The Algorithm Wants Me to Feel This Way

Not gonna lie, I completely forgot I launched this blog a couple weeks ago.

Until I had one of those rare and still mom moments of wondering “what should I be doing right now..” and then it happened. I was overtaken by that specific anxiety that feels like…like…like people waiting. But not just some people… all the people.

It’s not the same anxiety as forgetting a task — it’s deeper, like you’ve missed a deadline that no one gave you, but everyone somehow expects you to meet. Like it’s an obligation you didn’t sign up for but are forced into like it’s Kafka.

Guys, this is the trap!

We’ve internalized an anxiety of urgency that’s not ours.
It was built. It was engineered. It was designed. It never came from us.

We aren’t just connected by the internet, we’re conditioned by it.
And one of its most powerful conditions is this: the feeling that we’re always behind.

It used to be that social life had boundaries. Time and place dictated what you knew, who you saw, when you showed up. Then social media collapsed all those boundaries. Now, everything happens everywhere, all the time. Everyone’s reachable. Everything is relevant. Every minute not spent engaging feels like a minute lost.

And it’s not just social media anymore — it’s the whole system.
The pace of production. The always-on marketing. The gamified hustle culture.
Even the tools meant to “help” — AI, automation, templates — end up accelerating the pace until your own sense of time and accomplishment feels warped.

Spend a few hours using AI to knock out weeks’ worth of work, and your brain doesn’t go, Wow, what a great productivity win! It short-circuits. It feels like you’ve time-traveled and left your body behind.

This pressure — to be visible, valuable, and optimized at all times — is exhausting. It pushes us out of presence. It makes real connection harder. And it fuels a kind of cultural burnout that’s hard to name because it’s so embedded in how we live.

When speed becomes the default, stillness starts to feel like failure.
When sharing becomes a performance, reflection starts to feel like indulgence.
And when “value” is measured by engagement, what happens to the things we make for their own sake?

Some of the best ideas, stories, relationships, and insights come from the places we let breathe. The thoughts we don’t share right away. The ones we sit with, chew on, and allow to evolve.

Feeling behind, or guilty for not posting, or overwhelmed by the pace — that’s not a failure.
It’s the algorithm working exactly as intended.

Anyways, I remembered that I had a blog. Thanks for reading.

HC

Why I Left Advertising to Start On Brand Coaching

People have been asking why I went from ad creative to executive coach.

The short answer? I didn’t want to make ads anymore.

But I also didn’t want to waste the 15 years I’d spent shaping brands from the inside — learning what makes them stick, what makes them stall, and what happens when the story no longer matches the reality.

I entered the industry just as it was pivoting from storytelling to nonstop content. And the more I saw behind the scenes, the more I realized: the real issues weren’t creative. They were structural.

Short-term thinking. Misaligned incentives. Leaders trying to move forward while everything around them pulled sideways.

And that disconnect? It’s everywhere.

From tech giants to nonprofits to classrooms, I kept hearing the same thing: We know what we’re supposed to be. We don’t know how to get there anymore.

Brand as Culture, Culture as Brand

I used to think branding was about language — messaging, tone, campaigns. And I was good at that part. But the deeper I got, the more I saw that brand is behavior.

You can have the sharpest copy and most beautiful brand book in the world, but if the leadership team isn’t aligned in any way, the brand breaks. That misalignment ripples outward:

• Teams stop trusting each other.

• Innovation stalls.

• Strategy becomes reactionary.

• People feel stuck, confused, and disconnected from purpose.

These aren’t creative problems. They’re alignment problems. And they show up at the highest levels of an organization, even when the leaders themselves are doing their best with what they’ve inherited.

Because let’s be honest: most leaders didn’t create the disconnect. They’re trying to manage it.

And they’re trying to do it inside systems that reward the opposite of alignment — speed over reflection, individual performance over collective trust, growth over clarity.

I’ve worked with leaders at all levels, and not one of them lacked ideas, awareness, or care. What they lacked was the space and support to step back, realign, and move forward with intention.

Why Coaching, Not Consulting

I didn’t want to become a consultant. I’ve done that work. I’ve pitched the ideas, delivered the strategy decks, and written the words.

As a coach, I get to partner with clients, help them hear themselves, not me, more clearly, and guide them toward their own insight. That’s where the real, lasting change happens.

As a coach, I get to be committed, flexible, and show up fully. I adapt to the human in front of me. I create a space where people can take a breath, look around, and figure out what really matters.

I don’t think corporate leadership is broken. I think it’s burdened. Burdened by decisions made in isolation, incentives stacked against values, and a culture that rarely gives leaders room to breathe, let alone reset.

Coaching, for me, is about offering that space. It’s not about fixing out-of-touch leaders. It’s about helping strong, well-intentioned people reconnect with the energy that got them here — and the brand they want to be known for.

The Vision Behind On Brand

On Brand Coaching is about aligning leadership, culture, and brand from the inside out. It’s for visionary leaders. The kind who see something no one else can, even if they’re not sure how to articulate it.

To be "on brand" isn’t about performance. It’s about clarity. Integrity. Intention. It’s about knowing your values, navigating contradictions, and shaping your outward actions accordingly.

What’s Next

On Brand Coaching is open for clients. I’m working on launching a regular publication and a podcast that explores branding, culture, and leadership in the real world. But right now, I’m most excited to meet the people this work is meant to serve.

If that’s you, or someone you know — book a free 30-min briefing call today — I’d love to talk.

When the copy writes itself…what does the copywriter write?

Welcome to Ideate This.
A blog, written by a copywriter processing what it means to not be a copywriter anymore. 

Here,
I’ll be unmuted – free of stepping on anyone else’s words.
I’ll be unbriefed – so, expect things to get loose. 
I’ll be on brand – not selling you something.

As a copywriter, I learned how to read the world around me – looking behind the words, seeing the missed connections that might lead to a page-stopping headline or a radically fresh campaign.

As a not-copywriter, with no headlines to write and no campaigns to manifest, I still find myself gripped by that habit.

And I still find myself a writer, sitting down to tap it out, think it out, get it out. 

That’s what I hope Ideate This will become. A place for my unique perspective on the world I can’t stop reading. 

I’m glad you’re here. I hope you’ll stay. 

HC