Dreams realized

Hey Reader,

If the story of your life was a book, how would you title the chapter you’re in right now?

My friend and coach Dan Putt likes to ask this question, and I find it so helpful for zooming out from my immediate problems and thinking of the overall season.

When Terry Rice asked me the chapter title question on his podcast, an immediate answer popped into my head:

"Dreams realized".

Surprisingly, I was reviewing my 2024 annual goals, and I think I'm going to miss almost all of them. Between slower business growth, a broken ankle, and life just getting in the way, the year didn't turn out as expected. But if we forget the short-term goals, my long-term dreams are coming true:

1. Building an App Store

On my "wouldn't it be cool if..." list was always building an app store for ConvertKit. But I thought it was a huge undertaking that I didn't know how to iterate into. It was always on the "if we had to raise a ton of money and shoot for the moon, here's what we'd do" list. But over the last year, we figured out how to break down the problem to a scale we could take on as a bootstrapped company.

It's been absolutely amazing to watch the App Store grow and see both major partners and indie developers release so many new apps. We future-proofed both our business and the operating systems for our creators.

It was a good reminder that even the hardest problems can be broken down into simple steps.

2. Rebranding ConvertKit to Kit

When I started ConvertKit, I thought I was going to build it to $20,000 in monthly revenue and then sell it. Once that changed to become the legacy project that I would dedicate more than a decade of my life to, I realized the name no longer matched my vision for the company.

When Kit.com became available, it was a huge risk to buy the domain (someday I hope to be able to say what it cost). The trademark and other assets needed to rebrand were also costly. But I kept going back to my 2018 dream to rebrand the company. After failing once, I never thought I'd have an opportunity at again. Yet here it was.

I pulled the trigger.

Now, any creator can get their own kit.com link (mine's nathan.kit.com). Every time I see one shared on the web, I feel so proud. Everything has come into alignment: a world-class name and domain to match the product we've built.

3. Launching in-person spaces for creators

In 2018, I pitched our team on my idea for launching physical locations for creators that included a co-working space, genius bar where you could get help with your tech stack, coffeeshop, and recording studios.

The slides from my 2018 ConvertKit team presentation

Over time, I realized the unique value for creators would be world-class podcast and video recording studios. Ironically, those were much easier to set up and run than a coffeeshop.

This year, as we've welcomed creators to Kit Studios and I've walked the halls to witness so much great content being recorded, I felt so proud to finally bring that dream to life. And we're planning to expand Kit Studios to two more cities in early 2025.

In 2024, I didn't hit my goals, but I'm achieving my dreams.

Now, I have two questions for you:

Forget your short-term goals, how are you moving towards your dreams?
If your life was a book, how would you title the chapter you’re in right now?

Keep in mind: not every chapter will be filled with epic wins. A great story is defined by the transformation the hero goes through. That transformation only comes through hardship and overcoming obstacles.

PODCAST

How to Build A Content-Driven Speaking Business

My friend, Grant Baldwin, runs a business called The Speaker Lab where he helps you get booked and paid to speak.

Although we’ve known each other for more than a decade, this was actually my first time on his podcast!

I talk about how to build an audience through creating engaging content, and we also get into some practical tips on a bunch of other things, including: