One Year In: What I Built, What I'm Becoming

2024 was the ignition.
The year I aligned everything I believed with everything I was ready to create, and began building it from the ground up.

I moved out of the house I had grown up in and stayed until age 36 in November 2024, not because I was stuck, but because I chose to invest meaningful time with my parents, especially as my mother’s Parkinson’s progressed. Some people mocked that decision. I cut ties with those ones. That time with my parents? Worth everything. And when the moment came to move forward and bring this vision to life, it was the right move at the right time. I had already seen the outcome before it happened.

In 2024, I launched Onward Upward Digital, never a "hobby", never a "side gig", but the exact business I had envisioned for over a decade. 2025 was the year it became real. Structured. Monetized. Scalable. It is growing faster than most expect, including what even I had initially expected.

Not everyone understood at first. Some questioned, some walked away, some interrupted, some verbally abused me for it. But the right ones stayed, or came back. And now they all see it.

I briefly pursued insurance licensing early on as well as a "backup" path and to sharpen how I frame value and build trust. That skill now drives every partnership and deal we close. I still hold the licenses and will be renewing because they still serve the bigger picture and are part of the "bigger" alignment to the long term outcome.

In early 2024 I was in a 2 month romantic relationship that felt like the next step on paper at the time, but emotionally, it was not right. It taught me what I had missed for 14 years. I do not regret it. I grew. I redefined the way I thought and led from it. I redefined the way I connect with others, and started learning to become more lucid in my communication with others. I learned to never compromise my core values ever again even if people gave me shit for it.

And now? There might be someone new. It is early, but the signs are there, and I trust what I feel so far. She seems to see me as I am, not just the business pace or the ambition, but the human behind it. What stands out most is how naturally she fits into the world I’ve built, without needing to change it or compete with it. She coexists in it with calm and grace. That alone says a lot. There was a moment, small, but telling, where I said something awkward, but she met it with presence instead of judgment. It felt easy, not exposed. Safe, not heavy. That is rare. And it reminded me that when something feels aligned, it does not need to be forced. It flows. Just real potential showing up, and for now, that is more than enough.

This week, a major business announcement (and possibly more than just one) are coming. The structure is real. The trust is earned. It reflects everything we built this year, tangibly and intentionally and is the start to Q4 and a prosperous second year.

We are still young as a business, but our speed? Well, behind the scenes, I worked through nights that most people spent scrolling for 12 months. People gave me shit, criticized me, emotinally toyed with me, but, I did not give a fuck and still pushed forward even when distractions tried to derail my momentum. I tuned out the noise, and kept going. We won every single time too. We never grow tired of winning and never will get tired of it.

One year ago, I moved to West Chester.
Not for a reset. For a rise.

This town became the proving ground.
I entered rooms unnoticed. I left those rooms with people asking what I built. Now, they know.

Even the doubters have now seen the truth. The business is real. The results are visible.

The borough is not just where I live.
It is where I built something that holds weight.

Today is the West Chester Restaurant Festival.
Last year, I was just another face in the restaurant crowd trying to learn who people were as I was getting ready to move back home and was starting a 6 week Yoga fundamentals training which resulted in my true north alignment mentality.
This year, I am part of what shaped the crowd. See me out there today, I will be at the obvious spot to start off the day though and watch the Eagles. Oh and could we see a Phillies World Series win? My god I would love that and so would the whole town of West Chester.

View all Onward Upward updates here: https://www.onwardupwarddigital.com

One year in. The ignition is complete.
Now watch what year two becomes.

#OnwardUpward #TrueNorthEnergy #YearOneAnniversary #WestChesterMomentum #BuiltNotBorrowed #BusinessWins #MomentumInMotion #SilverLiningStrategy #WeMove #EpicRise