Hello Reader,
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Happy New Year! It's 2026 and this is our first Newsletter for the new year, so let's get into it!
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Life with Ken Updates
Here is some of what's on the horizon for the Life with Ken brand and what it means for you in 2026:
- Actualize Yourself and the Financial Literacy Course ๐ - These are our two courses and for at least the first few months of the year Life with Ken will be focusing on making content in alignment with these two courses. I think we can do a better job at letting you and the world know what Life with Ken specializes in. I think we've done a good job at making our message known but to further amplify it, these courses focus on the mechanisms for change that are explicitly in our wheelhouse. By building out the Life with Ken ecosystem and universe from the perspective of these two courses we should at the very least codify our expertise in the world of personal and professional development.
- Website Interface ๐ - We'll be looking into refreshing the main website. This is for streamlining purposes. I'll go into more depth on this in a moment but we are continually looking for ways to make the website resourceful, purposeful, intentional, and effective. This may not look like a complete overhaul but we are seeking to make some noteworthy differences.
As we work on and roll out these changes and similar ones as they arise we will keep you posted. When our brand is more visible everyone benefits and when our website is welcoming that encourages conversion. And conversion is a key step on any entrepreneurial journey.
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Ken's Corner
So, when 2025 ended/was ending I was arriving at a place where I'm done giving myself to things that I don't care about. In an effort to be a better person I've been focusing on not doing things that will make me dislike myself. I come from corporate America. I went to school for psychology, after graduate school, I had a choice to becoming a manager in the restaurant industry or pursue entrepreneurial endeavors. I didn't realize that the latter choice, the choice I made, would lead me into sales and into corporate America. I've done sales for the better half of a decade and that's being modest because I could argue a longer timeline. Sales as an industry of work never really gave me what I wanted or needed and in more than one occasion it left me worse off. Now I'm in a place that stems from the aforementioned but isn't exclusive to it that says, I no longer want to put off the things that make my heart leap inside of me with joy and happiness, for the thing(s) that makes me depressed and sick. I use to tell myself that all I need is a good job and I'll be okay.
The truth is that's true; the problem is I've been a working professional for again, a long time, and that kind of opportunity hasn't materialized for me. What I said to myself in prayer is that I care about my family, friends, romance, and several adjacent things that benefit from the presence of money, but I'm not going to put any of that off anymore because of a lack of money. I want a romantic relationship for example. The echo chamber of choice for people like me is to get rich and then love will come. As a black man in America getting rich is a challenge; I'm not getting any younger, and I know married people who aren't don't bring in $250K a year. So, this is what I'm saying, I don't want to give my whole life to making money, never make enough of it, and miss the opportunity to have love of any kind not just eros but phileo , agape, and familial as well. And I understand that some people only care if you have money but that is not my story and I don't want that to be my story. I know there will be people who will only come around during good times, but my happiness isn't to be exploited.
I lived on the streets for a long time... I can sometimes get caught up in explaining not because I need to but because I feel like I didn't get my point across enough or that the people who my message is intended for didn't fully absorb it. I'm realizing now that I don't just want abstract life to meaningful, meaning that unless you can move things at the world stage level you don't matter (and there is a cohort of people who think like this); but rather, I want my one life that I have to live on this earth to at least be meaningful to me, and that right now for me looks like, regardless of whether or not I become a respected and wealthy politician, CEO, or some other shit. And as was alluded to earlier that shift in approach is what I will be incorporating into Life with Ken in this new year as well.
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Encouragement For Your Week
This week I want to encourage you to editorialize. Pick a narrative in your life and take control of it. Redefine your situation. Sometimes people will say things like, "oh there is nothing I can do..." There is something you can do in almost every situation you just either don't want to do it or you aren't thinking proactively enough. Tell the truth about what's happening around you and then reframe that story to give yourself an opportunity to learn from and or rise above your circumstance(s).
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Thank you for taking the time to read this first Newsletter of 2026! We're looking forward to this year. I'm not antsy and jittering but hopefully you, myself, and this brand can seize every meaningful opportunity that comes up this year.
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If you want to reach me respond directly to this email and or fill out this form. Follow us on social media to stay up-to-date with us throughout the week. Subscribe to Life with Ken on Substack for articles, videos, and related content published every week. Additionally, I know the holiday season is over but we finished 2025 by doing 25 Days of Vlogmas on our YouTube channel, I encourage you to take some time and enjoy the playlist.โ
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Have a serendipitous week!