92 | What "Making It" Doesn't Fix

⚡️Click Here To Text Monique!In this episode, Monique thinks through what it means to live, work, and lead in a time when the middle feels like it is disappearing.After reading an email titled “The Death of the Middle,” Monique reflects on her own questions around class, wealth, ambition, success, and what it means to want enough without chasing fame or extreme fortune. She talks honestly about the pressure many people are feeling as the economy shifts, AI changes the labor market, and the old promise of a stable middle-class life becomes harder to trust.Monique also names the instinct many ambitious women have in uncertain seasons: to go inward, get more tactical, and become even more self-reliant. But she challenges that instinct by reminding listeners that the real preparation is relational.Using the mycorrhizal networks of trees as a metaphor, Monique explains why deep connection, shared resources, and intentional community matter when the storm is here. This episode is a reminder that you do not have to hunker down alone. Depth, community, and the networks you build may be a key part of your way forward.GEMS DROPPED“The instinct is often to go inward and become more self-reliant, but the real preparation is always relational.”“Deep community is the actual asset that’s going to hold us when the ground moves.”“You don’t have to hunker down alone. Depth is likely a part of your way forward. And ​how ​you ​create, ​how ​you ​insist ​upon ​time ​and ​space ​to ​make ​that ​happen, is ​going ​to ​mean ​everything ​for ​the ​future.”“Time ​together forges ​bonds ​in ​space ​for ​real ​talk.”“The bar on comfort has gone up with inflation.”“The whole point is to be able to affect one another, to keep each other going alive, through stillness and depth.”MENTIONEDArticle: The Death of the MiddleCreator post mentioned: Forming a Brain Trust STAY IN TOUCHCome and follow me on Instagram @moniquershields and I would love your feedback so send an email to [email protected].