Hi Reader,

You might be wondering why I’ve been so quiet the last couple of months. I had planned to launch my book this month. I thought I was super close to publishing. Oh, was I wrong!

Long story short, Innovation Starts With I underwent a major book surgery. I received lots of constructive feedback during a thorough peer review process earlier this year. It was challenging to hear, especially since it felt like I had to start over. But I knew gaining others’ perspectives of my finished work would only help improve the book. It was totally worth it, even if it meant delaying the launch to do things intentionally. Several parts of the book were rewritten and improved. And it’s finally a book I’m proud of putting out there.

It’s currently in the layout stage, and we’ll get a proof in the next few weeks (yay!). We’re also working on the audiobook. With things opening up in many countries, we decided to push the book launch to later this summer so we can plan in-person and hybrid launch events.

We’ve been receiving endorsements from many entrepreneurs and innovative leaders. Here are a couple you can peek at:

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None of this would have happened without the support from my dream team. I used to try to do everything myself but was ultimately directionless. I failed over and over again. I didn’t realize how lonely the journey would be, but then realized it didn’t have to be that way.

2020 made it significantly easier to build a global remote team—one that is not only geographically diverse, but also contextually diverse—which is the key factor to any startup I was successful at. I used to run startup education programs for Upwork and teach entrepreneurs and small businesses how to hire and manage remote teams globally while telling my story—it was finally time to listen to myself and apply my own advice.

When other entrepreneurs wanted to learn how I did it, especially during the pandemic, I gave them advice. But I realized my sweet spot wasn’t necessarily telling them to do exactly what I did, but rather, enabling our team to become the behind-the-scenes team to these hungry, overwhelmed entrepreneurs. Our accelerator program participants can focus on what they are best at while we help them strategize, execute, and reposition themselves beautifully.

And it was amidst the 2020 crisis when we innovated, and Ripple Impact was born. Our two-person team doubled last spring, then doubled again in the fall, doubled earlier this year, and is in the process of doubling again.

As we further expand our team, we have big plans to scale up our impact and help more entrepreneurs succeed. You’ll hear about it soon.

Community Spotlight

Speaking of which, we’d like to celebrate Craig Chavis, a two-time author and entrepreneur in our business accelerator. He knew the importance of repositioning himself around the time of his book launch to attract clients, media opportunities and book sales. By becoming his team, we helped him grow his business revenue, increase his bulk book sales, book keynote speaking engagements, and revamp his branding. Congratulations, Craig, for reaching new heights in your career and business!

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My TEDx talk on Innovation Starts With I got published last week! What an experience, during the pandemic. The audience was small and socially distanced, while thousands of people watched the conference globally.
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Even though the talk got postponed from March 2020 to March 2021, my message became more relevant. I hope it inspires you, even in a small way, to make the impact you strive to make. You can watch it by clicking here or the video link below.
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​🎬 bit.ly/SaleemaTEDx​

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That’s it for this week Reader.

Feel free to hit reply and let us know your thoughts.

💛