I am testing the waters as I step onto a new path — towards clarity and conviction.
A reflection after my EMBA class reunion — learning what real validation feels like.
Before the reunion, I spent quite some time (less than I would have liked) preparing the brand narrative for nonplusultra.
I wanted to test myself — to see if I could transmit, with clarity and conviction, what it is I’m building.
Could I speak about it in a room full of strategists, consultants, and executives — people who think in models, frameworks, and forecasts — and still make it felt?
Could I reach even those who meet my words with skepticism?
A decade ago, we were all chasing the same thing: credentials, careers, titles, scalable ideas, visible success.
Back then, I tried hard to fit that mold.
I learned the language of ROI, scalability, exit strategies, and shareholder value.
I could play the game — I just never enjoyed it.
Now, I speak another language entirely.
When people asked what I’m doing these days, I told them about nonplusultra — about presence, integrity, resonance, and truth.
About creating something that isn’t just profitable but meaningful.
And I’m now learning to hold value in a language that system doesn’t speak.
Not all, but some went quiet — especially amongst the men.
I could almost see the flicker of unease, as if I’d stepped off a map they knew by heart.
“What’s the scalability?”
“You can’t grow without TikTok.”
“Don’t quit freelancing — you need stable income.”
What they really meant was: we can’t quantify that.
When you’ve spent years proving yourself through performance and profit,
a vision rooted in joy, authenticity, and emotional truth sounds naïve.
Unmeasurable. Unbankable.
And that’s precisely why I’m doing it.
Their silence wasn’t judgement; it was dissonance.
They couldn’t place what I was describing inside their old frameworks.
But something in them recognized it — the way a body remembers a language it hasn’t spoken in years.
The Old Scale
My discomfort in those conversations wasn’t failure; it was friction between two value systems.
Theirs runs on proof and ROI.
Mine runs on purpose and coherence.
I’m no longer seeking external validation, yet I still feel its echo.
I still want to explain myself, to show the plan, the timeline, the metrics.
But the truth is, proof was already in the room.
A few faces — mostly women — lit up.
“Don’t doubt yourself.”
“Your words have so much clarity.”
“I love seeing how you’ve grown.”
It wasn’t validation I needed; it was confirmation.
It wasn’t in the words of encouragement — though those meant a lot.
It was in the pauses, the polite smiles, the guarded nods.
It was in the numbness with which nonplusultra was received.
Because in that numbness, I saw exhaustion.
I saw the cost of constant optimization.
And I recognized the longing for a different kind of success — one measured not in numbers, but in energy radiated, peace restored, joy reclaimed.
The Real ROI
No one goes to a reunion and wants to admit defeat.
Especially not in a room of overachievers — people who carved out the time, money, and willpower to complete an Executive MBA, people accustomed to excellence, efficiency, and control.
The pressure to justify that privilege with tenfold ROI is immense.
Many of us have been tested in the years since.
Brought to our knees, rebuilding still.
And yet, here we were — smiling, reminiscing, comparing milestones.
But beneath the polished conversations, I could sense it: the fatigue, the quiet ache, the weight of always having to deliver.
That’s who nonplusultra is being built for.
Not against them, but for them — for all of us who learned to speak numbers fluently but forgot the language of soul.
Redefining the Measure
This experience wasn’t just feedback. It was proof of concept.
Because if my words can stir confusion and curiosity in equal measure —
if they can make even one “numbers guy” pause — then the need for nonplusultra is clear.
The skepticism is the best kind of validation.
It means what I’m creating touches something beyond logic.
Something they can feel but can’t yet explain.
As I write this, I realize: I don’t need to convince anyone anymore.
Balance isn’t found in the old courtroom.
I’ve changed the laws by which I measure success.
nonplusultra doesn’t need to be scalable — it needs to be soulable.
And maybe that’s what the world is quietly waiting for.
Proof of concept achieved.
This is just the beginning — of learning to build differently, write differently, live differently.
If something in this resonates, stay close.
There’s more to come — slowly, intentionally, as nonplusultra takes shape.
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