Cast Iron Crew

Can we talk about success for a second?

I read a tag line in an email I received today:

“Nothing fails like success.”

At first it felt contradictory — especially from the sender…success and failure in the same breath. 😱

This made me curious about how Labor Day even started. I did a little digging and found that the first Labor Day parade was in 1882 in 🗽New York City. Of course New York — always a trailblazer. Workers weren’t celebrating titles or paychecks. They were honoring the labor itself — the sweat, the hours, the unseen work that carried them forward.

These last five years of my life have been their own version of labor. I had to create an exit plan, maintain a level of integrity that kept me in alignment with the woman I was becoming, and hold my family tight during this transition. I chose to build a new career from the ground up. I had to navigate a season of not knowing — with no map in front of me. Every step was blind, but every step mattered. That was my labor.

And here’s the truth I’ve learned: when you tie your joy only to external markers of “success,” you’ve already failed to tap into your inner abundance.
Real success isn’t about appearances. It’s about showing up day after day with faith and grit, staying sovereign, and trusting there’s treasure on the other side of the work.

This Labor Day, success isn’t measured by the surface… it’s measured by the strength we’ve built within while no one was watching.