I wish you could have met my brother Carson.
I was the big sister who sold pet rocks, ran backyard fun fairs, and wore my Girl Scout sash like proof I was destined for business greatness. Then my little brother went door to door selling encyclopedias at 19. By the end of the year, he’d built a sales team across three states, and they’d sold enough to earn trips to Hawaii and Rome.
I had a sash. Carson had a sales force.
In his mid-twenties, he and a partner started an insurance business with a couple thousand dollars and went toe-to-toe with corporate lawyers twice their age. By his late twenties, the company had gone national. We called him the Pied Piper. He could talk almost anyone into almost anything, and he’d make you laugh so hard you’d have to sit down.
Carson would have turned 57 next month. He died by suicide in 2004. He’s forever 34.
In the weeks after he died, his friends and our family got on conference calls. We’d start out crying and end up laughing as somebody remembered another ridiculous thing Carson had done. I can still hear someone saying, “Oh, remember when he…” and feel that little lift in the room, even over the phone.
There was something Carson still wanted to build. He wanted to help young people with an entrepreneurial streak pay for college. His friends made that idea real when they started the Carson J. Spencer Young Entrepreneur Scholarship. I love that a young person can know my brother’s name because someone saw promise in what they might build. Learn more about Carson’s scholarship
I helped start a suicide prevention nonprofit in Carson’s memory. Building it gave me some of the most joyful work of my life.
I was barely sleeping or eating because I was overcome with anxiety. My solution, naturally, was to work harder. My dad finally said, “Sweetheart, you need to take your own advice and get some help.”
Look for the Entrepreneur Aftershock book launch in early 2027.
That moment is part of why Susan Frew and I wrote Entrepreneur Aftershock. I know how much joy there is in building something you believe in. I also know how hard it can be to tell someone when the work you love is taking more out of you than you can give. We wanted to make that conversation easier to have.
I wish I could give Carson a copy. I’d love to hear what he thought. I’m pretty sure he’d have a few ideas about how to sell it.
Warmly,
Sally
P.S. I talk more about the story behind the book in next week’s podcast episode.
P.P.S. Check back here for more information about the launch: https://www.entrepreneuraftershock.com/