Encanto from a Founder's Perspective: Surface Pressure

“I’m the strong one. I’m not nervous. I’m as tough as the crust of the earth is.”

This song is all about Luisa. Her gift is super strength. Her family and the entire community ask her to take care of a lot. Including rerouting the river and moving mountains…literally. She is under a ton of pressure.

As CEO of a startup, I can relate.

There are many responsibilities that fall on my shoulders. This includes everything from fundraising to sales to making sure everyone gets paid.

It is a huge responsibility.

We are also mission-driven, so there is the added weight of making sure that we succeed and help our end users. What we do quite literally can change the course of autistic students’ lives. I’d better not mess it up.

So, yeah, I feel the “Pressure like a drip drip drip that’ll never stop.”

At the end of song, Mirabel tells Luisa that she’s taking on too much. Similarly, my co-founder Carolyn recently asked when I was going to get some help.

I’ve started putting some systems into place to take some of the weight off my shoulders. No one can do it all.

And, in addition to that, I have an awesome support system – kind of like the backup dancing donkeys. They help me keep the fun and levity in what could otherwise be an overwhelming situation.