The idea comes to me in the middle of grading.
Not dramatic.
Not earth-shattering.
Just a thought that lands softly and refuses to leave.
I don’t want to expand.
I don’t want to grow the foundations bigger.
I don’t want to open five more centers next year.
I don’t want to take on another national initiative.
I want to protect what we’ve built.
That realization feels… rebellious.
Growth has been our default setting.
Survival turned into expansion.
Pain turned into purpose.
Scandal turned into scale.
But what if scale isn’t the goal anymore?
What if enough is enough?
I don’t tell Marcus immediately.
I sit with it for three days.
I watch him in the kitchen.
On calls.
In the studio listening to Zara vent about a critique.
In bed, actually sleeping instead of calculating.
