Why I keep going when the startup journey gets hard.
The startup journey is grueling. There are days where you question everything. Am I on the right path? Is this vision too big? Is this actually going to work?
And then, you get an email that changes everything.
Today, my schedule unexpectedly opened up. A meeting at Biola University was rescheduled. I was sitting in my car, wondering what I would be doing with the rest of my day and feeling the weight of the week.
Then I checked my emails.
It was the Union Rescue Mission.
They had a scheduling mix-up and needed someone to lead music for chapel…
“If by some miracle you are still able to come, we would LOVE to have you.”
NO hesitation.
I was fully dressed, and my guitar happened to be in the trunk from weeks ago. I had the time. I had the instrument. I went.
As soon as I walked onto the property at Hope Gardens, I felt my shoulders drop.
It’s a special place.
Serene. Safe. Home.
It is a place of profound transformation where women are rebuilding their lives from homelessness and addiction.
I spent time talking with one of the amazing chaplains there. We talked about miracles, money, and testimony.
We talked about how fragile recovery can be. We talked about the fact that for many of these women, financial autonomy is the first thing to go when a new relationship enters the picture.
They lose their center. They lose their safety.
It hit me like a lightning bolt.
This is why we are building Pistachio Pay.
We aren’t building it for the wealthy who already have advisors.
We are building it for the women at Hope Gardens.
We are building a 24-hour financial companion, a wealth manager in your pocket, democratized for the people who need it most.
We are building a system that stands guard over their autonomy so they can focus on their transformation.
I watched these women today and I kept picturing butterflies. The struggle of the cocoon is necessary, but the flight is inevitable.
If you are a founder and you are tired today, go find your “Who.” Go look in the eyes of the people you are building for.
The doubt disappears. The mission remains.
Money should work with your brain.
Pistachio Pay is being built to reduce the mental load of money management for neurodivergent adults.