Leaving room to experiment

What if your next big idea didn’t have to be perfect, or you didn’t have to have enough time for it — you just started?

What would it look like to follow your curiosity while staying grounded?

I’ve been thinking about how much clarity comes not from planning, but from doing.

From trying and building momentum.
From starting more than you can finish.

It’s something that comes up a lot, especially when speaking with creative entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and early-stage founders.

So many people are waiting for the green light:
More money, more time, more validation.

But what if the process is the proof? What if the act of pursuing something you’re passionate about — even if it’s a risk — is exactly what gets you to the next stage?

That’s the season I’m in.
(It’s also playoffs season for NHL fans.
And election season, too).

Recently, I delivered one of my biggest webinars to date — one of several workshops and speaking engagements I’ve led recently for nonprofits, governments and social impact teams. I’ve just wrapped my first semester teaching at OCAD University. I’m continuing to consult organizations on brand strategy and communications and hosting sessions for my community through The Good Growth Company.

That foundation, without the previous structure of leading an agency, is what allows me to also experiment, to test ideas, and to build things that are aligned with my interests.

Right now, that looks like exploring more collaborations, writing a book, and launching passion-driven businesses while supporting social good projects.

Building a product business

If you didn’t notice it mentioned in the previous edition of this newsletter, after years of working in services — consulting, training, and agency projects — I’ve finally launched my first product-based brand: Maker Matcha. It’s rooted in my love of the ritual, benefits and culture of matcha.

It’s a lot to start something from scratch. So why am I doing it, now that I’m primarily a marketing advisor?

For years, I’ve heard Gary Vaynerchuk emphasize the importance of staying a practitioner, no matter how big your company gets or how senior your role becomes. It’s about staying close to the work, testing things yourself, and not outsourcing all the learning. That idea has always stuck with me. It’s one thing to advise others on strategy, and another to roll up your sleeves and build something from scratch. Right now, I’m doing both — and learning more than I ever could from theory alone.

So I dove in and have moved faster than I expected — set up an online store, built partnerships, and landed a placement at a café in Toronto’s Little Italy that’s now serving and carrying Maker Matcha. Next up is Maker Matcha’s first booth at the Tea & Co. Expo next month (next weekend already).

At the same time, my wife is launching her own venture called Grand Risko, a thrift and vintage community built around personal style and self-expression.

Seeing both of these brands come to life in real-time, side by side, has been one of the most energizing experiences.

Bringing things together

Since this is The Intersection you’re reading, I have to share that everything will intersect tomorrow at a cafe at Dundas & Ossington.

This clearly gives us some accountability, with a deadline and launch date to have everything ready for.

The ACCESS Bright Ideas Pitch is an event I’ve hosted for over a decade to support youth-led social good initiatives. This year, it’s happening at a local café instead of a city-related venue. Maker Matcha will be served. Dianne will be running a journaling workshop. And I’ll be facilitating the pitch session and panel with local changemakers.

It’s a big example of how these worlds of creativity, community, entrepreneurship and social good can intersect.

When it comes to balancing everything from building businesses to giving back, I recently chatted with serial founder and social entrepreneur Ryan O’Neil Knight (who’s also speaking at the ACCESS event tomorrow), and he shared his experience:

All that being said…

There’s something magical about taking risks, saying yes, and trying new things, all while testing your capacity and focus.

Earlier this month, I put my hand up to host an ImpactUp meetup as part of a global series — it was the first in-person event for The Good Growth Company, too. In the spirit of staying lean and testing things, I took care of everything from curating a list of people to invite on LinkedIn to printing signs, picking up catering and facilitating the conversations. Thankfully, the turnout exceeded what I expected. With over 50 nonprofit and social impact leaders registering, and many showing up to meet me for the first time, we had a worthwhile gathering in Toronto. If you’re curious about what we discussed and learned, here’s the recap:

It’s a reminder that when you make space for aligned, meaningful things with the goal of community-building, people will show up.

That’s the theme of this season: alignment.

It’s not about just working harder or doing more.

More effort doesn’t always mean more output.

There’s a point where pushing harder stops helping and starts hurting. If you cross that line, you don’t just slow down — you risk burning out (whether it’s for the rest of the day, or 3 months).

It’s not a good place to be. You then lose momentum, second-guess your work and even start wondering why you even started in the first place.

Inspired by a Create.Repeat newsletter that I saw a while ago, this stuck with me.

The key isn’t avoiding hard work, it’s knowing your limits.

There’s a sweet spot where effort and impact align, and finding it makes all the difference. Sure, sometimes you’ll push too far (it happens to the best of us), but recognizing when to pull back can keep you from stalling out completely.

But that threshold isn’t always the same. I've noticed this myself.
Some seasons, you can handle more than others.

Figure out when to push and when to pace — so you and I can keep creating, sustainably, for the long run.

How do you know when it’s time to step back?

So yes, I’m experimenting and starting new things. But I’m not starting from scratch. The foundation is there, the momentum is real, and the community (including you, I hope) is coming along for the ride.

If you’ve been waiting for the right time to try something, maybe this is your reminder. The thing you’re thinking about doesn’t need to be perfectly formed. It just needs a little space to start.

Thanks for reading.

And if you’re in Toronto, maybe I’ll see you at a pop-up this weekend or next.

Until next time,
Daniel

(Go Leafs)