My 2026 Manifesto: This Is the Year I Go All In
January 1, 2026I entered my first job at the tail end of the 2009 recession.
Businesses were collapsing. Projects were getting cancelled overnight. Fear was normal.
One of the first clients assigned to me pulled out immediately.
By protocol, my lead and I were supposed to call, understand his concern, and try to convince him to stay.
When I spoke to him, there was nothing to convince.
He had just let go of his two in-house developers.
His website had stopped generating leads.
Cash flow had dried up.
His business had come to a standstill.
So I did something that made sense to me at the time — and made no sense on paper.
I offered to take a look at his website for free.
I fixed the issue.
The leads started coming back.
He stayed on as a client and later wrote a glowing review.
It worked.
And shortly after, I was pulled aside and warned.
Not because the outcome was bad —
but because if clients start expecting free help, the system breaks.
They weren’t wrong.
I was being paid for my time.
Rules exist for a reason.
Businesses can’t run on exceptions.
But something stayed with me.
A few months later, the same client reached out again.
This time, I wasn’t allowed to help — even on my own time.
Policies are policies.
I had to tell him we didn’t have the resources.
That was the moment I realized something important:
I wasn’t built for environments where value could only be justified by an invoice.
Not because money doesn’t matter — it does.
But because momentum matters too.
Years later, after starting my own business, I made a decision.
Not everything I do has to be monetized.
Not every problem needs a contract before it deserves attention.
If I can help a serious founder regain momentum — I will. If I can help someone chase their dreams, I will.
That’s not charity.
That’s conviction.
