👋 Welcome to a 🔐 subscriber only edition 🔐 of Ruckus Makers — the newsletter for bold school leaders who Do School Different. Each week we drop fresh content across our signature styles:
The Reframe → Mindset shifts in 90-seconds.
Dot AI → Supercharged leadership prompts and custom gpts
MEH → The Onion meets Education. What could go wrong?
First in Line → Exclusive access to bold new content before the bookshelf
You can learn more about this premium newsletter here.
Change rarely begins with action.
Sometimes it starts with almost.
Jordan didn’t call Max.
She didn’t text Evan.
She didn’t ask for help.
But for the first time, she let herself wonder:
“What if I can’t do this alone anymore?”
This chapter isn’t about breakthroughs.
It’s about the long pause before courage.
And if you’ve ever sat in your car, holding a phone, unsure what to say —
you’re not alone.
📖 Never miss a chapter of Jordan’s story. You can read each chapter in the First in Line section of Ruckus Makers.
Almost Ready
Jordan sat in her car long after the buses had left.
The parking lot was empty.
Her dashboard clock said 5:47.
But the sun was already low, like it had seen enough for one day.
She hadn’t turned the engine on yet to head home.
She was just sitting.
Phone in hand.
Max’s number still written on the sticky note inside her binder on the passenger seat.
Also saved in her contacts now, under “Coach Max.”
She hadn’t called.
But she’d hovered over the text icon three separate times today.
Now she opened it.
Her thumbs hovered.
Then typed:
Hey — I think I’m ready to talk.
She stared at the words.
Deleted them.
Typed again:
This job isn’t what I thought it’d be.
Delete.
How did Evan figure it out?
Delete.
She pulled up Evan’s name on the district site.
Clicked his profile.
Watched the spinning icon as his principal bio loaded.
She met him at each of the district principal meetings. He was warm and easy to talk to. Had a confidence and swagger that didn’t need to shout.
And when he spoke, people listened.
No posturing. No pep talk.
Just presence.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Ruckus Makers to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.