Today marks exactly ten years since my brother passed away.
And since Anthony is a huge reason this business exists in the first place, I want to use today as an opportunity to explain some of the core beliefs I operate from over here.
This isn't a sad story. It’s an explanation.
Not just losing him, but watching him live in the shell of his body for 18 years, fundamentally changed how I think about time, meaning, and what’s actually worth the effort.
This wasn’t like one singular moment of “life is short” clarity.
It was watching it unfold slowly, repeatedly, and without any control over the outcome for eighteen years.
It wasn’t just that he died young. It was that he never really got the chance to live at all.
And when you grow up witnessing that, it quietly rewires the way you look at everything.
It makes you acutely aware of how rare it actually is to be able-bodied, to have ideas, to feel pulled toward something, and not only that, but to also have the physical, mental, and emotional capacity to execute on those ideas and do what you want.
That combination is wildly rare and so unbelievably lucky.
And too many people forget that.
That belief shows up in every area of my life and my work, whether I name it explicitly or not.
Which is why, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably noticed my content circling the same ideas.
Build something real.
Stay rooted in who you are.
Stop chasing trends that ask you to abandon yourself for speed, efficiency, or attention.
Of course, you can look at almost any brand that’s been around for a meaningful amount of time and reverse-engineer these same philosophies.
At its core, everything I'm explaining is good brand advice.
But if you’ve ever wondered why I’m so hell-bent on getting this information in front of your face?
Why I keep coming back to steadiness, clarity, and long-term thinking?
It’s because of Anthony.
Because when you’ve watched someone live without access to their body, their independence, or their ability to choose, it becomes really f*cking hard to watch smart, capable people pour their energy into things that don’t actually matter.
Like metrics that don’t mean anything or chasing trends just to feel liked, validated, or included.
When the reality is that you get to do the things you love.
You get to do things you’re good at.
You get to think for yourself.
You get to communicate what’s on your heart.
You get to have a whole freaking idea like "let me start a business" and then actually do something with it (🥹!!!)
And if you have the mental capacity to spiral over a post not performing well, I say this with all the love in my heart... but you are so incredibly lucky.
That is a privileged stress.
You are lucky that this is the thing your nervous system has room to worry about.
Watching someone who never had that option makes it impossible for me to stay quiet when I see people throwing away their time, their talent, and their sense of self in exchange for approval from systems or audiences that don’t love them back.
That’s why I talk about clarity. About building brands that feel like an extension of who you are, and letting your content amplify that.
Life's too damn short to spend it manipulating yourself into a version you THINK the world wants to see. Just show up as you are and build a brand around that.
Your brand is your story, your why, your values, your mission, the standards you operate by, and the way you make decisions. All those things carry through into how you run your business, both online and offline.
That’s the part people feel when they work with you - not your fonts, your color palette, or any other surface-level aesthetics.
Brands that last aren’t just well-marketed. They’re lived.
So if you needed a reminder to wake tf up and pivot what you're currently doing...hi, hey, hello - hope this helped ✌️
Catch ya next week,
Marissa
PS: I think the reason I care so much about helping people build clear, intentional brands is because I’ve spent my whole life learning how to make sense of complicated things, connect dots other people don’t see, and find the most honest path forward when nothing feels obvious.
This work is simply where those skills belong. 🫶
