Thoughtful comments. 󠁯
•󠁏󠁏 People telling me they loved my posts.
 
BUT ZERO leads.
 
Then I wrote about a financial services CEO who reached out because everyone else's websites looked the same—super polished, perfectly branded, saying all the right "professional" things.
 
"I don't want that," he said. "I don't want to look like everybody else."
 
That post was me leaning into everything that made me different.
 
Everything that used to make me feel insecure.
 
󠁯•󠁏󠁏 My unconventional background. 󠁯
•󠁏󠁏 My opinionated approach. 󠁯
•󠁏󠁏 The fact that I wasn't the "super polished consultant."
 
Three qualified leads. $15,000 within two weeks. One of those leads? Six figures over the next two years.
 
Here's what most entrepreneurs resist understanding:
 
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘀. 𝗜𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.
 
Your "broad market appeal" isn't strategic.
 
It's you diluting what makes you irreplaceable because you're scared that being authentically different will alienate people.
 
But premium clients don't want a "good generalist."
 
→ They want the perfect specialist for their exact situation. 
→ They want someone who GETS their specific pressure.
 
Your weird, specific experience becomes your unfair advantage.
 
The counterintuitive truth:
 
I got MORE clients by being MORE specific about who I'm for.
 
Stop hiding what makes you different. It's exactly what makes you valuable.
 
That 9-figure CEO wasn't looking for polished. He was looking for different.
 
So are your premium clients. They just can't find you yet.

XOXO,
Kasey

For 7+ years, I built a business based on who I thought I was supposed to be.
 
I mimicked the routines, the strategies, the structures of people I admired.  

• Early mornings
• Big launches
• Constant content  

And yeah… it worked. Kinda.
 
But I was tired all the damn time.  Even when the revenue was flowing, I felt off.  

Like I was playing a role instead of building my business.
 
Then I finally asked the question that changed everything:  

👉 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 “𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿” 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗜 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗮𝗺?
 
That was the unlock.  Not more effort. Not more strategy. Just more TRUTH.
 
Once I understood my own rhythms, my own decision-making, my own damn energy. 

Everything got easier. Clients came faster. Revenue tripled. Stress vanished.
 
Not because I worked harder.  Because I stopped fighting myself.
 
If your business feels like a fight right now...  

This might be the truth you’ve been avoiding:
 
Know yourself. Then build everything around that.

XOXO,
Kasey

My brain doesn’t work in straight lines. And for most of my life, I thought that made me broken.

I can’t tell you how many times I was called “too much” or “not enough” in the same breath.

Too intense. Too sensitive. Too scattered.

Not focused enough. Not structured enough. Not professional enough.

When you have ADHD, especially undiagnosed or masked for years, you learn how to contort yourself. 

→ You learn how to overcompensate.
→ You become hyper-independent and shame-fueled.
→ You spend your energy pretending your brain works “like it should”… instead of letting it shine the way it does.

For me, that shame carried into everything. Especially business.

I tried to build the way I was told:
→ Rigid routines
→ Hour-by-hour calendars
→ Offers that felt impressive, but drained me
→ Systems that looked good on paper but made me want to scream

Until one day I couldn’t fake it anymore.

The overwhelm hit too hard.
The pressure to “do it right” was killing my creativity.

I realized: I wasn’t building a business.
I was building a cage.

So I burned the old version down.
And I started over.

This time, I built for ME. 

For MY brain.
For MY energy.
For how ACTUALLY work.

• I stopped trying to look like a CEO and started feeling like one.
• I stopped chasing consistency and started building sustainability.
• I created flexible systems that support me, no matter how I'm feeling.
  
And I let go of the shame that told me I was behind.

Now, I teach other brilliant, big-hearted business owners how to do the same.

Because you’re not inconsistent. You’re unsupported.

You’re not flaky.
You’re not broken.
You just haven’t had a business that fits you yet.

If you’ve been spinning…
If your systems are suffocating you…
If your business looks “fine” but feels heavy as hell…

DM me ESSENTIAL

This is the work we do inside Essentialist CEO 

And we’re damn good at it.

You don’t have to change who you are to succeed.

You just have to stop building for someone else’s version of success.

Let’s f*cking go.

Essentialist CEO

It took me a LONG time to learn that the work that truly matters feels different from the stuff that just keeps me busy. 

Then I had to figure out how to run my business so I could amplify the essential and downgrade the busy. 

Which saved my sanity and grew my bank account. 

Your body knows the difference before your brain does.

Busy work leaves you drained, anxious, wondering if you're doing enough.

Essential work leaves you energized, clear, like you just did exactly what you're meant to be doing.

I noticed this pattern in my own week:

Content creation used to drain me. I'd spend hours on creating content – finding ideas, writing drafts, editing for impact – and feel exhausted.

Now? I batch draft in https://magicpost.in/, edit to add my voice, and I'm done in 30 minutes. Energized, not depleted.

The difference wasn't the task. It was what part of the task was actually essential for ME to do.

Structure? Not essential. (That's what tools are for.) The spiky opinion? Essential. Only I can say it that way.

Most entrepreneurs are exhausted because they're trying to be good at EVERYthing. 

Essentialists are energized because they're ruthless about what's actually theirs to do.

What task are you doing that leaves you drained instead of energized?

I’m freaking out right now. I’ve spent the last 6 months researching tools to build an AI version of me. 

And I think I found it. 

I was looking for something that would use my expertise, my personality, my brand, my style and FEEL authentic to me. 

Here's the uncomfortable truth: most of us never productize because the barrier isn't our expertise—it's the infrastructure.

We know we should create scalable offers. We know our knowledge could work while we sleep. We know trading time for money has a ceiling.

But between Stripe integration, course platforms, customer onboarding, support systems, and marketing sites... we choose the devil we know.

I just found something that removes every excuse I've been hiding behind.

Appy.ai interviews you about your expertise, then builds an AI agent that knows your methodology.

From that conversation, they auto-generate: 

→ White-labeled marketing site 
→ Stripe payment setup 
→ Customer onboarding 
→ Support tools 
→ One shareable link

Interview to live product: 2-5 minutes.

No code. No tech paralysis. No "I'll do it next quarter."

I'm not saying this replaces your high-touch services.

But if you've been sitting on expertise that 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be generating revenue beyond your available hours?

This might be the lowest-friction path to actually doing it instead of planning it.

It’s still early for me, but I’ll build out mine over the coming weeks and I’m excited to share it. 

The entrepreneurs making real money aren't just working harder. They're working multiplied.

Check out Appy.AI if you're done letting infrastructure block your income potential.

Appy.AI

For my first 40ish years, I thought the hard part was making the decision to change. Boy, was I wrong. 

→ To start over.
→ To slow down.
→To  leave the job.
→ To set the boundary.
→ To end the relationship.
→ To choose something, ANYthing different.

But it’s not.

Making the decision is the easy part.

The hard part?

Is making that decision again.
And again.
And again.
And again.

Every time the old pattern tries to sneak back in.

I’m in it right now.

→ I’m a recovering workaholic.
→ A recovering DO TOO MUCH addict.
→ A former “I can handle it all” martyr.

I’ve simplified my business.
I’ve cut my hours.
I’ve created space.

But now that I’m here?

It’s SO FREAKING uncomfortable.

It’s slower.
It’s quieter.
It’s full of little voices in my head screaming:

“You’re falling behind.”
“You should do more.”
“You’re wasting time.”

And every day I have to choose:

→ Do I numb that panic by taking on more?
→ Or do I sit with it, feel it, understand it… and STAY THE COURSE?

This is the real work.

Not the first decision.
The hundredth.

The daily recommitment to becoming the version of you that you SAY you want to be.

What helps?

→ Weekly therapy
→ Daily meditation + journaling
→ Letting the inner chaos be witnessed without being obeyed
→ And texting my inner circle when the urge to “overdo” hits hard

Because sometimes, the bravest thing I do all day is NOT starting a new project.

Change isn’t one big, bold leap.

It’s a thousand tiny choices made in quiet moments.

And most of them won’t feel powerful.

They’ll feel boring, uncomfortable, terrifying, or wrong.

But they’re not. 

They’re holy. 
They're sacred.

They're what becoming Future You requires. 

The question is: will you do what it takes to make them when it counts?

No one taught me how to rebuild when my life fell apart (multiple times). So I taught myself.

And this is exactly why I was able to turn the shittiest experiences into fertalizer for my ideal life.

No one hands you a checklist for reinvention after:

→ A layoff 
→ A divorce 
→ A failed business 
→ A wake-up call you can’t un-hear 
→ A rock-bottom mental health spiral

But here’s what I’ve learned:

You don’t bounce back. You build FORWARD.

(or at least you CAN)

Here’s how you do it.

1. Let the version of you that’s dying… actually die.
   
Stop trying to hold her together.

She got you this far. She did her best. But she can’t take you where you’re going.

You can grieve her. But don’t drag her with you.

2. Stop asking, “What do I DO now?”
   
Start asking, “Who do I BECOME now?"

Reinvention isn’t a to-do list. It’s an identity shift.

And the biggest mistake we make is trying to fix a life that no longer fits us.

Instead of creating a new one that lets us feel as good as we deserve.

3. Make exploration your strategy.
   
Try the thing. Book the trip. Say yes to what pulls you.

Your next chapter won’t be found in a pros/cons list. It’ll be found while you're in motion, following your curiosity.

You don’t need a five-year plan. You need a SPARK.

4. Audit everything. Ruthlessly.
   
→ What do you tolerate? 
→ Who do you spend time with? 
→ What do you pretend to enjoy? 
→ Where do you keep betraying your gut?

Reinvention starts with subtraction. Cut what no longer fits.

5. Choose the kind of life you want first.
   
Then build everything else around that.

→ Not the other way around. 
→ Not what’s practical. 
→ Not what’s expected. 
→ Not what looks good on LinkedIn.

Start with your ideal day.

Reverse engineer from there.

Reinvention isn’t a comeback. It’s a DEPARTURE.

You’re not going back to who you were.

You’re stepping into who you’ve always been becoming.

And she’s just getting started.

XOXO, 
Kasey

I used to think saying "no" to certain clients meant leaving money on the table. 

Then I realized: 

Wrong-fit clients were costing me more than they paid me.
 
• Drained energy. 
• Mediocre results. 
• Referrals to more wrong-fit clients. 

So I started naming who my work is NOT for. Out loud. Publicly. It felt terrifying. 

But here's what happened—the right clients started showing up. And they paid premium rates. 

So here's your challenge:
 
→ Open your notes app. 
→ Write down 3-5 types of people your work is NOT for. 
→ Be specific. Be honest. 

Then drop it in the comments. Claim the boundary. 

Because the consultant known for everyone gets hired for nothing. 

The consultant known for someone specific gets hired—and paid—for exactly what they're meant to do. 

So... who are you NOT for? 

#EssentialistCEO

Brumate—the insulated drinkware brand crushing it right now—specifically talks about how BILL gives them speed and efficiency.

Not just cost savings. 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱.

Learning about financial automation through my BILL partnership, this case study made something click:

How much of "being hands-on" is actually fear disguised as responsibility?

• Fear automation means losing control.
• Fear systems won't work without us.
• Fear delegation—even to technology—means we're not "in it."

But Brumate proves the opposite.

Automation didn't make them less involved. It made them 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰.

If you're skilled enough to run a business, you're too valuable to manually approve invoices and chase vendor information like it's 2010.

Your competitive advantage: your unique perspective. Unconventional background. Spiky opinions.

Not your ability to reconcile expenses.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 → https://lnkd.in/e7AUpmA6

The principle holds whether you're processing thousands of transactions or dozens: 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.

Your time should amplify what makes you irreplaceable—not get lost in finance friction that could be automated.

What manual finance task are you still doing that should be automated? Call it out below.

#BILLpartner

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A Better Jones

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A Better Jones

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jarrod Deaton's LinkedIn Performance

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