[#030] My First Billion: Built In The Margins

Writing this sitting with the fam at the Phoenix airport waiting on our flight back to Atlanta.

We flew out Tuesday to watch my nephew graduate high school.

AZ is beautiful. It’s something about seeing the mountains from my hotel…

…but the heat will take your breath away (literally lol).

After the graduation, over dinner, my nephew told me…

“It was a grind, but the work isn’t done yet!”

He’s locked in!

The fascinating thing is that…

While everyone is there celebrating the win of their family member…

Most of that audience didn’t see the work, they just saw the 30 seconds on stage.

That's how building a business works too.

Because while we were out here for the graduation... I was also in the lab.

Not from my office or a desk, but from a hotel room and the airport.
In the margins of a family trip.

This week I built out the full 14-day email nurture sequence for our upcoming Ai Advertising Executive™ demo on June 4th…

The 7-day compressed version for after the first one runs.

AND the text sequences.

It was a few hours of work... but it was deep, high-leveraged work.

The kind of stuff that doesn't look impressive on a to-do list but compounds forever because it’s now a new asset we have.

I also finalized the registration page for the demo…

Buttoned up the offer doc with fresh revisions.

And locked in the client fulfillment flow with the team…

So we’re clear on how we’re going to be filing clients' calendars with Qualified sales calls by installing paid ad systems into their business in 14 days or less.

And I did this all from Phoenix, from my hotel room with my kids yelling in the background…

…between graduation, family dinners, Netflixing and chilling with Vanessa and a miscalculated flight home.

And I got to get my 20 minute walk around downtown AZ early in the morning before the sun started blistering.

Yeah... I miscalculated our flights.

We're flying back later than planned.

Old me would've been irritated about it, current me used the extra time to keep building (with the fam and on the business).

Here's the lesson I keep learning...

The best work doesn't always happen at your desk during "work hours."

Sometimes it happens at the hotel after the kids fall asleep and you have a clear thought.

Or at the airport gate when you have 3-4 hours with no distractions (well, NO distractions is a stretch lol)…

Walking through downtown Arizona feeling the morning breeze in deep gratitude and checking in with your nervous system…

Or in between family moments when something clicks and you know what needs to be done.

I used to think I needed the perfect setup to do deep work…

But this week reminded me of something I've been learning all year...

The margin is the work.

The in-between is where some of the most important things get built.

Not because you're grinding 24/7, but because when you're clear on what you're building and why...

You don't need “perfect” conditions to execute, you just need clarity.

And for me…

That clarity came from this entire season of slowing down, getting rebuilt, and trusting God's timing even when mine said "move faster."

Looking at my nephew on that stage...

He didn't need perfect conditions to graduate either.

He just needed to keep showing up.

The building doesn't stop when you leave the office.

It doesn't pause when you're on a family trip.

It continues in the margins.

In the quiet moments in the hotel rooms, on the walk, at the airport gates and early mornings before anyone else is awake.

And if you're in a season where it feels like you can't get enough "dedicated work time" (to work on the business or yourself)...

Stop waiting for the perfect block…

Use the margin.

One hour of deep, focused work in a place you wouldn't normally work can move things forward more than eight hours of distracted time at your desk.

Try it this week.

Find the margin.

Build something in it.

Rinse and repeat!

Tell those you love that you love them.

Marquel

Start from the beginning → Issue 001