Cut the Anchor: Why Your Most Powerful Resolution for 2026 Might Be a STOP List - Edge of the Napkin Series #18
Paper Napkin Wisdom
This time of year, something familiar happens. We turn the page on the calendar and feel the pull to do something different. We reach for a word like resolution and instinctively pair it with action. More discipline. More consistency. More output. More effort. Most resolutions are framed as additions — new habits, new systems, new rules we promise ourselves we’ll finally follow. But what if the most powerful move forward isn’t about what you start doing? What if real...
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People Come for the Work. They Stay for the Team. – Wintress Odom, CEO The Writers for Hire
Paper Napkin Wisdom
Wintress Odom is the Founder and CEO of The Writers For Hire, a company built on clarity, discipline, and consistently high-quality work. From the outside, it’s easy to assume the success came from systems, execution, and technical excellence alone. But on her paper napkin, Wintress wrote something deceptively simple: “People come for the work. They stay for the team.” That sentence didn’t come from a leadership book. It came from lived experience — from building a business, leading...
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Presence Over Presents: The Ultimate Gift You Can Give Yourself This Holiday
Paper Napkin Wisdom
The holidays come wrapped in familiar language. Slow down. Rest. Be present. Unplug. It sounds right. It even sounds desirable. And yet, for many leaders and entrepreneurs, it doesn’t always land. If anything, the holidays can quietly amplify a tension that’s been humming all year. Because while the world appears to be pausing, something inside you may still be moving. Measuring. Reviewing. Assessing. For years, that’s where I lived. When the...
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Turn the Other Cheek, Smile — and Mean It – David Miller
Paper Napkin Wisdom
There’s a particular kind of wisdom that doesn’t shout. It doesn’t posture. It doesn’t try to win the room. It shows up quietly, often after experience has taken its toll, and says: this way works better. That’s the kind of wisdom David Miller brought to this conversation. On his paper napkin, David wrote a deceptively simple line: “Turn the other cheek, smile :) and mean it!” At first glance, it sounds like something we’ve all heard before — maybe even dismissed. Too soft....
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Seeds Grow in the Soil: Why the Most Important Progress Is Invisible (Yet)
Paper Napkin Wisdom
There are seasons where doing the work feels strangely unrewarding. You’re showing up. You’re staying consistent. You’re doing what you said you would do. And yet — nothing obvious is happening. No external validation. No visible breakthrough. No clear sign that you’re “on track.” That’s usually when doubt starts whispering questions we don’t want to answer: Is this actually working? Am I wasting time? Shouldn’t I be further along by now? This Edge of the Napkin episode is about that exact season — the one...
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“Your Revenue Is Hiding in Plain Sight” — Sailynn Doyle on the 80/20 Shift That Changed Everything
Paper Napkin Wisdom
There’s a moment in every entrepreneur’s journey when the hustle stops feeling heroic and starts feeling heavy. For Sailynn Doyle — business systems strategist, former home-care franchise owner, and founder of Passion • Purpose • Posture — that moment came sitting alone in her car at 9 AM on a Tuesday, exhausted and crying before another 12-hour day. From the outside, she was a success story: a million-dollar business by year three. On the inside, she was drowning in the weight of the work. Endless demands. Constant interruptions. Team members who depended on her for every...
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Nothing to Prove. Everything to Be.
Paper Napkin Wisdom
There’s a moment in every leader’s life when they look around the “room” they’re in — not the physical room, but the emotional one, the psychological one, the internal one — and ask: “How much of who I am today was shaped by the right voices… and how much by the wrong ones?” For years, Govindh Jayaraman — founder of Paper Napkin Wisdom — sat in rooms filled with people who called themselves friends, collaborators, supporters. And many of them were exactly that. They challenged ideas. They sharpened thinking. They asked questions that helped build the...
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Dan Perry & Michael Serapiglia – “If You Get Lost, Enjoy the View Around You”
Paper Napkin Wisdom
Some stories begin with a business plan. Others begin with a feeling — a deep, lived truth that travel isn’t just about going somewhere, but about finally being somewhere without fear. That’s the story behind Toto Tours. When founder Dan Ware launched the company in 1990, LGBTQ+ travelers faced a world far less welcoming than it is today. Travel was often an act of courage. Safety wasn’t guaranteed. Connection wasn’t a given. And yet Dan believed something radical: that the world belonged to everyone, and that queer people deserved to explore it without shrinking,...
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Be the Man in Someone’s Corner
Paper Napkin Wisdom
There are times in life when wisdom doesn’t show up quietly. It doesn’t whisper. It doesn’t tap you gently on the shoulder. Sometimes it arrives like a jolt — like your heart recognizing something before your brain can process it. That’s how this episode began. If you’ve been following along, you know it’s been a hard season in our home. Stacey’s father — my father-in-law — has been moving through the final stages of his cancer journey. And while there is an entire conversation to be had about the health, the living, and the complexity of that experience… this...
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Noah Ellis — Do The Thing
Paper Napkin Wisdom
There’s a moment in every entrepreneur’s life when the universe stops whispering and starts shouting. A moment where the next level isn’t waiting behind brilliance or luck or timing — it’s sitting directly behind the one thing we don’t want to do. For Noah Ellis, founder of Ofland and a hospitality leader who’s spent his life building concepts, teams, and experiences, that moment became a clarity-inducing mantra so important that he didn’t just write it down… he tattooed on his body: Do the thing. Noah’s wisdom is the kind that doesn’t land with...
info_outlineOn this episode of Paper Napkin Wisdom, I sat down with Juan DeAngulo, a veteran investor, entrepreneur, and systems thinker whose work bridges discipline and heart. Juan has scaled billion-dollar investment platforms, co-founded Inselligence—a fast-growing tech startup—and, just as importantly, learned to balance leadership with wellness after battling through years of personal struggle.
But his napkin is deceptively simple:
“I am true to myself and I release the outcome.”
Written on December 21, 2023, this phrase captures the essence of a leader who has lived both the cost and the gift of authenticity.
The Power of Truth to Self
Juan shares in the conversation that too often, leaders bend themselves to fit expectations—investors, clients, even their own self-imposed standards. The napkin reminds us that real clarity starts with aligning choices to who we are, not who we think others want us to be.
When you’re true to yourself, decisions become less about approval and more about alignment. As Juan puts it, that’s where courage begins: being willing to stand in your own truth, even if the path is uncertain.
Releasing the Outcome
The second part of Juan’s wisdom is just as critical. Once you’ve acted from a place of authenticity, you can’t cling to the result. He describes how early in his career he suffered from crippling anxiety and panic attacks—driven by an obsession with outcomes. Only when he learned to let go of the uncontrollable did he begin to reclaim peace and resilience.
“Release the outcome” isn’t resignation. It’s freedom. It’s choosing to focus on process, presence, and people—knowing the results will follow.
Five Key Takeaways
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Authenticity is the anchor.
Align with who you are before you align with strategy or market.
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Take Action: Write down one decision you’re facing and ask: is this truly aligned with who I am?
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Control the process, not the results.
You can own your effort and habits, but not the scoreboard.
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Take Action: Identify one area where you’re outcome-obsessed and reframe it into process goals.
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Anxiety comes from gripping too tightly.
Juan’s story of panic attacks shows how unsustainable it is to carry everything.
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Take Action: Create a daily ritual—meditation, journaling, or exercise—that helps you let go.
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Resilience is a practice, not a trait.
It’s built by repeatedly showing up, grounded in truth, even when results are uncertain.
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Take Action: Track your “resilience reps”—moments when you acted authentically despite fear.
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Leadership is human connection.
Systems and processes matter, but they’re only powerful when built on genuine human trust.
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Take Action: This week, check in with one teammate not about performance, but about how they’re doing as a person.
Why This Matters Today
In a world obsessed with metrics, hacks, and shortcuts, Juan’s napkin cuts through the noise. Leaders everywhere are tempted to measure themselves only by outcomes. But true transformation happens when you ground yourself in authenticity and trust the process.
About Juan DeAngulo
Juan DeAngulo is the co-founder and CEO of Inselligence, a platform bringing process intelligence to sales operations across three continents. He previously co-founded a real estate investment platform managing over $4 billion in assets. A graduate of Harvard Business School’s OPM program, Juan combines investment discipline with startup agility.
Beyond his professional achievements, Juan’s journey through debilitating anxiety and recovery through meditation, wellness, and holistic growth makes his leadership deeply human. Today, he is recognized as a culture architect—helping entrepreneurs and organizations design scalable systems, healthy cultures, and authentic leadership practices.
Connect with Juan on LinkedIn.
Your Turn
Juan’s napkin challenges us all: Are you being true to yourself? And if you are, can you release the outcome?
Grab a napkin, write down your answer, and share it with the hashtag #PaperNapkinWisdom.
Because when we act from authenticity and let go of the rest, we discover freedom—and often, better results than we could have planned.