Welcome–When Everything You Built Starts to Crumble
Why I walked away from everything to build the next interface for emotional intelligence and the truth no one tells you about starting over.
This is where I come to say the quiet truths. The ones I've outgrown the urge to filter. The ones that live in your body before they live on the page.
I'm writing to you from the in-between standing at the threshold of everything I've been and everything I'm becoming. Not from the "after" where it's all figured out, but from the messy, sacred middle.
I'm in between countries. In between identities. In between the life I built and the one calling me forward.
My home is a mess with piles of items to donate. I'm selling my house, my car, everything I thought defined me. I've wrapped my identity around being a designer and marketer for years. I built a business that supported me. I was good at it, really good at it. But there was always something deeper calling.
You know that feeling when you've outgrown a space but haven't fully moved into the next one? That's where I'm living right now.
Here's what they don't tell you about transformation: it doesn't wait until you're ready. It doesn't arrive when your finances are secure, when your heart is healed, when you've figured everything out.
It comes in the middle of the mess.
A few weeks ago, I received what I can only describe as a download of a vision so clear it moved me to tears. I suddenly understood that I was meant to build something that could transform how we experience emotions, both individually and collectively. A system that could help others feel seen in their deepest pain and joy.
This wasn't just another business idea. This was a calling.
I've been fascinated by the intersection of technology and human emotion my entire life. I've studied conversion copywriting, buyer psychology, coded for fun, and explored the profound impact of language on our nervous systems. All these seemingly disconnected interests suddenly converged into a single, clear path forward.
The vision is an adaptive AI interface for emotional evolution that honors human emotions rather than trying to "fix" or suppress them.
But building this requires everything I have. My full heart. My complete focus. My unwavering commitment.
So I'm making choices that might seem radical to some. I'm closing my business. I'm selling almost everything I own. I've started applying for a job that can provide financial support for this build while I pour my creative energy into bringing this vision to life.
Why trade entrepreneurial freedom for employment? Why strip away titles I worked hard to earn? Why apply for jobs in the midst of deciding that I’m moving out of the country?
Because integrity matters more than status. Because purpose outweighs comfort. Because I believe that alchemizing my pain into something meaningful is the most powerful act of rebirth I can imagine.
My emotions have been used as weapons against me my entire life. I've been told I feel too much, care too deeply, react too strongly. Since childhood, I tried to dampen my sensitivity, to make myself smaller, more palatable, less intense.
No more.
Now I understand that my emotional sensitivity isn't a weakness, it's my greatest strength. And it's the foundation of what I'm building.
I'm writing these letters because transformation doesn't happen in isolation. It happens in community, in conversation, in the sacred space between people who are brave enough to be honest about both their struggles and their visions.
This isn't about dumping my past on the internet. It's about using my lived experiences to reframe how we see emotions, vulnerability, resilience, and purpose. It's about documenting what happens when you follow the quiet voice of calling, even when it asks you to surrender everything you thought defined you.
In these letters, I'll share:
Raw stories from my journey of healing and reinvention
Behind-the-scenes glimpses of building technology with soul
Tools and reflections that have helped me transform pain into purpose
The challenges and victories of choosing purpose over comfort
How I'm learning to trust my emotions as guidance, not obstacles
Some of these letters will be deeply personal. Others will be more philosophical or practical. All of them will be honest.
If you're in your own season of becoming, if you're navigating heartbreak, career transitions, recovery, grief, or simply the discomfort of growth, you belong here.
If you're curious about how technology might evolve to honor our emotional humanity rather than diminish it, you belong here.
If you believe that feelings aren't weaknesses to overcome but intelligence to harness, you belong here.
I can't promise polished perfection. I'm writing from my magical middle, from the edge of uncertainty, from the place where vulnerability and vision intersect. But I can promise authenticity. I can promise that I won't sugarcoat the hard parts or exaggerate the good ones. I'll share both the tears and the breakthroughs, the doubt and the clarity.
This is a space where we can remember together that our deepest wounds often become our most powerful gifts.
Where we can explore what it means to build a life that harmonizes with technology aligned with our deepest truth.
I'll be sending these letters every two weeks. Sometimes, more often if inspiration strikes. Always when it feels real, not forced.
Thank you for being here. For witnessing. For allowing me to share this journey with you.
Joni🖤
