Yesterday, I sent a really vulnerable email. Here's how the next 24 hours went. I'm sorry for sending 2 emails in 2 days, but I'm always deeply curious when someone else sends an email like the one I sent yesterday. Did they get what they asked for? Was it as embarrassing as they feared?Do they wish they hadn't sent it? So, here's a 24-hours-later update. First, the data: Open rate is 32.78%, a solid 10% lower than usual. 18 people (or .05% of my total list) unsubscribed. The click rate was...
15 days ago • 3 min read
Reader, This isn't the easiest email to send. Entrepreneurship has been especially challenging this year ... for me, and for so most of my clients and biz buddies. Business is slower, money is tighter, and the emotional weight of the world is heavier. I'm about to get really vulnerable. If that's not your thing, probably best to delete now. My coaching business has been scarily quiet in 2025. I haven’t signed a new 1:1 client this year, and I’m about $1,000 short on a tax bill I need to pay...
16 days ago • 2 min read
A degree in Gender & Race Studies. If I could afford to go back to school, I'd get an MA in Gender & Race Studies. Every year or two, I search degree programs online. "Someday" I tell myself. But why wait?! While I value the college experience, I also know that universities are (often unnecessary) gatekeepers. The internet has democratized knowledge, and I can create my own damn degree program. Enter: Assigned Reading, a new podcast featuring all the essays I'd want to read in a Gender & Race...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
How to give without getting pissed. I had a great call today with one of my favorite clients (you know who you are 😘). She shared that she's feeling overwhelmed by all the awesome and unpaid opportunities coming her way. It's tough to find people willing to pay for anything with a recession looming, but there's no shortage of folks asking for people to be on their podcasts, speak at their event, help them promote an offer, etc. I felt this conversation in my bones after having just talked on...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Becky Mollenkamp Want to fight against oppression? Sen. Cory Booker shows us how. As I write this, I've been watching C-SPAN coverage of Sen. Booker's "filibuster" (okay, not technically a filibuster, but it shares that spirit) for 6 hours straight. He's now in the 20th hour of a nearly non-stop speech on the Senate floor in protest of Trump's agenda. As I'm listening, I'm feeling something I've not felt much since Election Day — hope. Most especially at this incredibly powerful part of his...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Becky Mollenkamp I'm depressed. But this isn't about that, exactly. This is about the reality of trying to run a business right now, the power of vulnerability, and the importance of community. ... I'm overwhelmed by the state of the world. It's a struggle to accomplish more than just the essential personal and professional tasks. It's bizarre to see entrepreneurs "business-ing as usual" right now. I understand that we all have to compartmentalize sometimes, but c'mon, this is Code Red. I'm...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Becky Mollenkamp This one is for entrepreneurs (or wannabe biz owners)... Be wary of business coaches. Investing in coaching is scary AF, amiright? After my $3k Macbook, the second big purchase I made on my new biz a decade ago was dropping $6k on a business coach. She was a former lawyer who had built up a huge Facebook group (remember those? 🤣). She was pretty, seemed really smart and nice, and had many fans. I got swept up. When she offered a 6-month group coaching program, I felt major...
4 months ago • 4 min read
Becky Mollenkamp As Katy Perry said... "You're hot, then you're cold; you're yes, then you're no." That pretty much sums up how I've been feeling since the inauguration. One day, I feel motivated and engaged. The next, I want to hide in a hole. For a while, I fully believe that truth, justice, and humanity will prevail. Then, I can't find an ounce of faith in anything. I'm not a fan of roller coasters, and this one is especially vom. 🤢 But this is a normal reaction to a very abnormal...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Becky Mollenkamp I'm fucking exhausted. Executive orders are coming at us faster than Fast & Furious sequels, and (like the car movies), each is worse than the next. Revoking a 1965 mandate that government contractors give equal opportunity to people of color and women in employment practices. Ordering the government to recognize only "sex at birth" for gender identity, and banning trans Americans from serving in the military. Ramping up arrests of immigrants (and recording it), allowing them...
5 months ago • 4 min read