September 22, 2026
Kimberly’s Wanderings & Wonderings: September 2026
No Wing to Stand In
Picture this: It’s September 2nd, and I have just opened my brand-new Ink+Volt Dashboard for the first time. Weekly goals on one-page, daily tracker on ways to be my best, focused priorities. All these blank boxes waiting to be filled in. Not because my old system stopped working, but because there is something about a fresh planning tool that gets you to ask sharper questions than the ones you have been running on autopilot.
That has been the theme of this whole month, honestly. Not one big reset, but a handful of smaller ones, stacked on top of each other, each asking me to be a slightly different version of myself than the one who showed up in August.
No Wing to Stand In
Here is one of the differences. Earlier this month, I sat in the front row before a keynote with no backstage to retreat to. No wing, no private moment to become the version of myself the room needed. For thirty years, I walked into rooms like that with a brand standing behind every word I said. This time, there was no company sitting in that row with me. Just me, in full view, while the anticipation built with nowhere to put it.
I have given hundreds of talks. The fear in that row was not about public speaking. It was about having nowhere to privately prepare, with every flicker of nerve visible to the people I most wanted to reassure. I struggle with disappointing others. I often worry I am not enough. These past 11 months, I have found a new confidence. In my voice. In the way I stand. In the way I see myself.
So much so, I continue to challenge myself. I am building a TEDx talk (YIKES!), working on a new keynote from scratch for a new client, and pitching people outside my usual sweet spot. None of it is comfortable. All of it is the work.
Sixty Minutes, Rebuilt
The keynote I mentioned above was not the TEDx talk. That one is still ahead of me. This one was for Gifted Travel Network, and it taught me that sixty minutes is a long time to hold a room. I wasn’t trimming an old keynote down. I was building something new that could carry a full hour without losing anyone in the middle.
There were drafts that died in rehearsal. Slides that made sense on paper and fell flat out loud. A lot of pacing on my own office floor, timing myself, cutting the parts I loved most because they weren’t serving the room. Recording myself and playing it back as I fell asleep at night. Thank you to Gifted Travel Network for the room, the trust, and the runway to build something that ambitious.
Back-to-School, Grown Up
There’s something fitting about a back-to-school September pairing with an organization built entirely around preparing young people for what’s next. This month, the Wonder Tree is spotlighting Junior Achievement (JA Worldwide) — an organization dedicated to giving students the financial literacy, work-readiness, and entrepreneurial skills school doesn’t always teach. If you’re a client this season, JA Worldwide is one of the causes available through the Wonder Tree. And if it resonates with you the way it resonated with me, I’d love to hear why.
Full Circle
A blank dashboard. A threshold I am approaching for the second time, as someone slightly different than the person who first crossed it. A room with no backstage. An hour I had to learn to fill. A cause that’s really about what we hand the next generation before they’re ready to ask for it.
None of these are separate stories. They are the same question, asked five different ways: what am I choosing to learn, unlearn, or wonder about, on purpose, instead of just letting September happen to me?
What are you choosing to learn — or unlearn — this “back-to-school” season?
Drop me a note or find me on LinkedIn. I read every response. I mean that.
In case you missed it, here are some other recent posts/podcasts you might enjoy:
In honor of “Back-to-School,” I hope you join me in staying curious and always learning,
