ABOUT
I learned ownership as an operator before I ever named it as a practice.
Not from a book. From running stores, building teams, and finding out that being good at my job did nothing about the things I was avoiding in my own life.
THE OPERATOR
Store manager to Vice President of Retail in three years.
I helped build one of Florida's emerging cannabis retail organizations from the ground up — hiring, opening, scaling, and leading a team that grew to nearly 800 people through the kind of growth where nothing stays still long enough to get comfortable.
The reason I was in cannabis at all wasn't a career move. It was personal. My husband came home from the Army with chronic pain and PTSD, and I watched cannabis give him his quality of life back. I wanted to work somewhere that did that for other people.
I learned ownership there, in an environment that punishes avoidance faster than most. When a leader won't have a conversation, you see it in the numbers by the end of the quarter.
THE CONFRONTATION
From the outside, I had it figured out.
What I didn't talk about was how often I was saying yes when I meant no. Overthinking the conversation I should have been having. Carrying everyone else's outcomes while quietly putting my own to the side.
I was good at holding a standard for nearly 800 people. I was not holding one for myself, and I had gotten skilled at not noticing.
I had to do my own ownership work. Not from a book. From sitting with the questions I'd been avoiding and holding standards no one else was going to hold for me.
THE PATTERN
Then I noticed it was the same thing in both rooms.
The behavior I was running on myself was the behavior I had watched run entire organizations.
A leader avoids one conversation and a whole quarter drifts. A woman renegotiates one promise to herself and slowly stops believing her own word. Same avoidance. Same cost. Different scale.
That is when it stopped being my story and started being something I could teach.
WHAT IT BECAME
The Ownership Practice
Four practices — Brutal Honesty, Relentless Discipline, Brave Action, Endless Growth — and one question you can ask anywhere you're stuck: what part of this belongs to me?
It isn't a mindset. It's a way of operating, practiced daily, on purpose, even when no one is watching. It's what I used to build every good thing I have, and it's what I teach now.
I'm also writing it down. Forge Your Freedom is out in 2027.
IN CONVERSATION
The longer version.
Origin story, brutal honesty, why ready isn't a feeling, and the move I want every audience to make before they leave the room.
TESTIMONIAL
"I partnered closely with Connie for over three years as her HR business partner. She is a leader who balances empathy and operational excellence — making tough decisions while remaining relatable and inspiring. I witnessed her growth in accountability and ownership, making her not just a respected operator but a mentor who commanded trust and attention from hundreds. When Connie spoke, the team listened — and followed. She is truly one of the most talented leaders I've worked alongside in my career."
— Alicia Catato, Vice President of HR