A Text Thread That Made Me Stop Wanting to Leave Milwaukee.

A friend, a few late night texts, and a realization that the most meaningful work I want to do is still right here.

Every once in a while, a casual text thread turns into something more meaningful than I could ever have expected.

This one started with a simple question to my longtime friend and Chief Marketing Officer at CAMPE + CO, Cory Ampe: “Do you think you’ll ever move out of Milwaukee?”

Our texts wandered through Phoenix envy, tech weeks, winter pride, being, as Cory described it, a “big fish in a small, frickin’ awesome pond,” and landed exactly where it was supposed to: community.

I’ve flirted with leaving my hometown. I’ve dropped into other cities. (I still am today thanks to this tour.) I’ve listened to very convincing people tell me to “move here.”

But this conversation put something clearly into focus for me. Milwaukee isn’t just where I’m from, it’s where my work is. And where my work should be right now.

This week’s newsletter is about staying, choosing your pond, and why innovation doesn’t have to be coastal to be boundaryless (yes, we’re keeping that word).

Why this might matter to you: a lot of ambitious people in Milwaukee carry some version of the same question: should I stay and build here or do I need to leave to become who I want to become?

With that in mind, here’s the text exchange between Cory and me. No editing, of course.

Oh, I’m blue, Cory is grey.

Love you Milwaukee!

If you’ve thought about leaving Milwaukee.

• Ask where you can have the most impact, not just where the biggest market is.

• Ask where your relationships are strongest and where your work can compound.

• Ask whether what you really need is a different city or a clearer sense of the role you want to play in this one.