I didn’t expect to wake up this morning and feel like the ground shifted again—but here we are. I opened my phone, half awake, and the first thing I see: Spirit Airlines is shutting down. And just like that, two trips I had booked over the next month? Gone. Or at least… not what they were. It hit me in a way that felt bigger than just travel. Because if you’ve been paying attention, this isn’t just about an airline. It’s about access. It’s about affordability. It’s about how the little “hacks” the middle class relied on to live a slightly bigger life are slowly disappearing. Cheap flights. Discount stores. Side hustles that actually moved the needle. All of it is getting squeezed. I felt it again a few hours later walking into Burlington to grab one last thing for a quinceañera gift. The line was out the door. Yes, it’s the weekend before Mother’s Day. But still. Damn. That wasn’t just holiday traffic—that was people chasing value. Stretching dollars. Trying to make things work in a moment where everything just feels… tighter. And then you zoom out a little more. Gas creeping into that $4… $5… even $6 a gallon conversation again, tied to everything happening in the Middle East. Another reminder that forces outside of our control keep showing up directly in our day-to-day lives. Flights get more expensive. Goods get more expensive. Margins get thinner. And for a lot of us, the buffer just isn’t what it used to be. That’s the shrinking middle class in real time. Not some abstract headline—just everyday friction. But here’s the part I didn’t expect. Last night, I went to a benefit show at Uptown Players here in Dallas—*Broadway Our Way: Fractured Fairy Tales*. And it cut through all of that noise. For a couple hours, none of the chaos mattered. It was creativity, community, people building something meaningful just because they believe in it. No guarantees. No straight path. Just… intention. And sitting there, I realized something: I’ve been feeling the same pressure—and the same pull. For years, I’ve been deep in reselling. eBay, pallets, inventory stacked higher than it should be. It’s been profitable. It’s been consistent. It’s been… safe. But it’s also been getting harder. Margins tighter. Competition louder. More effort for less return. Again—shrinking middle class dynamics, just wearing a different outfit. So instead of fighting that shift, I’m leaning into it. I’m reducing my inventory by about 95%. Not because it’s failing—but because it’s changing. And I’d rather move with it than get buried under it. I want space again. I want flexibility. I want to build something that doesn’t feel like I’m constantly chasing smaller and smaller wins. At the same time, life added another layer I never would’ve planned for. I had a tenant here in Dallas pass away. And that’s not business—that’s human. It’s been heavy in a completely different way.
But it’s also creating a pivot point. Now I’m stepping into renovating that property.
And strangely, it feels aligned with everything else. Because while one version of stability is getting squeezed, another version is being built. More tangible. More controlled. More intentional. And today—on this beautiful Saturday afternoon in Dallas—I’m heading to a good friend’s daughter’s quinceañera. And that might be the most important part of all of this. Because in the middle of rising costs, shifting markets, and plans falling apart… life is still happening. People are still celebrating. Still gathering. Still showing up for each other. That doesn’t shrink. So yeah—Spirit Airlines shutting down might look like just another headline. But for me, it’s part of a bigger picture. The middle is tightening. The easy options are disappearing. And the old playbook doesn’t work the way it used to. But that doesn’t mean things are falling apart. It might just mean they’re changing. And right now, I’m choosing to change with them. Less clutter. More intention. A new business taking shape. And a life that maybe—finally—feels a little lighter, even in the middle of all this. Because if everything’s shifting anyway… You might as well build something that actually fits where things are going.