I just got back from walking my dog, Lola, and decided to come home and turn on the mic because I had a thought—just based on something I noticed while I was walking her—and I wanted to get it out while it was fresh. Hopefully this helps you too, because it gave me a really helpful shift in perspective.

Okay, first thing’s first… if you don’t have a dog, you should really consider getting one.

This is our very first dog—me and my husband both grew up without dogs. I had cats growing up, and he didn’t have any pets. We do have two cats now and they’re wonderful. Actually, my orange kitty, Leon, is literally pushing me off my office chair right now because he’s taking up the entire back half. 😂

The cats are so sweet, but having Lola has brought so much joy and happiness—and honestly, some really good health and habits—into our home. This dog has so much energy. She needs to go for a walk every single day. A nice, long walk. Sometimes two.

Because I work from home, I’m the one who usually takes her out during the week. My husband drives the kids to school and then heads to his office, and we walk her together on weekends. But on weekdays, I know I’m going to be out walking at least 30 minutes a day.

And let me tell you—it has been amazing.

I get sunshine on my face first thing in the morning, I move my body, I breathe fresh air—it’s such a mood booster. Just getting up and moving around makes me feel better overall. Plus, it’s actually been a really fun way to meet our neighbors.

We’ve lived on our street for 15 years. It’s a narrow, steep hill and we don’t have sidewalks, so walking isn’t really the norm—people usually just drive up and down. But when you have a dog, you have to get out there. And because of that, we’ve met so many people in the neighborhood.

In fact, my son Jack’s bar mitzvah was this past weekend, and several of our neighbors were there—people we’ve become really close with just from walking our dogs. Four years of chatting during walks turned into real friendships.

It’s all been so positive.

And I’ll be honest—before we got her, I had every excuse in the book. What about travel? Who’s going to watch her? Our family lives nearby, but no one wants a 65-pound shedding machine in their house. 😅

But I found an amazing dog sitter, and honestly, whatever excuse you might have—I don’t have time, I’m not home enough—there’s always a way to make it work. If you work from home, having a little buddy with you every day is the best. She’s just full of love. Nothing but love.

And yes, I like to keep my house really nice. I love decorating, I love design. But our house is comfortable. It’s not a museum. The kids can go anywhere. We’ve got decorations all over and nothing is too precious. Sure, there’s dog fur everywhere—but I vacuum every other day and it’s really not a big deal.

So all those reasons you might have for not being ready for a dog? I promise you… it is so worth it.

Okay. Rant over. That’s not even what I meant to talk about when I turned on the mic. 😆

Here’s what I really wanted to share…

As I was walking Lola, I noticed that it’s almost March, and we’re starting to shift into spring. All around the neighborhood, people have trimmed back their shrubs, hedges, rose bushes—everything’s been cut back. And right where those cuts happened, there’s new growth. Fresh, tiny little buds starting to pop up.

Like, you’ll see a big leaf or stem, and it’s chopped off at the end, and right there, on that flat cut, there are little clusters of baby leaves growing in. It’s beautiful. And it got me thinking about pruning.

That’s what pruning is. You cut off the older growth—the parts that are still pulling nutrients from the plant but not really helping anymore—to encourage new growth. Stronger plants. Fuller hedges. Bigger, more vibrant roses.

And that got me thinking about our lives and businesses and all the stuff we carry around.

I’ve noticed that when I prune—when I simplify, when I cut out things that aren’t serving me—my energy comes back. I feel more aligned. More lit up by the work I’m doing. More connected to my purpose.

It gives me this new vigor. New enthusiasm.

Like… okay, here’s a simple example: my house.

I love decorating. I love a clean house. But I’m 100% a clutter bug. It’s probably the ADHD, but I always have open projects, random piles, unfinished stuff sitting around.

And yes, I know what’s in every pile. I can tell you exactly what each piece of paper is. But it’s still a pile. And it represents something undone. Which means it’s draining me.

When I clean it up—or even better, when I don’t let the pile happen in the first place—I feel so much clearer. I can focus. I’m calmer. I’m more present with my kids. I’m not distracted by the mental weight of all the stuff that still needs to be sorted and filed and put away.

Same thing with my closet.

I’m listening to this really good masterclass right now—Unf*ck Your Closet with Chellie Carlson—and she talks about how we all just have too much stuff. Guilty. I love clothes. But 95% of the time, I’m wearing sweats, a t-shirt, and a sports bra to walk the dog.

So why do I have a closet full of outfits I’m not even wearing?

It makes getting dressed take longer. It’s harder to see what I even have. So by pruning—donating, storing out-of-season stuff, only keeping what fits and feels good—I save time. And energy. And decision-making power.

Then there’s business.

I talk about this all the time inside Profitable PR Pros and Agency Accelerator. When you say yes to everything—especially early in your business—you end up with projects that don’t serve you. Low-paying clients. Scope creep. Work that takes up time and energy but doesn’t move you toward the clients or niche you actually want.

And you do it because you’re scared to say no. You’re afraid nothing better will come along. Or you don’t want to disappoint someone. I get it.

But those projects? They’ll drain you.

And sometimes… the people you hire can, too.

Recently I had to prune my team. On the Jeneration Academy side of the business, I had all these people—graphic designers, copywriters, customer service, an integrator, an integrator team. Everyone had their one thing, and they were doing it well. But it was all siloed. There wasn’t a big-picture strategy.

I was spending so much money. So much energy managing all the different moving parts. But nobody was thinking strategically about what the business needed now—based on data, launches, emails, community feedback.

They were just doing what I hired them to do. Not what the business actually needed.

So I pruned the whole thing down. Cut it all back.

And the new growth? Small. Mighty. Aligned. It’s working so well. And I feel excited again. Re-energized. The business feels fresh—and I feel fresh.

So yeah. That’s what came up for me this morning while walking Lola.

I just kept noticing all these beautiful plants growing back, stronger and healthier, right where they’d been trimmed. And it made me think: where in my life do I need to do that too?

So I want to leave you with two things:

1. Think about getting a dog. 💁‍♀️ Check your local rescues. I found Lola through a rescue I followed on Instagram. I watched for years. And then, when I saw her, I just knew. I applied immediately and she was ours. And she’s perfect.
2. Ask yourself: where can you prune?
3. What needs to go?
4. What’s pulling your energy without giving anything back?

Cut it back. Create space. Let the new growth come in strong and beautiful.

If you listen to this, DM me on Instagram @jenerationpr. Tell me what you’re pruning. Post a story and tag me. Show me your dog! I love seeing your pups.

And if you live near me, maybe I’ll see you out walking your dog while I’m out with Lola.

Go out there and kick ass today. I’ll be out there doing the same.

Thanks so much.