Soft hearts, strong ethics.
On choosing integrity in a system that rewards ego.
In both personal and professional connections, I used to believe that goodness was the baseline. I believed that most people meant well, that honesty would be met with honesty, and that care would be well received and returned.
I led with that belief and for a looong time it worked…until it didn’t.
I’ve experienced one too many rude awakenings and eventually had to accept that not everyone is playing the same game.
Some people are building with integrity and empathy. While others are building with calculated power plays, silence, and by stepping on anyone who gets in their way.
Yikes.
Those “oh, this is how some people get ahead” moments still smack me upside the head 😩 When you’re a good-hearted person, you assume goodness and when reality doesn’t match up, it hits like real grief.
I won’t waver, though. I’ll still be here choosing intentional growth, even when it occurs slowly.
Why? Because ethics isn’t a passive commitment. It’s a daily decision that encourages us to put long-term trust over short-term gain. It’s transparency over control and people over f*cking optics.
It’s caring about who you become while you succeed, love bug. This is where personal philosophy becomes leadership philosophy.
Culture can’t be a side project.
This is the single most important thing I want creative leaders and organizations to realize as they execute their plans for 2026: healthy workplace culture is not an optional “nice-to-have.”
It’s quite literally is part of the strategy for a sustainable, modern business.
It defines all of the following:
Who gets heard
Who gets protected
Who gets promoted
Who gets supported
Who gets burned out
EVERY organization has a culture, but not every leader tends to it. Yet they wonder why they’re experiencing burnout, high turnover, and full-on disengagement (aka quiet quitting).
These are symptoms of what is becoming a major failure to humans in corporate spaces.
I’ve been the naïve, hopeful one…the one who overstayed her welcome in harmful settings. The one who kept telling herself “maybe they’ll do better one day.”
But I don’t regret showing up with soft, human-centered energy. I absolutely refuse to harden to survive—this world doesn’t need anymore ruthless leaders as you can see.
It needs reflective, emotionally intelligent, and ethically responsible ones.
To the Creatives, to the Leaders.
To the creatives who’ve wondered if they’re too sensitive, you’re not. You’re perceptive and that’s a quality that can’t afford to be slept on this year. Your awareness is true leadership.
To the leaders who’ve never been taught how to thoughtfully care for their team, your legacy lives in folks’ nervous systems. Not in your spreadsheets. People will always remember how you made them feel.
I write this to you as sensitive someone who survived deeply unethical workplace culture and as someone who has witnessed many skilled, passionate people get burned out on things they love.
Culture is NOT this trendy thing to mention in leadership and business meetings. It is the future and a compass that brings humanity back into business. And while there is a larger system at play, we still have influence in how we show up every day.
If you’re someone trying to build, lead, or create without losing your moral compass in the process, I see you! And I’m walking this path with you, too.
With care and excellence,
Ty ❤️🔥