When we were building Dirty Dough, I loved what we were doing, but you have to be practical. We'd kill a marketing strategy the moment it failed and I got good at saying no to tempting ideas that would have slowed us down. That mix kept the stressful growth periods actually manageable. Keep your heart in your work, but let your head make the big decisions.
When there are unknowns or you are engaging in something you haven't done before, the best guiding principle is actually pretty straightforward: move forward with curiosity instead of fear. People tend to frame uncertainty as something they must eliminate; however, I now see that it can be a signpost indicating that you are about to grow. Building Legacy Online School has been an ongoing process of learning what to do when there is no set path. The educational landscape is changing quickly, families' needs are also evolving, and there will always be no single path to follow for an extended period of time. Initially, my efforts to mitigate any uncertainty resulted in over-planning; however, staying curious and testing out options, listening to responses, and making changes in the moment is far more beneficial than trying to plan everything out in advance. Staying curious creates the ability to remain stable - curiosity will expand your thought process, whereas fear will limit you. Therefore, when something appears to be unknown, instead of rushing toward an exact answer, ask better questions: What do we hear from families? What are the assumptions that we are making? What are some of the smaller steps we can take to gather additional information? This line of questioning leads to momentum rather than stagnation. Curiosity also builds trust between members of a team; the willingness to explore uncertainties creates a safe environment for a team member to experiment. Students who engage in exploration learn more successfully than those who are restricted from doing so, and decisions made by leaders are more predictable when leaders willingly engage in the same exploration with others. I don't believe certainty creates progress. Adaptability does. When you choose curiosity over control, uncertainty stops being something to avoid and becomes something to work with. That principle has carried me through every new chapter and continues to shape how we build at Legacy.
Here's my trick. I track everything. How much we spend, how much we make, what it costs to get a new customer. It turns that scary unknown into a simple spreadsheet. When we launched CBDNerds, we were running on fumes, and looking at the numbers every day kept me from freezing up. In the usual mess of a startup, obsessing over the data is how I stay grounded and catch problems before they blow up.
To be honest, I've learnt to see any unknown as a test of constancy. So, even when I don't have a comprehensive plan or I'm doing something new, I stick with what I do know and keep showing up. The firm stays grounded by that inner voice that tells you to "stick to your gut." This could mean keeping to our sourcing rules or not compromising on formula ingredients when supplies are low. You can't control changes in the market or noise from competitors, but you can control what you do every day. For me, it's been about doing the right thing even when it seems like the longer path. At one point, at the beginning, someone informed me it would be "way easier" to cut out the wild fish oil and use a synthetic DHA instead, which is cheaper and lasts longer on the shelf. I mean, absolutely, that would have fixed a lot of problems right away. But I just couldn't do it. I wouldn't give it to my own child, and I wasn't going to give it to someone else's. At that moment, consistency was more important than convenience. And that way of thinking has helped us get through anything from delays in manufacturing to problems with the law.
I've learned that being flexible is everything as a founder. When we launched PlayAbly, we were guessing about the product and the market. So we ignored our plan and just built what our first users actually needed, not what we thought they wanted. It's hard to admit your first idea was wrong, but that's usually how you find something that works.
Whenever things get hectic, I bet on people. During a crazy season at Jacksonville Maids, I poured time into training and actually getting to know the crew. They started covering gaps I didn't even know existed. When your team feels supported, all that uncertainty just isn't so scary anymore. You figure it out together.
I stopped relying on one market after a project in Hong Kong hit trouble. Luckily, our work in Europe picked up the slack. It's a simple lesson: having operations in different places protects you when something goes wrong somewhere. I tell people not to keep all their business in one spot. It just makes you less vulnerable to surprises.
Whenever things get uncertain, I just remember our one job: connect people with the help they actually need. All the marketing stuff just fades away. I've found that if you're focused on helping someone, the right decision usually becomes clear, even when everything is shifting. Just build what's useful for people. That's the stuff that sticks around when things get complicated.
Curiosity has saved my real estate deals. A complicated foreclosure was about to fall apart, but I called a senior broker and asked a bunch of extra questions, and we made it work. Now when I'm not sure, I remind myself I don't have to know everything. Asking questions usually finds the best solution, even ones you never expected.
We started selling lightsabers because people asked for them, not because the numbers made sense. At first, they didn't. But we paid attention when our fans said they wanted different options, and we adjusted. That's what kept us from going under. My advice? Stay ready to change course, but know what you stand for.
I learned at Titan Funding that in real estate financing, you have to stick with the real numbers, not the pretty estimates. When the market moved, this kept everyone from panicking and let us make actual choices. It's not the only answer, but it's the one thing that's consistently helped me keep our team and clients level-headed through the tough spots.
What I've learned most is to question what people say is impossible. When we created the SearchGAP Method, everyone insisted you couldn't get fast SEO results without backlinks. We just kept testing until it worked. To be honest, challenging what's 'supposed to work' and proving it for yourself is how we've made our biggest strides.
When I step into something new, I stop trying to prove myself and focus on adding value. I remind myself the opportunity exists because someone saw I could contribute. Then I ask, what problem can I solve right now?
In moments of uncertainty, I find myself gravitating towards a progress over perfection way of thinking. I focus in on small, consistent actions to get the ball rolling, and trust that they'll start to snowball into something meaningful over time. The kind of affirmations that have a grounding effect on me are ones like "I can learn what I don't know yet", they're a gentle reminder that I'm not in over my head even when things feel brand new. Instead of staring at a new chapter like a blank piece of paper, I try to set a clear direction and just commit to seeing it through. That approach keeps me moving forward, even when things feel really uncertain and stops me falling into analysis paralysis, it also helps keep my momentum going.
When I face uncertainty or new challenges, I generally follow the principle of a growth mindset, rather than worrying about whether I'm good or not. I used to remind myself that I could do better next time and that I had to try harder to improve my performance. I always focus on the facts of learning new ideas that enhance my skills and address the previous mistakes that led me to undertake this endeavour. I treat my failures like a free lesson and a new experience that improves my workflow and ideas to the next level. I apply motivational strategies to understand how failure can strongly support my success in subsequent tasks or services. These are the key points I have used in my life that guide me most during new adventures or periods of uncertainty.
Transparent, proactive communication guides me in uncertain moments. In our hyperlocal business I moved from assuming reliability to explaining constraints, timelines, and options, sped up updates, and replaced "we'll try" with "here's what we can do next," which reduced fire drills, kept the team calmer, and led customers to treat us like partners.
I've learned that uncertainty feels a lot less intimidating when I lean on two things: curiosity and a steady process. Back when I was working in complex manufacturing, there was never a perfect moment to act. We had to form a hypothesis, run the experiment, see what broke, and adjust--without getting too precious about being right. That way of thinking eventually followed me into women's health, where the work is deeply personal and the science is always moving. At Happy V, we handle new territory by asking sharper questions, paying close attention to what our customers are actually telling us, and letting the data guide us instead of our assumptions. I don't expect uncertainty to disappear. I've just come to see it as something you build with, not something you wait out. That approach has helped us make clearer decisions and create systems that get stronger the more we test them.
I've pivoted twice in my career--from pre-med to law, then from prosecution to defense--so I've learned that **uncertainty reveals what you actually care about**. When I couldn't handle blood and chemistry at USC, my weak stomach made the decision for me. That forced clarity was a gift. The mindset that's guided me most: **your past experience becomes your unfair advantage in new territory**. When I left the DA's office in 2007 to join a labor firm, then later co-founded Universal Law Group, I didn't abandon my prosecutor background--I weaponized it. We tell injury clients upfront: we know how the other side thinks because we've been there. That insider perspective has directly increased our settlement outcomes. Here's the practical part: I never chase adventures that require me to pretend I'm someone else. When we expanded from criminal defense into personal injury and family law, we didn't hire a bunch of new faces and rebrand. We built around what our team already did well--aggressive representation, former prosecutor insight, multilingual client service. Faustine on our team speaks three languages, which wasn't a "strategy"--it was recognizing what we already had. The principle is simple: **new territory, same strengths**. Don't reinvent yourself when the market shifts. Figure out which of your existing skills solves the new problem, then go hard on that angle.
When I face uncertainty or new adventures, I rely on a simple mantra: “Up until now!” It helps me reframe setbacks as temporary, shift my focus to what I can do next, and build momentum for positive change. That mindset keeps me proactive and clear-headed when navigating the unknown.
I've learned to go with the uncertainty. When I started my own business, SEO was a total mystery. Instead of giving up, I just kept learning, listened to what clients actually needed, and tweaked my approach. That's where the success came from. Now when something new comes up, I treat it like a chance to figure things out as I go. You don't need the final answer, you just need to start.