why BIG ideas begin in small rooms

There was a season of my life when every Monday night, I met in a room with artists, poets, rappers, and musicians in Los Angeles.

The gathering, called The Mic Sessions, was led by Leila Steinberg. Leila was Tupac Shakur’s first manager and mentor, which still feels wild to say. #CaliforniaLove

Each week, Leila would give us a word or theme. We would carry that prompt with us throughout the week, write whatever wanted to come through, and then return the following Monday to share our pieces out loud.

Sometimes I would be writing poems on napkins minutes before it was my turn to stand up.

I would read the words as they were, without polishing them into perfection. The room gave me permission to bring unfinished ideas before they were fully formed.

That kind of space changed me.

There was something sacred about being witnessed in the messy middle. I could feel my voice becoming stronger. And not because I had figured everything out, but because I had a place to practice sharing with others. I didn’t have to prove or perform.

One of the poems I wrote and shared at The Mic Sessions eventually became the opening of my keynote at World Domination Summit, where I spoke to 3,000 people.

Not everything meaningful scales

That poem did not begin on a big stage. It began in a small room with a circle of people who made it safe enough for me to express myself.

I thought about that experience recently when I read an article from the Global Leaders Institute called “Return of the Salon: How Small Gatherings Are Repowering Culture.”

The article described how, in early twentieth-century Paris, Gertrude Stein’s home became a meeting place for artists and intellectuals such as Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway. 

Before their work reached the public, these artists encountered one another in conversations that shaped their thinking.

The article shared, “Salons were not designed for scale. Their value came from proximity, trust, and dialogue.”

That sentence stayed with me because it names something I have felt for years.

So much of our culture is built around visibility. 

We’re encouraged to reach more people, grow bigger audiences, increase engagement, and turn our ideas into content as quickly as possible. 

Visibility has its place. I believe in sharing our work + letting our voices reach the people who need them. But visibility is not the same as intimacy.

The power of small rooms 

A large audience can amplify an idea, but a small room can help make it clear enough to be shared on bigger stages. When we have a trusted community, we can stay curious, experiment, and take creative risks.

The most important ideas in my life rarely came to me when I was sitting alone trying to make them perfect. They emerged through conversation, reflection, and listening. This is why I believe so deeply in gathering.

Not traditional networking, where people enter a room hoping to be seen by the right person.

We need intentional spaces where we feel safe enough to think out loud, share unfinished thoughts, ask better questions, and be inspired by the presence of others.

Our best ideas are waiting for the right room

This is what I see inside Sacred Business Circle. Women arrive carrying questions, decisions, ideas, and truths they have not had space to say out loud.

We can exhale when we realize we don’t have to hold all of it alone.

The same kind of transformation happens inside She Builds Collective, but in a deeper and more sustained way. The room is a trusted council for women who are building businesses, leading teams, carrying responsibility, and making brave decisions.

It amazes me that a poem written on a napkin can become the opening of a keynote. Or that a small room can become the place where your next million-dollar idea is born. And that a conversation can become a life-changing introduction or collaboration. 

If you’re craving a space to be witnessed, Sacred Business Circle is a beautiful place to begin.

And if you’re in a season of expansion in your business and want more strategic support, She Builds Collective may be the intimate, high-level community you’ve been looking for. 

Not everything we build begins in front of a huge crowd. They begin in a small room that feels safe enough for us to be in the messy middle.

Warm hugs,

P.S. If you’re feeling the nudge to go deeper, here are a few ways to get the support you need to expand to your next level… 

• You can join us at a 2-hour Sacred Business Circle here in the Bay Area (next one is happening this Friday, June 19th!),

• Apply for She Builds Collective if you’re craving a more intimate mastermind experience with in-person retreats,

• Work with me 1:1 for personalized support and strategy (I currently have one private coaching space open for July), or

• Start with my book, She Builds (it’s available in audio, too!)