An Open Letter to 2025 (12-3-25)

The year is coming to an end, and I’ve been spending a bit of time by my Christmas tree reflecting. Here is my open letter to 2025.

Dear 2025,

Your friend 2024 was rough, and if I’m being honest, kind of beat the crap out of me. You on the other hand, were a bit of a rainbow unicorn dancing in the midst of a thunderstorm. Yes, things were sometimes as chaotic as heck, but you were beautiful with a touch of magic and everything I needed.

My theme for the year was “Rebuild”. As I shared in my first blog of the year, after getting beat down, I needed to make extensive repairs AND changes. I did just that. I had better work/life integration than I’ve had in years. I’m ending the year with a solid foundation that should serve me well in 2026.
I continue to be thankful for my health. While I have room to grow, I rebuilt some of my health habits, and I’m at least exercising more regularly than I have for the past few years. I’m looking forward to accelerating this next year.
It’s easy to forget that love is a verb. Words are nice, but without actions, they aren’t love. Words without actions are just empty gestures. Love is active. Love is listening, helping, taking accountability, being vulnerable, growing to be a better partner/person, and more.
Speaking of love, my wife is incredible. Every year I spend with her I am in deeper awe of her strength and how much she cares about me and our kids. I wish everyone had a partner in their life like her that made them better and made them want to be better.
My kids are 11 and 13 and continue to come into their own. I’m proud of them for their accomplishments, but I’m most proud of them for how they are growing into good people. People who care. People who are brave enough to own their mistakes and repair situations. If they grow up and all they are is good people that will be the best outcome that could ever occur.
I’ve spent the last year of work as a Mad Scientist/Willy Wonka hybrid character, and that’s been so enjoyable to see dreams come to fruition.
The chance to deliver magic at work increases when you have the right people in the right roles with the right leadership surrounded by the right team. It’s hard for those things to line up, and I’m thankful to have lived that this year.
Are the people at work just people you work with or are they teammates and partners? There’s a difference. Something incredible happens when you can get talented people to see a common vision and build toward that together.
Is it real pressure or is it self-pressure? Often, we do more damage to ourselves with our own made-up expectations than we do based on the real expectations.
Hard times suck AND they are often great teachers. They teach you who cares. They teach you what matters.
Plant things now. Maybe you’ve missed your moment like I have in the past. That’s okay. That moment is gone, so plant now for a better future.
2025, you’ve been good to me. Thank you!

The challenge: If you haven’t taken the time, take a few moments to reflect on 2025 and the lessons and emotions it gave you this year. How will these shape you moving forward?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lesson 5- The Importance of Reward and Recognition (11-26-25)

This is the last in the series of lessons that kept repeating for me throughout the year. Lesson 5 is that reward and recognition are more important now than ever before.

I’ve noticed a pattern over the past few months. When I’ve shown appreciation for people this year, their reaction has been stronger than in years past. Don’t get me wrong. People have always been thankful. They have always appreciated being seen and recognized for their work. It just seems like rather than words of recognition and appreciation being a small boost, they are now filling a deep hole. Have you noticed this?

Why is this happening? I’m not sure what it is. I don’t know if it’s because we are running faster and harder than ever before. I don’t know if it’s because life feels less stable than it ever has. Maybe it’s because collectively we’ve lost touches of our humanity as we have become connected with devices and less connected to each other. Maybe it’s because our unspoken question is, “Do I matter?” as we exist in large corporate machines. Whatever it is, I feel that there is less acknowledgement of others and their worth than there has been in years past. It’s a massive tangible difference that I can feel with individuals AND more broadly with groups. What do you think?

While I don’t have any idea what is causing this, it is making me more aware of how much power each of us has, and how easily we can use that power as a force for good. Taking a few moments to say a kind word. Spending a few minutes writing an email shouting out someone for their effort. These things don’t just create ripples; they create powerful waves now.

The challenge: We have more power to lift others up than we will ever realize. Will you use this power to recognize someone and fill them up today?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lesson 4- Standing Strong in the Emotional Fire (11-19-25)

Last week was about the invisible backpack. This week is lesson 4: the importance of standing strong in the emotional fire.

The other day one of my kids was having a really hard time emotionally. If my kid was a dragon, they were spitting fire everywhere. It would have been easy to tell them to just go to their room on their own to sort it out. It would have been easy to tell them to suck it up and stop making it such a big deal. It would have been easy to step away from the situation, so we wouldn’t get sucked into the energy. Instead, my wife and I sat there. As my kid unleashed fire like a dragon, we sat there. We let the fire go around us and we walked through it. We didn’t try to stop the fire. We sat there with them, and when they stopped breathing fire, we sat there and comforted them until they were whole again.

Let’s make some connections. Standing in the midst of the meltdown wasn’t comfortable. It wasn’t pretty. It was exhausting and difficult. It wasn’t where my wife and I wanted to be. It was where my wife and I needed to be. We needed to show them that their fire didn’t scare us. We needed to be there to show that our love is stronger than any feelings/meltdowns/fire they could throw at us. We needed to be there to show that we will always be a safe and firm foundation for them. It’s not like we did anything magic. We just stayed there, softly speaking words of encouragement, reminding them that they are loved and it’s okay to feel strong feelings. For our family, we will always choose to stand strong in the fire. (By the way, watching my wife sit in that fire was one of the most beautiful and strong things I’ve seen. I hope you’re all blessed to have someone like her.)

The challenge: In a world filled with humans who are often scared to allow their vulnerability to show, will you be strong enough to stand in the fire with them? Will you be strong enough for them to lean on?

Bonus- I also wrote a poem inspired by these events. You can check that out here https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew-embry-979831b7_love-emotions-dragons-activity-7396885754817384448-Lkfc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAABjcjy0BSioATZ2Tfprhg_c9r0itVMM87PQ

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Races and Different Ways of Recharging (10-21-25)

Blog coming to you today, because I’m out of office tomorrow. 😉 This week is about different ways of recharging.

This might not make any sense to anyone. My racing hobby is one of my favorite things to do to RECHARGE my batteries. Right now, at least one of you is thinking, “So, running/hiking for miles in the heat, crawling through rock and mud, climbing on stuff, carrying heavy things, and picking up all kinds of bumps and bruises is recharging for you. Is there something wrong with you?” It’s a fair question 😉 All of those things are true, AND it’s time outside, mainly on my own without any distractions. It’s a time to be with my thoughts. It’s also a time to discover and push past my limits which is invigorating. Because of those things and more, races might take a lot of physical energy, but they fill so many of my other energy buckets.

Let’s connect some dots. Whenever I find myself feeling stressed or tired from work, one of my first instincts is that I need to rest to recharge. Resting looks taking it easy all day, not doing anything, and maybe even fitting in a nap. Sometimes, this helps me feel a bit better. Sometimes, it doesn’t. It’s not that resting was bad. It just wasn’t what I needed at the time.

Over the past few years, I’ve learned that when I need to recharge, sometimes I need to rest and other times I need something different. Sometimes, recharging looks like reading or writing blogs and poems. Sometimes, recharging is playing with Legos. Sometimes, recharging looks like hanging out with my family. Sometimes, recharging is being by myself for a period of time. Sometimes recharging is a good workout or an obstacle course race. How do you recharge?

The challenge: How are you being intentional about recharging in these busy and stressful times?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Embracing the Grimy Path to Success (10-8-25)

This week we are going to kick off some reflections from my recent obstacle course race at Midwest OCR. Our first topic is embracing the grimy path to success.

Here is the picture of me after my most recent obstacle course race. I’m smiling, striking a pose, looking strong, and proudly wearing my medal. This picture makes it look like I smoothly and effortlessly navigated the race in a perfect fashion. None of that is true. My race was ugly. You don’t see how I failed quite a few obstacles. You don’t see me red faced and feeling like I was dying on some of those hills. You don’t see the time I tripped and slid down a hill into a knee-deep mud bog that swallowed my legs and almost took my shoes. You don’t see the bruises I picked up along the way. Now that you know those things, does this make me any less successful? For me, just because it might have been a little ugly doesn’t take away from the fact that I was ultimately successful.

Let’s make some connections. Have you ever looked at a successful person and said, “Whoa! They have it all figured out. They just make success look so smooth and effortless. They must be perfect”? I know I have. Then the next thing I did was start comparing myself to them, which led to self-doubt. I would feel like a failure if everything I did wasn’t effortless and smooth. As I’ve got older, I’ve realized that success doesn’t come from things being flawless. Success is the result of continuing to persevere, especially when things are grimy and ugly.

The challenge: Will you embrace that success doesn’t have to be pristine? Will you embrace that the path to success is often grimy and ugly?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Time, Perspective, and Type 2 Fun (9-22-25)

A bottle of white liquid pouring out of a dropper

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Happy Monday!

You’re getting a blog on Monday, because I’m going to do a few things for work this morning, and then I’m taking the rest of the week off. Last week was about making the most of a situation. This week is about time, perspective, and type 2 fun.

Recap: Diane and a 4-month-old Alice are living with my parents. It’s chaos. My wife is looking at potential houses to buy, which is totally stressing her out. My dad goes with my wife to check out houses to help out with Alice. Anyway, they go to a house and long story short, my dad knocks over the bottle of Alice’s milk and gets it all over the dining room table in the house. This takes an already stressful situation and makes it worse. They are frantically cleaning it up, and Diane is worried about potentially ruining someone’s table and is feeling more overwhelmed than ever. Ultimately, everything is okay. Fast forward a few hours, and the milk spilling incident has turned from super stressful to hilarious. They tell the story to my mom when she comes home, and everyone is laughing. Fast forward to today, and the milk spilling incident is one of our favorite stories to tell.

Let’s connect some dots. When you read the story above, I hope you smiled or chuckled a bit. It’s kind of funny. It’s also a situation we can all relate to. Maybe you didn’t spill milk, but we’ve all made a mess which turned a stressful situation into something even worse. However, with a little time and perspective, we can begin to see the humor in the moment. My family calls these kinds of things type 2 fun, a phrase we learned from a friend. Type 1 fun is when the situation is enjoyable and funny as it happens. Type 2 fun is when the situation is bad at the moment, but later on you see the joy and humor in it. As I get older, I’ve learned that most initially stressful situations in life end up as Type 2 fun.

The challenge: When you run into something tough/stressful/bad will you be able to create the distance and perspective to see the joy and humor?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Making the Most of a Situation (9-17-25)

Last week was about two people being in the same situation and seeing it differently. This week is about making the most of a situation.

Alice was a colicky baby and every night around 6 or 7, they’d spend an hour screaming their lungs out. My wife felt horrible about the inconvenience of having a screaming baby in my parents’ house. My wife also underestimated how weird my dad is. Alice was in the middle of screaming their head off. My dad could have been irritated, but instead he took this as a challenge. My dad decided that this would be a contest between him and Alice to see who was the loudest. He starts being loud too. At first Alice was stunned, and then they roared in defiance. However, my dad was not going to lose. He went all in, making weird faces, funny noises, and wildly gesturing. Alice goes from screaming to laughing and shrieking from pure delight. They keep going to see who can be the loudest and silliest. Soon, everyone in the house is giggling at the absurdity of it all. This became their nightly ritual for the entire time we lived with my parents, and now it’s one of our favorite memories.

Let’s connect some dots. Let’s be honest. If you’ve ever been in a room with a screaming baby, it’s not exactly fun. It would have been easy to be irritated and grumpy. It would have been easy to look at this like a moment to just suffer through. However, my dad decided to turn this into something else. He turned it into a game, which became enjoyable for everybody. Think about yourself for a minute. How often do you allow yourself to be totally stuck in a situation? How often do you allow yourself to become irritated and grumpy at something that isn’t going well? How often do you approach things with a negative mindset, when you have the power to make something different out of the moment?

The challenge: What will you make out of the moments you are given?

Bonus story- If you are thinking my dad has stopped playing weird games like that, you’re wrong. His new favorite game is to make cringeworthy dad jokes that make a teenage Alice roll their eyes. Yes, he is very successful at this. (I wonder where I get it from 😉)

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Same Situation, Different Experiences (9-10-25)

Last week I spent time with my wife, kids, and family up at a camper. We started reminiscing around a bonfire and shared the story of us moving back to Indiana, which inspired this series. This week is about how people can be in the same situation and have different experiences.

Let me set the scene. It’s a stressful whirlwind. Within a few months, we had our first kid, the first grandkid on my side, I got a new job that would move us from Wisconsin to Indiana, and we had to buy a house. To top it off, we had to do this while I worked in Wisconsin and Diane and a few months old Alice went to Indiana for a month to begin house hunting. They lived with my parents, my brother, 2 cats, and a dog. #stress While Diane and Alice are living with my parents, Alice is only a few months old and is being a typical colicky newborn with constant crying, loud screaming, and irregular sleep. #allthethings

When I spoke with Diane on the phone, she was worried that she and Alice were being an annoying burden for the family. From her point of view, all she could see was the screaming, crying, and the disruption in day-to-day schedules for everyone in the house. I told Diane, “I hear you. What you are saying is valid. Also, that is not at all how my parents are experiencing this right now. When I talk to them, they go on and on about how they are so excited and lucky because their first ever grandkid is LIVING WITH THEM. In their eyes, you and Alice can do no wrong. They are so pumped to be able to spend this time with you two and they love being able to snuggle and love on Alice all the time.”

Let’s connect some dots. Everything my wife experienced was true. Everything my parents experienced was true. The thing is that they were both approaching this from a different starting point. This is a classic instance of people being in the same situation and having different experiences. As we go throughout different experiences, it might be worth taking a moment to reflect on the situation, our starting point, and how that might cause us to interpret things one way or another.

The challenge: How will you be more mindful of how you are experiencing situations? Will you remember that people could be experiencing the same situation differently?

Bonus 1- Big thanks to Charlie Wilson and Bryan Lapel for offering me the job and enabling us to come home. I’m forever thankful.

Bonus 2 (cute story)- My family knew I was going for this job, and we also all thought I had a pretty slim chance to get it. Anyway, I had just got off the phone with Charlie where he offered me the role, and I was so excited! I immediately told Diane and was getting ready to tell my dad when he called me. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he just got new tires put on his vehicle, so he’s ready to drive up to Wisconsin a lot and in the winter to see the grandbaby. Nonchalantly I said, “That sounds cool. Wisconsin is a beautiful state. You can drive up here all you want, but I won’t be living here.” Immediately my dad is like, “WHAT!?!?” I told him I got the job and then he’s ecstatic and like, “You better not be messing with me man!” I assure him I’m not and that Diane and I are excited about moving closer to home. I ask my dad to have my mom call me, so I can tell her. Hours go by and I don’t hear from my mom, which I think is weird. Eventually, she calls me, and I share the news with her. She’s ecstatic. Then, she’s getting onto my dad for not having her call sooner, and the poor guy is like, “I kept nudging you to call Andrew, but you were busy and said you’d call when you had time!” lol

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Rabbit Holes and Perspective (8-7-25)

This is a bonus blog, because the universe said someone needs this today. If you’re the one, just know the universe heard you. This blog is about falling down rabbit holes, taking a step back, gaining perspective, and realizing you’re doing pretty well.

Let me start this by saying I’m not trying to fish for compliments or anything. I just want to be real about the head space I was in. I started my week with these thoughts going through my head, “I have a lot of stuff I need to get done. I’m feeling behind. Here is a whole list of things that aren’t quite going right that need to be fixed. This is not good.” I was in a bit of a rabbit hole. Have any of you been in that headspace? Not a fun place to be.

Then, something interesting happened. I was in a situation where someone was showering me with praise and recognition. They were publicly telling this story like, “Andrew is so awesome. He’s doing great work and it’s providing a lot of value.” All of that punched the negative mindset I had right in the face and shifted my perspective. I went from, “This is not good” to “In the grand scheme of things, stuff is going pretty well. I should feel really great about where I am and what I’m doing.” I also challenged myself to realize that in the grand scheme of things, all of those little things I was worried about don’t matter or detract from what I’m doing.

How does this connect to our day to day? It’s easy for one slip up, one imperfect thing to lead us down a rabbit hole to wallowing in a bad mindset. Once we are sliding down this rabbit hole, it’s easy to lose perspective on how things are truly going. Sometimes, we need to take a step back to look at the situation. Sometimes, we need an external force to help us see the truth of things too.

The challenge: Will you challenge a bad mindset when it starts to set in? Will you help others challenge their bad mindsets when they are stuck in a rabbit hole?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Patching Holes vs Installing a New System (7-23-25)

Last week was about our broken air conditioning and stepping away from the heat. This week is about deciding between patching holes vs installing a new system.

Our house had been hot for days by the time the air conditioning company could come take a look at it. When they showed up, we assumed that the problem would be fixed. However, it wasn’t that straight forward, because some parts were broken. Our unit was old, and we had a choice. We could pay a decent amount of money to replace the parts, knowing that it’s an old system that will likely go out again, and that the system is no longer efficient. Or, we could make a larger investment and replace the system with something that is more efficient and better. We chose to invest in the new system, because long-term it would be better.

Let’s make some connections. Have you ever seen this type of situation play out at work? Maybe, you worked with equipment or technology that was aging, and you had to choose from patching it up or replacing the system. Maybe, the way you did marketing no longer matched the environment, and you had to choose between continuing to do what you’ve done in the past or replacing the system with new processes and ways of working. In both of these situations it likely would be easier to just keep on the path you were on. It likely would be more comfortable. It would likely be less expensive in the moment. However, would it be the right thing to do? It all depends. As the world continues to evolve and as we grow, we will continually need to make a choice between patching up holes vs installing a new system.

The challenge: When will you patch things up so they can get by and when will you install a new system?

Bonus- This thinking can apply to our personal lives too. If you’re anything like me, you’ve had moments where you realized your ways of thinking and viewing the world no longer worked as well as they once did as the world changed and as you started to grow. You were then faced with a choice. You could keep force fitting those old ways of thinking or you could invest in upgrading your whole belief system. Evolving your belief system is hard work and requires a lot of time, but usually it’s more than worth it. I can tell you that I have more love, compassion, and patience now than I ever had before, but it took me some work to get there.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry