(-)spectus

I just went down a latin rabbit hole. As I approach summer head on (new haircut forthcoming) I decided that I wanted to prepare an investor-esque document to share with those that have supported me this past year. But, being me, I wanted to get creative with it while still conveying the appropriate information. 

From back in my fundraising days of LevelUp, I recalled a document that the team put together: an investor prospectus. Not actually having investors, I googled “prospectus” and came up with the informational sales pitch type of definition. I don’t necessarily need investors, but do want to inform (and retain) those that have invested in me and share information with them.

Then, because this was a rabbit hole, I recalled the name of my high school yearbook: Respectus. Now that I knew the definition of Prospectus I thought this word was fake, a play on Prospectus. It’s not. FYI. Respecutus means to look back on, or regard, or consider. Which totally makes sense for a high school yearbook. 

And then, (Remember, rabbit hole.) I remembered that Latin is a language that has lots of prefixes and suffixes that mean all sorts of different things. (I never took Latin, but now I wish that I did. I was too busy with the romance languages.) So I looked up “pro” and “re” and “spectus.” 

Pro: On behalf of, before, in front of, in return for, for, about, etc. etc.
Re: Concerning
Spectus: look, appearance, aspect

Rabbit hole end achieved. 

As I head into my one-year anniversary of officially working for myself and getting paid for the work that I love to do, I wanted to update my work resume. Which feels appropriate: It’s June. School is out. It’s month six. It’s time to evaluate. Back in April I lamented that I needed to eat my own dogfood and tried to dress it up as morning pages from The Artist's Way. I also thought that it was a visualization thing. But, having given all of that further thought, what I really need is a new structure (a prospectus… or respectus?) to help me identify what I have accomplished this past year in terms of my business… and continue to present myself and my work. 

Creating my work resume, by job title and company, always helped me clarify what direction I wanted to take my role within the startups with which I was working. It also helped clarify for me what I learned in each role to help me present my personal pitch moving forward. 

As I write this, I’m getting excited. I’m looking forward to working on my company respectus!