2025 > 2026

Before I recap the year, because I can't keep secrets - AT ALL - I got engaged to the most incredible woman you will ever meet(!), the "R" in my emails, Rebekah. I am ecstatic (that's an understatement, but I haven't learned the words yet for this level of excitement)! And there couldn't possibly have been a more wonderful way to end the year.

January 18th I was cooking potatoes to go with burgers at Rebekah's family's house, singing Luna Mezza Mare and enjoying a delicious glass of Pinot Noir. I had waited for this visit for months. 2024 consisted of working hard, learning a lot of lessons professionally, and rebuilding trust and friendship for R and I. After two brutal years of being separated (I broke up with her, stupid move, long story, cliffnotes: I'm an idiot), we had a lot of broken trust and doubts to work through. Nearly 11 months later, I was visiting her family, establishing new relationships, and developing what I hoped would be lifelong friendships with a hopeful future family. So standing there in the kitchen, enjoying life, having hit new revenue goals for Dovito, and for the first time in years, feeling like I was actually on top of things, I never expected the text I would get next.

It was my brother, our CTO. "🤓" That either meant "lol, this is crazy" or "you won't believe this, house is legit on fire" My gut KNEW it was the second. Stepping outside, and 3 hours of a blur of emotions later, I realized that we had lost 60% of revenue, a future MASSIVE international partnership, and all hope of maintaining the momentum we had heading into 2025. I can't even begin to tell you how devastating January 18th was.

It took us until March to begin to rebuild, as we had much rework and mitigation to focus on. By July, we had hired 3 more team members (probably too fast, I learned a lot there about workload constraints and flexible cash flow) and had surpassed where we were in January in terms of revenue. It was exhausting, and I wouldn't do this again, to be completely honest. But I had to prove to myself that I don't quit and that I can rebound in any situation. As a team, we did.

Then came about 3 months of insane pedal-to-the-metal "discovery and validation" in a mad dash effort to hit aggressive end-of-year goals that would prove whether Dovito would exist in 2026 or not. This is where I dropped the ball on The 1159. It was during this time that I was challenged by two business mentors and faced the hardest experience of my professional life: realizing I wasn't even close to where I thought I was, and realizing I was actively failing as a leader. This season taught me a great deal about vision, specifically refining and casting vision. It taught me the power of leaning into our unique abilities as humans and recognizing that it's God who wires us intentionally. I also was overwhelmed as perspective on life came together, and I realized how much I had been blind to, especially as it pertained to career development and building businesses.

But despite the crazy ups and downs (among literally a hundred more; real estate investment adventures, another business on the side, unexpected death, etc), Rebekah was constantly there and encouraging me each day. Truly, I never could have thought up this level of support or strength, and we were just dating. So I had to change that status. But first, permission and a ring!

Permission was actually easier than I thought; just had to get the nerve to ask. Check. Then the ring. Not so easy. I went custom (plan for 3-6 months, guys) and bought a center stone and then asked the jeweler to incorporate 4 smaller heirloom diamonds from my grandmother. It was nearly a failure. We had to remake the entire ring, including ordering all new settings two weeks before my last window to propose. I had already missed 2 windows due to this ring. Now, I had until the 18th of December to propose, with no ring, no plan.

Saturday rolled around, still no ring, and the perfect opportunity I had planned for weeks ... just watched it glide right on by. Blast it. Then, the final week, I had 3 days left.... still no word from the jeweler. Then Wednesday, the 17th: "I'll have it ready tomorrow afternoon". Not what I wanted to hear, but at least I had a chance of having it on the last day left in the year to propose. "Sounds good, thanks".

Thursday, my meeting day and our weekly date night. I scheduled back-to-backs from 8a until 4:30p. What a move lol. Lunch meeting, no word. So I called my mom and sister as I headed into the next meeting and asked if they could run backup and get the ring for me since I wouldn't have time before Rebekah met me to take a walk (they had already helped SOOOO much on this whole ring remake). They said yes, called the jeweler, "You two can pick it up at 3:45p," was what they got. Sheesh.

Now the long part of the story we don't have time for is how we get to when R shows up; because she originally was supposed to arrive at 6p, then 5:30p, then she texts me at 4:10p to say she'll be here at 4:30p. Yay for work ending early... normally, I would be thrilled and wrap up my work. But I still didn't have the ring yet, was in a meeting, and hadn't planned what I was going to say or how this was all going to work ... 4:20p, my mom and sister show up with the ring, and I end a team meeting early. I shut down my computer, closed out the year with my intern and discussed 2026 plans, then walked to the car to put my things away before she showed up. She was already here, just pulled in next to my car... "Wow, this just got real" was my only thought.

To shorten the rest of the story, we made it to a very very special spot to us, I dropped on a knee, asked if she'd marry me, and despite all the wisdom in the world, she somehow said yes to this crazy. And I couldn't be happier that she did!!

The rest of the year was incredible. I took a full week off, first time in 14 months, and enjoyed family time with my family and then her family after Christmas. As for work, we've made incredible strides with Dovito and have very specific prayers for Q1. CVLLC has taught us more than I ever expected, and I'm beyond blessed by the support and generosity of the investors I'm working with - it's been quite the ride and I'm so thankful. MPS has promising improvements for 2026 lined up, and if I can get either revenue up there or tasks with primary clients to level out at Dovito, that is going to be a fun project to focus on in Q2. As for The 1159, I still plan to keep writing these, and would love to update my website to have a bit more content/resources there. I'll still balance life lessons with work insights, new developments, and random stories, but for now, I'm working to simplify my life, prioritize only the things that benefit the fulfillment of our vision (queue a lot of unhappy people in 2026, haha), and create constant value in this world.

I can't wait to keep learning, applying, and sharing this year. Keep crushing it, friend! Talk soon!