TL;DR
- Retirement became reinvention: Instead of slowing down, diving into Spin Sucks, applying the PESO Model, and the Visibility Engineer’s Manifesto to build systems that are both practical and joyful.
- Systems = freedom and trust: From wrangling triplets with cart rules and “hands on tummies” to mapping out kitchen moves in Excel, a lifelong instinct for clarity mirrors the Manifesto’s call to measure results, not activity.
- PESO as an operating system: Just as calendars keep a student-athlete sane or a minivan becomes a rolling operations center, PESO isn’t a checklist; it’s integrated scaffolding that compounds visibility and credibility across channels.
- Learning barriers and scaffolding: Crocheting disasters and wine classes taught that systems aren’t shortcuts; they’re frameworks that move us from chaos to competence. PESO campaigns work the same way: strategy, execution, and trust matter.
- Operationalizing trust: Toddler tether systems (cart handles, stall shoes, tummy hugs) echo the Manifesto’s principle that trust is built when systems protect people and make outcomes visible.
- Tools evolve, principles endure: From Grandma’s handwritten recipes to AI dashboards, tools change, but the goal remains the same: clarity, care, and connection. Evaluating platforms like Zendesk isn’t about features, but about shaping culture and trust.
- Preparing for growth: Spin Sucks is scaling, and the challenge is to keep systems that unite teams around outcomes, nurture belonging, and evolve faster than algorithms.
Retirement, Reinvention, and the Joy of Process
Reflecting on 2025 feels like curling up under a cozy blanket at the end of a long day.
So many new things happened, each one a chapter in its own magical story.
After 25 years in corporate learning, I retired. Cue the confetti cannons, right?
I imagined quiet mornings, finally learning to crochet, fewer spreadsheets, and maybe even a little travel that didn’t involve conference rooms.
But here’s the twist: retirement didn’t mean stopping. It meant reinvention.
Within months, I found myself at Spin Sucks, diving headfirst into the PESO Model and the Visibility Engineer’s Manifesto.
Trading retirement’s quiet for a vibrant adventure of building systems, shaping culture, and proving that process can be…well, fun and valuable.
Not a corporate nightmare.
And somewhere along the way, I also became a Nonna.
A role that, let’s be honest, beats every professional milestone.
Still, reimagining retirement through Spin Sucks has been one of the most energizing chapters of my life.
Turns out that my so-called retirement looks a lot like systems, SOPs, dashboards, and the occasional PESO brainstorm.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Miss Tidy Meets the Visibility Engineer
From the time I was little, my mom called me “Miss Tidy.” A term of endearment, I’m sure…☺
Growing up in a house full of tchotchkes. Every surface covered.
So many tchotchkes.
My favorite, the saved plastic butter containers, which were given a second life as my cereal bowls. (The bigger the better – morning sugary cereal wins!)
As a working mother, she focused her “downtime” on enjoying life.
Time with friends. Reading the latest bestseller.
Listening to Helen Reddy belt out I Am Woman Hear Me Roar on the worn 33, while she and her friends sang along.
Amidst the fun, I realized life was easier when it was predictable.
My instinct was always to put things in their place.
For me, tidiness wasn’t about control; it was about clarity.
A tidy home felt calmer, safer, easier to navigate.
That instinct carried into adulthood.
Whether managing toddling triplets while shopping. (“Little Ladies, one hand always on the stroller, please, and thank you very much”)
You try to wrangle three two-year-olds in a mall. Good Luck!
I’ve always believed systems create freedom.
The Visibility Engineer’s Manifesto captures this perfectly: stop measuring activity, start measuring results.
Putting things in their place isn’t about neatness; it’s about making outcomes visible.
Whether it’s a childhood bedroom, a PESO campaign, or a corporate dashboard, clarity is the foundation of trust.
Calendars, Minivans, and the PESO Operating System
As a student-athlete, my calendar was my lifeline. Practices, games, schoolwork, jobs, social life, it all had to fit.
Later, as a mom of three girls in multiple sports and activities, my minivan became a rolling operations center.
Hidden snack compartments, DVD screens, extra jerseys, shoes, knee pads, balls, cases of sports drinks, and a first aid kit that could rival a small clinic.
My systems weren’t just about survival; they were about helping everyone thrive.
And to be honest, me not losing my mind…
That’s exactly how I see the PESO Model now. Not as a checklist of tactics, but as an operating system.
Paid, earned, shared, and owned channels aren’t silos; they’re code that runs together.
Adult learning theory refers to this as the “integration of experience.”
I called it the “keep-mom-sane” operating system.
We all learn best when we connect new knowledge to what we already know, feel, and believe.
For me, PESO clicked because it felt like those calendars of my youth, scaled up for communications and business growth.
Crocheting, Wine, and the Frustration Barrier
When I first tried crocheting, I thought it would be easy. A hook, some yarn, a cute basket.
How hard could it be? Spoiler: very hard.
My stitches were uneven, my blanket looked like a chaotic disaster, and I quickly discovered the frustration barrier of adult learning.
That same barrier shows up in PESO learning.
At first, it looks simple: Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned. Easy, right?
But then reality hits. Strategy matters. Execution matters. Trust Matters.
Suddenly, you’re unraveling stitches, or campaigns, and starting over.
Wine taught me the same lesson. For years, I thought wine came in two categories: red and white.
Then I took a class and discovered terroir, varietals, and the difference between Old World and New World wines.
Suddenly, I wasn’t just choosing bottles based on cute labels (though I still stand by some of those choices). I was learning to taste, to compare, to adapt.
Crocheting, wine, PESO, they all remind me that systems aren’t shortcuts.
They’re scaffolding.
They help us move from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence, from chaos to clarity. Systems build trust.
Moving Homes and Building Ecosystems
Every move was another chance to flex my process muscles.
Purge before packing, plan before unpacking…..
I’ve always believed you should purge before you move. Why carry boxes of things you don’t need?
When I moved into my current home, I even created an Excel, mapping out where everything would go in my new kitchen. True story!!!
Three years later, virtually nothing has needed to be relocated.
That principle ties directly to the Manifesto’s call to build ecosystems, not one-offs.
A campaign, or a home, should echo, compound, and stack credibility across every channel.
When you unpack once and put things in places that make sense, you create efficiencies that compound over time.
It’s the same with PESO ecosystems.
Simplify, build everyday efficiencies, and visibility compounds across audiences.
Triplets and Operationalizing Trust (Now with Extra Cheerios)
Raising triplets was the ultimate stress test for any self-proclaimed “process engineer.”
Forget corporate dashboards, try managing three toddlers in a grocery store when the candy aisle is at their exact eye level.
That’s not a communications challenge; that’s a hostage negotiation.
Every solo outing required a system.
Bathroom breaks in public?
I invented the “foot under the stall door” game.
Each girl had to stick a shoe under the door, so I knew they were still there. (Bonus points if someone could touch my foot with their little pink boot.)
It was like toddler Twister, lots of giggling and at times, a bit of bribery.
Shopping carts?
My rule was simple: one hand on the cart at all times.
They could wander, dance, or attempt Olympic-level cartwheel routines, but that hand stayed glued to the cart.
It was my version of a tether system. Low tech, high impact. Trust. Peace of Mind.
To this day, my grown daughters still instinctively grab the cart when they shop, which their husbands find hilarious (and, if I’m honest, slightly concerning).
Escalators? “Hands on tummies.” Why? Because toddlers plus moving rails equals disaster.
So I taught them to hug their tummies instead.
It looked ridiculous, three tiny humans waddling like baby ducks in a line, but it kept them upright and safe.
And honestly, it was adorable enough that strangers smiled instead of judging.
Leaving the house? That was a military operation.
Diaper bags packed like survival kits, snacks portioned with the precision of a NASA launch, and bottles lined up like soldiers.
Feeding three babies solo meant synchronized bottle rotations: left, right, center, repeat.
If you’ve ever tried to burp three infants in sequence, you know it’s less “gentle patting” and more like a college drum line.
These systems weren’t about rigidity; they were about freedom, peace, and, well, safety.
When chaos is inevitable, process is the only thing that keeps you sane.
And here’s the kicker: those toddler systems map perfectly to the Visibility Engineer’s principle of operationalizing trust.
The Manifesto says we track reputation lift, correlate sentiment with conversion, and audit mentions in AI answers.
I say we track bathroom breaks, cart handles, and tummy hugs.
Different contexts, same principle: trust is built when systems protect people and make them feel safe.
Even if those people are three toddlers trying to escape in the candy aisle.
Kitchen Catastrophes and Professional Systems
Cooking has been another arena where process mattered.
From my grandma’s “pinch of this” recipes to my own survival-mode parenting years (hello, crockpot), the kitchen taught me that systems evolve.
Sometimes they fail spectacularly, like the infamous sugar-free pumpkin pie, but even failures teach us something.
Professional systems work the same way.
From the start of my career, I developed processes that endured the test of time.
They evolved with technology, but the principles remained: make work effective, save time, generate better outcomes, and make it natural for people to use.
It’s the same for the PESO Model and the Visibility Engineer.
Evolving with technology, making invisible work visible so others can step in, understand, and thrive.
Tools, Tech, and Evolving Faster Than Algorithms
Tools matter, but only when they align with culture.
A dashboard isn’t just a chart; it’s a window into the work that keeps a team thriving.
The Manifesto reminds us to evolve faster than algorithms.
As the COO, that means evaluating tools like Zendesk, ClickUp, Kajabi, and beyond, not just for features, but for how they shape processes and build trust.
Tools aren’t shortcuts; they’re scaffolding for the long game.
Cooking taught me the same lesson.
My grandma’s handwritten recipes gave way to TikTok chefs and AI-generated shopping lists.
The tools changed, but the goal remained: create meals that bring people together.
A New Chapter in Process Magic
Retirement brought me to Spin Sucks, where PESO and the Visibility Engineer’s Manifesto reframed everything I LOVE about process:
- Stop measuring activity, measure results.
- Recruiting isn’t about résumés, it’s about hires that thrive.
- Treat PESO as an operating system.
- Onboarding isn’t a checklist; it’s cultural integration. Cue an internal website instead of endless searching in Google Drive.
- Build ecosystems, not one-offs.
- Annual reviews echo across belonging, growth, and retention.
These principles now guide every system I’ve built at Spin Sucks.
Preparing for Growth in 2026
The past nine months at Spin Sucks have been busy, rewarding, and foundational.
But they’re just the beginning.
Spin Sucks is poised for even more growth, and the challenge now is to keep building systems that not only manage risk but also nurture connection.
The Manifesto says we unite teams around outcomes, not org charts.
That’s exactly what I’m working toward: systems that scale with growth while keeping clarity and belonging at the center.
Checklists at Sunset
So here I am, retired but not really.
My days are filled with spreadsheets, SOPs, and PESO brainstorms.
And here’s the truth: systems aren’t bureaucracy, they’re scaffolding.
They hold us up, give us clarity, and create space for growth, belonging, and visibility.
From Miss Tidy to triplets to Spin Sucks, my love of process has always been about one thing: creating clarity and care for the people around me.
With the PESO Model and the Visibility Engineer’s Manifesto as my compass, that journey isn’t just personal, it’s organizational.
And like any good story, it ends with a promise: clarity, care, and connection will carry Spin Sucks, and all of us into the future.
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