Behind every “successful entrepreneur” is a long list of mistakes, sacrifices, and lessons most people never hear about.

There’s no guest today. No interview. No spotlight on someone else’s story. This episode is about reflection and gratitude.

When I launched The Reluctant Entrepreneur, I had a very specific goal in mind. I didn’t want to create another show that glorified entrepreneurship or romanticized success. I didn’t want highlight reels, buzzwords, or carefully curated origin stories. I wanted honesty. I wanted real conversations with real people—people who didn’t always plan on becoming entrepreneurs, people who didn’t have it all figured out, people who made mistakes, lost sleep, doubted themselves, failed, recovered, and kept going anyway.

And over the course of this first year, that’s exactly what we got.