Margo Aaron Takeover Time

LOOK WHO'S IN CHARGE NOW

Hi! I'm Margo Aaron, Sarah K Peck’s self-appointed FAVORITE friend, and I’m in charge of the April content takeover while Sarah is in bed recovering from spine surgery.

My goal for the next few weeks is to see how many things I can get away with that will frustrate Sarah K Peck while she's out on medical leave. (KIDDING. I'm kidding.)

This is the most flattering photo of me and Sarah. It’s from 700 years ago. Keep scrolling for new ones.

To those of you I know from Wise Women's Council, hello again 👋🏻! To those I don't, it is a pleasure to virtually meet you. You can digitally stalk me here, but the TL/DR is:

We can’t and shouldn’t do this work alone. Over the next few months, we’re showing up for Sarah K Peck, taking over her Substack so she can rest. I invite you to join us.

OKAY, NOW THAT I HAVE THE KEYS TO HER BUSINESS (EVIL LAUGH), LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF.

I run a company full of people like you called Brainstorm Road. We provide creative community for everyday people with Dream Projects.

We're people with kids, jobs, aging parents, and obligations; and we desperately want to live in a cabin in the woods to make art, but it’s not realistic right now, SO. We find ways to create inside of our current lives. Even if it's for 10 minutes. And we're on the toilet. Because who said you can't write poetry from the toilet? If you can send emails and buy jeggings from the john, you can write a Haiku.

Because who said you 
can't write poetry from here
I'm on the toilet

I believe that dream projects matter and that we need creative community to support all of us. Art isn’t a silly side project. That’s why we built Brainstorm Road.

I run my company with a phenomenally brilliant cofounder, Kristin Hatcher, who would like to distance herself from me publicly as much as possible because she is classy and smart, but she, like Sarah, doesn't get to edit this so, muahahahahaha.

Kristin is the esteemed creator of Writing In Community, the Akimbo workshop (Seth Godin’s former company) that led to dozens and dozens of published books and hundreds of humans reclaiming the title "writer." She's a powerhouse, pug mom, and human mom to arguably the cutest baby ever, second to mine and probably yours.

Creating this company happened at the *perfect* time for both of us. Within a few weeks of successfully MVPing Brainstorm Road, I suddenly became a single mom and Kristin went into labor.

I moved to Texas with my daughter to be closer to family. Kristin had multiple family members in and out of hospitals. So, it has been a VERY smooth ride for both us and we're excited to tell you about it in our upcoming exclusive interview for Fortune Magazine. JK JK, Fortune doesn’t know who we are (YET). However:

We are open about the insanity of trying to build and create while life hurricanes around us, and we welcome conversations about how the heck we're pulling this off (answer: slowly).

We embrace imperfection and celerbate joy. We remind each other to show up in chaos. We’ve learned how to be simultaneously relentless and gentle. Because the bravery of Dream Projects is beyond showing up for work: it’s showing up for yourself.

Together.

Personal projects are regarded as solo endeavors, but they cannot be and should not be. We cannot give encouragement and kindness to ourselves alone. We do not and should not live in a silo. We don’t (shouldn’t) live, work, or create alone.

SARAH IF YOU ARE READING THIS I'M SORRY AND I LOVE YOU. GO REST AND HYDRATE PLEASE AND THANK YOU BYE. THIS IS YOUR COMMUNITY SHOWING UP FOR YOU RIGHT NOW.

(I'm an all-caps offender, in recovery. We are all works in progress. Please don’t judge me.)

Okay, quick interlude. Sarah here: I just want to say that Margo Aaron is brilliant, kind, and really really smart. I'm sneaking in to read this because she said it was ready to go. Her community is so lovely. If you have a project — any project, like you want to learn to watercolor, or start a garden, or you're working on The Artist's Way, or you're going through family mementos — and you've been trying to go it alone but you can't seem to make progress, then perhaps the thing you need is kindness and encouragement from other people. Okay, back to Margo.

SARAH GET BACK IN BED.

FINE MARGO.

YOU PUT ME IN CHARGE HERE.

This is the most recent photo of Sarah and me. Sarah is in it somewhere behind Cookie, her dog that’s attacking me. Photo credit: children.

SO, WHILE I’M IN CHARGE HERE…

You are going to get the pleasure of reading about the unnatural state of American motherhood, the absolute beast that is domestic labor, and why the notion that women who are at home with kids “don’t work,” is absolute malarkey, and the cultural gaslighting we get with every season when people tell you “Sometimes you just have to do things because it’s the way it’s always been done.” absolutely not and here’s why.

Lastly: Please introduce yourself below if we haven't met.

And if we have, HI I MISS YOU MICHELLE AND JESS AND JUSTINE AND SARA AND SEAN AND ALL OF Y’ALL, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE <3.

If you're not in WWC and considering it — I strongly recommend joining. My profession is building community and I can tell you - you will not find people like the kind of people Sarah K Peck can put together. That is a fact.

AND. If you wanna chat about working on your Dream Project, side project, or passion project, head to Brainstorm Road, you’re welcome to join us. I’ll happily poach new members from SKP. [JUST KIDDING. WE DON’T BELIEVE IN ZERO SUM. SARAH KNOWS HOW MUCH WE NEED MORE COMMUNITY FOR EVERYONE.]

TL/DR:

• Margo Aaron is in charge of April content

• Introduce yourself below in the comments so I can meet you.

• Tell me about the Dream Project that you’re working on, stalled on, or avoiding

• Check out Brainstorm Road and follow us on Substack

More soon,

xo Margo Aaron

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LEARN MORE ABOUT BRAINSTORM ROAD

Brainstorm Road is a creative community for everyday people with dream projects. If you have day jobs, kids, adult responsibilities, and all the things life throws at you — but you also have dreams, Brainstorm Road is where you carve out a little space to work on them.

Our flagship program is a 6-month membership where you’ll join a community of people taking weekly action on their Dream Projects. It includes group coaching, a daily scratchpad, weekly ship and shares, monthly huddles, and more.

Founding members can join for just $299 (a one-time payment). No subscriptions. The next cohort kicks off on April 8th. Click here to join.

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READ MORE FROM MARGO AARON

Why we say Dream "Projects"

Relentless and Gentle

Really Good Tuesdays

HERE’S ME AND SARAH. She couldn’t do anything but lie down in bed so I WENT TO HER HOUSE AND JOINED HER. Because sometimes you have to join your friend in the pit. Especially when they have back surgery.

Alright, go leave a comment on the post and introduce yourself. DO IT. DO IT NOW. I DARE YOU NOT TO. PEOPLE HERE ARE THE BEST.