What I Learned in the Wild

by Alejandro Rodriguez
January 14, 2025

Hi y’all. Happy New Year.

I’m reflecting this year on how often we ask our clients to venture forth into the unknown, to trust themselves in the face of uncertainty — yet how much easier that is to say than to do. In September of 2023, I was wrapping up my time as Artist in Residence in the Florida Everglades, yet I was loitering at the edge of another sort of wilderness. All throughout that year, I was back-and-forth about “burning my boats” and going all in on my fledgling business, Alejo Communication. My professional life was already devoted to using theater practices to help leaders connect more meaningfully, but before September 2023, I had been a mercenary — doing some work under my LLC for a few private clients, but also contracting a bunch for other global training companies. I was kept busy, treated well, and didn’t have to deal with any of the thorniness of new business development, daily operations, etc. Still, I found myself inexorably attracted to the challenge of building something new, something fresh, something that leveraged my decade of experience yet elevated the work to new heights. Something that could create value not only for enterprising clients, but for the dozens of extraordinary facilitators and coaches I knew around the country.

I was pacing along the edge of being a full-time CEO.

Finally, I stepped forward – nervous but optimistic.

Here’s what I learned in the wild:

1. Your people are out there.

All throughout 2024, our first full year in business, we met HR and business leaders who were just as bold and creative as we were, eager to partner to find innovative ways to help their people connect. What’s more, they recognize value when they see it. Nearly every first time client we worked with in 2024 chose to grow their book of business with us. Not everyone you meet will become a client, but if you stay “out there”, telling your story, you will magnetize your people to you.

2. Be useful and you will be used.

Through innovation and experimentation, Alejo built three signature programs that work and that address real challenges in the workplace. Apparently this is called “product-market fit”, but to me it just means, when you make something people find legitimately helpful, they will seek you out. Keep iterating, keep responding to feedback, offer pilots at discounted rates if you have to; eventually, when you catch wind, you AND your clients will feel it.

3. Your work will be as inspiring as your team.

We found that working with talented teammates meant elevating our game at every turn. We brought on our first employee to assist with administration, and we worked with coaches in LA, NYC and Miami who created extraordinary value for our clients. We delivered 23 workshops and 87 coaching sessions in 2024, to hundreds of participants — from CEOs to college interns — in three states.

Needless to say, I’m not loitering anymore.

I’m all in.

So what’s next? The adventure continues. We have existing clients who are eager to grow their portfolios. We have prospective clients who have proposals they want to discuss. We have engaged coaches and facilitators who are eager for development. The time is ripe for us to build out our infrastructure to support this growing demand.

To extend the metaphor one last time, once you’ve learned you can survive in the wilderness … it’s time to thrive.