Helping founders and executive teams grow profit and people-focused impact with joy and ease at the center of the strategy. Renia (pronounced REE-nah) Carsillo is the founder of Realign Consulting. She believes her superpowers are pattern recognition and activating change. Since 2008, Renia and her team have helped more than 100 small and mid-sized companies build values-driven, people-first operating models, guided by two proprietary frameworks: Do Better Business™ and Values-Driven Marketing. Renia has worked side by side with impact-driven companies, multinational franchises, and B2B brands in some of the most traditional industries, from industrial manufacturing to government contracting. Her work sits at the intersection of people, systems, and habits. For a business to grow sustainably, these three must constantly realign, because alignment is an ongoing practice.
How to Finish a Hard Year Without Burning Out [Two on Tuesdays]
|
Happy Tuesday, Reader! Q4 has a way of sneaking up on us, and this year it’s bringing more than the usual year-end rush. Between economic instability hitting our businesses and a tense election season affecting our communities (and maybe even the safety of people we love), many of us are arriving at fall's traditional "completion season" already exhausted. The cooler air carries that familiar energy to finish what we've started. But if you're feeling like you don't have it in you to push through one more thing right now, you're not alone. Sustainable Finishing Means Choosing What Actually MattersHere's what I'm not going to tell you: Get your shit together and power through. Hustle harder. Finish strong. That advice assumes we all started this year on equal footing and that willpower is the only thing standing between us and completion. But 2026 hasn't worked that way for most of us. Sustainable finishing (the kind that doesn't leave you burnt out and resentful come January) starts with acknowledging the weight we're carrying. Then it asks a different question: What actually matters most to complete before the end of the year? Not everything on your list. Not every goal you set back in January when the world looked different. Just what matters most to your people: your employees, your clients, your community, and yourself. For some of you, that might be finally implementing that operational system that gives your team breathing room. For others, it might be as simple as closing out client projects so you can actually take time off in December without your phone buzzing. The businesses that finish this year well won't be the ones that completed everything. They'll be the ones that completed what mattered and let the rest go. Your Assignment for This WeekSet a timer for 5 minutes and answer this question: What is the ONE thing I need to complete before year's end to feel grounded heading into 2027? Notice I said one thing, not a list. One thing that, if completed, would let you exhale. Once you have that answer, consider what it would take (realistically, given everything you're managing) to get it done. Next week, we’ll talk about how to get ready to plan the year ahead. For now, just identify what matters most. With you in this, Renia C. P.S. - I mean it: Reply to this email and tell me what you're working to complete. Sometimes speaking a goal into the world by sharing it with another human is the first step toward actually finishing it. |
Renia Carsillo
Helping founders and executive teams grow profit and people-focused impact with joy and ease at the center of the strategy. Renia (pronounced REE-nah) Carsillo is the founder of Realign Consulting. She believes her superpowers are pattern recognition and activating change. Since 2008, Renia and her team have helped more than 100 small and mid-sized companies build values-driven, people-first operating models, guided by two proprietary frameworks: Do Better Business™ and Values-Driven Marketing. Renia has worked side by side with impact-driven companies, multinational franchises, and B2B brands in some of the most traditional industries, from industrial manufacturing to government contracting. Her work sits at the intersection of people, systems, and habits. For a business to grow sustainably, these three must constantly realign, because alignment is an ongoing practice.
E67: 3 Founders, 3 Paths to Building a Business That Lasts Three women founders, three very different starts. I sat down with Lisa Council of Mrs. Grout, Stephanie Veraghen of Show Up Awesome, and Stephanie Melvin of Sol to trade the real stories: a layoff two weeks before Christmas, five-year plans for 10 industries, and a corporate exit over integrity. Then we get into funding, how long it took each of us to reach $250k, why we were slow to pay ourselves, and selling from genuine care. Scan...
E66: Values-Driven Marketing in Action with Mrs Grout Founder & CEO Lisa Council Lisa Council, founder of Mrs. Grout, is my longest-term client. We’ve been working together for more than a decade, and in this conversation we talk about how that trust was built, what we’ve learned from each other, and why her new website converts at 20%. Lisa walks through the review program her team runs, the low-cost touches that make customers feel appreciated, and her advice for women building businesses...
Happy Tuesday, Reader! I am writing you from the past. I pen every Two on Tuesdays email you receive from my heart, several weeks in advance of when you receive it. Which means I don't know exactly where things stand as you read this. But, writing from late September, the state of our world feels particularly perilous. So this week, I won’t be sharing any tips or strategies for building your business. Instead, I want to call each of you in. I am here today to ask you to do two very important...