The call that changed everything

I was standing in my driveway, still feeling the weight of being laid off, when my phone rang.

It was the former CEO of the company that had just let me go.

He had sold the business, exited with the kind of success people dream about — but now he was figuring out what came next.

And I was one of the first people he called.

He wanted to take the business consulting model he had perfected inside audiology and bring it to other industries.

He needed someone who could help him build it, shape it, explain it.

We needed to create a course — a way to teach the core principles clearly and help others not just understand them, but apply them.

That call didn’t just offer me a project.

It offered me permission — the realization that maybe I didn’t need a traditional job again.

It was the first real step into freelance life.

It was the first real project under the name Daring Creative.

I had used that name before for a few odd projects — but after that call, it wasn’t just a placeholder anymore.

It was the beginning of my own story.

Sometimes all it takes is one call to remind you:

you’re already closer than you think.