One Year In: Work Life Alignment
A little over a year ago, I filed some paperwork and built a website. That was the formal beginning of RK Digital. It happened in the quiet way things tend to become real. Paperwork filed. Website built. A few client conversations that felt more like turning a page than starting something brand new. After taking some time to reflect on what I wanted this next chapter of work to look like, it became clear that I wasn’t trying to reinvent everything. I was keeping the parts that mattered, letting go of what didn’t, and building something new around two simple priorities: family comes first, and I work with people I genuinely enjoy and respect.
If Quinn calls down from the basement and wants me to watch her try something new on the beam, I stop working and go downstairs. I’ve stood there more than once pretending I fully understand what just happened, but she doesn’t need analysis. She just needs me watching.
If Chase wants to play a round of Scrabble or Chess, I walk away from my desk. There was a time earlier in my career when I might have said, “Give me a few minutes.” Now I try not to.
If Karen wants to go for a walk, I go. If she wants to sit on the porch with coffee and talk about nothing in particular, I go there too.
The work can wait.
The interesting thing is, putting family first hasn’t slowed the business down. If anything, it’s clarified it.
Growth over this past year has been steady. Not explosive. Not chaotic. Just steady.
Some of the clients I work with today I’ve known for 20 or 25 years. We’ve grown up in business together in some ways. There’s comfort in that. Conversations that can skip the small talk and get right to what matters. In some cases, we can almost read each other’s minds, finishing sentences or knowing where the other one is headed before it’s fully said.
New accounts have come through referrals. A lunch here. A Zoom call there. A meeting over tater tots. I’ve always believed that the right work tends to show up through relationships.
The filter has stayed simple. I have to enjoy the people I work with. If the relationship feels forced, it’s not a fit. If the energy feels off, it’s not a fit. At this stage, the people matter just as much as the project.
Earlier this year I went back to Las Vegas for the first time in a long time for a Maaco conference. There were presentations, performance metrics, strategy sessions, more information than you could reasonably absorb in two days.
But what I remember most isn’t the slides.
It’s dinner with clients. Long conversations that wandered from business to family to what’s next. A slow breakfast at the Wicked Spoon, plates a little too full, coffee refilled more than once, talking through ideas without watching the clock.
That’s the part I enjoy most.
Not just the dashboards.
Not just the campaigns.
The people.
A year in, this chapter feels right.
The work is growing.
The relationships are strong.
And when someone I love calls my name from the other room, I still get to say yes.
That feels like success to me.
