Letter 28
I spent a lot of time over the past handful of years building things from scratch without really knowing exactly what I was doing, how I was going to do it, or where I would end up. There wasn't a destination or a goal in mind, but moreso a determination to try something new and see where it would take me.
Eight or nine months of attention and care on a single project, working with new tools to really experiment and see how far I could go in an activity, a concept, an actual tangible output. How far could I take it on my own by leveraging new tools that didn't exist five years ago? What could it look like if I created around ideas which excited me?
I built a lifestyle brand from the ground up. Conceptualized it, designed it, sourced materials, collaborated on artwork, went through sampling and production, designed and built an independent website, handled all artwork, and got it ready to function as a storefront.
When the project completed, I realized I had been doing things that I otherwise would not have had an opportunity to do in my career or any role I had previously held.
By learning these new tools, a different approach became available. I didn't have to go the traditional route to get to the output. I harnessed these tools to do things on my own that would otherwise require many people to coordinate with and work alongside.
By using diction, I built a website that was an articulation of how I saw it in my mind's eye. I took something from my imagination and created it.
I customized a site exactly to how I wanted to interact with it, evoking a unique mood upon arrival, when I clicked a button, when I scrolled from page to page. The things that I consider sexy, that indicate quality, that indicate care, that indicate intentionality.
Along with a little imagination, I created AI-generated models from scratch. I dreamed up the story for them. I became a creative director: placing models, crafting visual continuity, conducting a photo shoot.
Choosing tech stacks, programming, designing packaging, storytelling my product through visuals, and branding my own company.
As a team of 1.
It was so exhilarating, but I needed some type of definition around it. The only thing I could think of was: what type of container did I need to craft to allow this velocity of thought and inspiration to continue?
Once I opened that container, once I named it and gave it shape, something changed. I had a place where inspired ideas had permission to move around freely.
Soon after, I began working with founders, sitting with them and asking questions that you don't usually ask in a professional setting.
What if we placed people in seats based on what they were passionate about, not only what their job description says.
What if we made room for how things felt, rather than just doing what needs to get done.
And if a scope is fluid and the engagement is allowed to change shape as the real problem reveals itself, is there perhaps benefit to that rather than locking into something at the onset.
Across all these projects, all the engagements, all the conversations I was having, a handful of questions started to surface.
I thought about these questions frequently.
A lot of them pointed to value. I wanted to understand what value means. What does a meaningful contribution look like when the old way of doing things is starting to change, when things are getting updated and replaced with a velocity you can feel? What is distinctly yours, or distinctly human, when technology can do all the rest?
The inquiry itself moved me toward a thesis that I'm really excited to share.
Some conversations are worth getting started. Sometimes it takes one person to begin, and a handful of people that it resonates with, to begin the discourse just to see where it leads.
So often we limit our conversation to the topics at hand, the things that are prevalent, the headlines in our news, the things right in front of us. But I think it's important to have these small pockets of space and time that allow us to come into them with imagination and freedom from outside noise.
To speak from the heart about the things that we love and want to create in a way that's unfiltered. A chance to talk about the future, rather than the "what is".
Because in that space, something is birthed that carries its own energy which doesn't need a definition beyond that.
Letter 28 is that pocket of space.
The site is a peek into the questions I've been pushing up against, the thinking that's been forming underneath everything else, and an open door for anyone asking similar things.
Phase 1 is live at letter28.com
The thesis is coming.