My husband saw a pedestrian get hit by a car on Eucalyptus street and here’s how it went:

Operator: What’s your emergency?

Dave: A guy got hit by a car… I need an ambulance.

Operator: What’s your location?

Dave:: I’m on Eucalyptus St.

Operator: Can you spell that for me?

long awkward pause

Operator: Sir, are you there?

Dave: I’m gonna drag him over to Pine St and call you right back.

In other news…Clarity + Momentum + Speed = Your Power.

You heard me.

Here it is today in a single sentence for you:

‘Insane speed requires immense clarity.’

You heard it here first.

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. A diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well.

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Your business’ products and services should provide for demand.

Not create demand.

BIG DIFFERENCE.

BIG.

Need > Desire

Dog food > Dog Vitamins

Pain Killers > Vitamins

Cure > Prevention

You heard it here first.

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Be so good they can’t ignore you.

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Law of Direction: Anyone can steer the plane but it takes a leader to chart the course.

Law of Energy: The leader knows momentum is a positive outcome’s best friend.

Law of Influence: The acid test of leadership is ‘influence’… nothing more or less.

Law of Attraction: Who you are and what you are… is who and what you attract.

Law of Heart: You must touch their heart before asking for their hand.

Law of Proximity: The leader’s potential is determined by their inner circle and those closest to them.

Law of the Win: A leader finds a way for the team to win.

Law of Priorities: A leader understands that activity does not equal progress.

Law of Leaders: To grow you build followers. To compound growth you build more leaders.

Law of Legacy: The Leader is ultimately measured by succession.

BONUS: When you’re a leader… you know that you’ll be remembered for what you REFUSE to give up on.

You heard it here first.

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Stupid to think you’ll make a child act better by making them feel worse. #RespectChildren

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A student once asked a Zen master:

“How do I know I’m making progress?”

The master handed him a cup and started pouring tea.

He kept pouring until the tea spilled over the sides.

“Stop!” the student shouted. “The cup is full!”

The master smiled.

“Exactly.”

A lot of people approach business ownership the same way.

Their cup is already full.

Full of assumptions.

“Franchises are mostly fast food.”

“I need experience in the industry.”

“Starting from scratch gives me more control.”

“A resale is automatically less risky.”

“I’ll explore when the timing is perfect.”

The problem may not be that you need more information.

You may need to empty the cup enough to consider something you never expected.

Most of the people I help ultimately choose a business they had never heard of, in an industry they had never considered.

Not because they lowered their standards.

Because they stopped searching for the business they thought they wanted and started evaluating the business that actually fit their goals, strengths, resources and desired lifestyle.

Sometimes your “next” doesn’t require learning more.

It requires letting go of what you were so sure you already knew.

What belief might you need to unlearn before you can see what’s possible?

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. You see what you want to see.

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You want to own a successful and profitable business and you’re telling me you’re worried about the competition?

Your inability to get FOCUSED will kill your business before the competition ever gets a chance.

Get Focused.

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. When you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. When you’re great at something they’ll tell you. Walter Payton

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On my flight home from Ireland, I had 9 hours to kill.

People around me were watching movies, playing games, scrolling, sleeping...

I did something different.

I positioned myself so my TV screen reflected only me. Put on headphones. Turned everything off.

And for about 4 hours, I sat there in silence staring at myself.

No distractions.

No phone.

No noise.

Just me.

And I’ll tell you something...

Looking at yourself honestly is hard.

Really asking:

Am I where I thought I’d be?

Am I becoming who I want to become?

Am I settling in places I know I shouldn’t?

You’ll see things you like.

You’ll see things you don’t.

You’ll smile.

You’ll cringe.

But most people never do it.

We stay busy.

We scroll.

We distract ourselves.

Distraction is where you lose yourself.

Silence is where you find yourself.

Most people spend more time planning vacations than they do understanding themselves.

Try something uncomfortable this week.

Sit somewhere completely alone for 30 minutes.

No TV. No music. No phone.

Just you.

See what shows up.

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Laugh at yourself and you’ll never run out of things to laugh about.

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Japanese are renowned for their productivity…

Here are their best techniques:

1. Shoshin: Have a beginners / growth mindset. Your life isn’t about having all the answers or being perfect… it’s about being positive, learning and trying new things.

2. Ikigai: Find your purpose in life and give yourself meaning… align your strengths, with your passion, with the needs of the world.

3. Kaizen: Consistent small incremental improvements, daily.

4. Pomodora Technique: 25 minutes of uninterrupted work… then 5 minutes of rest. Will help you stay focused for short sprints and will change the game of productivity for you.

5. Hara Hachi Bu: Eat until your 80% full and you’ll have more energy throughout the day.

Approach the above with the attitude of getting a little better everyday (Kaizen) with a positive and beginners attitude (Shoshin).

You heard it here first.

Kinda.

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Read what the FDA recommends for you to eat… do the exact opposite.

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Apple brought in 416 billion in revenues last year...

Here are the 5 key metrics Tim Cook and Steve Jobs are / were fanatical about:

1. MRR: Monthly recurring revenue

2. CAC: Customer Acquisition Cost

3. LTV: Lifetime value of a client

4. Renewal rates and Churn

5. Cashflow

Tracked WoW and MoM week over week, month over month

What KPI’s are you tracking WoW and MoM?

You heard it here first.

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Forgiveness is for you.

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How many times did you see Little Caesars on Sunday night (Superbowl)?

I’m more interested in another question.

Can I get rich selling $7 pizzas . . . ?

Little Caesars is one of the lowest-cost ways to feed a family.

Their model is very simple: no order ahead, no delivery, no dine-in. All the food is hot and ready.

They use the same core ingredients in all their products: the same cheese, dough, sauce, pepperoni, etc.

You may be surprised by how much they make.

What’s even more surprising is how many locations some franchisees own.

There are 3,500 stores in the US owned by 740 owners.

Average 4.7 stores per owner.

There are dozens of owners that own 10, 15, 20, 30 40+ locations.

Most of these are just ordinary people like me and you, not big corporations.

That’s what I love about franchising.

Once you can figure out the model then you can duplicate it over and over again.

The hardest part has nothing to do with pizza.

It all comes down to your ability to build the teams and implement systems to scale it.

But none of it is rocket science.

You heard it here first.

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Being rich is better than being poor… but your REAL REWARD is to be happy.

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One of the biggest differences between owning a business and owning a job comes down to one thing:

Processes.

If something in your business lives only in your head, it’s not a system — it’s a risk.

Here’s a simple rule I love:

If a task happens more than 3 times and has more than 3 steps, it needs to be documented. (We call it the 3×3 rule.)

Write down:

• The task

• The numbered steps to complete it

Congratulations — you’ve just created a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

Drop it into a shared folder. Revisit it as things improve. Repeat.

What happens next is powerful:

• Your business becomes easier to run

• Growth becomes possible

• And yes… the value of your business increases

Simple doesn’t mean easy — but it does mean scalable.

Next week: a conflicting thought.

You heard it here first.

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. I got so much procrastinating done today.

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Conflicting thought from last week…

A business absolutely needs to systemize its basic functions and processes.

But systems do not set you free… systems stifle creativity.

Successful businesses are built by intelligent people who hire intelligent people to use their creativity.

The ‘Influencer’ on your FB page is a salesperson… not a legit business owner with many staff and a real business.

Zuckerberg, Blakely, Gates, Jobs, Dell, Musk, Buffett, Dalio and Sheryl Sandberg aren’t clogging up your FB feed.

What do these folks all have in common?

They’re insanely intelligent people who hired more intelligent people and subsequently built great companies.

Don’t give intelligent people too regimented of systems to follow.

They’ll leave.

16 year olds at McDonalds are different.

Here it is in a single sentence for you:

‘Large successful companies are built by intelligent people and intelligent people want to use their intelligence in a creative way.’

You heard it here first.

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker 😊 helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Hire intelligent people… give them a desired outcome and then get out of their way.

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Happy New Year!

As this year comes to a close, I keep thinking about a moment from a few years back.

I was hiking on some steep mountains with my son. The trail was narrow, carved into the side of a red rock cliff. We stopped for a moment to take it all in — endless blue sky, red earth stretching for miles. It was breathtaking.

And if I’m honest… a little unsettling.

I remember looking down and thinking, that drop isn’t forgiving.

After a quiet moment, he looked at me and asked,

“Why do we do things that are scary?”

It’s a question that sticks with you.

Because right on the edge of fear is where growth tends to begin.

As we head into a new year, I’m reminded that the moments that changed my life the most didn’t come from staying comfortable. They came from saying yes when I wasn’t fully ready. From exploring something new before I had all the answers. From leaning into uncertainty instead of avoiding it.

The edge can feel uncomfortable.

But it’s also where the view changes.

As the clock turns and a new year begins, here’s a question worth sitting with:

What uncomfortable thing have you been avoiding that might actually lead you to your next level?

You don’t have to act on it tonight.

You just have to be honest with yourself.

Wishing you clarity, courage, and a year ahead that feels aligned.

Happy New Year

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
— Neale Donald Walsch

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Constructive criticism can be very powerful.

Problem: It’s rarely used correctly and therefore criticism is often, dangerous:

Creates negative emotions.

Makes people feel inferior.

Injures pride.

Creates resentment.

I’m still working on this myself, but I’m learning that if I want a better outcome, I need to rely less on criticism and more on communication, thoughtful questions, metaphors, pausing, silence, examples, and patience.

Especially this time of year.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Quickest way to get over others… get over yourself.

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Welcome back and hope you’re finally over the turkey hangover!

My big “ah ha” from going around the table and giving thanks:

You only need three things to be truly happy in this world. Someone to love, something to do and something to hope for.

Now on to the regularly scheduled program . . . .

Your work ethic will offend lazy people in your life.

Your happiness will offend them also.

Careful of who you surround yourself with.

Here it is in a single sentence for you:

‘As you develop into an elite individual… you’ll outgrow people and that’s OK.’

You heard it here first.

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker 😊 helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. They were never your real friend unless your Momma cussed both of you out together.

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When it comes to building a business, there’s always one golden rule:

People don’t buy the thing — they buy what the thing gets them.

It’s the same loop every entrepreneur lives in: problem → solution → new (better) problem.

I know someone who sold his company for a fortune… and his new “problem” became boredom and lack of purpose. (When you no longer need money, meaning becomes the next mountain.)

That’s the real secret behind business ownership:

• People don’t want a franchise… They want control of their life.

• They don’t want an LLC… They want optionality and breathing room.

• They don’t want “to be their own boss”… They want time back — and the choice to say yes or no.

Same idea with AI.

The smart way isn’t to “sell AI.” It’s to sell what AI makes possible — freedom, speed, leverage, peace of mind.

Just like franchising isn’t about the business, it’s about the life the business funds.

That’s why so many people dream of owning a business… but stall when it comes to choosing one. They’re looking at the drill, not the hole in the wall.

The real question is:

What outcome are you actually trying to buy?

Because once that gets clear, the right business becomes obvious.

And, yes, of course I’m here to help you with that 😉

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker 😊 helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Excuses make today easy but tomorrow harder. Discipline makes today hard but tomorrow easier.

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You do not decide your future.

You decide your habits.

Your habits decide your future.

Read that again.

Act accordingly.

You heard it here first.

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Kids don’t say, ‘Dad, I had a tough day, can we talk? They say, ‘Dad, will you play with me?’

P.S.S. I won’t be publishing the newsletter next week. I’ll be cooking for Thanksgiving. My guess is most of you will be checked out anyways, as you should be.

P.S.S.S. I AM THANKFUL FOR YOU!

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1. The number one mistake of investing is not investing.

2. People lie but numbers don’t.

3. More of your procrastination equals more of your suffering.

4. Poor people sell their time and rich people buy their time.

5. You’ve heard number four but probably still aren’t doing it.

You heard it here first.

Any others you’d add to the list? Let me know.

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy. 😊

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Last week I went to a seafood restaurant. The food? Fantastic. The service? Brutal.

Late drinks, missing silverware, and a waiter who clearly wanted to be anywhere else.

It was a bad experience.

Then I joined a coaching call. The content was gold — practical, actionable, exactly what I needed. But the coach showed up late, kept glancing at his phone, and background noise made it feel like he was broadcasting live from a food court.

Again, bad experience.

And then — because apparently I was on a roll — I attended a live event. Great content. But the directions were wrong, the room setup was chaos, and no one seemed to know who was running the show.

You guessed it… bad experience.

Here’s the thing:

Your content might be amazing. Your product might be bulletproof. Your offer might be the best in your market.

But if the experience sucks — none of that matters.

People remember how you made them feel more than what you said or sold.

So when you start looking at what might be the PERFECT franchise for you… ask yourself:

What’s the experience like — not just the content?

Because that’s the difference between a customer who buys once… and a believer who stays for life.

You heard it here first.

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Being wealthy is not about what you know…. its about how you behave.

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Networking is a critical skill of being uber successful in business.

Not the lame BNI style name badge on your chest and speak for 2 minutes when it’s your turn while meeting broke people distracting themselves from hard work.

Networking will help you:

- Find prospects

- Find clients

- Find referral partners

- Find partners

- Find key relationships

- Find value

…

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You probably didn’t know but I’m in the process of getting my house ready to put on the market. I think it’s one of the top 5 stressors in life, especially when you’re doing it with your spouse. Figured this is appropriate no matter what stressors you’re going through in life or relationships.

This is straight from multi-billionaire Ray Dalio, author of Principles.

1. What creates and sustains truly great relationships (like great marriages and great partnerships) is the unwavering belief that nothing is more important than the relationship.

2. If you need to assess the value of the relationship, think hard about whether your most important values and principles are aligned, putting the really important ones ahead of the not so important ones.

3. The key to all good relationships is to A) be in sync about how you should be with each other, especially how you should disagree and get past your disagreements, and B) give far more than you demand with those who will do the same with you.

You heard it here first.

Kinda.

#YouGotThis

Stacey Riska, your lifestyle matchmaker 😊 helping you “do what you love, love what you do”!

P.S. Most SUPERSTARS are found rather than created.

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