Looking Back to Move Forward

Reflections on a year of growth, gratitude, and the work ahead

Meaningful work begins with meaningful conversations, like this one at the Beer and Napkins event.

As the new year begins, I find myself reflecting on the one just behind us with gratitude for the ground it helped prepare. The past year marked an important chapter in my work, shaped by long-held ideas finally stepping into the world and by meaningful conversations with educators who continue to do deeply human work under increasingly complex conditions.

One of the most significant milestones of the past year was the publication of Imagineering Education: A Guide to Creating the Most Magical Schools on Earth. Writing the book took years of reflection, practice, and refinement, but releasing it confirmed something I had hoped all along. Educators are hungry for ideas that honor imagination, story, and purpose while still respecting the realities of schools.

The book was never meant to be a final word. It was meant to begin a conversation, one that continued during my first book signing this fall and will carry into additional signings in the months ahead. Meeting readers in person and listening to how they are adapting these ideas within their own communities has been one of the most affirming experiences of the year.

This past year also brought opportunities to share this work in spaces that value thoughtful dialogue about education, leadership, and creativity. Speaking at the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders conference in September alongside an inspiring group of principals and school administrators reinforced a lesson I continue to see everywhere. People in schools care deeply, even when the system makes that care difficult to sustain.

That same spirit carried into a very different but equally energizing setting when I presented at a Beer and Napkins event to an enthusiastic group of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and educators. The conversations that followed were a reminder that the principles of story, experience, and intentional design extend well beyond schools, and that many sectors are wrestling with similar questions about purpose, culture, and human connection.

The year is already unfolding with a strong sense of continuity between the work of the past and what lies ahead. In February, I will serve as a panelist at a John Maxwell Live2Lead event, where the conversation will focus on leadership lessons shaped by lived experience. In March, I will bring the core ideas from Imagineering Education to SXSW EDU, followed by keynoting the Association for Learning Environments Southeast Regional Conference in April. That momentum will carry into early summer with an Innovator Series talk at the ASCD Annual Conference in Orlando in June, where the themes of the book, experience, story, and intentional design, will continue to frame the discussion.

More than anything, the past year clarified the importance of intention. Progress did not come from doing more, but from being more deliberate about where energy is spent, which invitations are accepted, and how the work remains anchored to its original purpose. It also reaffirmed that meaningful change happens through proximity. The moments that mattered most were not defined by announcements or milestones, but by thoughtful conversations, honest questions, and stories shared by educators doing the daily work of creating places where students feel seen and valued.

As this new year begins, there is a steady sense of momentum. Several projects are taking shape that I look forward to sharing when the time is right, along with plans to release another book by the end of the year that continues to explore experience, imagination, and intentional design in education.

Most of all, I am eager to spend time in schools, working alongside teachers, students, and administrators to help shape learning environments that invite curiosity, foster belonging, and reconnect people to the reasons they chose education in the first place.

I am deeply grateful to those who have followed this work, shared it, challenged it, and believed in it. Your trust, encouragement, and willingness to engage in these conversations give this work meaning and momentum. None of this happens in isolation, and I do not take that support lightly.

This work has never been about making school into some grand spectacle. It has always been about substance, about helping schools feel alive in ways that are authentic and sustainable, places shaped by story, grounded in purpose, and centered on the people who learn and work within them.

As this new year unfolds, I am grateful for what the last one revealed and hopeful for what lies ahead.