Eye on the Prize: An Honest Story About Grit

Twenty years of freelancing, a few detours, some humbling jobs, and one very clear destination.

This is not a polished success story. Those are easy to write — and easy to see through.

This is the version with the rough edges left in. The twenty years of project-based consulting work, the full-time roles that didn't stick, the pivot to Prospect-Vision, and the eighteen months of teaching high school, moving furniture for $25 an hour, and managing a golf course on Mondays for $17 an hour while building a business on the side.

And yes — cleaning bathrooms. Spotless ones. While whistling.

If any of that resonates with you, keep reading.

Twenty Years of Opening Doors

About twenty years ago, the freelance consulting path found me. Not entirely by design — but not entirely by accident either. Project-based work suited the way I operate: identify the problem, build the plan, execute, deliver results, move on.

Over that period, some longer engagements led to W2 employment. Full-time roles that looked promising from the outside. And for various reasons — most of them outside my control, none of them worth relitigating here — they didn't last.

What I noticed, consistently, was a pattern: organizations that wanted to compete at the highest level but hadn't built the capabilities to get there. Companies that wanted Fortune 100 clients but weren't equipped to serve them. The gap between ambition and execution is where a lot of businesses live — and where a lot of talented people get frustrated.

If you want to play at the Fortune 100 level, you better have the capabilities to meet the challenge. That's not a criticism. It's a lesson I learned the hard way, more than once.

Taking Personal Inventory

About two years ago, after the last full-time role ran its course, something shifted. Instead of looking for the next opportunity inside someone else's organization, I sat down and took a hard, honest look at what I actually knew how to do.

The answer was clear:

• Build pipelines from zero

• Design go-to-market strategies that work in the real world

• Close complex deals with institutional buyers

• Identify market opportunities before the competition sees them

• Create order from commercial chaos — fast

Thirty years of doing this work across healthcare, industrial technology, automotive, and professional services. More than $300 million in revenue generated. A network of 4,400+ contacts built one relationship at a time.

The answer wasn't to find another employer. The answer was Prospect-Vision LLC.

The skills were never the problem. The platform was missing. So I built one.

The Eighteen Months Nobody Talks About

Here's the part of the entrepreneurial story that usually gets edited out.

While building Prospect-Vision — working 10 to 20 hours a week on the business, developing the brand, landing the first conversations, building the pipeline — the bills still needed paying. So:

• Taught business courses at the local high school

• Moved furniture and heavy boxes for $25 an hour

• Managed a golf course on Mondays for $17 an hour

The golf course gig came with free golf — which was the one genuine perk of that season. But it also came with everything else that running a facility requires. Including the bathrooms.

I cleaned them spotless. While whistling.

Not because it was glamorous. Because the work in front of you deserves your full effort regardless of what it is. That's not a philosophy I read in a book — it's something I learned on a lot of different job sites over a long career. You either bring it or you don't. There's no halfway.

The dream doesn't pause because the current chapter is humbling. You just keep working.

When the First Clients Hit

The Prospect-Vision plan was never to go all-in before there was something to go all-in on. That's not grit — that's recklessness. Grit is staying the course while the evidence builds.

When the first clients signed on, everything changed. Not overnight — but unmistakably. The model worked. The value proposition was real. The pipeline was moving.

I resigned from the school. Said goodbye to the golf course. And I will not be moving heavy furniture again.

The business is now in the black. The client base is growing. The work is exactly what it was always supposed to be — senior revenue leadership and AI-powered workflows helping companies build pipelines, enter new markets, and create value faster than they could on their own.

Every bathroom I cleaned, every piece of furniture I moved, every hour I spent on that golf course was worth it. Not because those jobs were beneath me — no honest work is beneath anyone. But because they bought the time and the space to build something that lasts.

What Grit Actually Looks Like

People talk about grit like it's dramatic. A montage of early mornings and late nights and heroic moments of pushing through.

In reality, grit is mostly quiet. It's showing up to the unglamorous job with the same standard you'd bring to the important one. It's keeping the long-term goal visible when the short-term reality is uncomfortable. It's making the next call, sending the next email, building the next relationship — even when the results aren't there yet.

It's cleaning the bathroom spotless. While whistling.

A few things that kept the eye on the prize during the hardest stretch:

• Knowing the skills were real — the track record existed, even when the platform didn't

• Staying in the market — every conversation, every coffee, every LinkedIn post kept the network warm

• Treating the side work with the same professionalism as the consulting work — your reputation is built in every room you're in

• Refusing to define the destination by the current chapter — the gap between where you are and where you're going is not the story

The Blessing Hidden in the Detour

Twenty years of freelancing, a handful of full-time roles that didn't stick, and nearly 2 years of doing whatever it took — all of it turned out to be an education that no employer could have provided.

I've seen what bad planning looks like from the inside. I've watched companies miss revenue targets because nobody was willing to make a hard decision. I've seen the gap between ambition and capability up close, from multiple angles.

That experience informs everything I do for clients today. The patterns are recognizable. The solutions are faster to identify. The judgment is sharper because it was built in real conditions, not case studies.

Struggle, honestly processed, becomes wisdom. Wisdom, applied with the right tools, becomes value.

That's the business. That's the story.

Still Working Half Days

The alarm still goes off early. The work still gets done. The clients still get results.

Prospect-Vision is in the black, the client base is growing, and the pipeline looks better every week.

Some of us work half days. 6 to 6.

And every single hour of it — including the ones spent moving furniture and cleaning bathrooms — was worth it.

Prospect-Vision helps companies build pipelines, enter new markets, and create revenue growth with the combination of senior BD leadership and AI-powered workflows. If you're ready to build something that lasts — let's talk.

joe@prospect-vision.com | prospect-vision.com